The Tiger Print — April 2011

the

print TIGER BLUE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

April 2011

Stilwell, KS

h e t re. r e v o s t n e v

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E

Vol. 41 Issue 9

12 -1 3

ees h g r pa e v o Effects inside Presidential pop

Making waves

Big cleats to fill

page 8

page 21

page 22

1st-year history teacher blends music into teaching method

Local band with BV ties builds reputation in Indie music scene

4 returning varsity baseball seniors lead defending state champions

inthenews

in the halls...

1. NAHS hosts Raku Party The Raku Party is scheduled for Friday, April 15 courtesy of the National Art Honor Society.

Students will be able to participate in a variety of activities including tie-dyeing T-shirts, graffiti art, dartboard painting and raku firing clay pots.

The Raku Party will be from 7-9 p.m. and cost $5 to enter the event and another $5 to create a pot.

Weather permitting, the event will take place behind the school. In case of inclement weather, it will take place in the ceramics room.

Sponsor Mark Mosier said the raku firing will be the most entertaining part of the night. The process includes painting a clay pot and using small kilns to fire them.

Mosier said the process will be visually entertaining for those who attend the event.

“It’s good for students to see because it’s probably nothing they have ever seen before,” he said.

“When it gets darker, it’s really cool. The oxidation makes the glaze do cool things.”

By Odi Opole.

2. Spring play scheduled Ten Little Indians, a murder mystery, will be performed in the PAC on April 28, 29 and 30.

Director Jeff Yarnell said it will be a completely different experience for the audience because they will be seated on the stage with the actors.

“I wanted to do a show unlike the things we’ve been doing,” Yarnell said. “I think the audience will really like it.”

Performers in the show include seniors Ali Hadley, Breanna Dowling, Sarah Bergeson and Hannah Stone; juniors Sam Nicol, Alex Petersen, Rebecca Jenkins and Jake Miller; sophomores David Cline and Grayson Yockey and freshman Alec Newport.

“I really like it,” Cline said. “It’s a cool show and I’m really excited for it.”

By Courtney Woodworth.

this month...

April 15

NAHS Raku Party

April 16

Prom at the Ritz Charles from 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

April 21 Senior/Faculty Challenge

April 27, 28 and 29

Ten Little Indians at 7 p.m. in the PAC

on the cover...

Following the disaster in Japan and unrest in the Middle-East and Africa, the United States is feeling a squeeze on prices. Students in Johnson County feel the effects on their wallet through coffee and gas. NASA photo, used with permission. Illustration by Maegan Kabel.

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BV staff members connect to Japanese crisis caitlinholland editor-in-chief Communication arts teacher Linda Eagleton turned on the morning news on March 11 to headlines describing a tsunami and earthquake crisis in Japan.

Her mind raced. Her daughter, Sydney Eagleton, was in the country teaching English in a high school in Kanuma, a town on the inland portion of the nation.

She rushed to the computer to contact Sydney.

“There was already a message from her saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’m OK,’” Linda said. “If I hadn’t been able to get a hold of her, or if I didn’t have the message right there I would have never been able to.”

Linda said Kanuma did not experience extensive damage because of the earthquake, but Sydney left the area for a friend’s home farther south one week after the crisis.

Kanuma, approximately 100 miles south of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, was indirectly impacted by the crisis. Linda said the city experienced rolling blackouts and train tracks snapping, making it difficult for food to be transported to the area.

From her friend’s home, Linda said Sydney was able to make arrangements to fly to Singapore two weeks earlier than intended — she had previously scheduled a vacation there.

Linda said she feels lucky her daughter was stationed in Kanuma, because she could have easily been in a coastal city at the time of the crisis.

“Right after that, several times, I couldn’t sleep at night,” she said. “I’m still worried about her. I was watching CNN one night and it was a mother of a daughter in the same program who had died, and I was awake in the night crying because that could have easily been Sydney depending on where she was assigned. It’s just luck of the draw.”

Linda said Sydney returned to Japan on April 5.

“She’s paying attention to the reports,” Linda said. “I want to respect that decision [to

return to Japan] if we all think it’s safe. We’re just watching those reactors carefully and the news to see what’s going on there.”

Zoology teacher Eric Driskell’s close friend, 1992 BV alum Josh Swift, resides in Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo.

Swift, who lives about 250 miles away from the nuclear reactors, told Driskell the damage where he resides wasn’t extensive, but his front porch was ripped off his home during an earthquake aftershock.

“He said it was pretty scary,” Driskell said. “I’ve never known him to be scared of anything. Tough college football player, good father. He just said, ‘Honestly, it scared me to death. The moment of not knowing it was going to end, the earthquake — it kept going and going.’”

Swift’s family did not evacuate their home. Driskell said Swift’s in-laws live about 20 miles away from the nuclear power plant, but were hesitant to leave their home after the crisis.

“They’re in the middle of it,” Driskell said. “They refused to leave because they’re traditional Japanese. That’s who they are and where they live.”

Driskell discussed the Japanese crisis in his classes, and also used that opportunity to try and help Swift.

Driskell said Swift sent out an email trying to find a place he and his wife could send their two dogs in case they would need to evacuate their home, something several of Driskell’s students volunteered to help out with.

“I just thought it would be cool to tell the students about it because I have a platform to do that as a teacher,” Driskell said. “A lot of people want to help, but they don’t know how.”

He said knowing Swift made him realize how much of an impact this event had on so many lives.

“Even as an adult, when you’re so far away from the actual disaster, it didn’t really hit me how terrible it was until you really talk to somebody you know that’s there,” he

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

Kanuma (Sydney Eagleton)

Chiba (Josh Swift)

“He just said, ‘Honestly, it scared me to death. The moment of not knowing it was going to end, the earthquake — it kept going and going.’”

Eric Driskell said. “I think that really was an eye-opener for me and one of those light bulb moments, where I said, ‘What can I do to help?’”

The program Sydney works for, Japan Exchange Teaching, through the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, posted an outlet on Facebook for people to donate $100 to the relief efforts.

Linda said, upon returning to Japan, her daughter plans on assisting in relief efforts in the hardest-hit areas of the nation.

“I could see her going north every weekend and working,” she said. “If it were

safe to do that, it’s what she would be doing.”

Throughout the weeks after the crisis, Japanese and U.S. news outlets’ reports have varied.

Linda said Sydney expressed disappointment over discrepancies between news reporters’ views on the crisis and what actually happened.

“She’s frustrated by the U.S. second-guessing the Japanese,” Linda said. “She’s trying to be realistic, but she doesn’t think it’s fair for the media to make it sound much worse than it is. She’s looking for reality, not sensationalism.”

payin’ thebills

May 31, 2011

APRIL 2011 0 3

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outloud

The Tiger Print editor-in-chief Caitlin Holland

photo editor Maegan Kabel

managing editor Sara Naatz

web photo editor Conor Storm

news/web editor Annie Matheis

ads manager Sam Brennan

opinion editor Jacob Pruitt

circulations Courtney Woodworth

features editor Jordan Huesers sports editor Clay Cosby copy editor Emily Brown design editor Jordan McEntee

staff writers Kelly Cordingley Odi Opole photographers Maria Fournier Juliana Himmel Olivia Roudebush cartoonist Evelyn Davis

Cartoon by Evelyn Davis.

District should consider alternatives to class size increase staff editorial 17

agreed

1

disagreed

Every student has been faced with the same situation at one point during their time here at BV: The student walks into a core class, only to find it packed to the brim with teenagers. Learning seems to be a secondary concern to the teacher ­­— it takes most of their energy just to get the class to quiet down.

Students tap away on their cell phones, loudly chatting to groups of friends about the latest argument on Jersey Shore or how angry they are about Steve Carell leaving The Office.

Being stuffed in a classroom with other students is all too common. The Kansas State Legislature is planning to only make it worse, by cutting the budget and forcing schools to

raise class sizes by 2-3 students.

The Kansas Senate recently passed its amendments to the state budget. Kansas faced a budget deficit of $500 million. Legislators knew they needed to cut money from somewhere. Unfortunately, those cuts are going to directly affect us.

The budget is set at $14 billion, a large amount, but it actually cuts $226 for every K-12 student in Kansas.

At the same time, Kansas is refusing to remove the caps on raising taxes by shutting down Shawnee Mission’s lawsuit attempt to raise property taxes to bring more money into their school district. Similar to BV’s, Shawnee Mission parents consistently voted to raise property taxes.

This wasn’t something the community was split on or arguing about.

The community came together to try and bring more money into its hard-pressed school district budget.

Despite being in a well-off community, BV can only bring in a limited amount of public

raise your voice

freshman Maggie DeBusk People probably won’t learn as well as they do now because it will be more distracting.

funding, but has to deal with the same budget issues as every other school district.

This is simply not acceptable. Education in America is already lacking. This would create a system where students could simply put their heads down and slide on by.

With that increased amount of students, teachers can’t give everyone the focus they need. They have to spend more and more time grading papers and tests. Teachers would have to cover too many bases and those who need the most one-on-one time will fall through the cracks.

We understand the district office has everyone’s best interest in mind. They have to be tight with their money. But there has to be another option — some other way to save money and not take it out on the students and teachers.

However, 2-3 students per class is bad for each student’s education. Not only do students lose individual help, but also teachers will have more work and less time to give each student feedback on their progress.

adviser Jill Chittum The Tiger Print is published nine times a year for the students, faculty and the surrounding community of Blue Valley High School. It is an open forum for student expression. Therefore, the opinions expressed within this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrations of Blue Valley Unified School District #229.

Letters to the editor and reader responses are encouraged for publication. The Tiger Print reserves the right to edit all submissions for both language and content and encourages letters to be no more than 350 words. Letters should be submitted to room 450, emailed to thetigerprint@yahoo.com or mailed to: The Tiger Print c/o Blue Valley High School 6001 W. 159th St. Stilwell, KS 66085 phone: 913-239-4800 Pacemaker finalist, 2009 and 2010 Member, Kansas Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Columbia Scholastic Press Association

How will a larger class size affect education?

sophomore Blake Staley I feel like it’s going to damage the intimate learning between teacher and student.

junior Hannah Griffin I think it would be harder to concentrate because there will be so many more people.

senior Kevin Chung I feel like it will be detrimental because the larger the class size, the harder it is to focus.

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outloud

Words, words, words Excessive use of lax language may leave future employers unimpressed

“And I, like, you know, um.”

Word vomit.

It happens to all of us. We know what we want to say, but for some reason we just don’t know how to say it. We fill the uncomfortable silences with “likes” and “ums” and eventually lose track of what we were even saying in the first place.

What a disaster.

For me, it usually just happens when I have something really important to tell a friend — how hard the homework assignment from last night was or what insane thing Charlie Sheen said yesterday. Believe it or not, this articulate, impeccably refined columnist occasionally turns into the “Like, Oh my God,” girl you hear in the hallways. I’ll admit, I know I can sound like a complete middle school drama queen sometimes. It’s disgusting.

I’m not the only one.

“Like” and “you know” and “um” are pretty much staples in the teenage vocabulary. It really isn’t a

problem when we interact with each other. We all suffer from the same vocabulary disease. We understand each other.

The problem exists when we try to communicate in a more formal, professional way. When we apply for jobs or speak with teachers, saying “like” 16 times becomes blatantly obvious. It becomes painful, in a way.

This is how it usually works for me: I’ll start talking to a teacher about an assignment and next thing I know every other word coming from my mouth is “like.” Then, I realize the travesty occurring and try to stop, but only proceed to turn a bright shade of red. Disaster.

Even worse: my mom is a speech therapist. Her entire career — her goal in life — is to make people stop saying “like” every two seconds. She has her work cut out for her with me.

She enjoys using her professional abilities to cure me of my teenage speak.

“Caitlin, explain to me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without saying ‘like’ once,” is a sentence I hear at least twice a month.

I can officially say I know how to make PB&Js like a pro, because this has been going on for several years.

I never really thought about the importance of my mom’s job until I realized how many people suffer from the ‘like’ disease, or, something

Cartoon by Evelyn Davis.

much more serious, stuttering.

After the movie The King’s Speech gained popularity in the states and eventually won Best Picture at the Oscars, stuttering and the affect it has on communication and self-esteem wasn’t something most people bothered to think about.

Golfer Tiger Woods. University of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self. Vice President Joe Biden.

Project Runway’s Tim Gunn.

Yep. All of them, current or former, stutterers.

Gunn, according to an ABC online article, credited his stuttering for making him an introverted, shy child.

Stuttering is a legitimate problem; one that affects so many of us whether we realize it or not.

Unfortunately, because my mom is a speech therapist, I definitely am aware of it.

Tan culture changes image of beauty, affects self esteem “Do you disappear when you stand against a white wall?”

Yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what happens.

Thanks for ask-

ing — again.

I am pale.

I’ve always been that way.

I don’t worry about spending a ton of money on tanning salons or going to the beach as much as I can.

I get out in the sun just as much as anyone, but my skin never turns that “beautiful shade of bronze.”

It’s amusing, really, when people find them-

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selves so concerned with why my skin isn’t as dark as theirs.

Why would it matter to anyone?

Especially uplifting are the friends who complain about how pale they are.

They stare at their skin and go on about how disgusting it is and how they hate the way they look.

They don’t mean to knock down my confidence or self image, I know.

But I am left thinking, “Wow, obviously they must think I look awful.”

Telling me I am pale is like telling me it’s my birthday.

It’s nothing I don’t already know.

Believe it or not, I have seen myself in the mirror before — I am aware of what I look like. I’ve lived my entire life with this skin tone.

I know which colors I can wear, and which colors wash me out, and, let’s be honest, are most of them.

I know when someone holds their arm against mine to see who is more tan, I will lose.

That is just the way I am.

I don’t have anything against anyone who tans.

I’m not trying to say you’re going to get skin cancer and die while I live on, pasty and healthy.

See, clearly, I’m not bitter at all.

Everyone is beautiful in their own way.

What about celebrities Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift?

They embrace their pale skin tone — it is a huge part of what makes them beautiful.

These women own who they are.

Everyone is different.

Appreciate it, but most importantly, respect it.

outloud

U.S. objective questioned as Libyan chaos escalates As of this writing, Yemen’s regime is on the verge of collapse.

Syria shows signs of unrest.

Protests continue in Iran, Algeria, Jordan and Iraq.

In Bahrain, the symbolic Pearl Roundabout monument was smashed to the ground as the Sunni minority government desperately tried to keep control over the civilian Shiite majority. They were desperate enough to allow troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to enter the country to help quell the protesters.

Despite all of these other revolutionary movements, Libya seems to be the only Middle Eastern country receiving international military aid.

This makes the newest U.N. General Assembly resolution even more fascinating.

The resolution, with strong French and British support, allowed the introduction of a no-fly zone in northern Libya.

The U.N. security council decided that if the Libyan government would not adhere to an immediate cease-fire, the council would take all necessary measures to protect civilian populated areas under the threat of attack from their own military and tyrannical leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

All necessary measures.

This is not an ordinary no-fly zone.

Operation Odyssey Dawn includes air strikes and Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting key elements of Gadhafi’s army and air defenses by the U.S. Night skies in government-controlled Tripoli are bright with tracer fire and anti-aircraft machinery from Gadhafi’s forces fighting off coalition aircraft.

Though control of Libyan operations has recently been handed over to NATO, this is, without a doubt, a dramatic shift in diplomacy in Washington.

What kind of shift, you ask?

An illogical one.

I have been wanting the U.S. to provide aid to Libya since the rebellion started.

Food.

Water.

Medical aid.

The basic necessities to help the rebels — but mostly the innocent civilians — survive.

But the real problem is that we arrived too late without a real goal in mind.

Of all the Middle Eastern countries in turmoil, why Libya?

What are we going to do once we arrive there?

How much is this going to cost the American public?

Are we going to arm the rebels?

How long will we stay in Libya protecting a few cities on the verge of collapse?

How are we going to get Gadhafi out of there?

How long do we keep a country split?

Even if the rebel city, Benghazi, can fight off Gadhafi’s forces, it is doubtful Misrata can. The U.N. has only provided air support and the rebels are complaining they aren’t getting enough of it.

This creates a serious problem.

Without the accompanying ground troops, innocents in Misrata are being shot down by Gadhafi’s snipers and army.

No one is an exception. The injured are being attacked at Misrata’s main hospital, where Gadhafi’s army shelled and bombed the building.

While the opposition fights to keep its hold on its reclaimed cities, lost before the no-fly zone, Misrata is about to fall.

The civilians of Misrata are completely on their own. Is air support enough?

I doubt it. The rebels have outdated weaponry, and they are not trained in the art of war. They are up against the Libyan army and foreign mercenaries brought in by Gadhafi.

The Libyan people need help, and the help we are giving is ineffective and foggy.

But we entered this civil war, so we need to fight it as fiercely as we can.

And before this battle becomes more convoluted, the U.S. government needs to answer all of the above questions.

18 years rent-free—why students should respect their parents

“You need to respect me! I brought you into this world!”

“I didn’t ask you to!”

And we didn’t ask them to feed us.

Clothe us.

Nurture us.

Protect us.

Or deal with our antics for free for 18 or more years. Parents do a lot, and they go through a lot, too.

In a recent Time article, parents reported more anger and depression than non-parents, and the anger increased per kid. Non-parents generally reported having more satisfying marriages than parents.

Having children costs much more now than it did 30 or 40 years ago.

And have I mentioned the stress? In completely practical terms, raising children is an insane occupation. Why would someone do it? Why would they put themselves through the economic and emotional strain that is raising a

human being?

Any parent would answer: for the rewards not seen on paper.

Spending time with your children.

Seeing them grow and develop.

Watching as they shape their personalities.

Experiencing unconditional love.

Parents sign up for a big job from day one, and we don’t always make it easy.

We’ve all had the discussions about grades, excessive TV or video game use or the visibility of the floor in our bedrooms.

Friction can be expected during the young adult years. Teens try to assert their independence and individuality while still living with their parents’ rules.

However, excessive friction is another story. Every time someone fights with their parents over cleaning their room, doing their homework or turning off the lights for the millionth time, they are simply adding unnecessary stress to their parents’ lives.

On top of work, bills, taxes, extended family and taking care of their child, they have to worry

about whatever mundane task the young adult in the house is too lazy to do. Every time we refuse to clean because we ‘like it that way’ or ignore our parents’ lecture because we don’t really care that we have a borderline grade in a class, we’re adding one more thing to their to-do list.

Surely that’s nobody’s idea of a good time. Now, I’m not saying we need to completely re-work our lives to become perfect little Stepford children.

I’m not saying we need to be at our parents’ beck and call.

However, I am saying we need to show our parents that we appreciate the fact that they are taking the time to care for us and help us grow as individuals. We need to give them rewards that they don’t have to find on their own.

Tidy up the kitchen one day.

Make dinner the next.

Offer to help your mom figure out how to sync an iTunes library.

Do some yard work for your dad, if spring ever comes.

Little things make a huge difference, especially when the people you’re helping already think the world of you.

Cartoon by Evelyn Davis.

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outloud

Rockin’ to the beat Teacher utilizes music talent to maximize student learning emilybrown copy editor

M

usic has always been a big part of world history teacher Matt Beat’s

life.

He learned to play the piano when he was 8 years old and played the guitar and trumpet in high school. He started writing his own songs by age 14. By the time he was in college, he was a professional DJ. “I always loved listening to music,” he said. “I bought a lot of CDs — I know a lot of people don’t buy CDs anymore, but I still do.

Right now I have 21,000 songs on my iPod.” In 2005, he created a band with his brother, Steve. They decided to call it the Electric Needle Room, inspired by an episode of The Simpsons. In this particular episode, Bart and Homer think they have leprosy and are sent to a place called the Electric Needle Room for treatment.

“It is kind of weird because most bands are single when they are playing a lot of shows and touring,” he said. “We didn’t start playing shows until I got married.”

After several years of working as a DJ, Beat began exploring other interests.

“I always thought about teaching, too, and I finally got around to doing it,” he said. “I’m a first-year teacher, but I’m 29 years old, so this isn’t my first career. That kind

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of confuses some students. It is because I have many passions, and, to be honest, music doesn’t pay the bills — unless you are Lady Gaga.”

Beat said he quickly realized he could use music in the classroom to help students remember content and began to play background music each day in class.

“What I have done this year is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “I anticipate [using music] a lot more in the future. I will try to incorporate music into my class whenever I can to mix it up and help the students learn.”

He went a step further and wrote 15 songs about individual presidents — whose lives, he said, fascinate him.

“There are so many opportunities for songs about people,” he said. “There are really interesting people throughout history, so I’ll probably do more of that.”

History teacher Mark Klopfenstein attended an Electric Needle Room show at Homer’s Coffee Shop in downtown Overland Park.

Klopfenstein said the band’s music is fun and the James Madison song is particularly catchy.

“I think, musically, it tends to be fairly simple,” he said. “It is just the two of them — he and his brother.

But his lyrics are pretty clever and usually kind of funny or satirical.”

History is not the only topic Beat sings and writes about.

“Most people will sing about love and relationships, but I sing about stuff I see everyday — even if it is the most mundane thing,” he

said. “I have a song about flossing and how much I hate flossing.”

He said his favorite song he has written is “If You Are Happy, I’m Happy,” — a song about his wife.

“She gets mad when I keep writing songs not about her, so I have to Robinson write a song about her every once in a while,” he said.

Beat has written more than 300 songs since he was 14.

“It is quirky, pop music,” he said.

“We get compared to the band They Might Be Giants a lot, but also The Beach Boys and Ben Folds. It is catchy music, but at the same time we do a lot of things Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber don’t do.”

Beat said he tries to keep his school and private lives separate.

“I don’t tell my students about my shows because I think that is a little weird,” he said. “But I have had other students see me.”

Klopfenstein gave extra credit to his students who went to an Electric Needle Room show.

“It was the CD release of the Presidents,” he said. “I thought that was kind of fun. And Mr. Beat had said that he would give copies of the CD to students who came.”

To download the The Presidents of the United States of America (Volume 1) for free, check out electricneedleroom.net.

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Organization inspires community service emilybrown copy editor

On Feb. 10, junior Rebecca Jenkins donated two minutes at Hopefaith Homeless Shelter for each and every high five she received. She called it “High Fives that Help.” Jenkins hopes that this project will inspire others to volunteer at places of their own interest as well. Photo by Juliana Himmel.

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One high five can make a difference.

On Feb. 10, junior Rebecca Jenkins wore a shirt with the words “High Fives that Help” scrawled in Sharpie.

On the back of the shirt, a simple promise: For every high five Jenkins received, she would volunteer for two minutes at Hopefaith Homeless Shelter.

There was no limit to how many high fives each person could give.

By the end of the day, she tallied 145 high fives — almost five hours of volunteering.

Jenkins said her goal is to get more people excited about helping others and see how easy and encouraging it can be.

“I want to keep it going for as long as I can,” she said. “I want to get other people involved and do it for themselves, for whatever organization they are interested in.”

She said she wants people to personalize their mission and choose the organization they are most passionate about. She said people could collect change instead of high fives if they wanted to.

“It is mostly a personal thing that you commit to yourself,” she said. “You make the rules for yourself.”

Jenkins does not log her community service hours on her transcript. She said that takes away

from the spirit of volunteering.

“I am not volunteering for the sake of an award or college,” she said. “I am doing it to help others.”

Though she doesn’t log her hours, Jenkins said she doesn’t have a problem with those who do.

“People don’t need to stop volunteering when it is just for themselves,” she said. “But I would hope that once they start volunteering, they learn it isn’t just something to do for college.”

Jenkins said she chose Hopefaith Homeless Shelter as her volunteer destination because it opened her eyes to what is going on around Kansas City.

“You can’t leave there without being inspired,” she said.

Jenkins was the nominated as the 2011 Sunflower Ambassador for exemplifying the BV virtues.

Jenkins said she has become addicted to volunteering because it is so rewarding.

“You actually feel like you are doing something important instead of going to school, doing your activity and sleeping,” she said. “It is something that is different and exciting; it feels awesome.”

She said one of the reasons she loves High Fives that Help is that it gives her incentive to volunteer more.

“I think that I have learned a lot from volunteering in general,” she said. “You learn that you can go out there and make a difference. You don’t have to be scared of doing something original or creative.”

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anniematheis news editor

$14,000 budget.

For decorations, flowers, food, drinks, invitations, a DJ, a tiara, a crown and the Ritz Charles.

The Prom Committee, 12 junior girls, is responsible for making all decisions concerning Prom while keeping costs within the budget.

“It is all on us to decide everything,” member, junior Jackie Dennis said. “It is your last hurrah of high school.

Everyone always talks about their senior Prom.”

The committee first met in October to begin the planning process.

In past years, the committee didn’t begin meetings until second semester. However, since this was committee sponsor Jessica Janish’s first year, she said she wanted to begin the process earlier.

The group typically gathered once per week before Spring Break, but meets more frequently as Prom approaches. The dance will be on April 16.

The group narrowed the theme down to three choices and voted; “A Night in the Spotlight,” an old Hollywood theme, won.

“These girls have worked really, really well at compromising and working with each other,” Janish said.

“But, anytime you have that many kids together with that many ideas, sometimes it’s hard.”

Each member brought suggestions for brainstorming decorations.

Prom Committee then sketched ideas of what it wanted the invitations to look like and met with a decorator to choose decorations for the event.

Since it’s her first year, Janish said she doesn’t know what to expect, but she feels very happy with how things are turning out so far.

“These girls have worked really hard and have put their heart and soul into it,” she said. “It is very important to them that people enjoy it. Everyone owes them a lot because they have put a lot of hard work into this.”

Dennis said not having any guys on the committee can affect the outcome of Prom, but they still try to incorporate masculine elements into their plans.

“Guys are not like girls; there are a select few that like to design things,” Dennis said. “[Prom] is all more girly things that most guys just aren’t into. Prom is not going to be like a football game where we have guy decorations; it is going to be more classy.”

Janish said it would be nice to get the guy’s perspective on Prom, but no males attended any of the meetings after the announcement was made.

“Girls seem to find Prom to be more of a life event than guys do,” she said. “So I think the reason we don’t have any guys represented is because they don’t think of Prom as big of a moment in their lives as the girls do.”

While Student Council normally organizes the other school dances, StuCo sponsor Mark Mosier said Prom has always been organized by a separate committee.

“It is traditional, in most high schools, for the junior class [to plan Prom], as sort of a goodbye recognition of the senior class,” Mosier said. “So traditionally, Prom has been a junior/senior Prom. It is the one social event that Student Council, in the whole time I have been here, has never been a part of.”

Janish said the purpose of the committee is to orga-

1 0 APRIL 2011

nize the many details for the large event.

“I honestly could have not done this by myself,” she said. “Also, I think it is important to get input from the students because this activity is for the kids. I believe the more input you get from the kids, the more we will have a product that everyone is going to enjoy. They should be the ones who get to decide what would make it a good Prom.”

Dennis said the hardest parts of being on the committee are making decisions and staying on budget.

She said the budget affects many of the choices the group makes.

“If we had more money, we could make it even better, but we are going to make it work,” she said. “We are not going to have the most expensive fabric, but we are going to have fabric that looks the same. It is not going to be that obvious.”

Prom Committee is primarily funded through donations from the Parent Teacher Organization and the junior class parents. They also rely on ticket sales.

Prom costs $25 per ticket for juniors.

Seniors may attend for free as long as they pick up their own ticket during lunch.

For any outside dates or underclassmen, the ticket is $30.

Tickets will cost $35 at the door.

“It takes a lot more money to make it,” Dennis said. “We have to pay the decorator. We don’t need a DJ, but we are going to have one. We don’t need food and drinks there, but we are going to have them. We don’t need over-the-top decorations, but we are going to have them.”

The money made at Prom this year will go toward next year’s Prom and the junior class’ senior picnic.

Janish said the exciting aspect of planning Prom is how passionate the committee is about making sure the event is something that students can enjoy.

“It is very important to these girls that they make sure everybody has a good time,” Janish said. “They understand that Prom is something that people will remember forever.”

(Clockwise from top) The Prom Committee meets before the event to iron out final details for the dance. The Prom Committee is in charge of many important elements of prom.

Prom invitations were designed by a committee member’s older sister.

Prom committee sponsor Jessica Janish discussed various dance events during a Prom committee meeting. This is Janish’s first year as Prom committee sponsor. BV’s Prom is scheduled for April 16.

Photos by Maria Fournier.

Planning a night to remember Prom Committee organizes details of dance

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Love for travel inspires senior to pursue education in multiple foreign languages saranaatz managing editor

Speaking four languages, senior Joseph Davies aspires to travel the world, experiencing different cultures. Davies hopes his language skills will give him a wide variety of places he could visit. Photo by Maegan Kabel.

Hello.

Salve.

Hola.

Bonjour.

Words of four different languages swim through senior Joseph Davies’ head as he attempts to pick the right ones.

During his high school career, Davies has taken a semester of Latin, three years of Spanish and four years of French.

He said his passion for world cultures and travel inspired him to take multiple foreign language classes.

“I really want to travel when I get older,” he said. “I figured that if I learn a bunch of languages, my traveling options are wider. I’ve always wanted to see the world.”

Davies said learning multiple languages allows him to see the connection between them, but can also be difficult.

“I get them confused a lot,” he said. “But it’s good because they play off each other, like some things I learn in French, I learn afterwards in Spanish, and I already know it.”

French teacher Carol Bar said he capitalizes on his capacity for language by seeing the similarities between them.

“He’s taken his language to a new level,” she said. “He draws connections between all of the languages he’s learning and is able to apply it.

That’s rare in a student.”

In college, Davies plans to pursue a major in linguistics, the study of human languages from around the globe.

“I don’t want to specialize in a certain language,” he said. “I want to specialize in the study of languages so that I can learn other languages faster. I really want to learn a random southeast Asian language like Laos or Cambodian just because they’re not commonly spoken.”

Spanish teacher Anita Lemons said studying linguistics in the future will allow Davies to utilize his ability to learn language.

“It’s wonderful because when you have a talent you need to seize it,” she said. “You need to use it. He’s just a very talented student.”

Davies said he plans to use his degree in linguistics to become either an interpreter or an English teacher in foreign countries.

To gain experience, he plans to backpack through Britain, France and Spain over the summer.

He has already bought his backpack and will fly into Seville, Spain, to begin his trip.

“I want to see if I’ll be able to couch surf,” he said. “I’ve also been trying to make contacts, like if anyone has family members in any of those places that would let me stay on their couch.

That would be awesome.”

Bar said exploring Europe gives Davies the opportunity to practice language with local citizens.

“He’s going to be in an environment where he will be able to speak with all the natives,” she said. “I’m very excited for him.”

Davies said he looks forward to absorbing knowledge about a variety of cultures.

“I measure wealth in experiences, not money,” he said. “I want to be rich in experiences, so I think it would be cool to see all those places to get the full experience.”

Expires 5/31/11

Expires 5/31/11

Expires 5/31/11

APRIL 2011 1 1

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licensed to Seniors compete for cash prize in assassins game

H

jordanhuesers features editor

is weapon of choice: The leaky red water gun.

His backpack holds two more.

If he sees his target at long range, his Super Soaker is readily available in the passenger seat.

Senior Ryan O’Toole is one of 193 seniors participating in Senior Assassins.

“It makes it really hard to focus on doing homework because you’re always looking over your shoulder,” he said.

“I do it even when I’m at home because I don’t trust my siblings. They could let somebody in the house and I wouldn’t even know.”

Senior Makila Hennig organized this year’s game by creating a Facebook group to get the word out. She then asked for any seniors who were interested to contact her.

She assigned each person to a target.

“I tried to match people up with people they know,” she said. “I want them to at least know each other to make sure they can have fun, and it is not some random person they don’t know.”

O’Toole said the game preoccupies his mind.

He failed to complete his homework for a week because his focus was on strategies for the game.

O’Toole devises his exact exit from work each day. He first rolls a die to randomize his route. He then does a quick sweep of the area before he leaves. He carries his water gun at all times.

“I can’t assume that anybody around me is any more trustworthy than I am,” he said. “I would sell my own mother for a Klondike bar, much less to win the game.”

O’Toole said he would assassinate one of his friends without hesitation. He plans to use his connections to draw his target out into the open, then shoot him or her to take

kill

Senior Ryan O’Toole assumes the position to get ready for the kill. Photo illustration by Jordan Huesers.

the target out of the game.

“Have you ever seen the look on a dog’s face when it’s realized that everything it’s ever wanted it can’t have because it doesn’t have thumbs to open the pantry?” he said. “That’s the best part — when you shoot somebody and they’ve got that look. It’s the look of absolute devastation on their face when they realize everything they’ve worked for is gone.”

The buy-in for the game was $1. This money goes into a

pot for the winner and runner-up.

Although not a school-sanctioned event, this is one of the last activities for the seniors during their high school career.

“I’d like to win,” O’Toole said. “High school is done for me.

I haven’t had time to go to any of the basketball games or soccer games this year, so this is really all I’ve got left for my senior year in high school.”

The rules Targets may not be assassinated in the following places:

BVHS campus

Any school function

Life Time Fitness Applebee’s

CAPS building

Places of worship

Take Five

1 4 APRIL 2011

If a seniors shoots their assassin when approached, they buy one hour of time If your weapon is broken, pouring water on the target does not count as an assassination Seniors have one week to kill their target. Each round begins on Sunday at 5 p.m.

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Spanish teacher influenced by childhood farm life sambrennan ads manager Feeding cows, helping them give birth, pulling stickers from their eyes.

Spanish teacher Anita Lemons spent the first 17 years of her life helping out around her family’s farm and cattle ranch.

“I had no brothers, so I was like a surrogate son for my father,” she said.

She said growing up on a farm taught her responsibility.

“Everyone had a job,” Lemons said. “I came home from school and helped my father with the cattle.”

Working with animals led Lemons to care about them greatly.

“I loved horses, they were my best friends,” she said. “Once my neighbor’s horse ran through the barbed wire and walked to our stable; I was there to call the vet. I always wanted to save them. I feel real compassion for animals.”

Lemons attended the University of Nebraska with the intention of becoming a veterinarian.

“I wanted to become a vet all through high school,” Lemons said.

“Women were rare in veterinary school. There were a couple, but it was nearly impossible to get in.”

During the time Lemons went to school, women weren’t given the same opportunities as men.

“When I grew up it was much more of a man’s world for certain professions,” she said. “It has totally changed for the good.”

Lemons said she went for her second choice of studying languages, so she didn’t waste money on college.

She worked during the summer at a park as a secretary to support herself in college. She helped haying around the farm.

“I also showed 4-H calves,” Lemons said. “I saved the money I earned in a savings account.”

Lemons eventually decided to major in Spanish and English.

After receiving her degree, she applied for a teaching job in Lincoln, Neb. “I wanted to get a job in Lincoln — that was near impossible,” she said. “Most of my friends went to Omaha, but I applied and got the job.”

Lemons said Lincoln was a very competitive area to get a job

because many young professionals wanted to continue their education while working.

“They made it apparent that if you didn’t meet expectations during the first year working, you wouldn’t be there next year,” Lemons said.

Lemons said teaching in Lincoln was rewarding.

“The school was connected to the University of Nebraska and had a lot of resources,” she said.

“Students were highly motivated and really successful.”

Lemons left her job in Lincoln and traveled with her husband who was in the Air Force. Finally, settling in Kansas City, Lemons has worked at BVHS for 22 years.

Senior Ryan Jaspal, currently enrolled in AP Spanish 5, said he enjoys how Lemons incorporates her personality into her teaching.

“She knows what she is doing,” Jaspal said. “She is determined to help us be successful.”

Jaspal said he took Spanish to broaden his speaking abilities, and Lemons has helped him a lot.

“She made me work harder and pushed me so I do more work,” he said.

Spanish teacher Anita Lemons often uses dolls and props to help students understand stories and concepts. Lemons teaches Spanish 4, Honors Spanish 4 and AP Spanish 5. “She brings a lot of energy into the classroom,” junior Mackenzie Johnson said. Photo by Olivia Roudebush.

People to People International connects students to new cultures anniematheis news editor A letter arrived in the mail with People to People Ambassador Program stamped on the envelope.

Sophomore Alex Robinson tossed the letter aside, believing it to be a scam. But, after researching it online, Alex found out People to People is an organization meant to bring different cultures together.

“I have always been interested in foreign countries and their cultures,” he said. “Plus, I just love the architecture of their buildings — it’s just interesting. I love history.”

Alex then attended an informational meeting, where he went through an informal interview process.

He was then accepted to their summer program, where he would visit France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy over the course of 20 days.

However, Alex said his family’s financial situation could not cover the $7,000 fee due May 1.

Alex’s father Mitch Robinson said he thinks it is great that Alex is striving to raise the money to travel.

“We couldn’t afford to just shell out $7,000 for him to go to Europe,” he said. “If he really wanted to do this, he needed to obtain that goal for himself. I am very proud of him for stepping up to the plate and attempting to do that. We will find a way, one way or another, to get the rest of the money

he is short.”

Alex’s parents will be able to provide around $1,500 for the trip.

Alex has relied on donations so far to pay for the trip. The money would cover transportation, accommodations, meals, educational activities, insurance, zone fare and a passport.

Robinson Alex’s itinerary includes seeing the Eiffel Tower, talking to French government representatives, visiting a Holocaust concentration camp and blowing glass in Venice.

Alex said if he doesn’t reach his goal, he will donate all the money he raised to the Kansas City Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Alex is applying for the available scholarships through the program worth $1,000 to help with the payments.

Mitch said he is coming to the realization that Alex is going to be fine in Europe.

“I’m a little bit nervous because he is going to be leaving the country, but I know that the organization is well-respected for keeping their students safe,” Mitch said. “I think it is a great opportunity, and I am sure he is going to be just fine traveling.”

In the summer of 2010, sophomore Jamie Chaffin traveled for a two-week period to Australia through People to People.

While there, she was able to hold koala bears, see attractions and learn how to surf.

Chaffin’s parents agreed to pay for half of the trip, but she was responsible for providing the rest of the money.

She used some money from her savings, but she also received money for Christmas and her birthday and from cleaning houses.

“It’s going to be hard, but if you have the motivation to do it, it’s really worthwhile,” she said.

Chaffin said the experience was exceptional, and she would do it again if given the chance.

“It’s people your own age,” she said. “Your not traveling with you parents, having to go see all the oldie stuff they want to go see — you get to see the stuff you are actually interested in seeing. I think it was a lot better trip than it would have been with my parents.”

Alex said he thinks all the hard work he is putting into the trip will make him be more grateful if it happens.

“My mom always reminds me, ‘You better appreciate it; it might be the only time you are going,” he said.

He said he believes the experience will be much more unique than if he was traveling on his own.

“They hire all of the experts; they already know what they are going to do before they go over there,” he said. “We get to meet people you wouldn’t normally be able to meet. They are teaching you as you are going and giving you information you would not receive otherwise.”

APRIL 2011 1 5

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Competition nets nearly 1,000 pounds for food bank jacobpruitt opinion editor People shopping in the Price Chopper on 151st Street and Metcalf Avenue looked upon the students crowded the front of the store on Tuesday, March 22.

The students stood in a semi-circle arranged around a speaker.

Each had a shopping cart.

Students stood in groups according to grade, planning how to spend their $250.

The speaker released them into the store, telling each group to stay out of the other shoppers’ way.

The juniors and seniors immediately began grabbing cheap, non-perishable food items to fill their carts.

All groups planned to win the class competition for their grade.

The freshmen and sophomores slowly made their way down aisles after the juniors and seniors, picking through what was left.

Senior Samantha Nichols, a Harvesters youth ambassador, organized the Supermarket Sweep.

BV won a $1,000 prize in Harvester’s regional food drive last year for donating the most food to the food bank.

Nichols planned Supermarket Sweep this year after being

inspired by the classic game show of the same name.

Instead of using the prize money around school, Nichols came up with the idea to use that $1,000 for this year’s food drive.

“I am really excited to put last year’s money to good use so we can benefit the entire community,” Nichols said.

Nichols’ Project Hunger club organized the event.

“This is only the second year for Project Hunger,” supervisor Britt Qualls said. “But Sam and Lauren Kats, the other ambassador, are graduating. So if there are any underclassmen interested in continuing Project Hunger, they should come by and see me.”

The juniors bought the most food while staying under the $250 limit within 20 minutes and won the competition.

Supermarket Sweep raised nearly 1,000 pounds of food from the 980 items the students purchased.

“I thought it was awesome,” Qualls said. “It was very creative, very successful.”

Qualls said Supermarket Sweep experienced some set backs because of snow days and Spring Break.

“I wish we would have done a school-wide food drive,” Qualls said.

Nichols said Supermarket Sweep will provide food for Harvesters in a season many Kansas Citians forget to donate.

“During the holidays, Harvesters is swamped with vol-

unteers, because everyone is kind of in the mood of giving,” Nichols said. “But it’s these months that people don’t always think about Harvesters. So this is really good timing for us to raise a lot of food, not only because people aren’t thinking about it, but because a lot of kids who receive food from Harvesters get free or reduced priced lunches at their school.

When the school year is over, they don’t have that any more, and they’ll go hungry during the day, so we can provide them with food for the summer.”

Nichols said she believes the event was a success.

“Everyone had fun,” she said. “We collected a lot of food, and I hope it can become a tradition.”

Nichols said she believes it is a responsibility to help those in need.

“I think that when people are in need and when you have an ability or resources that can be used to help these individuals, you should,” she said.

Visit www.bvtigernews.com for photos of the event.

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World traveler

Adventuring to different corners of the globe contributes to understanding cultures kellycordingley staff writer

Australia. Rwanda. Morocco. Paris. Amsterdam. Canada.

Belgium.

Senior Walter Vaughn has traveled to many countries with his family.

“I’m reminded by my parents how fortunate I am to have traveled so much at an early age,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn took his first trip to Australia when he was 15 years old and has continued to travel the world with his family since then.

He said he recognizes that his family tends to travel to more exotic places than the normal vacation spots.

He said his family enjoys an adventure rather than a mundane, sitting-at-the-beach type of vacation many people go on.

“Most families like to buy things, but this is our hobby,” Vaughn said. “We’ve always done that.”

Vaughn said when he travels to countries that speak little English, his family usually has a guide or translator to help them get around.

“In Europe, you can tell people have issues [with Americans],” Vaughn said. “Otherwise they’re pretty cool; we’ve never had anyVaughn thing really bad.”

Vaughn said one of his favorite memories was when he traveled to Rwanda.

He said he visited Hotel Rwanda and viewed the sites of the genocide that took place there — a moving experience.

He said he also witnessed the poor living conditions of the African people.

“You really realize how much we take for granted,” he said. “There are people living without roofs and yet they’re two times happier than most people I know.”

Vaughn said the craziest instance he can recall while

Globe

trotter

traveling was when his family attempted to leave Paris.

The workers went on strike the day their flight was scheduled to depart.

The Vaughn family was forced to stay in Paris a few days longer than originally planned, but he said he didn’t mind.

“I definitely plan to continue traveling when I’m out of the house,” Vaughn said. “Maybe after college I can live out of the United States. That would be great.”

Traveling to Morocco is one of Vaughn’s favorite trips, he said, because the atmosphere is so different from anywhere else.

In particular, he said the food was incredible and unlike anything he is used to.

He said traveling has enabled him to gain more knowledge and has opened his eyes to different cultures.

“You gain more respect for people and you realize what’s really important when others have so little,” Vaughn said. “You appreciate the small things, realizing life is too short to live too stressed out.”

Places senior Walter Vaughn has traveled

Canada

Amsterdam

Paris

Belgium

Morocco

Australia Rwanda APRIL 2011 1 7

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Takin’ it stage

to the

As part of their high-school musical career, juniors Erin Moylan and Alex Petersen are members of Chambers. Photo by Mary Ster.

Ambitious student actors practice craft with hopes of future success jordanmcentee design editor It was her first show.

The 6-year-old girl walked across the stage dressed as a clown.

Eleven years later, she took the stage as one of the lead roles in BV’s production of Beauty and the Beast, Madame de la Grande Bouche.

Performing since she was a little girl, junior Erin Moylan still loves the feeling of being in front of a crowd.

“There’s this thrill you get on stage in front of the audience,” she said. “People in theater just have it in their blood. They can’t not do a show. You might say ‘Oh, I’m not going to do this one,’ but somehow you always end up doing it.”

Moylan said theater takes a lot of time outside of school to be successful.

“For sports, there’s an off season, but in theater, there’s always more dance lessons or always another show you can do,” she said.

“That’s just how it is.”

Moylan performed with seniors Sarah Bergeson and Lauren Flack and junior Alex Petersen in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels over

1 8 APRIL 2011

Winter Break.

“It was this week-long process down at UMKC where we’d have rehearsals from nine in the morning to nine at night, then we had shows at the end of the week,” Moylan said.

Moylan said she plans to major in musical theater and see where that takes her.

“It took me a while to know that I want to keep doing theater as my future,” Moylan said. “But over the summer, I went to a six-week camp in Colorado called PerryMansfield. We stayed in cabins with no air conditioning and no phones or anything.

Living that experience every day for six weeks, doing nothing but theater, made me realize that is what I want to be doing.”

Bergeson has also been acting since her childhood and plans on a future in the theater business, starting with majoring in musical theater.

Bergeson auditioned at nine different schools: Wichita State University, Oklahoma City University, Point Park University, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, Pace University and Webster University.

“I don’t know exactly where I want to go,” Bergeson said. “But I spent all of January

traveling around to each of the schools and auditioning — singing the same two songs over and over.”

Bergeson said she would love to continue on and become well-known in the theater business.

“I would love to work in the original cast of a new show,” she said. “It’d be awesome to have my name attached to it for life.”

Moylan said she would love to make a career for herself in the theater world.

“The big goal for every performer is to be on Broadway and make a name for themselves,” she said. “My goal is to just keep performing — it would be amazing to make a living off of it.”

Bergeson said the audition process, along with the entire theater experience, has taught her many important life lessons.

“You definitely learn patience,” she said.

“There’s so many times in rehearsal when they might not need you in that scene, and just all the time in between shows. You also learn to respect not just the other actors around, but the directors and also the audience. You just meet so many different people.”

Bergeson said she enjoys connecting with the crowd on a personal level.

“I love the feeling when the audience knows you, they believe in you as a character and really want you to succeed,” she said.

Moylan said being involved in several productions has made her more outgoing.

“I used to be super shy,” she said. “But through theater, I learned to open up and to be able to talk to anybody about anything.

It’s definitely made me more confident.”

Moylan said every opportunity she has to perform makes her stronger and more comfortable.

“I believe that every time you’re on stage it makes you more confident,” she said. “Every time you work with new directors and a new cast, it’s an entirely different experience.

There is so much to take away from it.”

Bergeson said theater is a great way to make lifelong friends while doing what she loves.

“For every show, I’ve met so many different directors and people in and out of school,” she said. “It’s like we’re all connected — these hundreds of people become a family, essentially. It’s never what it seems. The audience just sees two hours on stage, but there’s so much more than that. The show and the relationships never end.”

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Sounds of Spring

Previews for this month’s hottest shows

Story by Jordan Huesers.

Shows this month around the area

8

Middle of the Map fest will showcase 25-30 local and national bands on April 8-9.

Ink magazine and The Record Machine bring this festival to KC in an attempt to further establish the area as a musical and cultural center.

This event features bands such as Two Door Cinema Club, Paper Route, The Casket Lottery and State Bird.

This new festival will be at The Riot Room, Record Bar, The Beaumont Club and The Union.

Tickets cost $20 for a one-day pass and $25 for a two-day pass.

Passes only gain access to the venues and does not guarantee ability to see every show.

Schedules can be found on middleofthemapfest.com All ages may see shows at the Beaumont Club, 18 and older may see shows at the Record Bar, and 21 and older may see shows at the Riot Room and The Union.

Arcade Fire and The National

Used with permission from IGN.

These two bands will be featured at the Starlight Theater on April 20.

Arcade Fire, first popular in the early 2000s, is one of the most popular Indie rock bands in the country.

This band won the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year with The Suburbs.

The National, another Indie group, features the musical stylings of a husband and wife.

Their latest album, High Violet, was released in May 2010.

Tickets cost $37.50.

Jeff Beck

8 p.m. at the Uptown Theater, tickets: $65

12

Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks

16

Coheed and Cambria

20

Sick Puppies

23

Pretty Lights

7:30 p.m. at the Sprint Center, tickets: TBD

8 p.m. at the Midland Theater, tickets: $25

8 p.m. at the Midland Theater, tickets: $9.33

9 p.m. at the Midland Theater, tickets: $25

Jimmy Buffett Used with permission from MCA.

As a part of his “WELCOME TO FIN LAND” tour, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will perform at the Sprint Center April 30 at 8 p.m.

During his career, Buffett released 26 studio albums and 11 live albums. He has recorded two number 1 singles.

Tickets range in price from $46-$126.

APRIL 2011 1 9

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Angles The Strokes saranaatz managing editor More than 20 years after their first album, Room on Fire, stakes were high for the Strokes’ latest release: Angles.

I personally didn’t know what to expect. I am a fan of the Strokes, but also tend to think that the band peaked pretty early on with songs like “12:51” and “Reptilia.”

I was pleasantly surprised with the release of the single from Angles, “Under Cover of Darkness.”

The song kept the band’s catchy and quirky sound from previous albums, with some fresh new guitar riffs.

The lyrics weren’t half bad — definitely good enough to have me playing the single on repeat for a few days.

So of course, when my go-to music friend told me that the band was streaming Angles on its website, I jumped at my chance to hear what the Strokes had come up with for its latest work.

The first thing I noticed was that I had absolutely no idea what lead singer Julian Casablancas was saying about 83.7 percent of the time.

I looked up lyrics online for songs such as “Two Kinds of Happiness,” and found a few words separated with question marks and ellipsis points.

Clearly, I am not the only clueless one.

His voice significantly damages the quality of the album. Casablancas’ unique sound seems to have morphed into a scratchy mumbling that makes

2 0 APRIL 2011

the lyrics extremely difficult to understand.

Aside from the vocals, I was pretty disappointed with the album. Though it has its highlights such as the first track, “Machu Picchu,” and, of course, “Under Cover of Darkness,” it also has songs that honestly made me want to tear my hair out.

The song “You’re So Right,” is completely monotonous and sounds a little bit like aliens trying to communicate with earthlings.

At some point, it no longer becomes interesting to listen to so many random sounds put together in a techno jumble.

The most interesting track on the album (for better or for worse) has to be “Call Me Back.” The first time I heard it, I fell in love with the moody instrumental that opens the song.

To top it off, Casablancas actually sings real English words for a change.

I was happy with a different sort of sound than the other tracks on the album.

Up until about 1:15.

At this point, the song is completely ruined with a sudden change in melody.

Yet, “Call Me Back” seems to sum up the whole album.

Just when listeners think everything is going decently, the band tries way too hard to be “new” and “original” and ends up sounding confused and muddled.

Overall, Angles has a few tracks that would be worth a listen but just doesn’t compare to the Strokes’ earlier albums.

Twitter catches on at BV sambrennan ads manager The past couple weeks, BV’s student population has hopped on the Twitter train.

Listen in the hallways and all of the sudden people are yelling ‘Tweet me!’ at their friends.

I’ve been a part of the #Twitterverse for almost a year and I figured that, as a social network, Twitter would never catch on in BV Classic.

There have been students already into Twitter before the craze — students like senior Paige DuBay, who has been Tweeting since her sophomore year. Junior Clinton Webb has a massive following of 1,115 people.

DuBay said Twitter first interested her because she had the option of following celebrities on Twitter. She even began to prefer Twitter over Facebook.

“I feel less creepy on Twitter,” she said.

“I love Facebook but there are a lot of different ways to see what people are saying to one another. It is easy to be a Facebook

creep. But on Twitter it is just short and sweet; it is just random thoughts.”

Webb said he created a Twitter for one reason — to follow Lady Gaga.

“Lots of Lady Gaga fans are on Twitter,” Webb said. “And we all just follow each other.” @paigeynicole is following 70 people and has 196 followers. @HausofClinton is following 1,392 and has 1,115 followers.

DuBay said her favorite person to follow is Vinny Guadagnino from the Jersey Shore.

“He is my favorite celebrity to follow,“ she said. “Everything he says is hilarious.”

Webb said he normally tweets about Lady Gaga or random song lyrics.

With Twitter on the rise, DuBay said she isn’t too crazy about the phenomenon.

“With nobody knowing about Twitter, you could say whatever you wanted,” DuBay said.

“Now you have to be careful what you say.”

Webb also said he prefers Twitter to Facebook.

“You can share anything on Twitter,” he said. “You won’t be judged.”

do

don’t

attempt to use decent spelling and grammar

create Twitter drama

tag your friends in tweets using the @ sign

fill up followers’ home pages by tweeting every 15 minutes

use the # sign (hash-tag) to denote part of your tweet as a trending topic

tweet hurtful and degrading comments

centerstage Patrick Robinson (right) and Brandon Gardner (left) of The Atlantic perform live at a concert on March 11. The band began playing together around two years ago. “Being in a band, we’ve gone through different experiences,” Gardner said. “That, in turn, has changed the music we play.” Photo by Courtney Woodworth.

atlantic THE

courtneywoodworth circulations manager

Four college-aged kids take the stage.

Lights of all different colors flash rhythmically.

The lead singer says, “We are The Atlantic.”

And they begin to play.

The Atlantic, a band from Overland Park, drew a lot of attention in the past few months for its work.

Jeriney, from 96.5 The Buzz, named it one of the top five bands in Kansas City.

The Pitch wrote an article and did a Q&A with the band.

Performers in The Atlantic include Patrick Robinson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, 2009 BV graduate Brandon Gardner on lead guitar, Matt Lane on bass and James Wooten on drums.

“Almost all of us played music our entire lives — I mean, at least for a significant amount of it,” Robinson said. “We found out we were kind of good at it and really liked it.”

The Buzz has a segment on Sundays called Homegrown Buzz that features local music. Show host Jeriney plays music that is

Chemistry among band members fuels success in local music scene

want more atlantic?

Music is available at: www.theatlantic.bandcamp.com Their next show is April 23 at KC Municipal Auditorium. Tickets are $10.

either sent in or requested by fans.

“How to Start a War” by The Atlantic made its way to Homegrown Buzz in the fall of 2009.

Jeriney said via email that the band immediately shouted out from their Facebook page, letting fans know they were on the radio.

“It’s so easy now [to get fans],” Gardner said. “Just playing shows and being personal with people is enough.”

Jeriney said the band’s sound is soulful while staying true to traditional rock roots.

The band released 3 EPs within the last year. “[Music] evolves like you change,” Robinson said. “With the newer stuff, destruction and rebuilding have been big themes.”

Jeriney said since the band members are

all young, they have nowhere to go but up if they continue making and believing in music.

“We all hate jobs,” Robinson said. “Our goal is to play music and do our thing and hopefully make enough money to support ourselves.”

Back in early March, The Atlantic was set to play with Indie band Meg & Dia who, in 2006, made AP Magazine’s ‘100 bands you need to know’ list.

However, Meg & Dia cancelled the tour due to one member’s illness.

Robinson said part of the reason for the band’s success thus far is the connection among the members.

“We’re all like best friends, and we hang out all the time,” he said. “We argue and bicker like a couple would or whatever, but one of the things we’re really proud of and happy with is the chemistry between all of us.”

The band is set to record another EP this summer.

“It’s going to rock your brains out,” Gardner said. “It sounds like everything you’ve ever felt and everything you could have ever wanted to be.”

APRIL 2011 2 1

up

tigerturf

Stepping

4 returning varsity senior baseball players attempt to do what 14 did last year — lead a team to State jordanmcentee design editor Success.

Tradition.

Leadership.

These are just a few of the qualities found in BV’s baseball program.

The 2010 varsity team, which included 14 seniors, won the class 6A State Championship.

“Last year we had a very talented group,” baseball coach Matt Ortman said. “They got on a roll at the right time at the end of the season and essentially walked through the state tournament.”

Ortman said the team looks up to the four returning varsity seniors: Landon Lucansky, Brent Mason, Bryant Reber and Trent Sullivan.

“They were all with us at the end of last year and have all taken over leadership roles,” he said. “Lots of seniors have stepped up — it’s awesome how they’re leaders in practicing and working hard.”

Mason said the senior leaders encourage the team to play to its potential by treating each other respectfully.

“The fact that we were on varsity last year has made us really step up,” Mason said. “We try to motivate everybody to go hard and to get better. And we try to not make it seem like we’re above them.

Everyone treats each other like we’re all on the same level.”

Mason said the team’s chemistry is one of the biggest differences from last year’s squad.

“Everybody fits in very well,” he said. “You don’t see different groups out there — we’re all together.”

Ortman said the team will be strong due to the preparation and high potential of the younger players.

“I wouldn’t really consider this a rebuilding season because we have a lot of guys who have been ready for the varsity level, but now they get their shot,” he said. “I expect to continue the type of success we’ve had.”

Because so many players from the 2010 team graduated, Mason said it is now time for a new group of guys to take over.

“Last year, since we had mostly all seniors, I Photo illustration by Conor Storm.

2 2 APRIL 2011

kind of had to sit back and let the older guys take charge,” he said. “But now the younger guys are definitely stepping up. In baseball, you have to be able to make the plays no matter how old you are.”

After losing last year’s starting pitcher Ryne Stanek, who turned down a third round MLB draft pick to the Seattle Mariners to attend University of Arkansas, the Tigers had a big role to fill.

“Pitching is a big key in baseball,” Mason said. upcoming games: “But if you can 4/9 @ Shawnee Mission South (3&2 Baseball Fields) just throw strikes, 4/12 vs. BVW that’s good in my District Activity Complex book. Ryne had 4/13 @ BVW an overpowering District Activity Complex fastball, but now 4/14-4/15 @ River City Festival we have Hayden Lawrence Free State [Edwards] and Evan [Bell], who are both really strong. So I don’t think it will affect us as much as people anticipated.”

Ortman said he has high expectations for the season, beginning with intensity and improvement at practice.

“My biggest hope is that we continue practicing hard and getting better everyday,” Ortman said. “Daily, we strive to get better. If we do that, success on the field and wins will come along with it.”

Mason said the team hopes to bring home another State Championship for BV. “We’re actually counting on it — not to sound arrogant or anything,” he said. “Everybody’s goal is to win. If we continue to work hard, everything will fall into place.”

returning varsity seniors Landon Lucansky — shortstop Brent Mason — catcher, pitcher Bryant Reber — outfield Trent Sullivan — second base

tigerturf

2010-2011 athletes produce record-setting year claycosby sports editor BV is in the midst of the highest accomplishing year in BV sports history.

BV has enjoyed success this year and still has an opportunity to improve on this already record-breaking three athletic state championship school year with spring sports still unfinished.

“We still could win some more; we have done well and we have plenty of opportunities left,” Athletic Director Bob Whitehead said.

Baseball, boys golf, boys tennis, girls soccer, softball, girls swimming and track and field have all yet to be decided.

After winning the title in girls tennis and football during the fall, this marked the second year that BV has won multiple athletic state championships.

“There are a lot of very talented students and athletes in this class, and they’re having a great year,” Whitehead said.

The boys swim and dive team delivered the third athletic state championship this year.

“Winning state was awesome and it was cool to do it this year when it seems like we have won everything,” senior swim and dive member Matt Olsen said.

Additionally, the girls basketball team placed runner-up in the state tournament — the best finish the team has ever had.

The only other year BV won more than one championship was in 1992, when the Tigers won State in both football and baseball.

That class notably included football coach Eric Driskell and New York Jets offensive coordinator By the numbers Brian Schottenheimer.

Athletic championships Schotthis year —3 tenheimer quarterbacked Sports not yet determined — 8 the 1991 state champion Previous record for football team championships in one year — 2 during the (1992) time his father, Marty SchotTotal championships tenheimer, this year (athletic was the coach and other) — 6 of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Driskell described similarities between the two years and what sets them apart.

“There is a lot of good camaraderie and good leadership,” he said. “Its a good group of guys and girls that have good chemistry and appreciate each other a lot.”

BV has experienced success in non-athletic competitions as well with three state championships coming in the Scholars Bowl, Science Knowledge Bowl and chess.

“We have to count our blessings,” Whitehead said. “We’re super excited we’re doing well. We are pleased for the school and pleased for the students.”

Titletown aka Stilwell, Kan. Number of state championships in school history by sport: Girls Golf - 2 Boys Golf - 1 Wrestling — 1 Boys Swim and Dive — 5 Football — 5 Baseball — 3 Softball — 1 Girls Tennis — 1

Sports In Brief Boys Track and Field

Baseball

Boys Golf

Boys Tennis

Girls Track and Field

Softball

Girls Soccer

Girls Swim and Dive

Previous Action: 3/26 @ JCCC indoor Key Athletes: seniors Jacob McDermott, Cody Shrum, Ben Gaede and Steven Stinson Upcoming Action: 4/8 @ BV Relays (home meet)

Previous Action: 3/26 @ JCCC indoor Key Athletes: seniors Mizani Hobson and Sarah Leslie Upcoming Action: 4/8 @ BV Relays (home meet)

Record: (2-0) Previous Action: 3/30 vs. Gardner (W 10-0), 4/1 @ Gardner (W 10-6) Key Athletes: senior Brent Mason and junior Hayden Edwards Upcoming Action: 4/12 vs. BV West

Record: (4-0) Previous Action: 3/24 vs. Basehor (W 7-6), 3/31 vs. Miege (W 9-3) (W 15-0) Key Athletes: senior Stephanie Goodwin, junior Becca McDonald, and freshman Chloe Rogers Upcoming Action: 4/12 @ Gardner

Previous Action: 4/7 @Eagle’s Bend Key Athletes: seniors Michael Kreamer and Greg Graves and junior Austin Johnson Upcoming Action: 4/11 @ Lake Quivira, 4/18 @ Loch Lloyd

Record: (2-0) Previous Action: 3/29 @ Topeka Seaman (W 3-0), 4/1 vs. Pembroke Hill (W 5-0) Key Athletes: seniors Sarah Todd, Brittany Zimmerman, Annie Humphrey and junior Rianin Bowser Upcoming Action: 4/12 Bishop Miege

Previous Action: 4/5 @ BV Northwest Key Athletes: seniors Gautham Prakash and Parth Patel and freshman Kyle Nunnally Upcoming Action: 4/12 Lees Summit North, 4/15 @ Olathe East

Previous Action: BV Invitational @ BVN, 3rd place Key Athletes: seniors Lexi Dienstbier , Felicia Walker and Colby Snyder and juniors Helena Bertels and Becca Bond Upcoming Action: 4/8 @ Olathe Northwest, Olathe Invitational

APRIL 2011 2 3

incolor

FrenchatFables Académie Lafayette

Students write stories, present to all-French school (Left) Listening to a story, kindergarten students at Académie Lafayette try to interpret the plot. Académie Lafayette gave BV French students the opportunity to read to and interact with the children using stories they wrote and illustrated. “My favorite part was when the kids asked questions, because they were all so eager,” sophomore Archana Vasa said. “They were all so excited that we were there, which made reading to them fun.”

(Below) Students at Académie Lafeyette listen intently during a lesson.

BV French 3 and 3.5 classes traveled to the school on March 24 to present stories they created before their visit.

(Immediate right) First graders perform a song for BV students, who visited Académie Lafayette to read stories to the children. The school is a total-immersion environment.

(Far right) Reading to children at Académie Lafayette, sophomore Archana Vasa tells a story about a little girl named Alice. Students in the French 3 and 3.5 classes wrote their own stories to read to the students at the French immersion school. “I gained perspective for a different culture at Académie Lafayette,” Vasa said. “I also gained more experience with the French language outside the classroom setting.”

Photos by Courtney Woodworth.

Visit www.bvtigernews.com for the full story and more photos.

2 4 APRIL 2011