LHS Budget Issue 9

Swinging the bat, junior Michael Sinks prepares to hit a baseball in the game against Shawnee MissionWest on April 3. For more photos of spring sports, see Page 12.

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Barbershop quartet takes home silver

The Acafellas hit a high note in the Harmony Explosion competition

BY KENDRA SCHWARTZ Standing in a huddle, donning bow ties, satin vests, dress shirts and slacks, freshmen Michael Braman, Bryce Dunn, Cameron Stussie and Michael McFadden prepared to sing on Feb. 22.

“I believe. I believe that. I believe that we. I believe that we will

1901 Louisiana St., Lawrence, KS 66046

win. I believe that we will win,” they chanted, channeling the spirit of a sporting event.

The barbershop quartet, self-titled Acafellas strolled onto the stage, ready to harmonize into a single microphone in front of 600 to 700 people. Despite their nerves, they took home second place in the 9th and 10th grade division of the Harmony Explosion barbershop quartet competition. A slow clap welcomed them onto the stage, diminishing nerves built up after months of practice.

“It really gets your adrenaline pumped up,” lead Stussie said. “So by the time you’re on the stage, you’re jumping and running and

Performing in the school auditorium for a photo shoot, the all-freshmen barbershop quartet Acafellas sings “Chordbusters’ March.” Photo by Ashley Hocking

you’re very excited. If you carry the energy throughout the song, it turns out pretty well.”

Just a few months earlier, the group was serendipitously formed during a Freshman/Sophomore Men’s Choir rehearsal. They auditioned for their parts and were chosen.

Continued on Page 2

Vol. 124, Issue 9, Apr. 9, 2014

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Apr. 9, 2014

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Budget Letter from the editors-in-chief

The Budget is published every three weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 66046-2999.

The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contributions from 21st Century Journalism and guest columnists. The newspaper’s goals are to inform, entertain and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members. The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising.

The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of Lawrence High School or USD 497.

Co-Editors-in-Chief Kendra Schwartz and Ashley Hocking Web Developer/lhsbudget.com Zachary Spears Staff Joseph Anderson Charles Backus Roscoe Bradt (Assistant Webmaster) Brooke Braman (Copy Editor) Courtney Cooper Joaquin Dorado (Graphics Editor) Michaela Durner Kansas Gibler Piper Hubbell Zia Kelly (Online Copy Editor) Gage Nelson Vail Moshiri (Social Media Manager) Harley Phelps (Opinion Editor) Kendall Pritchard Kate Rettig Alexis Riner Matt Roe Peter Romano Aidan Rothrock Nia Rutledge (Assistant Opinion Editor) Advertising designer Nico Palacio Adviser Barbara Tholen Business manager Pat Treff 2 the

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Dear Readers, Although movies, magazines and books deem prom “the best night of your life,” when May 10 arrives, many seniors are just ready to get it over with.

Chaotic dress shopping, stressful dinner planning and desperately searching for the perfect promposal.

The road to prom may look fantastical, but it can often diverge into a less than magical night.

The actual dance may only begin when the clock strikes 9, but the preparation prior inevitably causes

conflict. The first quarrel to ensue can be an internal one, as you search for the perfect gown.With varying body types, some girls struggle to feel comfortable in certain trendy styles found in stores.

As illustrated in the story, “Body positivity is necessary for good health,” society has created a notion that girls should look a certain way: stick thin.

On “the most important night of your life” this idea is amplified to the point where girls starve themselves just to fit in their dream dresses.

Another problem that can arise is the price tag. According to “Glamour” Magazine, the average teenage girl spends $1,139 on total prom costs. This average has increased a whopping 40 percent in the just past three years.

Once you’ve found your perfect dress, you’re faced with another obstacle: making plans as a group.

Dealing with everything from finding the perfect restaurant to a mode of transportation that pleases all parties can make your head spin.

You may want to spend this monumental night surrounded by your closest friends, but differing personality types can dilute this dream. It’s easy to

end up too preoccupied trying to please others and end up missing out on your own fun.

After you’ve jumped over those hurdles, finding a date to prom is the optional step. As time has progressed, teenagers have begun to put more of an emphasis on being asked to prom than the actual dance itself.

Whether you’re asking someone with a large sign or with a creative use of food, the ultimate answer you’re seeking is “yes.”

But whether you decide to go stag, take a date or go with a friend, you can have fun with whomever you’re with. Whether you find the perfect dress at a thrift store or Sherri Hill, it’s your decision to hit the dance floor in it. And whether your plans fall through or everything falls into place, prom is what you make of it.

Sincerely,

Ashley Hocking and Kendra Schwartz

Quartet finds the key to success: Acafellas excel in competition despite their nerves Continued from Page 1 “We were doing a song in choir that was called ‘Barbershop Opera,’ and the choir couldn’t pull it together, but the four of us got together and did that for the concert,” bass Dunn said. “After that concert, we decided we wanted to stick together. So we started practicing on a song called the ‘Chord Buster’s March.’”

Steve Scott, a doctoral student of the University of Kansas Music Department, with the help of choir director Dr. Dwayne Dunn worked with the Acafellas to choose choral pieces that best suited their group.

“We get together every week and learn the song,” Bryce Dunn said. “Dr. Dunn created rehearsal tracks for us, so we use those when we wanted to practice together during school. And then we had Steve Scott from KU come down and coach us. He’s a choir teacher, but he’s also a big barbershop guy.”

Since then, the boys have rehearsed every Sunday to ensure their pieces were competition ready.

“Each person usually brings in songs that they think would be good, and then we will eliminate some and then we will all vote on it,” tenor Braman said. “I’m really excited to see what people think of our quartet as we progress.”

Although the Acafellas were ready by the time the competition rolled around, they didn’t just stick to business during their rehearsals.

“Most of our practices we spend about a half hour singing and an hour and a half just goofing off,” Stussie said.

Earlier this year, the Acafellas even practiced performing as a group at choir concerts and in the talent show.

“If you’re in a normal concert you’re like, ‘Hey, we want to do good and impress everyone,’” baritone McFadden said. “But in a competition, we have to do better than everyone and steal the show.”

Just 45 minutes prior to the talent show, a fellow performer suggested the group be called “Acafellas,” and the name stuck.

“We got down to a week before the Harmony Explosion and we were like, ‘Are we gonna be 2T2B or the Acafellas?’” Stussie said. “Acafellas won out.”

To further prepare for the competition, the group

performed for A Cappella Choir during fifth hour a few days before Harmony Explosion.

“Some teachers heard us in the hallway and had us practice for their class,” Braman said. “You could tell they knew we were freshmen because it was a senior class, and you could see that they were thinking ‘Oh, it’s just freshmen.’ But as we start progressing through the song, they’re like, ‘Oh, they’re pretty good. This is something.’”

Finally, the competition day arrived, and the Acafellas headed to Olathe East High School to compete.

“At the competition, we were working with Dr. Dunn in a little room with a piano, and we were making sure we were staying in tune and getting our entrances,” Braman said. “One of the main things the judges critiqued us on was excessive hand movements. So we were making sure we were calm and dealt with our nervous energy. And we made sure our bow ties were on straight.”

In their practice room, the boys’ nerves weighed heavily, but they worked to maintain their composure and energy.

“We all kind of get jittery,” Dunn said. “But mainly, I just try to think to relax. Because the judges are looking at the two categories in Harmony Explosion: One of them was how well you sing and the other is if you’re having fun.”

On stage, the group’s pre-performance jitters remained, but their performance left judges singing a positive tune.

“It’s really nerve wracking,” McFadden said.

“Because you kind of go on stage and have this big, big, big, big theater stage, and there’s just four people on the stage, and there’s this huge crowd out there.

It makes you think if you […] don’t know it, it will show.”

After their initial performance that day, the group moved on to the final round in which they placed second in their division.

“It was nice to get second place,” Braman said.

“We made it to the finals after the first round, so we knew we were going to place in the top 10. But we really wanted first. We were off by 15 points out of 1,200.”

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Although the Acafellas did not take home the gold, their silver win allotted them a unique opportunity.

“We competed to sing with Boomtown, which is a nationally known choir, and we actually got the invitation to sing with them,” Stussie said. “On April 12, we have to go back to Olathe to sing with them.”

As an all-freshman group, they plan on continuing to practice and compete throughout high school careers.

“It gives us more time to work with each other,” McFadden said. “Because some groups don’t get together until their junior or senior year, and then you only have one or two years to get to know each other and become friends. We kind of started at the beginning of ninth grade, so it’s a lot easier for us to adapt to each other and learn what ticks each other off.”

Although some of the boys worry about changing voices as they mature, overall the group anticipates a bright future for the Acafellas.

“We really have a goal of what we want to be senior year,” Stussie said. “Because we’ve seen some of the best choirs in the state, and we’ve seen the third ranked national barbershop choir. So we really want to see how we progress from freshman year to senior year, and on if we continue to sing through college.”

Whether their voice parts switch or the group dynamic is invariable, the singers hope to improve and take first in the senior division by the time they graduate.

“You know that there’s a goal you’re striving for, and it’s just a challenge,” Braman said. “There are a lot more nerves because when you’re performing as a choir. It’s just parents and family, and they’re going to tell you that you did a great job anyways. And then in competition, you find out what’s actually happening, and you have a goal to strive toward.”

As competition season comes to a close, the group is optimistic about the challenges they may face in years to come.

“We have three years to learn everything,” Dunn said. “I think we’re doing good right now, but I definitely think we could be a lot better. There’s always room to improve.”

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Beloved coach passes away

Assistant football and basketball coach, Kermit Adridge, loses fight with cancer

BY BROOKE BRAMAN Lawrence High School celebrates and honors rich tradition and outstanding legacies in academics, athletics and arts. A new legacy is now among those that students and staff members remember-the legacy of Kermit Aldridge, a beloved coach and teacher who died on March 8.

Aldridge was both a lifelong Chesty Lion and successful athlete. Playing football for the both LHS and KU, Aldridge was passionate about the game.

“When I was coaching at Wichita State in the early ‘80s, he was a high school player at Lawrence High School,” football coach and faculty member Dirk Wedd said. “He was just one of those kids that you watched.”

Though Aldridge graduated from Lawrence High School in 1981, his devotion to the school persisted.

Starting in 2011, Aldridge joined the LHS coaching staff. First for the football program, then for the basketball program, Aldridge offered his knowledge about and skill in the sports after school while he worked as a para-professional at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School.

“Once I started coaching at LHS, I would run into him because he played such a big part at Central and with the local youth programs,” Wedd said.

“When we brought the freshman up and started a freshman football program, I visited him and asked if he had any interest in coming back to LHS.” This year marked the fourth football season and third basketball season that Aldridge helped coach.

His role as a coach allowed him to meet and interact with many LHS students, families and faculty.

“My son Erick Mayo was a former football player at LHS, and we met Kermit through the football program,” said Lori Howell, a good friend of Aldridge, his fiance and family. “He will always

be known as a great role model to all students and athletes.”

His effectiveness as a role model was due to his welcoming personality, strong character and ability to connect with students.

Junior varsity basketball player Anthony Bonner feels Aldridge impacted his development as a player and a person.

“He taught me how to be a better person and to always stay positive,” Bonner said.

Colleagues were similarly affected by Aldridge.

“He was a very hard-working dependable person,” head basketball coach Mike Lewis said.

“When you spend time around people like that, it rubs off on you.”

“He was such a caring person,” Wedd said.

“He was firm but fair. I think the kids had instant respect for him.”

Besides fostering respect, Aldridge was known for his ability to communicate with students.

“He was only here for four years, but he touched so many lives,” Wedd said. “He had the ability to communicate with all types of kids — kids that needed a swift kick in the butt sometimes and those that needed a pat on the back. He had the unbelievable ability to figure out what that young person needed.”

Communication coupled with hard work and dependability defined Aldridge’s coaching style.

“As a head coach, it’s important for me to have assistant coaches who are self motivated and hardworking,” Lewis said. “He was someone you could count on. He was someone the players could count on. They knew he would be at practice and working hard.”

His dedication to various LHS athletic programs became even more pronounced once he was diagnosed with large-cell neuroendocrine cancer, an especially aggressive type of lung cancer, in April

2013.

“What really stands out to me is that here was a person who was fighting cancer and was struggling the last five-six weeks of the basketball season, but made the effort to be there at the Topeka Invitational Championship game that we ended up winning and at the pink-out game even though he had been in the hospital for the two weeks leading up to the game,” Lewis said.

He exhibited similar devotion to the football program, Lewis recounted, as Aldridge always scheduled chemotherapy treatments on Mondays so he would be able to coach Friday night games.

Though he used medical treatments like chemotherapy, he believed coaching to be an even more effective remedy.

“He was OK with the fight,” Lewis said. “He knew what he was going up against. He used his time coaching as a form of therapy. He didn’t want to sit around and stew about it.”

Even with medical care, however, Aldridge’s form of cancer is often fatal.

“The tumors appeared on his liver, spleen, pancreas and kidneys,” Howell said. “They eventually then went to his lungs and weakened his body.”

Aldridge lost his fight with cancer early in March.

He was honored with a Celebration of Life, held on March 14, and visitation, March 13, at the Warren-McElwain Mortuary.

“The visitation and the celebration of life were both true testaments of what a huge impact he had on students, staff and family,” Howell said.

Student athletes and community members attended both.

“It was sad, but felt good to see how many people he impacted,” Bonner said.

To further preserve Aldridge’s legacy at LHS, a scholarship fund has been set up in his name.

USD 497 staff member Kermit Aldridge passed away on March 8. He was honored with a Celebration of Life on March 14. Photo courtesy of Liberty

Memorial Central Middle School

“The first annual Kermit D. Aldridge scholarship will be awarded in 2015, and we will plan to continue fundraisers from here out to continue this in his honor,” Howell said.

Though specific details of the scholarship are still being defined, Lewis explained recipients will likely receive an explanation of the scholarship and of Aldridge in order to honor and maintain his memory: a memory that will include this success as a coach, an educator and a Chesty Lion.

“His love for the school and his ability to communicate with kids will be his legacy,” Wedd said.

Lack of prom court sets Lawrence High apart Unlike Free State, students vote for Winter Court king and queen rather than prom royalty

BY PETER ROMANO Lawrence High goes against the norm. Instead of having a prom king and queen, LHS has Winter Court royalty.

“I really don’t know [why],” student council member Cy Burghart said. “I was kind of wondering the same thing when I came to LHS.” Winter Court began when Dick Patterson was principal. At the time, StuCo and administrators believed prom season was too busy. A prom court was just another thing to worry about.

“We have revisited that and looked at that as an issue, basically there are a lot of things going on in the spring around prom,” StuCo sponsor, Jason Lichte said. “For instance, Mud Volleyball, Rockin’ Out the Jungle and Showtime, just to name a few.”

According to Lichte, there are fewer events in the winter, which allows for more focus on court

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activities.

Winter Court, you can do it in front of the entire “During Winter Court, there’s basketball, wresstudent body,” former StuCo sponsor David Platt said. “It includes a bigger piece of the school comtling, swimming, and that’s it really,” Lichte said.

“Whereas you still have all the other sports you munity.”

Winter Court gives the entire student body the have all those other events in the spring. During Winter Court time, that’s opportunity to be a part of court really all that’s going on activities. The Winter Court itself is “With the prom court, the meant to draw attention to students at the high school. It’s only time it’s honored is at the a way to keep student who are very involved in school-reprom itself. Whereas if you do lated extracurricular activities. engaged during Februa Winter Court, you can do it ary. It’s kind of a tough “It highlights students who have in front of the entire student month because we’ve made good decisions over four years body.” time here at Lawrence High school. kind of just got gray days all in a row.”

When freshmen, sophomores and - David Platt, former StuCo sponsor juniors see those upperclassmen Winter Court also differs from prom court who have made good decisions honored for being involved in activities, branching in that it includes more students.

“With the prom court, the only time it’s out, having a bunch of friends and doing positive things at the high school,” Lichte said. “Hopefully, honored is at the prom itself. Whereas if you do a

Page Design By Zia Kelly

that helps to encourage them to also make good decisions.”

Since students nominate the Winter Court candidates, the argument could be made that the nominees could potentially be untrustworthy.

“The process doesn’t necessarily reflect those who have made those good decisions,” Lichte said. “[However,] what ends up happening by and large is that students are honored who have made those good decisions, and that’s why during the assembly we talk about all the things those students have been involved in and that have made Lawrence High a better place.”

There is always the potential for Winter Court to be changed into Prom Court if StuCo and enough students spoke out.

“I would hope they wouldn’t do that, personally,” Platt said. “I think it’s more important to involve as many groups in activities as possible.”

sports

APR. 9, 2014

Coach remains same for girls’ soccer

For first time in years, changes in coaching staff did not occur, allowing team to progress

BY PIPER HUBBELL Varsity girls soccer coach Justin Young is finally the coach to stay.

After his starting season last year, Young plans to solidify his position as a coach and bring his knowledge from past coaching experiences.

Young was a coach for middle school soccer programs at Pembroke Hill and is currently a coach for the boy’s soccer program in Pembroke as well.

Having a coach stay for more than one season could signal a change for the program. This year’s season marks the first time in four years that the program will have the same coach two years in a row.

“When you have a coaching consistency, it really lends itself to success in the program because every year you don’t have someone new coming into the program with new expectations, new understandings, and the girls have to build the trust with the coach,” Young said. “It’s kind of just a back-and-forth battle.”

This year, he plans to improve the foundation that he laid last season. He wants to not only improve the team’s success, but also individual success for each and every player.

The program’s past inconsistent coaching had noticeable impact in terms of team performance and players’ mindsets, he said.

“With consistent coaching, the players are able to know that the expectations are going forward,” Young said.

Senior AnnaKate Kleiböhmer, a former varsity soccer player, decided not to continue with the

program this year due to past coaching issues.

“Every coach focuses on something different,” Kleibohmer said. “Some have emphasis on conditioning, some on skills, and so every year it’s hard to come into it not knowing what to expect and every year having to relearn the game and adjust to the different styles and all of the different formations.”

This caused a huge restart for the team each season. Everything the team had worked for in the previous year had to be started back at the beginning.

Also, the coaching conundrum made each player come into the season with an individualistic attitude. Instead of already having the relationship and bond with the coach from the previous year, the players had to take time establishing themselves in front of the coach first before working as a team. It caused players to lose time working on things like team chemistry and team unity as they focused on learning the new coach’s style.

Senior, varsity player Kayla Duncan is a returning player this year who is optimistic about the rest of the season.

“I believe we should do a lot better now with already a year with the coach,” Duncan said. “I think we can focus on other things like our style of play and how to act around the coach.”

Young started off the season strong by coaching a 2-0 win over Pembroke Hill on March 25 and 2-1 win over Baldwin on April 1.

With two wins to start the season, the program has gained confidence and is hoping for a better season with a familiar coach.

“I think [having a consistent coach] will definitely help the program to have one coach going forward cause you know what to expect and the girls can work together better because they don’t have to worry about the new coach,” senior and varsity player Laura Neilson said.

Stealing the ball from a forward, senior Whitney Simons helps lead the Lions to a 2-0 victory over Pembroke Hill on March 25 at the season opener. Under a new head coach, the girls’ soccer team has thrived so far this season. Photo by Ashley Hocking

Softball team receives new head coach Joe Dee Tarbutton takes over team for spring season after previous coach leaves to spend time with family

BY AIDAN ROTHROCK The softball team is starting fresh this season with new head coach Joe Dee Tarbutton.

Tarbutton took over after coach Nick Wood left the program to spend more time with his family.

“I came to LHS because I feel that Lawrence is a very softball-orientated city and was in a unique place in my life that it was a perfect fit for me,” Tarbutton said.

Tarbutton has coached for 28 years, including previously serving as the assistant coach at Washburn University. He even owns his own softball business, Tarbutton Softball Academy, located in Maple Hill.

Tarbutton brings more than experience to the field; he will bring equipment, too. “[Tarbutton Softball Academy] will not be interfere with my coaching, with the exception of using some of my equipment,” Tarbutton said.

The LHS softball team is excited by the prospect of a new coach. Sophomore Samantha Mills, who Demonstrating how to swing the bat, coach Joe Dee Tarbutton helps sophomore Katie Murrish during softball practice. Photo by Kendra Schwartz

Page Design By Kendra Schwartz

has played softball since she was 5, said she is sure the new coach is bringing significant changes.

“It’s just different than last year,” Mills said. “I guess he has more experience.”

Tarbutton carries a heavy weight on his shoulders. Athletes depend and rely on their coach to help them, and a coach is just as important to them as any team member is.

Some of the LHS softball players aren’t the first in their family to be batting at the plate.

“I just decided to play…” Mills said, “It’s just a fun program to be in, to play a sport and everything.”

Sophomore Megan Williams said she believes that teamwork is important and that Tarbutton is bringing the team together.

“I think that being part of a team is important, and you meet a lot of people,” Williams said. “You get to go places with them… I think we’re more of a unit, we’re not just three separate teams this year. I think we play together pretty well.”

Hopefully, Tarbutton will be able to pull all of this together and lead our Lions to victory, improving on their record from last year of 8-11.

“I think we’re going to go farther than we did last year and do pretty well,” Mills said.

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APR. 9, 2014

Sophomore attends elite space camp Student trains in the field of aeronautics at NASA facilities

BY ASHLEY HOCKING Sophomore Jesse Belt was absent from his classes for the first week of March. He was 700 miles away at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Belt was among 284 applicants from 38 countries who were accepted to attend the NASA and Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy.

“I actually found out on my birthday,” Belt said.

“The first thing I did was call my dad and tell him what happened.”

Belt’s father, Stacy Belt, shares a similar interest in the field of aeronautics. He strongly encouraged his son to apply.

“I was excited that he had the opportunity to go and wished that I had been able to tag along as well,” Stacy Belt said.

In order to be eligible to attend the camp, applicants had to be the son or daughter of a Honeywell Corporation employee and had to complete an application that included several essays and a resume detailing volunteer hours and community leadership roles. In return, all expenses of the camp were financed by Honeywell.

“We got a bunch of flight suits and nerdy stuff like that,” Belt said. “It was pretty cool.”

Even before he set foot on Alabama soil, Belt had a homework assignment to complete.

“They told us to know what was going on with NASA,” Belt said. “I had to learn about a bunch of current events.”

Throughout the camp, Belt participated in space simulations, laboratory activities, field training and physical challenges. He also had the opportunity to meet scientists, engineers and former astronauts.

“We did 80 hours of activities in just a couple

days,” Belt said. “It was really busy. My favorite activity was a space shuttle mission that lasted five hours. We had to pretend to send somebody to space to get to a satellite and fix it. That was a pretty fun thing to do.”

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is home to a variety of facilities including a spacedome theater, rocket park and education training center.

“They had a wide range of training including mock space missions, fighter jet training on high tech simulators, high G-Force training in a centrifuge, low gravity simulations, mock disaster management, genome sequencing exercises at the HudsonAlpha Institute in Huntsville, rock climbing, high zip line work and various other team building exercises,” Stacy Belt said. “They kept him busy from breakfast until lights out.”

After experiencing nearly a week of non-stop activities, Belt still wasn’t ready to return home.

“It kind of made normal school boring now just because it was so exciting for six straight days,” Belt said.

The camp left a lasting impression not only on Belt, but also on his educational career. Camp participants are eligible to receive college credit for their involvement at the camp from most universities.

“I think it was really beneficial for him,” Belt’s debate partner, sophomore Bradlea Padgett said.

“He learned so much there, and everything really helped him educationally and with his career.”

Padgett has supported Belt throughout his aeronautic endeavors and has been impressed with his drive to succeed.

“That’s what he wants to do with his life, and he’s doing it,” Padgett said. “It’s amazing. When he wants something, he makes it happen. I can see

him going into the aeronautics field in general now.

He’s smarter than a lot of people.”

Belt’s father sees a bright future for Belt in the field of aeronautics.

“I could certainly see him working on the ground at NASA if he so desires,” Stacy Belt. “He seems to like the idea mission control work. The mission control guys have to be able to solve problems on the fly, and he seems to like that kind of challenge.”

Though most students his age have not made such substantial accomplishments, Belt has not let it get to his head.

“He’s not different,” Padgett said. “He just has great new things to talk about. He loves to talk

北京 (Beijing)

The Silk Market 798 Modern Art Zone Temple of Heaven Park The Forbidden City Olympic Park Yonghe Lamasery Beijing Zoo The Summer Palace Tiananmen Square

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about space camp, the people he met and how great it was to be around people who shared the same interest as him. Everyone is insanely interested.”

As a result of his experiences at the camp, Belt was inspired to one day pursue a career as an aerospace engineer.

“It’s changed my life,” Belt said. “I’ve been interested in it for a while, but I really decided at space camp. I really want to work at NASA one day.

That would be really cool. Maybe someday I could go into space as a scientist or something.”

Participants in trip to China absorb cultural differences during spring break, practice speaking Mandarin, visit historical sites like the Great Wall of China and Beijing Zoo

BY KATE RETTIG

8 the

illustration by Joaquin Dorado

Eight students, teacher travel to Beijing

中国的�城 (The Great Wall of China)

Graphic by Matt Roe

Sophomore Jesse Belt attended a week-long space camp in Huntsville, Ala, at NASA facilities. Photo

From The Great Wall of China to the Tiananmen Square, students explored the city of Beijing, China.

Social studies teacher David Platt and eight students traveled a seven-day trip to China during spring break. Staying in and traveling, students had the opportunity to absorb the city’s culture.

“It is important to understand China in our modern world and for our students to see that although there are cultural differences people around the world have much more in common with each other than they might expect or have been led to believe,” Platt said.

One of the cultural differences that stuck out to the students was differing mannerisms.

“It was really different,” sophomore Dakota Collins said. “At lot of people are genuine and nice there. They’re more courteous than Americans are.”

Collins has studied Mandarin for a year and

a half. She used the language when it came time to order meals at restaurants and speak to the locals.

Because China’s official language is Mandarin, students practiced speaking the language at monthly meetings prior to the trip. But that still didn’t prepare the students for the language barrier.

“It helped me a lot,” Collins said. “I got lost once when we got done with the Great Wall, so I was like, ‘What do I do now?’ So I had to talk to people. It came in really handy.”

One of the highlights of the trip for many students was seeing The Great Wall of China. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and is 13,170 miles long, which is the equivalent to the length of about 250 football fields.

The students also explored historical sites within the city of Beijing, such as the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

In addition to the sites, the students visited a post high school. A post high school is a school for train for a specific industry. The purpose

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was to experience to taste the high school life of China.

“It was a business school, but it was interesting,” Mullen said. “We got to meet with the students there. We got to take pictures. They were about our age.”

As they walked the busy streets of Beijing, they noticed differences in architecture.

Beijing has three main architectural styles: Imperial (seen in the Forbidden City), “Sino-Sov” style (a boxy look) and contemporary style (a unique appearance).

“It was beautiful,” junior John Barbee said.

“It was really great. I loved the buildings and architecture there.”

Platt, who has led international trips with students for 18 years, has already begun planning his next trip: a trip to London this summer.

“I like to travel to learn and experience new things,” Platt said. “It is exciting to share these experiences with students at the school in which I work. These opportunities are like an extension of the classroom.”

opinion

APR. 9, 2014

Religious beliefs create confusion Atheist students face unfair assumptions and discrimination about their religious disbeliefs

BY KANSAS GIBLER I wasn’t raised with a god. There was never a higher power or church on Sunday.

For five or six years, Christmas and Easter passed without me realizing what we were celebrating. Seeing people’s palms pressed together confused me until I got to public school when I was immersed in a society in which people kept their knees on the ground and eyes closed.

The atheist population has been rising lately, but atheism is not a new concept at Lawrence High.

“Back in the mid ‘90s when we started taking a look at what some areas in the school were that had students that were being discriminated, we found that religion, or lack of a specific religious belief was an area ,so we had students who were teased for being Christian [and] we had students who were teased for being atheist,” prevention specialist Diane Ash said.

It is evident that the majority of students are of Christian faith and haven’t always been accustomed to non-religious people.

We live in an environment that assumes everyone is Christian unless external evidence says otherwise, like a T-shirt or necklace. It’s almost as if we need to wear our religion to get the point across.

“I’m not at all religious, but most people just assume that I’m Christian just because I don’t openly walk around saying that I don’t believe in God,” sophomore Genevieve Voigt said.

There is, however, a pressure to believe in God, a pressure so tremendous that students and teachers avoided interviews on the topic.

There is no way for atheists to come together in support of each others’ views without possibly damaging the way people view them.

“You could start a club, [but] that might actually make it worse,” Voigt said. “Maybe atheists don’t really have that ability because if they did form a group or a club they probably would be discriminated against just because there are people who have a misconception of what atheism is and what atheists think and believe.

We really kind of don’t have that right. If there were an Atheist Club, I wouldn’t join just because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about me. Whereas Christians have the opportunity to form whatever sort of group they want and people generally think of it as a good thing, but they think of atheism as a bad thing.”

The stereotypes are crushingly false.

From “devil-worshipers” to “heathens,” many have the wrong idea of what atheists believe.

For the record, people can’t be devil worshipers if they’re atheists, since atheists deny any sort of god or deity.

I never really knew about the concept of a higher power, and when I did, I wasn’t interested.

As a curious 7-year-old, I wondered why my friends could never hang out on Sunday. In third grade, I finally got to attend a church service, and the concept of religion became more clear.

Around the of age 11, I knew I wouldn’t ever be able to believe in anything. The existence of a higher power didn’t sound plausible, and I knew people had gone to the moon and back without seeing heaven. The Earth’s center isn’t hell, like some people believe — it’s just the core.

Not, unlike many other atheists, I have yet to encounter information that proves that there could be a god.

“I didn’t grow up believing in God, and nothing has really led me to believe that there would be God as Christians know it,” Voigt said.

Even though little evidence exists, for some that is irrelevant as we go to school and see summer camp T-shirts referencing JC almost daily.

Where Christian kids are free to discuss their beliefs, atheist students are shunned for their disbelief.

Worse yet, atheist students live in a world where they are assumed to be something they aren’t.

Students need an open door to decide what religion or non-religion they subscribe to. Everyone should be free to question the belief systems presented to them as children.

Graphic by Alexis Riner

Rape prevention requires adequate discussion Teaching students not to rape would be more effective than teaching not to get raped

BY ISAIAH YOUNG American culture is rape-culture.

Rape culture hyper-sexualizes the idea of femininity, often equating it to sexual-passiveness, and uses that hyper-sexualization to make femininity its property, thus objectifying it. Femininity is often confused with womanhood, and by extension weakness. This is inaccurate, because femininity is a characteristic that can be attributed to any person, regardless of gender.

The marketing of femininity is not lost on American teens. High school students often suffer from a lack of education about sexual violence and this contributes to dating violence, rape and foul play among young people. Students need to be educated on rape and sexual violence in school, so American society can move away from this sexual dark-age.

In Health 9, students learn about morality, sobriety, the human body and contraception. Most of the curriculum focuses on non-body related education and physical health unrelated to sex. Education regarding mental health and the body is severely lacking.

Students know how help prevent pregnancy, but do not know how to prevent sexually aggressive situations, or even how to identify one.

Mental health issues and education on the human body run parallel to education on sexual violence. When human sex and sexuality is finally talked about, often the subject is glossed over almost completely, and students leave knowing hardly anything about rape, healthy relationships or sexual violence.

No one should ever be blamed for a situation where all control was taken from them. Many lawyers in sexual assault cases will try to blame victims for their own assaults by talking about what the victims were wearing during the assaults, how many partners the victims has had before their assaults, and even how late it was. All of these tactics are called victim blaming. Victim blaming reinforces rape-culture by assuming the rapist (more commonly in cases where a man assaulted a woman) cannot be blamed for their actions.

Murderers, arsonists, terrorists and even petty thieves are responsible for their actions, but just because she was wearing a pencil skirt she’s fair game.

There is an easy solution to this educational drought. Some newer

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high school level health textbooks that feature chapters and units on sexual violence and abuse.

According to the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), 60 percent of sexual assault cases go unreported, this number is even higher in a high school setting because many victims are worried about what their peers will think and how their parents might react.

Another easy solution is for health classes to collaborate with the Willow Domestic Violence center and GaDuGi for lectures and more thorough advocacy and education. Both of these places address sexual violence, both are based in Lawrence, and both are non-profit organizations.

The FYI club is trying to address sexual violence amongst teens by teaching rape prevention and personal accountability. This comes from a good place, but it is not the education that is going to reduce the prevalence of sexual violence in our school.

Students need to be taught not to rape. Telling someone how to dress or act, is not going to prevent sexual violence. Whereas teaching someone what sexual violence is, and how not to enact it will.

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opinion

Body positivity is necessary for good health Body-centric education causes students to lack body positivity

BY NIA RUTLEDGE High school is the transformation chamber for middle school dweebs to butterfly into high school dream boats.

Prepubescent kids anxiously anticipate the change, but more recently, it seems the anxiety of bodily changes has developed into insecurity which has formulated into mental illness.

Stated by Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), Anorexia is the third common chronic illness among adolescents.

At school, ruthless bullying and gym class weigh-ins force students to be damagingly critical of their bodies at what seems to be a lowering age yearly.

In a study conducted by researchers Thomas F. Cash and Thomas Pruzinsky in 2002, by the time the student reaches middle school, 40-70 percent of girls are not satisfied with multiple parts of their bodies and between ages 12-15 years old, their self esteem is tremendously low. “[Low self esteem] definitely has a damaging affect on their present mental state as well as their future mental state,” social worker intern Sunny Dexter said. “Especially in high school, young people are building confidence in everything that they do.”

Body positivity is crucial. Low self esteem can lead advance into an array of mental illnesses that are not easy to overcome.

With the constant pressure of beauty standards pushed upon people from the media, friends and family are the only refuge from the hatred — if someone is fortunate enough to have those people in their lives.

“I’ve been picked on because I’m seen as the weak link,” sophomore Savannah Dibben said. “If I do something like wrong people think that it’s easier to pick at my flaws, because they think that I can’t do anything about it because I’m really little.”

School is not the best place to develop a good self esteem. For someone with a damaged sense of self, gym class weigh-ins are like stepping on a mine with your fingers crossed and hoping that it’s a dud.

Since weigh-ins are seen as routine, from my experience, I was never offered a chance to opt-out nor was it stated as a requirement. Even if given the chance, refusing to weigh-in immediately labels a student as an outcast and a possible target for bullying.

“I think that it’s more important to be healthy,” Dexter said.

“I think we focus a lot on weight as a society when we should probably focus a little more on health and being comfortable within ourselves.”

Self confidence is so important, and neither school nor mainstream media promotes it. A weight to height ratio on the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale is not the answer to a person’s healthiness and is often inaccurate. Yet, it is treated it as though it is the ultimate answer to health.

“You see lots of cases of young girls that are thin that are not eating healthy or that are harming themselves or have anorexia or bulimia that very real disorders,” Dexter said. “[Being thin] definitely doesn’t mean that you are healthy or that you are confident for that matter.”

Even if some one’s weight is leading to medical problems, I do not believe that means they should hate their body for what it is or that others should shame them on their bodies.

They should seek help to correct their health problems, but shaming one another just leads to impaired self body image which can lead to more problems.

“I think that it’s unfair to judge people’s body just because some can’t help the way they look,” Dibben said. “Everyone is different. No one can look the same.”

People are not fat. People are not skinny. People are not their bodily fat percentages and distribution. People should not be defined merely as such.

It is important to be confident or at least accepting of your body.

“I think that if you feel unhappy and you wanna get in shape or put on muscle I think that is OK and you should do it for yourself,” senior Sommer Ferguson said. “You shouldn’t care about what people around you are saying.”

Most commonly, self confidence is so centered around changing your body to lead yourself to confidence. I believe that someone does themselves and their mentality a much greater deed by appreciating and loving the current state of their body rather than making plans and arrangements to love themselves after they make changes to their body.

People all deserve to be happy and confident with themselves, and everyone deserves the ability to look in the mirror and love every inch of their bodies.

Graphic by Alexis Riner

Racial stereotypes cause students to question their identifying traits Stigma about certain personality traits corresponding to ethnicities is inaccurate and damaging

BY JASMINE LOWERY When a white boy sags his pants, people assume he is trying to portray himself as black person. When a black girl speaks without using African American Vernacular English (AAVE), she is told she is trying to act white.

AAVE is a dialect of English coined by African slaves and is still in usage today.

Although, blatant racism such as segregation has diminished since the ‘60s, racism is still prevalent in modern society.

In 2014, there is no place for individuals whose racial stereotypes ignorantly define that people should act a certain way just because of the color of their skin. These stereotypes categorize individuals into inaccurate groups and marginalize them with damaging assumptions.

“I’ve gotten lots of comments on my skin color,” junior Breanna Bell said. “I’ve gotten comments about my hair...I’ve been assumed that I was dumb. I was put in certain classes and talked to in this way like, ‘You don’t understand this’ when in fact I was able to prove them wrong.”

People associate certain types of speech patterns with race. Often the connection is that “talking black” is uneducated and “talking white” is proper.

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Often, people do not realize that AAVE is not uneducated, and in fact is a specific dialect that has its own grammatical structure and vocabulary.

It is not just slang and what people assume to be bad grammar or broken English.

It is not a dialect limited to black people, since people of many ethnicities use AAVE without knowing it.

“It doesn’t mean they are uneducated,” social worker Lynisha Thomas said. “But I can see that people thinking that they are using broken English and slang terms even though the student, kid, adult, whatever can be completely educated. That is just the terminology they are using.”

The stereotypes can be so outrageous that the perception of a person’s race can be altered depending on his actions or circumstances. Stanford University researcher Aliya Saperstein found that a person assumed to be white under certain circumstances may later be identified as black if circumstances change.

“If someone went from being employed to being unemployed, or being out of prison to being in prison, or being off welfare to being on welfare, the interviewer was more likely to see the person as black — after they experienced that sort of downward mobility — than before,” Saperstein said on National Public Radio.

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People who believe in racial stereotypes do not realize that it not only hurts the person to whom the stereotype apply but all people of the race. When people say that someone is “talking black,” it often has negative connotations or is used as an insult. When people say that someone is “talking white,” that person is talking with what is often unjustly believed to be proper English and pronouncing words how many believe is correct.

In fact “proper English” does not exist.

“If you go to different countries, they might have accents, and they might say different words that mean the same thing but they can say it differently,” Bell said. “Even though it sounds differently than the way we say it, it is still polite.”

Of all the English speaking countries, there is an abundance of accents and dialects, all of which are correct. There are no correct versions of English, only differences in dialects and accents.

Proper English does not equal white. Slang doesn’t equal black.

Using slang does not make one less educated, and the user should not be perceived as such.

“People in our history in America have found it necessary to demean and belittle people that are different than them to make themselves feel better,” Thomas said. “Which is sad because, just because someone is different doesn’t mean it’s wrong, doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

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Spring sports teams start off strong As temperatures rise, spring athletes run, jump, swim, kick, catch and hit their way to victories Defending a Pembroke Hill player, freshman Carson Drake participates in the season opener on March 25. The Lions were victorious, 2-0. Photo by

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Gliding through the water, freshman Abbie Treff swims in the 100 butterfly event at the Lawrence Invitational on April 1. The girls’ swimming team placed first overall at the meet.

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(Above) Participating in the long jump competition, senior Kakra Boye-Doe competes at the Free State Invitational on March 28. Photo by Ashley Hocking

(Left) Catching a baseball behind home plate, sophomore Audrina Hidalgo practices her form. Hidalgo is a member of the varsity softball team. Photo by Kendra Schwartz

(Far left) Waiting for the pitch, senior Ryan Walter helps lead the Lions to a 2-0 victory over Shawnee Mission West on April 3. Photo by Joseph Anderson

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