Issue 14

harbinger

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / 7500 mission road prairie village, kansas

o d w o h

? e s o o you ch

With so many options open for next fall, seniors have trouble deciding what’s next page 10 -11

page 2 / news / the harbinger

Making a switch by vanessa legat Art Foundations room 203 has paper models hanging from the ceiling and paper stored in every free space on the back wall; a picture of a typical art room. This will change next year, when the room will not be scheduled as an art room anymore.

Room 401, currently a science room, will face the same fate when room scheduling changes will switch the rooms from their former departments. Administration said that the most effective use of the classrooms is the main reason for the changes one of which may cause problems.

The art department will lose their rooms because of a decreasing enrollment for next year. According to art department head Chuck Crawford, there are going to be five fewer art classes the coming school year. East has had a good art enrollment, something that Crawford refers back to a good

attitude towards the importance of education and to fill up seven hours with classes that are not study halls.

However, it just went down a little for next school year, which made scheduling room 203 as an art foundations room unnecessary. He and the other art teachers are concerned that when 203 is not an art room anymore the are teacher might not get it back.

“If it becomes a classroom and they move all that stuff out there and put chairs in there, we may lose it forever,” Crawford said. He is concerned they will just have to keep packing the students into the other art rooms.

Shelly Trewolla, ceramics teacher, said that having one room less will cause storage problems. ”It’s always hard when you lose a room,” Trewolla said.

“We have a lot of storage difficulties, material difficulties. We would be delighted if we had another room.”

The science department is wondering why they will lose room 401, which

Redistribution of classrooms causes controversy

was ironically just made into a science room with gas and water. According to environmental education teacher Jim Lockard, the enrollment went up, probably due to a changed science credit requirement of 3 units starting with this year’s freshmen.

Lockard even said that the school is going to have one more science teacher next school year. For him, one less room means problems with taking care of the over 50 live animals in room 301.This room will be scheduled seven hours a day next year which means that Lockard can’t get into his room during free hours anymore to take care of animals from rats and turtles to snakes.

Associate principal Ron Mersch doesn’t see the new room scheduling as a real loss for the departments. He points out the school improvement over the last 10 gave the departments more space than they had had before. The art department didn’t even have water in their rooms and had to go out in the halls to fill buckets in order to work

with watercolors, he said.

Although there is no final plan for the two rooms yet, Mersch and fellow associate principal Michael Wolgast mention special education classes and in-school suspension as possible uses for the rooms.

“The rooms that we [have] currently not scheduled classes in will be used next year in a variety of different ways,” Wolgast said.

“In one case it may be that we are [going to] use a room for in-school suspension, that’s something we haven’t had for a couple of years because we haven’t had rooms.”

Nevertheless he understands the departments’ concerns about the changes, which make the plan more effective.

“We understand all of those issues…We try to do the best we can to schedule the building the best that we can and when you do a schedule as large as this one becomes with the number of students and the number of classes…You just have to be very efficient when you do that,” Wolgast said.

Save Benefit concert raises money to help stop genocides Darfu r by ruth stark On Saturday Apr. 29 the Uptown Theater will be filled with the sounds of rockers slamming on their guitars to help people a world away. In Darfur, Sudan, 400,000 people have died and children are starving to death everyday. While you are having a

News Briefs Tennis Spirit Day In between a big rival match against Bishop Meige, the tennis fan and spirit day is one that should not be overlooked. As the tennis team prepares for their big match, there will be a DJ and food from Two Guys and a Grille. This big rally is taking place Tuesday at 3 p.m. on the Varsity courts.

blast rocking to “Don’t Call it a Ghetto” by The Architects, it actually is helping the citizens of Darfur fight the battle against the mass genocide occurring in their country.

The Save Darfur benefit concert tickets cost $10, which will go to the Care organization with a program in Darfur Emergency Relief.

Jordan White, a junior at Pembroke Hill, organized the Save Darfur concert after an assembly where he learned of the horrific situation in Darfur.

Since 2003, Darfur, has been witness to a mass genocide.

The death toll has reached 400,000. The political unrest is being fueled primarily by the Janjaweed, a group of Arabs from local tribes supported by the government. Rape, displacement and organized starvation by the Janjaweed continue to kill thousands. These startling facts made White want to step up and make a difference.

White has been calling, e-mailing and organizing since the middle of February to make this concert a success.

White said that even though things like getting posters up

Early Release Giving time back to the teachers, there will be an early release day April 27. Students will be dismissed at 1:10 p.m. at which point teachers will be given time to work.

Test Deadlines Watch out juniors. The ACT/SAT deadlines are approaching for the June testing dates. These are the last tests offered until fall of next year.

The registration postmark deadline for the June 3 SAT is April 28, and the deadline for the June 10 ACT is May 5. The tests can be registered for on-line at the tests ‘respective websites.

and finalizing the contract for the theater were stressful, the enthusiasm of the bands was outstanding.

“Excited doesn’t begin to describe my feelings. I’m really just overwhelmed by how quickly they [the bands] all responded and how willing they were to help,” White said.

Local bands Rockhill, A Pseudo Cinema and On in Three will be sharing the stage with the featured Indie rock group, The Architects.

The Architects aren’t normally thrilled to play benefit concerts, but are ready to bring the rock on Apr. 29.

“We agreed to do this benefit for you because of who [put it together]: high school kids. We trust that your instincts about fun and fighting the good fight are keener and less mitigated than the grown-up dolts whose social conscience treads closer to guilt than idealism,” said Brandon Phillips, lead singer of the Architects.

The show begins at 7p.m. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. For more information contact Sam Slosberg at (913)-484-1718.

100 inning game Get pumped up for the second annual 100 inning baseball game.

Come support all baseball teams from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the home field. Sonic, Outback Steakhouse and Bellefonte Ice Cream will be catering the event.

There will also be appearances from Royals alumni.

Fashion Show For all of those people interesting in viewing student designed fashion, the Annual NAHS fashion show is on April 7. It will be held at Indian Hills Middle School at 7 p.m. The cost is $2 at the door. Come support peers showing off their fashion showcase.

Aids Walk

Film Festival

Come support AIDS awareness and search for a cure Saturday in the Walk for Aids. At 8 a.m. the walkers will meet at Thesis Park, just south of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, have opening ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. and begin to walk at 10 a.m. There will be an informational meeting held Tuesday after school in room 318.

Lights! Camera! Action! The annual Five Minute Film Festival showing on Friday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium is a collection of five minute films created by high school students across the Shawnee Mission School District.

There will be judges present who will critique the videos and prizes will be awarded at the showing for the best films.

page 3 /1 news / the harbinger issue / september 6, 2005

Adopt A Minefield

Landmine survivor creates a foundation to raise money to remove landmines in the Middle East

by katie jones Shiny metal objects shaped like butterflies litter the fields in the Middle East. They catch the local 7-year-olds’ eyes and some of them toss the makeshift plaything to their friends. It’s not until the butterfly explodes in one of the 7-year-old’s hands that the other kids realize they were playing catch with a landmine.

Butterfly mines are one of the 350 different types of landmines that are scattered throughout Africa and the Middle East, which, according to statistics, injure one person every 15 minutes. On March 31, Kenneth Rutherford, the former Springfield Model United Nations sponsor, came to East to explain the crisis of landmines at an optional assembly. Rutherford had a firsthand experience with another type of mine, this kind buried near the earth’s surface. It exploded under Rutherford’s Jeep, mangling his right foot and causing him to get both legs amputated at the knee.

Rutherford and an association called Adopt-A-Minefield have a solution to help demine fields in the infested countries: Night of

1,000 Dinners. The idea is to recruit people nationwide to host dinners throughout the month of April. Hosts can invite all their friends to the dinner, urging each invitee to donate money towards Adopt-A-Minefield. The money will go to help hire professionals to de-mine fields so that local children aren’t obliged to.

Rutherford and World History teacher Paul DeBarthe have encouraged small groups of students at East to host (how many?) dinners this month.

“In my estimation,” DeBarthe said, “this is the kind of thing East students should be involved in. They can immensely help people who are in serious need.”

Sophomore Andrea Stalkwell hosted the first landmine dinner on April 3 at Village Presbyterian Church, serving 30 guests a potluck dinner put together by the church kitchen staff the church congregation. After the meal, she showed her guests a video explaining what mines are how important it is to hire professionals to de-mine fields.

Stalkwell was compelled to host a dinner after Rutherford’s assembly because of his positive attitude, despite what he has been

through.

“Instead of hiding or running, he teaches,” Stalkwell said. “I mean he was only in his early 20s when he was hurt. He just wants everyone to know. Now I want everyone to know.”

Sophomore Michael Lebovitz, along with three other people, will host a dinner today at Penn Valley Community College. The group plans to cook pans of spaghetti and meatballs and another kosher meal because their dinner is during Passover.

They expect 50- to 75 people to attend, each donating money towards Adopt-AMinefield. Lebovitz said he decided to help host the dinner after he learned what landmines were really meant to do. The idea sickened him, and he felt he had to do something to help get rid of them.

“These things aren’t intended to kill people.” said Lebovitz. “When they were planted in World War II, they were intended to severely injure civilians so that the

art by ren li

countries they were planted in wouldn’t have enough money to propagate in the war. They would have to use their money to provide medical attention for their civilians instead. We aren’t even warring anymore, and mines are still maiming people daily.”

Another sophomore in Lebovitz’s group, Jane Hawkins, said the assembly opened my eyes to how serious the landmine problem was around the globe.

“It really made me realize what’s going on,” Hawkins said. “It’s amazing what people don’t really think about can affect people so greatly. Not nearly enough people know about the landmine issue, and it’s really important to spread the word and help as much as we can.”

photo courtesy of daniel cooney

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page 4 / opinion / the harbinger

A SERIOUS PROBLEM. smoking, drinking, whatever it is can ruin your life and torture your loved ones

an opinion of paige cornwell I tried not to listen to another girl’s voice being carried across the room in a class one day. It was Monday, so naturally she was describing in detail what had happened on her Saturday night. She was talking loud enough that even the teacher would hear her every word, but I tried to concentrate on the book I was reading. It wasn’t my business, and I had heard her talk about the same elements of her story dozens of time before. Every time I heard it, it made me think of someone I didn’t want to think about, someone who had probably told her best friends the same story on the days when she actually came to her high school classes. But this time was different. The words “vodka” “pot,” and “my dad seemed really mad this time” stuck out.

A memory that I had tried to discard for so many years and eventually forgotten about suddenly came before me.

I saw a person I didn’t want to recognize, but I did. Even though the person’s voice had changed dramatically since then, I could recall her words as if she were sitting next to me.

I winced as I remembered.

Suddenly, I was on the top stair of the flight of steps again after waking up from a bad dream, tugging on my curly blonde hair that has since gone straight brown, looking at the girl in front of me on the phone. I guess she didn’t know that I understood what she was saying.

“I guess I could go get some beer, she just went to sleep.”

I was four years old. And the girl was going to leave me, alone with my sleeping younger brother, to go get beer for friends.

I literally shook myself to stop thinking about that. I hated how even after all these years the memory had come back to me. I hated how the girl across the room was talking about how many shots she had done while I was trying not to let this memory continue. But it did: Now I was behind a couch, hiding, looking at a person with long hair that I had never seen before. His eyes were wide and red. The house smelled weird, like when my mother burnt the cookies she was making. I saw smoke. Where were my parents? Why did I hear voices of people talking in a in a way that all their words sounded like one thing? I raced back to my room and fell asleep for the third time that night.

Reality again. I was back in the classroom, sitting in a desk instead of sleeping in a bed. Now the girl was talking about how her father had caught her drunk and grounded her. She was mad at him, acting like it was his fault for her getting caught. If only they had both known that what they were doing was not just affecting them. The recollection persisted: The screaming woke me up. Two people screaming at each other, forgetting there were others sleeping. My parents were home. Now there was someone crying. I knew that my father and she got into fights a lot, but I was used to that.

What had happened? I fell back asleep for the last time.

The memory had ended, and the girl was still talking about her night. I resisted saying anything, afraid that if I did, she would tell me that she was smart, that nothing could happen to her that couldn’t be prevented, nothing as small as a joint could affect her for the rest of her life. I wish I had said something, because I know it can happen. I know because the girl who had the party had thought the same thing.

She was wrong. She became dependent of drugs, alcohol and so much more. She didn’t magically get better when she needed to take a test, or when someone needed her more than she needed the alcohol. But she was right about one thing. She could have prevented all of it. She could have prevented having that party where she almost burnt the house down with all those people in it; she could have prevented dropping out of high school. And she could have prevented affecting for the worse those who cared about her despite what she did, her family, including me, her younger sister. But she didn’t prevent it.

My older sister had what might be called a normal childhood. She was an only child living with both parents who provided everything they could for her, there was no foreshadowing that she would eventually forget them and only care about where her next high was coming from.

Then her parents divorced. Ashley found herself caught in the middle between each parent, trying to find a medium where it could be like how it used to be. Her father re-married, and at 13, Ashley found herself with a new stepmother and a year later a younger sister, me. It became too much for her to handle.

She first bought pot in the eighth grade; the fact that she

I hate expressions Americans’ language focuses too much on extremes an opinion of hallie mccormick I was sitting at my desk staring down at my chemistry kinetics worksheet. Instead of thinking how to solve these problems, the only thing that was entering my head was a voice saying over and over again, “I hate this.”

But I don’t really hate chemistry. I’m jumping to conclusions. I hate that I don’t understand it. But like many of my peers I have become the victim of using the verb

hate at the drop of a hat.

Hate can be said with ease. Spitting out a long list of things we hate comes easier than a short list of love. But, I refuse to believe that we live in such a pessimistic society where we truly hate more than love.

My philosophy is that bragging has taken a new form—simply saying that you enjoy something is considered bragging.

If we convey minor dislike by saying “I hate it”, then it would be obvious to express anything minor we enjoy by saying “I love it.”

But, love is a touchy subject. People have built it up as a sort of taboo.

thought the dealer was cute being more of the motive to buy it than the actual substance itself. Then she realized it was a way for her to escape, and she started buying it more and more. Alcohol also came into the picture. Ashley found herself addicted to both.

She started off her freshman year at East hoping to have a new start. But she didn’t change, getting drunk and high was worth more to her than getting a passing grade on a test. Her parents decided to put her in a private school, hoping to get her away from her “group” that she hung out with. It didn’t work. She soon found a group at that school to replace those at East. To her, school just wasn’t important anymore. She dropped out.

Meanwhile, I was growing up. My sister was gone so much that I often found myself confused about who the girl across the table talking to me was, and why she was so secretive about where she was going. I felt envious of my other friends who had older siblings because they knew that their siblings would always come back to them. With Ashley I didn’t have that.

As young as seven, I knew that my sister was doing things that were illegal, I just didn’t know what illegal meant. At my eighth birthday party I announced, not knowing the definition of the word, that my sister was an alcoholic. All she and my parents could do was smile and hope that I would be quiet, because they knew what I said was true.

Then she left us. My parents didn’t know where she was, for a while I didn’t have a sister. Ashley doesn’t know where she was either, she doesn’t remember.

Now she is in California, just out of college. While others graduated at the age of 23, she graduated at 28. While her friends are getting married and starting a family, she is still learning how to resist going to parties where she knows there will be the lure that one shot of Tequila. I sometimes visit her, and even though she is 13 years older than me, I feel no age gap. While it took her more than five years to actually grow up, in a way, I had to grow up prematurely, to replace the older sister that I really never had. All because of that small joint.

Something you have to word carefully and say sparsely. Not just to one another, but about activities as well.

I can complain and grumble all I want about my problems and difficulties without getting one weird look from a friend. But with a few optimistic comments about how great life is, people raise their eyebrows and rolls their eyes.

It has become socially acceptable to hate something instead of loving it.

Everyone has become too modest. We have been told never to brag, never shout out on the rooftops that we got a 100 percent on a chemistry test in fear that we might hurt someone’s feelings who can’t share our success.

If someone were to come to me on my way to Algebra—grab my arm and say, “I just love math!” I would look at them as if they were crazy. Not because they love math, but because they told me something that they enjoy willingly without ever having the question dropped: “What’s your

favorite subject?”

How many times a day (or even a week) does someone talk about how much they are enjoying swim practice, or reading A Separate Peace, or working logarithm problems? How many times a day do you hear someone complain about homework load, and tough classes?

I catch myself complaining about classes I don’t want to go to, and papers I don’t want to write everyday. It takes me awhile to think of the few times that I have told a friend how much I like the new lesson we’re learning in class.

Since I can’t drop a habit of expressing every dislike with hate, I’m going to try to form a habit—telling people when I find an activity that I like. To let people know when I like the book we’re reading in English or that I like learning about World War II. Anything. Just so I can even out a few “I hate’s” with some “I love’s”.

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / opinion / page 5

Know Your Rights When you get pulled over, it isn’t over an opinion of derek martin The other day I was pulled over for having a tail light out. I wasn’t doing anything particularly illegal, I wasn’t brandishing a gun, I wasn’t drinking and driving, I wasn’t even speeding.

Yet somehow I had managed to get pulled over. As the policeman was approaching my car, I innocently reached behind my passenger seat, just to make sure everything was in order, but as soon as he reached my window rather than being completely decent about the whole situation he verbally accosts me with, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Driving home, officer.” I replied.

“What’d you reach behind your seat for, what’s back there, what’s back there?”

“Nothing, I swear!” I responded.

After the customary license and registration bit, Officer Weaver informed me that what I’d done, reaching behind my seat, is what’s called an “aversive maneuver” and that he would be searching my car. Now I had a split second to decide: let this intimidating cop search the car, planting/ finding Lord knows what, call his bluff and ask for a warrant, or simply say nothing.

Unfortunately for me, I was unaware of my rights as a citizen of the United States. Even in this day and age with Patriot Acts and Guantanamo Bay, American citizens still do have some rights. I’d like to inform you of yours should you find yourself in a similar situation.

First of all, while no East student would ever have anything illicit or illegal in their possession, if a police officer sees something illegal, he or she does not need a warrant to search your car or person.

Second, if a police officer asks to search your car, it usually means they do not have a warrant. If they did have a warrant, they would not have to ask. In this situation, unless you are comfortable with every nook and cranny of your vehicle being subject to intrusion by a police officer, you should not consent.

What many people fail to realize is that Police Officers are not all powerful, there are rules and regulations regarding their behavior. A lot of people, particularly nervous high school students, are under the impression that police can do anything, this is simply not true.

Certainly if a police officer orders you out of your car you should comply, but if they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, or don’t feel comfortable answering you can choose not to answer it.

The tone, body language, and words of a police officer are designed to intimidate people into allowing searches, but if you do not consent to a search an officer must get a warrant from a judge.

It should come as no shock that police officers are not required, nor do they find it morally imperative to inform you of your right not to consent to a search. The major problem with police/citizen relations is the imbalance of power. Certainly you should treat police officers with respect, but don’t forget, police are human too.

If the officer is still determined to search your car they must obtain a warrant from a Judge. To obtain a warrant the officer must show probable cause that an illegal act is being, or had been committed and that a search that invaded privacy would supply evidence of this. In layman’s terms, you have to have done or said something to indicate that you might’ve committed a crime.

Probable Cause is defined as more than likely the items being searched for are connected with criminal activities

More than imagined an opinion of ally heisdorffer About three weeks before leaving for Ireland, I had a breakdown.

I didn’t want to go anymore. Raising the money and arguing with my mom over who would pay for what led to screaming matches and strained conversations.

The tension between my mother and I had been escalating since August. I hadn’t even thought about raising money for Ireland all summer. When I came back to school and remembered that I needed 2,700 dollars before March 10, I felt an immediate sense of stress. For the next several months, I spent my time with small children instead of being with my friends on the weekends. I spent long nights baby-sitting, cleaning up spills, catering to their every needs, and consoling them when they were upset.

Eventually the desire to not go passed and I was sitting on an airplane, waiting for the plane to take off. The flight attendants were making their usual hand motions, pointing out the exits and showing us where the oxygen masks were located, but I couldn’t hear any of it. All I could think is “I’m going to be in Ireland in eight hours.”

I would consider myself a tough person. There aren’t many things that will bring me to tears, especially anything sentimental. Never did I think that a couple of cliffs and an ocean could bring me to tears, but there I was, bawling like a baby on the top of a cliff in the middle of “Amor de mi Alma.” I was dirty from not showering, tired from not sleeping for 24 hours, and agitated from being on a bouncing bus since the moment we got off the plane, but none of that mattered anymore. Looking past my physical state and initial disgust for being jammed on a bus with 40 other people was simple now. I realized that I would never again have this same experience and that I must enjoy it. The beautiful scenery, the friendly people, the castles, right down to every single sheep, it was wonderful.

Looking back now, I wish I would have written down every thing that I did. Some days

and those items will be found in the places being searched. For example, if you roll down your window and a cloud of smoke billows from your car, don’t expect a lot of leeway from the police officer, there is probable cause to believe that someone in the car has been smoking. If you are searched, and something is procured and you believe the search to be illegal make sure you inform the officer of your objection and ask him to note it in his report.

Remember, although a police officer may ask you numerous questions, you are not legally required to answer any of them except for giving your name. The Supreme Court has ruled that you may only refuse to give your name, when giving your name will incriminate you, in most cases though, it will not. Also, your refusal to answer questions will probably make the officer more suspicious, so when they ask you where you’re going at 3 am don’t refuse to answer and demand a lawyer. Keep in mind, common sense is a powerful tool and even though the Police may lack it at certain instances, it’s your best defense of your rights, if you feel like something’s wrong, it probably is.

Hopefully, you can take this information and use it to your advantage to keep overzealous or rookie police officers in check. I might remind you, many police officers are decent people who really do serve and protect, more than likely if you treat them with respect, this respect will be reciprocated and although you might feel the need to make your opinion known about this issue or that issue, it is always better to be respectful than confrontational.

Spring break trip makes friendships, memories

are blurred and I can’t remember exactly what I was doing between some tour and sleeping on the bus. There are several memories that are seared in to my mind, though. The echo at (what was that place?). The tears of my senior friends when the girls sang “Bonnie Woodgreen.” Getting caught in the rain while running back to the bus after singing in Kylemore Abbey. With every memory I am reminded of where I was, who I was with, and how lucky I was to be there.

I had previously known little to nothing about most of the people in my fifth hour Choraliers class. I knew probably 10 people very well, and the others were just faces with names. Establishing friendships has always been a hurdle for me. Moving around so many times in my life, it never seemed wise to make long lasting relationships with people because I figured I would just leave again soon. This trip was the perfect opportunity for me to establish those friendships I was so afraid of making. After returning, I began saying “Hi” to kids in the hallway I hadn’t even thought twice about before.

The food was disgusting, I was constantly dirty and I couldn’t straighten my hair for ten days. I didn’t have time to meticulously apply my make up and by the end of the day, none of it stayed on through the dreary weather and rain. There was rain in my boots, in my jacket, in my jeans; it was inescapable, but upon my return all I felt was the urge to travel once more. Being home and with my family was so surreal. I couldn’t believe how much I had complained about missing my home and bed. Once I was back, I would have given anything to be bumping down those narrow roads on that bus once more.

I’ve become more appreciative of the people in my fifth hour every day. Most don’t get the opportunity to know everyone in one specific class so intimately. I finally understood that there was more to these kids than the sounds that came out of their mouths. Although others may give choir a hard time for being so cult-like, we can’t help it. We love each other so much and have formed a bond that will last for a lifetime. It made all those nights hanging out with 5-year-olds and fights with my mother worth it

page 6 / editorial / the harbinger

Not Worth Fighting America’s war on drugs is expensive, ineffective

America’s War on Drugs has failed.

The second issue that would be affected by the We have fought long and hard for the past 30 years, but legalizing of drugs would be a decreased crime rate. it has been a losing battle. It has imprinted society with a According the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one quarter slogan--Just Say No!--but has not effectively defeated the of all convicted property-damage and drug offenders smuggling, dealing, smoking, peddling and producing. had committed their crime to get money to pay for The War against “America’s number one enemy”, as drugs. Name every crime you can think of-theft, battery, stated by Nixon in the ‘70s, just as the anti-drug campaign assault, rape, murder, vandalism, gang violence, was starting, is a losing one. We all need to realize that and robbery, abuse, neglect, conspiracy-and try to not link come up with a better solution. Too many undercover them with some sort of drug-related motive. The point cops and task force members have been injured or killed is, if we remove the profit motive, if we legalize drugs, attempting to fight for the sole purpose of combating drug it will no longer be an industry. It will be just another dealing and usage. regulated substance, like alcohol or cigarettes. It will not And why have they been killed? For money. be necessary for drug lords and kingpins to rule over a The reason why 80 percent of American inmates are small population of minions willing to do whatever it in jail is because they were associated with the stealing, took to get the money, to get the drugs. smuggling, killing and exploiting that comes along with The entire underworld of drug production and the drug industry. That’s right. It is an industry, geared at distribution would disappear with legalization. Nearly making a profit that can be totaled either in millions of 14,000 homicides related to drug offenders could be dollars, or in human lives, addictions or people destroyed. prevented if people did not feel they had to steal or The only way we can effectively murder in order to get the funds defeat the immense force of drugs necessary to buy their crack and A majority opinion of the upon our nation is to destroy the profit heroin. Imagine a world where Harbinger editorial board motive that runs the industry. And to prostitutes did not need to walk the destroy the profit motive means to streets to get the money necessary to legalize drugs. All of them. From pot and acid, to meth and maintain their high. cocaine.

Imagine a world where young boys would not need to The first step is legalization and the ending of the 30- join a gang to earn respect and funds to buy their weekly year prohibition. The next is regulation. America’s new stash. In the Netherlands, where drugs have been made goal would be to maintain the smaller amount of its society virtually legal, 1.8 percent of their homicides are related to that is already addicted to these drugs and to monitor the drugs while in the U.S, where drugs are illegal, 8 percent of production of them, resulting in the possibility of fewer our homicides are related to drugs. Think about it. overdoses due to a “bad batch” that is made too strongly The third area that would be affected by the legalization or contaminated. of drugs is the treatment and psychological health of By legalizing drugs, three key areas would be affected youth. Drugs are romanticized in TV, film, music. Children and teenagers would see a dramatic difference in their get it in their heads that it is cool to smoke pot and that they world; one that would weight greatly on their futures. will become cooler if they are the first to try the needled First, by ending the drug prohibition, the economy would drugs. be positively affected. Our country spends approximately It all goes back to the Hollywood image of the “bad kids” $69 billion per year on catching, proscecuting and jaling who sell and exploit their peers. If drugs were legalized, the nearly 1.4 million people involved in drug-related the definition of “cool” would change from who had the incidents: theft, murder, dealing, according to the National connections, who had the phone numbers and who knew Center On Addiction And Substance Abuse (CASA). If were the source to the cocaine or coke. Drug dealers would to be able to save that $69 billion each year, it could add up not be the coolest ones and our youth could be more to a much brighter future. protected.

The fact is, to end the prohibition--the illegalizationof drugs--would be to improve our world. Yes, there may be an upsurge of people using drugs following their legalization, but in the long run, so many more elements of our society would be improved. We would have the money; we would have the $69 billion we spend annually on the War Against Drugs and we could use that money for good.

The crime rate could decrease significantly when nearly all crimes can be traced back to the profit motive of the drug underworld. Lives would be saved. And finally, the idea of lessening the pressure on youth is quite substantial.

Only good can come of this. We need to do something and we need to do it now because what have going is obviously not working.

We need to see change.

harbinger editor-in-chief annie fuhrman

news editor sara steinwart

center spread assistant editor michelle sprehe

photo editor linda howard

assistant editors amanda allison evan favreau

news page editor melissa lem

mixed editor libby nachman

assistant photo editor samantha ludington

art & design editor ian mcfarland

opinion page editors thomas braslavsky clare jordan

a&e editor derek martin

ads / business manager kristen crawford

head copy editor bryan dykman

editorial editor foster tidwell

a&e page editor joey soptic ruth stark

assistant ads / buisness manager kevin grunwald vanessa legat

features editor ellie weed

sports editor peter goehausen

circulation manager davin phillips

features page editors katie jones christy beeder

sports page editors jayne shelton ben whitsitt

center spread editor laura nelson

page editors ally heisdorffer rachel mayfield

copy editors amanda allison bryan dykman evan favreau annie fuhrman hallie mccormick laura nelson

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

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

staff writers paige cornwall joe demarco clark goble tom grotewohl ronan mcghie stephen nichols meg shackleford adrienne wood photographers karen boomer katie james frances lafferty kelsey stabenow katie woods advisor dow tate

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

issue 14 / april 17 / features / page 7 by stephen nichols

Ahead of the

grade Eighth-grader attends East for higher level classes

When Mark Schultz was in kindergarten he went up to his mom and said, “I know everything there it to know about math.

“No you don’t,” she replied.

“Yes I do,” Mark said.

“What about negative numbers and square roots?” Mrs. Schultz asked.

“Ohhhh,” Mark said. That’s when his mom saw his mind click. After that he would bring home papers full of math problems he had scribbled down during school and help his sister with his times tables. That spark has led him above and beyond normal math classes for his age.

Since sixth grade Mark has been coming to East to take classes. Currently, as an eighth grader, he is enrolled in PreCalc and Chemistry. This isn’t strange or exciting for Mark, he’s been doing it his entire life.

Mark did not face the struggles that a regular first grade student did. While most kids were still counting on their fingers, he had no problem explaining square roots and negative numbers. With all this knowledge, he had trouble paying attention.

To keep Mark challenged his mother let Mark take an online program, developed by Stanford, which taught gifted kids the first through eighth curriculum at any pace they chose. He began in first grade Mark then completed the entire course, up to the eighth grade level.

He was ready to enter third grade.

Third grade started and Mark began Algebra. Then fourth grade with Algebra 2 and fifth grade with PreCalc. All this time, he was never in a math class. During that hour

during school he would go to the computer lab and take the Stanford class online. If he ever had any trouble he would just call the tutors provided for him.

The summer before sixth grade, Mark was taking a Geometry course at Pembroke The teacher Charles McCalla recommended him to take classes at East.

“I’d been doing really well in math and science,” Schultz said. “The teacher thought I was doing a really good job.”

The recommendation allowed Mark to be enrolled in Geometry in 6th grade at East, which was important to his mom.

“I felt like he really needed to learn to take math in the classroom.”

He took Geometry class with eighth graders. For Mark it was like being a freshman, experiencing high school three years early.

“I was pretty nervous,” Schultz said. “It was kind of like a new thing. You know in sixth grade you’re going into middle school.

It was like taking another big step. High school was way far away in my mind.”

For about the first weeks, Mark was able to pretend he was an eighth grader but they found out.

“They were pretty shocked, but they got used to the fact,” he said.

After they got used to the age difference, and now, as an eighth grader, he has advanced from class to class, sometimes being in another student’s class year after year. ophomore Callie Jennings has been in Mark’s math class for the past two years.

“It’s funny because he’s with seniors,” Jennings said. “They won’t make fun of him

to bring him down.”

All the same, she sees him as one of the quieter kids in the class.

“He’s probably intimidated,” she said. “He doesn’t talk much. He seems kind of reserved but every now and then his personality will come out.”

Senior Andrea Harden, another classmate in PreCalc, sees Mark helping out kids several years older than him.

“Kids don’t hesitate to ask him for help,” she said.

The only freshman in Schultz’s PreCalc class, Young Hao, hardly sees any interaction with Mark and the rest of the class.

“Kids treat him with indifference. It’s first hour so the kids are pretty quiet.”

Schultz has grown accustomed to the amazement from his friends and fellow students after three years of advanced classes.

“Some of them can’t believe it. Some now still don’t know what classes I’m taking. They just know I’m taking ‘smart classes’. It’s not that incredible anymore.”

This is Mark’s last year taking classes at East, next year he will be a freshman at Rockhurst.

Although his freshman class will be the same age, don’t expect to see too many of them in his math and science classes.

Rockhurst doesn’t want to put Mark in any AP classes next year, so he is planning to enroll in PreAp Calculus and will probably have to retake Chemistry because Physics is an AP class.

“They don’t want to overwhelm me my freshman year,” he said.

‘05-’06

page 8 / features / the harbinger

the

bits pieces of scrapbooking and

lancer

PRIDE

pep assemblies 05-06

by ellie weed THE CAPTIONS

THE TITLE Whether it be calligraphy, stenciled in, handwritten, or typed, the title will describe to anyone looking at the scrapbook page what it’s all about. Get creative with it and come up with something witty.

THE THEME

Kristin Simpson and Lindy Cope getting ready to throw some t-shirts!

Instead of having random events on a single page, put all of the pictures from a specific event on a page so that it makes more sense and a person can get more of a feel of the event that you were at.

Even though you think you’ll remember everyone from your high school now, later in life when you’re showing your scrapbook to your friends and kids, you’ll forget that girl’s name that sat behind you in chemistry. You’ll be glad you had their name below the picture.

Cheerleaders leading the East song

THE PHOTOGRAPHS Try to vary the kind of picture you’ve got on the page. If you have a lot of scenic pictures, spread them out. The same goes with pictures of individual people. Get some group shots, scenic shots, and individual pictures dispersed on one page.

THE SHAPES

To make the page easier and more interesting to look at, cut out individuals in a picture or in a different shape besides a rectangle. The worst shape is a square, because it’s the shape that our eyes are least drawn to.

Right The Junior Class Reps for Pep Club!!

Courtney Held making the infamous senior posters

THE BACKING Backing is the best way to make a specific picture pop off the page. Not all of the photos need a backing, and the backing should be opposite of the background paper- if the background has prints, the backing should have a solid color, or vice versa.

Molly Emert and the varsity drill team performing

Michael Horvath sporting the East flag

Don’t forget about the

COLOR

Don’t get stuck in a rut alternative layouts

TITLE

T I T L E

THE PAPER Paper could be something as basic as construction paper, but at the same time you could spend $10 on a sheet of 24”x30” paper at Paper Source. Either way, give yourself variety and include some with patterns and some without.

if scrapbooking isn’t your thing

different ways to arrange the photos on your page

TRY SOMETHING ELSE CREATIVE

TITLE

workshops: Basic Calligraphy- this Thurs. 6 to 8:30

TITLE Get a pack of colored Sharpies to spice up the color on your scrapbook pages

Available at the Paper Source on the Plaza, $55 retailers: Jewelry Making- Available at Auntie’s Beads in Corinth, prices vary depending on products.

issue 14 / april 17 / features / page 9

All in a day’s work

Sophomore researches cancer cure, play sports and occasionally sleeps by adrien wood Sophomore Nandini Sarma listens for the announcer to reveal a winner as the hushed crowd waits expectantly. Finally Sarma’s name echoes from the loud speakers.

She jumps out of her seat and walks to the stage of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center Hotel ballroom as almost a thousand young scientists and their parents applaud. For the second year in a row, Sarma has won first place in the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair.

“I didn’t think I was going to win,” Sarma said. “I was getting more and more nervous as time went on, because they make you wait through the whole ceremony to hear who the winner is. I was so shocked.”

Minakhi Sarma tried not to cry as she congratulated her daughter.

“That morning I was preparing her in case she lost. I knew she would be so disappointed if she did, so I told her not to expect too much,” Sarma’s mom said. “I was so proud.”

Sarma won for her research on the paramyxovirus, a virus that she discovered kills cancer cells. She worked alongside professionals trying to cure cancer for the past year at a science lab she can’t name due to security reasons. Even after countless hours of painstaking work in the lab, Sarma is still motivated.

“We’re trying to find answers to things that will help people—this is my way to do my part,” Sarma said. “I keep thinking back to why I do it: to help people.”

She spent most of last summer and some of the fall researching the cancer-killing virus in the lab. When she began working there the summer before freshman year, the scientists doubted whether an inexperienced adolescent could contribute.

“I had to earn the scientists’ respect,” Sarma said. “At first they weren’t quite sure of what I could do because I was a freshman, and they wondered what I could actually know. But if you can prove that you know what you are doing, they listen to what you have to say.”

When she is not at the lab, Sarma dedicates herself to tennis, soccer, dance, debate, forensics, piano, S.H.A.R.E., and honors and A.P. classes. She gets about four hours of sleep a night. And she enjoys every minute of it.

“It’s hard balancing, but I like being busy,” Sarma said. “I don’t need sleep. I like everything I do, so it gives me the motivation to keep working.”

She also won last year’s fair for research on garlic as a preservative, which she later published, making her the 11th person to ever win two years in a row. She had to beat over 1,100 students and 841 science projects to win.

Next month Sarma will travel to Indianapolis for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. But she still remains modest about her success.

“Some of [my classmates] know about what I do, and some don’t think it’s a big deal,” Sarma said. “They pretty much think I spend my whole time researching.”

Sarma’s mom reminds her that she is free to drop an extracurricular if she feels too busy, but she refuses.

“We don’t push her at all. It’s her choice; if she wants to give up anything, she should,” Sarma’s mom said. “She never grumbles and loves everything she does.”

Sarma knows that everything she does is impressive, but still has to take notes and ask questions in Biology II like other students.

“I’ve gotten a good start to it all, but [my experience] doesn’t give me much of an advantage,” Sarma said. “There’s always so much more to learn.”

She hopes to continue her cancer research and get it published or patented, but in the meantime she’s still just like any other teenage girl who “gets bored in class” and spends time with friends.

“When you’re hanging out with her, she’s pretty silly and fun,” sophomore Emily Patton said. “She’s one of the more laid-back people that I know. Sometimes she gets stressed out, but she still absolutely loves everything she does.”

Sarma hopes to become a research scientist when she grows up, and will continue researching to gain experience for her career.

But for now, she’s just another kid trying to cure cancer.

Transforming the classroom by ronan mcghie Technology has crept into almost every aspect of life, this is especially true for today’s kids: According to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 82 percent of kids are online by the seventh grade. As students become more computer savvy, teachers and schools are trying to keep up.

Grade books and calculators used to be for keeping grades and calculating percentages, but now teachers use electronic grade books instead.

“I definitely like computers. The speed at which it can compute grades means I can give quicker feedback to my students,” foreign language teacher Mrs. Finocchario said.

Since grades are tabulated on the computer, parents can see grades and absences on Parent Connect. This helps keep students accountable for their grades and allows for better communication between teachers and students, but Parent Connect doesn’t come without mixed blessings.

Many parents interpret zeroes as assignments not done or not turned in by their student, when in reality a zero can be anything from a missed grade book entry to a missing assignment.

“Sometimes I turn in an assignment and it comes across on Parent Connect as a zero, which upsets my parents…it has definitely put a barrier between my student-parent relationship,” Junior Ben McNamara said.

There is backlash against Parent Connect because some think that students should be the only ones responsible for their grades, not their parents.

“Students need to grow up, you can’t really succeed at something unless you can fail,” Latin teacher Dr. Athanasia Worley said.

Many teachers use technology to enhance their classes. Math teachers use it graph and calculate, Social Studies teachers for researching distant countries, and English teachers to play an author reading his own book. The Chemistry department has begun to use virtual labs as supplements to help deal with the increase of class size.

Technology gives teachers more tools and students increased resources

“The kids of today are computer kids so its kind of nice to work that in…it’s engaging for them,” Chemistry teacher Steve Appier said.

Finocchario also uses technology in her foreign language classes to help bridge the culture gap between languages.

“Borders between countries and people are minimized with the technology we have now,” said Finocchario who uses videos and internet research with her students.

“There are lots of cool things you can do with [technology]…It gives you an edge,” English teacher Mr. Pulsinelli said.

Teachers also use technology for other things, like finding plagiarism in research papers.

Teachers can now submit papers to TurnItIn.com to determine whether or not a student has plagiarized.

The website will give the teacher a number that determines the severity of the plagiarism and allows the teacher to take action. A tool like this is invaluable to teachers, and something almost unthinkable a few years ago.

There is a high learning curve for technology, and many teachers have difficulty using new technology and prefer using a grade book and a calculator.

“Instead of face to face contact I have to attend to a Cyclops...the first few minutes of class aren’t face to face because I’m dealing with machinery. I know I’m a dinosaur, but there’s something to be said for a simple system,” said Worley.

The network also seems to be prone to crashing. While the system is down, teachers can’t enter grades or print. The system crashed the day that teachers were required to turn in first semester grades and some grades were inaccurately printed on grade cards and had to be changed.

Technology has transformed the world, and education along with it. But like any change it has brought with it definite drawbacks but also opportunity and efficiency.

A

pplications are in. Acceptance letters, recieved. Now it’s time to choose which college you actually want to go to. Many seniors have been accepted to multiple colleges and now they are left trying to filter through the pro’s and con’s to decide

WHER to

GO

from Too many choices, not enough time:

Monica Garciapaz

by clare jordan When junior Darcy Letourneau gets in senior Monica Garciapaz’s car she knows there will be a crisis of what route to take to Shawnee Mission South for swim practice, a ride they drive everyday.

Garciapaz agonizes over whether to take Lamar or Nall, to turn off at 103rd or 107th, and so on.

Decisions of which route to take weigh heavy on Garciapaz, especially her upcoming one: where to attend college.

She applied to eight schools to keep her options open. All liberal arts school, mostly on the east coast: Middlebury, Bowdoin, Hamilton, MaCalester, Kenyon, Colby, and Boston College. She also applied to KU. The decision has been narrowed down to Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Hamilton. Since they are all very similar in what they offer, location

has become a main deciding factor. Middlebury, according to Garciapaz is in “the middle of nowhere”.

The other two are in suburban areas, which is what Garciapaz is looking for.

“I want a college that is close enough to a city so I can go there, but is not actually in the city,” said Garciapaz.

The fact that she has not made her decision yet has not been creating a huge source of stress.

“The application process was the stressful part, so choosing a college hasn’t really affected me,” said Garciapaz.

Her parents realize this is a decision she has to make and they want her to make sure she is doing what is best for her. Although her parents have been supportive of her prolonged decision, it is kind of weird with her friends who have all made their

HER

decision long ago.

“A lot of them knew where they wanted to go before winter break and they would ask me and I had absolutely no idea yet,” said Garciapaz.

The school she has wanted to attend has changed throughout high school as her interests changed.

For awhile it was UCLA, for awhile it was Boston college, but now she is glad that the decision has been narrowed down to Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Hamilton because all three allow her to be flexible with her major.

She is still undecided about her major, but she thinks it may be psychology or international business with a minor in photography.

Middlebury has a good program for international business, while Hamilton and Bowdoin are known for psychology, therefore making her decision even harder.

Financial aid weighs in on decision: by clare jordan Like many seniors, financial aid is causing a debate over which college to attend for senior Laine Mohn. She had originally wanted to go to a small liberal arts school, such as Pomona or Amherst, but when she found out she won’t be receiving any money she started to consider Washington University in St. Louis.

Mohn applied to Amherst, Carleton, MaCalester, Knox, Kenyon, Pomona, Washington University and the honors program at KU. The decision wasn’t narrowed down by rejection: all accepted her, and so the decision became who would offer her the

how

Lanie Mohn most money.

MaCalester, Knox, Kenyon and Washington University all offered her money, but Washington University was willing to give the most.

The decision has been made even harder because Pomona and Amherst offer a really strong English program, which is what Mohn is considering majoring in.

“It’s hard to have to give up a school that is really strong in your major because they won’t offer money to attend,” said Mohn.

The decision has to be made by May 1st and has been creating a source of stress for Mohn.

?

1 READY are you for 2 COLLEGE 3 (a quiz) 4 5

Opened college mailers.

Narrowed down your choices.

Visited all the school(s) of your choice.

Contacted counselors and teachers about a letter of recommendation.

Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each question. The item number corresponds to the number of points.

You’re ready for college if you’ve...

Started to compile your resume.

She is visiting three schools in the upcoming weeks and she just got back from a weekend at Washington University.

“Its really rough because I’ve been missing a lot of school during a really important quarter,” said Mohn.

Her friends have all either decided or have it narrowed down to two schools, while she still is considering the four that offered her scholarships.

“My next four years are subject to change, while all my friends already have theirs planned out,” said Mohn.

6 7 8 totals:

Verified what the required ACT/SAT scores are for the schools you like.

Decided on a school and sent their admissions department an application.

Chosen your school and registered there!

0-3 on the right track, and you’re think4-25 You’re ing about what you need to. Keep it up! job on keeping up on your college 26-36 Great activities.

Pick up the pace a little! So many colleges, so little time.

Junio

Mar

Dete of c look

|

what to consider

RE

when choosing a college.

“

You need to choose the college that is best for your major and will get you that job - the college that has the biggest benefit for your life.

RE

“

We encourage students to not make a choice until they have actually made a visit. It may seem right on paper, but you won’t know until you go.

“

Henry Font counselor

“

I would recommend making a rubric of all the factors that you personally consider imporant. I think the most imporant thing is visiting the school.

See if it feels right.

“

Don Baker counselor

Dream college vs. financial reality:

Lauren Jones

by jayne shelton Senior Lauren Jones’ mom came into her room with a big white envelope on the last day of spring break.

“I saw the big envelope and hoped it was a good sign,” her mom said.

Inside the envelope was Jones’ letter of acceptance to Washington University in St. Louis, her dream college.

“It was a really good end to spring break,” she said.

Wanting to be an architecture major, Jones also applied to Kansas State University for that program. K-State has one of the best architecture

schools in the country.

Jones wants to attend Wash U but it is a private school and is more expensive for it. She likes the size of the school better, having only about 6,000 students. She visited her cousin who is a student there, and loved the campus and the school.

“I could just see myself going there for the next four years,” she said.

The major thing holding Jones back from Washington is the financial part. The school costs $40,000 per year and since she missed the deadline for financial aid, she would have no help.

“I don’t want to say to my parents ‘Hey, sorry, I’m taking your retirement fund,’” Jones said.

Wash U also has a longer program.

After four years of school there, she would receive her Bachelor’s Degree of Science, whereas at K-State, she would receive her Master’s after only five years. She also has a fundamental scholarship for K-State that will cover some of the cost. “[K-State] would be quicker,” Jones said.

“I think there is something to be said for taking your time.”

follow your progress

of the college process

Here’s how FastWeb recommends that your college search should develop.

Talk to SME counselors about letters of recommendation.

Take the ACT, the SAT and AP tests.

or year

rch

“

O

Laura Lamb

head counselor

Tie up loose ends with your college. Register and prepare for school!

Keep in touch with colleges and make sure they know your decision.

Senior year

April

ermine the type college you are king for.

May

June

July

Aug.

Go on college visits - talk to students and counselors.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Fill out college applications (try to narrow down your choices to 3-5 schools).

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

May 1: All college decisions are final. All others must be withdrawn.

photos by katie woods

page 12 / features / the harbinger

All eyes on you by bryan dykman and cay fogel Susie Schweiker sits on her desk with her legs pulled up against her chest. She frowns out the window as a question hangs in the air. After a long pause, she tries to answer.

“How can you be analytical when you’re in that situation? How can you not feel that you’re completely alone?”

The question is, how can a black student feel comfortable when he’s reading Huckleberry Finn in a classroom full of white kids. With 2500 students at East, only 44 of whom are black, Schweiker admits to not knowing the answer.

“What would you do?” she asks. *** Junior Deron James knows that he can’t avoid it—that racial slur his mother Bobbie James has worked her entire life to keep out of their home and lives. And suddenly it’s right in front of him, staring back at him from the pages of “Invisible Man.” He’s spent the last two months sitting alone in the library, supervised but not taught, as he read Ralph Ellison’s novel about a black man’s struggle with anonymity, a book chosen by his mother as an alternative to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Up two flights of stairs and two doors down, his class read Mark Twain’s classic, discussing an older, more straightforward racism that hits on the overwhelming ignorance and crudeness of the time and place: the deep South, 1840.

When English 11 teacher Elaine Kramer pulled James aside and asked if reading “Huckleberry Finn” in class would offend or intimidate him, James answered “no,” the answer shared by every black student Kramer has ever taught. But when he went home and recounted the story to his mother, Mrs. James told her son that her answer was “yes.”

Mrs. James doesn’t take issue with “Huckleberry Finn” itself, or its use of racial expletives—“Invisible Man” contains similar profanities. She is more concerned about the effect a discussion with such terms would have on her son, especially in a class where James would be the only black student.

Mrs. James lived in Mississippi until she was eight, and her experiences have left her certain of her stance. From the mouth of a non-black, the word is wrought with hatred, bringing to her memory a cold morning when Mrs. James and her sisters were walking to school and a pair of white men in a truck threw the expletive at them, along with a lit cigarette.

She has watched as pop culture and media cliques have softened the “N-word.” Mrs. James fears her son’s desensitization. She doesn’t want it ever to become a joke.

She approached Kramer, voicing her concerns, taking advantage of her right to pull her son from the classroom. She doesn’t want anyone to think her son is comfortable hearing it, she says. She doesn’t want him ever to be.

James feels fairly comfortable with his first answer; he didn’t want to be removed from the classroom simply because it became harder for him to keep up with the class; there was no one to help explain the symbolism in “Invisible Man,” no one to guide him through the more challenging parts of a book that Kramer said could be considered “college level.”

James trusts the students in his class. He says he knows that no one would do anything to intentionally offend. But he also knows there is no way to avoid the discomfort of sitting in the classroom.

“Whenever they start talking about it, it would feel like all eyes were on me,” he said.

Junior Bo Steadman sits close to James in Kramer’s seventh hour English class. He remembers what reading “Huckleberry Finn” felt like despite James not being in the classroom. Steadman understands Mrs. James’ concern.

“Because you see [the word] so often in the book you would think [her concern] to be true,” Steadman said. “But it’s not used in a casual manner. It’s more used to bring to light the things in society that were wrong.”

Steadman remembers that there was some uncomfortable laughter at the beginning of the novel, some shocked reactions to a word that “most of us aren’t use to seeing.” Despite the initial awkwardness, Steadman says that by the end of the unit, an almost two month period, the class’s maturity had risen and a greater understanding of the word and what it meant was reached.

But in a school where less than two percent of the student population is black, senior Erica Williams, a black student currently enrolled in AP English, says there is no way to be completely comfortable. As hard as teachers try, she says, it’s impossible to avoid.

“There is no Black Handbook. I don’t know what to say. Does this make me uncomfortable? Yes, of course it does, but I’m not going to say that.”

Williams is used to getting pulled aside. She’s been getting the subtle hallway

Black students often feel singled out in English classes when discussing racial issues

conversations since she was a junior in Bill Boley’s English 11 Honors class, where she read “Huckleberry Finn.” This year it was senior English teacher Donna Skates checking with her about “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, a book that describes some black Congolese tribes as barbaric and without civility.

Williams understands the practice of teachers pulling black students aside and asking them their feelings about sensitive material. “If I were a white teacher, I’d probably do it too.

But at the same time, it makes you feel more uncomfortable.”

It’s not that Williams doesn’t want to read the book, or even that she doesn’t want to be in class for it. Good literature is a strong way to make an important point, she says, and a history class could never show the truth that a novel can. But she also knows firsthand how disturbing it can be.

Williams sat in class as a white student, referencing “Huck Finn” but not quoting it, tossed the word “n-----“ around so much it shocked her.

“I couldn’t say ‘that’s really offensive,’” she said. She didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, and she didn’t want to stand out any more than she felt she already did.

But it did offend her.

“I think that if the only reason to read these books were to display racism, we shouldn’t read them. [Reading the book] is more important to show the evolution of racism... How change begins.”

And ultimately that is what the English teachers want. Kramer has chosen “Huckleberry Finn” not only because of its iconic status, but because she considers it to be the most important novel read by juniors. Kramer cites it as a lesson in satire, social commentary and the evils of the slave trade.

It’s a novel that contains all the themes studied in American Literature. It is the novel where “all American literature comes from.”

She reflects on what Ernest Hemingway said 71 years ago: “All American writing comes from [“Huckleberry Finn”]. There was nothing before.

There has been nothing as good since.”

Kramer would have preferred that James stay in class instead of checking in at the door and then wandering alone into a challenging novel without any guidance save the worksheets that were purchased for him by the school. She says that James would have provided more diversity, “making life—not to mention classroom discussion—more interesting.”

She feels it wouldn’t have been a problem with the students.

“I am amazed that the kids are really sensitive to it,” Kramer said. “I think that because it is in the news so much people have really become aware of it. People are really tuned into being sensitive about this.”

Senior Roy M’mella, a black student who was taught Huck Finn in Kramer’s class last year, feels that it might be better to avoid the student/teacher conversation altogether. He feels that prefacing a black student’s experience with a book is a different kind of exclusion; it’s another way to separate students from each other. Does reading the word in class disturb him?

“Really, it should disturb everyone,” he said. “The book is dealing with sensitive material… to make a point. Students shouldn’t be taught differently.” If a teacher pulled M’mella aside, he would feel he was getting treatment that suggested he should see things differently than his classmates.

While teachers and students agree that some discomfort is unavoidable, both Williams and Mrs. James agree that some of the problem could be alleviated by simply including more black authors in the reading pool.

“There should be a more diverse reading,” Mrs. James said. “I would prefer that it not be read unless they can read something a little more positive.”

Schweiker, the English department chair for East, agrees that there are an unfortunate few black authors on the school’s reading list. She says this may be because many of the books written by black authors that would be considered, such as “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, are so heavy and controversial in content that they might not make it by the Curriculum Counsel. *** Schweiker still sits on her desk, legs close to her chest, eyes wondering out the window, her answer still without certainty.

She hates the word, hates the idea of any black student having to sit through a class while it is being read, but at the same time realizes that there is merit in the novels and the discussion.

“The purpose of literature is to turn a painful mirror to ourselves,” she said.

She admits that it may be hard for some students to look at the reflection.

illustration by ren li

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / mixed / page 13

Can you find your

GPA? formula key

Contrary to popular belief, adding up your grades and dividing by the number of classes does not give you your GPA (though it is a good rough estimate.) The district came up with a formula that will calculate the GPA, rewarding students for taking honors courses or more than the required amount of courses.

i

[(scu - mcu) x .86] + grade points scu

x

e

d

scu = student course units To get this number, add up how many classes you’ve taken. A year long class counts as 1 unit and a semester class counts as .5 unit. mcu = minimum course units (varies by grade) semester 1 8.625 semester 1 2.875 semester 2 11.500 semester 2 5.750 semester 1 14.375 semester 1 20.125 semester 2 17.250 semester 2 23.000

9 11

10 12

grade points = find by adding up points honors A: 5 honors B: 4 all C’s: 2 all F’s: 0 regular A: 4 regular B: 3 all D’s: 1

.86 = district factor for this school year

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What fruit would describe your mood?

A cherry because they’re sweet.

What would you like to change your name to?

Candice; I just like that name.

What’s the best present you got for your last birthday?

I got an iPod. It’s a nano.

Candy Chase

f f Hats O

page 14 / features / the harbinger

rich kids whose daddies pay for everything and the knowledge that her small home is not in Mission Hills.

When she initially decided to graduate early, it was because she was lonely, floating and without a niche her freshman and sophomore years. Though she was proud of the fact that she worked to pay for her dark green 1996 Mercury Cougar and her wardrobe, it didn’t help her make friends. It didn’t guarantee her a spot on a SHARE project and it didn’t give her confidence enough to try out for the soccer team.

So, Laughlin decided to do something about it, about her loneliness and her not fitting in.

Her decision to graduate early, made at the end of her sophomore year, has changed her life.

After talking Health and American Government online; after spending six weeks in summer school completing English 11 and after a chaotic beginning to her senior year, filled with ACTs, late college applications and a demanding work schedule at Mission Pet Mart Laughlin finally feels content.

She is finally happy. And this is the best year of her life.

She likes birthday cards and seeing butterflies in the rain.

She believes that everything is an experience and that eyes should always be open. ****

“I used to tell people that I was graduating early because I simply wanted to get a head start in school,” Laughlin said. “Lately though, I have started saying that it is simply best for me and best for the type of person I am.”

That person, according to Laughlin’s letter to Dr. Cocolis asking to graduate early, is someone who is above average academically, organized and, most important, very mature.

As far as academics go, Laughlin feels that it is her curiosity that motives her to do well. Books that detail the prospects of whole other worlds are her favorites: Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and The Golden Compass.

Anything that lets her see new places.

Laughlin has even created her own form of a research project, which consists of Googling anything and everything that pops into her mind. The latest searches have included information on motorcycles and how cars work, Alaska and a video about the German Coastguard.

Laughlin is organized. Creepily and conveniently organized, according to her friends.

She has spent the past six weeks planning a summer

to High School

Junior opts for diploma early by amanda allison

T

his is the best year of senior Maegan Laughlin’s life.

The red-haired 17-year old is graduating early, after “skipping” her junior year.

She will be leaving East one year sooner than those whom she has known since kindergarten; one year earlier than her old soccer teammates and one year earlier than her Indian Hills lunch buddies.

She is graduating one year early to get out of the places she knows she has outgrown faster than her peers.

It’s more the idea of this school, of East, that she has outgrown and strived to free herself from. It’s the idea of the

come to

S C H O O L

train trip to Chicago for her and her three best friendsall foreign exchange students. At the Parental Meeting, Laughlin handed out an 11-page packet to parents detailing attractions, pricing and a rough itinerary.

Following the packet distribution was an hour and a halflong presentation.

Finally, it is Laughlin’s maturity that she feels is her strongest and most valuable trait, though the one that has caused her to feel the most isolated from her peers.

Laughlin’s parents separated when she was she was in grade school; her dad moved out the week before her tenth birthday. It wasn’t until four years later that the divorce was final. In those four years, Laughlin grew up.

“I was confused and kind of just floating back and forth from my parents’ houses, even though they said I should feel at home,” Laughlin said. “I was floating, but I had to learn to deal with issues and to kind of exist on my own.”

She is far from being on her own this year, her senior year.

Laughlin no longer spends weekend nights on the computer, her cat Toby sleeping on the couch next to her.

She no longer feels like she is floating among the halls of East, without genuine friends and without a niche.

Remember, this is the best year of her life.

Far from having the false friendships of her freshman and sophomore year, a fact lending to her initial decision to graduate early, Laughlin has found three best friends in the past months: Quent Allonville from France, and Laszlo Treess and Vanessa Legat from Germany.

The three kind of melded into one other following an initial meeting at an International Club presentation. They have since formed a tight quad that loves inflatable pigs, “The Gods Must Be Crazy” and just cruising around in Laughlin’s car, titled “The Frog”, with the windows rolled down and the Greenday blasting.

“Maegan doesn’t see us as just Foreign Exchange students and we don’t see her as just another American girl,” Quent Allonville said. “Maegan is more open and accepting.

She taught me better English and is very patient. She is like my sister now and I guess we have made this year great for each other.”

A plus to graduating early, according to Laughlin, is that she is gaining a whole extra year to her life. As of right now, she is 97 percent sure that she will be attending Park University, and possibly only part-time. While she feels that college and schooling is her first job for the next few years, she wants to travel.

She wants to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with Quent in France and then join Laszlo for this eighteenth birthday in Germany.

She wants to be a zoologist.

But most importantly, she wants to enjoy this year, her last year at East, and most likely her last year at home, for this is her best year ever.

HOMER’S

Coffee House

Live Music, Great Refreshments, Amazing People 7126 W. 80th Overland Park • 913.381.6022 • 6:30am - 10pm Mon.- Sat.

Barbershop talk

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / features / page 15

Long time area barber tells tales, enchants customers

name’s Banks, but it turns out it comes from riverbanks, not When you walk into Village Hairstyling, it’s obvious it money-banks,” Banks said. has been there a long time. Most the men in there are older Dalton’s dad sat down one than 40. There is a musty smell, and your feet slip on the day and told him the story of the hair clippings covering the yellowing tile floor. money that was in their family.

Four chairs line one side of the store, each with a Seven generations back, Dalton nameplate above it. Two nameplates have typed pieces had an uncle named Henry who of paper taped to the them, and the others are obviously was a “well-to-do lawyer.” original, with the names shakily etched in. One belongs “At the age of 23, he owned to the owner, Windy, the other which hangs above the last 325,000 acres in Virginia. I’m chair in the room, reads “Dalton.” like, ‘get back, I don’t even have Dalton Banks has been cutting hair at Village contemplation as to how much Hairstyling for 18 years, and has become a legend among land that is,’” Banks said. “If many East students. it would have been half a mile “Dalton’s really the main attraction,” freshman Chad wide, it would have been 3,000 Allen said of the local barbershop. Allen and many other miles long. That’d be like I-70 students have been going to Dalton since he was little. clear across the United States.”

Seniors Andy Rieger and Patrick Haverty also frequent Henry had a brother a Village Hairstyling, and even go together just so they can year younger named Adam. listen to Dalton’s stories.

They were mercenaries in the “When Dalton’s not there, I leave and come back a Revolutionary War and the different day,” Rieger said.

British sunk six of their ships Dalton is aware that everybody loves to listen to what loaded with armament. Then a he has to say, “They always want to hear stories, Andy and “General Green” came to town Patrick will come in together and say, ‘Dalton tell us some and gave them $100,000 to stories,” Banks said. rearm their troops. Adam died The boys also love getting chances to share the latest shortly after they were rewarded story Dalton has told them. with the money. Later, Henry “We talk about fishing all the time- he’s the biggest cat- got word that the government fisher in the Missouri River,” Stark said. was giving him one-fourth of the One day, Dalton took a mule and harnessed it up, state of Virginia. leaving a huge rope to throw in the water, which he After learning how much attached a T-bone steak to the end of. land Henry was given, Dalton “He said the T-bone cost a lot at the grocery store, but it began to wonder whether there was worth it,” Stark said. was anything in the family name Shop talk: Barber Dallton Banks and long-time customer junior Taylor Junior Taylor Cantril went in recently for a haircut, and for him, but as his dad continued Cantril chat while Cantril gets a haircut. photo by samantha ludington Dalton talked for nearly an hour after the shop had closed. the story he told Dalton, “it [got] Stark also says that Dalton will cut his hair for 10 minutes, worse.” and then talk for 25.

“Henry was in possession of in, they are always satisfied with their haircuts. Stark has As he cuts Cantril’s hair, he chats with ease, and 825,000 acres, and I’m like, ‘Dad, there’s got to be some been getting his hair cut there for 12 years, and says that occasionally looks up the check the haircut in one of the land for us.’ And he’s like, ‘He didn’t have any kids, our Dalton has never given him a bad haircut, although he three surrounding mirrors. family lineage came from Adam,” Banks said. doesn’t deny that he enjoys his stories too.

Every story sounds like it has been “Gee thanks, Henry.”

“That’s why I keep going, if I didn’t like the haircut I rehearsed hundreds of times. *** would probably just go there to chitchat,” Stark said. *** As a part of his search to find their family But not only does Dalton get a kick out of telling stories, A hunter walks a mile Dalton’s uncle had a glass eye, and lineage, Dalton’s dad went back East to find he loves what he does. He followed in his father’s footsteps straight south from therefore little perception. He drove his his great grandparents’ home. However after a by becoming a barber, and explained that woodshop car into the retaining wall surrounding near death experience, he told Dalton never to was always his favorite class in school because he loves his camp, and sees a Dalton’s house. When Dalton’s dad go himself. His father had gotten tics in “every working with his hands. bear. He follows the heard about the wall he said, “Well, that Brewster also recognizes Dalton’s gift for cutting hair. bear one mile straight pore in his body,” on this trip, but fortunately was an ugly wall anyway, let’s go down was put in the hospital and survived.

When “He knows more about the anatomy, the physiology, of east where he shoots to the Quivira rock quarry and build a he got better, he heard this story from others hair than anybody I’ve ever known,” Brewster said. the bear. He drives new wall out of blasted stone. who lived in town.

Whether it’s the haircuts, or more likely, the outrageous the bear one mile The two went to the rock quarry and “A bear was chewing on his neighbor and stories that accompany, Dalton has established a loyal set straight north to his were digging when they came across my great-great grandfather jumped on his of customers. camp. What color is something that Dalton thought was back with a pocket knife and stabbed that son Dalton’s stories have been retold and are the bear? a bone or tusk of some sort. His dad of a b---- in the eye. Everybody in the town circulating not only the halls at East, but Facebook as well. researched, figured out that the tusk knew about it,” Banks said.

The boys have devoted a group for the only purpose of was actually a sabertooth tiger tooth.

Stories like this are popular among the sharing stories that Dalton told them at their last haircut.

White, the only place Surprised at the finding, he called the boys that frequent the barber, because they To Dalton however, they are just experiences. you can go straight Nelson Atkins Art Museum to see if they love to retell them. When asked if he believed “Everyone has stories to tell, barbers just have south, straight east, wanted to look at the tooth.

Dalton’s stories, sophomore Drew Popplewell the gift of gab,” Banks said. and straight north and “And he called the Nelson and they said, “Oh, definitely, Dalton would never lie.”

When asked for a story that he hadn’t told before be back at your camp were like, ‘Sure, bring it down,’ but I *** he answered, “I got nothing, I plead the fifth.” is the north pole. figured if they don’t want to come get Village Hairstying is a community To Dalton cutting hair is his job, and the stories just it, must not want it very much,” Banks establishment according to government come on the side. But for most of these boys, the stories far said. teacher Sam Brewster. Brewster has been outlive their haircut. *** getting his hair cut by Dalton for 15 years. Brewster Stark said, “I will be talking about Dalton for the rest of Dalton’s dad was “into genealogy,” and researched their was first attracted to the barber because of location, my life.” family’s background. convenience, and a sense of familiarity.

“I figured we must have some money since my last Not do customers feel welcome when they walk

by christy beeder

Dalton’s favorite jokes

Q:

A:

page 16 / a&e / the harbinger

e t a r po

s e o g c i s

Mu

r co

y b s t o o r y a tr

e b s and

B

photo illustration by linda howard

an opinion of tom grotewohl It began like any other Thursday night. I sat slouched back in the lazy-boy, frantically searching for some way, any way, to fill the terrifying four-minute void between the end of The Simpsons and the start of Survivor. Suddenly my prayers were answered — a Victoria’s Secret commercial! A young, slender female struts through a deserted Venetian palace in nothing but a bra, panties, and some sort of freakish costume angel ensemble. The wings I could forgive... but who’s this grizzled old man standing by the fire watching me? Singing to me? Why, Bob Dylan is in my commercial, raising an eyebrow, skulking around and sizing me up.

Something was definitely amiss. Perhaps it was his coarse, aged voice singing “Love Sick” in the background. Perhaps it was his vampiric complexion juxtaposed with the perfect curves of a near-nude supermodel.

Or perhaps it was that Bob Dylan — the man who gave voice to an entire generation, the man who cried out what others only whispered, the man who defined anti-establishment — was trying to sell me women’s underwear.

As shocking as it was to see the leader of the 1960s folkprotest movement lending his services for corporate gain, I should have seen it coming. In a world of billboards and Internet pop-up ads, everything has its price, even art. Just last month The Kinks licensed their song “All Day and All of the Night” to sell Tide bleach (Yeah! What’s more rock

g n o s g n i l l e s

s d a r s fo

‘n’ roll than clean laundry?) Now Led Zeppelin sells us Cadillacs, Paul McCartney works for Fidelity Investments, and The Rolling Stones cram a new product down our throats every time we change the channel. This blatant commercialism is viewed less as “selling out” than it is a natural course of evolution in the careers of aging musicians.

But what happened to the days when “music business” was an oxymoron? There was a time when these artists were the driving forces behind the counterculture movements of yore. They wove thoughtful and inspiring messages throughout their music, speaking out against Vietnam, poverty, government corruption. They organized the Concert for Bangladesh and sang in Martin Luther King’s March on Washington. They brought us the hemp necklace and the Jesus sandal. Peace, love and social change — these were the ideals that this music represented, and, at the time, they didn’t have a price tag.

The man who wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was the king of anti-corporate. He would be off fighting the good fight, not fanning overpriced lingerie in our faces.

But the times they are a-changin’. Today the artists who have not submitted to the lure of capitalist powerhouses are few and far between.

One such band, The Doors, have lasted over forty years with their integrity in tact. Two years ago when the group was offered a $15 million contract to license their song “Break on Through” to Cadillac to hawk its luxury SUVs, drummer John Densmore declined, saying, “People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I’ve had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn’t commit suicide because of this music. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That’s not for rent.”

Unfortunately The Doors are of a dying breed. So many bands today have become merchants for hire. They whore themselves off to the highest bidder, tossing their music away as if it never held any significance.

All those people who fought in war, fell in love or made the choice to keep on living all because of the power in music can now have their most intense memories reduced to a catchy corporate jingle.

These artists seek to make a quick buck or revive their fading careers, but in the process they are sabotaging their legacies as well. As they turn their music over to soulless CEOs in suits and ties, they lose complete control over what message is delivered along with the song. The original meaning begins to blur into the frame the commercial provides or even change entirely. Fifty years from now will we remember Bob Dylan for his compassionate songwriting or from the time he tried to sell us a thong?

Already I am starting to forget.

Jim Bays, Manager 3201 W. 95th St Overland Park, KS 66208 913/649-0111 913/649-0115 - Fax

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / sports / page 17

Cheerlifting

photo by samantha ludington

Weight training helps athletes and cheerleaders be successful by meg shackelford

Sophomore cheerleader Kristin Barker knows that she will be sleepwalking into East’s weight room this summer.

Wearing tennis shoes, a T-shirt and Soffees, Barker will be joining the other cheerleading squads—except freshmen— from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. three days a week for some quality weightlifting time.

They will be doing this so they can condition and strengthen to perform in competitions with a larger variety of schools such as Olathe and Topeka schools. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of every week this summer, they will be lifting.

“They’ll start off with an hour of practice and then head in to lift,” varsity cheerleading coach Jennifer Zerrer said.

Zerrer wants the cheerleaders to hit it even harder after July, and they will continue to lift from now on, including next year a couple of days a week, but they haven’t decided when.

When the cheerleaders are asked whether or not they are looking forward to lifting, most will say that they think it’s a good idea because it will help them with stunting and gaining strength.

“We all know that it won’t be that fun, but I think it will be beneficial time spent with a bunch of fun people,” varsity cheerleader junior Bailey Thomas said.

Sophomore cheerleading coach Terri Turner stressed that the sport is not just about smiling and waving pompoms—it’s really athletic. And to build strength, the cheerleaders will be doing a full week of training, 10 hours every day at the UCA Cheer Camp in Emporia this summer.

They will learn all sorts of cheers, dances and stunts; they perform these and can win awards for best spirit, voice and best cheer. East has done well in the past, according to Zerrer. They have even won Top Squad and walked away with the Spirit award three times.

Turner says that cheerleading isn’t like basketball when players jump up to grab balls from the air. The cheerleaders have to jump and catch their own weight.

“When fliers are caught during stunting, they generally weigh 3-5 times heavier than they normally do,” Turner said. “The three girls catching them need to be strong enough to catch someone that weighs nearly 300 pounds when caught.”

Turner says cheerleading is more dangerous when it’s not taken seriously and that’s why the cheerleaders are taking the weights classes.

“They have to have good balance, muscle control and body awareness,” Zerrer said.

Many injuries consist of pulled hamstrings and quads, rolled ankles, jarred necks and back pain according to Zerrer.

“There was this one girl at the camp that was up in the air doing a stunt, and she fell face first,” Thomas said. “I know that Becky Warren does a lot of tumbling, and she sometimes hurts her shoulders.”

Coach Chip Ufford agrees that the number one reason for weights is injury prevention. If players do get injured, lifting weights will also help the injuries heal faster and make them less likely to be injured in the future.

Junior Travis Wiedenkeller and sophomore Brian Haverty, both lifting for football in the fall, agree that weights help them grow stronger, bigger and faster.

“Lifting weights isn’t always fun because you don’t always see yourself getting better in whatever area, but you do end up seeing improvement in the long run,” Haverty said.

Freshman Abby Weltner—who will be a JV cheerleader—thinks that taking weights is a good idea.

“Some people may think of cheerleaders as little teeny things, but they actually need to have a lot of muscle,” Weltner said. “It builds a lot of strength.”

Weltner had heard that cheerleaders would be doing

some sort of weight training this summer and anticipates that it won’t be that fun. Even though she knew that they would be lifting in the future, she doesn’t regret trying out at all.

Coach Ufford said that doing weights is just like any other sacrifices athletes have to make but get used to and that it is what they bargained for. Weights will make them successful too. He says by using proper technique, weight lifting helps strengthen the joints and the insertion points, which are the ligaments and muscles. According to Ufford the proper technique is having a straight back, tight abs and leaning on your heels.

“Remember, if the elbow bends then the power ends,” he said.

Want to be a weight lifter?

Start with these basic lifts

deadlift: Hold bar at ankles while in a squat position. Slowly stand up with legs squat: Start with feet shoulder width apart and bend down with your legs keeping your back straight. walking lunge: Take a big step and lower down until your forward knee is at a 90 degree angle. Stand up and do the same with other leg. power clean: Bend down into squat position like in the deadlift. Lift the bar to your shoulders, then above your head.

Million dollar workout New gym will give more space and better workouts to members by clark goble

Sophomore Connor Lehr sat down and dribbled a basketball between his legs as he waited. And waited and waited. All he wanted was to play a few pickup basketball games at the Sylvester Powell center in Mission before his GABL season started that weekend.

After waiting for well over an hour for a court to open up, Lehr decided he could wait no longer. He headed up a flight of stairs to the weight center, where he soon realized that there wasn’t an open machine in sight. The track was also crowded, with some runners tripping over others’ feet.

“That was pretty ridiculous,” Lehr said. “(My family) paid for a membership so we could stay in shape over the winter. The only fitness I got was walking up those stairs.”

Waiting time for many of the activities at the Sylvester Powell center has seemed to been a problem for many teenagers lately, but in little more than a year, students will have another option. A new Overland Park Community Center is set to open in fall 2007, and according to Jontae Middleton, the new manager of the center, it will be a welcome change for teenagers.

“With the success of the Mission center, the city of Overland Park figured creating an improved center would be good for our residents,” Middleton said. “I think teens will flock to the weight centers and gymnasiums.”

The center is being built after a study done in 1998 found the current Overland Park center was no longer capable of holding events that the city needed to hold there. The new center, located at 8101 Marty, near 83rd and Metcalf, will take the place of the old O.P Community Center, located at 87 th and Lamar. The facility’s size will be around 80,000 square feet, a little more than the Sylvester Powell center in Mission.

Included in the community center’s plans are two new gymnasiums, a 1/10 th mile track, and a large workout and cardio center. The gymnasiums, unlike at Sylvester Powell, will not be used for aerobics or yoga classes.

Those will be held in “classrooms” around the main area.

Even with the added luxuries, Overland Park Manager of Leisure Services Tony Cosby believes the membership fees, while not set in stone, will still be comparable to those at Sylvester Powell.

“Residents of Overland Park will receive a small

discount, just like Mission,” Cosby said. “Although the prices at opening may be a bit higher than those of Mission currently, the city is confident those numbers will fall.”

The center is also much closer to most of the East attendance area. Leaving from East and driving southeast, the trip to the center will take just seven minutes, according to Mapquest. A trip from East to the current location of Sylvester Powell takes around nine minutes.

Overland Park is not the only city in the area building a recreational center, and will certainly not be the only one around. The Missouri Parks and Recreation Association has estimated that between 40 and 45 centers have been constructed in Missouri alone in the last decade. The idea for these all-in-one centers was sprung in St. Louis and Illinois and has slowly spread to Kansas City.

Lehr will continue his membership at Sylvester Powell until new membership rates at the Overland Park center are revealed to the public. However, he is glad he will have another option next year.

“If Sylvester Powell is crowded, at least I will have another place to go and keep my game sharp.” Lehr said.

page 18 / sports / the harbinger

Blood, Sweat and Pom Poms by ellie weed Everyone went silent when another girl would walk out of the bathroom, puffy-eyed and red in the face. She was with her best friend who kept telling her that it was ok that she messed up. She kept smiling. The judges probably didn’t even notice that she messed up. It was a small part of so much more, she kept telling her.

She dragged her forefingers underneath her eyes, wiping the mascara away that was slowly running down her face. She sniffled.

“I think she messed up on one of the jumps and forgot a part of the dance or something,” a girl waiting to enter the small gym whispered.

She reached out and gave her a hug, telling her that it wouldn’t

Cheering: Senior Megan Turner performs a cheer during a game. photo by linda howard

end up mattering, ensuring her that she was doing a great job.

After all this stress and all these tears, all that would result would be a determination of whether or not she had made the varsity cheerleading squad. The squads were determined two weeks ago after 6 a.m. clinics and an afternoon of tryouts.

“Will you watch my jump for me one more time?” a girl in front of the trophy case asked her friend who was leisurely stretching on the floor.

She checked her reflection in the trophy case. She tightened the bow in her hair. They were told to make sure all their hair was out of their face, so that they wouldn’t need to brush it out of their faces during their cheer. She gave her white t-shirt a tug, making sure it was securely tucked into the short, black, unrolled cotton Soffee shorts that were sitting snugly on her waist, not her hips.

A few feet away, peeking through the windows of all the different gyms, girls stood waiting for the number marked on the nametag crisply placed on their t-shirt to be called.

They were anxiously waiting at the three stations: one for the dance, one for their cheer, and then one station that included both the chant and the jumps.

No one was more important than the other, and even if they screwed up, it wouldn’t kill their chances of varsity.

The judges had only seen the dance once before the try-outs started when the seniors performed it for them. That way, when a pair of girls went into the gym, the judges wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell who was doing it right and who was doing it wrong.

Despite what others thought, the team was not pre-determined. The varsity cheerleaders from the previous year did not automatically get a spot. There were 19 open spots on varsity, and everyone had just as much of a chance for one of those spots for the next girl.

The judges were cheerleading coaches from other schools. They didn’t know their name, they didn’t know their age, they didn’t even know what squad the girls were on last year. All the judges knew was the number they were sporting in the upper right-hand corner of that white t-shirt.

Those judges may not have known all the things about the cheerleaders, but those girls nervously standing out in the hall knew some things about the people inside the

gym, behind the folding table, sitting emotionless with a pen and paper in hand ready to judge. The girls knew that they want to see a smile. They want to see enthusiasm, even if they mess up.

But that didn’t stop the girls from trying their best to completely perfect their dance and cheer. Junior Georgi Keller had her mom video tape her while she did the routine so she could play it back and see what she needed to perfect.

Junior Christina Parish would join Keller up at Homestead Country Club in the exercise room. It had a big mirror in the front and lots of space and a soft floor, in case of a fall.

But when it came down to the day of the try-outs, and they were next in line to try out, and they kept running through the routine a thousand times just in case they forgot something, they had to remember the basics.

“Keep smiling, don’t forget to smile,” a senior from this year’s varsity squad said as she opened the gym door for two more girls to run in. From the minute that door opened, they were watching. From the minute that door opened, you were a cheerleader. Start cheering from outside the dusty wood floor. Smile big. Arms straight.

All week long, the girls had been writing the words to the cheer down in their notebooks instead of taking the notes up on the overhead. During the middle of a class, some would ask to go to the restroom, and would meet with other girls in the hall to get as much practicing in as they could.

“I would basically say it was a don’t-concentrate-onschool week,” Keller said. “[All the girls trying out] had so much else to worry about.”

Walking down the hall, each girl would hear reassuring comments from classmates. Nothing would really calm their nerves, no matter what people would say.

“Someone would say something nice about my try-outs and it would be feel better for about a second,” Keller said.

“Then I would just go back to being nervous again.”

The results were to be posted on the sports booster website at 7 p.m. on the night of the try-outs.

But then 7 o’clock came and went.

Junior Abby Law had gone straight from her try-outs to her job at Dean and Deluca. Every five minutes, she would leave her post as a cashier and run to the back room in hopes of the roster being posted.

Forty-five minutes later, the roster was finally posted. She printed off the list and brought them over to her friends that were there eating.

Even with the falls and the brutal mess-ups, after all the tears and self-doubt, 21 girls made the varsity squad.

A good point

issue 14 / april 17, 2006 / sports / page 19

Sophomore Nick Schulte has spent the past three years working on his sport; fencing by joe demarco

Sophomore Nick Schulte slowly grabs all of his equipment out of the trunk of his car and walks into the gym. He isn’t thinking about his homework or his job, but he is thinking about the next two grueling hours of fencing he is going to endure before he goes home and studies for his math test on the following day. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday he has a three-hour practice at the Kansas City Fencing Center. He hasn’t missed one practice in the three years that he has been fencing.

It is this dedication that has lead Schulte to his fencing successes.

He takes part in many competitions, not only locally, but also nationally.

Over spring break Schulte didn’t travel to Colorado, Florida or Mexico like most East students did.

Schulte traveled to Reno, Nevada to take part in the North American Fencing Cup. In Reno, Schulte fenced many other teens around the nation who also are very talented at fencing. He took seventh place out of 58.

Schulte thought fencing looked like an interesting sport so he decided to try it. After his first few practices with his two coaches, he realized he liked it and continued playing on.

“When Nick started fencing I knew he had some potential,” Ben Kloepper, one of two of Schulte’s fencing teachers said. “He was very quick and he learned the basics very fast. He’s now fenced for three years and he is starting to get very good. His seventh place at the National competition last week shows just how much hard work he has put it and it’s all paying off. ” What makes him good? According to Schulte’s coach Klopper, his natural talent mixed with his dedication creates the perfect recipe for success.

“There are no leagues in fencing, only tournaments,” Schulte said. “Occasionally there will be a local tournament, but usually the tournaments are put on by the United States Fencing Association all throughout the U.S. so I have to travel to them a lot.”

Although Fencing is a sport there are no Defending his throne: Sophomore Nick Schulte defends himself school related fencing teams.

“For a sport to be recognized at the Kansas against his opponent in a recent fencing match. He recently took Interscholastic Sport level there needs to seventh place at the North American Fencing Cup. photo courtesy be around 18 schools interested and the of the Schulte family willingness from each school to adopt the new equipment, the tournament entry fees, and the lessons all sporting program,” explained Athletic Director add up over time.”

Lane Green.

The only time fencing really affects his schoolwork is “Therearealotofsportswe’dlovetopromote;theproblemisit when he has to miss a few days to travel to a tournament. isn’t a statewide sanctioned sport until it is recognized by “Other than the periodic tournament trip, fencing does the Kansas Interscholastic Sporting Program. Until enough schools get on board we can only have school related not affect my school work.”

Schulte’s next big competition will be held this summer at clubs.” the nine day long National Fencing Tournament in Atlanta.

Schulte works part time at Einstein Brothers to pay for “If I didn’t fence I probably wouldn’t be doing anything his fencing expenses.

“It can get expensive over time,” Schulte said. “The else athletically,” Schulte said. “All the practicing has just become part of my weekly routine.”

The Week Ahead

What to watch for in Lancer Athletics By Peter Goehausen MONDAY 4/17

Boys Tennis vs. Pembroke Hill

In their most recent match against St. Thomas Aquinas, the boys tennis team cleaned up winning 11-1. Junior doubles partners Bryce Warnock and Teymour Ackmedow won easily, 8-3, while number one singles player, Will Gates (right) won 8-2. The three, who took third at state last season, have led the teams dominant effort thus far but head coach Sue Chipman has yet to even see one of her best players, freshman Chris Fotopoulos, play. That is because he is playing on the national circuit. He is ranked 234 in the country and is expected to begin play for East sometime this week when the USTA National Spring Championships conclude.

Boys Golf @ Olathe South and Olathe North Tournament

Though the varsity golf team has only competed in two matches, they have been carried by sophomore Scott Wilman. In his first match, he shot an 80 at Sycamore Ridge. The other top members of the varsity team have been senior Charlie Greene and sophomore Tommy Kennedy.

WEDNESDAY 4/19

Boys Baseball @ Olathe Northwest

The boys baseball team had their best showing of the season in their 17-1 demolition of SM North last Monday. That victory came after losing to them three days earlier, by a run, in ten innings.

Through six games they stand at the middle of the pack with a 3-3 record. The Ravens of Olathe Northwest are 3-5 this season. In the 17-1 victory, senior Eric Anderson pitched a near perfect performance holding the Indians to only one run. Aside from Anderson the pitching hasn’t performed especially well but the offense has been there. Sean Finley, a Missouri recruit, leads the team with two home runs this season.

THURSDAY 4/20- SATURDAY 4/22

GAME OF THE WEEK-Track @ Kansas Relays

Although the field for the high school portion of the Kansas Relay isn’t yet announced, the track team is confident a number of their athletes will be accepted. Last year, the girls 4x800 relay, the girls 4x100 relay, the boys distance relay, and junior long jumper Dylan Ballard all qualified for the meet. Both the girls relay teams, whose entire teams return, are expecting to go back to the meet as does Ballard. Expecting to join them in Lawrence this weekend are senior Kelly Zumbehl and sophomore Terrance Thomas who both run the 100 meters. Thomas’ personal record, 10.7 seconds, would’ve placed him third in last year’s meet.

THURSDAY 4/20

Girls Soccer vs. Olathe East

Though the girls soccer team didn’t have the results they desired in their tournament in St. Louis (0-3) they showed some promise, losing 2-0 to one of the top ranked teams in the country, Incarnate Ward. Though they are 1-5, they are 1-1 in league play after photos by emily darling and kathleen sprouse defeating Leavenworth.

page 20/ photo essay / the harbinger issue 1 / september 6, 2005 Tie-dying: Sophomore Laura Wetzel tie-dyes a shirt. Junior Nathan Yaffe put together the event to help raise money for families in Haiti. photo by karen boomer

Snack time: Junior Rachel Sixta takes a break after dyeing a t-shirt to eat a brownie. photo by katie james Prepping t-shirts: Junior Melissa Blessen and Senior Kylie Scovell twist up their white shirts with rubber bands before they begin to dye them. Students had the option to either bring their own shirt to dye or pay $12 for a Tie-Dye for Haiti t-shirt. Either way, students donated money to the cause. photo by katie james

Dyeing for a Good Cause Students donate money and tie-dye t-shirts to help raise money for families in Haiti

Posters for Haiti: Junior Tom Handley holds up a poster along Mission Road to try and get people to stop by and join in on the fun. photo by katie james

Tie-dye fun: Freshmen Alexandria Norton and Emily Brandmeyer tie-dye t-shirts up at East on Saturday April 1st. The girls were among several students who showed up to help and donate money to a good cause. photo by katie james