Issue 2

Harbinger the

SEPT. 15, 2008

// ALYSSAJOLITZ

ISSUE 2 / SHAWNEE MISSION EAST / PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

ACTING ANGUISH T With the theatre under heavy construction, the drama department is hurting but is finding ways to perform // ANNABERNARD

here’s no crew rushing silently backstage, making the final preparations for the show just minutes before it begins.

There are no house lights flickering one, two, three times as the audience shifts in their seats, quietly anticipating the performance that is going to start.

There’s no long, crimson curtain that

slowly draws out, and there is no first note lingering from the pit orchestra.

The atmosphere of the musical has drastically changed, and all because of an unavoidable change. It is in the cafeteria, and the difficulties have started even before the opening number.

The musical this year has to undergo

many changes, as the auditorium where it has previously taken place is being completely redone. This has left the directors with only one option, the next biggest area available.

This choice has resulted in inevitable consequences, including no pit orchestra, considerably less sets and props, and the

final and perhaps biggest change, scaling back from the big-name musicals that East has done in the past.

Two directors of the musical, Brian Cappello and Tom DeFeo, opted to take advantage of East’s 50th anniversary this year, and decided to do a musical revue of several of East’s past musicals. The acted scenes will

Continued on page 3

NEWS: Junior dies in shooting >PAGE 2 FEATURES: Facing the election >PAGE 9 A&E: K.C.I. Film Festival Preview >PAGE 22-23

PAGE 2 NEWS / SEPT. 15, 2008

Remembering Edgar // STEPHENNICHOLS

//Photo Coutesy of MILLYROQUE

“Somebody shot Edgar in the heart.”

Juan Lozania couldn’t believe what his daughter was telling him on the phone. He closed El Texano, his small auto shop on Osage Road in Kansas City, KS and hurried to the Inner City Oil Co. where the shooting had happened.

“I didn’t know he was in the hospital or anywhere,” Lozania said. “I wanted to go there and see what happened.”

He arrived only to discover that his step-son, junior Edgar Lozania-Florez, had been rushed to the hospital, but there was nothing they could do to save him from the bullet wounds to the chest.

Lozania didn’t understand. He couldn’t.

“That day he went by here, but an hour before that happened,” Lozania said. “He was with one of his friends. They rolled by and he called me, yelled at me, happy. The next hour, he was shot.”

He didn’t know the details and even now, he’s still figuring them out.

According to the Kansas City, Kansas

JUNIOR Edgar Lozania-Flores during a Worlds of Fun visit. LozaniaFlores died after being shot at a Wyandotte gas station Sept. 2.

police department report, the shooting was an act of juvenile gang violence. The Wyandotte County district attorney’s office has charged 15-year-old Omar Hernandez with first-degree murder and criminal possession of a fire-arm. The police are still searching for 19-year-old Nestor J. Ardon in connection with the murder.

Edgar was a recent transfer student from J.C. Harmon High School. He spent only two weeks at East. *** Sophomore Breana Gray was one of his first friends to hear the news. She had grown close to Edgar after he arrived at East.

“He asked me like everyday to be his girlfriend,” Gray said. “He always told me ‘I’ll do everything for you,’ stuff like that.

He would text me…he didn’t even have a phone, he’d text me on other people’s phones just to see how I was doing.”

He liked Breana and he did everything to be near her. He walked her to classes, put his arm around her and stored his books in her locker.

Two weeks ago, Gray broke up with her boyfriend and Edgar was right there, holding her hand, asking if she would be his girl now. She said it hadn’t even been 24 hours since the break-up. He said he could wait ‘til the end of the day.

That Friday, Breana told Edgar that she wouldn’t be his girl. He was angry and went to the nurse’s office saying he was sick, wanting to go home. He was supposed to be picked up.

“Instead of leaving right then, he waited after class and took me out to lunch,” Gray said. “We were sitting with all my friends.

He sat with me and he grabbed my hand under the table and tried to hold it… I kind of pushed him away. That was the last time I saw him.”

That’s not the last time she heard from

Junior, fatally shot in a Wyandotte gas station Sept. 2, is remembered by his family and close friends

him though. He was still texting her Tuesday afternoon.

“You know that I want to be with you.

I’ll do everything for you. I won’t do you wrong.”

The last words she ever read.

“I need you Breana.”

She didn’t respond. He sent it again during class.

“I need you Breana.” *** Edgar saw East as an opportunity to work to be somebody according to his step-dad.

“He wanted to be in your guy’s school so badly,” Lozania said. “He used to tell me that he didn’t get along too good [at Harmon].”

Harmon is where most of his friends went to school and Edgar’s ex-girlfriend, East junior Milly Roque, says most of them were in gangs.

“He wasn’t in [the gang], but he represented it,” Roque said. “To get in a gang, basically you have to do something to get in the gang. [His friends] told me he wasn’t in it.”

A group even showed up at his funeral on Saturday morning at Christ the King church, where they placed a blue bandanna, sunglasses and a black Kansas City Royals cap on his still chest.

Lozania wanted to know the truth.

“I asked them, ‘Hey, was he a part of you guys? They told me ‘No, he wasn’t a part of us. He wanted to be a part of us.’ I don’t know. I don’t doubt he hung out with some of the guys that are in the gangs that are real bad…”

It was something that Gray and would joke about during school, flashing each other rival gang signs and then laughing afterwards. But after his death, she opened her locker and found the books he had left there. She returned most of them to the of-

fice, but kept his binder that was covered in gang signs he had drawn.

“I knew he was serious about his gang,” Gray said, “but I didn’t know he was dead serious.”

But Edgar wanted more. He wanted to help his dad and stay in school.

“One day he told me ‘You know, I want to be somebody dad, because I want to get you out of the shop. I don’t want to see you work all the time,” Lozania said. “He said, ‘Yep, I’m going to work for that.” *** The funeral came on a foggy morning Sept. 6 at Christ the King Church. The casket was open and friends and family cried near his body. His mother, Andrea, would not get out of the car. Roque went out to get her.

“I walked her to the funeral and everything,” Roque said. “She told me ‘He’s just asleep, he’s just asleep.”

The Mass began. The worst part for Milly wasn’t walking Andrea to the funeral or even seeing Edgar’s body.

“What hit me the most was that he had a little cousin that was like four who was behind who was just screaming ‘God why did you take him? Why did you take him?

He didn’t deserve to die. Why did they kill him?”

That’s something the whole family is still asking themselves. No matter what charges are filed or what convictions are reached, Lozania knows they won’t bring Edgar back.

“It would be a lot different if he was sick or something,” Lozania said. “That prepares you a little bit more for something like that. But when somebody takes away one of the members of your family with no reasons in one second…I feel like I want to go with him.”

East graduates return to celebrate Spirit Week for the 50th aniversary // TAYLORHAVILAND

After graduating 37 years ago, Pep Club officer Alice Robinson Levy will return to East to be a part of the Lancer Day tradition she helped create. This year's celebration will bring back memories for her and many alumni attending who will celebrate the 50th anniversary of East.

This year they will join other alum's to build a 70s themed float for the anniversary parade, dressing as they did as students at East. Levi described fashions as "bobby socks and knee socks, really short skirts, hair in pig tails with colored ribbons." She remembers her husband Peter being sent home for wearing a jean jacket.

The Levys will be a part of the Lancer day celebrations along with many of the 2500 Lancer alums invited to return to celebrate half a century of excellence.

According to PTA President Beth Fowler, Lancer Day will be something spectacular, and this year alums are encouraged to participate. On Oct. 17 the celebration will include a 50th Anniversary Parade, Alumni Open House, and Tailgate at the 50-year East-North football rivalry.

This year’s Lancer Day Parade will have more blue, black and white than ever with floats gliding down Mission Road into the Lancer Village for a giant all school/ community pep rally. " We had to talk to store owners in the shopping center because we don't know if everyone can fit," athletic director Jim Ricker s aid.

The most floats East has had in the past was around 30, but this year East has over 50 registered floats before the paperwork was even sent out. The parade kicks off from East at 1 p.m. and ends at the Village shopping center with the pep rally.

Following the parade, history will be revealed at our community open house at the school at 3 p.m., hosted by the PTA. On display will be artifacts dating back to the first years of East, and special items since then. Historical pamphlets written by Pep Club President Nick Paris will be given away to teach about East's history from 1959 to the present.

To help us remember our school, limited edition 50th anniversary ornaments and cookbooks will be sold that benefit The East Fund. Looking to the future,

tours will be held showing the community East and how it is changing.

That evening’s tailgate will kick off the commemoration of the first East- North football game 50 years ago.

East will have one of its longest tailgates ever beginning at 5 p.m. with food served by Two Guys and a Grill.

At 5:30 pm the gates will open allowing fans to enter North stadium where alums will remember that first thrilling victory against the school they had left. Original players will be involved in this years coin toss to commemorate the age-old rivalry that is the Nut Cup. Ricker made sure that half time was still devoted to the homecoming court. “Even with all of the Alumni returning this is still about the kids, it is still your homecoming game and we do not want to take away from that."

A special 50th anniversary committee has organized all of these activities, led by 50-year alum Dick Heimovics, volunteer Beth Fowler, principal Dr. Krawitz, athletic director Coach Ricker, the PTA and other alumni. For more contact information or to participate visit www.

SME50.com or contact Beth Fowler.

PAGE 3 NEWS / ISSUE TWO

Filling in the H LES

o

Construction causes many changes for East theater

“”

CONSTRUCTION has left East’s auditorium unusable, forcing drama students to perorm in the cafetria . // ALL PHOTOS BY CHLOEFISCHGRUND

//CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

be eliminated, and the cast will perform 42 The cafeteria has far less electrical powsongs in a variety of solo, duet, and group er than the auditorium, actually watching acts, which range from the time-trapped the cast as they perform is an issue. Some Scots in “Brigadoon” to the murderous bar- lights will be by the vending machines, and ber in “Sweeney Todd.” a spotlight will be placed on the crooning The crew will set up the cafeteria in a mike. Still, this is far from a perfect solucabaret-style settion. ting. The musical “We’re subject will become a desto daylight since sert theater, where there are so many performers will windows in the cafsing during intereteria,” DeFeo said. mission while serv“We’re subject to the How construction is affecting the ing the audience a white walls. In the attendance of East’s musical choice of dessert. theater, the walls are “I’m excited for dark. We’re subject Number of Seats it. I think it’s goto everything in that Auditorium- 1,100 ing to be a lot of room.”

Cafeteria- 270 fun,” sophomore While Cappello Alex Rorie said. admits there are far Number of Shows Rorie will perform more disadvantages Auditorium- 3 in group sonds and to performing in Cafeteria- 4 ensemble numbers. the cafeteria, he is “If the idea comes pleased about one Audience Total through, we’d sing thing.

Auditorium- 4,400 like a tavern song “Performing while we serve in the cafeteria…

Cafeteria- 1,080 [the audience] their is much more infood.” timate.”

Cappello Source: 50 Years Musical Revue’s Crew The acts will be said. “The audience performed at the becomes a part of it. north end of the It’s also good for the cafeteria on the platform. A crooning mike students to get a change from performing will be set up there and used for many of in the auditorium.” the songs, especially the ballads. Out of Despite the obstacles ahead of them, the kitchen area, the ramp will be used for the cast and crew hopes people will come group and ensemble pieces. Behind the and enjoy the show. Since the cafeteria is mike, a generic backdrop will be set up. A considerably smaller than the auditorium, projection screen is a possibility, showing the musical has been slotted for four nights posters from whatever musical is being instead of the usual three. Cappello hopes performed. A student, showing placards for 200 attendees per night. for each new decade of musicals, will be “You can never have enough people,” used for transitions.

Cappello said.

Sizing uptheSituation

STUDENT REACTIONS “Maybe they could go to a different school, like Rockhurst, and perform there. I don’t think it’s fair that they have to push them off to the cafeteria, but I understand why they’re trying to make the theatre better.”

SOPHOMORE MOLLY TROUTMAN

“I guess there’s not as much room or whatever, but I’ll still go see them.”

JUNIOR DRAKE MYERS

“I think it doesn’t really make a difference to me because I love the school plays and they’re a great part of East.”

JUNIOR JOHN PAUL ROWE “I think it sucks that we have to plays in the cafeteria because there is no room whatsoever and in the auditorium you have all this space to move around and there’s barely any room to do anything in there.”

JUNIOR TORI WYDNER

PAGE 4 NEWS / SEPT. 15, 2008

briefs

Principal resists underage drinking

Krawitz gets involved in the community and helps educate students on the consequences of underage drinking //AUBREYLEITER

When he gets out of the cop car, students scatter, shocked to see him there. He walks inside the home, kids bolt from every corner, leaving some behind. They’re sprawled out on chairs, lying on the floor or vomiting in the bathroom. He feels disappointment and concern for their safety. He wants to do anything he can to help his students get home safely. This is the principal, Dr. Karl Krawitz.

Krawitz has a reputation for showing up at parties where kids are drinking. He’ll ride along with the police to parties that are being held in kids’ homes. Other than parties, Krawitz has witnessed accident scenes, ER outcomes and funerals. He says that you can never become numb to these issues.

“You have to wonder why people get compelled to what they have to do in order to drink,” Krawitz said. “What exactly are they looking for? I’m only there to help people; I go with the intent to help individuals get home safely.”

He has been working feverishly with a lot of people over the past three decades to not necessarily end underage drinking, because he believes it will never stop, but to educate people on the results or consequences of their actions. Krawitz has been involved in a number of organizations throughout the state that try to prevent underage drinking, including Johnson County Coalition for Underage Age Drinking and helping to head a task force to stop the issue in the city of Olathe. The task force did not have a name, but was created in the early to mid 1980s, with the goal to determine the degree of underage alcohol and drug use that was in the city.

Special education teacher Tim Burkindine has known Krawitz since they were in college and says that on a scale of 1 to 10, Krawitz’s dedication towards this issue is a 20.

“As somebody who has spent his whole life in education, if you lose one student to anything in your career that’s one too many, but if you loose one student to an alcohol or drug related issue that is one way too many,” Burkindine said. “If Dr. Krawitz can save one life, who knows what that one life could grow up to be,” One of the many reasons Krawitz feels so strongly about this issue is the fact that he has attended too many funerals in his time

as an educator that are a result of drinking.

Whether it’s car accidents or consumption to the point where it’s fatal, Krawitz says that he feels sadness for the family and the Registration for the PSAT/NMSQT unnecessary loss of life and he always feels begins today. Forms are available in the he could have done more. Unfortunately, decounseling office, and need to be filled out spite the number of things he does to eduby Sept. 26. cate students to make good decisions, tragThe results of the Student Council edy occurs. Nevertheless, he will never give election are as follows: up the fight to make a difference.

“By seeing this, it’s sort of my motivation Freshman Officers: to continue the struggle which I feel is a big President- Carolyn Weltner problem,” Krawitz said. “I just hope to make Vice President- Danielle Norton a difference,” Secretary- Grace Boehm Burkindine knows the impact that havTreasurer- Tom Lynch ing students die because of alcohol related Freshman Representatives: issues has had on Krawitz.

Paige Kovarik Christa McKittrick “Dr. Krawitz is responsible for 1,800 stuEmily Kulaga Abigail Symes dents,” Burkindine said, “Every one of those Kate Kulaga students who walk into that building are Sophomore Representatives: his kids, his family. He’s not doing a job, or Samantha Bartow Chris Melvin working at a job, he is living a job. One of the Betsy Blessen Scott Watson best moments as an educator is running into Logan Heley our students 30 years down the road, but Junior Representatives: some of the saddest moments are the kids Harper Coulson Tara Raghuveer who never get there.”

Kirk Doerr Tim Shedor Recently, there has been a new debate on Ben Jensen lowering the drinking age to 18, which was Senior Representatives: brought up by Amethyst Initiative. They beEmily Mullett lieve if people under 21 are allowed to vote, Olivia Sieck to sign contacts, enlist in the military and to Clark Waldon serve on juries, 18-year olds should be allowed to have a beer. Krawitz feels the opposite. He believes that the college presidents There will be two principal’s cofare all for it because they don’t want to deal fee meetings tomorrow morning and with underage drinking on their campus. the morning of Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. in the “I will fight as hard as I can to keep it from cafeteria. Please note the change in happening,” said Krawitz. location.

The main concern Krawitz has with Seminar Update: under-age drinking is students’ inability to know when to stop. His preference would be MAP testing for freshman and new for students to respect the law enough that sophomores will take place tomorthey wouldn’t break it. But he believes that if row and Thursday during seminar they are going to do it, they should be “halfperiods. way smart” about knowing their limit.

Freshmen Pep Exec elections will be East’s policy states that if students are held Sept. 26 during seminar. Talk caught in possession or consumption they to Mr. Paris to apply and get your will have to follow the Board of Education name on the ballot policies. This policy is a multiple step proThe SHARE Fair will take place durcess which leads to parent conferences, OSS ing seminar on Sept. 26 in the gymor a hearing before the district’s explusion nasium committee. If it’s done at school or a school event the consequences will result in an outof-school suspension and kicked off any acThere will be an informational meettivities for the season. ing for American Field Service (AFS) Krawitz believes that there are two Sept. 16 in the library at 7 p.m. main things that need to be done in order to reduce the amount of unThere will be a late start Sept. 24. derage drinking. The first one is Students should arrive at 9:20 a.m. and A national survey of students grades 9-12 said the students need to take conreport to second hour.

By the Numbers

12.5 million underage teens drink each year.

The new National Merit Semifinalsts have been announced; the ten from East are: Paige Anderson, Andrea Brown, Yidi Cao, Daniel Gritz, Gale Harrington, Joseph Marx, Melissa McKittrick, Christopher Poplawski, Katherine Sachse and Michael Smythe There will be no school this Friday for conferences. Open conferences will be held in the gym Thursday evening and by appointment on Friday

• 74 percent had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more days during their life.

• 26 had their first drink of alcohol, other than a few sips, before age 13.

• 43 percent had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more occasion in the past 30 days.

• 26 percent had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (i.e. binge drinking) in the past 30 days.

• 4 percent had at least one drink of alcohol on school property on one or more of source: Monheit Law the past 30 days.

trol. He believes there needs to be “leaders” to step up to the plate and say, ‘this is not in our best interest,’ or at least be willing to help those who drink to control the amount they consume.

Krawitz also believes that there needs to be a change of attitude in the parents. He thinks that if parents let kids drink in their homes they are telling everyone else that “I don’t care if my kid breaks the law.” Krawitz recalls that in a survey taken at West in 2003, 37 percent of students indicated that their parents felt that it was okay for them to drink at home, or have parties with alcohol at home.

“It’s not just kids, its parents,” Burkindine said. “The parents think they are doing the right thing by letting them drink in their house.”

Krawitz thinks that parents who see underage drinking happening need to let their kids know that they aren’t going to put up with it.

“I have absolutely no sympathy for parents who host alcohol parties,” Krawitz said. “Absolutely not.And I have no respect for that. And I will tell parents that right to their face.”

Krawitz will be meeting with the PTA and people in parent organizations later this year to help him fight underage drinking, which he has been dealing with for the past 30 years.

“Dr. Krawitz is going to find some way to implement programs,” Burkindine said.

“He is going to make strives towards thinking about what you’re doing and being responsible. He will do whatever he can do to save a [student] from ever having to endure that kind of pain that anguish or the misery of being involved.”

All Krawitz strives for is to reduce the amount of under-age drinking, or to teach kids the responsibilities or consequences of their actions. All he hopes to do is help.

“I hope that the next party that kids attend isn’t the last party they attend,” Krawitz said. “I think that if a student thinks drinking is worth it, I wouldn’t be able to convince them it’s not. I just hope they don’t kill themselves or anyone else in the process.

Most people who knew that I was going to become principal here knew that this is an issue that I’m very much committed to as much as anyone else is committed to any other social endeavor. This issue just so happens to be mine.”

// A N

NAL

EEK

PAGE 5 NEWS / ISSUE TWO

Coalition raises awareness of injustices SME Coalition created to open student body minds and change their output on the world youth group leaders. Then they organized a walk to raise awareness for the video.

“We walked from the [Village Presbyterian] church all the way to the [Village Presbyterian church] food pantry on 99th street, and back. It was a long walk but it really put into perspective what these kids have to do everyday,” Petrow said.

The third group the Coalition will support is called Love 146, an organization whose mission is to end child sex slavery and exploitation all throughout the world.

However, this year it is planned to send all the proceeds that the Coalition collects to a group called Schools for Schools. This group is associated with Invisible Children, and benefits the same region of Uganda.

All the money sent there will benefit the schools. The money will provide the essentials of a classroom environment like water, books, teachers, new classrooms and technology. It will also help to build new schools and rebuild ones damaged by the fighting.

After the first meeting, the Coalition had a total of 80 people signed up on their e-mail list. Founding senior Jessie Light thinks that the group is headed in the right direction.

“We already have about 80 kids on our email list and we didn’t approach any of them,” Light

What groups do they support?

The Invisible Children

Invisible Children is a group that is aiding war affected children in Northern Uganda.

Many of the children in this area walk miles every night to get to a safe place to sleep.

said. “And after we get more advertisement and these kids talk to their friends, we are hoping those numbers will grow.”

At Mason Leadership Camp in Lake Tahoe, NV, Light talked to some Shawnee Mission Northwest students about a group at their school that they called the Coalition, a group whose goal was to raise awareness for several non-profit charity organizations throughout the world.

After hearing of this, Light thought it would be good idea to bring that to East.

The only thing missing was some other people to lead with her. She called on juniors David Beeder, Are and Petrow to be the group leaders. The East Coalition meets every Thursday after school.

“We take anyone who just shows up and commits to the group,” Beeder said.

At recent meetings, students have gathered in the library. A video related to one of their charities is shown at the beginning of most meetings.

“Just watching anything that will make people talk and start to think about things we can do is good,” said Light.

As soon as the video is over, one or more of the leaders will have a few things to say; usually about upcoming events, or if anybody had any questions. Then students divide into four smaller groups, with one leader assigned to each. The groups go

Love 146 is a group that is fighting against the human slave trade. They are specifically targeting child sex slave trade.

around sharing names and thoughts from the video. Then the leaders take over and share ideas for future events and different ways of advertisement.

After group time, students proceed to make posters if an event is approaching.

Debe Bramley will pull out her drawer of markers and posters will be put out. Soon students cover the room pushing desks together to make tables, and covering the floor as well they start drawing away.

After three meetings and two different events under their belt, the group is coming into full swing. Due to the amount of members that are showing up to the meetings, they have been moved from room 522 to the library and cafeteria.

The red X can be interpreted in many ways, but for Light its more than just an X. She says that its like being marked or chosen to do something, in her case meaning that the coalition was chosen to make a difference.

The group was made to be something that kids can join to take action against the negative things that we see in this world.

A way to make a difference, and change people’s life.

“It’s something that I have always been thinking about but never really acted on until now,” said Light, “and I don’t think that I am the only one.”

Save Darfur

Love 146 Darfur

// JOESERNETT

Children walk for miles to reach safety every night in the dark and cram into a small room with dozens of others, sleeping side by side. A typical night in war-torn northern Uganda.

People are now trying to end the fighting and the hardships for the children. Among them is a group from East.

This is the first year for the SME Coalition, a group determined to make a difference, have an impact on the student body, and change their way of looking at things in the world.

Coalition’s main goal is to raise awareness for three different charity organizations, and to get funds to send to one.

The first, and probably the most well known group that they are supporting, is Save Darfur. This is a coalition that is trying to end genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan.

The second organization that will be supported is Invisible Children. This is a group that is aiding children affected by the war in northern Uganda. Many of the children this group targets have to walk miles and miles each night to get to food or shelter.

In 2006, juniors Anna Petrow and Sarah Are, two of the coalition leaders, brought the Invisible Children documentary to their

Sudan

Save Darfur is fighting to stop genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The people of Darfur are fleeing to Chad and setting up refugee camps where thousands reside.

// courtesy of www.invisiblechildren.com

Group focuses on connecting youth to God through sports // SARAHMcKITTRICK

Students filed into the gym slowly at 7 a.m. for the first Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) meeting this year at East. Groups stood and talked, sipping on apple juice and munching donuts.

The leaders greeted everyone with a smile when they walked in, but even after spending so much time preparing, the girls still had a couple jitters.

“At first I was nervous,” junior Lauren Dodd, one of the leaders, said. “But once people started walking in, the nerves went away.”

Senior Christina Davis and junior Haley Dalgleish, the two other leaders, had both heard about FCA from some of their basketball coaches and teammates and thought it sounded like a good idea. However, the plan really started when Dodd heard about it from her dad, who suggested that they try forming a FCA group at East.

Dodd, who knows Dalgleish and Davis from basketball, talked to them about starting a “huddle,” what FCA calls these groups of student athletes. FCA, the nation’s largest Christian campus foundation, already has 18 huddles in Johnson County and more than 90 huddles in Kansas, as well as numerous more across the nation.

After meeting with Steve Boweman, FCA’s area representative, the girls met several more times.

“We met about three times before to plan out the meetings and prayed together a lot,” Dalgleish said.

FCA’s first gathering of the year started with Davis, Dalgleish, and Dodd telling the crowd of about 50 students the basics of the program. Meetings would be every Wednesday in the gym at 7 a.m., and would not only focus on faith and sports, but also on how the values learned will relate to daily life.

Then the girls began their testimonies about how faith had affected their athletic lives and seasons. Each had their own story to tell about how God had helped them through tough situations.

“The beginning of high school was hard for me, but I stayed with God and he got me through it,” Davis told the quiet audience, who sat listening carefully.

After hearing the testimonies, the girls talked about Colossians 3:23, which says to live life with all your heart. The verse was meant to challenge the students throughout the week and spur discussion when the group split into several smaller groups.

“I thought some people would sit and talk about whatever they wanted,” Davis said. “But as I was walking around people were starting to talk already and seemed anxious to share what they thought.”

Dodd agreed.

“At first I think it was a little awkward for some people to start talking about their faith with a lot of people they didn’t know,” Dodd said. “But I think the discussions went well.”

Depending on the amount of students who come, the group will usually all meet and talk about a verse or topic, similar to the first meeting. But in the future, the girls also hope to have more interaction with the students and possibly have guest speakers come in several times, such as some FCA representatives.

“It’s never going to be us standing up and talking the whole time,” Davis said. “People will be able to interact with each other and talk about what they believe.”

The leaders also plan on emphasizing good sportsmanship, being good teammates and opponents, and playing the sport to glorify God. “It’s really easy for people to get caught up in glorifying themselves in sports,” Dodd said, “But ultimately God is giving you the talent, energy, and strength to play.”

After the first meeting the three still aren’t sure what to expect or how many people will return, but the girls are optimistic about what the next meetings will bring.

“It doesn’t matter how many people come,” Dodd said. “We just want to start this group to connect people to God through sports.”

PAGE 6 EDITORIAL / SEPT. 15, 2008

With students already pressed for time the administration should . . .

OPEN

JAIL the

In the hall during seminar without a pass? Go to jail.

Too slow to make the passing period? Go to jail. Thirsty?

Go to jail Seminar, the study hall-like blocks on even days, gives students time to catch up on chaotic schedules. Students are supposed to use seminar to do homework, to get help from teachers or to retake tests But rather than embracing Dr. Krawitz’s vision of seminar as “a privilege to students that helps them grow academically” teachers have turned hallways into a war zone where any student found roaming should be very afraid.

The intense interpretation the staff has made of the rules have left students hiding out in their classrooms too freaked to venture out for some help.

Seminar is approximately 90 minutes long, split in half for two distinct sections. Students are not allowed to move outside passing period. Signatures on blue sheets at all times. You can’t visit any more that two teachers during seminar. Anyone found without a pass or violating the privileges of seminar is stuck in jail. All hour. Only allowed to sit. And that is supposed to be academic.

Originally, Krawitz planned for an area in the cafeteria to gather people who didn’t understand the system. Then they would be helped and returned to class. Now, however, any-

Harbinger the

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

sept. 2, 2008 issue 1, vol. 50

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

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ STEPHENNICHOLS

ASSISTANT EDITORS/

NEWS PAGE EDITORS/ SARAHMCKITTRICK MADDYBAILEY

BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL

OPINION SECTION EDITOR/

ART AND DESIGN EDITOR/

OPINION PAGE EDITOR/

MEGSHACKELFORD

MACTAMBLYN JOESERNETT

HEAD COPY EDITOR/

EDITORIAL EDITOR/

NEWS SECTION EDITOR/

FEATURES SECTION EDITOR/

TIMSHEDOR

MICHAELSTOLLE

ANNIESGROI

MELISSAMCKITTRICK

// NICKLUCAS

one without a pass is sent to ’jail’ where they aren’t allowed to talk, do homework, listen to iPods, text or sleep.

While these demands, including jail, are meant to keep students safe and accountable, many of the rules keep students from learning from their teachers and that’s supposed to be the point.

But, simple attempts at trying to get help on math homework when it isn’t the right time doesn’t help that student with math. So, to actually meet the goal of academic aid, seminar needs to find more time to devote to the students.

American History teacher Vicki Arndt-Helgesen feels that teachers are available other times than just seminar. “[Students] can plan and get to school early for help from one teacher and also stay after for help from another,” Arndt-Helgesen said.

But the point of seminar, according to Krawitz, is to allow students to not have to do this.

A better solution is to change the timing so that students can leave class whenever they need to. To stay accountable for them though, the student could have their teachers sign one sheet before seminar that way they can move whenever they want, but always have a place to go.

The “jail” needs to be eliminated. Sitting in the cafeteria doesn’t further academics. So for kids who don’t obey the rules, take away their ability to get any signatures at all.

FEATURES PAGE EDITORS/ CONORTWIBELL DAVIDHENDERSON

SPREAD SECTION EDITOR/ PHOEBEUNTERMAN

ASSISTANT SPREAD EDITOR/ DUNCANMCHENRY

A&E EDITOR/

JEFFRUTHERFORD

A&E PAGE EDITOR/ RACHELBIRKENMEIER

MIXED PAGE EDITOR/ AUBREYLEITER

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR/ SAMLOGAN

SPORTS PAGE EDITORS/ CAMSMITH ANDREWGOBLE

FREELANCE PAGE EDITOR/ MACKENZIEWYLIE SARAHLUBY

ONLINE EDITOR/ TAYLORHAVILAND

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR/ ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAN

ONLINE SECTION EDITOR/ CAMILLEKARRO

PHOTO EDITOR/ TYLERROSTE

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR/ MACKENZIEWYLIE

PHOTOGRAPHERS/ CHLOEFISCHGRUND MAXSTITT

And if the teachers still feel the need to monitor then put one at all the exits to make sure no one leaves the school and those kids who got their passes signed aren’t just wandering.

Teachers seem to have become power-hungry and should be listening to student needs. As this is Susan Swift’s original plan, they also should be open-minded to the new ideas Krawitz might bring. His old school actually had seminar but with much more freedom.

“I really don’t want the teachers go crazy interpreting the rules because it’s not supposed to be about that,” he said. “Eventually we may be able to put in something in that is more flexible for students.”

ote 10 0 0 FOR

AGAINST

ABSENT

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

KATIEEAST PATRICKMAYFIELD DANIELSTEWART CCCREIDENBERG ANDYALLEN

STAFF WRITERS/

COPY EDITORS/

LOGANHELEY KATHLEENIRELAND LANDONMCDONALD GRIFFINBUR BOBMARTIN JORDANPFEIFFER

EDITORIAL BOARD/

DANIELSTEWART TAYLORHAVILAND NICKLUCAS

SAMKOVZAN KEVINSIMPSON ANNIESGROI

STEPHENNICHOLS BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL MACTAMBLYN ANNIESGROI SAMLOGAN GRIFFINBUR MICHAELSTOLLE MELISSAMCKITTRICK

STAFF ARTISTS/

ADS/BUSINESS MANAGER/ ANNABERNARD

ASSISTANT ADS/BUSINESS MANAGER/ KATHLEENIRELAND

CIRCULATION MANAGER/ SARAHMCKITTRICK

ADVISOR DOWTATE

Motivation

PAGE 7 OPINION / ISSUE ONE

for the

Sole

A teammate’s battle through bone cancer becomes the inspiration for one cross country runner and the rest of his team.

// DANSTEWART

an opinion of

/ SAMLOGAN I feel like I’m a decent runner. I wear shorts that can show off my ghosty thighs.

I’ve run down Belinder only to dip my head in the fountain at 65th and turn around.

I’ve watched one of my best friends become the cross country team captain and the whole time I could tell I was getting better— but still, I’ve never won a race.

“What’s up man?” I got that in the hall the day after I joined cross country a month late. It came the next day, too… and the day after that, I sent it his way. I didn’t know his name, but I had pointed him out at practice as ‘the kid who looks like he has curly hair, but really doesn’t’.

Then someone told me his name was Jonathan Stepp.

Jonathan got me back to practice after the first week and provided a sense of team among a group of guys who weren’t quite “varsity material”.

Running became peaceful. It put me at ease and made me realize what having fun while staying active was like. Cross country was a brotherhood, anchored by elementary-school-playground-like rituals, a dead Kentucky Derby horse and the wispy locks of a coach’s hair. Before I even knew what any of them meant, I felt compelled to be a part of it simply from the kindness of one fellow runner.

Although post twenty minute races kept

churning through my legs and soreness stitched together my joints I had the athletic time of my life.

The season ended and I didn’t see Jonathan anymore. I stopped running. Occasionally I’d play catch-up as Brian Simpson ran down Belinder, my legs like mashed potatoes, his like a true runner’s.

I stopped running because I was lazy.

Later in the winter, Jonathan was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He’d never be able to run long distances. I couldn’t grip the idea that the same kid who got me to keep running would never be able to again.

The hour after I heard that, I skipped class to grab my running shoes.

“

After I met Jonathan my first week of practice I never thought I’d meet someone again who would make me realize how liberating running can be.

Then I met Jonathan after 18 rounds of chemo.

“

Forrest Gump said that when he ran he thought about Bubba. He thought about Jenny, Lieutenant Dan, and Momma. I was going to run because Jonathan couldn’t.

I went faster and harder than I ever had before on that day. Thinking about a teammate of mine in a hospital bed, I took for granted being able to hit the street. I remembered only knowing him as the kid with curly hair, even though it wasn’t curly. And then it hit me— losing his hair was prob-

ably the least of his worries.

Jonathan checked in to his first round of surgeries and I had my first reality check understanding how lucky we are to even be able to run.

When he was first diagnosed with the cancer, doctors said without running cross country it could’ve been much longer until the malignant tumor in his knee was detected. Jonathan had felt pain throughout the season and finally had it checked out, eventually being diagnosed in an earlier stage than most with the same condition are.

Despite his condition throughout the summer, I didn’t stay in contact with Jonathan. I heard how he was doing through friends, and thought about him during runs. He made me consider that our sport was more than crossing the line first; it was about having fun and doing something you enjoy. Without him I would have never had such a chance.

After I met Jonathan my first week of practice I never thought I’d meet someone again who would make me realize how liberating running can be.

Then I met Jonathan after 18 rounds of chemo.

On the first day of practice it wasn’t cold outside, it was maybe 100 degrees. I got goose bumps as the hairs on my leg stood up when a bald, puffy-cheeked Jonathan made it to the hill next to the track to be presented as a team captain.

His complexion was pale like the chalk on the track, but his presence paralleled that of himself before he was ill. Always there for his teammates, always someone you wanted to be around.

I’ve never told this to Jonathan. I’ve never had the courage to. I consider myself stubborn after such a statement, realizing full well that the last time I was sick I had a bad bout with Chinese food and didn’t have

By The Numbers Most Frequently Occurring Types of Cancer for Males In Kansas

1. Prostate Cancer 2. Lung and Bronchus Cancer 3. Colon and Rectum Cancer 4. Urinary Bladder Cancer 5. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 6. Melanomas of The Skin 7. Leukemias 8. Kidney and Renal Pelvis 9. Oral Cavity and Pharynx 10. Pancreatic Cancer

Source: Center For Disease Control

to have a plastic port placed in my heart.

Forever I will consider myself grateful for the indirect acts of kindness, courage, and dedication a teammate has shown me without even being close friends.

Without Jonathan I wouldn’t consider myself a runner. I wouldn’t get to wear short shorts, take a dip in a public fountain, or watch one of my closest friends become a team leader.

I’ll never win a race, I don’t mind. Jonathan won his and with that the cross country team received the opportunity to take for granted the company and guidance of such a teammate.

TOUGH LOVE

PAGE 8 OPINION / SEPT. 15, 2008

an opinion of

Sophomore finds that freshmen initiation is too kind and tender

/ ANDREWGOBLE

America’s culture is at a rocky stage. Video games are an $18 billion dollar industry, while members of MySpace Era will soon be the leaders of our country. And all the while, Soulja Boy somehow manages to have people pay for his two-words-looped-for-three-minutes songs.

But do you know what my real problem with America is?

We’re just too darn nice to freshmen.

Sure, their angelic little smiles? Delightful.

Their innocence? Adorable.

At first. But let’s remember they came from middle school.

The only administrative objective there is to wrestle their preteen students and their many social woes through the beautiful stages of puberty.

For some students, it doesn’t quite work out as expected.

We end up with these disrespectful, sassy, over-confident 14-year-olds who have no trouble incessantly questioning a teacher’s curriculum or lesson plans daily.

But, for some reason, there’s not one thing we can do to help them through this crucial development period. They are equals from the start in this new, odd world, where freshman are protected more than cuss words on the TBS airing of “Happy Gilmore”.

Don’t get me wrong, I think bits of the freshmen treatment are great. The new system is a great way for the 95 percent of freshmen, who are respectful and thoughtful, to learn the school without seeing it through the slits of a locker door.

The other 5 percent? You find me one ninth grade English teacher who doesn’t have a handful of loud-mouthed kids acting like they own the place, and they’re probably looking for a job.

And there’s no “hazing,” no locker-push-ins, no epic lunch-money-brawls with these select few. They’re free to be whoever they want to be, to bother who they want to bother, without any repercussions.

Does that sound like America to you?

My point is that, without the traditional freshman year, students may be missing out on vital character-building situations. Have any of our administrators ever watched “Saved by the Bell” or “Boy Meets World”?

Teenage sitcoms are always perfect examples of what life should be like.

In “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, no one would have watched Will’s antics had his mother, who was downright terrified by his bullies’ behavior on the basketball court, not sent him away. Without this event, Carlton would have no surly brother, and Will Smith might never have gone on to win a Razzie for “Worst Original Song” in “Wild Wild West”.

So, after a brief ‘90s sitcom lesson, let me tell you what’s wrong with the freshman experience.

We start by giving them their own day, Lancer Link Day, where they get to mindlessly frolic around the upperclassmen-less school led by the upper echelon of resumé-rats.

The freshmen get their own day, but Honest Abe Lincoln and George Washington have to share President’s Day? Give me a break.

They learn how many floors the school has. They memorize the names of classmates they will probably never see again. They realize high school might not be such a bad place. This gives them confidence.

That’s garbage. Did Julius Caesar, the greatest leader of his time, need Lancer Link Day to build confidence? No. he didn’t even need high school.

But I digress. I really was in the Lancer Link Program, and I was a freshman only a short year ago. Had this babying been in full force like it is today, I might not be the fearless, handsome, modest leader you guys often make me out to be.

Let me give you an example of tough love. Last year, I thoughtfully questioned the I.Q. of a senior wrestler while we were in the locker room, and he heard me. I had to apologize several times. If I didn’t, he and his “West Side Story”-esque possé were going to beat me up.

It was the quintessential high school experience, and I don’t want my darling freshmen to miss out on it. An event like this makes you think about what you say and who you

Andrew’s Ideal Initiation

disrespect. I came into high school a quick-witted brat, and that instance changed me, at least for a couple of weeks. For that 5 percent of kids, this could be extremely beneficial.

So, administrators, when you’re planning next year, I implore you to let the high school system take its toll. The past was too rough, but the current style is too tender. The good kids will make it through, just as they have for generations, and they will be better for it.

And the loud ones, the ones even you know disrupt the learning experience?

Don’t worry; we’ll take good care of them.

What happened on...

Lancer Link Day

1. Teachers lined the halls as the freshmen made their way to the gym.

2. Dr. Krawitz and Mrs. Pence welcomed the freshmen and talked to them about East.

3. Freshmen played several different games in the gym.

4. Freshmen got into their small groups and each group took one classroom.

5. In groups the leaders went through a book and played some get-to-know-each-other games.

6. Students dressed up according to their group themes and went on a tour of the school.

7. Lunch.

8. Students went through all seven of their classes.

The lunch money brawl

The locker shove

The humiliation carry

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION // C.C.CREIDENBERG

PAGE 9FEATURES / ISSUE TWO

Plaza

playing Sophomore Duncan Gibbs performs on the Plaza // MEGSHACKELFORD

Sophomore Duncan Gibbs thinks of himself as a perfectionist.

In fourth grade, he wanted to play the saxophone badly, but it was only offered to fifth graders. He opted to play the violin for awhile until he could pick up saxophone the next year. In the meantime, he decided to learn the clarinet too. Somewhere within teaching himself the guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, piano and the dobro—an electric guitar— Gibbs found he had a love for music.

All in all, he guesses he can play about nine or ten instruments, saxophone and guitar are his favorite.

Amidst playing the bassoon in the East Symphonic Band and alto sax for the Jazz Band, Gibbs is enrolled in all honors classes and plays for East’s Blue/Black soccer team.

What some may not know is that Gibbs’ main outlet for his music is through busking— playing on the streets for money—which he does on the Plaza whenever he has free time.

“I love performing,” Gibbs said. “My dad studied music in college and he went to London for a summer and busked there for fun, which kind of gave me the idea. I always play for my family so [busking] is a good change of crowd.”

Gibbs says his dad, who taught himself guitar too, is his inspiration. His dad, Kevan Gibbs, bought all the instruments that Gibbs now plays.

“When I was in L.A. I brought back some guitars from trade shows,” Kevan said. “If

you learn to play one instrument well, you can pick up on all the others. I think ukulele is the easiest.”

Music is still a part of Kevan’s life, but just as a hobby. He no longer busks, but he originally started doing it because it was the popular thing to do at the time.

In order for Gibbs to busk, he had to call the Plaza Office to get directions. They were pretty simple: no interfering with sidewalk traffic, no asking for money, don’t stand too close to the doors of a store and no playing at two locations—the Eddie Bauer or Boar fountain. Simple enough for Gibbs, who typically tries to get away from other buskers due to the noise and the crowded streets.

He says he isn’t playing for the money either, although people have given him a few bills here and there.

When busking, Gibbs always plays the guitar and either the banjo or the ukulele. He has to alternate between them each time he busks because they’re too confusing to play back to back.

Before playing each time, he always warm up with the Avid Brothers’ “Paranoia in B Flat Major”—one of his favorites.

“I usually just stay for a couple hours,” he said. “I have 15 really prepared pieces. I try to play the majority of my favorite songs but I also play some crowd favorites to draw more attention.”

Duncan’s favorites on the banjo range from the songs “Lizzie” to “Los Angeles I’m Yours.” With the guitar, he tries to stick with

SOPHOMORE Duncan Gibbs shows off all of his instruments in his room. Gibbs guesses he plays either nine or ten different instruments. // TYLERROSTE acoustic when performing The Beatles. A lot of their songs are electric, which are harder for him to perform. Bob Dylan songs are “all pretty basic” so he can play a lot of those as well. Some Bruce Springsteen and Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel” are on his list too.

Duncan never busks during soccer season, and sometimes he misses it because he just likes to play. School and music nearly become too hard to balance, let alone soccer practices and games.

Ultimately, music is one of the most important things in Duncan’s life.

“My parents told me ‘If you want to do something for the rest of your life, then pick something you can’t imagine going a day without,’” he said. “Music is definitely this

4

1 songs 3

Duncan’s top

for me.”

Gibbs does have aspirations to pursue music in college. He guesses he would play sax or bassoon because classical music is more commonly studied in college. He would want to major in either performance or composition.

“A music career is really hard,” Duncan said. “But whatever [Duncan] wants is fine with me, as long as he’s happy. He’s actually better at this age than I was.”

Before making any college decisions, Duncan wants to write more songs.

“I’ve written some but I don’t perform them—yet,” he said. “I will eventually, I just need to practice them more. I’m kind of a perfectionist.”

PARANOIA (Avid Brothers) “I keep tellin’ myself that it’ll be fine / You can’t make everybody happy all of the time”

2 4

HEARTBREAK HOTEL (Elvis) “Well, since my baby left me, / I found a new place to dwell. / It’s down at the end of lonely street / at Heartbreak Hotel”

LOS ANGELES I’M YOURS (Decembris) “There is a city by the sea / A gentle company / I don’t suppose you want to / And as it tells its sorry tale”

LIZZIE (Ben Kweller) “Sign me up, I volunteer / Votes are in for lifeguard of the year / Her feline past lives are plain to see / Their similarities are shown in this life...”

CHANGING

PAGE 10 FEATURES / SEPT.15,2008

Directions Teacher’s quick decision has now landed him at East // MADDYBAILEY

Ken Foley gently plays the piano keys from his sheet music. Chamber singers, eagerly gathered around the piano, sing in harmony as Foley conducts them with joy and ease. A bond is effortlessly formed through their common language. Music.

After Resseguie’s 11 years at East, the new choral director, Ken Foley, had big shoes to fill. With his musical background and memorable 12 years at Pembroke, Foley than enough experience to fill the position.

Growing up with parents as music teachers, Foley was exposed to music at a young age. He started playing the trumpet at age four and learned the drums at ten. He later picked up the bass, guitar and piano. He grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio and was involved in choir, band and soccer in high school.

“I played trumpet in the band and sang in choir and the musicals, so I was basically a band and choir geek all through school,” Foley said. “But I had two different worlds after I became the goalie on the varsity soccer team my sophomore year in high school.”

When it came time to decide his future, Foley loved the idea of teaching music.

Foley went to the University of Cincinnati and graduated from the College Conservatory of Music. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in music education. Although he loved music performance, he knew that music education would become more rewarding in the future.

“I knew I wanted to go into music education because that degree actually means something,” Foley said. “I would be able to pass on my knowledge of music to kids, whereas if I got a performance degree, it doesn’t really qualify you. If

someone sings better than you, they get the job.”

Foley taught at Brady Middle School in Pepper Pike, Ohio for eight years. After he married his wife, Heather, they both decided it was time for a change. They moved to Kansas City.

“I was looking for something different. I came to Kansas City specifically to get my masters degree with Eph Ehly over at University of Missouri Kansas City,” Foley said.

“His program was really CHOIR teacher Ken Foley directs his seventh hour class. This is Foley’s first year as East’s choir director. // MAXSTITT ‘What the renowned in the country heck.

Why for choral directors.” wouldn’t I apply?’ ” Foley said. “I wouldn’t want to be a Studying at UMKC changed Foley’s outlook on teaching couple years down the road and say, ‘I never even looked music. at that [job] when it was open. The more time I gave it, the “Eph Ehly is one of the top choral directors in the country. more I felt that I was meant to come here.”

He is an incredible man,” Foley said. “He changes the way Saying goodbye to Pembroke students was hard for you look at things. One thing I always remembered that he Foley, just as it was for Resseguie at East. In the end, he said was ‘Don’t teach music to people. Teach people through absolutely knew that he was meant to be at East. music.’ He made us feel like the first thing he cares about is “The way I look at it is like one door closing and another me, not what is coming out of my mouth during choir.” door opening. Just because Resseguie left, it doesn’t mean Foley seeks to teach his students the way Eph Ehly taught Foley won’t be an awesome director,” junior Emily Bittiker him. He cherishes the relationships with the individuals, but said. “One thing I like about Foley is that he is willing to keep he strives to treat the choir as one. old traditions, but at the same time adding new traditions.”

“It is every bit about the worst singers in the group as Many of Resseguie’s traditions will be missed this year, it is the best singers, Foley said. “It’s such a great feeling such as Blue Moon. It was a joint decision with the drama when a choir performs because every single person felt teacher, Mr. Defeo, that there will not be a Blue Moon this like they were contributing to something that is really year since Resseguie was the creator of Blue Moon. However, special.” there will be plans for the spring choir concert.

After earning his Master’s degree, Foley planned to “We’ve also talked about the idea of maybe having a move back to Ohio. Then, Pembroke School called the separate event that would be a talent show deal where there UMKC music program searching for someone looking would be solos and small groups like Blue Moon had,” Foley for a job as a choral director. Foley applied and got the said. “But it will definitely be different this year.” job.

Although Foley will miss the relationships he had with “I planned on teaching there for a year or so, then his Pembroke students, he has found he has much to look moving back to Ohio, but 12 years later, there I was,” forward to with East kids.

Foley said.

“On the first day of school I remember Mr. Foley saying Foley grew very close to his students at Pembroke. that all summer he was looking forward to hearing the East He was planning on staying there until retirement. choir sing our school song,” senior Legna Cedillo said.

Everyday as his students walked in the door Foley Foley’s sincerity is found reassuring at East, as it was at would shake each of their hands.

Pembroke. At every place he has taught, he has carried an “I love teaching high school kids,” Foley said. open mind with him.

“Watching them grow, both musically and as people, “Those relationships are always universal, Foley said. “I has been so rewarding. Having my students come back think I’m going to find that same thing here at East, as I did at after they’ve graduated and still having that connection Pembroke, and connect with the kids,” Foley said. “My best is the great thing about teaching.” memories will be those relationships with the students.”

Then another offer came along. When he heard that East had a job opening, he applied. He didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.

“It was the premier choir job in town so I figured,

Foley’s Music Background Played tru mp Learned d et at age four. rums by a ge ten.

Attended University of Cincinatti, and gra Conservato duated with ry Music D egree.

Recieved Masters a t UMKC, in Music Edu cation.

Took Job a t Pembrok e Hill, as music tea che Choir Dire r. ctor at Ea st.

// TAYLORHAVILAND

FACING the

PAGE 11 FEATURES / ISSUE TWO

ELECTION // MEGSHACKELFORD and SAMLOGAN

?

is obama

the next

In 1960, John F. Kennedy took his acceptance speech as the Democratic nomination for the presidency outside. It marked the beginning of his “New Frontier” agenda as he urged voters to put aside “old hates and fears and rivalries”— that of his Roman Catholic background— to see the true meaning of freedom and American politics.

A near half century later, Barack Obama did just the same thing as he spoke to a packed Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver. He accepted the Democratic nomination and in turn became the first ever minority to be a party’s representative for the presidency.

In his speech he shed light on his charge for generational change— just as Kennedy did, brought a sense of calm, cool, and young appeal to the podium— just as Kennedy did, and transformed prejudice against his racial background from a liability to an asset— just like JFK with his Roman Catholicism.

As a guest to the recent issue of the New York Times, Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, wrote a contributing column entitled “A President like My Father.” It described her desire to support a president that instills change and promotes inspiration the way her father did.

Caroline referred to Obama as hope for a new generation of Americans. Just as her father was when he accepted the nomination, just as Obama did, too.

With Nov. 4 looming, and the stakes are higher for both candidates, The Harbinger will provide you with special election coverage each issue until that date comes. We’ll “work the whiteboard” so you can decide who can work the White House.

comparing the VP’s

JOE BIDEN—

Biden started out as a lawyer, but then was elected as Senator for the state of Delaware in 1973 at the age of 30, making him the fifth-youngest senator in U.S. history. He is currently serving his sixth consecutive term, making him the sixth-longest serving senator.

He has been involved in forming many federal laws such as Violent Crime Control and the Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The most prominent law he passed was the Violence Against Women Act. This law has brought in billions of dollars to tackle gender-based crimes.

Biden is a chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus and continues to try and stop the spread of “date rape drugs.” In 2004, he worked to pass a bill outlawing steroids used by athletes.

He has also been a long-time member and the current chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In the 1990s, his efforts to damper hostilities in the Balkans brought him national attention: he made one meeting famous by calling Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader of the time, a “war criminal” to his face.

SARAH PALIN—

The city of Wasilla, Alaska has roughly 7,000 citizens. One of them is Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party. Palin comes to the election as a mother of five with pro-life views that make some left-wingers writhe at the thought of her Republican sort of feminism.

Feminism that many argue, though, appears to support all sorts of working moms, while the McCain-Palin ticket would still reject policies that would actually make their lives better.

Coming from Alaska, Palin is an avid fisher and hunter and supports the end of many American city’s bans on handguns. Despite having her own seventeen-year old daughter recently announce she is pregnant, Palin takes a pro-life stance regardless of rape or unplanned pregnancies.

As she has only held a major political office for about six years, many people argue that her foreign policy knowledge lacks, just as many feel Obama’s does. She has visited foreign troops and her own son, Track, was sent over last Thursday, Sept. 11. http://biden.senate.gov/issues/legislative_highlights/

// TYLERROSTE

T

his media list gives you names of reporters, podcasts, radio stations and TV broadcasts who produce what we consider the the best election coverage— -Blog: www.2008-presidential-election.info -Podcast: www.podcastingnews.com -For the most non-biased news, check out www.pbs.org for podcasts, articles and more -Check out CNN’s Political Ticker for 24/7 election news and CNN’s bloggerMichael Calderone -KCUR 89.3 FM, your station for NPR News

what to watch for

-First Presidential Debate: Sept. 26, 2008 -Vice Presidential Debate, St. Louis, MO: Oct. 2, 2008 -Second Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN: Oct. 7, 2008 -Third Presidential Debate: Oct. 15, 2008 -Election Day: Nov. 4, 2008 -Inauguration Day: Jan. 20, 2009

stay tuned for the next issue’s election coverage: A closer look at McCain’s campaign and the political party quiz!

PAGE 12 FEATURES / SEPT. 15, 2008

NEW

OLD

in with the

out with the

Former East sophomore Whitney Kerr moves to Virginia to attend a boarding school that fits his needs

// MACKENZIEWYLIE

// CONORTWIBELL

Sophomore Whitney Kerr needed a fresh start, and he felt that East couldn’t provide him with that. He was disappointed with his grades and knew that he needed to get away for a while.

“East was just too big for Whitney, he seems to work better and succeed in a smaller environment,” Whitney’s mother Debbie Kerr said.

Kerr and his parents decided boarding school would be the best decision for him, so they started searching the Internet and came upon Christchurch School in Christchurch, Virginia, a 125-acre school on the waters of the Rappahannock River. The school enrolls more than 200 students and is a boarding school for boys and day-school for girls. The school includes a wide variety of students from all corners of the country, from California to Maine to Kansas.

“Christchurch is a whole different school than East, not just because it is a boarding school, but there is a whole different way of learning,” Kerr said. “We only have three classes each day and I have come to view my teachers almost as friends because they just don’t seem like a teacher. Another good thing is that there are a lot of kids who have had a rough year or two like I have and I can really relate to them.”

Jay Byers, headmaster of Christchurch, explained why Christchurch was the best place for some families.

“It is family tradition in many families, and sometimes families decide on boarding school because the previous school wasn’t a

very good fit for their student and they want a fresh beginning,” Byers said.

“I really like Christchurch mainly because it’s really laid back,” Kerr said. “Another good thing is that everybody knows each other and are friends with one another.”

Whitney was willing to sacrifice missing his friends as well as his twin brother, sophomore Carter Kerr, so he could straighten out his priorities at Christchurch.

“I thought it was the right choice for Whitney to go to boarding school, I felt he needed a new environment and that’s something Christchurch can give him,” Carter said. “I’ll miss him a lot, but I know that this is the right thing for him.”

Whitney is currently participating in sailing, which is a unique opportunity for someone who has lived 1,127 miles from the Atlantic Ocean his whole life.

He also plans on weight lifting during the winter to keep in shape, and conclude the school year by playing lacrosse, a sport he previously played at East.

Whitney also likes the feeling of community at Christchurch, something that was a constant factor at East.

“The cliques at East were pretty distracting, but here at Christchurch, everyone is friends with each other,” Whitney said.

“We see seniors talking to eighth graders and football players being close friends with drama folks,” Byers said.

“Our school has the advantage of being very small, so we all know each other extremely well and we all go by the same

// PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEKERRFAMILY

schedule,” Byers said. “So its a 24-hour community devoted to bringing out the best in every single person. All for one and one for all. Everyone’s included and everyone belongs at Christchurch.”

Whitney’s mother says things will not be the same at their house without Whitney.

“The house is quiet without Whitney, but its hard having Whitney gone,” Debbie said.

“He is very happy at his new school though, he’s doing great.”

Top boarding schools in Kansas/ Missouri Area - Maur Hill-Mount Academy: Atchison, Kansas - Thomas More Prep-Marian: Hays, Kansas - Chaminade College Prep School: St. Louis, Missouri - Thomas Jefferson School: St. Louis, Missouri

// ourkids.net

// TAYLORHAVILAND

‘SEOUL’ TRADITIONS

PAGE 13 FEATURES / ISSUE TWO

Junior works to assimilate into American culture, while still keeping Korean roots

// GRIFFINBUR

$20 if you work the whole day. $10 if you work half. A whole day is eleven and a half hours of straight work. And work he did, every day, all summer long. Go in at 9:30 a.m., put ice in the fountain, soy in the dish and cash in the register. Clean the tables and start working the register in time for opening at 11 a.m. Work the register, take the plates, clean the tables. At 9 p.m., vacuum the floor, clean the tables one last time. At 10 p.m., head home, watch the History Channel for a bit and hit the sack.

Junior Seth Kang doesn’t just consider himself an employee at the Kokoro Maki House, but a co-owner. Kang moved here with his family in 2003 from South Korea in pursuit of better education. The move has not been easy.

Learning English and assimilating into America while still remaining connected to Korean culture has proved challenging. Throw in a crucial role at the family restaurant and school work and that’s one full plate. But it’s been worth it. *** Aug. 13 2003. Incheon Airport. Seth’s grandmother dries her eyes again and again. The Kangs have stayed the last few days with her and Seth’s grandfather in Seoul, about 30 minutes away from Incheon. They’ve been some of the busiest days of Seth’s life.

His cousins are there as well. Seth and his immediate family are the only family members living anywhere but Seoul. First, they moved to Daegu; now, they’re moving to America. Their flight will take them from Incheon to Japan to Minneapolis to Chicago and will finally stop at KCI. Seth boards the plane, a jumbled mix of emotions. Excitement at what America will be like, what Americans will look like. Britons? Germans? South Koreans? Fat? Nervousness, too- after all, sixth grade at Oxford Middle School starts in nine days. Seth knows some English, but he’s never even talked to a native speaker before. But that’s okay.

“I said ‘Screw Korea. [America] is my home now. Even if it wasn’t easy to move, I had to try to fit in,” Kang said. *** Finally, the plane lands. After a night in a hotel, the Kangs move to their apartment complex in Overland Park.

They load in all of their furniture and belongings but it’s not home yet.

Finally, the first day of school begins. There are no Ko-

rean kids here. Maybe not even any kids from Asia at all.

And the laughing! Everyone is always laughing, laughing at everything here. Maybe they’re laughing at Seth, maybe they’re not. He can’t tell the difference anyway.

Some of them talk to him but it’s hard to communicate.

He knows little English and they know zero Korean.

Most of them don’t even know where Korea is.

He answers ‘yes’ to everything, question or statement. By watching body language and people’s eyes he’s able to get the gist. The teachers help, or at least try to. ABOVE: Junior Seth Kang works at the cash register at his family’s restaurant, Kokoro Maki House.

They talk slowly at any rate. But Seth makes it through Below: Kang wipes off a table at the restaurant. Kang considers himself a co-owner, not an employee. the day.

After a few weeks, things start to settle down and he settles in. This is actually getting kind of easy. But, as expected, there are still some difficulties. One day, a classmate asks Seth if he’s high. Seth answers proudly that he is certainly is. 164 centimeters, to be exact.

In ESL (English as a Second Language) class, Seth makes his first friend, Brian Gomez, from Mexico. Brian doesn’t speak English too well either, but he and Seth discover a mutual liking for sports, especially soccer.

They can’t understand each other all of the time, but they try like no one else will.

For the first year, Kang will remain in sporadic contact with his Korean friends, joking about teachers and school.

“But soon after, I forgot their names and I can only // CCCREIDENBURG remember their faces.” *** Finally, he started his sophomore year at East.

The first day back at school always comes too soon. For By the time they moved back to Kansas City, Mr. and Mrs. Seth, so did the first day at a new school. Just two and half Kang had opened the Kokoro Maki House in Waldo, where years after moving to Overland Park, he and his family Seth works currently. moved to Lawrence. *** Besides moving, the Kangs make another important deAfter five years, Seth has begun to see the benefits of cision. Seth’s dad, a stock market analyst, had decided to America. In Korea, he would spend the greater part of a open a restaurant, The Sushi Station. Seth’s first job was day studying. If he was goofing off, he was probably playthere, though his only duty was washing dishes. ing computer games with his friends at the library. But now He finished the second half of eighth grade at Lawrence he’s outdoors or at the gym nearly every day, playing basSouthwest Junior High. He started freshman year there, too ketball. (in the Lawrence district, freshman year is part of junior Even with his restaurant job, he’s got more free time than high), but was back in Overland Park by the second semes- he’s ever had. He’s still here on a visa, but he’s now decided ter. He spent that second semester at Blue Valley Northwest. to eventually become a resident rather than move back to Korea.

America’s faults are beginning to come out as well.

“Once you can understand what the Americans are saying, they’re not so friendly after all,” Kang said. “And the myths and truths medical bills are really bad. In Korea, we have really good health care. Also, there’s still a lot of prejudice. Some people According to junior Seth Kang, many people are • Born in Seoul, South Korea wrongly informed about his homeland. Some of talk to me like I can’t speak English and some of the older the myths and his response: people look at me like I’m from a different planet.”

• Moved to the United States when Seth has begun to miss Korea, too. He still keeps up with he was 11 years-old.

“Koreans eat dog” Korean events, checking Korean news and sports web sites • Works at Kokoro Maki House in “This is true, yes, but it’s not like we eat it daily. He’s also involved with the Korean American Society everyday. We like dogs. In modern times people Waldo. of Greater Kansas City (KASGKC), playing in their annual don’t do it a lot anymore.”

• Has lived in South Korea, Lawrence basketball tournament.

“North and South Korea are the same” and Overland Park.

The Kangs celebrate the Korean independence day with “We are the same, same language and people, • Speaks Korean, English and is in the KASGKC every Aug. 15. They even drive 30 minutes to but they are really different, too. North Korea is Antioch Nazareth, a Korean Christian church, every Sunday.

German 3. communist and South Korea isn’t, ut we want Running a restaurant leaves little time for travel, however, to unify.” and the Kangs doubt they will be visiting their homeland any time soon.

“Asians are short” *** “Some are short, but a lot are tall. A lot of KoreThe experience has changed Seth in a way that little else ans are really tall.” could. Besides his improved education, he’s seen more of “It’s called South Korea” the world than most people his age. Though assimilating “South Korea is the Republic of Korea. We just into American society was not easy, it has prepared him for call it Korea.” almost anything else that he will have to face.

“When I was in Korea,” Kang said, “I thought the entire “Asians all speak the same language” world was like Korea….It’s been difficult, but coming here “Some people have said ‘Konichiwa’ to me, has really helped me to grow up into who I am.” and that makes me mad. All the countries

Junior Seth Kang

5

have different languages.”

PAGE 14 A&E / SEPT. 15, 2008

urban ast e

from

to

.com

antimeskc

// www.urb

After discovering a passion for photography at East, graduate works at Urban Times Magazine // ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAM to new students in a sarcastic and light-hearted way.

Despite her team’s success, Schlichting decided that photography was more a hobby than a career.

“I have come to look at my love for the camera as more of an art than a job,” Schlichting said. “I wasn’t a big fan of being told what to shoot and when to shoot it.”

Ironically, less than three years later she became the one giving the orders. In August of 2007, Schlichting applied to work for a new and fresh publication, Urban Times Magazine.

“I knew Crystal was a natural, so I gave her the opportunity to work on advertising accounts at first,” Boveri said. “I watched her and very quickly knew she had the potential for more.”

While Schlichting was managing advertising accounts, the position for managing editor opened up. As managing editor, Schlichting would get the opportunity to coordinate with 40 to 50 freelance artists every month including photographers, writers and graphic designers. She would also be in charge of giving out assignments, deadlines and layouts for every issue. Schlichting had only been on staff for six months, but she took the position.

“I jumped at the opportunity and have been doing it ever since,” Schlichting said.

Schlichting has been working as the managing editor of the magazine for six months now and plans on remaining a part of the Urban Times family for as long as possible.

“I really believe in this magazine and what it is doing for our city,” Schlichting said. “Urban Times focuses on the positive side of Kansas City and has already proven to be a success. The magazine has potential for much more.”

t s te 4.

wntown s City Do // Kansa

Council

your knowledge of downtown

1.

2.

3.

As of 2007, how many permanent residents lived in the downtown area?

(A) 16,292 (B) 5,011 (C) 35,820 (D) 9,532 There are over _____ employees working in the Downtown area.

(A) 50,000 (B) 100,000 (C) 150,000 (D) 200,000 Current investments into downtown redevelopment have exceeded _______.

(A) $4 billion (B) $2.8 billion (C) $690 million (D) $350 million

What is the Power and Light District also known as?

(A) Urban Arena (B) Power Place (C) Sprint Center Spot (D) Entertainment District How many does the Sprint Center seat?

(A) 15,500 (B) 16,500 (C) 17,500 (D) 18,500 The Loop is the ______ section of downtown Kansas City.

(A) North Central (B) East Central (C) South Central (D) West Central

5.

6.

Answers: 1A, 2B, 3A, 4D, 5D, 6A

Crystal Schlichting starts her day at 9 a.m. each morning. After a quick glass of ice tea, Schlichting sits down at her laptop to read and answer one to three hours worth of e-mails. Next she reads stories, looks over photos and makes phone calls. It’s all part of her job at Urban Times Magazine.

Urban Times Magazine is a Kansas City based once-a-month publication reaching over 90,000 people. The magazine focuses on the life and activity present in Kansas City and prides itself on printing only positive, sometimes controversial topics.

“The vision of this publication is to educate and motivate the people of Kansas City that we have the potential to grow a great city and be proud of it,” owner Christina Boveri said.

While at East, Schlichting discovered a natural talent and passion for photography.

She used the photography room resources at East as a way to advance her skills and learn new techniques. She also often spent time after school experimenting and playing around in the darkroom. All the time she spent on photography served as great experience for her future career in the publishing business. Schlichting also found that East prepared her for the responsibilities of the real world.

“Deadlines are a big part of my job which isn’t too different from turning homework in on time,” Schlichting said. “East did a great job of teaching the importance of responsibility which has helped me a lot.”

After graduating, Schlichting enrolled in the University of Missouri to study photojournalism. In December of 2005 she entered the “iLife challenge,” a competition designed to introduce freshmen to the new digital technologies available. Teams were challenged to tell a story in five minutes of film using their digital skills.

Schlichting and her team won first place in the advertising division for their video “McDavid.” The video was about the McDavid dorm building and the terrible living conditions. The team turned the video into a five minute commercial selling the dorm

PAGE 15 A&E / ISSUE TWO

The Cure

keeps it coming with‘4:13 Dream’ // BOBMARTIN 13, the year you become a teenager, start middle school, experience “drama” and a prime age to discover sulky rockers, The Cure, who also have quite an affiliation with the number. It’s how many albums they’re up to and they’re definitely making the best of it. Titling their new work ‘4:13 Dream,’ The Cure are planning an ambitious album release in the spirit of Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ that coincides strongly with the number 13 theme. Since last May, they’ve released a new single off the record on the thirteenth day of each month, that’s four singles and an EP of remixes in September leading up to the full album’s release on Oct. 13.

Starting with May’s “The Only One” we see a cheerful song showing off the rare, more positive side of lead singer Robert Smith. “Only One” doesn’t stray too far from The Cure of the past. It still features vocals that are whiny as ever, and a very catchy guitar hook. Lyrics that don’t necessarily make you want to drive a knife through your heart are welcome additions though. This seems like a solid choice for a first single because if Internet buzz is right, this record’s going to be quite upbeat, avoiding the gloom and darkness of previous releases.

Next is June’s release of “Freakshow” which goes in quite a new direction from their first single. As the song begins, the band immediately starts hammering away, and if you didn’t know any better you’d think the song was halfway through already. With some steady cowbell and extremely distorted guitar, the band leads us through a psychedelic trip both musically and vocally that makes more sense as it progresses. If your only knowledge of the band was this song, you’d never believe that they were also the masterminds behind 1989’s desperately sad hit, “Pictures of You” As July 13 came about, the progression continued with “Sleep when I’m Dead,” which follows Freakshow quite nicely. With more of the psychedelic riffs and distorted sound that will be a strong parallel to the album’s softer tracks. This may not be The Cure that the fans are used to, but the song’s actually been around quite a while, Smith resurrected it from an unused demo of a 1985 Cure recording session.

Finally, August brought the latest of the singles and my personal favorite “The Perfect Boy”. The extremely catchy song drops back to more of an “Only One” pace, while drummer Jason Cooper pulls most of the weight in keeping the song moving, along with Smith’s key vocals, and extremely inspired lyrics.

With only 4 singles to go on, it can safely be said that Oct. 13 should bring a release worth picking up, but the band says it best themselves in “Perfect Boy.” “We’re on the edge of a beautiful thing” sings Smith. “So come on, stay here for a while.”

|

|

The Cure’s 13 Albums // ALYSSAJOLITZ

-Three Imaginary Boys:1979 -Seventeen Seconds:1980 -Faith:1981 -Pornography:1982 -The Top:1984 -The Head on the Door:1985 -Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me:1987 -Disintegration:1989 -Wish:1992 -Wild Mood Swings:1996 -Bloodflowers:2000 -The Cure:2004 -4:13 Dream:2008

STAR SCALE | |Broken record|

|Borrow at best|

|Worth buying |

|Instant Classic

PAGE 16 SPREAD / SEPT. 15, 2008

THE PAIN AT THE PUM

With gas prices on the rise, East students are feeling..

// KATHLEENIRELAND

One step at a time

Junior Alexandra Ferlas heads north on 75th Street on her way to East.

With her morning trip only taking five minutes, all she has to do is roll out of bed, eat some fiber enriched cereal, and depart for school.

Ferlas wakes up at 6:45 a.m. to the obnoxious sound of her purple and pink Hello Kitty alarm clock. Though the sound may not start her day off in the best way, at least she’s not worrying about getting a spot in an alltoo-cramped parking lot. Her mode of transportation is by foot.

With gas prices rising considerably in the past few months, East students have turned to alternate forms of transportation to help save money and the environment. * * * * The morning air wakes her up, and though she may only have to trek a mere block before arriving at the 75th and Mission intersection across from East, that’s not the only reason she opts out of owning a gas guzzling vehicle.

Ferlas is used to walking to school at this point because she’s been doing it since freshman year. She feels it’s important to do everything you can to save gas, not only because of recent pricing but also for the envi-

Pedal to the pavement

Freshman Jake Edwards wakes up at 6:30 a.m. in preparation for his half-hour bike ride to school every morning. With his mom gone at work, Jake is on his own to get up and get ready to head off for school.

Around 7 a.m. Edwards heads for his garage to bring out his bike. After mounting the one-year-old black BMX bike, Edwards leaves for school. He enjoys listening to his iPod during the leisurely two-mile morning rides.

What he likes most about riding his bike is that he is, “saving gas and getting exercise,” Edwards said.

If he wakes up too late, the consequence is having to pedal faster. More often than not, if the weather’s too bad, he’s able to get a ride from his mom, though. One of his worst situations was a time when it was pouring rain and all he could do was wear a jacket and hope for it to stop. As soon

The more the merrier

Junior, Clair Finke sits at her kitchen table and eats a bowl of cereal as she awaits the arrival of neighbors, sophomore Mark Mergen, and his sister, freshman Elizabeth.

They have been carpooling with Finke since the first day of school. Due to a failed driving test, Mark has been unable to drive, causing him to rely on others for rides lately. With gas prices getting as high as they have been, saving money has become a group effort.

If the Mergen’s haven’t arrived by 7:05 a.m., their mother, Joanne, says Finke is free to leave, though she typically ends up waiting around anyway. Most mornings Mark tries to persuade Elizabeth to race for the front seat, “My brother is very childish,” Elizabeth said jokingly, “he likes the front seat and I don’t really care so I just let him have it.” He hopes one day she will join in, so he’ll have some competition.

Once together, the trio slides into Finke’s red, 850 turbo engine Volvo, while she opens the sunroof. After finding out air conditioning uses up even more gas, Finke makes an effort to use the sunroof instead of air conditioning anytime it is cool enough outside to do so.

A 7:25 a.m. arrival typically means no possibility of an open

ronment. “I know each walk doesn’t make a huge difference in pollution, but it can really add up,” Ferlas said.

She would love to see more people walking and riding their bikes, and not only to school.

She also rides her bike to the grocery store and for her frequent Starbucks trips. She likes to have a Chi Tea latte with a friend or work on homework and study. “If I can save money then that’s always a good thing,” Ferlas says.

However, she does agree it would be worth paying a few extra bucks for gas on her longer trips. She has recently been driving her dad’s Ford Explorer for regular errands and to practice for if she gets a car.

Her biggest setback is inclement weather. Ferlas doesn’t particularly enjoy walking through the snow or rain, but if the weather’s too severe she can always get a ride from one of her parents. She feels the greater benefits of walking are worth the occasional inconvenience of a sludge through snow.

as he arrives at school, Edwards makes sure to lock up his bike. Without it he would have to ride the bus.

One of the upsides of riding his bike is that he doesn’t have to walk to soccer practice. Although he doesn’t always enjoy the one-mile warm up ride to Mission Valley everyday before practice, it’s easier than walking. Once practice gets out at 6 p.m. he still has another mile ride home ahead of him. But all that riding really adds up when it comes to saving gas money.

Edwards also bikes other places, like the pool, if it’s not too far. Though he enjoys car rides more than bike rides, he’s used to it after riding since 5th grade. If he’s lucky, Edwards can pick up a ride with a friend every once in a while, but, other than the occasional freebie, he’s just fine passing up the pump.

spot in the junior lot so Finke heads straight for the senior lot. With a few minutes to spare before school starts, she pulls herself together in preparation for seven hours of education.

After school is another story. With Finke on the golf team, Mark on the football team, and Elizabeth involved in cheerleading, everyone is in charge of getting their own rides home.

Elizabeth usually takes the bus home. But she enjoys the benefits of carpooling, “It’s more efficient and you can save gas,” Mergen said. She also enjoys the perk of having a back-up if she misses the bus, because Finke will typically wait for her.

On occasion, Mark gets a ride home from teammate, David Owens, since they live close to each other. But Mergen thinks he’s about reached his mooching limit for free rides. Once he succeeds at passing his test, or completing Drivers Ed, Mark will have his family’s extra Toyota Avalon for all his driving needs. As soon as he’s driving, he plans on paying for his own gas. After recently getting a job at Ranchmart Hardware, he’s been, “pretty much rollin’’’ around in the cash,” Mergen said.

Gas Prices Through the Ages

1950 $.27

1954 $.29

1960 $.31

1966 $.32

1969 $.35

1974 $.53

1977 $.62

1981 $1.19

1

$

MP

..

1986

$.93

FRESHMEN

PAGE 17 SPREAD / ISSUE TWO HARBINGER TRANSPORTATION POLL RESULTS:

63 percent have parents or

siblings drive them 4 percent walk to school 17 percent take the bus 15 percent get to school another way

54 percent carpool 46 percent do not carpool

SOPHOMORES

SENIORS

JUNIORS

69 percent drive themselves 23 percent have parents or siblings

39 percent drive themselves 45 percent have parents or siblings

drive them 2 percent walk to school 2 percent take the bus 11 percent get to school another way

drive them 2 percent take the bus 6 percent get to school another way

53 percent that drive pay for their own

gas

gas

47 percent do not

86 percent drive themselves 6 percent have parents or siblings drive them

3 percent walk to school 6 percent get to school another way

57 percent that drive pay for their own

71percent that drive pay for their own

43 percent do not

29 percent do not

gas

5

49 percent carpool 51 percent do not carpool

54 percent carpool 46 percent do not carpool

47 percent carpool 53 percent do not carpool

Factors that Effect Gas Prices 1. Refinery Problems- We are driving more all the time and refineries are producing less. Also, refineries have to go into a maintenance period at some point during each year. Several refineries have had problems of some magnitude in the past.

2. Speculation- According to experts and analysts, gasoline investors become “spooked” whenever the global price of crude oil rises. This can add a “fear premium” of $10-$15 per barrel. A decade ago, less than 100,000 future contracts for crude oil were sold in a typical day on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The day after Hurricane Katrina, however, investors panicked and over 400,000 contracts were traded, causing gas prices to skyrocket.

3. Crude Oil Prices- Crude oil generally makes up about 44 percent of the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline, and OPEC (Organization of Petrolium Exporting Countries) pumps about 40percent of the world’s oil. Therefore, OPEC plays a significant role in setting world crude oil prices.

4. Sellers- Distribution and marketing costs and profits make up around 14 percent of the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline. Gas stations owned by major oil companies charge a fixed markup for resale at 7-10 cents per gallon.

So, if oil prices rise and the station has to pay more for the gas, they will charge more resale markup per gallon.

Independent owners can set their own prices.

5. Taxes- Federal and state taxes make up around 27 percent of the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline. Federal taxes are fixed, but state and local taxes can differ from as low as 8 cents to as high as 36 cents per gallon. // www.cbsnews.com

// MACKENZIEWYLIE

1991 $1.14

1996 $1.23

2001 $1.46

Nov.

2004 $1.95

July

2005 $2.33

Sept.

2005 $3.96

Sept.

2006 2008 $2.57

$3.61

// www.nbc10.com

PAGE 18 A&E / Sept. 15, 2008

For sale

THIS MOVIE

National Debt documentary, I.O.U.S.A., lacks organization and comprehensive information

Inquire Below

// PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BERNADETTEMYERS // PHOTO COURTESY OF MOVIEWEB

// TIMSHEDOR

I bought a ticket for a documentary, not a horror.

The stub read “ ‘I.O.U.S.A' Theater 13,” but I walked into a national nightmare filled with horrid tales of freakishly huge statistics and foreign trading monsters that threaten our unexpecting country, a victim of its own devices.

The horror begins with David M. Walker, Comptroller General (more or less of a glorified federal accountant) of the United States talking money with the camera. He gravely diagnoses America with a “fiscal cancer,” and looks just as terrified of what’s around the corner as the unfortunate second damsel in distress.

He embarks on the “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour” across America to warn us of the impending doom. Joining him is Chairman Robert Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a group designed to raise awareness about the United States’ Budget and consequential massive deficit.

The film continues to fluctuate as much as the American dollar as it floats over time between blackouts and old State of the Union addresses, moving too fast for a viewer to develop a conclusion.

It crosses time and space in seconds, jumping from clips of the ‘70s to projection charts of the 2040’s. It includes clips of the National Debt Clock turning on and off and back on again, Bush happily waving to the crowd as he signs his third tax cut and a splendid performance

by Ron Paul as he bashes Alan Greenspan (former Chairman of the Federal Reserve) and the inflation he could have prevented.

We watch the shadowy threat across the Pacific from China, Japan and the Middle East, all countries that harbor major investments with high chance of liquidation that analysts fear will be used as leverage in a major conflict. We squirm uncomfortably and turn away at the sight of these far more productive countries (our third greatest export is scrap metal), our trading partners that developed our $700 billion annual foreign trade deficit.

After all this, our gross national debt rests at $9.5 trillion, a figure offset by Social Security and Medicaid surpluses. Yet these government facets will work against the budget as baby boomers cash in at large numbers. And director Patrick Creadon (“Wordplay”) forces you to watch that haunting scene as the deficit increases by the trillions in the next 20 years.

The audience grimaces and shudders through the rest of the film’s 85 minutes, from shots

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

| Rental at best |

of hopeless I-knew-that-lower-class-would-go-first to blurry shots of clean-cut fraud by bureaucrats. It’s a terrifically timely and simply-phrased battery, but with tact from a non-partisan viewpoint.

Yet the real monster in this film is not the politicians, the Iraq war or the Bush tax cuts.

Instead, it’s us Americans. We’ve taken advantage of credit cards and loans, with or without the financial planning to make such a decision. Simply put, we charge more and save less.

But these solutions are scampered over in the final 5 minutes of the film when creative flash animation and large words steal the show.

In fact, it’s more disheartening that this film will not connect to most of the US. To date, “I.O.U.S.A” has grossed approximately $700,000, significantly less than the average documentary gross of $1 million. It’s currently showing in only one local theater, which offers three daily showings. Before we know it, this creepy-crawly debt is going to slither right through us and won’t even leave a mutant slug for part two.

The documentary draws inspiration from “An Inconvenient Truth” with charts and graphs accounting for nearly a fourth of the show time. Except the producers use more flash animation and less Al Gore with his Power Point clicker.

But this fast-paced slideshow doesn’t stray too far from the global warming documentary megalith. One hauntingly similar graph of that far-right, abrupt vertical needle that brutally illustrates rising temperature and rising debt.

The movie is paced like an action film, told like a documentary, and seen like a horror.

From veterans at the O’Malley Creadon Studios (“Supersize Me,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) you would expect a documentary that wouldn’t rush its patrons with swirling charts and graphs, but something slower and more easily comprehensible. It left no space for contemplation and doesn’t allow the ideas to sink in. The budget crisis is imminent and the feeling of urgent action is conveyed, but the solutions and ideas are lost in this racing mix.

The makers left we the viewers an ending that promises a sequel, whether we want one or not: the debt increased $85 million during the show time and another $4 million after you read this review.

|Worth seeing |

|Instant Classic

WEBWONDERS PAGE 19 A&E / ISSUE TWO

We sort through the internet to bring you the most cutting-edge sites for students // TAYLORHAVILAND

SMEHARBINGER The Harbinger online edition is becoming one of the top high school publication web sites in the country.

Last year, it won seventh place at the National Scholastic Press Association convention in Anaheim, CA. In the past the web site has stopped putting the publication’s stories online, but the site has become even more accessible.

With recent additions, smeharbinger.net can now offer access to videos and news.

Eventually podcasts will be added as exclusive content. If you like the regular publication, you can now access it online after each issue is released. Future updates include a construction page, video podcasts and more.

CONNECT TO TWITTER Receive Harbinger updates on your phone

CHACHA

An up-and-coming research trend, Trendpedia gets you information and articles for almost anything you can imagine. Considered a research tool to search the “blogosphere,” Trendpedia organizes the articles in timelines and allows you to access blogs and forums to discuss your topic.

This may not be the site for you if you need accurate information because almost all of the sites will have people’s opinions, not information based on fact. Like other search engines Trendpedia gets you links based

TRENDPEDIA

on keywords but instead of giving you links to official web sites, Trendpedia sends you to blog sites that discuss topics involving your keywords or similar topics.

Trendpedia allows you to share your blogs and trendlines (a graph that gives you a clear visualization of hot blogs) with your friends on popular sites like Delicious, Digg, Reddit and Facebook.

This gives it a personal touch that allows you to share your blogs and posts with friends so they to can share their thoughts.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

Go to Twitter.com and click the ‘Get-Started Join’ button. Fill out the required information and create your account

Skip the screen asking if you have any friends on Twitter. This will take you to your home page. Go to the settings tab at the top of the screen and select devices.

When entering your cell phone number, put a ‘+1’ before it. Then hit enter. A string of letters will appear on the screen. Text this to Twitter and your device will be registered.

ChaCha is becoming one of the strongest search engines on the web. Known for getting information for the user, ChaCha does all the work for you. Originally a search engine where guides would send you links in a instant message-like screen, the site has upgraded, allowing answers to be sent to you as a text, making information accessible anywhere.

But with these updates the web sites staff have removed the online assisted searching feature and now only allow you to get information through text. So, if you are on a computer your best bet is just to stick to Google because you will get the exact same results from the ChaCha search engine.

STEP 4

In the search box, type SME_Harbinger. Go to its home screen and click follow. Make sure that you check the options and allow your phone to receive text updates. You’re done!

‘Bangkok’ Mediocre

PAGE 20 A&E / SEPT. 15, 2008

New film from Nicolas Cage delivers decent action with a boring, stale plot // LANDONMcDONALD

Nicolas Cage Action Classics

1997Con Air “Cage plays a wrongfully imprisoned former U.S. Ranger who must fend for himself when the prisoner transport plane he’s on is hijacked by savage lunatic Cyrus Grissom (John Malkovitch) and his goons in this triumphant bruiser of an action flick from the heyday of explosive mayhem, the 1990s.”

2000- Gone In Sixty Seconds

“Yes, the little-seen 1974 original is better. But this Y2K adrenaline rush, featuring Cage as a former master thief who must save his younger brother by stealing fifty cars in one night, still serves up plenty of vehicular fury (and the ultimate special feature, Angelina Jolie in a blonde wig).”

2004National Treasure “Book of Secrets” was an irrelevant clone of this clever, diverting debut from director John Turteltaub that had Cage playing an adventurous historian searching for pieces to a treasure map hidden within different historical American artifacts. Yes, it’s a cheap rip-off of Indiana Jones, but it’s still a lot of fun.”

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

|Rental at best |

When a film isn’t screened for critics, doubts about its quality understandably set in. Why would the makers of instant classics like “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and “Disaster Movie” have so little faith in their own work? The reason is that movies that avoid the critical eye tend to be complete travesties, shameless money grabs by their sell-out stars and creators, hit-and-run hack jobs pandering only to the gullible and the ignorant.

“Bangkok Dangerous” wasn’t screened for critics.

The film is an empty exercise in sleazy futility, lacking any originality in character or plot and featuring one of the most trite, tacked-on endings of the year. But it’s not complete garbage, not a total train wreck. It’s just hopelessly average, even for a Hollywood remake of an already mediocre 1999 Thailand potboiler of the same name. It’s certainly not worth your time or money.

For a movie to be straight-up horrible, it actually has to make an effort to frustrate or repel its audience. “Bangkok Dangerous” is as lazy as they come. Even its basic premise, the tale of a hit-man in Bangkok struggling to complete that fabled “one last job” plot device, seems recycled, carelessly cribbed from older, better films like 1994’s assassin noir “The Professional” and this year’s dark comedic gem “In Bruges.”

Those films knew how to make audiences sympathize with their ostensibly heartless characters through subtle humor and genuine, old-fashioned character development. Whenever “Bangkok Dangerous” takes a lethargic stab at empathy or wit, it falls flat on its vacant head.

Cage’s character, who we know simply as Joe, is a carbon copy of every hired gun protagonist ever put to celluloid.

Detached and heroin-dependent at first, he travels to Bangkok to assassinate four targets for a local crime lord named Surat (the toad-like Nirattisai Kaljaruek) and quickly finds his cold heart melting for a deaf-mute pharmaceutical worker (appealing newcomer Charlie Young) and his faithful errand boy turned apprentice (Shahkrit Yamnarm).

Nicolas Cage, a talented actor whose career peaked too early with David Lynch’s southern-gothic romance “Wild at Heart” and his Oscar-winning turn as an alcoholic screenwriter in “Leaving Las

|Worth seeing |

Vegas,” has been in a steady downward spiral for years now.

After his misunderstood tragicomedy “The Weatherman” and the flawed but brilliant arms dealer exposé “Lord of War” both tanked at the box office, Cage seemed to give up on serious cinema, preferring instead to pick up easy paychecks for uninspired action vehicles like the National Treasure franchise and the god-awful Ghost Rider. Here he just looks bored, at times almost zombified.

Some actors can play roles in their sleep.

Apparently Cage thinks he can play his in a coma.

The only real find here is Charlie Young, the beautiful Thai actress who plays Fon, Cage’s hearing-impaired love interest. Her performance is so delicate and quietly heartbreaking you wish she and her character were in a different movie. I hope we hear more from her in the future.

Even if it wasn’t a remake, “Bangkok Dangerous” would still bare the familiar, formulaic stench of a worn-out archetype, the dutiful hit-man who finds love, changes his ways and must face the wrath of a jilted employer. Sometimes he lives, sometimes he dies. We seldom care.

The hit-man film is by no means dead. Recent years have seen welcome additions like Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic ode to joy “Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2” and Michael Mann’s haunting 2004 neo-noir “Collateral.” 2005 even brought us a blazingly funny but poorly received assassin comedy called “The Matador” with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. “Bangkok Dangerous” looks like something these other movies left in the toilet.

This is a film that brings absolutely nothing new to the table, just the same stale plotlines, jittery camerawork and tiresome tough guy dialogue even the most devoted action purist got sick of when they were around twelve. Even the “surprise” ending, probably intended to be shocking and radical, seems like business as usual. Put simply, you’ve seen this movie before. And you probably didn’t like it.

| |

|Instant Classic

the tangledweb

PAGE 21 A&E / ISSUE TWO

“Traitor” intertwines thrills with politics // DAVIDHENDERSON

&E APANEL

ABOVE: Guy Pierce plays FBI agent Roy Clayton, the head of the investigation into the international conspiracy, which leads back to U.S. Special Operations Officer Samir Horn, played by Don Cheadle. // MOVIEWEB.COM

with their problems, often wondering which side they are really one. This is what makes “Traitor” a great movie, it leaves you and the agent wondering, “Who really is good, and who really is evil?”

Don Cheadle plays the part of Samir to perfection. He is very gracious outside of his movies, however he deserves more credit than what is given to him. Know one else would have been able to look or act the way Cheadle did. I always liked him in the “Oceans” series and he even took on the main roll as “Paul Rusesabagina”, in “Hotel Rwanda.” “Hotel Rwanda” earned Cheadle an Academy Award nomination, but he is one of the most underrated actors around.

Most of the plot toys around with politics, with the action scenes thrown in from time to time. I really enjoyed the spacing, which allowed enough time for comprehension of the politics, and see how the plans where put into place.

The true conflict in the story is one you have to decide for yourself. Is it Samir battling his inner feelings?

Or is it the battle on foreign terrorism? Personally, I think the story is more focused on philosophical fight that Samir is facing rather than the war. I really thought the two intertwined conflicts made the movie more interesting and helped you progress you through the story, with the characters.

I once thought it would be awesome to be a secret agent. I think my views may have been a little tainted due to constantly watching James Bond as a child, but I think, “Traitor” has made my view come back down to Earth. It made me realize the actual danger that you are constantly in and that you cant just flip out a gadget to escape. This is a real-life situation that could very well be happening right now.

|

We weigh in on what’s happening in the entertainment world

Jeff Rutherford A&E Section Editor

Nick Lucas Staff Artist

Phoebe Unterman Spread Editor

“Traitor” spins from a thriller plot, to a political setting, and you must decide who the actual terrorists are.

The film focuses mostly on Don Cheadle, who was born in Kansas City, and now plays in such roles as Basher Tarr in the “Oceans” series. Cheadle plays Samir Horn, a Sudanese born Special Op agent for the United States. As a child, Horn witnessed the killing of his father in Sudan by a car bomb.

The editing makes it unclear as to whether it was a bombing by the Muslims, in which Horn’s father was a deeply committed Muslim, or if it was violence caused by his father’s policies. Horn then enlists in the United States Special Ops, in which he works closely with the terrorist jihadists. Throughout the movie you wonder if Samir is with us or plotting against us.

The film shows that Samir is avid about his religion.

He references the Koran throughout the movie. This tie in has you wondering if he is a double agent for the US, or if he is just waiting to strike back.

The movie moved very quickly, scenes last only seconds, but they impact the plot. It seems very realistic, having been shot in many locations throughout Africa and Europe. The plot is fascinating, showing the quite real inner politics that take place today.

“Traitor” definitely fits the mold of a mystery action movie. To be an effective undercover agent, one often has to think like the enemy. They begin to sympathize

Show you’re looking Last movie you forward to the most watched at home? this fall?

The Office. I love the show. I wish I could work at Dunder Mifflin.

I don’t watch TV. It’s for mindless dorks.

Juno. The cast in the film was absolutely great.

Last concert you went to?

Worst book you’ve Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) or Bear Grylls ever read?

(Man vs. Wild)?

Toss up. Combining Foo Fighters. Dave Great Expecta- Rowe’s childish huGrohl rocked Kemper tions. I’m sorry Ms. mor with Grylls’ brute Bramley.

Arena. strength would make the ideal human.

Bear Grylls. He Fight Club. But I’m Bruce Springsteen. The Dictionary. It was really wordy. always amazes me really not supposed “The Boss” is still with his primal ways. rocking at 59. to talk about it.

Great ExpectaThe Office. I want The Big Lebowski Bob Dylan. I love tions. I’m convinced Dwight Schrute’s It was a family affair, him, but he’s kind of but Grandma Mary losing it in concert. the story could have beat-harvesting been condensed to wasn’t a fan. body. five pages.

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

|

| Rental at best |

|Worth seeing |

Bear Grylls. For sure, he is NOT a fake.

|Instant Classic

// MOVIEWEB.COM

PAGE 22 A&E / Sept. 15, 2008

REELING IN THE most controversial films Palahniuk, the subversive Choke— Chuck genius behind “Fight Club” and “In-

visible Monsters,” brings another of his dementedly entertaining literary masterworks to the big screen in director Clark Gregg’s “Choke.” The film, sure to be a twisted festival delight, centers around the nasty misadventures of Victor Mancini (master of elegant sleaze Sam Rockwell from “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”), a self-professed con artist and sex addict who fakes choking at fancy restaurants to ingratiate himself to the wealthiest of concerned senior citizens.

INTER // LANDONMcDONALD

most artsy films No Through Road—

A novice shutter bug’s night of peace and quiet comes to an abrupt end when a frightened young woman shows up on his doorstep, begging for protection from a group of nameless, murderous pursuers. While this year’s snorefest “The Strangers” showed us how lame home invasion thrillers could be, last February’s borderline evil but nevertheless excellent “Funny Games” was a sadistic, relentlessly horrifying evocation of the home as battlefield. Let’s hope first-time director Sam Barrett, who’s been compared to “Evil Dead”-era Sam Raimi, chooses the latter as inspiration.

What happened to Elizabeth Wiltsee? This poetic documentary by Bill Rose aims to find out. Wiltsee, a promising young Stanford honors graduate, had one of the brightest futures imaginable. But sinister, unforeseen factors led Elizabeth to a complete mental breakdown from which she never fully recovered. She ended up living on the streets of Central California before finally disappearing forever, her fate an eternal mystery to her friends and family. Don’t go in expecting all your questions answered.

will surely be one of the more controverFreezer Burn— Insialwhat films in the festival, a scientist named Virgil

This Dust of Words—

indictment of the religious extremSilhouette City— Aismfierce that infects America and the rest of the

funnyman Kevin Nealon (“Happy Remarkable Power!— Underrated Gilmore”) plays a struggling talk show host

world, Michael Wilson’s “Silhouette City” will probably draw criticism for its harsh take on the threat of growing Christian fundamentalism, but it speaks the truth about the need to make sure church and state always stay separate. Just because we’re fighting brainwashed radicals doesn’t mean we need to be brainwashed ourselves to prevail.

who goes to extreme lengths to ensure that his beloved TV show isn’t cancelled by the network after a series of costly blunders and scandals. Directed and cowritten by first-timer Brandon Beckner and featuring performances from other stand-up regulars like Tom Arnold (“True Lies”) and rising star Christopher Titus (TV’s “Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding”), this is a film that could work as a comedic ensemble piece if it doesn’t get too bogged down in formula.

Stamp (Robert Harriell) falls deeply in love with his wife’s fourteen year old art student and cryogenically freezes himself to be with her when she’s old enough. This could be a sweet love story or an unintentionally disturbing creep-out. “Freezer Burn” is the first major film by director Charles Hood, a native son of Omaha.

Today the Hawk Takes One Chick—

A harrowing account of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic currently sweeping the African continent, director and humanitarian Jane Gillooly narrows her documentary’s focus to the interwoven stories of three grandmothers in the small nation of Swaziland, home of the world’s shortest life expectancy and also where the disease is spreading the fastest. Ms. Gillooly will be in town on Sept. 24 to attend her film’s first screening.

best documentary films As We Forgive— A Friend Indeed: The Bill

Laura Waters Hinson’s unflinching look at the consequences of genocide details the story of Rosaria and Chantal, two women who saw their families murdered before their eyes during the 1994 Rwanda massacres and are given the opportunity to confront their killers and former neighbors onscreen. While the film may be too much for some viewers, it still speaks beautifully to the healing heart of humanity and the limits of our mercy. Narrated by Oscar nominee Mia Farrow (“Rosemary’s Baby”) and Gold Winner of the 2008 Student Academy Awards.

Sackter Story—

last film on the list is a real treasure, a short Death of the Reel!— This movie conceived and shot at the Glenwood itself. It was made by the theater’s employees during the 2007 Kansas International Film Festival last September and will be screened at this year’s gathering. It centers around legendary cult filmmaker Guy Maddin (“My Winnipeg”) and his extraordinary cross-country journey to the festival. It now serves as a historical dispatch from the frontlines of yesteryear’s greatest indie divergence: the struggle over whether to shoot in traditional film or to “go digital.”

After being forsaken by his family and deserted by his Iowan community, Bill Sackter spent 44 years alone in a mental institution. That was until Barry Morrow, a young college student interning at the institute, fought an uphill legal battle to become Bill’s guardian so that the gentle, damaged man didn’t have to continue his confinement. Barry transplanted Bill to Iowa City, where he helped his friend seek employment at a local cafe, which was eventually renamed Wild Bill’s Coffee Shop in honor of its most inspiring server.

Alcatraz Reunion—

John Paget’s funny, riveting documentary chronicles one of the most bizarre affairs imaginable: the first alumni reunion for former Alcatraz Prison inmates and guards. What happens when the men that were once considered America’s most dangerous criminals are reunited with those who kept them behind bars for years? The results are awkward, humorous and strangely moving. The documentary also explores the Rock’s 70 year legacy and its gradual evolution from dreaded penitentiary to tourist trap.

Flash of Genius— This meticulously crafted drama concerns college professor and selfstyled inventor Robert Kearns (ably played by Greg Kinnear) and the lawsuit he filed against the U.S. automotive industry claiming that they stole the idea for the windshield wiper from him. Sounds pretty dull, but the Marc Abraham film never falls prey to Hollywood melodrama and actually packs a surprising emotional wallop. It also contains thoughtful notions about the nature of entrepreneurship and the enduring idea of the American Dream.

PAGE 23 A&E / ISSUE TWO

NATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL most anticipated films Cold Play—

Sorry, this isn’t a musical biopic about that shrill caterwauler Chris Martin. It’s a low-budget thriller about an immensely rich husband who hires a shady detective to prove his wife’s infidelity. The wife, wise to her hubby’s scheme, tells the private eye she’ll split her considerable divorce settlement cash with him if he keeps his mouth shut. I don’t know if I like this one. It seems to be borrowing a bit too much of its plot from “Blood Simple,” the Cohen brothers’ 1984 debut.

// TAYLORH

what you need to know about the festival

film noir musical sounds like an oxymoron, but “Dark Streets” acDark Streets— Atually seems like a wildly entertaining thrill ride in the jazzy tradition

of “Chicago” and “Moulin Rouge,” the only two non-South Park musicals I have any fondness for, other than Tim Burton’s cruelly snubbed tour de force “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Combining a winning mix of smooth blues and savage gunplay, this film tells the story of Chaz Davenport, an immature but likable young narcissist who runs the Tower, the hottest club in town, until a conspiracy surrounding the mysterious death of his father draws him into a shadow world of treachery and murder. “Dark Streets,” which was set and filmed in New Orleans, is dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. betraying a vengeful L.A. kingpin, thieving Hotel California— After hoodlum Troy (Eric Palladino) flees to Miami for a

number of years only to have his leg blown off by Cuban gangsters. Eager to cut his losses, he returns to California to meet up with his former partners in crime and reclaim his share of the money they once killed for. The old gang meets at an isolated hotel in the desert to split the take. Obviously, everything goes to hell from there. This film, the second by Geo Santini (2005’s festival short “Partners”), is heavily influenced by the work of Guy Ritchie (“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”) and Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado” and “Grindhouse”). duo Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber Random Lunacy— Filmmaking have created a documentary made for everyone’s

inner hobo, the part of the self that yearns to break free and escape the rigors of life and the frivolous trappings of polite society. Their subjects are the Neutrinos, a family of traveling street performers that prefer to be called “homeless by choice.” Fed up with work and rent, Poppa Neutrino and his lovely wife Betsy have raised their five kids on the road.

history of the festival

Since the Glenwood Arts Theater opened in 2002, the Kansas International Film Festival has come calling every September, exposing our fair city to a veritable smorgasbord of documentaries, lowbudget horror movies, surreal art house head trips, thoughtful character dramas and even a few scintillating sex romps.

Here at KIFF, independent films rule the roost. Their makers are hardworking men and women of vision. Their works are personal and uncompromised. These aren’t Hollywood rejects. They’re the ones rejecting Hollywood. These are the stomping grounds of the indie elite, some looking to hit the big time, most content to work outside the norm.

“Who would have ever thought that Kansas City would support another film festival that brought in 20 to 30 filmmakers each year?” festival president and founder Dr. Benjamin Meade said.

Since debuting in 2000, the festival has found its films playing to sold-out crowds and its contributors including low-budget legends like George Romero (“Night of the Living Dead”) and Guy Maddin (“The Saddest Music in the World”).

This year’s festival, which runs from Sept. 19-25, will see the release of 52 new films and documentaries, many from firsttime filmmakers unveiling their debut work.

DATES OF THE FESTIVAL : SEPT. 19-25, 52 FEATURE FILMS FESTIVAL PRICES : PASS-$60, INDIVIDUAL TICKETS-$6.50-$8.50 LOCATION OF FESTIVAL : GLENWOOD THEATRE, 9575 METCALF // TYLERROSTE

AVILAN D

{ALLMIXEDUP

PAGE 24 MIXED / SEPT. 15, 2008

farmer’s market The Farmer’s Market provides an amazing place to buy the freshest produce available in the city. There are over 140 venders who sell fruits, vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, and many crafts made by local artists. The produce focus for this month is watermelon so be sure to pick one up! For the best quality when picking out a watermelon, make sure its free of bruises. Watermelon can be enjoyed solo, in a salad, salsa or in a drink recipe.

Hours are Wednesday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. And on Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

// AUBREYLEITER

{

the page about city market

restaurants and shops

concert series

The City Market is loaded with plenty of restaurants and shops.

From Bo Ling’s to Minsky’s Pizza, you’ll be sure to find what you’re craving in one of the 15 restaurants. There are many stores and boutiques to find just exactly what you’re looking for. You can also check out the Arabia Steamboat Museum, its one of Kansas City’s most visited attractions.

City Market is packed with stores filled with home accessories and there are also many specailty grocery stores. For some of the best gelato in town, go to Argento Italian Gelato.

Holding about 10,000 people, City Market is the third largest concert venue in the Kansas City area. It has hosted many huge performers including John Mayer, Incubus, Fall Out Boy, 311 and The Killers. It’s the perfect place to go if you would like to spend a night under the stars listening to your favorite music.

There aren’t any concerts coming to City Market any time soon, but on Sept. 26, an influential musical called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be showing. Admission is free.

city market

throughout the years

1 8 5 7

The city market has been located in the same spot for the past 150 years.

In 1878, Kansas City was attracting legendary characters like Jesse James and Buffalo Bill Cody.

In the 1920s, the city market was very crowded.

It stood near City Hall, the Gillis Opera House, the Jackson County Courthouse, two newspaper offices and a number of other businesses.

1 9 3 9

The 1930s were a pivot point for the City Market.

City Hall and Jackson County Courthouse moved to their present locations and the City Market benefited from this by adding many new buildings.

During the 60s, the Market was a produce-only destination. During the 1970s, the area added bars and restaurants.

// ANDYALLEN

coming up in city market

Rocky Horror Picture Show Sept. 26 at 9 p.m.

Harvest Festival October 4 from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. city market is located at: 20 E. 5th Street, Suite 201 Kansas City, MO 64106

phone number: 816-842-1271

// MACKENZIEWYLIE

1 9 8 0

1 9 2 0

1 9 6 0

In 1986, the structures were modernized.The Arabia Steamboat Museum was added and the Market took a huge leap in leading the way toward downtown redevelopment.

2 0 0 0

The City Market is now listed as Kansas City’s Sixth Top Area Attraction.

It is stocked with restaurants, shops and of course the Farmer’s Market. The City Market has won numerous awards. citymarket.org

WORD OF THE ISSUE from The Daily Candy Lexicon: Words That Don’t Exist but Should {mouse trap} n. An internet purchase that looks a lot different upon arrival than it did in the picture. (i.e. clothing, electronics, furnature).

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Shawnee Mission East Harbinger

PAGE 26 PHOTOESSAY / SEPT. 15, 2008

Beating North 15-1 , the girls tennis team experiences a...

MATCH MADE EASY

// ALL PHOTOSBYMACKENZIEWYLIE ABOVE: Senior Paige Anderson warms up before the match . The players had about 10 minutes to warm up before the match officially started. The girls spend the majority of the time eating and resting before the match.

FAR LEFT: Seniors Tucker Nelson, Paige Anderson, and junior Molly Tidrick have a quick snack before the match starts. The snacks are provided by coach Chipman for a small fee at the beginning of the season, but there is a catch. The girls have strict “rules� on the snack bags: there is no trading of snacks that are in the bag. Players are stuck with what they have. However, they are allowed to share, just not trade. Players are not allowed to share a snack with any other sports team, even if they are friends.

ABOVE: Coach Chipman explains what this match is going to look like in terms of players. Immediately after Shawnee Mission North arrived, the team was assigned to a player from the opposing team. They introduced themselves and went to their designated courts. There was a rush to get the match started because rain was in the forecast.

LEFT: Freshman Meara Smith cools off before the match by drinking a blue Gatorade. Many of the players had to wait for other matches to end so they could start their match.

They spent the time looking over homework and hanging out with one another.

PAGE 27 SPORTS / ISSUE TWO

For the girls’ cross-country team...

THE SKY

LIMIT

is the

// LOGANHELEY Last year didn’t have the photo finish the girls’ cross country team was looking for. The team came so close to making the state meet, they actually had to scrutinize the video recording. There was a mix-up identifying runners at the finish line. That meant coaches had to use the video to make sure their runner’s times were correct.

East was bumped out of last year’s state meet by 12 points. Roughly meaning that if every one of their 10 runners would have beat out two more people, they would have made the state meet.

This year, they’re hoping to not only make the state meet, but prove they can run up to their potential. This year they return 9 of 10 runners from last year’s squad that included two individual state qualifiers, Marquis and Stradinger. Three freshmen — Katie Crawford, Emily Kerr, and Toni Aguiar — have also earned spots on the team and could be key contributors this year. Kerr believes the main job for the freshmen this year will be to knock other teams out of the points standings, moving East up.

On Sept. 6, the team had its first meet with 17 other schools. Four of which were ranked in the preseason polls. East finished fifth as a team, behind two teams from their region, Shawnee Mission Northwest and Blue Valley North.

According to head coach Tricia Beaham,

PRE-SEASON RANKINGS GIRLS

1. Manhattan 2. Olathe East 3. Blue Valley Northwest 4. Free State 5. Shawnee Mission Northwest 6. Shawnee Mission South 7. Shawnee Mission East 8. Blue Valley North Sources: dyestat.com

// PHOTO COURTESY OF MELISSA McKITTRICK // PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSIESYKES

this year’s team has great chemistry, one that echoes in her mind, the 1999 state championship team. The difference, to Beaham, is that this year’s runners may be even faster than East’s last state champions.

“We have the friendship, the bonding and the talent,” Beaham said. “And the talent we have now is faster than the talent we had then. The thing is the teams in our area have also become faster.”

East is in one of the toughest cross country regions in Kansas according to Beaham.

Three of the top five teams at state last year came from East’s region. Last season, East finished fifth in regionals, failing to qualify for state. The team was anticipating making it to the state meet last year, but was beaten out by Olathe South in regionals.

“Some of our runners did not perform at the level they were expected to perform at,” sophomore Hanna Jane Stradinger said.

“And that affected the outcome of the race.”

This year proves to be another difficult one, with six Sunflower League schools including East receiving votes in the Kansas Coaches Association rankings. East is currently ranked seventh in the Kansas 6A rankings.

Senior Allie Marquis wasn’t very happy with the preseason rankings this year, but says the team still has a solid chance at state if the team can run well and stay as a pack in their meets. Beaham hopes this plan can be executed.

ALLIEMARQUIS Senior Favorite Pre-Game Snack: Power Bar and Electrolyte drink Other Sports:Track Best Run: Baldwin race, ran a sub-15 min. 4k Personal Achievements: Won Greg Wilson Classic last year, won state in 4 x 800

“When you’re running as a pack, it’s much easier than if you’re running by yourself,” Beaham said. “It’s like when a stray antelope drifts off away from their herd, and the lion is obviously going to go get that stray.”

One constant for the past four years has been Marquis. She made varsity as a freshman and has been a consistent runner since then. At practice she sets an example of hard work and dedication.

“I’ve never had a runner as dedicated as she is,” Beaham said. “Not only does she have the dedication, but she has the talent and the capability of doing whatever she sets her mind to.”

The girls hope the team trip to Colorado over the summer may improve their state aspirations. The “easy” day of the trip was a seven-mile run. The team wasn’t taking any time off on their vacation.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Stradinger said. “One day we climbed a “14-er” which is about 14,000 feet.

It took us 6 hours and 52 minutes. I won’t ever forget that.”

But with the hard work, the team worked in some fun. On their preseason 10 mile “Long Run,” the team took a pit-stop to swim at an area fountain. Stops at QuikTrip for a quick slushie have also become a habit during practice runs. The team makes sure they are there for each other by asking about school and life during practice.

“Our team is really good about encouraging each other and helping each other finesse and get through the whole workout,” Marquis said. “We know each others’ personalities and we can always tell when someone is having a good day or a bad day.”

The key for the team this year is to run up to their potential and push everyone to run their hardest.

“Once one person tries to set the standard, we all try to reach for it,” Stradinger said.

The team draws its most motivation from each other. According to Stradinger, one of the main reasons why the girls keep running each year is because they don’t want to let their teammates down. Friday nights spent at “carbo loads” have become a good way for the team to get together and have a good time, but also get energy for the meet the next day.

The team wasn’t exceptionally pleased with their first race, but views it as a starting point for a good season. Marquis finished individually first overall in the meet for the second year in a row. Also, four of the seven runners that ran the course last year improved on their times by up to 41 seconds.

“I think it was a good opening race, it got us pumped up for the rest of the season,” Stradinger said. “As far as I’m concerned, we still have a good shot at state.”

THEGIRLS

HANNAJANESTRADINGER Sophomore Favorite Pre-Game Snack: Anything Other Sports: Track Best Run:Regionals last year Personal Achievements: State champion 4 x 800, 3rd in 800, got to XC individual state

MALLORYKIRBY Junior Favorite Pre-Game Snack: Pasta Other Sports:Track Best Run: Rim Rock run last year Personal Achievements: State champion in 4 x 800, 2nd in 800 freshman year

// DANSTEWART

LEAHCHESBROUGH Junior Favorite Pre-Game Snack: Banana & PB sandwich Other Sports: Track Best Run: 15:58 time in 4k Personal Achievements: Started on C-team, worked up to varsity

PAGE 28SPORTS / SEPT. 15, 2008

Close to the heart After the death of East graduate Jordan Mann in 2003, his father hopes to help others get tested and educated // MICHAELSTOLLE

No warning.

No symptoms.

A detectable heart defect had caused his death.

That was the grim reality that Lisa and Phillip Mann had to face when their son Jordan, an East graduate in 2003, died in May of 2007. It was a congenital defect called an anomalous coronary artery, that was present since birth.

Now, Phillip Mann with the financial aid from the Jordan Mann Foundation, is trying to create awareness and prevent similar incidents among athletes.

“Our hope is to create awareness of the condition, that sudden death [caused by cardiac arrest] is a public health issue…” Mann said, “[and] that testing is available to detect these abnormalities.”

Mann now works in conjunction with a team of cardiologists to utilize testing in order to detect these abnormalities before they result in serious complications.

They are currently applying the testing to student-athletes at the University of Kansas and East as a part of the pre-participation physical process.

As a part of a physical night at East last May, 214 participating students were given the option of getting an electrocardiogram done in addition to the standard battery of tests accompanying the physical.

“We wanted to give them the opportunity to get this test done to rule out any possible conditions,” Mann said, “and this was a way they could get it done for much cheaper than it would be had they done it through a physician… no serious conditions were found, but we were able to detect and refer several students who had less threatening conditions.”

The electrocardiogram, or EKG, is a noninvasive test which records the electrical activity of the heart. The test, which was available to students for $15, can accurately reveal a number of heart problems including: previous heart attacks, a lack of blood flow to the heart or a heart that does not pump it forcibly enough, the presence of an irregular heartbeat, or an

abnormality in the heart like what Jordan suffered from.

A condition that could have been detected.

Jordan, a scholar athlete at East, had gone on to play soccer at Furman and then at SMU, when he died in his sleep in May of 2007.

Mann’s father-in-law and grandfather to Jordan, Robert Conn, a cardiologist with St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, is the spearhead behind the development of the high school program according to Phillip Mann.

“He was really the individual pushing to make sure testing is available at East,” Mann said.

Conn was one of the cosponsors for the addition of the automatic defibrillators (AEDs) at East after the death of Lauren Brenner in 2000 do to a heart related issue, and realizes the importance of testing JORDAN played soccer at SMU and he played for East all four years. during the pre-participation physicals.

“These conditions may be present in all individuals, as was the case with Jordan,” Conn said, “but it is the exertion on the heart Coronary artery disease is a process of narrowduring aerobic athletic activities that causes these ing that occurs over time in these important conditions to manifest, and put the athletes them vessels. This build-up of fats and plaques at a higher risk for sudden death [due to cardiac in arteries can exist and grow without any issues].” symptoms. Angina is a common warning sign Conn says that the current pre-participation of coronary artery disease. physical requirements are inadequate. “[The tests] only deal with the sports specific issues,” Conn said. “A physical is with an EKG is If one of your valves becomes diseased or damaged by birth defects, nine times more effective than the standard physirheumatic fever, infection, or the agcal at detecting irregularities in the heart.” ing process, there may be disruption Conn and Mann both agree that widespread of the blood flow through the heart. testing should be a part of the near future.

“The U.S. is lacking behind European countries such as Italy, which has recognized this as an issue and has mandated that all athletes receive Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a condition in an EKG as a part of their examination,” Conn said. which there is a slight variation in shape or structure of the mitral valve, causing one or “[With this mandate] Italy has been able to reduce both of the mitral valve leaflets to “billow” or incidences of [sudden cardiac death] by several “bulge” backward into the upper left atrium. fold.” // www.advocatehealth.com Varsity soccer coach James Kelly believes that having these tests available in a high school setting is a valuable resource.

“It is the early detection that saves lives,” Kelly said, “The rare abnormalities, like what Jordan had, are detectable and happen all-too-often in sports… I am hopeful that these incidents help students to be more health conscious, not just relating to heart issues.”

Mann hopes that in the future testing will be readily available for all students; having testing completed as a part of the students transition into high school, so that these detectable incidents do not occur among any other youth.

“If Jordan had the EKG he would be alive today,” Mann said. “With testing, these detectable conditions, can be detected before they manifest, which would greatly reduce the incidence of death.”

Common heart problems Coronary Artery Disease

Valvular Heart Disease

Mitral Valve Prolapse

JORDAN Mann plays with his puppy Dubliner.

// PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MANN FAMILY

Conquering Colorado

PAGE 29 SPORTS / ISSUE TWO

Junior Charlie Bernard completes mile-high hike alone this past summer //SAMKOVZAN

1:30 a.m. He was ready.

Ready for a grueling 16-mile journey that would take 14 and a half hours to complete. Ready for a near vertical scramble that would require him to hike 5,000 feet up. Ready to embrace a challenge that has, in the past, claimed the lives of others. And he was ready to do it alone.

Decked in a pair of Timberland hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt, and supporting a bulging Camelback on his shoulders, junior Charlie Bernard turned his back on the Longs Peak Ranger Station.

A full moon illuminated the surrounding forest as Bernard began his 5,259 foot hike to the very top of Longs Peak, a Class 3 climb characterized by great steepness, total exposure to open cliffs, and chance of fatal injury. This would surely test every rock climbing attribute he had gained in his 14 years visiting Estes Park. Everything his father and older brother told him prior to the trip echoed in his head.

Take your time…watch every step…don’t worry...

“At first my sole determination was to do what my dad and brother had done,” Bernard said. “But I started to freak out a little, wondering ‘What if something goes wrong? What if there’s a freak storm?’ And I was going alone, which is not recommended.”

Clutching his flashlight, Bernard told himself there was no need to be nervous. He had, after all, made good use of his Camelback: the main compartment held cold weather gear – a jacket, sweater, and stocking cap – for temperatures that became increasingly frigid as he traveled higher, a rain poncho, a First Aid kit, four liters of water and a packed lunch containing two ham and cheese sandwiches, a can of Pringles and some grapes.

But with each step, Bernard felt more and more uncertainty.

“After about an hour, I reached a point where I had to sit down and ask [myself] if I wanted to go on, and I thought this may not have been a very good decision.” *** Bernard still has vivid memories of his father guiding him up mountain trails in Estes Park, Colorado when he was only three years old. With each visit there, he became more and more familiar with the terrain, weather conditions and the physical toll each hike took on his body.

“I started with simple hikes up to lakes,” Bernard said.

“I slowly progressed and now I’ve come to where I’m hiking almost vertically to the top of a mountain, and that gets pretty freaky coming back down.”

Estes Park has come to be Bernard’s home away from home. Located in north-central Colorado, the town is the headquarters of Rocky Mountain National Park. Its 360 miles of trails, 460 miles of streams and 150 lakes have provided Bernard with countless thrills for 14 years. He has hiked to 32 different locations around Estes Park, some of which have been repeated several times. With this experience, he knows what it takes to succeed on the most difficult hikes.

“You have to stay determined, you have to keep hydrated – if you get dehydrated up [in the mountains] you’re done – and you have to be safe.” *** 6 a.m. The flashlight went out.

Just over four hours into the hike, Bernard’s only means of reliable light had disappeared. His box of matches wouldn’t be enough to guide him on the thin, rocky trail. Making the most of the moonlight, he was going to have to trust his senses.

The smell of pine became less and less prevalent as he surpassed the forest line, and Bernard began to worry. The utilization of his 4-foot-long hiking poles was imperative if he was going to make it through this time of darkness.

“I went without any light at all for about half an hour,” Bernard said. “You think for a second…just a small slip and I’m dead.”

Sunrise brought temporary relief. A cloudless sky meant ideal weather conditions despite plummeting temperatures and blistering winds. Bernard had put on a jacket, sunglasses,

gloves and a stalking cap.

Despite all the protection, Bernard began to feel the toll of a mile-high hike.

“I ached, I was tired and I felt altitude sickness coming on,” Bernard said. “And when you’re at the top of a 14 thousandfoot mountain, feeling light-headed is a bad thing. The air starts to get really thin, and being from Kansas City, it’s hard to deal with high altitudes. About five hours up, I knew this was taking a toll on my body.” *** Hiking to the top of Longs Peak alone didn’t seem that bad to Bernard in the days prior to his hike. Earlier in the week, he completed two smaller trips elsewhere in Estes Park – one to a nearby lake, the other halfway up a shorter mountain.

This was a place his family had visited countless times his entire life, so experience wasn’t a problem.

“I tried not to psych myself up for it,” Bernard said. “Since my dad and brother had done it, I knew I could. There was three days’ rest between my prep hikes and Longs, so there was plenty of time to recuperate.”

Bernard doesn’t like to pay attention to the statistics.

According to Longs Peak web site owner Jeff Gimar, only about 3 out of 10 who start the journey make it all the way to the top, and 60 people have died attempting to climb it.

He finds that learning from experienced hikers is of chief importance.

“Heeding advice from those who have been [up Longs] may mean the difference between your trip being a challenging but enjoyable adventure or a complete disaster,” Gimar said.

Sure, Bernard had his father and brother to go to for guidance, but neither of them had climbed Longs Peak alone.

“I was supposed to have a climbing partner, but my dad and I were the only ones who could get to Estes this summer,” Bernard said. “He [wasn’t up for it], so I was really hoping that someone else would come by and help if there was trouble.” *** 8 a.m. The final stretch was going to be trouble.

Bernard thought he had experienced the worst. The half-mile long Boulder Field, located six miles into the hike, required him to jostle over hundreds of jagged rocks for nearly an hour, finally reaching the “Keyhole,” a small, rocky opening that marked its end.

Before he had time to catch his breath, Bernard glanced at what would prove to be the home stretch. It would involve a scramble along narrow ledges, many of which with cliffs of 1,000 feet just off the path. Bernard would be required to climb over 1,000 vertical feet in only a half mile’s distance.

It was the most exposed section of the hike by far.

It would take him at least an hour to complete the final half-mile before he got to the summit, a football field-sized plateau.

“The last stretch of the hike is [almost] straight up and down,” Bernard said. “You’ve got a complete drop-off to your left and if you fall, there’s no stopping yourself.”

Digging hiking poles into the winding path and fighting against the howling wind, Bernard had to take baby steps.

One stumble would end everything. Every twist and turn had to be acknowledged.

“Really, my determination for getting up safely and then back down was just family and friends,” Bernard said. “So I could see them again.” ***

// PHOTOILLUSTRATIONBYCAMSMITH

9 a.m. The summit had been reached.

Seven and a half hours after saying goodbye to his father, Bernard had completed an eight-mile journey that required him to hike a mile high, struggle through a field of sharp boulders and travel in darkness for 30 minutes.

“It’s a great sense of accomplishment, almost indescribable,” Bernard said of reaching the top. “I know I’ve done something that so many other people haven’t done.

And along the way, I saw lots of people that were bigger and in greater shape than I turn around.”

Sunny skies let Bernard see for miles. The reality of what he’d done had yet to even set in.

“You get a great view of Rocky Mountain National Park, which to me has always been the most beautiful place,” Bernard said. “When you’re on top of a mountain…it’s just nature at its best.” *** Reaching Longs Peak’s summit instilled a sense of confidence in Bernard, and it’s only a matter of time before he goes bigger himself. Among the possibilities: climbing Colorado’s North Face with a rope and harness or ice climbing in northern Canada and Alaska.

“I’ve reached the point to where I’m wondering whether I really want to get serious about this,” Bernard said. “But my advice [to amateur rock climbers] is to start small like I did. And if you’re good at it and you like it, go bigger.”

Regardless of the next trail he chooses, Longs Peak will always stand out.

“Getting to the top of Longs was great, and I was glad I did it…but all I wanted to do after that was go home and take a nap.”

Longs Peak Expedition 1:30 a.m.- Charlie Bernard leaves Estes Park Trailhead Station to begin journey. Starting altitude is approximately 9,000 feet.

3 a.m.-Bernard starts adding layers of clothing as elevation increases. Adds stocking cap and jacket.

4 a.m.- Fatigue sets in. 3/4 mile walk through the boulder field before finally preceeding up.

5 a.m.- Bernard thinks going was a “dumb decision.”

6 a.m.- Flashlight goes out. He has to go half an hour in only moonlight.

7 a.m.- Bernard begins the near vertical hike up the steepest part of Long’s Peak. It is the most mentally and physically challenging phase.

8:30 a.m.- Bernard finally reaches the top of Long’s Peak (14,259 feet). The top is a flat plateau the size of a football field. He rests at the top and naps for an hour. Then he makes a five hour trip back down. //PHOTOSCOURTESYOFCHARLIEBERNARD

PAGE 30 SPORTS / SEPT 15, 2008

Aleve-iating the Pain // JORDANPFEIFFER

When junior Allison Kirby has a headache or pain from crosscountry, she just goes into a side pocket of her backpack and pulls out an Aleve capsule.

“My doctors prescribed it to me to help ease the pain,” Kirby said. “I use them a lot because it does really help the pain go away faster.”

Kirby isn’t the only one to use an over-the-counter drug to dull pain, several athletes at East carry around the same pain pills if not something similar pain relievers to help dull any injury or sudden pains due to athletics.

Aleve, Tylenol, and any other pain killer or over the counter drug or prescription, according to the Drug and Alcohol Use by Students Administrative procedures should not be carried with them or even in there possession during the day. Students who need a certain prescription drug or Tylenol have to have a note from home or a doctors note to take any drug at the school.

When students don’t comply with the rule, they are usually sent to either Nurse Varner or usually Assistant Principal Steve Loe, who handles each situation individually, usually with a phone call home.

“Its usually a freshman who doesn’t know the rules that gets caught with Tylenol or Aleve,” Loe said. “There really haven’t been any large cases where overdose was an issue.”

In the four years that Loe has been an assistant principal at East, he has yet to suspend or even get into legal problems with a student over an Aleve or Tylenol incident. However, he has given a phone call home to a parent of a student who was handing out painkillers saying it was “other” prescription drugs.

“We have a higher rate of students being caught handing out the ADD medication to other students right now than prescription

or over the counter,” Loe said.

According to Medicinenet.net, the main drug in Tylenol is Acetaminophen. It is considered an analgesic (pain reliever) and the main drug found in Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and most pain relieving drugs. The most common side effect for acetaminophen is liver damage, stomach bleeding, and respiratory problems.

Freshman tennis player Mimi Fotopoulos carries around a small amountof Aleve with her through out the day because of all the injuries she has accumulated throughout her years of playing tennis.

“I have a hip injury right now,” Fotopoulos said. “My doctor wants me to take a certain amount everyday to relieve the pain.”

According to Nurse Varner, there have been few cases in past years where students have not complied with the rule and either handed out prescription drugs, or even carried it in their backpacks for themselves to use during the day that she has seen.

“The biggest concern is that someone has an allergy to the medication and has a reaction to it,” Varner said. “You will be able to tell right away with the side effects that the drug will give.”

Allergies are not the only concerns with the pain relieving drugs.

Overdosing on Aleve, Tylenol or even Advil could be fatal to the body, causing massive stomachaches, headaches or even liver damage and internal bleeding. Signs of an allergic reaction to the drugs include dizziness, a rash, swelling, or even breathing problems.

“We have had a couple cases of overdosing last year of prescription drugs and over the counter drugs,” Varner said.

“But thankfully everything turned out ok, and we have had no situations so far.”

// TYLERROSTE

Despite restrictions, some athletes carry pain relief medications during the day

PAGE 31 SPORTS / ISSUE TWO

crowd surfing 2.

This year’s Pep Club presidents prep you on the top 5 things to expect from the bleachers this coming school year

SENIORS

ALLIE MARQUIS & BRIAN SIMPSON

1.

Krawitz’s Enthusiasm

A Youth Movement

He’s shown us at the pep assemblies that he can get loud, so we think kids are starting to get comfortable around him. If he’s so energetic everyday, chances are it will spill over to sporting events.

This is the biggest freshmen class we’ve had in years, so we expect big things. Just through cross country we’ve seen lots of kids get involved so it will probably move to the student section too.

3.

PEP CLUB

Thriftier Themes

We’ve got a really creative senior class this year with leaders who love coming to games.

They’ve shown dedication to teams in the past so we expect some fun games.

5.

4.

Widespread Attendance People are going to start realizing how good some of the lesser known sports are, like volleyball, track and the soccer teams. We think kids will start showing up for them and create some hype on the side.

Understanding Administration

Sidenotes

Since the administration plans on being more relaxed about cheering, we think it will let us duke it out more with schools like Rockhurst and South. Hopefully, the student section will be more into it with less restrictions.

Drill Team. They’ve proven themselves at the national level time after time, and their moves always look pretty complex to my unknowing eye. Both cheerleading and drill team are necessities for school spirit, but I feel like tradition ends up hurting cheerleading. The cheers they do were created before my parents were born. The drill team has to innovate every year.

They have put in hard work year after year from when they were five years old, and it shows.

And they show some mad love for the band, a necessity for a drummer like myself. When it’s a toss-up like this, always give cred to whoever gives the band some well-deserved attention.

Take notes , cheerleaders.

page editor

cam smith

page editor

andrew goble

Cheerleading. I’ll give the spandex studs their props, but nothing beats a classic. Call me old school, but I prefer a Statue of Liberty to a shimmie. The buzzer at the end of the second quarter gets me psyched for the Lancer Dancers and all their music-video-worthy-glory, but the cheerleaders get their baseline post for a reason: It’s tradition. Nothing says high school sports more than the cheerleader, whether you like ‘em or not. I can respect looped choruses and leg-lifting choreography, but my peppy heart goes with short skirts and hair bows, in a pure fan-only perspective, of course. With feats of calisthenics and dancing prevalent, these girls work it.

sam logan

sports editor

coach’s clipboard

In general: cheerleading or drill team?

Drill Team. For these girls its more than just a class. They put the hard work in day-in and day-out starting from the Pre-K days. And it shows. They have peformed and succeeded at the national level, and always bring a roar from the crowd anxiously awaiting a show after that halftime buzzer. They come up with routines for each game and have expectations that increase with every performance. Don’t get me wrong, I think the cheerleaders deserve some respect too.

Giving it their all every game and doing their best to pump up a crowd even in a game that may be painful to watch. Always having the school’s eyes on them during halftime, the Lancer Dancers never fail to impress.

Double 30 Slant

X

X

XX XXXX X X

X

X

The Double 30 Slant is one of the more simple, but complex plays in coach Stonner’s new offense. The split ends run slants toward the center of the field to give quarterback Curran Darling two similar options. The tailback, Kris Hertel goes 10 yards through the line and has to make a desicion on whether or not to curl in to snag a pass, depending on the coverage. If the coast is clear, he can continue down the field for the opportunity to put six more points on the scoreboard. If those fail, two recievers run routes to the flats as a safety option for a small amount of yardage.

we diagram a successful Lancer play... without giving too much away

Kicking off theseason

PAGE 32 PHOTO ESSAY / SEPT. 15, 2008

The East boys varsity soccer team started off the season on Sept. 2 with an easy win over Shawnee Mission North. Despite a tough loss last Tuesday to Kansas City North it is easy to see that they are ready for a good year.

Above: Senior Stuart Jones headers the ball over a few defenders to clear it

out. The Lancers had a strong first game and claimed victory over North with a score of 4-1. // TYLERROSTE Below: Senior Justin Krivena attempts to get by a North defender during the first half of the game. Krivena had many close opportunities and scored a goal in the second half. // TYLERROSTE Below: Senior Mitchell Jennings attempts to drive a bullet to the back of the net. The Lancers scored one goal in the first half and then three more in the second . // TYLERROSTE