Issue 1

HARBINGER

THE

issue one september 5 2006

TURN:TO GLOBAL SUMMER From the Costa Rican rainforests to war-torn Israel, read of our staff’s summer travels. 5-7

SOMETIM

ES IT

PLASTIC POWER East students use debit and credit cards more frequently, but stress about making the payments. 12-13

WELCOME HOME New athletic director gets used to East and being back in the U.S after being in Hong Kong. 22

26 DAYS TO

HOMECOMING

HURTS

Friend. Father. Sister. Stranger.

WHETHER YOU MOURN THE LOSS OF THE BEST FRIEND WHO DECORATED YOUR CELL PHONE OR THE FATHER WHO ALWAYS MADE SURE YOU DID YOUR BEST. WHETHER YOU HARDLY KNEW THE PERSON, BUT WILL REMEMBER PASSING THEM IN THE HALL AFTER SIXTH HOUR:

GRIEF COMES IN ALL FORMS. PAGES 3 & 11

photo by patrick mayfield. photo illustration by amanda allison

page 2 [news]

Former volleyball coach convicted

After week-long trial, Terry Wright found guilty on all charges by [paige cornwell] Former East volleyball coach Terry Wright may face a maximum of 28 years in prison after being found guilty Thursday on all counts of having inappropriate relations with his players.

At the least, Wright will face 12 years in prison at his sentencing, which is expected to occur in six to eight weeks. At that time, the judge will decide if the sentences will be served concurrently or consecutively.

He was convicted of raping a woman when she was 13 or 14, and of aggravated indecent liberties with her when she was 14 and 15. In addition, he was found of having a consensual but unlawful sexual relation with a second woman when she was 16 or 17.

Although consensual sex is legal in Kansas if both people are over 16, it is illegal when one person is a teacher or in a position like a teacher and the partner is under 18.

Last Monday, the 19-year-old East graduate who made the allegations testified that Wright, who was her volleyball coach, first touched her inappropriately the summer before her freshman year, and the contact occurred about

25 times until she was a sophomore, when he began having a relationship with the second woman, “The Kansas City Star” reported. When asked by defense attorney Tom Bath why she hadn’t reported anything before, she said that she told her family after reading a book about the importance of confessions and of being honest with people.

On Tuesday the second woman, who is also 19 and a graduate of East, testified that Wright is currently her boyfriend, and although she informed Wright that she liked him while he was still her coach, he told her that they should wait until she graduated.

The mothers of both women testified, along with a DNA analyst and a dozen witnesses in support of Wright.

Assistant district attorney Scott Roth and Bath gave their closing arguments Thursday morning, and jury deliberation began immediately after. Less than four hours later, the jury reached a verdict.

Wright had been a volleyball coach at East for eight years before he resigned last year.

What’s new with... ... School Changes

... Gymnastics

The administration has currently made a significant change in school policy: the new tardy policy.

• First Tardy: Teacher discretion • Second Tardy: Teacher discretion • Third Tardy: Teacher detention and call home • Fourth Tardy: Referral to Administration and Friday School • Fifth Tardy: Referral to Administration and In-School Suspension “I’ll be looking, thinking, and listening these next few months to see if anything else needs to be done,” Swift said.

On Sept. 16, East will host the annual gymnastics invitational for the sixth time. Teams from all over Kansas will come to compete, making it the second biggest meet rivaled only by the state competition.

The new capital cup warm-up style will be used. This involves warming up in the small gym then rotating into the main gym for competition.

The team is expected to be very competitive this season with returning letter winners and to end strongly.

... J. D. Christie J.D Christie, the all-time leading scorer in basketball at East, who signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Evansville, has left the team and university to enroll at KU. “His heart just wasn’t in it,” Diane Christie, J.D’s mother, said. “I just want people to know that nothing happened to make him leave. It was his decision.”

Christie, who averaged 30 points and 10 rebounds a game in East’s miracle run to the state championship game last year, is done playing

basketball. At least for now.

He says he wants to focus on academics only.

As for walking on for the Jayhawks, “it’s not on his radar right now,” his mother said, but it could still happen.

Christie has joined the Phi Delt fraternity at KU and says he wants to graduate with a business management degree.

“It’s just where he sees his future and career path going,” Mrs. Christie said.

Above: Assistant district attorney Scott Toth (left) and defense attorney Tom Bath (right) approach Judge Peter Ruddick during the trial to discuss an issue. Below: The defendent, Terry Wright, watches the trial. He was the volleyball coach for eight years before resigning, and is now on trial for rape and having aggravated indencent liberties. Photos courtesy of Greg Peters

Time it takes to pay the crime: • First count: Rape under the age of 14 147-165 months • Second count: Aggravated indecent liberties 55-61 months • Third count: Consensual but unlawful sexual relations 5-7 months • He could serve a maximum of 28 years. information courtesy of defense attourney Carl Cornwell

Compiled by [nick ratliffe], [bernadette myers], [erin morrisey]

... Kansas Driving Age

The graduated license proposal named “Cody’s Law” was opposed last spring. This law would have increased the age in which a full license could be obtained to 18.

A government panel aimed at making roads safer is expected to make recommendations on a variation to Cody’s Law. These ideas include restricting night time driving and limiting the number of passengers in the car of new drivers.

Currently Kansas is one of only five states without any of these restrictions.

... Esmie Tseng Charged with stabbing her mother to death last summer, Esmie Tseng will be approaching her fourth month of a 100 month sentence. She is serving time in the Topeka Correctional Facility for Women after pleading guilty as an adult during her trial in May.

... SAT results SAT results were released last week revealing that women have outperformed men on the writing section for the first time in 35 years.

Also revealed was the closing gap between scores of the highest and lowest income households, especially in the critical reading area.

... Shakespeare Club A club that was unsuccessfully tried two years ago is making its comeback this year. “[The Shakespeare Club] just never took off,” sponsor Jeanette Bonjour said, so two seniors thought they would give it another try. The club meets after school to watch Shakespeare-based movies, eat food of the period, and of course read Shakespeare. At the next meeting on Sept. 7, the people who came to the first meeting are supposed to bring two more people. The group of five members has already grown past its previous size, which is encouraging to the revivers seniors Amanda Levy and Abby McCrummen.

“We started because everyone just loves Shakespeare,” McCrummen said.

the [harbinger]

... Literary Magazine Every semester, a magazine, called The Voice, displaying the work of the Writer’s Workshop class is distributed. This year, English teacher Jeanette Bonjour is taking over the job of putting the magazine together. She wants the magazine to be predominantly student run and possibly extra-curricular. There is a meeting Sept. 13 to discuss plans for it with anyone interested in helping.

page 3 [news]

Remembering

Junior dies in plane crash; community gathers to celebrate her life by [peter goehausen] mouth, he was great,” Joan said.

What started off as a hobby of Paige’s gradually turned into her life, as she competed in the Junior Hunter’s equestrian competitions in Indianapolis, Chicago and Arizona each year. The blue and red, second and first place ribbons from her 3’6” jump competitions soon covered all four walls of her room.

“She always smiled when she was talking about her horses,” junior Brittany Barnds said.

Just a week and a half after selling her horse of two years, Tommy Boy, Paige, her mom and Fahey flew to Lexington for a two-week horse show at the Kentucky Horse Park.

“The whole weekend was a total blast,” Joan said. “ [Paige] tried out five horses and met with several trainers talking about them.”

Sitting at a picnic table at the Kentucky Horse Park with her mom and Fahey, Paige had a tough time choosing a horse to replace Tommy Boy. After a day and a half of deliberating, Paige finally picked one, a five-year old thoroughbred named Devon. Though the name didn’t match Paige’s personality as the previous seven horses (Popcorn, Pretzel, Deck, Radar, Tigger, Friday, and Tommy Boy) had, she seemed to already have fallen in love with him, Joan said.

Devon was expected to arrive at Winsrun Stable in Bucyrus, Kansas on Monday.

“She had a true passion for horses,” Kevin said. “But as the years went on, her friends became more important. She loved all of her friends.”

Paige’s dedication to her friends became clear in the Winters’s house, when they renovated their house’s basement this summer to accommodate Paige and her friends.

“I don’t know if a day went by this summer when I wasn’t at her house,” junior Reagan Fromm said.

Whether Paige was cooking macaroni, quesadillas, or cakes, watching teen movies or just talking: Paige was always with her friends. “ She had a genuine concern for others,” Watson said. “She just wanted others to be happy.”

The one thing Paige was always concerned about was making sure everyone had enough food, whether it was baking a cake for a friend’s birthday, making dinner for someone who was hungry or making a snack to cheer someone up.

“The weekend before she was in Kentucky, one of our friends got a speeding ticket,” Watson said. “So Paige told her to come over and she made Kraft Mac and Cheese to cheer her up.”

Paige’s other way of connecting to others

Juniors Paige Winters and Emily Anderson pose for a picture together. The two were good friends until Winters’s life was cut short in a plane crash Aug.. 27.

A mother’s perspective As Joan Winters escorted her 16 year-old daughter Paige and her 26 year-old horse trainer, Thomas Fahey, to their flight at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky , said she planned on meeting back up with them a couple hours later in Kansas City. Their Flight 5191 was connecting in Atlanta; hers in Cincinnati. “[Paige] was excited because she was sitting on an exit aisle and wanted the extra leg room for her saddle,” Joan said. “I didn’t hug her because I thought I would see her in a couple of hours. Now, I wish I would have.”

After going to get bottled water and a magazine, Winters gazed out the window and saw a plane still on the runway. She wondered if it was her plane or if Paige’s hadn’t left yet. She will never forget what she heard next.

“A woman came to the gate telling us we all needed to leave the airport and get our flights was through her sense of humor.

When junior Emily Anderson got a new cell phone this summer, Paige thought the one-sided black phone was too boring. She decorated it with sequins.

“She spent 20 minutes just deciding where each one would go,” Anderson said. “Then she told me I wasn’t allowed to damage the phone or she wanted the sequins back.”

Paige decided on a pink-and-green pattern around the screen. It’s memories like these that her friends and family will remember after her death. Paige never liked anyone to be upset, Barnds said.

“Paige just always knew the right thing to say and do to help others,” Barnds said. “ She would’ve hated all of these people upset and crying. Whenever I think about her, I just hear her voice inside my head saying, ‘Oh, Brit, it’s OK.”

Sept. 5, 2006

rebooked,” Joan said.

She then went to the Delta ticket counter, which owned the Com-Air plane Paige was on, but was then led to the upstairs media room.

When she got there and saw chaplains being brought into the room, she began to realize something was wrong.

“The chaplains told us not to be worried,” Joan said. “They said they didn’t know anything.”

Nearly four hours had passed before she had heard any official news, but after constant cell phone talks with her husband Kevin the inevitable became clear. It was Paige.

Around 10:30 a.m. on August 27, it all became real when a Com-Air spokesperson announced to the families that there had been a fatal plane crash. At that point no one was believed to have survived.

photos courtesy of the Winters family

When junior Paige Winters traveled out of town for horse shows and competitions, she and junior Sam Watson always joked that she should bring back a horse whip for him from the city she was in.

“She said to me, ‘I’ll see you Sunday and I will bring you that [horse] whip’,” Watson said.

Her Aug.. 25 trip to Lexington, Kentucky, was planned to be just another weekend with the horses, her mom, Joan and her trainer, Thomas Fahey.

For Paige, three days away was nothing compared to the two weeks she spent in Chicago and Indianapolis earlier in August for a national riding competition. But even three days was too long to be away from her friends.

“Whenever she was at horse shows, she would leave the hotel room to talk to all of her friends,” junior Neal Stark said. “ {She always] made sure she knew everything that was going on.”

This weekend was no different, Joan said. She heard Paige’s phone ring twice that Saturday morning, once at 1:15 a.m. and once at 1:48 a.m.

“She always wanted to come back first thing Sunday,” Joan said. “ She always [wanted] to spend all day with her friends.”

That Sunday, Paige was planning on going over to Stark’s house to surprise him and wake him up.

Stark wanted to surprise her by decorating her room with balloons, buying her a cake and asking her out.

But before Paige could come home to her friends, her plane, Flight 5191, crashed seconds after takeoff, killing 49 of the 50 passengers, including Paige and Fahey.

The crash was the worst of its kind since November 2001, when an American Airlines plane crashed in Rockaway, New York, killing 265 people.

“Paige will be missed at our home,” Paige’s father Kevin said last Tuesday at Paige’s memorial service in the packed auditorium.

At the service, friends and family gathered to celebrate Paige for who she was: the best friend, the “mom” and the animal lover who once made a friend the godmother of her guinea pig.

The journey that brought Paige to Kentucky began eight years ago when she and her friend, junior Anne Goodman, wanted to try something new. Joan, who grew up with horses in Tullahoma, Tennessee, suggested horseback riding, and took them to the White Fox Manner stable, where Paige’s passion began to show immediately.

The pony Paige started with was blue – and was named Blue. Blue wore a muzzle because it liked to bite the kids.

“If you kept your hands away from his

Winters’s junior year school picture, taken just a week before her Aug. 25 trip to Lexington, Kentucky.

page 4 [editorial]

Locker

Jam

Upperclassman should have priority in locker assignments After a week or so here at Shawnee Mission Wonderful, the editorial staff has taken notice of an unusually large amount of freshman inhabiting the third floor of our building. Unusual because in years past, not a freshman was to be found among the towering seniors at their lockers before class—well, what used to be their lockers.

Traditionally the property of the senior class, the third floor lockers have been handed over to mainly freshman, with a limited number of seniors dispersed among these young faces. While it may seem a trivial matter, this blatant disregard for senior rights is completely unjust and illogical.

The class populations on the third floor seem to be dominated by seniors and juniors. The third floor is the only floor which houses Psych AP, Government, Anatomy and Physiology and Environmental Ed. It would be surprising if freshman had even heard of all these classes, let alone taken them. Yet even with this plethora of upperclassman filled courses, the upperclassmen have had their lockers divided mainly among the fifth and, horror of all horrors, the second floor. Where’s the logic in that?

Long has the third floor hallway, home to the senior doors, been a place for upperclassmen and specifically seniors to

the

roam in a comfortable, and age appropriate environment; this year though, it’s hard to even walk through the hall without running into some 14-year-old girl giggling about a Rockhurst mixer.

This injustice cannot continue. Being a senior means getting a few extra privileges around school: open lunch, senior lot and better locker placement We’re not suggesting completely reworking the locker assignments mid-year, as that would cause a hassle for everyone involved, but rather a re-evaluation of the locker policy in years to come.

Seniors have been through three years at East. Three years of figuring out the school, running up and down ramps trying to get to class on time and most importantly, dealing with those older than them; those who had more privileges.

Yet when they finally reach that pivotal senior year, a major convenience and traditional right is revoked, and that makes no sense.

There are plenty of absurd traditions and rules which are still enforced every year, yet the right to have an easy time getting books before classes is the one which is taken away. We don’t want to completely turn the school upside down.

We just want the same privileges that seniors have always had.

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board Each issue the 10 members of the board choose a topic and one member writes the editorial.

Before being published, the board votes on the final editorial. The results are published here.

HARBINGER staff

Editor-in-Chief

AMANDA ALLISON

Assistant Editor

PETER GOEHAUSEN LAURA NELSON HALLIE MCCORMICK

Head Copy Editor Art/Design Editor Photo Editor

DEREK MARTIN ELLIE WEED SAMANTHA LUDINGTON

Assistant Photo Editor News Section Editor News Page Editor

PAIGE CORNWELL BERNADETTE MYERS

Op/Ed Section Editor Opinion Page Editor

KATIE WOODS

RUTH STARK RONAN MCGHIE CLARE JORDAN

Features Section Editor SARAH STEINWART Features Page Editors Spread Editor

JENN SUNDERLAND RACHEL MAYFIELD LIBBY NACHMAN

Assistant Spread Editor STEPHEN NICHOLS Mixed Editor A&E Section Editor A&E Page Editors Sports Section Editor Sports Page Editors

MEG SHACKLEFORD KATIE JONES JOHNNY MCGUIRE JOEY SOPTIC CLARK GOBLE JAYNE SHELTON NICK RATLIFF

the [harbinger]

Copy Editors

AMANDA ALLISON TOM GROTEWOHL LAURA NELSON HALLIE MCCORMICK SYLVIA SHANK JENN SUNDERLAND ADRIENNE WOOD

Staff Writers HANNA COSGROVE MEG FRACOL MICHAEL HAKE DANIEL HEADY ALLY HEISDORFFER ERIN MORRISEY NORA SALLE ADRIENNE WOOD NATHAN YAFFE

Ads/Business RACHEL BIRKENMEIER Circulation DAVIN PHILLIPS Photographers KAREN BOOMER ABBA GOEHAUSEN JENNY HOWARD FRANCES LAFFERTY PATRICK MAYFIELD TAYLER PHILLIPS KELSEY STABENOW RACHEL WOOLDRIDGE RACHEL YOUNG Adviser

DOW TATE

The Harbinger is a student-run publication.

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

page 5 [opinion]

Lancers

an opinion of

thomas braslavsky The initial reaction was often the same.

“Israel? Is it safe?” would be the first words to come after I told someone about where I was going to spend my summer.

You often hear about this small, Middle Eastern country on the news, almost always for something negative.

But as I was soon to learn, even during times of extreme strife, the people of this land do not give up.

In the first week and a half of my five-week trip, I saw a thriving democracy with a diverse society, full of historical, cultural and natural wonders. And as the weeks went on, my respect and empathy for the people of this nation increased dramatically.

It cames a shock. Our tour bus, full of 33 American teenagers, was driving through Israel’s southern Negev Desert when we got the news brief from our counselor. After Hezbollah, a terrorist organization stationed in Lebanon, had snuck into Israel, ambushed a military convoy, kidnapped two soldiers and killed eight, Israel had started attacking targets in Lebanon in order to weaken Hezbollah and get back its missing soldiers. A major conflict had started.

“Are you scared?”

The question, asked by a 15-year-old Israeli girl, emanated in my mind for a few seconds. Personally, I felt safe. Our group was under the supervision of an organization that received security reports from the Israeli government every five minutes.

Plus, we had at least one armed guard with us at all times. I knew that bad things happen a lot in Israel, so I wasn’t sure how scared to feel. I was obviously worried about all the innocent people who would be affected by fighting, as well as the soldiers dying while fighting for their country. Finally, I told her that I wasn’t sure and asked her the same question.

“You see, this is how we live. Something is always happening in Israel, but life must go on,” she said.

This is what I encountered for the last three weeks of my trip. Life did go on. Here at Shawnee Mission East, and all around the United States today, we do not know what real war is all about. We are constantly reminded of Iraq, which is 8,000 miles away. We see pictures of the destruction, of children dying and of soldiers fighting. However, such a war does not directly impact our homeland. We do not have hundreds of rockets raining down daily on a major portion of our country. We do not have terrorists from across our northern border sneaking in and abducting our soldiers. We do not have suicide bombers walking into our favorite corner café, blowing themselves up.

Israel does.

In Israel, unfortunately, living under threat of war is a daily reality, one that makes the nation very resilient.

As we spent the next few weeks in Israel, signs of the war

Take a look at how five students spent their summers abroad

around theWorld all art by ren li

L E A ISR

were everywhere. We did not see rockets falling or people dying; our trip itinerary had changed in response to the conflict, and we could not go to the north of the country, which was under attack. However, we saw people – ordinary people – and how they lived their lives.

At a kibbutz (a communal settlement) in which we stayed, we encountered some of the over one million refugees from northern Israel, who had to leave their homes due to the immense danger of falling rockets. Not only kibbutzim, but also various organizations and just normal people (including my cousins in Tel Aviv) opened up shelters and homes to families from the North, a clear display of brotherhood among a nation sometimes so divided. And that’s not all. Everywhere I went, there were discounts for people from the North. Where accommodations were not provided free of charge, stores and hotels offered cheaper prices and fares for all evacuees.

This brotherhood transcended nationality and ethnic boundaries. In Israel, both Jews and Arabs were strongly affected by the war. Almost half of the civilians killed in Israel

by Hezbollah rockets were Israeli Arabs. In some parts of Israel, this fact served to unify the Israeli public; Jew or Arab, both were fighting for their self-defense.

With hostilities plaguing the area for decades, it is sometimes hard to think that there will ever be peace. However, I experienced a wonderful example of coexistence in, oddly enough, a hospital. Our group toured Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world. As I looked around, I saw something incredible. Jews and Arabs, Muslims and Christians, and people of all different and unique appearances were sitting in the waiting room, all together. I saw a staff clown, red nose and all, cheer up a two-year-old Palestinian boy who had just been crying. In such a volatile region, where bigotry is the common cause of most of the problems, it was amazing to experience such a

Sept. 5, 2006

reassuring sight. In that hospital, Jewish and Arab doctors work together to treat anyone who comes in, no matter what the patient’s beliefs or ethnicity. Hadassah Hospital reassured me of one thing: coexistence is possible, and therefore so is peace.

The day before we left Israel for the United States, we visited Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem, the sight of a major battle in Israel’s 1967 Six Day War. There, one of our Israeli counselors, Nir, gave us another news brief: he had been called up from the reserves and had to leave for the army that evening.

Just three months earlier, Nir had finished his mandatory military service, which is required for three years for Israeli men and two years for women, with men having to be in the reserves until their early forties as well. Now he was going back, back to defending his country.

“I don’t like to fight,” he said. “Hopefully the fighting will stop soon. But the thing is, Israel cannot lose a war; if it does, then it won’t be here anymore.”

As I thought about it, I understood. Israel is the only country whose right to exist is still denounced by actual heads of state. It is constantly singled out by critics, out of all the nonperfect states in the world, for unequal condemnation. And all this while its citizens live in a hostile neighborhood, with the threat of war and terror looming at every wrong turn.

That evening, as Nir, dressed in his uniform, hair shaved, said his emotional goodbye, I could not begin to comprehend the bravery that young men and women just like him were showing, defending their nation’s very existence. I felt a brotherhood with them, as well as with all the innocent civilians affected by this conflict in both Lebanon and Israel.

I had just spent a summer in Israel, and I had felt totally safe. I grieved for the victims of war, and I prayed for peace in the Middle East. But I had spent this war among experienced professionals – people to whom such strife was not new. Resilient people who went on with their daily lives as one seventh of the population had to leave its homes, as all of their northern cities, including the third largest one in the country, were being attacked, and as around 1 million trees were burning to the ground after being hit with rockets (those forests will take at least 60 years to re-grow). And maybe the strength of the Israeli people, maybe that brotherhood and that cooperation that I saw at the hospital, combined with some more pragmatism among other key players, could achieve that coexistence which is so much needed. And make Israel truly safe.

page 6 [opinion]

A C I R A T S O

Adrienne Wood

C

There are things I will always carry with me from my month long trip to Costa Rica: Emotional wounds from being attacked by a mutant flying cockroach. A wooden bobblehead turtle my host family gave to me. Scars on my legs from the 236 mosquito bites I suffered. But beyond the memories—good, bad and infested with small lizards—I will never forget the lessons I learned alongside 24 other American students. Here are seven useful and oftentimes overlooked facts everyone should know before braving the wild rainforest of Costa Rica.

1. Rice goes well with beans. The Costa Ricans sure know this, and enjoy proving it three meals a day. Just have fun trying new foods and gain an appreciation for American hamburgers. And remember, a moist bean is a healthy bean.

2. More rain means larger plants, which means larg er vermin. Be prepared for tarantulas in bathroom sinks, rats and snakes in cabin rafters and giant flying cockroaches scaling your wall.

3. Costa Rica is home to the world’s finest coffee beans. As a result, the ticos serve it at every meal. I learned the hard way that coffee is highly addictive after drinking three cups a day and going into withdrawal upon my return.

It is best to ease your way out of addiction by reducing your servings to one a day.

4. For every remote village in the middle of the jungle, there are ten gorgeous natural formations nearby. We hiked two uncomfortable hours up a muddy slope in the rain, but what we found was completely worth the effort—a crystal-clear hot spring waterfall surrounded by a picturesque canopy that screamed Herbal Essence commercial. Don’t be deterred by a little rain from going exploring.

5. Hot showers are overrated. As a matter of fact, they are nonexistent. But cold water makes your hair shiny and smooth, so be grateful.

an opinion of It was the Fourth of July.

Feeling patriotic, I was excited for the day, and put on my red-andSylvia Shank white striped shirt and blue jeans. I was spending 3 weeks as an exchange student in Geneva, Switzerland. I love the Fourth, but for the family I was living with, it was just another Tuesday in July. At a loss for what to do, I went into town to look for something, anything, American.

I dropped my Swiss Francs into the automatic ticket machine and boarded the crowded tram. Standing between a scowling Frenchman with a pierced eyebrow, and three women armed with shopping bags gabbing in rapid-fire French, I longed for the comfort of my spacious sedan. I am pretty claustrophobic, so being crammed in so tight made me light-headed.

It’s kind of a problem that someone who supports fresh air must spend 30 minutes in a tram filled with Swiss people who not only reek of cigarettes, but from what I can tell, do not even wear deodorant. I was trying not to breath. With my asthma and claustrophobia, I was feeling nauseous. I might have fainted, but there was no room to fall…

When I got off the tram, I sighed with relief. Literally.

I inhaled and exhaled a good five times to get the tramsmell out of my system. I started walking down the street, window-shopping at H & M, and Pimkie. ‘Chocolateries’, displayed tantalizing chocolate truffles in 50 different

6.

The best way to make friends with the ticos is to speak Spanish. There is nothing worse than a snobby American who won’t even learn hola before coming to Costa Rica.

7. Live the pura vida as the Costa Ricans do. Their incredibly slow-paced walking embodies their laid back and fun-loving culture. Don’t sweat being 20 minutes late—according to “tico time” you are early. It may be difficult to forget your Shawnee Mission East Junior Adrienne Wood spent her summer participating in uptight American a community service program in Costa Rica. timekeeping, but once you lose the watch you will feel much more relaxed.

Even if the rugged jungle lifestyle doesn’t suite you, I am of the firm belief that everyone with the ability should go to a foreign country. Not only did I learn to adjust to extreme conditions and differences of culture, but I learned more about how the world views America.

Stray from the beaten American tourist track and step outside of your comfort zone; there is way more to be learned. photo courtesy of Adrienne Wood

an opinion of

D N A L R E Z IT

SW

flavors. News shops sold Orangina, the French version of Fanta. I scanned the covers of French Cosmo and Vogue. With so much of the unfamiliar around me, I began to get a craving for a distinctly American beverage.

But I knew there was little chance of finding it here, in Switzerland. By now I was walking along the lake. As my hopes of finding anything American dwindled, I thought to myself, “What the heck. If I can’t have what I’m really craving, at least I can get some Gelato.” Ice cream stands dotted the beach.

Just as I walked up to the stand, something caught my eye. In the distance was a familiar face. She had long, wavy black hair, and her eyes were dark and piercing.

I moved into an all-out sprint. Two minutes later, I pushed open the door, and was overwhelmed with the distinctive aroma of Starbucks. Eggplant colored walls and those familiar cushy armchairs greeted me. It was the exact same setup as in the United States. I placed my order, using the same words I do at home. How fun to say ‘non-fat’ and ‘venti’ and be perfectly understood! After ordering, and telling the man my name, which he scribbled onto my coffee cup, I eagerly awaited my first euphoric taste of venti mocha frappaccino, to which nothing can compare.

I carried my drink, along with a Starbucks espresso brownie to a table, and took a sip of that sweet, coffee goodness.

Immediately, I was transported back to my neighborhood Starbucks in Prairie Village. To me, Starbucks translates to conversation, caffeine, and above all, familiarity. In the

the [harbinger]

middle of a foreign whirlwind, I found a bit of America.

W h o knew that a city like Geneva had a Starbucks?

That icy frappacino and chocolatey brownie were as good as a fireworks display and Sousa march. I gazed out the window at Lake Geneva, pondering America, verb conjugations, and life.

Finding a Starbucks in a foreign land, I knew how Dorothy must have felt when she woke up after her adventures in Oz, saying “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home …” Something about Starbucks is comforting. A Starbucks consistently has that inviting interior, and even available restrooms. And do you know how hard it is to find public restrooms in Europe? Basically, they do not exist.

On that day, nothing said ‘America’ like Starbucks. Hidden in an unfamiliar city, I found a taste of home.

page 7 [opinion]

an opinion of

I gave my mom the biggest hug that I had given her since I was a little girl.

I was leaving to spend six ellie weed weeks in rural Michoacan, Mexico. As I said goodbye to my family and program sponsors, I tried to hide my tears. I didn’t want anyone to see how scared I really was.

Just before I boarded the plane, one of my sponsors told me about a girl in the same program a few years earlier that came home early because she was “too chicken” to finish.

I laughed with him, thinking nothing like that could ever happen to me.

And then it did.

When I arrived in Mexico, I was the only volunteer in the group of 50 from the Midwest. Everyone else knew someone or had someone from their area except for me. After a couple of days of training, we split up into 25 different groups that would go to 25 different villages. At this point I met my partner Lauren from California. From the beginning, we got along great. She was really outgoing, and we had a lot in common. Unfortunately, she could barely communicate in Spanish.

Lauren and I got assigned to a small town called El Palmito.

There’s 800 people in our community, and we’re staying with a sweet grandmother and her two small grandchildren. I even get running water, electricity, and a phone in my house, and the grandmother has had volunteers in past years, so she is experienced with the program.

After training, I began to dread what awaited me. No more English, no more Americans except Lauren, no more comfortable hotel rooms. I’ve got this pain in the pit of my stomach, and I realize it’s because I miss home so much. I didn’t know you could get a stomach ache from homesickness.

I had been to summer camp my whole life, and not once had I been homesick like this.

As we wait in the lobby for our ride to pick us up, Lauren tells me that she threw up 8 times the night before. She claims she’s feeling better, and wants to go to El Palmito.

As the rain gently starts to hit the windshield and the woman driving us to our town begins to ramble about her expertise in suero, the cure-all salt/sugar water drink that may be able to help Lauren, I feel the separation between my new friends, the air-conditioned hotel, the little bit of American culture, and my English grow with each bump on the gravel road.

When we got to El Palmito, we found out that our host family had been switched. The packet of information t h a t

O C I MEX

they had given us about our family would be irrelevant.

I had no control over the situation.

Lauren and I took our 50 pound backpacks up the cement stairs to our bedroom. Obviously someone forgot to mention we’d be sleeping across the hall from a chicken coop. I was completely repulsed.

Lauren was groggy and tired, and had cramps all over her body. I unpacked and tried to write my parents a letter.

I started to cry. Who was I kidding? Six weeks without my family, without my Facebook and e-mail, without my namebrand clothing and closet full of shoes? I wanted to go home so bad it hurt. I was ashamed. Here I was, a materialistic American, trying as hard as I could to ignore the reality of the situation.

I blew my nose and decided the only way to get home off my mind would be to do something productive. I went downstairs and asked Marisol, the 11-year-old niece of my host mother, to show me around El Palmito. I confided in her that I missed home, so she took me to her house and turned on the TV. She had satellite TV, so she turned it to the English channels and asked me what I wanted to watch that would make me feel like I was at home again.

After an hour of MTV, it was lunchtime. Every lunch was the same, and every day Lauren stuck to tortillas. She still couldn’t eat anything spicy, because it didn’t agree well with her stomach. One afternoon, I went to go check on her, and she had a fever of 103 degrees. Unable to find a phone I could use, I resorted to bribing a woman in town with money to let us use her phone to call the project staff. The staff told us to go to the heath center, so we got a ride into town.

We went into the doctor’s office and anything he said to Lauren she just looked at me to translate. Here I was, a beginner myself, holding someone else’s heath in my hands, in a foreign language. Anything that went wrong would be completely my fault.

After a quick examination, or lack thereof, the doctor told me she had appendice. Appendice? Is that appendicitis? It couldn’t be. She wasn’t keeling over, screaming in pain. But who was I to say? He was the doctor. He told us to go to the hospital, claiming it was muy urgente.

Finally, our supervisor met up with us. We drove to the nearby hospital where they nearly laughed at the diagnosis.

There was no way she had appendicitis. Our supervisor was just as confused as we were.

Lauren was feeling a lot better and was moving a lot easier. Our supervisor noticed, and told us to just head back

to our community and keep her posted on Lauren’s condition.

After all of that? Are you serious?

Lauren looked at me with open eyes of terror. We’d heard of sick volunteers staying with the project staff in their house, and I timidly asked if we could do that. She agreed.

The next morning, Lauren and I were getting ready to leave to go back to El Palmito. She was feeling a lot better, but I was still in shock after the days of chaos I had already endured. I had been told that the first week would be hard, but I was miserable. I just wanted to talk to my parents, tell them of this whole adventure, hear them say they loved me, and realize that I’m here for a reason. But I couldn’t do that. The program wouldn’t allow us to call our parents, but I needed to tell someone how I felt.

My supervisors had been volunteers in years past, so they must understand how I felt. I just unloaded...I told them about the stingy woman with her phone, I told them about the food that I had eaten, I told them about how I’ve been doing this all on my own since Lauren had been so sick, I told them about the smell and the sounds of the chickens that I’ve endured while I’ve been trying to sleep. I told them how I had been the only person looking after Lauren’s health and I did it all in Spanish.

One of my supervisors looked at me, and after soaking it all in, she told me, “Well no one is forcing you to stay here.”

Whoah. I wasn’t expecting to hear that. It’s just like when you go to camp: if you’re homesick, too bad. I didn’t even know going home was an option. The thought of choosing to go home without injury, illness, or rule-breaking had never crossed my mind.

I had been through enough. I’d challenged myself more than I had ever expected. I truly felt that I had done what I was meant to do in Mexico. I nursed a girl back to health in a foreign language. I had made a friend in an 11-year-old girl. I tried it, which I realized is half the battle. I went though the training, both in Kansas City and in La Piedad. I had met so many amazing people along the way- people I will never forget.

I went out of my comfort zone and tried something different. It was no one’s fault that things didn’t work out, it was just an unlucky set of events. I found my limits, and realized that this experience had pushed beyond them.

It was like a script I had read a thousand times, one that I had finally accepted as the truth. “There was just a lot of unlucky circumstances. My partner didn’t speak much Spanish, she ended up getting really sick and had to go to the hospital, my host family got switched, and I was living across the hall from a chicken coop, so, you know, it was just a lot to handle and it was just easier to come home.”

Left: Boomer’s Italian host sister, Sarah, wrote “Italia 4ever” on the sidewalk shortly before Italy won the Champion del Monde, or World Cup, in English. Italy beat France by one penalty kick in overtime.

Y L A T I by [karen boomer]

Left: Besides pizza and pasta, Southern Italy is also known for fresh seafood such as calamari. Calamari is the Italian word for squid. This bright purple seafood is sold at local markets in Italy and is often served fried as an appetizer.

Right: Boomer’s host brother and cousin, Carlo and Michael, enjoy a tomato and olive oil panino one afternoon at a beach in Lecce, located in southern Italy. Most Italians spend their summer holiday relaxing at the beaches in southern Italy along the blue-green waters of the Adriatic coast.

Sept. 5, 2006

Afresh

page 8 [features]

outlook by [nathan yaffe]

Far Above: Tanzanian school boy takes a break from the class Hodges was assisting with to pose for photo Above: Hodges with fellow trip mate takes a break from daily activities photos courtesy of photobucket.com

InTanzania 1

• out of every from HIV/AIDS

15 Tanzanians suffers

• 90% of Tanzanians live on less than a day

$2

• Life expectancy is about 40 years

12

• Infant Mortality Rate in Africa is times as high as in the United States

Courtesy of Population Reference Bureau’s World Population Data Sheet 2006

“I’m not gonna have a summer… this is going to suck… Why can’t I have a normal summer?”

It’s May 22, and senior Alex Hodges is having doubts.

He’s written more than 35 letters asking to help raise money to pay for the trip. While his friends blare Da Back Wudz and Panic! At the Disco, Swahili language tapes consume Hodges’s driving time.

“Habari.” Hello.

“Tafadhali.” Please.

Despite all his work to get here, Hodges is still nervous about his summer in Tanzania.

••• When Hodges heard from a friend who had traveled to Africa the summer after her freshman year in college, he started doing research. After considering a number of organizations that sponsor volunteer trips all over the globe, Hodges settled on Cross-Cultural Solutions to help him realize one of his lifelong goals: seeing Africa firsthand.

“I’ve always loved Africa,” Hodges said. “But I didn’t understand it. I wanted to help, but I wanted to understand it, too.”

According to Steve Rosenthal, Founder and Executive Director of CCS, one of the main goals of his program is just that.

“International Volunteerism is divided equally between three parts,” Rosenthal said. “There’s service, learning and then educating others back home.”

But on May 22, seven days before his 14-hour plane ride to another world, Hodges felt anything but ready.

“I was freaking out,” he said. “I wasn’t mentally prepared to go.”

When he landed in Tanzania and realized that his camera and video recorder had been stolen, Hodges regretted signing up at all.

When he got to the CCS compound a few miles outside Arusha, things began looking up. That night was spent socializing with other participants, and for the first time in his life, Hodges found himself surrounded by people who were as passionate about Africa as he was.

The next morning, walking out past the concrete walls and electric fencing that protected their compound, Hodges was in the midst of a culture he would come to love. One of the first things that struck him was how much everyone he encountered

the [harbinger]

Senior Alex Hodges’s African volunteer trip changes perspective on life

wanted to learn.

Locals hanging out at the bar and art shop outside the compound jumped at the chance to practice their English on the predominantly white expedition.

“The desire to learn there is incredible,” Hodges said. “Everyone wants to learn English because—as strange as it sounds—they can’t get a decent job without it.”

And helping people learn is exactly what Hodges spent his time doing.

The first of his two months there was dedicated to working at a local school. With 30 children aged three to six, Hodges taught nursery rhymes and went over the alphabet.

“It’s amazing because in America, kids are like ‘God, I have to go to school’ like they’re disappointed about it,’” Hodges said. “There, kids say ‘Please, please let me go to school.’”

And many of them went to great lengths to do it. As Hodges departed each morning to go to work, kids could be seen starting their daily trek to school—sometimes as far as 16 miles from their village.

Even among adults, the desire to get educated is prevalent. Shant, a Tanzanian local who befriended Hodges, talked constantly of trying to get into college. After weeks of coaxing, Hodges and a fellow CCS member provided Shant the $8 needed to take his college entrance exam.

Money that, for most of the Tanzanians Hodges encountered, is all but completely out of reach.

While most of the people Hodges encountered in Tanzania suffer from poverty more severe than he’s ever seen in America, you wouldn’t think it from dealing with them.

“Most of them would be on level with the person we see on the side of the road begging,” Hodges said. “But they all carry themselves as if they were the richest person there.”

It’s not all show, either. The compound night guard, who worked a 12-hour shift starting at 6 p.m., was one of the poorest people Hodges encountered. After a nightlong patrol, he’d go home and sleep for two hours and get up to run the school he’d set up in his house.

“They paid and treated this guy like dirt,” Hodges said. “But he was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We visited his house to see the school one afternoon, and he laid out a spread for us that was probably more

food than he’d eat all week.”

Even with people like these, Tanzania still has a long way to go. One of the most telling experiences for Hodges was when he visited a local AIDS hospice.

“I saw full grown women who weighed 90 pounds. They were too sick to walk or speak—and then you’ve got their kids playing in the other room.”

Again, the problem is one of education. Many Tanzanians don’t know how HIV spreads. Those who know they have it can’t tell, because they’ll be ostracized from the community.

But men without wives are ostracized as well. Hodges thinks that more education and awareness could help conquer stigmas and myths about HIV. “I saw a 22-year old woman die,” Hodges said. “You can’t have any idea until you see it—I had to carry her out of that room. They need help. But you can’t understand it from here.”

Despite heartbreaking stories like this one, Hodges couldn’t bear to leave. So much so that he extended his stay another week when his time expired, and only came home then because he ran out of money. But he plans to go back—this time for years rather than months—as soon as he can.

In the meantime, Hodges has to deal with the culture shock of coming back to Johnson County.

“Problems here seem so trivial now,” Hodges said. “People joke: ‘So’d you get AIDS?’ but it’s just not funny anymore. It’s sad because it just shows how meaningless all of our problems are.”

As scary as it is, Hodges wouldn’t trade the perspective for anything.

“It’s disgusting how much we take for granted here,” he said. “I mean, here are all these people who would kill to be in our position—not for the status, because they have a completely different lifestyle, just to be able to get an education like we have.”

And that’s what he finds so beautiful about the people he encountered.

“It’s sad,” Hodges said, “but I really think if they went to school here—it’s not that they’d be smarter, but they’d make a lot more of themselves.

“I had a passion for Africa before.

But now I have something stronger.

I’ve fallen in love with these people, and that’s something I’ll always carry with me.”

evidence

page 9 [features]

Photo by Jenny Howard

for success East’s debate team this year looks for a repeat state championship.

Senior Matt Summers researches in the debate room. Summers and Advanced Debate partner Michael Owens are expected to do well for East this year. “We’re looking forward to working together and bringing home a lot of trophies,” Owens said.

by [hanna cosgrove] State champions. It sounded great last year, but even better this year. In 2006, the Shawnee Mission East debate team’s season culminated with an exciting state championship. They look to not only repeat, but build on the success this year with the Tournament of Champions and other national tournaments.

While most teens spend their summers sleeping late and just relaxing, many debaters spent the summer poring over books and research to prepare for the upcoming year.

“Members of the team often attend summer programs where they research and learn about the year’s topic,” senior debater Matt Summers said. “Most programs are equivalent to a semester of work in college.”

Although the hundreds of hours spent preparing can be tedious, debaters know that their work will be well rewarded through tournaments, public speaking, and confidence.

This year’s debate is on whether or not the United States should establish a policy to increase participation in these voluntary services:

Here

•Armed Forces •Peace Corps •Citizens Corps •Americorps •Senior Corps •Learn & Serve America

of time,” Cormany said. “Debaters are often practicing until nine or 10 at night. I hope that their hard work will pay off and they will be able to compete in the Tournament of Champions.”

A member of last year’s team Brian Rubaie realizes his years of debate paid off. He left East with a scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas. Rubaie was the number one debater in the nation, but because he passed on his knowledge, the team feels it can still be successful without him.

“Brian was one of the most helpful people in the world,” third year debater, Danielle Lipsman said. “We have a great squad and we can do just as well if not better this year.”

But for now, the team is focusing on the tournaments ahead. Argument by argument, rebuttle by rebuttle.

“Really my personal goal is to take it one round at a time,” Summers said. “I aspire to make it to the Tournament of Champions, but ultimately I have to focus on the round that I’m in. That one moment.”

out for this year:

Brad Crist and Michael Perbeck Matt Summers and Michael Owens Sean Kennedy and Danny Mapes

photos By Tayler Philips

debate.2006.

“Debating forces the highest level of thought,” Summers said. “Not only on the educational level, but it gives you a tool box of skills that can be used in everyday life.”

Along with over 30 new debaters in the novice class, the team is joined by a new head coach, Sara Cormany. Cormany, a 1995 East alum, is eager to be a part of the team and hopes she can do her part in leading them to victory.

“East has had a strong tradition of excellent debate in the past and I hope to help continue that into the future,” Cormany said.

Looking to add to last year’s success, the top debate teams hope to make it to the Tournament of Champions.

This tournament, considered the most competitive in the nation, is by invitation only. For the first time in Kansas history, a qualifying round will be held at East. The finals will take place in Kentucky.

“Debate is different than other extra-curriculars because it is so intense and are the teams to look requires excessive amounts

Aishlinn O’Connor and Kate O’Neill Patrick Kennedy and Danielle Lipsman

Debaters Senior Michael Owens and Junior Danny Mapes work after school in the debate room. Mapes will be partners with Sean Kennedy again this year. Kennedy is optimistic about this year’s debating: “I think we’ll do well. It’s pretty fun [working with Danny]. He works hard.”

UPCOMING EVENTS: SHARE Fair Wednesday, Sept. 6th @ 2:10 P.M. Class Represevenative Elections Friday, Sept. 8th Sept. 5, 2006

page 10 [features]

Boy born deaf-blind plans to be part of IB program by [jenn sunderland]

“Now turn right here, now keep turning right, around the corner – watch out, there’s a rack there…now there’s a table.

Right there. Go ahead and sit down,” Mission Valley Middle School paraprofessional Jeri Hile instructs Student Tyler Kavanaugh.

Tyler is deaf and blind. The Shawnee Mission East library, they found, is not a good place for that. Neither are most places Tyler visits regularly. He has to spend extra time learning the school’s hallways and classrooms. He even takes lessons on how to cross the street. Tyler doesn’t let this extra work bother him, though.

“He likes his life…he doesn’t sit around thinking of what he doesn’t have,” his mother, Stephanie Kavanaugh, said.

“He just focuses on what he does have.”

Tyler attends Mission Valley as an eighth grader, but comes to Molly Fast’s first hour geometry class with other advanced kids his age. He is in SEEK at Mission Valley, a class for gifted students, and plans to be a part of East’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

When Tyler was born, his family was unaware of his disabilities.

“We knew it was a boy, and that’s it,” his mother said.

“The day after he was born we found out he was blind, and four days after we found out he was deaf…so we were definitely shocked…I had only met one blind person in my life, and I had had very little interaction with her.”

Tyler was also born with two life-threatening heart defects. At six months old, he had heart surgery. His first hearing aide also came before he was a year old. In it was a speaker that transmitted sounds from a microphone his mother wore around the house.

“I narrated everything I did for years, from anywhere in the house,” she explained. Tyler also learned how to read finger spelling in either of his palms. His parents would form the letters of the alphabet in sign language into one of his hands.

“When he was in the pool or the shower he couldn’t wear his hearing aid, so I’d just tap on his hand and then spell ‘time to get out,’ and that’s how he’d know,” she said. Tyler quickly learned sign language, too.

“Every bite he ate for years, we took his hands and made the sign for ‘more.’ If he was swinging and he signed ‘more,’ we just kept pushing. If he was eating a cookie and signed ‘more,’ he got another cookie. He ate a lot of cookies!”

Stephanie said.

the.statistics:deaf-blind.

• Over 10,000 children ages 0-2 years in the United States are deaf-blind.

• There are an estimated 35-40,000 deaf-blind adults in the United States • Being considered deaf-blind does not always mean the person is completely deaf and/or blind.

• Some deaf-blind people are able to identify familiar people, see sign language from a close distance and sometimes read large print. Others have sufficient hearing and are able to recognize familiar sounds, understand some speech, or even develop some speech for themselves. courtesy Gallaudet University’s Deaf-related Resources

Soon, Tyler started reading Braille. Tyler has read every Harry Potter book and is anxiously awaiting the seventh.

Meanwhile, he reads plenty of others.

“I like sci-fi,” he said. “And I’ve read some Bradbury…and I like fantasy. But mostly Harry Potter,” Tyler said.

Raising Tyler has been a challenge for his parents.

“With Tyler, it’s more hands on. His world was only as far as he could reach,” Tyler’s dad, Kurt Kavanaugh, said. “We have to go, and do and explore.” His mom agrees.

“We tried to make sure he had hands on experiences.

If there were a construction worker on the street, I’d ask if Tyler could see his truck,” Stephanie said. “So Tyler would climb up on it and they would explain to him how it works.

If there was a police car, I’d pull over and ask if Tyler could see it.”

When Tyler was younger, she didn’t know how his childhood would turn out. “I used to cry and say ‘he’ll never see Mickey Mouse.’ But now, he’s been to Disney World twice and he’s even had breakfast with Mickey.”

His parents have made sure that Tyler experiences other things, too. He’s been scuba diving, horseback riding, and ridden on airplanes.

Tyler can see color and light, but not shapes. He can also hear people speaking about six feet away from him in his right ear, with the help of a hearing aid. He can’t localize sound because he can only hear in one ear.

“That’s the bad part about being deaf. I have to turn my head so my ear faces the person I’m talking to and I can’t tell where most sound is coming from,” Tyler said. This also hinders his ability to listen to music.

the [harbinger]

photo by Katie Woods

Student overcomes adversity to excel “We don’t know what music sounds like to him, but it doesn’t sound the same as we hear it, and it’s not pleasing,” Stephanie said.

Hile helps aid Tyler in certain classes to compensate for these disabilities.

“It’s harder for Tyler to get information, but not to learn,” Hile explains. To solve that problem, he uses special equipment provided by the district. Tyler has a “note taker,” a machine into which he types Braille using only six different buttons. Each line he types is saved and later printed out in English. That way, Tyler can turn in his assignments.

Instead of normal textbooks, Tyler uses Braille translations. The books are much larger, but contain the same information and even outlines of pictures and maps.

“The Braille books are huge and they take up a lot of space,” Tyler said. “My backpack is really big and weighs a lot more than most kids.”

When working with computers, he has a special program that speaks the words and commands on the screen and one that helps him search the Internet. He reads interesting articles and emails friends and family. Tyler learned to type on a Braille keyboard and now types completely by memory.

He also uses other special tools.

“Everything you need for school, he has in Braille,” Hile explains. However, his teachers don’t. This is where her job comes in: Hile collects assignments, tests, quizzes and handouts early. Using a special program on her computer back at Mission Valley, she types it all out and prints them off on a Braille printer for him to use later in class. She even uses puff paint to draw out shapes and grids.

Tyler’s teachers have to make other adjustments during class, too. Fast recently tried out a new hands-free microphone, which can be heard from a speaker placed on Tyler’s desk. However, the technology doesn’t always work as planned.

“Can you hear me now?” Fast spoke into the microphone.

Hile, sitting next to Tyler’s desk, shook her head. She handed Fast a hand held microphone instead and sighed.

“This thing is just driving me crazy,” she said. Tyler doesn’t let this frustrate him, though. He laughs it off, joking about Fast using the new microphone to sing karaoke. For him, it’s just another typical day. Sometimes, he doesn’t even mind his disabilities, he said: “I know a good part (about being blind). I can’t see the scary parts in scary movies!”

page 11 [features]

After his father’s death, student begins... ehausen

Moving

Photo by Abba Go

Forward by [paige cornwell]

Junior Matthew Pope is moving on, but not forgetting.

He is trying to cope with what happened to his father.

When he is singing, acting, cheering or diving, he remembers how his father pushed him. It inspired him to work harder.

He’s continuing on, but not forgetting the day that changed his life.

On June 7, Pope had cheerleading practice, and had left a note for his father the night before to wake him up early. But his dad didn’t wake him up. He got up and looked outside, his father’s car was still in the driveway. Pope didn’t think much of it; he thought he had heard something about his father taking his mother’s car to the shop, or maybe he had to go to work early. Since he had missed the beginning of cheerleading practice, he went to the gym. While he was stretching, he got a phone call from his sister.

“Dad had an accident, just come home,” she said.

Still, he didn’t think much of it. His dad had been in accidents before, and often went to the ER. having injuries resulting from working occasionally in the factory.

While he was walking out of the gym, he got another phone call. This time, his sister was crying. She told him to hurry up and come home, but she wouldn’t tell him what was wrong.

He sped down Metcalf going 70 mph, and once at his house, parked the car before it even stopped moving, and ran inside. He came in through the living room and saw his mother, siblings and Officer Fleming, who was a family friend of the Popes’. At that time, Pope “kinda knew” what

The Grieving Process

1 2

Accepting the reality of death.

Embracing the pain of lose.

had happened.

What’s wrong?” he asked. “Where’s Dad?” His mother was crying.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she kept saying. She tried to hug him, but he pushed her away. He ran to his room and started crying.

He knew his father had died.

The Popes had known that a heart condition ran in their family, but not how far back it went, how serious it was.

And they never thought that anything could ever happen to Richard Pope, who they belived was otherwise perfectly healthy. But in the early morning of June 7, the Popes believe that Richard Pope went outside on the deck and sat down on a chair, and “his heart just stopped.” He was 52.

And Pope still has regrets.

Richard Pope knew that his son was gay, and they even talked about his boyfriends, but Matthew was told by his sister that their dad just wanted him to say it to his face. He had been preparing himself to tell his dad for a month. Then his dad died. He regrets that the most.

He had the support of his friends and teachers. Friends like Hope Lowe, who says, “He’s really strong, always there for you, even when times are bad for himself. He is the strongest person I know.” And Tracy Resseguie, who arranged for the chambers choir to sing at the funeral.

But now, “everything is weird.” His father isn’t going to be

at his theater events, his choir concerts or his cheer events. He won’t be there to see his son leave to go to New York to perform in Carnegie Hall, or when he attempts yet another back handspring at a pep assembly.

Pope is working harder.

His father had always asked Pope what schoolwork he had, to make sure that he got it done. He expected A’s and B’s.

Nothing less than a C. Both he and Pope’s mother believed that “if you were going to do one thing, do it well. Don’t do a bunch of things mediocre.” He wanted Pope to be the first child to go out of state for college. Pope is now in honors classes, and wants to go to Indiana University for its music and dance program.

His father had been in a traveling choir, and never missed a choir concert that Pope was in. The last choir concert he saw was before the choraliers left for Ireland. It was the first time Pope had ever seen his father cry.

When Pope was younger, his father would always be there for his baseball and soccer games, screaming and yelling for him to get the ball. Although he had been apprehensive at first about Pope being a yell leader, he tried to make it to the varsity games where he cheered. Now Pope is making the varsity squad work harder, instructing them to try more difficult routines.

He is helping his gay friends with the coming out process, and to better their relationships with their parents. He doesn’t want anyone to have to feel the regret he felt.

It’s all what his dad would have wanted.

..

Six steps to help deal with grief

3 4

Remember the person who died.

Developing a new self-identity.

CONTACTS:

For additional help call these numbers.

Solace House.................913.341.0318 5 Searching for meaning. Teen Connection Hotline.......913.281.1234 support from Jewish Family Services....... .816.333.1172 6 Recievingothers.

Sept. 5, 2006

page 12 [spread] Account Number

0000 0000 0000 0000

Credit Line

$1000.00

Billing Cycle

31 days

Payment Due Date

09/05/06

Credit Statements

know these words before getting a credit card Annual Percenatge Rate (APR)

The APR is a yearly interest rate that is a combination of fees and costs. It is required by law for lenders to tell you the APR.

Grace Period

When there is no balance on your credit card, lenders allow you an interest-free time between the transaction and billing dates.

Minimum Payment The smallest amount a person can pay to keep the

account from becoming default.

Over-the-Limit Fee

Fee charged when you go over your credit limit.

Pre-approved

If you recieve an offer for a pre-approved credit card, all this means is that you have passed a preliminary credit screening.

As credit card companies target teens, more students are finding themselves

BILL

footing

the

by [ally heisdorffer]

When senior Whitney Van Way got a letter in the mail from Commerce Bank stating that she had overdrawn her account, she panicked. She had only spent $2 more than she had in her account with the brand new Visa Also known as the introductory rate. Used to lure Teaser Rate customers into switching credit cards with a belowdebit/credit card, but that was enough for the bank to fine her an extra $30. market interest rate.

“I just didn’t know about the overdraw policy with the debit card so I didn’t keep track of what I was spending very well,” she said.

A written statement required by the Federal Reserve Card Holder which gives the terms and conditions of your account.

Van Way opened the debit card account with her parents last February.

Agreement The account will be transferred to her name once she turns 18. She wanted to have the debit card before she was 18 because of how much easier the acA combination of interest costs and other fees that Periodic Rate make up the charge for using a credit card. cess to her money would be. courtesy of bankrate.com “I didn’t have to run to the bank every time I needed cash,” Van Way said.

“It was just easier for me to go do things because I knew I always had money.”

Although the overall bill from the overdraw only came to $32, it was enough for Van Way to learn her lesson. She now keeps better tabs on her debit account.

“I get a set allowance transferred into it now and now I stay on a better budget,” she said. “I always make sure I keep a recent statement slip in my wallet to keep track of what I spend.”

For senior Mary Lynn Coulson, overdrawing her debit account has never been an issue. Coulson doesn’t even know exactly how much money she Who pays for your credit card? has in her bank account. Both she and her parents put money in it from a) your parents time to time and Coulson doesn’t touch the card unless she needs it for gas b) you about every other week and to purchase a few necessary items. c) I didn’t know you had to pay...

Coulson and her parents opened an account for the debit card before she Where do you keep your credit card? went on the choir trip to Ireland last spring break. After she got home, she a) in the pocket of some pants somewhere decided to keep the card because it was easier to access her money for gas b) actually, I haven’t seen it in a few months and other miscellaneous items. c) in my wallet, next to my driver’s license There has never been a time when she has abused the credit card, and Coulson’s parents don’t allow her to go overboard with the privilege.

Your parents get you an emergency-only debit card.

“I can’t just use it all the time,” Coulson said. “My parents put money in You say emergencies equal... there, but I have to put some of my own in too. I just try not to use it too a) anything and everything! often.” b) clothes, gas, food Unlike Van Way and Coulson, senior Peyton Warwick doesn’t put any of c) gas and food - and only when you’re out of cash his own money towards the credit card his parents have provided for him. if your score is...

When Warwick was 16, his parents gave him his own credit card under their RESULTS You still have a lot to learn name. Because of the expenses from the excessive traveling he does with add up your points to get your score 0-1: about responsibility. soccer, using his own cash for meals and gas was becoming a hassle. It was question 1 question 2 question 3 You’re OK, but there is a) 1 a) 1 a) 0 hard to estimate exactly how much he would need to save before he left.

2-4: room for improvement. b) 2 b) 0 b) 1 Originally, it was the traveling that caused Warwick’s parents to supply him Great job! You really are 5-6: c) 0 c) 2 c) 2 with a credit card, but it has become a necessary convenience. responsible. the [harbinger]

Are you using your

QUIZ! CREDIT CARD responsibly?

1

2

3

take the

Now credit c gas.

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page 13 [spread]

w that school has begun, Warwick is still allowed to use the card, but only for basic needs like school supplies, food and

an’t buy anything outrageous,” Warwick said. “I can use never I want, but I can’t go on a shopping spree without ssion.” ause Warwick doesn’t have to use his own money, he t stress about making enough cash, whereas senior Sam s credit card is his very own. A little after his July 30 ay, Speer registered for his first credit card. His parents ’t surprised. Speer’s two older sisters had also regisor a credit card soon after they turned 18. ok Speer an afternoon to fill out the packet of paperand then another week or two to get his card in the

know

options your

ey make it really easy to sign up for a credit card, but ust because they want you to get one,” Speer said.

Jump$tart Coalition is an organization that teaches nts the importance of balancing money and unnding finances. A financial literacy quiz given ed ear to a group of high school students showed at you have agre th ed d vi ro p t, wan r whatever you percent average. The overall score of the test . let you charge fo ch ed ea month ow t n u o easing. Jump$tart has determined that the avam ll fu to pay the high school student today understands more e u agree to pay th yo at th how to manage finances than in previous years. ed d vi um nth, pro it limit each mo it is a set maxim lim it ed er also understands. He has a budget that he sets cr e h T give you a cred . nth terest on nt due each mo . There will be in ge himself each month determining how much he ar ch u minimum amou yo t le e company will end according to how much he is working. His job amount that th paid. ount that isn’t Kansas City Country Club pays him $7 an hour, the leftover am peer saves what he makes and uses that money to nce is rds. The differe ca it ed cr e lik d f at least three-fourths of what he spends. account to pay. s and can be use r u rd yo ca of it t ed u o cr e ey look lik kes mon nice not to have to pay for everything I spend in automatically ta rd ca later time. it eb d a at th peer said. “I can choose to pay the rest next month r payment at a fo s w lo al at th it There is no cred n’t work much, but I have to at least pay the miniachines. bill.” used at bank m e b n ca ey h T at . minimum for what Speer must pay is determined e from offers th tting fast cash ar ge r ey fo th n k o ti an p b o e are an cards if th w much he spends. It is one-fourth of what Speer s work as debit w.com rd ca M AT e m ruptcyla o S k n a b d ases for that month. Usually, Speer doesn’t pay of www.m rogram. p ourtesy c rd back in full, but to him, that is the purpose lying for a credit card in the first place. on credit is a system that has worked eer so far, and his credit card is not hing he intends to abuse.

Way pulls out her wallet to e check the little slip of path her account balance Being aware of her acis more important to ow because of her experiences. Alh she owed the money, Van still believes rd is worth g. just more nient to it,” she

Charge cards Credit cards

Debit cards

photo by

kelsey s ta

benow

ATM cards

Sept. 5, 2006

page 14 [features]

BANDING

photos by Frances Lafferty

TOGETHER

With the first marching show nine practice days away, band members rush to learn music, as well as how to work as sections to create each marching formation.

Above: Sophomore saxophone player Tim Larrabee stands in his formation while playing. During the show, members do not march constantly. Instead, they continue to march in place, called “marking Director Kim Harrison measures steps for a marching formation. Senior Scott Montana rests while on the field for 7 a.m. practice. During block scheduling, the band practices time.”

Each form must be a certain length from a designated yard line. every other day from 7 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. During normal scheduling, practice runs from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. This Below: Senior Sam Morse, sophomore Andrew Lykens In marching band terms, eight steps equals 10 yards, and each year, the band will perform three adapted selections from the movie soundtrack “A Nightmare Before Christmas.” and senior John Dalton carry bass drums, some of the player should be evenly spaced. heaviest instruments, during rehearsal.

DON’T FORGET! Harbinger subscriptions are still available!

Support your Shawnee Mission East Lancers!

Do the Earth a favor.

RECYCLE your Harbinger after you read it. q

the [harbinger]

‘A’CLICKaway is just a

an

by [erin morrisey]

www.homeworkspot.com

Lacking eye-catching design and userfriendly organization, this was one of the less satisfying sites out of the bunch.

Instead of having neat, simple charts and paragraphs of information like the other sites, Homework Spot is more of a search engine. It offers links to websites dealing with most school subjects. However, several of these links, when clicked upon, turn out to be incorrect or outdated. This site is an extensive collection of resources. Instead of Googling topics or asking Jeeves, Homework Spot keeps it all in one place. Don’t count on it to help you directly, but do come here if you’re willing to browse through several other sites.

page 15 [features]

We all need a little help sometimes. And those times may be at midnight on a Tuesday, stuck on a math problem that seems impossible. Being that you can’t call Mr. Nickels at 2 a.m. for help with your geography project, you’re going to need to find alternate resources. That’s where the Internet comes in. The following several websites are designed to offer quick homework help at your fingertips, 24 hours a day. They’ve been reviewed for their ease of use and helpfulness of information. So, next time you find yourself fretting over sentence patterns or the formula for velocity, just log on to one of these websites for enlightenment.

www.factmonster.com

Fact Monster’s standout design makes it easy to use. The main page is set up like a map, each section representing a different topic that can be clicked on for further information. Besides just the typical Math, Science, English, and Geography, it covers things such as sports statistics and current events. It has information neatly organized in helpful manners such as timelines and tables. If you’re in a class this year where you’ll be dealing with measurements a lot, you might want to print up the Metric Conversion chart found in the Math section of the site. The only real drawback to Fact Monster is that although most of the information is useful, some of it seems geared more toward the middle school set.

www.math.com

www.sparknotes.com It would probably be a challenge to find a high school senior who has never, at one point or another, utilized SparkNotes to make up for not reading an assignment in their English class.

While the literature study guides are no substitute for the actual novels they describe, you can get the general idea of what took place in a chapter. If you’ve forgotten to do some reading and you’re afraid you might have a quiz, SparkNotes is the place to go for a quick synopsis. Be careful, though—many English teachers read SparkNotes and specifically make up test and quiz questions that cover information not presented on the website. If you can get past that hurdle, than go ahead and click away.

When it comes to math, many students just copy the answers to the odd-numbered problems out of the back of their textbook. However, for those irritating days when your teacher opts to assign the evens, there is www.math.com. With it’s lessons divided up into different kinds of math(Calculus, Geometry, etc.), you can quickly find help with what you need. While it won’t give you the answer, it will show step-by-step solutions with simple explanations.

The Practice section is especially helpful because it works out practice problems that are similar to ones that might appear on your homework. Unfortunately, the design on the website seems to be having some problems, making certain sections difficult or impossible to access and read.

www.nationalgeographic.com/ homework Don’t expect to find English or Math help here. This site specializes in exactly what both the National Geographic magazine and television network do: science, history, and geography. It does go incredibly in-depth with these topics, making it an ideal site to use in researching for a paper or presentation. It features certain areas of interest, but if you click around, you can find more than just what is on the main page.

A great resource is the Country Profile, which gives extensive information on pretty much any country in the world. Its search box is also a useful tool when you need to get to what you are looking for quickly.

Lancer Club Field Hockey indoor practices every Sunday 8-9 p.m.

starting Sept.

10th

practice at the All American Indoor Sports Complex

**NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY**

9063 Bond Overland Park, KS

Meet the coach, Huw Savage, THIS WEDNESDAY in the Library at 2:40 p.m.

Contact Hue Savage at STICKS QUESTIONS? www.savagefieldhockey.com PROVIDED League play starts in November

COOL T-SHIRTS! Sept. 5, 2006

GIRLS ONLY

page 16 [features]

Both sides of the desk by [tom grotewohl]

Rick Royer is a math teacher. He scribbles complex formulas on overhead projectors and writes calculator programs to compute them.

He wears jeans and flannel and fills his shirt pocket with ballpoint pens. Every day is full of calculating, lecturing and assigning homework that his classes would probably rather not do.

Now, after 35 years of teaching, Royer is learning what it’s like to be a student again.

“The cramming, the loads of homework... I sound like a student,” Royer said. “It’s more stress than I’ve had since my first year of teaching.”

Royer’s situation certainly warrants a little stress. In the final weeks of summer, Royer learned that in the coming school year he was going to teach three classes he had never taught before: Calculus BC AP, Calculus 3 AP and Differential Equations AP. The classes, formerly taught by teacher Dan Gruman before he left for a new job with the district, are the top three math courses offered at East, and Royer had only three weeks to learn them.

“I took these classes years ago in college, but that knowledge was all gone,” Royer said.

“Students forget their math over just one summer. Imagine how much I remembered after 37 years.”

With few moments to spare, Royer sat down at his kitchen table, calculator in hand, and began the daunting task of learning the new material.

Spare time that was once filled with crossword puzzles and five-star sudokus was instead used to prepare for the fast-approaching school year.

“There were days when I would spend eight or 10 hours at that kitchen table – literally all of my free time – pouring over books and notes full of math I hadn’t seen in decades,” Royer said.

While Royer already had an understanding of Calculus BC AP, which is an extension of one of his previous classes (Calculus AB AP), Differential Equations AP and Calculus 3 AP proved to be more difficult. For these, Royer enlisted the help of friend and former teacher Ray Runyan, who retired from East two years ago.

“Rick came over and took some of my old notes, worksheets and course outlines,” Runyan said. “I taught all of his classes years ago. I wouldn’t call them difficult – math is fun! But I’m sure it must be stressful teaching them all for the first time.”

Royer, anticipating the need for further assistance, placed Runyan’s phone number on speed dial and asked for permission to call him several more times.

“I don’t expect he’ll be needing much help,” Runyan said. “Rick is a very capable teacher and should be able to comprehend all the content on his own.”

Capable as he may be, Royer is nonetheless humbled by his situation. After years of definite integrals and conic sections, learning new math gives Royer a greater appreciation for the arduous lives of his students.

“I’m finding out what it’s like to be on the other side of the desk again. Only now I’m on both sides. I’m the student and the teacher,” Royer said. “It’s a mix of exciting, challenging and stressful, to put a positive spin on it.”

Royer may be stressed, but he doesn’t allow the challenges he faces to affect his teaching abilities. Senior Taylor Cantril, a student in Calculus 3 AP, hasn’t noticed any shortcomings in Royer’s understanding of the material.

“It isn’t obvious to me at all that he’s just now learning it,” Cantril said. “He seems to convey the concepts well enough to the class that we can all understand them.”

Students may even find that this year Royer’s classes provide them with a unique learning experience. While normal math courses consist of the teacher teaching and the students silently listening, Royer says this year will be a little different.

“It’s going to be very much a communal learning environment,” Royer said. “We’re going to have to teach each other. I made a lot of mistakes in my old classes, and I’m going to make even more now, but my students will help me out. And that’s how math should be. We’ll learn together and we’ll teach together.”

Whether it’s by a single day or an entire month, Royer tries to stay ahead of his classes so that he can do most of the teaching.

“Right now I’m two weeks ahead of my classes, but it might not always be that way,” Royer said.

“One way or another I’m going to make sure I know the information when I walk in the door.

I might have to cram like I’ve never crammed before, but I’ll know the material. This year I’m just going to have to take things a day at a time.”

Support your Lancer Gymnasts September 6 - @ SMNW September 12 - @ Lee’s Summit High September 16 - @ SME September 20 - @ Olathe East September 26 - @ Emporia www.smesports.com

Harmony Spa & Body Works 20% off for students $35 - Unlimited tanning for 1 month $6 per tan 5906 West 59th Terrace - Mission, KS coupon must be presented for discount

the [harbinger]

photos by rachel young

Royer takes on role of student as well as teacher this year

Above Rick Royer lectures to his Calculus 3 class.

Left: Royer works out a problem during his fourth hour Calculus class. Royer had to learn three new curriculums to prepare for this year.

d mixe

life bout age a the p

page 17 [mixed]

did you know?

1.

Naturalists use marshmallows to lure alligators

out of swamps.

2.

See ya later, alligator

Alligators have 80 teeth. They normally can go through 2,000-3,000 in a lifetime.

Environmental Ed animal donated to Topeka Zoo by [mike hake]

This school year the Environmental Education class will be missing one of its favorite animals. In early August, Alex, an eight-year-old alligator that originally came from Shawnee Mission South was moved to the Topeka Zoo. “It was the first time I’ve given an animal to a zoo,” Environmental Ed teacher Jim Lockard said, who as been at East for 21 years. “He was certainly one of the most interesting animals I’ve had.”

Students in South’s Environmental Ed class raised money to get him eight years ago, but after five years, at two-and-a-half feet tall, Alex had outgrown South’s aquarium.

It was then that Lockard’s class took him in.

“When he was smaller, we used to walk him around on a leash,” Lockard said, recalling one of his fondest memories of Alex. “When he left East, he was four feet tall and much too big for

3.

4.

the aquarium.”

In the three years that Alex was part of the reptiles talk in Environmental Ed, there was never a problem with him biting or snapping, and having a live, friendly alligator made it a lot easier for elementary school students to learn about reptiles. Although last year he was too big too be taken out and shown up close to kids, the previous two years he was a favorite of the class visitors.

“The most rewarding part [of my job] is watching kids get over their fears,” Lockard said.

Alex will be isolated for a little while longer in order to help him adjust to his new surroundings at the zoo.

As for Lockard’s class, Alex has yet to be replaced.

“We’re going to put something out there,” Lockard said. “We’re just not sure what yet. It’s up to the students.”

Alligators have a sense of electrical storms and will go underwater for shelter immediately.

Top 10

by [stephen nichols]

students discuss their iPod covers

Their brain is the size of a walnut.

Moss will grow on their backs.

rs. Bonjour has been involved in theatre since junior high, and she still does one show a year.

She performs in places such as Theatre in the Park.

“I love to perform and audition,” she says. “It helps me be more comfortable in front of people.”

Case Closed

5.

6.

photo by jenny howard

Can you believe that...

M

They won’t eat when it’s colder than 70 degrees.

Mexican

Restaurants 1 Chipotle

by [rachel mayfield]

Freshman Steven Shen

He has a stretchy, clear iPod cover.

“It was the only one left at Best Buy and since I already broke the screen on the iPod, I needed to protect the rest of it.”

This cover can be purchased at Best Buy for $30.

Sophomore Anna Leek

She has an iPod cover that is stretchy and is a transparent pink color.

“Pink is my favorite color and its funky, so it works for me.”

The colored and stretchy iPod covers can be purchased in a 3-pack for $20 at any Apple Store.

Junior Alicia Anderson

She uses her cover to make sure her Ipod Nano doesn’t get scratched. The cover she has can come in a 5 color pack including clear, pink, purple, blue, and green and are for $20 at the Apple Store.

Senior Jordan Botts

He has a hard case that’s white and gray.

“Its sleek, sexy, and my parents bought it for me.”

The hard iPod cases can be purchased for $30 at any Apple Store.

4

Ponak’s

5 6

El Taquito Restaurante Margarita’s

7

Jalapeno’s

8

Baja 600

9

On the Border

10

Guadalajara Cafe

photos by abba goehausen

Sept. 5, 2006

photo by katie woods

2 Dos Reales 3 Rudy’s

page 18 a&e]

From

Frosh to

East graduate becomes a major Hollywood producer for several blockbusters by [nora salle]

It’s 1979 and senior David Householter watches the clock, ready to get out of school. The bell rings and he walks to the parking lot. His silver Firebird is glinting in the sun. He turns the ignition on and The Ramones comes over the speakers.

This is his last day. Householter is done with Shawnee Mission East.

He’s headed for KU in the fall but has no idea what he wants to do.

Fast forward twenty-seven years.

Householter has just wrapped up production on “Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby,” his most recent film, serving as an executive producer and third movie with actor Will Farrell.

“This has probably been my favorite movie so far,” Householter said. “The set was a lot of fun to be on.”

David Householter is a Hollywood producer who has worked on the past three big Will Farrell hit movies: “Elf,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and “Talladega Nights.” Along with these movies he was also executive producer on “Just Like Heaven,” starring Reece Witherspoon, and assistant director on “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.”

Although he has been very successful in the movie business, the transition from Johnson County to Hollywood was a slow and difficult one.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully adjusted to living in Los Angeles.”

Householter said, “Growing accustomed to living in California is an ongoing process, but I like what I do and I do the job well.”

Householter’s unplanned career with the movie business was a combination of luck, skill and connections within Hollywood.

“David was always interesting in making movies,” high school friend Scott Shackelford said. “He had an 8 mm camera which he shot short films on when he was in ninth or tenth grade. He shot his movies on film and edited them, which was very rare in those times.”

In 1980, Householter, then a sophomore at KU, took a suggestion from his father to go to a popular dinner theater in Kansas City and talk to the managers, Richard Corrothers and Dennis Hennessey, who were producing a movie called “Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker.”

Householter was hired as a production assistant.

He and the rest of the movie crew headed to Los Angeles to shoot the movie. When Householter first arrived, he thought it was a crazy place. But after learning a thing or two about production and spending time on the set as a 19-year-old, with only a minor film class experience, Householter had worked on his first Hollywood movie.

After Householter’s senior year at KU, he and a friend began traveling

5

FILMS THE

around the country. By the time they reached California, the two of them were broke and needed a place to stay. Householter’s sister lived in Ojai, Calif. so they decided to stay with her. Householter David’s first production gig decided that he needed to make was as a line prodcer for the his own income and called some movie “Abilene” (1999). of the people he had previously worked with in California.

He then co-produced “Luckily they remembered ‘Clockstoppers ‘ in 2002, me,” Householter said. along with Gale Anne Hurd.

In 1986, Householter worked as an assistant director on small, low-budget films like “Sorority In 2003, he became the coHouse Massacre” and “Static.” producer for ‘Elf’, where he first Only a year later, he worked on met his good friend Will Ferrell. his first big movie, “Robocop,” as After “Elf,” Householter took a second assistant director. The on “Anchorman: The Legend more movies Householter worked of Ron Burgundy” in 2004 as a on, the more important of jobs he co-producer. was assigned The movie “Elf” came out Householter was executive in 2003, being the first of three producer in his most recent finished Will Farrell movies which film, “Just Like Heaven” (2005). he worked on and his biggest job yet: co-producer. He also co-produced “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” one year later. The two movies were both box office hits.

Householter’s most recent project is a movie called “Semi-Pro,” starring Farrell. The movie is about a team trying to get into the American Basketball Association league in the 1970s.

“If you have a sense of humor, you should definitely love the new movie,” Householter said. “It’s a great script and should be very funny.”

“He was always a creative guy,” Shackelford said. “And when I heard David was doing well in the movie business, I was absolutely not surprised at all.”

What’s New • a&e event ticker

• • •

• •

‘ELF’MAN

CO-PRODUCED

The Rolling Stones, Cessna Stadium, 10/1 • The Fray, Uptown Theatre, 10/10 • Ani Difranco, Liberty Hall, 10/16

Fame

Ben Folds, Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, 9/15 • Kansas City Ballet, The Lyric Theatre, 9/14 • ‘In Their Eyes’, The Coterie Theatre, 9/26

the [harbinger]

page 19 [a&e]

‘Sunshine’ brightens up summer

Good cast gives comedy an edge by [katie jones] On paper, Little Miss Sunshine sounds like another National Lampoon’s “Family Vacation.” The Hoovers, a dysfunctional family from New Mexico, travel to California in a deteriorating Volkswagon bus to enter 7-year-old Olive (Abigail Breslin) in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. On their trip, the family learns that having fun is more important than winning or losing.

This isn’t National Lampoon. This isn’t another cliché, suburban family comedy. This is a powerful, honest, sidesplitting story about a family as broken down as their beatup bus. Olive, buoyant and oblivious to the kinks in the family, begins to repair them all by fusing the Hoovers back together.

I loved all of it, especially the characters. Each member of the Hoover family has a specific quirk, adding to his or her personality.

Dad (Greg Kinnear) is a self-help guru who’s obsessed with “The Nine Steps to Success.” What’s ironic is he’s not too successful himself. Toni Collett plays an exasperated mom, who buys buckets of fried chicken for most family dinners. Then there’s their son Dwayne (Paul Dano), who was inspired by Nietzsche to take a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of being in the Air Force Academy.

Steve Carell plays Uncle Frank, who’s recovering from an attempted suicide. He was the no. 1 Proust scholar until he was demoted for falling in love with one of his students. And finally, Alan Arkin plays the foul-mouthed, inappropriate grandfather. He’s Olive’s pageant coach. Throughout the movie, the two spend their down time rehearsing for her dance routine, which neither of them will reveal to the family until the hilarious stage performance.

All of the characters are strong and well developed, but Olive steals the show. On her bean-shaped body, she wears cowboy boots, pink shorts, a clashing red top and an athletic

wristband. Her waist-long brown hair is tied back with an old scrunchy. She wears large, round glasses. When she listens to her Walkman on the road, she closes her eyes to get a better feel for the music. Olive’s no runway model, but because she continues to believe she will win the pageant, the family begins to believe in each other.

It still might sound a little like another cliché comedy pulling tricks from National Lampoon, but I promise you: it’s not your average blockbuster.

Directors Valerie Fairs and Jonathan Dayton mold “Little Miss Sunshine” into more of a drama—about families and the effort they demand. By the end, it’s obvious that Olive’s most special talent is not her dance routine, but her ability to keep the Hoover family together.

Little Miss Sunshine

“It might still sound a little like another cliché comedy pulling tricks from National Lampoon, but I promise you: it’s not your average blockbuster.”

Above: Family in ‘Sunshine’ travels around in an old Volkswagen van. Photo courtesy of movieweb.com RIght: A hectic, but funny Steve Carell bolts from the van. Photo courtesy of movieweb.com

A Taste of France Aixois offers great French cuisine

photo by Tayler Phillips

by [john mcguire]

The French Bistro Aixois, (Pronounced Ex-Wah) located in the Crestwood shops on 55th St., offers a European dining experience right in Brookside. Aixois translates to “A man from Aix-en-Provence,” where the main chef originates. Walking through the front doors customers are greeted with the smell of hot bread baking in ovens and roasting coffee. The ambience is fairly simple, and reminded me of a small French restaurant I might find in Paris.

After sitting down at one of the front tables, I looked over a menu offering me a variety of food choices. The hors d’oeuvres ranged from imported French ham, to seared goose liver served in an apple puree. I was a bit nervous to try seared liver, and I wasn’t in the mood for ham, so I picked the shrimp cocktail. The cocktail was tasty, and the serving size was perfect. I don’t know, however, if it was worth the pricy amount of $12.

I skipped the salad, and decided on the “campo lindo” organic chicken. Other offerings were dishes like

Above: Relaxing customers dine on the patio at Aixois.

Sept. 5, 2006

grilled shrimp with pasta, and grilled pork tenderloin.

The food was prepared quickly. The chicken was very juicy and tasty. It had a savory taste, and it was extremely fresh. The meal was delicious, and left me feeling spoiled.

One notices a coffee shop nestled in the corner of the room where fine, exotic coffees and desserts are sold. Customers can find tables by the coffee bar to sit down and read or people watch. A patio is also located outside the front entrance. On a nice day, this patio offers a place for an enjoyable meal and an engaging view of the Brookside area.

Overall, Aixois offers good service, excellent atmosphere and delicious food. The price was on the higher scale, but it was definitely worth the try. If you have never traveled to France, and want to try a taste of their cuisine, try Aixois.

setting up season

page 20 [sports]

the

by [sara steinwart]

“Tree!”

A booming voice came rushing back to the end of the line. Junior Leah Maurer heard the voice and stepped forward without her sight through the woods accordingly.

She had to have faith that her team mate would not allow her to trip over a root or run smack into a tree. The team was participating in a trust activity. The leader was the only person who could see. Everyone else was blind-folded and had to follow the person in front without sight.

This activity was one of many that the 10-member varsity volleyball squad encountered during their trip to Wildwood. They attempted to work as a team and interact with each other off-court in hopes of bonding with each other and with their new coach.

“While participating in the problem solving activities at Wildwood, it became easy to identify who the leaders were and who were followers,” new Varsity coach Scott Dowis said. “It also became obvious that some people did not always want to follow the leaders.”

Although this is Dowis’s first year coaching at East, he feels very comfortable with the girls and doesn’t feel like a new coach. He played with the girls over the summer at South League, a summer enrichment indoor league, at the Lancer Volleyball Camp and in small groups before the season began. Dowis has set one lofty personal goal for himself: he wants to form the No. 1 volleyball program in the area. Former coach Terry Wright earned this honor, but Dowis wants to rebuild on his own terms away from the legal problems surrounding Wright.

“Honestly, I am just looking forward to two years from now when no one talks about Terry,” Dowis said. “The whole situation is unfortunate, but the girls have moved on and it’s time to just start over.”

The girls are adjusting quickly to Dowis’ coaching

styles. Although the two-hour practices are more challenging with back-to-back drills that require high endurance, Dowis believes the players are giving 120 percent in hopes of success in the end due to their hard work.

“This year practices are more focused with specific, fast-paced drills,” senior Taylor Heinlein said.

Dowis believes that conditioning for volleyball should be about doing drills to exhaustion so that the players will be prepared to win the championship game at the end of a 12-hour long tournament. He wants to keep the practices fast-paced while Wright spent more relaxed practices with work on strategy along with skill development.

“I don’t just have the girls run. After all this isn’t a soccer or track team,” Dowis said. “I just want the girls to get to a high level and then be able to do the simple things well, as a team, when they are exhausted.”

With two freshmen playing a key role on the team, it has been important to incorporate them and form a strong team with the eight already bonded returners. Dowis didn’t want separation or cliques on the team and Wildwood seemed to stop those before they had time to develop.

“It is intimidating being a freshman on varsity,” freshman Adri Maurer said. “Everyone knows everything and you feel like the odd man out.”

However, Maurer’s Wildwood experience made her feel closer and more a part of the team.

“Wildwood was really fun,” Maurer said, “I really felt like I got to know all the girls better.”

While taking a break from the activities, team members of the Lancer squad, currently ranked 48 in the country, came up with three personal goals and three team goals for the season. Consequently, every team member set high standards with a trip to state on their list.

“With our goals set high, we just need to work on the process of getting there,” Dowis said. “The most effective

Falling for fútbol an opinion of

clark goble

I woke up before 11 a.m. for two reasons this summer.

Once, to get my wisdom teeth taken out.

The second, to watch World Cup soccer.

Sure, some of you might say getting your teeth pulled and watching soccer are about the same when it comes to entertainment, and I used to think so too. Even though I played soccer for five years -as recently as freshman yearbefore this summer, I couldn’t stand to watch it. Play it?

Sure. Watch it? No way.

I thought that part of me would never change. I never could get myself up to watch 22 grown men kick a ball around a field and try to get it past a line. At least for more than a minute, anyway.

Then the World Cup came.

My whole mindset changed. It wasn’t one of those, “OK, maybe this game isn’t so bad” moments. It was more like an, “I can’t believe I don’t watch this game!!” type moments. It happened in the first half of the first game of the World Cup, when German defender Phillip Lahm literally curved a ball into the back of the net. I realized I would never be able to do that in my life, and that’s when it hit me.

Senior Emily Watkins sets up a team mate a ball at a varsity practice.

way of doing that is by setting small, reachable goals and meeting them first.”

Soccer should be respected in America

Soccer is the most underrated game on the face of the planet.

Here are six reasons why: 1) When a game causes hundreds of thousands of people to pull out of a civil war (see: Ivory Coast) just so they can be a united support group for their national team, it’s something I want to watch. This is probably the simplest reason to watch but maybe the most important.

2) Witnessing Ronaldinho dance with a ball at his feet is something I will never forget. I’m sure you’ve seen the highlight where he slams the ball off the crossbar four or five times and juggles it between kicks.

(If you haven’t, search “Touch of Gold” on youtube.com). That highlight alone made me join an indoor soccer league.

3) Since I joined that league, I also realized another thing. Soccer is a hard game. Easy to learn, impossible to master. I realized during one of my indoor soccer games that the difference between a bad soccer player and a great one is about a millon times over. Kicking a ball six feet high as opposed to seven can be the difference between a goal and a mistake. You also have to be in the best shape of your life to play the game well.

4) Two words: penalty kicks. The whole game comes down to ten kicks. Goalie vs. shooter. One on one. Would you ever in your life turn away from a World Cup

the [harbinger]

photos by katie woods

Volleyball team looks to improve with new coach

game that was in penalty kicks? If the Royals were one out from beating the Yankees in the World Series, maybe I’d consider turning away. Maybe.

5) The fans of soccer are unlike fans of any other sport. 40year old men cry after their national team loses in the World Cup. Eight-year-old boys start bonfires that rip through the stadiums. Do 40-something men cry when the New Jersey Nets are eliminated in the NBA playoffs? Are eight-year-olds lighting fires during Arizona Cardinals games? No. 6) Lastly, and most likely my favorite reason, any team can win any game. A far superior team, Italy for example, could shoot 11 times and score one goal and tie the US, who shot eight times and didn’t score on any of them.

(Italy scored on themselves). To me, that just adds another element to watching a soccer match. Your team always has a shot at winning.

If these reasons aren’t enough, just wait a few months and try to catch the soccer craze then. I’d recommend starting now, however, since the Wizards’s season is almost over and the English Premiership is just beginning. Oh, if you don’t want to watch and are deciding to stay in your narrow-minded American views towards soccer, there is one more choice. It’s not a great option, but maybe you will be entertained.

Go get your teeth pulled. art by katie woods

Teaching the FUN damentals

page 21 [sports]

Students in Team Games classes learn sportsmanship, and have fun doing it.

photo by abba goehausen

by [foster tidwell]

Senior Lindy Cope swings and connects in softball during Team Games class.

Softball is one of the many sports offered in Team Games class. Each unit is taught over a two to thrre week period.

Senior Sam Reisz storms into the locker room, angrily wiping the sweat from his face and cursing the game of whiffleball. His team has suffered a miserable defeat: 12-18. Trying to forget it all, he dips his head in the cold shower and hastily throws on a shirt. The bell rings. He picks up his backpack and he heads toward seventh hour.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting. Waiting until tomorrow, when opportunity will once again come knocking. Only this time, Reisz will be ready. After tomorrow there will be no doubt about who’s top dog. Tomorrow, everyone will know that yesterday was just a fluke.

This is Team Games.

The dramatic increase in the number of students enrolled in Team Games this year is a testament to just how seriously students take the elective P.E. class, and just how passionate they are about it.

“[Team Games] is all about the competitive element,” Reisz said. “It’s a chance to go out there and show what you’ve got.”

In addition to the desire for competition, many students enroll simply to seek refuge from an academically challenging schedule often wrought with AP classes and heavy homework loads. “[Team Games] is just a break from the normal school pace,” Senior Lindy Cope said. “It’s a stressreliever.”

Whatever their reasons for enrolling, students signed up in droves. This year, the increased teaching load for Team Games will be born by Coaches Shawn Hair and Shelly King in addition to new Athletic Director Gary Howard.

Although Coach Hair is seen as the father of Team Games, students generally agree that it doesn’t really matter who teaches.

“It’s all about how you play the game,” Senior Ben McNamara said. “It’s all about how you win.”

SPORTS YOU PLAY IN TEAM GAMES CLASS: SOFTBALL BASKETBALL FOOTBALL SOCCER WHIFFLEBALL AERIAL TENNIS

Fantasy Breakdown

With fantasy football rising in popularity, an expert from the Harbinger breaks down his team and offers a few tips for this season.

by [nick ratliff]

The Tips How You Get Started: •Go to Yahoo.com, NFL.com or ESPN. com and sign up •Choose a cool and unique team name During the Draft: • Draft Running Backs high •Make sure you know which players are injured.

•Take a chance on a sleeper •Don’t draft T.O (he’s unpredictable) After Drafting: •Be active in the trade market •When your players get injured, use the free agent market.

The Analysis Basically, my team needs a lot of work. I drafted Steve Smith in the first round (DON’T DO IT!), but he’s hurt.

I drafted really bad running backs, which is pretty much against rule number one in drafting. This is because RBs get you the most points.

I got stuck with Domanick Davis (who isn’t starting I found out today) and Julius Jones, who I like, but is inconsistent. I’m desparately trying to trade for Tiki Barber. I also got Tony Gonzalez who, even though he’s a Chief, I regret drafting now.

The three bright spots on my team are Larry Fitzgerald, who’s a lot more than solid, the Giants’ defense, who’re a lot better with the addition of LaVar Arrington, and Daunte Culpepper, who I think is going to be solid with the Dolphins this year.

I also took a chance on a potentially big sleeper this year, Mark Clayton of the Ravens, which could win me a championship, or make me a cellar dweller. I also got some pretty good backups.

Ben Roethlisberger is a very good backup QB.

Sept. 5, 2006

The Lineup Daunte Cullpepper, QB, Dolphins Steve Smith, WR, Panthers Larry Fizgerald, WR, Cardinals Mark Clayton, WR, Ravens Domanick Davis, RB, Texans Julius Jones, RB, Cowboys Tony Gonzalez, TE, Chiefs Mike Vanderjagt, K, Cowboys NY Giants Defense

page 22 [sports]

Shoes to fill:

Gary Howard assumes the position of athletic director

photos by samantha ludington

by [daniel heady]

Above: Howard sits down at his desk during one of the first few days as athletic director of East.

Howards previous jobs include teaching in Hong Kong, and Mission Valley Middle School. Below: Some of the many books that an athletic director must know.

1980

Played basketball at Dodge City Community College

Graduated high school

Unlike the Midwest, Hong Kong had crowded cities and busy street life Hong Kong is built on an island, and after all the land was used the city had to build up.

Hong Kong’s skyline is made up of everything from American investment companies to hotel chains.

His drive to work went from an half hour drive to an hour and a half commute incorporating two buses and a ferry.

“There is nowhere to go where there aren’t people,” Howard said.

While in Hong Kong, Howard also got to travel the Asian continent.

“My wife’s job allowed us to travel while we were over there,” Howard said.

When not teaching or coaching Howard took trips to Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia and even Vietnam. While in Vietnam he visited the Chu Chi tunnels used in the war.

“The tunnels were sad because it reminds you about how young men not much older then those in this school died over there,” he said. “It’s humbling” The last major change that happened when Howard was in Hong Kong was his new son Curtis.

Howard and his wife adopted a baby when he was only 3 months old. “ When you adopt in Hong Kong you have to stay for six m o n t h s ,” Howard said, “so we spent Christmas in Hong Kong and came back in February.”

Although Howard just came back from overseas he is thrilled to be back and working at East.

“I don’t plan on changing anything, and I’m still learning,” Howard describes his adventure as exciting and an eye opener.

“Hong Kong International was same as here except with more diversity, and when you stepped outside it was Hong Kong.”

“There is nowhere to go where there aren’t people.”

-Gary Howard

Timeline of Gary Howard Coach at Barton C.C.

1991

1985 1983

Whether in Kansas or Hong Kong, new athletic director Gary Howard has always loved sports.

“I love the entertainment, and the excitement and that atmosphere,” Howard said.

This year Howard isn’t only adjusting to a new school that is bigger than his hometown, but he is also adjusting back to life in America. Howard went to Hong Kong in June of 2003 after teaching at Mission Valley Middle School for four years and a stint in the athletic department at Lancing High School.

Howard’s wife was offered a job in Hong Kong. “We planned on going unless something big came-up,” Howard said. Nothing did so they went.

Even halfway across the world Howard taught sports. However teaching wasn’t enough. Howard also helped run a youth sports program that incorporated softball, baseball and basketball.

The program had participants from kindergarten through eighth grade and normally involved over 300 kids.

“We had a large field and set up the playing fields and ran games from morning to night,” Howard said, just like the Saturday soccer games at the park in America.

However it wasn’t America.

“When you first get there it is exciting. Then you realize things are so different,” Howard said.

Howard missed American sports, life without Friday night basketball and Saturday football games just wasn’t the same.

“I missed watching them,” Howard said Howard recalls watching ESPN Asia broadcasts of rugby and badminton.

“I missed that atmosphere when stepping into the games, like the games at Allen Field House,” Howard said.

Although basketball is prominent in Asia, soccer and rugby were the sports played most often in Hong Kong.

While teaching middle school gym classes at Hong Kong International, Howard had to teach games he had never taught before, like badminton, rugby, and even rock climbing.

“The school is built on a cliff, and there are rock walls all around it. The walls can be almost ten stories high,” Howard said After becoming a certified rock-climbing instructor, teaching became easier.

“It’s scary at first, but then you get used to it,” he said.

Transferred to Marimont College

1986

Taught at Mission Valley MS

Coach at Cal-Poly State University

the [harbinger]

1994

1999

Lansing athletic director and assistant principal

Moved to Hong Kong

2003

2006

Athletic director at SME

LIFE ON AND OFF THE FIELD

page 23 [sports]

peter krivena • senior • varsity soccer

On Varsity’s tie to JV in Blue & Black Scrimmage- We’re not bothered by it. It’s a

Senior Peter Krivena is a forward for the Varsity soccer team. This will be his second year on Varsity after being academically inelligible as a junior.

family atmosphere and {the JV} have a good team. The scrimmage is a way to show the parents the teams. We are only worried about the league and regionals.

“

On being back on the field- It’s very exciting. I want to make up for last year with the team. It’s also a good process to get in shape for the season.

On college plans- I am going to go to JuCo and play for their soccer team and then hopefully go to a D-1 school to play.

On the difficulty of missing last year-

On kicking for the football team- I go right from football practice after school to soccer. Maybe college coaches will see something in someone who can do multiple things at once.

The toughest part was watching the team have a great season (Last year’s team lost to BVN in the regional championships).

I think I could have made a big impact in the game. Watching them have fun was probably the hardest part.

On his expectations for the year- Bigtime expectations. We should have gotten there last year and we all want to get back and go farther this year. We’ve got the team to win state. This could be the year.

On plans to keep grades up- Getting

my priorities straight is key. Last year I put friends before school. I can’t let that happen this year.

I’d say the SM South game two years ago, playing with Garrett (Webb, a senior last year who now plays college soccer at Drake). I watched him take a kickoff the length of the field and score. It was pretty amazing.

the

PANEL Peter Goehausen Assistant Editor

Krivena hopes to balance soccer, football and academics this fall.

photo by patrick mayfield

On his favorite East soccer moment-

”

Krivena and the rest of the Varsity soccer team start play in the KA-MO Shootout today. They play Washington, Topeka and North Kansas City between today and Saturday. as told by Clark Goble

Sunflower football

Sunflower volleyball

Sunflower soccer

World Series

Super Bowl

S.M. West

Olathe South

S.M. East

Tigers

Panthers

Olathe East

S.M. Northwest

S.M. East

Yankees

Colts

S.M. East

S.M. West

S.M. East

Mets

Cowboys

Olathe East

S.M. South

Olathe South

Tigers

Chiefs

Clark Goble Sports Editor

Nick Ratliff Sports Page Editor

Jayne Shelton Sports Page Editor

September 5, 2006

page 24 [photo essay]

Alex Sigel plays soccer during the Black and Blue soccer game Aug 25.

Sigel is from Germany, as are five other exchange students this year. photo by samantha ludington

Senior Michele Basilici goes on studying into the night with the family cat.

Exchange stundents are only required to take English 11 and American History; all of their other classes are electives. Even with that regulatioin, Basilici spends his night doing Physics and PreCalc. photo by samantha ludington

Robin Kresinszky runs time trials for the cross country team on Aug 26.

Kresinszky, who is from Germany, finished third in the race at Shawnee Mission Park, placing him on varsity for the first meet. photo by karen boomer

Putting Down Roots

Students come from eight countries to live and go to school in America, making lifelong friendships and adjusting to a new culture.

the [harbinger]

Fabian Baur, from Germany, makes himself a late night snack of American peanut butter and a German favorite, Nutella. photo by karen boomer