Issue 12

ISSUE 12 | MARCH 9, 2015

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208

Death of the Standards?

Proposed House Bill 2292, “The Local Control Act” aims to repeal Common Core, eliminating Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate curriculums story on page 5

INSIDE:

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS CELEBRATE MULTICULTURAL HOLIDAYS GENDER IN ADVERTISING

news: page 8

features: pages 20-21

SPRING SPORTS RIVALRIES PREVIEW

sports: page 36

SHORT ON FUNDS

2 editorial Votes For 12 Votes Against 0

Education should not sit on the chopping block when it comes to state funding Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has found himself in a $344 million problem.

By the end of Kansas’ last fiscal year, which ended in January, the deficit had grown to be a massive issue. In an attempt to salvage the state budget, Gov. Brownback will be cutting $45 million from the K-12 public school budget. These cuts will not only impact elementary, middle and high schools in Kansas like the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD), but will also impact Kansas colleges and universities.

Because we are a high school newspaper, The Harbinger does not approve of the funding being cut from the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD), which amounts to $1.4 million in total.

“In this two-year budget, the Legislature should appropriate money directly to school districts, so it can be spent where it is needed most, and that’s in the classroom,” Brownback claimed in his State of the State address in January.

Brownback says that money is best spent in the classroom, yet at the same time he is cutting funding from that very classroom.

From the time Gov. Brownback was elected in 2011, he has proven himself to be an unfit governor because he has not followed through on his promises for improving education and job creation.

“Our unemployment rate is tied for the tenth-lowest in America,” Brownback said in his State of the State Address.

While this is true, Kansas has stayed in the tenth spot of the lowest unemployment rate since 2011, having one of the lowest employment growth rates in the nation. Brownback justified his tax cuts by saying it would create jobs when in actuality, he reduced employment growth to 3.5 percent, one of the lowest in the nation. Now Kansas public schools will be paying for Brownback’s tax cuts for the business owners.

In 2012, Brownback gave a puzzling tax cut to the business owners of Kansas for two reasons: so businesses can grow and hire more employees, and to draw businesses to Kansas. He did it in an attempt to create “Trickle Down Economics,” but this has just dug Kansas into a hole that will be very difficult to get

out of. These are largely the reasons for the large deficit.

Not only is Brownback receiving criticism for his botched tax plan, but he is now also on trial with the Kansas Supreme Court for violating the Kansas Constitution by not giving schools enough funding. If the Supreme Court finds Kansas in the wrong, it would not allow Gov. Brownback to make these funding cuts.

Brownback failed as a Governor in 20112014, yet he was still reelected in hopes that he would dig himself out of the hole he made.

Brownback is just making that hole deeper and deeper by him keeping the income tax low and making unnecessary cuts to education to try to save himself.

2015 Spring Harbinger Staff CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp

ASSISTANT EDITORS Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk

HEAD COPY EDITOR Pauline Werner

ART & DESIGN EDITOR Phoebe Aguiar

NEWS SECTION EDITOR Sophie Storbeck

EDITORIAL SECTION EDITOR Will Clough

A&E SECTION EDITORS Audrey Danciger Yashi Wang

Ali Lee Chase Tetrick

A&E PAGE DESIGNERS Anna Dierks Abby Walker Ellie Cook Katie Hise

OPINION PAGE DESIGNERS Ellie Booton Alex Masson Tyler Keys

FEATURES PAGE DESIGNERS Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Daisy Bolin Celia Hack

SPORTS SECTION EDITORS

Kylie Schultz

Teagan Noblit Michael Kraske Ellis Nepstad Caleb Krakow

OPINION SECTION EDITOR

COPY EDITORS

CIRCULATION

Audrey Danciger

FEATURES SECTION EDITORS Courtney McClelland Claire Pottenger

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR Will Oakley

SPREAD SECTION EDITORS Aidan Epstein Chloe Stanford

NEWS PAGE DESIGNERS Will Brownlee Ava Backer

Maddie Hyatt Caroline Heitmann Sophie Storbeck Kylie Schultz Will Clough Ellie Booton Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk Pauline Werner Susannah Mitchell

PHOTO EDITOR Annie Savage

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS Hailey Hughes James Wooldridge

EDITORIAL BOARD Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Pauline Werner Tommy Sherk Caroline Kohring Susannah Mitchell Phoebe Aguiar Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau Will Oakley Audrey Danciger Julia Poe

ADS MANAGERS Abby Walker Celia Hack

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Morgan Browning Haley Bell Joseph Cline Kaitlyn Stratman Abby Hans Allison Stockwell Abby Blake Kylie Relihan James Wooldridge Annika Sink Katie Lamar Elizabeth Anderson Annie Lomshek Ava Backer Ali Hickey

Annie Jones Annie Lomshek Jemima Swindells Olivia Favreau Davis Finke

ONLINE VIDEO EDITOR

ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

WEBMASTER

ONLINE HEAD COPY EDITORS

ASSISTANT WEBMASTER

Susannah Mitchell Julia Poe

Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE LIVE BROADCAST EDITORS Ellis Nepstad John Foster

ONLINE NEWS SECTION EDITOR Will Clough

ONLINE FEATURES SECTION EDITOR Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Michael Kraske Daniel Rinner

Matthew Bruyere

ONLINE SOUND EDITOR Leah O’Connor

Jacob Milgrim

Callie McPhail

MULTIMEDIA STAFF Alex Masson Tyler Keys Gabe Snyder Ellis Nepstad Matthew Bruyere Katie Lamar Abby Hans Annika Sink Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Katie Lamar

INTERACTIVE DESIGNERS

ONLINE ARTS EDITOR

Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Mike Thibodeau Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

Abby Walker Caleb Krakow Annie Lomshek

ONLINE HOMEGROWN SECTION EDITOR

ONLINE PHOTO EDITORS

Stella Braly

Callie McPhail Katie Lamar

STAFF WRITERS

ONLINE OPINION SECTION EDITOR

SME PHOTOS

STAFF ARTISTS

Elaine Chamberlain Celia Hack Jessica Parker Daniel Rinner Chase Tetrick Ellie Cook Mac Newman

Sean Overton

Celia Hack

ONINE EASTIPEDIA SECTION EDITOR Matthew Kaplan

Abby Hans

ANCHOR

Taylor Norden

ADVISER Dow Tate

news 3

School, Local and Worldwide News Broken Down

written by Julia Poe

RACIAL BIAS FOUND IN FERGUSON Federal reports released last week determined that there was racial bias in the Ferguson Police Department.

This rose into the spotlight after the death of Michael brown, a black teenager, in August. Although the police officer responsible for Brown’s death, Darren Wilson, was found not guilty for murder, the police department as a whole is now under scrutiny. “[The reports] are really not that surprising honestly,” sophomore Peter Haynes said. “Obviously in the Michael Brown case there seemed to be some racial bias, it just reaffirmed what most people had already

assumed. It’s really obscene that in modern times there can be this blatant discrimination without much really being done about it.”

The investigation headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation found multiple signs of racism in the department. The main analysis centers around the fact that 93 percent of arrests were blacks, although blacks only make up 67 percent of population. It was also reported that most incidents involving police force involved blacks, and police dogs were only ordered to bite black citizens.

FEDERAL REPORT RESULTS

2x

black drivers are more likely than white drivers to get searched in traffic stops

88% Of times police reported using force, it was against black people

even though they were

Environmental Club Prepares for Earth Fair Students will have the opportunity to make paper, browse used books, earn extra credit points and learn about the environment on Mar. 28. The annual East Earth Fair will be hosted in the main and auxiliary gyms, and is run by a collaboration between the Environmental Club and the Friends of the Library Club.

The Environmental Club will bring in a variety of vendors from local environmentally-friendly companies and organizations such as The Watershed Project. These vendors will teach students and other visitors about important environmental topics such as waste

conservation, recycling and animal endangerment.

Along with the environmental activities, the Friends of the Library Club will also host their annual Used Book Sale in the auxiliary gym. The club has been preparing for this sale since first semester, when students began collecting books from the community.

Proceeds from the sale will go towards materials like books, technology and furniture for the library.

In the past, science teachers have offered extra credit for attending the Earth Fair, and multiple teachers will continue that procedure into this year.

Performing Arts School Opening in the Area The Congregation Ohev Sholom at 75th and Nall will become a temporary home for a private performing arts magnet school this year.

The Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSAKC) aims to support exposure to the arts while providing performing arts students with hands-on training for a future in their field.

Concentrations will include dance, instrumental and visual arts.

While offering a focus in performing arts courses, MSAKC will teach students with a full high school curriculum including Advanced Placement (AP) classes. To compensate

for this, school days will run from 8 a.m. to 4:20 p.m., with time for conservatory classes in each student’s area of focus.

Tuition will be $9,000, with a $500 enrollment fee. MSAKC will accept applications from performing arts applicants from either side of the state line, but will only award 100 students enrollment this year. In 2017, the school’s size is expected to expand to 225 students, at which time the school will search for a permanent facility, although it is expected to stay in Johnson County for the foreseeable future.

26% less likely

to be found with contraband.

Photos of the Week see page 4 for more photos left

Senior Julia Poe wins the award for Kansas Student Journalist of the Year on Feb. 23. She competed against 16 other journalists and now advances to nationals.

bottom right

Bryce Flora plays the the double bass during orchestra to prepare for their concert on March 4.

photo by Annie Savage

photo by Kylie Rellihan

left

photo by Katie Lamar

The Lancer Dancers perform a jazz routine for their send-off to nationals. They left for nationals March 7.

4 alt-copy

photos courtesy MCT Campus

POLITICS

QUOTED

“Transparency matters. Unclassified @HillaryClinton emails should be released. You can see mine, here. http:// jebbushemails.com” — Jeb Bush on Twitter

Last Monday, The New York Times revealed that Hillary Clinton had used her own, private email account for government business while she was Secretary of State.

This was discovered when Clinton was asked to turn over emails from her time in office to help the State Department keep official records. While looking for information on the Benghazi Consulate attack, a House committee discovered the private email account.

Clinton’s office said “nothing nefarious was at play.” Her office argues she only used her personal account with Benghazi because it was an emergency situation, which is allowed by the agency.

Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, claims she did nothing wrong, saying Secretaries of State before her have used their own private emails and for government business she used her State Department account.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS “We have been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it,” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before Congress last Mar. 3. Invited by Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Netanyahu came to warn the U.S. about creating a nuclear deal with Iran. The Prime Minister warned America that a deal with the country would lead to their development of a nuclear weapon.

The speech carried bipartisan issues with it. Boehner invited the conservative Netanyahu without President Barack Obama’s consent, upsetting Democratic lawmakers.

The Prime Minister got a standing ovation from congressional Republicans, but over 50 Democratic congress members did not attend the speech at all.

Obama, who didn’t attend the speech, said to a group of reporters that he heard “nothing new” in the Prime Minister’s speech and said he will continue talks with Iran.

Notable news, quick to read written by Mike Thibodeau

STATE AFFAIRS

SPORTS

“This issue is about our 2nd Amendment right, which we’re guaranteed under the state Constitution and the federal Constitution. This bill gets us closer in line with what many of us believe was the intent.”

— Kansas Republican Senator Jack LaTurner

On Feb. 26, the Kansas senate passed a bill allowing concealed carry without a permit or firearm training. The bill passed through the senate 31-7 and now moves onto the House.

If the bill passes, it’ll be legal for anybody to carry a concealed weapon without a background check or safety training. Dubbed “constitutional carry,” the bill is opposed by many gun-rights advocates. Gun instructors have been outspoken about the new law.

ENTERTAINMENT “You wanna know what takes real courage? Holding it all together when the stakes are this high.”

—Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) On Feb. 27, Netflix’s hit show “House of Cards” returned for its third season. The show, which started back in 2013, now returns with the story of corrupt power-couple Frank and Claire Underwood and their web of Washington D.C. politics. The show, a Netflix exclusive, is one of a growing number of stream- only shows.

Netflix hit show “Orange is the New Black”, also just announced it will be coming back on June 12 for its third season in June.

“Hearing from a player inside MLS negotiations that a deal has been agreed upon between MLS and players.

Working on details.” -- Julie Stewart-Binks @JSB_FOX from FOX Sports Reporter Major League Soccer (MLS) and the MLS Players’ Union came to an accord over a new collective bargaining agreement last Wednesday night. The last agreement expired on Jan. 31 this year. The players, who were threatening to strike, and the League were able to come to an agreement on raising the minimum wage of players, raising the cap room and creating a form of free agency.

The MLS season started last Friday, Mar. 6, without a work stoppage. The League is coming into this season having vastly grown, adding two new teams and signing broadcast deals in the U.S. and the U.K. A strike would have been detrimental to that growth.

WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO The Kansas City Royals got their Spring Training under way last Thursday, Mar. 3, against the Texas Rangers.

A cease fire between Ukraine and pro-Russian forceswas signed on Feb. 17. The last one fell apart, but this one is still holding strong.

Album of the Year Grammy winner Beck announced he’ll be coming to Kansas City on May 15.

QUESTIONING THE CORE

news 5

written by Sophie Tulp A bill, The Local Control Act, attempts to override the Common Core State Standards Lawmakers in Kansas are currently discussing a bill that would end Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculums.

House Bill 2292, also called the Kansas Local Control Act, aims to repeal the current Common Core Standards in place for grades K-12. The change would revert Kansas education back standards set in 2003.

“If this bill were to pass as is, we would go back 12 years in our standards,” Kansas National Education Association Director and lobbyist Mike Dessetti said. “This would mean a retooling of what all the schools are doing. This is an extreme, radical turning back of education in Kansas.”

However, proponents of the bill like Ze’ev Wurman, Senior Adviser at the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development in the U.S. Department of Education, submitted written testimony to the Education Committee for the hearing. He said that the Common Core Standards “tie Kansas hands to remote Washington bureaucrats and take away your ability to care for your own children,” in his testimony.

In short, The Local Control Act is the latest addition in a longstanding battle over Common Core, seen before in Kansas, and across the nation. Lawmakers and lobbyists agree that this debate reflects a growing resistance to Common Core which opponents perceive as unwanted federal intervention.

Meanwhile, teachers at East worry about the impact that bills like The Local Control Act could have on students working to compete on a national level.

The Local Control Act would require all non-Kansas curriculum, to be rewritten to align with the reinstated 2003 Kansas standards. Teachers would have to redo all of their current lesson plans and course work, to make it fit with the previous standards. If passed, this would end AP and IB in the process because their curriculum is not locally controlled.

The bill would also induce extra costs for Kansas public schools, according to Kansas House Representative Nancy Lusk, who is on the committee for Federal and Foreign Affairs where The Local Control Act originated.

Schools would have to replace all textbooks and materials used in companion with the Common Core Standards.

A possible reason behind the bill, Rep. Lusk says, is a misunderstanding of the Common Core Standards. She says opponents misinterpret what the standards are trying to achieve on a national and state level, stemming from confusion over the difference between “standards” and “curriculum.”

Standards dictate what a student should

have learned by the end of a school year. For example, Common Core says that at the end of third grade, all third graders should know how to read. How the schools get to that point, the lesson plans and the instruction, comes from collaboration between school districts, boards and educators -- that’s the curriculum. “[Opponents] will claim that the standards are “nationally driven,” and that [they] are a federal takeover,” Rep. Lusk said. “The Common Core Standards do not specify any given curriculum and here in Kansas our local school boards have total control over all of the curriculum used in their districts.”

Dessetti calls the anti-common core sentiment a “movement” of people that see Common Core as a federal intervention in education. They see the standards as curriculum-like material being passed on a national level, but Dessetti and Rep. Lusk both emphasize that this thinking is not correct.

Today, 46 states have adopted Common Core, but each state can go beyond them in any way they want. States can’t weaken the framework of the standards, but they can add to them, make them more rigorous or add specifics things the state is interested in.

However, David Dorsey, Senior Education Policy Analyst for the Kansas Policy Institute gave testimony backing the bill, citing that the current Common Core Standards were too challenging, and not achievable by the average student. He also voiced concern about “federal intrusion” on education through the current standards.

Despite the debate between those for and against the bill, the reality of it, according to both Desetti and University of Kansas Director of the Political Science Department, Dr. Burdett Loomis, is that the bill is political, revealing more about Kansas politics than what’s on the surface.

The likelihood of The Local Control Act actually being signed into law, Loomis says, is not necessarily strong. But instead, the bill might be used symbolically to voice concern

by Common Core opponents who see it as a threat to state power in regulating education.

“I probably view this as symbolic more than anything else,” Loomis said in an email statement. “The whole [Common Core] ‘debate’...is just politics. I honestly don’t think it would change much on the ground...Without a doubt, however, public education and teachers are under a wide and deep attack, both here in Kansas and across the nation.”

Dessetti believes the bill has a chance to pass out of the Education committee. However, he believes it might be defeated on the House floor later.

The bill had its first hearing before the Kansas House of Representatives committee

on Education on Feb. 22. Eventually there will be a separate hearing where the Committee on Education will “work the bill,” according to Rep. Lusk, which means the committee debates it and decides whether or not to pass it. The Local Control Act has yet to have the second hearing, and Rep. Lusk is unsure when this will occur as of now.

While analysts are not sure whether or not The Local Control Act will pass here in Kansas, AP American History (APAH) teacher Vicki Arndt-Helgesen still sees the bill as a threat, since it would not be the first time a bill attempting to remove AP curriculum has passed.

Last month, a similar bill created controversy in Oklahoma. The State House of Representatives’ Education Committee passed a bill on Feb. 17 to defund the current APAH course framework, and replace it with a curriculum deemed more “pro-American” by the bill’s sponsor, state representative Dan Fisher. Since then, the Rep. Fisher withdrew the bill calling it “poorly-worded.”

Arndt-Helgesen worries that something similar could happen in Kansas, with bills like these becoming more common. She says the losses that students would face from not having access to AP and IB curriculum would be detrimental.

“My concern would be [that] it’s a way to decrease the accessibility of public education as a rival to private education,” ArndtHelgesen said. “To students, it would be huge. Not having access to AP or IB would make application to selective schools much more difficult for our students.”

Rep. Lusk says that the bill’s consequence of losing AP and IB curriculum was “unintended,” caught in the middle over the battle to repeal Common Core.

“The authors of the bill were too clueless to realize that the sweeping rejection of Common Core in the bill would have that effect on other things, [like endangering] the ability of school districts to provide AP classes, ” Lusk said.

Despite the arguments from supporters of The Local Control Act like Wurman and Dorsey, those that oppose it are looking at a bigger problem than just this one bill. They are looking at an issue deep-rooted in Kansas politics.

“I am hopeful that leadership will just let the bill quietly die this session,” Rep. Lusk said. “Even if the bill goes no further, I don’t expect the controversy to go away in the long run. They may just be biding their time until... they push for a different non-Common Core related set of standards.”

Curriculum the specific coursework, lesson plans and materials that are developed by local school boards educators and administrators

Standards the knowledge from the curriculum expected to be acquired by students at the end of the school year

Common Core the system of standards applied to K-12 students in 46 states

INSIDE

6 news

TOP GOLF

what to expect from the coming facility

photo by Kylie Rellihan written by Maddie Hyatt

P

A technology-filled golf complex set to open in Overland Park by the chain Top Golf

rojected to start business this spring, TopGolf International Inc. will open their first golf center in Overland Park. It is known for its climate-controlled driving ranges that allow players to shoot into an outfield of targets. The more accurate a drive is, the more points players are awarded.

It will cost each customer $20 an hour to play on weekdays and $40 during weekends and nights. Customers can also pay for a membership which will cut the price down to $5 per time. TopGolf is the only entertainment center in the area to offer this unique golf experience.

“TopGolf is a golf entertainment facility that can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels, all year round,” director of TopGolf corporate communications Adrienne Chance, said.

TopGolf is located off of Nall Avenue and Indian Creek Road, east of SM South, in a highly-populated residential area. Because of the potential danger of stray golf balls, 160 to 180 foot poles were installed to hold netting around the outfield. The poles are about as tall as a 15 story building.

“I’m excited about [TopGolf] because it will be a nice driving range that is close to home,” senior golfer Lucas Jones said.

In addition to driving ranges, TopGolf will house 3,000 square feet of private event space for corporate, birthday or bachelor or bachelorette parties. The facility will feature multiple bars and a full service restaurant including breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

TopGolf was established in 2000 and is based in Dallas, Texas. It serves

over 2.7 million customers per year, although nearly half of their customers do not consider themselves golfers, according to Chance.

“Our goal is to really be an entertainment destination and community amenity that anyone can enjoy,” Chance said. “Whether you’re having a date night, you’re bringing your kids for a fun day out or you’re looking for a nightlife scene, we really cater to all audiences.”

The three-level, 65,000 square foot facility will have as many as 102 climate-controlled hitting bays that can each hold up to six players at once.

TopGolf provides special golf balls containing computer microchips that track a player’s shot accuracy and distance hit.

“The [microchipped balls] may affect the ball flight and distance of your shot, but shouldn’t affect how you play,” Jones said.

Players hit golf balls into an outfield containing multiple targets. They are awarded different amounts of points for each section of the target hit. There are also multiple types of games and skill levels players can choose from.

Players can choose from a team game, scoring based distance or an individual game. The player with the most points wins. Golf pros will also be available to offer tips and help customers with their technique.

“It’s going to be a fun way to play golf a little more realistically during the winter and when the course is closed because of all the technology they will have involved,” freshman Cal Knabe said.

levels

3,000 square feet of private event space along with the golf bays and six hole range

golf bays

The bays are equipped with microchipped balls for optimal tracking. Golfers can be assisted by one of the multitude of golf pros

HD tvs

Bars, dining areas and game rooms are equipped with all the necessary entertainment technology photos courtesy of topgolf.com

THE STRESS EFFECT

news 7

Students suffer from high stress levels caused by schoolwork, leading to serious health effects and sleep deprivation written by Celia Hack

STRESS & SLEEP

STRESSED OUT STUDENTS

STUDENTS SAY

Fredrick said.

Negative effects of lack of sleep include exhaustion, headaches, difficulty falling asleep and even depression.

“The day after (an all-nighter) I always take excedrin,” Apodaca said. “First of all I’m tired, and I also get sleep-deprivation headaches. It’s just tylenol with caffeine in it.”

One of the most prevalent effects of stress is the mental breakdowns it causes in students. 59 percent of students believed they had an emotional breakdown because of school-related stress. The overwhelming amount of homework -- 51 percent of East students have two to four hours a night -- the extracurriculars and the lack of sleep all lead to breakdowns, freak-outs or panic attacks The night before an Honors Chemistry 1 and European History AP (EHAP) test, sophomore Monty Lyddon was overwhelmed and broke down, or freaked out, as he described it.

“When I freak out, I don’t eat, don’t sleep, can’t focus, I don’t relax,” Lyddon said. “I didn’t go to sleep until 2 [a.m.] the day before the EHAP test, because I was just trying to study as much as I could.”

Fredrick can also relate to late-night breakdowns.

Last semester, she was so overwhelmed with her homework load that she got into the habit of setting an alarm for 2 a.m. to wake up to do homework, after getting some sleep.

“I did this several times like last semester,” Fredrick said. “My alarm didn’t go off and I woke up around 6:30 and I started freaking out and I missed first hour to do homework.”

The sheer load of classwork and extracurriculars can lead to never having any free time, which is essential to staying emotionally healthy.

“Our bodies have got to have time decompress and be within the moment,” Wiseman said.

Apodaca has struggled with the lack of free time. It has even affected her anxiety and depression, making it worse.

“I feel like if I had more time to myself, it would improve my general mental health,” Apodaca said. “But because I don’t, it’s frustrating because I feel like I don’t have time to take care of myself sometimes.”

She has to schedule a couple hour blocks to herself on weekends where she can hang out with friends or read, just to have time to relax.

Ninety-three percent of students in the survey said they felt overwhelmed by school-related stress. Students are so inundated with homework and extracurricular activities that they put homework before sleep, and school before their mental health.

“There is an expectation to produce more so than in the past,” Wiseman said. “In the past, it was kind of like, ‘allow yourself to be a kid.’ And now I think we look at teens and preteens to produce something and be on the cutting edge all the time and to try everything out and be this voice.”

EXPERTS SAY

W

hen Senior Afton Apodaca is stressed, she doesn’t want to eat anything. Or, if she hasn’t slept because she was working on yearbook or homework, she’s hungrier than usual. Many times, because of yearbook, Apodaca has three or four days where she’s working on one to two hours of sleep.

“Once you get used to it, you get into the rhythm,” Apodaca said. “First night, first day, you’re fine. Second day, you’re usually fine. Third day is the hard day; you have to push through it. Fourth day, you’re out of it, but you feel good because you’re kind of like drugged up on no sleep.”

Apodaca isn’t alone in having health issues that come from school-related stress. According to school social worker Becky Wiseman, the high amounts of stress that high schoolers are under today aren’t healthy. The results from a survey of 123 East students display that school-related stress can lead to losing sleep, depression and procrastination. Students responded that school-related stress is negatively affecting their physical and mental health. “ U n Unchecked stress can have lasting c h e c k e d impacts. It can lead to sleep stress can deprivation which can lead to have lasting impacts,” Dedepression. nise Pope, se-Denise Pope, Stanford University nior lecturer at Stanford University and cofounder of research foundation Challenge Success said in an email statement. “It can lead to sleep deprivation which can lead to depression. We see kids with ulcers and severe stomach problems, migraines and long-term impact on their bodies.”

Eighty-three percent of students in the survey believed their classes and homework stressed them out regularly.

“I think I live in a constant state of stress,” Apodaca said. “Whether it’s about school or the yearbook or scheduling everything to fit, all my different meetings and having enough time to do my homework and my long term projects.”

For some students, long periods of stress, combined with lack of sleep, can actually result in getting sick. For Apodaca, this also includes flu-like symptoms and headaches.

“I don’t usually get sick, but in the last six months I’ve been sick like two or three times,” Apodaca said. “I think it’s from lack of sleep and just stress. I think especially like when I’m achy or have a headache, I think that’s stress.”

One of the largest problems that stress causes in high schoolers is the destruction of sleep patterns. Eighty percent of students in the survey believed school-related stress reduced the amount of sleep they got.

Sophomore Laura Fredrick remembers last semester, when her homework, combined with procrastination, resulted in very late nights. She is proud that she has managed to start getting an average of seven hours of sleep per night this semester.

“Last semester it was probably about four [hours],”

80%

Breaking down what experts and students agree is a growing epidemic: academic stress.

Of students surveyed believed schoolrelated stress reduced the amount of sleep they got.

Stress keeps you from falling asleep more than

CAFFEINE

83%

of East students surveyed say their classes and homework stress them out regularly.

Experts agree that physical activity helps relieve stress. Here art two ways you can cope: MEDITATION

EXERCISE

Sources: www.sciencedaily.com. www.health.usnews.gov, East survey conducted for the story

8 news

written by Courtney McClelland

A

13-year-old girl, Mo’ne Davis, can throw a ball up to 70 mph. She’s made it onto the cover of Sports Illustrated, has been interviewed by nearly every major television network and is the sensation of the Little League Baseball world.

It’s not Davis’s record breaking pitch that’s making the headlines, but her gender, according to time.com.

The New York Times attributes, “throwing like a girl” as derogatory, insulting and embarrassing. To throw like a girl meant you were weak and fragile. Davis is proving that throwing like a girl is something to be proud of.

Proctor and Gamble’s company, Always, is aiming to change the meaning of “like a girl.” With a three minute video, the company takes viewers through the evolving stereotype of “like a girl.” A group of high school-aged students are asked to throw like a girl, run like a girl and fight like a girl.

Unanimously, all the students attempt each task with little strength or effort. The same was asked of a group of elementary schoolaged students. All of these students performed each task with all of their strength, trying their very best.

With the 32 million viewed “Like a Girl” video and Davis’s softball feat, people began to wonder why throwing like a girl seemed so negative, wrote adage.com. It was something to be embarrassed of, something meant as an insult.

The consensus is advertising and media, according to krytyka.org. The stereotype of being like a girl has been exaggerated and enforced through ad campaigns, social media and television.

“It’s called classical conditioning,” psychology teacher Nick Paris said. “What you do is you put people in the same situations and you throw the same ad at them. Eventually the repetition of the ad becomes associated in their minds.”

The repetition of advertisements often associates girls as being fragile: staying at home, playing dress up and having a tea party Paris said. Instead today’s advertisers are asking, why not think of girls playing soccer, putting on their cleats and shin guards and getting involved in society?

“When the women were asked to do things ‘like a girl’ in the video, they did it in a way that seemed lame because that’s what they’ve been taught,” sophomore Natalie Roth said. “I think the younger girls were put in to show that girls don’t have this mentality naturally. We don’t think we’re the lesser gender, we’ve been taught this by other people.”

The goal of the video is to change the meaning of being a girl. To tear down the walls of gender stereotypes and rebuild a place where the image of a girl is strong and powerful.

“I have two granddaughters, one in tenth

grade and one in fifth grade, and they’re not talking about marriage, husbands or anything like that.” Paris said. “They’re talking about what they’re going to do when they grow up. My older one is kind of interested in journalism and my younger one is thinking she might like engineering. Even 25 years ago that would not have been coming out of girls that are 16 and 11.”

Society has come a long way in accepting women, according to Paris. He says women no longer aim to be homemakers, but aim to have careers and advertisements need to reflect this society.

“It’s simply like a holding up a mirror.

Advertising will only go as far as society has gone,” marketing consultant at Eller College, Edward Ackerly said.

In a world where a Slim Jim commercial advertises its products with two girls fighting over the name brand Slim Jim and a Pepsi commercial directs its products as “for men”, society still has a long way left to go, expressed Roth.

According to Ackerly, there was an effort in the 1970s and 1980s to move away from targeting specific genders in advertisements, but this effort has since been lost.

That’s why people are stepping up and attempting to change the way stereotypes are portrayed, via 13-year-old softball players or major corporations.

“One of my favorite movies is Legally Blonde 2”, Paris said. “She’s in the car and she looks at The White House at the end of the film and then winks at the camera. This basically sends a message to all girls that you can think of doing anything, even being president of the U.S.” This is how girls should be portrayed in media. They should be seen as people who can accomplish anything, and deserve the same treatment as men.

“I saw a commercial where a girl is working on her science project and someone says to her ‘Just have your brother do it for you’,” Roth said. “It’s things as simple as science projects that degrade girls in the media.”

This is what the Like a Girl movement is aiming to change. The campaign wants being a girl to mean you can be independent, you can be powerful and you can achieve anything a boy can.

“Why can’t running like a girl also mean winning the race?” a teenage girl in the “Like a Girl” video said.

Whether it’s a big box movie or an advertising campaign, gender stereotypes exist in all elements of life. What the media does with these stereotypes is what will transform society, and transform the meaning of being a girl.

Current trends in advertising are challenging gender norms, especially for girls

above

Mo’ne Davis, featured in a Chevy commercial, throws the out the first pitch at Game four of the 2014 World Series, San Francisco Gaints against the Kansas City Royals.

photo courtesy of MCT Campus

[SMSD SURVEILLANCE]

ID CHECKS

T

school visitors will have their IDs checked

NEW CAMERAS

security cameras will be installed near doors

he Shawnee Mission School District is ramping up security.

New driver’s license scans for visitors, added security cameras and a new security officer in each high school are among the precautions the district is taking.

The license scans went into effect earlier this month on Feb. 9, the same day that the district announced other security changes that will end up costing about $20 million.

Shawnee Mission School Security and Safety Director John Douglass says the motivation comes from school shootings. Sandy Hook, Columbine and others have led to increased precaution in schools nationwide.

“We’re learning off other people’s issues and events, and trying to correct that before it happens here,” Douglass said.

Principal John McKinney supports the changes. He remembers a time when extensive security wasn’t necessary.

“The world has changed since we were in high school,” McKinney said. “We would be remiss if we didn’t respond accordingly.”

The goal is to secure each school’s perimeter by monitoring who goes in and out.

They’ll do this with new cameras, door sensors and the system used for scanning drivers’ licenses -- Raptor.

First-time visitors have to wait about two minutes for Raptor to scan their record for

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

OFFICERS

SMSD schools will be implementing some campus security officers will monitor entrances

of the following things to monitor security

sexual offenses and restraining orders. After the first time, the scan is significantly shorter.

A pass with the visitor’s picture is printed for them to wear.

Margy Ronning, an East parent who regularly volunteers for the band, hasn’t been bothered by Raptor.

“I’m happy about it honestly,” Ronning said. “You hear of shooters all the time. I would do anything to protect my children.”

A few parents have contacted Chief Douglass’ office, worried that Raptor checks their criminal records, which it does not.

“Overwhelmingly, most people are in favor of the security measures that we put in place,” Douglass said.

It may be necessary for an administrator to escort someone into the building.

“It’s not specifically barring anyone,” Student Resource Officer (SRO) Eric Mieske added. “It’s just information that we want to know.”

The district hired an additional Campus Security Officer (CSO) at each high school to run the scans. The CSO will sit at a control center by the front entrance, described by Mieske to look like a ticket booth. The goal is to make it harder for visitors to bypass the CSO. Renovations to build the booth at the entrances of each high school will take place this summer.

The CSO’s control center will have monitors displaying video feed from new cameras that the school will install at every external door. The camera system itself only accounts for about 10 percent of the total cost. The bulk of the estimated $20 million comes from camera system installation and renovation of building entrances.

In addition, there will be sensors at each door that will notify the CSO if a door is left open for a certain period of time. This will help combat door propping, an issue that Mieske says has become a problem at East.

Students prop doors so they have a way back into school after going to their cars. Raptor will enable officers to get the door closed more quickly, determine who propped a door and discipline them.

“For those who want to sneak out, it’ll make it a whole lot harder,” Chief Douglass said. “But those who want to follow the rules should not have much of a problem.”

It’s possible that East will allow students to use new entrances that will provide better access to the parking lots surrounding the school. If added, the entrances will unlock with a student ID during school hours.

Not everyone agrees with the district dropping $20 million on added security. Sophomore Peter McDonald, who wrote a research paper on school security, disagrees with the

news 9 written by James Wooldridge photo illustration by Daniel Rinner

DOOR SENSORS

officers will be able to tell which doors are opened

measures the district is taking.

“The more security you have, the less students feel safe,” McDonald said. “It makes them feel like the school district doesn’t trust students, and trust is a big thing. $20 million could go to other things like hiring new teachers or making education better.”

Although McKinney has high hopes for the new system, he isn’t beyond doubt either.

He compares the situation to MacBook deployment. Last year, MacBook Airs were purchased for every high schooler in the district.

The purchase also cost about $20 million.

“We weren’t sure exactly how it was going to go until we did it,” McKinney said. “It’s the first time; we planned for the best and prepared for the worst.”

Just as the district wasn’t sure the technology initiative would work, they aren’t sure about the new security. McKinney added that safety is more important than the MacBooks or anything else.

“When I go to my daughter’s elementary school, I have to show my ID, but I just recognize that they’re doing it to keep my kids safe,” McKinney said. “All the amazing things we’re doing here mean nothing if our kids aren’t safe.”

10 columns

opinion by Ellie Cook

Administration should clarify and re-define standards of dress Think back to the last time the sequined headband of the girl in front of you in English was distracting you to a point that you couldn’t focus on your vocab. Or the time you got in a fist fight with your lab partner because he was wearing an MU jersey.

Doesn’t ring a bell? That’s because clothing isn’t a distraction in school. What you wear doesn’t affect other students’ learning, so outfit choices shouldn’t be limited by a strict dress code.

According to the student handbook, the dress code is put in place to help make the school a learning environment. Intelligence has nothing to do with the clothes you’re wearing. Putting a kid in nice clothes won’t make them pay attention in class any more or study any harder.

I agree with some parts of the dress code, I just think it needs to lighten up. Drug-promoting T-shirts and Confederate flag shorts shouldn’t be allowed, but there are some prohibited clothing items that just don’t make sense. Outdoor jackets and coats aren’t allowed. There is no reason for this; they aren’t disrespectful or inappropriate, and no one is going to smuggle something in their North Face that they can’t smuggle in the front pocket of their hoodie.

Last year, there was a slide on the TVs in the hallway that reminded students that sheer tops were not to be worn without tank tops under them. This, and most of the dress code, was directly aimed at girls, and what I think, is a double standard. The code directly states that girls’ chests and midriffs should be “adequately” covered, but mentions nothing about the same clothing on boys. Boys should have to cover up just as much.

If girls can’t wear crop tops and spaghetti straps, boys shouldn’t get to wear muscle shirts with arm holes down to their stomach.

Tank tops, short skirts and backless or midriff-revealing shirts are all among the many violations of the dress code. If the boys’ swim team can shake around in only Speedos in front of the whole school, female students should get to show a little more skin as well.

For one thing, I don’t see how spaghetti straps or halter tops are bad in any way. Sorry, but shoulders are not

seductive. The same goes for backless shirts. Hold on, let me go lure in some boys with my back? And skirts that show “too much” leg shouldn’t matter so much. As long as it covers everything, girls should be fine. The dress code only covers the length of skirts and shorts; does that mean if someone shows up to school in a seethrough dress that goes down to their ankles, they’re fine? There is no problem if nothing is visible, because another inch of skin isn’t going to hurt anyone. Girls shouldn’t have to cover up and sacrifice the clothing they’re comfortable in just to assist boys’ learning. If the boys have a problem, fix them.

Another problem with the dress code is how unclear it is, making it too subjective. I’ve worn plenty of skirts with questionable lengths, and I’ve gotten complimented on those skirts by faculty. One woman told me my silver sequined miniskirt reminded me of her childhood in the ‘60s. But I’ve also seen plenty of students get negative comments from teachers about their “inappropriate” clothing choices. I’ve seen a bunch of people wearing crop tops lately, which are forbidden according to the district. Some teachers ask students to pull their shirt down, others ask them to change.

The dress code has been the same for a while, and should be updated for this school year. It isn’t specific enough and needs to make restrictions equal for girls and boys. Skin isn’t inappropriate, and kids shouldn’t be taught to think so.

The dress code minimizes students’ style options by limiting what they can wear. I understand that kids don’t need to don any clothes with the F-bomb on them, but we should be able to wear our favorite band’s T-shirt or a miniskirt. The dress code mainly focuses on female students; saying that only girls should have to cover up sexualizes them. If girls’ bodies are a distraction to boys, it shouldn’t be the girls’ responsibility to change. The school should reconsider its dress code to have less restrictions and allow equal dressing rights to boys and girls.

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12 columns

VS. photo illustration by Hailey Hughes

Lasagna Challenge

artwork by Audrey Danciger

T

hree restaurants, three challenges, one goal: to be crowned king of three eating contests.

During my quest, I first visited Bravo, an Italian restaurant with a mean lasagna challenge. I then ventured on to a local place known as Amigos, a Mexican eatery. Amigos, home to the massive ten-pound burrito.

To top off this quest, I then visited a popular place, Buffalo Wild Wings, with the hopes and dreams of completing the famous Blazin’ Challenge.

Blazin’ Challenge

opinion by Davis Finke

10-Pound Burrito I’ve never been able to resist going to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I’m always in the mood for some nice pasta or a pepperoni pizza. So, when I visited Bravo, I had a feeling the lasagna challenge would be a walk in the park. My ignorance would soon come to haunt me.

I sat down at the table, and the waiter put a plate of bread in front of me. With my high confidence, I didn’t think a couple of pieces of bread would hurt. Then I ordered it -- the massive lasagna entree. It didn’t take long for the mound of food to make it’s way out of the kitchen and onto my table. I looked at it and thought to myself, there is no possible way I can finish this, but sitting there looking at it wasn’t going to help. So I dug in, bite after bite, pushing onwards with hopes of victory.

Five minutes in, and I was doing great, already halfway finished. But then suddenly my stomach filled to the brim, so I made a very risky tactical decision. I ordered a Coke.

I know that sounds foolish, adding more to my stomach, but the Coke had an alternate purpose, which was to help me burp. I downed the Coke and felt something rising in my stomach, and out it came, a burp that emptied half my stomach. I felt like a new man, and I kept eating. Only five bites left, now three. Just one more. Finished.

The waiter walked over and congratulated me, and I was ready for my picture on the wall of fame. But then the waiter delivered some heart breaking news. The wall of fame was no more, due to a man getting sick after eating the lasagna. Although it was no longer a formal challenge, I still had the same pride as if it were. Mission one was a success.

Burritos are a work of art. Filled with all the great foods: chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, you name it. Amigos Grill and Cantina’s burritos were similar, with one slight exception.

They’re special: they weigh 10 pounds. An eight-pound burrito loaded with another pound of rice, and another pound of beans. Weighing in at a total of 10 pounds. 10 pounds of art.

When I walked into Amigos, I was already nervous. After my recent Italian showdown, a ten-pound burrito was enough to make my stomach turn. The waiter came over to me, and I hesitantly asked if I could do the burrito challenge.

The second the waiter put the plate in front of me, I knew I was in over my head. The burrito filled up the entire plate, and was overflowing with rice and beans. I began to eat what seemed to be an unending amount of food.

Ten minutes in, and I hadn’t made more than a dent. The worst part of all is that it didn’t even taste good. All the ingredients had mushed together to form a nasty combo of food.

I had a feeling I wouldn’t even be able to finish half. I was 100 percent correct. I made it about a quarter of the way through that monster before I had to throw in the towel. The waiter gave me some words of encouragement, saying only about a third of the people who try this challenge succeed.

It made me feel a little better, but deep down, I was broken.

Mission two was a failure.

Spicy foods have never really been my thing. I can barely handle jalapeno potato chips, so the Blazin’ Wings challenge was not looking promising. I had a feeling that this mission would be over before it even started.

I walked into Buffalo Wild Wings, and I wasn’t even that nervous. Not because I thought this would be easy, but because I knew I was going to fail. My mentality was already set: there was no way I would eat more than three wings max.

The waiter came over to me and asked what I wanted.

When I told him I wanted to do the Blazin’ Challenge, he tried to convince me otherwise. He told me it was “real hot, not just hot, but really freaking hot.” Not going to lie, I was tempted right then to get up and leave, but I had to give it a try. It was all about pride. Even if I didn’t finish, the fact that I put in a valiant effort is all that would matter.

The wings came out a few minutes later, and the overall smell made my eyes water. I raised the first one up to my mouth, and took a deep breath. I held it there for a few seconds, then I just went for it. I bit into that wing like there was no tomorrow. Big mistake. I almost lost my breath due to the heat, but I kept going. One wing down, 11 more to go.

I finished three before admitting defeat. I drank at least five glasses of water to try to eliminate the pain, but it took about 25 minutes for it to go away. Those 25 minutes were some of the most painful minutes of my life.

I may have lost the challenge, but I won a different one. One that helps a man grow. An essential challenge that a boy must pass on his trip to manhood. Mission 3 was a failure, but the lesson was a success.

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From Parker Petroleum

-Cla ss of

73

14 columns

Ali Lee says why NBC newscaster Brian Williams shouldn’t be suspended from his job after his recent “scandel”

B

without

opinion by Ali Lee

rian Williams has been called many things in his career, but recently, the title “liar” has been added to the list. On Feb. 9, NBC news journalist Lester Holt took the place of long-time news veteran Brian Williams. Williams has faced a great amount of controversy after he was caught in an inaccurate report of a personal story.

I was watching the news that night. He thanked soldiers that had “saved

The False Facts

his life” when his aircraft was shot down while reporting in Afghanistan in 2003. I thought to myself how heroic this was of the soldiers, and nothing else of it. Shortly after he reported his dramatic story, the truth came to light.

People who were with Williams in the aircraft came forward with the accusation that it wasn’t actually his aircraft that was shot; it was the one in front of his. Many viewers and fellow journalists are angry and have lost their trust in him because of this lie, but I haven’t.

Williams has been the anchor for “NBC Nightly News” for 11 years. In these 11 years, he has delivered countless solid reports of current events. He has traveled to war zones and sacrificed his own well-being so he could report good news stories to his viewers. Now after this controversy, this all has gone to waste. At this point in time, Williams has been removed for six months without pay.

I know that it is unprofessional of a journalist to lie, and Williams should have known that.

However, in his years of reporting the news, he has been a reliable source for viewers all over the country. It seems like no one is taking any of that into consideration.

I think that the punishment and overall controversy over Williams’ lying scandal is a little overblown. He made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean we can never trust him again.

It means he

isn’t perfect. What I do know is he can relate stories of all genres to the people of America, and have an empathetic tone. That is what makes a good journalist a great one.

With Holt as the new anchor, I can’t help but get annoyed. Personally, I think that Holt should stick to what he knows best: “Dateline.” After watching him report criminal stories routinely every Friday night, it’s hard for me to take him seriously in a different role. Although he is a fellow veteran of NBC news alongside Williams, I find it difficult to adjust to the change. For the majority of my life I have gotten used to hearing Williams’ methodical voice reporting the nightly news.

Williams has been a great anchor, a popular anchor, and now his reputation is tarnished forever. I agree that it was wrong for Williams to lie in the first place, but he did later go on to correct himself and personally apologize. It is safe to say that he has faced enough if not more punishment for his actions. The harm of his report was minuscule, and it didn’t affect any of the viewers in any dramatic way. The event happened over 10 years ago; it’s no longer a current event. Viewers are not dependent on this information, and it was just suppose to be a sentimental piece for Williams and the heroic soldiers. People need to calm down.

He wasn’t intentionally trying to offend or lose the trust of his viewers and colleagues.

When Williams’ suspension is up and the controversy has died down, he should be able to return to his job. In the end, the main reason that this became such a big deal is because no one could believe that he would slip up like this. That isn’t a good reason to ruin his life. He recognized his mistake and apologized. Even so, I believe that with the trust of his viewers, he can come back to what he does best, being the anchor for “NBC Nightly News.”

In 2003, Brian Williams claimed he was Williams was actually in a third helicopter in one of the first helicopters that got hit that trailed behind the pack , which was never shot at by ground fire in Iraq

SingleofSexism lancer Shade

A

written by Yashi Wang

Flashback to February, featuring my friends and I trying to make plans for Valentine’s Day. WPA? Nope. Bad music.

Bowling? Never. Physical activity on a holiday.

Movies? Great idea! Except for the throngs of couples, but we can forgive that.

So, which movie?

“Fifty Shades of Grey?”

It pops out of my mouth, and suddenly seven pairs of vaguely concerned eyes turn to me. A decidedly laughless silence hangs above. Mustering what little dignity I still have, I rush to clarify, “It was a joke!”

My experience in reading the movie’s book-incarnation, with its terrible writing and dangerously misrepresented version of BDSM, is more than enough to keep me away from the movie.

But for more than a few members of our student body, it was too tempting. And it wasn’t just students. “Fifty Shades of Grey” and its timely release on Valentine’s Day attracted all sorts to the theater: enough that an AMC Theaters spokesperson found it necessary to give a public reminder that weapons and distracting props are discouraged — a jab aimed at certain hardcore “Fifty Shades” moviegoers.

It’s not every day that a movie manages to gather so much attention, especially when the hype is less about its quality or its all-star cast than about its sexual content, which “Fifty Shades” has plenty of.

With around 20 minutes of sex scenes, the movie is unprecedented in the world of mainstream western film. But neither the movie nor its original book series are part of your normal franchise.

The book “Fifty Shades of Grey” traces its origins to fanfiction. Of “Twilight.” It’s not surprising when you look at the pitiful writing. Really, it’s not even bad, just pitiful: from “I feel the color in my cheeks rising again; I must be the color of the Communist Manifesto” to “from a very tiny, underused part of my brain — probably located at the base of my medulla oblongata near where my subconscious dwells — comes the thought.” And just look at the sad replicas of the un-endearingly clumsy female lead and her new romantic interest: rich, mysterious, smoldery, very sketchy.

Very cliche.

Yes, I can see exactly how the “Fifty Shades” franchise came from “Twilight.”

But “Twilight” is decidedly better-written

columns 15

The story behind “50 Shades of Grey” promotes abuse and skewed sexual perceptions

and more enjoyable, if only for its comedic content. I’ve seen better fanfiction than “Fifty Shades.” I could write better fanfiction than “Fifty Shades.”

But in the end, similarly gag-worthy prose has made it into the publishing industry, though I doubt they’ve soared to such popularity for whatever reason. The film adaption, with its script and actors, actually manages to salvage what minimal comedic potential that was ever in the book. But nothing is truly capable of redeeming the aimless plot and atrocious dialogue.

And yet, its inexplicable popularity is undeniable. The book is still floating at the top of three New York Times Best Sellers lists. Its film is cruising happily after hitting first place in the box office during opening week, more than double of “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, which incidentally had double “Fifty Shades”’s budget— go figure.

“Fifty Shades” is famous for its BDSM: in essence, an often misinterpreted subculture, as subcultures tend to be. With acknowledgement like that, “Fifty Shades” had so much potential for erasing those misconceptions and raising awareness.

The thing is, partially because of “Fifty Shades,” the public is very aware of BDSM now— but the kind of image being given is questionable.

Reading “Fifty Shades” would lead me to conclude, if I wasn’t aware otherwise, that BDSM is, first, a product of abuse that male lead Christian Grey experiences in childhood; second, a purely sexual activity; and third, based on giving and receiving pain. In fact, the female lead’s take on her suitor’s ‘interest’ initially goes something like, “wow, he likes to hurt women and it depresses me.” “Fifty Shades” is not the Beginner’s Guide to BDSM, but the problem is that people treat it as one.

Not only is BDSM misrepresented, especially in the book version, it’s dangerously warped. BDSM itself is a sexual interest in relationships that involve bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism. Christian Grey, however, displays abuse and obsession with control that goes beyond what BDSM condones. Female lead Anastasia Steele does not initially give real consent for anything Grey does, despite the real BDSM community’s emphasis on consensus and set limits. Even as the plot moves

along, much of Steele’s consent seems to be given in fear of Grey’s opinion of her, or of him leaving.

Now that is where lines get blurred and the debate rises on how acceptable “Fifty Shades” is. But there’s no point in resolving an argument, when the point is that there is an argument. There are differing opinions from critics and readers alike about what the “Fifty Shades” franchise is selling to its consumers, but this is a society where rape culture is very real.

We should at least follow the age-old rule when blurred lines are concerned: better safe than sorry. Consider the recent rape crime committed by a Chicago college student who afterwards claimed it was a reenactment of “Fifty Shades.” It doesn’t matter what “Fifty Shades” is really about when that’s how people respond.

However, there are people who call the book “empowering” for its portrayal of the BDSM subculture, and whether that’s accurate or not, that opens up possibilities for the public. And, if that’s what the public really gets out of that book or that ticket they were too embarrassed to buy in person, I rest my case.

Or wait, I can’t. If you still need a reason to convince you not to pick up that book or buy that ticket, just take a look at the severe lack of diversity in the characters.

There’s a blatant lack of racial representation, something mainstream films these days tend to avoid. The one character of non-white race who makes it into even a supporting role is Steele’s best friend José, who ends up being a bit of a sexual predator and pulls some unwanted moves on her. But of course, Christian Grey comes in to save the day, and our friend José apologizes, so it’s all good.

I can’t make up my mind whether to pass this off as purposeful on the author’s part or just another element of the poor writing. Really, we’ve come full circle. I have read enough generic Young Adult novels to endure bad plots and bad advocacy and unbearable relationships. But “Fifty Shades” and its abhorrent writing just serves as backdrop to bigger problems.

Maybe it’s even me and my comrades’ incessant hate that has helped to bring the franchise to international popularity. But as long as I have given every person reading fair warning, my goal is accomplished.

VOICE photos by Annie Savage

Students react to 50 Shades of Grey

Tyler Lockton, Sophomore “I liked the actors, but some of the scenes were really intense. I dont think of that as good relationship, but it was a good movie and I still enjoyed it.”

Tommy Hise, Sophomore “I thought it wasn’t a bad movie, but it had some bad lines that ruined some scenes and some bad acting that made some scenes a little awkward.”

Katie Crossette, Sophomore “50 Shades of Grey’ romantisizes abuse and showcases it as an ideal BDSM relationship. Ana is given no dimension, Christian is made to be her whole world...this is an issue because people see this abusive and inbalanced relationship as ideal.”

16 feature

2

THe StrOngest BoNd 8

7

Chemistry teachers form a unique relationship through planning and trying out their own experiements written by Caroline Heitmann

photo by Abby Blake

The only way we can run this program is because we all work together and divide the work amongst ourselves.

-Bardwell said

thing. But if it wasn’t for their group mentality, things would be a lot harder for the teachers. East chemistry teachers have had a long history of working together, and Appier, Bardwell and Hallstrom are no different.

“It’s been that way for years,” Bardwell said. “The only way we can run this program is because we all work together and divide the work amongst ourselves.”

But even with the all the work they have to do, Appier, Bardwell and Hallstrom still manage to unwind. From late-night experiments with potato guns to old pranks with butyric acid, a chemical that smells like concentrated vomit, they’ve done it all.

“We, this was a long time ago, took a bea-

ker of that butyric acid and may have set it in a corner in an administrator’s office and just left it there for a day or two,” Appier said.

“That may have happened.”

Another time, for Dec. 12, 2012, Appier and Bardwell made little piles of gunpowder and attached a chemical fuse. Then, at 12:12 p.m., they lit the fuse, causing a massive explosion.

With pranks that keep each other on their toes, the teachers have done it all.

“We tried to shoot a mole at Appier the other day down the hall,” Bardwell said. “We lit it on fire. Not a live one, a stuffed one. I have a mole puppet in my room now that’s all scorched because it accidently got lit on fire.

Oh, well.”

Junior Natalie Kaufmann remembers once watching a thermite experiment in Bardwell’s class.

“We basically reacted a couple substances together in a flower pot,” Kaufmann said. “and it failed three times. But the fourth time it exploded in fire and lit the grass on fire.

That was pretty awesome.”

One of Appier’s memorable experiments is when they grind up a peppermint and drop it into acid. All at once, the peppermint’s energy is released and it results in a fiery explosion. A picture of this moment hangs on Appier’s back wall.

The experiments are what brings the teachers together; whether it’s through the hours of work setting up for them, or laughing about old failed experiments. They’ve experienced the stress and pain together and been there through the laughs and joy.

“Well, except for Bardwell,” Appier said.

“No one really likes Bardwell, we just tolerate him. Hallstrom and I get along pretty well.

No yeah, I would say that’s a pretty fair statement.”

talk about LANCER VOICE Students their favorite parts of

Chemistry Class

being in Chemistry

“When Bardwell’s student passes a mastery test, they are supposed to go and steal something from another chem classroom and vise versa,” said sophomore Hope Hess

“I like that we get to do a lot of experiments because they really explain the lessons [Mr. Appier] teaches us, like standard pressure and tempurature.” said sophomore Cameron Jantsch

“

Bardwell and Hallstrom ex- plained that it was nearly impossible for one person to do the work alone. The work is just too much.

Budget cuts, combined with a plethora of students, lead to the experiments being too labor intensive.

The teachers can spend up to 10 hours working to set up for the labs. They have to prepare solutions -- if one drop is wrong then the reaction won’t go right. They have to set out chemicals -- if a chemical isn’t ready on hand then the lab can’t continue. They have to make sure specialized glassware, like beakers, volumetric flasks and other materials are ready to go.

Often they will be at East late into the night after school trying to prepare every-

“

“Ready, set, go.”

A loud explosion. A flash of something brown flying through the air. A clatter from the PVC pipe structure rebounding off the ground. A splat from the potato landing across the fourth floor.

It’s late afternoon, and East is empty.

Chemistry teachers Steven Appier, Jerrod Bardwell and Susan Hallstrom have just set off their potato gun. It was a success. They had a long day, and they wanted to relax. Experiments can do that for them.

Hallstrom has only been working at East for about two years, yet she’s already become close with Bardwell and Appier. Although teachers at other schools have stopped doing their own experiments due to their courses’ intense workload, Appier, Bardwell and Hallstrom consider it a core part of their curriculum.

This love for experiments also comes out in a fun side, leading to hours of interesting trials like exploding ceramic pots in a thermite reaction. Their close working relationship through the experiments has brought them closer.

Experiments are a big part of East’s chemistry classes, which is a rarity, since laboratory-based experiments are disappearing from classrooms. According to Bardwell and Hallstrom, because of the amount of work the teachers have to put in to set up, perform and grade the labs, most teachers have stopped doing them.

“This program has way too much stuff in it,” Bardwell said. “So we’re the only ones left [in the district] that we know of that still collects homework and one of the very few that still do real labs. Most all the other teachers [in the district] have been worked to death and have stopped doing stuff.”

A Whole

feature 17

NEW WORLD

Freshman Brian Li had to adapt to American language and culture when he moved from China

written by M

A Closer Look: BRIAN’S ORIGINS

Qingdao in the Shandong province

the basics

population: 7.62 million total metro area of the city: 6620 miles time difference with Kansas: 14 hours

the economy known as a ‘blue economy’ — a center of maritime research and development annual economic growth rate (as of 2006): 18.9 percent information courtesy of qingdao.arounder.com chinatoday.com qingdao.chinadaily.com

D

below

Freshman Brian Li works for his aunt at Bo Ling’s on the PLaza photo by Katie Lamar

organ Krako

w

ressed in a yellow polo shirt, apron tied around his waist, freshman Brian Li moves through Bo Lings’ main dining room. He sets down plates full of Cantonese flounder, and hot and sour soup that nearly spill off the sides. He fires off rapid Mandarin to the managers, and flips to concentrated but clear English with the customers. Even on a Sunday afternoon, the Plaza restaurant has full tables. Li remains calm, his face happy but professional, among the madness. * * * Li looks out of an airplane window as it touches down at Denver International Airport in November 2010. He’s shocked, because all he sees is empty streets. America is so deserted, Li thinks to himself. But after he files through customs and gets ready to board his flight to his final destination, Kansas City, Li realizes that the U.S. looks more like heavily-populated China than he anticipated.

Li, his parents, their belongings and a vocabulary limited to Chinese, are landing for good, without a return ticket. They have been trying for eight years to immigrate across the Pacific, but with no luck, they remained living in a rented house in the populous city of Qingdao of Shandong province, in Eastern China. His dad worked late nights in an uncertain job and his mother had trouble finding work. They longed for a stable home in the States. * * * Li sits in his class at Briarwood Elementary school. It’s his first day. As the teacher

moves through the lecture, all he hears is gibberish. She looks at him, he stares back at her. But nothing gets through. English is still too foreign, too garbled for him to understand. He’s quiet and bored, and most of all frustrated.

At recess, his classmates come up to him. Politely—over-politely to Li—they introduce themselves, wanting to make a new friend, trying to be considerate. But it’s no use. The language barrier is too much to overcome.

“People would try to talk to me, because they were being nice,” Li said. “But I just couldn’t follow. I didn’t know what the heck they were saying.”

Even as the semester pushes along, and English becomes clearer when he listens, Li still can’t seem to form the English words himself.

It takes an entire spring and summer before he can respond to his classmates.

His teachers’ lectures now make sense.

He can raise his hand when he knows the right answer. English has started to decode itself before him.

But the language isn’t the only aspect of American life Li has trouble with at first. In his first semester at school, his inability to make friends is only exacerbated by the amount of free time he now has after school. He spent hours tinkering with his family’s laptop or just sitting on the couch, bored. No friends, no cable television, no job. * * * Even still, the U.S. felt better to Li. Back

in China, he would spend hours, usually until 11 p.m., after school just trying to get his homework done for the next day. To him, he didn’t have a choice in his grades. Chinese schools required and demanded excellence.

“Basically, till the age of sixteen, all you can do is learn.” Li said.

Despite the initial hardships, his family lived in their own house, owned their own car and every day he breathed fresh American air, different from the grey polluted atmosphere of his home country. In Li’s mind, these simple pleasures made the move worth it.

Five years later, Li’s language skills are near-perfect. He works weekends at Bo Ling’s, his aunt’s restaurant, where his father works as a chef and mother a dishwasher. Now, although he still has the choice to study or not, he keeps his grades up, to please his mom in the hopes of someday becoming a computer programmer or an architect.

The move was no easy feat. The language posed a serious challenge, something his parents are still trying to overcome, which means Li has some nontraditional responsibilities.

“I do most of the paperwork.” Li said.

“Bills, cars. They don’t know what to do.”

However, Li holds firm that American life is better than Chinese life. He misses the vibrancy of his old city, and the ease of his first language. But to him, life now is easier, happier and freer.

Save the Date

Concussion Breakdown Symptoms

• Fatigue • Sensitivity to light • Nausea • Disorientation • Mild anxiety

• • • • •

Ringing in ears Vomiting Sleepiness Blurred vision Sensitivity to sound

If an athlete has suffered a concussion, their chances of a second are 3 to 6 times greater than an athlete who has never suffered a concussion

20%

More than of girls’ soccer concussions are reccuring

1 in 5 high school atheletes will suffer a concussion

4 to 5 million

concussions occur annually

3,800,000

concussions reported in 2012, double what was reported in 2002

33% 33% of athletes who have sustained a concussion report two or more in the same year information courtesy of

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov concussiontreatment.com

Countless Concussions

feature 19

Freshman Libby Frye will not get the chance to play high school soccer because of numerous concussions. written by Ellie Booton

photo by Abby Hans

A

month had passed and it was still happening.

The pain, the pounding in her head that shifted her focus from biology class to the pulse in her brain.

If someone found out that her head still hurt, she may never touch a ball again.

She looked back down at her notes — this time, nobody could know. * * * Freshman Libby Frye got her first concussion in fifth grade.

A tackle at soccer practice led to a mix of arms and legs and a whiplashed head, which would later be examined in the E.R. Her next concussion was a launch off of a playground swing, proving that she could in fact jump the farthest. Her prize: a face full of wood chips and a second concussion.

With her fourth came warnings of an end to her soccer career, and yet she still played with the same tenacity, jeopardizing her health for a win.

Headaches remained a secret, dizziness a hush. She refused to let a bump on her head keep her on the bench.

What she didn’t know was the long term consequences she could have faced. She could have faced an inability to complete a full day of school or read a passage out loud in English. She could’ve had to spend most of her day in a dark room trying not to think too hard, so she wouldn’t permanently damage her brain.

“Your brain has to heal just like any other part of your body,” Principal John McKinney said. “Until you stop and take

photo illustration by Claire Pottenger

it easy, your brain can’t begin to heal.”

As a high school athlete, head soccer coach Jamie Kelly didn’t make his injuries a main concern, either. He was the player who prioritized his desire to play over his health, he too, ignored the aches and migraines.

“The hard part for athletes is being honest with [themselves], because [concussions aren’t] something [coaches] can see,” Kelly said. “We can see a broken arm, we can see a hurt knee, we can’t see inside the head.”

Without the equipment to officially see inside her head and diagnose a concussion, the state of Kansas’s standard for concussion treatment had her in a five-step road to recovery.

Phase one: a mile on the track. Phase two: two miles. Phase three: squats and pushups, and four: practice with little to no contact. Phase five: all-in. But if the headaches, dizziness or nausea flared up again, it was back to square one.

Yet even after her recovery process, continuing to play was risky.

It’s like standing on train tracks, her mother Amy Frye explained. Maybe she won’t get hit, maybe she will.

And on Aug. 5 of last year, that train hit Libby.

She was sitting criss cross on the ground when a friend tripped behind her and slammed her knee into the back of her head. An accident, but this blow would prompt her dreaded visit to the doctor’s.

“My mom came home crying that night, she just wanted me to talk to her

about it,” Libby said. “And I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”

Libby would never play soccer again, her doctor told her. He also told her that her parents had no say in the decision either, that his choice was final.

“The worst part for a parent is the helpless feeling that there’s nothing we can do about it,” Frye said. “Usually when you attack a problem you can come up with a plan as a family and fix it. But theres no way I can fix it for her. And so I have to watch her just be sad.”

Sad. Sad that she would never again feel the glory of a game-winning goal, sad that her Monday and Wednesday nights would now only consist of biology homework and sad that she would never fulfill her dream of being a four-year varsity player.

“I was very excited to see her potential to do great things here and help us out,” Kelly said. “And even though she can’t help us out on the field, she has other options to be a part of the team.”

But with those options comes reliving the daunting questions that already run through her head. Why me? Why am I not out there? Why am I not playing?

While Libby may never know those answers, she’ll still be rooting for her teammates. Only, this time, by setting up goals and shagging balls as a manager for varsity.

“You’ve got one brain, and we need to take care of it,” McKinney said. “Because we’re not just talking about right now, were talking about the rest of your life.”

What happens and where?

First Impact: Concussions occur when the head is jolted and causes the frontal lobe to hit the skull. This then causes swelling, torn tissue and bruises

Secondary Impact: The brain

then crashes to the other end of the brain, injuring the occipital lobe.

20 spread

LANCERS CELEBRATE ACROSS CULTURES

A FESTIVAL

written by Daniel Rinner

“EVERYONE IS SO USED TO THINGS LIKE CHRISTMAS AND EASTER WHERE THIS HOLIDAY IS SUPER DIFFERENT.”

A SACRIFICE

written by Katie Hise

“PARTICIPATING IN LENT AND KNOWING I HAVE FAITH HELPS ME KEEP THE CHURCH IN MY LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.”

Senior Shrusti Mehta celbrates the Hindu festival of Holi with her family Clouds of colored powder fly from the crowd around senior Shrushti Mehta in early spring. Her face is already dusted in red, purple and blue. She takes a handful of powder from the packet in her own hand and throws the dye at another Hindu celebrator outside of the temple.

Kids run with water guns and a hose, adding streams of water to the chaotic fog of powdered paint. Mehta and her cousins spot a tall white man who sticks out in the mostly Indian crowd, and dare her little sister to go pour water on him.

This Hindu celebration, called Holi, happens every year across India to mark the coming of spring, but Shrushti’s not in India. She’s in a parking lot at 63rd and Lackman Rd. in Shawnee, Kansas. * * * Members of Kansas City’s Hindu community gather every year to commemorate Holi, the festival of colors, on the same date as thousands others in southern Asia. KC India Mart and other Indian specialty stores around the area stock shelves with the packets of dry, powdered paint in preparation.

Mehta’s parents started bringing her to the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City on Sundays and for special holidays like Holi when she was little. Now she goes to the festival

LANCERS CELEBRATE ACROSS CULTURES

photos by James Wooldridge

with her cousins.

“My parents don’t like to come because of the messiness of the holiday itself,” Mehta said. “It’s not your older, traditional people crowd.”

The celebration begins late in the morning on a day marked by the lunar calendar, March 6 this year. People start by smearing the color on each other’s faces and keep adding powder until they are throwing it through the air by the handful.

Once the dust has settled, a bonfire begins in the parking lot. Peas and popcorn thrown in the fire make snapping sounds as people walk around covered in layers of bright color.

Though it’s still early in the afternoon, they use the fire to warm up on cold days late in Kansas City’s winter.

Meanwhile, Northern India is normally 30 degrees hotter than Kansas City. People pour dump buckets of water on each other, and pack the streets to commemorate the Hindu tradition.

Although the celebrations are not as huge, Kansas City’s Holi festival draws Indian-Americans and Non-Hindus every year.

“It’s a unique thing that I’m a part of,” Shrushti said. “Everyone is so used to things like Christmas and Easter where this holiday is super different.”

“MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY THAT LIVES IN KANSAS CITY WILL ALL COME TOGETHER TO CALL OUR RELATIVES IN CHINA.”

Freshman Martha Sniezek observes the Christian holiday of Lent Sitting in the cafeteria, eating, chatting with friends. A typical Friday. Freshman Martha Sniezek pulls out her sandwich to eat.

“Ugh, Mom! I can’t have this!”

It was a turkey sandwich.

The Sniezeks are a Catholic family who participate in the holiday of Lent.

This is a Christian holiday that lasts for 40 days and is a time of forgiveness and preparation for Easter. One aspect of the holiday is no meat on Fridays to celebrate Good Friday.

Lent is all about commemorating Jesus’ sacrifice, so it is common to give up something and sacrifice in His name.

The holiday begins on Palm Sunday, which celebrates when Jesus entered Jerusalem. The next important day is Ash Wednesday. It celebrates the beginning of fasting. Before work and school, Catholic families go to mass. There, the priest will have a bowl of blessed ashes. These are the palm leaves from Palm Sunday burned up. He will dip his thumb the bowl and spread them into a cross on each person’s forehead and recite “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” referring to Genesis, a book of the Bible.

The holiday finishes on Easter, the day Christ was resurrected.

“Lent is a way to reconnect me to the Church,” Sniezek said. “It re-

A BEGINNING

written by Daniel Rinner

minds me to follow the morals of Catholicism throughout the year and has opened my eyes to things beyond what I thought I knew about my faith.”

Sniezek’s father, Bob, grew up and raised his kids in the Catholic religion. They have attended St. Ann Catholic Parish Church and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), a program through the Catholic Church that provides religious education.

Personally, Sniezek has given up or added something every year during Lent. This year she is not giving anything up but praying every day, while last year she gave up candy.

Lent is 40 days of sacrifice to praise Jesus Christ.

“Participating in Lent and knowing I have faith helps me keep the Church in my life throughout the year,” Sniezek said.

AN IDENTITY

written by Katie Hise

“IT’S CELEBRATING BEING WHO YOU ARE AND THAT YOU’RE PROUD OF THAT.”

Senior Clara Ma celebrates the Chinese New Year here in the States Huddled around a telephone, the Ma family waits for the long-distance call to connect. The ringing suddenly stops and out comes a “nín hâo?”

“Xīnnián kuàilè!” Happy New Year!

Senior Clara Ma is on the phone with her grandparents to wish them a Happy New Year — but it’s not Jan. 1. The Ma family celebrates Chinese New Year, which took place on Feb. 19 this year.

The main idea of the holiday, for Ma, is to come together with family. To her, it’s the perfect time to connect with relatives over 7,000 miles away.

“My immediate family that lives in Kansas City will all come together to call our relatives in China,” Ma said.

“We will first call our grandparents, the eldest in the family, as a sign of respect.”

Another tradition the Ma family has is to make “nian gao”, which is the Chinese New Year cake. Prepared with sticky rice, this dessert is made year round, but most commonly around the holiday. The Ma family gets together every year to make the cake together.

Along with the baking, it is a tradition to wear red, the color for good luck and fortune. The Ma’s wear red as much as they can to celebrate.

The Spring Festival, often referred to as the Chinese New Year, is a time

spread 21

for celebration and wishing people a happy and healthy new year. In Kansas City, the performances at the the Kansas City Chinese American Association (KCCAA) are one of the only authentic celebrations for the Spring Festival, according to Ma. Ranging from acrobats to singers, the performances help create a festive atmosphere for Chinese natives.

Dancing, magic and playing of the “erhu,” a traditional Chinese instrument, are all elements KCCAA has to make sure Chinese people feel at home for the most important holiday of the Lunar year.

Each of the 15 days of the New Year has a theme. For example, the first day is a celebration of the year, the second is visiting family and the eleventh is a day where fathers-in-law entertain sons-in-law.

The final day of the New Year is the Lantern Festival. This marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated by releasing paper lanterns into the sky and setting off fireworks. It’s the end of the holiday, but the beginning of a season.

Senior Margo Hellman enjoys the Jewish holiday Purim every year Jewish tradition teaches that Jews in Persia were a day away from execution by a top adviser to the king named Haman more than 2,000 years ago. The genocide was only averted when the secretly-Jewish queen, Esther, risked death by revealing her religion.

Judaism commemorates this day every year with a holiday called Purim. For senior Margo Hellman, it’s a celebration of Jewish identity.

“The holiday itself is supposed to celebrate being Jewish and being proud of it,” Hellman said.

Kids wear costumes during an evening of celebration to mimic Esther’s hidden identity. Similar to Halloween, costumes can be anything.

The last time Hellman participated, she went as a chili pepper.

Even though there are many Jews who do not celebrate this holiday, Hellman attends with her family almost every year. She understands why other families don’t stay in the habit of celebrating each smaller holiday in the year.

“I think for kids, it’s just a fun thing,” Hellman said. “You eat a lot of food. For adults, it’s the same thing over and over again.”

At the synagogue, a typical ser-

vice is always followed by a play on Pirum. Involved adults in the synagogue perform the roles of the story behind the holiday.

“Costumes are just whatever you can throw on,” Hellman said. “It’s supposed to be balanced between funny and dramatic.”

Synagogue volunteers read the story from the Megillah, the holy text that tells the story of Jews in Persia.

When the speaker reads the name of the man nearly responsible for the genocide, Haman, children boo and the audience uses noisemakers.

“It’s kind of a ploy to keep kids interested during the play,” Hellman said.

Ploy or not, the story includes themes of bravery, salvation and pride in Jewish heritage.

“It resonates because it’s celebrating being who you are and that you’re proud of that,” Hellman said. “I’m proud of who I am, how I was raised and what I believe in.”

20 spread

LANCERS CELEBRATE ACROSS CULTURES

A FESTIVAL

written by Daniel Rinner

“EVERYONE IS SO USED TO THINGS LIKE CHRISTMAS AND EASTER WHERE THIS HOLIDAY IS SUPER DIFFERENT.”

A SACRIFICE

written by Katie Hise

“PARTICIPATING IN LENT AND KNOWING I HAVE FAITH HELPS ME KEEP THE CHURCH IN MY LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.”

Senior Shrusti Mehta celbrates the Hindu festival of Holi with her family Clouds of colored powder fly from the crowd around senior Shrushti Mehta in early spring. Her face is already dusted in red, purple and blue. She takes a handful of powder from the packet in her own hand and throws the dye at another Hindu celebrator outside of the temple.

Kids run with water guns and a hose, adding streams of water to the chaotic fog of powdered paint. Mehta and her cousins spot a tall white man who sticks out in the mostly Indian crowd, and dare her little sister to go pour water on him.

This Hindu celebration, called Holi, happens every year across India to mark the coming of spring, but Shrushti’s not in India. She’s in a parking lot at 63rd and Lackman Rd. in Shawnee, Kansas. * * * Members of Kansas City’s Hindu community gather every year to commemorate Holi, the festival of colors, on the same date as thousands others in southern Asia. KC India Mart and other Indian specialty stores around the area stock shelves with the packets of dry, powdered paint in preparation.

Mehta’s parents started bringing her to the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City on Sundays and for special holidays like Holi when she was little. Now she goes to the festival

LANCERS CELEBRATE ACROSS CULTURES

photos by James Wooldridge

with her cousins.

“My parents don’t like to come because of the messiness of the holiday itself,” Mehta said. “It’s not your older, traditional people crowd.”

The celebration begins late in the morning on a day marked by the lunar calendar, March 6 this year. People start by smearing the color on each other’s faces and keep adding powder until they are throwing it through the air by the handful.

Once the dust has settled, a bonfire begins in the parking lot. Peas and popcorn thrown in the fire make snapping sounds as people walk around covered in layers of bright color.

Though it’s still early in the afternoon, they use the fire to warm up on cold days late in Kansas City’s winter.

Meanwhile, Northern India is normally 30 degrees hotter than Kansas City. People pour dump buckets of water on each other, and pack the streets to commemorate the Hindu tradition.

Although the celebrations are not as huge, Kansas City’s Holi festival draws Indian-Americans and Non-Hindus every year.

“It’s a unique thing that I’m a part of,” Shrushti said. “Everyone is so used to things like Christmas and Easter where this holiday is super different.”

“MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY THAT LIVES IN KANSAS CITY WILL ALL COME TOGETHER TO CALL OUR RELATIVES IN CHINA.”

Freshman Martha Sniezek observes the Christian holiday of Lent Sitting in the cafeteria, eating, chatting with friends. A typical Friday. Freshman Martha Sniezek pulls out her sandwich to eat.

“Ugh, Mom! I can’t have this!”

It was a turkey sandwich.

The Sniezeks are a Catholic family who participate in the holiday of Lent.

This is a Christian holiday that lasts for 40 days and is a time of forgiveness and preparation for Easter. One aspect of the holiday is no meat on Fridays to celebrate Good Friday.

Lent is all about commemorating Jesus’ sacrifice, so it is common to give up something and sacrifice in His name.

The holiday begins on Palm Sunday, which celebrates when Jesus entered Jerusalem. The next important day is Ash Wednesday. It celebrates the beginning of fasting. Before work and school, Catholic families go to mass. There, the priest will have a bowl of blessed ashes. These are the palm leaves from Palm Sunday burned up. He will dip his thumb the bowl and spread them into a cross on each person’s forehead and recite “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” referring to Genesis, a book of the Bible.

The holiday finishes on Easter, the day Christ was resurrected.

“Lent is a way to reconnect me to the Church,” Sniezek said. “It re-

A BEGINNING

written by Daniel Rinner

minds me to follow the morals of Catholicism throughout the year and has opened my eyes to things beyond what I thought I knew about my faith.”

Sniezek’s father, Bob, grew up and raised his kids in the Catholic religion. They have attended St. Ann Catholic Parish Church and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), a program through the Catholic Church that provides religious education.

Personally, Sniezek has given up or added something every year during Lent. This year she is not giving anything up but praying every day, while last year she gave up candy.

Lent is 40 days of sacrifice to praise Jesus Christ.

“Participating in Lent and knowing I have faith helps me keep the Church in my life throughout the year,” Sniezek said.

AN IDENTITY

written by Katie Hise

“IT’S CELEBRATING BEING WHO YOU ARE AND THAT YOU’RE PROUD OF THAT.”

Senior Clara Ma celebrates the Chinese New Year here in the States Huddled around a telephone, the Ma family waits for the long-distance call to connect. The ringing suddenly stops and out comes a “nín hâo?”

“Xīnnián kuàilè!” Happy New Year!

Senior Clara Ma is on the phone with her grandparents to wish them a Happy New Year — but it’s not Jan. 1. The Ma family celebrates Chinese New Year, which took place on Feb. 19 this year.

The main idea of the holiday, for Ma, is to come together with family. To her, it’s the perfect time to connect with relatives over 7,000 miles away.

“My immediate family that lives in Kansas City will all come together to call our relatives in China,” Ma said.

“We will first call our grandparents, the eldest in the family, as a sign of respect.”

Another tradition the Ma family has is to make “nian gao”, which is the Chinese New Year cake. Prepared with sticky rice, this dessert is made year round, but most commonly around the holiday. The Ma family gets together every year to make the cake together.

Along with the baking, it is a tradition to wear red, the color for good luck and fortune. The Ma’s wear red as much as they can to celebrate.

The Spring Festival, often referred to as the Chinese New Year, is a time

spread 21

for celebration and wishing people a happy and healthy new year. In Kansas City, the performances at the the Kansas City Chinese American Association (KCCAA) are one of the only authentic celebrations for the Spring Festival, according to Ma. Ranging from acrobats to singers, the performances help create a festive atmosphere for Chinese natives.

Dancing, magic and playing of the “erhu,” a traditional Chinese instrument, are all elements KCCAA has to make sure Chinese people feel at home for the most important holiday of the Lunar year.

Each of the 15 days of the New Year has a theme. For example, the first day is a celebration of the year, the second is visiting family and the eleventh is a day where fathers-in-law entertain sons-in-law.

The final day of the New Year is the Lantern Festival. This marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated by releasing paper lanterns into the sky and setting off fireworks. It’s the end of the holiday, but the beginning of a season.

Senior Margo Hellman enjoys the Jewish holiday Purim every year Jewish tradition teaches that Jews in Persia were a day away from execution by a top adviser to the king named Haman more than 2,000 years ago. The genocide was only averted when the secretly-Jewish queen, Esther, risked death by revealing her religion.

Judaism commemorates this day every year with a holiday called Purim. For senior Margo Hellman, it’s a celebration of Jewish identity.

“The holiday itself is supposed to celebrate being Jewish and being proud of it,” Hellman said.

Kids wear costumes during an evening of celebration to mimic Esther’s hidden identity. Similar to Halloween, costumes can be anything.

The last time Hellman participated, she went as a chili pepper.

Even though there are many Jews who do not celebrate this holiday, Hellman attends with her family almost every year. She understands why other families don’t stay in the habit of celebrating each smaller holiday in the year.

“I think for kids, it’s just a fun thing,” Hellman said. “You eat a lot of food. For adults, it’s the same thing over and over again.”

At the synagogue, a typical ser-

vice is always followed by a play on Pirum. Involved adults in the synagogue perform the roles of the story behind the holiday.

“Costumes are just whatever you can throw on,” Hellman said. “It’s supposed to be balanced between funny and dramatic.”

Synagogue volunteers read the story from the Megillah, the holy text that tells the story of Jews in Persia.

When the speaker reads the name of the man nearly responsible for the genocide, Haman, children boo and the audience uses noisemakers.

“It’s kind of a ploy to keep kids interested during the play,” Hellman said.

Ploy or not, the story includes themes of bravery, salvation and pride in Jewish heritage.

“It resonates because it’s celebrating being who you are and that you’re proud of that,” Hellman said. “I’m proud of who I am, how I was raised and what I believe in.”

22 feature

right

photo by Haley Bell

Cole, 15-yearsold, with his mom and dog, Libby

left Cole, threeyears-old, sits with his dad

Keeping Connected Freshman Cole Machovsky has kept in contact with his birth mom while living with his adopted family since he was born

Family Photos

*name changed to protect identity

below

Cole, three-years-old, sits with his mom

above

Cole, 13-years-old, vacations in Minnesota with his mom and dad

below

Cole, five years old

above

Cole, six-months-old, with his mom and dad

photos courtesy of The Machovsky Family

written by Ava Backer

Staring out the car window, Cole Machovsky watches meant, Cole’s parents explained to him that he was adopted. the rows of green summer crops flit by, almost rhythmically. Cole didn’t think much of it, and he never has much. Cole Most of his car rides to northern Iowa consist of thinking hasn’t shied away from talking about the specific details of back over the past couple of years -- about grades, friends, his birth and adoption with anyone who will ask. He never sports, more grades, more sports. Cole Machovsky thinks expected or worried about being judged, and it hasn’t hapcarefully, reminding himself that moms tend to ask a lot of pened. questions.

“There’s no reason people should. It doesn’t make me any Cole is one his way to visit his birth mother, Anna*. different from anyone else,” Cole said.

Applebee’s isn’t exactly ideal for family functions, but Cole said his life doesn’t differ from that of non-adopted considering they are in the middle of nowhere it’s alright. kids. He still gets out of bed in the morning and does normal There, Anna joins Cole and his parents, and they talk. Cole teenager things. His life talks about sports and adjusting to middle school. Anna “This is what I’ve always known,” Cole said. talks about getting married, getting Since birth, he has lived with his settled and managing her toddler. mom, dad, dog and cat. He plays The usual small talk concludes What’s so great about what happened is she baseball, basketball and football. He’s and then they say their goodbyes. As decided to put Cole first and knew she wasn’t able grateful for the opportunities he has Cole gets back in the car to continue to take care of him, and so she chose adoption. and all the people in his life that care his trip to visit relatives in Minnesofor him.

-Jill Machovsky said. ta, he thinks how easily his life could “My parents have always been rehave been different, if Anna had kept ally cool and they give me opportuniCole for her own. ties to play the sports I want to play.”

At 15, Cole is already three years older than Anna was “He’s been with us since he was born, since the very when she had him. get-go, and it’s funny because when he was born everyone “She was young. Just young,” Jill Machovsky, Cole’s thought he looked just like Scott. He’s stocky, he was a big, mother, said. “What’s so great about what happened is she big kid, he was like off the charts with height and weight,” decided to put Cole first and knew she wasn’t able to take Jill said. “He has a lot of my characteristics as well just from care of him, and so she chose adoption. Abortion was never living with us all his life.” an option.”

Cole’s maternal grandmother was adxvopted and is an Because Cole’s adoption terms are open, they have the only child, like him. Cole said that he could imagine adoptopportunity to keep in contact with Anna. ing in the future.

Jill and Anna are friends on Facebook and have traded “Although, I haven’t given much thought to it yet...” he letters and pictures for years. She is always happy to see said. “I think it’s a good thing for parents that can’t have chilwhat Cole is doing and how he’s changing. dren, and important for kids who don’t have good parents As for Cole’s birth father, the two have never met before. [to] get a good home so they don’t end up moving house to Cole and his family don’t know much about him, but neither house.” did Anna when she was pregnant.

“We could probably dig a little bit but Cole hasn’t shown much interest in finding that information as of yet,” Jill said.

As soon as he was old enough to understand what it

Getting Cozy Cozy’s Cafe provides a delicious European-style experience desipte a low profile

I

almost missed it. Even when I was looking for it across 75th Street from Petco, I had to make a sharp turn with no signal when I saw the small yellow and blue sign pointing to Cozy’s Cafe.

Parking in one of the eight total spots in front of the building, I got out of the car and for a second wondered if it was open.

If the look of the outside had matched the taste of the food, though, I would’ve been walking into a cafe nestled between cobblestoned European side streets.

After being told to choose any of the empty tables along the blind-covered windows, I sat down and felt rapid-fire hunger stabs each time something on the menu sounded delicious. Cozy’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day, so I had to fight to keep my eyes trained to the breakfast side of the menu.

For every run-of-the-mill option, there were two items on the menu that betrayed the restaurant’s European roots. A French bread sandwich stacked with havarti cheese, prosciutto and eggs followed the biscuits and gravy and preceded the oatmeal.

Omelettes varied from ham and cheddar to spinach, feta cheese and roasted pepper. Stacks of pancakes sat alongside Nutella crepes, and a caramelized apple pancake followed the breakfast burrito.

Kozeta Kreka owns the restaurant and her nickname gives it its namesake. An Al-

banian immigrant, she told me her restaurant is a re-imagined European bistro cafe.

She works six days a week, off of a menu based on farm-to-table ingredients which change seasonally. And, yes, I could taste the difference between my happy-looking orange eggs and IHOP’s dull yellow ones.

I’m a firm believer that the way a restaurant makes an eggs benedict speaks volumes about their overall quality, from the runniness of the eggs to the thickness of the hollandaise sauce.

So I ordered it with a coffee. The juxtapositions continued from the menu to the decor. Rich paintings of Venetian canals and what I imagine pre-Soviet Eastern Europe looked like hung on plain brick walls.

A diner-style counter continued from a display of house-made baklava. Vases of fresh flowers adorned bare wooden tables.

My eggs benedict arrived, and I’m completely serious when I say I moaned. I ate with my eyes first, drinking in all of the bright colors that made up this first impression. My fruit cup had smallcut strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cantaloupe, none of which had the watered-down, oversized look characteristic of mass-produced Costco produce. They were vivid.

And I could tell Cozy’s meant business with their eggs benedict. There was no weak drizzling of hollandaise, or the the spiced egg-yolk-and-butter sauce of the

gods, on my plate. My egg-and-prosciuttotopped English muffins were drenched.

Hence my auditory reaction. The colors on my plate intensified when I cut into the first one and a cooked-to-perfection poached egg bled yolk in an eye-watering shade of orange.

When I stopped gawking and started shoveling, I knew I was inhaling the best eggs benedict of my career as an eggs benedict eater. Salty prosciutto mixed with cayenne pepper-flavored and buttery hollandaise, and added to a hearty English muffin and eggs, whose taste I can only describe as intensely eggy. Tiny blueberries exploded with flavor, and the strawberries had enough juice to offset their bitterness.

It was, in short, super good.

More fresh coffee sealed a delicious but short-lived meal. That is, until Kozeta brought us a crème brûlée. She saw my East sweatshirt and said it was on the house, telling us her kids graduated years ago and went on to college at K-State. So we unceremoniously stabbed through the seared sugar coating and dug up the refreshing chilled custard.

A gulp of hot coffee got me ready to face the snow, and I signed over my allowance knowing that it wouldn’t be the last time. I walked out the door, vowing to make Cozy’s Cafe known to East kids who don’t know about the jewel tucked between power lines and a jewelry shop

Above: the Creme Brulee with a strawberrys and blackberrys.

out of

5 stars

Above: The eggs benedict served on an English muffin with prosciutto, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce.

out of

5 stars

24 a&e

SUGAR &SPICE and everything nice Unassuming Mexican bakery offers sweet surprise in its delicious pastries and affordable prices

written by Elaine Chamberlain photos by Kaitlyn Stratman

G

oing to Bonito Michoacan made me regret giving up chocolate for Lent. As I browsed the shelves of baked goods, my eye was continually drawn to gooey, delicious-looking and decidedly chocolatey concoctions.

I noticed during my exploration of the goodies lining the walls that Bonito Michoacan had an authentic feel to it. The entire place was colorful with Mexican decorations I couldn’t name, and there was really catchy Latin music playing. The bakery managed to create an appealing atmosphere despite a somewhat unfamiliar location in the middle of Kansas City, Kansas.

I had several people ask me for baked goods when they heard I was going to a Mexican bakery, which was something none of us had really heard of before. I ac-

2 1 3

tually wouldn’t have known about it in the first place except for the fact that my dad sometimes stops there on his way home from work to get fresh tortillas on the nights we have tacos for dinner. Having a sweet tooth, I wanted to go myself and try some other things the bakery had to offer.

After roaming around for a while, I managed to appreciate all the other colorful, chocolate-free Mexican pastries. I eventually decided on a coconut treat, a pink pastry called conchos, and a large sugary donut. All three items I bought were twice as large as a normal donut, and when the woman charged me $2.81 at the register I thought it was a mistake. I had been hoping my $10 bill would stretch to afford my purchases and here I was spending under a dollar per pastry. There was no mistake: this was actually the price, and gratefully I proceeded to sample what

I had bought. I thought there was no way I would finish all three.

First, I tore off part of the sugary donut to try and it quite literally melted in my mouth. It was light and fluffy and not doughy like other donuts I’ve had previously. My impulse was to finish the rest right then and there but I remembered that I should probably try the other two things sitting in front of me.

So next I sampled the conchos. It was not quite as sweet as the donut, and there was a distinct undertone in the flavor that I can’t exactly describe. At this point I realized that it must be called a conchos because the pink decorations on the surface made it look like a conch shell.

Finally, I tried the coconut pastry. The bready part wasn’t all that sweet aside from the coconut flakes on top, but the custard in the middle was creamy and delicious. Being a coconut person, I loved it.

My photographer and I finished all three between us with no shame whatsoever, and once I was done I hardly remembered being disappointed about not being able to get anything chocolate. The issue was that as I finished I realized how crumbly the pastries had been. The bakery did not offer any plates, so I had set my donuts on the plastic bag the employee had put them in. There was sugar all over my hands and probably my face, which is to say nothing of the crumbs all over the table. My one complaint about Bonito Michoacan is that their napkins are definitely not big enough.

After a lackluster job of sweeping the crumbs into the plastic bag, we selected two chocolate-frosted donuts to take home for our respective siblings. Had I not been stuffed with I-don’t-even-want-to-knowhow-many calories, my brothers would have received a slab of chocolate frosting with all the donut eaten out from underneath. Seriously, this stuff was tasty.

I left Bonito Michoacan wishing there was a place like it closer to my house so I could go back more often. But in spite of the 18-minute drive, I will probably end up going back way sooner than I should with all the people who put in requests for baked goods. And we will probably eat enough pastries to feed a starving thirdworld country, without any guilt. It’s hard to regret eating massive donuts when they’re one dollar apiece.

A MEATY MEAL Westport’s Char Bar Smoked Meats provides a satisfying and filling barbecue experience

a&e 25

written by Jessica Parker

I

nitial reaction to when the waiter set down my plate of bread and meat: scared.

The good kind of scared. The “I don’t think I can fit my food into my mouth” kind of scared.

As a Kansas Citian, I have high standards for barbecue.

Char Bar Smoked Meats, the Southern-inspired barbecue joint in Westport is a dressycasual restaurant. Recommendation: do not dress down too much; I felt a bit out of place in my sweats and T-shirt.

Once inside the restaurant, our job was easy: eat. For us, the getting there aspect was difficult. It may be just because I am directionally challenged, but it took my friend and I a good extra 15 minutes and rerouting our Google Maps three or four times until we parked. The restaurant is located on Pennsylvania Ave across from a brick building covered in graffiti art and Frank & Bob’s Complete Auto Service shop.

It’s half-bar, half-restaurant. Outside is their 10,000-square-foot beer garden open to all ages equipped with picnic tables, lawn croquet and

bocce court, tire swings, two outdoor fire pits and a large patio bar.

We were immediately greeted by two ice waters, a cheery waiter and a full explanation of the menu top to bottom just as we took our seat. This may have been because we were two out of nine people in the restaurant at 4 p.m..

We chose the waiter’s appetizer recommendation number three: Smoked Chicken Mac Nuggets. No, it is not chicken nuggets stuffed with mac and cheese. Simply just about five generously-sized golden chicken nuggets alongside four dipping sauces — still not a disappointment. Dipping sauce one: buffalo mayo, a mild mayonnaise-based sauce with a spicy kick for an aftertaste. Two: spicy barbecue, just like it sounds — a steamy sauce that is sure to cause a runny nose. Three: buttermilk chive, a nice and sweet sauce provided most likely to cool the mouth down after the spicy barbecue. Sauce four: Carolina gold, a homemade honey mustard sauce.

For myself I ordered the Burnt Heaven: smoked burnt ends and sausage with fried jalapenos, chipotle barbecue mayo and creamy coleslaw on an egg bun.

I will admit it; I am picky. When I told him to hold the jalapenos, barbecue mayo and coleslaw and essentially bring me just a plate with bread and meat he didn’t seem to mind.

The saying “never eat anything that is bigger than your

face”, became quite relevant with this sandwich...although it did not stop me from eating it. The garnishes on the side, pickled cucumbers and onions, became invisible in the midst of the mile-high meat pile next to them.

I am also, admittedly, very anti-leftover. Good food never tastes the same the next day, so I say spare the room in the fridge for more cookie dough or juice boxes. However, I was not about to leave half of my sandwich for the dumpster behind the building. The next day at school I was thinking about the leftover box more than my algebra notes, and praying my dad wouldn’t finish it for me. FYI: Char Bar’s meat is just as great the next day.

Hard to believe, I know, but the food wasn’t the only component that was impressive. The hardwood floors, brick walls and iron handrails played a strong role in the Southern atmosphere.

The employees wore nice flannel button downs, a small detail but added a nice touch. The wait staff was very courteous and helpful, and maybe it was because we came at 4 p.m. and the amount of customers in the restaurant was under 15 including us, but we got our food very quickly.

We split the bill, and I cringed a bit when I saw we had to each pay $17.38. Pushing the “expensive” line for a high school student, but totally worth it.

Chances are, you will be paying for more than one meal with that $20.

on the menu below cheesy “hushpuppies” a spicy appetizer with stone-ground grits fritters, beer blanc and jalapeño jam

above burnt heaven a sandwich with smoked burnt ends, smoked sausage, fried jalapeños, chipotle barbecue mayo, creamy slaw and an egg bun

photos by Sabrina Staires, courtesy of Char Bar Smoked Meats

2

below creamed asparagus on toast a breakfast starter with wood-grilled asparagus, fontina cream, soft poached egg, smoky hollandaise and toasted farmbread

26 photoessay

A

FEB. 27, 2015

FEB. 26, 2015

photo by Annie Lomshek

photo by Haley Bell

WEEK

INPHOTOS

FEB. 22, 2015

photo by Callie McPhail

MARCH 3, 2015

photo by Hailey Hughes

photo by Annika Sink

FEB. 19, 2015 FEB. 19, 2015

Coalition put on their annual “Love 146” concert to raise donations and awareness for human trafficking.

David Muhammad is not only the coalition sponsor, but has put on the event for six years. “Our six bands did a great job and there was a huge student turnout,” Muhammad said. “It’s really headed in the right direction, and we are appreciative of all the support.”

The concert raised $1,000 in total.

FEB. 22, 2015 Boy’s swimming won their first state title in over four years. Senior Benn Schmatz was confident and had a good feeling about winning. “We worked much harder this year than we have in the past, and it really paid off,” Schmatz said. “Unlike Blue Valley North, we came into the second day ready and relaxed because we knew we trained harder and smarter than they did.”

FEB. 26, 2015 Freshman Cole Machovsky goes for a rebound during the SM South game. The Freshman Boy’s basketball team beat South 61-60 with the winning shot by Joseph Brouillette.

“We were down by eight with two minutes left and our team just got so hot and started flying around and we couldn’t be stopped,” Machovsky said. “The play went the wrong way as planned but by Joseph’s shot I had a feeling it was going to go in.”

FEB. 27, 2015

Science teacher Sue Hallstrom drinks her coffee during her chemistry hour. “I like the variety I have in my day,” Hallstrom said.

“I am teaching Chemistry Honors, Chemistry and Physical Science. I get to do physics, chemistry and a variety of labs. I have students with interests and scientific aptitude from the entire spectrum.”

MARCH 3, 2015

Varsity Drill Team gets ready to leave for nationals in Orlando, Florida. They will compete in the Large Varsity Jazz and Large Varsity Hip-Hop categories. The last national championship they won was in 2013 for jazz. “I am really excited this year especially because it’s the last time for us seniors,” senior Audrey Phillips said. “We are feeling really good about how much work we have put into both dances.”

A

discover

Noodles, noodles, noodles

Disappointing Discovery

a&e 27

written by Olivia Favreau

Total Time: 25 min Prep: 20 min Yield: feeds 2-4

U

R

eceiving a notification that I have an app update has started to bring me a sense of apprehension. It’s a feeling of “hoping for the best but expecting the worst.” But with the recent Snapchat Discover update, I was genuinely excited.

The idea that new content from your favorite channels would be right at your

nlike the other Discover channels, National Geographic has been a champion. This channel fully embraced the visual aspect of Snapchat, providing stunning photos and videos from interesting places around the world.

By becoming a Discover channel, National Geographic has brought themselves not only a new audience, but also renewed an old one. I personally never subscribed to National Geographic, but when I got the chance I would read their magazines. Now that it’s a Discover channel, I “tune” in almost every day.

It’s simple, informative and doesn’t jump at you with the audio. It educates without it feeling forced and covers a variety of topics from cultural celebrations to deep sea animals.

My two favorite things about National Geographic are their video stories and their photo essays. The video stories provide a quick and easy way to learn something new that you might not have considered before. How many people can say that they would have watched a video about transporting sewage before the National Geographic Discover channel?

The National Geographic channel guides you through articles, videos, photo essays and quizzes. One particular photo essay that really made an impact was “The Glow of Vietnam.” This is something I would have never known about or personally sought out, and now I know much more about that beautiful country across the globe. By integrating traditional background information and interviews from photo subjects, the story of this country is truly illustrated The most striking image was of a barber set up on the street. He’s sitting in front of a mural that he painted himself and beside him hangs a mirror attached to a tree. It is a simple photo that gives you the perspective of how this traditional practice is still being carried out even in a modernized country.

T

fingertips, it sounds good in theory. But I’ve fully explored the app, and I’ve found that it has only reached its full potential with National Geographic. The rest of the channels fall to mediocrity. Two shining stars have found their way to the top of my hate list: Cosmopolitan and People.

he addition of Cosmo into the Discover feature seemed like a bad idea from the start. I understand that Snapchat’s 13-25 age demographics, according to Business Insider, would give Cosmo the 18-25 age group they are looking for. Despite this I still think that 13-year-olds shouldn’t be exposed to the sexist, sexual and shaming content that Cosmo promotes.

My hatred of children having access to Cosmo’s content may be unique to me because the closest thing I had to a magazine as a kid was The Week, a news magazine. With that said, I can’t imagine the mental image of a younger sibling reading Cosmo is any less cringey to anyone else.

Normally I wouldn’t be so gung-ho about “protecting the children.” I feel that, at least with the sexual references in Cosmo, kids are going to find out about this stuff on their own anyway. The issue that I really have with this app being on Discover is less that it is exposing kids to references of sex and sexual acts and more that it exposes them to sexist views and encourages bullying.

Allow me to give you an example.

On Feb. 19, there was a Cosmo article written about Kate Middleton’s “up-do accidentally putting her gray on display.”

Putting aside the fact that this was considered newsworthy and a complete double standard, I mean everyone loves a handsome man with salt and pepper hair. Am I right?

Within that same week Kate Middleton was in a video showing her support for Place2Be. Place2Be is a non-profit organization that is working on a campaign encouraging people to tackle their child’s mental illness as they would physical illness, not allowing for it to be dismissed.

But now the first story will be more available to a larger audience. Having Cosmo as one of the options on the Discover feature shows the Snapchat audience that shaming a women for showing signs of age is something that they deem important.

B

etween Cosmopolitan and Daily Mail, I figured that there was enough shaming and bullying of celebrities. But apparently there wasn’t, so in comes People to save the day.

Through the People channel on the Snapchat Discover app, I’ve not only learned that it is worth writing an article when a supermodel is poked in the boob by, gasp another female friend. But also that by respecting his wife’s opinion about movies he is involved with makes Jamie Dornan whipped.

It might be that Cosmo and People are just not the kind of publications for me, but geez, is it so wrong to ask for there not to be story that ends up insulting someone or pointing out their flaws? Along with Cosmo, I’m going to pull another protecting-the-children-from-harmfulcontent complaint.

I’m not sure about you, but when I was a wee tween I would mimic the opinions of things I would read because I thought they were correct.

I thought that every actress who was recently pregnant shouldn’t go out in a swimsuit because she hadn’t gotten her old body back, or that it was okay to criticize girls at my school for wearing too much makeup.

Never in my mind, as a child, did I think this was wrong, because it’s what was constantly being fed to me, and I didn’t even have a subscription to magazines like People.

Now, thinking about little girls seeing these articles every day sickens me. Having instant access to this not only causes girls to have issues with their own flaws, but it allows them to think that its okay to point out the flaws of others.

And who are they going to listen to? Their teachers and parents, or the stylish People Channel on Snapchat Discover?

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SPRING

Of the Spring 2015 runways ranging from New York City to Milan, there was an obvious ‘70s influence. So to get ready for spring you may be stealing some clothes from mom and dad or hitting the vintage stores in Westport. written by Sean Overton

fashion

WOMEN must haves

Whether you have a six-pack or a soft stomach, midriff-baring evening wear is the trend every girl should be all over. Midriff-baring evening wear is rocking a dress with a crop or a blazer with a cropped top underneath. If you own this properly you will be the hottest, most stylish person at prom or your friend’s birthday.

Midriff-baring evening wear also makes it easier to go from day to night. You can wear a cropped dress with cute ankle boots and a jacket out to lunch, then add heels and a clutch to go out to a girls-night dinner with your mom. To find a cute cropped dress I would check out American Apparel or Zara online to find prices under $100.

texture

Fringe, fringe, fringe. The fabric that haunts the kids who played “dress-up,” or “cowboys and Indians,” when they were little. You may be thinking it is tired and disgusting, but trust me, it is time to get your Daisy Buchanan on. Seen on almost every runway, designers like Emilio Pucci and Prada have incorporated it into a skirt, dress, bag or top. I agree that it can be early 2000’s Paris Hilton-gross if done in the wrong way, but when used right it can be the best part of an outfit. The dress that is really going to turn some heads is going to be one with fringe at the bottom, adding a little movement and flare. Fringe will be harder to find, since it is more unique of a trend, so I would search the vintage/thrift stores in Kansas City, MO.

patterns

“Florals for spring...groundbreaking!” Meryl Streep sarcastically said in “The Devil Wears Prada.” Yes, we could all go with the obvious oversized flower shorts and shirts when the sun comes out again, but that is way too boring.

Floral has been done before and it will be done again. If you want to stand out and be ahead of the trend, bring the gingham pattern out this spring. You may be thinking “Ew, why would I wear the same pattern as my picnic blanket?” but trust me, if you use this pattern in a crop top and a pair of light wash jeans, you will look like a chic Southern queen. You can find gingham tops in various colors at places such as H&M and Urban Outfitters.

a&e 29

MEN Most boys at East have a typical black suit coat. What you need is a poppin’ statement blazer you can wear to every dance. A statement blazer might have a unique color or pattern such as pinstripes, suede, brighter colors and even houndstooth, and is more fitted to your body. A statement blazer is going to help class you up for a Friday night date, rather than resorting to the typical Vineyard Vines button up and pants. To find a statement blazer I think it is worth the extra money, so check out Halls or Nordstroms if you are willing to spend $100 or more. If you are not wanting to spend as much, you can find them at H&M or Topmen online under the $100 mark.

Another Austin Powers-esque, blastfrom-the-past item that can be incorporated into different facets of an outfit is suede.

Suede is dapper in basically any part of an outfit -- shoes, shirts or pants. Adding suede makes your outfit look classier and more expensive since it is such a nice, soft fabric. Buying a suede pair of oxfords is a great way to add the texture into your outfits, or if you want to go the easy route I am sure you can find an old suede shirt in your dad’s closet, or go to some vintage/thrift shops.

For men’s pattern, you are going to want pleats. I am not talking a pleated button down, because that would just add uncomfortable folds in the shirt. But a nice pleated pair of pants makes your outfit stand out and adds a bit of shape to the look. The basic, straight-legged ironed pant has been worn to dances for too long. This look may seem a little old school, but do it right and it will make your look so much better. Pleated pants are something that can be worn casually every day, or makes your look at a dance go from “boring, un-stylish East guy,” to “guy who cares about how they look, and knows how to dress.” To get the pleated look, check out some thrift stores or American Apparel. If you are wanting pants that are going to last you longer, I would invest in some slacks from Baldwin or J. Crew that would be $70 and up.

30 sports

Marshall Green

Senior Marshall Green placed 4th in the 152 pound weight class at state. His state journey started off with a win, next a big win in overtime, and then ended up losing to the winner of the tournament.

He made his way to the 3rd and 4th place playoffs. “I was really pumped for that match because I was going up against a guy from Olathe North that I have wrestled three

times this year,” Green said. “I was winning most of the time and then with 10 seconds left he pinned me,” he added. This was Green’s last time to wrestle for the Lancers. “I had higher goals than [4th]” Green said, “but I was pleasantly surprised because I knew I prepared as hard as I could and that made me satisfied.”

The team celebrated with a slap happy, 3 hour car ride home.

Drake Yost

Junior Drake Yost thrived in the practice atmosphere, which was more intense than ever. “The squad did great this year and I was happy to be a part of it” said Yost.

Michael Aldrich

The wrestling team came back from The Kansas State Championship, in Park City, this past week placing 25th out of 40 teams. Although they didn’t get in the top six teams, some of the nine wrestlers that qualified had breakthrough performances. The team returned with two medals and an enthusiastic group of juniors for next season.

Leading up to State, junior Michael Aldrich wasn’t expecting to do too well. He lost his first round in the State competition and was pleasantly surprised to pull out a win in the next round. Third round Aldrich would be playing Zach Mcqueen, from Shawnee Mission South. This was going to be a tough one for him.

“I realized that this match was pretty winnable” he said about

the duel with McQueen.

But he broke the barriers and pinned him for the win.

“Once I realized I could potentially place I just decided to go my hardest in my next matches, since its the last tournament, who cares if you’re sore on Sunday.” This technique worked for Alrich because the unranked junior took 6th place in the 132 pound class.

Mike Bamford Mike Bamford, a junior, came back from the competition hungry for his senior year wrestling. “I’m glad I got to go to state and experience it all ,” Bamford said, ”even though I didn't achieve my goals there, I will next year.”

photo illustration by Annie Savage written by Aidan Epstein

ing et

Justin Finnigan Freshman Justin Finnigan had a decent JV season, winning a couple of medals. “My record wasn’t amazing for varsity, but I learned so much at state,” Finnigan said.

Jack Carter Junior Jack Carter proudly came home with a stitched ear. “ The atmosphere is so much better and different than other other match, everyone is there because they are good wrestlers and want to prove it” Carter said, who made it to the second day of the competition in the 220 weight class.

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BUBBLE THE FUN

SHARE teamed up with Hillcrest Transitional Services to bring awareness of the organization to the younger generation. Each week the execs would meet with the board for planning the event. “Our biggest task was to get the younger people involved to raise money for Hillcrest,” Senior SHARE Exec Grace Satterlee said.

“The tournament was very successful for its first year and we met our goal to get kids [at East] involved.”

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photo by Annie Lomshek

Senior SHARE Exec Clark Doerr not only helped put on the event but also played. Doerr’s favorite team he played on was the football team. They defeated the East coaches team 4-2. “It was just a really fun things to do,” Doerr said. “Really rare opportunity and I got to play with my football teammates which made it that much better. I was awsome how doing something for a good cause was this fun.”

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photo by Annie Savage

Junior Hayes Hendricks tried to figure out to properly get into the bubble before his game begins. Hendricks’ team consisted of members of the East soccer team.

“I didn’t really know what to think going into it but it was a lot of fun,” Hendricks said. “I didn’t think we were going to do well because it looked pretty tough but somehow we won a couple games. We did a lot better than we expected and actually won two games.”

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photo by Annie Savage

Sophomore Libby Legard cheers on the “Slam Poet’s” with friends Jessica Parker and Porter Carroll. “Watching was way more dangerous than I thought. Porter and I accidently got slammed into the bleachers just by sitting too close,” Legard said. “I knew it would be physical but not as much as I saw. I guess when you get football boys and adults involved I can see why it would.”

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34 sports

LANCERS E

ast’s biggest sports fans aren’t always in the student section. Some Lancer fanatics are alums or longtime teachers who come to support the team and enjoy the atmosphere of the rumbling bleachers. These devoted fans come to East sporting events showing school spirit and looking for a way to embrace the team, even though their days in the stands as students have long-since passed.

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illing up water bottles, getting out the basketballs and doing anything else Coach Hair needed was just a way to be part of the team for East alum, Hunter Bickers.

Bickers was the boys’ basketball manager for all four years that he was at East because he was unable to play his freshman year due to a physical disability. He was offered the managing job by Coach Hair, and before long Bickers was considered part of the team. He got to see all the behind the scenes of boys’ basketball: practices, pep talks and team bonding experiences.

“It was so amazing being able to see the team evolve and improve together as one,” Bickers said. “I have such a love for the sport and got to experience it first hand watching the guys practice.”

Bickers was known to the guys as “Bicks,” “D8a Bicks” and “Brotha Bicks.” He wasn’t like the team

written by Annie Jones photos by Annie Lomshek

Hunter Bickers Grateful Graduate manager that you see in movies, getting barked at and tossed around -- Bickers considered himself as family to the guys.

“In certain ways I almost lived through these guys,” Bickers said. “We were all part of the team so when they won, I won. Every time they got a victory, I did too.”

The practices were especially great for Bickers, getting to see the pieces being put together. He sat on the bench and admired the players working together as one in the games.

After graduating last year, Bickers still comes to all the games in order to continue supporting his team.

This season, he went to every varsity game including other JV and girls’ games, sitting in the student section. He even traveled to Leavenworth to watch the team play in a tournament this season.

“East games feel like a giant balloon popping,” Bickers said. “Everyone just erupts in the stands and it’s

such a crazy feeling.”

Bickers’ love for the team and the game almost overpower his love for the school. The four years he had at SME inspired him. He played in a full game his freshman year, attended every pep rally there was and experienced how the most different people became like family over the years.

“I would take a bullet for anybody at that school, because as much love that I have for that school, I only want good things for every single person there,” Bickers said “That’s just how I treat family.”

Bickers visits the wall of East alum tiles outside the gym where he sees his, one of the very first ones to be put up and is always hit with hundreds of memories of his high school days at East, managing the team and loving every moment of it.

Terri Archer Supportive Substitute

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tepping into the stands, substitute teacher, Terri Archer looks across the court and sees the student section, yelling to the other teams’. He looks to the court and sees the familiar faces of students he knows from the halls or classes and is filled with joy.

Archer considers getting a call from a sick teacher good news, because when he gets a call, he knows he’ll get to interact with only the best students out there -- East students.

“I truly enjoy East students,” Archer said. “They are always respectful, cooperative, friendly and I enjoy talking to them, so then if I get to know them a little bit and I find out that they are in a sport, I love to go out and support them.”

Archer loves to see students running down the court

Kevin Booker Fascinated Fan

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ot many people know that Coach Hair’s 250th game was a win, that the football state championship this year was the 538th varsity football game in East history or that David Moak was the first ever East touchdown scorer. The man sitting almost religiously in the front row of the stands taking stats, does however.

Since his graduation in 2001, Kevin Booker has spent countless hours at the Topeka library and East’s library gathering data for his project, a full history of all East athletic records since it opened in 1958.

For 15 years he has been officially recording and maintaining the records for every sport

and has provided them publicly to the Lancer community. Off the top of his head, Booker can tell you the basketball team’s record from 1986 or the fastest 400 meter dash ever run at East.

“When I was a student at East there was never a written history of it,” Booker said. “I think it needed to be documented in some kind of a way for everybody to see.”

Booker not only records the data but also continues to be present at East games. He comes to almost all of the games and checks Twitter every time he can’t make it. Booker enjoys going back to his high school as much as he can. Flashes of great high school memories flood his mind when he enters the gym: managing the girls’ soccer team and winning state, hanging out

with friends and coming to every game possible.

“As an alum, it makes me feel so good to still be part of the great big family of SME Lancers even after graduating such a long time ago.” Booker said.

Booker sits in the bleachers at the basketball games, next to Andrew Gagnon, his high school friend, now teacher and coach of basketball and football at East. Booker takes stats as a keepsake of the game to remember the highlights.

Booker’s project is far from done, and the same goes for his love for East and its athletic programs. The statistics will still be recorded and Booker will continue to follow the sports at East.

or dribbling down the field, even just for a quarter. He sees more than the uninterested students he subs for in American History, but passionate athletes when they step on the field, court or track for a sporting event.

Archer remembers students’ names on the class roster from weeks ago when subbing for their teacher, and always stops them in the hallway to ask when their next matchup is. He writes numerous letters of recommendation and attends the graduations of students he knows well. This making it all the more special for him to see them take part in a sport or activity.

Before Archer was a substitute, he was an East guidance counselor from 2007 to 2010.

He only got to know a small amount of students well as a counselor. But as a substitute,

sports 35

he saw a different class of students each day, allowing him to build relationships with more of them. Archer then sees them at their best, smiling and working hard, participating in a sport at a great school.

With the students yelling, basketball shoes squeaking and referees blowing their whistles, an East game will forever remind Archer of his days in college. He cheered on his favorite team in The Allen Fieldhouse when he went to The University of Kansas.

Now he watches the students he has come to know with smiles on their faces while participating in East sports.

“The stands at East events are energetic, enthusiastic, passionate and fun,” Archer said. “I’ll always love standing in them watching some great kids.”

RAGING RIVALRIES

36 sports

LAX: PEMBROKE

Girls’ soccer, boys’ lacrosse and girls’ swimming look forward to facing off against their rivals this spring.

written by Michael Kraske photos by Callie McPhail

A

fter falling to the Pembroke Hill Raiders in last year’s Lacrosse Association of Kansas City (LAKC) semifinals, the boys’ lacrosse team’s rivalry with Pembroke has grown. After beating Pembroke 15-7 in the regular season, the Lancers lost to the Raiders by a single goal when it counted most -- the LAKC semifinals. Senior John Aliber has played varsity lacrosse since his freshman year. Since then, the Lancers lead the series with Pembroke 4-2.“We played them in the state finals two years in a row and beat them both years by one goal, so it’s always a good game when we play,” Aliber said. “Losing to them in the semifinals last year was tough, but I love to beat Pembroke simply because I hate them. So does the whole team. I don’t really know how else to describe the rivalry, besides simply that I hate them.” Pembroke is a private school, and lacrosse is the only sport East plays the Raiders in. According to senior Sam Huffman, this is a major factor of why the rivalry is so heated.“It makes the rivalry a lot more intense because we don’t have many opportunities to play Pembroke,” Huffman said. “The hype for the game really makes the rivalry more intense.” Huffman and Aliber’s first two years at East, they defeated Pembroke in the state championship. Now, after losing to the Raiders their junior year, revenge is their mindset.

SWIM: FREESTATE

S

ince her freshman year, junior Mary Booton has battled Lawrence Free State each season at both girls’ swim League and State meets. And both years, she’s won. Freshman year was a breeze, the Lancers easily topping Free State to win the state title. Sophomore year was closer, as Free State was predicted to win both League and State, but the Lancers were able to take the Firebirds by surprise, beating them in both League and State. Booton says this year the Lancers are able to defeat Free State, due to depth in the East roster.“[Free State] has a handful of really talented swimmers but lack depth through the team,” Booton said.

“We have a smaller group of really talented girls but we have a bigger team giving us depth.”

Booton has confidence that this years’ squad will have even more depth than in the past, due to an increase of competitive club swimmers joining the high school team. “This year we have more club girls swimming high school that haven’t done it before,” Booton said. “Hopefully we’ll have a larger group of super fast girls and have the depth that Free State never seems to have.”

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he week before the SM West girls’ soccer game, senior Emma Braasch notices an increase in the team’s physical and mental intensity at practice. Head coach Jamie Kelly runs the girls harder and runs through more real game situation drills during practice, in hopes to bring the teams’ focus to an all-time high. Braasch thinks the East-West girls’ soccer rivalry is partly because several players on each team play together on their club teams. “Transitioning from playing with them to playing against them always sparks a rivalry and makes you want to beat them even more,” Braasch said.

“I used to play with four of the West girls on my club team, so that helps prepare us a lot.”

Junior Adalaide Kline says that playing with these girls in the past helps to give them an idea of how the girls will play in the game, and led them to their victory over West last season.“There’s one girl that I have played with who’s really good and I know that the rest of her teammates will be looking for her to play the ball, so we know to always be watching her and marking her,” Kline said. “If you know the girls and have played with them you most likely know the things they do in the game, and how they play.”

Last year the Lancers defeated West in overtime, scoring the “Golden Goal” to win the game. After a close game last season, the team hopes to come out victorious again this year.

SOCCER: WEST

sports 37

Lancer athletes reflect on their favorite childhood memories in their sports

Max Sanborn Baseball Elisabeth Shook Soccer

“We all thought we were really good, but in reality we were just terrible.

And I loved the Icees in between games. Also I would eat entire sunflower seeds, shell and all.”

Jeff Larrabee Senior

“Ballin’ out for hours every summer day at Homestead Country Club, then going to the pool and the snack bar.”

Elisabeth Shook Junior

Jeff Larrabee Tennis

“Pretending I was a fish and swimming until my fingers would wrinkle during the summer.”

Jack Werner Lacrosse

Maggie McGannon Senior

Jack Werner Senior

“I tried to head the ball in front of the goal, but I got a bloody nose and starting crying after it hit my face. Then I noticed all the parents were coaching because I had scored, and my parents got it all on video.

“I never ran track when I was little, but when I played soccer I was really fast and could score goals easily.”

Maggie McGannon Swim Brady Clark Golf

“Fostering relationships with my future teammates that would, without me knowing, ultimately help us win games at the varsity level.”

Brady Clark Senior

“Being voted most valuable player in a tournament game in Oklahoma City, and getting to go to a College World Series game.”

Kaycee Mayfield Senior

Max Sanborn Senior

Kaycee Mayfield Soccer

“I met Tom Watson (pictured above), and he called me the greatest young golfer he’d ever seen.”

Hannah Nick Softball

[not pictured: Hannah Nick, Senior]

Training Day

38 sports

Inside scoop on the differences of girls’ and boys’ soccer at Shawnee Mission East

written by Chase Tetrick

The East varsity soccer program is known throughout 6A for their two premiere teams. The girls’ and boys’ soccer teams, both coached by Jamie Kelly, are unique in their own ways. Both genders have their own mindset and play the game at their own speed, but as a whole, they share much more than just a coach.

Preseason for the boy’s team starts bright and early at 6 a.m. every summer morning for “kickarounds.” Senior soccer players Will Fenimore and Michael Moedritzer stand alongside their teammates, stretching for the morning practice. Both returning and new players are welcome to train with the East soccer program to work on their game.

“We are all out of shape and lazy,” Fenimore said. “So the kick-arounds are a good way for us to change that, as well as meet some of the upcoming freshman.”

Despite the fact that the two teams play in different seasons, they try to practice with each other whenever possible.

“I encourage the girls to play with guys during the summer kick-arounds because it allows an opportunity for them to see how the game is played at a more physical level and viceversa,” Varsity coach Jamie Kelly said. “I encourage the boys to train with the girls to see how the game is played with a more team-oriented-mindset.”

The girls’ soccer team does not have the added benefit of summer mornings to begin their training, so they are forced to find other ways to train prior to their tryouts. For some, that means braving the cold and snow to go practice up at East. For others, that entails getting a group of friends to go practice inside either a gym or indoor complex. The girls are also offered a conditioning session after school four days a week with Coach Kelly during the weeks leading up to the tryouts.

If the weather is warm enough the girls are able to go outside to play.

“It’s really hard to find a place to practice,” said sophomore varsity player Josie Clough. “Usually a group of girls goes indoors and plays small-sided games to get better before

LANCER

photos by Joseph Cline

tryouts.”

As far as tryouts go, Kelly says they are judged on a fairly similar scale. For the boys, the tryouts are generally the first or second week of school. Meaning that within two weeks the boys transition from casual summer morning practices to trying out for the program. The girls have less time to prepare for their tryouts so they do not have to undergo the stressful change.

“Despite what it seems, we’re all pretty nervous on the first day of tryouts,” Fenimore said. “We never know if someone who wasn’t at kick-arounds will show up and take our spots.”

The girls normally try out indoors due to cold weather, but stick to the same schedule as the boys. They start off with basic skill and shooting drills, then work their way up to the long running.

“Every day is a new thing, a new challenge we have to complete,” Clough said. “The week usually starts off easy, but by the end of the week we are running a lot and working on our endurance.”

The style of play is another big difference between the two teams. “The boy’s varsity team is a much more physical and

Girls’ Soccer

Has a much more team-oriented mindset Focus on passing and ball movement to win games Micheal Moedritzer

rough team to play with,” Kelly said. “They not only have skill, but also use muscle to win challenges against opponents .”

The girls take a different route. They focus on passing and ball movement to win games.

“The boys have a more individualized thinking and challenge their opponents more often,” Kelly said. “The girls’ team, on the other hand, has a much more team-oriented mindset.”

This difference in technique and mindset allows the two teams to exceed in their own ways.

The boy’s team ended their season at regionals in the fall with a loss to Blue Valley North.

“It was a tough loss and I was disappointed to end my last soccer game in a loss and to leave my team when we were so close,” Fenimore said.

The girls’ 2015 season is about to begin and expectations are high with nine returning varsity players.

“I am excited to see how the girls’ teams perform this year,” Kelly said. “We lost some great players last season so it will be interesting to see which players really step up and take their place.”

Differences According to Coach Kelly

Boys’ Soccer

More physical and rough team to play with

Individualized thinking and challenge their opponents more Josie Clough

Will Fenimore

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40 photo essay

above

Hopeful baseball players warm up before the first day of tryouts.

Sophomore Clayton Phillips thinks warmups are a great way to get the day started. “I like warming up as a team because it makes for an intense environment,” Phillips said. “You’ve got to be on your game at all time.” photo by James Wooldridge photo by Joseph Cline

East athletes transition into spring sports, which began last week. Here’s a look inside tryouts

left

Freshman Sam Goldstien attempts hurdles for the first time during tryout week. “I’m having fun so far, I think I’ll grow to really enjoy them,” Goldstein said. “The coaches have really inspired me to give it a shot.”

right

Lacrosse tryouts were held indoors this year and the players have had to adjust. “You have to make decisions faster cause it’s a smaller area you are playing in,” said juior Connor Coode.

below left

Sophomore Brooklyn Walters practices a pitch during softball tryouts. “I am really looking forward to the season,” Walters said. “I think Ufford’ll make it fun for us.”

below right

The girls’ swim team is hopeful for this season. “With all the really good freshmen we can out-score all our competition,” said senior Olivia George. “We hope to take home another state title.” photo by Kylie Rellihan

photo by Kaitlyn Stratman

photo by Annika Sink