Issue 12

TURN:TO

A look at the sights and sounds of KC for those staying close to home

11

photo by katie woods

Global Warning Over the next four issues, The Harbinger takes a look at global warming.

SEE PAGE 14

Filling the seats

A Frequent Friday from start to finish

SEE PAGE 12

H C R A M S S E N D MA SEE PAGES 16-17

days to

SPRING BREAK

NEWS

page 2 [news]

B R I E F S

Wiping

by [joey soptic]

As East reaches the homestretch of this school year, elections are here for the StuCo Executive Board and officers for each class. Being the second year with a new administration, the student body will look to these leaders to guide them in the pivotal year to come.

StuCo in the past “The board this year was really good about dealing with a new administration. Things seemed to have went really well this year.”

-Junior Gage Brummer

...and the future

...right now “We’re hoping to get a Bunch O’ Bands going, and the Five Minute Film Festival. We are also planning am international awareness day to donate to charities supporting Haiti or Darfur”

-Senior Tyler Enders

Remember...

Assemblies for Student Council class officers candidates will be Friday. Elections will be March 14.

“My hope is that those running are enthusiastic and don’t get elected and drop the ball.

After being on staff, you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I’m hoping they can learn from us and make good use of the position.”

-Senior Anna Zeiger :

students run Running Unopposed Some for office without “It’s one big relief, since I don’t have to campaign. It’s nice knowing my spot on the exec board is secured. It’s just one less thing to worry about”

-Junior David Isenberg, the only candidate for executive vice president

From can drives to tailgates Vice president Anna Zeiger talks about her two years on exec board “I liked being on exec board and being able to get stuff done. I also liked setting up for dances when the radio plays really loud and we’re decorating for something we’ve worked so hard for. I’ll miss being able to get ideas done, and everyone on StuCo was so much fun. I’ll miss the people.”

-senior Anna Zeiger

opposition

Responsibilities of the officers President: Call and preside over meetings, develop an agenda for each meeting.

Vice President: Preside over class meetings in absence of president, work with president.

Secretary: Take minutes and attendance at each meeting.

Treasurer: Keep track of all class finances, deposit money into class account. the [harbinger]

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” (abridged) will be presented by the Advanced Repertory theater class on March 13 at 6 p.m. and March 14 at 3 p.m. in the Little Theater.

Art for Africa Postponed Due to lack of participation, Art for Africa has been postponed to April 14 from 1-4 p.m.

Choir Concert The state preview concert will be on March 8 at 7 p.m. The Masters concert will be on March 15 at 7 p.m.

National Merit Finalists The following students are finalists for the 2007 National Merit Scholarship program: Ben Belz, Patti Blair, Neill Campbell, Taylor Cantril, Samantha Ellerbeck, Tom Grotewohl, Allison Melia, Patrick Montgomery, Aishlinn O’Connor and Foster Tidwell.

East Worldquest The East academic Worldquest team competed in the KC area academic competition against over 20 teams around the area. They were quizzed on African geography and people in the news. They placed first and will move on to the national competition in Washington D.C. on March 24. The team consists of seniors Derek Martin, Nathan Yaffe, and juniors Thomas Braslavsky and Andrew Lee.

A.P. Exams

The deadline to sign up for the A.P. exams is March 14. Students should register for the exams in the counseling office, filling out the correct forms and paying the fee. The fee to take the exam is $83.

Orchestra Collage Concert East Orchestras will present the annual Collage Concert on March 13 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. The primary fundraiser for the orchestra department, the compositions will include classical, pop and rock. Tickets cost $6 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.

What’s

photos by Francis Lafferty

After two years with two of the same members, student council exec board is starting fresh

photos by Samantha Ludington and Kelsey Brown

the slate Clean

Advanced Repertory Plays

new

with...

John Henry Horton case District Attorney Phill Kline has asked the Kansas Supreme Court to reconsider the reversal of the conviction of John Henry Horton, who was convicted in the death of Lizabeth Wilson in 1974, who disappeared while walking across the East parking lot. If the court does not reconsider, Kline will have to decide whether his office will refile charges.

Dressing

page 3 [community]

photo by karen boomer

UP FORAli

Ali Kemp Foundation to hold fashion show and self-defense classes March 10, 11 to honor and remember murdered teen by [ronan mcghie] Ali’s Runway is a program dedicated to the memory of Ali Kemp, a 19-year-old graduate of Blue Valley High School who was murdered in 2002. Originally founded by a BVN student, the local event has evolved into a national program.

Trained high schoolers—including several East students— begin the program modeling in a Natalie M’s sponsored runway show. The show is followed by a T.AK.E. Defense Training program. Tickets can be bought online at TakeDefense. org. Myra Nearenberg is a volunteer organizer for the program.

What is the fashion show?

The show features 58 local high schools…all areas are involved. All girls make a commitment to a training program of practical self-defense training for women 12 and up. There are a range of women…from 12 up to 82. We’ve trained 8,000 in the last 4 and a half years and hope to train 6,000 this time.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Our main goal is to empower these women that are modeling and let them understand it’s important for all women to be trained. “That woman” could be any of us…this program will give us a fighting chance.

Why a fashion show?

The concept started three years ago. A girl at Blue Valley High had a fashion show and the beneficiary was Ali Kemp [Foundation]. This is a final outcome. It has evolved this way; we never thought we could bring it to this scope.

We envision it will be like CPR training—you’ll need to get

Junior Laura Nelson, who is modeling in the show, looks at the variety of dresses. photo by karen boomer recertified every few years.

Who came up with the concept of mixing self-defense and fashion? Why? Who: Ali Kemp Foundation and T.A.K.E. The whole concept came about after the first fashWhat: A fashion show and self defense class ion show. It’s just an evolution that occurred with natural When:March 10,11. East girls will be in it on the March 10 at 3 growth and progression. It’s hard for us as women to look p.m. at the statistics in terms of women that are victimized and Where: Overland Park Convention Center make ourselves go to training like this but when we make Why:To teach people of all ages to defend them selves the event more upbeat it’s an easier concept, especially to go as a group. It puts a spin on it. It’s not sugar coating, it’s just softening the issue.

Who funds the fashion show?

It’s a way for women to come together and [meet] the neThe fashion show is put on by professionals but it is volcessity that unfortunately that we face. [Self-defense] just the unteer run. Kids, the models, are the core of the project, then hook. we get community support.

Who started Ali’s Runway?

How many people do you expect to attend?

It’s just basically a meshing between what the purpose of There will be three shows, and we anticipate 3,000 at the foundation with the show and the concept that, by haveach.

Saturday is when women from Shawnee Mission ing the girls model and have their friends come to the show Schools will be modeling. There is a $5 donation that will go that we could also train the girls in the audience. to the foundation.

How are you involved with the show?

Why do you think the fashion shows have been successWe do the dresses, we work with [Alfred] Angelo, we fit ful? the dresses and we register the women to attend. I make sure It helps raise awareness and it also touches every female they model with pride and confidence and we are always regardless of age, race, and income. So many times in high seeking schools in KC to get involved. school girls are in a competition. The show has other girls What kind of clothes will be worn?

They will be wearing prom fashion from Alfred Angelo. meeting each other from all over the city. They’re all coming They are prom-quality dresses; show pieces fitted to the girls together in a positive way.

Fashion Basics:

for the shows.

STUCO Class Officer

Elections

Hours: Tues-Fri 8 am to 5 pm Sat 8 am to 3 pm

Wednesday

14

Priority problems:

page 4 [editorial]

A singer shaved her head. A model passed away. Another 42 soldiers died in Iraq. All these took place since Feb. 8, but you probably only heard about two of the three.

Take the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

Her passing does not make Feb. 8, 2007 a day that will live in infamy, nor should it. Of course, if you watched any of the 24 hour news channels, you could easily be confused about the importance of her life.

In-depth coverage of this “milestone” by the likes of Fox, CNN, and MSNBC rivals that of the war, and is certainly watched with much more interest.

In our obsession with network news drama, we’re missing out on the things that really matter: genocides in Africa, hunger plaguing the world and economic development in Asia.

The media and our own obsession with real-life soap operas like the Smith trial have turned our culture into one that is driven by distorted idols.

Celebrity deaths, pop stars that shave their heads and baseball players who inject themselves with steroids are just a couple of examples of an unavoidable truth: the media focuses on things that are not important. While The New York Times has been releasing reports that Al Qaeda may be gearing up for a second major terrorist attack, we’re much more concerned about Entertainment Weekly’s new feature, the Glam-O-Meter, that did a John Madden-style play-by-

play breakdown of celebrity fashions on the red carpet. There’s no excuse for this receiving more attention than the myriad national and global problems facing us today.

Get out a piece of paper and draw three columns on it. In one, list the names of Oscar recipients. The other two are for significant pieces of legislation passed

by Congress last year and the names of soldiers who have died in Iraq since the war began. For most of you, two of those columns will be blank.

The fundamental problem is that people use sports and the entertainment industry as a way to escape from their own problems. This denial, however, is what perpetuates the problems that affect us later. For the first time in history, more people believe that their children will be worse off than they were growing up. If for no other reason, this is because we don’t care about what is happening today, and as a result, we’ll never be able to solve the problems of tomorrow.

The last year has seen movie and TV stars go off on racist rants. Network newsdrama addicts tell you the intricacies of those rants, who made them, where it took place, and what they said. Ask that same person to name one large-scale war going on today other than Iraq, and they’ll look at you dumbfounded.

They’ll remain dumbfounded, of course, until there’s a Hollywood movie about it.

AGREE DISAGREE ABSENT

D 9

0 D

3

American public focuses on the wrong issues

Topics on Cable and Network News Government

17%

Lifestyle

9%

Elections

14%

Military

7%

Celebrity

14%

Crime

3%

Other

12%

Accidents/Disasters

2%

Domestic Affairs

11%

Business

1%

Foreign Affairs

9%

Science/Technology

1%

Source: Stateofthenewsmedia.org

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

the

HARBINGER staff

Please bring Letters to the Editor to room 521 or e-mail smeharbinger@gmail.com

The Harbinger is a student-run publication.

Editor-in-Chief

AMANDA ALLISON

Assistant Editor

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Head Copy Editor Art/Design Editor Photo Editor

Each issue the 12 members of the board choose a topic and a member writes the editorial.

Before being published a consensus is made and the results are published here.

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Assistant Photo Editor News Section Editor News Page Editor Op/Ed Section Editor Opinion Page Editor

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Circulation

DAVIN PHILLIPS

Adviser

DOW TATE

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Misconceptions of the IB program leave one student ready for change allowed to take a single IB course.

My English class, with Mr. Fast, has read “As I Lay Dying” by an American author and “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” by a Colombian author. Reading a book from the South was culturally interesting; reading a book from Colombia was a cultural shock. Now we’re reading “Dom Casmurro” by a Brazilian author. It’s a pity that these international books aren’t offered to everyone, because seriously, who’s going to pick up “The House of the Spirits” by a Chilean author for some light reading?

I’m not saying that IB isn’t hard – it is the equivalent in difficulty to AP classes. We do have to take rigorous tests at the end of the year and are held to high standards by our teachers.

But not every student should have to fill their schedule with Calculus BC IB and History of the Americas IB and English 11 IB and Spanish 6 IB. If someone has a passion for English and wants to take the class, they should.

I spoke with a student at East who had tried to take English 11 IB in place of English 11 AP last year because he had already read the AP books. He was intrigued by the discussion-based idea and the world perspective of the class. He cleared it with his parents, the head counselor and even a vice-principal. But at the district level, they didn’t approve and the student was not allowed to be in the class.

As much as I like the IB program, there are too many flaws in this system. In this system, a student who is passionate about English can’t take the IB class. In this system, many students are uninformed about the program and only know the stereotypes to which they are exposed.

That’s why we need to demolish this system and its stereotypes – because that is not what it is intended to be.

Maybe someday the program will change and the certificate will be offered. Then everyone can take the classes they want and put an end to the stereotypes.

Lancer Voice

“

“

WILL ANDERSON, 12

KELLY WOMACK, 11

“

“

00 Theory of Knowledge IB 01 CalculusBC IB 02 History of the Americas IB 03 Spanish 6 IB 04 English 11 IB 05 Psychology IB 06 Physics 2 IB 07 Environmental Systems IB

What is the Diploma Program?

The diploma program is a challenging two-year program of international education for students aged 16 to 19 There are three core requirements: • extended essay (limit of 4,000 words on a topic of individual interest) • Theory of Knowledge • Creativity, action, service (CAS) - students are expected to be involved in CAS activities for the equivalent of at least three hours each week during the two years of the program source: www.ibo.org

What’s your opinion about IB?

“

“

It’s for people who care about school and want to do homework.

I think of people who care a little too much about school and are overachievers.

I think it’s overly difficult and the people seem miserable.

Sample IB Schedule:

en li art by r

I’m in IB. Oh my gosh, I must be so smart because of that, right? I must Libby Nachman be some genius who’s ranked first in the school because of that, right? Not really. That’s a stereotype of IB, and I’m sick of it.

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is a nonprofit educational foundation focused on encouraging students to be active learners, well-rounded individuals and engaged world citizens, according to its web site. Notice how there is nothing about attracting students with GPAs of 5.0 or SAT scores of 1600.

It’s not the program that results in this stereotype – it’s the way the program is approached at East. Our school offers only the Diploma Program, which requires that students test in six subjects, write an extended essay, take the Theory of Knowledge course and complete 150 hours of Creativity, Action and Service.

The sheer amount of work that is implied in all of these requirements scares off prospective students who may have a passion for a single class, leaving it for only students who feel up to completing all of these conditions. But what many don’t know is that IBO also offers a certificate – recognition for students who take some IB courses, even if they don’t complete the extracurricular requirements for the diploma.

However, East has made these classes selective: if you don’t sign up for the entire diploma program, you can’t take an IB course, effectively ruling out the certificate option. And I think that this isn’t fair.

So many students who are passionate about a subject could take away a more culturally aware perspective if they were

DEREK ENGELHARDT, 10

March 5, 2007

“

an opinion of

It’s for committed students that all they think about is school.

SCOTT KENNEDY, 9

“

geni u

intense

page 5 [opinion]

page 6 [opinion]

An Energy Overflow

boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus active boost buzz jolt caffeine energy hyper focus ac-

Red Bull’s effects lead to excessive amounts of energy.

I have a serious problem. I drink Diet Coke with breakfast.

I never used to Erin Morrisey ds or id na k.

Freshman year, I wouldn’t go near the pop machines.

But slowly, ever so gradually, it made it’s way into my beverage repertoire. And now, embarrassingly, it’s all I ever drink. And lately, my 5-a-day Diet Coke habit just hasn’t been cutting it. I’ve moved on to Red Bull.

That’s where the real problem is. At first, it seemed like a miracle—I could guzzle this bitter beverage in the sleek little can, and I’d be on top of the world.

Paper to write? No big deal. Room to clean? Forget

an opinion of

Ingredients:

Carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, sodium, citrate, taurine, glucoronolactone, inositol, niacin, Dpantothenol, pyridoxine HCL, vitamin B12, natural and artificial flavors, colors

Nutritional Facts: serving size per 1 can: Calories- 110 Total fat 0 grams Sodium 200 mg.

Total Carbs 28 g.

Sugars 27 g.

Protein- less than 1 g.

information provided by: www.bevnet.com

about it. If I had Red Bull, I could do it.

Seemingly, the rest of America is thinking like me. Walk down the drink aisle at the grocery store and you’d think no one in this country sleeps anymore. Dozens of different brands abound, all of them claiming to boost your energy, make you skinny, improve your mood, and balance your checking account.

It’s not just Red Bull anymore. For those who can’t get their fix from a normal dose of caffeine, there’s the infamous Cocaine energy drink, which has something like 18 billion times the caffeine in a cup of coffee. Nothing like a drug imitation to make you go that extra mile. Then there’s Tab for women, which is for women because it comes in a pink can, of course. The energy drink business is becoming a multimillion dollar industry of alertness. They are selling magic— they are allowing people to replace a good night’s sleep with $2 and a tiny can.

But this recent slew of do-it-all drinks has got me wondering—how healthy can this be? There was a time when

Other brands of energy drinks:

people thought cigarettes weren’t bad for the lungs. I just don’t see how putting all of these chemicals in our bodies can have absolutely no negative side affects. I’m afraid that, thirty years down the road, we’ll find out that not only does Red Bull give you wings—it gives you cancer, too.

It’s not normal to stay up until four in the morning, writing the next Great American Novel and dusting the furniture at the same time. It’s ridiculous to rely on a beverage to trim your waistline, instead of a balanced diet and a little bit of exercise. Are we getting so lazy that we can’t handle life without supplements?

Maybe we’re expecting too much of ourselves. Maybe we are trying to pack so much in to a day that we start needing to rely on outside sources of energy. I’m sure that’s the case for some people, but for others, Red Bull is just that extra jolt they need before they go out on Friday night, or it’s their safety net on a road trip so they don’t fall asleep at the wheel. These drinks aren’t all evil—they’ve just gotten out of control.

Red Bull Facts:

•originated in Thailand -AMP’D •the caffene in Red Bull is -Full Throttle twice as much as coke -Omega Energy •Red Bull as a soft drink is not -Shock Wave allowed in Denmark, Norway, -Sobe Adrenaline France, Uruguay and Iceland Rush •main energy ingredient in -WhoopAss Red Bull is Taurine

information provided by: www.energydrinks.bfxmedia.com

the [harbinger]

www.wikipedia.com

page 8 [features]

A DIFFERENT

LOOK Counselor Don Baker’s cattle ranch offers him a new view on life by [stephen nichols]

D

on Baker is a counselor by day, a cattle rancher by night.

Two occupations that are radically different, yet Baker finds time to enjoy both.

It takes work to keep the balance of the two because at school he helps hundreds of students while at home on the ranch; he has 26 cows to look after. But Baker thinks they compliment each other perfectly and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just north of Weston, past Platte County lies Baker’s 100-acre ranch where he lives with his wife. Baker can count all of his neighbors on his street on two hands. The ranch itself is the second to last house on the electric line and Baker, who used to live in a sub-division of Smithville, Missouri, enjoys the secluded feel of it.

“It’s a nice getaway,” Baker said. “If I still lived in the city, I would be going somewhere out of the city all the time, but where I live is like my getaway.”

With all that land, Baker is able to tend to the cows that he raises for sale. For him, it’s still a hobby.

“I have a cow-calf operation,” Baker said. “You breed the cows and raise the calves. Six to nine months later, you wean [the calves] and sell them.”

Baker isn’t overly concerned with the extra money he makes from selling his cattle. In fact, the reason he purchased his first cows wasn’t for profit “They are picturesque. I bought them originally to look at them,” Baker said.

His cow-calf operation includes 26 cows now, but that number varies between 20 and 30 cows at any given time.

Because it takes about two and half acres per cow for food availability, Baker must keep the number of cattle he has limited. Yes, some of the cows Baker sells do end up in the slaughter houses, but Baker isn’t fazed, he usually has a “steer a year” slaughtered for his own meals.

Because of his counseling career at East, living in his

getaway took Baker some time to adjust. For example, letters of recommendation. That might get replaced with hundreds of cars pass by Baker’s office window each day, helping a student with their college application if the need but it’s different out in the country. arises. Put that in a farm setting and it works the same “When I first moved out there it used to drive me crazy way. Baker might have been planning to fix a section of that when people drove by, my in-laws would see the car fence, but if a cow catches pneumonia, then that becomes drive by and ask ‘Who was that?’ and I thought they were first priority. crazy,” Baker said.

Most importantly though, Baker finds that both jobs He soon came to realize that a car driving by the ranch are a challenge in their own right. Both jobs aren’t ones is a rare occurrence and he finds himself asking the same that are ever truly completed. There’s always a list of question when he sees an unfamiliar car driving down things to do in both that will never be completely checked the road. off.

But why didn’t Baker just retire once he moved out to Maybe that’s why Baker keeps waking up day after the country? It wasn’t because of money; he could retire day at 4:15 a.m. so that he can get to school by 6:00 tomorrow if he felt like it. Rather, there’s something that a.m. Maybe that’s why he changes into jeans, boots and East offers that the ranch can’t. a sweatshirt and works on the ranch when he returns “I really like the kids,” Baker said. “You’re only going home. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t come in until 9 p.m., to do something if you really, really like it. It’s a great then showers, sleeps and starts the cycle over for another place to work, but ultimately, it’s the kids.” day.

To keep the balance.

With the cattle and the counseling, Baker feels like he’s found a balance in his life. Here at East, over two thousand students, a large faculty and other counselors surround him. Out on the ranch, it’s just him, his wife, and the cattle. “[At East], it’s people, people, people, so it’s a very interactive thing that I do. But at home, it’s the other end of the spectrum. To me it’s just a complete opposite,” •Gas Money: Baker said.

•Hours of driving: Even though they might be complete opposites, Baker •Hours at school: 47.5 finds enjoyment in both and can also spot the similarities between them.

•Hours spent doing “farm” duties: “You have plans [in both], but whatever is most pressing, you go to do that,” Baker said. “It’s not boring •Common problem:fencing down because it’s always different. You never know what you’re during storm going to get.”

•Money spent on animal care: Baker means that maybe his schedule for the day involves writing

Awithweek

Don Baker 10

$34.50

21

$200

Above Baker’s only steer, Louie, grazes in one of the 100 acre ranch’s pastures.

Right Princess, one of the 27 longhorns, eats grain from Baker’s feed bucket. all photos by katie woods

the [harbinger]

Stop Slouching!

Using these tips may make breaking the unhealthy habit easier.

When you sit down at your desk, try to remind yourself to sit up straight.

High heels unevenly distribute the weight of the body. While most girls won’t be inclined to give up their heals completely, wearing them less can help lessen the impact they have on the body.

Using a backpack instead of a messenger or shoulder bag can help distribute the weight more evenly.

also try: Press your back up against flat surfaces as a reminder of how a straight back should feel.

Bad posture at a young age can have harmful consequences at a later age.

compiled by [davin phillips]

ask yourself

www.spin/health.com

Over half the population suffers from bad posture. Here are a few questions to ask yourself in order to diagnose if you have a posture problem: - Is your mouse too far away when you’re working on a computer?

- Is the monitor significantly below or above eye level?

- Do you find yourself craning your neck to hold the phone?

- Do you cross your legs in any fashion when you sit?

- Do you round your shoulders when sitting or standing?

- Do you arch yourback when sitting, walking or standing?

why it’s harmful - When the body is slumped over, the upper torso can compress lungs and internal organs.

- Breathing is limited. By the age of 70-80, lungs can no longer function properly.

- Internal organs are affected in a similar manner. Slouching weakens the abdominal muscles and gives less support. Compressing the organs restricts them from working properly.

-Over time, lax posture contributes to back pain and injury, which effects up to 80 percent of the population at some point in life.

Humps can also develop near the shoulder blade area of the back. photos by anna leek

Start fixing your posture

page 9 [features]

some helpful exercises The key to better posture is core stability. Building muscle tone by weight lifting will strengthen the muscles around the torso, holding your spine straighter. Other exercises involve stretching: • Start with seated stretches: stretching arms up and taking deep breaths to stretch the lower back muscles.

• Move your chin up and down at least 50 times a day to stretch the muscles at the base of the neck.

• 12 reps of shoulder lifts while laying flat.

• Lay facedown with arms outstretched. Slowly lift arms and chest.

• Raise arms to ear level, then press them down to sides, pushing shoulder blades down and together. This will achieve perfect back alignment momentarily.

Over 80 percent of people have bad posture. Though the effects of bad posture aren’t evident until a person’s late 60s, good posture now can help prevent late body deterioration.

aesthetics of slouching Keep in mind slouching is seen as a sign of boredom by a situation or person. The slumping of shoulders is seen as disrespectful and rude. Professional situations observe posture for signs of capability and responsibility. Slouching creates doubts in your abilities.

page 10 [features]

Switching lanes by [mike hake]

Job changes can be both good and bad. What often makes the difference is the ability for one to adapt to new surroundings. When Lane Green took the athletic director job last summer, he was ready to embrace the changes that came with his new job. The result has been even better than he had expected.

Green left Shawnee Mission East to take a step forward in his career as an athletic director. The job he took at Olathe North offered better pay, and gave him the opportunity to focus on being an athletic director.

“At East, I was the athletic director but, I was on a teaching contract, so I taught three periods a day,” Green said. “In the Olathe school district, the athletic directors are made vice principals. This job not only pays significantly more than I made in Shawnee Mission, it will also better position me if I ever want to be a building principal or district athletic director.”

As an administrator rather than a teacher, Green’s job now consists much more of student discipline, teacher evaluation and overseeing the school’s activities.

The new job presented a legitimate challenge for Green, as he took over an athletic program that has been in a recent tailspin. When Olathe Northwest opened in 2003, they took 30 percent of Olathe North’s students, has caused a struggle for Olathe North athletics.

That challenge has turned into a positive for Green.

He sees it as an opportunity to prove what he can accomplish as an athletic director.

“Change can be both a scary and a wonderful thing, and the change in schools has challenged me in many ways,” Green said. “Also I think the change is good for East athletics. I have watched Gary Howard this year and I think he is doing a great job as the new athletic director and will bring in fresh ideas and a new perspective to the athletic programs.”

Despite the recent slide the traditionally prestigious Olathe North athletic program has been in, Green isn’t making any drastic changes just yet.

Lane Green adjusts to new athletic director position

“At this point, my primary goal has been to establish trust with the Olathe North community and the coaching staff,” Green said. “It is never a good idea to come in and make a bunch of changes until you fully understand the culture and climate of a new school. I’m sure next year I’ll be implementing some positive changes.”

Olathe North currently has individual sports booster clubs, but Green would like to see the individual booster clubs cooperate better for the benefit of the entire athletic department, much like the All-Sports Booster Club that Green worked with at East. Before he makes such changes to the athletic program, he is earning the trust of his new co-workers--a lesson he learned at East.

“I try to do a good job of listening to the coaches and teaching staff and work hard to do everything I can to support them and create an environment where they can be successful,” Green said.

One particular change that has been hard for Green to get the hang of was the lack of a freshman class at Olathe North, as Olathe high schools only have grades 10--12. Ninth graders are still allowed to play sports at Olathe North, however, transportation can cause a problem.

“Coordinating [the freshman] to get them over here on a daily basis and get them to games can be quite a challenge that I didn’t have in Shawnee Mission,” Green said.

Even getting used to saying the correct name of his new school presented a new challenge to Green when he first started.

“I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally said ‘Shawnee Mission East’ or ‘Lancers’ instead of ‘Olathe North’ or ‘Eagles,’” Green said. “My secretary made me pay her $1 for every time I slipped up in this area. I gave her about $35 after the first few weeks there. To say the

Recycle your Harbinger!

least, old habits die hard.”

As for his future in the Olathe School District, Green prefers to keep his options open.

“I like to take one day at a time and enjoy the journey,” Green said. “However, I have not ruled out becoming a principal or district-level athletic director some day.”

AYC

photo by Frances Lafferty

Health and Fitness

7501 Mission Road, N-2 aycfit@aol.com (e-mail) Prairie Village, KS 66208 (913) 642-4437 (phone)

anities Facebook Myspace Xanga Profanities Facebook Myspa Profanities Facebook Myspace Xanga Profanities Facebookce Xanga Profanities Facebook Facebook Myspace Xanga Pros Facebook Myspace Xanga Profanities Facebook Myspace Xa anities Facebook Myspace Xanga Profanities Facebook Myspa To satisfy district guidelines, the adminstration Profanities Facebook Myspace Xanga Profanities Facebook blocks websites ce Xanga Profanities FacebookMyspace Xanga Profanities Fac BLOCKED yspace Xanga Profanities Facebook Myspace Xanga Profaniti Facebook Myspace Xa ga Profanities Facebo page 11 [features]

Administration Filtration

Hacking

Web sites that distribute information and hacking tools (root kits, kiddy scripts, etc.) that help individuals gain unauthorized access to other computer sysPhoto by Sally Drape tems.

by Tyl er

numbers that large, the efficiency of the filtering system remains strong, but not always effective.

Having the filtering system also makes it much easier to ensure that school work is getting done within school hours.

“Over 1100 hours of lap top use have been checked out to classes all over the school,” Larson said. “We really just wanted to emphasize that the computers are for school use only.”

List of Blocked Content Ananymoizers Ananoymizing Utilities Chat Dating/Social Extreme Gruesome Content Instant Messaging Nudity Personal Pages (Blogs) Pornography Sexual Materials Spyware

These are just two of the types of web sites that the District blocks.

Web Phone

Web sites that allow users to make phone calls via the Internet or obtain information or software for this purpose. Web phones services include computer to computer, computer to phone and phone to phone services.

March 5, 2007

Photo by Sally Drape

Blocked Content

oto

blocked, it must fall under one out of a total of 30 different categories, like sexual and drug reference, profanity, chat rooms and blogging or forms nudity. If a URL contains any of the categories, it will be detected and blocked.

But Cavallaro says that the filtering system can sometimes block web sites that don’t actually contain any inappropriate content, yet some how the certain web site fell into one of the blocked categories.

“Some students run into blocked websites, in an innocent attempt to access good information,” Cavallaro said. “It can be a gray area when it comes to what needs to be blocked.”

An attempt to research information for a class project or an appropriate topic can become frustrating when the filter system blocks content and web sites that aren’t always inappropriate.

Honors Biology teacher Tom Heintz was trying to look up a science video to show his class and was unable to because the web site was blocked. “[Having to research what you’re looking for] just costs you time,” Heintz said. “I understand what they’re doing by blocking certain sites, but what you intend to [block] and what you actually do are two different things.”

But the process is reversible. Web sites throughout the district can be unblocked. Only a teacher or administrator can request a web site to be unblocked for a valid reason. This can be done by simply clicking the link on the actual blocked web page, which then forwards you to a new page where you can email the web site URL you would like to have unblocked along with a legitimate reason why this web site should be unblocked. The request is then sent to the Curriculum Department where the site is looked over to make sure the content contains no inappropriate content. The request is then sent over to Cavallaro’s office one last time so that a yes or no decision to block the web site can be determined.

In the first semester of this year, over 300 web sites were unblocked, some permanently, temporarily or just for that particular class or teacher. 300 web sites that didn’t contain inappropriate content and yet were categorized under the groups that are blocked through the filtering system. With

Ph

Blocked. The web site sophomore Annie McBee had attempted to access for research on project for Bri Meschke’s history class was not available to her because it did not comply with the guidelines set by Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). It is just one of many.

Since 2002, web sites in the Shawnee Mission school district have been blocked on the district’s Internet access.

“If it’s going to endanger a student’s safety or well being, it’s going to be blocked,” Assistant Principle Steve Loe said.

“Student-to-student abuse has trickled into the schools.

People have become con artists, good at manipulating people.”

This was the reason that the filtering system started to block web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Xanga. Besides being a distraction, chat and blogging web sites just aren’t a place to be during school.

“We’ve had problems with repetitive gaming online, just doing things not school related,” Librarian Chris Larson said.

“As librarians, we’ll just call and complain that students are abusing the computers and their Internet privileges and the students’ rights will be taken away. This was just another reason the web site filtering system was put into play.”

According to Rich Cavallaro, Shawnee Mission’s Manager of Information Services, an Internet filtering system called the Cisco Filtering Engine was put into the district’s Internet in 2002 in order to receive e-Rate discounts, in addition to blocking possibly offensive and harmful sites. Defining what determines a site as offensive is the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), a federal law passed by Congress in December of 2000 to address concerns about access to offensive or inappropriate content over the Internet on library and school computers.

The district receives $250,000 every year for using this e-rate program, which then allows the district to buy new computers and technical equipment for the school every year.

The district uses a type of system called Smart Filter, which works in several different ways when filtering and blocking a certain web site. In order for a web site to be

Ro ste

by [meghan benson]

page 12 [features]

FRIDAY

Highlights from last MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAY week’s Frequent countdown to Friday and the history MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAY of the productions MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAY

HISTORY

Cast members Sam Slosburg and Maggie Blake rehearse for “Plaza Suite” written by Neil Simon. Sam played a man named Sam who is married to Karen, Maggie’s character. In the play, the two have been married for 23 years but Sam still can’t manage to find time for his wife and to celebrate their anniversary at the Plaza Hotel. “The auditions went really well and I got an amazing cast,” director Reina Murphy said. photos by karen boomer

6

YEARS OF FREQUENT FRIDAYS

Frequent Fridays have been going on since the 2001-2002 school year. Theater advisers and teachers Tom Defeo and Brian Cappello started them as the major project for the Advanced Rep class.

There are nine students in the class this year, so there will be nine shows throughout the year.

“The rationale is that directing and completing a one-act play is the culmination of four years of theatre study,” teacher Brian Cappello said. “It is something that will show what the student has learned during that period of time.”

All costumes and props needed for the shows can be borrowed from the theater department at school. “if there is something special that I need for the show that the theater doesn’t have already, then I will have to go out and get it myself,” Plaza Suite director Reina Murphy said. “But other than that everything is already supplied for me and everyone else doing Frequent Fridays.”

97 19 SEATS IN THE LITTLE THEATER

compiled by [elizabeth mcgranahan]

DIRECTOR ROLE As a junior, enrolled Advanced Rep. students are given a date for their Frequent Friday for the following school year.

About two months before the show, they hang up audition sheets so that people who are interested know when they can try out.

Auditions for last week’s “Plaza Suite” directed by senior Reina Murphy had big turnout.

“I had about 15 to 20 people show up and audition, which was wonderful because I was afraid I wouldn’t get a good turn out because the musical was still going on at the same time,” Murphy said.

For the next three or four weeks, the cast and director meet after school for a few hours to work on memorization and blocking.

March 2nd- Reina’s Frequent Friday: Plaza Suite.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF SHOWS IN ONE YEAR

SME 2007 MULCH Sale

9

FREQUENT FRIDAYS THIS YEAR

End of 3rd Quarter!

the [harbinger]

page 13 [features]

High school:

the second time around.

Currently 14 staff members working at East also attended East for high school. For some it was 20 years ago and others only 10, but any of them could tell you how East has transformed. Four of these staff members recall East when they were in high school compared to today. by [lauren erickson]

Ms. Beachy When it came to basketball, English teacher Laura Beachy can remember the title Raider Hater coming up. When Beachy attended East, South and West were the schools’ biggest rivals, Rockhurst was just a different school in a different state.

Having different school rivalries was just one of the differences Beachy has noticed after coming back to teach at East.

Today on of East’s biggest rivals is Rockhurst. “I don’t think we even played them [Rockhurst] in any sports,” Beachy said. Being located in Missouri and being a private school, Rockhurst and East didn’t have much interaction. When it came to sports, South and West were the main competitors. Then there was the “Suburban Rivalry” with Pembroke.

“It was always about whose musical was better,” Beachy said, “but our production was always better.”

New technology like Smart Boards and overhead projectors are being introduced to East, but it was only a few years ago (find out how many) that East didn’t have air conditioners. With Kansas’ hot and humid climate, the un-cooled rooms became students’ worst nightmares.

“Mornings weren’t bad,” Beachy said, “but by the afternoon the heat became unbearable.”

Often in the hotter months, school days would be cut short because it was unhealthy for students to be in such hot weather. But there couldn’t be much learning going on anyways with the huge box fans roaring and students miserable from the heat and sweat.

Back

Day

in the

Sra. Kessler The portable classrooms were introduced to make more space. For Spanish teacher Senora Kessler, returning to East and seeing all of the building’s changes, after attending East for high school, were quite a shock. As well as the portable classrooms, Kessler was surprised at how many teachers are having to share rooms.

As her mom lived close, Kessler often drove by East and noticed some of the changes it went through.

One of the biggest differences Kessler noticed was that the front doors had moved. When she attended East, the entrance doors were where the counseling offices currently are. Kessler guesses that the offices used to be by the South Ramp when she was in high school, but doesn’t clearly remember.

Another difference was the in the science wing. Every classroom was connected and every room was accessed through one central door. And also, outside by the North Ramp where the environmental learning area is, there used to be a student smoking lounge. It was open all the time and unmonitored.

Having an outdoor place for students was probably the only way to keep smoke out of the hallways. But Kessler says, “Not many students went out there because anyone could see them through the huge glass windows.”

These four teachers were not the only staff members to attend East for high school.

Here are 9 more who call East their alma mater.

Mr. Paris

Ms. Pence

It’s Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. and classrooms are full of students just trying to make it to the weekend. But world history teacher and Pep Club Nick Paris remembers this to be a more exciting time. When Paris attended East, every Friday at 1 p.m. was dedicated for the 1000 members of the Pep Club to meet.

Paris remembers the club differently when he attended East. Clubs used to get more emphasis during school hours, like taking time out of the day for students to spend with their clubs.

Unlike the occasional Pep assemblies today, one of the things Paris remembers about Pep Club when he went to east was meeting more often. Better school spirit resulted from the more frequent meetings. Also any game that a member attended, they would wear their Pep Club blue jacket. For the homecoming queen and her attendants, the Pep Club would get to build a float for them to ride around the track during the half-time show.

Another difference that Paris remembers is practicing air-raid drills when he was in high school. When the U.S. went through the Cold War with Russia, these drills became a necessity for schools nationwide.

The air-raid drill procedure was much like a tornado drill. Every student and teacher would assemble on the North Ramp and crouch in to the curled up position with their h a n d s securely clasped over their necks.

This was supposed to protect everyone from any f a l l i n g debris.

When math teacher Hannah Pence returned to East to teach, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise. Bob Dylan, not the singer but the supervisor of the Harbinger at the time, had found an old article from when Pence attended . It was the traditional “Most Likely To Become” article and Pence had her name featured.

Surprisingly enough, she had been voted “most likely to return to East and teach”.

Get hired at East in her first year out of college, Pence only spent a short time away from East. When she returned she had another pleasant surprise.

Many of the teachers that had taught her were now her co-workers. Some of these teachers include Rick Royer and Bill Boley. Making the transition all calling these teachers by their first names was weird in the beginning and every one would joke around and not having to be called Mr. or Mrs. One of the main reasons Pence was so excited about working at East was that she had such a great experience in high school. By sophomore year, Pence knew she wanted to be a teacher, more specifically a math teacher. While she was at East, there was a course offered to students like her who knew teaching was what they wanted to pursue. The class was called Future Teachers of America and became gave Pence the opportunity to student teach pre-algebra at Indian Hills her senior year.

Throughout college, Pence kept in close touch with her high school math teachers, the people who inspired her to end up where she is. Today, she has made friendships with new teachers that she works with and renewed friendships that she’d had in high school. While school is out during the summer, Pence says she definitely keeps in touch with teachers. “We’re like family,” she said.

Bonjour- English 12

Lindsay- English

Sivewright- Art

Capello- Theater

Horn- Math

Sieck- Spanish

Gustafson- Receptionist

Royce- Counselor

Swift- Principal

March 5, 2007

page 9 [features]

page 14 [features]

at the

POINT

By 1.4 18

GLOBAL the WARMING Numbers

Number of degrees the earth’s surface warmed during the twentieth century.

Number of years out of the past 20 that were the warmest years on record.

Number of inches, since 1960, the sea

Over the next few issues the Harbinger will look at global warming from a global, national, state and school perspective. Read on for an overview The process of of the crisis and what is being done on an global warming Of all the energy used on earth, 99% comes international level. from the sun. The sunlight passing through the atmo3 level has risen. of inches the sea level 30 Number is projected to rise in the next century.

information courtesy of the Pew Center

sphere (below) and hitting the earth’s surface represents that energy. The steps that follow, labeled 1-6, explain the process of global warming. The first five steps represent the natural greenhouse effect, whereas step six shows the impact that human activities are currently having.

by [nathan yaffe] The Kansas City Star is calling global warming “America’s Hottest Topic,” but despite the buzz, many people don’t understand what it is. According to a study by the Pew Center, only seven percent of Americans doubt that global warming exists, but almost two-thirds believe that their understanding of global warming and its causes is either “incomplete” or “non-existent.”

In order to increase that number, this piece will compile a few of the basic ideas: how global warming happens, what changes it has caused so far, what changes it will cause in the future and what’s being done about it.

Scholar David B. Sandalow

NATURAL GREENHOUSE EFFECTS

1

ENHANCED GREENHOUSE EFFECTS

5

of Brookings Institution on GLOBAL WARMING

To find out what all the stats about temperatures and sea levels mean, energy and environment David B. Sandalow addresses the consequences of global warming below: If we don’t take action: We’re talking about very potentially damaging developments in a number of areas: we could lose certain ecosystems altogether, not to mention thousands of endangered— and some non-endangered—species could go extinct.

3 2

6

4

On sea levels rising: The last time Polar Regions were significantly warmer than now, which was 125,000 years ago, the ocean levels rose 4 to 6 meters from polar ice melting. Well, 5,000 square miles of dry land in the US alone are within 2’ of the coast, so we could be talking about unimaginable damage in that type of scenario.

Even though a rise of 4 to 6 meters isn’t the most likely scenario, the truth is that we’re not sure what will happen yet. If we do have an increase anywhere near that magnitude, however, we’d be looking at wiping out hundreds of coastal cities around the world.

On diseases spreading: Disease prevalence is higher in equatorial regions than anywhere else in the world. Rising temperatures and humidity could expand the equatorial zone significantly, which would, in some places, only require a temperature rise of a couple degrees Fahrenheit. One frequently cited example in scientific circles is that mosquito breeding grounds could proliferate, causing annual malaria deaths to increase by as much as 1 million.

On the costs of addressing global warming:

1) Some of the sunlight entering the atmosphere is absorbed as heat that warms the surface.

2) The surface emits that heat, in the form of infrared radiation, into the atmosphere.

3) Some of it is absorbed by naturally occurring greenhouse gases.

4) The absorbed energy is reflected toward the surface, raising the earth’s temperature.

5) The rest of the energy not absorbed by greenhouse gases escapes into space.

6) Human activities—such as burning fossil fuels—emit carbon dioxide and other

The consensus in the scientific community… is that the cost of addressing this now will outweigh the costs we’ll face later by exponential amounts. There’s no serious debate in the scientific community that [global warming] exists, and the uncertainties about its effects are getting clarified all the time. The only issue now is finding the political—and public—will to address this now. It could cost as little as 1% of global GDP to implement the changes we need to implement, and while that’s huge, it’s a negligible amount greenhouse gases into the air. When there are too many greenhouse gases, more infrared when you consider the human, economic, and environmental cost we may see 20, 50, 100 years from radiation is absorbed by the gases before escaping to space. When that heat is re-emitted now. towards the earth, it amplifies the warming of the earth.

the [harbinger]

page15 [features]

N O O T R A E

C

Z A R

C

“We’re all into different things like American graphic and Japanese manga, but at the same time, we share a lot of common ground too,” sophomore Anthony Thompson said.

“It’s always good to have diverse interests,” Some of the group favorites include Naruto comics based on the popular Cartoon Network anime show and the epic Frank Miller “300” inspired by the infamous 300 Spartans and their monumental battle against a million-man Persian army. Miller’s classic “Sin City” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” graphic novels also top the list.

The group’s focus however, is not limited to merely reading and discussing their favorite animated periodicals. Some are cartoonists, including sophomore Trent Coffin..

Coffin can be seen drawing vigorously almost daily in his sketchbook.On one page

GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB ENCOURAGES FRIENDSHIP, INTERST IN GRAPHIC ARTS by [landon mcdonald] BAM! ZOOM! KAPOW! Comic books can evoke a wide spectrum of human actions and emotions. But for a certain group of Shawnee Mission East students, comics did something far grander. They brought them together as friends. It was in this spirit that the Graphic Novel Club was first created.

Since its birth, the Graphic Novel Club has evolved from a small group to a thriving club of dozens. The club meets monthly in the East library to discuss everything from political cartoons to sprawling volumes of comic book lore. Friendship and having fun though, almost always take precedence over heated debates. An intense argument

over the individual strengths of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, for example, is easily resolved with laughter and a sense of mutual understanding.

“They’re a very close-knit group of friends who have a very strong passion for what they do,” sponsor and East librarian Irene Larson said. “They’ll get together to talk and draw even when there’s no scheduled meeting planned. Comics really have brought them all together, not just as club members, but also as friends.”

The organization’s members are encouraged to possess a genuine love of all animation both recent and vintage, a willingness to explore new genresand a sociable outlook when it comes to discussing favorites.

crouches a n imposing i m p e r i a l samurai dressed in flowing ivory robes, his bloodstained crescent blade held high. On the next, a morbidly obese cat devours pedestrians on top of a skyscraper.

On still another, a humorous caricature of George W. Bush struggles to pronounce “nuclear”.

“Drawing pictures has always been fun and easy for me,” Coffin says. “I just really enjoy it as a hobby or just as something to do when I’m bored. But it’s a lot more fun to do with friends.”

The Graphic Novel Club was founded on these simple principles of unity and creativity and will doubtlessly continue to preserve them in the future for as long as there are those who hold within them a remarkable appreciation and reverence for the even the most unconventional of art.

Choir Masterworks Thursday 15 More Details TBA

Come to the

Columbia Brew Coffee Shop

Coffee......Flavored Hot Chocolate......Vitamin Water......

Starbucks Frappuccinos......Biscotti......And More......

page 16 [spread]

ClarkGoble

How many number one seeds will get to the Final Four?

Zero. The top teams don’t seem to be as strong this year.

Who will be the bigger impact player, Ohio State’s Greg Oden or Texas’ Kevin Durant?

Durant, he might just ‘Carmelo-ize’ the Longhorns.

10from our

predictions

Starting Five Analysts

SteveLowe

PeterGoehausen Who will be the most underrated team going into the tournament?

Washington State. At 23-5, They were picked to finish last in pre-season Pac-10 poll but finished second behind UCLA. What will be the biggest surprise of the tournament?

Texas; behind Durant, the Longhorns will advance to the Final Four before losing to Ohio State.

Brie Meschke Which teams do you have making it to the Final 4?

Well it depends on the seeding of course and who are number one seeds and which bracket everyone is in, but I am thinking the 4 best teams are: Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.

Which player do you think will stand out come the tournament?

Sherron Collins.

Mike McRoberts

photos by tayler phillips, abba goehausen and katie woods

What team will stumble in the tournament?

Flordia. They’ve stumbled a couple times already. They’ll fall in the third round.

What team will win it all?

Kansas. I think it’s their year. They are a well-rounded team and have multiple weapons.

4Teams Hometown

kansas

Ah, the inconsistent Jayhawks. This is a team that has simply not been successful the past two tournaments, bowing out in the first round to the Killer B’s, Bucknell and Bradley.

And while many will predict the ‘Hawks to lose before the Final Four (maybe to Butler or Boston College?), I see them making it to the final weekend and the Final Four. However, the inexperienced Jayhawks will succumb to the pressure and fall to a more experienced, tournament-tested club before the title game.

Missouri State

If this team makes it out of the Missouri Valley, they could be a definite threat. They beat Wisconsin on a neutral floor this year and the Valley showed their tenacity in last year’s tournament. Should the committee squeeze them into the bracket, I can see them pulling a first round upset, but not much further.

kansas State

Losing freshman stud Bill Walker to injury was a definite blow, but if the Wildcats can get to the tournament, they may turn a few heads before they are done. However, they are just too inconsistent this year to win a game come tourney time.

The tournament experience would do them good however, with a top-3 recruiting class ready to make next year’s tournament.

UMkc

Everyone seems to forget UMKC is the closest D-1 school to any of our homes, and they have a decent shot to make the tournament. All it will take is three wins to gain an automatic bid, where they would be run out of the gym by a top seed. My prediction? UMKC falls in the first round of the Mid-Con tourney.

Do you think the Jayhawks will break through their first round jinx?

Yes, I think they will break the jinx and get to the Final Four.

What strategies do you use when filling out your bracket?

I think which team I would pick to win and pick the other team.

Players 4 brady Morningstar Hometown

High School: Lawrence Free State College: Kansas The former Firebird, All-American consideree, led Free State to a Sunflower League title two years ago. That year he scored 18 points in a three point victory over East that won them the Sunflower title. Morningstar was also an AAU teammmates with former East star J.D. Christie and his father, Roger, was the AAU coach of senior Bryan Nelson and junior Michael McRoberts. He is averaging two points a game for the Jayhawks who seem to be a lock for a one or two seed.

issac Miles

High School: Bishop Miege College: Creighton Miles, a product of the Rick Zych Miege system, was an All-Star player last year before committing to Creighton. He is averaging six points a game while playing about 22 minutes a game. The Blue Jays, 19-10, should make the tournament as a six- 11 seed, however if they don’t fare well in their conference tournament they may be stuck in the N.I.T.

ryan Jehle

High School: Shawnee Mission South College: Missouri State Although a redshirt, Jehle would be on the bench with the Bears if they make the tournament. At 21-9, they maybe somewhat of a long shot to make the tournament unless they win the conference tournament.

the [harbinger]

what

THE ProS think

C R MA D A M

Are you ready fo Take a look at how to keep u

by

takinG a

LoCAL look

Make

your own bracket pool

CH S S E N D

1 2

Find people who would be interested in college basketball and March Madness. Spot out the kids wearing the Duke J.J. Redick or throwback Keith Langford jersey and be sure to sign them up.

Figure out what type of scoring system you will use in your pool. a. The easiest to do is to have each player fill out their bracket and hand them to you. You will then give one point for all correct first round picks, two points for correct second round picks, and so on. b. One of the harder but more strategic games requires each player to “draft” three teams. With each team’s win, the player acquires a number of points equal to the team’s seed. For example, if Kansas is a #2 seed and wins three games, the player gets six points. On the other hand, if K-State, a #10 seed, wins three games, the player gets thirty points. It forces players to pick teams they think will go far but may be underrated.

try it yourself.

Fill in this bracket and see how you match up.

3 4 5

page 17 [spread] After the brackets are set up on Selection Sunday, collect everyone’s completed bracket. The games will start on that Thursday, so you need to be sure to get them as soon as possible to avoid cheating.

If you want to speed up the scoring process, you can use the cbs.sportsline.com Bracket Manager and enter in each player’s bracket. After you provide the scoring settings, the program will score everyone’s brackets for you.

Last, enjoy March Madness. And don’t get down if a few of the teams you picked to advance far get knocked out early. After all, there is a reason they call it March Madness, and everyone has the same feeling after the first round.

information courtesy of http://www.bracketscience.com/multimediaGames.asp

TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FILLING IN YOUR BRACKET overall performance recent play home-away-neutral consistency overall odds individual Matchups conference vs. non-conference play individual Game odds Margin of Victory / Defeat Good wins and bad losses courtesy of http://teamrankings.com/

TAKING THE INTERNET ROUTE

or the Big 12? up with all of the action.

www.phog.net

www.jayhawkslant.com

y [clark goble and peter goehausen]

FoLLow the JaYhawkS

EAST

The Slant, which is a part of the Rivals.com family, is similiar to The Phog but not as active. It also features more credible soucres like KU insider Shey Wildebor.

Fans will also find more stories about the actual team and not the recruits.

The Phog, fittingly named after KU’s first coach Phog Allen, is a site that features some of the latest news on KU basketball, football and high school recruits.

It also features an interactive message board forum you can join in for free. The hoops talk is a second home for some KU fans as it features over 2,000 feature topics from this year alone. Be careful though, some of of the rumors floating around on the Phog are fictional.

www.kusports.com Although not the official athletic site of the Jayhawks, KU sports offers some of the best coverage on the web.

They feature daily stories, stats and rosters from all of the KU sports. They also feature a less extensive message board.

KU

TAKING THE TRIP TO CHICAGO

If everything goes as planned for KU, they will be playing their first two rounds in Chicago at the United Center. If the Jayhawks do make it to Chicago, here is your guide of how to get there, where to stay and how to get into the game.

airfare Depending on when the Hawks would play, it would be best to get into Chicago as early as possible. Most of the flights will be about $200 roundtrip if you book it quickly. The best deal right now is Delta flight 4484 for $200 roundtrip. The flight would get you in Chicago at 11:30 a.m. which would be perfect for a late aftertoon or night game. If the Hawks have the early game, the best bet would be to go to Chicago Wednesday night.

March 5, 2007

tickets

hotel The game will be played at United Center, which is about eight blocks west of Michigan Ave. and a couple blocks west of the highway.

The Habitat Suites At Pres Towers would be the most convenient hotel; it is about two miles from the arena and would be about $160 per night. If you’re looking to get closer to downtown Chicago, the Sutton Pace Hotel, $240 per night, would be the best idea.

Although it sounds a bit ludacris, the best idea would be to to go Chicago without tickets. The ticket package that is available through the NCAA is a $225 six-game package.

However, if you’re soley a Hawks fan you should only need tickets for KU’s two games. So the best idea is to scalp tickets from fans of teams playing in Chicago but not against KU. Since it fits 25,000 people, scalping a ticket shouldn’t be hard.

High

page 18 features]

Flying

Students find physical, mental challenges in popular European activity by [laura nelson]

It’s unusually warm for the beginning of March – almost 60 degrees – and freshmen Joe Craig and Taylor Haviland can’t pass up the opportunity. After Haviland gets home from track practice, they head over to Fairway Park in tennis shoes and T-shirts for a practice of their own.

Haviland stands back, waiting by the stop sign in the parking lot, as Craig jogs towards the meter-high Fairway Park sign. He picks up speed as he approaches, face taut with concentration. Two feet away, his arms swing in front of his body and muscles strain in his calves. He’s flying fluidly through the air.

For a heart-stopping moment, Craig is in suspended animation. He’s going to crash into the stone sign. He’s going to break something – an arm, a rib, a nose.

But his hands effortlessly grab the top of the sign. In a single motion, he hoists his feet up to the top of the sign, swings his legs between his arms and pushes. His feet land with a muddy thud on the other side.

“Ooh, nice monkey!” Haviland calls. Craig smiles – it was a good vault. He says nothing and jogs out of the way.

Haviland runs at the sign.

Craig and Haviland are traceurs: people who follow the movement called either parkour or “the art of displacement.”

Founded by Frenchman David Belle just after the Vietnam War, parkour emphasizes getting from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible while overcoming all physical obstacles and maintaining momentum.

The American Parkour group calls parkour a philosophy. A way of life. And Craig agrees.

Although parkour is physically challenging enough to keep him in shape for his soccer season, its mental demands and rewards also interest Craig. He loves the ideas of getting past whatever is in his path, and using those strategies for all aspects of his life – any problems, any dangerous situation.

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“When you’re doing parkour, you look at an object and think, ‘What can I do here?

What good moves do I know?’” Craig said.

“Everything you look at is an obstacle to get over. You can translate that attitude of getting past anything and apply it to any part of your life. That’s parkour’s philosophy.”

Craig, Haviland and Pembroke freshman Spike Logan first developed an interest in parkour during their eighth grade year, when Craig saw a parkour video online.

“I thought, ‘That’s cool - I wonder if I could do that?’” Craig said. “Then we just went and practiced and just tried to see if we could do the stuff we saw. It was really hard at first.”

Through most of eighth grade, they went to Indian Hills after school and just “messed around.” But the summer before their freshman year, Craig, Haviland and Logan got serious. Now, whenever the weather is nice enough, they practice.

“You have to be in really, good shape,” Haviland said. “If you want to keep yourself safe, if you don’t want to get hurt, then you have to be fit.”

Most of their conditioning involves repetition of parkour’s basic moves, including precision jumping, vaulting and running. A lot of parkour, Craig said, is doing the same few moves over and over to perfect them, and using them in the best way possible.

For this spring or summer, they’re planning a jam session at KU or the Plaza.

Craig said there’s interest from others besides him, Haviland and Logan.

But for the most part, parkour isn’t popular with those they encounter. When they practice at Belinder, at Fairway Park, at the Plaza, people yell at them as they go by, telling them to stop vandalizing. Stop causing a disturbance.

“To the untrained eye, it’s like we’re jumping mindlessly around trying to damage property,” Haviland said. “And so people tell us to stop. But none of them really understand what we’re doing. If they asked,

we’d tell them. But no one bothers to.”

Although the parkour movement is limited in Kansas City, its popularity has grown in London because of both the city’s urban environment and the popularity of the documentary “Jump London,” featuring three famous traceurs free running – a form of parkour – around many of London’s most popular landmarks – and “Banlieu 13,” featuring parkour’s founder, David Belle.

According to American Parkour, traceurs in urban environments are often drawn to the activity at first because it has the same selfprotection benefits as martial arts, requiring speed and agility to accomplish the moves.

“Parkour’s helped me get really fast,” Haviland said. “And I doubt being attacked would ever happen here – there isn’t much of a threat of it – but if anything ever did, we would be able to get away really fast, or maybe do something cool as we’re running off.”

Haviland said that’s a lot of what parkour is about for him – looking coolest, doing new tricks, impressing people who are watching.

Craig interrupts.

“No, that isn’t parkour’s philosophy at all.

That’s freerunning. There is no competition in parkour. It’s not about looking coolest.”

And Craig begins another vault, leaving Haviland standing by the stop sign. This time, he tries a reverse, rotating his body as he vaults over the sign, swinging his legs to the side. It’s a more difficult vault and he lands harder this time. Stumbles a little.

But Haviland doesn’t say anything. It’s a nice day and like Craig said, it isn’t really a competition.

“Maybe someday, we can make something out of our lives through parkour,” Haviland said as he backs up for another approach.

“Probably not. But it’s just fun to hang out a little, jump over stuff, you know. It’s pretty addictive. Once you get into it, you can’t stop thinking about parkour.”

photo by Anna Leek

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page 19 [features]

Categories is by [sylvia shank] Categories is a televised quiz show for area high schools. Students from five Shawnee Mission Schools and four Blue Valley schools compete answering trivia questions under the categories of vocabulary, sports, current events, general knowledge, science, math, history and literature.

Competitions are Monday nights at Indian Creek Technology Center, where they are filmed and broadcast on the Shawnee Mission Channel.

Theory of Knowledge and American government teacher Nick Paris sponsors the team, and American government teacher Sam Brewster hosts the show. Brewster asks and answers the questions, but does not write them. A national service comes up with each year’s trivia.

East finished fourth this year and qualified for the regional tournament. After beating Shawnee Mission South for the second time this season, they move on to the championship game, which takes place Mon. March 5. Team captain Ben Belz loves the random trivia involved in the game.

“Sometimes there’s a

question that no one knows the answer to,” he said. “I’ll come up with a random guess.”

He says East takes the game less seriously than other schools. This serves as an advantage.

“We have more fun with it because we don’t take it as seriously.” This approach means the team gets less nervous and distracted after missing a question. Yet beating South, their biggest rival, is still an exciting accomplishment.

East isn’t sure which school it will compete with in the upcoming championship, but is optimistic about the outcome.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good chance,” Belz said.

Mr. Paris, Jack Krieger, Curtis Bryant and Mark Barnett watch a television in another room during filming.

Don’t miss the Categories championship today, 4:15 at Indian Woods Technical Center.

3 Team captain, Ben Belz, shows off the team’s trophy to sponsor, Mr. Paris.

-PEAT

Congrats to the Boys Swim Team for winning

STATE again!

photos by karen boomer

East categories participants fill in their name plates prior to the competition in preparation to dominate South in the semi-finals.

page 20 [features]

Dancing for Down Syndrome Students gathered in the East cafeteria on Feb. 26 to partake in SHARE’s Sweetheart Dance for Down Syndrome

(Top left) Senior SHARE executive Kortney Jones dances the night away with her partner. Jones, a SHARE executive was one of about 30 East students at the dance. (Below) Senior Lane Sturgeon sings karaoke lyrics from the TelePrompTer. (Right) Junior Mallory Gasaway teaches her partner a new dance. The project, sponsored by senior Jessica Melvin, is an all-year event that is capped off by the dance. photos by tayler phillips and samantha ludington

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page 21 [a&e]

There’s no place like

HOME

If you’re staying in KC this spring break, check out these entertainment options

photos courtesy of www.roadsideamerica.com

by [katie jones]

The State

Capitol

We all remember traveling in a hot, crowded bus with that smelly kid assigned as your bus buddy. You might even have more recent memories of this historical building, but we urge you to gain a few more.

Location: Topeka, KS

The T-Rex

The

Arboretum

Whether you want to wander down the Overland Park Arboretum’s countless wooded trails, or stargaze from an expanse of prairie grass, this is the place to explore and relax.

It beats any suburban park if you don’t mind the drive.

Location: 8909 W. 179th St.

Café

Imagine how cool the Rainforest Café was in sixth grade, and then multiply that by five. Because last summer, the same crew who created ‘Rainforest’ opened a similar restaurant, with dinosaurs. Meteor showers fall frequently, and animated, extinct beings lurk in every corner.

Location: The Legends shopping center

The Biggest

Ball of Twine

One of Kansas’ few claims to fame. You might have bragged about this to your friends from Vermont, right along with the biggest statue of a prairie dog and the deepest hand-dug well. They probably laughed at you afterwards.

Location: Cawker City, KS

Extra Ideas

Even more things to do in both Kansas and Missouri • Try out the local frisbee golf, or folf, courses. The popular Rosedale Park is located on 48th and Mission.

• “Nickel and Dimed,” a play running through Spring Break at the Unicorn Theatre in Missouri.

• Powell Gardens: botanical gardens in Kingsville, Missouri. It is sort of mom-ish, but their flower fountains are fun to play in nonetheless.

• Garden of Eden: an obscure tourist shop with weird folk art and political statements. The late Sam Dinsmoor can be viewed in the backyard in a glass coffin...

• The first game of the Brigade football season starts on March 16. The Dallas Desperados will be playing.

• Try to get through an entire game of Risk with some friends. It could get pretty tricky, or just incredibly boring.

March 5, 2007

photo by tayler phillips

page 22 [a&e]

Appreciating the artwork The Nelson Atkins Museum doesn’t get the attention it deserves an opinion of

About a month ago, on one of the snow days, my friends and I were looking for something to Johnny McGuire do. We would’ve gone sledding, but we’d gone the day before, and everyone wanted to do something else. After throwing around ideas, someone mentioned going to the Nelson-Atkins Museum. All of us agreed that it was a good idea. It was something different.

We checked the directions on the Internet and headed off toward the Plaza, over to Rockhill Road and into the drive of the Nelson gallery. Greeting us was the sculpture by Rodin, called “The Thinker”. The image of a stone figure, elbows on knees, and chin cupped into giant, solid hands, was the artistic welcome I needed.

As we drove over, I remembered having gone to the museum on a field trip while in elementary school. I hadn’t gone back since that time. When I went with my grade school, I remember being bored out of my mind. I hated having to follow around a tour guide and a teacher. But this trip to the museum was definitely different. With no teacher and tour to follow, I could go wherever I wanted to at a nice, leisurely pace.

Before now, I didn’t really know about Kansas City’s art collection and what a strong and heralded reputation the gallery had. On June 9th this summer the Bloch addition will be opened. It will show paintings from a number of different artistic eras, representing a variety of artists, styles, and technical perspectives. Not only is admission to the museum free, but all kinds of art programs are also offered free of charge.

The Bloch addition will have exhibitions on classic American photography that feature western landscape, the

Below: The new Bloch addition at the Nelson Atkins Museum has a modern look, and will open this summer.

Far Below: The shuttle cocks that sit on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum are a great sight to see on a nice day.

Civil War, and early paper photography. Along with that exhibition, the Bloch Museum will be featuring a special on the Impressionist painters. Some of the featured artists will be Monet, van Gogh, Renoir, Degas and Pissarro.

When I got to the museum, I looked at the Impressionist painters first and came across three Claude Monet paintings. The one I found most interesting was “Water Lilies.” Standing close to it made the painting look like a blotch of dots, scattered around randomly. But when I took a few steps back, I saw a lily garden. The blotches looked like small, green lily pads. I thought that was really interesting, and I realized looking at paintings is a lot more fun than I had thought.

Another painting I liked was the “Olive Orchard” by Vincent van Gogh. The painting had so many colors that it was blinding. I found it hard to believe that I was looking at an actual van Gogh painting. I was standing a foot away from a painting by a man I’d heard about my entire life.

During my first three-and-a-half years of high school, I never once went to the Nelson. I honestly don’t think many of my friends have gone either. What I realized was that for years I had taken this Kansas City treasure for granted.

An impressive part of the museum is the Egyptian section, where different kinds of jewelry and hieroglyphics line the walls. While some of the Egyptian pieces are traveling artifacts, many of the pieces find their permanent home in the Kansas City gallery. I find it amazing that jewelry an ancient pharaoh wore is just down the block.

Even if paintings and sculptures don’t hold a big interest for you, you should still visit the Nelson gallery every once and a while. There are always exhibits open, and the new Bloch addition will bring more paintings. I know trips to the museum sound boring sometimes, but honestly I think we need to take advantage of this collection. It holds some of the most famous paintings from the world, and it’s only a short drive. In the next decade, it will be exciting to see what new transformations take place with Kansas City’s art collection.

Scoping out the city

an opinion of

Natalie Eisenach

photos by sally drape

There are multiple hidden treasures in Kansas City that few people appreciate; now is the right time to change that

“I can’t wait to get out of Kansas.”

I have heard this line time and time again, yet I find it ironic because the kids who readily insult life in Kansas are the same ones who suggest that everyone watches a movie in their basement on a Saturday night. It is easy to discredit Kansas’s nightlife because in our local area there is little to do, but when you take a look beyond Prairie Village the picture grows more vivid.

In high school it is easy for students to get in a rut of doing the same thing every weekend: dinner at Chipotle and over to friend’s house for the night. It doesn’t need to be this way, however, because Kansas City has a lot of unique restaurants, shops, and art events to offer. Sure, we may not have the selection of galleries and boutiqués that a larger city has, but the ones we do have are going unnoticed.

The Crossroads area holds First Fridays on the first Friday of every month. All of the shops and galleries stay open till 9 (or later) for guests. There is a free trolley that runs between the galleries. Often times there will be food at the exhibits, but if not there is a wide range of restaurants and vendors open late in the area. This is a good way to see local artists

work, such as many of the local Latino artists showcased at the Mattie Rhodes gallery.

A popular exhibit is the Día de los Muertos that is held each October. Artists create altars and decorate grave sites to commemorate the deceased, celebrating their lives rather than mourning. Many of the exhibits are more than just art; they are windows into other cultures. When I went and saw this exhibit many of the artists stopped in for a few hours, they would stand by their piece and talk about it with the visitors. One artist picked up pictures and flowers off of her altar and let us get a closer look at them while she told us about their significance in her mother’s life. The artists there want to talk and share with the patrons.

If galleries really aren’t your thing, then go to the Missouri Rep and see a play. It is a fully professional resident theater company that puts on seven different performances each season. My favorite show is the annual production of “The Christmas Carol”. While the story remains the same each year, the sets, costumes and staging are revamped each time – so you are always seeing something new.

Currently they are showing King Lear and preparing for Love Janis, and Sherlock Holmes. Anyone can sit in front of a

the [harbinger]

TV all night watching re-runs, so try something different and go to the theater – plus, tickets are only $18 dollars if you’re a student.

Prairie Village does not offer many creative options when it comes to dining either. Axois, located in Brookside, is unique place to go for a French meal. It is a cozy little bistro that is part of the KC Originals foundation, a group of independent restaurants. The head chef, Emmanuel Langlade, a native of France, has created an authentic menu with dishes ranging from sandwiches to crepes (most dishes range between $10-15). One of the restaurant’s best qualities is the casual atmosphere and coffee bar. In the summer, I like to come and get a table out on the patio and order a sparkling, French lemonade.

So the next time you and your friends are sitting around on a Saturday night and can’t decide what to do, take a step outside of Prairie Village and try a new restaurant or visit a different gallery. If we don’t support the independent businesses that are in our area, then we will forever be stuck in our Prairie Village slump.

FLIP F LOP

Warmer March weather

JOURNEYS

$45

OLD NAVY

$3

FORECAST page 23 [a&e]

brings stylish sandals

TEVA

$22

COLLEGE BOOKSTORE

$14.50

photos by karen boomer

page 24 [a&e]

Divine Intervention: Arcade Fire shows maturity in ‘Bible’ by [tom grotewohl]

The Arcade Fire’s debut album Funeral was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2004, topping many endof-the-year lists. With it the band established their trademark sound: Win Butler’s emotive vocals, lush compositions, and careful and complex compositions. In their sophomore release Neon Bible, the Arcade Fire have taken everything that made the Arcade Fire great in the first place and multiplied it 10fold. The result is an album . It is more layered and produced than the band’s debut, and the result is a grandiose sound fitting with the album’s church theme.

The first track “Black Mirror” kicks the album off to a sinister start, a tone that remains constant throughout the course of the album. Gone are the innocent lullabies of Funeral; “Black Mirror” is dark and cynical. It rumbles in with pounding keyboards, complemented by Butler’s airy, effectladen voice. “Mirror mirror, on the wall / Show me when them bombs will fall,” Butler croons in vocals soaked in so much reverb that they could be the voice of God himself. The track slowly and subtly builds in intensity as the band makes use of a full Hungarian orchestra, eventually climaxing in shouts of “Un! Duex! Trois! Dis mirror noir!” What does it mean? I have no idea, but it gets my blood pumping.

“Keep the Car Running,” the band’s second US single, has more of an acoustic flavor. The track begins with two instruments never before heard in an Arcade Fire song: a mandolin and a hurdy gurdy. The addition of these textures gives the tune a Renaissance feel – although at times the arrangement becomes so thick and convoluted that these instruments are almost lost under the layers of reverb and orchestration. Were Win Butler’s voice not so strong and affecting he too would be swallowed by sound, but the song comes into focus at the end of each verse when the band

S M E

unites in singing “Keep the car running.”

After a brief break in intensity with “Neon Bible,” the band rebounds fast and hard with “Intervention,” one of the album’s standout tracks. The band introduces more new instrumentation and one of the signature sounds of the album: the pump organ. In the making of Neon Bible, the band converted an old cathedral into a recording studio to accomplish the rich, extravagant sound they were looking for. The pump organ, combined with familiar elements of the Arcade Fire’s sound, create a chilling, almost sacred effect.

The song builds with orchestration and emotion with each subsequent chorus until Win Butler is nearly screaming at the top of his lungs: “Who’s gonna throw the very first stone?

Who’s gonna reset the bone?” The track is an obvious antiwar anthem, and, between bursts of horns and twinkling xylophones, the band crafts one of the most affecting songs they have ever written.

Next is “Ocean of Noise.” The track begins with an experimental collage of ambient sounds that dissolves into a catchy bass riff. The waters slowly become murkier as the arrangement becomes increasingly complex. The song is the most haunting the band have crafted yet. Butler asks, “Now who here among us still believes in choice?” and is answered by a ghostly choir, “Not I.” From here, the track plunges headfirst into its uplifting final act as the band pulls us out of the water. Waves of sound pummel over Butler as he tells us “It’s time to work it out.” The track is rich in ambient orchestration; at any given moment it is impossible to discern the layers upon layers of rich strings or echo-soaked guitar or any of the bizarre and exotic sounds that the Arcade Fire choose to throw at us. Like most of the songs on the album, “Ocean of Noise” requires repeated listens to break past the surface.

photo courtesy of www.mergerecords.com

“Antichrist Television Blues” offers another stylistic change for the band. While not very bluesy, the track could’ve come straight out of Bruce Springsteen’s back catalogue, as Butler rattles off the plight of the working man at a pace rivaling 50 Cent over fast, rhythmic guitar strumming. The track hardly lets up in tempo for an instant until its abrupt and startling end, in which Butler screams, “So tell me Lord am I the Antichrist?”

On the whole Neon Bible is darker, richer, and more produced than the band’s previous work. The song structure itself is less musically adventurous than Funeral, frequently relying on the formulaic verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure, but the band has pinpointed and mastered its sound so well that this is hardly a concern. Despite a few missteps and weak tracks, Neon Bible offers 50 minutes of rich orchestral pop rock and is already one of the year’s highlights.

The pop culture forum

panel

the

a&e

katie

JONES

What’s a song that’s What movie should’ve been stuck in your head won best picture at the recently?

Oscars?

Britney Spears is...

page 25 [a&e]

Who is Anna Nicole Smith’s baby’s father?

a goat

MCGUIRE

(a&e page editor)

andrew

DICARLO

(guest panelist)

donna

SKATES

(guest panelist)

11 District

C h o i r

Festival Concert Tuesday 6

The God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy

These Days- Nico

Babel

a scary mother

Ruby, My DearThelonious Monk

The Departed

on drugs

Days of our LivesDe La Soul

The Departed

a psychopath

Kevin Federline

Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini

Tangled up in BlueBob Dylan

The Departed

a mess

Bill Boley

The RoadCormack McCarthy

(a&e editor)

johnny

Last book that you read?

Days until

SPRING BREAK!

Hilary Clinton

The Flowers of EvilCharles Baudelaire

page 26 [mixed]

your vacation

check

spring break hot-spots unique destinations that four students are headed to

list

all the essentials from fun in the sun to freezing cold

If you are traveling on a plane, remember : to pack all liquids of 3 ounces or less in a quart size Ziploc bag.

SuDoku iPod or MP3 player

ear plugs or sleeping mask if you’re traveling far and want to sleep magazine or book

photos by samantha ludington

If you’re traveling somewhere warm or tropical, remember : sunscreen a bottle of Aloe Vera in case of sunburn sunglasses are essential boogie board or skim board Keelia Corcoran, Alexa Donahue headed to: San Pedro, Belize why: just for fun will be: going to the beach, snorkeling, canoeing and visiting caves looking forward to: doing things that can’t be done in Kansas, particularly going to the beach

Jack Campbell headed to: San Juan, Guatemala why: a Mission trip will be: teaching kids English and Bible school, and building a second story on the school looking forward to: being with friends and helping the kids

Thomas Henry headed to: Madrid, Spain why: visiting sister who is studying abroad will be: staying with sister for a few days and then sightseeing looking forward to: the different cultures and food

sand shovel for sand castles a camera!

If you’re traveling someplace colder, such as skiing, remember : an array of light or heavy jackets, coats and vests extra thick socks hand warmers (can be found at Dick’s for inside your gloves or boots)

San Juan, Guatemala

San Pedro, Belize

chapstick, such as Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer with SPF 15 Madrid, Spain

thermos (to fill up with hot chocolate or coffee)

and

Tips Tricks to avoid burning over the break by [rachel mayfield] When looking for a good sunscreen, don’t just look for “SPF 15.” Look for the words “broad spectrum” which blocks UVA and UVB rays. If you are planning on doing something active, also look to see if the sunscreen is water proof/sweat proof. Remember that just because its waterproof or sweat-proof doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t reapply often.

If you are going to be visiting warm weather, be careful how much sun exposure you get during the day. Ultraviolet rays are most intense between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. And if you burn easily, try planning outdoor activities in late afternoon. The rays can also cause eye damage, such as cataracts, regardless of skin color. So make sure you wear sunglasses. the [harbinger] photo by anna leek

s t s a e

after winning league for the first time in over a decade, the varsity basketball team has HE T proven itself to be... photos by Samantha Ludington

page 27 [sports]

beast OF

Senior Steven Rowe yells at a ref after a questionable call.

Junior guard Michael McRoberts takes it strong to the basket.

McRoberts had 15 points.

Freshman Willian Carey yells “That’s on you!” after a south freshman fouls senior Ross Simpson.

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Junior Reagan Fromm leads the student section in the cheer, “Go Lancers, Go Lancers, Go!” as they pull ahead at the end of the third quarter.

page 28 [sports]

A Chip off the old block

In only his second year at East, head wrestling coach Chip Ufford led his team to their best ever team finish by [nick ratliff]

Last weekend in Wichita, the wrestling team had its best finish in school history, placing ninth at the state meet. The Lancers, who had four wrestlers place in the top three in their weight class, a school record, have had success in the past, but nothing like this.

“In the history of our wrestling program, there have been many great individuals like Ryan Sonderegger and Joe Johnston,” Head coach Chip Ufford said. “But there’s never been a great team, as a whole. “This team changed that”.

The Lancers had a strong nucleus of seniors like John Carr, Drew Robinson, Cole Johnson and T.J. McManus. Ufford and the seniors got together before the season and talked about ex-

pectations.

“We discussed what their jobs were going to be as the leaders and we wrote down what their expectations were for the upcoming season,” Ufford said.

“They wanted to place top three in all of the small tournaments we were in and place top 10 in the big tournaments like league, the BasheorLinwood classic and the State Tournament, and they met every single one of those expectations.”

The great season has built up expectations for the coming years, and with talented juniors Joey Lutz, Matt Baker and freshman Tanner Johnson, Ufford doesn’t think there will be much of a dropoff.

(Left) Senior Jon Carr does a fist pound with team manager Amy Pollard. Carr placed fifth at state in the 160 lb. weight class. He finished off his season with a 34-9 record. (Right) Junior Matt Baker stands on the medal podium after being awarded his third-place medal, the best finish out of any East wrestler. He finished off the season a teambest 37-4. East finished a best ever ninth place behind the four state placers: Carr, Baker, senior Drew Robinson and junior Joey Lutz. photos by kelsey brown

The Postgame Show Lancer Vision provides a look into East athletics with video highlights by [molly tidrick] Since Lancer Vision was launched on January 5 over 33,000 people have viewed this site of videos of dancing, sporting, and other events. Lancer Vision is on www.smesports.com and is uploaded and run by East mom Peggy Miller. Her son Blake Miller started smesports.com after he graduated because of feeling a need to show parents and other what goes on with East sports.

Twin graduates of 2005, Austin and Zach Hurst, started Lancer Vision and currently developing a similar website www.1dawg.com that offers videos for all to see.

Now Mrs. Miller has taken on the task of running Lancer Vision.

Mrs. Miller attends most of the events that are shown on Lancer Vision including drill team, football, and both guys and girls’ basketball teams. Because Miller can’t attend all events, she has parents help her get footage and later send it to her to edit and upload it to the site. Cindy Sitomer is helping get videos from the 2007

swimming state champions, and Mike Sterchi is helping with videos from the Choraliers trip to NY performing at ground zero.

With the Walk it Out video having 6403 viewers, the SME Boys basketball game vs. Rockhurst having 3274 viewers and the Little Lancers, Dancers, Cheerleaders and Band all together have over 5863 viewers, this site is rapidly growing in viewers and videos.

“The whole thing is about sharing the joys of our students and their accomplishments, good or bad,” Mrs. Miller said. “My hopes are that this becomes a way for our students to show all that they accomplish…and be able to share with others.”

Coach Hair “walks it out” with Coach Ufford and Coach Rhoades during a January pep assembly.

The video is the most downloaded Lancer Vision video. photo by samantha ludington

the [harbinger]

by [sarah luby]

After last year’s losing season of 3-6, the Lancer lacrosse team is determined to do better.

“We messed around a lot last year,” senior co-captain Robbie Fitzwater said. “This year, we need to get more serious.”

Fitzwater was named co-captain by his coach last year because of leadership and promising talent.

New head coach and former JV coach Dusty Kilgore will coach varsity this season because former head coach Chris Toreline has retired.

Coach Kilgore believes that the key to a winning season is team unity.

“My goal is to unify them and make them one team,” Kilgore said. “Last year there was a lot of individualism, which brought down the mentality of the team.”

Junior Ross Ringer agrees.

“Last year we had individuals who could perform on the field,” he

said.“But we couldn’t play as a team.

And that’s what we want to work on this year.”

Coach Kilgore thinks that last season went well, considering that it was the team’s first year on varsity. They also played in the 6A Missouri league, because there are not enough teams for a league in Kansas.

“The Missouri league is really tough, with all the St. Louis teams,” senior Ricky Stern said. “It’s hard to do well because all the St. Louis kids grow up playing lacrosse.”

Fitzwater has been playing lacrosse since his freshman year, when he and seniors Stern, Andrew Faerber, Colin Hayes and Will Becker started the team.

“We have more expectations for this year,” Hayes said. “We want to win [our first game] and set the tone for the season.”

Since it is the seniors’ last year,

ROBBIE FITZWATER Center Mid

they want to make a lasting impression: they hope to beat their two biggest rivals, Pembroke and Rockhurst.

“We need heart in order to win,” Fitzwater said.

Knowing that it is the seniors last year, Coach Kilgore believes that the boys will want to play their hearts out in every game.

“They want to leave a legacy behind,” Kilgore said.

In order to establish that legacy, Coach Kilgore says that the team will need to become something different, something they didn’t have last year.

“We need to be a family unit, everyone is responsible for everyone,” Kilgore said.

This will be the defining quality of the Lancer Lacrosse team.

“We want to leave this year with a sense of accomplishment,” Hayes said.

COLIN HAYES Face off and Center Mid What are your goals for this year?

• Run offense as good as it can be run • try to get team motivated to play an organized offense • Lead team in goals again

What is your prediction for the team this year?

• Hopefully a winning record of 10-3

What are your goals for this year?

Senior Ricky Stern (left) gets ready to attack sophomore Eric Ernst from behind and steal the ball during a practice.

RICKY STERN Middie The motto about Ricky and the team:

• Step up, contribute to the offense • Be aggressive • Push myself so I can get looks from colleges

“Team comes down to slick with Rick and his stick”

What is your prediction for the team this year?

• Hopefully a winning record of 9-4

What is your prediction for the team this year?

• Hopefully a winning record of 9-4

Senior Robbie Fitzwater (center) and team listen to the coach give directions at their firstpractice of the season.

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photos by samantha ludington

re-LAX

Upperclassmen lacrosse players hope for a year of success

page 29 [sports]

page 30 [sports]

taking LEAPS and BOUNDS The drill team went to Nationals in Orlando this past weekend and success may mean the girls will be featured on national television photos by samantha ludington

The drill team runs through their routines before heading to Nationals. This will be their second major competition after going to the Kansas Spectacular. Junior Erin Aitken and sophomore Laura Kaufman tied for third place in the Solo division. Seniors Molly Emert (above, second row right) and Natashia Howell (above, first row left) took runner up in the Duet division. The team as a whole won the Gold Cup, given to the best team at the competition.

K-SPEC Results

Juniors Michelle Parsons and Emily Cray pose for the finishing note at a performance. The team often performs at two or three events a week. Missing time on weekdays hasn’t affected the drill team too much, however. They were named Academic Champions at K-SPEC after having the highest GPA of any team.

Solo Division- Erin Aitken and Laura Kaufman3rd runner up Duets- Molly Emert and Natashia Howell- 1st runner up Judges’ Choice- Jazz, Hip Hop, Pom Highest Score in a Category- Jazz, Hip Hop, Pom Highest Overall GPA in 6-A Division Highest Overall GPA in Competition

Senior Meg Fracol and Sophomore Jennifer Meara practice one last time before leaving for Orlando. The National Competition took Dancers take the floor during a recent Pep Assembly. This dance was one of two the girls will perform place March 2-5 at Hard Rock Universal. “I hope we do well, however in Orlando. If the Nationals judges reacted to the dance as the East crowd did at this assembly, they may we have never gone to nationals so I don’t know what to expect,” be featured on ESPN2 in the coming month. drill team sponsor Kristin Anderson said.

the [harbinger]

Best of the Best- Gold Cup

compiled by sam logan

5

minutes with... new Lancer mascot

Grant Morris

“

page 31 [sports]

Grant Morris is a sophomore and will be the new Lancer Mascot. His duties will include pumping up the crowd at games and attending other events such as the Culver’s event last week. He won the position in a competition between five other students.

compiled by molly tidrick

On the worst thing about being the mascot- I have pretty limited movement in the uniform so it might restrict me from doing any breakdance moves in it but I’ll try my hardest.

On his crazy dress prior to being the mascot- First, I’d like to say that dressing up like I do is so much fun. I encourage everyone to do it. Most of my costumes come from really random places like thrift stores, garage sales or my grandmother’s attic.

On what inspired you to try out for mascot- The fans. It’s in my best interest to do everything I can to get the crowd pumped up because if the crowd is into the game, I know it will help our players.

On holding up a pink sword during last year’s Rockhurst game- I stole the sword from Phillip Wolff. He said that the only way I could keep it was if I held it up the whole time. I took his challenge.

On some new ideas to pump up the crowd- I’ve been thinking of some ideas like a T-Shirt Launcher and stuff like that, but I can’t promise that. What I can promise is doing all I can for the fans.

On the mascot tryouts- I know I had some tough competition. I really think the dance sealed the deal. I thought I really drilled that part of the tryout.

photo by patrick mayfield

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Saturday, May 26- Paul Splittorff Bobblehead (right)- Another figurine to put on eBay.

4

Saturday, June 30Royals cowboy hat- This sounds like it could be the goofiest promotion in Royals’ history.

new Royals promotions

1 2

Tuesday, April 24- Mark Teahen Jersey T-shirt night- 20,000 Grey Teahen shirts won’t last long.

Tuesday, May 22- Hot Dog Derby T-Shirt- Likely the most popular event at the K gets t-shirts for its fans to show pride

in Lancer sports did you know? News you might have missed kcroyals.com

4

”

Junior Scott Willman is talking to many different D-1 schools about potential golf scholarships, including Baylor and K-State. His 71 at the State tournament last year was the best sophomore score in Kansas 6A. Only one of the golfers who placed ahead of him, BV North’s Matt Novoria who shot a 69 at state, return this year. But even Novoria admitted he shot the “round of his life.”

:03...... :02......:01...... games

Boys and girls’ basketball @ State ChampionshipIt’s possible that no East team will get this far, but if they do, it’s a game that you can’t miss. The boys’ team went last year and was one play away from taking the title, and any game played with the Lady Lancers’ trapping defense would be exciting.

THURSDAY, 3/15

Boys’ tennis @ Aquinas- The returning state champs take on Aquinas in their first road meet of the season. Seniors Bryce Warnock, Alex Hartman, and Robby Gillespie helped East take home the title last year and hope to repeat this year. Junior Jack Peterson and sophomore Chris Fotopoulos also aided in the winning cause.

Girls’ soccer vs. SM South- A state qualifier in 2006, the girls’ team takes on bitter rival SM South in the season-opener. Junior Taylon Johnson and sophomore Libby Jandl, who may be playing basketball just four days before the first game, may not be available for this rivalry match.

LEVI MISCHE- JUNIORBOYS’ SWIMMING- Mische (right holding three fingers up) placed second in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle. With senior Luke Tanner heading off to college next year, Mische may be in line for one, if not two, individual state titles next year. photo by samantha ludington

SATURDAY, 3/11

players

MATT BAKER- JUNIOR- WRESTLING- Baker took third place at the State meet in the 189 lb. weight class. His final record was 37-4. His finish and three other wrestlers’ finishes helped the team finish 9th overall, beating all Sunflower League schools. The only Metro team to place higher at the meet was BV North.

March 5, 2007

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girls’ basketball

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Coach Rhoades’ trapping defense has been effective lately. This is how the Lancers defend a normal offense.

The “point” defender forces the dribbler to a corner and another guard comes to trap. The other defenders all jump in front of their “men”, leaving the opposite guard open. However, that pass is very hard to make.