Tig rHiLi eMarch 3, 2009 Volume 49 Issue 16 1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

Max HerreStaff Writer

As prom approaches most students check the web pages from leading dress producers to get a sneak peek at some of the best look-ing dresses of the season, but pretty prom dresses have their price and not everybody can or wants to spend so much money on a dress that they are just going to wear once.

With this thought in the back of her head, choir teacher Kendra Wohlert and the women’s choir decided to sell gently used prom dresses for a lot less than their origi-nal price, which makes them very affordable for students with tight budgets.

“Part of the experience of prom for young women is the buying of the dress. Girlfriends get together and they make an afternoon (or two) of it. We want the women to have a unique and special experience buy-ing a dress from us. Our choir room will be decorated like a boutique complete with complimentary tea and cakes. We have a large full length mirror and dressing rooms as well,” Wohlert said.

Even though junior Alicia Tindall has been looking for a dress for a long time, she supports the choir selling prom dresses.

“It’s a great idea. Prom is a fairly expensive event, and it’s great that prom dresses are being re-worn. I think it really helps out a lot of high school students who can’t afford the price of a new dress and other costs that prom includes,” Tindall said.

Wohlert and the women in choir are going to fit and sell the dresses. Interested buyers can just come into the “Something Elegant Boutique” (choir room 178 at the high school). The choir members will help them to find a dress in their size and pre-ferred color.

The choir is also selling like new shoes, handbags, accessories and jewelry, as well as brand new lo-tions, perfume and makeup items.

“It is a win-win situation for everyone,” Wohlert said.

Wohlert said that the choir needed a fundraiser for its program but at the same time it can help women go to prom who otherwise couldn’t afford to go. She said in this economy everyone is hurting for money. Wohlert added that they “don’t feel right doing a fund raiser that sells cheap and largely useless items to family members just to get a percentage of the profit.”

The sale runs Saturday, March 7 from 12-4 and Sunday, March 8 from 1-4. The Something Elegant Boutique will also be available before, during and after school the week of March 9-12. The final sale is Tuesday, March 24 from 3:30-5.

The women’s choir is also look-ing for people who would like to sell their prom dresses and accessories on consignment as well. The students would pay a $10 non-refundable fee for handling and advertising of their dress or accessories and put what-ever price the seller would like on it. The choir will do its best to sell the seller’s items. Donated dresses and accessories are welcomed too. For further questions, contact Wohlert at wohlertk@cedar-falls.k12.ia.us.

For many students, prom is one of their most important events in their high school career.

Tindall admitted that she’d prob-ably “be more excited when I get a dress, but I am definitely looking forward to prom this year. Prom is an event people usually remember their whole lives, and I am excited to share the experience with my friends.”

Somthing Elegant: CFHS treble choir hosts prom sale with affordable dresses, accessories

“It is a win-win situation

for every-one.”

—Kendra Wohlertchoir director

Chelsea Larsen Photos

1.

2.

3.

1. Choir director Kendra Wohlert helps sophomore Riley Hoffman into a dress so she can model it.2. All of the models pose with the dresses. Standing from the left are junior Amelia Sutton, sophomore Ellie Chestnut, sophomore Cadi Trask, sophomore Riley Hoffman, sophomore Sarah Wall-ingford, sophomore Kelsey Finke and sophomore Lisa Boelman. Seated are sophomore Melina Gotera and sophomore Hannah Eilderts.

3. Shoes and other prom ac-cessories are available at the “Something Elegant Bou-tique.” The boutique will of-fer gently used prom dresses and accessories such as shoes, handbags and jewelry for a cost that is more affordable than if the items were pur-chased new in stores.

“I request that during that month our people rededicate them-selves to the splendid aims and activities of the Red Cross.”

—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first Presidential Proclama-tion of March as Red Cross Month, 1943

N ws2 March 3, 2009

T ig rHiLi e

Ben Olson Staff Writer

Recently, Cedar Falls Community Schools were awarded a $31,000 grant that will help to improve security at Cedar Falls High School. The money will go towards 32 new video cameras connected to a central video recording system for moni-toring. In addition, new door entry systems will be put into place on the exterior doors that will be controlled electronically with cards or key fobs.

“The Black Hawk County gam-ing commission provided us with this money. We are going to be able to double the amount of cameras we have here,” said principal Richard Powers.

The reasons for a security update are mainly for safety, but also be-cause the current system is outdated.

“It’s like a cell phone that is five years old. You wouldn’t use it. Our current security system is six or seven years old. This grant helped

reduce tax-payer burden on the com-munity project. Overall, the upgrade could cost $75-80,000,” said Dr. Powers.

Currently, some areas of the school are not under camera view.

“We have a large multilevel building with several unsupervised areas. This opportunity to expand our security system may serve as a deterrent to theft and/or violence,” said associate principal Dana Deines.

There will also be other updates besides the 32 cameras provided by gaming commission grant.

“Our plans are to update our building access and security by introducing a new door entry system to better monitor access to each part of our building. The plan will have five or six doors converted to an electronic key lock system with a sensor system to monitor all other outside doors,” said Dr. Deines.

The advantages of an electronic locking system are that more doors will be locked down and staff won’t

have to worry about losing an expen-sive key.

“One-hundred percent of doors won’t be open one-hundred percent of the time anymore. We are planning on ev-ery teacher hav-ing an electronic key to the new system, and police will have access to the camera monitoring,” said Dr. Powers

The new cameras have much better image quality and storage capacity than the current ones, and they aren’t limited to views inside the hall anymore.

“Most of our current cameras are focused inside the building and around main entrances and corridors. With the proposed updates, we may be able to monitor behavior both inside and outside the building,” said Dr. Deines.

Overall, the new security mea-sures provide an update and maintain

safety for our school.“The purpose of this is not tar-

geted at catching tardy students. We are fine tuning to make things safe, but at the same time we aren’t trying to lock down the school completely,” said Dr. Powers.

Cedar Falls sets up new security cameras

Arlene Freudenberg New Editor

The CFHS robotics team (Team 525) made it to the semifinals in the Kansas City Regional FIRST Robotics Competition on Saturday. Feb. 28.

“The object of the game is to put moon rocks into other robots’ trailers that they carry at the end of their robots. There are two alliances that compete against each other and the match last two minutes 15 seconds with a 15 second autonomous period where the robots are controlled com-pletely with preprogrammed code,” senior Deanna Amet said.

The team had a very successful day on Saturday. They were even picked to be an alliance for the semifinals.

“It was so exciting to be on the floor and discuss strategy with the

other teams. When I heard we got picked for the finals, I screamed and freaked out. It is neat to meet other people and see how so many of them solve a single problem in so many different ways,” Amet said.

Cedar Falls was one of the few schools that competed in the finals.

“There were a total of 61 teams there, and we ended up getting picked by the 4th-seeded alliance and ended up going into semifinals and losing to the first alliance, which means our alliance got third,” Amet said.

The team improved a lot through-out the weekend.

“At the end of Friday, we ranked 46th out of 61 teams, behind the team with the robot who could barely coordinate dumping balls, but had a great showing Saturday. We man-aged to move our rank up to 20th and most importantly get picked as

Robo Respect:alliance partners with the 4th-ranked team to move on to the quarter finals and then semi finals,” senior Michael Miller said.

An impressive ranking was not the only thing the team took home.

“We won the gracious profes-sionalism award, an award for helping other teams. It was great recognition for specifically one of our mentors who helped so many teams out,” Miller said.

The team showed some outstand-ing character while at the competi-tion to obtain the award.

“We won the award because we helped a team who had their trailer stolen. Mr. Swartley came up with the idea to donate our MasterCard gift cards to team 1108. We asked around and collected over 20 dona-tions, so we collected about $2,000. Also, Neil Kruempel, one of our main programming mentors, went

around to teams in need and helped them program their autonomous modes or helped with their drivers’ stations,” sophomore Emily Hurban said.

Robotics team receives professionalism award

“The award means more to us than

if we had actually won the Region-

al.” —Emily Hurban

sophomore

Although they did win the Gra-cious Professionalism award, they did not help the other team just to simply earn the award.

“It was really neat just to help a team in need just because we wanted to and not for recognition,” Amet

said.However, when the announcer

confirmed that the team had woin the prestigious award, the robotics team was far more than simply enthusi-astic.

“During the award ceremony, I leaned over to Hannah Howland and whispered ‘I want this so bad.’ When the announcer started listing off things we had done I was making a mental checklist. I was in so much shock when we actually got picked. I think I jumped about 10 feet into the air. Everyone there was so happy for us. That award means more to us than if we had actually won the Regional,” Hurban said.

On Monday, March 2, Swartley and most of the driving team — Jen-nifer Hurban, Hannah Easton and Chris Guetzlaff — drove to the capi-tal in Des Moines where they will be in the lobby area to talk about and showcase the robot to the legislators.

3March 3, 2009

Opi ioNT ig rHiLi e

g

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. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Wednesdays 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 Wednesday. 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: Honor Heindl, Kellie Petersen and Ellen Wrede

Business Managers: Jill Dally and Alex EntzNews Editors: Arlene Freudenberg and Sara Strever

Opinion Editors: Maggie Devine and Vincent StiglianiSports Editors: Jackie Jordan, Nick Penticoff and Paul Strike

Feature Editor: Honor HeindlOn-Line Editors: Torie Jochims and Ellen Wrede

Entertainment Editors: Maggie Devine and Torie JochimsPhoto Editor: Honor Heindl

Cartoonist: Katie DexterGraphic Artist: Tasha Woods

o vu eir w

Vincent StiglianiOpinion Editor

Student finds choices overwhelming

The high school is poised to receive a $31,000 grant for security improvement, and students can expect major changes to security for next school year. Among the changes are increases in updated security cameras connected to a central monitoring system and a new door entry system accessed electronically with cards.

These changes to security will bring obvious benefits. The money allows not only for updates to the now outdated technology of the cur-rent security cameras, but it also provides more of them. No longer will there be any areas in the school not under security camera surveillance that should be.

Also, we believe that the new door entry system is another positive as doors will no longer be left unlocked during the day and will only be able to be accessed by those who should enter. Teachers and janitors will also not need to worry about misplacing expensive and cumber-some keys.

However, although the changes to security have obvious benefits, we believe there is also a potential downside. As of now, the security changes are welcome and do not seem overly imposing, but we worry that they may lead to increased security measures. Students at Cedar Falls High School are relatively fortunate concerning their freedom compared with students at other high schools across the country where some students need to cross through metal detectors just to get to class, and we feel that the new security changes in no way threaten students freedom.

Nevertheless, concerns about security may sometimes send the wrong message: the message that students are expected to commit wrongs that call for being monitored.

Student security is obviously important, and we feel that new secu-rity changes brought by the grant money will only help to better protect students without overly imposing on their lives.

However, we would like to caution against too strict of security measures as they send a negative message to students concerning their behavior.

Security steps provide needed safety, yet warrant reserved use

The other day, I was waiting in line at an ice cream shop when it hit me. As is often the case, I could not decide what I wanted. There was a handful of forms the ice cream could come it (cone, shake, cup, smoothie, etc.), all that could come in four different sizes. Then there were about 50 differ-ent flavors, all that could be had alone or in a combination. I made a hurried de-cision, but all these decisions set me up for disappoint-ment. How could I be content with my decision when there were hundreds of options I didn’t choose?

According to my experience at the ice cream parlor, happiness is not found in limitless flavors, forms

and sizes. Still, I would have felt undoubtedly disappointed if my op-tion was limited to a medium-sized vanilla cone. Personally, I don’t even like cones, and I do prefer a more

dressed up flavor like spu-moni or moose tracks. So, what is the perfect amount of choice?

Well, the answer to this question isn’t easy to decipher. There is a fine line between choices empowering and just plain overwhelming. I think of being a child and going to the grocery store with my mother. She would allow me to choose the cereal we would eat that week. While the cereal aisle

can be daunting on one’s own, my mother’s guidelines automatically eliminated whole shelves of boxes bearing household names such as Cap’n Crunch and Lucky Charms.

Then there was the price limit factor, which left me with a group of cereals that came in drab orange boxes and bore the titles of All Bran or Grape Nuts.

It goes against common under-standing of happiness to actually feel empowered by limits—in this case, price and sugar content.

However, I can say that I never once looked back after selecting the box of Quaker Oat Squares. At home I savored my breakfast without pin-ing for Lucky Charms. I believe that this is the medium between too many choices and too few. The difficulty is establishing those limitations for oneself in a country that is known for giving the consumer free choice. Perhaps the answer is limiting yourself accordingly. Going back to the ice cream—long term, I need to save money and short term, I’d like to avoid a migraine from too much sugar—looks it’s the small bowl of frozen yogurt.

Cutting of baseball ends tradition

Alex EntzBusiness Manager

The saga of UNI Baseball guar-antees that no sport is safe in the current climate of heady budget cuts. No matter whether the program has been around for nine years or 103 years—nay, Title IX and mistaken public officials have decided to re-write the traditional rules.

In place of spread-ing the cuts around to various sports, UNI decided to cut the one of the oldest programs in the United States, let alone Iowa. Without question, UNI baseball has been a major program around the campus for over a hundred years. Rick Heller, the UNI base-ball coach, runs sev-eral annual programs to help out baseball athletes from around the state. His expertise and the effect he had in shaping numer-ous varsity baseball players was ei-ther not taken into account or under-estimated. Spreading the cuts around to the different sports, particularly

to travel expenses incurred by sports bringing in little money (women’s tennis, women’s golf, cross country) would have worked much better than cutting such a revered sport. UNI claimed its competitive edge could be damaged, but the cuts have little

to do with the quality of players UNI currently has. By spreading the cuts across the board, UNI could have saved baseball and a lot of hard feelings to boot. Baseball is America’s sport — not soccer or tennis or volleyball. These sports bring in far less than baseball (near-ly $100,000). Not only do they play a small role in the community, they are younger and far more expendable

than a 103-year old program glorify-ing America’s greatest game.

Then the casual observer sees Ti-tle IX come into play. The decision was partly shaped because UNI’s women student-male student ratio (57-43) to the women athlete-male

athlete ratio (39-61) necessitated the cutting of a male sport. Reverse discrimination at its finest, this shows just how handcuffed colleges have become by this rule. Despite the realities presented above and the fact that UNI carries nine women’s sports to what will be six men’s, UNI baseball still got the short end of the bat.

By refusing to spread around the cuts, the baseball players currently on the roster—all 35 of them—will either need to switch schools or just forget about their prospective base-ball futures. While it may have been possible to fix this year’s problem this year and fundraise furiously in the off-months to save the next few years, this decision probably marks the end of the 103-year tradition.

The nail seemingly in its coffin, UNI baseball has only a few more months to capitalize on what will likely be their last season.

To the community: Go out to Riverfront Stadium this season and show your support for this ailing program, if for no other reason than simply to pay your respects to an ancient franchise.

Tig rHiLi eF at rE4 March 3, 2009

Guys & Dolls

Arlene FreudenbergNews Editor

Cedar Falls High School will present the musical Guys and Dolls on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 in the Clare Stanard Auditorium.

“Nathan Detroit, one of the lead gangsters of New York, is sneaking around try-ing to keep his floating crap game running. The local law enforcement, run by Officer Brannigan, is hard at work trying to catch Nathan in the act, while Miss Sarah Brown and her uncle Arvide Aber-nathy are attempting to bring the gamblers to their mission and change their, ‘evil ways,’” senior Chris Bowden said.

The New York accent of Guys and Dolls is no stranger to a high school stage.

“I picked Guys and Dolls because it’s one of the most performed musicals in high school. It has really good mu-sic. It gives vocal and dance. People have more time to shine because it balances out vocal, dance and acting. Many musicals have more focus on the dances or vocals. Also, it hasn’t been done at CF in a really long time,” director Michelle Rathe said.

Producing a musical is a lot different from producing a play. The work is a lot more demanding, the cast is a lot bigger and the stress level in everyone’s heads boils a lot quicker.

“One major difference I’ve noticed between plays and musicals is the size — the cast especially. The cast in a musi-cal is double the cast of a play, and that makes it a lot more

Honor Heindl Photographs & Illustration

Musical favorite opening this weekend

one.

Tig rHiLi e

March 3. 2009 5Fat rE “I picked Guys and Dolls

because it’s one of the most performed musicals in high school. It has really good mu-sic. It gives vocal and dance. People have more time to shine because it balances out vocal, dance and acting. Many musicals have more focus on the dances or vocals. Also, it hasn’t been done at CF in a really long time,” director Michelle Rathe said.

Producing a musical is a lot different from producing a play. The work is a lot more demanding, the cast is a lot bigger and the stress level in everyone’s heads boils a lot quicker.

“One major difference I’ve noticed between plays and musicals is the size — the cast especially. The cast in a musi-cal is double the cast of a play, and that makes it a lot more

chaotic but a lot more fun,” junior Ashley Sorenson said.

Even though they have to shove cast members to make room on an overcrowded stage, they won’t let that stop them from having an amazing opening night.

“In a musical, everyone has to work together to make the show happen, and from that comes a stronger cast-crew bond. Everyone has his or her own strengths, and we collaborate to put together a great show,” junior Katelin DeSerano said.

The cast and crew have shared many laughs while producing this performance.

“It’s a great play filled with, laughs, great songs, romance and an awesome plot. It’s been a blast putting it together, and we can’t wait to perform it,” Bowden said.

Musical favorite opening this weekend

one. Carter Allen (’10) confesses his sins at the Save-A-Soul Mission during the

performance of “Sit Down, You’re Rock-in’ the Boat.”

two. Hot Box girls Deanna Ament (’09) & Sarah Halloran (’09) dance and sing to the playful tune “Take Back Your Mink.”

three. Amelia Gotera (’09) sings of the heartache her lover Nathan (played by senior Chris Bowden) brings from his

gambling in the touching piece “Sue Me.”

two.

three.

March 6 & 77:30 p.m.

$6 student/$7 adult

N eW saR eel se

Music:•Kelly ClarksonAll I Ever Wanted•Taylor HicksThe Distance•New Found GloryNot Without a Fight•Handsome FursFace Control•Pete DohertyGrace/Wastelands•Roxy Epoxy and The ReboundBand-Aids For Bullet Holes

Movies:•Watchmen•All About Steve

Devine Aesthetics

with host Maggie Devine

On this vodcast, viewers can look forward to the latest in makeup tips without breaking their bank

accounts.Feb. 19/ Episode Ten

Today, we’ll offer one more winter combination before spring arrives and explore some face care

products.

aP cod stThis week’s feature podcast as well as eight others that are updated ev-ery other week can be found on The Tiger Hi-Line Online (http://www.cedar-falls.k12.ia.us/buildings/cfhs/journalism/index.html) by following the podcast links. Internet Explorer does not work for viewing this site.

Use Safari, Firefox or Opera for best results. The website is also linked

off the high school’s website.

6Ent r inm nTtMarch 3, 2009

T ig rHiLi e

Monica ReidaStaff Writer

As March begins, we reach a dead spot with films, in addition to having spring break. During this month, the amateur theater compa-nies in Eastern Iowa are performing a nice variety of plays, all of which have student tickets for less than $20.

Two shows are opening on March 6, which sadly conflicts with the opening of the school musical, Guys and Dolls. At the Paul Engel Center in Cedar Rapids is A Number, a 2002 play by British playwright Caryl Churchill directed by Josh Beadle. The show focuses on a man named Salter and his three sons, Michael Black, Bernard 1 and Bernard 2, who are clones of Michael. The show not only touches on the subject of hu-man cloning but also on identity and nature versus nurture.

Stage Left Productions special-izes in bold plays that touch on social issues. The company, which is still fairly new, has done The Flu Season by Will Eno, and Betrayal by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter, among others. Stage Left Productions did this in a poorly heated room in Cedar Rapids but presently it is one of the finest productions I have ever seen in my 12 years of attending live theater.

A Number runs March 6-8 at the Paul Engel Center, located at 1600 Fourth Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids and then finishes its run March 13-15 at Performance Space 1 in Iowa City, neither of which are poorly heated. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available at the door. The curtain for all performanc-es is at 7:30 p.m.

Also opening the same weekend is the Black Hawk Children’s The-atre’s production of The Velveteen Rabbit based off of the novel by Margery Williams, and it is under the direction of artistic director Tyler Hayes Stillwill. The play focuses on a boy named Steve who loves his toys very much. Although this might sound a bit too lame for you,

it would be a great show to take your younger sibling or cousin to for an hour.

The Black Hawk Children’s Theatre puts on productions of plays based off of both classic and contem-porary children’s stories and novels. Their recent productions include Ra-punzel, Anne of Green Gables, The Phantom Tollbooth and a production of Jungalbook that was in an urban setting and featured actors in street clothes wearing animal masks while moving about on a graffitied stage. Under the direction of Stillwill, Black Hawk Children’s Theatre has done twists and unique takes on clas-sic stories that ultimately leaves one with an immense sense of fulfillment from seeing such amazing produc-tions.

The Velveteen Rabbit runs March 6-8 at the Hope Martin Theater in the Waterloo Center for the Arts, which is next to the Young Arena. The performance on the 6th is at 7 p.m, and the performances on the 7th and 8th are both at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for both students and adults and can be purchased by calling the box office at 319-291-4494 or visiting their website, www.wcpbhct.org.

Opening on March 20 at Theatre Cedar Rapids is a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences by August Wilson. The show focuses on an African-American family in Pittsburgh in the 1950s that has to face discrimination. The play fea-tures an all-African-American cast of seven actors and is directed by Theatre Cedar Rapids’ artistic direc-tor, Leslie Charpair.

Theatre Cedar Rapids is one of the oldest community theaters in the state and was founded in 1925 in the studio apartment of Grant Wood. The theater company is presently celebrating its 75 anniversary—the date is a bit off due to a hiatus the group took during World War II—but is performing at a location near the Lindale Mall after their home, the Iowa Theatre Building, suffered extensive flood damage. Their previ-ous productions include Cabaret,

Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer prize win-ning epic Angels in America, Fiddler on the Roof, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Their current season has included the musical Gypsy, The Rocky Horror Show (upon which the cult film is based) and The Sound of Music. It will also be performing the musical Hair later this season.

The show runs March 20-22 and 27-29. Tickets for Fences are $20 or $25 for adults, $15 for students and there are $10 rush tickets 30 minutes before every performance, which is a great chance for a play since there are generally more seats open before a performance.

“It’s a great opportunity for students and people on a tight budget to get to see quality live theater for

pretty much the same cost as a movie ticket. That’s a tough deal to beat,” Theatre Cedar Rapids’ community relations director Rob Merritt said.

Tickets are available by calling the box office at 319-366-8591, the will-call window at the venue or at their website, www.theatrecr.org. All performances will be done at the the-ater’s Lindale location, at 4444 First Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday performances at 2:30 p.m.

Throughout the month of March, there are many opportunities for you to take in the great productions of se-rious non-musical shows in Eastern Iowa without breaking the bank, so go out and see a show.

Photo Credit: Theatre Cedar RapidsThe poster promoting the play Fences in Cedar Rapids.

Eastern Iowa holds a hidden trove of treasure in theater opportunities

7Ent r inm nTtMarch 3, 2009

T ig rHiLi e

We’re Cookin’ NowDavid Cook wows Wartburg crowd

Torie JochimsEntertainment Editor

American Idol star David Cook performed at Wartburg College in Nuemann Auditorium on Monday, Feb. 23. I walked toward the front of the room to a place by my friends right near the front, my heart beating with excitement for the concert to begin. I had high expectations and hoped Mr. Cook would not disap-point.

The lights dimmed, hoards of screams filled the air as the opening act, Ryan Star, came on stage. He was a real treat for the audience, an interesting mix of alternative and rock with an occasional splash of something that verges on folk. It was the most unique sounding opening act I’ve heard in a while – and I mean that in the very best of ways.

Star and his bandmates left the stage after one heck of an opening act and again the lights dimmed on stage and came up in the audience. A frenzy of people fitered about the stage, setting it up for Cook and the band. The downtime was excruciat-ing, the anticipation thrilling, and just when I thought Cook might not grace us with his presence after all, the lights went completely out, shadows of bodies came on stage, picking up instruments and fiddling with knobs on amps. Everyone knew the moment had come.

A moment of eerie silence with a few excited whispers separated the previous idle chatter to pass time, and then – high-pitched screams and loud cheering filled the air with the most intensity the night had seen … thus far. The lights came on in fiery tones of red and orange, and Cook and the band started the show with the sweet-lyriced, rocking song “Heroes.”

Right from the start, any member of the audience could plainly see why this man won American Idol cycle seven by 12 million votes. The next tune, Mr. Sensitive, held true to the rocker persona that suits him so well while piercing with lyrics that

probed society’s lack of depth. The temperature in the room, already toasty from the sheer number of bod-ies was rising to a higher degree as more of the crowd (at least from my vantage point, near the front) started to understand that this was an all-out, high energy rock concert.

Following the second tune was a bit of witty banter that got still more people on their feet. A frantic fan shouted “I love you, David!” with the sheer luck to hear him smile and respond “Love you too.” It was official – more than just a gorgeous voice and awesome stage pres-ence, this was a fans’ performer. He continued, slowing it down just a bit with a love song tinged with regret, “I Did it For You.” More screams, a momentary pause in the music while Cook explained how glad he was to be there. “Three songs in, and I’m having a blast. I hope you guys are, too!”

The song that followed this bout of banter was one written about the past year in Cook’s tumultuously changing life, “Life on the Moon.” Haunting, slower, the lyrics to this make you see that he’s an artist remaining grounded (or doing his best to do so) despite the extreme changes his life has made since Idol ended. “Life on the moon wouldn’t feel this far away. The life that I knew is through, and I’m gonna need you more than ever. I’m alone in this crowded room. It’s like life on the moon.” The chorus is perhaps the most haunting portion of this song, during which you could plainly see Cook’s raw passion for everything he’s doing as he jammed on his guitar and sang in a voice so strong and sure, every note permeating the swaying crowd.

Two more songs from his album followed, “Declaration” and “Ava-lanche,” and then he broke into one of the most high-energy songs of the night, “Kiss on the Neck,” with a killer drum solo at the beginning, and lighting that made the number feel just that much more energized. This was a real crowd-pleaser.

As if this rock anthem modeled after the classics of yesteryear wasn’t enough to get the crowd really go-ing, he followed it with one for the guys, “Hot for Teacher,” a cover of Van Halen’s hit. Van Halen would have been proud, Cook and the band brought a life to the song that was fresh and classic, old and new all at the same time. It was clear that this man was born to rock. Maintaining a beautifully balanced setlist, the next song was more than a normal treat for the students filling Neumann.

Cook explained that the next song was one he’d written with two members of his band that he’d known for six years, and then revealed that all of us lucky enough to be present that night would be hearing “Anodyne” performed live for the first time Cook and the band had done so. Another ballad that greeted the crowd with a softer, blue lighting (Cook gave up the guitar in this one for a more personal feel as the song progressed), and at the end of the song the guys in the lighting booth kicked it up a notch, show-ing some exciting, surreal effects on Neal, one of the band’s guitarist. By the midpoint of this beautiful ballad, I broke my gaze from the command-ing singer on stage to notice that goosebumps had taken over the skin on my arms. Judging by the looks on the faces nearest me, the song was having similar effects on them.

After this song ended, I was so wholly invested in the way Cook commanded the attention of every person in the audience that I dared not break my eyes from his perfor-mance. Throughout the concert he made a point of keeping the audience involved, something not every artist has a knack for, but a thing that Cook had perfected. During “Hot for Teacher,” for example, he looked straight at a girl a few people to my right, and I nearly went deaf from the excited giggles and screams (as if the volume and intensity of the concert wasn’t enough to effect my hearing already) that ensued. The same understanding of the “enter-

tainer” label he now proudly wears followed through “Breathe Tonight” and “Light On.”

But before I knew what to do, the concert was … over? He thanked us all for being there and then left the stage, the lights went out. A few rounds of “David Cook, David Cook …” resounded, accompianied by loud cheers before finally the band’s drummer came on in the pitch black blanket on stage and broke it with drumsticks that had lights on the end.

The effect of one blue and one red light zinging as he soloed with apparent drum expertise was smile-provoking. Once more, Cook did not disappoint. “Bar-Ba-Sol,” one of my favorite tracks from his album, started off the encore with the most edgy sound I’d heard from him all night. Cook notched up the inten-sity for the start of the encore and brought it down for the final song of the night, “A Daily AntheM.”

Though not the most exciting on the album, it is without a doubt the most meaningful. Cook wrote this song before his fame began, for his brother. If you take the time to no-tice, the capital letters in the song’s title spell “Adam” which is the name of David’s brother, who suffers from

cancer. With lyrics like “Now the verses

take hold/A gentle undercurrent of more years to grow old” the poetic prowess of the man on stage simply struck me silly. How many on this planet are gifted with such a treasure trove as poetic ability to write soul-ful, deep lyrics and sing them with a set of vocal pipes that many would sell their soul for.

As “ADAM” (abbreviated as such by fans) came to a close, the band dropped out so that Cook and the crowd were the only ones left singing. Then Cook dropped out, and the crowd was singing the “Oh, oh, oh, oh” chorus acapella. A few part-ing bits of banter from Cook and the concert officially ended.

I left the auditorium (ready to scramble for the bus when he came to sign autographs and mingle with fans) feeling as though I’d never spent a more worthwhile night anywhere. He had no doubt left the crowd completely wowed, but I’d gained more respect for him and his true musical ability than I had walk-ing into that auditorium. Cook lived up to, and surpassed, the high hopes I’d had for the concert, showing what true musicianship, and being a true entertainer, really means.

Torie Jochims PhotoDavid Cook performs with obvious, intense ardor for his work.

8Sp rtsAthlete

of

the Week

James HarringtonMen’s Basketball

Freshman

Tigersin

ActionMen’s Basketball (15-8)Beat Marshalltown 61-57 on Feb. 27 Next: Substate Finals vs. CR Kennedy (21-1)(@ McLeod Center in Cedar Falls at 8 p.m.)Waterloo Warriors HockeyWon Iowa Junior Hockey Champs

1. What do you like most about basketball?It’s a team sport. In AAU, I’ve always traveled with a team, and it’s a lot of fun just chillin’ with my teammates.2. How do you prepare for games?Before every game, we go through plays we are going to run.3. Who do you look up to?I’ve always looked up to my dad. He has always encouraged me and been there for me.4. What goals do you have for basketball? I want to get a scholarship and play a sport in college. I don’t know if I want to play basketball in college yet. In my high school career I want to win a state championship.

Freshman James Harrington starts on the varsity men’s basketball team. His superb handle on the ball under pressure has turned the team into a force down the stretch.

March 3, 2009

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Men face Kennedy in Substate Finals

Kristen Aldrich Photo

In earlier season action vs. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, senior Darion Howard drives to the hoop. The Tigers face Cedar Rapids Ken-nedy in substate finals at the McLeod Center on Tuesday, March 3 at 8 p.m. The Tigers lost to Kennedy by one point earlier this year.

State Drive

Paul StrikeSports Editor

The Tigers proved to be the top cat on Friday, as they ended the Mar-shalltown Bobcats’ season, 61-57, in Marshalltown. The Bobcats were ranked ninth in Class 4A.

The team was led by junior guard Andrew Wirth, who scored 22 points.

The Tigers have to win the next game in order to go to State.

“We played a good game. I liked that we had a lot of fans show up even though the game was away,” senior Kyle Bernard said.

“They’re not that great of a team, but they played a good game and gave us a challenge,” junior Jeff Conrad said.

There is still much work to be done for the Tiger men. They have earned a date with Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the Substate Finals at the McCloud Center Tuesday.

The Cougars of Kennedy have only one loss on the season, and that loss was not to Cedar Falls. “We’ve played them before. It was a pretty close game, and hope-fully we can beat them this time in order to go to State,” Kyle Bernard said.

The Tigers are the clear under-

dogs in the contest, but then again, they have come away with victo-ries over highly ranked opponents recently; including a season finale upset over second-ranked Linn-Mar and the Substate Semifinal win at number nine Marshalltown.

An incredible run to the State Basketball Tournament by the Tigers

has been in large part thanks to the insertion by freshmen James Harrington in the lineup. “It feels good to play

varsity. It’s fun to play against tougher competition. It’s a challenge each play,” Harrington said.

He controls the Tiger tempo with a steady hand, but the most impor-tant effect he has had is freeing up junior shooting guard Andrew Wirth to roam the perimeter.

“Hopefully, next game I can shoot a little better. It’s a good thing I have dependable teamates that I can rely on to make up my slack,” the senior Bernard said.

The Tigers’ fire that has brought them to this point is still un-quenched. With the season on the line in every game from now on, the Tigers will seriously need to keep up their awareness and play out of their minds in order to keep on winning.

“Enjoy every game, leave it all on the floor,” Bernard said of the

We’ve played them before. It was a pretty close game and hopefully we can beat them this time in order to

go to state.

-Senior Kyle Bernard

team’s philosophy.The team’s philosophy will have

to be put into its truest action, for Kennedy will undoubtedly bring the heat. The team is banking on huge

fan-power to propel the Tigers on to State.

The Tiger men play Kennedy next on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on March 3 at the McLeod Center.