The Harbinger: Issue 5 2010-2011

Harbinger the

ISSUE 5 SHAWNEE MISSION EAST PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS NOV. 1, 2010 SMEHARBINGER.NET

where are

YOU applying?

It may only be second quarter, but East seniors are already more fascinated with their future plans. It could be at math class or open lunch or just chitchat in the hallways, but for seniors at East, all discussions eventually diverge to one question: where are you applying to college?

Today is the first college application due date. After hours of research and college visits, students are finally deciding where they want to spend the next four years of their life. The Harbinger gives you an inside look at 21 seniors and where they are applying, as well as tips for underclassmen on how to improve their chances to get into their dream school.

hear from your peers on pages 16-17

Students celebrate Mole Day with chemistry-themed games.

pg.p.2 4

Harbinger staff members fill you in on their recommended reads.

p. 20

Diverse burger joints around the greater KC area in review.

pp. 24-25

Get the lowdown on sophomore Liam Murphy’s passion for fencing.

We were arguing against something that we knew was not economically possible.�

p. 29

Principal Karl Krawitz

NEWS 02 11-01-10

Court Bound Two years after their East protest, Westboro Baptist Church is being taken to the Supreme Court for an invasion of privacy

JackHowland

Matthew Pope, East’s 2008 Homecoming king, was 14 years old when he was spat at and told he was going to hell by a member of the anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church.

He had just come out as gay earlier in the year and was holding hands with another man on the Plaza. Pope remembers feeling devastated and furious, in his “rebellious stage” as he describes.

Over the years, he gradually began to feel less offended by the group. When he got a call as a college freshman that there was a protest aimed at him by the very church that condemned him, he just laughed.

“I thought [the idea of the protest] was funny because, I mean, it was a year and a half after I had won Homecoming king,” Pope said. “I was just like, ‘Do you have nothing better to do than protest a high school a year later?”

Now, two years after the protest, Pope is still laughing. The Phelps family began Supreme Court hearings for the case of Snyder vs. Phelps on Oct. 17. Pope thinks that the group is “ridiculous” and finds it funny that they are finally presented with an opportunity to lose.

The legal issue up for debate in the trial is whether a protest at the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Marine killed in Iraq, invaded on personal rights or was protected under the First Amendment. According to the attorney for the Snyder family, Sean Summers, the protest was defamation and an invasion of privacy. Margie Phelps, daughter of Fred Phelps and attorney, believes that their actions are just; that they’re protected by freedom of speech and religious expression.

James Orr is an attorney of 25 years in the Kansas City metropolitan area and thinks the case will deal with personal issues more than anything else.

“The lawsuit was for an invasion of personal rights, so that would cast it in a different perspective,” Orr said. “For instance, it’s one thing if you want to go to city hall and complain about something they’ve done, that’s your right. But if you want to go to your neighbor’s yard and complain about something he’s done, that’s a different issue.”

In the past, the Westboro Baptist Church has been protected under the First Amendment; they’ve even released statements on their website saying that “to deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the world that America is a nation of sodomite hypocrites.” The Amendment has given them the right to picket various institutions they see as morally unsound.

“The First Amendment generally lets people speak their minds,” Orr said. “Even if it’s offensive - actually some people would argue especially if it’s offensive - since bland speech doesn’t really need any protection. If you say ‘have a nice day’ to someone, nobody really cares one way or the other.”

At East, the church has not garnered very much respect.

In a recent Harbinger survey of 100 East students, 94 percent

MackenzieWylie, RachelEnglish and AnnaPetrow

disapprove of the points made by the church. Additionally, 94 percent hope he loses in court and 86 percent think he doesn’t deserve to protest.

The overriding issue with the church - the one that they’re in court for - is protests at military funerals. Junior Tyler Germann’s father currently is serving in the middle East and has been for two years. Germann believes that the Phelps “don’t really understand what soldiers are doing to protect millions of people in the country.” He thinks the group takes for granted the fact that they live in the states too.

Germann sympathizes with the Snyders and can’t even imagine how he would react if put in their position.

“I don’t think I could [handle it] without getting really mad and going over there and punching them in the face,” Germann said. “I don’t think I could control myself I would be so mad at them.”

In addition to protesting soldiers’ funerals, the Phelps picket places and events associated with homosexuality, as they did with East in 2008. In the forthcoming months they have scheduled protests to multiple productions of “The Laramie Project,” a play about the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard. According to Westboro Baptist’s website, “Matt Shepard has been in Hell now for eleven years, with eternity left to go on his sentence.”

Junior Patrick Riggin came out as openly gay when he was in eighth grade and does not agree with the stance of the church. He feels they’re “protesting something that doesn’t need to be protested” and in turn “pissing off an entire country.” Even though he tries to not pay them any attention, the words and views asserted by the Phelps have an emotional effect on him.

“I think [their protests] are very effective, I feel it; it’s basically saying that some higher power doesn’t like me and that I’m doomed to a life of fire and brimstone,” Riggin said. “It’s just a scary thought to think that someone has it out for me and hasn’t even met me.”

Senior Angela Clem attended the East protest as a sophomore and didn’t really know anything about the church at the time. She thought their protesters were shocking, “especially with all the little kids protesting,” she said. She was particularly baffled with the reasoning behind the protest.

“I don’t really follow his logic,” Clem said. “I don’t really know how he can go from not supporting gay rights, to God hating all soldiers.”

In “The Most Hated Family in America,” a documentary on BBC, the of East students know

East’s View on Phelps

Student survey of 100 shows a disapproval of protesters www.bethwellington.wordpress.com

Phelps express that the cause of their hatred boils down to them believing that by protesting, they are warning the nation of the wrath of God. And for the most part, God’s wrath comes from homosexuals, those who support homosexuals and honoring dead soldiers.

Tom Are is the senior Pastor at Village Presbyterian Church who credits his becoming a preacher to the kind, compassionate people he’s met along the way. In his opinion, the church’s views do not reflect ideals of Christianity.

“I think people’s faith are most consistent with what God wants from us when we are kind and loving to each other,” Are said. “And not when we speak hatred.”

Are was well aware of the protesting at East two years ago and thinks that people there on that day who go to church were probably “embarrassed by the ugliness of the display.” He believes that most people who go to church - excluding the Phelps - seek to be kind, just and gracious to the community. He thinks the real problem is their interpretation of the Bible.

“I think they read a really narrow and ideologicallydriven reading of the Bible,” Are said. “But the reading is not informed by the kind of life and attitude that was demonstrated in Jesus Christ.”

Currently, 48 states have laws enacted minimizing picketing and other forms of disruptive activity near funeral sites. This includes Kansas, who was among the first to put it into law and a state that is backing Snyder in his case. Kansas Attorney General Steve Six said during a press conference that “you have a right in this country as a private person to simply be left alone.”

The final verdict of Snyder vs. Phelps will be released in 2011. If ruled in the Snyder family’s favor, it will mark a permanent end to the Phelps organized pickets at funerals - a decision that Snyder wants to be made so other families won’t have to go through what he went through, according to a report on CNN. Even though Pope has learned to not take Phelps attacks too personally, he feels that the WBC deserves to lose for once.

“There’s a difference between freedom to protest and viciously attacking people verbally and causing so much pain that some commit suicide,” Pope said. “It’s sad to say, but in the end I hope they get a notch in the losing bar.”

95%

who Phelps is

94% hope he loses

in court

21%8%

7%

of East disapprove

94%

angry

of Phelps

disgusted

64%

indifferent supportive What emotions

do you feel towards

PHELPS?

32 5

NEWS

03

7-period days

VS.

block

7-period

+

issue 5

SMSD works to come to a compromise on a common schedule for next year AubreyLeiter

School closings and boundary changes aren’t the only things the district plans on implementing next year.

The Shawnee Mission School District has made the decision to align all five district high schools on the same daily schedule. The five principals agreed on the 3-2 schedule, which consists of only two block days, because it was the easiest compromise, according to Principal Karl Krawitz. The common schedule will ultimately consist of either zero, two or four block period days with the rest of the week being traditional seven-period days.

Even though the principals made their decision, nothing is official until the superintendent makes a final decision which will be announced on Nov. 8 at the earliest.

The district’s economic situation is a primary reason for the desire to change to a common schedule. Most district schools have had to eliminate staff, causing over 100 positions to be eliminated from the district last year. With a common schedule between high schools, teachers can commute between schools and still have full-time jobs within the district.

When a school has specialized or elective classes that only have one or two periods during the day, such as choir or statistics, it is less of a financial burden to have one person fulltime traveling to various buildings than to hire three separate people for one hour at each school. The savings comes in benefits like health insurance, according to Dr. Krawitz.

Block scheduling has been a part of SMSD since 1995, when SM North decided to go to an A/B block, a schedule which switched off block days and didn’t have a seven-period day. SM West was next to go the schedule in 1998 when they adopted the 4-1 schedules, with four block days and one 7-period day. North liked this idea, and switched to that schedule as well. In 2008, East and SM Northwest both switched to block. East went on the 4-1 schedule and Northwest went to 3-2, with two block days and three 7-period days a week. On Oct. 4, South decided to go to block schedule, with the intention of going to 3-2.

When the five principals met, West, East and North argued why they believe the common schedule should be 4-1.

“It became almost a moot point on our feelings anywhere,” Dr. Krawitz said. “We were arguing against something that we knew was not economically possible.”

To run a block schedule, a school needs teachers for supervision and seminar. The district can’t violate the conditions of the teacher’s contract, which results in block scheduling costing more money. To be the most cost efficient, the sevenperiod schedule should be intact because it reduces the total number of teachers (10-15 per school), according to associate superintendent Gillian Chapman. With this schedule, teachers can teach six classes and have one plan. With block, teachers can only teach 5 classes and seminar to abide by their contract.

South and Northwest argued why they thought 4-1 wasn’t going to work. There are 42 hours of less teaching time on 3-2 block and 84 less hours on 4-1 block in comparison to the 750 hours on a seven-period schedule according to Chapman.

Dr. Krawitz believes there is no chance that any school will be on the 4-1 schedule next year. He also says he isn’t sure if the common schedule will be 3-2 or a seven period day.

“If [the district] doesn’t think it’s economically possible to do 3-2 block, they might all go back to seven period day and no one can do anything about it,” Krawitz said.

Chapman, who is in charge of secondary schools in the district, explained that even though seminar is a valuable resource, it costs a lot more money because it’s a non-graded, not-for-credit class and there has to be a teacher.

Even though there is a loss of classroom time with the 4-1 block, many believe there are great benefits to the schedule.

SM West social studies teacher Lisa Benge understands why the district wants to be on a common schedule, but doesn’t understand why 4-1 can’t be an option.

“We chose 4-1 over 3-2 because teachers wanted two block days with each class per week,” Benge said. “Teaching in block allows teachers to use a variety of strategies in order to reach many different types of learners.”

According to Benge, block schedule allows teachers use of a variety of teaching strategies and use technology that meets the needs of all learning styles.

“I can teach the same concept several different ways during block time – give notes, show a short video, check for understanding, work in small groups,” Benge said. “This reinforces learning for those that just can’t read it and understand it.”

Benge believes these benefits are reduced in a 3-2 block, with only one block day per class per week and taken away all together in the 7 period format.

The junior class Student Council class officers are attempting to get a group of students together to attend the board meeting on Nov. 8 to testify how the scheduling affects the students. They plan on having different students stand up and say their opinion of the scheduling.

“I believe the board members are overlooking what students want,” junior class president Carolyn Welter said. “I really enjoy the schedule as it is because block periods and seminar really help the students with their studies.”

Welter also explains how she couldn’t imagine her junior year without two seminars. She believes junior year is the hardest year and being a junior on 3-2 schedule would be very difficult when having to prepare for all seven classes three nights a week instead of just one.

Senior Mikaila Demetroulis has experienced both types of block schedule. As a sophomore she went to Olathe East, and the school was on 3-2. As a graduating senior, the new schedule won’t affect her, but she explained that she would feel bad if East was put on 3-2 block because the workload seems to be tremendously larger because students have each class more often.

Dr. Krawitz believes the main advantage of the 4-1 block is the extra

seminar. He explains that seminar is a great way for students to get extra help if they are struggling or if students need to get caught up because they can take the time to do this in the 90-minute seminar provided.

In contrast, SM Northwest principal Bill Harrington believes that one seminar a week is enough for students and says that Northwest’s teachers and students always take advantage of their single seminar.

“We did not elect the 4-1 model because of the second seminar period in the week,” Harrington said. “While it has value, it deducts 90 minutes of that week from actual class time and instruction. We felt that was too much to pay in exchange for one more seminar.”

Harrington also explained that the advantage of seminar is the flexibility it provides to the school to be used however they decide. In order to get that flexibility though, 90 minutes is deducted from class time. The trade off-class time for flexibility-is where each building must consider where its priorities are.

Benge also explains that by switching over to 3-2 block, the teaching strategy will be different. To teach effectively in a 90-minute block, a teacher should change activities at least three times. She explained that this requires a lot of planning and preparation.

“With only one block day to prepare for, teachers who are not accustomed to teaching daily in the block may end up using the extended period one day each week to allow students to do homework instead of continuing instruction,” Benge said.

Benge doesn’t know for sure if a new schedule will result in wasted class time, but she does insist that planning for one block day per week will be more difficult.

Dr. Krawitz says that the common schedule decision will need to be made by the end of the semester because enrollment begins at the beginning of second semester. The district will need to know the schedule to know how many teachers it needs to hire, which is an important factor in the enrollment process.

“It doesn’t seem like having one or two seminars per week make much of a difference,” Chapman said. “But in the scheme of things that’s 42 or 84 hours of the school year that we don’t have. It’s a very critical situation.”

students weigh in on block

10% 9% 81%

of students prefer five 7-period days of students prefer three 7-period days and two block days of students prefer one 7-period day and four block days (current schedule)

NEWS 04 11-01-10

DanStewart

pinning down

A CONCEPT

Chemistry students celebrate Avogadro’s number one day early at this year’s Mole Day celebration LillyMyers

One mole of unpopped popcorn kernels, spread across the United States, would cover it to a depth of over nine miles.

One mole of your standard soda can would cover the surface of the earth to a depth of over 200 miles. If you could count one million numbers per second, it would take 20 billion years to count to a mole.

Aside from being the name of a furry creature found burrowing underground, a mole is an important unit that chemists use to measure ‘how many.’ In the same way that a dozen of an item is 12, a mole of an item is 6.02 x 10^23.

The mole is in fact so important to chemists that there is an unofficial holiday honoring it. Since 1991, chemists and chemistry students across the nation have been celebrating Mole Day on Oct. 23, between 6:02 a.m. and 6:02 p.m. In 1995, students began celebrating it at East at 6:02 a.m.

In 15 years Mole Day has transformed from a spur-ofthe-moment party to a school tradition. What was once an undertaking of two AP chemistry students is now a graded assignment of chemistry teacher Steven Appier’s entire Chemistry 2 IB class.

“It really wasn’t that big a thing for the first four or five years that we did it,” Appier said. “That was more of a twentieth century explosion.”

Over the years, the celebration of the mole has seen the addition of a countdown, the mole salute and the occasional bagpiper or mole costume, but Appier and fellow chemistry teacher Cole Ogdon have been constants. The two became members of the National Mole Day Foundation (NMDF) in 1995 and received a cassette tape in the mail containing the song to go with that year’s national theme: Moledi Gras.

Upon receiving the song, Appier and Ogdon played it for their classes. One of Ogdon’s AP chemistry students, Malcolm Sturgis, was immediately inspired to plan a celebration, and together with fellow chemistry student Kyle Kassias, planned the first of a long series of Mole Days at East.

Kassias’s t-shirt design for the modified theme of Moleapalooza still hangs in the back of Ogdon’s classroom, and Sturgis left East forever remembered by Appier as ‘Molecolm.’

For six years, AP students planned Mole Day, but in 2001 Appier’s Chemistry 2 IB class took over, and the students now plan and oversee every last detail. Each incoming class is reminded that Mole Day is their responsibility. “[Appier] mentioned it the first week of school,” junior Andrew Beasley, the t-shirt and publicity coordinator, said.

“But we started officially doing stuff around the third week.”

Students are self-assigned to certain areas, ranging from

media relations to food.

This year’s mole chair was junior Sophie Poppie. Poppie’s job centered around overseeing every committee. If a deadline is missed or Appier is unhappy about the decorations, it all falls back to her.

“The highlight was that I knew what’s going on,” Poppie said. “I knew how everything was working and that everything was going to come together.”

The celebration requires an ample amount of planning by those involved. Each Chemistry 2 IB student puts at least 10 hours into the preparation for the one-hour event, which includes waking up at 3:30 a.m. on the big day. Though getting up early is hard, Appier would never let that get in the way of doing Mole Day. “It’s about a memory for these kids that will last the rest of their lives,” Appier said. “When it’s a good memory about chemistry that lasts the rest of their lives, you bet it’s worth the trouble.”

Making Mole Day the most fun it can be seems to be the goal of each Chem 2 IB class. Every year holds the same mole day must-haves: the popular games of Mole-sical Chairs and Whack-a-Mole, donuts and bagels galore and the popping of a hydrogen and oxygen balloon. Any changes come with the theme.

At East’s first Mole Day, no more than 100 students gathered in the Little Theater for ‘mole’nut holes and orange juice.

“Me and the drama teacher did a mini-skit at the beginning,” Appier said. “Then we watched the World of Chemistry videos.”

Fast forward 15 years to this year’s “Moles of the Caribbean” themed party. The cafeteria was filled with students clad in dark purple t-shirts, inflatable swords, and pirate hats. The skit had long ago been replaced with the mole countdown, the 10 co’mole’ments, and various jokes (What does a pirate eat during the summer? Water-mole-n.). Junior Kristen Shedor, part of the media relations and activities committees, added three new games: Peg Leg Races, Walk the Plank, and Pin the Eyepatch on Avogadro.

“Usually in past years it’s just Molesical Chairs that seems like the only decent game,” Shedor said. “But the games were pretty evenly distributed this year.”

Mole Day isn’t just for hard-core chemistry lovers. Sophomore chemistry student Mason Pashia attended Mole Day,

though he has no interest in pursuing the subject past high school. Seeing over a hundred students cheering on a game of Mole-sical Chairs was a first for him.

“I thought it was different,” Pashia said. “It was cool that so many people showed up for a science-related event.”

According to Appier, no Mole Days have experienced complete failure. In 2004, the students never got their bagels, and another year the coordinators forgot the mole salute.

However, in the second year of honoring the mole at East, a snowstorm hit Kansas City the night of Oct. 22. While Appier, Ogdon, and the four AP kids planning it were setting up, they got the word that school had been canceled.

“It was late enough that there were actually ten or fifteen kids that showed up for Mole Day,” Appier said. “We ate some doughnuts and then had the actual celebration a month later.”

This year, the actual date of Mole Day, Oct. 23, fell on a Saturday. Instead of asking students to wake up at 5:30 a.m. on a weekend, Appier and Ogdon changed the party to Friday.

“Our concern with Saturday was that people are going to have various commitments that they wouldn’t have on a weekday,” Appier said. “We just thought there might be too many conflicts.”

The fact that it wasn’t actually Mole Day wasn’t apparent on Oct. 22. About 300 students joined in counting down the seconds until 6:02 a.m. Attendance has greatly increased since the day of Mole-apalooza.

“A lot of it has to do with the fact that the chemistry enrollment has gone up,” Ogden said. “And the enrollment of the school has gone up.”

Mole Day attracts kids of all grade levels and all science classes. Though chemistry teachers give their students extra credit for being at Mole Day by 6:02 a.m., Appier believes that’s not the only reason kids go.

“It’s something to talk about,” Appier said. “Even if you’re there for the enrichment points, it’s more than that. It’s an event.”

BLAST from the PAST: Mole Day themes over the years

To see additional photos of the Mole Day festivities, turn to page 32.

all photos by GrantKendall

1995

2007

2008

2009

2010

be rg

ev en ts

C A aro nn l ie ine Sg C ro rei i de n

Bachelor Auction

watch your friends and fellow classmates, strut their stuff down the runway. Who ever bids the highest on the hunky men will win a group date to Chick -fil-A.

9 10

11

Senior Zach Colby heads the ball while playing against Blue Valley Northwest.

11/19

11/3

International Club Meeting

11/16

11/5

A Walk for the Walkers

7

6

This year, the East Fund is aiming to make their annual Feast for East event more accessible. The event’s theme is Lancer Blues and Barbeque and will feature local foods and entertainment, as well as a live and silent auction.

The East fund awards grants to student organizations at East and also encourages teachers to apply for grants if there are supplies or activities they need funding for. Since 2004, the East fund has awarded about four dozen grants totaling more than $290,000.

8

12

week in 3 photos DanStewart

Dodgeball Tournament

rE

a can drive tradition done by all StuCo members. After being Flamingo-ed, StuCo lets you decide who should be the next victim.

11/8

ast

pc om

in g

the 19th. Junior StuCo member Carolyn Welter thinks the Drill Team vs. Cheerleaders will raise the most cans. “[Cheer and Drill Team] are out to get each other, and do not want to lose this,” Welter said.

Flamingoing

If a flock of flamingos end up in your yard, don’t panic, just simply donate some money or cans to the annual can drive and they will disappear. This method of madness is called Flamingoing,

05

event countdown

Fea st f o

rive [

1-19]

a

lo

ok

at

No ve m

be r’s u

br ie

fs

th e

ta kin g

Club Battle

Can D

issue 5

1 2 3 4 5

Cheerleading or Drill Team?

Newspaper or Yearbook? This time you chose, while helping the can drive. Bring your cans in and pick between rivals. Junior class StuCo will be setting barrels out by the cafeteria Nov. 8 through

Want a hot date and some entertainment? If so then bring your cans and start bidding. Sophomore StuCo is hosting a Bachelor Auction on Thursday, Nov. 18th in the main gym. Pay one can or $2 to get into the main gym to

NEWS

DanielleNorton

At the SHARE project “Try a Mile in Her Shoes,” senior Bryan Kurz sits and waits for his feet to get measured.

13

14 KatieEast

Senior nominee Julie Chalfant walks down the field during halftime at the Homecoming Football game.

MORP

Musical Auditions 11/22 Winter Meet the Coach Night

East Fund Public Relations Chair Dorothee Werner said that parents should think of the event as a way to help East and specifically benefit classrooms and teachers in this tough economic climate.

Werner said the goal this year is to have practical items for people to bid on, like tutoring and painting classes at Artichokes, not solely expensive items like trips.

“We want to have a wide variety of options and prices, so that everybody can feel comfortable,” Werner said. “ It will be more about celebrating East, than necessarily spending lots of money.”

The Feast for East will be Saturday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Milburn Country Club.

15 16

06

EDITORIAL

11-01-10

FINANCE OF OUR FUTURE The election could have changes in store for the way schools are financed, but funding needs to stay fair

Letters to the editor should be sent to room 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com.

Letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel and mechanics and accepted or rejected at the editor’s discretion.

Midterm elections are tomorrow. Have you been paying ered, the situations of students in all districts should be However, the Senator has not given specifics on exactly attention? Because the results of the governor’s race may considered. If more local control is deemed to be the right how his plan would work, and a storm of debate has ensued well determine the future of educational funding in the over what actions he would take if elected governor and path, and districts are allowed to raise funds independently, state of Kansas. then the most fair choice is to apportion the funds raised instituted “more local control.” Most worrisome have been Both Republican candidate Sam Brownback and Demoby individual districts with the rest. Some may say that is claims of a larger rural-urban split in funding and a greater cratic candidate Tom Holland have made unfair to districts like SMSD that have the ability to raise tax burden on local communities in order the issue central to their campaigns. The The majority opinion of the to make up for drastic educational budget more funds; they may feel it’s their money, so they should fate of millions of tax dollars hangs in the Harbinger Editorial Board keep it. But truly, that attitude is not what education in this cuts. for against absent balance as school districts across Kansas country should be about. Education should be about giving Constituents have every right to be watch the contest closely. every student the same resources and quality of education, concerned. Without a concrete course of At the heart of the matter is the so they are equally prepared for the future.

action, we can only speculate about how school finance formula, used to calculate Legislators should strive to make sure that the educational Brownback would achieve his goals. On the experiences for all Kansas students are not vastly different the amount of money each school dissurface, the idea of allowing local voters to trict can use to pay for yearly operational simply because of where they live. It may seem like a lofty decide if their own tax money should go expenses, including salaries, benefits, course offerings, supgoal, but ensuring that all school districts have equal access toward education goals sounds like a harmless proposition. plies and utilities. to funds is a step in the right direction.

But dig a bit deeper, and the divide between Kansas’ wealthy According to Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of the If you want to do more, do more for everybody. and poorer counties becomes more evident.

Fiscal & Administrative Services Division of the State DeFor instance, Johnson County, the most affluent county partment of Education, Kansas provides a base amount of in Kansas, has the financial resources to invest in educa$4,012 per student enrolled in a district. That number is tion. But a declining county such as Syracuse, located in adjusted to account for extra expenses an individual district the northwest corner of Kansas, is struggling to survive, let CORRECTION: In the last issue of the may have, such as more special-needs or at-risk students. alone fund educational programs. More local control will Harbinger, there was an incorrect statistic The final amount is called “State Financial Aid.” not help Syracuse, and it cannot replace basic state funding in the editorial: the East block schedule Districts are required to raise money locally for educaof education for students there. vote passed by around a 60 percent mation through mill levies, a type of property tax, if they canWhen changes to the finance formula are being considjority, not the 51 percent reported. not cover expenses with the $4,012 per student. The amount they can raise is limited to 31 percent of the State Financial Aid amount, however. If a district still cannot cover expensCURRENT BROWNBACK’S REFORM es (for instance, if it has especially low property values), the state provides it with additional money in the form of equalization dollars. reform the current formula This formula was adopted in 2005 after a lawsuit against per student U.S. senator since 1996 the state in which the Kansas Supreme Court deemed the by potentially changing from the state previous finance system inequitable and unconstitutional.

In public debates, Holland has stated that he wants to preproperty tax serve the current formula. Brownback, on the other hand, of which can be has proposed revising the formula to give more local control keep the current formula state funding raised from local to school districts while also providing for poorer districts endorsed by the teachers’ union property taxes unable to raise as much money for themselves. equality between districts State provides aid for districts

11 0 1

$4,012

Harbinger the

a publication of shawnee mission east high school 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208

Editors-In-Chief Andrew Goble Annie Sgroi Assistant Editors Kat Buchanan Evan Nichols Art and Design Editor Emma Pennington Head Copy Editor Kevin Simpson Online Editors Logan Heley Pat McGannon Online Assistant Editor Maggie Simmons News Editor Jack Howland News Page Editors Morgan Christian Editorial Editor Katy Westhoff Opinion Editor

Raina Weinberg Opinion Page Editors Ian Wiseman Emily Kerr Mixed Editor Anne Willman Spread Editors Lilly Myers Toni Aguiar Features Editor Sarah McKittrick Features Page Editors Chloe Stradinger Haley Martin Alysabeth Albano A&E Editor Aubrey Leiter A&E Page Editors Kennedy Burgess Tom Lynch Sports Editor Corbin Barnds

BROWNBACK HOLLAND

31%

unable to raise as much in taxes

THE SCHOOL FINANCE FORMULA

Sports Page Editors Matt Gannon Freelance Page Editors Christa McKittrick Photo Editors Grant Heinlein Dan Stewart Assistant Photo Editor Eden Schoofs Freelance Page Editors Christa McKittrick Copy Editors Evan Nichols Andrew Goble Annie Sgroi Kevin Simpson Kat Buchanan Jack Howland Morgan Christian Anne Willman Logan Heley Bob Martin Matt Gannon Chris Heady Staff Writers

Nov. 1, 2010 issue 5, vol. 52

local funding

Grant Kendall Alex Lamb Chris Heady Julia Davis Zoe Brian Caroline Creidenberg Paige Hess Editorial Board Andrew Goble Annie Sgroi Corbin Barnds Logan Heley Kevin Simpson Jennifer Rorie Jack Howland Evan Nichols Kat Buchanan Bob Martin Morgan Christian Photographers Katie East Grant Kendall Anna Marken Sammi Kelley Samantha Bartow

Claire Wahrer Tomi Caldwell Grace Snyder Riley Meurer Marissa Horwitz Kaitlyn Stewart Ads/Circulation Manager Jennifer Rorie Staff Artist Alex Goldman Online Copy Editors Kennedy Burgess Lilly Myers Online Photo Editor Lindsey Hartnett Multimedia Editor Maggie Simmons Convergence Editor Bob Martin Homegrown Editor Nathan Walker Podcast/Blog Editor Jeff Cole Video Editor Alex Lamb

Videographers Thomas Allen Nathan Walker Andrew Simpson Live Broadcast Editor Jeff Cole Live Broadcast Producers Thomas Allen Tom Lynch Anchors Andrew Simpson Jeff Cole Chloe Stradinger Corbin Barnds Kevin Simpson Nathan Walker Paige Hess PR Representative Chloe Stradinger Online Staff Writers Andrew Simpson Adviser Dow Tate

The Harbinger is a student run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the Shawnee Mission School District, East faculty, or school administration.

Finding her place One of my very best friends, Allie, made symphonic orchestra her freshman year after playing for three years. Another friend, Grace, made state in the high jump during an opinion of Jennifer Rorie her freshman track season. Anne — another one of my great friends — placed fifth in state golf this year and is number one on the golf team. Meg swam varsity at state her freshman year, and has been one of my friends since second grade. And finally, there’s Emma, my best friend and a novice debater who, in her very first debate, went 5-0.

Then there’s me.

When I walked in the Shawnee Mission East doors my first day of high school, I could sense a standard of excellence. That feeling may have been because my brother Alex had already attended East for two years and I had heard all the wonderful statistics and stories. I’d heard about National Merit Semifinalists, state champions, and science fair winners. When I began my freshmen year I was joining that excellence.

The only problem was that I didn’t know how to earn it.

During the years I have tried playing soccer, basketball and volleyball, but I never played premier and definitely wasn’t amazing . I loved my rec soccer and basketball, and I had a great time playing with my friends, but something about high school was — and still is — intimidating. My peers were better than me, not to mention the upperclassmen who were leaps and bounds ahead. I just couldn’t get up the nerve to try

OPINION issue 5

07

Sophomore struggles to stand out as an individual due to the competition for excellence at East

out for any of the sports I had played before.

I struggled all freshmen year not knowing how exactly to fit in. I got good grades, some that many would’ve been happy to have, but I was far from pleased. When I compared myself to the “smarter kids” I was still discouraged. My grades were fine, but I wasn’t anywhere near the top of the class, and something about that bothered me. When I do something, I want to be the best at it - after all, that is how you get recognized.

Being in the top 11 percent of my class just wasn’t enough. I didn’t have a sport to excel in and I wasn’t the best.

Meanwhile my friends were busy going to state and winning multiple competitions. They were excelling. They were what I wanted to be. Jealousy is bad — I’ve been taught that principle my entire life. When Allie sits second chair in orchestra and when Meg beats her time in swimming I congratulate them, but I still wish I could be them.

Just recently, I figured out what makes me really stand out at East. No, I haven’t become an amazing athlete overnight or magically gotten to the top of my class. But I have discovered I am the encourager. Whenever something good happens to my friends, or to anyone for that matter, I congratulate them.

I let them know how amazing I think they are. It isn’t the fact that I stand out and everyone knows me, it is that the people I stand out to the most are the people in my life that really matter to me.

I love to make people’s days better, whether that means smiling and saying “hi” in the halls, or having a conversation

with them about their triumphs or trials. I love to see other people smiling and having a good time. I stand out to them because I encourage and congratulate them, and that is all that really matters.

I no longer care if a random senior knows I’m not a star athlete, I don’t care if my peers know I’m not in the running for valedictorian. None of that matters too much anymore.

I still want to shoot the winning basket at state, but I’ve accepted that I won’t and I’m OK with that. I’ve figured out how I stand out. I encourage and congratulate; I am the one who makes people smile.

East is made up of a bunch of overachievers who excel in everything they do and are the best at what they do. The portion of our school that makes up the elite is large compared to other schools, but still isn’t our entire school. That leaves the rest of us, the ones who aren’t the best athletes or scholars. I may not be valedictorian, but I’ll be there at her graduation party to give her a hug. I’m happy with where I am and I happy the way I stand out.

I am The Encourager.

For student interviews on their viewpoints on standing out at East, visit smeharbinger.net

Creating your story at JCCC …

“This is an incredible experience that prepares you for the future.”

Sandra, Student Johnson County Community College 12345 College Blvd. | Overland Park, KS 66210 913-469-3803 | www.jccc.edu “Like” JCCC at facebook.com/JCCC411

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The vicious campaign ad airs frequently now that November approaches.

With the senate elections of 2034 coming up, Kansas needs a poised, intelligent and dignified leader, a deep-voiced man recites optimistically.

Then, his voice sinks into a dark tone. As he continues, strategically awkward pictures of my face fill the TV screen. Ian Wiseman is NOT the man this state needs.

Suddenly, the photos give way to a homemade video displaying a porch-view shot of a side-street. Darting up the road is a boy adorned in an inflatable sumo suit with a pink tie wrapped around his skull and waving an airsoft gun. Another boy, also armed, hollers for the supposed “criminal” to halt. The wild flailing of arms and plastic toys slow-motions, the shot zooms in toward the latter boy and the deepvoiced man continues in an impending tone: Do you really want THIS man representing the whole state of Kansas?

I want to explain to the ad’s viewers that I was only twelve, that, given a camcorder and the appropriate amount of free time, middleschoolers are bound to make fools of themselves. That we were delirious when we uploaded the video to Youtube. But the clip could have been filmed last spring for all anyone cares, for excuses don’t matter when stacked against proof that I am everything but “poised, intelligent and dignified.”

I stare at the screen as the younger version of myself beats the criminal with a plastic scythe.

I wish I could beat myself into unconsciousness with it instead. *** Ignorance is bliss.

Indians knew not of Europe. Adam and Eve were clueless about sin. Tom hadn’t yet met Jerry.

Then occurred a shift. Whether it arrived as a colony, an apple or a missing Salisbury steak, it abolished the era of bliss and launched one of chaos.

For our generation, that ominous shift lies in technology.

Technology, for example, that permits anyone from Prairie Village to Bangkok to view my home-made version of COPS. That video is indeed real. The fear of its potential is even more so.

Make Me Babies

Granted, the law and I rarely quarrel, for that film is the most incriminating evidence police can use against me. Still, inside us all exists a demon—adolescence. For many generations, an ongoing struggle of parents was trying to conceal evidence of these yesteryears; stowed away in shoeboxes on the top shelves of closets were coffee-stained letters, black-and-white yearbook photos and sentimental knickknacks.

But technology let loose the monsters of our generation. Escaping the confines of my brain, my demon bought a condo in cyberspace and opened the blinds so it could beam at the world. After all, how do I hide the plethora of self-alarming pictures, songs, texts, videos and chat histories that storm the web in a shoebox?

The global phenomenon we call the Internet will mock the ancient practice of concealing adolescent mishaps. Though letters fade and knickknacks go amiss, these omnipresent Internet liabilities will only accumulate over time, haunting our generation far beyond our youthful days. *** “Daddy, what does fml mean?”

I about choke on my spaghetti. The sevenyear-old gazes up from her meal with big, curious eyes.

“Where did you hear that phrase?” I demand. She immediately dives into a tale of a school project about family, mommy saying it was OK to look on my Facebook for old pictures and the encounter of one three-letter phrase.

“Never say those letters in that order again,” I reply, offering her no further explanation.

A crease forms across her forehead as she crosses her arms. “But you did! You said it underneath your picture.”

I sit up from the table and begin loading the dishes. That will buy me some time to concoct an argument worthy of defeating this gradeschooler. As I shut the dishwasher, she continues.

“Oh, and who is Charlie the Unicorn?” *** My understanding of my mom’s childhood boils down to nothing more than a catalog of vignettes, often echoed on a repeating cycle, and a blurry photo of her and her four siblings arranged by height in front of a Ford stationwagon. Based on oldies 94.9 and her playlist se-

lection when hosting cocktail parties, growing up she listened to The Beatles and James Taylor.

In essence my dad’s background is just as alien to me, for the most accurate evidence of youth that I can obtain is a collage of baby pictures.

Here lies the heart of parents’ credibility. Never did my parents sneak out to meet a friend, nor did they drink, nor cheat, nor fight with their siblings. No, they were too occupied ogling over James Taylor and finishing their homework and positioning themselves by height in orderly, clean-cut lines.

After all, mishmashes of yearbook clippings and pictures—which are as difficult to snoop out as Waldo—reveal only my parents’ fashion senses, so how can I possibly argue otherwise?

Ninety-nine percent of my knowledge thus derives from their indisputable word, and that word informs me that they cupped their ears and yelled, “La la la, I can’t hear you!” during the glorious 70s stream of sexually explicit lyrics.

They shrouded their demons with their word; that is one luxury I will never obtain.

“Parents know best,” but when technology allows pictures and videos to outweigh words, parents merely become grown-up teenagers.

After all, how does one reprimand his toddler for uttering new vocabulary learned on daddy’s iTunes? How can a concerned parent expect her teenager to take heed of her preachings of common sense and good judgment when photos reveal her competing in beer pong at a frat party?

With what words can a child be convinced to try harder in school if her dad’s online grade report revealed that he failed chemistry?

Ignorance is bliss. We can reasonably assume many of our parents let slide a few non-grated phrases in their time, just as we can infer they struggled in a high school course; however, claims and accusations fall short without proof.

The next generation will know that proof, and with knowledge of our demons they will wreak havoc on the ancient belief of parental superiority. But for now we coast blissfully along the road of youth, unaware that every ticket, every misstep, is documented with frightening 24/7 surveillance. Technology ensures the demon’s inevitable escape. After all, who’s going to trade in a computer for a shoebox?

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Jack Howland Drove by that house today. TPing ftw.

October 29 at 7:51 pm

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Ian “No Regretz” Wiseman Haha epic October 29 at 9:25 pm

Clear Chat History 10:03 pm Me Have ur parents found out about that dent yet?

Ian “No Regretz” Wiseman was tagged in Sarah McKittrick’s video.

“Holy crap this is 2 fast!”

One brave high-schooler takes on East’s south ramp!

Grant 10:04 pm No, lesson learned tho. I’ll never drive with an animal in the car again haha

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A NEW PERCEPTION

an opinion of

AnnaMarken

If this were last year, I would have insisted my parents buy me the new iPod. Sure, the one I already have is only one year old, but the new one has a camera. I need that. I would have used every trick I had to convince them to buy it. And they would have said no, just like every other time I begged them to drop hundreds of dollars on an unnecessary item.

Thinking back on the last few years of my life recently, I realized how much time and energy I wasted on trying to convince my parents that what I had just wasn’t enough.

The realization came when I was looking back on all 1,600 pictures from my trip to Africa over the summer with my dad. In 2008, we sent him to Tanzania for his 50th birthday, a trip he had always wanted to make. When he returned, he told me he wanted to “show me the real world” before I left for college.

On May 31, we left for Arusha, Tanzania. We spent six days visiting schools and 10 days on a safari. I didn’t fully appreciate my experience for what it was while I was there, but four pictures really got me thinking.

The first was of my dad and I opening the classroom we funded at the Mikuuni Primary School in the village of King’Ori. When we arrived at the tiny, run-down, four-room school, we were greeted by a welcome ceremony. The students sang, danced and chanted ‘karibu Mikuuni!’ (welcome to Mikuuni).

After being given a tour of the school, we were taken to the school’s new classroom.

We had funded 25 new desks for the room, Mikuuni’s greatest need. When we got to the door, we noticed a small piece of cardboard

held between the metal frame by a thin piece of masking tape. It read: “A new class open today. May 2010.” We were handed a pair of scissors and told to cut the tape. The parents from the community had gathered around the building and the students and teachers were anxiously waiting to see their new classroom. As we cut the tape, the mothers from the community began to cheer. Before, with only about 15 desks per room, three or four students had to share one desk. The cramming made it hard for them to focus. Seeing the happiness that came from a simple set of desks reduced me to tears.

Looking at the picture from this moment reminded me why: When I go to school, I have always had my own desk. I have the proper learning environment needed to make it to college and eventually have a successful career. However, the kids we met may not even make it to secondary school, let alone college.

Then I thought to myself, “Wow. What in the world do I have to complain about?” My future is solid, I have a nice house with a room to myself, and I never have to worry about whether or not I will have food to eat. So my iPod is “old”, but that’s not what’s important.

Next, my favorite picture from the trip popped up: me, surrounded by 20 of the most charming children I have ever met. The children at all of the schools were fascinated to see us in their communities and wanted to have their pictures taken with us. Seeing this picture reminded me how fortunate we are to live a part of the world where we are taught about other people and cultures. The kids we

met can’t turn on CNN and learn about current events or other cultures. The lack of media prevents them from understanding other cultures and ways of life. It is no surprise for us to see people from other countries or races in our communities. They don’t understand the power of diversity, simply because they had never been exposed to it. Knowing about and interacting with other cultures is a gift that many Americans take for granted.

Third was the picture of Dad, Happy, and I. Happy is a young volunteer school teacher at the Kirenga Primary School. She had more passion for teaching than any teacher I have ever had. When she walked into a classroom, the students lit up. Despite the fact that she was speaking Swahili, I could still understand how her energy captivated and inspired them.

The students were more focused and interested when Happy was speaking, than when any other teacher was. She wasn’t getting paid for her work with the school, as she had not been through Teacher’s College. She told us that her biggest dream was to get her teaching certificate so she could give her students the opportunity to make it to secondary school, but financially, college was out of reach for her.

“How unfair,” I thought to myself. “She wants this so much, and deserves it more than anyone, yet it is unattainable for her.”

“We need to get her into college,” Dad said to me on the plane ride home. “That is one extraordinary girl.”

When we got home and settled in again, we began working to send Happy to school.

After $3,330 and several donations from fam-

OPINION

issue 5

09

Staffer reflects on lessons learned from visit to Tanzania

ily friends, Happy left for college in late September.

Finally, I came across the picture of Happy, Rebecca (another teacher from Kirenga), and three students from the Kirenga Primary School. It was the first day of our safari and we were visiting Arusha National Park. We invited the top three students from Happy’s school to join us. Even though they live 10 minutes from the park, they had never been because it was too expensive. I was shocked to hear this, because I had assumed that they had visited the parks and seen the animals many times. Learning this, I realized yet again that my view of the world was skewed. When my friends and I have nothing to do, we spend money to go out to eat or to a movie. People in small African villages make fun for themselves with what they have. They don’t need to spend money to have a good time. Now, whenever I spend $6 on a Chipotle burrito because there’s “nothing” to eat in my fridge, I feel a little pang of guilt, because with that $6, I could have bought an African family food for a week.

While the pictures a souvenirs I brought home are amazing, the most amazing thing I brought back was the realization of the fortune I have in my life. When I hear people whine about how they don’t have the newest phone or most expensive clothes, I shudder.

They don’t realize how lucky they are to have what they do. I wish that everyone could experience what I did this summer, and finally the understand how lucky we truly are.

10

OPINION 11-01-10

Living in a

Fantasy World

Junior reveals how obsession with fantasy football has taken over his life

EdenSchoofs an opinion of ChrisHeady

I had never known heartbreak before seventh grade.

I’m not one for caring about meaningless football games, but this one actually mattered to me. More than it ever should have. It was Monday Night Football; Legendary quarterback Brett Favre vs. a struggling New Orleans Saints defense. It was a match made in heaven, or so I thought.

I only needed four points to win my fantasy football game and move on to the playoffs and I was more than certain I was going to win. My stud QB was projected a whopping 27 points. I would have bet my mother’s jewels I was going to win.

Then it happened. an opinion of ChrisHeady One hundred twenty-seven yards. Two fumbles. One interception. 3.75 points. I missed the playoffs. I wanted to cry, which was an obvious overreaction. This is when I realized I had a problem. I am addicted to fantasy football. *** I hate shopping.

My hatred for it has gotten to the point that I can’t even call it shopping anymore because I feel so feminine just saying it.

The word shopping means trying on a pair of pumps, giggling with your bff, then trying on 17 more. Buying, on the other hand, is more of seeing the garment, checking the tag to make sure it says medium, and buying it. No funny business.

Rather than do what I would usually do on a Sunday afternoon when I was 10, watch football, I was dragged on countless occasions to JC Penny. Because clearly that’s what a 10 year old wants to do with their Sunday.

If the

player

fits

Chris sizes up football players with different types of footwear

They took me on trips down long aisles filled with shoes among shoes and I felt my manliness decrease as I heard squeals of unnecessary excitement from each shoe.

I don’t understand it. They are shoes. Just shoes.

I’ve accepted that that’s just what women do. They buy shoes. No guy understands it, and no guy ever will.

I realized recently that I, as a man, have a similar irregular passion that opposite sex will never fully understand. They will never understand why us men live, love, die and obsess over fantasy football.

Where girls have buying, boys have fantasy football.

Fantasy football’s popularity spread to the web in the 2000s, and over 27 million people play it. In a nutshell, fantasy owners draft one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, a kicker and a team defense. The players rack up stats and the owners get points per yard and touchdowns. The owners compete head to head each week and the owner with the most points at the end of the week, is victorious.

I started my first fantasy league alongside a friend of mine in 2007 with a team called “We Love Maria,” a team dedicated to our then-celebrity crush Maria Sharapova.

Yeah, we were seventh grade horndogs; of course, we named it after a girl.

Since then, I’ve been hooked on this fantasy thing. The ravishing Russian tennis star didn’t give us the boost to our team we had hoped for and we finished at a gruesome, noob-like 6-8 for the year.

The mediocre season actually bothered me and to be quite

TheStilleto He’s the definition of a football player.

This running back runs with authority and easily can get you 30 to 40 points on a weekly basis. Adrian Peterson is a flashy and well-known back around the league, and if you are playing against him, you might as well make a check in the loss margin, because he’s the man.

honest, I was a little embarrassed. I was a football fanatic, and my own personal team was a joke. I was genuinely depressed with the outcome of my rookie season.

Ever since the losing season, I’ve been spending way too much time with my fantasy teams.

Women are always trying to find the new trend. May it be Uggs, v-necks or scarves they are always trying to be the first to get the next best thing. That’s pretty much exactly what we do as fantasy players.

If I pick up a rookie running back and he goes off and has 38 points, I’ll look like a fantasy god since I found the new trend. Yet, if I pick up a wide receiver who I think has potential, but was unaware he is out for the season due to a broken leg, it’d be like wearing a clown nose thinking it was in style.

I found since converting that I pay way more attention to the players in the league, rather than the teams. I can honestly tell you that I don’t care if the Saints win a game for the rest of the year. As long as my quarterback Drew Brees throws for 300+ yards and 2 touchdowns a game, I’ll be happy.

Yet, fantasy has also tuned me into heartless fiend.

It’s almost gotten to the point that when I’m are playing an opposing player that is doing well, I start wishing harm upon them so they stop scoring points on me. Though I’m not proud of it, nor do I condone it, it’s what I do on a weekly basis.

It’s not that I want them to be injured and have a life or careerending injury, I just happen to care a little bit more about my fantasy team than should be healthy, so sue me.

I know I’m addicted to fantasy, yet I’m 100 percent okay with it.

Having certain/good players rather than not-so-stellar players on my team is probably the single thing consumes my time the most in the fall. I’d rather pick up the three billion leaves from my one oak tree than have a failing fantasy team.

If I start a running back that has a week where he only has 12 yards and a fumble, you might as well never mention his name to me ever again, because I’ve forgotten it.

My Sundays consist of checking my team and stats after every quarter of every game. It’s a tedious process of praying and voodoo dances each time I click refresh to find out how my players are doing. This is followed by collapsing to my knees in joy or giving my running back an earful from my couch.

But fantasy hasn’t been all bad for me.

I’ve stayed connected with elementary and middle school school friends via fantasy football that I most likely would have grown apart from without fantasy. We always have something to talk about, even if it’s just about how bad one person beats the other, or how no one in the league started the best player that week, not to mention the immense smack talk that consists between my elementary rivals.

Our “bro time” is much like a girl’s buying time.

On Sundays, you can either find me either frolicking around in my living room because one of my wide receivers that is doing a number on a defense, or on the verge of defacing the TV because the QB I’m playing against just threw his fifth friggin’ touchdown.

Fantasy has turned me into a monster and practically ruins my fall due to the stress I undergo, but I’m okay with it. Why? I’m not quite sure. Probably for the same reason women go shopping... I mean, buying.

You’re go-to guy in any situation in definitely Peyton Manning. He has 4,000+ passing yards in the last three seasons and is on pace to break the all-time record for passing yards in a season this year. Not always the flashiest of them all, but Peyton delivers year after year, and will never let an owner down.

TheTom

TheCroc

Let’s face it, Brett Favre is old as dirt.

Everyone agrees he should have retired the correct way in 2008 when he was with the Packers. Now just about everyone hates him, thanks to his recurring “I’m coming back, no I’m not, yes I am, no I’m not, okay yes I am” routine. Stay away from the Wrangler Jeans spokesperson this year, and for the next five years when he doesn’t retire.

FEATURES

11

pathof apassion

the

issue 5

Sophomore Emily Sneed’s passion for animals has led her to many unique experiences

ChloeStradinger

numerous pets

Sophomore Emily Sneed has always loved animals. Before she could walk, she was constantly picking up bugs and was always drawn to people’s pets. By the time she had her very own pet at the age of four, her parents could tell The gecko’s soft, suction cup-like feet slowly saunter over sophomore Emily Sneed’s hands, then her arms. Dante, her gecko, makes quick jumps from Emily’s arms to her stomach, then over to her back and finally to her hands. But the rapid movements don’t scare Emily—she’s had three lizards, along with four snakes, multiple beta fish, 10 rats, a handful of hermit crabs, one guinea pig and one dog.

“My parents recognized I loved animals when I was little and let me get pets,” Emily said.

Emily’s parents even took her to reptile shows. At the shows, reptile vendors bring their scaly and slithery creatures to be awed at and sometimes sold to reptile lovers from all around the Kansas City area.

“It’s basically like a reptile petting zoo,” Emily said.

that her love for animals wasn’t just a phase; it was a passion. Now, eleven years later, Emily continues to explore her passion by caring for her four pets, observing veterinarian surgeries, and volunteering at Lakeside Nature Center.

The shows are where Emily buys some of her pets, including the two snakes and Crested Gecko she has now.

Along with the reptiles, Emily also has owned rats as pets. While most people are grossed out by rats, Emily is just the opposite. She compares rats to miniature dogs, each one having their own personality.

Even though she’s had 10 rats, she still remembers her favorite-her first one named Sweetie “She loved to snuggle,” Emily said.

While her rats warm up to her just like dogs, Emily still has a real dog, a gray poodle named Sadie.

From geckos to guinea pigs, Emily loves each and every one of her pets.

“They all have their own personalities.” Emily said.

Photo courtesy of EmilySneed

Lakeside volunteer

As a 10 year old, Emily received the title of “Junior Keeper” at the Lakeside Nature Center. She earned the label by attending two all-day classes where she learned how to feed, clean, and bandage each animal in the center.

As a young girl, Emily volunteered at the nature center about once a month.

“Sometimes parents make their kids volunteer there to get hours, but clearly that wasn’t an issue with Emily,” Emily’s mom, Dena Sneed, said.

After the employees at the center realized Emily had a passion for working with animals and gift for handling them, they urged her to come even more often. Even though the Junior Keepers aren’t allowed to work with anything with rabies or venom for safety reasons, Emily was invited by the employees to watch them work with those types of animals and reptiles.

She was able to watch how the employees treated baby coyotes and fox kits and how they fed the giant rattlesnake.

Now, she goes to the center about once a week.

At Lakeside, she starts her work by cleaning the animals and their cages on display. This includes the cleaning the opossums, feeding the turtles, putting water in the snakes cages, and doing other odd jobs around the center.

all photos by EdenSchoofs

Emily has also sat in on a tumor removal and a spay and neuter surgery.

The smell of the surgery room made Emily queasy, but watching the actual surgery didn’t make her feel sick or uncomfortable at all.

And while she thought the surgeries were interesting, she didn’t find them particularly inspiring.

“I’ve always just been less drawn to the surgeries on dogs and cats and more to working with animals in the wild,” Emily said.

Thus, Emily began volunteering even more often at the Lakeside Nature Center.

Then, she goes to the back rooms where all the injured and certain rehabilitating animals are. These rooms are each dedicated to a species- one room to mice, another to birds, one to newborn animals, one to turtles, and one to snakes. There’s also a kitchen and a medical room, like a doctors office for animals.

Some of the latest occupants of the rehab section of the center include newborn mice, a massive owl with an injured wing, and a curious little rabbit named Chaps.

Emily helps the animals in this part of the center, bandaging broken wings and hurt paws. Her favorite time to help out in the back rooms is during springtime, when all the new babies are born.

“I love feeding the baby squirrels when they just open their eyes and are really hyper and tiny.” Emily says.

Emily hopes to continue working with animals, preferably animals in the wild. Schools in northern California, like Pamona, appeal to her because of their impressive marine biology programs.

“I don’t have my plans for the future narrowed down yet, but I want to work out in nature with wild animals, maybe with elephants or somewhere in Australia,” Emily said.

dog surgeries

A few years ago, Emily’s dog’s veterinarian asked Emily if she wanted observe a dog knee replacement surgery after noticing Emily’s love and interest in animals. Intrigued at what those might look like, she accepted.

Emily watched with focus as one doctor made quick sterilizations, incisions and cuts while another doctor watched the vital monitors the dog was hooked up to.

While the doctors performed their jobs, they explained to Emily what was going on in the surgery and what tools they were using.

“The surgery was really interesting. They get in there and get things done,” Emily said.

12

FEATURES

11-01-10

BEYOND THE BASS-ICS JuliaDavis

The six-foot-tall double bass balances by his side, its sheer size nearly hiding his 5’9” frame. He slowly slides the bow across the sticky caramel-colored rosin, making sure it has enough to grab the thick E string that runs down the bass.

Looking down the neck of the instrument to the massive bridge, senior Greg Tracy reflects on how far he has come since that day in eighth grade when he decided to start playing the bass. He thinks about making symphonic orchestra at East, state orchestra, St. Olaf’s camp, the countless concerts and trips his bass has taken him on. This beat-up bass has been there for all of it.

Tracy’s passion for music began in fifth grade when his mother, a former cellist, decided to start teaching him how to play the cello. He played for three years, until his eighth grade orchestra needed a bass player; he had always wanted to try the instrument and seized the opportunity.

His uncle, Ken Beckmann was a formal professional bass player. Beckmann was his first bass teacher, and immediately saw Tracy’s potential and worked him hard as a student.

“He really just kicked me around and made me work,” Tracy said. “He was really big on intonation, so that, after the fact, kind of inspires me.”

This emphasis on intonation, or being in tune, proved very helpful when it came time for auditions for district and state orchestra, and Tracy made both as a sophomore, a feat not accomplished by many.

At the state level, orchestra members must spend a weekend in Wichita preparing music with their peers for a final concert at the end of the workshop.

Tracy’s first state workshop marked a turning point

in his bass career.

“I really got serious after state my sophomore year. It really shocked me how good people were,” Tracy said.

“After that I started practicing a lot more seriously.”

Tracy started playing upwards of two hours a day, and was soon up to par with the other four all-state bass players in his section that year.

“That’s the best bass section I have ever played in, because everybody was in state,” Tracy said. “I think our playing at one point was flawless.”

To have a section this good is nearly unheard of in a high school orchestra, but the music department at East has been recognized countless times for the quality of the ensembles and individuals who participate in them.

The East symphonic orchestra has more students than any other school in the all-state orchestra each year, and consistently plays repertoire that is comparable to professional symphonies.

Orchestra director Jonathan Lane takes advantage of the stellar band program at East and uses a full orchestra for many of the pieces he chooses to play.

“Full orchestra shows true collaboration between the band and orchestra program,” Lane said. “The world’s greatest music literature is for the symphony orchestra.”

Before symphonic orchestra, Tracy had never encountered a truly challenging bass part. Playing Dvorak Symphony 8 his sophomore year opened his eyes to the bass’s roles in the orchestra.

“It was the first symphony I played where the bass part was hard, and at one point the basses actually had the melody, which usually doesn’t happen. I didn’t think it ever happened,” Tracy said.

Senior Greg Tracy excels in his passion for playing the bass

He also plays with the Blue Knights jazz band at East.

Before junior year, he had never played jazz before.

He chose to try out because he believes that part of being a bass player is playing jazz.

Playing jazz bass can be tremendously different from classical, but Tracy embraced the changes.

“In jazz, you [the bass player] are the groove,” Tracy said. “If you play fast, everyone else will play fast, if you play slow and you’re trying to hold the tempo, everybody else will too.”

During summer, Tracy and his friend senior Joe Sernett auditioned and made the Kansas City Kansas Community College All-Star Jazz Band. Tracy continues to play in this ensemble throughout the school year and enjoys it because of the higher caliber musicians he gets to work with.

He also enjoys the fact that he gets a chance to play electric bass with the group.

“There’s a lot you can do with electric bass, and I didn’t learn that until just recently,” Tracy said. “With electric I can play samba, or even Latin dance music, which is something I am currently working on.”

Playing the bass has been an essential aspect of Tracy’s high school experience. While so much has changed throughout his time at East, bass has always been there.

“Without bass, I’d just be another student who’s unsure. Because of it, I know what I’m doing now,” Tracy said. “It’s what I’ve worked on most, for the past four years of my life, and it’s something that I think I’ll always enjoy.”

BATTLE of the BASSES

DanStewart

VS.

“I play the electric bass because of it’s dominance in funk music. It’s an instrument that has a lot of groove to it. I like how easy it is to write music for and solo on.”

DanStewart

“I play double bass because it’s versatile in the sense that you can play both classical musical and jazz. I like that it’s the loudest and lowest string instrument.”

Electric

Classical

According to Greg Tracy

FEATURES issue 5

Going Gr EE k

13

Seniors take time out of their last year of high school to start rushing for KU fraternities

up to a quarter from East at some events. However, fraternities are not striving for that number.

“Generally, we are trying to be more diverse than just having them all be East kids,” Goble said.

These rush events are dry, which means they don’t include alcohol, making them high school appropriate. More or less, the parties are about getting acquainted with the guys in the fraternity and making friends.

To be extra sure about who the rush chairs want in their fraternity, they survey the “rushees” during the event.

“We partner each rushee with an active in the house,” Goble said. “We talk to the actives afterward to figure out what they thought about their partner and go from there.”

However, the decision to invite someone into the fraternity is not just based on a few interviews.

“We are a pretty academically-driven house so we are definitely interested in kids who excel in school and who are going to succeed in college,” Goble said. “We understand that some high school kids are going to change in college and work a lot harder.”

The recruitment process for a fraternity is fairly simple; you are either recommended by students in the fraternity or recommended by alumni.

The goals of rush chairs is not only to persuade students to join their fraternity, but also to commit to KU. “With kids who are looking at going to Ivy League schools or kids who are going far away from home, we try and convince them that they can make as good of an education [at KU],” Goble said.

Rushing students early and often is a tactic that is proving successful.

“If I wasn’t getting rushed for a fraternity at KU, I probably wouldn’t consider going there,” Smith said. “[Rushing is] all about making connections and making friends and having a good college experience.”

anatomy of a ‘frat bro’

{

{

GrantKendall KU junior and East graduate Clark Goble knows what he is looking for. Above-average grades, multiple extracurricular activities, community service, athletics--all of these attributes build an ideal Beta Theta Pi member.

Goble sits down and gets down to business.

Interviewing 50 potential fraternity members could take all night.

Goble, who graduated from East in 2008, is one of the three rush chairs for the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at KU. His job as a rush chair is to choose the pledge class and to organize the rush events where all the potential fraternity brothers come up to the house.

Rushing is when students in fraternities recruit other potential members. At other colleges, rushing takes place when a student is already accepted into that particular college.

However, at KU, fraternity rushing happens during the boy’s senior year, before he knows what school he is going to attend.

“One of the reasons we have the rush parties pretty early is because we wanted to get ahead of the early decision deadline so at least we can talk to the kids before they commit themselves to another school,” Goble said.

The rush chairs weed through the students that show up at rush events via interviewing.

These interviews decide whether or not they are capable of being part of the fraternity.

[My interview] was pretty laid back,” Senior Cam Smith said. “Basically they just asked how the soccer season was going, how my senior year was going, what schools I was interested in or applying to and what fraternities at KU I had looked at.”

When Smith was rushed by Beta Theta Pi, he went to a Wizards game before his interview. Senior Sam Amrein was involved in similar activities when he was rushed by Sigma Chi, Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Sigma. “[At Phi Delta Theta], there was a poker tournament and we watched the Chiefs game,” Amrein said.

Quite a few students at these rush events are East seniors like Amrein and Smith, with

photo illustration by ClaireWahrer

Sperry shoes, button-down shirts and coral shorts can be seen throughout the halls of East on any given day. The combination of these preppy styles has come to be known simply as “frat.” Here’s a look at the “frat style,” modeled by sophomore Connor Rellihan.

Backwards Hat “I like the Polo hat because it has the buckles and isn’t too fitted. Usually, I like to wear it in the summer.”

Sunglasses

“If you don’t want to wear the sunglasses you can just hang the strap. I wear them driving in the summer.”

Button-Down

Shorts “I’m not a big fan of cargo shorts. Usually I wear seersucker or colored shorts. I have green, orange and red shorts.”

“If it’s spring, I’ll wear a pastel color. If you have a cool belt you can tuck it in to your shorts. I wear buttondowns around once or twice a week.”

Belt “It can be a Vineyard Vines belt or a plain belt. I don’t usually match it with my shorts. I have about three belts like this.”

Long Socks “I mean, if you like chillin’, wear crew socks. They also help prevent blisters.”

“Classy is the word I would use to describe it. I wear brands like Polo, Vineyard Vines, Brooks Brothers and Southern Tide. I wouldn’t say I make an effort to wear this type of clothing, but I like wearing it and the majority of my clothes fit the style.”

ClaireWahrer

14

ONLINE

11-01-10

smeharbinger.net A guide to key components of the Harbinger Online

The Harbinger Fan Page

With the realm of social networking blowing up in this day and age, it’s only fitting that the Harbinger would hop on the bandwagon and create an easilyaccessible Facebook page. The majority of students attending Shawnee Mission East, their friends, their friends’ friends and so on can access helpful updates about the various activities going on

from the comfort of their home page or smart phone. The profile for The Harbinger sports past issue links, status updates galore and key information on the goings-on at East. Get the most recent scores of sports games, inclement weather updates, times for club meetings and much more on your Facebook feed with the simple click of a mouse.

“

Congratulations to your 2010 Homecoming Queen, Betsy Blessen, and her court: Kirsten Clark, Emily Welter, Caroline Doerr, and Hanna Jane Stradinger!

”

-from the fan page

smeharbinger

The ultimate solution to missing a Lancer sporting event is the Harbinger Online live broadcasts. All one needs is a internet connection and a computer. So far, the Harbinger Online has broadcasted every football game past the first and nearly every soccer game. This is a good way to get your out-of-town relatives because the broadcasts are accessible

UStream Channel

all of the world. With knowledgeable student commentary in the comfort of your own home, these broadcasts are almost better than actually being there.

The Harbinger Online plans on broadcasting nearly every girls’ and boys’ basketball games this winter. With brand new equipment coming this fall, the broadcasts will be better than ever.

@SME_Harbinger Twitter Feed

Think Lancer Alerts on steroids. The Harbinger twitter feed is essential to keeping up with Shawnee Mission East breaking news. Keeping up with Harbinger tweets can pay dividends: The Harbinger Online was the first to report QB John Schrock’s season-ending injury. The feed also alerts you every time the Harbinger Online is doing one of its many live broadcasts. If you can’t

get to a computer for one of the broadcasts, the feed sends out score updates for games, even in-game updates on occasion. Go to Twitter to follow the SME_Harbinger feed and receive breaking Lancer news and alerts. Upping the functionality of the online entity, the Twitter feed is linked to Facebook, adding all of the essential information and more to those who follow.

“

SME Harbinger is reporting QB John Schrock’s injury is a broken right collar bone along with a separated shoulder and a sprained AC joint.

-from the feed

Galleries SME Photos If you miss a certain sporting event or meeting at your favorite extracurricular, have no fear: the many Harbinger Online photographers will have captured all of the noteworthy moments and placed them up on a convenient online gallery. Under the functional “Photos” tab on the site, you can click on multiple collections of pictures taken by student photographers. From Culver’s Night LindseyHartnett

to marching band to the Homecoming Court, the various collections offered on the Harbinger Online differ from just sports galleries (which, trust us, have a plethora of images to browse through).

If you’re interested in purchasing any photos, you can shoot the editors an email with ease at smeharbingeronline@ gmail.com.

”

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16

SPREAD

SPREAD

11-01-10

HOW

freshman Many freshmen make the mistake of blowing through their first year, thinking it won’t count for much. But the reality is that everything counts once high school begins. Carter believes that it is never too early to start preparing.

“The very best thing you can do your freshmen year is to take the most challenging courses you can and of course get the best grades possible,” Carter said.

PREPARE

TO

East counselor Laura Carter gives year by year steps on how to make the right decisions for life after high school.

“I believe in shades of gray,” Carter said. “There’s no one path for everyone, which is a real celebration.”

RD EA ED

FOR COLLEGE What students should do each year to get into the college of their choice RainaWeinberg

junior

Junior year is when a heavy amount of decision making starts.

“Juniors need to start thinking about what subjects they love the best, how well they know themselves and what they can do to help themselves understand what their interests are,” Carter said.

senior

The year building up to graduation is one that should be spent on college visits, applications and final decisions. College visits are a must. Once you step foot on a campus, you should be able to tell if you belong there. Being timely with deadlines and applications is key to making a good impression.

Regular Decision Early Action

“ Where Are You Going? “ “ “ “ “ “ Early Decision

Applying to: Macalester, St. John’s, KU (all RD)

Honestly, the mail I received from Macalester and St. John’s was the coolest, most unique college mail I’d seen.

Senior Lucas Throckmorton

Applying to: University of Chicago (EA), Stanford University (RD), Yale (RD), Princeton (RD), Harvard (RD), MIT (RD), Cal Tech (RD)

The soccer programs at many of them are very strong, and I would have the opportunity to play at a majority of them. Stanford, my top choice, has very strong undergraduate research programs. Senior Lucas Throckmorton

”

Senior Emily Fuson

Applying to: Texas Christian University (EA)

One of my best friends is from a mission trip I went on is a freshman at TCU, and I went down to visit her and fell in love.

Senior Emily Fuson

”

Senior Gail Stonebarger

Senior Gillian O’Connell Applying to: Middlebury, Tufts, Brown, Vassar, Bowdoin, Colby, Grinnell (all RD)

I am most comfortable where discussion is the principle way of learning. The idea of bouncing ideas off of a professor and students in a small setting is really appealing Senior Gillian O’Connell to me.

”

Senior Hannah Walter

Applying to: Tulane (EA), UC at Boulder (EA), Lake Forest (EA), SLU (RD), Wash U (RD), NYU (RD) I have absolutely no desire to go to college surrounded by farms.

”

Senior Gail Stonebarger all photos by SamanthaBartow

Senior Angela Clem

”

Senior Olivia Mansfield

Applying to: St. Olaf College (ED)

Over 75% of students at St. Olaf are involved in a music ensemble, whether it be band, orchestra or one of their many choirs. I love to be surrounded by people who love music as much as I do, and there are definitely a lot of passionate people at St. Olaf.

The Harbinger takes a look sophomore at where 21 seniors are Taking the PLAN and PSAT test is a helpful way to jumpapplying to college start your look into the future.

Taking the practice tests will give you a taste for the real thing.

Every fall the counselors host a parent/student night to discuss the upcoming year’s curriculum and what students need to be doing to properly prepare.

“There are so many directions and opportunities possible,” Carter said. “It’s a pretty individual decision on what kind of course load you need for your own path.”

Senior Angela Clem

Applying to: Creighton University (ED), St. Louis University (RD), UC at Denver (RD), MU (RD), and KU (RD)

I think I am a good fit for Creighton because I wouldn’t give up when things get hard or take the easy way out, because they told me it was a rigorous course.

”

Senior Hannah Walter

”

Senior Olivia Mansfield

Senior Jenna Kaufman Applying to: F.I.D.M (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising), Parsons, Stephens College

It’s nerve racking yet exciting looking for a place to spend the next four years (or more). It’s so important to make the decision based on how you feel and not what parents or family want. Senior Jenna Kaufman

”

Senior Chris Melvin

Applying to: Truman State University (ED), University of Mary Washington (RD) University of Arkansas (RD)

I think I am a good fit because Truman State values hardworking, unique, and creative kids.

Senior Chris Melvin

”

Senior Lauren Stanley Applying to: Wash U (RD), Vanderbilt (RD), William and Mary (RD), University of Richmond (RD), Boston College (EA)

I wanted a college with a good premed program and religious studies program because those are areas I am interested in studying.

”

Senior Lauren Stanley

Senior Sam Hattaway

Senior Branden Schoofs Applying to: Northwestern (ED), University of Wisconsin (RD), University of Arizona (RD), University of Indiana (RD), DePaul (RD), TCU (RD), Washington University at St. Louis (RD), KU (RD), MU (RD)

Applying to: University of Kansas

issue 5

Senior Emma Schulte

“ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ I originally was debating between KSU and KU. I went to the Junior Day for both colleges, and I came away liking KU a lot more than KSU.

”

Senior Sam Hattaway

Apply to several colleges, decide later!

Senior Branden Schoofs

”

Senior David Frizzell Applying to: Depaul University, KU, Arkansas University, University of Texas, Oklahoma University (all ED)

All of the schools have a great athletic department, and as a college student, I want to be able to go to basketball games and football games that contain a lot of hype Senior David Frizzell and energy.

”

Senior Alex Moskowitz

Applying to: Swarth-

more College, Haverford College, Dartmouth, Connecticut College, Claremont Mckenna College (all RD)

We bought a huge book of colleges and narrowed it down to a manageable list. Then we visited them all to Senior Alex Moskowitz see if it fit.

”

Senior Nathan Simpson Applying to: DePaul University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, KU, Boston University (all RD)

Except for KU, they offer what’s called a senior showcase, where, at the end of your senior year, they take you to NYC and LA to let you show your talents to directors/producers in Hollywood and on Broadway.

Senior Nathan Simpson

”

Senior Grace Boehm

Applying to: Goshen College, Eastern Mennonite University, Bluffton University (all RD)

Being a Mennonite is important to me, and so going to a small school correlated with my faith is a good fit.

”

Senior Grace Boehm

Applying to: Williams College, Brown University, Carleton College, Swarthmore, Oberlin College, Washington University, Grinnell College, Knox College (all RD)

1

2

”

Senior Celeste Rinner

Applying to: KSU, University of Arkansas, Drake (all RD)

Going through rush and getting involved in all of the activities are what I’m most looking forward to. And the sports; I love college football, so I can’t wait to be a part of that.

”

Senior Celeste Rinner

Senior Elizabeth Colburn

Applying to: Colorado Christian University, University of Arkansas (all EA)

Both have interesting intramurals and majors. The atmosphere of the campus and student body felt right.

3

”

Senior Elizabeth Colburn

Know your teacher as well as they know you

Don’t make poor decisions to cause your teacher to take back your letter

“There’s certain moral lines that students don’t cross,” Royer said. “If I have represented them as being honest and then I become aware of the fact that that’s not true, I would feel the compulsion to bring back those words of praise.”

Applying to: Belmont University (RD), Azusa Pacific University (RD)

Senior Katie Cox

”

Senior Emma Schulte

“I would never refuse to write a letter, but I have suggested that there may be a better person to select,” Royer said. “It’s hard to do because the statement you’re hearing from them is ‘I would like you to do this for me.’”

Senior Katie Cox

I’d like to explore a new city, and Nashville has so much to offer. I like the size of the school and it has so many opportunities available.

The major I want to pursue, animation/digital arts, is so specific that it would be easy to find at an art college, but hard to find anywhere else. I don’t want to go to an art college... so my choices are severely limited.

YOURREC WRECK Advice from math teacher Rick Royer

While it’s great to have a British/Chinese/ Liberian perspective present, I don’t think a campus could be truly diverse without representation from Kansas. I mean, we’re the heart of the US, right?

Senior Anna Bernard

”

Applying to: USC, Northeastern University, University of Washington (all RD)

HOW TO NOT

Senior Anna Bernard

17

Give your teachers a good amount of time to write it

“I am one of those people that when I have a homework assignment, I do it as soon as I get it,” Royer said. “As long as I have 48 hours [to do it], there’s no problem with me getting it done. I’m not one of those teachers who will only do it six weeks in advance.”

16

SPREAD

SPREAD

11-01-10

HOW

freshman Many freshmen make the mistake of blowing through their first year, thinking it won’t count for much. But the reality is that everything counts once high school begins. Carter believes that it is never too early to start preparing.

“The very best thing you can do your freshmen year is to take the most challenging courses you can and of course get the best grades possible,” Carter said.

PREPARE

TO

East counselor Laura Carter gives year by year steps on how to make the right decisions for life after high school.

“I believe in shades of gray,” Carter said. “There’s no one path for everyone, which is a real celebration.”

RD EA ED

FOR COLLEGE What students should do each year to get into the college of their choice RainaWeinberg

junior

Junior year is when a heavy amount of decision making starts.

“Juniors need to start thinking about what subjects they love the best, how well they know themselves and what they can do to help themselves understand what their interests are,” Carter said.

senior

The year building up to graduation is one that should be spent on college visits, applications and final decisions. College visits are a must. Once you step foot on a campus, you should be able to tell if you belong there. Being timely with deadlines and applications is key to making a good impression.

Regular Decision Early Action

“ Where Are You Going? “ “ “ “ “ “ Early Decision

Applying to: Macalester, St. John’s, KU (all RD)

Honestly, the mail I received from Macalester and St. John’s was the coolest, most unique college mail I’d seen.

Senior Lucas Throckmorton

Applying to: University of Chicago (EA), Stanford University (RD), Yale (RD), Princeton (RD), Harvard (RD), MIT (RD), Cal Tech (RD)

The soccer programs at many of them are very strong, and I would have the opportunity to play at a majority of them. Stanford, my top choice, has very strong undergraduate research programs. Senior Lucas Throckmorton

”

Senior Emily Fuson

Applying to: Texas Christian University (EA)

One of my best friends is from a mission trip I went on is a freshman at TCU, and I went down to visit her and fell in love.

Senior Emily Fuson

”

Senior Gail Stonebarger

Senior Gillian O’Connell Applying to: Middlebury, Tufts, Brown, Vassar, Bowdoin, Colby, Grinnell (all RD)

I am most comfortable where discussion is the principle way of learning. The idea of bouncing ideas off of a professor and students in a small setting is really appealing Senior Gillian O’Connell to me.

”

Senior Hannah Walter

Applying to: Tulane (EA), UC at Boulder (EA), Lake Forest (EA), SLU (RD), Wash U (RD), NYU (RD) I have absolutely no desire to go to college surrounded by farms.

”

Senior Gail Stonebarger all photos by SamanthaBartow

Senior Angela Clem

”

Senior Olivia Mansfield

Applying to: St. Olaf College (ED)

Over 75% of students at St. Olaf are involved in a music ensemble, whether it be band, orchestra or one of their many choirs. I love to be surrounded by people who love music as much as I do, and there are definitely a lot of passionate people at St. Olaf.

The Harbinger takes a look sophomore at where 21 seniors are Taking the PLAN and PSAT test is a helpful way to jumpapplying to college start your look into the future.

Taking the practice tests will give you a taste for the real thing.

Every fall the counselors host a parent/student night to discuss the upcoming year’s curriculum and what students need to be doing to properly prepare.

“There are so many directions and opportunities possible,” Carter said. “It’s a pretty individual decision on what kind of course load you need for your own path.”

Senior Angela Clem

Applying to: Creighton University (ED), St. Louis University (RD), UC at Denver (RD), MU (RD), and KU (RD)

I think I am a good fit for Creighton because I wouldn’t give up when things get hard or take the easy way out, because they told me it was a rigorous course.

”

Senior Hannah Walter

”

Senior Olivia Mansfield

Senior Jenna Kaufman Applying to: F.I.D.M (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising), Parsons, Stephens College

It’s nerve racking yet exciting looking for a place to spend the next four years (or more). It’s so important to make the decision based on how you feel and not what parents or family want. Senior Jenna Kaufman

”

Senior Chris Melvin

Applying to: Truman State University (ED), University of Mary Washington (RD) University of Arkansas (RD)

I think I am a good fit because Truman State values hardworking, unique, and creative kids.

Senior Chris Melvin

”

Senior Lauren Stanley Applying to: Wash U (RD), Vanderbilt (RD), William and Mary (RD), University of Richmond (RD), Boston College (EA)

I wanted a college with a good premed program and religious studies program because those are areas I am interested in studying.

”

Senior Lauren Stanley

Senior Sam Hattaway

Senior Branden Schoofs Applying to: Northwestern (ED), University of Wisconsin (RD), University of Arizona (RD), University of Indiana (RD), DePaul (RD), TCU (RD), Washington University at St. Louis (RD), KU (RD), MU (RD)

Applying to: University of Kansas

issue 5

Senior Emma Schulte

“ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ I originally was debating between KSU and KU. I went to the Junior Day for both colleges, and I came away liking KU a lot more than KSU.

”

Senior Sam Hattaway

Apply to several colleges, decide later!

Senior Branden Schoofs

”

Senior David Frizzell Applying to: Depaul University, KU, Arkansas University, University of Texas, Oklahoma University (all ED)

All of the schools have a great athletic department, and as a college student, I want to be able to go to basketball games and football games that contain a lot of hype Senior David Frizzell and energy.

”

Senior Alex Moskowitz

Applying to: Swarth-

more College, Haverford College, Dartmouth, Connecticut College, Claremont Mckenna College (all RD)

We bought a huge book of colleges and narrowed it down to a manageable list. Then we visited them all to Senior Alex Moskowitz see if it fit.

”

Senior Nathan Simpson Applying to: DePaul University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, KU, Boston University (all RD)

Except for KU, they offer what’s called a senior showcase, where, at the end of your senior year, they take you to NYC and LA to let you show your talents to directors/producers in Hollywood and on Broadway.

Senior Nathan Simpson

”

Senior Grace Boehm

Applying to: Goshen College, Eastern Mennonite University, Bluffton University (all RD)

Being a Mennonite is important to me, and so going to a small school correlated with my faith is a good fit.

”

Senior Grace Boehm

Applying to: Williams College, Brown University, Carleton College, Swarthmore, Oberlin College, Washington University, Grinnell College, Knox College (all RD)

1

2

”

Senior Celeste Rinner

Applying to: KSU, University of Arkansas, Drake (all RD)

Going through rush and getting involved in all of the activities are what I’m most looking forward to. And the sports; I love college football, so I can’t wait to be a part of that.

”

Senior Celeste Rinner

Senior Elizabeth Colburn

Applying to: Colorado Christian University, University of Arkansas (all EA)

Both have interesting intramurals and majors. The atmosphere of the campus and student body felt right.

3

”

Senior Elizabeth Colburn

Know your teacher as well as they know you

Don’t make poor decisions to cause your teacher to take back your letter

“There’s certain moral lines that students don’t cross,” Royer said. “If I have represented them as being honest and then I become aware of the fact that that’s not true, I would feel the compulsion to bring back those words of praise.”

Applying to: Belmont University (RD), Azusa Pacific University (RD)

Senior Katie Cox

”

Senior Emma Schulte

“I would never refuse to write a letter, but I have suggested that there may be a better person to select,” Royer said. “It’s hard to do because the statement you’re hearing from them is ‘I would like you to do this for me.’”

Senior Katie Cox

I’d like to explore a new city, and Nashville has so much to offer. I like the size of the school and it has so many opportunities available.

The major I want to pursue, animation/digital arts, is so specific that it would be easy to find at an art college, but hard to find anywhere else. I don’t want to go to an art college... so my choices are severely limited.

YOURREC WRECK Advice from math teacher Rick Royer

While it’s great to have a British/Chinese/ Liberian perspective present, I don’t think a campus could be truly diverse without representation from Kansas. I mean, we’re the heart of the US, right?

Senior Anna Bernard

”

Applying to: USC, Northeastern University, University of Washington (all RD)

HOW TO NOT

Senior Anna Bernard

17

Give your teachers a good amount of time to write it

“I am one of those people that when I have a homework assignment, I do it as soon as I get it,” Royer said. “As long as I have 48 hours [to do it], there’s no problem with me getting it done. I’m not one of those teachers who will only do it six weeks in advance.”

18

PHOTO ESSAY 11-01-10

ONE FINAL

FIGHT

Boys’ soccer team falls short in the first round of playoffs, ending their season

Distraught after the game, senior Cam Smith, above, cries after losing 2-0 to SM Northwest in the team’s final game of the season. “We had a really good year,” Smith said. “[The team] accomplished most of the goals we set out to make.“

GrantHeinlein Jumping up into the air, sophomore Tyler Rathbun, below, blocks the ball with his shoulder. This season marked Rathbun’s second year on the varsity squad.

DanStewart Senior Zach Colby, right, is comforted by head coach Jamie Kelly after the hard loss that brought the season to a close. “[The season] was great while it lasted,” Colby said. “I will never forget all of the guys on the team.”

GrantHeinlein

Seniors Zach Colby and Cooper Toombs, above, hunch over in agony after the final seconds had ticked off of the scoreboard at Shawnee Mission Athletic Complex. “[The season ending] didn’t really hit me until the game was finally over,” Toombs said. “I was so upset that we’d allowed ourselves to lose, and I missed [being a part of] the program already.

SamanthaBartow Weaving through the opponent’s defense, senior Lucas Throckmorton, below, works to get a shot off in the first half. Throckmorton is captain of the team and scored nine goals this season.

GrantHeinlein

For additional coverage including videos and photos on the SM East boys’ soccer season, visit smeharbinger.net

MIXED

MI XED

issue 5

19

>>a little bit of this and a little bit of that

?

Song: Anything Ke$ha Song: “Hey Hey Girl” Artist: Ke$ha Artist: The Virgins Reason: It is super catchy and has Reason: They are fascinating lyrics. I just can’t get it upbeat songs and we listen to them in the out of my head. locker room.

Sophomore Allie Chesbrough Junior Adam Lowe

What is the song that you have been listening to recently?

Song: “Animal” Artist: Neon Trees Reason: It is upbeat and really catchy.

Senior Ashley Adams

Song: “The Cave” Artist: Mumford and Sons Reason: I really like their type of music and their lyrics are really catchy and original.

Sophomore Annie Sullivan

Song: “Only Girl” Artist: Rihanna Reason: It is on all of the time!

It’s a catchy tone and it is also a good song.

Sophomore DeeDee Guthrie

30

seconds

freshman

ALEX LAMB

Can’t ever seem to keep up with all the new movie releases? Plan out a movie marathon and spend your day off at the cinema (Cinemark Merriam is most wellsuited for these ventures). Eat beforehand and wear something comfortable, then get ready to watch three or four films in a row. It takes patience, but for movielovers, it’s an incredibly satisfying experience.

2.

ANDREW GOBLE

Morgan Twibell

Q.Thing that would make East better?

A.Not count grades. Make it so that grades didn’t matter.

Q. Dream job? Why? A.Singer. It would be really cool to be famous.

Q. Funniest thing you have done recently?

A. Some friends came over and I poppped out of a closet behind them and scared them.

Q. If you were stranded on an islandand could only bring three things, what would they be?

A. Phone, to play games and contact

people. Random person that I have never met, and fire.

Q.If you could invent something, what would it be?

A. I would invent a way to get somewhere other than a car or a plane. A teleport tube.

WEIR D

POINTS

advice from the Harbies

{how to spend your day off}

with

Song: “Dynamite” Artist: Taio Cruz Reason: It is the song the soccer team plays a lot and it’s pretty catchy.

Junior Carter Olander

Weird points started: Forty years ago, at the beginning of Yoda’s teaching career.

The purpose:

A method to bond different classes.

Social studies teacher, Vicki “Yoda” Arndt-Helgesen believes that school should be fun and sometimes quirky and unexpected. That is when weird ponts emerged.

There are few things more satisfying than finding somewhere new to eat in Kansas City. Whether you choose a restaurant far away (see: LC’s or Texas Tom’s near Arrowhead Stadium) or just across state line (BB’s Lawnside Barbecue near 85th and Troost), a new restaurant, even if the food stinks, is always a fun experience.

How to earn weird points:

BOB MARTIN

Though they may seem plentiful, days off of school come few and far between. Embrace them! These are a great chance to not only take a break from the excruciating school week, but get ahead on class work. Sleep in, but don’t waste the day in bed.

Dedicate an hour or so throughout the day to homework or long term assignments.

Spend the rest of your time doing whatever helps you relax, whatever it takes to feel refreshed and ready for more grueling days at Shawnee Mission East.

JENNIFER RORIE

There is one thing to do on a day off school. Wake up as late as your heart desires and have a Gilmore Girls marathon. After you have enjoyed one or two episodes emerge from the basement and make a huge breakfast. A breakfast that includes Mickey Mouse pancakes. Sit down on the couch and enjoy a day of doing nothing.

When an adult enters a classroom, the chances for weird points begins.

Students put up their hands yelling “Goddess, oh goddess, I have the answer!” Putting their right hand up indicates that they have the answer and putting up the left hand shows that they have no clue.

o Editor

3.

4.

TWO MAIN WAYS: During a fire drill students are to run out of the classroom in quick manner.

Once out of the building and into the safe zone students can begin to earn their points by: doing the chicken dance, red rover, break into song or any other crazy thing they can come up with.

A&E 20 11-01-10

turning NEW PAGES together on a sticky summer night.

The parallels drawn from everyday life here in Prairie Village and that in sweltering Alabama are uncanny; the messages conveyed in the book are universal. The ever-talented author John Green dives into the many ways that teenagers and adults alike deal with death, friendship, religion, sex and so much more in this two-part novel divided into “Before” and “After.”

Before and after what, you ask? Read it and find out.

2READ

“Water for Elephants”

by Sara Gruen

If you liked “The Help”

ChloeStradinger

Although “The Help” and “Water For Elephants” tell two entirely different stories, both appeal to everyone-from high school students to Johnson County moms. The “Water For Elephants” journey begins in a nursing home, where the cranky narrator, Jacob Jankowski, lives out his days. About a quarter of the book is about Jacob’s life in the nursing home, while the other three quarters are an extended flashback of Jacob’s younger years. As a smart, young man almost ready to graduate college with

a degree in veterinarian medicine, tragedy strikes and Jacob can’t cope. He crazily gives up everything he’s worked for and jumps on a train—a circus train. As you read about Jacob’s circus adventure, you’ll be pleased to find this circus story isn’t at all a pathetic, silly one. It’s just the opposite. The completely unique and gritty story of Jacob’s young life in the circus combined with the untold tale of time in a nursing home make this book a sensational read that you don’t want to miss.

3READ If you liked “Eat, Pray, Love”

“Almost There”

by Nuala O’Faolain

AnnieSgroi

Just as “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert follows the author’s voyages to Italy, India and Bali to find herself, “Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman” by Nuala O’Faolain also chronicles self-discovery. But for O’Faolain the journey isn’t a literal one, but one through words.

O’Faolain’s book began as a response to the letters she received from readers of her column in The Irish Times, but it evolved into a full memoir. She tells the story of her life with a focus on her relationships with people and with words. O’Faolain writes that what drew

her from County Monaghan to Dublin was that there were words everywhere in cities and she was fascinated by them.

In that same section, O’Faolain said that letters from readers convinced her that people are more alike than different.

“Almost There” isn’t quite as uplifting a read as “Eat, Pray, Love.” It doesn’t have the intrigue of exotic locations or the tidy ending of finding love. What it does have is a blunt and expressive author describing her connections to communication, and that makes it well worth reading.

If you liked “Empire Falls”

KatBuchanan With all the usual teenage angst of a young adult novel played out in all the right ways, the essence of a modern day and refreshingly more decisive Holden Caulfield lives on in Miles “Pudge” Halter, the nobody from Orlando who sentences himself to Culver Creek boarding school in hopes of finding something bigger than himself—and, sure enough, he does. Enter Alaska Young, the beautiful and mysterious wreck of a book lover, who captures Pudge’s heart and mind from the first cigarette they share

Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” 4READ“The

by Michael Chabon GrantKendall

The 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s sprouted many things: pop culture, color television and of course, comic books. However, to most people, the history of how comic books really got into their swing is a mystery. The award-winning author Michael Chabon places two vivid, pop-off-the-page characters, into a historical situation. Chabon tells the story of how comic books originated through the eyes of Joe (Kavalier), a young man from Prague who recently escaped to America, and Sammy (Clay), a talented artist living in Brooklyn. The two

have a chance encounter and discover that they have unique talents of writing and drawing. Combine those two and BOOM! You get a fantastic comic book. The story begins with small beginnings outside of Brooklyn and ends in none other than the Empire State Building. Fantastically surprising plot twists and interesting characters litter the book. You have to read this book to appreciate the subtle detail that Chabon weaves into his work. The book did win a Pulitzer Prize so you can’t really go wrong here.

Hunger Games”

by Suzanne Collins 5READ“The

If you liked “Ender’s Game”

If you liked “Catcher in the Rye”

1READ

“Looking for Alaska”

by John Green

MarissaHorwitz

HaleyMartin

“The Hunger Games” series is a book about a post-apocalyptic society in which the country of Panem is divided into 12 different districts along with the all powerful and flamboyant Capitol. The Capitol puts on the “Hunger Games” every year with two children from each district in order to prove they are in control. They drop the 24 children into an arena which has different terrain every year. The last living child is crowned the victor and goes home to their district living in an extravagant house in a separated section from the rest of their

6READ

If you liked “ Remember the Titans”

Staffers recommend six books similar to classics and recent bestsellers

district.

The main character, Katniss Everdeen, sacrifices herself to go to the games instead of her younger sister. After this televised sacrifice she won the support of the people of the districts and the Capitol. She was taken to the Capitol to prepare for the games and the story continues.

This series is an quick and easy read yet it maintains exciting twists throughout the novels. Similar to Ender’s Game, this series is about children having to fight through the struggles of an adult world.

“Friday Night Lights”

by H. G. Bissinger AnnaMarken

Set in the small West Texas town of Odessa in 1988, “Friday Night Lights” tells the story of the Permian Panthers football team and their journey to win their sixth state championship. The book shows the passion for football shared by many small Texas towns. Every girl wanted to become a cheerleader for the team and every guy wanted to play for the team. Local stores would close on game days so everyone could make it to the game. Bissinger also shows the negative side of small town football. Odessa condemned anything that got in the way of football. African Americans and Hispanics in the town faced extreme

racism, even the best players. Some of the players became obsessed with being on top, and eventually lost sight of what was important, like Boobie Miles, the star of the team whose arrogance turned many people away. Miles’ career was eventually ended when he tore his ACL during a game.

“Friday Night Lights” is a brutally honest portrayal of how high school football affects its players, fans and communities.

While the scenes of racism and cruelty are somewhat harsh, you can truly feel the passion for the game shared by every member of the community.

A&E

A&E issue 5

21

Calendar

ALL THE DATES YOU’LL NEED FOR ALL

YOUR FALL ENTERTAINMENT

TomLynch

Usher is the Michael Jackson of our time. He is a pop icon that represents what women want and who men want to be. This concert will surely have you “falling in love again.”

P.S. If anyone is interested in a fanny-pack with Usher’s face on it, the minimum order was 1000, so I’ll have a few extras.

SOCIETY Uptown Theater

NOV

13 Nov. 6

Nov. 17

ZACH BROWN

BAND

SPRINT CENTER Put on your cowboy boots, grab a bucket of fried chicken and head into the self-acclaimed “number two arena in the country.” After winning a 2010 Grammy for Best New Artist, the band has decided to go on a muchawaited (at least by country fans) tour. This show is sure to be filled with shiny belt buckles, denim cutoffs and sunglasses tans. Make sure you prep yourself for the homey, rough-voiced melodies that the country band is best known for by listening to “Chicken Fried,” the group’s number one on iTunes.

Nov. 7

GEORGE

LOPEZ the Midland

NOV

18 Nov. 19

CATS NOV

MEGAMIND In Theaters

MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM

I was lucky enough to see CATS during one of its last years on Broadway. It was so inspiring that Mr. Mistoffelees became my own cat’s second middle name. For years now, I’ve been calling for a CATS revival to come to Kansas City; my calls have finally been answered.

ROCKETTES

5

The Sprint Center

NOV

BURLESQUE

HARRY Nov. 24 POTTER 7 PART 1 It’s the beginning of the end for Harry, and according to Tom Felton, “without question, these two are going to blow all of the rest of them away.”

The decision to turn the seventh book into two movies, may have been financially motivated, but it allows the films to be more faithful to J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels. This is just too serious to joke about.

RADIO CITY

BRET MICHAELS Uptown Theater

NOV

18

Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera) is a small-town girl with a big voice who escapes hardship to become a cocktail waitress at a burlesque club run by Tess (Cher), who is also the headliner.

You shouldn’t have high expectations going into this, but what I’m certainly looking forward to are some alluring dance routines from Cher—and if all goes correctly, this could really speed up the end of her career.

19

LADY ANTEBELLUM

the Midland

NOV

20 PLAZA LIGHTING CEREMONY

Country Club Plaza

NOV

26

www.sprintcenter.com, www.midlandtheater.com, www.allmoviephoto.com, www.municipalauditorium.com, www.uptowntheater.com

USHER OMG TOUR

BLACK LABEL

A&E

BETWEEN

issue 5

23

THE ROCKS Staffer reviews an advanced screening of ‘127 Hours,’ which delivers a powerful and gut wrenching one-man show

BOYLE’S BEST FILMS Trainspotting—1996

The film that put Boyle on the map, “Trainspotting” is one of the most intense depictions of drug addiction to date. But it’s also thoroughly entertaining, full of lively characters, wry humor and striking imagery.

28 Days Later—2002

Before “28 Days Later,” zombies only walked. This is the movie that introduced the far more dangerous running zombies, but more importantly, it stands as one of most engrossing zombie flicks of the decade.

Slumdog Millionaire—2008

The high point of Boyle’s career, “Slumdog” enchanted audiences the world over, and marked the successful combination of American Hollywood with Indian Bollywood. Not to mention it won eight Oscars.

STAR SCALE

AlexLamb

After the success of 2008’s Best Picture Oscar-winner “Slumdog Millionaire,” director Danny Boyle finally earned the recognition he deserves as a filmmaker. So, to followup that feel-good crowd-pleaser, Boyle stays true to his eclectic directing pattern and makes an entirely different kind of movie: a harrowing, emotional depiction of one man’s triumphant perseverance for survival.

“127 Hours” tells the true story of how mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) endured five days trapped in a narrow crevice in Utah’s Blue John Canyon with his hand pinned under a fallen boulder, without any food and hardly any water. Just as Aron finds himself stuck in this tight corridor, so the film confines viewers there for the majority of its running time, alone with Aron and his thoughts during his struggle to make it out alive.

In the hands of a lesser director, Aron’s journey could have easily become tedious and lost viewers’ interest, but Boyle injects it with vivid detail and life from the get-go.

The first 10 minutes zip along at breakneck speed, full of the dynamic energy and excitement Boyle is known for as Aron packs up his gear and begins his canyon trip.

Split screens, an invigorating soundtrack (with an original score by Oscar-winning “Slumdog” composer A. R. Rahman), sharp cinematography and quick editing all combine under Boyle’s mastery of style. Along with Franco’s enthusiastic portrayal of this daredevil outdoorsman, these aspects provide for a very entertaining opening preceding the sobering events of the accident.

Following an adventurous encounter with two lost hikers (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn), Aron continues hiking on his own, until he’s traversing a canyon crevice

STAY AT HOME

RENT IT

and a large rock slips. This causes him to lose his grip and fall into the crevice, where the rock crushes his right hand against the wall.

It’s at this point that the movie really starts, taking a dramatic turn from light and fun to serious and poignant. I felt my stomach clench due to Aron’s brutal plight and got a worrisome sense of the grueling strife I knew was to come.

The next 70 minutes make for a gutwrenching ride, as Boyle and Franco impart to viewers with extreme precision the desperation in every moment of Aron’s entrapment. When Aron drops his knife and can’t quite reach it, Boyle takes the mundane action and creates a very tense situation out of Aron’s attempts for retrieval.

One darkly funny sequence shows Aron pretending to host a talk show where he interviews himself using his camcorder, making a joke out of being stuck in the canyon with no way out. At the end of the scene Franco effortlessly changes the mood from humorous to sorrowful. He puts on a facade of enthusiasm that he slowly peels back as Aron reflects on the fact that he didn’t tell anyone where he was going, coming to terms with his impending mortality.

Simon Beaufoy (Oscar-winning writer of “Slumdog”) and Boyle’s script paces the story evenly by breaking up Aron’s isolation with lots of short flashbacks, hallucinations and other things he imagines. Besides providing further insight into Aron’s devil-may-care attitude and the lost love of his past, these brief segments also showcase Boyle’s stylish visual flair. He makes each one of these sequences stand out in their own way, one of the coolest being an imagined flood in the canyon.

In the final third of the movie, Aron pro-

WORTH SEEING

gressively sinks deeper into delirium as his body starts to shut down and causes him to hallucinate. When he eventually runs out of water, his only option for sustenance is to drink his own urine, and Boyle makes sure the audience doesn’t experience it pleasantly.

But, as anyone who’s familiar with Aron’s story knows, it gets even worse than that before it gets better. With no options left, Aron finally builds up the courage to cut off his own lower arm using his dull utility knife, and Boyle shapes it into one of the most excruciatingly intense moments of the year.

It’s painful to watch, guaranteeing heavy squirming and cringing, but the end product results in a powerful, positively life-affirming message.

Essentially carrying the whole of the film on his shoulders, Franco gives a profoundly intimate performance for which he’ll at least receive an Oscar nomination, possibly even a win. Franco’s always had a lot of talent, but until recently, his real acting skills have been overshadowed by his more mainstream characters in the “Spiderman” trilogy and “Pineapple Express.” However, since his role in 2008’s “Milk,” Franco has reminded Hollywood that he’s a legitimate actor, and now with this moving performance, he earns a spot among the front-runners of this generation’s top actors.

Succeeding both on the conceptual level of a single character, single setting film as well as an inspiring true story, “127 Hours” provides some of the year’s most gripping and realistic drama. It’s not an easy ride, but it’s more than worth it to experience this extraordinary tale of the human spirit.

OSCAR WORTHY

A&E 24 11-01-10

STACKING

UP THE COMPETITION

1 2

Staffer reviews three burger joints around Kansas City

ZoeBrian

As a child I was raised to believe that Winstead’s was the epitome of burger joints. I never thought to try other places, I knew their burgers wouldn’t live up to the expectations set by that wonderful little diner on the Plaza. So when I decided to review burgers I knew none would compare, yet it was fun to try the more obscure burgers, the ones hidden in the shadow of Winstead’s. With each place I learned something new about burgers, whether it be how difficult it is to cook it all the way through yet still be juicy or what not to top a burger with.

WHAT MAKES UP THE

3 4

BARNYARD

5

FROM BLANC BURGER?

6

BURGER 1 Four seed brioche bun 2 Berkshire ham 3 Fried egg 4 Big eye swiss 5 Hamburger patty 6 Honey mustard 7 Red onion 8 Housemade pickles 9 Four seed brioche bun

7 8 9

A&E

issue 5

25

BLANC BURGER

T

he orange and white color scheme of the underground mod paradise known as Blanc Burger creates a welcoming atmosphere that was swiftly undermined by the expensive pricing and unappetizing burgers.

I entered the establishment and picked my poison (the only burger not made with buffalo meat or stuffed with something unappetizing, such as

couscous and portabello mushrooms).

The Barnyard Burger I tried not only looked like a heart-attack on a bun but was also soaking with grease. This ‘burger’ consisted of a thick, tasteless patty, a layer of ham and a greasy fried egg. The overpowering flavor of ham disguised any trace of hamburger meat and the dripping wet and greasy bottom bun crumbled when I took the first bite. While I had no interest in taking another bite, I felt compelled to try the burger without the fried egg and ham to see how the patty was by itself. The burger was almost worse without the toppings.

It was dry, bland and overcooked.

Luckily I had a coupon and only paid about $10 for what they considered a $30 meal.

While Blanc Burger may be a pleasing sight, the main attraction of the restaurant only left me with a stomachache and what could have easily been a hole in my wallet.

As I left the restaurant I found myself longingly looking at NoodIes and Co. and knowing that the next time I’m on the Plaza I will stay far away from Blanc Burger.

SHAKE SHACK

L

“

ocal, Organic, Sustainable” -- these three words jump out at me from the front window, as they’re far too rare in our money-driven society and often give way to words like “cheap, greasy and hormone-injected.” Once I entered the family-owned, family-run business I was pleased to see how packed the little place was.

The kitchen is visible behind the bar and sacks of potatoes are propped

against a counter, waiting to be turned into the Shack’s hand-cut fries.

A small chalkboard hung on the wall is their makeshift menu and lists the modestly priced, home-cooked burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, onion rings and fries. I finally make my way to the front of the line and place an order for a ‘single burger basket’ and milkshake with a side of the onion rings that all the other patrons seem to be buzzing over. Forty-five minutes later and my name was called to get my ‘basket.’ As I sat down and looked at my burger I hoped it was worth the wait.

It wasn’t.

With my first bite into the burger I frowned. I had high hopes for this little place but the initial bite was tasteless, bland and, above all else, dry. My next few bites were dry until I reached the middle of the burger, which was juicy but only with the help of pickles and lettuce. It seemed all the toppings were placed smack-dab in the middle which proved for a tasty two bites and then back to the desert-dry patty.

As much as I wanted this mom-and-pop business to succeed, I have a hard time imagining myself saying, “Let’s go to Shake Shack for dinner.”

MAX’S BURGERS AND GYROS

S STAR SCALE

served by Max himself. The bun was warm and fluffy and topped with sesame seeds. The size of the single Max Burger was almost as big as my face and I can’t imagine how big the double and triples were. The patty had a backyard-barbecue taste and was cooked thoroughly while still retaining the juiciness of a well-made burger. The flavor popped in my mouth and then melded with the toppings, giving it an extra punch that was different with every bite. While it was in need of ketchup, the burger overall tasted homemade and yummy.

The burger and the diner were simplistic yet still warm and comforting, making Max’s Burgers and Gyros a classic burger joint complete with Coca-Cola signs and linoleum checkerboard floors. queezed into the parking lot of a neon orange Big Lots and a bright yellow dry cleaners, Max’s Burgers and Gyros is easy to miss.

I ordered the classic Max’s Burger with a side of fries and was quickly

CHECK PLEASE

AVERAGE

To see a map of all of these locations, go to smeharbinger.net.

DELIGHTFUL

CULINARY GENIUS

A&E

26 11-01-10

onlinemoviesmovieshut.com

thrilling & chilling

The second installment of Tom Williams’ low budget horror phenomenon ‘Paranormal Activity’ exceeds expectations ErinReilly When the trailer was initially pulled from Cinemark theaters as a response to complaints that it was “too scary,” the highly anticipated “Paranormal Activity 2” was sure to be just as disturbing as its predecessor. After seeing this film, I can confirm that this sequel is sure to perturb anyone traumatized by “Paranormal Activity,” due to its heightened scares, relatable themes and chilling believability.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive reception of “Paranormal Activity,” it’s no wonder “Paranormal Activity 2” broke the box office record for highest grossing midnight premiere of an R-rated movie at $6.3 million.

When I was heading into “Paranormal Activity 2,” I was expecting to see more videotaped terror and creepy moving furniture. While I was hoping that this would be as well crafted as the original, I prepared for the worst. However, this sequel surpassed my expectations, scaring several people out of the theater in under an hour.

This sequel will delight fans of the first movie.

Whatever “Paranormal Activity” had done right with its effects, “Paranormal Activity 2” cleaned up and capitalized on. The plot line is more in-depth, the suspense more unhinging, and the demons more ruthless.

While most sequels overdo the best aspects of their originals, new director Tod Williams did a very nice job on not commercializing anything the first director, Oren Peli, did well for the first film. While it was still a low budget film of $3 million, it was still almost 200 times the budget of the original. Williams tried to stay away from using elaborate props and effects, even with access to more money, therefore staying true to the simplistic style of “Paranormal Activity.” This helped the film appear to be more of an actual account, and in turn made each effect more creepy.

STAR SCALE

STAY AT HOME

Like the original, “Paranormal Activity 2” centralizes around a family being haunted by a demon. The family, in this case, is the Rey family, consisting of Katie’s (the protagonist of the first movie) sister Kristi (Sprague Grayden), her husband, Dan (Brian Boland), Dan’s daughter, their baby son, Hunter, and their dog. The family installs video surveillance cameras throughout the house after an unexplainable break-in. However, instead of documenting any more burglaries, it films something much more sinister, something that’s after Hunter.

When Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), the protagonists from ‘Paranormal,’ first appeared about 15 minutes into the movie, I was very confused as to why they were there. The last time we saw them in “Paranormal Activity,” Katie was crouched over Micah’s murdered body, grinning demonically out at the audience. It isn’t until later in the film that it is revealed that “Paranormal Activity 2” takes place about two months before the events of the first movie.

This helped to wrap up several questions from the previous film, including how the demon got Katie’s burned photograph, why the demon chose Katie to haunt and why the demon is following Katie and her sister. However, a lot of details were revealed discretely, and bypassed many audience members. This is especially unfortunate, because some key points may get overlooked. I had to go back and check Wikipedia for several questions I had about the film, and I know the people I saw the film with missed even more than I did.

The film’s “documentary” approach is much easier to watch, since the six stationary security cameras are used for most of the film’s footage, rather than the shaky handheld camera signature to “documentary” flicks like “Paranormal Activity” and “The Blair Witch Project.”

RENT IT

There are very few instances when a handheld camera is used, so the jolting, motion-sickness inducing factor of the movie is toned down from the original. Even with the better flow from scene to scene, the eerie stillness of the house leaves the audience white-knuckled and waiting for one of the film’s notorious, heart-stopping bangs, of which there are plenty.

Much like the original, “Paranormal Activity 2” relies heavily on suspense to fuel its scares. What starts as something as innocent as a self-operating toy escalates to events like cabinets thundering closed around a cowering Kristi. I personally don’t feel that this tactic should be the only source for terror. Including more psychological twists would have benefited the film as a whole, and would’ve made it more haunting than your basic pop-out-of-nowhere effects.

It was clever how Williams turned all of my attention away from where the scares were going to come from, making even simple scares more horrifying and unexpected than they already were. It was a good touch to bring the dog into film, with the dog’s ability to sense danger prominent throughout the movie. Many scenes were set up around the dog guarding Hunter’s crib from something in the night, growling at an unseen force, which set my friends on edge.

The quick and clean final scenes of the film left my theater dead silent. After a few moments of pitch black darkness, a final epilogue was played onscreen, and the lights slowly dimmed on.

It took 10 minutes to coax my friend out of the theater.

WORTH SEEING

OSCAR WORTHY

Opening Night Production Budget Predicted Income

$7.9 milllion $1100 $2.5 million

2010

2009

box-office success Opening Night Production Budget Predicted Income

$6.3 million $3 million $18 million

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/paranormalactivity

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SPORTS 28 11-01-10

I

LoganHeley

t’s the first practice of the week and the whole team knows what that means: Fundamental Monday. Players are quick to say that Fundamental Mondays are in no way “fun,” but they know it’s a big reason why they have the record they do.

Coach Chip Sherman stands on the hashmark around midfield in black athletic shorts and a gray Lancer football tee. The team is off getting water, but only after finishing a series of grueling sprints. Around here, the team has to earn its breaks and something as simple as a thumbs up or thumbs down can be the difference between another sprint and a mouthful of water. Sherman wants to make sure his team is ready when the game is on the line.

Fundamental Mondays focus on three skills: blocking, tackling and running. Players begin practice in groups of two working on blocking and tackling. After a set of sprints and a water break, they move to groups of three: one blocker, one tackler and one runner. Next, another set of sprints and another water break. Finally it’s time for the “machine gun” drill. A player lines up on each of the numbers —10, 20, 30, etc. Players run from one player to the next and eventually each player will have tackled and blocked every one of their teammates.

“Sometimes you gotta callous them a little bit,” Sherman said. “Because then when we’re down 20-7, we don’t quit. Remember, just two weeks ago, we were down 20-7 and [these] kids came back and they were strong enough mentally to say, ‘OK, we’re alright.’ That’s the key.”

Fundamental Mondays are only a part of what Sherman calls a “change of culture” within the football team. Sherman said he and his staff have been focusing on teaching players why they do things instead of simply saying to do them.

Senior lineman George Brophy said practices have changed dramatically since Sherman took the helm and now players actually look forward to afternoon workouts.

“They’re much more intense and you’re never really standing around,” Brophy said.

“There’s never any time wasted.”

Players say Sherman is too modest about his impact on the team. Senior Will Severns said that when Sherman came in he “took everything and turned it upside down.” Severns remembers that the influence Sherman brought to the team was immediate.

“After our first practice we were joking that we learned more football in two hours than we’d known for the past 10 years,” Severns said.

Principal Karl Krawitz said Sherman’s presentation when he interviewed for the

job was “absolutely incredible.” None of the other candidates had the vision Sherman had for the team, Dr. Krawitz said.

“He came in and distributed to everybody a complete program from the time he starts to the time the school year would end and then the next year would start again,” Dr. Krawitz said. “I mean, you knew from the time you were looking at him and talking to him that this guy had a complete organized picture of what this football program would look like.”

Mary Schrock, mother of senior quarterback John Schrock, is excited by how the football team has impacted the community this season. She believes Sherman has done a great job of encouraging each and every player on the team and has created a great environment within the entire program.

“I think in the last two years, Coach Sherman has really brought everyone together as a family,” Mary said. “It’s very inclusive and I think all the players and parents feel a part of things.”

Sherman is quick to give the credit for the team’s recent success to the players and says that it’s been the team’s leadership that has made the biggest difference. He frequently tells the seniors they’re “sitting at the head of the table” and junior Adam Lowe believes they’ve taken that to heart. Over the summer, Lowe said, the seniors would lead the rest of the team through drills after their 7 a.m. workout even though none of the coaches had asked them to. The recent injury to quarterback John Schrock caused backup and fellow senior Robby Moriarty to take it upon himself to step up immediately and take charge, Lowe said.

“He came to practice on [that] Saturday with three pages of notes that he wanted to talk to receivers and running backs about,” Lowe said. “Sunday, he called us up and we made sure we got timing routes done and just made sure that he was completely ready to start and lead our football team.”

When Sherman arrived, he knew the team would have to become physically stronger.

Everyday, Sherman opens the weight room at 5:30 a.m., when he does his daily workout.

During the off-season, Sherman is always around until at least 5:30 p.m., but if a player wants to work out after that, he stays.

“If a kid wants to work out, he’s going to make it happen,” Lowe said.

Lowe said Sherman tells the players of when he was in high school and how his family couldn’t afford gym memberships. That meant that when the school closed, he had no place to lift weights. He never wanted that to be a problem for any of his players, Lowe said.

Unlike in years past, the team’s strength program began right after last season, according to defensive coordinator Chip Ufford.

Last Wednesday, head football coach Chip Sherman and his Lancer football team was presented with KMBC9’s Team of the Week award.

SammiKelley

Sherman’s Success Coach Chip Sherman has changed the mentality of the football team with the help of senior leaders Athletic director Jeremy Higgins coached under Sherman last year and has been impressed by how much the team has improved physically.

“You can see how different the boys are, in terms of just their bodies, how much more physical they are, how much more muscle they have on them,” Higgins said. “It’s just amazing to see how much they’ve changed over the last couple years. The work in the weight room has definitely paid off.”

Dr. Krawitz believes the team’s recent success demonstrates how one man can make such a significant difference in changing the culture of a team and school. Severns calls Sherman “an incredible man of character,” but Sherman notes that his way of living isn’t very complicated.

“My philosophy in football is a lot the same as it is in life,” Sherman said. “You work hard, you do the right things, you act the right way, you treat people properly and good things are going to happen.”

Even so, Sherman isn’t afraid to get in players’ faces at practice. If a player isn’t stretching properly one minute, the whole team could be running sprints the next. When Sherman yells, Severns said, it’s never out of dislike for a player; instead, it’s a way to get the team better.

“He can be so intense on the football field and yell at you,” Severns said. “Sometimes, it can get you down when he yells at you but you know he’s doing it because he loves

PASSING YARDS

RECEIVING YARDS

1st in Sunflower League

ELLIOT FAERBER 1st in Sunflower League

1634 JOHN SCHROCK

RUSHING YARDS

555 ADAM LOWE

8th in Sunflower League

561

you.”

Sherman is fond of saying “nothing good comes without work” and, with a playoff berth under their belts, he thinks his team’s hard work has been paying off. After a win against perennial power SM West, they became one of four 7-win teams in 53 years of East football, according to Kevin Booker of Booker T Sports Reports, LLC. Higgins expects great things out of the football team long into the future. He believes the successes of this year will only be the beginning. “[Coach Sherman’s] program is not for the short-term glory,” Higgins said. “The principles that he’s instilling, the principles that the rest of the coaching staff is instilling and the things that they’re trying to do are to build this program for continued success over the years. We want to be district champs. We want to be in the playoffs every single year.”

Dr. Krawitz said East is very lucky to have a coach like Sherman.

“To have someone of his caliber at this building and to take on this challenge says something about who he is,” Dr. Krawitz said.

“It has been said that Shawnee Mission East was the graveyard for football coaches. It’s kind of hard to wonder why he came here. I just hope he never leaves.”

By the NUMBERS all photos by GrantHeinlein and EdenSchoofs

INTERCEPTIONS

3

GRANT ELLIS T-2nd in Sunflower League

TACKLES

Special Teams TD’s

JOSH MAIS 5th in Sunflower League

JAQUAN BRUNT T-1st in Sunflower League

68

1

DanStewart

SPORTS

FOREVER

issue 5

29

Sophomore Liam Murphy has found fencing success on a national level

PaigeHess

The quick swoosh of swords intrigued sophomore Liam Murphy. He raced over to the bucket of wooden swords at the Renaissance Festival and playfully fought his friend.

He jabbed out at his friend and then quickly blocked the ongoing attack. The match went on and on. Then he watched a duel between two men at the festival. He thought it was such a cool sport. Following the festival and at the age of eight years old, Murphy knew that he wanted to be a fencer.

He started learning more and more about fencing and then saw it was on the Olympics. This gave Murphy something to work towards and he began practicing. Murphy’s parents enrolled him at the Fencing Athletic Club of Kansas City. When he started fencing at the age of eight, he was practicing only a few times a week. After a few years, he became more committed.

He started practicing five days a week for three hours. Murphy helps teach the younger students but spends most of his time practicing for his next competition.

“I usually train even harder the week before a big tournament,” Murphy said. “I work on my fitness and best moves to perfect them.”

Not only does Murphy spend hours in the gym working on a specific moves but he also talks to his coach about how to improve. He is a fencing student of Coach Oleg Tretiak, who led the Ukrainian team to a silver medal finish in the 2000 Olympics.

The coach found potential in Murphy when he saw him coming to more practices and putting in a lot of extra time. The competitiveness and desire to do anything to win struck the coach. The drive that his coach sees helps when they are in one-on-one sessions because it proves that the time spent learning is worth it.

Murphy is not learning just fencing--he is practicing the specialization of sabre fencing.

For his age division, they are to touch the oth-

er person with the sabre with a forward motion, with one touch equaling one point. Sabre fencing is faster paced and requires more physical endurance. This endurance helps him because there are multiple rounds in a competition so the fencers must be extremely fit.

Murphy has advanced to Nationals the past five years. He participates in youth circuits and has gone to the North American Cup four times. After fencing for a total of eight years, Murphy’s dedication to this sport is finally paying off: he has qualified for the Junior Olympics.

The Junior Olympics will take place in February in Dallas. Many countries will be participating in this so Murphy will be given the ability to perform on a whole new level.

Murphy says that weird how he went from messing around at a festival to advancing to Junior Olympics and winning titles. Along with these national titles, Murphy also has never lost a local competition.

“The fact that I have not lost a local competition the past few years makes me feel great because it shows me that I really am good enough to fence on a higher level and it’s worth my time and money,” Murphy said.

The time spent on fencing is distributed to working out, developing basics such as pairing and attacking and developing a creative sense of fencing.

“I have somewhat invented my own style,” Murphy said. “I do a lot of reading about fencing techniques and have created my own way of doing things.”

His family has been extremely supportive in all aspects of his fencing career. Murphy recognizes that they have made the time, expense and effort to allow him to compete to travel all around the country.

He saves up his money to be able to afford what equipment he needs because he understands that fencing is an expensive sport. Mur-

phy has over $1000 worth of equipment. His prized possession is a mask he bought himself. It was $500 and is an internationally-regulated mask. This allows him to participate in competitions all over the country.

Murphy is a division one fencer, and there are only 50 others in the country. Fourteen of them are in his 16-and-under division. He also qualified for the 18-and-under division in the Junior Olympics so he will be competing in both.

Murphy was ranked 18th in the nation last year. According to him, he has been offered several scholarships to participate on their fencing teams, including Penn State. He also turned down the opportunity to go to a boarding school in Chicago to fence there. According to Murphy, sometimes it is hard to take the time between fencing, school, debate and friends. But he understands that he has to give things up to maintain his priorities.

“For the most part, fencing is my priority” Murphy said. “I schedule other things around it but I feel like I usually find a way to juggle everything.”

Murphy is hoping to make this priority his best asset. Outside of fencing in college, Murphy hopes to possibly make it to the Olympics some day. Although he thinks he will take a break with fencing after college, he hopes he will always be able to pick up close to where he left off.

“Every guy’s goal is to be the man,” Murphy said, “and the way I would be the man is to be the best at what I do. My goal is to be the man and possibly find a way to get to the Olympics.”

Fencing is offered to all ages so Murphy is hoping that even if he takes a break, he will fence as an adult.

“Whenever I am not fencing for a period of time, I feel like I am missing something” Murphy said. “It’s what I do.”

Tools Trade

Vision Mask Featuring a visor, instead of mesh, this mask gives good flexibility paired with great visibility. The mask is intended to fit tight. Prices reach $500.

Gloves

These padded gloves are close fitting but yet have the flexibility needed to move.

Gloves can vary between 30-60 dollars.

Electric Sabre A fencer’s sabre can make the difference between, a champion and a runner-up. The blade’s lightness enables the fencer to make quick strong jabs.

all photos by leonpaulusa.com

SPORTS 30 11-01-10 Superstitious Lancers in need of pregame fortune are always after the...

LUCKYCHARMS AlexGoldman

Everybody who plays a sport has one. Whether it is listening to their favorite song in the locker room or eating a certain meal an hour before the game, every player has a game day ritual that makes them feel just right before they get on the field. Micheal Jordan wore his old North Carolina basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform when he played in the NBA, NFL linebacker Brian Urlacher eats two chocolate chip cookies before every game, and LeBron James always does his famous talcum powder toss before every tip off.

Professional athletes aren’t the only ones who do something special before games to make them feel better before taking the field.

The football team plays Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in the locker room after every win. A couple players have their own routines that help them get ready before kickoff. Junior Elliot Faerber, statistically the best wide receiver in Kansas, drinks a gallon of lemonade from Chick-fil-A on game days. Faerber also likes to play with his two dogs Riley and Nolan and toss a medicine with his mom to get relaxed before leaving for the game. On his way to the game, Faerber wears a yellow throwback Philadelphia Eagles jersey, which he believes is good luck.

Faerber’s teammate, sophomore Patrick Blackburn, listens and dances to 'Take It Off” by Ke$ha in the team’s locker room before every game to get himself pumped for every game.

“After I get all my pads on I like to put the song on and get pumped,” Blackburn said. “I know the words perfectly so I sing along as I get ready for the game.”

Other players like senior wide receiver Grant Ellis do small things during the game. Ellis spits on his gloves and slaps them together every time he runs on the field. Even if his laces are on tight, at halftime he reties them just to get it off his mind.

“It’s just small stuff I do during a game that gets me focused,” Ellis said.

The soccer team had their own pregame ritual. Some of the players went over to senior defender Cam Smith’s house to watch episodes of their favorite show, Gangland.

“It is a badass show and gets us really pumped before every game,” sophomore Tyler Rathbun said.

Three members of the team would have a pregame pee to help them relax before games. After stretching with the team, Smith, Rathbun and junior Jeremy Young would go to the bathroom at the

It’s different for different opponents. When you look at some opponents and the kids feel like they’re going to win by just showing up, you’ve got to motivate them a little more. Bigger games, like the Rockhurst game, they’re already motivated. Sometimes, you’ve got to keep them on a level playing field, so to speak.”

“

AlissaPollack

We just get them to concentrate and focus — that’s the whole thing. Guys can do all kinds of crazy stuff, but I’d rather keep within ourselves and basically talk to them about the game.

The emotions of the game are thrown out in the first two or three plays, and then you’re back to zero.”

Athletes talk about their personal superstitions before their games

GYMNASTICS Katye Bever

I have never washed my wristbands. It has been four years [since I started gymnastics], and they smell really bad, but they’re still white. They are my lucky wristbands, so I can’t wash them. I also have pasta or macaroni before every meet so I can carbo-load.

XC

Anna Colby

Since the first race my freshman year, I’ve worn the same underwear. The one time I didn’t wear them [last year at Rim Rock], I had a bad race. They belong to Chloe Stradinger, and I was going to give them back, but in the first race of last season, I got first for East. I wear the same headband to every race, but I don’t wear it on the bus or during warmups — just the race.

FOOTBALL Jackson Brett

I give everybody a fist pound in the locker room before we go out. [I give one to] everybody — the sophomores, the freshmen players that just work up in the press box, the water girls. When I was eight, my role model on the Royals, Andres Blanco, did it before every game. I picked up on it, and I’ve done it ever since.

Jamie Kelly

Chip Sherman

Shawn Hair

“

To see if Ellis, Faerber, Blackburn and the rest of the Lancers are able to capitalize on their lucky charms, watch broadcasts of all Lancer football playoff games on smeharbinger.net.

up their teams

MackenzieWylie

LANCERS

same time and in the same order. Rathbun took the far left urinal, with Young in the middle, and Smith in the far right. After they were done, the three raced back to their teammates. Rathbun saw the routine as good luck and says the three of them did it before almost every game during the season.

Young also drank Crystal Light energy packets before every game. Ever since eighth grade, Young has drank a bottle of the energy drink, which has the equivalent amount of caffeine as two 20 oz. Dr. Peppers, on the way to games.

“It wires me before the game starts,” Young said. “If I’m feeling tired, I down a bottle to feel ready for the game.”

Senior goalkeeper Chris Melvin liked to wet his gloves with water before he left for the game and right before the game started.

“It makes my gloves feel a lot softer and I feel like I play a lot better when I wet them,” Melvin said.

The soccer team celebrated every win by enjoying a post game meal at the players’ favorite restaurant, Chipotle. After games, senior Spencer Jarrold always ordered a chicken burrito with corn, salsa and sour cream, which he calls the taste of victory.

“I don’t usually order that kind of burrito, but I like to save it for when we win,” Jarrold said. “When I bite into the burrito and taste the spiciness of the chicken and salsa, I can taste our sweet success.”

It isn’t just the players that have superstitions. Head coach Jamie Kelly, along with the rest of the coaching staff, never wears his blue polo to the games. The superstition began when Kelly wore his blue polo to the KAMO tournament. The Lancers lost both of their games in the tournament. A few weeks later, one of their assistant coaches wore a blue polo to the Blue Valley Northwest game where the team once again were defeated.

“After losing that game to Northwest, none of the coaches wore a blue polo to the game,” Kelly said.

Even though none of these superstitions or pregame rituals ever give a team an advantage over an other, they play a significant role.

Melvin didn’t get an advantage over other players when he poured water on his gloves before games, but he couldn’t imagine a game not doing it.

“If I don’t wet them they just don’t feel the same,” Melvin said. “It’s something that just bugs you all 90 minutes of the match. I don’t think not doing it would make us lose the game, but it’s not worth the risk.”

S D R O W ’ N I T FIGH fire off on how they Coaches sound before the game

LUCK of the

“

GrantHeinlein

One thing I always remind them is to play hard. If we don’t play hard and intense, then we’re not ready to go. I remind them their key players, what formation they’re in, what formation we’re running, what we’re trying to do offensively and what we need to do defensively against the other team.”

5

5 1

SPORTS

issue 5

moments to remember the fall season

4

Golf at State

Although they had hopes of winning state, the girls’ golf team finished third overall, the best finish in school history. Anne Willman, who had been the teams top golfer all season, finished 6th for the Lancers. Freshmen Jessica Young and Sarah Genton each contributed by tying each other for 16th.

AlissaPollack

Football vs. S.M. West In a match-up between two 6-1 teams, the Lancers were given the chance to make history. Not only did they beat West for the first time since 1993, but winning this game essentially gave them the Sunflower League title as well as the district title. In front of their biggest student section in recent memory, Chip Sherman’s Lancers didn’t disappoint, winning 21-10. Although East won the battle, their state chances took a hit as they lost quarterback John Schrock and guard Dylan Brett for the season.

2

31

Tennis at State

Country club sports dominance once again comes into play for girls’ tennis at state; although the Lady Lancers couldn’t take the overall team title, Juniors Mimi Fotopoulos, Mollie Cooper and sophomore Elizabeth Wilcox swept singles and doubles.

Fotopoulos was able to beat her rival Madison Rhyner of Blue Valley North.

Soccer Senior Night

On Oct. 11, the East community said farewell to the graduating senior class with their senior night. Coach Jamie Kelly and his biggest group of seniors ever, 17 to be exact, beat Kansas City Christian 4-1. The Sunflower League title and the team’s other successes can be attributed to this senior class.

GrantHeinlein

DanielleNorton

Soccer vs. Olathe East

3

After suffering from two straight losses, the boys’ soccer team had a chance to regain momentum in facing off against Kansas soccer power, Olathe East. In a game with huge league title implications, the Lancers played the “perfect game,” according to coach Jamie Kelly. After a goal from senior Lucas Throckmorton, the Lancers took the 1-0 lead and never faltered. Olathe East had a chance to tie the game late but sophomore Bryce McClanahan kept the Lancer lead with a goal-line header.

DanielleNorton

Still leaving their mark Fall Sports by the Numbers DanStewart

FOOTBALL

With playoffs starting on Friday, Coach Sherman’s Lancers will start their journey on the road to Topeka for the state championship. Going into the game with SM South, the Lancers were in a three way tie for the number one seed from the Sunflower League with a coin-toss deciding the final seeds.

If the Lancers want to wind up at the top of the 16 team tournament, they must continue to find the right running and pass balance, and most importantly, senior quarterback Robby Moriarty has to the shoes of injured senior quarterback John Schrock.

when the team could be done

NOV

27

GYMNASTICS

With one of the latest state meets of any fall sport, the gymnastics team is preparing for one of their highest finishes in school history.

The Lancers are a very young team with many freshman in big roles. If they compete as well as they are expected, the Lancers should be able to get third, only behind SM South and SM Northwest. To watch the meet, go to SM South on Nov. 6.

when the team could be done

NOV

6

3 16:23 1634 11 league titles

Anna Colby’s state-qualifying time

John Schrock’s passing yards Zach Colby’s final goal count

GrantHeinlein

As of Oct. 27

32

PHOTO ESSAY 11-01-10

Holy Mole -y

Students and teachers celebrate Mole Day, an annual event in honor of one of the most important numbers in chemistry: 6.02 x 1023

Junior Sophie Poppie, above, counts down the seconds until the Mole Day celebration begins.

GrantHeinlein Dodging a blow-up hammer, senior Lucas Throckmorton, right, takes part in a Mole Day tradition called Whacka-Mole. “It was my first time leading the group and setting up the event,” Throckmorton said. “Overall, I think [Mole Day] went really well.”

GrantHeinlein Playing a game of Mole-sical Chairs, below, students fight for the final chair in order to stay in the game.

DanStewart Junior Andrew Beasley, below right, helps a fellow student apply her blindfold before partaking in the Pin the Eyepatch On Avogadro game.

AlissaPollack

Sophomores Ingrid Starkey and Jenna Engelken, left, laugh hysterically as another student is tackled while trying to grab a seat in Mole-sical Chairs. DanStewart