Issue 12

Harbinger the

Servingup

ISSUE 12 / SHAWNEE MISSION EAST / PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

MARCH 2, 2009

TROUBLE New bill widens parental accountability for underage drinking // PAIGECORNWELL

With a change in two words to a statute, parents could be more accountable for their children’s decisions.

More accountable if minors decide to drink alcohol in their home.

More accountable, even if they say they didn’t know about the drinking.

The words are “or recklessly.” Whether to include these two words in a current statute is part of the focus of H.B. 2165.

The bill would expand the crime of unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcohol to anyone hosting a drinking party, whether or not they say they knew about the illegal alcohol consumption. Passed Feb. 20 in the Kansas House Legislation, the bill has now moved

to the Kansas Senate.

“This is not aimed at parents whose teenage son raids their liquor cabinet,” said Kansas Rep. Joe Patton, who is sponsoring the bill. “It is meant to deter those adults who knowingly buy or provide alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age.”

continued on page 2

// ANDYALLEN

NEWS: Increased sleeping pill usage >PAGE 3 FEATURES: Students plan gap years >PAGE 13 SPORTS: March Madness preview >PAGE 31

PAGE 2 NEWS / MARCH 2, 2009

WHO’S TO BLAME? New legislation will punish party hosting parents despite pleas of ignorance // CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

The current law states that adults can be charged if they intentionally host anyone under 21-years-old who consumes alcohol or cereal malt beverages. Those charged with the class A person misdemeanor face a minimum of a $1,000 fine and the possibility of community service.

This law, however, was hard to enforce, according to East SRO Ted Bartlett, because of the lack of evidence and the parents saying that they didn’t know the alcohol consumption was occurring. Bartlett recalled parties he saw when he was a patrol officer in another county, where parents would host parties and take away the teens’ keys.

“It was very hard to find out evidence,” Barlett said. “We can find out from word on the street, or hear about [parents] later, but they could say they didn’t know about it. If you make parents more accountable, then there are ways to make [providing and consuming alcohol] less convenient. It would be hard for me to believe parents didn’t know.”

By adding “or recklessly,” parents can no longer plead ignorance. The legal definition of “reckless” is “careless to the point of being heedless of the consequences,” according to a legal dictionary.

“The parent or adults are not checking in on the activities of their child or other juveniles in their house and are therefore ignoring their re-

CURRENT Legislation

“Unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcoholic liquor or cereal malt beverage is intentionally permitting a person’s residence” *both crimes result in a minimum $1000 fine and community service

sponsibilities as an adult or parent,” said Deputy Desiree Wright, a member of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office who testified at the House Committee.

In 2004, Kansas passed a law that created a new crime: “unlawfully hosting” a party where alcohol was consumed by anyone younger than 18-years-old. The law, known as “Paul’s Law,” named for a Lenexa teen who was killed while driving home from a party where the parents knew the teens were drinking, was changed in 2007 to define a minor as anyone younger than 21-years-old.

But there was a loophole. The law defined hosting as intentionally allowing the consumption of alcohol, so parents could say they didn’t know that alcohol was being served.

“In the past, parents or adults who have been present at some of these parties have basically played dumb,” Deputy Wright said. “For example, there is a party where juveniles are in attendance in the basement of a home. The parent or an adult is upstairs of the home. Law Enforcement is called to the residence on say a noise complaint and they discover alcohol in the basement and the minors drinking it. That parent or adult has been able to say they didn’t know there was alcohol in the home and therefore avoid being charged with hosting a party where alcohol is present for minors.”

PROPOSED Legislation

“Unlawfully hosting minors consuming alcoholic liquor or cereal malt is intentionally or recklessly permitting a person’s residence” // KANSASLEGISLATURE

The idea for the bill first came when the Safe Streets Coalition, which Rep. Patton is involved with, received a grant to reduce underage drinking. The Coalition learned that it was hard to get the current law applied through the court system. They then began drafting a bill.

“We learned from research that teens were mainly getting [alcohol] at a friend’s house or their own house,” Safe Streets director Sally Zellers said. “We thought we would get a little more help by holding the parents responsible.”

Zellers was a proponent of the bill and testified at the House Committee on behalf of Shawnee Regional Prevention and Recovery Services, Inc. and Safe Streets. She gave statistics and showed pictures of brain studies, including the brain scan of a 24-yearold who had started drinking in his teens, which showed that certain parts of his brain were not as developed as a 24-year-old who didn’t drink.

“Both Shawnee County and Kansas statistics show that kids are not getting caught [drinking] and how young [teens] are when they first start drinking...I think we need to protect kids, and have parents protect their kids,” Zellers said.

The law, if amended, would continue to target parents who decide to host drinking parties, an act that Principal Dr. Karl Krawitz has advocated against long before the law was put in place. With these parents, Krawitz says that he is “not real nice.”

“Some parents believe their kid, when drinking under their circumstances and allowing other kids to drink is not a problem,” Krawitz said. “That’s not okay. You don’t play the role of God. You’re not the appropriate judge of the event.”

What would change, however, is the targeting of parents who decide to turn a blind eye to what is happening, to not look down the basement stairs or peek into a room to check on a party that may be going on.

“Parents have used [pleading ignorance] as an escape route,” Krawitz said. “They have an obligation to go down [the stairs].”

East parent Pat Latshaw agrees that parents should know “what is going on in their basement,” and believes that the proposed bill could be beneficial in that it would make the law more enforceable.

“The law reflects what is going on with teens,” Latshaw said. “As a parent you have to be diligent, you should know what’s going on.”

The bill also adds another section to the law guaranteeing that lodging establishments, such as hotels, are not deemed liable if minors are caught distributing or consuming alcohol.

The bill passed in the House 118-1, and Rep. Patton says there is a “reasonable chance” the bill will become law. After the Senate, it will go on to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, where she may sign it into effect. Parents will be more accountable.

All because of the change in two words.

briefs The Kansas math assessment for honors freshmen through junior math classes is this week in the library. The library will be closed before, during and after school this week.

The National Honor Society induction ceremony will be Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the gymnasium, followed by a reception.

There will be a 1:45 p.m. early dismissal on Wednesday. The schedule for that day will be 2, 6, 4 and half of a seminar period at the end of the day.

The SHARE blood drive is Wednesday in the gym. Students will be excused for a one hour period for their appointment time. No new appointments will be scheduled: the deadline was Feb. 26.

AP registration forms are available in the counseling office for students in AP classes. The deadline to turn in the forms is March 11. The fee is $86.

Seminar Update: Student Council Class Officer elections will be held during seminar on March 11. Teachers will receive ballots in their mailboxes.

The spring sports pep assembly will be March 27 during the second half of seminar. The schedule for that day will be 2, 6, 4, seminar.

There will be a 1:10 p.m. early dismissal on March 13 for the end of the quarter. The schedule for that day will be 2, 6, 4 with no seminar period.

There will be no school March 14-22 for spring break. Because of a school improvement day, there will be no school on March 23, so students will return to school for the beginning of fourth quarter on March 24.

The Kansas reading assessment will be the week of March 24. This test is required for regular and honors English 10 and English 11 students who did not pass last year. The library will be closed this week before, during and after school.

There will be a 9:20 a.m. late arrival on March 24. The schedule for that day will be 2, 4, 6 with no seminar.

The Frequent Fridays for second semester, which take place in the Little Theater on Fridays at 3 p.m. are as follows: Alison Meagher-Manson..... March 6 Alec Hynes............................. March 27 Griffin MacDonald................. April 27 The programming team of Qi Chen, Joe Craig and Spencer Brown placed first at a competition at Northwest Missouri State on Feb. 12. East sent 12 competitors to the competition who placed first, seventh, eighth, ninth and eighteenth place.

D

POPPING

MORE PILLS

Increasing number of students relying on medicine to sleep //

ALL PHOTOS BY GAIL STONEBARGER

// GRIFFINBUR

PAGE 3 NEWS / ISSUE 12

rug use isn’t a new teenage stereotype. Neither are authority’s attempts to stop it. But authorities are now concerned over a new type of -everything you need to know about sleepdrug problem, one that’s both legal and socially acceptable — sleeping pills.

A recent Thomson Reuters survey found that Most adults need seven to eight Go to bed and get up at the same time the use of prescription sleeping pills nearly tripled sleep per night. every day. in use for 18-24 year olds from 1998 to 2006. In a If you can’t get to sleep in 20 minutes, School age children and teens NY Times article, William Marder, one of the study’s authors, noted that part of the concern was that “it’s get up and do a quiet activity. need nine hours of sleep per night. pretty rapid growth for a group that is generally not Avoid caffeine four to six hours before one of [the] high-utilizers.” Though the rate of pill Not getting enough sleep increases use in 18 through 24-year-olds is still 1,524 users before bed. the risk of having high blood pressure, per 100,000 the growth is an issue. heart disease, and other medical Don’t nap later than 3 p.m.

Part of the concern is due to the type of pill conditions. being used. The study found that non-benzodiazDon’t eat large meals two hours Insomnia is more common in females, epine hypnotics were the major type of pill used. before bed.

According to health.com, “non-benzos” can have people with depression, and people Sleep in a dark, quiet room that is not side effects including dependence and daytime older than 60. too hot or cold. drowsiness.

Besides issues with addiction, the study // NATIONAL HEART, LUNG AND BLOOD INSTITUTE // FDA OFFICE OF WOMEN’S HEALTH showed that a quarter of users had “an associated “If you want to stay up too late, you can definitely find a mental health diagnosis.” It also notes that sleeping pills reason to,” she said. might be linked to deeper issues like depression.

Now that teenagers can and do use technology widely, Gladesia Tolbert, local pediatric nurse practitioner for lack of sleep is a serious issue. Copeland thinks that sleep Tenney Pediatrics, has not seen a recent increase in sleeploss can be found in “every kind of teenager.” But she being pill use. However, she does have concerns about teenlieves most students don’t need to find reasons to stay upagers using sleeping pills. they already have them.

“Morning sleepiness is a big one,” Tolbert said. “Sleep“Everyone has the same homework,” she said. “Everying pills are set to work for a certain amount of time, so if it one has problems, basically.” you can’t sleep for that amount of time, you’re going to be Ironically, Copeland stopped taking pills in part because tired when you wake up. Having a groggy teenager drive to she took on even more homework. school can cause serious accidents.”

“I don’t [use sleeping pills] anymore because I’m legitiDependency is another area of concern. While it can ocmately tired and just can’t stay up,” she said. cur at any age, Tolbert thinks that it’s more likely to occur if Senior Carly Haflich is a one-time user of sleeping pills. use begins during teenage years.

She stopped and started sophomore year, using them for “As you get older, there’s even more stress,” she said. only a short period of time due to stress related issues. She “It’s important for kids to get into a regular routine, even also felt no ill effects and actually took them on her parwhen there’s not school. Part of the reason [people start ents’ suggestion. taking sleeping pills] in the first place is stress, so it can be “I think I mentioned I couldn’t sleep a cycle if you don’t get it under control.” and my dad bought me like Junior Hannah Copeland took OTC sleeping pills for these herbal, non-addicroughly six months last year. The Reuters study shows that tive ones,” she said. most teens use them for about three months on average.

Haflich believes the Copeland cites both the stress of school and an active mind pills worked, although as causes.

USE OF she also thought there WARNING, ED “A lot of it was worrying about getting things done,” ATION M may have been a placebo efSLEEPING CAUSICE: Copeland said. “Or sometimes you just stumble on what MAY fect. Either way, she said the you think is a really brilliant idea and how awesome it OReffect was minor.

COMPLEXingBEs likHAe driVIve or eat would make the world and then it’s 3 a.m.” th do Overall, Tolbert said, the Patients a sleep-like state, and Like the majority of users in the study, Copeland did not . while in it when they wake important thing is to get into don’t remember consult a doctor. However, she felt like there were no ada regular schedule and try to ANAPHYLAXIreaStio- n verse side effects or dependency issues because she only A severe allergic keep things like cell phones and used the pills sporadically. television out of the bedroom.

ANGIOEDEMA-ing “It was just like in general and more random insomniac Severe face swell “Go to bed at the same time evnights,” she said. “It was never like a ‘have-to’ thing with LEMS ery night,” she said. “Relax your BREATHING PROB// FDA.GOV me.” mind before you sleep. As much In terms of causes, Copeland said that pace of life and fun as distractions may be, they’re technological progress create a lack of sleep. Items like cellnot worth losing sleep over.” phones, she said, allow conversations at any time of day.

CATCHING

GO LANCERS!

Mid America Eye Center

At 75th and Mission Road We have cool glasses & contacts

PAGE 4 NEWS / MARCH 2, 2009

Area businesses close due to failing economy // KATHLEENIRELAND

SENIORS and NHS tutors Andrew Sweeney and Regan Jamieson work on their homework during an NHS tutoring session in the library. The group meets Monday through Thursday after school. // PATRICKMAYFIELD

TUTORING for SUCCESS In its second year, NHS tutoring looks to raise attendance // SARAHMCKITTRICK

After spacing off in chemistry recently, sophomore Aveek Dhar needed help understanding calculations for specific heat problems in chemistry. Instead of going to a private tutor or teacher for help, Dhar decided to go to the National Honors Society tutoring program.

Right after school, Dhar headed to the tables near the big screen TV in the library, where the tutoring program meets. There he met NHS senior Jacob Hamilton, who helped him understand the concept of specific heat better.

When they were done going over a couple problems on his specific heat worksheet, Dhar left with a better understanding of the concept.

Seniors Alexi Brown and Maureen Orth, co-presidents of NHS, decided to bring back and co-chair the tutoring program after seeing seniors from last year start the project.

The tutoring program, which is available Monday through Thursday until the end of April, not only helps the 35 NHS students involved get service hours, but it also provides extra help for struggling students.

“We can go step by step and explain it in a different way to help them gain a new perspective,” Orth said. “It helps to have a student who’s been through it explain.”

All subjects are open for tutoring, including foreign languages, but according to Brown the most commonly tutored subjects are chemistry, physics and math.

“We can help a lot because we’ve been through the class and done the same worksheets and papers,” Brown said.

In addition to tutoring these subjects, the NHS tutors provide proof reading for papers. Freshmen English teacher Laura Beachy thinks it is a good resource because it forces the students to spend more time thinking about what they have been writing.

“Anytime a writer has a second or third set of eyes look at their paper it can be very helpful,” Beachy said.

Orth said that although the response has been positive in theory, with a lot of good teacher and parent input, students have been reluctant to come in. Orth attribute this

to several reasons, varying from having other after school activities to not knowing the existence or availability of the project Brown and Orth have made announcements and signs to stir up interest in order to increase attendance. They have also talked to teachers about sending students who need help and plan on going into seminar classes to talk to underclassmen about the program.

“Hopefully everyone’s just doing great in school,” Brown said. “But we think people feel a little weird going in and asking for help from seniors they don’t know.”

The awkwardness was not a problem for Dhar, who received help in biology last year. However, he agrees with Brown, saying he thinks students have not been coming because they may be unaware of the project.

Despite the lack of attendance lately, both Brown and Orth thinks it is a great resource that students should take advantage of if they are struggling and need help.

Chemistry teacher Cole Ogdon, who teaches Dhar, agrees and has advertised the program to his students because he thinks that the program provides a non-intimidating atmosphere for students to get help with their subject.

“Sometimes teachers can lose the new leaner perspective over several years, so it helps to get a different prospective from peers,” Ogdon said.

The students who have taken advantage of the opportunity have found it to be helpful and a great resource to use.

“They’re right there,” Dhar said. “It was really easy to just go in and get help.”

Because the students have been slow to trickle in the NHS students have found other ways to keep busy. Recently they made and delivered Valentines Day cards to the senior citizens at Brighton Gardens.

Despite having difficulty getting students in, Brown and Orth plan keeping the service available to all students who need tutoring through April.

Due to issues of bad credit, failing home prices and a sharp decline in stocks, many big name companies will be closing in the near future. All businesses, whether large corporations or smaller family owned retailers, have been affected by the current retail slump. Many of the businesses affected will be closing a number of their least profitable locations, if not all of them, after filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“I think it’s sad,” said Senior Amanda Hodges about companies losing their businesses. “I think it has a lot to do with poor budgeting, and even though it’s a common mistake, it can affect a lot of people.”

Filing for bankruptcy does not always necessarily mean a company is going out of business, It is possible for a company to come out of chapter 11 protection stable enough to continue operations.

One chain to be closing locations in Kansas City is Home Depot Inc. They will be closing two HD Bath branches in KC, putting nearly 130 employees out of work. The store layoffs and closings will be effective April 1.

The decision to file for chapter 11 protection is typically used as a means to help a business while they pay off debts and decide what plan of action they wish to take. Linens & Things, the Sharper Image, and Steve and Barry’s were among the many businesses that did not pull through their bankruptcy filings and ended up shutting down all locations.

Circuit City, the second largest consumer electronics chain in the US behind Best Buy, will be closing all of its US locations. Over 155 stores were to close by Jan. 1.

“Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction in the limited timeframe available, and so this is the only possible path for our company,” said James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and chief executive officer for Circuit City Stores, Inc, in a press release.

Going-out-of-business sales began Jan. 17 and should continue until all stores have closed, predicted to be sometime at the end of March, though the 60-year-old chain will keep its Canadian locations in operation.

Junior Caitlin Allen wishes she could have made it to a sale.

“I work right next to a Circuit City but I never made it to their sale,” said Allen. “I heard they had a ton of movies really cheap.”

Though many liquidation sales give the impression of dramatically reduced prices, in some cases it’s the other way around, says the BBB. Typically when a company is closing they will hire a third party company for the liquidation itself. These companies are hired in order to maximize profits, in some cases this means increasing prices on certain items.

Many items sold during the Linens & Things liquidation sale in 2008 were marked up by as much as 14 percent, according to ABC News. This means you could be paying more at a sale. The Better Business Bureau recommends shopping around to ensure a deal is actually a deal. The BBB also advises customers to check warranties and use gift cards as soon as possible because companies under chapter 11 protection have the right to reject the use of gift cards.

Though many businesses have been struggling during the current recession, some continue to thrive. Walmart, for one, has continued to bring in millions of customers thanks to its proven “just right, low price” slogan.

It was a key chain that contributed to Circuit City’s collapse. Walmart’s third-quarter sales have risen 7 percent to its current $98 billion. McDonald’s $6.3 billion third-quarter earnings have also risen six percent in just one year.

CALLING FOR HELP // ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAN

‘Cell Phone Records Lead to Kelsey’s Body.’ ‘Body of Kansas Teen Found Using Cell Phone Records.’ ‘Verizon Wireless Helps Find Body of Kelsey Smith.’

These headlines graced the front page of some of the major media sites back in June 2007 when the body of Shawnee Mission West graduate Kelsey Smith was found in a wooded area near Longview Lake, located in Grandview, Missouri.

These publications make Verizon Wireless out to be the main factor in finding Kelsey’s body; however, Kelsey’s parents believe Verizon Wireless was actually the problem.

They are now working to pass a law that would help cell phone companies pass along cell phone information to police more easily.

According to The Kansas City Star, police did use Smith’s cell phone records to track down her location. Combined with witness accounts and a citywide search, it took police less than 24 hours to locate the body after getting Kelsey’s phone records. However, the problem was that it took Verizon Wireless four days to hand over the data due to privacy issues and protocol that employees are required to follow.

“At the time I did not understand what was taking so long,” Missey Smith, Kelsey’s mother said. “Afterwards, I became angered and frustrated that they would not help find my daughter.”

The parents of Smith are urging Kansas lawmakers to require that phone companies give data on the location of cell phones in the case of an emergency. The bill specifically requires ‘telecommunication service providers to provide information about the location of users of their services in certain circumstances.’ The provider would be required to

Parents of murder victim advocate for new law allowing access to cell phone records in emergency situations

give the location information of the cell phone to officers if the situation is considered an emergency circumstance by law enforcement.

According to Fox 4 News, the bill passed the Kansas House by a vote of 118-1. Soon, the bill will move on to the Kansas Senate for another vote. If passed, it will then go to the governor for signing.

“There have been other cases like this in Kansas, Missouri, New York and other states,” Greg Smith, Kelsey’s father said. “We felt that a law was the only way to protect others from this kind of negligence.”

Police first requested the data the night after Smith’s abduction. They wanted to use the data of her cell phone activity in order to find her. Verizon Wireless refused to cooperate even after former District Attorney Phill Kline intervened with a subpoena.

Verizon Wireless believes they followed the proper protocol for dealing with law enforcement. Spokeswoman Cheryle Bini Armbrecht said that she would not comment on the case but that Verizon often cooperates willingly with law enforcement, The Kansas City Star reported.

“I was quite upset. I knew they had a request under the exigent circumstances doctrine and they did not respond,” Greg said. “I knew they had also been subpoenaed and they said they still could not comply. I felt totally helpless.”

Missey said it took a conference call between Verizon Wireless engineers and several different local and federal officers to get the cell phone company to hand over the data.

By this time, four days had passed since Kelsey’s disappearance.

PAGE 5 NEWS / ISSUE 12

Shawnee Mission East Senior Tommy Gray participated in another search party dedicated to finding the missing teen.

With such a large area to search, Gray and others searched neighborhoods and knocked on doors near where Kelsey first disappeared, looking for any information to narrow their search.

“We really didn’t know where to look,” Gray said. “If police would have had that cell phone data, we would have gone in the direction it indicated. That data would have helped.”

After the data was finally released, police were quickly able to locate Smith’s body using the data that showed records of where her phone had traveled the day of her disappearance.

“The police did all they could do and I have nothing against them,” John Biersmith, Kelsey’s former boyfriend said. “I believe this law is a great idea because the quicker that the police can respond with more information, the better.”

The Kansas City Star also reported that representatives from several cell phone companies have told lawmakers that they will support this law as long as police are the only ones who can access the information.

Kelsey’s parents believe this law will equip law enforcement with the tools needed to get the information they need to locate a missing, lost or abducted person. The intent of this law is to speed up the process of finding a missing person by giving police the availability of cell phone records. With this law, there will be nothing standing in the way of law enforcement getting a hold of important cell phone information.

When asked what they hope to accomplish with this new law, Missey said ‘to save a life.’

RENOVATION SENSATION

// ANDYALLEN

PAGE 6 NEWS / MARCH 2, 2009

Ranchmart South shopping center remodeling project will continue into next year // BILLYKIRKPATRICK

THE PHASES

First—

Second— Third—

IN THE MEANTIME Enjoy the existing shops...

done by January 1, 2010. The CVS Pharmacy will also be moving from the east side of the south shopping center to the west side.

Unfortunately for Ranchmart businesses, the renovations combined with the current economic crisis have hit the current tenants hard.

“A lot of the people who come here are elderly or they are handicapped and being able to get in through the mess has really made it hard,” said Bobby Russell, store manager of SAS Shoes said. “A lot of people are feeling the pinch of the economy also, so between the two of them, it has hurt us a lot.”

The goal of the renovations centers around the idea of making Ranchmart a fun and reliable place for those living in the neighborhoods surrounding Ranchmart to shop.

“The goal is just to improve it, to make it more enjoyable to be at, and to support the neighborhood, because Ranchmart is a neighborhood shopping center,” said Otto Westerpheld, director of real estate at Ranchmart. “It’s not a power center or a mall; it’s a neighborhood shopping center so we want it to fit in to the neighborhood, and the neighbors to be proud of it.”

Freshman Andrew Beasley believes that it was time to renovate.

“I think it looks a little run down without the renovations, and the stores are hard to access,” Beasley said.

One of the things that sophomore Austin Lage likes about Ranchmart compared to other shopping centers is the wide array of shops.

“I think it is more diverse,” Lage said. “You have a CVS, and then right next to it you have a hardware store and then

“

you have a donut shop and a movie theater.”

Westerpheld also stressed the importance of tenants to any shopping center.

“Shopping centers are only as good as their tenants,” Westerpheld said. “So what will make Ranchmart better than any other shopping center will be its tenants.”

One tenant that would have the potential to draw many people to Ranchmart would be Chipotle, which has been rumored to have interest in opening a location in Ranchmart.

And while Westerpheld would not reveal whether Chipotle would be opening a restaurant in the shopping center, Chipotle employee Lyn Jenkins did confirm that the company was planning on opening a restaurant in Leawood.

“If you want to get to Chipotle you have to drive a ways,” Lage said. “Now I could just ride my bike there, meet friends, eat, and then ride my bike back.”

Beasley is also in favor of the Chipotle idea.

“I would be up there every day,” Beasley said.

As of now though, tenants are suffering because of renovations. Ace Hardware, which has been a staple at Ranchmart for all 50 years, is no exception.

“It has affected us really bad,” Ace Hardware manager Jim Bays said. “The biggest problem is that it (renovations) almost totally eliminated our parking lot for several months.”

Despite the current affect on business, Bays remains upbeat about the renovations and believes that the renovations were necessary.

“I think they were absolutely necessary,” Bays said. “Because the shopping center was so outdated, we needed to do something to freshen it up and make it look different.”

The goal is just to improve it, to make it more enjoyable to be at, and to support the neighborhood, because Ranchmart is a neighborhood shopping center.

- OTTO WESTERPHELD, director of real-estate at Ranchmart

“

Coming soon: The new and improved Ranchmart Shopping Center. Yes, the old Ranchmart South Shopping Center on 95th and Mission is undergoing the first major renovations in its’ 50 year history. There will be a new theater entrance and new tenants. Parking lots will be redone and buildings will be upgraded. And although Ranchmart employees say renovations have had a negative affect on the productivity of the businesses, they are very excited about what they hope will be a new and improved shopping renovation and expansion of the main center. parking lot and main building, it should be As of now, the completed by May 1. shopping center is undergoing the first renovation of the East building, and the CVS stage of its’ renovaPharmacy will be moved from the East to tions which include West side, should be completed by next fall. the renovation of the parking lot and renovation of the back parking lot along with main building. This a new theatre entrance, these should be phase should be completed by Jan. 1, 2010. completed

by May 1.

The second phase will be the East building, which should -Oz’s Maq Donut House -Salon Mission be completed by -Nails for You -Mark Blanchard’s fall. The third phase -ACE Hardware Progressive Yoga will be the parking -Ranchmart Floral Center lot at the back of the & Interiors -Aspire Martial Arts building and a new -CVS Pharmacy -Therapeutic theatre entrance, -Leawood Theatres Massage Clinic which should be

11

Days Until S P R I N G B R E A K

PAGE 8 EDITORIAL / MARCH 2, 2009

CAUTIOUS WITH OUR CRITICISM Uproar over the controversial New York Post cartoon shows need for accountability of Presidential depictions and to be

There it was in shaded grays and blacks.

Two policemen, one holding a smoking gun, looking at the bullet-riddled corpse of a chimpanzee.

“They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” read the caption.

The cartoon, published in the Feb. 18 edition of The New York Post, has caused a flare up of racial tension because readers have interpreted the dead monkey to be a racist symbol of President Barack Obama.

While The Post and owner Rupert Murdoch apologized, their words won’t take away what was already misinterpreted in the cartoon.

We are a society that hasn’t forgotten our past. A past where slavery was the norm, where blacks were treated as second class citizens or worse, where civil rights wasn’t a possibility until the 1960s.

Obama met race head on, talking candidly during a speech on the campaign. Newspapers should have this

same courage and confront racism, even if it’s unintentional.

Because even if it was a mistake, The Post should be criticized for such an obvious lack of foresight. While they were trying to draw comparisons between the ridiculousness of the stimulus bill and the news story about an ape that had been shot after attacking a woman, they failed to grasp the larger scope of history.

Americans haven’t forgotten that in the past blacks were compared to monkeys in a racist attempt to degrade. If one has a sense of history, it’s easy to grasp the violent and racist overtones in the image.

The media has to learn that their satire can cross the line for readers. This cartoon isn’t the first time there has been an uproar about Obama’s depiction in a periodical. The New Yorker published a front page drawing of Obama and his wife in Muslim garb, first-bumping while an American flag

CONTROVERSIAL CARTOONS

In recent years many publications around the world have had to deal with angry reactions to their cartoons. Here are two of the most publicized instances.

Public Reaction:

“Muhammad’s ansigt” (The face of Muhammad)

Publication:

Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 2005

Description:

Jyllands-Posten asked artists to send in their personal visions of Muhammad. Twelve of them were compiled into “Muhammad ansigt.” Most of the cartoons dealt with the self-censorship debates that were going on in Denmark.

Some were calm pictures of Muhammad searching for truth, while others were more satirical. One showed Muhammad with a bomb on his head in place of a turban.

The New Yorker July 2008 cover

It was intended as a comment on the exaggerated attacks on then-Senator Barack Obama. Obama and his wife were shown standing in the Oval Office. She wore army pants and carried a machine gun. He was wearing traditional Muslim dress. In the cartoon, an American flag was burning in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama Bin Laden is above the mantle.

Harbinger the

march 2, 2009 issue 12, vol. 50

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

STEPHENNICHOLS

ASSISTANT EDITORS/ BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL

ART AND DESIGN EDITOR/ MEGSHACKELFORD

HEAD COPY EDITOR/ TIMSHEDOR

NEWS SECTION EDITOR/ MICHAELSTOLLE

“ “

Description:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/

Publication’s Response:

In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.

NEWS PAGE EDITORS/ ANNABERNARD CAMILLEKARRO

The New Yorker may think . . . that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s rightwing critics have tried to create, but most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.

- Obama spokesmen Bill Burton

Publication’s Response:

“

”

SPREAD SECTION EDITOR/

ONLINE EDITOR/

DUNCANMCHENRY KATHLEENIRELAND

PHOEBEUNTERMAN

ANNIESGROI

FEATURES SECTION EDITOR/ MELISSAMCKITTRICK

BOBMARTIN EVANNICHOLS COLLEENIRELAND

TAYLORHAVILAND

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// BBCNEWS

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burned in the fire place.

It was supposed to be a satirical peace to poke fun at those propagating the idea that Obama is a terrorist. While the intention was good, the cover still drew fire because everyone didn’t understand.

To critique a president, while avoiding racial insensitivity, publications need to stay vigilant in the editing process.

It remains unknown how many Post employees looked over the cartoon before it was published, but it was obviously too few to catch the heavy racial overtones.

It comes back to history. Editors need to be aware that while a big chin was fitting to Clinton and big ears to Bush in political cartoons, oversized lips on Obama could be viewed as a recreation of the racist depictions of blacks from the slave era.

Political cartoons shouldn’t disappear. Being critical of a president upholds accountability and free speech will always be protected in the Bill of Rights. The right to criticize comes with responsibility for the press, but regardless, they should maintain a sense of history when creating their cartoons.

Because a president, regardless of race, religion or creed, should never be compared, even accidently, to the bulletriddled corpse of a monkey.

ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAN

BILLYKIRKPATRICK HALEYMARTIN JEFFCOLE

PHOTO EDITOR/ TYLERROSTE

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR/ MACKENZIEWYLIE

PHOTOGRAPHERS/ GRANTHEINLEIN MAXSTITT KATIEEAST PATRICKMAYFIELD

Want to have your opinion heard? write a letter to the Harbinger Editorial Board

smeharbinger@gmail.com

FEATURES PAGE EDITORS/

MACTAMBLYN

JOESERNETT CONORTWIBELL

”

. . .Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that’s the spirit of this cover.

JEFFRUTHERFORD MADDYBAILEY

OPINION SECTION EDITOR/

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

”

Public Reaction:

Publication:

The New Yorker, 2008

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

Muslims were offended that Muhammad was drawn because Islamic tradition prohibits images of religious figures. Boycotts of Danish products took place in some countries. However, some Muslims in Europe supported reprinting the cartoons so people could be informed before reacting.

0 11 0 ABSENT AGAINST FOR ote

Letters may be edited for clarity, libel, length and mechanics.

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ANOTHER

PAGE 9 OPINION / ISSUE 12

DIMENSION an opinion of

Despite genre’s gimmicky past, movie guru believes 3-D has a bright future

/ LANDONMCDONALD

Hollywood would have you believe that we now stand at the precipice of the next great advent of cinema, the long awaited 3-D revolution that will usher in a glorious new era of movie making for the 21st century.

At press time, there are a record 12 new movies slated for a three dimensional release in 2009. Later this year, Dickenson Theaters will become the first theater chain to convert all its screens to digital, each one capable of showing a film in crystal clear 3-D. One of the first 3-D films of the year, Henry Selick’s grim stop motion fairy tale “Coraline,” has already received glowing accolades for its seamless, eye-popping visual bravura; praise I’d agree is definitely well-deserved.

Hell, even the critically savaged slasher flick “My Bloody Valentine” was granted a pardon when reviewed in its infinitely more enjoyable 3-D incarnation. Both movies were also released in standard 2-D formatting but grossed significantly less once they’d lost that precious extra dimension. In the wake of this success, it’s easy to see why many in the film business regard 3-D as the future.

But Hollywood sure has a short memory.

The fact is 3-D movies have been a staple of the cinema for over half a century now. The technology entered its first golden age in the 1950s when movie-goers wearing goofy cardboard glasses watched in terror as the monsters and madmen from Universal’s “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and Vincent Price’s original shocker “House of Wax” seemed to slither off the screen. Even Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense himself, employed the format to great effect in his classic 1954 crime caper (and my favorite 3-D experience) “Dial M for Murder.”

Unfortunately the novelty wore off fast with audiences, who complained of headaches and nausea caused by the primitive glasses, which produced an irritating double image effect. 3-D quickly devolved into more low-brow entertainment. It soon became the preferred venue for pornography, with classics like Andy Warhol’s “Flesh for Frankenstein” and “Mario Banana” both released in the fledgling format. As far as polite society was concerned, 3-D was dead and buried.

It would be nearly 30 years before the

// MACKENZIEWYLIE

antiquated technology was resurrected as a desperate publicity stunt for 1980s horror sequels, with the “Amityville Horror” and “Friday the 13th” franchises both releasing at least one new installment in 3-D. There was even a “Jaws 3-D,” widely considered to be the worst movie ever released in the third dimension. No arguments here.

Anyway, regardless of the quality of some of these films, the gimmick worked and audiences gladly paid extra for the added experience. 3-D was suddenly a viable technology again, even though folks still complained about the glasses.

As a kid, I remember going on the “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” ride at Disney World, the first attraction I’d ever been on that required the use of 3-D glasses. Even though they left me with a something painfully close to a full-on migraine, I was still enthralled with the idea of entertainment that jumped out at you. The dreamer’s fourth wall was broken and the possibilities and applications seemed endless.

Today, that idea still appeals to me, especially with the arrival of the new and improved Real-D glasses, a liberating break-through in 3-D technology that finally corrects the double image problem and reduces the likelihood of skull crushing headaches and eye strain. Real-D is currently being offered at the AMC 20 Theater in Town Center and Studio 30 in Olathe. Studio 30 even offers 3-D in IMAX, an awesome combination if there ever was one.

It’s just a shame the movies being offered aren’t better. The modernized format has

yet to realize its full potential. Even a twelve year-old kid could tell you how much “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” sucked. Last year’s much-anticipated “Beowulf” ended up being a DOA clunker of an action movie. Ditto the moronic Brendan Fraser summer vehicle “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” “Coraline,” the enchanting story of a little girl who uses a hidden door to escape to an eerie parallel universe, was an unnervingly beautiful and well-made film, but it’s definitely the exception to the rule here.

See, unlike these other films, “Coraline” didn’t depend on its visual trickery alone to captivate and beguile its audience. The popout effects actually served the plot and performances, not the other way around.

Thankfully, more 3-D movies like “Coraline” are on the way. I’m particularly looking forward to James Cameron’s alien opus “Avatar” and Pixar’s newest charmer “Up,” both due later this year.

“Up” follows the adventures of a globetrotting grouch who flies to South America without ever leaving his house (it’s pulled around by a titanic bundle of balloons). Both films seem like they have the potential to break the tedium of today’s endless 3-D barrage of “Ice Age” and “Shrek” sequels.

But even if every theater is one day outfitted with digital screens, 3-D is still an imperfect science that can never hope to completely replace traditional film going. But it definitely has a shot at attaining legitimacy with this promising roster. 3-D may not be the future of movies, but it will always have a place in it.

Upcoming 3-D Movies Avatar (2009)

James Cameron’s long-gestating sci-fi project has captured the attention of film geeks everywhere. Expectations are high for the film, a gritty wartime epic that pits a platoon of hardened space marines against a hostile alien race.

Alice in Wonderland (2010) Lewis Carrol’s opium-fueled children’s fable gets the Tim Burton treatment in this darker vision, which features Johnny Depp as (who else?) the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the bloodthirsty Red Queen. Don’t take the kids.

TinTin (2011) Steven Spielberg enters the third dimension in this highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the celebrated Belgian comic, which chronicles the misadventures of crime-solving duo TinTin and his faithful pooch Snowy.

PAGE 10 OPINION / MARCH 2, 2009 Sophomore reflects on his respect for athletes that may be riding...

One Ski Down

// ALYSSA J

OLITZ

an opinion of

It was just another Sunday afternoon GABL game.

I was showing up fashionably late just like the rest of my team, and hadn’t picked up a basketball since our game the week before. As we got ready for the game I took a look at the other team: they were tall, and we were probably going to lose.

There was one kid however that wasn’t a giant and he was shooting from around the three point line. He was making a lot more than I ever would, and looked like something to watch for in the game.

Later I was sitting on the bench watching this same kid throw up a shot from outside and realized his legs looked different. At first I didn’t know why, then at a closer glance I realized they were prosthetic limbs.

I was amazed.

Had he not been wearing shorts I never would have known. The kid even had a better jump shot than I did, and he played some pretty good defense.

Just weeks before this game I had been skiing in Winter Park, and as I was riding up a ski lift trying to figure out which run I wanted to take two people wearing neon orange and green vests caught my eye. I wasn’t sure why they would be wearing these colors since the competition team wore tan vests.

As I got closer I was able to make out what the orange vest said. “BLIND SKIER” was written across the front of the vest. I couldn’t believe it. Then I read the green one and it said “GUIDE” also in large black letters across the front and back.

It was incredible seeing this kid skiing. He was going down just fine carving out a line on blue black slope, with his guide following close behind. I only got to see it for just that second but I don’t know how he does it. I was just in awe that someone who can’t see is still able to accomplish something like that.

This blind skier was not the only disadvantaged athlete

/ JOESERNETT

I saw skiing that weekend. I saw numerous people skiing in wheelchairs, and several skiers that only had one leg, all of which are equally amazing, and respectable.

Seeing these events are very memorable to me. I’m sure these kids don’t want too much attention drawn to their disabilities, but everybody should be able to take something from what they are doing.

First off these kids should be commended for their will power to climb the major uphill battle they face. Of course things like basketball and skiing take a little practice no matter who you might be, but these kids chose not to just give up when they were given an unfavorable situation and worked just that much harder to be able to play.

Possibly one of the most common clichés, when the going gets tough the tough get going, fits this situation quite well.

These kids start off behind all the rest of us and don’t give up and keep working at it to push through some physical set backs. If nothing else they should be commended for the will power it takes for them to do this, because I know I have given up on several different things before when they began to get difficult.

I find my sometimes lazy and underachieving self, taking some real inspiration from this. Sure I see stories of “inspiration” all the time in athletes. ESPN does a good job getting those stories and sharing them with us; but seeing those stories I just find myself thinking, oh that’s cool, then forgetting about it soon after. Never have I ever seen any of these inspirational people in real life to see and understand what they are really about.

Seeing the blind skier, several other disabled skiers, and number three on the GABL from Gardner high school that has prosthetic legs really has made me realize how much I take my physical well being for granted. I used to just give up on something when it got difficult physically. I have had times when I would say I think I’ll start running more often and try to go everyday. That train of thought usually lasted about eight minutes, right up until I got just more than a mile away from home.

But now after seeing these different people, and thinking about what they would have had to put up with I thought wow, I really am spoiled. I am very healthy physically and I’m complaining about how running isn’t easy, when these people don’t have any legs, or one leg, or are paralyzed and

are still out there working hard.

Seeing what they were able to do it makes me want to work that much harder. To be the best I can with what I’m given just like they have done. Granted I have two very function able legs, but I feel like I haven’t taken advantage of that.

These other kids have made me realize what I can do and that I should try much harder at many of the things I do.

When I play basketball I don’t have to wear prosthetic limbs. When I go skiing I don’t have to bring a wheelchair ski because I can walk, and I don’t have to have a guide follow me because I’m not blind. But those who of us out there that do deserve some serious reverence, and should be seen as heroes in there own right for getting out there and doing that.

I only wish that I could show that much dedication towards something; and work that hard to achieve it. But now I have a reason to try and do so, a real life story that makes me want to work that hard.

How blind skiing works Any visually impaired person of any age can learn how to ski.

Here is how it works: First, the new skier is introduced to their guide, and they go over the skiers levels of visual acuity.

The skier touches and feels every part of the ski, and is told what they are and how they work.

On a flat surface, the skier is taught how to stand and balance on the skis.

Once the skier has found his/her sense of balance, they learn to feel the edges, to begin to turn.

Then the skier is taken to the bunny hill, where the instructor works with them until they feel comfortable turning, edging, and stopping.

Once the skier feels comfortable he/she along with their guide go to the chair lifts and learn how to get on and off.

When the skier reaches a bigger hill they continue to link turns and stops with their guides, and practice all earlier techniques they learned.

Now, the skier can take on more and more difficult hills with their guide. The guide could be either in front or behind them depending on preference of the skier. The guide will use a series of audio cues to help guide the skier. // www.absf.org

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PAGE 11 FEATURES / ISSUE 12

example setting an

New jumping coach plans to use life experiences including male modeling and Olympic training - to motivate East athletes

clean and 40-yard dash.

Most importantly though, he’s using the preseason to find some great leaders for the team.

“I want to inspire some kids to love jumping,” Voelker said. “I need to start finding the champions, the leaders that can help lead the team, because the way to build an incredible program is to have as many great leaders as possible.”

“He challenges us to be leaders by requiring 100 percent effort without ever really verbally stating it,” Stauffer said. “He makes us want to do it.”

Voelker’s working to be one of those leaders right alongside his athwas a “M anny” letes by doing all the pre-season workouts with them.

“I trained for the Olympics,” Voelker said. “I mean, I was in the top 10 in the U.S., so if they can just mimic or replicate some of the things I do, they’re going to get (male na nny) immensely better if I’m right there beside them.”

Sulzen agrees that Voelker’s background in professional athletics will help jumpers get a sense of where jumping can take them. train“For the really good kids, he can help ing that’s them get the experience of what it’s really supposed to produce fast, like to [jump] at a higher level,” Sulzen said. powerful movements. Voelker and his Voelker values leadership. He turned athletes do this by bounding and jumping on down offers from other Division I schools inand off boxes and over hurdles. cluding Princeton to attend the United States Stauffer says it’s the hardest workout he’s Naval Academy his freshman year in college. ever done in his life. According to Voelker, One of the school’s main tenets is leadership. the pre-season is a time for conditioning and He took this leadership training with him building strength. when he transferred to UMKC, becoming As a jumper, Voelker knows the importance of core and leg strength. In the weight room, he has his boys do power cleans, which strengthen the hips, legs and gluts for the explosion of power jumpers need. It’s known as an Olympic lift.

Rewind five years, and ‘Olympic’ is a On being a MALE MODEL: “I was on the cover of Runner’s World word Voelker was more than familiar with. for the Olympic Issue...[and] when I He qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics was the “Rivella Red’ guy in Switzerland, I got to tour the whole country with a high jump of seven feet four inches. and everything was paid for. It was That’s almost a foot over his own head and just the experience of a lifetime.” a foot higher than he jumped in high school, // Photo Courtesy of Voelker which Voelker attributes to his coaches and the years of workouts, all of which he has recorded in journals at home — every work- captain of the track team, and leading the out, every program—weights, swimming school as its first All-American athlete. and stretching included.

Now he’s bringing it to East.

Voelker’s already beginning to use this He dreams of leading athletes to college precision with his athletes. He’s been testing scholarships and leading the team to state them to see where they’re at with their ver- championships, both things which he expetical, standing long and triple jumps, power rienced as a high school athlete at Park Hill

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Matthew Voelker has been a Division I All-American high jumper, an Olympic qualifier, a UMKC hall-of-famer and the body of ‘Bratz Boy’ Dylan in the TV show Bratz Rock Angelz.

He’s worked as a holistic healer, masseuse, medical student, actor, model and ‘manny.’

This spring, Voelker can add assistant coach to this list. He will help coach jumping at East with head jump coach and industrial tech teacher Chuck Sulzen, who is entering his 40th and final track season.

Voelker recently moved to Prairie Village to open a wellness center after spending the last seven years in Los Angeles, training for the Olympics and expanding his acting career. After seven years of smog and traffic, Voelker likes the peacefulness of Prairie Village. He’s always dreamed of coaching, and with Sulzen in his last year, Voelker looks forward to growing with the track team.

Voelker’s first move as assistant coach was to find some kids to train. He’s currently working with seniors Austin Stehl and Alex Horvarth and junior Grant Stauffer. They do pre-season workouts two hours a day after school, three days a week—weightlifting, flexibility, agility and speed drills and plyometrics, mostly. Plyometrics is a kind of exercise

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in North Kansas City.

At first, track was somewhat of an afterthought to Voelker. He focused on basketball and football, and track just seemed to be the sport that came with being a natural athlete. But he did discover he had a special talent for the triple jump.

“Because I jumped on the trampoline so much as a kid and built my legs up as springs, when I went out my freshman year, I could jump so far that I was the number one varsity jumper and I went to state every year,” Voelker said.

Though he had the natural ability, Voelker still had to work to earn the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of athletic scholarships he was eventually offered. Voelker had a strong passion for sports, so not working hard was never an option.

“I loved winning and I loved sports,” Voelker said. “I kind of knew of college and playing college ball, but I was just more focused on being the best I cold be—that was my focus and I thought it was so much fun.”

Whether he was dunking, throwing, tackling or jumping, Voelker loved pushing himself because he loved seeing the results.

If not then, Voelker definitely saw the results of his hard work later in his life. Him, and the rest of America and Switzerland.

In 2004, Voelker was hired to endorse Rivella Red, a popular drink in Switzerland.

He met with directors in L.A. and soon after jumped on a plane to Switzerland. Voelker lived in the Swiss Alps for a week where he explored caves, tunnels and glaciers. Atop one of these glaciers, Voelker could see Switzerland, France and Italy. He wore the Swiss colors red and white and drank Rivella with the Olympic rings embroidered on his sleeve.

The same year, Rivella took him to Utah, where he jumped off 20-foot cliffs into pits in the middle of the red desert. He was Seeley mattresses’s Olympic high jumper, and in their commercial, he high jumped into the top bunk of a dorm room bunk bed. When doing Nike’s Olympic commercial, though, Voelker tore tendons in his foot, preventing him from jumping for seven months and going to Athens.

Though he never made it to the Olympics, these were some of the most incredible times of Voelker’s life.

“I got to do all this and got lots of money and got to travel just because I could jump,” Voelker said. “Just because I jumped on the trampoline as a kid; just because I had a good coach. So if I can help one human being in my life get to do what I did, that’s my ultimate dream.”

PAGE 12 FEATURES / MARCH 2,2009

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asked two of her seniors Laura Darling and Jennifer Latshaw.

They had been having trouble coming up with new ideas for fun things to do at the last assembly, so the thought of a rivalry among the staff was promising.

“I think it would be fun to watch and just see what happens,” Darling said.

It has been approved and will be part of the March 27 Spring Sports assembly.

The concept is still in its early stages but the plan is for the art department to challenge the math department in wits. It will consist of the entire art branch of Jason Filbeck, Jodi Schnakenburg, Adam Finkelston, Catherine Siegel, Wanda Simchuk, and Shelly Trewolla vs. six math instructors who are yet to be chosen. Two left brained possibilities include Jamie Kelly and Ryan Oettmeier.

“We’re going to prove that the creative

FACULTY FEUD Art and Math departments go head-to-head in a game show at the next pep assembly. // COLLEEN IRELAND

Competitiveness isn’t confined to kids on the playground striving to be the latest kickball champion. Now East teachers are taking part in carefree camaraderie as well.

After bouncing ideas around during lunch one day, the art department teachers came

up with the concept of having a Family Feud type event for the next pep assembly. It will be a battle between the left and right-brained educators at East.

Art teacher Jodi Schnakenburg was talking about it in class one day. Schnakenburg

A ailing Economy // MEGSHACKELFORD

Once school begins and most students adjust to their new schedules, students enrolled in Marketing 2 On-theJob Training—or OJT—adjust to their new jobs. However, with the failing economy taking effect at the start of this school year, some students in OJT adjusted more than they bargained for.

In order to get credit for OJT, senior Abby Weltner works 10 hours a week at ARTichokes, a local art gallery in Mission Farms that sells and supports local artist’s work. It also offers an open studio and art classes, which Weltner mainly works with. Through participating in OJT she is released after fifth hour everyday, allowing ample time for her to work in the afternoons. While counting up her hours for first quarter, Weltner realized she didn’t have the 90 hours that all OJT students are required per quarter.

“They didn’t ever say I didn’t need to work as much,” Weltner said. “Our owners and manager aren’t paid by the hour so by them taking most of the hours then they didn’t have to work me as much. I am just one extra person, so they just didn’t want me when they didn’t need me.”

She received a B for first quarter because of it.

As OJT students are required 90 hours per quarter and 180 a semester, Marketing 2 instructor Mercedes Rasmussen is hoping those students behind will round up more hours by the end of the quarter. If not, she is thinking of giving them an Incomplete grade and letting them make up the rest during fourth quarter. Otherwise, she is going to talk with her boss Wendy Thill, Director of Career and Technical

Ryan Oettmier Jamie Kelley TBA TBA TBA TBA

mind is always better,” art teacher Jason Filbeck said. “We have our full right brain functioning, while they’re stuck in their robotic left brains.”

The competition won’t be won by the team with either more street smarts or book smarts. Questions won’t be confined to math and art; the theme for the questions will stick more to the basic Family Feud style and will consist of a vast range of topics. One hundred randomly chosen East students will be surveyed for each of the topics to find the averages. Teachers will guess what they think is the most commonly picked answer.

“It’s a shame that we are going to have to embarrass them with our superior brain style in front of the entire student body,” said math teacher Jamie Kelley.

So far there are no prizes being awarded or trophies to bring home.

“It’s just for the glory,” Schnakenburg said.

Marketing 2 students receive lower grades than expected ­due ­­­ to rougher economic times

Education for the Shawnee Mission School District, whom Rasmussen guesses will be lenient about the situation.

After talking with Rasmussen about making up the hours, Weltner immediately emailed an office manager explaining the problem. They adjusted her hours accordingly and Weltner made up the rest during second quarter and received an A for semester.

“It’s not all their fault that I didn’t get enough hours,” Weltner said. “I am extremely busy so I often have conflicts when they need me.”

Some OJT students are not as lucky as Weltner, in fact, some enrolled only in second semester OJT have yet to find jobs because many businesses are not hiring. Rasmussen has never seen this lack of hours ever in past years.

“It’s really stressing them out,” Rasmussen said. “It also depends on the avenue of jobs they are looking in. My students working in banks and places like that have no problem because there is a need for banks regardless if they are hurting, it’s the smaller retail stores taking the hit.”

According to Rasmussen, OJT in the Shawnee Mission School District is funded by Perkins Fund, which adds money to the district’s business programs. In order to keep funding the students in marketing, an auditor from the Kansas State Department of Education—or KSDE—comes twice a year to Marketing 2 to make sure OJT is running smoothly.

They monitor closely whether each student is working and that they are documenting their paperwork correctly. So students must keep track of their paycheck stubs and count

their hours in order to get credit.

“They basically stop in to make sure we are doing what we are supposed to be doing,” Rasmussen said. “If the student does not get enough hours [deliberately], they are dropped from Marketing 2 and receive two F’s for that and OJT.” Brad Neuenswander, the Director of School Finance for the KSDE has not heard many specific instances of the economy being a factor for hour deductions.

“I think it would be more of a geographical issue,” Neuenswander said. “In rural areas I think students would have to work harder finding businesses that would comply with giving more hours.”

As third quarter lingers on, Rasmussen is looking into next year already. OJT students are required to have their employers fill out paperwork indicating their understanding that students need a certain amount of hours. But Rasmussen thinks the employers often forget that it is a binding contract, so next year, she is going to make extra phone calls to the employers to insure this.

“I know that [the hour deductions] will probably continue and it’s not going to be much better next year,” Rasmussen said. “However, I’m attending a seminar in Wichita for business programs across Kansas, and the state is considering letting kids do internships in addition. It’s a rule that kids cannot work for their parents but they may begin to allow that so there aren’t problems with getting hours. But nothing is set in stone at all.”

PAGE 13 FEATURES / ISSUE 12

a new

allegiance

// TYLERROSTE&

GRANTHEINLE

IN

Seniors prepare to take gap year between graduation and college // MELISSAMCKITTRICK

that.”

Ellerbeck had been considering a gap year since reading an article on Harvard’s recommendation of a gap year, but it didn’t turn into an actual plan until she talked with teacher Vicki Arnd-Helgesen. Ellerbeck said that Arnd-Helgesen has always encouraged students to at least consider a gap-year, and the two talked about pros and cons of taking one.

After the talk, Ellerbeck said that the opportunities for political and social involvement appealed to her. She wants to move the world ahead.

Brown, on the other hand, wants to go back.

To high school, that is.

The program she applied for, designed by the Rotary, will place her as a high-school senior in Switzerland. After considering studying abroad during college, Brown was intrigued when her mom mentioned a Rotary scholarship for gap years. At the SME College fair, she found a Rotary table set up for the seemingly anti-college: gap years.

“I e-mailed back and forth with this guy, got the application and applied,” Brown said. “I found out a week ago [that I got it].”

Magstadt’s the opposite of Brown, without a gap year, he might focus on languages; with one, he probably won’t. Magstadt speaks Czech and English, and he’d like to put his two languages to use both in college and as a diplomat in the future. For a gap year, though, he’s thinking community service.

Magstadt knows friends in the United Nations that deal with third-world countries, and he’d love to talk with them about charity work in Africa.

“Ever since childhood I got the idea that one year I’d like to take a gap year to go to Africa and do some kind of charity work,” Magstadt said. “You see people… around little kids and feeding orphans. It’s a place that obviously needs a lot of help, so I’d do some-

“

t h i n g useful.”

Magstadt said there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll take a gap year, even if work out. He’d Africa doesn’t volunteer somewhere else, get in touch with his friends at his old school, start a band, or record some music. If Magstadt doesn’t take a gap year, he’ll go to a university - possibly in Europe. Baccalaureate Program.

“Once I’m in my thirties, I want to look back and think of a time when I haven’t had a schedule or been confined to a deadline,” Magstadt said.

Ellerbeck’s plan is a fusion of the others: two parts language, one part service. She’d focus on language – but not the German that Brown will study. She’d do service like Magstadt – but more for her country as a diplomat than strictly for service projects.

She applied for a National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) scholarship. The state department sends students abroad to learn languages that many Americans don’t know – Ellerbeck could be sent to Morocco, Jordan or Egypt to study Arabic.

“Basically, it was instated because the federal government didn’t have enough people who spoke languages like Arabic, or Turkish, or Hindi or Mandarin,” Ellerbeck said. “I’m possibly considering going into Islamic studies in college, and I thought it would be a really neat opportunity to go on a semester exchange.”

The NSLI program sends students to language institutes in the supporting countries, where they study the language four to five hours a day, live with a host family, and travel to national sites. Ellerbeck finds out if she got the scholarship this April. If she doesn’t get it, though, she’s still considering a gap year.

“I’m working on some legislature here in Kansas,” Ellerbeck said. “I think it would be cool to work with some bills…around here.”

Brown and Ellerbeck both applied to colleges this year, but they plan to defer their enrollment one year if they take their gap

There’s just so much that I’ve wanted to get done in the past four years that I really haven’t, like writing and reading. It would be nice to just do stuff like that.

“

Harvard’s recommended it for nearly 40 years. Princeton offers it. Matt McGann, the former Associate Director of Admissions at MIT, blogged that his “hope is that [students] will at least consider” it.

And seniors at East just might take those schools up on it.

The gap year. It’s a break students can take after high school or before starting graduate school. A time for travelling, reading, volunteering and exploring.

While most of their friends are off to college, seniors Ali Ellerbeck, Andrea Brown and Michael Magstadt might be off on their own. Following urging from teachers, counselors and colleges, they and other students across the nation have decided to take a gap year – a year off from formal education.

“I think that just getting work experience and taking some time off from the whole school thing, so one doesn’t just have this block of their life that’s taken up by education, has benefits to it,” Magstadt said.

Harvard University is perhaps one of the most vocal in its push for gap years. Their Admissions Web site cites that too many students are burnt out after middle and high school; they want their freshman to be fresh, not faded. The Ivy League has recommended gap years for nearly 40 years in its letter of admission to students. With 50 to 70 students deferring their studies until the next year, Harvard reports that “the results have been uniformly positive.”

In fact, they credit the gap year with their graduation rate of 98 percent – one of the highest in the nation.

“Most fundamentally,” Harvard’s Admissions web site explained.

“It is a time to step back and reflect, to gain perspective on personal values and goals, or to gain needed life experience.”

Ellerbeck applied to a gap-year program for learning foreign languages, but she also believes in Harvard’s decompression philosophy even if she doesn’t get into the program, she might take a year or a semester off to relax.

“There’s just so much that I’ve wanted to get done in the past four years that I really haven’t, like writing and reading,” Ellerbeck said. “It would be nice to just do stuff like

year. Ellerbeck said that college’s policies o n deferment vary: she hasn’t checked with the ones she’s applied to, yet. Magstadt was already accepted to several universities in Europe based on his IB grades, including one tuition-free in Prague. Ellerbeck said that, in the wake of college applications, she almost forgot she had other options.

“It kind of got put on the back burner,” Ellerbeck said. “When you apply to college, you don’t really think about what else you can do.”

After stepping back from the forms, essays, recommendations, and test scores, all three found an alternative. Just like Harvard, Princeton and MIT hoped they would.

Popular gap year destinations:

EUROPE

-Second Smallest continent Home to landmarks like the Eiffel tower and Arc de Triumph -Includes 47 countries.

MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA

-SENIOR ALI ELLERBECK

- known for its diverse religions and cultures -The dominant occupation is agriculture

CANADA

-Second largest country in the world -Fifth largest energy producer in the world -Home to 10 provinces and three territories.

USA

-Third largest country in the world -Home to some of the world’s largest lakes, deepest canyons, and most populous cities

AFRICA

-Second largest continent in the world -Composed of 58 countries -Home to the world’s oldest desert, the Namib ALLPHOTOS//WWW.USA.GOV INFORMATION//National Geographic

PAGE 14 FEATURES / MARCH 2, 2009

By traveling to Greece for a year to study Greek myths, sophomore David Dechant will be going on

Magical MythsDavid weighs in on his favorite Greek myths

Cassiopeia

// MACKENZIEWYLIE “The story of Cassiopeia tells how that constellation came to be in the sky. I like that instead of being from the viewpoint of Hercules or other gods, it’s from the viewpoint of Hercules’ brother Perseus. It’s all about him falling in love, and introduces Pegasus. It shows how people can get so righteous that they start losing their mind.”

Prometheus

“A lot of the stories that involve the Titans are my favorites.

Prometheus brought fire to mortals, and all of the Titans and Gods punished him by turning him into a rock, and every day a vulture would eat out his guts. I really like the transfiguration part of the myths.” // GABYTHOMPSON

ITZ SAJOL

// HALEYMARTIN

Walking out of the lunchroom’s south door, sophomore David Dechant and his friends left the endless chattering of his classmates. Pressed against the far wall just passed the art rooms was a table covered in pamphlets for a program called Youth for Understanding (YFU). A woman behind the table asked them if they were interested in studying abroad for a year. Instantly Dechant knew that this was what he had been waiting for and flipped through the different countries he could travel to. When he found Greece, he immediately decided that he wanted to go. Quickly, he grabbed every brochure within reach.

“I have always wanted to see more of the world, and experience things that most people don’t get to experience.”

Dechant said. “When I realized that I could go to Greece, I got really excited” At the beginning of the school year Dechant’s world history teacher Mrs. Meschke talked about Greek gods, mythology, and Greek history. The teacher introduced a project that they would have to do on the gods, and after debating between Zeus and Apollo, he chose Apollo. While he was doing the research for his project, he kept wanting to know more about the journeys that Apollo went on and wanted to go on a journey of his own.

The first myth that caught Dechants interest is Cassiopeia. Dechant says the story is about a queen who wouldn’t let a peasant

S //ALY

A MISSION FOR MYTHOLOGY

marry her daughter and it showed Dechant that people should stick to their word.

It was when he was researching Apollo myths that Dechant first decided that he wanted to be a Greek Mythology professor.

Dechant pulled into his driveway after he had taken the brochures from the YFU table. He rushed into his house and began blurting out everything he knew about the program to his mom Beth Bernier asking if he could go.

“I have two other boys who came home and did the same thing... They came home and wanted to go to another country, and I said ‘yeah sure’ but they never did anything about it,” Beth said. “Well, David came home and I said ‘yeah sure’ and he actually did something about it.”

When Dechant knew that he could go, he got on the computer and began filling out the applications. They had said that there was not much space left and he would have to finish all of his forms that night to get in. Dechant worked for four hours trying to finish the applications. Finally, around 11 p.m. he tried to send them in. They wouldn’t go through. Immediately, he thought of everything that could have gone wrong.

“For hours I was on the computer finishing,” Dechant said “I tried to submit it and I was like ‘Oh it won’t let me go,’ and my mom was like ‘You know, don’t worry about it, I will call tomorrow’.”

The next day, Dechant received a phone call from the admissions department of YFU. They told him that he had to write five more essays, and then he would be able to send in his form.

Frantically, he wrote the short essays on his youth fraternity, Electa Sons and Daughters and how they do community service in the KC area. He wrote about his ROTC program and that his mom raised him and his two brothers, Matt and Jake Bernier, by herself. He wrote about a time when he was at Swift Nature Camp and began to overestimate his authority, and how he learned not to abuse power. The last essay he wrote about how he will react to being emerged into another culture. His hard work paying off and now is is preparing for his year long trip Now he is beginning to prepare for the trip.

Dechant has been teaching himself the language. He is beginning to learn a little Greek by working through Rosetta Stone. So far, he has learned how to say how are you and your welcome. But come next fall Dechant plans on being able to understand some more of the language. “(In his Greek school) I think it will be [hard].” Dechant said “From what I understand, I think that I will be able to

What is YFU?

Youth for Understanding is a program that was developed after World War II for German high school students to get away from Germany. They could then spend two semesters in the United States, where they would learn about our culture. YFU has evolved into a worldwide program where a high school student can travel to 36 different countries and stay for either one semester, two semesters or a summer with a host family. // www.yfu.org

understand what the teacher is saying, but not always able to answer back.”

Matt has helped Dechant in several ways so that Dechant can go to Greece. One of the main ways is that he set up a blog for Dechant so that Dechant can raise money through paypal and document everything he goes through before, during, and after Greece this fall.

“He can send it to friends and family and stuff like that.

So they can actually go and donate money to his trip,” Matt said.

Along with the paypal account on the blog, Dechant has been working around town doing odd jobs like dog sitting, selling Southern Living magazine, and filing his papers for Beth’s accounting company. Next he is getting a shipment of Verve ,which is a “healthy energy drink”, and selling them around school, during lunch and throughout the school day.

When he arrives in Greece, he will have a little over two weeks to get used to the culture before he spend two semesters of school there. During these two weeks he wants to fully speak, read, and write Greek. Also, he would like to know about how Greeks act, for instance, the major holidays that they celebrate and the things people do for fun. Although, Dechant doesn’t know everything about the culture, he is ready to go to Greece.

“I know that Greece is different from the United States, and while I am there I want to see the differences,” Dechant said.”I wanna kind of blend in and figure out what they do there, see the sights, and meet the people”

PAGE 15 FEATURES / ISSUE 12 // MOLLYTROUTMAN

Epiphany-to-Paper

// TRENTCOFFIN

//

TRENTCOFFIN

s e s s e r p Seniohr reoxugh songs, self t ic and video mus

Comic sketches, discarded animations, recording equipment, a computer, pencil sharpener and speakers crowd senior Trent Coffin’s desk. Original comic books fill the bookshelf in one of the two rooms of the finished attic.

In the books, arms turn into licorice and lollipops, aliens fire gamma rays and Christmas sweaters attack.

It’s a world of color and fantasy, all drawn from Coffin’s steady hand.

“Real life isn’t like that you know,” Coffin said. “Real life isn’t all sunshine and daisies.”

Coffin was born with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Tourettes disorder. While managing his challenges can be tough, expressing himself through comics, videos and music is no challenge at all. “[Art is] a catharsis pretty much,” Coffin said.

“It’s kind of like me talking to an invisible therapist.”

Coffin remembers that while other first graders were playing t-ball, Coffin enjoyed busily drawing, reading and writing. Watching Spiderman and Dexter’s Laboratory cartoons inspired Coffin’s original characters Stitch Boy, a living rag doll, and Happy Boy, a five year-old child with plans for world domination.

Whether in Hell or in the classroom, every panel in Happy Boy comics depicts Happy Boy with an oversized smile. His friends, Sad Boy and Pretty Girl, defeat the devil, destroy entire cities and alien ships, but color pictures in their first-grade classroom.

Stitch Boy is a film character that has grown alongside Coffin’s other artwork for two years. Attending school with human kids, the son of Raggedy Ann and a scarecrow deals with the complexities of being different from his peers.

Coffin also deals with the complexities of being different from other kids at school. Randomly wanting to blurt meaningless phrases, and having trouble focusing on monotonous tasks, Coffin works every day to keep his tics at bay.

“Because his tics are so outward and so physically visible to everybody I think [his Tourettes and ADHD are] a much tougher challenge,” Coffin’s mother Lori Gillin said. “We focus more on Trent as a person and really always told Trent, ‘there is nothing that you can’t do.’”

Coffin believes this also and acts as an inspiration to other kids at the Joshua Center, an association that helps families to learn about ins and outs of Tourettes and ADHD . He works hard not to let his Tourettes affect

his work even though his case is slightly more severe.

Stress is one of the leading factors that can activate the capricious symptoms of Coffin’s Tourettes and ADHD. Creating comics and writing songs has become as an outlet to some of the stress that comes with his challenge.

“Despite [the fact that] I have these disorders, I’m maturing and I’m learning what’s socially acceptable and what’s not.” Coffin said.

When Coffin was seven-years-old, his parents took him to the Joshua Center. Before long Coffin was able to stand in front of the class and educate the other children of the reasons behind his tics.

Growing older, Coffin focused on taking an interest in others. He soon formed a network of friends who were also interested in art and comics.

Having already produced and sold a comic book in stores, Coffin has learned the intricacy of what it really takes to run a business deal. The comic was about Johnny Salem, a witch hunter and protector of humans and good witches.

After creating the comic it took $152 for Kinkos to print 10 copies. Next he paid Beep Bop comic store to put his comic on their shelf, but he made only $5 off of the comic.

“It wasn’t a very good business deal but it was a good experience for me to get my stuff out there and actually see what people thought,” Coffin said.

Creating purely for the fun of it; Coffin figures there will be plenty of time in the future to make money off of his art.

In the future, Coffin hopes to build his own animation business in California, New York or in Kansas City, with Stitch Boy as a possible feature film characters during his career.

Although he hopes his characters will be as popular as the Simpsons or the Power Puff Girls, Coffin wants to remain behind the scenes.

“Animators don’t usually get [a lot] of press,” Coffin said. “But you do see their movies or TV shows which kind of lets you see them without seeing them.”

Preparing for his career, Coffin looks forward to the next four years at the KC Art Institute. The Board of Trustees at the Institute granted Coffin a generous scholarship for his artistic skill and work ethic.

“I’m going to the Institute because it’s an art school that’s really renowned and it’s convenient,” Coffin said.

“The reason why I do art is because I love it and it’s fun and it’s a good way to make a living. I know that’s what I want to do.”

P

PAGE 16 SPREAD / MARCH 2, 2009

h

1

Pain and tenderness

2 Excessive redness around the piercing

3 Prolonged bleeding 4 Discharge of yellow or green pus 5 A change in skin color around the piercing

6 Area around the piercing is hot to the touch

// bodyjewelleryshop.com

// PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BYMACKENZIEWY

Cure an infected piercing

HOW TO:

YOUR PIERCING

May be infected if there is:

1 Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and limit contact with the infection as that may irritate it more.

2 Clean the infection daily with an over-thecounter hydrocortisone, not alcohol as alcohol can cause more irritation.

3 Soak a wash cloth in warm water and sea salt and then apply it to the infection for up to 30 minutes.

44 Apply an antibacterial ointment to the infection daily.

5 Repeat steps one through four daily until the infection goes away.

// ehow.com

PIERCE

PAGE 17 SPREAD / ISSUE 12

at your own risk Students find that piercings done by friends can result in infections

// AUBREYLEITER

A sliced apple, a sterilized needle, and a cube of ice.

Lindsey Lohan in Disney’s “The Parent Trap” made it look so easy.

She experienced no form of infection, no swelling, no rash. But then again, it is just a movie.

Students at East haven’t been as lucky. Whether it’s by piercing themselves, being allergic or a bad habit, they have been experiencing infections with ear piercings. The reasons for the infections are different, but the outcome has left students with swollen and irritated skin.

Sophomore Dana Sherard decided to pierce a second hole into each of her ears last summer with a pair of old earrings she found. Her friend sterilized the earring with fire and put an apple behind her ear. Her friend then put the earring through the ear.

“It didn’t hurt, it just made a weird ‘skush’ noise. And kind of popped a little,” Sherard said. “But then it got infected. I had it in for about a week and it got like bright red and [puss-filled] and all of that stuff.”

Sherard thought that the infection would stop so she left it in for a few more days, but then it didn’t. The piercing continued to swell. She removed the earrings. She now has little balls of scar tissue where the hole once was.

“If you [pierce yourself] at home there is a higher risk for infection because it’s not as sterile of an environment as it is in one of the tattoo shops,” Anna Smith, a nurse at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center said. “I would say there is a higher risk of doing it at home because you’re probably not doing it properly also.”

Sophomore Taylor Tripp had two of her friends pierce her industrial, which is a bar that goes from between two piercings and is typically in the upper ear cartilage.

“They had done their own piercings before, and I trusted them,” Tripp said. “It also seemed more convenient [than getting it done professionally].”

YLIE Tripp thought it was more convenient to have her friends do it because it was free. An industrial piercing can be up to $80.

Tripp said the process was very painful, and that the piercing took six months to heal because it got infected.

“It was really red all of the time and I couldn’t touch my ear in the places it was pierced and it would harden up and it had puss,” Tripp said.

Tripp’s mother Sheri Brechtel was worried about the outcome of having non-professionals pierce her daughter’s ear and wasn’t aware that Tripp wanted to do this until after the process had happened. She said the first question she asked Tripp was ‘why wouldn’t

you have just had it done professionally?’

“I wasn’t happy because I didn’t think it was very sanitary and had a risk of getting infected easily because of the location of it,” Bretchel said.

Instead of removing the bar to make the infection go away, Tripp cleaned her ear and the bar once a day and would twist and move the bar around in her ear. Eventually, after six months, it was fully healed.

If you [pierce yourself] at home there is a higher risk for infection because it’s not as sterile of an environment as it is in one of the tattoo shops.

Piercing infections can happen for more reasons than just people who pierce themselves. Professional piercer Jeremy Upshaw from Freaks on 39th, a piercing and tattoo parlor in Westport, said that the main reason people probably get infections is not following the after care procedure. After care at Freaks is to clean the piercing twice a day with saline solution.

“If they get an infection from our store, it’s because they aren’t following their after care instructions,” Upshaw said. “It’s as simple as that, they are doing things that we told them not to do.”

Dr. Celeste Angel, at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, said she has not seen many studies done on piercings and infections but knows infections do occur. She also said that there are a lot of different skin diseases that happen because of infections.

These include bacterial skin and blood, viral skin and blood and fungal skin and blood.

Junior Kelly Sabates experienced an infection, but not because she pierced herself.

“I would take out my earrings and play with them when my hands were dirty,” Sabates said. “So they would like get infected because there was germs on [the earrings].”

Since her outer ear was infected, Sabates stopped taking her earrings out all of the time. She realized the harm one habit had on her. However, she sometimes still experiences minor infections.

Morgan Berggren, assistant manager at Icing by Claire’s at Oak Park Mall, said that there are tons of different reasons for ear piercings to get infected.

“I would say, the main reasons people have their piercings get infected is because they are allergic to the different metals, people don’t take care of them and sometimes if they even pull on them,” Berggren said.

According to a research project by Dr. Anne E. Laumann in Chicago, 24 percent of women’s soft ear lobes are allergic to jewelry made from certain metals, which leads to infections.

Sophomore Shayla Parcels experienced an outer ear infection where the infection was from hairspray.

“They got infected from all of the hairspray I was using at the time for competitive cheerleading,” Parcels said.

To make the infection go away, Parcels took out the earrings she was wearing, and cleaned them with soap and water.

“People change jewelry too early, which irritates it. Or they don’t do the after care properly,” Upshaw said. “A lot of people think ‘well as long as I’m cleaning it with an anti-bacterial soap then its not going to get infected.’ What you’re actually doing is your keeping the

wound open way too long and you’re damaging the tissue all of the time, Anything that kills bacteria is going to kill skin cells.”

Upshaw also said that the key to a successful piercing is to make sure the piercing place that they are going to is a quality shop.

“It’s really hard for people to walk into a shop and do that without having any knowledge of piercing,” Upshaw said. “First and foremost, if your going to a shop that’s using low quality jewelry-if your paying $20-30 for a piercing then its not going to be a good piercing.”

Piercings at Freaks are typically around $80 to start. He said the shop should be clean and comfortable, things like appearance tell people more about how things actually go behind the scenes.

For instance, Freaks does not use surgical steel, they use implant grade materials. They have a full-sterile technique, which requires wearing gloves. They use a statum, which is typically seen in a dentist office opposed to a piercing parlor. It’s a cassette auto plate that sterilizes everything right before they use it, so everything that touches a given person is for sure sterilized.

They also do not use pouches or packages to store their supplies because they get holes very easily which make the supplies dirty.

Upshaw said the main question someone needs to ask when they walk into a piercing parlor is what quality jewelry the parlor uses.

“If anybody gives you any attitude about these things, then they are probably trying to hide something and you should just walk out,” Upshaw said. “Most piercers will take you in the back and show you the step by step process and show you the types of materials and if they are not willing to do that, then bounce.”

According to Upshaw, when choosing to pierce any part of the body, there is a risk for infections, despite who does the piercings.

“Any time your puncturing the body you run the risk of getting infected, no matter how clean the procedure is, no matter how well you do after care. It has a lot more to do with how healthy the person is, than how clean the procedure is,” Upshaw said. “Its typical that people who are less healthy are going to get infections a lot easier than people who take decent care of themselves.”

Piercings in the Past The earliest known mummified remains of a human that was pierced is over 5,000 years old.

Roman centurions pierced their nipples to signify their strength and virility.

Aztecs, Maya and some American Indians practiced tongue piercings because they thought it brought them closer to their gods.

Sailors became convinced that piercing one ear would improve their long-distance sight.

Word also spread that should a sailor be washed ashore after a shipwreck, the finder should keep the gold ring in exchange for providing a proper Christian burial. // ezinearticles.com

EXCEEDINGtheLIMIT

PAGE 18 FEATURES / ISSUE 12

East teacher shares experiences and thoughts about receiving numerous driving tickets // MOLLYTROUTMAN

the death of her ticketing officer before the officer could testify against Murphy in court.

Although she has received countless tickets, breaking the law doesn’t bother Murphy.

“I kind of consider [the speed limit] as a guideline,” Murphy said. “It’s a problem.”

Murphy has seen no negative effect on her insurance rates and has been in the lowest risk insurance pool her whole life.

In her economics class she teaches students that it’s not cost-efficient for the state to hire a worker to count all tickets and call insurance companies reporting tickets.

“I think it’s really useful information because you can actually use it in life,” sophomore and Murphy student Reed Waldon said.

If tickets are received in areas other than the driver’s hometown, Murphy tells students that the ticket will most likely not be reported to insurance companies or the drivers bureau.

“If I got a ticket in Prairie Village and you got your money from me, what incentive do you have to call every other city?” Murphy said.

Police officers submit tickets to their court department, which issues a fine and sends the ticket along to the state. Tickets are tracked with the help of the Alert computer system, a database linked to all of the KC metro. However, some areas missing Alert create gaps in the system.

CLASSIC LINES WHEN PULLED OVER—

According to officers Richard Pacheco and Ted Bartlett • • • •

“I have bigger tires, so my car goes faster than normal” “My speedometer is broken” “I’m on my way to the hospital because my child is sick” “My accelerator pedal is stuck”

v t.go

.do hwa

.f tcd

.mu ww

//w

MOST COMMON TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Speeding Running a red light Not signalling Crossing the median Driving in a car pool lane Not stopping for school bus No stopping for pedestrians Not using seat belt Driving on shoulder Passing in a no passing zone Drunk driving Reckless driving Driving without a licence, insurance or registration // www.calculateme.com

“It’s hard because every time you get a ticket you get one from Prairie Village, you get one from Overland Park, ” said Brady Sullivan detective of Prairie Village Police Department. “It’s hard to keep them [straight], we get them all mixed up.”

Murphy has no future plans for slowing down.

“I just don’t realize [I’m speeding],” Murphy said.

// http://www.usa.gov/

// PHOTOS BY PATRICKMAYFIELD AND GRANTHEINLEIN

Her 18-month-old daughter in the back seat, speeding 45 mph in a 35 mph zone down Mission Road, economics teacher Rebecca Murphy glanced in her rear view mirror.

The red and blue lights, they were all too familiar. As she slowed to a stop, Murphy quickly pulled the pacifier from her child’s mouth tucked it under her leg. Screaming erupted from the small child.

“Boy, I’ll never leave the house without a binky again,” Murphy lied. “I’m really sorry. I’m really close to home. I can almost see it from here and I know I should slow down.”

Hearing her story, the female officer was sympathetic.

She let Murphy off with only a warning.

Sixteen years later, Murphy estimates she has accumulated 50 tickets in 32 years of driving and her driving record shows only two tickets reported in this past year. She has had just one crash and one ticket that she thought were unfair. In her class, she teaches students about the smart way to deal with traffic tickets, mostly moving violations.

Because it is necessary to accumulate three tickets in a year, Murphy has been able to retain her license. On average, Murphy gets two tickets a year, and some have not been recorded due to the mistake of the system.

Upon receiving a ticket in her hometown of Overland Park, Murphy met with the district attorney who doubled the price of her ticket, making it a parking violation instead of a moving violation. According to law, parking violations are not reported to insurance companies while moving violations can raise one’s insurance rates.

“Well, you’ve only had two tickets,” The officer told Murphy. “Of course we’ll double [the ticket].”

Escaping tickets in various ways, many Murphy’s tickets are never recorded. One specific ticket was escaped due to

PAGE 19 FEATURES / ISSUE 12

smiles sandwiches, soda, shakes &

Brothers and friends have fun working together at local Chick-Fil-A

say chees

eigh re - the boys w urgers anymo the best.

It’s notinjuosnt bwhat menu item is

// BOBMARTIN Friendship and chicken aren’t usually associated with one another. In fact, they have almost nothing in common. But for two brothers and a handful of East students, it’s been chicken that’s brought them together.

It started when East graduate Drew Severns had just finished studying public relations and business marketing at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Heading into the work world, Drew had several opportunities available.

That’s when a unique job proposal came around. Longtime family friend Foe Swyden had opened a Chick-Fil-A franchise on State Line a few years before, and was interested in Drew for the general manager position.

Shortly after starting, he figured the restaurant would need more help. That’s when Drew looked toward two sophomores that he thought would fit his requirements of “integrity and willingness to serve people”: his younger brother Will and his friend Brett Miller.

In October of 2008 as the football season

was ending for the boys, they started. That’s when things really “snowballed”, according to Will.

“My brother was like, ‘hey you got any other guys that would wanna work here’, and I said ‘sure’, and called [more people] and asked if they wanted to work,” said Severns.

The positions filled quickly as sophomores Timmy Ahern and Krey Bradley came onto the job only three weeks later. Chick-FilA was becoming a crowded market for high schoolers looking for work. Will attributes this to the high standards the restaurant sets and the ease in coming onto the job.

“I don’t like it when people think it’s just a fast food joint,” Severns said. “ It’s really good sit down food, just fast, and a great environment to work in due to the people.

Drew is confident that the kids’ work experience will be a valuable one too.

“These guys are outstanding and I know that they will benefit from this experience later in their lives.” Drew said.

While it is still work for all the boys, they don’t let that get in the way of having fun, and few good laughs in the slow times. Will

e...

Miller: Plainw#1ich Classic Sand ” “I just like it plain.

Sandwich JENSEN: Clidasnsi’tc invent “We d - just the chicken wich.” chicken sand

strip meal SEVERNSie: s4and sauce fr h wit where you “It getseyeoduto be.” n

recalls playing “double headsets” with Brett, where they’ll both talk to the drive-thru customer at the same time and even start a silly dialogue.

“We’re having a great day here at Chick-Fil-A! I’m Will”, says Severns, “And I’m Brett” says Miller, “How can we help you?” the two chirp out of the headsets in unison.

They also have their recently created “adjective game”. Every time someone comes in the drive-thru they have to use a different adjective to say “have a great day”. Fifty customers later, the two are going to the lengths of “have a gnarly day” or “have a sunny day.”

Many of their most memorable moments come from wearing the mascot cow suit on the rare occasion that it’s used. The duty entails everything from giving out hugs, to dancing on the sidewalk by State Line as cars fly by.

“It’s not something we do often, but when we do, the party begins,” said Will.

Putting in around 13 hours a week, the job is certainly part time for the guys, something junior Stewart Jensen really enjoys. “[Drew] knows that I play baseball, and that’s a big commitment, and he said he’d be really flexible, which is a big help.”

Jensen said.

Working mostly during the week, Jensen experiences a different side of the restaurant than the antics of Will and Brett’s weekend shift. Being a relatively

// ALL PHOTOS BY TYLERROSTE new addition to the Chick-Fil-A team, Jensen has relied on fellow East students, like sophomore Betsy Blessen, to get him accustomed to parts of the job like the hectic drive thru.

“I was pretty nervous at first, because it’s pretty nerve racking taking orders at the drive thru and stuff,” Jensen said. “But it gets really easy, and it was nice having the help.”

Even though Miller says the job can be frantic sometimes, he wouldn’t give it up for another job. He says the pay, the friends, and the setting makes it all worth it.

“Basically, its the perfect place to work,” Miller said.” Having all my friends around makes it fun, everyone treats you great, and it’s just nice to know we’re dealing good chicken.”

1. “ ognizHaolsteins ar quic ble cow e the m best.”k and sims. In adveorst recple ar tising, 2. “ e alw ays usedTthe Holstein o c r o e types ( presen ws are are m beef cows t bovines often cow ore ‘lovab , etc.), an of all le’ tha d they 3. “Fsi.” n oth are in nally, man er y f a H once t ct used olstein h over.” eir milk- to make cows giving days baeef re

But why cows? // www.chick-

fil-a.com

PAGE 20 PHOTOESSAY / MARCH 2, 2009

At a concert on Feb. 19, band members

HIT THE HIGH NOTE

ABOVE: The concert band plays their annual winter concert in the gym because of auditorium construction.

Led by assistant director Melissa Watzke, the concert band is composed mostly of underclassman. // ALL PHOTOS BY MACKENZIEWYLIE

TOP LEFT: Senior Elizabeth McDonald waits in the horn section for her cue to begin playing the song “Gifted Leadership .”

BOTTOM LEFT: Director Kim Harrison flips the sheet for the annual winter band concert .

The symphonic and concert band each played three pieces.

TOP RIGHT: From the stands amongst friends and families of band members, Watzke, with her daughter Elizabeth, watched the symphonic band perform.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Senior Jacey Gorman motions to her boyfriend in the stands. Gorman waves the “promise” ring he gave her; it symbolizes their future engagement.

PERFECT BALANCE Under constant stress in IB, senior uses ballet dancing to find a // KENNEDYBURGESS

Senior Amelia Murphy struts into the brightly lit Studio Three of Legacy School of the Arts with her chin held high.

She quickly changes into her ballet slippers and tiptoes over to the center bars encircled by mirrors on every wall.

“Right arms on the center bar, let’s get started ladies!”

Murphy’s instructor yells. “Avant en Balance’ Dedans!”

Amelia knows exactly what her instructor’s commands are. French has never been an unfamiliar language to her, neither has the language of ballet.

Whenever Amelia steps onto the stage in her pink, Pointe slippers, she feels the nerves kick in. But the butterflies in her stomach disappear once the music starts, and her delicate feet begin to move to the rhythm, overcome with an exhilarating rush of excitement.

All of the stress in her life vanishes once she begins to dance. Amelia’s passion for ballet started when she lived in Europe. Ever since Murphy tried ballet in Belgium when she was eight, ballet has been the anchor in her sometimes hectic life.

Amelia’s mother and father, Carol and Stephen, moved to Belgium two years before she was born because of Stephen’s work. Two years after they had moved, Amelia was born.

The Murphys enrolled Amelia in a French speaking preschool when she was four.

Carol remembers her daughter asking if she could try ballet because all of her friends were trying it.

“It started out as something my friends were doing and I wanted to try it too.” Amelia said. “I ended up loving it so much that I just kept with it.”

Amelia was 9-years-old when her family moved again.

Her father’s work asked him to work from the U.S.. She would be leaving Europe completely.

“I was really sad to leave Belgium at first,” Amelia said. “It took me a few years to get used to it. I still miss Belgium a lot.”

Amelia wanted to continue ballet in the U.S., so her parents looked around for studios that would suit her needs as a dancer.

Amelia’s parents had heard about the LSA dance school in Olathe, which offered advanced ballet classes that were based on Europeanstyle ballet. As soon as they enrolled her, Amelia’s talent was quickly noticed by her new instructor.

“She walked into my class with the traditional all-white leotard, white skirt, and white tights, which is very European,” Amelia’s ballet instructor Michelle Hamlet said. “Her talent stood out among the rest of the girls from the very start because she had such dedication and gut fruit-strength.”

Unlike a majority of the girls her age, Amelia never complained about blisters on her feet from her new Pointe slippers or the blood caused by the constant twirling and spinning on her toes or even the toe nails that would fall off every once in awhile.

“I just love the feeling of accomplishment after all of the pain you have to go through in ballet.” Amelia said. “It is such a great feeling to have.”

Outside of school, Amelia is a dedicated ballet dancer.

Inside East, she is a dedicated International Baccalaureate student. Amelia joined the IB program because she was always practical in her school work and was always looking for a new challenge.

She discovered juggling IB and ballet brings difficult obstacles to overcome.

“It gets difficult for her at times to handle all of the stress that comes with IB,” Carol said. “She has always been a hard

“

PAGE 21 FEATURES / ISSUE 12

worker nonetheless.”

“Whenever I get stressed out I can just forget about everything and just dance.” Amelia said. “[IB] gets really stressful so if I didn’t have ballet I don’t think I could handle IB without that hour and a half after school each day where all I do is dance.”

“There are so many things you have to know,” Amelia said. “One minute you must be on point then the next you must twirl while still being on point. I enjoy every minute of it.”

Amelia admits it is difficult to find time for a social life on the side of ballet and IB. Ballet has helped her make a close knit group of friends at LSA. “I’ve known Amelia for about 10 years now through ballet,” Amelia’s close friend and Hamlet’s daughter, Petra Weith said. “We have a really tight group of friends at Legacy.”

They learn from each other and help one another during practice.

“It’s great because we can push each other to try harder,” Weith said. “There’s always encouragement going on between us.”

In December, Amelia played the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in LSA’s version of The Nutcracker. It was her third year dancing in the ballet and her second as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Amelia said this year there were about 800 people who came to see both performances.

“It’s always really exciting and fun.”

Amelia said. “We also get to dance with a volunteer orchestra, which just adds to the excitement.”

Amelia’s ballet troupe is currently working on a dance, “Carnival in Venice”. The dance involves choreography with fans, which adds another level of difficulty to the dance.

“The dancers have to pay more attention to what’s around them on stage,” said Hamlet “They have a fan in one hand and it will be covering part of their face.”

Amelia wants to pursue ballet further by taking it as a minor in college. She feels that she will be limited from other experiences if she chooses ballet as a major. Amelia is looking at seven colleges that offer ballet, Stanford being one of them.

“Well, I’m not sure what I want to do yet,” Amelia said. “I am still completely undecided about what I want to major in.”

At the moment, Amelia is keeping her options open.

“She has always danced with beauty and dignity and her mature attitude has // CCCREIDENBERG earned her so much.”

Hamlet said.

“I know she will dance Ballerina- Italian for “fePirouette- One of the Jete- A type of jump for the rest male dancer.”

A ballerina is most basic ballet moves. from one foot to the of her life, even if she the principle female dancer A pirouette is a complete other, like a leap. It is d o e s n’t of a ballet company. The turn on one foot, with the started with a fast run. pursue it male version is danseur. swing of an arm. in college.”

[IB] gets really stressful so if I didn’t have ballet I don’t think I could handle IB without that hour and a half after school each day where all I do is dance.

- AMELIA MURPHY

“

the finer points— basic ballet terms

PAGE 22 MIXED / MARCH 2, 2009

take a look at the different ways students are spending their spring break the helpful way//OWEN GRAY

When senior Owen Gray comes back from his spring break vacation, he’ll have a tan.

A farmer’s tan.

Gray is spending a week of his vacation in the Dominican Republic doing a mission trip through Village Presbyterian Church. This will be the second year he has been on this trip, and he does it because he loves the experience.

“We do whatever work they need us to do on this construction site,” Gray said. “Last year, we were helping build the foundation for a new school they were building.”

This trip has been a tradition with Village Church for more than 20 years, and this year about 25 kids will be attending.

“A lot of my friends at the church go on the trip,” Gray said. “I had a ton of fun last year with all of the people. It was a really rewarding experience with helping to build the school and seeing all of the kids that were down there. Not only that, [it was] a spiritual experience. It was pretty awesome.”

//AUBREYLEITER

the royals way//JACKSON BRETT the kansas way//OLIVIA MANSFIELD Some kids dream of being a professional baseball player, or to have chance to play with the team. For sophomore Jackson Brett this is not just a once-ina-life-time thing.

It’s an annual routine.

For every spring break since he was in second grade, Brett has gone to Surprise, Arizona for Royals spring training.

He has the same routine everyday. Brett and his dad, Hall of Famer George Brett, wake up in the morning at 5 a.m. He puts on a uniform and has batting practice and runs field drills with the team.

Then it’s time for the game. If it’s an away game, Brett and the team get on the bus to go to the game, and then he sits in the dugout to watch them play. If it’s a home game, Brett still sits in the dug out to watch the game.

After the game, he goes out to lunch with the team.

“I love hitting/batting practice before a game in uniform,” Brett said. “I love being on the field with the major league players and have people watch you who don’t know who you are.”

Sophomore Olivia Mansfield won’t be skiing in Colorado, shopping in California, or laying on the Mexico beach. She’ll be spending her spring break vacation in no place other than Prairie Village.

Instead of dwelling on the fact that she isn’t going anywhere, Mansfield is taking advantage of her time off to do the stuff she needs to do, but also have a break to remember.

“I going to be taking drivers ed because I am not in school so it will be a good time to get it over with,” Mansfield said. “And for the fun of it, I think I’m going to stay a few nights at Great Wolf Lodge with a friend.”

Mansfield is going to the Great Wolf Lodge over break because she says that it is not something you can just do over a weekend.

Also, she is going to take the time off to just relax and take a break from constant studying and heavy workload.

“I’d like to go somewhere,” Mansfield said. “But it’s going to be nice to just stay home and relax.” //

ALLPHOTOS BY DANSTEWART

CLASS OFFICER ELECTIONS ARE WEDNESDAY MARCH 11TH! Don’t Forget!

1:45 early release on

Wednesday

PAGE 23 A&E / ISSUE 12

After 29 years and 11 mediocre sequels, ‘Friday the 13th’ remake finally shows

JASON’S BACK // LANDONMCDONALD

Everything old is new again in Marcus Nispel’s brutally entertaining revamp of “Friday the 13th,” a rousing retro thrill-ride that packs as many laughs as scares. No one but slavering Fangoria subscribers were expecting too much from this reboot, the twelfth installment in a moribund horror franchise that peaked in the mid-1980s. But Nispel’s film is the rare remake with the brains to realize that there’s no substitute for the original. By combining the best parts of the first four movies in the series with a slew of freshly generated shocks, “Friday the 13th” stays faithful to the source material without seeming recycled.

The back-story is pretty well known by now. After a mentally disabled boy drowns at Camp Crystal Lake, his vengeful mother Pamela Voorhees starts slaughtering the neglectful teen counselors who were too busy partying to rescue her little Jason. She’s eventually stopped and killed, but Jason somehow returns from his watery grave and continues his mother’s murderous work, growing into the hockey masked, machete-wielding maniac (and symbolic teen sex deterrent) we all know and love.

But no matter how many times this bloody tale is told by county sheriffs or general store rednecks, them damn kids never learn. The newest crop of pretty young things, like so many drunken college kids before them, ignore the warnings and go camping anyway, this time hoping to find and harvest Crystal Lake’s generous bounty of marijuana plants.

The extended opening sequence finds the prospective pot peddlers being butchered by Jason in such efficient, grotesquely creative ways that the audience can’t help but wonder if the big guy is going to run out of victims within the first twenty minutes of the movie. Thankfully, this isn’t the case.

I could bore you with the details of an unnecessary subplot dealing with Clay (Jared Padalecki from TV’s “Supernatural) trying to find his little sister Whitney (Amanda Righetti), a dead ringer for Mrs. Voorhees who is kidnapped by Jason early on in the proceedings.

But I’d rather talk about Jason himself, as portrayed by talented stuntman Derek Mears (“The Hills Have Eyes II”).

He’s a major improvement over previous incarnations.

Whereas earlier Jasons were little more than painfully sluggish, lumbering zombies, Mears’ version is leaner, meaner and considerably faster. This new Jason is a loping, feral nightmare, a relentless and unstoppable boogeyman.

Acting is definitely not the film’s strong suit. The Crystal Lake locals seem right out of central hick casting, but none of them make any lasting impression. And the less said about the bland teen performers, the better. The only stand-out is Aaron Yoo, so memorable as Shia LeBeouf’s goofy friend in “Disturbia.” He essentially plays the same character here, but his quirky comedy relief is a welcome break from the unremitting blood and guts. Even his death and the events leading up to it are hilarious.

Marcus Nispel, a veteran music video director, has really come into his own as a horror maestro since helming Michael Bay’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake back in 2003.

Whereas that earlier film was overlong and unwieldy in its execution, “Friday the 13th” has the fun, polished feel of a mainstream crowd pleaser, the perfect chaser to the Oscar season’s dour politics. The only thing it lacks is Jessica Biel in a tank-top.

Like its multiple predecessors, the violence in this movie is intentionally over the top, almost cartoonish in its severity. It’s designed to scare but not genuinely disturb. Some of Jason’s killings, like the frat boy getting impaled through the eye socket with an arrow, even look like they were accomplished with cheesy 80s-era makeup. All this old-school gore is a reprieve compared to the graphic, almost fetishistic intensity of today’s torture porn movies like the sadly indestructible “Saw” franchise.

Strange as it sounds, there’s a kind of comfort to be found in the familiarity of the slasher formula. “Friday the 13th” knows exactly what it is and makes no apologies for it. It’s a deliberately stupid, disposable pleasure that will please both hardcore horror fans and anyone looking for a night of cheap thrills at the movies. Welcome back, Jason.

|

ORIGINAL (1980)

Goriest Death

As future “Footloose” star Kevin Bacon makes sweet bunk bed love to his camp counselor girlfriend, he is suddenly impaled by an arrow through the neck. The culprit? Jason’s vengeful mother Pamela, who was stalking the couple from under the bed.

GORE-O-METER J in terms of bloodyness & all around “ick” factor

Paper cut

|

Part III Freddy vs. Jason

Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, two titans of cinema shock, crossed blades in this fun but unnecessary cross-over hit.

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

Jason earns his hockey mask in this incredibly campy third act, the only “Friday the 13th” film ever released exclusively in 3-D. By softening the gore and upping the gallows humor, this film is most effective when viewed as a comedy. This is where the series started to go downhill.

| Rental at best |

L

Skinned alive

Goriest Death

Sequels worth seeing The first film to actually feature Jason as the killer, this sequel pushed the era’s limits on sex and violence, initially earning an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. It also included the much scarier pre-hockey mask Jason, a bagheaded ghoul with serious mommy issues.

K

Severed limb

Friday the 13th REMAKE (2009)

Landon McDonald presents...

Part II

Friday the 13th

GORE-O-METER J in terms of bloodyness & all around “ick” factor

Paper cut

When the drunken, potaddled Richie returns to his campsite to check on his busty gal pal, he finds her trapped and roasting alive in a sleeping bag suspended over their scorching campfire.

Richie tries to help but soon falls prey to one of Jason’s hidden bear traps. Messy.

K

Severed limb

L

Skinned alive

// PHOTOS COURTESY FRIDAYTHE13FILMS.COM, CELEBRITYWONDER.COM & NIGHTMAREONELMSTREETFILMS.COM

|Worth seeing |

|Instant Classic

// www.celebritywonder.com

PAGE 24 A&E / MARCH. 2, 2009

DON’T BANK ON ‘THE INTERNATIONAL’ Despite killer action sequence, conspiracy thriller fails to accumulate interest // ALEXLAMB

A little over halfway through “The International,” the entire Guggenheim Museum is shot up in the only action sequence of the movie. Up until that point, I had enjoyed the film, but nothing had managed to fully impress me.

Sure, the clichéd assassination of a political figure in front of hundreds of spectators was stylishly gratifying, but the superb riddling of the walls and bodies of hitmen in the renowned museum really solidified my viewing experience.

If it weren’t for a familiar and predictable script and Naomi Watts’s boring character, the film could’ve been terrific.

Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is an Interpol agent on a mission to take down the notoriously influential and seemingly unstoppable Internatioal Bank of Business and Credit. Af-

ter his partner learns of the bank’s global arms dealing plot, he is immediately killed with an untraceable poison.

To avenge his partner and finally bring the IBBC to justice, Salinger collaborates with Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) of the Manhattan DEA to build a case against the evil bank.

Eventually, though, he realizes the only way he’ll be able to achieve the desired ending is to take matters into his own hands and work outside of the law.

The concept of a bank that controls practically everything seems like it would be engrossing, but in actuality, the story provides only sporadic moments of intrigue with no surprising twists. While I was never truly bored, as most of the film followed a decent but ultimately unoriginal investigation and espionage formula, the movie could have been far more compelling (especially the uninspired final confrontation) in the hands of a more experienced director such as Ridley Scott or Stephen Soderbergh.

However, I have absolutely no complaints with the nearly 10-minute long, spectacular Guggenheim Museum shootNew York City- Owen seaches the out, which is the best set-piece of the year so far and most city searching for a hitman that certainly stands as the greatest part of the movie. Evholds compromising information to erything about it, from the clean setting that becomes help take down the bank. ravished by destruction to the enthralling kills, heartstopping tension, realistic choreography and almost Berlin, Germany- At gruesome violence, feels refreshing and new comthe beginning, Owen pared to the typical action scene, impressing on a stakes out the bank’s multitude of levels even without any explosions. headquarters.

If there’s one thing I learned from this portion of “The International,” it’s that director Tom Tykwer should definitely direct a full-blown, big-budget Istanbul, Turkey- At the action flick. With his fantastic “Run Lola Run,” he end, there a rooftop crafted a high-energy speed ride that didn’t follow Milan, Italy-isThe final conchase between the head any of the rules for a regular action film. If he took frontation at the end. of the bank and Owen. the inventiveness, fast pace and originality of “Lola” and combined it with the visually stimulating locales

World-Wide Film Spots

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

| Rental at best |

and visceral intensity seen here, then mixed in just a tad of Hollywood flavor, he could have a box office smash on his hands.

Owen is no stranger to big-time success, but I prefer him in more thought-provoking films like the hopeless future drama “Children of Men.” “The International” is nowhere near as well-made or poignant as that piece of art, and Clive Owen’s performance isn’t multi-layered like it was there, but he pulls off another believable, earnest portrayal of a gritty man on the edge. When he interrogates a former Soviet, who now serves as one of the bank’s heads (the terrifically solemn Armin Mueller-Stahl), Owen demonstrates his mastery of profound determination and is great fun to watch.

Naomi Watts is a different story. Whitman isn’t even necessary to the plot, and Watts isn’t able to salvage anything engaging from the little she’s given to work with. She is extremely talented and one of my favorite actresses, and in her other films she’s stunningly gorgeous, but not so here. Either her beautiful luster is finally beginning to wear off with her age, or (the more likely explanation) she just doesn’t shine brightly when she’s playing a shallow character and isn’t truly invested in the performance.

Because Tykwer, Owen and Watts have all been involved in better works of cinema in the past couple years that hold more depth and value, I was hoping for more from “The International.” Since the movie was advertised to be more action-focused than it really was, those going into the film with false impressions might be disappointed, and if you pay $10 to see it in the theater, you may feel robbed.

But if you’re looking for a solid Saturday afternoon matinee and go in with the right expectations, “The International” is worth a watch, especially for that shootout, which demands to be seen on the big screen.

|Worth seeing |

|

|

|Instant Classic

PAGE 25 A&E / ISSUE 12 ~ INSIDE FOGO DE CHAO ELABORATE SALAD BAR

// ALL PHOTOS COURTESY CCCREIDENBERG

More~ than a meal

FOGO DE CHAO WILL LEAVE THE CUSTOMER PLEASED WITH A FANTASTIC DINING EXPERIENCE // CAMILLEKARRO

I am a ketchup fiend. So, when my mom literally will not let me excuse myself from the table to get some, I get irritated.

She cannot fathom why I would want to mask her perfectly seasoned steak with a sugary tomato paste.

People like my mom assume I don’t appreciate “quality” food. But they’re wrong. I recognize the difference between Chef Boyardee and classic Italian, but I eat them both. I know what crappy food is--I just think it tastes good.

But now and then, I have an eating experience that makes me regret every twinkie and every bugle I’ve eaten.

I had one such experience at Fogo de Chão (fo-go deè shoun). A friend asked me if I would like to accompany her dinner club to check out this new restaurant on the Plaza.

She told me it was amazing Brazilian food.

“Great, I’ll be there” And it has a set price of $42.

“Oh, sorry, I have plans.”

But then she described the restaurant.

It sounded so inviting. Fried bananas. A delicious salad bar. Fifteen meats, each brought to your table and sliced off the stake on which they were cooked. But what really interested me was the unique set-up of the restaurant.

Walking into the crowded restaurant on a Saturday night, I was glad to have a reservation. The hostess, a young girl with an accent and the only female working, quickly escorted me to my table, without a menu, and took my drink order.

The restaurant’s dark chocolate interior and burgundy carpet contrasted beautifully with the twinkling lights overhead. It was that good kind of fancy, the kind that makes you feel special but welcome. Loud enough to blow your nose without attracting disgusted stares, and quiet enough to hear what the waiter was offering.

All of the servers were male, adorning pale blue dress shirts and black

STAR SCALE | | Stay away |

gauchos. A mural displaying Brazilian landscapes and natives gave a cultural feel to the polished atmosphere.

After heeding my friend’s advice to abstain from food all day, I was looking forward to a long night of continuous eating. Soon after, my drink was brought out, and mouth-watering plates of fried bananas, crispy polenta and mashed potatoes topped with paprika were set at either end of the table.

Recognizing my wide-eyed stare, my friend leaned over and said, “Don’t eat these. This is the stuff that fills you up before the real food comes.”

But it looked real enough to me, so I tried the fried bananas. They were deliciously carmelized in brown sugar and had that comforting taste of carnival food.

Then I spotted a basket which I hadn’t seen them set down. I knew better than to fill myself up with plain bread, but I was urged to try one of the “cheesy biscuits.”

Speechless. I once professed loyalty to the cheesy biscuits at Red Lobster, but I am detaching myself in order to deal with my new obsession. These biscuits were hardly even bready; the parmesan cheese was incorporated so well, it seemed like part of the dough.

Alongside each person’s place was a pair of tongs and a two-sided “coaster.”

The coaster is red on one side, green on the other. Whichever color is showing tells the waiter whether to serve you more meat.

Until you flip your coaster over, cheery men in gauchos will continue to offer you whichever meat they are carrying. A little work is required on your part though: you use the tongs to grab the meat as they slice it.

When you or your plate can’t take any more, you flip your coaster over to “red.”

But usually, you spot your neighbor getting something—say, filet mignon-that you can’t pass up. Flip. Or chicken drumsticks wrapped in bacon. Flip. Or parmesan-crusted pork tenderloin. Flip.

| Pit stop at best |

The busy atmosphere was created in part by the joyful customers, but also by the bustling waiters, zig-zagging from table to table. And to the kitchen. Each server is responsible for preparing and serving the meat. At a glance, I could tell there would be no complaints about efficient service.

Employees are trained for at least two years in Brazil before becoming chefs/ servers in one of Fogo de Chão’s 20 restaurants around the world. There, they learn to become churrasqueiro chefs, practicing the art of open-fire barbeque.

Fogo de Chão translates to “fire of the ground,” and this method of cooking is closely imitated in the kitchen. Seasoned with only salt, pepper and lemon, skewered meats, such as top sirloin and rack of lamb, rotate over an open fire ignited by coals.

After opening at the end of January, Fogo quickly broiled into a romantic hotspot, going through over 1,000 pounds of meat on Valentine’s Day alone. They use only grade-A angus beef and top-quality pork, lamb and chicken. However, if meat isn’t your thing, you can fill up on the “salad” bar alone for just $20.

Here, you can try anything from fresh mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes to smoked salmon and thinly-sliced pancetta. The marinated artichokes were my friend’s favorite, and I preferred the potato salad and sliced cheeses.

For dessert, I chose strawberries and cream over the papaya. Expecting a plate of my favorite food, fresh strawberries mixed with whipping cream, I was surprised to get a big bowl of what looked and tasted like melted ice cream. I would skip the dessert (you’re really too full to enjoy it anyway).

A trip to Brazil is an occasion, so expect an expensive and exciting night.

An ideal spot for a birthday or postgraduation party, Fogo itself is cause for celebration.

|

|

The “salad” bar contains much more than salad, including an elegant array of marinated vegetables and fresh cheeses.

DIFFERENT WINES

A wide selection of wines (for those 21 or older) displayed on a wooden “wall” conceal a room set aside for parties and large groups.

COMFORTABLE ATMOSPHERE

Fogo servers take care of their diners with ease and efficiency. The atmosphere makes it easy to talk and relax while dining, without feeling rushed.

| Cut above the rest |

|Blue Ribbon

Thrashing PAGE 26 A&E / MARCH 2, 2009

Two newly discovered bands break through with retro beats and individual post-punk sounds

with ‘Art’ and ‘Soul’ Soul Position

// TAYLORHAVILAND

Soul Position is a combination of two artists on opposite ends of the Hip Hop spectrum.

With member RJD2’s fast-paced rhythmic style to member Blueprint’s mellow, yet fulfilling lyrics, the sounds clash to create a new genre of rap. This powerful group of Ohioans lead very successful solo careers, with artist RJD2 releasing five plus albums and Rapper Blueprint producing two albums along with an instrumental CD. But together they have released three powerful albums.

RJD2, a middle aged drummer, takes his love for beats and mixes his drums and synthetic sounds to provide a powerful background to Blueprint’s stories of everyday life. His usual rhythmic beats loop throughout the three minutes of playtime. While this may still be present in Soul Position, he makes a huge step forward and adds a new rough sound: NBA Street-style beats which give the song an aged sound.

Because of this aged sound, Blueprint is not exactly the Lil’ Wayne of the hip-hop world, but what he lacks in energy he makes up for with smooth flow and a throwback to old-school style. It’s like working his way up in the Hip Hop industry. His specialty is pointing out faults of the rap industry and the trends we strive for with the “major label power moves.”

While Soul Position attempts to fool you with facetious album covers like “Things Go Better With RJ and Al,” the majority of songs give off a serious vibe and Blueprint rarely goes for laughs. Despite this, they manage to throw a couple funny tracks like “I Need My Minutes,” a whole track dedicated to Blueprints lack of cell phone minutes and his frustrations with the wireless industry.

Some of Soul Position’s best songs do keep you listening and make you want to give up the fake, rap industry of the radio or the iTunes top 100 list. There is something about Blueprints sinister take on the world and his unique delivery of punch lines that demolishes all other rappers.

RJ’s new style consists of very low, quick beats that almost match the tone of Blueprint’s voice. RJ is truly the king of the horns by adding retro sounds to his futuristic style, giving unlimited options for Blueprint to base his rap and blend his feelings into his usual kick-ass and take names style.

My favorite song off the album is “No Gimmicks,” where Blueprint jokes about the fakeness of the industry and how real Soul Position is. Blueprint tears down all walls and stereotypical beliefs by saying, “no calling women b------ just to prove that I’m a man. No throwback jerseys hanging to my knees. no durags, no white tees…”

Throughout the rest of the song he continues to rip on other rappers whose fame is based of their property and riches instead of earning it with talent.

Soul Position is the future of music and sticks straight to their word from “No Gimmicks:” “No publicity stunts, no make believe beef, no shoot-outs in the streets, this is it, no limits, no gimmicks.”

//Photo illustration by ANDYALLEN //Logo courtesy of BORNDEAD

Art Brut At first I thought this band was a complete joke as I heard what resembled my favorite Indian Hills band the Hamburglers. But as I continued jamming to Edie Argos’ wacky unforced hilarity and off-hand remarks, I was lassoed into hours of listening because of Art Brut’s unusual hunger to entertain the masses with madcap instrumentals.

Art Brut is named after Outsider art; Jean Debuffet’s vision of art without thought or imitation. They truly stick to this name with a sound so outside of the norm that it seems to regress instead of improve throughout their whole career. They sing in first-person narrative like Joey Ramone and play with slapped together beats like the Kaiser Chiefs. Mixed together they take the post-punk sound to a whole new level.

While some of their songs are elementary with nothing more than a throw-away chorus, basic chord progression and simplistic drum beat, it’s Argos’ lyrics that are packed with symbolism and irony. The reason Art Brut is so appealing is their outside-of-the-box sound, that strays so far from today’s average alternative grumble.

From “Modern Art” to “My Little Brother’s newly discovered love for rock,” Art Brut seems to grasp an unusual standpoint on the basics of our society. Whether it is a boy losing his rock and roll virginity or the awkward realization that you are emotionally unconscious.

Art Brut elegantly uses choppy guitar riffs and segues into the unorthodox use of high-pitched background singers to give an 80’s R&B sound.

Art Brut plays with a mystique that is unseen in many mainstream bands; they have perfected being unpredictable. Every show sounds different whether it’s Agros changing up the lyrics a bit to fit his surroundings, or the band changing their chords or beats to give the song variety during their live recordings on “Bang Bang Rock and Roll.”

Their organic sound can range from a jumbled mash of instruments to the sweet simple sounds influenced by Argos favorite artist Van Gogh.

Art Brut’s rambunctious and splattered sound is reinventing the British punk era but as they say in their song Bang Bang Rock & Roll, “No more songs about sex, drugs and rock and roll, It’s boring…”

For a review of “Blue Sky and the Devil” by Trampled by Turtles review visit: http://www.smeharbinger.net

PAGE 27 A&E / ISSUE 12 Give me a ‘B’, ‘A’, ‘D’

what does that spell?

‘Fired Up!’

‘Bring It On’ wannabe is full of pep, but lacks originality

// RAINAWEINBERG If “Bring it On” and “American Pie” had a kid, “Fired Up!” would be that ugly baby everyone pretends is cute. It has all the aspects of the typical teen movie; 18 year-old football stars played by 30 year-old actors, witty lines to woo the women and one common theme lasting the entire 90 minute run-time: hooking up.

When Shaun Colfax (Nicholas D’Agosto) and Nick Brady (Eric Olsen) find out that football camp consists of two weeks in the hot Texas sun, not to mention zero girls, they go for an alternative scheme. One unlikely, “I have to give my kidney for transplant” story later, the two snaked their way on to the cheerleading squad.

After the third time the bus full of cheerleaders chanted “we are driving, we-we are driving,” Shaun and Nick weren’t the only ones thinking “this is lame, this-this is lame.”

This repetition use could have been funny if it wasn’t so obnoxious.

When the two arrive at cheer camp they find themselves surrounded by a sea of gorgeous girls. Cue movie montageShaun and Nick with a new girl every other shot. Here’s the clincher-they’re saying the exact same sappy lines to each

ae &

girl.

Every teen movie has its lovable tokens and “Fired Up!” is filled with them. They have the token rival squad, which has terrible banter and completely ripped off White Goodman’s parting line from “Dodge Ball.” They say “Panthers out” followed by a hiss and a cat scratch hand movement. Diora, the assistant coach, plays the role of the token hot older woman, who Nick tries to seduce throughout the entire movie.

My personal favorite was the token gay “yell-leader.” I was brought to tears from laughing so hard when he and the rest of the camp, sat in front of a screen quoting every single line from “Bring it On.” This part is a direct example of how “Fired Up!” tries to be a funny spoof but falls short. It’s like the reject squad that accidentally drops the spirit stick.

Nicholas D’Agosto and Eric Olsen are good actors. The only issue is, they are the same. The two could switch characters and it would make no difference because their styles are exactly alike. They truly deserve a round of applause. They acted out a script that every kid in my freshmen theatre class could handle. Thankfully, John

panel

theQUESTIONS> <theSTAFFERS Mac Tamblyn

Opinion Section Editor

Paige Cornwell Assistant Editor

Andrew Goble Copy Editor

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

// CELEBRITYWONDER.COM Higgins, the flaming yet straight cheer coach, has a great performance. His role is small but when he is on screen, he brings the most laughs.

I can’t say I was fired up during this movie, at parts I was actually bored. Even though it has its good moments, I wasn’t impressed. There’s one major thing “Fired Up” lacks that good teen movies have. It’s not ridiculous enough to be taken as a joke and it has no meaningful message to leave an impact.

“Fired Up!” gave me a few good laughs but all around, it was a comedic afterbirth, it took all the bad leftovers from decent teen movies and smashed them together to make a terrible mash-up of movie mess. It had a repetitive style that has been used throughout the last decade and 90 percent of the scenarios were highly unlikely. If you’re a big fan of movies like “Space Chimps” and “Gigli,” “Fired Up!” is the perfect choice for you. If you happen to have normal taste in movies, stay home. You’ll be glad you did.

| |

The Harbinger staff weighs in on music, movies and everything in between

Who do you think got snubbed at the Oscars?

What is your favorite movie/TV show theme song?

Movie that should have been made in 3-D?

Favorite guilty pleasure TV show?

Mickey Rourke: Best Actor his comeback role in ‘The Wrestler’ was definitely Oscar worthy.

Nickelodeon GUTS I still use this theme song to psych myself up before GABL games.

“Norbit” The first five minutes would have been excellent in 3-D, but after that it would be positively nauseating.

“Nancy Grace”: I don’t know why exactly I find watching this show appealing, but every time I watch it I laugh out loud.

Milk: Best Movie Sean Penn was brilliant and this movie about human rights should be seen by everyone.

“Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire: It makes me want to burst out in a Bollywood dance. And crave Indian food.

“Across the Universe” The “I am the Walrus” scene would have been really trippy.

“18 Kids and Counting:” Though occasionally horrifying, it makes me want to have a bunch of children with names that start with “P.” Penelope, Parker, Pax...

Wall-E: Original Screenplay If a movie gloomily prophesizing the ecological death of Earth while using cute robots isn’t creative, nothing is.

Saved by the Bell Nothing defines “80’s sitcom” like a song about missing the school bus because you were doing your hair.

“Air Bud” If it can make me cry consistently in 2-D, imagine the cinematic experience with the added dimension.

Disney Original Movies: From “Brink” to “Luck of the Irish”, from “Million Dollar Cookoff” to “Smart House”, ‘nuff said.

| Rental at best |

|Worth seeing |

|Instant Classic

BENCHED PAGE 28 SPORTS / MARCH 2, 2009

Recent decision leaves East baseball program without a freshmen team

// JEFFCOLE

“Lancers on three! One, two, three LANCERS!” With the traditional break down complete, after school spring conditioning comes to an end. Relieved students slowly move towards the door. Only the prospective baseball players and head coach Tim Jarrell remain for an impromptu meeting. What he will tell them won’t be good.

As the remaining kids file out of the heavy aired and stenchy weight room, a group of baseball players, mainly freshmen and some upper classmen sit patiently at Jarrell’s feet. While the message may not be relevant to juniors and seniors, the announcement will affect current sophomores and freshmen alike.

Five minutes into the meeting, Jarrell gave the group the news. There would be no freshmen baseball team.

With all the major cuts to the district, no one was certain about who or what would be cut. But according to Jarrell, the sole reason for the dismissal of the team was the budget.

Freshman Kurt Jensen knows that with the cut of the team there will be fewer spots to play for.

“When I found out it was even a possibility, I was shocked,” Jensen said. “But then when I heard it was true, I was really taken by surprise.”

With fewer spots available for freshmen trying out, the competition will be rigorous. And not only will the freshmen be competing among themselves, but with sophomore peers as well.

East has had the good fortune of getting players from many top little league teams such as the AAA Lancers in the greater Kansas City area, creating C and JV teams. While other schools would have cut 12 to 15 more, the freshmen squad took the next best players in. Sophomore Jackson Brett was one of those players.

Brett played baseball last year and enjoyed having the chance to play.

“Most schools didn’t have a freshman team,” Brett said.

“So we always felt lucky to be able to have the chance to play.”

According to Brett, with the loss of the team, also comes the loss of valuable playing time and the task of adjusting to

// PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BYMAXSTITT the high school level of competitiveness quickly.

“I became a better player as well as a better person while playing on the team,” Brett said. “There’s nothing you can trade for when it comes to experience.”

Freshman Sam Heneger and Jarrell both agree that there is valuable experience gained in freshman ball.

“Obviously, the option chosen wasn’t good as in terms of the freshman and sophomores, but it had to be done because of the budget,” Jarrell said. “We’ve always had the luxury of having the freshman team. And the way I see it, the more players we have, the better. But not this year.”

The decision was passed from the district down to Jarrell, who ultimately made the choice to dismiss the team. But depending on the situation of the program in the future, it will be reassessed next year as to whether or not the team will return.

There were three contributing factors behind the dismissal of the freshman team. One being the budget, two being the state and three the economy, all ultimately adding pressure on the district for cuts. Unfortunately, all three are hurting for the time being.

District cuts in reaction to the state’s proposed budget

come from the lagging economy. In a budget workshop held on Feb. 9, the district recommended reductions totaling just under $10.6 million. The plan takes away 120 jobs across the district and has initiated a hiring freeze, not allowing the district to get new teacher or coaches.

Last year, there were a total of five coaches in the program as there will be this year. Two for varsity, one for JV, one for C-team and one for freshman. According to Jarrell, the fifth coach was hired through the generosity of the school and its athletic directors. Fortunately, all five coaches will return for the 2009 season despite the losses in the district.

This too would further the damage done to athletic programs at all schools, all across the sports spectrum.

In a letter, superintendent Gene Johnson said we should expect to see continual losses across the district for at least a couple years to come.

With all the setbacks due to the budget cuts, Jarrell will stay hopeful toward the future.

“Maybe we’ll have the freshman team next year, or maybe we’ll cut the C-team,” Jarrell said. “But we’ll try to stay positive about the situation.”

Cheerleaders form competition squad along with cheering at games is a former K-State cheerleader and was a student teacher.

“Everyone loves Kelli,” sophomore Cate Birkenmeier said. “She really knows what she’s doing. You can have a good time with her, but she also knows when we need to work. She really focuses in on constructive criticism.”

Lair makes sure to compensate for every detail of the routine. When she notices that the girls’ arms aren’t straight on a movement, she doesn’t hesitate to correct the girls.

The competitions are sponsored by Kansas State High Shool Athletic Association. Around 25 schools from Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, and Olathe Districts participate. The judging is done for different categories—best jumps, best stunts and best choreography, for example, and they are rated on a scale of superior, ex-

“

cellent and great. At the Kansas Cheer Festival in November, the team earned a superior rating in jumps and spirit.

Before upcoming competitions, the squad practices almost every other day. Practices are scheduled around the regular cheer practices. The week of the competition, the squad practices every day.

“The judging is pretty intense,” Birkenmeier said.

“You get docked for having wispies in your hair, so everyone’s hair has to be slicked back. Everyone wears show makeup, as in bright red lipstick and blush. You get into full costume for it.”

The squad carpools to the competition at 8 a.m. They check in and are assigned to a classroom to go over their routine and perfect their hair and makeup.

The team gets time to practice in the little gym before they perform. Routines consist

A couple minutes before the squad walks onto the performance floor is the most nerve-wracking moment of the day. We are usually freaking out.

“

// MADDYBAILEY

Sophomore Kristen Fischer is thrust into air by her team members. She maks it up safely. Her legs are straight and muscles tense. She is nervous, but puts a smile on her face. As she looks forward, she doesn’t see bleachers full of students or her friends smiling back at her. Instead, she sees a judges’ table.

The cheerleaders on the competition squad perform at school-wide competitions. The squad was formed by varsity cheer coach Jennifer Zerrer three years ago.

Cheerleaders from every squad were allowed to join. At its third year of competing, the squad consists of freshmen and sophomores. The main purpose of the squad is to focus on improving stunts and to grow as a team.

“Performance squad is for any of the girls who are willing to work hard, commit to the team and also have fun,” Zerrer said.

This year, sophomore cheer coach Kelli Lair is the choreographer for the squad. Lair

-Sophomore Cate Birkenmeier

of pyramids, toe-touches and dance movements- pep assemblies moves. The judges watch to make sure the moves are legal. Illegal moves are found in stunts such as the lack of a back-spotter.

The girls spend the few minutes they have holding hands and encouraging each other to do their best.

“A couple minutes before the squad walks onto the performance floor is the most nerve-wracking moment of the day,” Birkenmeier said. “We are usually freaking out.”

After all the practice, the routine just comes naturally, as sophomore Kristen Fischer describes it. Now all they have to worry about is impressing the judges.

After all the teams have performed, everyone gathers in the gym and the ratings are announced for each school.

“I love performance squad because it is really fun to just show everybody what we can do,” Fischer said. “We work hard to put on a great performance, but also just bond together as a team.”

PAGE 29 SPORTS / ISSUE 12

TAKING A

SHOT AT STATE

BOYS AND GIRLS BASKETBALL POST SEASON PREVIEW // KEVINSIMPSON

BOYS

senior

CHASE LUCAS

senior

senior

On how each game can possibly be his last…

I probably won’t notice it until we get there, but with seven seniors, no one is going to want to lose. Everyone’s going to be playing their heart out; everyone is going to be doing everything they can to not go out on a bad note.

On why team is right fit to win state…

We’re just really balanced as a team. I don’t think there’s been a game, other than the Blue Valley West game, where I felt like we didn’t have a chance to win.

CHARLIE LUDINGTON

On team’s that will pose a challenge…

Wichita Heights because they have 6’8” Perry Ellis, and they have a bunch of shooters. They are just all-around very good. We think we have a good chance because of what I said earlier, we’re really balanced and we have five guys that can average ten points or more. Blue Valley West, even though their record hasn’t been good, was very fundamental and could slow down the game, and they were just a very good team.

And they beat us by like 27.

LIBBY JANDL

SHANNON MCGINLEY

freshman

On what Rhoades has said is needed for success…

We talk about the little things that matter a lot. There are the simple things, like rebounding and boxing out and hitting free throws- just all of the little things that we really need to focus on.

On pressure of being a freshman…

I feel the pressure more out of the game than in the game.

When I get in the game, I don’t really think about the pressure. I just play. I feel there is some sort of pressure since I’m a freshman.

I don’t really worry about it.

BOY’S COACH SHAWN HAIR

On the knowledge that each game could be his last…

It’s going to be kind of toughkind of a double-edged sword. We have been kind of wanting to end our season, but it’s our last year and we just want to go all the way.

It’s tough.

GIRLS

senior

On how they work on the little things in practice…

We started this new thing. During our own time, we have to shoot 25 free throws each day and record them. Our team’s free throw average has started to become a lot better. I think that’s really helped us.

On team goals…

We’ve always wanted to make it to the state finals but we just want to be sure we make it to state and give ourselves a chance.

On key to success in postseason…

I think we just need to play as a team and defend well. When we play as a team, we’re hard to beat.

We beat Lee’s Summit West in a really good team game, I thought. If we can defend and play team ball, I think we could do stuff. We could go places.

On team’s confidence heading into state…

I think we’re going to win state because we’re the most balanced team we’ve had in a long time, and we just think we are probably going to win state right now.

On key to doing well at state…

I think we’re going to have to play as a team, which we are doing right now. That’s going to be a key.

WINN CLARK

On players that could cause problems…

Heather Howard [of West].

She is a 6’3” post going to Oklahoma State. There’s a girl on the Washburn Rural team, I’m not sure of her name, but she’s also going to Oklahoma State. She beat us, because she made a lastsecond shot, and we had trouble with her. I think we can guard them pretty well.

On how team has overcome adversity…

We started out 4-0, lost two in a row. We were 4-2, then won two more in a row. We were 6-2. Then, we lost two of three at McPherson, and then we lost to Rockhurst.

We were 7-5 after Rockhurst. We won six of our last seven, and now, we’re 13-6. Our only loss [in that period] was to Olathe South in double overtime at their place, without Marcus Webb. This team has overcome a lot of adversity, and it’s shown it can win against tough teams.

COACHES TALK STATE

junior

JANNA GRAF On teams that pose the toughest challenge…

We lost to Lawrence Free State, but we really didn’t play well. We should have won. We were missing [senior] Natalie Parsons, so that was big. If we play them again, we’ll play differently. We’d like a rematch, except the substate finals are at Free State.

On how she feels as a leader with her team-leading scoring and rebounding averages…

It doesn’t really matter what I get every game. It just matters that we win. If everyone else scores and plays really well, it doesn’t matter what I get. If the team plays well and we end up winning, that’s the most important thing.

GIRL’S COACH RICK RHOADES

On what he’s told his team is necessary to succeed in the postseason…

Postseason success is about possessions. You have got to worry about each and every possession of the game. You can’t look ahead. You don’t look at the clock. You worry about your defensive possession, you worry about your offensive possession and you just look play by play. If you start looking ahead, looking at the clock, that’s when things go wrong.

‘JACK’ED UP //EVANNICHOLS

Wearing a plain undershirt, silver Reebok shorts and New Balances, Senior Jack Seward gallops up the steps of Sylvester Powell Community Center, two at a time.

He enters the gym and walks up to the pull-up bar. He fastens the weightlifting belt around his waist. Using a two-step plastic stool, Jack grasps the pull-up bar with wrapped fingers, hoisting himself up. The whole process takes only seconds, sharpened by years of experience. One…. Two….

Three… rest. He unclips the two 50 pound weights dangling from the bar, replacing them with three 20 pound weights. One… two… three….

Jack stands five feet, three inches and weighs 150 pounds. But his height is deceiving; Jack can squat up to 525 pounds. Powerlifting, as Jack says, is not about size, but about strength.

“This kid is one of the strongest guys I ever saw,” said Bob Riley, an older lifter at Powell. “I used to train a kid, and he ended up in an Olympic training facility, and he wasn’t as strong as Jack.”

Seward competes in two amateur weightlifting events, Missouri’s Saint Joseph’s Classic and a local open competition. He placed second in the Classic, with his squat, deadlift and bench press weights totaling 1135 pounds. But he wasn’t always the confident lifter he is today.

Three years ago, Senior Jack Seward weighed 105 pounds. His legs were skinny, his arms un-toned. Except for P.E. at

school, he didn’t work out. He enjoyed reading, computer games and hanging out with friends. For months, he considered taking up weightlifting, but he never took the initiative to begin. Some classmates ridiculed him for his skinny frame.

“I just hated it,” Jack said. He prefers not to talk about his years at Indian Hills.

For months, Seward considered taking up lifting. He was frustrated with his physical body and tired of being bullied. With a push from his mother, Gayle Seward, Jack started lifting twice a week in his basement.

The workout area was primitive, consisting of dumbbells and barbells totaling to only 250 pounds. He didn’t have an outlined workout plan, instead doing daily combinations of sit-ups, benching and free weights.

He gradually began to build up muscles, repetition by repetition.

He became his own trainer, learning proper lifting technique from reading Howto weightlifting books and finding articles on the Internet. After a period of trial and error, he implemented a workout schedule, focusing on a different lift for each day of the week.

He draws inspiration for his workouts from the 1900’s strongmen, especially Herman Goerner, a famous German born lifter famed for his alleged 700-pound single-arm dead lift. Jack admires old strongmen over today’s because of their “all -natural” lifting.

He adheres strongly to this idea, refusing

SENIOR Jack Seward begins his front squat during a workout at Sylvester Powell on Feb. 19. In addition to lifting six times a week, Seward sticks to an intense diet. //MACKENZIEWYLIE

Senior Jack Seward works out six days a week to prepare for weight-lifting competitions

to use any type of performance enhancers or supplements.

“I have the satisfaction of knowing that I can do something without help, unlike other people who have to use supplements,” Jack said.

To help maintain his physique, Seward eats six natural, nutritious meals a day. According to Seward, this is a crucial part in staying fit. A regular dinner consists of water, an eight ounce cut of fish and about a pound of vegetables.

“If the food wasn’t around 300 years ago, don’t eat it. There’s no reason you should eat something that’s processed, that’s not natural,” Jack said.

Gayle has always cooked healthily for Jack all throughout his life.

“I think the last time he’s eaten junk food, like McDonalds, was grade school,” Gayle said. “He’s been used to it and he likes [to eat] healthy foods.”

To pump himself up for competitions, Seward listens to metal or hard rock, such as Godsmack, on the ride to the meet. When it’s his turn to lift in the event, he quiets himself down and lets his years of lifting experience take over.

“I don’t ever worry about my breathing during the lift and there is no thought of

r o k out w e h

t

PAGE 30 SPORTS / MARCH 2, 2009

Monday Deadlifts Powercleans

Tuesday

Flat Dumbbell Bench Incline Dumbbell Bench Bench Dips

WednesdayThursday Competition Squats Weighted Pullups Olympic Squats Barbell Rows Front Squats Dumbbell Arm Rows

Friday

Push Press Snatch Military Press Lateral Raises

Saturday

Lunges Seated Dumbbell Raise

Sunday Rest

how I’m lifting the weight,” Jack said. “It’s just automatic from practice.”

He approaches the bar in front of the official’s table. Up. Holding the lift, he watches the green, red and white lights controlled by the judge in front of the table. The lights decide whether the lift was completed correctly or failed. The judges watch closely.

One…two…three… rest.

DON’T PUT

MONEYon MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

The Spartans have lost at home to the likes of Northwestern and Penn State. They’ve also failed to break the 80-point mark 15 straight times. Picking a team in the Big 10 this year, where final scores are similar to fifth grade GABL match-ups, isn’t the best idea if you want to win the pool.

MEMPHIS TIGERS

Just 1-3 against ranked opponents, the Tigers are currently enjoying a two-month vacation, cruising through Conference USA. Last year’s runners-up will eventually run into some tough teams come March, and Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts won’t be there this time around.

HOW TO TUNE UP your

TOURNEY

STEP #1: PICK A SLEEPER It’s the little guys who make the difference come March. Set your heart on the next George Mason: teams like Utah State, Siena and Northern Iowa are dying to wear the glass slipper.

STEP #2: PICK A POWER

Though occasionally knocked off, the big boys win it all in this game, so stick to the top teams for the long haul. Tradition-rich schools like North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and Connecticut are always safe bets to take the title.

STEP #3: PICK A POOL

It wouldn’t be madness if money weren’t involved. Get some friends together and pinch your pockets for every last dime... Winner takes all-- just like on the court.

Beating Brackets

PAGE 31 SPORTS / ISSUE 12

WHO TO PUT

MONEY on

the

// SAMKOVZAN

SAMLOGAN //

GET TO KNOW the

LOCALS KANSAS JAYHAWKS

Coach Bill Self seems to have a knack for getting his teams to play their best basketball at the end of the season. The defending national champions have become one of the hottest teams in college basketball, and the Jayhawks’ road win against Oklahoma last Monday has put them in the driver’s seat for a fifth straight Big 12 title. This team has frequently been compared to the 2005-06 KU squad – a young, talented group that exceeded expectations and streaked late only to get upset in the first round of the tournament. But don’t bank on another first-round flameout this time around. Unlike the 2006 team, Kansas has a bona fide leader in Sherron Collins. The Chicago native and vastly improved big man Cole Aldrich provide KU with Final Four experience, and if role players chip in adequately, a trip to the Sweet 16 is well within reach for the Hawks.

MISSOURI TIGERS

Missouri hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003 when they lost to Dwyane Wade and Marquette in the second round. After five seasons of postseason disappointment, MU is back on track in 2009. Implementing a high-intensity full-court press and a fast break offense, third-year coach Mike Anderson has brought Mizzou towards the top of the Big 12.

The Tigers have no NCAA Tournament experience, but are probably one of the deepest teams in the nation – 11 players average at least nine minutes of playing time per game. Recently they’ve been one of the most impressive Big 12 teams and are third in the nation in scoring offense, averaging just under 85 points per game. If MU wants to avoid an early exit, forwards DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons will have to perform like they have the last couple weeks. Look for Missouri to finally end their postseason drought with a win or two in the tournament.

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS

Going under the radar in the Pac 10, the Sun Devils they may have one of the nation’s best players on their team. Versatile guard James Harden is averaging 21 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. ASU hasn’t lost since Jan. 31, and although they aren’t the most balanced team, they’ll be tough to beat in the tournament.

CONNECTICUT HUSKIES

The Huskies have one of the most physical lineups in the nation, including power forward bruiser Jeff Adrien and seven-foot-three-inch Hasheem Thabeet. The absence of guard Jerome Dyson’s due to injury will hurt, but UConn plays in the rugged Big East, has depth and is coached by Jim Calhoun, a two-time national title winner who recently won his 800th game.

DON’T REST ON

SLEEPERS

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UTAH STATE AGGIES

The Aggies, who clinched their conference title last week, might replace Gonzaga as the toughest mid-major out West.

The team is undefeated at home and has beaten the likes of Utah, BYU and Nevada. With the hottest sharpshooters in the country, they could make a run no one expected to see.

WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS

The Big East is by far the most difficult conference this year, and any of its seven or eight teams that qualify for the tournament will be tough to beat. The Musketeers have the third toughest schedule in the nation and have lost just once at home. Come tournament time, Bob Huggins’ team will be capable of a Sweet 16 run.

Madness Giving you the heads up on the college hoops down low PANEL the

// MCTCAMPUS.COM

Mizzou: Pretenders or Contenders?

Blake Griffin or Hasheem Thabeet

Longest-Lasting Lightweight

Early Exit Shocker

March Madness Stud

Contenders

Blake Griffin

Butler

Memphis

Sherron Collins

Pretenders

Blake Griffin

Siena

Pittsburgh

James Harden

Contenders

Blake Griffin

Northern Iowa

Memphis

DeJuan Blair

Pretenders

Hasheem Thabeet

Butler

Duke

Ty Lawson

sam kovzan sam logan

kevin simpson cam smith

SAM & SAM SAY... IN A SCREWY YEAR OF COLLEGE BALL, BE WEARY OF THE MID-MAJORS BUT STAY TRUE TO THE HIGH SEEDS FOR THE TITLE. FINAL FOUR: CONNECTICUT, NORTH CAROLINA, MARQUETTE, OKLAHOMA CHAMPS: CONNECTICUT

PAGE 32 PHOTO ESSAY / MARCH 2, 2009 BELOW: Junior Patrick Berry and seniors Jordan Holsinger and Griffin McDonald stand in a trio at the front of the stage before the production begins. // ANNAPETROW FAR-BELOW: Junior Brice Roberts has his face prepped by senior Christina Beynon before the show. The theater department used room 313 for make-up and hairstyling during the week of the production. // GAILSTONEBARGER

LITTLE THEATER BIG PRODUCTION

From Feb. 18-21, the theater department put on its winter production “Woyzeck,” while dealing with limited space in the little theater

FAR-RIGHT: Senior Alec Hynes poses at center stage during the show. Hynes played the lead role as a schizophrenic named Franz Woyzeck. Woyzeck hears voices and sees visions that drive him to insanity. He eventually kills his own wife. // RACHELENGLISH RIGHT: Junior Sarah Evans frames the play in her role as the grandmother. Using dark lighting techniques and stage decorations, the production had a back drop that fit the mystery of the play. // GAILSTONEBARGER