Issue 8

the

Issue 8 12.13.04

harbinger

a publication of Shawnee Mission East • 7500 Mission Road • Prairie

right the

Village, KS • 66208

to Libby Nelson

Trying to start a tradition, seniors clash with sportsmanship rules

F

or the past three years, senior Adam Miller has been a devoted basketball fan. He’s followed the senior traditions, like last year’s dressing up in costumes, to show their support. But this year, he and his friends decided watching and cheering just weren’t enough. They’re seniors now, and for their last basketball season, they want to start a tradition of their own.

So Miller, along with brother Scott Miller and their friends Jordan Steadman, Tom Darnall, Blake Goodman, Charles German, Tyler Harrleson and Taylor Lampton, wrote a petition. Their cause: repealing the rule that prevents boys from removing their shirts during basketball games.

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Painting

their way

Continued from page 1

The rule, which is made by the district, says that students must be “appropriately clothed” at all times, prohibiting body painting. According to district athletic director Rusty Newman, it was intended to prevent students from painting messages on their chests that could be offensive to the other team, as well as addressing the health risks of going shirtless in the winter.

The group, however, believes that blue-painted chests are an appropriate way to show support for East. If their campaign is successful, they will be at the first home game on Dec. 17 when the team plays Olathe East—and they will be covered in Lancer blue.

“There’s always a tradition for senior fans to do [to show support],” Miller said. “Last year it was costumes. This year we want it to be painting our chests.”

Senior Charles German said he didn’t want to follow last year’s traditions.

“We really didn’t like the whole costume idea,” he said.

“We’ve painted our chests in years past and I don’t think there’s been any problem with it… We think it’s fun, that it’s not distracting or offensive.”

But as they try to start this tradition, Miller and his friends come up against a district rule preventing spectators from removing their shirts. It’s a rule they’re familiar with: they were stopped once last year after trying to take their shirts off at a game. They were then told that they were in conflict with a district sportsmanship rule requiring that all spectators wear shirts at all times.

As juniors, Miller said, the boys “didn’t want to push it.”

But they decided to try to change the rules for their senior year and their final basketball season at East. Aided by the Millers’ father, an attorney, they wrote a petition requesting that the school change the rule and allow spectators to remove their shirts in order to paint their chests and show support for the team.

The petition, which took only about a day to write, began circulating two and a half weeks ago. By passing it around in their classes, they gained about 825 signatures from students from all classes. They took it to the East-South game on Dec.

news

Wednesday

Miss Chase’s Teacher Makeover Morning Chase, the winner of the DECA teacher makeover project, received her makeover on Dec. 5.

Over 2,300 students voted and Chase received 644 of them.

Before

Hour 1: 7:40 - 9:10 Passing: 9:10 - 9:20 Hour 2: 9:20 - 10:50 Lunch: 10:50 - 11:40 Hour 3: 11:40 - 1:10

Thursday and Friday Hours 4&6: 9:20-10:50 Lunch: 10:50-11:40 Hours 5&7: 11:40-1:10

Seniors urge petition to change school policy at basketball games

guidelines all schools must follow, but they leave specifics up to the individual districts and leagues to decide. They emphasize the principles of sportsmanship rather than exact rules that spectators and players must follow.

“Our rules are pretty general: all actions are to be for [the school], not against [opponents]; positive, not negative or disrespectful,” Victor Sisk, assistant director of KSHSAA, said. “We expect everyone to be courteous, but we expect schools to exercise self-control in matters like whether students are allowed to remove their shirts and paint on their chests... Eastern Kansas is different from western Kansas.

Some schools consider that disrespectful or offensive. It depends on the school and the district.”

Newman said that the rules, while eventually routed through his office, were decided on by individual building principals.

“The rule in question is not an official rule,” he said.

“Sunflower League principals and athletic directors decided that shirts would have to be worn at all times, at least at inside events. Shawnee Mission individual building principals decided that they wanted it to apply to all events.”

Though the group has gathered about 825 signatures from the East area, they’re not sure that just support from within East will put enough pressure on the district to change. Since the rule applies across the district, they may need help from other Shawnee Mission schools as well.

According to Newman, change will have to come from each principal and athletic director at all five high schools. The group hasn’t begun, however, to pass the petition around anywhere else.

FULLY painted, seniors Blake Goodman, Tom Darnall, Charles According to German, however, they have talked to German, Tyler Harrelson and Adam Miller promote the petition at athletic director Lane Green, who agreed to help get the the Dec. 3 basketball game. photo by Molly Magoon petition through to the district once it was finished. For now, its future is uncertain: the group wants to get even 2, where they gained parents’ signatures as well as those of more signatures before they show it to the district, as well as the basketball team and coaches.

According to German, no one has outright refused to sign possibly talking to students from other schools.

“We’re not sure when we’re going to [show it to the the petition, although a few passed it along, unsure that they district],” German said. “We just hope they see that this is wanted to participate. important to us and a lot of people support it, and that they’ll The Kansas High School Athletics Association, which agree to change.” regulates competitions between Kansas high schools, gives

BRIEFS

Final Exam Schedule

the harbinger

After photos courtesy of Kelly Dvorak

Chase was first taken to Dillard’s by project organizers, Kelly Dvorak, Jaclyn Frankenberg and Courtney Condron, to pick out a new outfit, donated by Dillard’s.

After trying on several choices, the decision was made on a pink skirt, a brown suede jacket and brown suede shoes Next, Chase was taken to Mitsu Sato salon, who do-

Dec. 13, 2004

nated a haircut and makeup application. Chase’s hair was cut from shoulder-length to chin-length and auburn, honey and chestnut highlights darkened her natural color. She received light brown eyeliner, shimmer powder and pink gloss for her makeup.

Chase also received a free pedicure from Rose Nails and a gift basket complete with gift certificates from Goodcents, Chipotle, Cold Stone, Salty Iguana and Johnny’s Tavern. Additional photos can be viewed on the website at www.smeteacher makeover.com

Grandmother dies as oldest in America She thought God forgot about her. At age 114, Emma Verona Johnson was the oldest living person in America. Leaving her family, She passed away on Wednesday Dec. 1, 2004.

Her great-grandchildren, freshman Taylor Gudgel and junior Ben Gudgel, were inspired by her long life.

“She lived so long and she was really smart,” Taylor said.

Johnson, an avid fan of crossword puzzles, led a normal life, following a daily routine- but there were a few exceptions.

Johnson appeared on “The Conan O’Bryan show”, CNN, and “The Today Show”, as well as “Time” magazine.

But to the Gudgel Siblings, she was just a normal great-grandmother. She always corrected their grammar and was constantly telling a story.

news

Melting away a snowy hazard

Frances Lafferty Her sophomore year at East, graduate Hayden Huggins was driving with her friends on their way to school going downhill on 77th street when her car hit a patch of ice causing her to skid.

“I ended up in someone’s yard, and hit their car,” she said. They had to wait for one of her friend’s dad to come and pick them up and take them to school. Luckily no one was hurt and there wasn’t much damage, except for her headlight.

“I gave part of my headlight as a hall pass to my teacher to let me into class,” Huggins said.

Over 44,000 drivers are injured severely in that type of situation every year. Most of the time it’s from underestimating winter driving conditions.

“Traffic conditions change from mile to mile,” Twin City driving instructor Jack West said. He said the safest way to drive in winter weather conditions is to just go slower with slower stops, acceleration, and steering.

Incidents like Huggins’ are why the district allows for snow day: to prevent such accidents.

While the district is in charge of plowing the parking lot at East, the Public Works department is in charge of clearing

the roads so students and teachers can get to school.

According to Director of Public Works Bob Pryzby, the streets are divided into three main categories: A routes, B routes, and Residentials.

The A routes, like Mission Road or 75th Street, are busy streets and snow plowed first because they are used not just by people who live in Prairie Village, and average over ten thousand cars a day.

The B routes are the next step be low A routes like 67th Street or Cherokee that average between 3500 to ten thousand cars per day. Finally the residential area, which is plowed last.

Whether the residential area has been plowed, the district decides if there will be a snow day and no school.

If snow is coming down and the roads are still a mess, then A and B routes will take priority. Since students use residential roads which are not plowed, school then has to be canceled.

Even though the city’s plows work hard to keep the roads clear, there is always the chance that a car will skid.

For that, drivers must be prepared.

“Don’t panic,” West said is the most important thing to

‘The penguin has landed’ Debate teams competed nationally last weekend Patrick Haverty

This past Friday and Saturday, Dec. 10 and 11, 40 debate teams from 12 schools and 300 judges filled the classrooms of East, for the East Kansas National Forensics League District Tournament, a tournament that East has gotten to host twice in the last four years.

Three years ago East qualified the teams of Andrew Ardinger and Eric Suni as well as Brian Nye and Scott Stinson to the NFL tournament. Two years ago the team of Libby Brickson and Andrew Wagner qualified.

The teams debated whether or not the United States federal government should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Each debate team, consisting of two people, went to separate classrooms at East, to compete in an hour and a half long debate round against an opposing team with only a judge in the room to watch.

First, each debater from both teams made an eight-minute constructive argument to build their position.

Following each speech, the opponent cross-examined the speaker for three minutes. Each debater had the opportunity to cross-examine one

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Student drivers prepare for the new winter season

opponent. After the speeches and cross-examinations, each speaker made a five-minute rebuttal.

When the debaters were done, it was then up to the judge or judges to declare the winning team. Generally, since the same judge is not present for every debate, debaters must switch their styles as their judges switch, a tactic known in the debate world as judge adaptation.

“One of the key things you have to do when debating is to get a feel of what type of debate each judge likes, and adjust to it,” sophomore Michael Owens said.

The tournament was double elimination and continued until only three teams remained. These three teams qualified to go to the national tournament in Philadelphia this summer from June 12 to 17, where they will debate the policy with people across the nation who won their respective districts.

“It would be great to go to Philadelphia,” junior debator Brian Rubaie said. “I have been to nationals in some other events, but not this one.”

The East teams that competed in last weekend’s tournament were seniors Daniel Belz and Doug Brake, juniors Brian Rubaie, Sean Stenger, Lanie Mohn and Steve Hennelly, and

sophomores Michael Owens and Matt Summers.

All of the East teams have been debating the same topic all year, with most of them competing in four to five tournaments prior to last weekend’s.

They have all found immense success in ll of their tournaments, placing in almost all of them and winning a few.

“The tournaments prior to district really help my partner and me,” Rubaie said. “The really help you get a feel of what most judges like on this topic.”

Before, after, and during school, whenever you enter the debate room there is a good chance that you will see many debaters working hard at adding to their massive stacks of research, highlighting facts, perfecting speeches and doing practice rounds in front of assistant coaches in an effort to improve their performance.

“During class and on their own time, debate students are constantly researching their topic, and updating their facts for their cases,” Debate teacher and coach Paulette Manville said. “It is important to gather as much information as possible to support your argument.”

All of the teams, as well as the teams that aren’t competing, hoped that East could find success at the national qualifier.

Dec. 13, 2004

do. “Stay off your breaks and shift to neutral. Then steer in the direction of the skid.”

Only then should drivers lightly tap their breaks or they may have loss of control.

If a driver does slam on his breaks on ice, the steering becomes locked and the driver can’t turn at all, he said, even in four-wheel drive.

“People think they can drive like regular [in four wheel drive] but they can’t,” West said.

While having four wheel drive does not rule out the dangers of driving in winter weather, it does make the car easier to maneuver. Front wheel drive is also favored for driving in snow. There is less traction for cars with rear wheel drive, making it easier to skid on ice.

To help ensure car maintenance and safety, “take time inside your car to let the car warm up and the windows clear,” West said. In case of emergencies a driver should always have tire chains, either salt or sand, a small snow shovel, jumper cables, a warm blanket and a flashlight.

“Give yourself plenty of time,” West said. He said to just take the proper precautions and do listen to your parents to prevent winter weather accidents.

After 8 years with East, attendance secretary dies Libby Nelson

photo courtesy of SME library

issue 8

A

ttendance secretary Nancy Hilton passed away at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 9, after a fall at her home the evening before.

Hilton, one of the two attendance secretaries in the office, began working ATTENDANCE secretary at East in 1996 and worked Nancy Hilton in the up until the time of her “Caught Reading” death.

Her death was photograph taken this fall accidental and was for the library. caused by a fall down her basement stairs on Wednesday evening, according to pricinpal Angelo Cocolis.

Her death was announced to the school by Cocolis at the beginning of first hour Thursday.

“She was a good worker, revered by her colleages...

She will be missed,” Cocolis said.

She is survived by many family members, including her husband, two daughters, two grandchildren, two married sisters and her parents, many of whom live in the Kansas City area.

“No matter what student came to the window, [Hilton] was always smiling, always nice,” Pam Montgomery, who worked with her in the attendance office, said. “She never got an attitude.”

Funeral services took place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at Knox Presbyterian Church.

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A Time to Give

the harbinger

Students raise money and buy gifts for underprivileged children to open at Christmas

KIDS played with all the presents the instant they received them.

SEVERAL children received bicycles or tricycles last Tuesday along with several other gifts including leftovers for them to open at Christmas.

Davin Phillips

TAKING a break from all the action, this little boy sits down to play with his new Leap Frog learning Pad paid for by the donations from each third hour classroom that wanted to entertain a Franklin Center child.

Around school, the holiday season is something that most students look forward to.

For a majority of the students the holiday season is a time of joy and more importantly, presents. For some, though, the holiday season is not quite as cheery. This year those underprivileged kids came in, just like previous years, to enjoy the presents bought for them through donations.

The Spanish National Honor Society has made an effort to change the holidays for some less fortunate kids in the Kansas City metro area. For the past fifteen years students have organized parties for kids from the Franklin Center, a community center for children whose parents work or can’t take care of them during the day. This year Cristin Weekley, Jamie Bernard and Annie Booton were in charge of selecting 56 children to randomly assign to classes. Some classes made requests as to what age or sex their child was. The children generally range from as young as one to about 10 years old. Each classes is assigned one kid unless there are a couple of younger siblings who don’t want to leave each other.

“It’s so parents have presents to put under the tree on Christmas,” Weekly said.

When the children arrived they were taken to the library where they were greeted by Santa Clause. Santa had a giant red staff with bells on the top of it to ring in the holidays for the children. The kids were given the chance to talk to Santa, listen to him read them holiday stories and sing songs with him such as “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.” Santa then gave the children candy before they were sent off to the classrooms that they were assigned to.

The children were taken to different classrooms during third hour where students were awaiting their arrival. Each class that chooses to participate in the Franklin Center event is notified about what child they will have and what the kid wants for Christmas. The classes organized a party for their kid and their parents from the Franklin Center. The parents went along with their children to comfort them because many of the children are nervous about being in a strange place with older kids who are crowding around them to make sure they open all of their presents.

At the party the students have lots of food and games for the children as well as tons of presents for the kids to enjoy. Most of the time the kids rush to open their presents but some are less enthusiastic.

“Our kid was shy and he didn’t want to open presents, then he started to cry” sophomore Sidney Pemberton said.

Among the presents that classes gave the kids were bicycles, soccer balls and basketballs, pillows and lots of nerf guns. Lots of the older, bolder kids took the presents out in the hall to experiment with them. The result is lots of unsteady bicycle riding, a few impromptu soccer games and multiple nerf gun wars either between students and their kid or between the kids.

Some children were very shy and didn’t warm up to the pack of high school students surrounding them when they walked through the door of the classroom. Three-year-old Amir from Carolyn Seeley’s Algebra 2 class just gazed at the gifts. Only after he was given a piece of candy did he feel comfortable opening them. In biology teacher Jim Lockard’s class, Leonardo didn’t want to open his presents at all. When he opened up his Sponge Bob basketball he didn’t want it, but then when he opened his next present, a Sponge Bob pillow, a huge smile came across his face.

The Franklin Center is a non-profit agency that is funded to serve families and children.

The center is committed to providing the highest quality early care and education services all year round to two locations in the Argentine. The center has a staff of well-trained professional teachers with CDA and even an Associate of Arts Degree. Volunteers are also and important asset to the center they reinforce a positive environment and to help the children’s self esteem.

The Franklin Center parties are something that the kids don’t get to experience every day and both the students and the younger children enjoy themselves every year.

Dec. 13, 2004

issue 8

No longer Music Television

opinion

5

Andy Launder in my own words to

Listening my parents talk about music in the ’60s and ’70s absolutely amazes me. They list off names such as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Who, among others. It’s during this time that I find myself wondering, oh my God, what am I going to tell my kids about the music of my generation? Or is music even the right word? The mainstream music scene can be summed up in one word: fake. I deem the culprit to be the MTV network.

Let’s get one thing straight: MTV still stands for Music Television. So why is it that about 75 percent of the time I tune in there is everything but music being broadcasted? I always seem to get really confused as to why I’m watching Andy Dick or a group of random young people arguing idiotically (the Real World) on a “music television” channel.

The other 25 percent of the time they do play music, but it usually caters to the 12-year-old girl market. There are multiple radio stations in Kansas City alone where I can hear Simple Plan’s new heart-sobbing single. I don’t need to be subjected to it on TV as well.

Britney Spears is probably the most watched artist on MTV, but that’s because her music videos are similar to that of a pornographic movie. That’s all fine and good if you’re into that sort of thing, but I don’t see how it fits in the music category.

Before MTV started a musician didn’t necessarily have to look good to make it in the music business. Millions of people didn’t go watch Grateful Dead shows because of their sex appeal.

They went to see them because they were extremely talented

musicians who played great shows. On that same note, millions of people also went to see NSYNC perform, but obviously it wasn’t for their musical talent.

MTV was originally started for musicians to express their music visually. I think that’s a great idea. It’s just to bad they’ve derailed in exposing talented musicians to the public. They have become too caught up in the image of an artist, rather than the music. It all started with the glossy hair bands of the ’80s.

Poison, White Snake and Twisted Sister, to name a few, all wore more makeup than your mother and wrote the same kind of tearjerking power ballad. All I have to say is thank God for Nirvana and the birth of grunge music for crashing that party.

Music videos are a great idea in that they give musicians a chance to be creative and express what their music is saying visually. The Beatles did it in the ’60s, Led Zeppelin and The Who did it in the ’70s. But what came first for these bands was their music, and that’s why 30 and 40 years later we still hear their music being played. Forty years from now the only people remembering Brittany Spears will be a group of 13-year-old boys still going through puberty who are staring and giggling at a photograph of her when she was 20.

I’m sure everyone today has listened to or at least heard of Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” This was the most shocking moment of the hippie generation. Clearly it’s a moment of musical genius, which is still an inspiration to musicians today.

The most shocking musical moment of our generation is the MTV-sponsored Super Bowl halftime show with the whole Janet Jackson fiasco. What is humorous about this is it wasn’t even a musical moment; it was her mid-section being exposed on national TV. There is still hope to save our musically embarrassing generation but it will involve turning away from MTV and their giant grip on mainstream music. I assure you there is real music out there, but you won’t find it watching MTV.

- High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks and Controversies - Laguna Beach: The Real Orange Country - MADE - Making the Band - Making the Video - Meet the VJ’s - Movie Awards 2004 - Want a Famous Face - MTV’s Reality Awards - Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica - The Osbournes - One Bad Trip - Pimp My Ride - Punk’d -Real World - Road Rules: X-TREME - Room Raiders - RW/RR Battle of the Sexes 2 Taildaters - TRL - True Life - Video Music Awards - Wanna Come In? - Your Face or Mine? - The Ashlee Simpson Show - The Assistant - Boiling Points - Cribs - Date My Mom - Diary - Discover and Download - Dismissed - High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks and Controversies - Laguna Beach: The Real Orange

The Ashlee Simpson Show - The Assistant - Boiling Points - Cribs - Date My Mom - Diary - Discover and Download - Dismissed - High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks and Controversies - Laguna Beach: The Real Orange Country - MADE - Making the Band - Making the Video - Meet the VJ’s - Movie Awards 2004 - Want a Famous Face - MTV’s Reality Awards - Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica - The Osbournes - One Bad Trip - Pimp My Ride - Punk’d -Real World - Road Rules: X-TREME - Room Raiders - RW/RR Battle of the Sexes 2 - Taildaters - TRL - True Life - Video Music Awards - Wanna Come In? - Your Face or Mine? - The Ashlee Simpson Show - The Assistant - Boiling Points - Cribs - Date My Mom

- Diary - Discover and Download - Dismissed - High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks and Controversies - Laguna Beach: The Real Orange Country - MADE - Making the Band - Making the Video - Meet the VJ’s - Movie Awards 2004 - Want a Famous Face - MTV’s Reality Awards - Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica - The Osbournes - One Bad Trip - Pimp My Ride - Punk’d -Real World - Road Rules: X-TREME - Room Raiders - RW/RR Battle of the Sexes 2 - Taildaters - TRL - True Life - Video Music Awards Wanna Come In? - Your Face or Mine? - The Ashlee Simpson Show - The Assistant - Boiling Points - Cribs - Date My Mom - Diary - Discover and Download - Dismissed

A future without hope

I’ve been burned out on the magic and beauty that a year’s end brings. After going through 17 of them, honestly I’m a little disappointed: no flying cars, no weekend vacations to the moon, no intergalactic alien menace enslaving all of mankind, no 50-foot tall fighting robots with laser eyes. I’ve lived to see the end of 17 different years and what do I have to show for it? CDs, DVDs, mp3s; all extraneous extensions of the same product and all of them filled with Justin Timberlake.

Personally, I blame it all on dystopian epics like 1984 and 2001: A Space Odyssey for filling our heads with such colossal hopes and dreams and setting impossibly high standards. There’s nothing more depressing than reading one of these classics years after its events were supposed to have taken place and then looking around, dumbstruck, as you realize that not only have these events not occurred, but that they never will in your lifetime because scientists have felt that their time was better spent creating designer genomes and fabricating even smaller digital devices on which to fit Justin Timberlake. The only thing more depressing is, well, not being able to read at all.

So, it seems only fitting that, with the end of another year beckoning and the market saturated with an increasing trend of overpriced digital media players that will assuredly

Michael Pope in my own words

take its place amongst the likes of Pokémon, Yo-Yos and the Tickle-Me Elmo at the top of the legendary holiday impulsebuys, we should sit back with our $5 Chai Mocha lattes in our Gap bathrobes and Delia’s spunky pink slippers and dream once again of things to come in the new year. But fear not, my friends, for I have seen the future and shall give you a small taste of the wonders yet to come. Let the Harbinger be your guide.

I’ll start off slow so as not to send you into irreparable shock. In 2005, rap will no longer be the dominant genre of music. In late July, a new rap artist will emerge named “Killah D” and will capitalize on the music’s popularity by creating his three smash hits “In Da Tub” “In Da Jet” and the platinumselling “In Da Janitor’s Closet” about the places he most desires to partake in carnal relations with women. Drunk with fame (and probably with the Malibu Rum he carries on his person wherever he goes), Killah D will produce the single-most offensive song ever, “Kill Ever’body” in which he follows gangster rap’s logical progression of violence and sings about, well, killing everyone. The world will finally realize just how tasteless this music has become and will cast it out of the public spotlight, where it will fall down the genre depth chart to somewhere just below Norwegian folk songs. Electric polka music will become the new fad.

Mark Burnett, the man who has had a hand in almost every single reality television show ever made, will make his final show, “Survivor: Indonesian Sweatshop”, in which twenty orphaned children attempt to survive the grueling 20 hour workdays making CBS merchandise. The last kid

Dec. 13, 2004

standing who hasn’t succumbed to fatigue or infectious disease will receive a goat, some rice, and a guest appearance on Good Morning America. This will be Burnett’s last show because soon after it premieres the Gates of Hell will open up and swallow him whole.

Surprisingly, the second Bush Administration will be one of the greatest of all time, eliminating the national debt, eradicating unemployment and providing free healthcare and education for all. When asked about how such a dramatic turnaround could occur in less than a year, the President will laugh, give that trademark smirk of his, and mumble something unintelligible because his speech has deteriorated to the point that he can no longer form words.

Ken Jennings, bound and gagged under the desk in the Oval Office, will struggle in vain to strangle himself with the telephone cord.

Remember those Star Wars movies? Yeah, that happens too.

There you have it, my friends: the future of America. This is what we all can look forward to in the New Year. I realize that some of these predictions may have been somewhat undesirable to you, and I apologize if I have made you spill your latte, but please know that I have simply been blessed - or cursed - with the duty to bring this news to you. This comes along with being journalist; it’s not the pretty playboy life that everyone thinks. At least you can take comfort in knowing that I’ve found yet another place in my article in which to fit Justin Timberlake.

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opinion

Reality Check Powderpuff

the harbinger

Girls

Reality television is in trouble, but it can be fixed Evan Favreau in my own words

should strive for. Beauty pageants and their sole emphasis on looks are bad enough, but having a show urging people to watch these Go ask someone proclaimed ugly people permanently alter what they think of themselves is even lower. And the people reality television. wanting to watch it might be even worse.

I’ll bet you my New bad shows keep popping up all over SOMETHING they the place like a fungus. Just a few weeks ago don’t respond fondly. In fact they probably “The Real Gilligan’s Island” premiered on hate the general idea of it. They probably TBS (though hopefully by the time you read don’t want to watch anyone survive or this it will already have been canceled.) Let’s become an idol. But for some reason a large take a look at an episode blurb: “Already, portion of America keeps watching reality a Professor has been banished, and we’re television. Though I understand where the also down to one Skipper. Which of the sexy hate is coming from, I also see why people Mary Anns will survive the next head-tokeep watching. Reality television is worth head competition? Don’t miss tonight’s allsaving. new episode!” So now we’re not degrading But no one, from the casual viewers to people. We’ve skipped all that. Now we are the network executives, can deny the fact just blatantly reproducing popular shows that reality television in its current state is with reality television contestants and hope in trouble. There was once that some sex and violence will be added to a time when it was a fresh a winning and previously harmless formula. new television genre: who I just hope we don’t see “The Real O.C.” next knew watching people be fall. Wait, never mind. We already have themselves Laguna Beach. would be so But why is reality entertaining ? television worth saving The first in the first place? successful Beneath it all s h o w s there are decent didn’t need shows such as to degrade “Survivor,” “The people or act Apprentice” immature a n d to gain “American viewers; they I d o l . ” just need to T h e s e entertain. But s h o w s somewhere ( w h i c h along the way happen to art by Davin Phillips the ideas got be among out of hand. the highest This brings me to my one-step reality watched reality TV programs, proving television fix. Step 1: Get rid of the crap. America does have taste) are popular because Reality television has become such a clichéd they provide satisfactory entertainment, punch-line because its been oversaturated not thought provoking or life changing with mindless shows that believe that if they ideas. But what they do accomplish is what are aired they will be watched. “A chimp entertainment is supposed to accomplish: it riding a bicycle has to pick out of a group lets the viewer rest their mind and worries, of suitors who is gay and who is straight? I if only for an hour. And they accomplish love it, and America will too!” Once network it with class. They don’t purposely egg on reality exploded onto the scene with people to take off their clothes or yell at the “Survivor,” other networks went crazy with top of their lungs. These shows know that ideas and programs, and now “The Great relationships between the people will evolve Zebra Selection” isn’t too far off. naturally and you don’t need to have skin to Let’s take a look back at some of the get ratings. That’s what makes these shows evidence that has been aired and is still stand above the slime. airing. A fine example is Fox’s “The Swan,” You don’t need to watch reality television which is already back on the air. Fox makes if you don’t want to. But just keep in mind a pretty big promise to whoever these that there are some decent shows out people are that watch this show: “These there. And if you are one of the reality TV women never believed they could compete viewers, please satiate your reality appetite in a beauty pageant…But now, FOX will with people attempting to compete in the do the impossible.” Maybe it’s just me, but business world or singing in an interactive I don’t think a television program of all talent show, not multiple sexy Mary-Anns things should be signaling to women that competing for a spot on the real Gilligan’s competing in a beauty pageant is what they island.

Molly Magoon in my own words

There were no dolls in this game.

If you walked onto the field thinking it would be a place to giggle and gently push your friends in the mud, you were sorely mistaken.

I’ve heard numerous girls talking about how this person played too hard, that person took a cheap shot or someone said mean things to her on the field.

Apparently all of those girls thought that powder puff wouldn’t be vicious, competitive, or harsh. Where would you find the fun in that? Tell me, when was the last time you put more than two girls together and didn’t get drama.

This isn’t the peewee league, it’s powderpuff. It’s an excuse for generally passive girls to put in a mouth guard and hit their ex-best friends, enemies, and girls who have in some way made them cry, talked about them behind their back, or offended them in one form or another.

Suck it up! Go ahead, change the name from powder puff to ”vindictive football.”

This game is comprised of all girls. Face it ladies, we were just born mean. Everyone remembers that slumber party you went to in which your best friend became your worst enemy and back again in a mere two hours. That was just preseason.

The last publicly humiliating, petty, and most likely useless screaming display of “sisterly love” you had with your buddy in the middle of a party - that was just the play-offs.

And the game that many of us played, watched or coached on Nov. 28? Well that, my friends, was the super bowl.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I knew anything at all about what I was doing, but I will tell you that pushing someone- friend or foe- into the incredibly

1

photo by Kevin Grunwald

While powderpuff football may be labelled a “girl sport”, it is definitely no easy game.

Dec. 13, 2004 page6opinion

deep puddles of freshly chilled mud was the most invigorating experience of my month! We prepared for a battle, and a battle we were given. Did girls really think that it was going to be gentle?

This is football - a sport made for people ready to fight. If you want a harmless game, try golf. Don’t act as though you had no idea that this game was going to get a little out of hand. Obviously, some things were taken to an extreme and some girls had their feelings hurt. Girls were hit and spoken to in an unfriendly manner.

But frankly, any time you wind up with someone’s fist in your face or elbow in your stomach, it pretty much warrants throwing a nasty name or a reciprocated hit. This is just how it works. Don’t get upset about it, just play the game.

Go ahead, girls, start swinging back.

This is what makes the difference between a fair game and an interesting game. I know that as your peers pounded each other into the mud you weren’t sitting there thinking “they should really stop that.” You were pointing and grabbing the arm of your nearest neighbor to share in your laughter. This is funny. If it wasn’t supposed to be entertaining, we would in no way have 8-10 boys taking time out of their day coming to teach us something which in fact most of us will never fully understand. They are there to watch us hit, tackle, and most likely claw our way to a touchdown. Playing viciously on the field doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you a fierce competitor.

I don’t have any idea the last time I watched one girl tackle another girl in the halls of Shawnee Mission East. This is a different environment and a different world. We play to win. In having said this, all that I have left to say to my “senior sisters” is “rematch?” Bring it on!

12/9/04, 2:49 PM

editorial

issue 8

Editorial Cartoon

letter to the editor

Michael Pope

7

To the Harbinger Staff: I would like you to know how disappointed I am with the coverage of the fall musical, Brigadoon. I think it is ridiculous that the only coverage of the musical was three blurry pictures with incorrect captions…

The photo essay…did nothing to inform the school of the general plot of Brigadoon…and not only that, but the information presented in the photo essay was incorrect.

I find [the photo essay] to be a slap in the face to the department. We spend two months working on shows, and the least the Harbinger could do is give the people involved some recognition…

Along with not recognizing the theatre department, the Harbinger also does not recognize any other of the arts departments…I can’t count the number of worthless articles I’ve read about cell phones and the time we spend on the Internet. …Every issue of the Harbinger has at least three pages dedicated to sports in our school.

Are we now led to believe that our arts programs are non-existent in comparison to our athletics department?

Also, nearly every issue of the Harbinger has had an article about SHARE, and as I am a SHARE co-chair, I realize that it is a very good program, but I believe that at this point the school is very much aware of the SHARE program. I noticed that not very many of the members of the staff participate in the arts programs at our school.

We would really like the school to be informed of the work and time that we put into these programs that we adore so much.

--Lauren Berman (senior) & Caitlin B. Hall (senior)

Disposable Revolution!

A new wave of disposable products is drowning the earth

There is a disturbing trend in product development in There is nothing wrong with washing food containers and the last few years that, while supposedly increasing the reusing them. Food packaging is headed down the same quality of life, is in fact leading to huge problems for future path because of multiple choices in package sizes; the most generations. Companies are creating more and more advanced products have the mini size choice which usually result in the waste of materials. disposable products.

Household cleaning supplies have been the most recent Single use cameras and cellular phones have become to enter the disposable arena. Instead commonplace.

Disposable cell of using a cloth rag, cleaning can be phones, while not as pervasive, are An excess of disposable done with a disposable wipe, contained now available so you can talk away the pre-set minutes and toss the in a large disposable plastic container. items is polluting the phone when you’re done. This is just Instead of using a sponge or cloth mop, earth. simply slip on one that can be used another way to generate trash and for once and thrown away. Toilet brushes, people to have even less regard for dusting cloths and air fresheners are all their possessions. available, boxed, packed and wrapped The growing popularity of products agree disagree absent such as Glad Ware food containers so they can be used, and tossed. also illustrates this disposable trend.

This blatant disregard of environmental well-being is appalling.

The marketing of these products relies upon tempting the customer with the ease of using The world population is growing exponentially every it and then throwing it away. It should not be considered day, as is the amount of trash generated by people using a great thing that something is not made for multiple uses. the products set in front of them. The explosion of trash

10 - 0 - 1

the

harbinger

Shawnee Mission East Editor In Chief Assistant Editors Art/Design Editors Head Copy Editor Photo Editor News Editor News Page Editors Features Editor Features Page Editors

Libby Nelson Annie Fuhrman Gordon Culver Cynthia Goldman Mallory Toombs Stephen McKim Linda Howard Courtney Condron Katie Jones Ally Heisdorffer Ellie Weed Kathleen Bole Jayne Shelton Madi Moedritzer

A&E Editors A&E Page Editor Sports Editor Sports Page Editors Opinion Editor Opinion Page Editor Editorial Editor Special Section Editor Copy Editors

Adviser

Letters to the editor should be sent to Rm 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com. Letters can be edited for length, clarity, mechanics, and libel, and accepted or rejected at the editors discretion.

increases the amount of land needed for landfills. These landfills make those areas of the earth unfit for human habitation because of the chemicals and hazardous materials from the decaying garbage. Disposable products may be easy to buy and throw away, but they are not easy to truly dispose of. They will sit for years and years to come in the landfills, never returning any value to people or to our environment.

Not only are these disposable products a problem for mankind and the environment, but their creation is using resources that could be channeled elsewhere. Even plastic has to be made of something, and there isn’t an infinite amount of anything. The bottom line is that if we want the world to be a clean, healthy place for us, for our children and for our children’s children, it is time to stop this disposable lifestyle. Buy only what you really need. Make purchasing choices that reward the makers of environmentally sensitive products and don’t fall into the complacent trap of convenience. It may seem convenient and cheap to you now, but the very high, very real price has yet to be paid.

Staff Writers

Patrick Haverty Ross Boomer Derek Martin Sarah Burford Meg Fracol Andy Launder Scott Peterson Staff Artists Davin Phillips Michael Pope Ads/Business Manager Bryan Dykman Asst. Ads/Business Ben Whitsitt Maggie DiSilvestro Lauren Kelly Contest Coordinator Erin Morrissey Public Relations Meg Fracol Photographers Emily Rappold Samantha Ludington Molly Magoon Kevin Grunwald 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, student body, or administration.

Ian McFarland Evan Favreau Erin Morrissey Curtis Shank Peter Goehausen Frances Lafferty Sara Steinwart Tom Grotewohl Cay Fogel Amanda Allison Amanda Allison Courtney Condron Cay Fogel Curtis Shank Ian Stanford Katie Jones Evan Favreau Dow Tate

Dec. 13, 2004

8

features

the harbinger

Struggling with her reflection

photo illustration by Kevin Grunwald

Senior fights for two years to overcome anorexia, bulimia, depression Cynthia Goldman

In the third row of the first violin section, bright-eyed senior Kat Forester plays. Her small hand on her bow moves back and forth to the rhythm of Beethoven. Her fingers vibrate. Kat’s hands weren’t always as delicate and smooth as they are now, Just like the motion of her bowing hand, her life has gone back and forth.

Her hands were once chapped and red, nails decaying.

Her knuckles bled and her grip was weak. Her wrists were covered in fresh cuts. In two years, Kat’s hands have healed from her turbulent lifestyle of anorexia, bulimia, selfmutilation and attempted suicide.

Kat has always been a perfectionist. She wanted “to do it all,” and in middle school, she had it all. She was a top violinist and singer, a straight-A student surrounded by friends. She did have minor problems at home: she often lacked a father figure because her dad, a liver surgeon, always was working.

“I raised my kids the way I thought kids should be raised: the mom stayed at home and took care of the kids while dad worked. I wasn’t there but no one told me that was bad. Later I realized how wrong I was in raising my children,” Kat’s dad, Jameson Forester, said.

Joanne Salisbury, Kat’s mom, was too involved in Kat’s affairs. Since Kat was her oldest, she invested “too much time to see her life perfect,” which caused arguments.

But problems really started when Kat entered high school. With more competition, Kat was no longer a top singer or violinist. Her grades plummeted.

“I thought everyone was perfect, and I wanted to show everyone that ‘Here I am, I’m good at something,’ “ Kat said.

Some of the “perfect” people Kat admired were senior girls in chamber singers. There was one in particular, and after Kat learned that she had dramatically lost weight, she looked up to her even more. She also became more critical about her own body.

Kat began dieting and overexercising, skipping lunch and counting calories. Soon her mom began to notice that she wasn’t eating anymore. Around the same time, Kat was looking at pro-anorexia websites, where she discovered bulimia. She thought it was easier to hide and would help her lose weight. By the middle of sophomore year, Kat would purge in bathrooms without anyone knowing.

Kat discovered something else on these websites. “[They] talked about cutting and how it helped you cope with depression. So I was like, hmm, I should try that, and I did,” Kat said.

After throwing up, Kat felt relaxed, and she would cut herself to feel the same way. If anyone asked about the scratches on her arms, she blamed the family cat.

The purging and self-mutilation became an addiction.

“I’d find something destructive to do. Binge, purge, cut and then feel bad,” Kat said. “I’d punish myself for being stupid, for being fat, for saying stupid things, for being a disappointment.”

The cycle of self-destruction continued until a church trip to New Orleans. By then, her body was deteriorating. Her hands were dry. Her knuckles cracked. The nail on her index finger was rotting. She was losing hair and getting dizzy and fatigued. She didn’t know what to do, so she confided in her church friends. At first, they didn’t believe her. But once the truth sank in, they forced Kat to tell her parents.

Kat’s mom couldn’t believe this could happen to her family. But it suddenly all clicked: Kat’s overeating, her

pushing food around on her plate, the vomit in the bathroom.

She immediately contacted a therapist and a nutritionist.

The family thought everything was under control, and Kat’s dad thought her behavior was just a phase.

“The way it was presented to me sounded like everyone was on top of it,” Jameson said. “[As a doctor] I deal with people with serious issues. I took the situation in an analytical, unemotional manner.”

Kat did not get any better. She was purging five to six times a day and continued to fight with her mom. One night, her mom asked, “Don’t you just want to get to a hospital and fix everything?” Kat realized that she was hurting her mom and wanted to get better. They agreed to hospitalization.

The hospital was a new experience for Kat. She received a new therapist. The day was scheduled: all patients attended groups where they could talk, they ate at the same time, they met with a therapist and they kept journals.

Communication helped Kat open up. She found she was not the only one to purge, cut herself and not eat.

“There are many scenarios that cause eating disorders: family relationships, low self-esteem, major transitions.

Eating disorders never happen because of one thing,” eating disorder specialist Kristen Oelklaus said. “It is very common for girls to be depressed, suicidal and cut themselves while they have an eating disorder. It all stems from the same feelings. It’s just much easier to hide depression and suicidal attempts than [hiding] throwing up in a bathroom.”

Kat understood why she was hurting herself: rebellion against her mother, wanting attention from her dad, perfectionism, the transition to high school. But understanding didn’t stop it. Seeing the other sick, skinny girls worsened her body image. Kat wanted to look like them. She was discouraged to see patients who’d battled their eating disorders for years. Some were married with kids and had the disorder for most of their life.

“I realized at that point that I’m going to have this for the rest of my life,” Kat said. “It was disappointing. Here we were telling each other to get better, but we were the same ourselves. It didn’t make sense.”

Kat felt no need to change. She would get caught for vomiting in the trash can. When she was found cutting herself, everything was removed that could cut: earrings, pencils, even paper.

Kat’s two-week stay turned into six. When the doctors finally agreed Kat was stable enough, she went home. After hospitalization, she gradually began to purge and cut herself less. She realized she was only hurting herself.

Kat came back to East in the fall, but felt everything was the same. School had continued without her. At home, though, things had changed. Kat’s dad no longer lived with them, and a permanent separation was being discussed.

The following summer, Kat fought with her nutritionist about going to strings camp. Her nutritionist argued that Kat’s weight was too low, and she was not allowed to go.

Dec. 13, 2004

Kat, devastated, told her therapist that she needed to be hospitalized again, because she knew she would hurt herself. She was hospitalized that day, now for depression.

She went to a psychiatric ward, different from her first hospital. The attitude was harsher: nurses would tell patients that “you’re destroying your family. You have to get better or they won’t want you.”

Unlike the first hospital, she couldn’t relate to the other patients here. Most did drugs. They included a boy who boasted about owning a greenhouse to grow weed and create cocaine and meth, and a girl who would have such terrible tantrums that she was locked in a padded room.

Observing the other kids amazed Kat, making her realize that things had to change.

“You hear about these kids, but you don’t know them.

Here I was actually with them,” Kat said. “I would look at how bad they were and then think, wow, I’m in a psychiatric ward. I’d see my mom’s face and realize I was just like them.

I was just as bad.”

Kat still had discussion groups, where she confessed for the first time to her suicidal tendencies. She talked about the time she told a nurse in her first hospital about the knife and razor blade she hid and about how her mom flipped out when she found out. Kat tried to commit suicide when she didn’t make choraliers by slitting her wrist, but then got scared and stopped. She tried to kill herself with pills—she couldn’t remember why. Fear, once again, stopped her from swallowing more.

Confessing actually served as a step forward. At the hospital, with nothing to hide, Kat matured. She knew how much grief she was causing her family, and that made her change. After two weeks in the psychiatric ward, she returned home last August.

She is now in her senior year of high school. Her parents divorced in May, but her family continues to be supportive. As Jameson said, they understand that “this isn’t just Kat’s problem, it is the whole family’s.”

“Eating disorders are not a joke,” Sarah Forester, Kat’s freshman sister, said. “Lots of kids joke about eating disorders, but it’s something very serious. They need to be supportive. It shouldn’t be shameful.”

She’s stopped cutting and purging. She isn’t as depressed anymore, partly because of medication and her dedication to hobbies, like violin. She surrounds herself with people she loves and who love her, and she continues to see her therapist and nutritionist. But Kat is still struggling to get over her anorexia.

“We have more things to celebrate now,” Salisbury said. “[But] I worry about Kat. She can be a little on the young side.

But she can stay focused and responsible. I see a lot of great potential in her. She is energetic, talented; people love to be around her. She just needs to grow up a bit. She will continue to recover.”

features

issue 8

On the HUNT

Maggie DiSilvestro

9

Students can find gifts at cheap prices at these area stores

Deals (95th and Antioch): If you are looking for a lot of little stocking-stuffers, go to Deals.

Everything there is only a dollar and they have a lot of hidden treasures. For instance, I found tons of cute wallets underneath some Lipton fanny packs. Deals also has, on a more visible display, adorable Santa and elf hats. There is a whole aisle dedicated to helping you dress up the gifts you buy there in a cost efficient way, with candy cane tissue paper and Santa wrapping paper. However, be prepared to wait in line for 5-10 minutes because the clerks are extremely slow and will stand chatting with each other.

Pizazz (at 95th and Antioch): Formerly known as Harry Heinz, this is a fabulous store for girl’s jewelry, but it is hidden on the end of the 95th and Antioch strip mall, making it easy to miss. This store has unique accessories like watches that use scarves as bands that you can change to match any outfit. All are at prices that make it a great store for a high school student on a tight budget. Pizazz also stocks hair accessories and purses that have pictures of anything from Marline Monroe to Friends, knock-off designer prints, snake skin, and plain with vibrant colors. The down side here is the service. The sales girls say “welcome to Pizazz” in a monotone voice when you first walk in and then turn around and ignore you. But, clerks aside, this is an excellent store to get all of your holiday gifts for girls.

Bargains 365 (95th and Antioch): The name is cheesy, but it tells you right up front what you are going to find inside. What separates this store from the others is that they don’t have just $1 items. Don’t get discouraged when you first walk in because they have a lot of high priced items right in the front. You have to walk farther to find the real bargains among what appears to be shelved clutter. They had life sized Indian heads next to hummingbird statues each for $20. This wouldn’t be that bad if it weren’t for the fact that this two foot wide display was sitting in the middle of the four foot wide aisle. For less outlandish gifts there are candles, candle holders, and other fun knick-knacks for $3-$10.

Target is a store that may be well known but it has a lot of untapped resources that can save you a bundle of money this season. Contrary to populary belief, not all things from Target are cheap and undesirable. Underneath all the Mary-Kate and Ashley clothes are awsome accessories like scarves, belts, earrings, watches, and purses to fit any style and budget. For the less “girly” approach they have CDs for $9-$30, DVDs for $10-$30, shoes $6-$40 and some shirts to boot. Target is a great one-stop shop for all the girls and guys on your list because it has such a diverse selection that will last longer than the dollar store stuff. The catch: Target is still Target and not everyonewill be as enlightened as you.

For the student who doesn’t have the time or money to go out and buy individual gifts, your best bet is to get festive little bags and fill them with candy. If you attach a short note and hand-deliver them they make a great gift on a dime.

Dec. 13, 2004

photos by Samantha Ludington

When I think of the coming holidays, I start dreaming of the wonderful gifts I’m giving people. Apparently I am not alone in this; according to a poll done by gallop.com, Americans will spend around $735 on gifts this year. As a result, stores are staying open longer to take advantage of this spike in projected sales.

About five minutes into this fabulous dream, reality sets in and I realize that the two dollars in my wallet will only go so far. The average high schooler cannot afford to spend that much, so here are some stores where you can find inexpensive gifts that aren’t total junk.

E

10 features

n i t g a is Believing

Megan Fracol

T

h e plate of brownies was passed among the friends at the lunch room table.

It was Alex Hardy’s 18th birthday. When the plate reached junior Caitlin Doran, she refused and passed it on. Doran is a vegetarian, and currently vegan for a week to experiment.

“It’s hard. You feel kind of like an outcast, but it makes you believe more in your cause because you know you’re doing it for a good reason,” Doran said.

Vegetarianism at East is becoming more popular as information on the treatment of animals gets out through organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and students who have become vegetarians themselves. Vegetarianism has spread as friends influence other friends. Although for different reasons- from animal rights, religion, to simply the taste of meat- there’s an entire community of vegetarians out there.

Junior Lane Garner is vegan. Not only does he not eat meat, but he also refuses to eat cheese, eggs, milk and many other products that are produced by animals. Garner also does not eat honey because of the mistreatment of bees.

Although it might not seem very obvious, bees actually do need the honey humans take from them. They make the honey and store it as food for the winter. However, keepers replace it with a mixture of sugar and water. This is a cheap substitute that a lot of times is not enough to sustain the bee hives, and they die in the winter.

“Some people call themselves vegan and still use honey.

From a biological standpoint, some may see bees aren’t animals. I think anything living should be called animals,” Garner said.

Vegetarian Education Group (VEG)

Garner is preparing to start a vegetarian club at East. It will be called the Vegetarian Education Group (VEG). He along with the support of Maggie Davis and Miss Cramer hopes to inform the students of health reasons as well as animal reasons not to eat meat by putting up signs and getting out information. Garner has also gotten information out to his friends by making his own t-shirts and wearing t-shirts that emphasize animal cruelty. One such t-shirt features a dog on a plate with the words “Why not, you eat other animals, don’t you?” beneath that. On Thanksgiving, he also passed out pamphlets that showed the mistreatment of turkeys and gives information on vegetarianism.

the harbinger

Vegetarianism is increasing because of personal views

“I don’t try to tell them [friends] what to do, but present them with information,” Garner said.

Harder than you think

Although Garner has been a strict vegan since the summer of 2003, it has not always been easy. One time at a neighbor’s graduation party the only food that wasn’t meat came down to tortilla chips.

Even the cheese sauce had meat in it. Garner was very hungry and since there was nothing else to eat, he went ahead and piled his plate up with meat. He ate the meal, but, he afterwards threw up. Sometimes, Garner also ends up eating animal products without meaning to.

Many ingredients have strange names you wouldn’t think of as having animal products in them.

Sitting for minutes at a time to scan the lists of ingredients in a food is just one of the duties Garner must put himself through to stay vegan. Vegan restaurants help Garner out with his situation. There are some places, such as Eden Alley, which is a special vegan restaurant in the basement of Unity Church on the plaza, that have a menu which marks all the things that are vegan and vegetarian.

Other substitutes for dinners include making his own vegetarian or vegan meals out of items already on the menu. At Salty Iguana, Garner often takes the vegetarian burrito, has them take out the cheese, and has them put fajita vegetables in it instead. However, for the most part, Garner doesn’t go out to eat and makes his own vegan meals.

Miles Golson was one of the first of Garner’s friends to become a vegetarian. He gave him a lot of information that made him start to think about it. Since he and Garner were the first of their friends to become vegetarians, they influenced their other friends, especially friend Colin Barnes.

Barnes became a vegetarian a year ago and is currently attempting to become vegan. It was through a church retreat that Barnes attempted to take on this new lifestyle.

“I realized how bad it is how they treat the animals and how I’d been ignoring it for most of my life. And then I just kind of had an epiphany that I should not be doing that [eating meat],” Barnes said.

Barnes thought it would be hard to keep away from meat, but it turned out easier than expected.

“I ate a lot healthier. I didn’t eat as much junk food. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be; I didn’t have to wean myself from it,” Barnes said.

For Junior Sid Kumar and sophomore Manali Gadgil, religion also plays a role in their eating habits. Although neither are completely vegetarian, they do not eat beef

because they are Hindu and cows are considered sacred to Hindus.

Gadgil finds it easy avoiding beef. When going to places like Taco Bell she can usually just substitute the meat for something else, like beans. Although it doesn’t come up often, their friends are generally open to this different aspect of refraining from meat.

“First of all they’re surprised, they’re like ‘Oh, you don’t eat beef. Then when I tell them it’s because of my religion they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s cool’,” Kumar said.

A Life Without Meat

Imagine never having eaten any meat in your entire life.

For Sophomore Anee Sofia Jackson, that’s a reality. Born into a vegetarian family, it was natural. Andrea Jackson, her mother, had grown up on a mediterranean diet which included a lot of vegetables, so she didn’t eat meat often anyway. She continued to cook vegetarian meals after her children were born, but supplemented their meals with plenty of vitamins and amino acids.

“It was just a personal decision that I made 25 years ago when I did a little research, and [I] did it for health and human reasons,” Jackson said.

Sophomore Missy Engelhardt became vegetarian about a year ago simply because she didn’t like the taste of meat.

Her friends were critical from the start, mostly about her health, however, after talking to a dietician she can avoid meat by finding other sources of protein. Over the summer Engelhardt took a break from her vegetarianism because of long work hours that kept her on the go.

“I had a job where I was running around all the time and I just needed more energy,” Engelhardt said.

She hasn’t noticed the loss of meat in her diet since the start of the school year and doesn’t plan on going back to meat again.

According to chef James Nichols at St. Luke’s South Hospital, there are a number of ways to substitute meat in a diet for other foods and nutrients. Nichols prepares meals for 300 to 400 patients and workers a day. Of those, he estimates less than 5 percent are vegetarian, but the cooking staff makes sure to cater to vegetarian needs as well. The menu always features a vegetarian option, such as spaghetti with marina sauce or vegetarian kiche, for those who can eat eggs and milk. Another option of substituting the protein in meat is through soybeans, this is why vegetarians can eat veggie burgers or drink soy milk which is made from these instead of meat or animal products.

Wether it be becuase of religion, animal rights, or health reasons many students are choosing vegetarianism. To research more on the topic, check out www.peta.com or keep a look out for the new VEG club.

Bring this coupon and receive 2 Single Topping Queen Pizzas for $13.99 6846 Johnson Drive Mission, KS 66202 913-789-7117

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Expires June 16, 2005

Dec. 13, 2004

features

issue 8

11

Close up

A look inside the life of two student models Sarah Burford

photos of Missy Titus and Stephanie Schmidt compliments of Hoffman International Modeling

Tears streamed down Missy Titus’ flushed cheeks as she vented her frustration. Placing fourth wasn’t good enough – she deserved first; she had worked just as hard, she had sauntered down the runway, her head held just as high. The model’s confidence she had learned as a child shrunk beneath a wave of despair.

Shooting with companies like Hallmark, Toys ‘R’ Us and L.L. Bean since she was four years old, Titus has enjoyed modeling as a good source of income. But the fun has also brought frustration. “[The modeling agents] tell people if they have too much acne, or if they’re too fat,” Titus said. “Braces are bad – they make you look younger.”

Though agents have reprimanded and warned Titus that tiny waistlines make the big bucks, she has ignored their comments.

“I don’t want to change my life for it,” she said. “It’s important to me, but it’s not like life or death. I just enjoy doing it.”

When Senior Stephanie Schmidt began modeling as a freshman, cross- country kept her skinny. But as she got older, the agents criticized her figure.

“They tried to keep me looking like a freshman,” Schmidt said.

“I didn’t want to…‘lose weight here and there’.”

The pressure was too much for Schmidt, and she stopped modeling about four months ago. She is still signed with the agency but is now listed as “inactive” – not working.

Besides changing their physical appearances, models must put forth significant funds to get the jobs.

Essential costs include clothes and pictures for comp cards, which companies use to choose their models. For Titus, this cost about $1000; an additional $300 paid for classes taught by Hoffman Modeling and Talent Agency. Even more money is spent on out-oftown shoots; depending on the company, parents may have to pay for their own hotel rooms, transportation, or other expenses.

Schmidt’s agency, Exposure, gradually took money for comp cards out of her paycheck; she earned at least $700 for a full day’s work. Titus earns anywhere from $100 for a couple hours’ work to $2,000 over several days, but finances still cause trouble.

“The money I got didn’t even compare to how much money was spent,” Titus said.

Her mother, Lisbeth Lurey supports Missy’s activities, but doesn’t want to drag her all over the world. When Missy was only eight years old, an agent from New York encouraged her to model there, but Lurey refused. “”I don’t feel that it’s a good life outside of home. Our jobs here are wonderful,” she said.

Lurey has met parents who have mortgaged homes and taken their children out of school to be models. The parents have essentially lived off of their children’s earnings.

“I don’t want to ride on [Missy’s] coattails,” Lurey said.

Titus has to make up all missed schoolwork, while some models choose to homeschool. Important events, such as the first couple days of fifth grade, are sometimes sacrificed for shoots.

Schmidt’s mother has also accompanied her to shoots from New York to Los Angeles. While most people think only of the glamour and excitement of a model’s life, Schmidt has depended on her mom to understand the hardships involved.

“She let’s me do it if I want to but has never pressured me,” Schmidt said.

Of her many modeling destinations, Chicago was the hardest since Schmidt was forced to cut her hair when she arrived on the set.

The traveling life often left Schmidt homesick. In the beginning, she was assured that her jobs would be infrequent, just here and there. But before long, the agency wanted to send her out of the country.

“They really think you’re going to New York or Milan and you’ll never come home again,” Schmidt said. “I didn’t catch on to how much they wanted me to do that.

And they didn’t take no for an answer. They tried to butter her up into being a full time professional model by ensuring her that she would “do so well.” But the model’s life didn’t appeal to her; school was more important.

Titus also plans to avoid a future of modeling, and just recently returned to her hobby after a break. She is more interested in photography.

“When you’re the model, people are creating you. When you’re the photographer, you’re creating the picture – you’re not just a coat hanger,” she said.

Despite the criticism, money, and make-up work involved in the modeling business, Titus values her experiences. Hoffman’s classes taught her to walk tall and look confident. Her self-esteem increased as a result.

“When you see the pictures, you like your looks and want to look that way in real life,” Titus said.

Since she was a little girl, Titus has admired models like Cindy Crawford and Heidi Klum, and set her mind on becoming one.

“It gave me a goal: I want[ed] to be a model and it’s something I [was] going to do,” she said.

Dec. 13, 2004 page11features

1

12/9/04, 2:55 PM

MakingitBIG

in

Devin Kennedy Formats computers

Kennedy is a part of myriad groups at SM East including the Latin Club, orchestra and Science Olympiad.

None of these activities though can match up to computer programming. He competes in different computer programming competition with people from school.

“It seems kind of boring if you don’t look at it from a computer science perspective,” Kennedy said. “We have to do things like make a word into a spiral or solve a math problem on our computers through programming.”

At the computer competitions the teams receive a packet of problems in the morning, and then have 25 minutes to solve each problem. The faster a team finishes a problem, the more points they get.

“We have done well this year. We have won every time that I have been out,” Kennedy said. “We repeated as champions of the Northwest Missouri State tournament.”

Kennedy prefers the computer sciences to things like Mathletics even though he is a talented mathematician.

“I went to Mathletics freshman year and that was quite enough of that,” Kennedy said. “I can’t really say that I am much of a mathlete.”

Along with being a computer programming wiz and part of all the other activities that he is a part of Kennedy is also in the top ten of the senior class and is a National Merit semifinalist.

Story By Gordon Culver

Dan Ketter Plays the cello

Growing up in a musical family has helped inspire junior Dan Ketter to pursue his cello talent.

He not only plays in the Symphonic Orchestra here at East but also plays at weddings with his mom and brother and is in the youth symphony.

Ketter practices one to two hours every couple of days and three hours on Sunday for Youth Symphony. The Symphony, which consists of ninety local youth, toured this summer in Europe—traveling around Vienna, Budapest and Prague.

This summer Ketter is hoping to attend a summer program at Interlochen. It is an eightweek program, for which he is hoping to get a scholarship.

In store for him this year are three to four cello competitions in which he is hoping to do well.

He will also be competing in district and state.

Last year Ketter placed first in district and tenth in state. He hopes to do better this year.

“I have been playing cello since fifth grade, so I canʼt imagine giving it up when I go to college,” Ketter said.

Story By Mallory Toombs

Sarah Smart Senior Kansas DECCA President

Sarah Smart is not afraid to speak in front o 1000 people. She does not mind campaignin herself to people she does not know. Whil competing at State DECCA, a marketin competition, Smart took the initiative an decided to run for an office.

“In my speech I did like the top five reason to vote for me. Number three was that I lik to sing and dance and I did an impression o William Hung,” Smart said. The competitio was a little tough considering she was runnin against nine girls, three of whom were forme office holders.

After being elected, Smart has reall enjoyed her position. Part of her job wa organizing the fall conference, which the were able to get Mike the Miz from the Rea World to attend. Her latest project is organizin this year’s state conference in March in whic over 1000 students will be in attendance. He responsibility is to write a speech to presen and to organize the events for that week.

Story by Mallory Toombs

t

of ng le ng nd

ns ke of on ng er

ly as ey al ng ch er nt

In 2004, these six people stood out for their accomplishments throughout all areas. In an original and unacknowledged way, these students aspired to make a difference- not to make the headlines, not to be recognized, but for themselves and for the people around them.

Nathan Stepp Youth in Government Governor

Nathan Stepp was a well-known student before he even got to East due to the immense notoriety of his older brother Sam. Since he has arrived in high school though Stepp has had multiple accomplishments that people my overlook.

Last year he was the speaker of the house for Kansas Youth in Government.

“Sophomore year, no one was running for Speaker from East, so I decided to go ahead and give it a shot,” Stepp said.

This year he has followed up his performance as Speaker of the House with being elected as the governor for next year. This is a natural progression in the Youth in Government, for the past few years the trend has been that the Speaker then became the governor.

“I was glad to follow in the footsteps of William O’Rourke and Tehau Debarthe,” Stepp said. “It really does help when so many people representing your area vote for the position you are running for.”

Though Stepp may down play his accomplishments the fact is that he has established his own identity.

Story By Gordon Culver

Olivia Curran Sophomore Field Hockey Player Taylor Hinson Airport Employee

After growing up with a brother that had dreams of becoming a pilot, sophomore Taylor Hinson ended up having the same aspirations.

“It’s just so unique,” he says, “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Having a licensed pilot for a brother has allowed Hinson to be able to fly whenever he visits him in St. Louis.

Earlier this year, he took the initiative of applying for a job at KCI. He’s been working there since August, and plans to work there all through high school.

“I want all the experience I can get,” he says.

Spending 15 to 20 hours a week fueling, towing, washing, and parking planes is what Hinson loves to do.

On top of flying and servicing planes, Hinson spends his time of leisure the drummer in a student-lead band, The Case, with three other sophomores.

Story By Ellie Weed

Along with the rest of the student athletes, sophomore Olivia Curran makes her way to her practice after school. It’s not soccer practice, not basketball, not cheerleading- it’s field hockey.

A mix of soccer and hockey, field hockey tends to be a very confusing game for most people.

“There are so many rules and regulations that you can get mixed up in,” Curran says.

Curran received a spot on Team Gateway- an all Midwest team consisting of fifteen players. It involves all year-round play and a lot of traveling to places like Tulsa, St. Louis, and Topeka.

Earlier this year, she was selected to go to Florida for the National Field Hockey Festival over Thanksgiving.

After transferring from Pembroke Hill this year, Curran is interested in building an East team.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she says, “I’m sure a lot of people would love it.”

Although it is a confusing and physical game, it does have its benefits.

“You get to wear skirts- that’s my favorite part,” Curran says.

Story By Ellie Weed

Slacking or studying?

14 features

the harbinger

Different opinions about lab aides, study hall, cadet teaching Sara Steinwart Sitting down at her desk with her enrollment card, be informed on the subject and have excelled in sophomore Sam Ellerbeck had a difficult the class. Unlike a lab aid, a cadet teacher Coll decision to make. Trying to decide receives a letter grade. ege Bou her schedule for the following Students who are in nd S tude year, Ellerbeck Seek and have nt? attempted to plan an IEP take the out every class so class because it nt? that she can excel is a better option ude d St n u and be challenged. than taking a study o B e eg Ellerbeck’s goals are hall. Seek counts Coll to get into a prestigious as a class credit that college. Refusing to take has a letter grade. class schedules lightly, However, that depends she considers all her on what you choose to College Bound Student? options. Honors classes are study in the class. a must, but being a lab aid is “Colleges will look to questionable. see what you were studying Ellerbeck does not want to in that Seek class,” said Hult. make a mistake and jeopardize “Many students choose to her college goals because of one prepare for college in this class of her class choices. She wonders which looks fine on a transcript what a college would think if she [compared to taking independent would choose to be a lab aid. study].”

Total number of kids that are in a study hall A major question that students One of the influences that during the year. There are 176 boys in study hall and only 106 girls. have is whether study halls, lab aides persuade students not to take a study or cadet teachers have a negative hall is parents. Parents feel that taking influence on their transcript. a study hall is not appropriate and “I have always wondered if colleges think that their child should be in more Total number of students that are lab aids. There really do look at students’ transcripts and challenging classes. are 87 boys that are lab aids and 112 girls. take into consideration what classes they “I think study halls should only be took,” Ellerbeck said. “It is one of those things used in extreme circumstances,” said that is like how teachers saying getting a B in parent Barb Maurer. “They should only be an honors class is better than getting an A in a used when a student is failing their classes regular class. People have told me that before but and has no other ways to pass. It is not for Total number of students that are cadet teachers.

I never knew if it was true.” students who are doing well in their classes.”

There are 7 boys that are cadet teachers and 18 girls.

Attempting to make their high school schedule Maurer felt that parents should help their fit her career goals is a choice that Ellerbeck finds students avoid the need to be a study hall. With difficult to make. However, by taking a variety of parent guidance students will be able to help their classes, Ellerbeck can leave her options open during children succeed without a study hall.

Percentage of the student population that is a college.

“If parents were to help decipher whether their “I take the honors classes that I do because I have lab aid, cadet teacher or in a study hall. children were taking a study hall or not it could help no idea what I want to be when I grow up. This way I students realize whether or not they truly need one. It have taken a basis in all the subjects and can choose could help students from slacking off,” Maurer said.

The only difference between a study hall and a lab what I want to focus on later,” Ellerbeck said.

Students, however, feel that their parents do not assistant is the credit that students receive for the course.

Different colleges consider study halls in different understand their reasoning for taking a study hall. Students There is a K credit, or pass/fail elective credit, for being a lab ways. Some colleges do not care if one appears a student’s feel that study halls should be at their discretion. aid. By taking a study hall, student’s recieve no credit at all. transcript while others see it as a student slacking off.

“Parents give [study hall] a negative connotation,” junior A letter grade represents a regular, accredited class, while a “At in-state schools it is not big deal,” said counselor Tom Rachel Maynard said. “They think that it is just a blow off K credit does not.

Hult, “but if you are trying to get into an Ivy League school hour that their kids donot need to take, but I don’t feel that is Colleges see a class that only receives an elective credit it will look bad. What Ivy League schools are really looking the purpose of study hall.” and considers it a slack-off class. This is because the for is that students are taking honors classes and receiving Maynard thinks that the purpose of study halls is to help students are not working to receive a grade.

A’s and B’s.” increase students’ grades and decrease homework load.

“There are no alternatives to taking a study hall,” said The reason that prestigious colleges view study halls so “Students who have hours of homework because of Hult. “Colleges will look at all classes [study hall type] the negatively is that they consider it a waste of time. To them, it a tough academic load, plus other activities often need same as if you were taking a study hall.” is a class for students to slack off; a class that a good student a break, and study hall can serve as this break,” said One misconception is that being a cadet teacher is an would avoid.

Maynard. “easy” class. Being a cadet teacher is a honored position Being a lab aid is an alternative to study halls. A lab aid Maynard feels that colleges shouldn’t care if students that is difficult to become. assists a teacher in a classroom. A common misconception take study hall or not.

“Being a cadet teacher is highly though of on a college is that being an aid looks better on a transcript than a study “After all, students take seven classes a day,” Maynard transcript,” said college counselor Barb Johnson. “It is a hall. said, “Why take a class and get a bad grade, when you could leadership position that is highly respected.”

“Becoming a lab aid is the same thing as taking a study take a class to get some homework or reading done in, and In order to be a cadet teacher you must be asked by a hall when viewed on a student’s transcript,” said Hult. receive better grades in other classes?” teacher or be accepted by the teacher. Applicants have to

Slacking or studying in numbers:

2821992524%-

Dec. 13, 2004

15

issue 8

Wherever the cap

lands

Students opt to attend Canadian colleges because of price and international outlook

Ross Boomer

It tends to get cold in Canada Really cold.

“Last year was one of the coldest winters on record,” East graduate Liz Clemens said. “It was under 40 below for a month and half. We’re talking so cold that you have every inch of skin covered, including the fact that you’re wearing sunglasses because the winds hurt your eyes.”

But the weather hasn’t stopped this 2003 alum from attending Canada’s premier McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Clemens is part of the growing number of American students who have decided to continue their postsecondary education north of the border. Schools such as McGill and University of British Columbia offer education commensurate to top American institutions for only a fraction of the cost. Students, however, pay the price with less advising than most American institutions and a lack of school spirit.

Just this year, the University of British Columbia has seen an increase from 329 American students last year to 434.

“People come to have an experience abroad that’s still close to home,” UBC admissions officer Olga Piladi said.

According to Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada spokesman Trevor Lynn, the amount of American students studying in Canada has substantially increased in the past four years, with an increased effort to market the schools outside the country by sending more admissions officers to American high schools and college fairs as well as other countries.

“Our degrees are recognized all over the world as absolutely top rate,” Lynn said. “We attract students from all over who want that acceptance.”

For Clemens, price was a major reason she chose to attend McGill University. Her total expenses this year came around $21,000, half the amount of a prestigious American institution.

“McGill is considered the Harvard of Canada,” college counselor Barb Johnson said. “And they’re doing it for KU prices.”

Tuition is cheaper in Canada because the majority of the institutions are public. “[But] they are funded by the government up to a point,” Lynn said. “There is also funding from private sources … and any kind of foreign student pays a higher rate.”

According to another East graduate, McGill junior Alex Mallett, these prices are rising due to various political problems, with Prime Minister Paul Martin cutting national funding to Canadian universities.

“My tuition has increased about 50 percent since I’ve been up here,” he said. “It’s still a bargain compared to some American schools, but it’s not as great as it used to be.

Clemens also chose McGill over other institutions such as American University and Georgetown because she could enter as a sophomore after graduating from East with an IB diploma.

“Most of the IB’ers I know are stuck doing four-year programs,” she said. “McGill lets you take that credit and

use it more.”

Studying international relations, Clemens takes advantage of the global diversity that top Canadian universities are known for.

“Three of my best friends are from the Middle East,” she said. “Another good friend of mine is from Sri Lanka. I know people from all over the world. I have a friend from South Africa. And then I have a bunch of American friends and a bunch of Canadian friends. Most people I know who went to American schools didn’t have that experience.”

Mallett also sees the lack campus life as another difference.

“There is essentially no campus life,” he said. “People go out into the city on the weekends and don’t spend much social time on campus. There is almost no Greek life and only freshmen live in the dorms.”

UBC admissions officer Lynette Hawksly agrees.

“It’s an academic environment,” she said. “It’s not a fraternity or sorority culture.”

With the exception of hockey, intercollegiate sports don’t hold the same significance at top Canadian schools as they would at American schools. Nevertheless, students are very active in clubs and intramural sports.

“And the Americans [even] get together to watch NCAA championships,” Clemens said.

Students also take advantage of the lower drinking age –18 or 19 depending on the province.

“McGill may be considered by some as a party school, but [you can] spend your entire life reading and writing papers,” Clemens said. “I don’t have time to go out. McGill is tough. You only go if you really want to work.”

Clemens also noted that while many American colleges experience grade inflation – which changes what constitutes a certain letter grade, usually making it more difficult to attain – Canadian schools experience grade deflation. “[The Canadian school system] is based off the British school system,” she said.

“The highest grade possible is an 85 on a 100-point scale, so an 85 is essentially an A, down to an 80 is an A-minus, a 70 is in the B-range and so on. But McGill doesn’t give A’s… You get your midterms back and see a 70 and freak until you realize that that is a B-minus.”

It’s also tougher to get through to the schools’ bureaucratic administrations.

Clemens and her counselor Barb Johnson had encountered trouble contacting McGill admissions with application questions two years ago.

Dec. 13, 2004

“McGill is a pain in the butt to deal with as far as the [administration],” Johnson said. “They don’t return phone calls and are completely inaccessible.”

Clemens also noted that there is virtually no advising at the university.

“Theoretically there is, but they’ll probably send you to 17 different people and then the seventeenth says ‘Why did they send you here? You should have gone to an entirely different department.’…If you like bureaucracy, come to McGill.”

Other obstacles also exist at Canadian schools, including occasional anti-Americanism.

“In Political Science people will blatantly say ‘You’re bad because you’re an American.’ ” Clemens said.

“But you learn to laugh it off, because if you take it seriously, it will ruin the fun … Americans do tend to whine about the fact that there is so much not here as in, ‘We’re missing Chipotles, and we’re missing Panera.’ ” Despite the differences, Clemens and Mallett don’t regret their choices.

“McGill had everything I thought I would want in a college,” Mallett said. “A great college in a great in a great city at reasonable prices…

Going to a Canadian school will open your mind a bit to challenge your American routines… I don’t believe in regrets.”

16

mixed up

issue 8

mixed the page

student profiles. teacher snapshots. college previews. t-shirt of the week. drinking fountain reviews. health advice. hot spots around town. price chec ACED hot list. cool student rooms. scholarship info. hot jobs. student profiles. teacher snapshots. college previews. t-shirt of the week. health advice. hot spots around town. price check. ACED hot list. cool student rooms. scholarship info. hot jobs.student profiles. teacher snapshots. college previews t-shirt of the week. drinking fountain reviews. health advice. hot spots around town. price check. ACED hot list. cool student rooms. scholarship info.

30second thoughts

about life

with

Aimee Slater Chocolate or colored sprinkles?

Sprinkles are a good distraction.

If you could be any anime character, who would you be?

Which historic icon would you take out to lunch?

Anyone from FLCL, my new favorite anime.

Gandhi, because he needs to put on a few pounds.

Would you ever steal a stapler from a business establishment?

Whose hair do you want to brush?

Mr. Cappello, you know with his luscious amount of hair.

happy holidays

Only if it was red.

inside outside L

Wheaton University

O

O

K

located in Wheaton, Illinois, near Chicago, exists to help build the church and improve society worldwide by promoting the development of whole and effective Christians through excellence in programs of Christian higher education.

Curriculum: The Wheaton College Graduate School offers students a rare combination of academic excellence and practical training in a conservative evangelical Christian tradition. The Conservatory of Music functions both as a professional school with courses leading to the Bachelor of Music and the Bachelor of Music Education degrees.

Extracurricular:

Wheaton offers great study abroad program. There are a wide variety of reach out programs that center around the improvement of the Chicago area. In addition, “The Stupe” is available to all students and has been a popular hangout since the mid-50’s, where food and drinks are available for purchase while you lounge on the sofas.

topgrade yesterday today

Enrollment: Approximately 2,400 (51.6% female, 48.4% male; 15% are multicultural) from all 50 states and 52 foreign countries Admission: Average high school GPA of 3.70 (unweighted). 54% graduated in the top 10% of their class. 82%

what’s cool

what’s hot

Jeez girls, and I guess some weird guys: it’s winter. It’s cold. You amuse yourselves by blowing into the cold air and giggle when you see your breath. There’s frost on the grass when you wake.

Yet, you are now sporting tiny shirts, cropped shirts, if you will. These microscopic bits of cloth, er, apparel, are typically worn with jeans and a tank top or t-shirt underneath, but still. Aren’t you cold when half of our stomach is hanging out in the arctic temperatures? Laughter will be heard when you catch a cold.

graduated in the top 25%. Middle 50% scored between 1250 and 1410 on the re-centered SAT, 26 and 31 on the ACT.

Tuition: $26,466 (Tuition: $20,000, plus Room and Board, $6,466) Contact: http://www.wheaton.edu

“Can you hold on? I need to pull up my pants!” Yes. You know you have heard that many times from close friends and loved ones who have suffered from low-pants syndrome. Though they may have been attractive on some, the whole, “Weee! I can see your pelvic bone” trend is over. Or at least it should be.

Dress with class: wear higher pants, and no, you don’t have to be a granny to wear pants that cover your butt crack. Wear a belt, eh? It’s winter guys. Dress accordingly because although it may be neat to see a belly button peeping over the top of hip huggers, a cold belly button is no fun.

Dec, 13, 2004

lookout Raincoats. Believe it or not, flesh will be out. No longer will it be cool to see any of that stuff under your what we like to now call, clothing. These pieces of plastic that will cover us like the monks and nuns we are (or will be) can provide us with something that we as people have not known for some time: class. No bellies hanging out; not visible cracks. It will be more about personality and not how much of you can be visibly seen. Ah..life will be good. And more comfortable, eh?

a&e

issue 8

Go ahead...

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

The Corrections

J. Maarten Troost

Jonathan Franzen

Annie Fuhrman

Michael Pope

H

E

HOT SP O

T

T

Imagine you are stranded on a Pacific island. Now imagine that island is 15 thousand miles from anything, and is basically just a ring of coral and trash. Imagine there is sporadic electricity, sparse water, thousands of mean dogs, and endless recordings of “The Macarena.”

In The Sex Lives of Cannibals J. Maarten Troost chronicles his adventures in the equatorial Pacific on the island of Tarawa, capital of the Republic of Kiribati where he lives in just those conditions for two whole years.

It is a thrilling action tale chock full of encounters with sharks, machetes, 40-foot waves and poop on sticks. It is a heartwarming love story where the hero removes beetles from the heroine’s ear, and the weather is too hot for them to look at one another.

Packed with unforgettable characters like half dead Fred, evil Kate, and the lazy national poet laureate of Kiribati, the story only gets better. The best part is they are all real. This non-fiction book is funnier and more interesting than most fiction books I have read.

Cannibals not for reading in public. You should plan on enjoying it in the privacy of your own home where loud outbursts of laughter will only disturb your family. It may sound clichéd, but once you start reading this book you never want it to end.

Disclaimer: This book is not about sex. This book is not about cannibals. This book is way better than that.

Think of your favorite book ever, the one you love more than anything. This book is 59 times better than that.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to have kids. Oh, the joy knowing that I can pass on all the things I’ve learned and have my legacy reach far into the future.

Plus, think of all the time and energy I’d save by making them do all the housework.

But things are different after reading The Corrections.

It changes you. Now, not only do I no longer wish to have children, I scour my psyche for any latent traces of neurotic behavior.

This comically tragic opus follows the lives of the Lambert family in small-town St. Jude. It seems like the perfect family institution. Now, after almost 50 years of marriage Enid is finally ready to stop and enjoy the retired life.

Unfortunately, her husband’s sanity is slowly deteriorating and her children have left and now lead their own castarophic lives. Gary is struggling to convince his wife that he's not depressed; Chip was fired from his academic position at a prestigious east coast university; and Denise has narrowly escaped a disastrous marriage only have an affair with a married man. In a last-ditch attempt to find some pleasure, Enid has her heart set on bringing everyone back together for one last Christmas.

This romp through three generations of family dysfunction is immensely entertaining and an incredible vocabulary builder for those adolescent brains of yours, but be forewarned: though it may be an Oprah’s Book Club novel, this piece of work is no feminist manifesto. If you like your books racy and revealing, you’ll absolutely adore Mr. Franzen’s cultural masterpiece.

5 $ 20 $20

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Dec. 13, 2004

17

The Plot Against America Philip Roth

Tom Grotewohl In The Plot Against America, author Philip Roth examines a frighteningly-plausible “what if ?” plot: Franklin D. Roosevelt loses the presidency to Charles Lindbergh in 1940. According to many credible sources, Lindbergh was an outspoken isolationist, a fascist, and a staunch supporter of the Hitler’s Nazi reign in Germany. It is with these alarming qualities that Roth constructs his novel.

Fear is present throughout for the young Jewish narrator, who is portrayed as seven-year-old Phil Roth himself. Phil must weather the storm cast upon them and other Jews by President Lindbergh. Philip watches terrified as the United States is steadily transformed into a watered-down clone of Nazi Germany.

Casting a child as the narrator was brilliant on Roth’s part, as it offers great insight on the important events in the book through the eyes of a child.

As Phil and his family are taken on a rollercoaster of despair and anguish, their thoughts and emotions are captured wonderfully in Roth’s writing, all the while the reader is left shocked at how easily the country could have followed Roth’s theorized path. While obviously a very complex concept, The Plot Against America is filled with many personal events as Phil faces pre-adolescent life: he locks himself in a neighbor’s bathroom, gets into dangerous mischief with friends, and undergoes other hilarious adventures. It’s with this balance of personal and political events that Roth manages to keep his readers enthralled right down to the end. And what an ending it is.

18 a&e

the harbinger

Pocket rockin’ iPod portablity leads to growing popularity Courtney Condron

iPods By the Numbers $249 for iPod Mini

Forget cell phones and calculators. There’s a new do-it-all device found throughout the halls of East: the iPod. Not just for listening to music, the iPod allows students to copy and store files and with the newest version, store digital photos.

“The iPod is a hot item, and the reason it’s so hot is it’s the first MP3 player that’s not made for geeks only,” junior and Best Buy employee Marek Brzozowski said. “ T h e average user can put all of their files and MP3s to g ether, and it’s an easy product to use, so people have latched on to it.”

Brzozowski uses his iPod at school everyday to save and copy files from his laptop to the school computers.

Senior Ashlee Riden brings her iPod almost everyday to listen to music during jewelry and ceramics. In college, Riden hopes to use her iPod to copy files.

Some colleges are already experimenting with iPod use. Duke University gave all incoming freshmen an iPod this past fall, which is pre-loaded with orientation information. Students are able to download course content from an iTunes page.

“A lot of kids complain about how hard it is to talk to kids on the quad [at Duke] because everyone just walks around with their iPods on,” 2004 graduate and current Duke freshman Bryan Sayler said. “We never really use it for

$299 and up for iPod (10, 15, 20, 30, 40 gigabytes) $499 for iPod Photo

$349 for iPod U2 special edition

$.99 for one song in iTunes

photo illustration by Annie Fuhrman

$9.99 for one CD in iTunes

class, but it’s nice to have to study and stuff.”

There are now four types of iPods available, including the newest iPhoto, which allows users to store all digital photos on their iPod. The most common use of the iPod, however, is for storing and listening to music. “iPods allow people to have their entire music collection in their pocket. You can have all of your CDs and downloads with you at any time,” Apple store employee Jay Campbell said.

Making the iPod even easier to listen to are the accessories to go along with it. FM transmitters such as the iTrip allow users to play iPods in their cars, while sound docks, which are portable speakers, allow the iPod to be played like a CD player. iPods have become so widespread, in fact, that even brand names such as Coach and Gucci now make iPod holders. These accessories, along with iPods, are on increased demand with the holidays coming up.

“A lot of parents have been coming in the store and they don’t know a thing about iPods, but they know their kids want one,” Campbell said.

Senior Jaclyn Frankenberg hopes to get an iPod for Christmas.

“I really want one because they are so much easier to travel with instead of bringing a bunch of CDs,” Frankenberg said. iPods have not only changed the way students listen to music, but have changed students’ image of Apple.

“Before I think a lot of people thought of Apples and Macs as computers that old people use for graphic design, but now people realize it’s not so hard to figure out; it’s a whole new system,” Riden said.

According to Campbell, there would have been an Apple store put into the Plaza with or without iPods. However, he feels that the iPod has made Apple much more accessible and less mysterious.

“They have made a big impact,” Brozozowski said. “Other generations had portable tapes, then CDs and now iPods.”

Still have money to spend?

cool accessories for everyone’s favorite media player iPod Socks - $29.00 colorful six pack of knit socks for all iPod sizes. Apple.com or Apple stores Silicone iPod Sleeve - $19.95 for a single sleeve or $29.99 for three pack. www.xtrememac.com Leather Jacket for apple iPod - $34.99 Best Buy stores or BestBuy.com DLO Jam Jacket - $19.99 available in all sizes. Best Buy stores or BestBuy.com JBL On Stage iPod Speakers - $159.00 for all sizes. Apple.com or Apple stores Monster iCar Play cassete adapter - $19.99 for all sizes. Best Buy stores or BestBuy.com Apple iPod mini arm band - $29.99 for iPod mini only. Best Buy stores or BestBuy.com

Dec. 13, 2004

a&e

issue 8

19

Ocean’s Twelve

“ ” ...almost as much fun as the first

it’s not easy

Ian McFarland

STEALING the

SHOW

The title Ocean’s Twelve may imply that it’s better than it’s precursor Ocean’s Eleven, but after seeing both, you can conclude that bigger isn’t always better. Still, that doesn’t mean that this sequel isn’t almost as much fun as the first.

After three years of retirement a group of 11 men assembled by Danny Ocean (hence original’s title) rob three casinos in one job.

The robbed casinos’ ruthless owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) finds the thieves and gives them a choice: Pay him back the $160 million that they stole– with interest, or...well they never really say the second option but you know it isn’t going to be pretty.

So the infamous gang of thieves, along with Ocean’s new oldwife Tess (Julia Roberts) are forced to avoid the second option by stealing another $190 million in two weeks. In the process, they’re hunted by Europol detective Isabel Lahore (Catherine Zeta-Jones)

Cast, direction make this ‘Ocean’ worth crossing

Although the acting is almost as good as in Eleven, there’s a lot less of it. By introducing Zeta-Jones’ character, the rest of the cast’s roles are considerably downsized, and, it’s not that Zeta-Jones is bad in the role, it’s just that her character isn’t nearly as interesting as the original Eleven, Garcia and new thief François Toulour (Vincent Cassel). It’s hard to believe that Bernie Mac even came back for the sequel because his role couldn’t even be considered supporting; I doubt that he even said 100 words.

What defined Eleven was it’s style: it practically bled out of the frames. The Las Vegas Strip influenced its very red and dark look. And while Twelve’s style is completely different, the change is necessary, almost as good as the original’s and makes for some of the best cinematography this year. Tying it’s look to its setting, director Steven Soderbergh endows the visuals with a scathingly, seemingly transparent colors that contradict the first one.

In addition to colors, Soderbergh’s shakes up the style with great camera movement, cool titling on the screen and one particular scene which shows nothing but Cassel

dodging dozens of moving security motion detectors that look like laser beams for what seems like two minutes. There’s nothing here with plot, but I wish it would have lasted for hours because the music, along with Soderbergh’s style just makes it so unbe-friggin’-livably cool! It’s a great example of what Soderbergh is capable of as a director.

Another thing that ‘Eleven’ was remembered for was just how insanely they pulled of the heist. It was clever, funny and it was mind-blowing how they stringed the operation together. Not so much with Twelve, it kind of just poops out an explanation.

So while it’s clearly inferior to Eleven, Twelve is good enough to leave you with a hankering for Thirteen.

George Clooney , Elliot Gould, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle cross the thin blue line, while Andy Garcia ponders why on earth he made ‘Godfather III’

photos courtesy Warner Bros.

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Dec. 13, 2004

Dull Blade

20 a&e

the harbinger

Third movie in series delivers laughs, but it’s not worth the cash

Blade: Trinity combines the first two movies of the series and the result is an exact replica. Don’t look for any plot twists, acting or transitions into scenes, just expect action and rave music. Also, if you didn’t get your fill of one-liners from the previous films, here’s your third chance.

The only times I was interested in watching this movie was the action sequences that left me on the edge of my seat. I was sent back into recline while I listened to Jessica Biel’s (Abigail’s) futile attempts to set up a plot. But after her ramblings, one exploding vampire after another was sent into submission by the new weapons, Blade’s (Wesley Snipes’) legendary sword, and, of course, by the accompaniment of rave music.

The basis of the movie is that evil vampires have released the mythological character “Dracula” (Dominic Purcell) and, by doing so, are wreaking havoc upon the human world. If you didn’t see that coming from a mile away, then you probably could still guess what would happen throughout the whole movie, it was that predictable. Blade is a vampire who vows to change his blood-sucking ways and help out humans by killing other vampires. All of his business has been in secrecy until he is exposed to the public by the vampires. After being put in the spotlight he is forced into hiding until the police find out about his hideaway and then half of the movie is Blade and his fellow companions fighting off the corrupted police force. It embodies the typical Hollywood movie-- less talk, more action and a couple of clever remarks thrown in by the movie’s clown, Ryan Reynolds (Hannibal King). Reynolds was great, he added his own humor into every scene and made the whole audience laugh as a result. Although he had his fill of oneliners, they were actually spontaneous and funny, unlike

What’s on the soundtrack?

the thousands of other remarks in the movie.

Paying attention to the plot was hard enough, and the one-liners took me off on another tangent and I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Most of them are inappropriate, as this movie is rated R, but I’ll give you a little comparison. The lines Blade had are equivalent to the lines that The Rock has in all of his movies. In other words, they were so bad/lame I was laughing as Blade delivered his onetwo punch of a line and then shot the chief of police in the heart with a gigantic silver bullet. Here’s another wrestling reference for you and yet another sign to how bad this movie is: Triple H is in this movie and he takes the role of

photo courtesy of Movieweb.com

Ben Whitsitt

JESSICA Biel, Wesley Snipes, and Ryan Reynolds star in Blade: Trinity, which opened on Dec. 8.

Blade: Trinity

“

It’s the typical Hollywood movieless talk, more action, and a couple of clever remarks...

”

Fatal - The RZA I Gotta Get Paid - Lil’ Flip feat. Ghosteface Killah & Raekwon When the Guns Come Out - WC, E40 & Christ Bearer Thirsty - Old Dirty Bastard & Black Keith Daywalkers - Ramin Djawadi & The RZA

Dec. 14, 2004

a dumb bodyguard with hysterical one-liners.

They might not be intended to be funny but nevertheless I still laughed.

Only comic book lovers and people who enjoy large amounts of action will like this movie because the action will be the only part keeping you interested other than the fantastic music. The cinematography, acting, and plot were all below par but I didn’t really expect anything more except the hotness of Jessica Biel; one excuse to see the movie if you aren’t a comic book geek.

After seeing Blade: Trinity I can only hope that they won’t make a fourth one. The third, and hopefully final, Blade movie gave me a good chuckle but that’s definitely not worth the price of admission.

Party in the Morgue - Thee Undatakerz Skylight - Overseer This Blood - Black Lab Bombs Away - Paris Texas Weapons of Mad Distortion - Crystal Method Hard Wax - Manchild Blade’s Back - Ramin Djawadi

issue 8

Pressing Hard

sports

21

Peter Goehausen

A new coach, a new system,

and a new bottom feeding spot in the pre-season Sunflower rankings, are all some of the new experiences the girls basketball team will be facing this season.

“Every coach in this league is going to overlook us this year,” senior forward Rachel Beck said.

This seasons team, which will be led by seven seniors, is expecting to overcome all of their low expectations and bring a winning record back to East, something they haven’t achieved since the 2002-2003 season.

“We have the ability,” Beck said, “it’s just a matter of how hard we work.”

The girls team and first year coach Rick Rhoades have started off the season competing. In their first three games, facing all teams ranked in the top ten in 6A, they have fared 1-2. They lost to Olathe East, 3rd in 6A, by three points. In their second game the beat Emporia, 7th in 6A. Senior Jennifer Franklin dominated the game with a 28 points effort. In their latest defeat to number one SM Northwest, they were crushed by 28 points, something they don’t expect to happen a lot this season.

“You don’t understand,” Beck said, “we just sucked in that game in all aspects.”

One of the main reasons the team has been able to compete with some of the best teams is Kansas is because of the new defensive system that Rhoades has installed.The

important part of Rhoades system is bringing the full-court press all game. In their opening loss to Olathe East, they forced 32 turnovers. With the forced turnovers comes the transition game or the easy fast break baskets. Which according to Jennifer Franklin will be an important key to the season.

On the offensive side of the ball, the team has been led by domintating performances by Jennifer Franklin, averaging 21 points per game. Rhoades brought along his four out one in system, which puts the guards and the forwards position around the arc and lets Franklin take over the paint.

“We have always been a team who has wanted to play up tempo,” Franklin said, “and now we have finally have a chance to.”

In order to be as successful, Coach Rhoades believes that they need to be able to force tons of turnovers on defense to create the offensive transition game. He also says that the bench play must improve, only one bench player scored in the opening loss to Olathe East.

“When we have our starting five in,” Rhoades said, “we can play with anyone. However our bench needs to step up and has the capibililty to do so.”

Helping the seven seniors lead the way will be a freshman, Taylon Johnson. She fill the role of the point guard spot off the bench. Her job this season, Rhoades said, will be to be the teams best defender and ballhandler. “She drives teams crazy on defense,” Beck said.

photo by Emily Rappold

Lady Lancers expect to run their way to victory with their full-court press

SENIOR Allison Owens has her shot blocked in the girls 28 point loss to SM Northwest last Monday.

The seven seniors and Taylon are hoping to lead this team back to state. However, they have to play in one of the toughest substate brackets, with Aquinas, SM Northwest, and Olathe East, all teams who are expected to be very strong this season.

“I think these girls will hit their stride in January,” Rhoades said, “and once they do that, we will be able compete and beat with any team.”

ports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker•sports ticker

Friday at 7 at East Olathe East beat 3rd ranked BV North, with a 28 point effort by David Birch. Olathe East did a good job of shutting down BVN’s star Casey Crawford ,8 points, and will probably bring the same strategy against J.D. Christie. The Eagles lost their two leading scores from last year, but are still very dangerous.

By the Numbers Number of turnovers forced by the Lady Lancers in their opening loss to Olathe East The margin defeat in the wrestling teams first match of the season against Turner.

Jennifer Franklin

Senior Girls Basketball

photo by Emily Rappold

Boys basketball vs. Olathe East

32 61

Other Top Performers

Player of the Week

Game of the Week

The Truman State recruit started off her season with 18 points and 14 rebounds against Olathe East, and then propelled the Lancers to a victory over Emporia, 8th in 6A, with 28 points.

Franklin who plays the five has been the teams goto player this seaso, and has averaged 21 points per game.

Coach Rhoades has compared her play to “ A man amongst boys.” The 6” foot Franklin will continue her basketball career Franklin is one seven senior girls at Truman State next season. playing varsity basketball.

J.D. Christie Junior, varsity basketball, guard J.D. started off the season hot with a 30 point 10 rebound effort against South.

Andrew Block Sophomore, diving In his first meet as a Lancer, Block qualified for State in the six dive meet with a score of 212.

Injury Report Richie Wagstaff Senior, Varsity Basketball broken leg, length TBD Brian Tagg Junior, JV basketball sprained ankle, will return soon

Swim and Dive

Boys Basketball

Girls Basketball

Wrestling

The swimmers and diver dominated their first meet over Olathe East. In diving, East took first,second, and third in the varsity meet. Three swimmers qualified for state; junior John Cook in 100 butterfly, junior Brandon Barnds in the 100 and 50 freestyle, and sophomore Luke Tanner in the 100 and 200 freestyle. The JV divers also took first, second, and third.

Next Meet- Today in the East Invitational.

The boys kicked off their season with a 61-60 victory over SM South. The exact same score of their opening win over South last year. J.D. Christie led the team with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Garrett Webb had 19 points. On a negative note, they blew a 15 point lead with seven minutes left. They moved up to 3rd in the 6A Kansas poll, after BV North lost. JV has started their season 1-0 with a 25 point win over South.

Next Game- See Game of the Week

The Lady Lancers have gone 1-2 to start the season, with losses to dominant Olathe East and SM Northwest teams. They have had especially great showings from seniors Jennifer Franklin and Sarah Fischer. Their senior oriented team has experienced a boost in play from starting forward Rachel Beck amonst others. The JV team has started the season off 1-0, and has seen great progress from their freshman.

Next game- Tonight at South.

In their first dual at East, the Lancers finished in sixth place, going two and three as a team. Ten of the fourteen wrestlers competed on varsity for their first time. Senior Ryan Sonderegger won all five of his matches, and sophomore Drew Robinson won four of his five matches. On the JV level, their first dual was at BV North. Sophomore Dillon Goins showed promise going 3-0.

Next Meet- Johnson County Classic at Blue Valley on Friday and Saturday.

Dec. 13, 2004

22 sports

the harbinger

Finding the Blue Line With out of a team at East, students resort to playing with other schools

phot o by

Sama

ntha

Ludin g

tion

sophomore Eric Chapman claims that there is a good reason that Shawnee Mi ssion East does not have a sanctioned hockey team.

“I don’t think there are enough kids at East to have a sanctioned team,” Scott Peterson Chapman said. The Pembroke Every Monday at 6 p.m., team is comprised mostly three kids from East pad up and skate onto the ice rink of Pembroke students, and is at King Louis for hockey practice. sponsored by the school, so it is called “We have people from Lee’s Summit, and the Pembroke team.

Shawnee Mission South, as well as Pembroke and “It used to be a mostly East team East,” sophomore Paul Wiseman said. Wiseman with some kids from Pembroke and other has been playing hockey since he was in third schools,” said Wiseman, “but now it is grade. switched around.”

The teams are composed of Varsity and Sports such as basketball and football, Junior Varsity players, and kids who which are both played around the same time as want to play are welcome. hockey, often make hockey become overlooked.

“It’s not really a tryout All three kids who play on the team are thing, and you don’t have to SOPHOMORE Eric Chapman skates during sophomores, and they played last year go to East or Pembroke to hockey practice as well. play.” Said Wiseman. The Both Wiseman and Chapman have teams practice Mondays at King Louis, and have games on different stories on how they started to play hockey. th Wednesdays at Metro Ice Sports on 135 and Quivera.

“I started playing hockey after I watched the Mighty Hockey is a sport overlooked by many schools, but

Ducks movies, and I got into hockey after that.” Wiseman said he played for a Junior Blades league until he played for the high school team.

Chapman’s family history is what led him to take up hockey.

“I’ve been playing hockey for about five years,” Chapman said, “My dad and my step dad both played hockey, so they got me into it. I played for a metro team that traveled around before I played high school.” They started out teaching him, but he later moved to the metro team where he played until he joined the Pembroke team.

So, it wasn’t a big step for either of them to play with kids they didn’t know.

The team plays in a metro against teams like Blue Valley Northwest, Shawnee Mission Northwest, St. Thomas Aquinas, and other schools around the metro. Most of those teams are also comprised of multiple schools.

Many people consider fights to be a big part of hockey, but both Wiseman and Chapman claim that they don’t get into many fights.

The season lasts through the winter, and the team usually plays against other teams in the metro, but with the exception of this year they sometimes go out of town to tournaments.

“Last year we did play tournaments. This year we have a couple of games in St.. Joe, but we don’t play tournaments.”

He said.

Now every time the suit up, they reminisce about how far they have come to get where they are. After all, most kids don’t play hockey this long. The lack of sanctioned teams in the area shows proof of that.

Even after losing seven seniors this year, boy’s basketball is

Starting Str ng

“I’ve been in the crowd in a game like that, but on the court it’s so much louder,” sophomore forward Bryan Nelson said about to his first game enduring the intensity of the varsity level.

The team this year is much different from the team last year as far as varsity experience goes. The departure of last year’s talented senior class forced spots that needed to be filled for this season, especially in the post area. The players expected to fill in these roles are mainly juniors and sophomores.

The “diaper dandies” on the team this year include Nelson, who had seven points in the game against South; sophomore guard Ross Simpson; and freshman guard Terrance Thomas.

This game surely provided the younger players with good experience that they can build on as the season progresses.

The next opponent for the Lancers is Olathe East which will be a home game on Dec. 17. The Hawks are off to a strong start after beating Blue Valley North 56-45 and holding Casey Crawford to only 8 points. Guard/forward David Birch poured in 28 points against the Mustangs and might prove to be difficult to stop. However the Lancers have two weeks to prepare for the match up.

“Practices have to get better. We’ve got to find out who can handle the pressure,” Hair said.

The day after the game against Olathe East, the Lancers will be competing in the Hyvee Shootout at Avila University where they will play Raytown South.

“It’s going to be good for our team to get outside the Sunflower League and play different kinds of talent,” Christie said.

Dec. 13, 2004

photo by Megan Koch

What a great way to start the Andy Launder season for the Lancer boy’s basketball team. East students poured out of the bleachers and rushed the court Friday, Dec. 3 at Shawnee Mission South’s gymnasium. The South student section stood in awe as the Lancer faithful celebrated the 61-60 victory on the Raider’s home floor. But the game was not with out its headaches.

The Lancers (wearing new columbia blue uniforms) started the game strong, moving the ball well and playing tough defense and went into halftime leading 33-24. They came out with the same intensity in the second half and were up by 15 with seven minutes left to play. It was at this time when the wheels began to come lose a little bit for the Lancers.

“We made a lot of crucial turnovers and missed some crucial free throws,” head coach Shawn Hair said.

South seemed to have the magic touch in the final seven minutes as they were making just about everything they were throwing at the basket. They scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, which was close but not enough to overcome the Lancers in the end.

Top scorers for the Lancers include Junior J.D. Christie with 30 points and Junior Garret Webb with 19 points.

“I thought we played really well up to the midway point of the fourth quarter when they threw a press on us,” Christie said.

Along with the pressures provided by the other team, the game also proved to be a tough environment to play in, more so for the many new faces on the court.

“It’s a tough atmosphere for kids with little varsity experience, we learned a lot about different individuals,” Hair said.

JUNIOR Scott Mahley shoots the ball during the basketball game against SM South The team hopes to work out its early season jitters and build on their undefeated record.

issue 8

The

League

Bryan Dykman

Fighting for a playoff spot in football is one of the hardest tasks that the general manager of the Johnson County Cupcakes, Cal Cooney, has ever faced. No, the Cupcakes aren’t the NFL’s newest team. They’re the 5-7 fantasy football team fighting to keep their dream of winning the championship alive.

Fantasy football is an online game that allows anyone with an Internet connection to log on and manage a custom built team. Cooney and friends gathered in late August, when the NFL season began, created a league and drafted players. They used Yahoo, a site that offers free fantasy leagues.

This season Michael Vick was Cooney’s first round draft pick. Cooney’s strategy was to get a quarterback that could not only throw touchdown passes but could also run and make big plays on the ground.

“Some of my friends draft their favorite players while others take time to look over last years stats, projected stats for next season and the opinion of the online fantasy experts,” junior Cal Cooney said.

After the draft Cooney and friends choose on a weekly basis the players they want to start. Sunday morning the starters are finalized and are placed head to head against another team in the league. The players score points based on how well they perform during their NFL game, while those not starting earn no points for the team.

Some play for big money, but many managers, such as Cooney, simply play because they are attentive fans and like to keep up on their stats.

“I’m not looking to gamble. If I want to do that I’ll head over to my friends and play a little five card. I guess the

sports

Following one fantasy football manager’s quest for a title

main reason that I love to play this game is because I just like to know what is going on,” he said.

Each week Cooney checks the Internet for the latest injuries and free agents. He also looks to make any trades that would strengthen his team. The best players are those like the Kansas City Chiefs’ Priest Holmes and the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning, who score lots of touchdowns.

“The players that score the most touchdowns are the best because touchdowns are worth more points than anything else,” Cooney said.

“Fantasy football is the perfect way for fans to really get involved with the game and have a true understanding of what is going on,” Kane said. “It allows fans to create a team of their favorite players and put it on the line against another fan’s dream team.”

Cooney’s 5-7 Cupcakes are eligible for a playoff spot with a win this week over the 11-1 Orthodox Crew managed by junior Alex Kane. It’s going to take work but Cooney doesn’t believe that he should be counted out yet.

Sunday-Game time. Cooney’s season comes down to this day. Unfortunately he won’t be able to watch the players on his team perform. He has to work. Along with being the manager of the Cupcakes Cooney works part time at Hen House.

Cooney does not neglect his responsibilities to his team. Throughout the day Cooney checks the scores and updates on his cell phone.

“I hope it doesn’t cost any money,” Cooney said, “because my mom won’t be happy if it does.”

The day continues and after work Cooney logs on

Dec. 13, 2004

23

to Yahoo and checks to see how his team is doing. It’s not exactly what Cooney wants to see but so far not bad. Michael Vick had a miserable game, which brought down his teams numbers drastically. His wide receivers, Eric Molds and Joey Galloway, caught a pair of touchdown passes. As for his other players, their performance was only average.

At the moment Cooney is only 13 points away from making it to the playoffs and his hopes are high because he still has running back Shawn Alexander who will play on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys.

“Today wasn’t as productive as I would have liked but I’m feeling pretty good about the Monday night game. I just wish this week would speed up,” Cooney said.

Monday-During school Cooney watches the clock waiting for that 2:40 p.m. bell. During lunch Cooney makes a trip to the library to get a last glance at the final amount of points he needs out of Alexander to win. It is currently 6347. All of his opponents’ players are done playing. He only needs 16 points out of Alexander, which basically means Alexander needs to score a pair of touchdowns and run for at least 50 yards. Luckily for Cooney, Alexander is perennially one of the best running backs in the league and the go-to man in the Seahawks’ offense.

The game comes around and Cooney watches with his eyes fixed to the television. At 11:30 p.m. Cooney’s season is over. He watched as Alexander fumbled and missed catches and as the Seahawks decided to go with their passing game over their running attack.

“I guess that’s it,” Cooney said. “It’s a horrible feeling and I am sure to hear about it tomorrow from all my friends, but there is always next year.”

24 photo essay

the harbinger

Children from the Franklin Center open their presents eagerly and play games with students for an early ALBERTO plays with his new toy nerf gun and shoots it off at Brenda Fishman’s class. Along with his nerf gun, Alberto received a new skateboard, stuffed animals, a discman, winter clothes, a soccer ball and toy dinosaurs. photo by Linda Howard

Holiday celebration

AMIR plays with his new toy cars and trucks in Carolyn Seeley’s class, while students sit around him. Amir also received some puzzles and a Leapfrog learning pad. photo by Samantha Ludington

SOPHOMORE Elise Langtry helps Jadon, the boy her class raised money for, to play with his new toys. Students pitched a ball to him and Elise helped him bat. photo by Linda Howard

SENIOR Cristin Weekley, a member of the Spanish National Honors Society, which runs the annual holiday visits of the Franklin Center children, went around and played with several kids including Darien. Cristin walked up and down the halls next to Darien as he rode his brand new bike. photo by Linda Howard

Dec. 13, 2004