Issue 5

harbinger

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / 7500 mission road prairie village, kansas

Feast for East dresses down for

jazz

&

by ellie weed

Last year, East parent Jan Howard would have attended Feast’s for East’s Patron Dinner dressed in nice outfit. She

would have arrived at 5:30 and seen volunteers dressed in black pants and white button down shirts. This Saturday night, as the co-chairman, she’ll be buying a $25 dollar ticket, arriving at 7 p.m., and will be wearing, as the name intends, a pair of jeans at the third annual fundraiser, entitled “Jeans and Jazz.”

“The goal is to feel like we’re reaching everyone,” Howard said. “We want it to be casual and comfortable so that everyone is at ease.”

Howard, along with other board members and volunteers, has been working to make this event more appealing to the masses, rather than the parents and community members that are willing to donate large amounts of money to the fund.

“We want people to attend that wouldn’t normally,” she said. “We want it to be a community effort.”

The casual decor and attire have the intention of getting more East parents and surrounding community members an opportunity to gather and meet new people, rather than just write a big check.

“We’re trying to make it a friend-raiser, not just a fundraiser,” Howard said.

continued on page two

page 2 / news / the harbinger

a new way to

FEAST

New setting for annual Feast for East puts casual spin on profitable event

continued from page 1

About the Feast

This Year...

teachers throughout the school. The grant Unlike last year’s sit down dinner and silent auction, applications that are approved meet a Theme: “Jeans and Jazz” there will instead be heavy hors-dourves while people bid certain criteria, proving that it will help a large part of the students at our school. on items at their leisure.

Chages from last year: Last summer, sophomore honors During the allotted bidding time, the Chamber singers No silent auction will sing from 7 to 8 p.m. and the student band, “Stop English teacher Kelly Fast applied for a Expenses: $17,000 grant from the National Endowment for No sit down dinner Time,” will be playing jazz music from 8 to 9 p.m.

Donations: $67,000 To serve as an alternative to the silent auction, there the Humanities to travel to Italy to study No need for formal wear The Devine Comedy. He went will be two big boards: One board, “Lancer Total profit sent to the to a six-week seminar Loot,” will have non-school items East Fund: $50,000 and spent six hours a like donated trips to Aspen by day in classrooms East alums and progressive and museums dinners, while the other t h ro u g h o u t board, called “It’s Great to Italy.

He be a Lancer,” will have was one of school related gifts ten to 15 like front row seats people that received a the remaining counselors to take on even more students to graduation grant, but it didn’t than before. Even with losing 100 students to our student and reserved cover all of his population, East would still need some way to help students parking spots. expenses.

The with basic college information and resumes, among other Guests will East Fund, using counseling needs. also be able to To eliminate a lot of time, Laurie Lamb, head of the money raised by the buy a $5 or $10 counseling department, applied for a grant for $2,500 to Feast for East fundraiser, ticket that will enter pay for a counseling website for East students. Dr. Font has paid for his transportation them in a drawing for gift set it up within the past year, and it is now in full service. throughout Italy and his class certificates to places like Town Feast for East has helped in funding some things that materials.

Center and the Plaza.

“It was the best educational could result in drastic improvements in our school.

After raising $50,000 last year “We aren’t sending kids to Europe with this money like experience I’ve ever had,” he said. at the event, the new casual feel a lot of people think, we’re just trying to keep it up to par Now, back at East, a group of doesn’t have the intention of upperclassmen have started a book with the other state-of-the-art schools that are just being raising any more money. With club to read the finish The Devine built,” Howard said. “They’re spending their tax money all the different types of items Comedy; they had only read one of on new technological equipment, and we are spending on to bid on, “the hope is to have a the three volumes in his class. The upkeep. With this money, we’ll be able to buy things like little something for everybody,” students have been reading five new computers.”

Howard said.

While the intention of this year’s fundraiser is to bring cantos at a time and then meeting with The money raised at Feast people together, it will also raise money that could advance Mr. Fast. for East last year was given From formal to T-shirts: This year “It’s been a great experience for our technology and help our teachers and staff in extreme to the East Fund, a part of the at the annual Feast for East this tthe students,” Fast said. “Everything ways.

Shawnee Mission Education shirt will be worn along with jeans we’re doing is all new stuff from this Foundation.

The members summer.” instead of formal wear. photos by of the board of the East Fund Losing a counselor this year forced samantha ludington receive grant applications from

Last Year...

N News Briefs B

;;;

World Hunger Assembly

Annual Can Drive Mon Oct. 31 - Fri Nov. 18 East students and teachers will participate in various activities to raise money for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau.

The following activities will be raising for the cause:

Who: Mr. DeBarthe and his students

Coin Drop : Oct. 31 - Nov. 9

MORP Dance : Nov. 11

What: A optional assembly to inform students about world hunger

What: Pennies in the wooden box will add to the class total and silver coins deduct from the class total.

What: A Pastel Jugle themed, ‘70s style dance from 7:30 - 10 p.m. The profits from the $5 tickets goes to the class with the greatest attendance.

When: Mon Nov. 7, 2005 during hours 2,3 and 4 Why: To educate students and encourage them to help solve the problem of world hunger

Can Collection : Nov. 7 -18 What: Non-perishable foods, paper good, toiletries, new toys and new/ used coats will be collected for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau in the front hall near the office.

Wiffle Ball Competition : Nov 2, 3, 8, 9 What: Teams sign up to play wiffle ball in the gym. The cost per team is $30.

Think Pink!

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / news / page 3

SHARE raises awareness about breast cancer during October

October has been the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month for over twenty years and has helped to decline breast cancer related deaths and helped raise money for breast Junior Becca Cahill stared silently at her aunt’s bathing cancer research by 600 percent. suit while at a family outing to Oceans of Fun. She was eight and “Anytime you have any person, any female, you need curious to know why her aunt didn’t look like the other women.

“I waited till we got home that day,” Cahill said, “then my to make them aware to continually check themselves for mom told me my aunt had one of her breasts removed due to the disease, you can’t take it for granted,” said Dr. Cocolis.

Dr. Cocolis’s wife was diagnosed with a breast cancer, I only very aggressive form of breast cancer, but understood the word through determination, the hard work of cancer but knew it was doctors at KU Medical bad.”

Center, and a the Cahill’s aunt is one of trial drug Herceptin, 192,200 other women she was able to dealing with Breast overcome the Cancer in the United disease.

States today. In an “ When effort to better inform you first hear women of early breast about something cancer detection the scary like this it National Breast Cancer knocks the wind Awareness campaign Thinking Pink: The Think Pink! T-shirts are sold out of you, you has dedicated October as to better inform teenaged girls of the symptoms never think it National Breast Cancer and prevention of breast cancer photo by katie could happen to Awareness Month. you,” Cocolis said, Companies all “but people have to be over the country such positive, listen to their doctors, and know as Einstein Brother’s, Olay, and the United States Post Office, have helped raise money for research. This year SHARE decided to help there is hope.”

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer in raising awareness, funds, and hope. related deaths in women and early detection “If we don’t have a cure for breast cancer, we might as well greatly improves a woman’s chance for survival. help prevent it,” SHARE Committee Chair Ellen Haun said.

SHARE sold breast cancer awareness t-shirts, handed out New research and new drugs have also greatly ribbons, put up posters, and posted announcements to better improved the chances of women diagnosed with inform teenage girls of the symptoms and prevention of breast breast cancer.

“I think what SHARE is doing is marvelous,” cancer.

“A lot of times people associate the disease with older Cocolis said, “ The important thing is that we’re women but not with common teens, when it can occur in both,” helping people, thats what life is all about, we help each other.”

Haun said.

by kristen crawford

Everyone supports breast cancer awareness: The suit of armor outside of the SHARE office sports a breast cancer awareness T-shirt in support of breast cancer awareness month photo by katie james

No Child Left Behind Act Almost Leaves East Behind by hallie mccormick East is supposed to be one of the top public schools in the nation. Why did it barely pass No Child Left Behind requirements?

Even though East’s test scores technically improved enough to get funding through the No Child Left Behind Act, we barely made it; and the minimum test scores requirements are going to be even higher this year.

No Child Left Behind requires all students to be proficient in reading, math, and science by 2014. To reach this goal, the government is taking it in steps. Each year the score for “proficient” is raised a little higher. No matter how good the scores were from last year, East has to improve.

“It’s stressful to know that you have to do better every year.” Spanish teacher Mrs. Seik said, “When I have to be better, but at the end of each day, I am given no tools in my bag to make me a better teacher.”

Last year 46.8 percent of students had to score proficient in math and 58 percent in reading. The government’s goal is to have every child in America be able to score proficient on the state assessments by 2014.

“It’s a great ideal.” Seik said, “but I think it’s something that the federal government is trying to micromanage that should really be done at the state level.”

In order for East to make the test results higher, it needs money from the state. Something East gets only if it makes the adequate yearly progress.

If East was not to make the required improvement in test scores this year, it doesn’t get the money it needs NCLB Objectives from the government for teacher salaries, electives, and supplies.

All students will reach high standards, at a miniTo make sure that this doesn’t happen, the school mum attaining proficiency or better in reading and district has hired more staff to each school with the mathematics by 2013-2014. funds provided by the state this summer. These staff members’ purpose is to help the students who are at risk of bringing down assessment scores, or as extra teachers By 2013-2014, all students will be proficient in to bring down class sizes. reading by the end of the third grade.

According to Gillian Williams, the Associate Superintendent for Educational Services for the All limited English proficient students will Shawnee Mission School District, the funding that become proficient in English. we receive (if we do well on tests) isn’t enough for the tutoring that is needed. “[Bringing up test scores] requires more tutorial By 2005-2006, all students will be taught by hightly qualified teachers. time, extended learning time, materials and one-on-one assistance from staff. All of which cost a lot of money,” Williams said. “In order to provide the kind of services All students will be educated in learning for all students, including those with little to no English environments that are safe, drug free and ability or formal education background, we need more conducive to learning. money to meet the goals of NCLB. Not all students learn at the same rate and some require more than the federal All students will graduate from high school. funds we are allotted.”

Is it possible to get all the children in America to score proficient on their assessment tests by 2014?

Source: http://www.isbe.net/nclb/htmls/ “It’s a great dream.” Seik said.

highlights.htm

page 4 /1opinion / the harbinger issue / september 6, 2005

Candy or dignity?

There is no reason for teens to feel above trick-or-treating

LANCER voice Do you trick-or-treat? colin coit - 9

an opinion of ian mcfarland

We live in a beautiful world No, really, we do. Sure, no one likes paying taxes. And yeah, we all get a Fall Out Boy song stuck in our head every now and again. But there is one saving grace that redeems our culture.

We live in society where, once every year, we can go around to people’s houses and demand candy.

Although as miraculous as this event may be, there is apparently something “embarrassing” about walking around dressed up as Power Rangers and eating sugar-laden, bite-sized foods.

Teenagers don’t trick or treat.

Alright, I guess I kind of get why it’s supposedly embarrassing. But isn’t it kind of embarrassing to launch a war for explicit reasons, only to not be able to prove the explicit reasons viability? This is candy people, free candy. The only thing more pure and good than that is laughing babies.

I remember the good old days when Halloween was more than a calendar holiday. It was like a celebration of sugar highs. You would venture through the wilderness that was your neighborhood, plundering whatever goodies could be salvaged from bowls full of Kisses, Dots and, god forbid, apples.

Screw all of the classic scary movies on TV, one cannot be expected to watch the boring, black and white “Frankenstein” when you’ve got more M&M’s coursing through your veins than white blood cells! Maybe Halloween was supposed to be scary, but none of that mattered when you arrived home with your hoard of candy.

You would get home and lay out your booty across the carpet and analyze this year’s take. You would stuff a bite size Butterfinger down your throat and swallow it down with a handful of Whoppers. If you were weird like me, you would even put your favorite candies aside, count

them, and save them for last, like the desert of deserts.

But, alas, many of us don’t realize our luck. We take this vast resource of candy for granted. There are starving children in China who would call Mao Tze Tung a poop-head and go to jail for it, just for a Crunch bar; but we American teenagers think it “childish” to collect chocolatey goodies from strangers.

Though as much as I’d like to boast that I’ll be out there covered in a white sheet with two eye holes tonight, I don’t trickor-treat either. I haven’t been out since 8th grade, and even then it felt beneath me.

What has this world come to when one cannot even collect candy without feeling out of place! Candy is a beautiful, beautiful thing. It used to govern our lives like airings of “The Real World” do today.

But ask yourself, what’s more important – watching a homophobe live with a homosexual or eating enough candy to feed a small nation.

“I don’t trick-ortreat anymore because I’m too old. Sometimes I go to parties, but I don’t dress up for it.”

chris lister - 10 “My friends and I just hang out on Halloween. We go to parties if there are any, but we treat it like most other nights.”

whitney van way - 11 “I would really like to, but there is such a stigma attached to a seventeen-yearold girl trick-ortreating.”

michael horvath - 12

“I go to Trunk or Treat at St. Ann’s school with my little brother. Then sometimes I hit up a party dressed as Tarzan.”

Internet produces teenage introverts Our generation has been socially stunted by the opportunites of technology an opinion of amanda allison Talking face to face with people, for me, often leads to the development of a nervous twitch in my upper lip and an annoying habit of chucking when quite unnecessary.

I run from hugs.

Flee from high fives.

And I detest sharing drinks, gum or a chair.

I suppose that I prefer to be isolated, apart, and for the most part, far, far, not far enough away from physical and emotional contact.

I think I know why.

As teens, we have come to rely on the remote island that is cyberspace for the verification and protection of our deepest and once most sacred emotions.

We have become impersonal, remote and knowingly ignorant of the feelings and human bodies around us.

I conducted an informal survey between classes and found that the majority of students questioned felt that places like Xanga and Livejournal are choice locations to weep over the bittersweet demise of that one true love and to scream testimonials of betrayal and jealousy.

On these weblogs (add that to your vocab list) peers may

virtually comment upon the emotions of others as if they’re judging a dog show: the more comments and eprops you get, the quicker you will supposedly recover from your boughts of sleepless nights spent crying beneath a pillow.

There is an unspoken rule though, enforced more severely it seems than statewide drinking laws: what is read online, stays online. Never are conversations allowed to trail off into the realms of what one was thinking as they typed up a depressed, lonely message then hastily tacked upon Xanga’s infinite wall (the new version can hold up to 3.4 gigabytes of information).

It is this “law” that has led to teens, myself most definitely included, feeling remote and isolated from those around them. Because we have made The Internet into a separate world from the physical “school-humans-touch-real” type, we no longer connect people with their true emotions. We’re not allowed to acknowledge that people are sad or on the other and hopefully more common hand, extremely happy.

It would be nice if I had as many ‘real life’ friends as I do on say, Facebook. I don’t know at least half the people!

Along with forgetting how to look into someone’s eyes and tell what they are feeling versus what they are typing, we have forgotten how to touch. How to love in person and how to acknowledge by contact.

Try to hug me and I will a) stare blankly at you until you just decide to walk away, b) squirm so much in the process

that you will swear I am related to seaweed, or c) literally turn to stone. I’m not kidding. I won’t move until you stop trying to hug me.

Along with just naturally being odd, I think that I initially learned to evade such physical contact because of my one time obsession with the impersonal world of Xanga.

Freshman year was rough for me. That was the year my moods swings resembled California’s Richter scale and my tear ducts got some pretty decent daily exercise. I would come home, take a deep breath and then as a final act of desperation, in looking for someone to talk to or someone to understand what was happening to me, I would type up my inner workings for public viewing.

If the written feedback I got was mediocre, than the physical was nonexistent. I think all I really wanted was a hug, and in my frustration and loneliness and final pleading for a friend, I opened that invitation up to anyone who would take the time to read my post. Those that did abided by the “Internet Law” and it was never mentioned in person.

I never got my hug.

While the internet is one of the most valuable tools we have, it’s only that. A tool. A search engine. Home to Google.

We can’t let our generation escape this world having learned to rely on typed messages and keyboarded emotions.

Learn to live and love. Not type and click.

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / editorial / page 5

building updowntown New construction projects worth their high price

letter to the editor

Ally Heisdorffer’s article entitled “Standing Out” served its purpose; it stood out, but not for any of the right reasons.

While well-intentioned, the criticism of brand-name labels such as “Jeep,” “Birkenstocks,” and “Polo’s,” is overshadowed by the article’s labeling of East students as “preppy,” “snobby,” and “materialistic.”

Generalizations in any form are often incorrect, and the author’s observations of Shawnee Mission East lead her to make the same condescending remarks she criticizes others for.

To argue that you have to dress well to be commonly accepted as popular at East is false. Although I’ve never had much of an eye for fashion, I’d reason that when cheerleaders wear sweatpants they’re not modeling Abercrombie’s runway. On a personal level, I’ve made fast friends with most people I’ve talked encountered, and I drive a 1984 Honda Accord with half a bumper, wear shorts my brother wore back in the 1990’s, and couldn’t pass for a cast member of “Laguna Beach” unless they moved it to the Middle East.

The kindness I’ve received has always been a testament to me that the students at Shawnee Mission East, while in some cases wealthy and affluent, are generally openminded and accepting. For that, I think Shawnee Mission East’s students deserve some credit for doing what the author encourages them to do; standing out.

The Kansas City area is often a punching bag for bored Another landmark for the area could be the proposed people in the area who have nothing to do. The community Metropolitan Kansas City Performing Arts Center. The leaders have responded to these sentiments and are now in proposed design as it stands will feature two 16,000-seat the process of completely revitalizing the city’s downtown core. halls, one for orchestra and the other for ballet and opera.

And, surprisingly, they are doing a good job of it. The city is The financing for this estimated $304 million project is also starting to transform in order to not only provide entertainment coming from a healthy mix of private and public financing for the millions in the area, but to also help the city as a whole. and, like the arena, will easily provide the city with more These new projects will bring in more revenue to the city that income to be applied to other areas of civic development. will lead to more improvements in all areas for years to come.

Some opponents of the project may claim that the city’s money The grand centerpiece of the city’s rebirth is the Sprint being contributed to these projects could be better spent on other Center. The 18,500 seat arena, on track to open in summer of city areas that may seem more vital. But the extra revenue that 2007, will not only stand as a visual these projects could provide to the city, landmark of Kansas City but should through not only the centers themselves Renovation and revitalizaalso draw a large majority of the but also through the surrounding shops tion of downtown Kansas metro area’s entertainment downtown. and hotels which will spring up, will City, though costly, will pay There isn’t a fear of having an empty, easily make up for their investment. quarter-billion dollar complex either: This, combined with the fact that it will for itself in the long run by the National Collegiate Basketball Hall add to the cultural and entertainment drawing more people and of Fame will inhabit a 40,000 square environment of the city, is more than revenue into the city. foot building connected to the arena, enough to warrant the developments. the newly-announced Kansas City But the changes don’t stop there.

Arena Football League team could Bordering the new arena is the inhabit the home-team locker rooms Power & Light District development, after their initial Kemper Arena lease, a nine-block area full of retail, agree disagree absent and a strong potential exists for an NBA entertainment, office and residential or NHL team to expand or move to our space, including a possible AMC town. With the large variety of touring concerts and shows that theater. The district also has plans to include a grocery store visit Kansas City every year already combined with new events and health club, two businesses that could drive people to not attracted by the modern arena, the place should be bustling. only visit downtown but also live downtown. To the east of The $250 million that the arena will cost seems like downtown there is also a proposal to develop the aptly named a lot of money for the city to be spending purely on an East Village, an area of office and residential spaces. These entertainment enterprise. But in reality, private companies are developments could easily make downtown Kansas City a paying for the majority of the expense. For example, Sprint living, breathing area, not just a weekend entertainment mecca. is paying $63.2 million for naming rights, an entertainment With all of these new opportunities being presented for development firm is helping finance $50 million, and the citizens and visitors to Kansas City, the metro area is on its way to National Association of Basketball Coaches is throwing in becoming a respected city full of new entertainment possibilities $10 million because of its Hall of Fame. The majority of the that will better the city as a whole. Not only will those who express remaining funds are coming from a hotel room and rental exasperation about having nothing to do be pleased, but the city car tax increase passed in August of last year. The amount will prosper with added revenue that will make Kansas City stand coming directly out of the city’s pocket is not unreasonable. strong when compared to other American cities for years to come.

Respectfully your’s, Brian Rubaie

harbinger

11- 0 - 0

editor-in-chief annie fuhrman

news editor sara steinwart

center spread editor laura nelson

photo editor linda howard

assistant editors amanda allison evan favreau

news page editors melissa lem rachel mayfield

center spread assistant editor jenn sunderland

assistant photo editor samantha ludington

art & design editor ian mcfarland

opinion editor cay fogel

mixed editor libby nachman

ads/buisness kristen crawford claire marston

head copy editor bryan dykman

opinion page editor clare jordan editorial editor foster tidwell features editor ellie weed features page editors katie jones hallie mccormick sylvia shank

a&e editor derek martin

circulation davin phillips

a&e page editor kevin grunwald sports editor peter goehausen sports page editors bobby miller ben whitsitt

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

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

copy editors amanda allison bryan dykman evan favreau annie fuhrman laura nelson sara steinwart jenn sunderland ellie weed

staff writers joe demarco clark goble ally heidorffer jayne shelton joey soptic michelle sprehe photographers katie james frances lafferty emily rappold kelsey stabenow katie woods advisor dow tate

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

Photo taken by Kelsey Stabenow

page 6 / features / the harbinger

sway swerve twist rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve tw whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve twist rock roll pivot s fluctuate divert flap sway swerve twist rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revo sway swerve twist rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve tw whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve twist rock roll pivot s fluctuate divert flap sway swerve twist rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revo sway swerve twist rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert rock roll pivot shake whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve tw whirl turn revolve fluctuate divert flap sway swerve twist rock roll pivot s by ally heisdorffer Bar said.

Upperclassmen spend Saturday nights dancing with friends A dance instructor yells instructions out to the dancers across the floor. “If you can count to eight, you can do this dance,” he says. He picks up the tempo as kids kick up their legs and wave their hands to the Charleston.

The Louis and Company Dance Studio on 103rd and Marty has limited space on their dance floor for the new rush of kids that are coming each weekend.

Louis Bar, the owner of the studio, believes that the sudden interest in couples dancing has come from the new television show, “Dancing with the Stars.”

All types of couples dances are offered at the studio. Saturday night swing lessons start at 8:15 p.m. and cost $8 at the door.

The lessons are taught by an elite group of swing dancers called the Swingsters. The owner of the studio, Louis Bar, selects dancers that he thinks possess the most PRACTICING THEIR MOVES: talent for a spot on the team. The Swingsters get paid $8 an hour to Juniors Tyler Enders and Anna teach lessons on Saturday nights Zeiger have become good and can also take lessons for free at the studio. dancers because of all the Not only do they give lessons on Saturday time spent swing dancing with nights but also are asked to participate in friends. special performances throughout the year.

Senior Whitney Haugen and her dance partner, senior at Shawnee Mission South, Mark Osman, were asked to try out for the dance team about eight months ago.

“They played a song and we were terrible,” Osman said. “But I guess Louis thought we showed promise because he asked us to be a To uch D ancing Ba llroo m & Swing part of the team.”

Louis himself has been dancing for 30 years.

93 33 N O ak Trfy , Kan sas City, MO He was born in France and began dancing on Kansas City S wing Dan ce Club the ice as a figure skater.

61 01 Ma rtway St, Shawn ee M ission, KS “In Europe, you are dancing all the time, it’s just a part of your future,” Bar said.

Blayney's of We stport Bar and his partner won the national 41 5 We stport Rd, Kan sas City, MO championship for swing and the tango, but he doesn’t have a favorite dancing style.

Un ited Dan ce Inc “Each [dance] has its own charm, it’s 84 06 Wornall R d # C , Kansas City, MO impossible for me to say which is my favorite,”

Best Places to Swing

Haugen particularly likes the West Coast swing style which is done in a line and isn’t as high energy as East Coast swing. Osman’s favorite is the West Coast swing. To him, the high energy dances are more fun and sexy, and the West Coast style can even be danced to hip hop.

Junior Tyler Enders and senior Corey Waldman decided to get a group together to start going swing dancing on Saturday nights during last summer. The original members of the group, plus a few new additions, still swing dance about every other weekend now.

“It used to be just our group at the studio, but a lot of other kids have started to show up and our group has become so much bigger,” junior Anna Zeiger said.

Swing dancing has become a fun alternative to the monotony of most weekends for Enders. Instead of going to the movies or just hanging around at someone house, now he and his friends have an exciting evening planned for Saturday nights. Swing dancing has not only given variety to Enders’s weekends, but it has also changed his taste of music.

“I really enjoy swing music because it’s got a great beat and it’s easy to dance to,” Enders said.

Enders and his band called Stop Time, which also includes Waldman, even changed the type of music they played from funk to swing.

“We started swing dancing and the music really intrigued us, so we decided to give it a try at band practice too,” Enders said.

Junior Elise Langtry now attends swing lessons as a part of her anti-drug and alcohol club. She and other members of the club go to the studio for the clean atmosphere.

“We have things planned for each week,” Langtry said.

“We encourage the members of the group to go different places each weekend where there’s a drug and alcohol free environment.”

“Now go out there and try it yourselves!” says the lesson director. The regulars get out on the dance floor and begin twirling and kicking as the music blares in the background.

A few novices stand on the side and look tentatively around as they decide whether or not they want to become a part of the havoc on the dance floor. Eventually everyone dances, not caring if they’re doing the steps right or not, but the smiles and laughter proves everyone is having a good time

Making over Mission Mall New mall owners plan on major overhaul

by joe demarco

The new owners of Mission Center are planning a multimillion-dollar makeover that will convert the mall into a mixeduse property. The new owners expect the redevelopment project to cost $250 million to $300 million.

The Cameron Group from Syracuse, New York, and GFI Financial Services of New York City completed the purchase of the mall in late August.

“I think the area has strong demographics and there are retail components that are missing from that part of the market.” Tom

Valenti, a partner of the Cameron Group, said.

“What we’re trying to do is make it like a town center, a place where people will live and shop and dine and be entertained at, as well as a destination for the surrounding areas.”

Mission Center, 4777 Johnson Drive, is about 30 percent occupied with around 30 tenants. After the malls last renovation in 1989, it was 95 percent occupied, with well over 100 tenants.

Mission Center opened in 1956 as Mission Shopping Center, an open shopping center.

In 1989 it was bulldozed, except for one

department store, and rebuilt. It reopened as Mission Center, an enclosed mall.

Recently, however, it has struggled to attract small businesses and shop owners.

According to the Kansas City Star, the Cameron Group, which has 4.3 million square feet of retail properties in seven states, looked at the mall about two years ago and liked the demographics of the surrounding area.

The 351,000-square-foot Mission Center currently has national and local tenants ranging from Victoria’s Secret to Perfect Gifts & Leather. Dillard’s will close its two stores at each end of the mall this fall and will try to place the 150 employees at its other

area stores, said Julie Bull, a Dillard’s cashier Some of the malls merchants such as the Kansas Sampler have been told they need to be out by November 1. One of the Kansas Sampler’s owners sought to sign a one-year lease in January, but when the owners of the mall offered just a four-month lease she decided to relocate to an expanded to the open space at 6858 Johnson Drive.

“We’re in business to make money, but I also want to be proud of what I do, and I hope the people who live there will be proud of this and will look at it and say, This is ours.” said a representative from the Cameron Group.

issue 5 / october 31 2005 / features / page 7

Fight: As the siblings pose for a photo, Katie Bartow tries to keep her brother Tim from pinching Elliott, but Tim does it anyway. When Elliott gets angry at

Tim, Katie has to try to separate the two of them. photos by katie james

life changing

CHALLENGES though, dragging Tim’s wheelchair upstairs each day and assisting her brothers into the car, a process that typically takes about 20 minutes, is just another family duty.

It’s what any sister would do, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

She does get offended when people make comments about her brothers.

“I’m not embarrassed of [them],” Katie said. “I’m just nervous that they’ll start talking and that people won’t know

One family lives, learns, loves with disabilities

about her brother. Though she knew that the people didn’t mean to be cruel, she still felt offended about how they reacted to Elliot. She considers it almost lucky for Elliot that Freshmen Katie Bartow is in all honors classes. he doesn’t notice the staring. He’s too busy imagining and She plays volleyball, is on the JV drill team and takes singing to notice or even care. voice lessons.

“I really think people know Elliot as the sweetest person One of her brothers has cerebral palsy; the other, a in the world,” Katie said. “I love his free spirit and how he is mentally handicapping genetic disorder. usually always happy and can cheer you up when you are *** sad.”

From the moment senior Elliot Bartow was born, doctors Not everyone discounts Elliot and knew something was wrong with him.

Tim so quickly. After seeing the episode Following three years of testing, it was of ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover” discovered that Katie’s older brother was featuring Tim at special-needs Camp the only one in the world with an already Barnabus, a note was sent from a rare form of chromosomal tetrasome classmate stating that “he bragged disorder, in which three copies of the whenever he saw Tim’s face because he same genes are produced in the body. knew him.”

The boy was so thankful to “There is no name for Elliot’s have Tim in his class and expressed that condition,” mother Liz Bartow said. “He’s Tim’s a great guy and how blessed he is the only one.” to know him.

Two years after Elliot’s birth, Tim “I wish for my boys more friends like Bartow was born. that,” Mrs. Bartow said.

Doctors said that he was fine, but his Tim and Katie are attracting mother remembers him as being floppy attention because of the musical they and slow to develop. have been working on for the past few It took nine years for him to be years. Tim writes the lyrics for “Strictly officially diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Gymnastics” and Katie makes up the Because of brain damage at birth, music for the production.

Tim is confined to a wheelchair for the Though Tim is very intelligent and rest of his life. The debilitating disease has been on the honor roll all three causes a slow loss of muscle control, years at East, his cerebral palsy might seen in involuntary physical spasms and lead to him living in a special care difficulty with speech. home, along with Elliot, once he’s done Though both boys have completely Singing Together: Katie Bartow sings Broadway tunes with brother Tim at the comtaking classes at Broadmoor. different conditions and abilities, they are puter. photo by katie james Katie knows they will be successful viewed by others as handicapped. Katie regardless. only sees them as her two older brothers. how to respond. People don’t give them time to hear what “[My brothers present] a really good learning experience, With Elliot, it’s obvious to people that he is mentally they have to say.” “ she said. “You learn to accept others for who they are and challenged, but with Tim, some people don’t understand One memory stands out for Katie: not what they seem to be. I wouldn’t want them to have that just because he has cerebral palsy doesn’t mean he is The entire Bartow family was at Homestead Country normal needs because then I wouldn’t be able to have the mentally disabled.

Club; Elliot was in the pool, doing laps and singing. She same benefits without them. I wouldn’t be the same person Tim is often stressed about the limitations of his disability noticed people pointing, staring and making comments without them.” and how much his family has to sacrifice for him. For Katie

claire marston

page 8 / spread / the harbinger

OTH of the

cur the

though the acto others work har

?

Acting Up: Senior Connor Hendricks plays Jason in Medea. Jason is the husband of Medea and has three children with her, but leaves the family to marry Creon’s daughter, Glauce. photo by linda howard

about the play WHO WHAT

Medea is the main character, and Jason is her husband; Glauce is his lover. The Nurse serves as Medea’s confidante.

The play begins when Jason leaves Medea and their children for Glauce. Medea ends up killing her and their children in revenge.

WHERE

Medea takes place in Corinth, a Greek city.

WHEN

The play was written by Euripides in 431 B.C.

costume designers

by sylvia shank

In the costumes loft, where shelves packed with bins marked ROYAL HEADPIECES, FEDORAS and VEILS cover the back wall, sophomore Lindsay Vanatta is hot-gluing Styrofoam spikes onto a guard’s gold helmet.

“This is the seventh time we’ve had to do this,” she said.

Vanatta and sophomore Lee Conrads, Crew Chiefs for “Medea,” first tried hot-gluing them on, but the glue ate away at the Styrofoam. They used duct tape, but “It looked like someone went crazy with with a hammer,” Conrads said.

The two finally came up with the method they are using now: sticking wires into the Styrofoam, then gluing the wires onto the helmet.

From boots to bloomers to breastplates, Vanatta, Conrads, and their advisor Janet Whitehead outfit the entire cast in costumes they design, stitch, and embellish.

The two struggled with how best to attach the Styrofoam to the helmet for several days. But now, with two weeks until the play, they are concerned because the helmets aren’t done yet.

Medea and the Choragos’ gowns lie among thimbles and

seam-rippers, needing alterations. Vanatta and Conrads have been working since early September at after-school workdays.

To ease the heavy workload, they look for ways to recycle costumes from previous shows. In “Medea,” the handmaidens’ costumes come from last year’s “Epic Proportions.” They also rent costumes they can’t make, like armor which was lent freely by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

New or reused, the challenge of each costume is that it must match the play’s time period.

For inspiration, Vanatta and Conrads use books and the internet to research Greek clothes. They take ideas, but are limited in how authentic they can be because in ancient Greece, clothes were white due to the heat, and it wouldn’t be as interesting if the actors wore white on stage. As it is, Medea’s gown is the only costume that is all white.

Back in the costumes loft, Conrads tries a headpiece on a chorus member to make sure it fits. Vanatta is still busy with the helmets. “There’s a lot of work,” she said. “But to see it on stage and think, ‘I did that.’ Is really neat.”

lights director

by bryan dy

Senior Andrea Strange sits in the booth, 100 feet from whe will be preformed, waiting for cues and lighting the stage— illuminating details that are hardly noticeable to the audienc Strange has been a part of theater since her freshman she performed in “Our Town.” When the next production wa musical, Strange wanted to stay in drama, but this time as a tech crew.

“I wanted to stay in theater during the musical, but, bec sing, I decided to join [tech theater].”

The lights crew will put in over 150 hours, working after on weekends, all for monologues they will never recite, numbers they will never sing, for a final bow they will never Strange works for hours after school replacing the ho fixing the fog machine, and picking the colors—the reds and and the blues—that will shine down and add texture to the ac move on and off the stage. Each cue must be perfect. With of the stage director cueing Strange over the headset, her across the light board bathing the stage in a color appropr

INTRODUCING.

Has working with little kids been differ there been?

It’s hard. I have one long speech before I looking up at me, and they’re dressed so me feel awful. Even though it’s a play, it g head and it’s terrifying.

Tell me a little about the kids.

They are absolutely darling – Ryan, Ale They work really hard and are really exc show. It’s kind of creepy that I have to

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / spread / page 9

side HER e

rtain

ors are all we see, many rd to finish East’s fall play:

Medea.

ykman

ere “Medea” —often times ce. year, when as the school a member of

cause I can’t

r school and for musical r take. ouse lights, d the greens ctors as they hin seconds fingers run riate for the

mood of the scene. For Medea, Strange and her crew have decided to feature predominantly shades of red—fitting for the bloody conclusion of the tragedy. Throughout the play, different colors will be mixed, bringing out details that were not emphasized before.

For the past two years, East has won first place in the Blue Star Awards, a national high school drama award, for lighting. Strange would like to win the award again, but more than anything she puts in all the hours because she wants to be remembered as part of the production.

“There is always a crew-chief that comes before you that teaches you everything you need to know,” Strange said. “I want to accomplish a lot this year so people will say ‘Andrea Strange was so cool.’ I just want stories told about me.”

Whether it is winning awards or trying to establish a reputation, the lights crew understands the importance of hard work. They put in all the hours, search through thousands of gels so they can find the appropriate color and replace bulbs, some hanging a hundred feet from the floor, all for the finer points of the play, the ones that according to Strange, “make a good play better.”

...ellen haun

Playing Around: Junior Abbey Bavley learns her part at play practice. Each member of the chorus plays a different personality trait of Medea. Bavley is motherhood. Some other parts include passion, fertility, love, and justice. photo by linda howard

as Medea

rent? What challenges have

I go and kill the kids. They’re o cute. [Killing them] makes gets to your

ex and Sophie. cited about the kill them. photo by samantha ludington

student director

by annie fuhrman

For a veteran of eight main-stage plays, it was hard to not want to be on stage instead of watching the performers from the audience.

“It was really hard to not wish I were performing,” student director, senior Jonathan Lerner said. “Especially when it got really good, it was hard. But the good things outweigh that, I wouldn’t realize what I have realized if I had been [on stage].”

Trading his typical place on stage for one behind the scenes, Lerner made the decision to try out for student director of the fall play Medea instead of leading man. For the past six weeks, he has been working with actors on blocking, delivery of lines and expression. As well as taking time to work with the members of the cast, Lerner has been working

to experience a different side of the theater.

“It was funny at the first read-through, after the cast list was posted,” Lerner said. “Seeing all the stage things from another view. I had to focus on what everyone was doing.

Now I have to help give cues or lines and watch expressions.

As an actor, I would focus on my part, but as the director I focus on everyone.”

His work as the director has not only helped him appreciate the art of performing, but also solidified his dream career of being a musical director. Working with the cast has given him an important experience for his future work.

“Because I’m the student director of [this production] it’s like, ‘Wow, they really have to do this.’” Lerner said. “This is real, it is going to be on stage and it has given me good experience, not just with theater but everything.”

page 10 / features / the harbinger

Skipping Ahead by michelle sprehe

The night before her first day of school, Xuan Qin carefully picked out her clothes and put all her folders and supplies into her backpack. Like any other middle-schoolbound-12-year-old, she was a little apprehensive about going to a new school with people she did not know. The only difference was that she wasn’t going to middle school.

She was going to high school.

Qin turned 13 at the beginning of her freshman year.

Most ninth graders will be turning 15.

Qin lived in Beijing until she was six and took only one semester of school there. Her family then moved to Springfield, MO so her dad could study at Southwestern Missouri University.

Qin attended Roundtree Elementary until, after third grade, her parents decided she needed more of an academic challenge.

“The subjects seemed too easy for her,” Xuan’s father, Junran Qin said. “Her mother and I talked about it and reviewed her test scores and decided it was a good idea for Xuan to skip fourth grade.”

Qin didn’t feel like she missed out on much when she skipped fourth grade. All she missed were the friends she left behind in third grade.

“That’s probably my biggest regret, leaving my old

13 year old freshman Xuan Qin deals with age separation in her classes

friends,” Qin said.

Midway through fifth grade, Qin switched schools to Crestview Elementary School. Then, her family moved to North Kansas City because there were better schools and her parents wanted her to attend Northgate Middle School for sixth through eighth grades.

At first, Qin felt out of place in fifth grade. It was hard for her to get acquainted and relate to her peers, though eventually, she made friends. But it’s still a little hard for her to relate to her classmates.

“My humor is different from theirs,” Qin said.

“Something they’ll think is funny, I won’t and something I find funny, they won’t.”

It isn’t too hard for Qin to adapt to high school life. Last year, she went to a high school to take geometry, so she knew what kind of behavior to expect from high school students.

“Last year, they were really impersonal,” Qin said. “I guess they didn’t have anything to say to me because I was younger and couldn’t relate to them. At East, people are more social and will talk to me more.”

Qin’s parents don’t want her to focus on the social aspect of school, they would rather her concentrate on her studies.

“By having Xuan work hard at a younger age, she can graduate early and save time and money,” Junran said.

Qin’s father believes that high school is to focus on preparing for college. Qin is making sure she does so by filling her schedule with all honors classes.

“My parents are worried that if I don’t do well in school, then I won’t go to a good college or get a good job and be successful,” Qin said.

Despite Qin’s young age, she has A’s and B’s in all her classes and hopes to continue to do so through college.

“She’s doing great,” ninth grade honors English teacher, Debe Bramley said. “Her abilities and maturity are right on.

I never would have known she was so young.”

As of right now, Qin’s dream is to go to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and become an ecologist.

“Ecologists study the relationship between organisms and their environments,” Qin said. “I want to help more people understand how things live and how to keep the environment healthy.”

One advantage of graduating so young is that Qin can take time off after high school to see what she wants to do and where she wants to live.

“If I take time off, when I go back to school, I’ll be the same age as the other freshmen,” Qin said. “But the age difference doesn’t bother me too much. I’m proud to be able to graduate at such a young age. If you think about it, I’ll be the same age as a sophomore when I graduate, but that’s okay with me.”

mixed

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / mixed / page 11

HALLOWEENEDITION

hauntings at East The Auditorium

Strange things have been going on in here for years. Theatre instructor Brian Capello saw a ghost for the first time when he was a student.

Since then, numerous students have seen odd things, such as an old woman sitting in the balcony and heard creepy sounds, like creaks.

In addition, if anyone says “Macbeth” while in the theater bad things will happen. When students said it last year during Brigadoon rehearsals, actors lost their voices and dancers

other hauntings...

seconds with...

Kate O’Neill

HOW DO YOU EAT CANDY CORN? Really, really, really fast.

Actually, I eat it one color at a time. I’m obsessivecompulsive.

The Archives: Ghosts are said to be haunting here.

WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUME? I was a smiley face one year. That was pretty lame.

The Pool Window: It is rumored that if one looks in this window, they will see a face looking back at them.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR PUMPKIN? We carve them … it’s exciting. I did one at Girl Scouts this year; it has penguins on it.

in seas n

need a costume?

what’s hot what’s cool

if you’re in a crunch, here are some quick and easy ideas to get you started…

yesterday

CANDY! Free candy! Halloween used to be up there with Christmahanukwanzakah. What made it so great? Dragging parents around dark neighborhoods, shivering in thin costumes or sweating in a zillion other layers? No, of course not. CANDY! Free candy! It didn’t hurt that in the three weeks leading up to Halloween all that happened was paper pumpkin making, field trips to pick pumpkins, paper ghost making, bingo with candy corn and paper witch making. That was all good and dandy, but it couldn’t compare with the FREE candy!

today

30

OK, so who says we can’t go trick-or-treating anymore?

“Society”? Psha. I don’t know about you, but that free candy is still looking pretty good. Then again, remember LAST year? Scaring those little kids who were walking in their Barney costumes with their parents and being taller than the people actually giving you the candy … yeah. You know what might work better? Raiding the cabinets for the candy that your parents bought to give out. Fair is fair.

tomorrow

I can just see it … 30, 40, 50 years from now.

All the cute little kids in their cute little costumes ringing the doorbell with their cute little plastic pumpkins. Wait … what are they saying? “Trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to eat, if you don’t, I don’t care, I’ll pull down your underwear!” OK, see, these kids are NOT cute; they are downright obnoxious. If I were a mean old lady, I would go back to my rocker and not give them candy. Instead, I’ll probably give them some, but be bitter as I wish gingivitis and cavities on them.

Deviled Egg: Wear all white. Put a yellow circle on your stomach. Wear devil horns and carry a pitchfork.

Chia Pet: Wrap yourself in duct tape so the sticky part is facing out, then roll around on the lawn.

Floor of a Movie Theater: Wear all black. Apply candy wrappers, chewed gum and lots of popcorn. courtesty of www.costumeideazone.com

art by Sara McElhaney

page 12 / a&e / the harbinger

The downfall of ‘Doom’

Game lacks content for silver screen

by cay fogel

This is a movie that could easily have been filmed inside one room: a laser tag field.

Our heroes are a group of futuristic Marines led by Sarge (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and including Karl Urban. They are awaiting their leave, but get called into a last minute mission to investigate the laboratory and dig site on Mars.

This group of guys is obviously the product of taking a computer game with no plot and no characters and making it into a movie that needs a plot and characters. They are an array of caricatures, useless as far as empathy goes and totally empty of anything but the most superficial traits. Before we even meet the monster we’ll be battling, I’ve singled out the guys who will get eaten first and why. This unfailing predictability makes the film hard to enjoy.

But, surprisingly, I do find myself caught up Saving the Day: Sarge eliminates his enemies with ease. in it after maybe twenty minutes of watching. It lining does not make a decent movie. I wanted to know the is pure conflict, unfettered by mystery, character, or even end; I didn’t necessarily want to watch the end. romance.

You’re totally Possibly the film’s biggest turn-off was the weird, misfit focused on the result of violence and gore. Of course, a certain amount of gore is the action, nothing slows, to be expected, but this is a movie based off of a computer nothing distracts. game.

There is one neat There is no point in showing severed arms flopping moment near the end when around, a guy being shot in the neck and then trying to hold the film gets back to its roots his throat together with his hands, and a dead woman lying in a most honest way: it goes on the ground with one of her breasts exposed. Where into first-person mode. The these images might be strong in a movie like “Saving audience looks through the Private Ryan,” in “Doom” they are completely out of place. eyes of Karl Urban, watching If it’s going to be a fun, kill-the-evil-mutants movie, fine. I his gun bobbing out in front want to see some green blood, I want some “Men in Black” of him and demolishing type visuals. The genre suggests it’s a movie to take your mutant after mutant that eleven-year-old son to, and it does not follow through.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: and his crew about to lay waste to a field full pop into his path.

Grade: C But this meager silver

photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

If you’ve ever played laser tag, you’ve seen at least ninety percent of the “Doom” set. If you’ve ever read a horror comic, you’ve been acquainted with about ninety percent of the “Doom” characters. If you’ve ever read Animorphs, you’re up to speed on about ninety percent of “Doom” scientific theory. If you’ve ever watched a good movie, it wasn’t “Doom”.

In the first minute of the film, set on Mars, the audience is bombarded with scenes that lack subtlety, taste, and purpose. Before the opening credits run, you’ve watched six people get killed by an off-camera beast, and the sequence ends with a woman’s arm being severed by sliding doors, and then flopping around weakly on the floor. The point of this scene still eludes me, except to make the movie as stupidly grotesque as possible as quickly as possible.

I was glad to leave the opening sequence--with it’s dark, metallic hallways and purple-red lighting that could only be accurate if Mars is actually the stage of a Nine Inch Nails concert--only to find that indeed, every locale in “Doom” has metallic hallways and tweaked-out disco-ball lighting.

of mutants. photo courtesty of Universal Pictures

iPod (r)evolution by joey soptic About every couple of months or so, Apple does something that excites half of the world and disappoints the other half.

They upgrade their iPods. This is exciting for those who planned on buying an iPod in the near future, but at the same time, disappointing for those who just tossed out $300 to $400 for what they thought was going to be the best for a while. The newest of these models includes video playback, longer battery life and other various small upgrades to improve the portability and ease of use with its iPods.

One such upgrade, podcasts, or basically radio broadcasts sent to the iPod, was added to itunes a couple of months ago, adding to the array of things it can be used for. ESPN, ABC, and news stations are all included as podcasts. At the click of a button, new radio programs can be put on the iPod, and the latest episodes can be automatically downloaded whenever the iPod is connected to the computer. Then the programs can be taken wherever the owner goes. The programs available come in endless categories. Arts, entertainment, sports, and politics are all included. The programs are no XM radio, but these online audio recordings can be a nice thing to have for those of us who prefer to constantly have something new to listen to.

Also updated with the new iPod is its ability to play videos on its upgraded software. Whether it be watching the newest music video, or watching an overly dramatic reality show, users can enhance their experience by paying the

price of two songs and getting a video on their iPod. Also, the body of the iPod was, again, made thinner.

Even though the hard drive space is expanded with each new release, the size of the actual iPod is getting thinner.

Another boost in performance is that its battery life is supposed to be increased by 50 percent, a big difference from when Apple was receiving all of the complaints against their batteries that died within a short amount of time.

The video capability lets you watch your music and take TV shows on the road with you. The new Pod will be available with a 30 gig hard drive for $299 and a 60 gig for $399. So anyone who has yet to dive into the world of iPods can do so at the same price, and get much more than before.

Also, to the disappointment of many of their consumers, the iTrip and other remotes and devices that plug into the iPod won’t work on the new iPod. Until new remotes are made, the new generation of pods wont be able to be put in vehicles. Maybe with the next generation, they will release more colors, because right now they are still only available in white, white, and white.

The new iPod will bring about a boost in sales for Apple once again. Millions will be sold and just as people own it, long enough to not be able to swap it out, the next generation will come rolling out. The circle of joy and disappointment will be complete, and commence once again with the new edition.

iPod through the ages!

The original: iPod released 2001

v3: iPod 3rd generation released 2003

The mini: iPod mini released 2004

Video: iPod Video released 2005

issue 5 / october 31, 2005 / sports / page 13

BREAKING

into a new sport

Bowling gains enough interest to officially becomes a school sport

by jayne shelton

and Athletics, “at Olathe North last year, over 200 kids tried Neon colored balls line the walls and the bright triangle out, and that was pretty indicative of all the schools.” designs cover the grey carpet of the College Lanes bowling There will be a separate varsity and junior varsity for alley. Every other Thursday, it is taken over by East boys and girls, and tryouts for them. The season starts students. It is the practice space for the bowling club. At on January 1 and the state competition is in the first week the school board meeting on Oct. 12, the board followed the of March. Some teachers have expressed a desire to be Kansas State High School Activities Association and made considered for the job. bowling an official varsity sport.

“I think someone who really enjoys bowling, not just Sophomore Zach Zwibelman has been working on the someone who is good at bowling would be good for the club since his freshman year, so when the topic came up job,” Zwibelman said. he tried to convince the board. He put together a list of 55 The current bowling club sponsor, Karen Pearson, signatures to give to them trying to make bowling a sport. thinks she wouldn’t be ideal for the job because of her skill Since he is the coordinator of the club and communicates level. with everyone and sets everything up, it made his job easier “Oh heavens, I would [coach] if I could, but I’m not for bowling to be supported by the school. talented,” Pearson said, “It is what I think is so funny…some “It [will be] easier for me, the school will [begin to] of the kids are coaching me.” provide transportation,” Zwibelman said, “[right] now we Zwibelman thinks the competition in bowling will be have to find out people who can drive like cross-country. and they give rides to everyone else.”

“There are the competitive School provided transportation people that go ‘win, win, win!’ is just one of the things that the and the people who are ‘this is club will get. Like any other sport, just fun,’” Zwibelman said. there will be jerseys and the team Athletic Director Lane will have practice time. Since the Green said he had not seen any • There is a varsity and junior school doesn’t have a bowling alley, competitive high school bowling area alleys such as Mission Bowl varsity boys and girls team. live, but had seen it on a video • Each team will consist of six and AMF West Lanes on Metcalf, are before. donating free lane time, shoe rental players.

“I saw the video of the state and bowling balls. Because all the competition in Nebraska. There • Try-outs will be held before the necessary things are being donated were tons of people, there was season starts in January. to the team, the remaining expenses a great atmosphere, it was •The team doesn’t participate in a exciting,” Green said. are small enough that money won’t be specific season; their season lasts taken from any other areas.

Most of the national surveys At the school board meeting, the from January to March. that have been conducted have free lane time offered by the bowling shown that between 85 and 90 • The players on the team must alleys was presented to the board percent of the kids who were with the findings of a word of mouth follow the same rules as any on the teams were not involved athlete, such as the drug/ alcohol survey. with other activities. Freshman “There was tremendous interest,” policy and academic rules.

Joseph Marx is one of those said Rusty Newman, the Shawnee students who doesn’t participate Mission Director of Student Services in other school activities.

Details about the Bowling Team

Taking Aim: Chris Hause goes for a strike at a recent practice at College Lanes. photo by kelsey stabenow “Now, I can officially say I am a jock,” Marx said, “and get ridiculed by my friends.”

Looking for a new pair of fall frames?

At Mid America Eye Center, we’re now offering 25% off glasses and sunglasses including these brands:

Guess DKNY BCBG Nike

Have a Fun and Safe

Gucci Halloween!

Prada Prodesign Maui Jim Don’t Bring in this coupon to Mid America Eye Center and receive your discount! forget to dress up!

3830 West 75th Street Prairie Village, KS 913-384-1441 www.midamericaeye.com

page 14 / sports / the harbinger

Love: not just a score anymore

David Span’s passion for tennis reaches beyond a hobby; for him it’s a lifestyle and future profession by derek martin The scratching of shoes against the court mixed with the pop of the ball hitting the ground mark the sound of junior David Span on the tennis court. With each swing of his racket he lets out a grunt: the sound of determination.

Span is determined to play professional tennis one day.

So determined that he moved all the way from Westchester, NY, to Leawood, KS in order to pursue that dream; giving up his friends, family, and life in New York.

Sacrifices aren’t anything new to Span, whose friends call him Skip. Since he started getting serious about tennis at age nine, he’s played almost every day. He would get up at 5 a.m. to hit balls before school. He would skip lunch so he could leave early and practice after school until 6 or 7p.m.

Almost every aspect of his life is affected by his desire to excel at his sport.

Recently he made another sacrifice to get to the next level: he has moved half-way across the country to attend The Mike Wolf Tennis Academy in Overland Park.

“The academy has a ton of nationally ranked players who I practice with every day,” Span said. This list includes fellow East tennis phenomenon Kristen Bleakly. Their work at the academy includes practicing mechanics, honing the fundamentals of the game and doing physical training like running and calisthenics. They have private lessons and practice matches against their fellow academy attendees.

The program is designed to help them with every facet of their game.

Each day Span goes to the academy after fifth hour, and he usually trains until around 6 p.m., and sometimes even later. As Span puts it, “I live, eat and sleep tennis.”

This urge to compete was fostered at a young age by his father David Span Sr.: a tennis pro in Westchester.

“I started teaching David tennis when he was about eight and he took to it really fast,” Mr. Span said.

Tennis was the third sport David had tried after soccer and lacrosse; tennis was the sport that stuck.

David soon moved from these matches in the park against his dad to tournaments with other kids from Westchester. He also began playing in Eastern regional tournaments against other players from New York, Southern New Jersey and parts of Connecticut. He quickly climbed the ranks of the region and eventually became the number one player in the twelve-and under and the fourteen-and under divisions.

Exhibiting a great amount of skill, he soon moved up the tennis ladder and started competing on the national level. In his first tournament (he competed in the ten-and under division) he got to the quarter finals before being eliminated. As he put it, this was Taking a swing: Junior David Span takes a serve quite an accomplishment for someone in their first during a practice at The Mike Wolf Tennis Academy. national event. photo by Samantha Ludington “At first, the guys on the national level were much about the tennis academy and its national prominence, better than me and it was frustrating,” Span said. “But as I played more national matches, I began to come up to Span and his mom came to visit the academy and tour Kansas City. But according to Span, the decision to attend and sometimes surpass them.”

As he kept playing though, his desire to win became the academy was made before he even visited.

Throughout his journey in the tennis world, Span has stronger and his ranking soared to new heights.

“I got as high as twenty-ninth in the nation in the twelve- always remained focused on that one goal, going pro. Now that he’s here in Kansas City, it may finally be transforming and under division,” Span said.

The time he was devoting to tennis and his desire to from a goal into a reality.

According to his tennis coach David McDermed, this is a compete at the top level of his sport brought him to Kansas definite possibility.

City.

“Skip has made the decision that this is something he “I first met some of the coaches at The Mike Wolf Tennis wants to do,” McDermed said, “[a decision that] can take him Academy at a national tournament in Florida,” Span said.

After talking with them, and going on his prior knowledge as far as he wants.”

Come see

Medea

November 3, 4, 5

In the East Auditorium at 7p.m.

College Counseling Associates

___________________________________________________ DAVID WOLFF College and Teen Counseling S.M.E. Faculty Member 1969-2000 Honors History Instructor/College Counselour Also specializes in selective College Admissions and Social Studies tutoring

816-835-2051

First&Ten by clark goble

The Chiefs banners, the red sweatshirts and the foam arrowheads will be put away soon after the Chiefs’ season ends. Fans will want to keep that football enthusiasm, for Kansas City is to be the home of a new football franchise.

The game is Arena Football, the fast-growing football variation with 20 teams across the United States. A Kansas City team will become a full member of the league during the 2006 season and will play home games at Kemper Arena.

Even though a team nickname, colors and a final roster are to be decided this week, football fans at East are getting excited for additional six months of tackling, scrambling and juking.

“Since we don’t have an NBA or NHL team, having an Arena team will give us a Kansas City pro team to watch in the spring,” sophomore Chuck Duval said. “It’ll be cool to see an Arena game in person and follow a new batch of football players.”

Front row tickets to see the team will set a fan back $110, but the cheapest tickets sell for $9. The team does not plan to stay in Kemper Arena for an extended period of time due to the building of the new downtown arena, the Sprint Center. “(Arena Football) is the perfect complement to the entertainment district,” Blake Cordish, an official of the KC ARENA project, said. “When people go to see events, they naturally want to make more of an experience out of it both before and after.”

As an expansion franchise, the team’s roster will not be full of Arena superstars, but the core of the team will consist of former New Orleans VooDoo Arena players. The VooDoo’s season was lost due to Hurricane Katrina. Their 9-7 record, quarterback Andy Kelly’s 96 passing touchdowns last year and the sixth-ranked offense, with 113 touchdowns in 16 games, all bode well for the Kansas City team.

The team, which is yet to be named, will be coached by former Kansas City Chief Kevin Porter. Last season, as the VooDoo’s defensive coordinator he led them into the sixth best defense in the league.

Most of the players, such as Kelly, on Arena teams aren’t

issue 5 / october 31 2005 / sports / page 15

After Katrina destroyed their team, the AFL New Orleans VooDoo are looking to destroy teams in their new home in Kansas City

making millions of dollars, sponsored by Nike or watching themselves on SportsCenter. They are working two jobs and making anywhere from $1500 to $7000 a week.

Drawing teacher Jason Filbeck played in the MidAmerican Football League, an outdoor football league held in the summer, and decided to attend the open tryout on Oct. 23 in Blue Springs for the Kansas City Arena team. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it, but he still plans to watch and cheer for the team.

“I think it’ll be great for Kansas City, because we love football,” Filbeck said. “It’s a quick, high-scoring game.”

Filbeck isn’t the only Arena Football tie to East.

Junior Foster Tidwell’s cousin, Mark Owen, is an offensive and defensive lineman for the New York Dragons. Owen also attended the University of Kansas, one of two players on the Dragons roster to have done so.

Although Arena rules are much different from college rules, most players in the league played college football. There aren’t many 74-69 scores in college football, however.

The Arena rules promote high-scoring games by shortening the field to 50 yards and only allowing eight players per team on the field. Also, besides the quarterback, kicker, and three specialists, players play both offense and defense. And for the Maddenfootball fans, “punt” is not in the Arena Football vocabulary and not allowed at any time.

“I can’t wait for those weak punters to not be a part of the game anymore,” freshman Winn Clark said.

“The shortening of the field makes for a more intense Drawing up the plans: Head Coach Kevin Porter (left) works with assistant Robert Smith on the scheme for this season. game.” photo by emily rappold The fields, while shorter, also have a distinct difference from those in the NFL. Two tightly strung if the ball never hit the net. mesh nets hang behind the endzones and are in play at all Rules like these keep the league what it desires to be: times. For example, if a long pass is a little too long, the ball a little different, a little crazy and a lot of fun to watch. can bounce off the net, into the receiver’s hands and count as

The Fall Recap As the fall season winds down, here are the teams that defined it.

Boys Soccer

After finishing 11-5-1 and third in the Sunflower League, the results of the soccer team were a near clone of last season, other then the way the season ended. Last season the Lancers lost 3-0 to Aquinas, last Thursday’s game against BV North, third in the 6A, determined the future of this season’s team. Senior Garrett Webb, who will be taking his skills to the next level, led the team in goals scored.

Team of the Fall- Girls Golf

Football

At 5-3, the Lancer football team is having one of its best seasons in the last decade. The Lancers are also a drive or two from a near perfect season (SM West and Olathe East losses). Also, they beat SM North and conquered the Nut Cup for the first time in the last decade.

The senior led team will take on either Olathe South/East this Thursday or Friday.

Girls Volleyball

senior brian humphrey

The scene was set identically as it was last year. A sub-state final game against BV North, however this time the result was different. Though the Lancers lost in the substate finals, they didn’t necessarily lose everything as they return their whole team next season. Junior Taylor Heinlein led the team this season to a 29-10 record.

After winning the Sunflower League for the first time since 1996, the girls golf team had one of their best seasons under Coach Ritschl. Sophomore Katherine (above) Ward fired a season low 78 at League to help the team advance to state. She led the team as the top golfer all season with an average of 90 on 18 holes. Though, they didn’t have any medalists, or place as a team, it was the first time they had reached the state

Girls Tennis Kristin Bleakley, possibly one of the best tennis players to ever play at East, finished out her reign with something new, a doubles title. Bleakley won in every way possible (a team title, a singles title and a doubles title ). Bleakley and junior Laine Mackey took the doubles crown and sophomore Emily Whitney took ninth in the singles. photos by katie james and megan koch

page 16 /photo essay / the harbinger Big Save: Senior Isaac Kostrow saves a shot on the goal during the first half of the Olathe Northwest game on senior night. Throughout the night, Olathe Northwest only managed to score one goal, losing to East 2-1. photo by Linda Howard Goal: Senior Garrett Webb runs to get open for a pass during the game against Shawnee Mission South. East and South went head to head for all 80 minutes of the game until junior Andrew Block scored the winning goal in overtime. photo by Kelsey Stabenow

Hail to the Seniors Seniors impact the soccer season with many memorable moments and unforgetable wins

Family Love: Seniors Patrick Kohnle, Brian Humphrey, Michael Woodsmall and Tim Curtis all hug their parents during the senior night halftime ceremony and hand them flowers. All the

Defense: Senior Austin Tschudy jumps up to head the ball against a forward from St. Thomas Aquinas. East played Aquinas tough for the first 20 minutes until Aquinas scored three unanswered goals. The Lancers lost 4-1. East fought through the whole game and showed their strength through tough defense and several shots on goal. photo by linda howard

seniors were presented in front of the fans, where they announcecd their plans for the future and thanked their parents for everything. The soccer team went on to win their game against Olathe Northwest. photos by Linda Howard