LH Magazine

LHDecember 18, 2014

Feature Magazine

impaire

d conc

entr

ationinattentiveness

easy distracti on

ADHD

forgetfulness

hyperactivityimpulsivity

procrastination

With the recent rapid increase in ADHD

diagnoses, a question arises: Does everyone

being diagnosed actually have the disease?

4 WINTER FEAST NAVIGATING RELIGION6 ONLINE SHOPPING10

STUDENT PROFILE Sophomore Addie Bass pushes the boundaries of theater, combining an optimistic point of view with intriguing gender fluidity.

HOLIDAYS WITHOUT A HOME

Most of us think of the holidays as

a time to relax. For some in Iowa City, that is not

the case.

DRIFTING AWAY

Students of four different faiths

discuss the challenges of

navigating religion in a less-religious

nation.

FROSTY FUN

Quizzes, fashion, and more to keep you entertained

this winter break!

ONLINE SHOPPINGAs the holiday

season approaches, City students join the rest of the nation in debating the

relative merits of online and in-store shopping.

WINTER FEAST

Everyone has favorite holiday

foods. Little Hawk staffers have

chosen theirs for this delicious (if unconventional)

winter list.

4 10

PREVIEW

2 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

16

6 2112

COVER PHOTO BY CAROLINE BROWN

December 18, 2014 3

TONY BALCAEN

Tony Balcaen came to Iowa City from the Picardie region of northern France to become a teaching assistant at the University of Iowa in 2004. He enrolled in grad school at the Univer-sity in 2008, and is now a French teacher at The School That Leads. For Balcaen, teaching allows him to share his culture, which is something he really enjoys doing.

“My favorite part [about teaching] is that I can teach my culture. I can break some of the stereotypes that you guys have about the French, or reinforce them, but at least I can give some truth to them,” Balcaen said.

Balcaen graduated from the University of Iowa in 2011. He then moved to South Carolina for a year to teach French there.

“It was tough because it was a population that did not really care for education in general, and for French even less,” Balcaen recalled. “The kids themselves just didn’t really care that much.”

After a year in South Carolina, Balcaen came back to Iowa to teach French at City

High, beginning in August of 2012. He teaches French 1, 2, 3, and AP French; all levels of French except regular French 4. Balcaen says that teaching French wasn’t what he originally wanted to do.

“I wanted to be an English teacher in France originally, and then I came here in ‘04. I was a French teacher at the University,” Balcaen said. “I decided that was what I wanted to do, except for high school instead of college.”

Balcaen enjoys watching students grow in French over the years.

“Just seeing what I give you, what you guys are able to do, is my favorite part. In the beginning, in level one and level two, you have nothing,” Balcaen said. “Oftentimes I get you guys for three or four years in a row, and seeing after a couple years what you are able to do in the language is what I really like.”

Although Balcaen says he enjoys teaching and living in the United States, he still misses French culture.

“I’ve always loved languages. English was my favorite subject in school, and that is what I studied in college in France. The fact that I can use English every day is something that I enjoy very much,” Balcaen said about living in the United States. “From France, I miss the

food, my culture, and just people who are more like-minded.”

He also says that there are many differ-ences between teaching in France and teaching in the U.S. In France, it is easier.

“[In France],we don’t have office hours, and the students don’t come in and ask you stuff. You teach and you’re done,” Balcaen said.

Although he has lived in the U.S. for 10 years, Balcaen has yet to become a citizen.

“I need to check on that. I feel like if it is okay for me to be both; why not,” Balcaen said. “But I would have to give up my French citizen-ship. It wouldn’t be just my French citizenship; I would see it as the whole European citizenship. Being part of the EU, I have access to all those countries,” Balcaen said. “The reason I wouldn’t want to be [a U.S. citizen] is I would have to give that up.”

Although Balcaen grew up in France, because he is from rural France, he can relate to growing up in Iowa.

“I come from the country,” Balcaen said. “It really isn’t that different from growing up in a smaller town in Iowa.”

By Jonathan House

“I CAN BREAK SOME OF THE STEREOTYPES THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ABOUT THE FRENCH, OR REINFORCE THEM, BUT AT LEAST I CAN

GIVE THEM SOME TRUTH.”

PHOTO BY CAROLINE BROWN


1

A WINTER FEAST

Everyone has favorite holiday foods. Little Hawk staffers have chosen theirs for this delicious (if unconventional) winter list.

PIZZA

You can’t create a giant pile of food and take a picture of it unless there are some slices of pizza involved. Interesting pizza. Special pizza.

4WINGS

You’ve probably been doing this wrong. Top German engineers have developed the most ef-ficient technique using millions of dollars of flaming grant money. Go online and look up “how to eat wings.”

8CREAMY TOMATO SOUPYou’ve heard of chicken noodle soup, you know, with the bowl? This is a lot like that, but completely different, and red.

2CHINESE FOOD

It’s going to say some-where on my tombstone that I really liked Chinese food. Right under the part where it says how often I ate Chinese food.

5RIBS

To be specific, the animal kind. We don’t identify with any region’s par-ticulars concerning how these should be prepared. This meal was developed by a multicultural team of various faiths and beliefs.

9CHEESECAKECheesecakes are good cakes if you like sugar and stuff. We like them, at least. You probably should too. I mean, they’re pretty good. They have their own factory.

3CHEDDAR BROCCOLI SOUPEveryone seems to hate broccoli unless it’s cov-ered in something, like ranch, or cheese. Lots of something.

6MAC ‘N’ CHEESE

Some people try to pass their mac off as the real thing without bread crumbs. Thankfully, the folks at Blackstone aren’t among these posers.

11CHAI LATTESWhat are the odds that if you ask 20 people for their favorite drink, a chai latte comes up? It’s easily the healthiest drink available to teenagers, and at four dollars a pop, it’s a great deal.

WHERE CAN I GET SOME?

1. Pagliai’s2. Taste of China3. Panera4. Hy-Vee5. Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack

6. Blackstone7. Jimmy John’s8. Panera9. The Co-op10. Starbucks11. Fair Grounds

7B.L.T. s

Mmm, sizzling bacon with sizzling lettuce and sizzling tomatoes, all topped with sizzling bread! It burns! We had trouble getting all the ingredients in one place, but then we did and… Whoa.

10WAFFLESWe got these from Fair Grounds Coffeehouse. Waffles are good, but can get kind of bland without toppings. We like straw-berries, blueberries, and whipped cream. What do you like on your waffles?

Willand

Dominic

OUR FAVORITE LOCAL PLACES

December 18, 2014 5

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FOOD

PHOTOS BY CORA BERN-KLUG

Drifting AwayStudents of different faiths discuss the challenges of navigating

religion in a less-religious nation.By Nova Meurice

& Sarah Smith


ART BY NOVA MEURICE

December 18, 2014 7

In the eyes of the Hindu Temple of Eastern Iowa, Ani Parandkar ‘16 is considered a child. As he walks through the building doors, he fol-

lows behind his family and sits in back. He quietly watches his dad participate in the service. He knows that as the eldest son, he is expected to carry on the Hindu practices. Whether or not he will fulfill this duty, Parandkar doesn’t know.

“I wouldn’t say I’m moving away from [religion]. I just, I keep it down,” Parandkar said. “I still do everything that’s required for it, but I don’t take it in. I don’t really take in what I’m doing, I just fol-low what everybody else is doing. I’m kind of slipping through the cracks.”

Like his parents, Parandkar was born in India and brought up Hindu. Unlike his parents, how-ever, Parandkar was raised in the United States, where religion takes a secondary role in his life.

“I’m Hindu, but basically that means my parents are,” Parandkar said. “In all honesty, I’d probably call myself an atheist.”

Parandkar believes in the core values of Hinduism, such as kind-ness, but he feels that he may just be going through the motions dur-ing services to please his parents.

“Once I’m out of the house I’m probably not going to do anything religious,” Parandkar said. “But for the time being, I’m still following it.”

Parandkar is just one of many Americans who

consider themselves to have “no religious affiliation”. Since the 1960s, the practice of religion in the United States has been on the decline. According to a Gallup Poll, the percentage of people sur-veyed who aren’t affiliated with any religion has risen from two percent in 1960, to 15 percent in 2013. A Pew Research Poll finds that among young people, the numbers are even higher, with one in four 18- to 29-year-olds identifying as unaffiliated.

Yara Moustafa ‘17, like Parandkar, understands the pull to follow tradition, but she feels that as she matures her understanding of Islam has changed.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten more or less religious,” Moustafa said. “I don’t attend Sunday school anymore, but I would say I’m the same amount of religious. I actu-ally know what the things mean [now],” she said. “When you’re growing up at Sunday school or praying at a mosque, you don’t really understand what the Imam, the priest, is saying. But as I grew up and learned the language more, I started to understand it.”

As Moustafa learns more about her religion, she finds some aspects less agreeable than others.

“[My parents] tried to imple-ment it upon me a lot as I was growing up, but as I’m getting older, they’re realizing that I’m obviously going to have my own opinions,” Moustafa said. “My par-ents are very traditional-thinking. I’m very liberal and more open-

minded.”Although

still following her religion, Moustafa doesn’t agree its requir-ing women to wear a hijab.

“My parents know that if they had forced me to do it, then I wouldn’t have actually wanted to do it. They were worried that I would have resented the religion for making me wear something that I didn’t want to wear,” Moustafa said. “I’ve seen girls at my mosque who are forced to wear a hijab. You can tell that they really didn’t want to, but it was their parents’ choice. I guess for Muslims, [you wear a hijab] when you feel like you want to for Allah. I feel like right now in my life, I don’t want to do that.”

Although her parents understand Moustafa’s religious qualms, she thinks they would like to see her live more religiously.

“I think that my parents would definitely like it more if I was as religious as most teenagers are in Egypt, but they know that’s not re-alistic. They know that as much as they would like me to live in Egypt and live in a Muslim-dominated

population, the educa-tion

here is better.” Moustafa’s family chose

to move to the United States for a better quality life, but they sometimes come across religious bias that would be uncommon in Egypt.

“I guess you obviously have a lot of stereotypes against Muslims. We used to live in New York, and my mom told me that after 9/11, when she wore her hijab, people treated her really poorly, whether

it was directly or indirectly,” Moustafa said. “They’d give her nasty looks, and yell things at her.”

Moustafa believes that stereotypes like this can cause people to drift from the Islamic faith. Mousta-fa can recall a personal story of when she experienced discrimination herself.

“When I was 11 or 12, I was at a gas station with my mother, and this woman saw my mother. She stuck her head out of her window and screamed, ‘Go back to your country!’ It was just such a weird experience for me. If I hadn’t been 12 at the time, I probably would have yelled back, because that’s just a stupid thing to do to someone,”

“I STILL DO EVERYTHING THAT’S

REQUIRED FOR IT, BUT I DON’T TAKE IT IN. I DON’T REALLY TAKE

IN WHAT I’M DOING; I JUST FOLLOW WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE IS

DOING. I’M KIND OF SLIPPING THROUGH

THE CRACKS.”

-ANI PARANDKAR ‘16


Moustafa said. “A lot of people are educated, though, and respect other religions. There are just some ignorant people that think that we’re terrorists, which is obviously not the case.”

Even though she occasionally experiences scrutiny and judge-ment for her religion, Moustafa uses her faith to get through it.

“I guess like with every belief system, you find support in it, like if you believe in a higher power. I guess that you can just look to that in a bad time in your life, or when you need guidance. You could pray or stuff of that sort,” she said. “Also, having a mosque in the community has definitely impacted me because you meet more people of the same religion as you. You can relate to them. You can’t really relate to most people on a religious basis at your public school.”

Ayla Canin ‘17 is interested in the Jewish community and culture, but not specifically in the religion itself; she enjoys haverahs, or gatherings of Jewish community members more than religious services.

“We’re sort of in a circle of less-religious Jews. I think that it’s more about that we share; we make food and we have similar values,” Canin said. “Before each [hav-erah], we light candles and sing a song or do an activity, and then we eat Jewish food. I like it because I like the food and I like the people. Whenever we do religious things I just sort of get disinterested.”

Interactions with the Jewish community are the most impor-tant part of the religion for Canin. She remembers one instance when the community came together to help another member.

“When a member of my synagogue was dying, we built her a porch because she wanted to be outside. She was too weak to go outside — she was in hospice — and she could sleep out there and rest out there so that she had peaceful last days,” Canin said. “We’re all just friends, so we help each other when we’re in need.”

She believes that her synagogue provided her with a community, although not necessarily a religion. “I think that it kind of brings people together, and even though I’m not super religious, when I go to the synagogue I know most of the people there. It’s a good way to meet people with a similar back-ground and I think that that’s

do you believe in god?

how religious are you compared to your parents?

religion at City High

religious AFFILIATION

December 18, 2014 9

nice,” Canin said. “To a certain extent, some sort of religion, but not even religion necessarily, just some sort of community is nice to have in your life. I think that a synagogue or church, can provide that, but if you can find [commu-nity] in a place that’s not religious, I think it’s equal. I don’t think it’s about the religion. It’s about the community,” she said.

While Alexander Steele ‘17 agrees that his religion gives him an opportunity to connect with others, he believes his relationship with God is also important.

“I think that [religion] is good because you can get in fellowship with people, and you have a sup-port group if you’re ever struggling with anything,” Steele said. “Being in a relationship with God, it’s nice to be able to talk to him about any issues or anything. Just having reasons for things, why things happened.”

Steele is a member of a Chris-tian church, and the son of a pas-tor. He feels that his parents taught him about Christianity, but didn’t force him toward religion.

“They encouraged me in read-ing the Bible and making decisions on my own,” Steele said. “They haven’t really pushed me toward it, but they have always offered me support, and answered whatever questions I have with it. They have played a huge role in [my religion].”

Steele believes that his parents would want him to remain

Christian, although they

respect that his opinions some-times diverge from theirs.

“They and I have differing ideas sometimes, because there’s that generation gap, but I’d say that I stick pretty well with their beliefs. I’m with them on a lot of issues,” Steele said. “I know that they wouldn’t reject me or anything if I differed on ideas, but sometimes there are little finite differences.”

While most statistics and anecdotal evidence point to an American migration away from religion, the cause of this phenom-enon is still up for debate.

According to the same Gallup Poll that recorded participants’ religious affiliation, the top three reasons people move away from the religion that they were raised with are disagreement about religious teachings, dissatisfac-tion with a local church, and just finding a new and more fulfilling religion. However, Steele believes that the change may be due to the fading of tradition, coupled with more advanced technology.

“It seems like, if we’re being so advanced, that means that we don’t necessarily need these reasons for why we’re here. Because we’re pretty much proving how smart we are and that we can do things,” Steele said. “ I also think that the younger generations don’t look up to previous generations or older texts, just seeing what they believed, and they’re not passing down traditions as much.”

Others, such as Moustafa think that young people may be mov-

ing away from

religion because they are more independent from their parents than previous generations.

“I feel like teenagers are be-coming a lot more independent as they grow up, because we can have our own money, we can drive and we’re a lot more independent than teens were be in the 1940s or ‘50s,” she said.

While Moustafa likes being Muslim, she doesn’t think it’s bad that people are leaving some aspects of reli-gion behind.

“I think it’s good that people are more open-minded about religious things,” she said. “A lot of traditional religious classical stuff teaches that a lot of things are frowned upon, but a lot of those things are all around us.”

For instance, Moustafa disagrees with traditional values regarding gay marriage.

“Most Muslims believe that gay marriage isn’t a thing, and that you shouldn’t be gay. I myself don’t think that’s true,” she said. “I guess, for me, I find a lot of things that I don’t agree with that my parents do. I think that it’s good that we

wouldn’t judge people like they would

back then.”Others, including Steele,

believe that moving away from religion is a mistake.

“I’d say that’s a bad thing, just because it’s really important to be-lieve in God,” Steele said. “Because that gives you a sense of purpose, and if you don’t have that, then

you’re really kind of living for nothing, or just for your daily pleasures.”

While Steele looks to God for answers and for his sense of purpose, Parandkar has trouble doing so because he feels all the expla-nations he needs can be found without religious

interpretation.“I think it’s mostly because of

the mythological aspect, like when there’s a storm, it’s not because someone is mad,” Parandkar said. “Now we know about science and math. It’s hard for people to let go of the old belief, even though we have evidence that proves it wrong,” Parandkar said. “It’s hard to let go of that.”

“SOME SORT OF COMMUNITY IS NICE

TO HAVE IN YOUR LIFE. I THINK THAT A SYNAGOGUE OR

CHURCH CAN PROVIDE THAT, BUT IF YOU CAN FIND [COMMUNITY] IN A PLACE THAT’S NOT

RELIGIOUS, I THINK IT’S EQUAL.”

-AYLA CANIN ‘17


FINDING THE BEST WAY TO SHOP

By Sadie Hobbs & Lucy

McGehee

With a click of a mouse, or a grab off the shelf, holiday gifts are becoming easier and easier to purchase,

either by making a quick trip to the mall, or by typing a credit card number online. But not everyone is sold on the practicalities of the virtual marketplace.

“When I’m online, the vast majority of the time I don’t buy anything. I’m just looking and looking and wanting everything,” Esmé Rummelhart ‘17 said.

Along with sophisticated web-sites, stores have developed apps that can be accessed anywhere on their mobile device. These apps can be tempting to use extensively, because they are essentially like carrying stores in your pocket.

“I’m definitely addicted [to online shopping], because I can do it whenever,”Tory Yeater ‘16 said. “I can literally shop online during school.”

The looming label on the teenage generation seems to be the “technology-addicted youth”. However, some teens still go to the mall to inspect the quality of the items that they are interested in, rather than just shopping online.

“I prefer mall shopping or downtown shopping. When you’re shopping online, the clothes tend to look funny when they come, and you can’t try things on,” Rum-melhart said.

As the holiday season contin-ues, the malls become busier, and the lines longer.

“I think [the mall] needs more people working; like cashiers, or more cash registers,” Talia Ro-sazza ‘17 said. “Usually there aren’t enough, and there are a lot

PHOTO BY CAROLINE BROWN

December 18, 2014 11

of people if it’s a busy store.” When it comes to online

shopping, the price of shipping is a large factor. Shipping can range anywhere from being free, to be-ing more than the item itself.

“It costs much more to ship than to just buy in-store,” Ro-sazza said.

Especially during the holiday season, items popular online can get back-ordered, and may not arrive on schedule.

“When things don’t come on time, it’s kind of frustrat-ing because you’re counting on something,” Rummelhart said. “You can’t just go and pick it up. It’s waiting to be delivered to you.”

Rum-melhart feels that an ad-vantage of shop-ping in person, as op-posed to online, is that you are in posses-sion of the item as soon as you purchase it.

“When I’m waiting in line, I just like having my items or clothes, and taking them home and picking them up so I can use them right away,” Rummelhart said.

Although people get their items instantly at the mall, a common frustration is that de-sired items may be out of stock, not carried in the store, or out of stock in some sizes.

“There are always more clothes online,” Yeater said. “If you’re looking for a specific thing, it’s so much easier to find online than at a store.”

The U.S. will spend ap-proximately $327 billion online in 2016, an increase of about 45 percent since 2012. The boost in online spending shows that many more Americans are using the

Internet to shop.“Right now, I’m only trying to

buy Christmas presents, not for myself,” Yeater said. “But other times it’s hard not to spend a lot of money, because you just type in your card number and you don’t really see the money leaving.”

Thanksgiving shopping went up an estimated 24 percent, while Black Friday shopping went down nearly seven percent, as compared to 2013.

“I think people go too crazy on [Black Friday]; people spend so much money. If you think about it, [the price can be the same] for the same thing,”

Rosazza said.

The popular-ity of Black Friday has led online stores to strike back with their own ver-sion of massive deals.

“[Cy-ber Mon-day] is so cheap,

and they always have really good deals,” Yeater said. “It’s basically Black Friday without the crazi-ness.”

This past Cyber Monday, consumers spent more than $2 billion, an increase of a quarter of a billion over last year.

“I think holiday shopping can be really convenient to do online, just because a lot of times you’re purchasing a lot more things,” Rummelhart said.

The choice between mall shopping and online shopping can come down to the necessity of an item, and patience, even for diehard, in-store shoppers.

“I don’t mind waiting for shipping, because I’ve survived long enough without the items I just bought,” Rummelhart said. “I’ll be fine for two more days.”

“I’M DEFINITELY ADDICTED [TO ONLINE SHOPPING], BECAUSE I CAN DO IT WHENEVER,

AND I CAN LITERALLY SHOP ONLINE DURING

SCHOOL.”

-TORY YEATER ‘16

HOW M U C H WE SPEND

ART BY NOVA MEURICE


Cozy fireplaces, snow fall-ing outside the window, and familiar holiday movies displayed on a flat screen T.V. are what

most people visualize when they think of the holiday season. But for some people, the holiday sea-son doesn’t mean a break or time to relax with family; they are just trying to get by.

Doug Lestina works in the attendance office at City High to make the lives of kids without a home a little more manageable. He has discovered that the holiday season is especially disheartening.

“By the time they get to high school, a lot of the kids that I’ve talked to have come to the realization that getting something for Christmas is not something that happens,” Lestina said. “And they’re used to it, which is sad. Gifts are a big part of the holidays, and family time doesn’t happen for most of them.”

Watching the holiday shop-pers stroll through downtown can be difficult, but these kids have bigger worries. Living without a home also has its effects on other aspects of these students’ lives, of-ten meaning that getting to school in the morning a challenge.

“Normally, I take care of attendance,” Lestina said. “At-tendance is often an issue with homeless students, and that’s my key role: keeping track of that and making sure that if students aren’t here, we figure out why, and figure out what we can do to get them here more often.”

City High student John* and

his family recently moved from Chicago to a shelter in Iowa City. His mother was able to find a job, and they were able to move out.

“We used to live in the shelter, when we first came out here. My mom was struggling, and we were in DVIP for a few weeks,” John said. “Then we moved to Lakeside.”

The DVIP (Domestic Vio-lence Intervention Program) pro-vides help and support to single parents, mostly women, who are trying to get out of abusive rela-tionships.

“I have a single mom,” John said. “My dad left when I was two, and I don’t really know what hap-pened.”

Single parents, a lack of affordable housing, and underem-ployment (employed but unable to make an adequate salary to raise a family) are three of the biggest contributors of poverty in America. John recognizes all of these factors as contributors to situations like his.

“It was a last minute thing,” John said. “My mom’s brother was living out here, and we thought we were going to stay with him, but he ended up moving to California. That’s why we were in the shelter.”

Although it’s not the same as living in a home, John found the shelter to be a positive experience.

“In the shelter, they helped us out a lot; they provided us with clothes and the necessities,” he said. “It was really helpful.”

Lestina has found helpful con-tacts at the shelter.

“If a kid is in a shelter, they

have a contact that encourages communication between social services, and the shelter,” Lestina said. “We will know if they’re stay-ing in the shelter, or if they aren’t returning at night.”

John found living in a place with so many people to be strange.

“It wasn’t really crowded, but there was a good number of people,” he said. “From time to time people were loud; snoring or waking up early, which made it hard to sleep. I felt safe, though.”

Eventu-ally, with assistance from the shelter, John and his family were able to move out and get establish their footing. For them, the time spent in the shelter is proof that being homeless doesn’t always mean living on the streets: it applies to anyone who does not have their own street address.

“I don’t know of any kids who are living on the street as of right now. They are either sheltered or living with another family,” Lestina said.

Even for these kids, as winter settles in, getting to and from

school can be difficult. “Using public transportation,

as it gets colder, is dangerous,” Les-tina said. “Especially when it starts to fall into negative degrees.”

Lestina has also found that cold weather can negatively affect attendance for these students.

“If they don’t have the right clothes and jackets for the winter, they are less likely to come to

school. They’re not going to want to come outside, because it’s cold,” Lestina said. “They don’t have the ability to jump into a warm car and ride to school, and then to jump out and walk right into the

building. For them it may mean standing and waiting at the bus stop, or walking. They may make the decision not to come, if that’s the case.”

Unfortunately, skipping school only makes life tougher in the long run. Lestina believes that his job is to get every student to school as often as possible.

“When you are homeless, or are living in a shelter, school becomes a lot less important. The

By Caroline Brown

“BY THE TIME THEY GET TO HIGH SCHOOL, A LOT OF THE KIDS

THAT I’VE TALKED TO HAVE COME TO THE REALIZATION THAT

GETTING SOMETHING FOR CHRISTMAS IS

NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS.”

-DOUG LESTINA

Holidays Without a HomeMost of us think of the holidays as a time to relax. For some in Iowa City,

that is not the case.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy


basic needs aren’t met, so it’s hard to get to school,” Lestina said. “My job is to try and get their basic needs met, so they can get here and be successful.”

How exactly can a student receive help? Most of the homeless students at City High are self-identified, and it’s not always easy to ask for support.

“I keep it to myself,” John said. “I don’t tell my friends.”

Lestina finds that students are often reluctant to ask for help, because they are worried about the judgements of others.

“The kids don’t want to be identified. Especially as a high-schooler, as an adolescent, they just want to fit in, and be here,” Bacon said. “Some of them don’t want anybody to know; some of

them you’d have no idea,” he said.Although confiding in other

people can be hard, Cece* has found the faculty at City High to be of much assistance. Like John, she moved to Iowa City recently, and is living with her aunt.

“My aunt is struggling to pay my way to get on the bus, so I go to the guidance office, and get the 31 day bus cards,” Cece said.

Even with the assistance from the guidance office, being left outside during the winter to wait for public transportation services can be problematic.

“I have to wait for the bus, and it takes a long time to come,” she said. “It’s really cold in the mornings. I’ve gotten sick because of that; I just recently got over a cold.”

Getting home from school presents the same problem.

“Sometimes I get a ride home from my best friend and her mom, but sometimes I have to take the bus,” Cece said.

After Cece moved, she faced problems beyond transporta-tion to and from school. She was separated from part of her family, due to certain circumstances of the move.

“I live with my aunt, and it’s only me and her,” she said. “My sister was going to live with us, too, but then my brothers came out here, so now I just live with my aunt. [This is so] it wouldn’t be so hard for my mom until she can get back on her feet. I have my own room, but at the same time, I want to be with my sisters and brothers.”

Being apart from family dur-ing the holiday season is not ideal, but Cece would like to make this Christmas as normal as possible.

“We do a tree, but I don’t get as much stuff as I normally would, because it’s hard to get the bills paid right now,” she said. “But I am very grateful for the stuff that I do get.”

Even in her arduous situation, Cece is still a believer that it is more important to give than to get.

“There are other kids out there in bad predicaments-worse than mine,” she said. “People can maybe donate food and warm clothes, or anything they can possibly donate to help others, they know they’ve got someone on their side.”

Homelessness in the United States

INFOGRAPHIC BY OLIVIA PARROTT



Life on StageA profile of

sophomore addie bass


Trembling from behind the curtain, her palms are slick as excitement wells in her veins, and a heady sense of

nervousness throbs in her abdo-men. She wonders to herself, “Why do I do this?” before stepping out from stage right. The anxiety she felt only a few moments ago melts away, and her question is answered as she finds her way beneath blind-ing spotlights.

Addie Bass ‘17 breathes in the world of theatre, delving into both City High and community drama programs.

“To be able to tell someone else’s story in front of hundreds of people is just amazing,” Bass said. “It’s scarier standing on the side of the stage right before you go on than it is actually performing. When you really get into it you just lose yourself in the character, or the music, or the dancing.”

While her wistful passion is prevalent among many fresh faced actors her age, there is a stark difference between Bass and most high schoolers. She is known for taking on unconventional roles in her acting career, pushing the boundaries of theatre by playing both male and female characters.

“I think there’s a lot more room when you’re playing a guy to just fool around and do what you want,” Bass said. “It’s an ironic portrayal of how you view the opposite gender. It’s always been a lot of fun because, from what I’ve observed, when girls are in theatre it tends to be a lot more competi-

tive than when guys are in theatre.”Bass began her acting career at

a young age.“In sixth grade I was a lost boy

in Peter Pan at City High. A couple Young Footlighter shows later, I was in a show called Blackbird,” she said. Bass also appeared in Oli-ver!, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and, of course, The Diviners.

Now in her second year of high school, Bass encourages stu-dents to get involved in the many programs that City High offers, although she was herself hesitant to join during her freshman year.

“I didn’t really get involved in anything first tri of my freshman year,” Bass said. “The biggest ad-vice I could give to anyone in high school is to get involved, because life truly does begin outside of your comfort zone. If you had told me in middle school that I would be friends with the people I am with now, I would say, ‘No, I’ll stay with my little group,’ but branching out has really widened my view on high school.”

Her plans for the year are simple.

“Next is just keeping a cool head on things and focusing on school work,” she said.

Beyond high school, her goals are somewhat more complex.

“I’d like to be happy and suc-cessful. I really want to get some place in life. I don’t want to stay in Iowa, even though it is a wonder-ful place. I’d like to go out and see the world, and really experience life through other people’s per-spectives, as well as my own.”

By Nina Dang

PHOTOS BY KIERRA ZAPF

Addie Bass pushes the boundaries

of theater, combining an

optimistic point of view with

intriguing gender fluidity.


A decade ago, attention deficit disorders were a rarity. Today, ADHD is the most common

psychiatric illness in America’s youth.

The number of kids being diagnosed with ADHD is on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approxi-mately 6.4 million, or 11 percent, of children ages four to 17 had been diag-nosed with ADHD as of 2011. This number is a 50 percent leap from just a decade ago, and today, it seems that struggling to focus could even be the norm.

“When I was younger, everyone would notice that I had it,” Eddy Galstad ‘16 said. “But now every-one’s like, ‘Oh, you have ADHD?’”

This increase can be observed on a local scale as well. From the

2009-10 school year to the 2013-14 school year, the percentage of students in the ICCSD diagnosed with ADHD has almost doubled, from 3.9 percent to 7.2 percent. The rise in diagnoses has been observed by district faculty.

“Definitely I have [noticed],” Jen BarbouRoske, ICCSD school

nurse, said. “But it could be that [ADHD] has been there before, and more cases are just being diagnosed now.”

Barbou-Roske’s theory falls right into the national discussion

of why the number of diagnoses is rising. Are we simply better at identifying ADHD? Are diagnoses being handed out too liberally? Could it be that our brains are actually changing?

Take a line that many teenag-ers can say they’ve heard: “I can’t focus. I think I have ADHD”. This

is self-diagnosis. It may seem like an overreaction, but really, for some-one who is not especially knowledge-able about the

symptoms of ADHD, and even for someone who is, having trouble focusing seems like a sure symptom of ADHD. This idea of self-diagnosis is something that could be con-tributing to the overall increase in children with ADHD.

“I think we’re over-diagnosing ourselves, if that makes sense,” Galstad said. “Mentally you’re like ‘I can’t focus today, I must have ADHD,’ using it as an excuse.”

A simple Google search will present you with endless online ADHD tests. Although these tests

are unofficial, and are only meant to be a ‘general guide’, their effects are not insignificant. They increase the number people reporting they have ADHD, and send more people to the doctor’s office to get official tests.

The fact that ADHD tests may not be thorough enough falls right in line with inaccurate diagno-sis. Doctors are diagnosing and prescribing medication too freely. Some students who have taken the test themselves believe that these

tests could even be faked in order to receive a diagnosis.

“I honest-ly think you can lie your way through [the tests for ADHD],” Michael Mar-tin ‘16 said. “Or a kid

who’s seven years old, who might not know any better, could say something like ‘I’m having trouble focusing.’ Then they might be di-agnosed with ADHD, when really

Att en t i o n D efi c i t H y p er act i v i ty...

D i s o r d er?

By Anton Buri

“I HONESTLY THINK YOU CAN LIE YOUR WAY THROUGH [THE TESTS FOR ADHD].”

-MICHAEL MARTIN ‘16

“IT COULD BE THAT ADHD HAS BEEN

THERE BEFORE AND MORE CASES,

ARE JUST BEING DIAGNOSED NOW.”

-JEN BARBOUROSKE


didn’t have to go through any testing.

“I was kind of loud in school, but I never really noticed anything else. I was just kind of told to take medicine, really,” Matthew said.

About a year ago, Matthew stopped taking his medicine.

“I stopped taking those [medi-cations] by my own choice. I just decided I didn’t really need to anymore,” he said. “I’ve always told my doctor that I couldn’t really tell the difference [when I didn’t take my meds], and I was never really doing any different in school when I didn’t.”

Although not proven, some research has pointed to genetics as a primary cause of ADHD. That may indicate that Matthew’s diag-nosis was not entirely unjust—it’s more an example of jumping to conclusions, when they might not be accurate.

Studies have shown that genet-ics aren’t the only factor in the presence of ADHD. One of the suspects is technology. The intro-duction of new technology has a direct correlation with the increas-ing number of ADHD diagnoses.

A study by the American Acad-emy of Pediatrics indicates that kids who spend more time looking at screens have more trouble pay-ing attention for longer periods of time than their peers who spend less time with technol-ogy.

“I think that [tech-nology] is kind of an is-sue right now in our gen-eration. We’re al-ways in front of screens that are constantly changing,” Galstad said. “There’s always something to do, and then as soon as something gets boring, we don’t want to do it anymore.”

Fast-paced technology may

contrast with the pace at which students do other things, such as learning in school.

“I have no definitive proof of anything. I have suspicions that there is some technology that kids

spend more time looking at,” Bar-bouRoske said. “Whether it be a T.V. screen or a video game, the image changes at such a rapid rate that you’re constantly reset-ting. It’s constant interaction that way, as opposed to when you’re looking at a page of book —it’s there, it’s not changing, and you’re moving and controlling

the pace.”While some see technology as

a possible cause of ADHD, others think it could actually be a remedy for the disorder. Video games and T.V. release a pleasure-causing

hormone called dopamine. It is the same hormone that is in drugs prescribed to kids with ADHD, to stimulate the brain and make the individual more attentive.

Regardless of the reasons the numbers of diagnoses are increas-ing, the trend is concerning to many.

“I do think it’s a problem — I think I could have been diagnosed wrongly,” Matthew said. “When you do diagnose people who don’t actually have it, it skews the num-bers and makes ADHD seem like not as big of a problem. It makes it way more common than it needs to be, and sort of lessens the actual issue,” he said.

Galstad experienced problems with the perception of ADHD as less severe and more common when it came to standardized testing.

“I got re-tested [for ADHD] again this year, and they submit-ted it to the College Board,” she said. “The College Board was said, ‘Sorry, you can’t have testing ac-commodations. Before that, it was the test from when I was 10 or 11, when it was ‘bad’ enough that I

“I THINK THAT [TECHNOLOGY] IS KIND OF AN ISSUE

RIGHT NOW IN OUR GENERATION. WE’RE

ALWAYS IN FRONT OF SCREENS THAT ARE CONSTANTLY

CHANGING.”

-EDDY GALSTAD ‘16

ADHD in the ICCSD


7Average age of diagnosis

ADHD in the United States

3-6Age when symptoms typically appear

Children aged four to 17 diagnosed with

ADHD 6 . 4million

3%Increase in diagnoses every

year between 1997 and 2006

1 in 5High school boys who have been

diagnosed with ADHD

SOURCES: THE CDC AND HEALTHLINE.COMART BY CORA BERN-KLUG & ANTON BURI

don’t receive adequate accommodations for learning disabilities may be at a disadvantage when it comes time for college applications.

“The way it is right now, if you don’t do well on tests or if you don’t do well in school, then you don’t get into your dream college,” Galstad said.

Another consequence of overdiagnosis is the in-creasing number of patients receiving possibly harmful drugs. Because they are so new, the long term effects of the drugs commonly prescribed for ADHD are unknown.

“The woman that diagnosed me was like, ‘We don’t know the long term effects of this yet’,” Galstad said. “She warned us, which I thought was really great.”

Still, medication is necessary for many, and that’s why it’s important to prescribe it only to those who really need it.

“ADHD is not just having a short attention span. There’s more to go along with it,” Galstad said. “Being medicated for me is kind of a necessity in terms of be-ing able to learn and being able to do well on tests.”

To avoid the inaccuracies sometimes present in oth-er types of learning disability assessments, in-person observation sessions are sometimes implemented.

“That’s one of the things that the school has sometimes done,” BarbouRoske said. “They’ll bring in somebody to observe kids in a classroom where parents have requested and that person will look at the kid that they’re supposed to look at , but also at another random kid in the class. They’ll do a percentage. So this kid was on task 90 percent of the time where the other kid was only on task 30 percent of the time.”

In response to increasing recognition of shortening attention spans in children and young people, schools are taking action in a number of ways. In the ICCSD, the P.E. department has recently implemented an activ-ity called ‘brain breaks’.

“Kids will sit for part of math class, then maybe part way through they’ll get up and do some jumping jacks,” BarbouRoske said. “So if it’s just a ‘wiggly’ thing, it helps kids focus more. They just started doing it in the last couple years. We’ve found some really big success with that, making sure kids get adequate mobility and movement during class. That’s why recess is such an important thing for the little kids.”

Strategies like these that get kids mobile during school are designed help students who struggle with paying attention for longer periods of time. As for the challenge of distinguishing students who have trouble paying attention, from students who actually have ADHD, doctors and teachers alike still struggle with interpreting the rising number of diagnoses.

“It needs to be looked at. Absolutely,” BarbouRoske said. “It’s the idea that every kids’ needs need to be met. You have to look at the core group of kids. If every kindergartner has ADHD, then we’re not diagnosing properly. You have to take time and make sure it’s an attention issue and not other things.”


WINTER FUN FOR EVERYONE

Quizzes, fashion, and more!By Arielle Soemadi

The classic “boots and a sweater” combo is always popular come winter. While it’s cute, it can get a little boring. Lauren O’Brien ‘16 shows us how she likes to dress this time of year, featuring some downtown purchases and a lot from online.

“I shop mostly online now,” O’Brien said. “It’s much more convenient, and there is a lot more variety of store and clothing options.”O’Brien dresses to stay both warm and stylish all winter long.“You can always tie an outfit and an accessory together,” O’Brien said. “In the winter, I like to use scarves. I prefer knit scarves because they keep

you so much warmer.”

PHOTOS BY CAROLINE BROWN

For more winter fashion tips, check out the winter boot guide on thelittlehawk.com!


Everyone (okay, not everyone) loves a good ugly sweater. Here are a few of our favorite styles. From left to right: the Cozy Cardigan; the Subtle (read: manly) Sweater; the Traditional; and, finally, the All-Out Holiday-Loving, Wow-This-Is-Kind-Of-Heavy Mega-Sweater. Choose your favor-ite and get into the holiday spirit!


A HOLIDAY GAMEA few tic-tac-toe boards to keep you entertained over this winter break.

LITTLE HAWK FEATURE MAGAZINE

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