Issue 12

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / 7500 mission road prairie village, kansas

for

Impro v e m e n t Teens face pressure to undergo plastic surgery in order to alter appearance For story by Christy Beeder, see page 11

page 2 / news / the harbinger

New ruling on graduation speeches is limiting seniors from...

sharing their voice

photo by katie woods

by evan favreau Senior Jonathan Lerner remembers going to SME graduation when he was a freshman. He remembers listening to four speeches from those seniors: Peter Wetzel, Sam Stepp, Natasha Del Rosario, Julie Moriarty.

But now that Lerner is a senior, things have changed.

Gone are the four senior speeches. No auditions will be taking place this year. Instead, it has been decided that only the senior class president and the STUCO executive president will be giving the culminating speeches.

During this year’s graduation ceremony, two speeches will be given: a welcoming speech delivered

by STUCO executive president Courtney Held and a

News Briefs AP Exam Registration Any student enrolled in an Advance Placement class has the opportunity to take an AP exam in early May. Registration must be completed by Thursday and can be done in the counseling office.

The cost per exam is $82.

Early Dismissal Spring Break will begin with an early dismissal on Friday.

This will be the last day of the 3rd quarter.

main speech delivered by senior class president Brian Humphrey.

The decision for the change came from the graduation committee, comprised of four faculty members: Principal Angelo Cocolis, senior class sponsor Linda Sieck, Vicki Arndt-Helgesen and secretary Loretta Preno.

According to Sieck, the committee has considered changing the graduation speeches for the past two years.

Besides the change that ultimately took place, the group also had the idea to do away with student speeches altogether and instead having a guest speaker.

Several problems that have been encountered with the speeches ultimately led to the change. These include minimal interest in the auditions, honesty issues and the length of the graduation ceremony.

But Lerner, a member of the student council, has expressed disappointment in the course that the graduation planning took. He says that the decision to alter the graduation format was never formally discussed with the student council and that he, along with other council members, was instead informed about the change at a meeting before the beginning of this school year.

“It was never discussed, it was never voted on,” he said.

“It was just kinda thrown in there.”

Other seniors also disagree with the change. Fellow senior Mary Walsh feels that the new policy limits the representation of the senior class.

“It should be a choice,” Walsh said. “It shouldn’t be automatically given. Those giving the speeches don’t

Orchestra Concerts Orchestra members will be performing at the annual Collage Concert on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Dan Zollars Auditorium.

This is a benefit in which proceeds are supporting costs for the orchestra department. The tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. The Symphonic Orchestra have been invited to perform at the American String Teachers Association National Convention on Friday.

Kansas Assessments Sophomore and junior students are taking the Kansas Assessments on March 23, 24 and 27.

Sophomores will be taking the math assessments and juniors will be taking the reading assessments.

necessarily represent our class.”

Cocolis disagrees with that idea.

While making the decision the committee kept in mind that honesty has been an issue with graduations in the past. During a previous graduation a student gave a speech that had been altered from the submitted copy, even after agreeing to the committees’ changes. Sieck pointed out that with the change the two speakers have an entire year to draft their speeches and work on them with faculty members.

Time had also become an issue with the graduation ceremony. The committee generally aims for the graduation to last an hour and a half.

“We try to honor the seniors with not too much but just enough [time],” Cocolis said.

But one of the most vital points considered while discussing the change was the minimal amount of interest that has been expressed in the auditions the past two years. According to Sieck, last year only four seniors even signed up for auditions. Of those four, just two actually showed up with speeches written.

Sieck feels the issues brought up with previous graduations justify the change.

“The focus of the event should be on the graduation, not just one or two selected seniors,” Sieck said. “This decision was not made to be a punishment; it was made to keep the focus on the entire class.”

Despite the reasons for the change, Lerner still feels that everyone should be given a chance to give a speech.

Spring Play The theater department is presenting Hunka, Hunka Burnin’ One-Acts. This collection of one-act plays that all involve Elvis are being performed on March 30, 31 and April 1 at 7 p.m. in the Dan Zollars Auditorium. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased on the north ramp during lunch the week of the play. Any student with activity tickets will receive one free ticket.

Service Awards Students who are interested in earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award need to have their hours logged and turned in by April 3. The service can range from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006. Two junior or senior students will be nominated to receive $500 scholarships.

Choir Update The Choraliers have been honored by an invitation to sing at the Southwest American Choral Directors’ Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO on Friday. They will be performing six pieces, two of which have been specially written for the Choraliers for this performance.

The annual Spring Concert for all choir members will be held on March 23 in the Dan Zollars Auditorium.

Science Olympiads Science Olympiad members received 6th place at the regional tournament on Feb. 25 at JCCC. This allows the team to advance onto the state competition April 1 at Wichita State University. They will be accompanied by sponsors Cole Odgon and Morning Pruitt.

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / news / page 3

Possible Driving Age Change by stephen nichols Every day, two people die in car-related deaths involving 16-year-old drivers, according to USA Today. Rep. Tom Burroughs hopes to change this by proposing a bill that would change the Kansas legal driving age to seventeen.

This bill was introduced last year, but did not gain any momentum in the Kansas Legislature. However, Burroughs believes that there is a higher chance that the bill will be passed this time around, due to the fact that a new AAA study shows that there have been 470 fatal accidents in Kansas involving 15-to-17-year-olds from 1995 to 2004.

If the bill is passed, it would mean one more year of restricted driving for teens who do not have a restricted permit at the time of the bill being passed. However, if a teen already has their restricted permit before it is passed, then they are ‘grandfathered in’, meaning the bill will not apply to them.

Burroughs has already tried to pass this bill once, but its introduction was denied due in part to the chairman, who represents a rural community and doesn’t want anything to interfere with kids working on farms, Burroughs explains.

The bill hopes to reduce teen deaths, but junior Colin Hayes doesn’t believe that.

“18-year-olds still do all the junk that 16-year-olds do in the car, be it drinking, smoking, cell phones, whatever,” Hayes said.

For lawmakers and teens alike, the real question is 2004 Kansas Teen Drivers Statistics will waiting two years make a noticeable difference?

Age Crashes Killed Injured Brain researchers at The National Institute of Health explain that a 16-year-old’s 15 1260 8 560 mind is weak when it comes to weighing risks, making decisions and controlling 16 4329 13 1820 impulsive behavior.

In fact, according to USA 17 4635 13 1812 Today, a 16-year-old’s rate of involvement in fatal crashes source: www.ksdot.org is nearly five times that of drivers age 20 and older.

Legislation could change legal driving age from 16 to 18, affecting teen social lives while possibly decreasing accidents

With two extra years, researchers believe that the brain will be more matured, meaning better drivers.

However parents of teenagers, such as Lisa Kurtz, mother to freshman John Kurtz, opposes the driving bill.

“I can see it both ways… for the most part, kids are mature at that age [16]. It’s a parental issue instead of the state’s,” Kurtz said. She believes that parents already have enough authority to tell their kids they can’t drive even if they are sixteen.

“That’s a lot of years running around picking up your kids and being their chauffer,” she added.

Another year of driving kids around can be daunting to parents such as Kurtz. However New Jersey, who has already passed a law that doesn’t allow 16-year-olds to drive at all, is one of the leading states in fewest teen fatalities.

Rep. Burroughs is experienced when it comes to passing driving laws for teenagers.

He sponsored the bill which makes teens drive 50 hours with a parent before the can get an unrestricted license. He hopes to dramatically decrease the number of teen fatalities in Kansas.

All it took was one phone call to Burroughs by a mother whose son had been killed as a passenger in car driven by a teenager for him to strive to get this bill passed.

It was a 16-year-old named was Cody Gumm.

He was killed when the driver, another teenager, was shattering speed limits in his Chevy Camaro near Kansas Highway 32 and 57 St. The odometer read 73mph when the driver attempted to pass a car on the shoulder and lost control. It was a 40 mph zone. The car skidded sideways as it headed into oncoming traffic. Cody took the brunt of the contact, and died, while the driver lived. Burroughs hopes the bill will prevent more Cody Gumms.

“Parents don’t want their kids playing with guns, but they don’t think twice about throwing them the keys to a 3,000 pound bullet,” Buroughs said.

His bill would restrict drivers younger than 17 from using cell phones or carrying additional passengers besides a licensed driver and siblings.

“A lot of kids think it’s a punishment, but it’s prevention,” Burroughs said.

As foreign as these new laws would be to Kansas’s teenagers, it would follow suit with many other states that have some form of a graduated license program.

Burroughs is confident that he can have the bill voted on soon and plans to do everything he can to get it passed.

Gay-Straight Alliance Struggles to Maintain Members The East GSA at has seen a vast decrease in the amount of members this year by clare jordan To provide a community where any gay person can feel comfortable within the student body and to promote tolerance, acceptance and awareness: These are the goals of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at East.

But can these goals be accomplished with only five students attending meetings throughout the year?

The GSA has been present at East since 1990, but senior Carrie Barker considers the 04-05 school year the most active year. Leaders tried to have meetings every week and encouraged a wide variety of people to get involved. This year attendance has fallen to only five faithful students.

Barker feels that the decrease in attendance relates to the lack of GSA meetings they have organized as opposed to East’s attitude towards the organization.

“It’s an organization that is outdated now because most people accept [homosexuality] and they don’t have to come to a club to affirm that,” Barker said.

Fellow member Cybil Watson also feels that this isn’t an example of East’s intolerance: “There just isn’t a lot of hype about it and we haven’t been making people aware of it,” she said.

In 1990, the Federal Equal Access Act was passed, which required that public schools must allow the creation of additional clubs, even if the school board or principal disagrees with the group’s purpose.

Since this act was passed GSA organizations have been created throughout the country.

This year the GSA has had fewer meetings and

gotten fewer people involved because many of the people that attended and organized the activities last year graduated. Also, Barker realized that with meetings every week, they sometimes ran out of things to discuss.

There hasn’t been any advertising for the club since last year when posters were ripped down.

“It’s partially kids just being kids, but it’s also that we live in Kansas and the posters [promoting the GSA] weren’t quite mainstream,” Watson said.

The ripped down posters aren’t the reason for lack of advertising this year though. If anything, it helped with attendance.

“The ripping down of posters was actually fuel to the fire for us,” Barker said.

The GSA plans to increase attendance after spring break due to the Day of Silence on April 13. The Day of Silence is a student-led activity where students vow to remain silent to symbolize the discrimination and harassment inflicted on gays and lesbians. In past years, the GSA has received wide support from East on the Day of Silence. This year they plan on making announcements and flyers in hopes of getting students just as involved as previous years.

“Lately we have just been dealing with your dayto-day taunts of people referring to others as fags, but since the Day of Silence and AIDS Awareness Day are coming up soon we hope to get more people involved,” Barker said.

photo illustration by linda howard

page 4 / features / the harbinger

Trying Something New

Schools will start enforcing new I.D.E. Act next school year by meg shackelford

Due to the belief that special-education students are being excluded inappropriately from the regular classroom, the federal government passed the IDEA—or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It states that if a special-ed student is removed from the regular classroom, then there must be a compelling reason why. Because of this, the federal government and state legislature have enforced a law for the country’s education system, including Kansas, that will mainstream specialeducation students into regular core classes for the 2006-2007 school year and beyond.

“I am very supportive of this, as the research indicates that all students do better when all students are included together and taught by highly qualified teachers,” Deb Haltom, special-education director of the district, said.

Beginning next year, 90 percent—approximately 150 students—of East’s special-education students will be in a general english, science, social studies and math class.

“The school district is fortunate to have so many specialists who understand the challenges of our students with special needs and are prepared to collaborate with general education teachers so that we will continue to provide appropriate services for all our students,” Haltom said.

However, there will be 14 students that will remain in the Learning Center and be a part of a program called “Functional.” This program deviates greatly from regular core classes because each of these 14 students has extremely low skills, according to special-education teacher Michelle Wallace-Beaven.

Autism, emotional disturbance, mental retardation and specific learning disabilities will be some of the examples of disorders the 150 students will have.

“It may be a little challenging for the majority of kids to be all together,” freshman Andrea Tudhope said. “It might create a problem to have two

teachers if they have to make modifications. I’m a little worried it will slow down the growth process.”

There are only ten special-education teachers and only so many paraprofessionals, so not all of the core classes will have a second teacher to help teach. A few of the english, math, science, and social studies will have two teachers, or co-teaching. The two teachers can’t have two different lessons going on, and some of the teachers will have to make modifications in their curriculums. The discipline will remain the same and everyone will be treated equally.

“I don’t think that anyone will be able to sit in class and be able to tell which student has the disability,” Wallace-Beaven said. “Some accommodations will probably have to be made, though.”

Some accommodations mean an individual education plan for the students. Common plans include leaving the room to take tests in a quieter space or having an extension on their assignment. Some won’t even be expected to complete certain assignments.

“I think it’ll be good for the special-ed kids to have a chance to interact in a normal class,” Andrea Tudhope closes.

Freshman Ally McCarthy--“It might slow down the learning in the classroom because they might need more help unlike the other kids.

Junior Corbin Burright-- “I think it will be good because they will be given the same oppurtunities as everyone else.

Senior Andy Rieger-- “It will be a distraction in the learning environment for most classes.”

come to

s c h o o l

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / opinion / page 5

Insecurity in English Speaking up in English class is sometimes a hard thing to do an opinion of bryan dykman Usually when Skates asks a question, few hands make their way up. She may rephrase the question, scream at the class or simply look at us through those John Lennon glasses and say nothing.

And then the silence is broken, slowly. But not my silence. I sit timidly. I can’t raise my hand. I can’t share with the class my thoughts on “Brave New World” or “Pride and Prejudice,” books I’ve spent hours reading and considering. Books that I like; books that I want to discuss.

But despite the time spent reading these novels and the routine of class discussion, day and again, I return to room 519, and I am rendered helpless. I sit there, paralyzed, while thoughts flow into my mind and out again without being disputed or debated or declared.

It angers me. It frustrates the hell out of me that I can be so engaged and participate endlessly in my other six classes while I just sit in English and read the quotes posted around the room.

I memorize lines of poetry that I barely understand; I stay up working and tuning up my papers until 2 a.m. when every comma, semicolon and quotation mark is in just the right place; I read “Pride and Prejudice.” It’s my third hour but it’s the reason I get up in the morning, the subject of my preposition and what I think about in my fourth hour, my fifth hour, my sixth hour and my seventh hour.

Perhaps it is a fear of speaking out, of putting my feelings on the line. There are a lot of comments people make that I don’t agree with, comments that seem excessive, repetitive or filled with religious undertones that would work better in a Sunday Mass instead of a British Lit class. I don’t want to be the person who tangles “like” and “um” with every thought, transforming their input into some unfortunate, terrible, grammatically incorrect . . . something.

At one level, I fear speaking up and sounding like an angry, emotionally driven teenager wanting to be heard, a loudspeaker. I fear sounding like a mimic, an echo of what my neighbor just said. I fear the hesitation that is involved in raising my hand, the eye contact made with the teacher

LANCER voice

Sam Barker - 9

“No, because it doesn’t relate to our education and everything continues the same every day.”

once I am called on, the boiling in my stomach, the sudden knots in my throat when I try to speak.

And in that moment, when my words slip back down my throat, I am reminded that I want to be an English teacher. But it feels like it’s some strange notion, some tired lie. Like it’s some sort of auto response I’ve been telling those who ask for the last year. It doesn’t look good when a future teacher can’t talk in front of his class, can’t summon the courage to say a word.

But I feel it’s more than a fear of speaking up. In my Pre-calc and Physics class, I’ll be the first to volunteer and work problems on the board. I find some real energy and life while furiously working away with the Law of Cosines and trying to impersonate Brewster’s voice.

Among friends, I can easily share what I think about the issues that came up in English. At lunch, in between the flipping of the grilled cheeses and pouring of the soda, I can talk and argue and dig down and find that part of me that laughed out loud at 3 a.m. during my reading of “Heart of Darkness” and share it with my friends.

I’ve taken AP and honors classes before. I know most of the students in my class and despite some of their appearances, they aren’t monsters. No, they’re all good people. And Skates. Who could be intimidated by a woman who wheels around the room quoting Wordsworth and posting colored daffodils on desks? We have story time every Thursday, and recently we all curled up on the ground while Connor Dennis read selections to us from “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” Just the other day we listened to Weird Al. And when I boil it all down and really take a look at who is in the class, the teacher and how the class is set up, I’m out of excuses.

But what can I do? I just feel like running my hands over my face and through my hair. There’s this terribly unsettling feeling that I have leaving English class every day. It’s the screaming of something inside of me wanting to share. Because at the most basic level, despite what I have to say, I feel that it is absolutely necessary to speak up, to say anything, to recognize myself as part of the English 12 experience. But in the end, when the bell rings and the papers shuffle, I have nothing but frustrations with my inaudibility. I take more and more deep breaths.

English

teachers:

How do you get students to participate in class discussions?

Michael Pulsinelli “I don’t like to give points for talking. Basically, I just encourage people to talk. The problem with my system is some people just don’t talk all year.”

Marlene Lerner

“We have discussions almost every day. If people don’t talk, they lose participation points.”

DeBe Bramley

“If I have a student who’s borderline [grade wise], and this person is always participating, then I might raise their grade a little.”

Has your opinion of East changed in light of East’s recent coverage in the media?

Max Gabel - 10 “No, I still think it’s the same school I came to as a freshman. It just shows a lack of a judgement of a few.”

Darcy Letourneau- 11 “I don’t believe what a few kids did reflects the attitude of the whole school.”

Tim Barron - 12 “No, I don’t think the majority of the faculty relates to those incidents.”

page 6 / editorial / the harbinger

the harbinger a publication of shawnee mission east high school 7500 mission road, prairie village, kansas 66208 march 6th, 2006 issue 12, volume 42 editor-in-chief annie fuhrman asst. editors amanda allison evan favreau art & design editor ian mcfarland head copy editor bryan dykman news editor sara steinwart news page editor melissa lem opinion page editors thomas braslavsky clare jordan editorial editor foster tidwell features editor ellie weed features page editors katie jones christy beeder center spread editor laura nelson center spread asst. editor michelle sprehe mixed editor libby nachman a&e editor derek martin

page editors ally heisdorffer rachel mayfield photo editor linda howard assistant photo editor samantha ludington ads / buisness managers kristen crawford kevin grunwald vanessa legat circulation manager davin phillips copy editors amanda allison bryan dykman evan favreau annie fuhrman hallie mccormick laura nelson staff writers paige cornwall joe demarco clark goble tom grotewohl ronan mcghie stephen nichols meg shackleford adrienne wood photographers karen boomer katie james frances lafferty kelsey stabenow katie woods adviser dow tate

a&e page editors joey soptic ruth stark sports editor peter goehausen sports page editors jayne shelton ben whitsitt

Letters to the editor should be sent to room 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel and mechanics and accepted or rejected at the editor’s discretion.

The Harbinger is a student run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the shawnee mission east or smsd faculty, or administration.

18?

Driving age up the

Raising driving age would unnecessarily burden teens, parents alike and strips opportunity for valuble experience Our years spent in high school have been designated the years during which we are supposed to figure everything out: what career to pursue, which friends to keep and what type of person to be. Teens are supposed to explore, learn and figure out life through trial and error, travel and increased independence.

But Kansas Representative Tom Burroughs is attempting to prevent teens from gaining possible life experiences through his proposed legislature which effectively prevents those under 18 from driving freely.

The proposed laws, which are due to be voted on by the state Senate in the next weeks, would introduce a “graduated licensing process” requiring more behindthe-wheel hours and would present a full, nonrestricted license only after applicants achieved the age of 18. Minors would be allowed to drive only to and from school and work during ages 16-17, thus limiting social interactions, and, according to Burroughs, the number of teen deaths caused by auto accidents.

Instead of passing restrictive laws that would force parents to drive their high schoolaged children everywhere, legislators need to instead focus on passing laws limiting cell

phone usage, the most common distraction that is cited as the cause for teenage car accidents.

It should also be proposed to limit the number of passengers for younger, though fully licensed, drivers, to one or two. At age 18, teens would be allowed to transport as many passengers as they wish.

It accomplishes little to strictly control teen driving so strictly. Parents would be under substantial pressure to chauffeur their children--a task once thought of as ending freshman year. Families would be unable to rely on older children to transport siblings to practices and teens would be limited socially, requiring parents to drive them to and from school dances and all around town on dates.

By passing laws designed at preventing cell phone usage while driving, people would see a decrease not only in teen deaths, but in adults as well. It would be sensible legislature, benefiting all while not restricting and complicating life unnecessarily.

Letter to the Editor Dear Harbinger, In the last issue a letter to the editor voiced a complaint concerning the absence of auditions for seniors to give graduation speeches. Although I do understand the frustration some students feel who wanted a chance to speak, I would like to address some information missing from the previous letter.

First of all, Brian Humphrey and I are the two seniors speaking at graduation. However in no way were we simply “handed” this privilege. Last spring, as candidates signed up to run for a Student Council office, all were informed that whoever was elected as Senior Class President and Executive Board President would be the ones speaking at graduation; it is in the job description. Furthermore, not only did we campaign and work hard for our positions, but we were elected by our fellow students to serve them. Brian and I, as well as every other StuCo member, have spent this entire year working hard to make everyone’s school year better. I would hardly consider that being “handed” this opportunity.

Secondly, while current StuCo members and East students did not institute this policy, there ARE legitimate reasons as to why it was done. In years past, when students were allowed to try out, speeches have been poorly written, students were unprepared for auditions, and there has been a downright lack of interest and participation. Also speeches have tended not to reach out to the student body as a whole, making it hard for graduating seniors to connect to what is being said. In addition, last year there was a disciplinary incident involving one of the chosen speakers; his privilege to speak was then taken away. Due to these reasons, the administrators and Student Council sponsors felt it to be in the best interest of East to use elected members of the class as speakers. The previous letter requested the senior class reconsider our stance on this issue, but the decision lies in control of the administrators and sponsors, not the students.

Finally, graduation is a gift given to seniors by the faculty, and it is no one’s right to speak. May 24th will be a very memorable and important occasion for seniors, parents and staff, and again, I understand the frustration some of you may be feeling. However I ask that you take the information I have presented into consideration as well and try to understand my viewpoint as well as the decision of those in charge. Thank you.

Sincerely, Courtney Held

In the dark

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / features / page 7

Student must live with harmful sun allergy

by katie jones After the first day senior Christine Dickinson vacationed in California with her family, her wardrobe was reduced to hoodies, long pants and long sleeved shirts with conservative necklines.

Underneath all the layers, crimson skin was smothered with cracking, grey silver sulfadiazine cream. She only stayed at the beach for 15 minutes.

Dickinson suffers from a rare allergy to the sun, meaning that if she is outside in bright sunlight for more than ten to fifteen minutes, she can suffer second to third-degree burns. She’s been stuck on the couch in her dim living room for days with blisters running down her arms more than once.

Dickinson’s family first found that she had a sun allergy after her mom was pushing her outside in a baby carriage when she was two weeks old. After a few minutes out in the sun, baby Christine was suffering from second-degree burns. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors informed Dickinson’s mom she had Polymorphous light eruption.

Besides Dickinson Polymorphous light eruption, or PMLE, there are three other different types of sun allergies. Actinic prurigo, a hereditary PMLE, usually occurs in people of American Indian background. Its symptoms are usually more intense that those of classic PMLE, and they often begin during childhood.

Photoallergic eruption is a form of sun allergy that is triggered by the effect of sunlight on a chemical that has been applied to the skin, like antibiotics, sunscreen, fragrances, or cosmetics. The third type, Solar urticaria, is a rarer form that produces hives on sun-exposed skin.

“People with sun allergy have to cope with a very limiting lifestyle,” said Dr.. Nancy Tilson

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Mallett.

Dickinson deals with the inconveniences of her allergy daily. She wears sweaters all year round, and eating out in the courtyard is out of the question. Last year, she was even kicked out of her gym class because she couldn’t participate in outside activities.

“Last year I badly burned when we went outside in Team Games … I asked Coach Hair if there were any alternatives to going outside because I had a sun allergy” Dickinson said. “He told me I probably shouldn’t be in his class and sent me To the office…I don’t think he believed me--he just thought I was trying to slack off.”

The American Academy of Dermatology says that if you have a sun allergy, the outlook is usually very good. Most people with PMLE or actinic prurigo improve significantly within five to seven years after diagnosis. However, Dickinson’s allergy will never improve. When she was eight years old, doctors told her she was going to get skin cancer. Signs of cancer have already appeared on the top of her nose and the back of her legs.

At first, Dickinson was afraid of her fate, but over time she has come to accept it.

“At first I was freaking out,” said Dickinson. “But now I’m used to the thought. I’m not photo illustration by katie james scared of it anymore.”

issue 12 / features / page 8

First Born Michelle Braslavsky In Soviet Russia, Judaism was considered a culture. Freshman Michelle Braslavsky’s parents weren’t Russian; they were Jewish. Universities would only take a certain number of them; on their passport, their nationality said “Jew.” The country’s history of anti-Semitism had made her parents want to leave Russia, but it wasn’t until 1988 that they got their opportunity.

Braslavsky’s parents left Russia and stayed in Italy. Although they wanted to go to America, as far as they were concerned, any place was better than Russia. A year later, they were approved to leave.

It was in America that Michelle and her older brother Thomas was born. Russian was their first language.

“At first I thought of myself as just Russian,” Braslavsky said. “My first language was Russian and my parents would always tell me about Russia.”

They started speaking English when they went to preschool, and soon they were speaking it at home.

Their parents, however, would still speak Russian to them.

“Usually I will say something in English to them, and then they will reply in Russian,” Braslavsky said. “They do speak English, just with an accent, but they prefer Russian.”

The fact that her parents grew up in a communist country where schooling is limited has made her parents put an emphasis on education.

“Because my parents were born in Russia, they want us to succeed here,” Braslavsky said, “in a different country because it has more opportunities.”

Although the Braslavsky family has never visited Russia, Braslavsky would like to return to see where she came from. Over the years she feels that her family has become more American.

“I used to see myself as Russian, but now because of how I live I think of myself as both.”

First generation citizens make transition into American life by paige cornwell

Elizabeth Braeuel When freshman Elizabeth Braeuel moved to Kansas City when she was six, she was confused about how she was going to get to her new home from the airport.

She had moved from Montreal, Canada, where walking is the most popular mode of transportation.

In the United States, everyone used cars.

Braeuel’s mother and step-father decided to move to Kansas City after they got married. Her stepfather, who lived in Kansas City but was working in Montreal, didn’t want to be away from his four children. Braeuel’s older brother stayed behind to be with her dad.

Upon arriving in a different culture, Braeuel saw the many differences between English speaking Kansas and French speaking Montreal.

“Here there are single family houses, but in Montreal there are like apartments where there might be two apartments on top of each other,” Braeuel said. “Also, there aren’t that many lakes here and in Montreal people go to the lakes all the time.”

Braeuel visits her father usually three times a year, during school holidays. When she comes back, she notices that the people here are different, also.

“Kansas is a lot more conservative.” Braeuel said.

“In Canada you see people walking around at 10 at night laughing and having fun, but here you would never see that.”

Still, Braeuel would rather live here than in Canada.

“I would probably live here because I know it better now and all of my friends are here. It feels like my home now.”

Chuck Norris wouldn’t drink & drive. . .

AND NEITEHR SHOULD YOU. The Harbinger reminds you to have a fun but safe Spring break.

See you next quarter! photo from art.com

Manali Gadgil Sometimes junior Manali Gadgil and her mother disagree about the choices that Gadgil is making.

Her mother went to school in India and doesn’t understand what Gadgil may be going through.

“Since she went to school somewhere else, she doesn’t really understand what is happening,” Gadgil said. “Usually if I need advice I will ask my brother because he might understand better what I am going through.”

Gadgil and her brother were born in the United States but her parents were born in India. Her father first came here to go to graduate school at the University of Kansas, and her mother came afterwards to be with him. Her family lived in the United States until her father died, when Gadgil was in the second grade. Gadgil’s mother wanted to be closer to the rest of her relatives, so the family moved to India.

“I really liked living in India, it was different,” Gadgil said. “It was cool to be closer to my relatives and see the culture.”

The family stayed two years until Gadgil’s older brother expressed an interest in going to college in the United States. The family returned to Kansas City, but because Gadgil had gone to an American school in India, it wasn’t a hard transition. She resumed her American life as she had two years before.

Now, however, her mother tries to keep the family’s Indian traditions alive. She usually cooks an Indian meal every night, and insists that they speak Marathi at home. Still, Gadgil sees herself as more American.

“I will occasionally go to Temple and speak the languages, and I do dance, but that’s pretty much the most Indian thing I do.”

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Puls’s Pinky Science teacher’s stories keep kids wondering

1 Lumberjacked

It was the December of 1990 in Puls’s hometown of Pawnee City, Neb., when he decided to take his 7-year-old son Darrell deer hunting.

The father and his son woke before dawn, packed their rifles and hunting gear and sleepily set out in Puls’s blue 1983 Ford pickup truck.

They arrived at the deer site and Puls climbed into a tree to wait.

“I finally dozed off to sleep at 5:30 and I wake up suddenly,” Puls said. “In front of me I see a big deer, and I aimed and shot.”

The deer fell to the ground and Darrell scrambled to help his father gut it.

“But Darrell being a little kid, he was almost a hindrance,” Puls said.

They dragged their prize to the pickup, but as Puls swung the deer onto the truck bed Darrell swung the other side, rolling the carcass and splattering Puls with blood.

“There is a lot of blood associated with dead deer—and I spilled a lot on myself,” he said. “But it was only my hunting clothes that got bloody.”

The two drove back to the family farm, where Puls’s father asked for a hand at splitting logs.

“We were using the hydraulic log splitter, but I was paying more attention to my kids than the wood,” Puls said. “You know what happens.”

He picked the end of the finger off the blade and told his family he “had an accident.”

“Everyone went nuts. I told everybody to calm down; it was no big deal. There was hardly any bleeding.” Puls said.

Puls rushed to the hospital covered with deer blood as his mother called ahead to warn the doctors he was coming.

“She hadn’t seen my finger, and she thought that I had lost my hand,” Puls said. “I get there covered with deer blood and they make me lay down on the table under a sheet.”

The excited nurses and doctors carefully pulled the bloody sheet down to see his amputated hand, only to find the end of his little right finger missing.

“You’ve never seen more disappointed people,” Puls said.

3 A Bad Case of Testosterone

Growing up on a farm with his younger brother Rick, Puls saw his fair share of cows and dreamed of being a rodeo rider.

“We were always trying to get our folks to let us go to rodeos,” Puls said. “My brother, a couple of my friends, and I were hot to ride a steer.

Our folks obviously wouldn’t let us.”

One lazy afternoon in 1963, Puls’s parents left for the day.

He knew the time had come to prove his worth as a bull rider.

“Get a bunch of teenage boys together, and the focal point is to see who is the toughest guy around,” Puls said. “And the bareback steer riding was a big no-

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / features / page 9 by adrienne wood Science teacher Ronald Puls tells stories.

“Not fabrications.”

For the past 47 years of teaching, every new school year means a new story for Puls to tell his Physical Science classes about how he lost his pinky finger.

“I’ve been telling stories probably as long as I’ve been doing anything,” Puls said. “It’s just fun because deep down everyone wants to believe them. And a lot of people do.”

2 Hood Ornament

Puls and his ever-adventurous friends didn’t want to sled the normal way. So they got creative.

“We thought we’d get a horse to pull the sled,” Puls said.

“But the horse wasn’t too thrilled about running in the snow.”

So the four boys secured their old wooden sled to the back of a pickup truck, only to discover it was too rickety.

“We found an abandoned 1941 Ford on my farm and took the hood off,” Puls said.

They tied the rusty hood to the back of the truck and Puls’s three friends climbed aboard the make-shift sled.

“That was a winning idea,” Puls said.

He sped the truck up the steep hills and terraces in an empty field, dragging the car hood behind.

“I didn’t go very fast, because it would not be good form to call your dad and tell him you crashed his truck,” Puls said.

“So I was catching a lot o f grief from my buddies for being gutless and not hopping the sled over the terraces.”

The thrill-seeking boys convinced Puls to speed up to 40 m.p.h. with the car hood in tow.

“But I wouldn’t make the turn, so I was banished from driving.”

Puls boarded the

no. That was the big motivation—it was the forbidden fruit.”

With the help of several friends and his brother, he led a brown Herford steer into an empty pen.

“I’d have to say he weighed 800 pounds,” Puls said. “But they aren’t known to be overly nasty.

They are docile, so I figured I’d be the first to ride.”

The boys strapped belts onto the steer as Puls nervously pulled his gloves on. He mounted the animal carefully and gave the signal.

“We jerk the gate open—and the thing just stands there,” Puls said. “So we knew we had to do something different.”

His friend grabbed a wood board and jabbed at the steer.

“The steer took five or six lazy steps, but somehow I could feel something c o m i n g ,” Puls said. “ S u d d e n ly it gave a huge lurching buck, and I flew high into the air.”

“When I hit the ground, I knew something had happened but I didn’t know what,” he said. “It wasn’t until the adrenaline wore off that I realized something was wrong.”

As the steer fell to the dusty

Puls uses stories from his childhood along with general missing-finger stories to keep his classes alert and interested.

“If you’re teaching to the kids, and someone brings up an off-topic subject that is completely different, they get excited,” Puls said. “The one main reason why anyone would ever go off-topic is to keep everybody’s attention.”

Here are Puls’s favorite pinky tales.

One of them is the truth. However, to keep his future students interested, you’ll have to guess which one it is.

hood with two other boys.

The new driver revved the engine and began turning.

“When he started that thing up and made the big looping turn, I immediately knew it would turn out bad,” Puls said.

The hood flew into the air, and Puls realized they had made a mistake.

“The one thing no one had thought about was what we would grab a hold of in the air.”

The boys frantically grasped the sharp edges on the metal hood as it slammed to the ground, cutting their fingers.

“Everyone got sliced up, and the other boys had stitches,” Puls said.

“Obviously mine was worse. From then on, that particular activity was out.”

ground, its massive hoof landed on his little finger.

Have a totally tubular time tanning...

Spring Break 2006

page 10 / features / the harbinger

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by joe demarco

“Mallory and I are pretty much in charge of the whole thing this year,” Haun said.

Besides judging on all around camera work and presentation, there is little criteria regarding the content of the film. The film that won the grand prize two years ago featured someone looking for a cigarette. There also were more serious entries. For example last year there was one film that was mainly about the war in Iraq, and there even was a film featuring claymation.

Ten anonymous East students will be chosen to judge the entrants’ films. From there, the top ten films will then be sent on to be judged anonymously by college students from both KU and UMKC. The cash prize is based on how many films there are and how many sponsors the festival’s committee gets. Last year the grand prize was $200.

“If we were to do this, we’d mainly be doing this just for fun,” Surface said. “Plus if we won money or something that would be pretty cool.”

Although last year there were only about 12 entries, the year prior to that there were close to 25.

“We’ve had a lot more advertising this year, so I am hoping that we will get more entries,” Haun said. “The more entries we get the bigger the grand prize is.”

The deadline to turn films into the office will be March 30.

Junior Ryan Surface and his friends don’t plan on being the next Stephen Spielberg, but they do plan on making a film for Shawnee Mission School District’s Five-Minute Film Festival, held at East.

Surface just recently started planning out his film along with sophomores Lane Anderson and Nick Schulte.

“We are making a film about curling,” Surface said. “With the winter Olympics and all the hype about how curling shouldn’t even be part of the Olympics, my friends are I are going to make a comedy skit.”

Although Surface is only in the planning stage, he knows there is tons more work to do.

“Sometimes just setting up the right scene can take hours,” Surface said.

“Then you still have to edit parts of the film, add music, and there also are some neat digital things you can do on the computer. But this all takes time, and our film it is going probably going to take around 20 hours.”

The East Five Minute Film Festival committee will begin taking entries this week. There is a $10 entry fee and all of the submitted films will be shown at East on April 25. There isn’t any judging criteria other than it can’t be longer than five minutes and must be school appropriate.

This year senior Ellen Haun and junior Mallory Kornhaus are the festivals c o - ch a i r s.

Haun was on the committee both sophomore Junior Ryan and junior Surface years.

“Sometimes just setting up the right scene can take hours...It all takes time, and our film is probably going to take around 20 hours.”

REELING IN THE FACTS

what to know about entering the film festival Deadline to turn in films is March 30 Students from any school in the district are eligible to enter

Ten anonymous East students will be judging the films

The top ten films will be sent to be judged by KU and UMKC students There will be a grand prize, and last year it was $200

The festival will be held on April 25

Twelve little kids eagerly wait for their teacher to begin the lesson for the day. The three girls in the front row have all their supplies neatly laid out on their desks and two boys in the back are thumb-wrestling. The scene seems like a normal first grade classroom setting on any given school day. However, it is Sunday.

The teacher brings in a large roll of paper and an older boy helps her roll it out. On the paper are the lyrics to the Chinese alphabet. Immediately, all the children begin singing foreign sounds to the tune of “Twinkle- Twinkle Little Star.” They are learning the alphabet of their ethnicity: Chinese.

“They sing this song to learn the syllables that will help them pronounce Chinese words better when they learn [the words],” said teacher Xion Ming Yun. Every Sunday afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00, dozens of Chinese-Americans meet at Shawnee Mission East for classes on both learning how to speak English and learning how to speak Chinese. In previous years, the classes were held at the Center for International Studies, but moved to East three years ago. There are thirteen classes in total and about a dozen people in each class.

Four of the classes are designed for Chinese-Americans who want to learn more about their culture and want to learn how to speak Chinese and the remaining classes are for those who want to speak English.

Today’s lesson is the names of household items.

“Who can think of something around the house?” asks Yun. “A toilet!” shouts the little boy who was previously thumb-wrestling.

The kids in this classroom already speak English. The majority of them have been adopted and their adopted parents send them to these classes so they can learn more about their own culture and heritage.

On the board are fourteen laminated sheets of white, red, pink, and yellow paper. Each piece of paper has two Chinese characters with the English pronunciation right next to it. The students recite the pronunciation right after the teacher.

There are also classes for Chinese adults who want to learn how to speak English. The adults learn not only the English language, but also things about American culture. For example, they learned how to greet others. In China, it is a custom to bow slightly when greeting others and in the United States, they learn, that it is common to shake hands.

Along with learning Chinese and English, the Sunday afternoon classes offer seminars on how to cope with the culture differences between China and the United States.

The latest seminar was given for parents of adopted children. The speaker told the parent how to incorporate Chinese culture into their children’s lives. He gave several ways to do this including celebrating Chinese holidays such as the Chinese New Year and talking to the kids about Chinese history.

The classes often leave traces of their existence behind that are found by East students and faculty on Monday mornings. US History teacher Vicki Arndt-Helgesen has found several issues of Chinese newspapers and students worksheets in her classroom left behind from the Chinese school.

Yun’s helper, a 13 year old boy named Jon, went through classes similar to these when he was younger.

“I want to help these kids speak Chinese,” he said. “If it weren’t for classes like this, I wouldn’t have known about my background. I’m very grateful.”

Yun is glad that she is able to teach the kids about their culture.

“I think it is important to know about where you came from.”

issue 12 / march 6 / features / page 11

& As the media dictates the ideal body image, cosmetic surgery becomes an accepted trend continued from page 1 MTV’s “I Want A Famous Face” documents teenagers undergoing plastic surgery in order to look like their favorite celebrities. Similar programs have shown youth that cosmetic surgery is a tangible option for altering their appearance.

Nationally, teenage cosmetic surgery appears to be becoming a growing trend, but is this just a perception?

In 2004, 320,000 plastic surgeries were performed on patients under 18 according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. While these figures account for only 4 percent of total surgeries performed, this represents Preparing for Surgery: Before the plastic surgery commences, doctors inject the patient with anesthetics. more than a 25 percent increase in teen surgeries since photo illustration by katie james 1994.

“You can do too much on the nose, and the worse thing you can do is do [everything] However, Kansas City plastic surgeon Dr. Dan Bortnick, doesn’t think that area trends the patient wants and give them something they won’t like down the road,” Tanner said. necessarily reflect the national trend.

Dr. Bortnick agrees that emotional maturity is essential before operating on a teenager.

“Among board certified plastic surgeons it’s not a growing trend, it’s just how it He also explains the complexities that are unique to each case, and why often times always was,” Bortnick said. decisions to operate are on a case by case basis.

Cosmetic surgery affects teens at East. For one student, getting a nose job when she Not only does the patient need to be clear on their expectations, they also need to have was 15 was something that she believed would make her happier. a set body image.

Her grandfather is a plastic surgeon, and has given many members of her family, the “When you start changing someone’s body before they have a set self-image, they can “family nose.” At their Father’s Day dinner, asking him to do her nose seemed perfectly have difficulty adjusting to their new body or to their new face,” Bortnick said. He explains normal. that patients can become depressed because they are not confident with the person they “Both [of] my parents didn’t care, [and] my mom went with me,” she said. She described are on the inside. the surgery as minor because they didn’t break her nose. She wanted the tip pointed up Can the media really be blamed for stirring up the cosmetic surgery debate? Many more and the nose narrowed out. The relatively minor procedure, meant only a weeklong doctors believe and acknowledge that it does affect the way we view ourselves. recovery. She also wore a small piece of tape, and slept upright to keep blood flowing “The media dictates to not only teenagers, it dictates to adults, it dictates to everyonedown. just like fashion, it dictates body image. It always has been that way and probably always “I don’t think it’s that big of deal,” she said about the surgery, “If you want to change will,” Bortnick said. something, it can make you happier.”

According to Bortnick, the media, and surgeons who aren’t board-certified, are among She didn’t receive excessive attention. Since her boyfriend was out of town for her the factors contributing to this idea. surgery and recovery, when he came back, he didn’t think she had gone through with it.

“It’s a growing trend with plastic surgeons that are less than reputable,” Bortnick said.

“Most people can’t even tell, so it’s more for yourself,” she said.

He knows of surgeons in the Kansas City area who aren’t board certified, yet solicit Despite the frequently successful outcomes, many doctors are wary or refuse to operate to teens. “[They] don’t represent plastic surgeons [they] represent a renegade,” Bortnick on minors. The only exceptions many will make are for trauma related cases in which said. there are either major deformities or a threat to breathing.

For now it can be agreed that plastic surgery is an accepted trend in society.

Another local surgeon, Dr. John Tanner, explains that one reason he doesn’t work with Said Bortnick, “It’s a commodity like anything else. It’s like the True Religion jeans that teens is a lack of maturity. Even though the nose can be fully-grown as early as age 14, you sport around and that’s ok as long as it’s done responsibly.” emotional maturity is essential before undergoing cosmetic surgery.

Quick Facts

Cosmetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Trends

• Between 2000 and 2004, total cosmetic procedures in the United States grew from 7.4 million to 9.2 million, an increase of 25 percent. More than 320,000 of these procedures were performed on patients under age 18.

• Nose-reshaping surgeries reached more than 50,000 in 2004.

• The number one procedure of patients under 18 is the correction of congenital birth defects. The second most common procedure is done just prior to entering grade school: an otoplasty to reshape ears. And finally, the third most common occurs in 13 to 16-year-olds, related to body image.

rememb

All these traits build

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Become aw families an

the fighter

Awarenes

Parents to help t allowing

Taking Ac

Top

the smoker

TOUGHLO

1 2 3

the curfew breaker

the parentdisobeyer

the pothead

the troubled teenager.

When teenage problems are too much to handle, parents have somewhere to turn.

TOUGHLOVE

the drinker

photo illustration by kelsey stabenow

Family problems and support in t

helps create healthier family relationships.

Parents are pe

A parent’s mat emotional reso limited.

Susan Jackson had a wishes. The night before L cheerleaders spent the ni asked them not to drink.

They did it anyway.

When Jackson found cheerleading coach and doing, knowing that onc daughter’s entire year wo “I was responsible fo to not drink in my hom anyway,” Jackson said. “I Jackson made the dec allow the girls to deal w actions—consequences rules.

“Was it hard [making Jackson said. “It altered h play tennis and couldn’t c never once said ‘I hate yo This is the message th to their kids—a message and accept the consequen a parent to step in and he One program with the how to deal with diffic Toughlove. The progra behavior to effect positive phases—awareness, taki parents learn how to id forces that cause problem their behavior with thei and use the Toughlove c

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issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / spread / page 11

The three phases of the Toughlove program help guide families to a more peaceful, cooperative relationship.

ware of the negative influences that adversely effect nd the destruction that ensues.

3

As parents gain a better understanding of the program, they are able to develop a better understanding of their own emotional triggers and behaviors.

Continued Growth.

ss.

understand and accept that the most effective way their family is by changing their own behavior and g other responsible adults to assist change.

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terials and ources are

7 8 9 10

Toughlove is based on the principles that parents and kids should have mutual understandings and agreements. Here are 10.

4 5 6

Parents and kids are not equal.

Blaming keeps people helpless.

Kid’s behavior affects parents. Parents’ behavior affects kids.

by annie fuhrman

asked her daughter to respect her Lancer day in 2003, 18 of the varsity ight at Jackson’s home, and she had

d out she had her daughter call the d report what the team had been ce the coach had been called, her ould be altered. or [the girls] and I had asked them me and they went ahead and did it It is a disrespect issue.” cision to stick to her convictions and with the consequences of their own they created when they broke her

g Caroline call the coach]? You bet,” her entire senior year—she couldn’t cheer for the football season, but she ou’ she never once blamed me.” hat most parents are trying to send e that tells them they need to step up nces of their actions, and not expect elp them or look the other way. e goal of helping parents determine cult parenting decisions is called am’s purpose is to modify parent e changes in their kids. Using three ing action and continued growth— dentify the negative influences and ms in the family, enact changes in ir children to reach desired goals, community of parents to help with

the yeller

Toughlove continues with this ultimatum: Families cannot be democracies. A democratic family is more prone to chaos and crisis. A parent is not elected to the position of authority and there is no room for competition or election promises. A parent is given full authority upon the birth of their child.

LOCATION Deliberately taking a stand helps control crisis.

From a controlled crisis comes positive change.

Families need to give and get support in their own community in order to change.

The essence of family is cooperation, not democracy.

Information courtesy of www.toughlove.org support.

This support comes in the form of weekly meetings where parents involved in the program come together to brainstorm and discuss different ways to get through to their children.

At each meeting, members meet in small groups and discuss that week’s progress. These sessions are followed by an informational meeting—like a lecture—about a topic that could be a concern for parents, such as how to deal with a drug screening or allowing natural consequences for problems. After the informational session, the members return to small groups and plan their next week’s strategies.

Jeff*, a Toughlove parent of a 16-year-old boy, has found the policy of natural consequences useful with his son.

When he was kicked off of the bus, an action that affected his father as well, Jeff had him walk to school. To ensure that his son was still going to school, he followed in the car behind him. This way, his son experienced the consequences of his actions while still obeying rules of the house.

Toughlove is designed to give parents back the rights that out-of-control children take away from them—the right to live in a clean house, the right to expect responsible behavior from children in their family, regardless of age. Amy*, the mother of a 17 year old girl, has seen a difference in her home life after only six weeks in the program.

“It was hard.” Amy said, “I was at my wit’s end, my friends weren’t having the same problems and I was scared to do it all wrong, but with Toughlove I realize that I am not alone in dealing with it. “ Amy made the decision to put a lock on her daughter’s bedroom door sending her the message that if she couldn’t obey the house rules, she couldn’t live there—she wasn’t going to be kicked out, but she couldn’t have her own space.

“These choices are not off the wall—it is hard to take away and take away and take away, but I’ve realized that it is O.K. It is all about being O.K. with doing the right thing. After six

information

the sneakerouter

The following address is the only Toughlove location in Kansas. There is not currently a location in Missouri, but if need or interest develops, then one will be created.

Park Church of Christ 13400 W. 119th Street (at Pflumm) Room 211 Overland Park, KS 66213 weeks it has gotten easier, more pleasant at home.”

Family counselor Annabelle Eason, while she advocates parents setting boundaries and encouraging kids to accept consequences, finds some flaws in the Toughlove philosophy. “[The Toughlove program] can be used well for parents who don’t know how to set boundaries,” Eason said. “It can give them ideas and support, but it does have the reputation for abandoning children and [parents] turning their backs on kids—that would be a misuse of the program.”

Eason does encourage parents to continue to allow children to take responsibility for their actions, without stepping in and taking the reins.

“Parents do too much for their kids—they are too involved with their kid’s problems,” Eason said. “They want their kids to succeed so they get too involved and that is when it turns into a power struggle. You have to back off and be able to let the kid figure it out.”

“Parents can give their children a choice like clean your room or stay in your room,” Eason said. “You have to give kids choices and then step back. As kids get older you have to let them make their own decisions and deal with their own problems basically saying ‘I sure hope you make good decisions because I can’t help you make them’.”

Eason adds, “You can’t stand between the child and their consequences.”

Susan Jackson and her daughter learned that lesson firsthand.

“There is a point in time where you have to take accountability. We all do things that we aren’t supposed to and at some point you have to suck it up and take responsibility.” Jackson said

*names changed to protect identities.

the car tagger

the speeder

the shoplifter

the school-

page 14 / features / the harbinger

HIGH

expectations by hallie mccormick Before they arrive, elementary school kids have thoughts about what high school life is going to be like. Movies directed at teen-age life have made up the minds of our younger siblings about what they should expect when they arrive the first day of freshman year.

“I think high school is going to be a lot like ‘Mean Girls’,” sixth grader Kelsey O’Rourke said.

Through previous school years, we have collected bits of information from TV, magazines, and our big brothers or sisters, and think that we “know” what is ahead of us in high school. However, sometimes this causes some disappointments, or sometimes even pleasant surprises.

“We’re going to have, like, a ton of homework,” sixth grader Charlie Belko, a boy with a KU sweater and brown hair, said. “It’s going to be really long, like two hours!”

“Your face is two hours!” Michael Garringer yelled back Sophomore Amy Gairns was actually expecting more homework than she received.

“I was surprised,” sophomore Amy Gairns said. “I thought that you would have no time to do anything else but homework after school. *** O’Rourke and another sixth grader, Shannon McGinley, said they want to play softball, basketball, soccer and volleyball when they are in high school.

I ask Ellie Jones, who hadn’t talked much, what she wants to do in high school.

“I don’t know. What do they have to do?”

“They have a horseback riding club,” McGinley tells her.

She becomes excited for a second, but then asked: “Is it for losers?”

As the girls walk back in their classroom to bring out another group of kids to be interviewed, Jones wasn’t satisfied by the reassurance that the equestrian club is not just for losers, and asks once again in her friend’s ear: “Hey, are you going to join the horseback riding club? Or is that just too weird?” *** Junior Philip Wolf and sophomore Paige Brulatour came to high school having their own predisposition about which high school activities would be “socially accepted.” Wolf thought “only nerds would be in the clubs.” Brulatour expected every girl would want to be a cheerleader, and there would be an enormous amount of pressure to drink.

“I thought the upper classmen would be really mean,” freshman Alexi Brown said. “I just thought that they wouldn’t even talk to me.”

They found their theories to be incorrect.

“With a lot of boys!”

Sarah Cook said.

“They’re going to be more mature though.”

This gets them thinking about dances. They all chime in together about how they are excited for dances and buying dresses.

(Cook makes sure to point out that the boys wont dance.)

“The stuff we’re going to wear is going to have more showage, if you know what I mean,” Cook said.

The girls look forward to being able to wear flip-flops and tank tops, and not needing to worry about whether the end of their shorts are above their fingertips.

The cafeteria becomes silent within five seconds. Their principal is holding the “silent coyote” hand signal with his index and ring finger pressed together with the thumb to make a coyote head.

He tells them that they can clear their lunch trays and line up for recess.

They head off to recess questioning each other on which boy they would ask to homecoming if they had to pick this very minute.

*** Lunchtime came, and seven sixth grade girls sit around an octagonal lunch table. They sip at juice boxes and eat chicken noodle soup out of their thermoses. One girl sneakily slides a Cheeto across the table to her friend. She looks up and explains that they aren’t allowed to share food, so they have to smuggle the snacks to one another.

Along with having great food, they all agreed that high school would also be really crowded.

photo illustration by annie fuhrman

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issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / mixed / page 15 Bees is a company started history Burt’s by a bee farmer, Burt, in a schoolhouse in Maine. Burt turned the leftover beeswax first into candles then into lip balm. The company claims the product to be all natural and “earth-friendly.”

impressions

The distinct tingly feeling and peppermint taste of the lip balm supports the claim of only natural ingredients. It is the newest of the three but probably the most popular. Burt’s Bees is less sheer and more lip-sticky feeling, but the tingle is worth it. It feels like your foot has fallen asleep… but instead it’s your lips. Burt’s Bees smells fresh and tastes better than the others.

v grade

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appearance: feel:

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history nick name for all lip balm. It was This is the brand that gives us our

Which would

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?

choose

The Harbinger takes a look at a few brands of lip balm to see which is the most worthy of your lips by jayne shelton

actually invented in the 1880s by a physician. The Morton Manufacturing Company first marketed Chap Stick to the public in 1912. The Chap Stick was still wrapped in foil.

Stick lasts the impressions Chap longest of the three, but it doesn’t tingle as much. It smells sort of like herbs – a classic Chap Stick smell – but to me it isn’t a good one. It is very sheer and doesn’t feel like there is anything on your lips, a definite plus when you are eating a handful of granola.

history of

Invented in 1936 by the founder Carma Lab Incorporated, Alfred Woelbing, it was intended to cure his own problems with cold sores and realized it helped chapped lips as well.

It has the distinct Carmex smell that smells fresher and cleaner than the other lip balms. It is the middle child with a little of both of Burt’s Bees and Chap Stick. It is not very sticky and lip balm feeling. It does tingle but not to the extent of Burt’s Bees. It feels like it dries on your lips.

impressions

in seas n what’s hot what’s cool

pants tomorrow ski pants and boas

Pants. Pants are good. They are long and they can keep legs warm. Jeans, cords, sweats … there’s a plethora of great materials out there. As soon as the calendar flips to October and November and the temperature plunges to 45.78 degrees, it’s time to pull out the pants. No questions asked. Shorts, skirts and capris all say, “Hasta la vista, warm weather!” and goback into hibernation in the back of closets. Sad, yes, that these wonderful garments must be forgotten, but really, they aren’t made to withstand the withering cold and piercing wind. It’s better for everyone.

today

skirts and leggings

It’s winter, yeah, so what? It’s 30 degrees out, but that really doesn’t matter. PEOPLE STILL WANT TO WEAR MINI SKIRTS! OK? There’s only one solution: they must wear brightly colored leggings that they skillfully cut at the ankle. Because, ew, the foot part is just lame. It’s so great that they have these leggings to keep their legs warm, even though whenever one of them walks into school people jump and scream in fright and shout, “That girl has weird colored legs!” Yeah, their legs may look like the latest medical catastrophe about to walk onto “Grey’s Anatomy,” but, REALLY, at least they can still wear their mini skirts. And it’s cool to look like a flash dancer from the ‘80s, OK?

As far as I can see it, there are two major trends that are just about to happen. First, the ski pants. Not just the waterproof pants, but the kind that are like overalls. Picture big, fluffy, warm ski pants under a mini skirt. Perfect! Not only will everyone’s legs be warm, but if they are late to class, they can just slide down the hall on their butts. And if there’s a snow day, they don’t need to run inside and change if they want to make snow angels! It’s a win-win situation. The other trend that is just bound the happen is the feather boa.

Not around the neck (oh, no, such cliché!) but wrapped around the legs and hot glued onto the socks to keep it wrapped. Everyone will have brightly colored, fluffy legs. And if the wearer trips and falls down the stairs, these are the perfect things to help cushion the fall.

C

v grade

7 8 6

appearance: feel:

tingle:

6 8 + 7

B

appearance: feel:

tingle:

photos by frances lafferty

got harbinger?

If you take a picture of yourself with your Harbinger while you’re on spring break, it could end up right here in the paper. Here’s an example...

art by sara mcelhaney

yesterday

v grade

page 16 / a&e / the harbinger

Rockin’ Into Spring March and April Sunday

6

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday

7

8

Dropkick Murphys at the Beaumont Club-$16.50

19

Keller Williams at the Jesse Auditorium (Columbia, Mo.)-$15

26

13

14

Of Montreal at the Bottleneck-$11

20

R. Kelly at the Midland Theatre$57-62

15 Sevendust at the Beaumont Club-$19

Kid Rock at Municipal Auditorium-$35

17

22

23

24

28

29

30

31

Bela Fleck at the Uptown Theater$29-39

1

James Blunt at Liberty Hall$25.50

Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah at the Bottleneck-$14

5

6

7

Train at the Uptown Theater$30

ld.net

ilcowor

y of w courtes

Imani Woods at the Lied Center$12-28

Jim Gaffigan at the Uptown Theater-$28

18

Funeral for a Friend at the Granada-$12

The Elders at the Uptown Theater$18-35

Blake Shelton at the Beaumont Club-$20

11

The Strokes at The Uptown Theater- $30

21

Thursday at the Granada-$16

Saturday

10

Wilco at the Uptown Theater-$25.50

Wilco - Ma rch 21, Up town Thea In 1998 h ter undreds o Guthrie w f unrelease ere hande d lyrics by d to a rela legendary their own tively unk vision and singer/son nown alte style. The gwriter W the finishe rnative ro oody risky mov d work “M ck band to e p e a rm id off whe aid Avenu recreate in Since then n th e ” e to b W a almost un ilco has g nd, Wilco, the scene iversal acc one on to released tod laim. become o experimen ay. From their coun n e of the pre tal sound in try-influen miere rock ced debut 2004’s “A G range of g bands to their ne enres, esta host Is Born w spaciou on blishing a ,” Wilco’s mu s and diverse an sic has spa d dedicate nned acro d fan base ss a .

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16

Friday

Jack’s Mannequin at the Granada$15

4

3

Ghostface Killah at the Granada-$18

Thursday

9

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12

Check out old favorites and new faces making their way through Kansas City’s concert scene

The Fray at the Midland Theatre-$11

A

pril

8

Jackyl at the Beaumont Club$18.50

25 2

Dave Brubeck at the Gem Theater-$45

9

Particle Particleatatthe the Granada-$15 Granada-$15

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Thursday – March 22, Granada The terrorist attacks of September 11 were an issue that most musical groups would not even dream of touching. But Thursday is a different band. In their album “War All the Time” the posthardcore quartet ruminates about 9/11, war and other topics of which even the most outspoken politician wouldn’t dare speak.

While the band employs the usual scream-sing style typical of their genre, their music has reached a higher level of complexity with odd time signatures and frequent tempo changes. This musical adeptness in combination with their bluntness and honesty has allowed Thursday to become one of the more popular bands on the hardcore scene.

photo courtesy

ple.com

of particlepeo

compiled by tom grotewohl

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / a&e / page 17

Off Broadway Shoes

Shoe Carnival

Where: 8600 Ward Parkway

Off Broadway didn’t strike me as the kind of place to go for tennis shoes or snow boots, but for those nights when you need to dress to impress, this is where to find your soul mate.

From black and elegant to hot pink bedazzled pumps, there is no cocktail dress or outfit that wouldn’t find its counterpart here. Off Broadway shoes stocks 30,000- 50,000 pairs of shoes at any given time, making your selection extensive and your choices hard.

I scoured the isles of shoes looking at prices and styles that stuck out to me. It was hard not to miss the box full of black, wannabe-athletic stiletto boots that were laced from the ankle to the knee in your choice of lime green or hot pink. After much debate, I decided against paying the $10 that these JanetJackson-gone-street corner looking things would’ve set me back.

In contrast, there was a pair of white canvas keds I know I have seen my grandmother wear set out only a couple rows over. I was impressed that no matter what look I was trying to get, it could be purchased here for an average price of $35 to $45.

If I had wanted the cowgirl look, there were about 15 ways it could’ve been achieved. They had an entire wall dedicated to cowgirl boots. The prices for these ranged from $70 dollars a pair to $200 a pair. No matter what your current budget, you will be able to shop at Off Broadway.

All things considered, Off Broadway was a good store. I didn’t leave with a headache from loud music or bruises from being stampeded to get specials at the check out. I saw some new brands and even scoped out the next pair of shoes I will buy for a dance. Who knew I could find them for only $39.50! Grade: B+

Shoes around the city:

A look at local shoe stores by ruth stark

DSW Shoe Warehouse

They were in sections: all the tennis shoes in one place, all the formal Where: 7345 Quivira Road shoes in another. There was music playing softly as I strolled down the rows. Everything was clearly marked and the little panty hose to try shoes on with were always two steps away.

Finally, a shoe connoisseur’s dream.

The brightly lit, warehouse-style store restored my faith that there were discount shoe stores out there where I could find what I was looking for at a fabulous price and in an atmosphere where I felt free to stroll and ponder my purchases. With over 30,000 shoes in 2,000 styles, my experience at DSW was filled with “Oh I want those, too” moments.

When DSW says they provide their customers with high-quality brands, they are not lying. I was thrilled to find brands like Coach, Nine West, Steve Madden, Ugg, Tommy

photos by katie james, linda howard and katie woods photo illustration by katie james

Upon entering Shoe Carnival, I Where: 11772 West 95th St. saw pink balloons and neon signs everywhere. There were plastic discount tables and shelves stacked so chaotically with shoe boxes that it made me afraid to touch them for fear they would all crash to the ground. It wouldn’t have surprised me to see clowns on unicycles and jugglers charging through this mess of a shoe store.

This is not the place I would choose to buy my shoes because of poor atmosphere, poor organization, poor selection and very poor quality shoes. The inferior quality of the shoes was reflected in the cheaper price.

Another surprise was in store for me when I saw a huge podium that a man was standing on and a large spinning wheel with different percentages listed on it. I heard the man standing on the platform shout into the microphone that for the next ten minutes all ladies boots were 50 percent off. There was an instant stampede of ecstatic, shoe-crazed women dashing to the podium. I had a five second window of opportunity to dive out of their way and into a messy spinner of knock off Crocs.

While Shoe Carnival had a few pairs of shoes that were by designer labels, the majority of the brands I had never seen or heard of in my life. They stocked brands like Villager, Delicious, Classified and Y-Not? Well, I could tell you about 50 reasons Y-Not to get any of the shoes made by these sketchy brands. Most of the shoes made by these less than reputable labels were made from cheap materials; plastics that were suppose to look like wood platforms and fake leathers that looked like their bright white paint was about to chip off of them.

By the time I left my ears were ringing with the shrill cries of children whose mothers had forgotten about them when they saw the “buy one get one free” sign on the back wall and my head was throbbing from the loud music booming in the background.

I gladly walked out of this place knowing I would NEVER return for another painful dose of Cirque du Soleil.

Grade: D

Hilfiger, BCBG Paris and New Balance for prices I could afford. These shoes aren’t the ugly ones that were left over at Nordstrom and Dillard’s, they are just the ones that popular department stores ordered too many of.

The average prices for shoes in DSW it a little bit more than in the other stores, but the quality and styles of the shoes are far superior, making the $10 or $15 extra bearable.

I had made a list of 11 pairs of shoes I would need before spring and summer. This list included a pair of white eyelet Tommy Hilfiger espadrilles for only $39.90, down from $80. Grade: A+

page 18 / a&e / the harbinger

Block Party by cay fogel During the 100-something block drive I had to take to go see “16 Blocks,” all I could think was, what are you doing? You’re an 18-year-old girl going to see a Bruce Willis action flick. This feeling wasn’t exactly alleviated when I was told that Bruce didn’t even have a romantic interest in the film. Girls, don’t be fooled. Bruce may not have a romantic interest, but you will. His name? Mos Def. Mos Def and his almost-too-loveable character, Eddie Bunker, criminal gone birthdaycake confectionist, made this movie engaging. The only aspect of the movie that is remotely realistic is the way this character is built; Mos Def affects a nasal, jittery speaking pattern,

Latest Bruce Willis flick “16 Blocks” makes a good showing of fun and action with the help of musician-turned-actor Mos Def which is sometimes undecipherable. The character’s fear and panic is so real at moments that the raw shock of it almost mentally shakes you out of the movie. But then of course, the camera pans on Bruce Willis again, and you remember you’re seeing an action movie. But by the half-hour mark, all you care about is Eddie.

The plot is fun because it limits itself effectively; a worn-out, alcoholic detective, Bruce Willis, is charged with the last-minute task of moving a criminal—Eddie—the 16 blocks from the holding facility to the courthouse to testify. They have a little under two hours to do so. Things go awry.

Every scene is being used for the one purpose of moving Eddie a little closer to the courthouse, where he must appear to testify against a group of corrupt cops. The plot’s motivation and energy come from this set-up. The movie is contained in these parameters for the duration, so it’s hard to find time to be bored. Every second is charged with the urgency of the time limit and the space.

Also, there is an underlying nod to humanity, on both sides of the spectrum. There are the corrupt cops, who’s actions are unforgivable, Willis and Def, who are of ambiguous morality, and then there are the random strangers who help along the way, out of the kindness of their hearts. And of course, you get to watch the gradual, saccharine evolution of change in both main characters as they start to see and trust each other. Although this is necessary to the plot, the way it was orchestrated was one of the major drawbacks in the film.

There are moments when the audience feels like they’re being coaxed through this transition, like the movie is begging them to ignore the irking cheesiness for just a little longer until they can get to a good joke. The line is drawn at the moment when, while holding a city bus full of people hostage, Mos Def finds the time to chat with an adorable little girl about her favorite kind of birthday cake.

Even during these moments, however, the audience feels conflicted, caught between feelings of disgust and adoration. Adoration is where most people should fall. Mos Def manages to surrender himself to the corny script, holding nothing back, while still maintaining this overwhelming genuineness that makes the audience buy it. Even through the silly situations, the character has an underlying honesty that is compelling.

Willis fades quickly in comparison. He doesn’t have any of the charm or personality that Def’s character does; his routine is basically to sigh and drink. Occasionally, he fires a gun.

Take Mos Def out of the mix and you’ve got just another Bruce Willis action flick that no teenage girl in her right mind would ever sit through. Grade: B Courthouse Race: Bruce Willis, shotgun in hand, and Mos Def make a narrow escape on their way to the courthouse to testify against a group of corrupted police.

Gilmour Breaks Away

Pink Floyd musician records impressive album despite absence of original band by kevin grunwald “On an Island,” by former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, comes out tomorrow.

This is Gilmour’s third solo album, but his first in 21 years. Because of this Pink Floyd was always historical—incredible music, but not in our generational bracket. Aside from wearing t-shirts we bought off the internet or hanging posters in our rooms, there was no way for our generation to experience Pink Floyd. We could imagine ourselves at concerts, but could never attend them. We missed the stimulation of a new album because albums like “Dark Side of the Moon” came out 33 years ago.

“On an Island” is that stimulus.

Although Pink Floyd recently played at Live 8, it was a tease—they had no intentions of making more music together. Now, instead of looking back at the relics of past greatness, we can have an intimate understanding of the music. David Gilmour is releasing an all new album. He is going on tour. We can attend his concerts.

The first track, “Castellorizon,” foreshadows what’s to come. A psychedelic beat is combined with an acoustic guitar and bells, all behind a lonely guitar solo. An orchestra adds classical emphasis.

I love the orchestra in songs like “A Pocketful of Stones.” It contrasts with somewhat odd sounds, like those of a glass harmonica. The cello in “Take a Breath” is great to add contrast to the chanted vocals and heavy guitar lines.

Gilmour branched out a bit for “Red Sky at Night,” where he plays a saxophone, a new instrument for him.

The mix of sounds in the album is like Pink Floyd albums, but the songs don’t flow into each other the way some albums are really one song.

This album is smoother; less experimental, less psychedelic, but is a wonderful piece of art. Grade: A-

Studio Work: David Gilmour noodles around on his Gibson Les Paul guitar during free time in the studio, while recording his new solo album “On An Island.”

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / sports / page 19

issue 1 / september 6, 2005

one

MEANIN

G F UL experience

Junior ex-wrestler’s experiences on the mat teach him valuable lessons for the future an opinion of foster tidwell One could say that my one-year wrestling career was a spectacular disappointment.

Due to injuries, I only wrestled about 20 matches. Of the roughly 15 that I lost, I was pinned in all but three. I suffered a concussion, several sprained ankles and an ear infection—not a common wrestling ailment, although the fact that it sidelined me for two consecutive weekends does offer some valuable insight into the nature of my season.

Yep, looking at the stat sheet, it would be pretty easy to write off my freshman season as a failure. Only it wasn’t.

The lessons I learned in wrestling about the nature of hard work and its direct effect on personal performance are as important as anything I’ve been taught in history or science and far more important than anything I’ve brushed shoulders with in math. I have no doubt they will carry significance throughout my life.

Now don’t get me wrong; I was one of the laziest, most good-for-nothing members of the SME wrestling squad. I routinely skipped practices, I admit to having given up at critical moments in some close matches and I wasn’t exactly the greatest at not eating before weigh-ins.

One night before a big meet, I had just three more pounds I needed to lose. I was doing great until I came home and saw my parents had ordered pizza. “To hell with this!” I thought, as I happily indulged myself in several slices of stuffed crust, highly caloric goodness. I went to bed feeling great, but much to coach’s chagrin, I didn’t make weight.

No, I wasn’t exactly the model wrestler. But as the year progressed, I began to detect some changes. I definitely wasn’t winning any more often—this forlorn dream was now so long gone that to recall it was to evoke an air of nostalgia—but I was beginning to get a feel for how the

work I put into practice during the week manifested itself in my performance on the mat.

Like a drunken, blindfolded man crawling about the floor, clumsily groping for spare change, I had stumbled upon one of the great lessons of the sport; one whose implications carry far beyond the boundaries of the wrestling ring: you get out of wrestling what you put into it.

For example, on weeks that I didn’t run hard or skipped out on practice, I found myself giving up rather effortlessly in my matches. It wasn’t simply that I was out of shape, but it had to do with the mindset that giving less than my personal best put me in. Conversely, when I worked hard and sweated through the week’s practices, I found myself fighting—alas, still losing—until the bitter end.

Putting in a hard day’s work for wrestling isn’t ever easy.

Wrestling is far and away the most physically demanding high school sport. The matches require that you are in top physical shape, and practices drag you through the bowels of Hell trying to get you there. The idea is to bring you as close as possible to death without having to fill out all the paperwork. Running miles through the hallways, struggling through hundreds of pushups after practice, skipping meals—all are commonplace in the life of a wrestler.

But the truth is that no matter how hard the workout is, a determined individual can always find ways of slacking off. Believe me, I was the unchallenged master of escaping practice. What Houdini did with boxes and iron chambers I routinely did with the SME wrestling room. But you see, learning to be successful in wrestling is learning not only how to work hard when the coach is watching, but also maintaining a strong sense of self-discipline.

I obviously didn’t uphold this virtue during the season, and I paid for it weekend after weekend by struggling through the pain and humiliation of being picked up, thrown down and deftly manipulated into the shape of a pretzel in front dozens of amused onlookers.

Enlightening myself to these powerful and far-reaching truths should have lit a match under my season and driven me to win out the year and be the guy that all the coaches tell their B-teams about. But did I mention how lazy I was?

No, I was destined to forever occupy the lowest rungs of the team depth chart by means of my aversion to hard work and my insatiable desire for rich food.

And that’s pretty much how the season ended.

Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until a few months after everything was all finished that I began to think positively about the sport and to realize the effect that it had on me. It is one of the great paradoxes of my high school experience that although wrestling instilled in me a form of a work ethic, I never fully poured myself into it. I still to this day don’t know what I could have accomplished.

I wish I could tell you that I made an emotionally charged return to the sport. I wish everything had played itself out Denzel Washington picture-perfect and as I was writing this, tears were streaming down my face as I recalled the challenges I had conquered and the opponents I had bested.

But I didn’t really overcome any physical challenges, and the opponents I bested were mostly disabled.

Even though I realize that wrestling probably wasn’t the sport for me, I came away from it with a deep appreciation for the lessons which it taught and the experience that it offered. I truly don’t believe there is any other sport which offers what wrestling does in terms of the positive allaround impact it has on the individual, regardless of victory or defeat, success or failure.

art by ren li

Cheveux Salon Brooke Lafon 5825 Merriam Dr. Merriam, KS 66203

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page 20 / sports / the harbinger

minute guide Everything you need to know about the upcoming spring sports season

by peter goehausen

Five athletes to watch...

Katelin Clark (Girls Soccer) -

Clark, the two-sport varsity athlete, will be expected to lead an inexperienced defense. The first team all-league selection is the lone returning defender on the team. She will have to make up extra ground because of the loss of all-league goalkeeper Libby Dix and D-1 defender Kelsey Brooks.

Sean Finley (Baseball)- Last season, the boys baseball team had one of their best seasons in the last decade. Their success was due largely to Finley, the future Missouri Tiger.

He signed with the Tigers last November over Nebraska and Baylor. Finley, right, was recruited strongly after his strong summer where he had a batting average of .412 and knocked in 30 RBIs while boasting a 0.56 earned run average on the pitching mound.

Scott Willman (Boys Golf)- As a freshman, not much was expected of Scott Willman at the beginning of the season.

Two months later, he was top five on the team and qualified for state, where he finished in the top 20 with a 79. This season as the top returning golfer (78.5 stroke average on 18 holes) there will be high expectations.

Melissa Melling (Swimming)- Melling, a state qualifier from a year ago, will be one of the few upperclassmen who will have the tough job of winning a second straight league title.

Melling, who swam in the relays that took fourth last year, will be one of the top East swimmer’s in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle.

Will Gates (Boys Tennis)- Before Gates takes his play to DePauw next season, he hopes to improve his current resume. After qualifying for state last season and helping the team take third, Gates will have a good shot at winning with the last state champion moving onto college.

Five games you don’t want to miss...

April 7,8 - Girls Soccer @ St. Louis tournament- Head coach Jim Ricker is prepared to let his young team learn about tough competition early on in the season.

In the St. Louis tournament, they will face the best competition from around the Midwest. Though it may be a tough weekend, it should be a good learning experience.

April 20-22- Track & Field @ KU Relays- The highly competitive KU Relay not only features some of the best track and field athletes from the Midwest, it also features Olympic athletes such as Marion Jones. Last year the girls 4x800 relay but also the boys two mile relay, the boys distance relay and junior Dylan Ballard in long jump all qualified for the meet. The coaching staff loves the meet because it is a good judge of how well the team can fair at state.

May 1- Boys Golf- SME Tournament @ Meadowbrook- The Lancer golfers biggest stretch of the season starts with a home match at Meadowbrook. The 20 team tournament is the first round for the Sunflower League title. Most of the team seems to fair well at Meadowbrook, on the first day of tryouts five golfers broke 40 on nine holes.

May 2- Boys Baseball vs. SM West- Last season’s run at state ended in embarrassment for the Lancers when they suffered a 10-2 loss to West in the consolation game.

This year, they hope to be playing in the championship game, and it will all start if they can beat West and end their season of a strong winning streak.

May 5- Girls Softball @ Olathe East- If the Lady Lancers are hoping to make any kind of run at the regional or state tournament, a win over the defending 6A champions would be monumental. With only four returning players, the inexperienced team hopes to have matured by the beginning of May. Coach Horn will have to rely on junior Sara Steinwart to show the young pitchers the way as the only returning pitchers. Senior DeAnna Young will also have a tough job behind the plate with a new pitching staff. Last season Olathe East went 25-0 before winning the title. photos by katie james and mallory toombs

Five stories that will headline this spring...

Can they go back to state?- After making their first appearance in nine years at the 6A State tournament last May in Lawrence, the senior-led Lancer team should be hungry to get back there, only with better results. Last year they started off with a first round win before falling twice and coming home with fourth place. They lost the consolation game to SM West. This year the Lancers will look to do better behind their experienced pitching staff. Finley and seniors Eric Anderson, a potential D-1 pitcher and Jordan Bartlett will be expected to be their lead their rotation. They will also be counted on to lead the offense along with seniors Brian Tagg and Logan Wysol and junior Reid Robson.

Inexperienced swim team- Since swimming coach Rob Cole has been at East, he has yet to see a large group of junior and senior swimmers. Though he doesn’t know why, he hasn’t minded it in the years past, especially after their Sunflower League title last season.

This season may be different from last season, however. Only eight returning letter winners are returning to lead the team of 65 swimmers. Those eight will be counted on to take the team back to state, where they placed fourth last season.

Will Beaham be the coach of the future?- For the third consecutive year, the track and field team has had to adapt to having a new coach. After English teacher Bill Bolley retired, Brie Meschke moved to Wichita, leaving the job for Beaham. Though not a teacher, Beaham will be expected to be the coach for the long run. She inherited a very experienced team, especially in the field. Junior Dylan Ballard took fifth in long jump last season and senior Don Atkinson took seventh in shot put last year.

Can they find a new keeper? - Last season, Ricker was blessed with one of the top keepers in the city, Libby Dix. Now Rickers biggest task this spring will be finding a quality replacement for the all-league goalie, now playing at KU. Junior Tess Hedrick is expected to be the fill the big shoes left by Dix. Hedrick, the two year JV goalie, though might face some

Back-to-back Senior Monica Garciapaz works on her backstroke. tough competition to get the spot from several under class men. Ricker feels that if they can get the goalie position worked out they will be competing with some of the top teams in the league.

Two men down- Last season, the golf team was the home of a fierce rivalry between seniors Sam Dodge and Charles German, both of whom made it to state. This year Dodge is in Iraq and German is in college, leaving the golf team without their top two from a season ago. Though the two top- ten placers at state are gone, senior Charlie Greene and Willman, above, are ready to start a new rivalry. Ritschl expects strong senior and sophomore classes and said if the juniors and freshman pull through they can contend for the league and state title.

issue 12 / March 6, 2006 / sports / page 21

yFebruaryMarch April May JuneJuly Au The NCAA tournament is back, so let the bracketing begin

Madness

an opinion of clark goble I’ve been filling out NCAA tournament brackets for almost half my life. I picked it up because it seemed easy enough to do, right? Pick the winners of each game. Pick the champion. As I entered my bracket at the age of ten in my dad’s office pool for the first time, I felt I had as good a shot to win the title, and the $300 that came with it, as anyone else.

And how right I was. Going into the championship, I was tied for first out of a good 40 furious bankers. I had the powerhouse Duke, the overwhelming favorite to win the game, as my champion. Ruthie Fields, a secretary who my dad didn’t even know worked with him, picked UConn because she had a 7-year-old dog at home that was a Huskie, or the UConn mascot.

Sure enough, just as Duke’s Trajan Langdon’s foot slipped as he attempted the game-winning three, the $300 slipped away from me. Adding insult to injury, my compassionate older brother shouted “Oh Ruthie!” as I slammed my bedroom door and threw pillows and lamps around for an hour.

I’ve been addicted ever since.

I fill out at least 10 brackets a year, but only one or two get to go to the office pool, or what I like to call “The Show.” Unfortunately, I’ve never been the star of that show. I’ve finished second, third, 38th, pretty much everywhere but first.

But I’ve decided this is the year. Time to get my act together and bust out a winner. I’ve done this for too long to not have a title under my belt and bragging rights around my house. After all my numerous courses in Brackeotology, I think I have found the surefire, no-way-I-can-lose strategy. If you want to win your pool, here’s what to think about when you fill out your bracket.

• Don’t listen to Dickie V. Period. No matter how much his “This is awesome baby!” or “Super-duper-diaper-dandy!” rants annoy you to the point of no return. The man is just flat out wrong when it comes to filling out brackets. One year, I filled out most of an entire bracket doing the opposite of what he said, and did quite well. That was awesome, baby!

• Pick a 12 seed to upset a five seed. Happens every year. I usually pick two or three 12 seeds to make it to the second round, just to cover myself. But never throw a 12-seed-or-lower past the second round, because then you’re just playing with fire.

• Always pick a one seed to make it to the Final Four. The last year a one seed didn’t make the Final Four was 1980. Pick your favorite one seed early on (mine’s Villanova), fill them into the Final Four, and build your bracket from there.

• Teams with tournament experience are already a step ahead. JJ Redick and Shelden Williams have done the tournament tango three times before, and they know what it takes to win. AZ, even with their struggles this year, was in the Elite Eight last year and should have been in the Final Four. If they can sneak into the field, watch out for an early-round upset.

• Finally, look in uncommon places for visions for filling out the bracket. My mom predicted UWMilwaukee’s run to the Sweet 16 (she’s from Wisconsin). If you don’t have a clue, pick the team with the coolest player names. Pops MensahBonsu from George Washington anyone?

Since this is the year that anything can happen (isn’t every Selection Sunday: March 12 year?), fill out a bracket and hope for the best. It’s a better option than a lottery ticket at the least. Get your mom First Round Begins: March 16 and dad to fill out a bracket, have them throw $5 into Final Four Begins: April 1 pool and using these tips of course, win it all back.

National Championship: April 3 Unless, of course, your mom is Ruthie Fields, that crazy Huskie-loving secretary that haunts my nightmares. If so, be prepared to run and hide and throw lamps. And get addicted to filling out brackets.

Tournament Dates

art by paige smith

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• Round one and two: $130-$250 • Sweet 16 and elite 8: $200-$610 • Two final four games and championship game: $550-$5750 • Championship game only: $350$2000

page 22 / sports / the harbinger

Flying through State Dominating butterfly: Junior George Hart swam butterfly in a regular season meet. Though Hart didn’t swim the butterfly at the state meet, he did swim the 50 meter breaststroke. Hart was one of the many swimmers to help the Lancers bring home their second straight state title. photo by katie james

After winning their second straight state title, the departing and returning swimmers hope to emulate this season’s success by ronan mcghie After Brandon Barnds’ freshman year, the boy’s swim team finished sixth in state.

Barnds knew with work, the Lancers could be number one. He began swimming every morning at five during the summer, and convinced his teammate and friend John Cook to join him. The pair also convinced, then middle-schooler now swimming standout and state record holder, Luke Tanner to join them.

It is this relentless and competitive spirit that makes the boys’ swim team so successful.

In the last two years, the team has won state twice and is undefeated.

They are led by last year’s Boys’ Swimming Coach of the Year, Wiley Wright. He is a teacher at Kansas City Kansas Community College and has coached college and Olympic teams but said that this team is probably the best he has ever been apart of. He has a laid back style, which leaves room for the seniors to take leadership positions and take control of the team.

Led by Barnds, the seniors took charge of this year’s team, motivating and pushing their younger teammates, as well as leading by example with their work ethic.

“They always intimidate us if we didn’t swim well. They got in our face and scared us to swim hard,” said junior George Hart, who qualified for state this year for the first time.

The team is composed of boys who don’t see each other as teammates but as friends.

They hang out together on the weekends and keep each other out of trouble during the

season.

Many of them met each other through their swimming and have grown close after swimming together almost every day on both high school and club teams. Cook and Barnds have been training together for four years, and have swam every lap next to each other.

During the season however, they are very hard on each other, pushing one another to make each other and the team better.

“We’re all really competitive at meets, but also at practice. We don’t say it but everyone wants to beat the person next to them,” Barnds said.

With a big part of the team graduating this year, juniors Tanner, Hart and Johnny McGuire will have to step up and take the leadership positions of departing seniors Mike Chalfant, Jack Chalfant, Kevin Reene, Barnds and Cook if they want to keep their legacy alive.

“We’ll have to do a lot of work this off-season and have younger kids step up,” Hart said. “We won’t be satisfied with the past. We need to prove that our senior class can lead a state team as well.”

Barnds plans on swimming at Washington and Lee next year and Cook at Depauw University.

Highlighting the champions- (Left) Head swimming coach Wiley Wright talks with one of his swimmers. Wright, who coached the team to the second title in two years, was named as the Coach of the Year. (Above) Seniors Brandon Barnds and John Cook congratulate each other after their 200 freestyle relay. They set a new state record with a time of 1:25. (Right) Junior Andrew Block attempts a back dive at practice. Block took sixth at state and earned All-American consideration. photos by emily rappold and megan koch

issue 12 / march 6, 2006 / sports / page 23

OFF O FFFF TTH THE HE B BOARD OA D OA

Senior Michael Horvath’s diving success was limited due to a neck injury

by laura nelson It was the week before his last Sunflower League swim and dive meet that senior Michael Horvath noticed the stiffness in his neck. As the week went on, his neck began to swell and the stiffness only worsened. The left side of his neck grew from the size of a pea to a golf ball in just over a week. He thought the swelling would go down.

By League, on Feb. 4, the lump was as big as a baseball. He dove anyway.

Nine days before he was due to compete at State, it became clear why he had not been able to turn his head for four days and had suffered from a 103 degree fever. He had an infected, swollen lymph node that had not drained properly after having the flu a few weeks ago and he needed surgery immediately.

The next morning, nurses wheeled him into the operating room to have the node lanced and drained. The surgery didn’t go as expected. A 45 minute operation had permanently changed his last high school diving season. His lymph node bent the doctors’ needles as they tried to puncture the skin, so they eventually cut a hole in his neck two inches deep to drain a sac of fluids the size of a golf ball. He could not dive with the cut until it healed. Horvath, who had Dive talking: Senior Michael Horvath discusses strategy with coach Shelly King. The been hoping to place in the top three at State, wouldn’t be competing at all. dive team won state by over 100 points. photo by kelsey brown “When I went in to the surgery, there was still a chance that I could dive at State,” Horvath said. “But after I came out of the anesthesia, what I was “He really became our cheerleader and coach,” sophomore Chris Hause said. expecting to happen, had happened.”

On Feb. 17, Horvath rode with his teammates on the bus to K-State, where he would be Two hours after he went under the anesthetic, Horvath woke up babbling. The first thing watching his teammates compete, but staying dry himself. he mentioned was diving; the second, the SAT. Then he found out that the doctors had made “It was great being with the guys there,” Horvath said. “I was still part of the East team that an incision to drain won State twice in a row. It was my experience. But I would have enjoyed State worlds the fluids. The news more if I had been out there myself.” was almost as hard Horvath watched as junior Andrew Block, who finished sixth, and sophomore for others as it was Hause, who finished 15th, dove in what had been his biggest goal of the season. for him.

“Not diving was really difficult.” Horvath paused. “It’s really hard when the most you Another year, another championship. For two can do to participate in such a big thing is to tell someone that they need to point their “It just broke my heart when I found straight years the boys diving team has reached toes.” out he couldn’t dive,” King had a different way of coping with the difficulties of Horvath’s surgery. diving coach Shelly the top and haven’t looked back. But losing se“He came to state and sat with me [in the stands],” King said. “We were so depressed, King said. “He had only we sat and ate chocolate the whole time. We both love dark chocolate and we just sat in the been diving two years nior Michael Horvath next year could end the bleachers and inhaled the stuff.” and I have never found Without Horvath to lead the divers, the attitude of the team also suffered. Horvath had era and now is as good as any to look back a diver with such natural been a leader the team had admired and imitated, but he was no longer diving. on a sensational season. ability and work ethic.”

“The whole dynamic changed,” King said. “After he couldn’t dive, the team had to reKing first encountered establish a pecking order because Michael wasn’t there to lead them anymore. They didn’t Coach Shelly King takes a step Horvath when she required have any experience [leading].” her divers to write why they back and shares her view on the most Horvath is working on loosening up his muscles for next year with a private diving coach. wanted to be on the team the He plans to swim on the KU club boys’ diving team next year. memorable moments of ‘05 and ‘06. first year she coached (the The cut on his neck is almost gone already.

04-05 school year). His note said that diving was beautiful, and he loved to watch athletes go as high as they could go into the air. And he wanted to learn to do it, too. She said when she read it she knew that “this kid was going to be something.”

“The first time he jumped,” King said, “It was just ‘Wow.’ I could already tell what strength he had.”

Those strengths, according to King, include the ability to know where he is in the according to coach shelly king air while diving. He uses this ability to prevent injuries – if he knows he won’t complete #5- “Michael’s two and a half from the corner of the board that enough rotations to make a dive, he can maneuver out of it to avoid smacking the water.

He doesn’t get disoriented during dives and King says that he “has no fear at all.” scored seven and a half for the dive which is really good” But he wouldn’t be able to put those skills to use at State. #4- “Chris Hause’s two and a half in league which was the best ever When Horvath returned to school, he had sore muscles, gauze on his neck and only a few days before the state competition in Manhattan. There was no way he would be done” ready. He only had to stay out of the water until the incision closed, but his muscles were #3- “Andrew Block stepped up to the plate and took sixth in state” sore and out of shape. Almost four weeks later, his muscles are still stiff.

Despite not being able to dive, Horvath attended practice daily. There, he helped King by giving advice to his fellow team members, including his replacement, sophomore #2- “Charlie Simpson tried every dive that varsity did even though he Jonathan Firth. At a normal practice, the boys’ dive team starts with stretches and moves doesn’t have as much skill but worked every day” on through simple warm-ups like pike, inward and reverse dives to the more complicated #1“It was all fun times during the season. The way the boys made competition dives. Horvath helped coach the team through them all.

According to King, Horvath was always positive, giving advice on dives to his team me laugh helped me through my rough days” members.

Taking it all in: the diving team’s championship season...

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page 24 / photo essay / the harbinger Speaking: Kansas State Representative Ed O’Malley was the key note speaker at the ceremony. O’Malley spoke about what it takes to be a leader and what a leader means, saying that to be a leader was not to follow the masses. O’Malley was introduced by Senior Officer Annie Frizzell. There are four officers, Sid Kumar, Andrew McGowan, Jane Clarke, and Annie Frizzell. Each officer spoke about one of the four pillars of NHS, character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Unfortunately Jane Clarke was sick and could attend. The NHS sponsor Michael Pulsinelli also spoke about the honor of membership. Dr. Cocolis gave the closing comments telling the students how proud he is of them. photo by samantha ludington Shaking On It: Junior Alex Kelley shakes Dr. Cocolis’ hand.

Each of the honorees’ names were called and they walked across the stage to shake Dr. Cocolis’ hand before lighting their candle and reciting the NHS oathe. photo by samantha ludington

Honorable Mention 121 Students are Inducted into the National Honor Society on Tuesday

Lighting up the Night: The 121 juniors and seniors all lit a candle after each of their names was individually called and they walked across the stage to shake Dr. Cocolis’ hand. photo by samantha ludington Refreshing Reception: Senior Reita Drinkwine asked for refreshments during the reception in the cafeteria following the ceremony. photo by samantha ludington

Say Cheese: Juniors Samantha Ellerbeck, Manali Gadgil, Alisha Ernst and Bailley Armstrong pose for a photo for one of their mothers during the reception. photo by samantha ludington To Character: Senior officer Annie Frizzell lights the candle representative of character. After speaking each of the officers lit the candle that corresponded with the attribute they spoke about. photo by samantha ludington