Issue 9

Harbinger the

ISSUE 9 / SHAWNEE MISSION EAST / PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

R

JAN. 20, 2009

RESTRICTED

*

UNDER 17 REQUIRES ACCOMPANYING PARENT OR ADULT GUARDIAN

*THOUGH R-RATED MOVIES ARE FOR THOSE 17 AND OLDER ACCORDING TO THE MPAA, SOME STUDENTS AND THEATERS ARE DISREGARDING THE SUGGESTION

PAGES 12-13

NEWS: Remembering Sharyn Gassmann >PAGE 2 A&E: Events calendar >PAGE 18 SPORTS: Janna Graf leads Lady Lancers >PAGE 22

PAGE 2 NEWS / JAN. 20, 2009

briefs There will be a 9:20 a.m. late start tomorrow. It will be a 2, 4, 6 block schedule day with no seminar period.

Enrollment presentations for the 2008-2009 school year are as follows: Freshmen: Today and tomorrow in world geography classes. Enrollment will be finalized on Jan. 29 and 30.

Sophomores: Today and tomorrow in English classes. Enrollment will be finalized on Feb. 3 and 4.

Juniors: Jan. 26 and 27 in US history classes. Enrollment will be finalized on Feb. 5 and 6 The Kansas writing assessments will be held next week for juniors. Tests will be administered during English classes. The schedule for the week will be all, even, odd, even, odd due to a 1:10 p.m. early dismissal on Jan. 27. If a student misses any portion of the test it is to be made up before or after school or during a seminar period.

There will be a 1:10 p.m. early dismissal on Jan. 27. The schedule for the week will be switched around to all, even, odd, even odd to acommodate. For this day, the schedule will be 2, 6, 4.

There will be a PLAN test interpretation meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria for students and their parent.

Bring your test results to the meeting if you wish to attend.

The Frequent Fridays for second semester, which take place in the Little Theater on Fridays at 3 p.m. are as follows: Nathan Klein.......................... Jan. 9 Jordan Holsinger................... Jan. 16 Grace Haun............................ Jan. 23 Michael Grace........................ Jan. 20 Wraye Sewell......................... Feb. 6 Alison Meagher-Manson..... March 6 Alec Hynes............................. March 27 Griffin MacDonald................. April 27

FACS teacher remembered // DUNCANMCHENRY

To most students and teachers in the Shawnee Mission classroom.

School District, the colors Columbia blue and orange would nev“Some teachers don’t like doing food labs because it’s chaotic, er go together in a game day outfit. But for FACS teacher Sharyn everybody is up and moving and doing stuff and some people Gassmann, who taught at both SM East and Northwest, the two find that quite scary in the classroom,” Koelker said. “She had to were like crimson and blue for a KU fan. put up with that a lot, and I think it takes a special teacher to be Mrs. Gassmann arrived to Northwest vs. East games wearing able to do that. an orange shirt under a Columbia blue sweater, and even sat in Sophomore George Brophy, a student in her FACS class, the center of the bleachers so that she wasn’t on either school’s agreed that Mrs. Gassmann’s teaching style was always unique side. Also, during the school day on Fridays, she wore her North- and fun, but she was also adept at keeping her students focused west spirit wear in the morning and changed into East colors for and active. her afternoon classes. East FACS teacher Marsha Boyer said that “It was cool how instead of showing us pictures out of a book this is a perfect example of Mrs. Gassman’s attitude and the way she would go around the kitchen showing us each thing and she treated her students. what it did,” Brophy said. “She would snap at you quick though “Besides Mrs. Gassmann wanting to do what she needed to and wouldn’t really let you rest a lot.” do to make her students successful, she Mrs. Gassmann continued teaching on always tried to show them that she supher usual schedule between Northwest Some teachers don’t like doing food labs because ported them in more fun ways,” Boyer and East for as long as she could even afit’s chaotic, everybody is up and moving and doing ter her diagnosis. According to junior Tess said. “For her, that including wearing both school colors on Fridays. stuff and some people find that quite scary in the class- Duncan, a student in her Health Careers After 41 years of teaching in three room. She had to put up with that a lot, and I think it class, although Mrs. Gassmann seemed school districts, five of them in the SMSD, scared about her illness early on, she still takes a special teacher to be able to do that.

Mrs. Gassmann passed away on Dec. 17 explained to the class where her body -SM Northwest FACS teacher Beth Koelker due to complications from cancer. She was would be operated on.

61. The cancer was first diagnosed in one “She told our class more details than of her salivary glands on Sept. 5. her other classes because we were Health Careers,” Duncan said.

Thirty-three of Mrs. Gassmann’s teaching years were spent “She wanted us to know because we all were trying to become teaching Vocational Foods classes in the Kansas City, Kansas doctors. It wasn’t until after the operation that she found out how Public School district. During those years, she prepared din- serious it was, and we had a sub after that.”

According to her son, James Gassmann, doctors first ners for the administration and different school-related groups on a semi-professional level, according to Boyer. She switched performed surgery to remove tumors from Mrs. Gassmann’s face, to teaching in the SMSD in 2004 because she was looking for a but the cancer was then found in her bones and the disease was declared terminal. James said that when she found out she was change after working in the same district for so long.

Mrs. Gassmann’s enthusiasm for her two schools also carried terminally ill, she decided to live as long as her body would allow over into her teaching. Northwest FACS teacher Beth Koelker without prolonged treatment or medication.

“She just wanted to go out with some sort of honor and didn’t said that Mrs. Gassmann was never one to sit back and watch while her students did book work. She wasn’t afraid to get her want to go under a bunch of different meds and linger for a coustudents out of their seats for hands-on food labs, and always ple of years,” James said. “She knew that she was going to die, but remained in control despite the hectic atmosphere of a foods she was going to go with dignity and be as classy as she could.”

“

Gassmann’s Classes at East

Focus on Foods: students learn techniques used in hot and cold food preparation and baking. Nutrition, menu planning, kitchen safety, sanitation and kitchen procedures are covered throughout this pre-culinary course.

”

Health Science Careers: students explore the entire scope of health career opportunities and compare the demands of the specifc careers. Instruction includes visitations by health care professionals, and introduction to human anatomy and medical terminology.

// High school program planning guide

Seminar Update: There will be no seminar periods on Wednesday and Jan. 27 because of a 9:20 a.m. late start and 1:10 p.m. early dismissal.

Seniors will be nominating candidates for sweetheart king and queen during seminar on Jan. 29.

The sixth annual Feast for East will be held Jan. 31 at Milburn Country Clubfrom 7 to 11 p.m. and supports the Shawnee Mission East Educational Excelence Fund. For more information contact Pam Olander at (913)649-6388

FACS teacher Sharyn Gassmann with sons James (left) and Jeff (right) celebrating the first birthday of her grandaughter Lilly (middle) at her their home in Leawood.

Gassmann prepares to go trick-or-treating with then threeyear-old granddaughter Lilly. // Photos courtesy of the Gassman family

Mid-semester arrival of replacement subsides worries, helping teachers

to work through the

// PATRICKMAYFIELD

CREDIT CRISIS // RACHELBIRKENMEIER

When the need to fill physics teacher Rajasree Prakash’s spot arose at the beginning of the school year due to medical issues, a permanent teacher was needed, but could not be found. The administration was scrambling to find someone, anyone, who was qualified to teach physics. In an effort to quickly replace the vacant teaching position, the school hired Russ Ringer, a short term substitute certified to teach chemistry and physics.

“I was sorry to hear her medical issues hadn’t gotten better,” said physics teacher Miles Martin. “She wanted to work with her students and colleagues. She really enjoyed her job. But I had to start brainstorming the best solution to this.”

Things were soon resolved at the beginning of second semester. Mary Ward was hired as the permanent replacement for Prakash. Ward previously was a student teacher at Blue Valley Northwest, and majored in biology at Iowa State.

She is also qualified to teach physics. But upon her arrival the first week of the new semester, class scheduling and switching caused confusion for teachers and students alike.

“Some [of my students] had the sub [Mr. Ringer], and some had Mr. Martin.

Some moved and some switched [classes],” Ward said. “So it’s a little confusing.”

But students couldn’t control if they were going to switch. Due to certain classes needing to be taught by certain teachers, adjustments had to be made.

“I didn’t get to choose,” junior Haley Dalgleish said. “They just said things were going to be switched because the I.B. and College Now kids have to have an official teacher to get credit.”

Both Prakash and Martin are certified, but Martin is the only teacher able to teach now. When Mr. Ringer came in and took over Prakash’s classes, he was not certified to be teaching I.B. He potentially kept those students from earning their needed credits and caused them to wonder if they actually would or not.

“I wasn’t too worried [about receiving credit],” junior Qi Chen said. “I knew that they would get it figured out, and that Mrs. Murphy would take care of it. I went in one class period to talk to her and she reassured me that it was going to work out.”

Rebecca Murphy, I.B. department head took into account the situation when deciding the credit issue.

“We had the most qualified person in the room who worked closely with the physics department to make sure the curriculum was covered,” Murphy said.

“The classes were monitored carefully so it wouldn’t actually mess with the kids getting credit.”

To keep the issue from arising again, Martin is now in charge of teaching only I.B. and College Now physics classes.

“I have three preps now instead of two,” Martin said. “So in that sense it’s a little harder because I.B. preps are usually a little more demanding.”

This situation is not permanent. Prakash is only on an extended medical leave and is hoping to return in the future.

QUICK FACTS ABOUT MARY WARD

BY THE NUMBERS: 14 1698

SCIENCE TEACHERS SCIENCE STUDENTS

22

SCIENCE CLASS OPTIONS

73

OVERALL SCIENCE CLASSES // BETHGILES

new physics teacher— HOMETOWN: Fort Madison, Iowa COLLEGE: Iowa State University BACHELOR’S DEGREE:Biology //PATRICKMAYFIELD

East’s science department

FAVORITE SCIENCE: Microbiology “I like diseases and that sort of stuff. [Things like] parasites are very interesting.”

PAGE 3 NEWS / ISSUE NINE

With the nation facing a shortage of new math and science teachers, the district might have to

PAY THE PRICE // LOGANHELEY

With unemployment rates hovering at record highs, at least one profession has some openings. About 280,000 of them, to be exact.

Across the nation, fewer college students are going into math and science education. By 2015 the U.S. will need around 280 thousand new math and science teachers, according to estimates by the Business-Higher Education Forum.

East is one school feeling the math and science crunch. Math department head Carolyn Seeley says that finding quality math teachers has been getting harder in recent years due to the lower number of applicants. While she is just part of the hiring process, she has seen the issue take root the last few years.

“It is a problem, there’s no question,” Seeley said. “It has been. We’ve been very lucky to get good teachers when we have had openings. But it’s getting harder and harder and what’s happening is student teachers are getting [job] offers before they even finish [student teaching]. So the competition for those people is just a mess.”

The shortage is due to two related factors: a lack of bright and talented college students going into math and science teaching and also the high number of teachers who leave the profession early in their career, according to Kirstin McCarthy, the Associate Director of Programs for BHEF. “The biggest concern, I’d say, is restructuring the teaching profession from a variety of levels so it’s a profession that is appealing to people coming out of the higher [education] system with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math,” McCarthy said.

Principal Dr. Karl Krawitz said the shortage is not just in math and science, but that is starting to become a problem in all subjects.

“Teacher education programs throughout the state and even at the public and private institutions are all below normal,” Dr. Krawitz said.

“People are just not getting in the profession.”

A lack of new teachers is only part of the problem. The number of retirees in the profession has also worsened the shortage; however, with the country in a recession, Dr. Krawitz said some potential retirees will opt to stay longer due to financial reasons.

There are five science teachers that Science department head Cole Ogdon has identified as near retirement, including himself. He doesn’t foresee a real problem unless most of those teachers decide to leave in the same year.

While Shawnee Mission continues to be considered one of the top school districts in Kansas, Ogdon believes getting high quality math and science teachers could become an issue.

“I’ll tell you, we have a lot of stiff competition with the other school districts in Johnson County for these top-dog graduates that are coming out of the Kansas schools,” Ogdon said. “And they are few and far between.”

However, Dr. Joy Torgerson, the district’s Manager of Human Resources, said that the shortage is not affecting the district at this time.

For the district, industrial technology teachers are harder to come by than math and science

applications” for math and science jobs, but no job openings currently.

“We’re not seeing a shortage of math teachers right now,” Torgerson said. “The science teachers, at this point, we have not had an issue.

There’s less graduates, there’s no doubt about it, but we have not had any problems finding qualified teachers either.”

Representatives from both the Olathe School District and the Blue Valley School District say that the shortage is affecting them negatively.

Lowell Ghosey, Olathe’s Executive Director of Secondary Personnel, says that the Olathe district is taking steps similar to SMSD and that they are also trying to encourage Olathe schools’ graduates to enter math and science teaching professions.

Mary Ward is the new physics teacher who came to East at the beginning of the semester, after graduating from college in December. Ward said she had the grades to enter nearly any science field, but choose teaching because she enjoys it.

Many of her fellow science colleagues choose professions that paid much more than teaching, she said. There were only four science teachers that graduated from Iowa St. in her class which she considered to be a “big class.”

Societal perception of teachers is low and many potential teachers choose not to become teachers because of that, Ward says. Also, the pay does not compare favorably to other professions such as engineering.

“Even when I started majoring in teaching people would tell me that I shouldn’t be a teacher because I’m too smart for that,” Ward said. “So, I think trying to change the perception that the public has of teaching would help a lot.”

Dr. Krawitz agrees that the prestige of the profession is low. Too low, in many cases, to attract college students into the profession.

“That’s not necessarily the fault of anybody,” Dr. Krawitz said. “It’s been a general tendency for people to regard teaching as not so much a profession as much as a service to the public.

And so they don’t perceive teachers like the way we place engineers, doctors, lawyers and business people. It just never has ever received that kind of reputation.”

While it is tough for schools to compete with private corporations, it may be the only way, according to Ogdon. He says that the district will have to make teaching within the district attractive to college students if they hope to continue to get enough teachers to fill openings.

“They [districts] are going to have to pay up,” Ogdon said. “They’re going to have to increase their [teachers’] salaries, they’re going to have to offer incentives and bonuses and many of the districts across the country are doing that already. They’re offering [teachers] a signing bonus or an incentive to get teachers to sign contracts. It’s all about enticement.”

For the short-term, East should be safe. But Dr. Krawitz is wary of the future.

“The long range outlook could be serious, and not only for us, but for any student anywhere in the country.”

PAGE 4 NEWS / JAN. 20, 2009

Photo class gets grant for computerized dark room technology // GRIFFINBUR

As traditional film-based photography gives way to digital, the concept of a traditional darkroom is shifting to digital, too.

East’s new digital darkroom is not lit by red lights or full of photo students- it’s two computers and a printer.

The photography department is getting the darkroom via a Shawnee Mission Education Foundation grant. It will consist of two Mac laptops and a 17-inch Epson 3200 Pro printer. The grant also covers printer ink for two years.

The darkroom will allow photo classes to use digital photography, which they previously couldn’t do. Photography teacher Adam Finkelston said that students will be able to download and manipulate digital photos, as well as scan traditional photos.

“We’ll be able to do more conceptual type things,” Finkelston said.

The computers will use Photoshop CS3, a form of cutting edge imaging software, according to Finkelston.

Finkelston, who wrote the grant, does not have plans for a separate digital photography class yet.

“With 75 students, we’d need more [computers] to have a separate class,” Finkelston said.

The darkroom will be incorporated into

current photography classes, especially the advanced ones. However, it will be available for all students to use. Finkelston sees a definite student demand.

“Kids ask all the time if we can do digital photography,” Finkelston said. “Probably 95 percent of [the photo students] at least have a digital camera or some kind of experience with one. Digital cameras are ubiquitous.”

Junior Valery Barajas, a Photo 5 student, is excited about the darkroom because it will open up different projects to the classes. She thinks that students like the idea because most have their first photography experience with digital cameras. However, both film and digital, she said, are worthwhile.

“I prefer [film] because the process is more interesting, but I would definitely take a digital class along with a regular one,” Barajas said.

Junior Ali Yaqubian, a Photo 4 student, thinks the darkroom will open up new aspects of photography to the classes.

“I was so psyched when I heard about it,” Yaqubian said. “It’s going to really [be useful] to the commercial photography side, especially the journalism crowd.”

While Yaqubian also prefers film, he can see benefits to both styles, and wants to make use of the digital darkroom.

“I think if it was possible, a separate digital photo class would be sweet,” he said.

Finkelston also believes that student support represents a general trend in photography. Mark Murray, Executive Director of the Texas Association of Photo Instructors, agreed, saying in an email interview that the change has been taking place for more than 10 years.

He cites the disappearance of companies like Polaroid and Afga as evidence of the market change towards digital photography.

“The main reason [for the switch] is probably our need for instant gratification,” he said.

As far as reasons for using film, Murray believes the experience of working with the physical photo holds appeal.

“I can still remember…the first time an image started appearing on my…photographic paper as it sat in the tray of developer,” Murray said. “It was an amazing experience.”

Finkelston feels the same way.

“It’s for people who like to get their hands wet,” Finkleston said. “I prefer film but it’s the way photography is going. Most of my students know more about Photoshop than me. It’s a way to continue my education.”

// TY

LER

Film vs. Digital- according to photo teacher Adam Finkelston Advantages to digital: Easiest for beginners to start with Better for commercial photography (i.e., newspaper, magazines) Easier to make multiple prints

Advantages to film: Process is more interesting More of a richness to the image More of an art Skill that takes talent

s e i t i l i b i op Poss

h s o t o h P • • • •

RO STE

IE

NZIEWYL

// MACKE

Correct imperfections with Spot Healing Brush Remove “red-eye” Scale images without them pixelating Manipulate pictures with ImageWarp (i.e. stretch, peel and blend pictures) • Create layers to change only chosen sections of a picture • Add layers on top of original images like custom designs or symbols • Cut and edit photos

PAGE 5 NEWS / ISSUE NINE

Math and science test scores in the U.S. still fall behind European and Asian countries // BERNADETTEMYERS

After testing students worldwide, American students continue to exceed the international average on math and science tests, but are still well behind their counterparts in several Asian nations and trail a few European countries.

The results, which were released on Dec. 15, are part of an ongoing assessment conducted by The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMS. The program is sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement and is meant to generate discussion about the effort in U.S. schools to improve instruction and learning material in the subjects.

For students and teachers at East, however, math is still seen as a strong point. Senior Michael Smythe, a differential equations student, feels that overall, math at East is a strong subject.

“We have very challenging math and science programs that really help people push beyond their limits,” Smythe said. “I don’t feel like they could get any better.”

Science teachers Steve Appier and Cole Ogden also feel that the results are not a good judge between the different education systems.

“It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Appier said. “In

Europe, students that aren’t good at math and science just don’t do it so they aren’t testing everyone there like we are.”

According to Appier, before changes are made to the programs, the test would have to be normalized.

While Smythe, Appier and Ogden don’t see the need for an adjustment at East, Ina Mullis, an executive director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College feels that the U.S. needs to improve the math and science programs overall.

“It’s a good-news, bad-news kind of story. In mathematics, the U.S. is making steady progress, and since 1999, has significantly improved,” said Mullis. “However, the gap between the U.S. and top-performing Asian countries is huge, just enormous.”

The actual scores state that United States students improved on the math assessment since it was last given in 2003. They scored 529 points on a 1000-point scale, which is 11 points higher than the last assessment. That group scored 539 points on the science test, statistically the same as several years ago.

Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan outscored the U.S. students on both math and science tests. Several

developing Eastern European countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, and Slovenia—outscored the United States in some areas.

For students like senior Young Hou, a native to China, these results don’t bother him.

“I just work hard in all my classes and while I like math and science, there are other interesting and competitive subjects,” Hou said.

While school reform efforts have increasingly focused on improving instruction and teacher training in math and science, some experts say those efforts are wholly inadequate.

Francis Q. Eberle, the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association feels that results shouldn’t be surprising.

“For the last 10 years, we’ve seen many reports that say we need to be investing more in science education, yet very little filtered down into the classroom,” said Eberle. “What’s important about TIMSS is that we can learn how we’re doing as a country relative to other countries, and where we need to be focusing on. So until this country decides that science is important, results like this shouldn’t be surprising.”

PAGE 6 EDITORIAL / JAN 20, 2009

Since the current cheating policy is without defined punishments, the administration should

Copying assignments, crib-notes on exams, using Sparknotes to supplement reading. All actions deemed under the broad umbrella of cheating.

But this serious action has lost its severity as the practice becomes commonplace. The ramifications of being caught are not being as strongly enforced. With several incidents of cheating involving the office last semester, it is time to reconsider cheating policies and devise a new system involving more accountability and vigilance to the issue.

Cheating is not only an act of academic dishonesty, but it creates bad habits for the students and leads to a lack of the basic knowledge for future academics.

In addition, cheating defrauds success and can ruin a student’s credibility, while putting those who have legitimately completed the task and may have scored less than the cheater at a disadvantage.

In the past, though taking the issue seriously, the school has lacked in publicity this serious offense, leading to the action becoming commonplace.

Though the issue is highlighted in student planners, it only indicates that “appropriate disciplinary action will result.”

This open-ended definition for punishment creates a false sense of security for the student by not establishing set penalties to deter students from cheating.

All too often students have become accustomed to creating a safety net for an overwhelming workload by saving a math assignment or SQ4R to be copied from a friend the next day with hardly the fear of being caught.

It is this sense of comfort that needs to be disrupted by a stricter defined set of reprimands for these offenses that are to be strongly enforced. Without a definite method for punishing these academic offenses, as is the situation under the current case-by-case policy at East, students fail to fully understand the ramifications of their actions.

In this scenario, the fear of the punishment that would be created by examples made of other students should reduce the frequency of cheating and plagiarism at East.

It is important for the administration to create a system for dealing with cheating based offenses, as this is the time in a student’s life when habits are created for future academics. If one were to become accustomed to these dishonest actions and shortcut taking, what is to prevent similar actions in the future, which may have higher stakes in the person’s life?

Harbinger the

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

jan.20, 2008 issue 9, vol. 50

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

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ STEPHENNICHOLS

ASSISTANT EDITORS/ BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL

ART AND DESIGN EDITOR/ MEGSHACKELFORD

HEAD COPY EDITOR/ TIMSHEDOR

NEWS SECTION EDITOR/ MICHAELSTOLLE

NEWS PAGE EDITORS/ ANNABERNARD CAMILLEKARRO

OPINION SECTION EDITOR/ MACTAMBLYN

OPINION PAGE EDITOR/ JOESERNETT CONORTWIBELL

EDITORIAL EDITOR/ ANNIESGROI

FEATURES SECTION EDITOR/ MELISSAMCKITTRICK

REVISE THE RULES

The punishment should not be made to ruin the academic or athletic career of the individual, but to help the student recognize and reflect on their fraudulent actions and the ramifications if this behavior were to continue.

Within this plan is a three-tiered system that weighs the severity of the infraction combined with a way of dealing with repeated offenses, which would receive an increased level of attention and consequences.

The escalation of punishments relates to the number of times the student has cheated and the severity of the offense. In each scenario the student loses credit for the assignment cheated on, and may also be subject to further punishments as is seen necessary.

Starting on the level with small assignments, which includes homework, quizzes and other daily activities, cheating would be addressed by first issuing a warning to the student. If the student were to cheat again, the punishment would escalate to parental involvement, then to in-school-suspension for third offenses.

The second category of this system involves long term assignments such as tests, projects and papers.

The punishments for this level would start at parental involvement, and leading to in-school suspension, and on the third offense, loss of credit for the course.

For the most serious offense, cheating on a final exam, the student would immediately lose credit for the course and be subject to suspension or expulsion at the discretion of school administrators.

East would benefit from the unified system because the current system, where the departments separately decide on punishments for cheating, does not provide a reliable means for communication. Each offense, no matter how minor would be reported to the office in order to keep a detailed record of the offenses so that patterns can be identified and the proper action can be taken.

Under this system, the issue of cheating would be more publicly available, having administrators explain the system and stress the consequences to all English classes during their yearly visits.

The definite punishments and publicity of the system will prevent cheating when the moral compass fails Ideally the moral guidelines of the student would prevent this problem from arising, but lapses in judgment occur and the new system, if adopted, would reinforce the moral consequences of the issue to prevent incidences in the future.

CURRENT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY

“Plagiarism: from the Latin word for “kidnapper.” Students who plagiarize borrow the language, thoughts, and ideas of another author, directly or indirectly, and claim them as their own. The most blatant form of plagiarism is to use directly quoted material with no quotation marks and no reference to the source. Borrowed material that students paraphrase but do not document is also plagiarism. In fact, any form of cheating-crib sheets during tests, copying another student’s work or inside or outside of class, buying papers-is plagiarism.”

“Students are expected to turn in their own work on all assignments and tests. If a student makes any attempt to copy or turn in work that is not his/her own, this will be considered plagiarism and appropriate disciplinary action will result. Disciplinary action may include, but is not limited to, loss of credit.” // Planner student guidelines

*OUR SUGGESTED CHEATING POLICIES— -Final Exams: Loss of credit for class -Long Term Assignments (projects, tests and papers): 1st time: parent involvement 2nd time: ISS 3rd time: Loss of credit for the class

-Small Assignments:

1st time: Warning 2nd time: Parent involvement 3rd time: ISS *All punishments include a loss of credit for the assignment

7 ote FOR

4 0 AGAINST ABSENT

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

FEATURES PAGE EDITORS/ DUNCANMCHENRY KATHLEENIRELAND

FREELANCE PAGE EDITOR/ BOBMARTIN EVANNICHOLS COLLEENIRELAND

SPREAD SECTION EDITOR/

ONLINE EDITOR/

ASSISTANT SPREAD EDITOR/

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR/

A&E EDITOR/

ONLINE STAFF WRITERS/

PHOEBEUNTERMAN LOGANHELEY

RACHELBIRKENMEIER

A&E PAGE EDITOR/

TAYLORHAVILAND

ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAN

BILLYKIRKPATRICK HALEYMARTIN JEFFCOLE

JEFFRUTHERFORD MADDYBAILEY

PHOTO EDITOR/

AUBREYLEITER

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR/

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR/

PHOTOGRAPHERS/

MIXED PAGE EDITOR/ SAMLOGAN

SPORTS PAGE EDITORS/ CAMSMITH KEVINSIMPSON

TYLERROSTE

MACKENZIEWYLIE

GRANTHEINLEIN MAXSTITT KATIEEAST PATRICKMAYFIELD DANIELSTEWART

GAILSTONEBARGER CCCREIDENBERG ANDYALLEN JACKSONO’GORMAN-BEAN

COPY EDITORS/

SAMKOVZAN KEVINSIMPSON ANNIESGROI ANDREWGOBLE PHOEBEUNTERMAN MICHAELSTOLLE

EDITORIAL BOARD/

STEPHENNICHOLS BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL MACTAMBLYN ANNIESGROI SAMLOGAN GRIFFINBUR MICHAELSTOLLE PHOEBEUNTERMAN TIMSHEDOR MELISSAMCKITTRICK

STAFF WRITERS/

MOLLYTROUTMAN SARAHMCKITTRICK LANDONMCDONALD GRIFFINBUR ALEXLAMB SPENCERLOW RAINAWEINBERG

STAFF ARTISTS/ KENNEDYBURGESS TAYLORHAVILAND

ADS/BUSINESS MANAGER/ RAINAWEINBERG

EXCHANGE/SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER/ MOLLYTROUTMAN SPENCERLOW

CIRCULATION MANAGER/ KENNEDYBURGESS

ADVISER/ DOWTATE

RESPECT an opinion of

your elders

An indoor soccer field is the only place on the face of the planet where I can slide tackle my eighth grade social studies teacher and only receive a foul.

It’s not something I planned on discovering until a recent recreational indoor soccer game at All-American Indoor Sports in the Men’s D Division 3, the second lowest division.

At Mission Valley, this behavior would have earned me lengthy detention, in the best of situations. I apologized to my former teacher after the game. Thankfully, we are still on good terms.

Recreational indoor soccer is the great equalizer between teenage boys and adult men. Only after vying for pride after 40 minutes of gritty, down and dirty competition did I realize how many rights and privileges are stripped from these adult men during the simple game of indoor soccer.

My respect for these brave, unheralded men has increased tenfold.

The general makeup of the Men’s D Division 3 consists of these fully-grown men. The definition of “fully-grown men,” in this sense, is flexible. I’ve played members of the SAE house at KU, Marines, portly 35 year-old employees of Geek Squad, my eighth grade social studies teacher, and even a few Baby Boomers.

There are even differences within those subcategories. There are good players. There are bad players. Some live in Raytown, some in Lenexa. Some wear deodorant. Most don’t. *** The reason I’m playing these men is because no one on my team has the desire or skills to compete in a club Under-17 league. The Men’s D Division 3 is an open division – anyone over 15 years of age is allowed to play. This rule spells trouble to the adult men of the league.

Each advantage they ever had over teenage boys becomes compromised because of the rule. Here’s why: 1. Adult men are expected to beat teenage boys.

This is the classic “older brother, younger brother” scenario. For the older brother (adult men) there is no way to actually achieve moral victory against the younger brother (teen boys).

If the older brother wins, his younger brother says, “Well, you just beat your younger brother for the millionth time. I bet you feel pretty

/ MACTAMBLYN

PAGE 7 OPINION / ISSUE NINE

Junior develops high opinion of adult men who play recreational indoor soccer

awesome.” If the older brother loses, it’s a double whammy. First of all, he lost, and second of all, he lost to his wimpy younger brother whom he was expected to beat.

2. Teenage boys are approaching the pinnacle of their physical condition, while most of our competition is headed the opposite direction.

Teenage boys do not have to cope with the difficulties of aging. The guys we play could be up against anything from bad knees to a mid-life crisis. Ouch.

3. No special treatment. Everybody pays the exact same fee to play. That’s the only information the referee has about the players, aside from a “player card.” Essentially, a proof of payment and registration. The social ladder does not come into play. If I happened to be playing a world-renowned brain surgeon, there is no way for the referee to know, unless the referee happened to be a world-renowned brain surgeon.

But then why would he be refereeing a recreational indoor soccer game?

4. Game times favor the young. Science upholds this fact, folks. Last semester, I wrote a persuasive essay about why the district should push back the start times of Shawnee Mission high schools. While researching, I learned that teenage bodies are naturally inclined to stay up later at night and wake up later in the morning than adults. The games in our league are usually played between 7-12 p.m. on Sunday nights. At an 8 p.m. game, us youthful whipper-snappers are just reaching our peak alert hours after sleeping in on a Sunday morning. Our opponents are sleepily contemplating work the next day. I may suffer at school, but I’m always wired for Sunday night indoor soccer.

5. Soccer is a sport based on skill, not strength.

Adult men are stronger than teenage boys, no doubt. But it is not a factor in indoor soccer.

Some of the best soccer players in the world are 5’8” and 150 lbs. and would have trouble benchpressing the bar. Skill and speed are much more important than full-grown man-strength. *** These men have plenty going up against them when they play a team of teenage boys.

Technically, there is not anything at stake, except pride. Every time these men step out onto the field and see a team of adolescents, they must swallow that pride.

During the game, when their pride is making its way down the esophagus, it is kicked, headed, cleated, punted, stolen and nearly digested. After the game it is regurgitated. Imagine what their pride looks like now.

My favorite pride-swallowing moment is the free kick. After a foul near the opposition’s goal, the ball is placed outside the box. Two to three adult men line up ten feet from the ball to hopefully block it, nether-regions covered by their clasped hands.

One can take this as an opportunity to score, which takes quite a bit of luck for a player in Men’s D Division 3, or as a chance to legally embarrass a sweaty adult man by drilling him with a soccer

ball. The latter is almost always selected.

Despite this, these men show up, game after game, to play soccer. It’s not usually pretty. It can be demoralizing. A love for the game, a desire to drop a couple of pounds or a way to blow off grown-up stress continually drives these men back to the rubbery field.

I respect all players in the Men’s D Division 3.

Each team is different. This is not sixth grade GABL basketball, where number 10 on Team A has consistently guarded number 5 on Team B winter after winter since first grade. It is impossible to predict who or what will show up to a recreational indoor soccer game.

I’ve played guys that look about as formidable as puppies, a n d we lost miserably.

On the other hand, we have p l a y e d teams that look more intimidating than a Chipotle burrito does to a toddler, and we downed them with ease.

N o matter who I play, I know to be prepared for anything and anyone.

Everyone respects each other in the Men’s D Division 3. It’s necessary, unless you want to get schooled by the same guy that taught you why the assassination of Franz Ferdinand sparked World War 1.

// ALYSSAJOLITZ

PAGE 8 ONLINE / JAN.20, 2009

Blogger: Logan Heley—sports

“

Blogger: Tim Shedor—life in the workplace

I will be one of the guys bringing you the scoop on SME sports this semester. I’m not just talking about basketball, we’ll bring you updates on all athletic activities happening at East. My blog will be about the buzz behind East sports and how it affects the average East student.

“

“

It’s a snapshot of a little fish in the big ocean. And I can give you a long, dramatic paragraph about how this job is the pits and how no one believes in the underdog and why we all just need to love each other, but this blog won’t accomplish any of that. The grocery store is a story teller’s gold mine, and the truth is I appreciate my job. It’s open-ended and an adventure everyday.

“

“

The Harbinger Online blogs edition

Blogger: Paige Cornwell— profiles

“

One of my jobs on the Harbinger is to find the interesting stories of East. There are more than 1,800 students and staff members here. Some of them should be interesting. This blog will highlight these 1,800 people and their stories through profiles, interviews and videos. I hope to show the various aspects of East students and how they all come together to form one unique student body.

“

www.smeharbinger.net

Blogger: Bernadette Myers—books

“

Blogger: Stephen Nichols—music

After spending almost four years of high school analyzing, annotating and decoding literature, I’ve decided to stop reading in-between the lines and start just reading the words in front of me. I’ve lost sight of what it means to read for pure enjoyment, so this blog is dedicated to the millions of books out there that make me cry, laugh, freak out and just make me happy.

If you know everything about music, I salute you; but, if you are like the other 99 percent of the population that doesn’t have the time to discover bands so indie that they don’t actually exist yet, then hopefully I can be a good place to start for new music.

“

“

The Harbinger has a new interactive feature, blogs. Check every day for these blog updates, along with breaking news stories, photos and up-to-the-minute sports scores on

Here’s a taste: If you’re going to buy/download/steal an album this month, it should be: “Meriwether Post Pavillion” by Animal Collective If you’re looking to impress your friends with a new single, you should try: “Ulysses” by Franz Ferdinand.

Boom – I’m like Pandora with a soul.

“

Blogger: Sam Logan and Andrew Goble—“obscure hatreds”

“

What you don’t want to see is glam, glitter or glitz. For 2009 the runways and hallways are going subtle with muted colors and even more subdued silhouettes. For girls, mauves, blushes and soft blues are going to be the most popular colors while guys will probably be sticking to grays and whites. Don’t buy into what the stores tell you though, you CAN experiment and it ISN’T spring. Remember to dress accordingly no matter how many short sleeved, skirt-wearing mannequins appear in store windows.

“

From Rockhurst boys to PDA, we will bring you the weekly scoop on things that are so inappropriate, they’re appropriate for this blog. And we will do it all with a humorous, yet oh-so serious, undertone. Not feeling the hate?

Drop us a comment. Want us to hate on something for you? Drop another one. Just remember—we don’t do personal call-outs.

“

Blogger: Emma Collins—fashion

“

adevelopment hair raising

PAGE 9 FEATURES / ISSUE NINE

Teacher Jim Lockard refuses to cut his hair in protest of delayed green house construction

// STEPHENNICHOLS

SCIENCE teacher Jim Lockard stands frustrated inside the foundation of the green house. The green house has such a unique foundation that it has to be specially made, which is one of the reasons why the project has been delayed. // TYLERROSTE according to owner Jack Zimmerman.

Zimmerman, a 1974 East graduate, acknowledged that there have been several setbacks. The foundation was almost two inches out of level, the plumbing had to be reworked and workers had to go farther back into the building to connect with the sewage system.

Even the concrete ledges around East were interfering.

He’s walked to the base of the new greenhouse many times this year, checking its progress, or lack thereof.

“I still think it’s less then half [done] because there’s no glass and the heating and the electrical…none of that’s done,” Lockard said.

Now, they are about to enter a stage of construction that is weather-dependent.

Zimmerman said that they have to wait for several days above freezing to apply EFIS, a lightweight synthetic insulator, to the walls of the greenhouse. For now, it’s a waiting game.

“We could be done in as little as two weeks, but it could take six to eight weeks,” Zimmerman said.

Lockard says he has been told by science department head Cole Ogden not to talk to the project manager because teachers aren’t supposed to.

“

“The one time that [the project manager] was in here was at the start of the project back in August, I asked him then ‘when will it be done’ and he’s the one that said November,” Lockard said. “When it was November I just thought I’d let everybody know, so I dropped an e-mail to the superintendent and the board president and Dr. Krawitz.”

While he has still yet to hear back from Superintendent Gene Johnson and Board President Donna Bysfield, Krawitz has been following the project.

“That little project in itself has been a nightmare,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Because it’s a building on a unique foundation, it has to be specially made, [which has been] very frustrating.”

The lack of a greenhouse is forcing Lockard to change his plans for his Environmental Education and Environmental Systems AP class. The systems class was supposed to do an AP lab in the greenhouse, but Lockard said they will have to find something else to do instead.

Environmental Education students were supposed to be able to use the greenhouse when conducting their tours for elementary school students.

You come back here and it’s just a little aluminum greenhouse and nothing’s happening... we’re basically screwed ‘til it warms up.”

“

Science teacher Jim Lockard was at East on New Year’s Day. He was alone in the science wing as he took care of the animals that line his third floor science room. He looked through the window at his halfbuilt green house, a project that was supposed to be done over two months ago.

“My nightmare is that [construction] will drag on for another two months,” Lockard said.

Lockard’s frustration with the project influenced his decision to make his own New Year’s resolution that day – no haircuts until the greenhouse was completed. It’s a gesture to prove a point.

He isn’t publicizing it, he isn’t making a big deal about it, but he swears that he won’t be found at a barbershop until the greenhouse is completely finished.

The old greenhouse, located in the environmental area at the north side of East, was torn down this year. Now for the time in 24 years, there will be no greenhouse for the Environmental Education class tours. No greenhouse for AP students to do labs. No greenhouse for the plants they used to grow for Biology I classes.

"I'm frustrated, that's all," Lockard said.

"It just means that there are some things that we can't do this year that aren't as cool, but oh well."

Construction has stopped and started several times already. Instead of JE Dunn, the company overseeing the rest of the school renovations, Zimmerman Construction Company, is responsible for building the greenhouse because it is a capital outlay project, unaffiliated with the current construction at East. Capital outlay projects are petitioned by schools and the district decides what needs to be built, using tax-payer's money.

A number of setbacks have pushed back the completion date to an unspecified time: anywhere from weeks to almost two months

-JIM LOCKARD

“When they have 65 kids coming in, you need to have as much room as you can to spread out," Lockard said." South’s got 23 acres of lab, we obviously don’t have that… so not having a greenhouse is a bummer. I think the kids will be basically giving the turtle talk in the closet."

Part of Lockard’s frustration lies in the communication. Last year, he had been offered by parents of students the funding, materials and resources to build a new greenhouse, which he desperately needed: the old greenhouse had been around since the mid70s. The doors were rusting, the panels were falling out and the heat didn’t work.

But he told the parents no because he was told by former principal Susan Swift that the school would build it for him. Now, he’s stuck.

He wants updates, but he’s not allowed to talk to the project manager. He had planned his schedule around the greenhouse being done in November, but now he has to change his schedule to adapt. And who knows when he’ll get his haircut.

“You walk down there and they’re putting up that steel and you can see a change everyday,” Lockard said, motioning to the construction by the senior doors. “You come back here and it’s just a little aluminum greenhouse and nothing’s happening... we’re basically screwed 'til it warms up."

Picture thisPicture This

PAGE FEATURES // JAN JAN.20, 20,2009 2009 PAGE 10 14 FEATURES

Art and Design teacher Catherine Siegel uses her photography Art and design teacher Catherine Seigel has some as an advocate for many world events

of her photos on display in several differnet art galleries around town and in St. Louis.

// BILLYKIRKPATRICK

Art teacher Catherine Siegel walks to the was also one of 35 finalists in a Conde Nast corner of room 202 and pulls out her favorite contest for photography. picture. It is the cover image for “My Soul However, despite the accolades she has attention,” Siegel Art teacher Siegel to the of Room received, Siegel of does not count awards as Expands” whichCatherine is currently onwalks display in corner fever of the celebration that she ate the mix.

202 and pulls out herLouis. favorite picture.

It is thethe cover image said. most important part of her passion.

Shaw’s Gallery in St. In it, the blank “Just a few hours later I got a terrible fever,” Siegel said.

She has done this in many ways.

One group of people for “My Soul Expands” which is currently on display in “I like doing photography to bring eyes of a man stare back. that havethings benefited Siegel’s actions were the people at “And I had to go ride on a train for eight hours with a 103 Shaw’s Galleryface in St. In it,by thebright blank eyes of a manto certain awareness or from certain The man’s is Louis. blanketed thegetting Wyandotte County Juvenile Detention Center, where she degree fever. It was awful.” stay back. orange face paint, with his eye sockets people that are not the right amount taught photography.

The photography was then displayed The man’s face is blanketed by bright orange face paint, blackened. He wears a headdress littered of attention,” Siegel said. with his eye sockets blackened.

He wears a head dress at the YWCA. She has done this in many ways. One with brilliant golden medallions that stick However, her impact has not just been felt in Kansas. She littered withinbrilliant golden medallions that stick out two out two feet front of his group of people that have also traveled to Hong Kong, she worked with Asylum feet in front of his face.

A protruding ring of white, furry benefited from Siegel’swhereTHE face. A protruding ring cover picture of art teacher Catherine Siegel’s “My Soul Expands.” This picture was taken at the Theyyam Festival in material disguises his lips.

In his eyes lies a refl ection of Seekers, or people who do not yet have refugee status and actions was the people of white, furry material Southwestern India, and the man in this picture is impersonating a god. // CATHERINESIEGEL are eeing their country for a better life.

Siegel. his lips. In his at flthe Wyandotte County disguises these people without showing “When I was taking pictures with them, I was trying to their identity on what Siegel describes as a “banana, rice This proud man is impersonating a god at a Theyyam Juvenile Detention eyes lies a reflection of because they were fleeing their country and and flower concoction,” which he demanded explain what life was like for these people without showing Festival in Southwestern India.

This is the photo that readies Siegel.

Center, where she some of them were under identity because they fleeing their country and persecution,” that Siegel eat. Siegel got so caught up in the the viewers for the rest is of Siegel’s pictures. But this does not their taught photography.

The were This proud man Siegel said. fever of the celebration that she ate the mix. just represent Siegel’s some of them were under persecution,” Siegel said. photography was then impersonating a god only at photographical success.

But Siegel always comes back to her “Just a few hours later I got a terrible But Siegel always comes back to her favorite image: Siegel, who used to teach photography at East, has displayed at the YMCA. a Theyyam Festival in favorite image: the man in the orange paint. fever,” Siegel said. “And I had to go ride on a the man in the orange paint.

“I took the picture and then gained attention in many photography circles.

Besides However, her impact southwestern India. This “ISiegel took said. the picture and then showed him train for eight hours with a 103 degree fever. thebeen imagefelt of himself,” “And though “My that Soulreadies Expands” at Shaw’s Gallery, Siegel was showed has nothim just in ishaving the photo the image of himself,” Siegel said. “And It was awful.” he traveled is supposed to be Kong, this god who is not supposed to care also one offor thirty-fi ve fiof nalists in apictures.

Conde Nast contestShe for also Kansas. to Hong the viewers the rest Siegel’s Siegel would like to continue shooting though he is supposed to be this god who about these normal human things, he started smiling and photography.

But this does not just represent Siegel’s only where she worked with Asylum Seekers, or is to not supposed youyet could seerefugee his facestatus paint start crack a little to bitcare whenabout he these normal photography to improve our world.

However,related despitesuccess. the accolades she has received, people Siegel who do not have photography “I think what I want for my own own face.” does not who countused awards as thephotography most important part her saw and areof fleeing theirhiscountry for a better human things, he started smiling and you Siegel, to teach photography is to continue to use it for could see his face paint start to crack a little The Indian man then proceeded to stomp on what Siegel passion. at East, has gained attention in many life. advocacy purposes.” bitflwhen saw his own face.” as a “banana, rice, and ower he concoction,” which “I like doing photography bring awareness to certain “When I wasdescribes taking pictures with them, photography circles.

Besides tohaving “My The man up then to stomp he demanded eat. Siegel gotIndian so caught inproceeded the things or certainat people thatGallery, are not getting wasamount trying to explain what lifethat wasSiegel like for Soul Expands” Shaw’s Siegelthe Iright

“

I like doing photography to bring awareness to certain things or certain people that are not getting the right amount of attention.

”

Catherine Siegel

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PAGE 11 FEATURES / ISSUE NINE By betting in small sums with imaginary money, students who use centsports.com are making

a safer bet on the net // CONOR TWIBELL

When Boston College upset North Carolina on Jan. 4, sophomore Jack Esberg made about 22 cents. He then immediately lost it all when the Boston Celtics had their winning streak snapped at 19 games by the Lakers on Christmas. But he did not lose hope, because he would always start back with 10 cents, thanks to the Web site he was betting on.

The Web site is called Cent Sports, and the name speaks for itself. Cent Sports provides the gamer with 10 cents, provided by paying advertisers to the site.

Once someone joins Cent Sports, they then proceed to bet on various sporting events, from the Super Bowl to the semifinal rounds of the Australian Open. Cent Sports provides the gamer with all of the same rules and guidelines, but only with smaller amounts of money. Once the gamer loses a bet, they don’t lose money, but instead start right back with 10 cents.

Cent Sports was created and designed by college students, and since they didn’t have hundreds of dollars, they decided to make people bet with “cents.” Cent Sports started off as a simple place where college students could have all of the luxuries of betting, but without breaking their budget.

Many East students have begun using the Web Site, such as sophomores Patrick McGannon and Jack Esberg.

“It’s a great concept.” McGannon said. “Give anyone ten cents generated through ads and let them bet on a wide array of sports matches. I use it because it makes what used to be meaningless games fun to watch.”

But not everyone thinks it’s a great idea, some think that it’s just another scam, and others are just opposed to gambling.

According to Principal Karl Krawitz, gambling and betting doesn’t seem to be a huge problem at East.

“No one has ever brought the problem of gambling to my attention, but that is not to say that it isn’t going on,” Krawitz said. “Because if its going on out there, people are doing a pretty good job of keeping it quiet, but I know its going on.”

Krawitz also said that gambling and betting Web sites, such as Cent Sports, are not very reliable.

ANT HEINLEIN

// ANDYALLEN and GR

“If it sounds to good to be true or its free, somebody is usually scamming somebody; nothing in life is free,” Krawitz said. “ But they’re having problems prosecuting the people that run these kinds of sites.”

Cent Sports has not been around that long, and was created by Victor Palmer, the acting CEO of the company.

Esberg was introduced to Cent Sports by McGannon, and was immediately interested.

“Patrick showed me the Web site a week or so ago, and basically I just wanted to see if I could make any money off of it,” Esberg said.

Not only does Cent Sports have a sports based betting web Site, they also have a poker site, where all of the same rules about money apply. They still give you 10 cents from paying advertisers, and they still make you limit how much someone is allowed to bet.

But McGannon also said the Web site is quite crude in the way it goes about talking on the site. When someone first signs up and fills out all of the necessary information, they must complete the process by clicking a button that reads, “Sign me up bitch.”

They then go on to say in their “contact us” section that an e-mail question “will get sent to someone who may, or may not care about your question.”

But McGannon doesn’t think that it hinders the site at all.

“Anyone in high school should be mature enough to handle it, and it’s entertaining,” McGannon said. “It makes it more fun to see all of the jokes around the site.”

Though the Web site may be indecent is some ways, many adults think there are bigger problems with off shore gambling Web sites like Cent Sports. Bob Kennedy, father of junior Scott Kennedy, says that it is risky using Web sites like these.

“I don’t really think the off shore gambling Web sites are very reliable, I mean, you don’t know where all the information you are giving them goes,” Kennedy said.

“As for teenage betting, they probably shouldn’t do it, but everyone knows they probably will anyway.”

Krawitz also agreed that gambling can be a problem with teenagers.

“Gaming and gambling is a problem, a big one,” Krawitz said. “But I know it’s going on, and I just hope kids don’t get themselves into trouble.”

$

MAKING ENSE OUT OF CENT SPORTS— The Reason:

Centsports.com was started in response to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed by Congress in 2006. This bill made it illegal to deposit real money into any online betting or gambling site. On centsports, however, betters start out with ten cents of play money instead of depositing their own.

Betting:

Users of centsports can make any of the line-type bets commonly made in sports betting. In simplified terms, a line on a bet is the odds between the favorite and the underdog. Some different kinds possible on centsports are over/under, point-spread and money line bets. The site gets its odds from Las Vegas, so any bet made on centsports could be made for the same odds with real money.

Profit:

As soon as a centsports better has a balance of over $20 in play money, they are able to cash out for a minimum of $10. The site has a top cash outs section which lists people who have been able to cash out for over $100. If a user loses all of their money, they are immediately given another ten cents of free play money to bet with. The site makes its profit entirely from advertising. // www.centsports.com

PAGE 12 SPREAD / JAN. 20, 2009

WHO

rates the movies?

Movie ratings are determined by the rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). CARA tries to select a diverse group of raters who represent the diversity of American parents such as parents from different parts of the country, including small towns and big cities. Each member of the rating board is a parent and has no affiliation with the entertainment industry outside of CARA. The ratings are based on the level of content in the movie in order to help parents decide each film’s suitability for their children.

WHAT IS the difference

A quick guide to the

MPAA Rating System

between movie and TV ratings?

The G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 ratings were established for rating motion pictures and may only be used in connection with motion pictures that have been rated by CARA. Other entertainment, such as television shows and video games, are rated by other entities, with different rating designations, also in an effort to provide parents information about those entertainment media that may be viewed by their children.

HOW

are ratings determined?

The main considerations include the intensity of the themes in the motion picture, language, depictions of violence, nudity, sensuality, depictions of sexual activity and drug use.

Motion pictures with adult themes or which include strong violence, sexual or drug-related elements will be rated accordingly to inform parents of those elements which may make the motion picture inappropriate for viewing by their younger children.

WHY are there ratings?

NATO estimates that the majority of the theater owners in the nation observe the rating system. In the mid 1980s as home video grew in popularity, video retailers joined theater owners in embracing the voluntary guidelines of the rating system. Parents who relied on the rating system found that the information provided by the rating classifications were equally helpful in home video. To facilitate its use, ratings are displayed on both the entire home entertainment package and the videocassettes and DVDs themselves. // www.mpaa.org

// MELISSAMcKITTRICK When “The Forty Year Old Virgin” came out in theaters, sophomore Riley Watson was in sixth grade. The movie was rated R for pervasive sexual content, language and drug use. It was recommended for ages 17 and up; Watson was 11 years old.

He couldn’t wait.

Watson bugged his father, begging him to take him to the movie. His father resisted at first, and then made a deal with him: if Watson could describe to him what sex was, they would go together. Watson came up with what he still believes is the perfect answer.

He tilted his preteen head up.

Made eye contact.

And spit it out.

“I looked him square in the eye,” Watson said, “And said, ‘The horizontal monster mash.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You can go to see the movie.’”

Since then, Watson has also seen “Superbad” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” with his dad. They laugh about it every time – Watson says that his dad feels guilty when they go to R-rated movies, but by the end they’re both laughing so hard it doesn’t matter. Although Watson’s only 15, the R-rated movies he’s seen haven’t all been with his dad.

With some area theaters ignoring the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) carding “suggestion” for R-rated movies, many underage students at East see R-rated films by sneaking into theaters, going to a theater known for carding laxness or attending a showing where R-rated movies aren’t carded.

Watson specifically remembers sneaking into “Role Models” with his friends.

They’re all 15 and 16 years-old.

Teenage boys.

High school sophomores.

The MPAA gives R – “restricted” – ratings for adult material: adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity or drug abuse. If the movie has an “adult” amount of these elements, “children under 17 are not allowed to attend R-rated motion pictures unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian.”

The boys are underage, so they needed a plan. Watson says it was an “elaborate” one – the boys bought tickets for “The Dark Knight,” then started walking down the wrong hallway towards the theater for “Role Models.” One of Watson’s friends broke away and started walking faster than the others. He glanced over his shoulder at a group of employees, speeding up even more. He hissed at his friends behind him – “What if we get caught? What if we get caught?” – Over. And over. And over. Finally, the boys reached the theater.

“We sit down and [my friend’s] like ‘oh man we got so close,’” Watson said. “Yeah, cause walking fast and looking over your shoulder is really nonchalant.”

Sophomore Cormac O’Connor has snuck into so many R-rated movies that he says it’s not an occasion when he sees one. Last Saturday he and his friends went to see “Grand Torino” at 7:15

p.m. They bought tickets switched theaters to see th and strong language throu O’Connor says that the for language, but it wasn’t that he’s seen. He and hi Parkway, where they’ve ne movies.

“I just found the theate “We’ve never really had an Sophomore David Fri Theater to see “Zack and the register didn’t card the employees smiled when th

“I looked him straig “And said, ‘The ho looked at me and s

“They just laughed,” Fr kids come [to that theater].”

Brian Mossman owns th which is Leawood Theater. follow the rating system an looks underage.

“Of course,” Mossman s do his or her job.”

Both former President B president of the National A – pushed for the rule on c violence in movies and on shootings in high schools.

Psychologist Tish Taylo nature of adult content cou especially younger children “A younger person mig and content,” Taylor said. like, and [underage viewer and maturity levels.”

Screenland owner Butc Screeland’s policy: if yo you’re getting carded.

“I think personally tha movie better than others,” typically get an R-rating… throughout the movie, [for] as nudity.”

As a practical matter, downtown theater aren’t in

Under

The Harbinger shed in carding of R-rated

s for Will Smith’s “Seven Pounds,” but he R-rated film featuring gang violence ughout the entire movie. movie definitely deserved the R-rating nearly as bad as other R-rated movies is friends went to the AMC14 at Ward ever had trouble sneaking into R-rated

er and walked down,” O’Connor said. nyone stop us or anything.” izzel remembers going to Leawood Miri Make a Porno.” The teenager at e boys, and Frizzel says that the other hey saw the fifteen year-olds.

ght in the eye,” Watson said, orizontal monster mash.’ He said, ‘You can go to see the movie.’”

rizzel said, “and said that’s why most .” he Glenwood Fine Arts Theaters, one of . Mossman says that all of his theaters nd are supposed to card someone who

said, “it is up to the box office person to

Bill Clinton and William Kartozian – the Association of Theater Owners (NATO) carding for R-rated movies, noting that n television was linked with previous

or says that this system is valid: the uld be confusing to anyone underage, n. ght not be able to differentiate themes “[R-rated movies] can be pretty adultrs] might still be developing cognitive

ch Rigby also agrees with the MPAA. ou’re underage and unaccompanied,

at some people can handle an R-rated Ribgy said. “Nudity, for example, will I personally feel that graphic violence ] a kid who’s younger, is as…disturbing

PAGE 13 SPREAD / ISSUE NINE shows documentaries and other films that Rigby says most under-17 viewers just aren’t interested in. NATO, the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, has a slightly different interpretation of this subject: instead of being lax on rules, theaters can just ignore them. NATO has members in both cinema chains and independent theater and represents more than 29,000 movie screens in all 50 states; according to them, the rule about carding for R-rated movies is more of a guideline than a law.

“The rating system is strictly voluntary,” NATO posted, “and carries no force of law.”

That’s lucky for East students.

The last movie Watson and his friends saw, “Role Models,” was rated R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity. “Plugged in” Online, a media Web site that takes a Christian approach to movie ratings, said that foul language, illegal substances or crude sexual humor are the only three things that made a comedy R-rated.

According to the site, “this film’s got all three.” And the boys knew it.

“Oh God yes, I know why it was rated R,” Riley said. “Lots of cursing…lots of nudity…it should definitely have been R.” Frizzel also knew what he was getting in to for “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

“It was rated R for language and nudity,” Frizzel said. “I just think they put those on movies just to warn the parents. I mean, once you reach a certain age, you don’t really care what it’s rated.”

Frizzell thinks that “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” would be fine for some eighth graders.

Therapist Melissa Carrico has a slightly different view.

“Not all R-rated material is appropriate,” Carrico said. “It depends on how mature someone is, what they’ve been through, and what their triggers are. I see teenagers who can handle most movies, and some who couldn’t.”

Carrico believes that ratings are put in place to account for the different maturation of teenagers. She points to the obvious difference between a thirteen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old – not all teens are created equal.

Apparently, though, the same can be said for R-rated movies.

“Stuff like super-super violent and out-of-the-way should be R; also, stuff like “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” Watson said.

Although the boys want to see R-rated movies – whether through sneaking in, going to theaters that turn aside, or going to theaters that simply ignore the MPAA guidelines – they all agree that some movies should be carded. O’Connor thinks that pre-teens shouldn’t see R-rated movies alone. Frizzel thinks that theaters should card, but also says they would lose business if they tightened up regulations. Watson thinks it depends on a case-by-case basis.

“Either super extreme violence,” Watson said, “or hardcore nudity should probably be carded.”

r Rated

though, most clients of Screenland’s n their teens. The downtown theater

ds light on discrepancies d movies in area theaters

WHAT Do the ratings mean?

G

RATING WHAT THE MATERIAL CONSISTS OF

PG PG-13

R

NC-17

Some snippets of language may go beyond polite conversation, but they are common everyday expressions. No stronger words are present in G-rated motion pictures. Depictions of violence are minimal. No nudity, sex scenes or drug use are present in the motion picture.

There may be some profanity and some depictions of violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated motion picture.

Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating.

More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating.

There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie. A movie’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words initially requires at least a PG-13 rating.

An R-rated motion picture, in the view of the Rating Board, contains some adult material. An R-rated motion picture may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously.

An NC-17 rating can be based on violence, sex, aberrational behavior, drug abuse or any other element that most parents would consider too strong. NC-17 does not mean “obscene” or “pornographic” in the common meaning of those words, and should not be construed as a negative judgment. // www.mpaa.org

PAGE 14 FEATURES / JAN. 20, 2009 // PHOEBEUNTERMAN

Senior Edie Cao may be the world’s first female Asian rapper who’s also a National Merit Semifinalist.

It may not be the traditional street cred’ respected in the world of hip-hop, but Cao is okay with that. She’s not one for stereotypes.

Rapping is Cao’s way of breaking out of the stereotype she’s been labeled with as an IB kid.

With her music, she’s also trying to break the stereotype given to rap by misogynistic mainstream rappers who, in her opinion, rap about drugs, hoes, money and not much else.

Just as Justin Timberlake did with sexy, Cao is hoping to bring intellectualism back to rap.

Over winter break, Cao put her first two recorded songs, “An Introduction” and “Pharrell Ain’t Got Nothing On This S---,” on Myspace, under the name “The YCR Project,” which stands for “Your Resident Cynic,” a name she came up with when she presented her music in Theory of Knowledge class junior year.

She is currently working on three or four new songs, which, in addition to the two she’s already recorded, she hopes to release as an EP by the end of this school year.

Cao is a big fan of Lupe Fiasco and Talib Kwali, but she likes Jay-Z too; in other words, she listens to just about everything. Though she likes the sound of some mainstream rap, it’s the lyrics she has a problem with.

She’s worried about the negative stigma becoming associated with rap because of these lyrics.

“It’s time for a refocusing point in the genre,” Cao said. “I’m a big fan of rap and I don’t want to see it go in a bad direction.”

That’s where her lyrics come in. “Pharell Ain’t Got Nothin’ On This S---” discusses this issue. The song uses the beat from Pharrell’s “Swagger International” to make fun of mainstream rap. While Cao likes Pharrell’s music, she thinks his lyrics are among those bringing the genre down. In this song, Cao raps,

Rappers today name themselves lyricists — themes of misogyny, wealth, and the same old dit.

Also in this song, Cao raps about the violence in mainstream rap and the facades these rappers make for themselves through their music.

Put down your facades and quit being facetious, quit egotistically thinking that n------ s want to be us. Quit promulgating your f---ing stereotype, or fade and burn out it will, your present-day hype.

Cao isn’t putting up any facades, though she realizes she isn’t like the other rappers out there.

“I’m not going to front or anything—I’m not black, clearly,” Cao said.

However, she doesn’t have a problem throwing the n-word into her lyrics because she believes that “words are just words.”

“I’m not using it in a derogatory way, just as a general term,” Cao said.

She references her ethnicity in “An Introduction,” saying, “I may be young and yellow like the sun…”

It is something that sets her apart. She’s only aware of one popular Asian rapper, Jin, an Eminem-esque Chinese-American rapper from Chinatown.

In her songs, Cao mixes the complex subjects of race and violence, among other things, with influences in her own life. For instance, in “Pharrell Ain’t Got Nothing on This S---,” Cao rhymes two German words, s------- and heisser.

Cao, a German IV student, also uses the language in a verse of “An Introduction.”

“Hallo dort, lieber Leser Fur ich bin deine Zynikerin Lieb sie oder hass sie Sie ist mahr als ein Kniff,” meaning “Hello there, dear reader, for I’m your Cynic. Love it or hate it, it’s more than a gimmick,” which is the chorus of the song.

Literary allusions often show up in Cao’s lyrics, more so in the songs she’s written but hasn’t yet recorded for her EP. Her reference to a lobotomy in a verse of “An Introduction” is reminiscent of Ken Kesey’s One F l e w O v e r t h e Cuck-

HW - do TONIGHT:

Psychology IB - IA checkpoint soon English 12IB - book tom, quiz, journal Hist IB - P&P 798-804, Amb3, Wars 122-125, IA deadline (RD) 2/11 Diff Eq. IB - bookwork, prep 4 test Debate - prep (tournament fri) Chcm 2IB - lab write-up (focus eval., concl.), work on packet, quiz German - bestellen Sie wirklich Fragen vor

school

oo’s Nest, a sophomore English classic and one of Cao’s favorite books.

These personal elements are part of what separates Cao’s music from the mainstream rap she’s speaking out against.

Also, Cao finds inspiration for her music in her everyday life.

“It’s just different situations I come across in my life mixed with trends in popular culture and the country in itself,” Cao said.

She writes down verses whenever the thinks of them. The chorus to one of her songs was born during an English class epiphany last year.

Though her music is part of a project on social commentary, Cao still wants to keep it fun since that’s how it began.

At first, Cao experimented using instrumentals from existing songs to make funny songs for her friends. One in particular featured 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” as the chorus.

She now makes her own beats and also tries to keep a balance between the social commentary she’s passionate about and the fun lyrics, rhymes and sarcasm she loves.

Her lyrics aren’t really directly about her life, but they do reflect her personality.

For Cao, her rap is an escape from the academic doldrums of high school life. It’s also an opportunity for her to stand up for what she believes in and express herself in a way that sets her apart from her IB counterparts.

“I find [rapping] a fun, creative outlet and a way to experience the process of making music—of going through what actual artists do,” Cao said. “To me, it’s all research.”

Hello there, dear reader, fo I’m your Cynic.

Love it or hate it, it’s mor than a gimmick.

I ain’t trying to preach and the next Luce, Just want to tell you abou myself like Lupe.

I’m real and now, unlike whose out there.

And a tad bit egotistical, ju to be fair.

I am fierce and I am what up.

So sit down, listen to this and shut up.

street

credits cred’ vs.

Senior takes a break from hectic schedule by expressing herself through rap

// Photo Illustration by: MACKENZIEWYLIE and MELISSAMcKITTRICK

“

ALEX DRESSMAN

4

“

To lay off Otis Spunkmeyer cookies.

Continue believing in my students.

JUNIOR

JAKE PARLEMAN

“

To train harder in the gym.

6

“

To not bite my nails.

FRESHMAN

“

ROSA DETRIXHE

LYDIA SHACKELFORD

5

3

SOPHOMORE

SCOTT WATSON

7

“

“

TEACHER

“

a look at students and staff’s New Year’s resolutions

“

the page about new year’s resolutions

SOPHOMORE

To not be so O.C.D.

“

NEW YEAR, NEW START The Harbinger takes

1

CAROLYN WELTER

“

“

To be free of cancer.

FRESHMAN

“

“

2 0 0 9

JONATHAN STEPP

{2 MIXED

PAGE 15 MIXED / ISSUE NINE

SENIOR

I really want to lose three pounds.

WHY IS THIS YOUR RESOLUTION?

// ALLPHOTOSBY DANSTEWART

1. “Cancer is a very tough thing to go through but now that I am finished fighting it, my life has changed for the better. It is important for me to live each day to the fullest.”

2. “I want to be less O.C.D because its really annoying to have to do things a certain way and it feels good to be less organized.”

3. “I want to stop biting my nails because my mom has always wanted my dad and I to quit. It’s an extremely bad habit and its not easy [to quit], I’ve tried for years.”

4. “Believing in someone and trusting that they can reach their potential is a powerful feeling.”

5. “In order to keep fit and be the athlete that I’m striving to be, I should lay off of them because they have no nutritional value.”

6. “I really want to make an NCAA fencing team.”

7. “I need to tighten up. I’m losing sight of my toes and that’s not good. Three pounds off me would give me a great start to 2009.”

IF YOU RESOLVED TO IMPROVE IN SCHOOL, HERE ARE...

FOUR STEPS TO BETTER GRADES

Get Organized-Manage your time and keep things in order. You should take advantage of your planner so that you can track major assignments and exams, and create an area in your home, where you won’t be distracted, to do your homework. You’ll be amazed at the outcome that little changes like this can make.

Set Goals that are Realistic- If you set goals that are unrealistic, you’ll probably get discouraged and be tempted to give up entirely. Take time to consider your potential and create a realistic plan that you can stick with. Set goals and write them down. It could be to keep you’re GPA above a 3.0 or to actually read the book you’re supposed to read for English class. Review your list of goals often.

Study Session-The key to successful grades, as much as you don’t want to admit it, is studying. Set aside a specific time period each night that is reserved for studying and homework. Make sure there aren’t any distractions nearby. Turn off the T.V. and turn off your cell phone. This will help you get your work done faster and you’ll have time for electronics afterwards.

Keep Your Priorities Straight-It’s important to keep a balance. You have school, extracurricular activities, friends, family and a job to keep track of. Make sure school is near the top of your priorities. You definitely need to take time for yourself now and then, but know when it’s time to hit the books.

WORD OF THE ISSUE from The Daily Candy Lexicon: Words That Don’t Exist but Should {biphonal} adj. Able to hold multiple phones to your ears or in front of you at the same time (i.e. talking on your cell while texting on your BlackBerry).

East graduate makes it big in ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ // SARAHMCKITTRICK

East graduate Kyle Kleiboeker lay in his recently bought, two bedroom apartment in Astoria, a 20 minute subway ride from New York City. Barely having lived there a week, the boxes of his stuff still cluttered his rooms.

Several days after his final call back from the Off-Broadway musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” Kleiboeker was waiting on a call from the director to see if he had made the cut.

When his phone finally rang, he grabbed it from the table and saw New York City’s 212 area code. Too nervous to pick it up and find out if he had the part, Kleiboeker let the phone ring. When he called him back an hour later, the director asked what he had scheduled for the next Wednesday because that was their first rehearsal. Kleiboeker had gotten a role on an Off-Broadway show within a week of arriving in New York.

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Kleiboeker said Kleiboeker, who graduated from East in 2005, participated in chambers and Choraliers while he was at East as well as three musicals productions. He performed with the local production groups Theatre in the Park, Starlight, and Music Theatre for Young People.

Liz Kelly, his dance teacher from age four to 14, recognized his talent early on when he started taking tap and jazz from her at Dance Studio 1-Liz Kelley. Kelley remembers how he stuck with dancing even when he was one of the few guys.

“It’s rugged out there when you’re a guy wanting to dance,” Kelly said.

To follow his dream of performing in New York, Kleiboeker went to Oklahoma City University, a top school for the career in performing he wanted to pursue. After spending a year at OCU, he decided that he wasn’t getting the dance classes and the

acting technique needed to be in the musical business. He left with some seniors and drove to Dallas to try out to perform on the Royal Caribbean Cruises. Three weeks later he had a job. Although his mom, Tionne

EAST PERFORMANCES Gypsy

as “Tulsa”

Little Shop of Horrors as Ensemble

Once Upon a Mattress as “Sir Harry”

// PHOTO COURTESY KYLEKLEIBOEKER Ellegard, was surprised at his decision, she supported him.

“It’s not every day that your 18-yearold tells you that he wants to perform on a cruise ship that sails around the world,” Ellegard said.

Throughout the year and a half he was performing on the cruise and traveling around the world, Kleiboeker gained valuable time working with choreographers and vocalists and really honed his skills.

“Performing on the cruise was more beneficial than what I had been learning in the classroom,” Kleiboeker said.

After realizing that New York was the place he had to be if he wanted to succeed in the business, Kleiboeker made the life changing decision to go to New York, try out at various auditions, and hope he got a part.

After reading about the open audition for “Hell’s Kitchen” in “Backstage” magazine, Kleiboeker decided to audition. However, he had moved in the day before and when he

// JACKHOWLAND

“Slumdog Millionaire” will blow you away. But not for the witty comedy or the intense action sequences. It’s because of it’s simplicity.

There are no explosions or crazy car chases. It’s simply a magnificent story that virtually has everything you could want in a movie. Suspense, comedy, love, you name it, “Slumdog’s” got it. It’s a mystery that America has never been introduced to this story. Before this film was released, I had never heard of it. But that’s because I don’t tour the film festival circuit.

In nearly every film festival across the globe, “Slumdog” has dominated. It’s won award after award in city after city.

It is truly one of the great news stories of the year, a rarity in the industry, a film festival movie making it to the top. And not the top as in, In Theaters Everywhere, I mean one of the best movies in decades.

When I started to see previews for this movie appearing in theaters, I was not sold on it. To me it just looked like another Hollywood bust. An attempt at an inspiring love story that would ultimately fail. The whole fate and destiny thing I just wasn’t seeing as successful in American theaters.

My perception of this supposed “chick-flick” soon changed when I began to hear the buzz. And after seeing this international hit, I finally knew what all of the hype was about.

“Slumdog Millionaire” follows the life of Jamal Malik, (Dev Patel). Patel portrays the life of a poor “slumdog” who has a low income profession. He has numerous troubles

woke up on the day of his audition he was seriously contemplating not going because he was tired from his move the previous day.

“Then I told myself, ‘This is New York.

You have to go and do what you’ve worked hard to do,” Kleiboeker said. “Thank god I went.”

When he arrived at the audition, he found himself in line with 600 others, each auditioning for the spot he wanted. As he stood in line waiting for the audition, he started to get nervous and began to psych himself out.

However, once he went in and started to sing his audition song, “Lost in the Wilderness,” the nerves went away.

“I tried to take it one step at a time,” Kleiboeker said. “I focused on each thing I needed to do.”

After reading lines from the musical, the director asked Kleiboeker to return for a call back the next day with 300 other hopefuls. The amount of people that could potentially make the cast grew progressively smaller as the group who were called back sang, danced and read lines. After making it through the second day of call backs, he returned for a final call back with 30 others.

Within several days found out he had made the 12 person cast.

“It takes a lot of hard work, determination, talent and also a little bit of luck,” Kleiboeker said.

Not only did he get a part on the OffBroadway show, but he acted in two episodes of Lipstick Jungle, a show on NBC, as Jake, which he called “the most amazing and random experience.” This created a balancing act between the two productions for Kleiboeker, and for about a week he worked on the set of Lipstick Jungle from 5

PAGE 16 A&E / ISSUE NINE AM to 5 PM, then went and rehearsed “Hell’s Kitchen” from 7-10.

“It was exhausting and very excited at the same time,” Kleiboeker said.

Although he enjoyed filming, once his stint on Lipstick Jungle was over he refocused himself on what he really wants to do musicals.

With the show’s opening night, Feb. 11, approaching, the rehearsals have become less sporadic and more centered around fine-tuning the music and lines. “Hell’s Kitchen” is unique in that the show is new to Off-Broadway, which means that Kleiboeker gets to work with the people who actually wrote the music. This also means that the lines and blocking have often been changed during rehearsals, something that Kleiboeker says can be frustrating at times.

“We see what works and what doesn’t,” Kleiboeker said. “We’re getting into the flow of it.”

Kleiboeker plays Chico, the main character, Danny’s, right-hand man, in a story of the struggles of growing up in New York. “Hell’s Kitchen” is mainly music and acting, which is both good and bad for him.

Because the musical emphasizes music, there is a lack of dancing, which he misses.

However, he loves the variety of music there is, varying from gospel to rock.

Kleiboeker is truly living his dream, whether he’s walking through Times Square on the way to rehearsal or waiting on his opening night on Off-Broadway to come. He feels blessed, but also knows how hard he worked to get to where he is and isn’t taking any of it for granted.

“I’ve waited a long time for this and worked really hard,” Kleiboeker said. “It’s been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember.”

// CELEBRITYWONDER.COM with his life, including a violent brother Salim (Nadhur Mittal) and a star-crossed lover that he has not seen for years.

His life changes forever when he gets selected to be on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, the show being the exact same as our rundown show except that it is a hit.

The cleverly devised premise for this movie is sheer genius. Instead of the overused plot of a man winning big and spending the money, director Danny Boyle takes a different approach. As a matter of fact, it’s not even about the money, the only reason he comes on the show is in hopes that his one true love, Latika (Frieda Pinto) will be watching.

After an episode of questions ranging from a missing lyric in a song to the item held in the hand of a symbolic Indian god, Jamal remains perfect, answering every question correctly. Each question is linked to a distinct childhood memory of his. He is on a miracle run that has never been seen before. In a state of shock, the host

Hitting the

Jackpot inspiration ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ brings and romance to the big screen Prem (Anil Kapoor) gives him to the police on suspicion of cheating. These police will do whatever it takes to get the truth, even if it means torture.

For the complete review, visit the Harbinger Online at www.smeharbinger.net.

Clint Eastwood makes his triumphant return to acting in ‘Gran Torino’ and delivers a movie of

High Caliber

Clint

Eastwood

Academy Award Nominations Unforgiven 1993

Best Actor Best Director

Mystic River 2004

Best Director Best Picture

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

Million Dollar Baby 2005

Best Actor Best Director Best Picture

| Rental at best |

PAGE 17 A&E ///ISSUE NINE LANDONMcDONALD

Few American icons enjoy ripping into their own legend with more exuberance or honesty than Clint Eastwood. His 1991 “Unforgiven” effectively reversed the cool nihilism of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” with its radical notion of gunslinger guilt. The Man With No Name had grown a conscience and the western would never be the same. Now, nearly two decades later, Eastwood returns to dissect the myth of his other most famous role, anti-hero cop Dirty Harry, by pushing the character into old age and forcing him to confront the realities of today. The result is the sobering, masterful “Gran Torino,” a film made all the more powerful by the fact that it might be the star’s last time in front of the camera. That’s right, after a remarkable career spanning nearly six decades, the seventy-eight year old might be hanging up his guns for good. But he couldn’t have picked a better film to go out on.

“Gran Torino” centers around the golden years of retired auto worker and embittered Korean War vet Walt Kowalski. The film opens at the funeral of Walt’s wife, where Walt growls and glowers at his yuppie sons and their insolent, text-happy offspring. He also has nothing but contempt for the insipid Father Janovitch (Christopher Carley), the barely post-adolescent priest who wants Walt to come to confession at his late wife’s behest.

Already in a bad mood, Walt returns home and is enraged to discover that his neighborhood has been flooded with Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia. Walt’s new next door neighbors are a Hmong family with two kids, Thao (Bee Vang) and Sue (Ahney Her). Walt’s xenophobic fury is only increased when he discovers Thao trying to steal his prized Ford Grand Torino. The bungled theft was a reluctant attempt by Thao to be indoctrinated into his older cousin’s street gang.

Walt runs the gang off his property with his old war rifle and accidentally becomes the neighborhood hero for doing so. Soon his Hmong neighbors are leaving presents and food at his doorstep and Thao, at his mother’s request, becomes Walt’s servant for a week. Walt has serious misgivings about the arrangement at first but in time bonds with the boy and his intelligent sister Sue. Soon Walt even helps Thao get a job at the local construction site and shows him how to stay clear of more street crime. But when the vindictive gang goes too far and Sue’s life is threatened, Walt realizes a violent showdown with the thugs is inevitable.

Clint Eastwood is the definition of all-American badass. Even at seventyeight, he still strikes an intimidating, commanding presence both on-screen and off. If anything, the guy’s gotten more awesome with age. His voice, once merely gruff, has evolved into a throaty rasp worthy of Batman and his signature squint has reached a steely-eyed perfection. Every line Eastwood utters seems both threatening and humorously self-aware. Like a famous musician crooning out his greatest hits, he obviously takes great pleasure and comfort in the familiarity of every threat and one-liner. So does his audience.

But “Gran Torino” is not merely a rehash, an excuse for Eastwood to revisit the glory days of his ass-kicking youth. If anything he’s trying to dissect the myth he helped to create, the myth of the American action hero: the winking white knight, the noble gun for hire.

These are the archetypes Eastwood the actor has embodied for years now.

But Eastwood the director is no longer satisfied with archetypes. Now he delves into the minds and souls of these straight-laced, square-jawed heroes and antiheroes, these beloved protagonists of the American Cinema, only to find their psyches sickly and broken, plagued by the blood they’ve spilled and the friends they’ve lost. Yes, Walt Kowalski is ostensibly a mean old bigot, one that spews every racial slur imaginable over the course of the film’s two hour runtime, but he also represents the state of the classical hero in our modern world: old, tired, alone and haunted. Maybe even afraid.

Working from a script by newcomer Nick Schenk, Eastwood has crafted one of the best movies of the year, a film that balances humor and human tragedy in a way that few others can. This is also a film about redemption, one that never gets bogged down in sentiment or overly-conventional storytelling. Aside from Eastwood’s brilliant central performance, the film also benefits greatly from the talents of its cast of unknown Hmong actors. Bee Vang is occasionally guilty of overacting as Thao but young Ahney Her all but steals the show as the sardonic Sue. Watching her trade racial insults with Walt is comically priceless, a much needed break from the film’s introspective gloom.

After the unabashed failure that last fall’s bloated kidnapping drama // movieweb.com “Changeling,” I was afraid Clint was finally feeling his age, slowly falling into mediocrity and an ignoble twilight. But “Gran Torino” is his finest work as an Letters from Iwo actor or director since 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby” and will be duly rewarded Jima 2007 at Oscar time. Those Academy punks know better than to defy the world’s Best Director oldest living badass.

Best Picture

|Worth seeing |

|

|

|Instant Classic

calendar ae &

// MADDYBAILEY

Kings of Leon

One of alternative rock’s hottest, reviving bands of today hits the Uptown Theater this Friday at 8 p.m. The Followill brothers-Caleb, Jared and Nathan, plus cousin, Matthew, make up the only brother band that rocks harder than the Jonas Brothers and has longer hair.

The Uninvited

From the producers of “The Ring” and “The Grudge,” “The Uninvited” is expected to be a typical, twisted horror remake.

The movie starts off when the main character, Anna (Emily Browning) comes home from a mental hospital and finds that her dad is remarried. Anna and her sister soon discover the shocking truth about their new stepmother (Elizabeth Banks). An evil stepmother is a significant change from Banks’ previous roles in “Definitely, Maybe” and “Zac and Miri Make a Porno.” With this major role shift, Banks goes from sweet and romantic to witty and keen to murderous and vindictive.

The Fray

The Fray’s self-titled album will be released as their sophomore album.

Their single, “You Found Me,” brings the same mood as their debut album, How To Save a Life, did with the soft piano, profound vocals, and a melancholy guitar tune.

He’s Just Not That Into You

Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlet Johansson and Ginnifer Goodwin star in a typical chick flick about five anxious women who try to win over their men by analyzing their behavior. This seems like the type of movie that contains random humor that only a girl would think is funny.

Tech N9ne

Tech N9ne stops by his hometown again. Enough said. The show is at the Granada in Lawrence at 8 p.m. A reviewer from the Kansas City Star, referring to the most recent show, remarked, “Many in audience . . . didn’t begin to challenge the definitive authority of Tech N9ne, who remains ‘The King of Kansas City.’”

Jan. Feb.

6 -28

Get the scoop on upcoming entertainment events of 2009

Dialog In the Dark

Experience your senses to the fullest at Union Station’s new exhibit, Dialog in the Dark. Blind or visually-impaired guides take your group on a journey that encourages teamwork, communication and trust. Each of the senses will be tested as groups work to accomplish tasks like navigating a busy street or choosing the correct dollar bill at a cash register, all without seeing. Purchase tickets, which are $22, online or at the Union Station ticket counter.

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Bruce Springsteen

Springsteen’s new album, “Working On A Dream,” will be released next Tuesday.

‘The Boss’ is still on top-- he will be performing at the Superbowl in Tampa on Feb. 1.

Push

“Push” is a science-fiction action film about three people (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning and Camilla Belle), each with a different ability given to them genetically as a government experiment. The three must use their abilities and work together to run from the government agents who want to kill them. Fanning moves away from her youth, playing a fresh role as a single-minded teenage girl with pink streaks in her hair.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are at 7 p.m. on CBS. Nominees for “Record of the Year” include “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis, and “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. Just to be clear—“Record of the Year” is awarded to the artist who recorded the song, unlike “Song of the Year” which is awarded to the singer and the writer of the song. This explains why Leona Lewis is nominated for “Record of the Year” because, as surprising as it is, Jesse McCartney and Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic actually wrote “Bleeding Love” together. But not in that way. // SOURCES: http://www.allcdcovers.com, http://www.appleseedmusic.com, http://www.dialoginthedark.com

// ALEXLAMB

From the trailer, “The Unborn” looked like the horror film I’ve been waiting for, one that finally delivers genuine jump-out-of-your-seat scares. It successfully differentiates itself from the recent bad American remakes of J-horror films such as “The Eye” and terrible originals like “The Haunting of Molly Hartley.”

On the surface, my expectations were fulfilled. The film’s spooks seriously startled me and while there were too many jolting scares to count, there weren’t any that crawled under my skin and stayed there after the credits rolled.

“The Unborn” follows college student Casey Beldon (Megan Fox look-alike Odette Yustman) as she is haunted by an evil being, her twin brother who died in the womb. Casey’s unborn sibling, Jumby, is a creepy young boy similar to the meowing child in “The Grudge,” except he’s much scarier and wears nice clothes. Until he exacts his revenge upon her, he’ll possess and kill anyone trying to help Casey get rid of him.

The plot becomes somewhat convoluted and a tad too ridiculous upon the revelation of Jumby’s origin, rooted deep in the Holocaust and Jewish mysticism. I’ll give the movie props for trying something different with the Jewish perspective rather than Catholic, which makes it a bit more intriguing since this is unfamiliar territory, but that doesn’t excuse how unnecessarily elaborate the back story gets.

Films of this genre usually don’t put the story as one of the top priorities, and that’s no exception here. The really great horror films can balance a plot that sucks the viewer in alongside scares, atmosphere and suspense. The scares are the absolute strong-point of “The Unborn,” and it certainly delivers plenty of them, but not much in the way of plot.

Within the first three minutes, an unexpected fright lets the audience know exactly what they’re getting into, beginning the long string of hysterical yelps that continue throughout the entire movie. The vast majority of these chilling are hits, with only a couple misses. And when they hit, they hit hard.

In one of the biggest shocks I’ve experienced in a while, Casey opens her rattling bathroom mirror, and Jumby is scrunched tightly inside. He stares directly at the camera, with a horrific expression on his face, causing everyone in the theater to scream. It jarred me so much that I yelled out loud and forcefully lurched backwards in my seat. Not to mention my resting feet almost drilled the back of the head of the man sitting in front of me.

“The Unborn” uses these immediate thrills more so than many other recent horror films, and mostly shuns the use

s n o i t a c i l p Com rth at bi

of effective ambiance.

The nightmare sequences create a particularly interesting atmosphere that succeeds in being eerie, almost like something out of a Guillermo del Toro movie, but in other scenes this same level of aesthetic detail is absent and the immersion level decidedly suffers.

Like most horror films, “The Unborn” has its fair share of extremely predictable clichés. There are lights that, of course, lose power unexpectedly, characters who arrogantly go to check out that “strange noise” then unsurprisingly don’t make it back and extraordinarily satisfying shots of the heroine in her underwear, although that cliché actually works to this movie’s advantage.

David S. Goyer wrote and directed the film, and while his direction keeps the overacting to a minimum and the frights frightening, the suspense is threadbare, only creating mild tension, at most, in two scenes. But the writing is worse. I was just waiting for Casey’s best friend to be killed because she was an annoying character not due to her acting, but because of her flat dialogue that sounded cheesy and stupid.

Yustman plays Casey quite sufficiently, but her appealing body grabbed my attention more than her acting. She injects her character with legitimate emotion and is best when she needs to be terrified, intense and confused, hitting those moods on the dot. At times, her acting is a little bit over the top and not entirely believable. Thankfully, this only occurs in some dialogue-driven scenes, and she’s otherwise a terrific lead.

Gary Oldman shows up halfway through the film as a Jewish Rabbi that Casey comes to, wanting him to perform an exorcism on her, and he eventually agrees. It’s befuddling why such a respected actor like Oldman would be in a horror film such as this, which prefers style over substance, cheap thrills

PAGE 19 A&E / ISSUE NINE

‘The Unborn’ pushes hard for horror fans, but won’t do much for the casual audience over suspense and is just downright substandard for his talent. My guess is that he owed Goyer a favor from their work together on “The Dark Knight”.

While he only has a supporting role that doesn’t hold much depth or have a whole lot to start from, Oldman works some acting magic on his Rabbi character that made me actually care for him. This gave the Rabbi the distinguisged honor of being the only one I really wanted to come out alive at the end.

The final set-piece of Casey’s exorcism is rife with possessed thrills and kills (one very memorable death resulting from a broken spine) and contains close to the amount of intensity I had been hoping for. But this sequence was too short, wrapped up a bit too conveniently in a clichéd manner. The preceding thrills outshine the exorcism scene in terms of scariness, which makes the ending almost anticlimactic.

“The Unborn” has tons of shock and surprise value on the surface, but little to prop it up otherwise. Atmosphere, suspense and lasting terror are lacking, but intense and immediate pop-out scares abound. I went into the movie wanting to be scared, and once the credits rolled, I had definitely gotten my money’s worth.

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Bringing the Bite Back Swedish Vampire Movie ‘Let the Right One In’ shines through the heavy blood and gore //LANDONMCDONALD

Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In” is a rare breed of film, a dark and delicate masterpiece that will amaze anyone lucky enough to catch it during its brief run at the Westport Tivoli. This Swedish import is a gentle, beautifully understated meditation on childhood, friendship and the earliest stirrings of young love. It features two of the year’s finest performances and some of the most captivating imagery I’ve ever seen committed to celluloid.

And yes, it’s about vampires.

This blood-soaked fairy tale, the best of its kind since Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” is a gothic romance of staggering power and passion. And like that earlier film, “Let the Right One In” unfolds through the eyes of a troubled child, in this case Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), a kid being raised by his mother in a dismal urban apartment during Sweden’s bitter winter. The towheaded twelve year old is a loner by nature and

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

an easy target for bullies because of his weight and bizarre interest in old serial killer cases. Too weak and cowardly to fight back, Oskar starts having elaborate fantasies about killing his tormentors. The opening scene even finds him practicing with a hunting knife.

The kid seems headed for tragic oblivion until he meets the apartment’s newest tenant, a mysterious girl named Eli (Lina Leandersson) who lives with her guardian Hakan and only seems to come out at night.

The pale, dark-haired beauty befriends Oskar and soon their friendship blossoms into full-blown romance.

Oskar’s courtship of Eli is interspersed with profoundly disturbing scenes in which Eli’s “father” Hakan stalks the local city park at night, stringing up victims by their feet and draining them of their blood using a grotesque funnel device and a series of tubes. Turns out Eli is a vampire and needs continuous doses of bloody nourishment

| Rental at best |

to survive. As the bodies pile up, the local townsfolk grow suspicious and Hakan is arrested. Eli, suddenly without a steady supply of sustenance, promises to help Oskar resolve his bully problem if he becomes her new protector. Oskar, in a rare moment of humor, says he’ll help only if they can start going steady.

It’s not often that horror is elevated to the level of art, but that’s exactly what happens here. Even the film’s title, based on the myth that vampires can’t enter a home without being invited, is provocative in a darkly tender sort of way.

Every scene between Oskar and Eli is infused with desperate hope and need, an onscreen chemistry I’ve never witnessed before with such young performers.

Hedebrant does an outstanding job at balancing the audience’s sympathy for Oskar and their dread of what he might one day become. And Leandersson is nothing short of stunning as Eli, whose condition is

|Worth seeing |

not treated as a cool superpower but rather as a tragic illness, a terminal disease that never has the decency to finish off its longsuffering victim. The part where Eli pleads with Oskar to “be me for a little while” is one of the most well-acted, heartbreaking scenes of the last decade.

“Let the Right One In” also benefits considerably from its luscious camerawork, which catches shapes in the darkness and blood on the snow with a muted majesty worthy of the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.

All in all, “Let the Right One In” is the movie I’ve been waiting for all year, the only film of 2008 besides “The Dark Knight” that’s fit to be called cinematic perfection. It may be too weird and too dark for the Oscars, but this modest gem will be a cult classic soon enough. Finally we have a vampire movie with some bite to it. God bless the Swedes.

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|Instant Classic

PAGE 20 SPORTS / JAN. 20, 2009

Causing an Avalanche Senior suffers injury at Kansas City ski destination, Snow Creek // HALEYMARTIN

SENIOR Jack Brugger goes off a jump at Snow Creek last winter. Along with Brugger, other East students visit the Weston, MO ski slopes and risk the chance of injury. // PATRICKMAYFIELD

The crisp winter air rushed against senior David Spero’s face as he sped down the Snow Creek hill on his snowboard. He turned his board, aiming to thrust himself off of a 15 foot jump. Closing in on the jump, Spero leaned forward and went for it. Underneath him the board slanted up, and then he was airborne. For those few seconds it was perfect, he was flying. As he plummeted closer and closer to the ground, Spero prepared for the landing.

The nose of his board hit first and he knew that he had put too much weight on the front of it. There was no way this jump could end well. His left shoulder plunged into the snow.

For one painful second, Spero remained sprawled on the ground. He knew something was wrong, and hauling himself up, Spero gradually made his way down to the safety shack, where the Ski Patrol would be waiting for him.

When he finally reached the bottom of the hill, he stood there for a moment and in shock, realizing what had happened.

He thought that he had dislocated his shoulder or maybe broken it.

According to Orthopedic Surgeon at North Kansas City Hospital, Dr. Craig Satterlee, the most common bone broken in the shoulder is the clavicle, and most people t h a t actually do break it are

teens who have fallen onto their shoulder. Teens usually break their clavicle because the bone doesn’t fully harden until they are at least 18.

“It’s (the clavicle) a strut that runs from your chest out to the end of your shoulder. So when you fall, it takes a lot of the pressure so it’s more prone to fracture,” Satterlee said.

On another side of the hill, Senior Pat Sixta was busy flying off jumps and snowboarding on the rails when he noticed Spero standing at the bottom of the hill clutching his shoulder. Alarmed, he snowboarded to the bottom of the Snow Creek hill to see what was wrong.

“I noticed that he didn’t have any color in his face and he was really eerily calm about the whole situation. He was like ‘I think I broke my shoulder’” Sixta said, “and He was flushed in the face and then I said ‘All right lets go to the first aid’ and we went in there.”

Once he got to the hospital, the doctors examined his shoulder. They thought that maybe he had dislocated his shoulder, broken it, or injured it severely; but they couldn’t be sure until it had been x-rayed. After taking the x-ray the doctor came back in and told Spero that he had broken the very end of his clavicle near the joint.

When Spero’s shoulder hit the snow it transferred more force onto his clavicle, which fractured it. Despite this detrimental injury, Spero plans to be back on the slopes for a spring break at Breckenridge.

Waking up in the morning, instead of reaching for the light, Spero reaches to the side with his good arm. Then he pulls the lever making his temporary recliner bed, suddenly upright. After getting up and dressing one

handed, he has one thing left, buttoning his pants. Buttoning pants is a big challenge for Spero because he can only use one hand. After struggling for a minute, he gets them buttoned and heads for the kitchen for breakfast. Single-handedly he grabs breakfast, and is out the door.

Riding his bike is about the only thing that hasn’t changed about Spero’s life.

Recovering from Spero’s snowboarding collision won’t be easy and will take time. First he had to have a new surgery that set his clavicle to grow correctly.

“We almost never used to operate on broken clavicles. There was an expression that if you put two ends of a broken clavicle in the same room they’ll heal. And it will heal but often if the bones are displaced then it heals crooked, and the people will have problems with it later on in their lives,” said Dr. Satterlee.

After the surgery, he now has to go through six months of physical therapy to fully recover from his injury. Even though he has a lot to go through and doesn’t want to go through it again, he will continue to snowboard.

“I love it, it is what I like to do,” Spero said. “I will probably do it until I can’t.”

knowing the signs of the slopes: staying safe GREEN CIRCLE

BLACK DIAMOND

The most common degree of difficulty at Snow Creek, these are the easiest of terrains.

Some of the steeper and ungroomed runs, these see some of the heaviest traffic and injuries.

Difficulty: Beginner

Difficulty: Advanced

BLUE SQUARE

DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND

These are traditionally where skiiers find their stride- an increasing slope with few hazards.

Exposed to near-vertical slopes and hazardous trees, this is only for the experienced skiier. // WWW.BEAVERCREEK.COM

Difficulty: Intermediate

Difficulty: Expert

PAGE 21 SPORTS / ISSUE NINE Junior Joe Craig

BALLS OF FURY // ANDREWGOBLE

JUNIOR Joe Craig practices his backhand in his basement. Craig restarted SMETTCOC earlier this year. // MAXSTITT

TIPS FROM MEMBERS

“Keep your eye on the ball.”

-Joe Craig

Eye hand coordination is key in table tennis. Stay focused on where your opponents hit the ball.

“You gotta have a smooth stroke.”

-Sophomore Mark Mergen

After each shot, return your paddle to the center of the table, right above the center line.

“Be confident with your forehand.”

-Sophomore Patrick McGannon

Don’t second guess your shot. When the ball is at the peak of its bounce, rotate your shoulders and hips in unison with the swing. // Robopong.com

Junior Joe Craig is a competitive guy. He plays varsity soccer, never lets his girlfriend win any game and fondly remembers edging out his brother, ‘08 graduate Owen, in the PSAT by five whole points.

It seems reasonable, then, that he would put himself in charge of bringing back one of the long-forgotten clubs at East, one dedicated to the sport where a competitive spirit takes precedence over any athletic skill.

Table tennis.

Perhaps more informally known as pingpong, table tennis hasn’t been a club at East since the original Shawnee Mission East Table Tennis Coalition of Champions (SMETTCOC) disbanded shortly before Craig came to high school.

Joe decided to bring it back.

“SMETTCOC started over the summer,” Craig said. “And all my friends just played each other over and over.”

By the end of the summer, he had 20 members scrambling around in each other’s basements for hours on end, vying for the much-acclaimed number one spot.

But that wasn’t enough. After his fall soccer season, he set out to make table tennis an official club once again. “[Owen] had thought about [starting a pingpong club],” Craig said.

“But he was too lazy.”

Craig signed science teacher Cole Ogdon as the teacher sponsor.

He said that’s all it took. He held the first meeting the next Wednesday for the now-official club dedicated to the basement art.

“Like 20 people showed up,” Craig said. “I was surprised.”

One of those eager members was sophomore Jeff Lefko. He had thought of starting a table tennis club without even knowing Craig already had. After meeting Lefko, Craig knew he would be a perfect officer for the club-he’d already raised funds.

“It ended up that Grandview Bank said they would sponsor us for $500,” Lefko said.

Since then, the club has grown steadily. With 47 members currently pinging their way around the ladder, a weekly Wednesday meeting has been set to discuss rules, problems, and the club’s future.

But now the club has been trying to get people to play any matches at all. Sophomore Will Severns said he has beaten players in the top 10 before unofficially, but since he doesn’t have a table at home, he can’t find a place to challenge an opponent to move up.

“Just having a set and neutral location would help,” Severns said.

“The problem is that people don’t really want to go to a random person’s house and play,” Lefko said.

“Once we get tables at school, I think more people will come.”

The club plans on using the $500 to buy three tables and is searching for somewhere at East to keep them. They’ve talked to the P.E. department, but are waiting to hear if enough room will be open.

Because of this, some pong-ites have joined the club but haven’t even played a match. However, the club has decided against forcing

returns pingpong back to East

people to challenge.

“I personally don’t care if someone doesn’t want to challenge (an opponent on the ladder to a match),” Craig said. “If you want to be a scrub at the bottom of the ladder, that’s fine with me.”

Many of the members simply play for a change of pace. Sophomore Ross Guigon, who’s currently ranked ninth in the club, likes to play because it’s a break from his rigorous year-round tennis schedule at Mike Wolfe Tennis Academy.

“It’s obviously more relaxed,” Guigon said. “It’s just different dimensions really.”

Joe said his love for the game makes the work worth it. He likes how easy it is to play, and how quickly you can get in a heated match.

“I like it because you can be really offensive and then just switch to defensive and then switch back,” Craig said. “It kind of reminds me of a fight.”

For Lefko, who’s currently fourth on the ladder, the love remains in the lasting appeal of the game.

“I like the club because I think it’s a good opportunity,” Lefko said.

“You can play until you’re eighty.”

The club hopes to host a tournament at the end of the year, and to challenge other schools by next year. Lefko and Craig said the top 10 players in the club are considering local tournaments this year and possibly an out-of-town tournament during the summer.

“You gotta rep your school,” said Craig. “We’re not just any Table Tennis Coalition of Champions.”

New rule to allow summer practices // CAMSMITH

The Kansas State High School Activity Association has changed the rule allowing coaches to work with their players over the summer. The new rule allows all coaches to be able to work with players with no restrictions on the amount of players they can work with or where. Coaches work with players from June 1 to the beginning of the third week of July.

The change was made because sports like football, basketball and volleyball didn’t have the same options as other sports like cross country and track. They were only able to work with three players at a time whereas all the other sports had no restrictions.

“Besides the inequity between the sports the rule was changed also for the schools in western Kansas because their kids don’t have the opportunities that we have here,” athletic director Jim Ricker said. “They aren’t able to put kids into leagues and organize camps as easily as we are able to.”

Because of the new time restriction for when coaches can conduct camps and

leagues, multi-sport players will now have many commitments to make.

“Kids won’t be put in the middle of this issue,” principal Dr.. Karl Krawitz said.

“The coaches will meet to organize times that provide access for the players without them having a fear of a penalty for not attending. The KSHSAA is very conservative in protecting students and over involvement in activities. This is why they have created the guidelines for how many games a player is allowed to participate in each week, and the access coaches have to the players in the summer.”

The extra time will also help athletes be on an even playing field with schools in states around Kansas. For example, Kansas schools play 20 regular season basketball games in a season, where as Missouri schools play 25.

“More opportunity gives the players more of a chance to showcase their skill and hone in on their skills,” Krawitz said. “I wish there were more games played, but this is a good

start for more opportunities to play.”

For varsity boys basketball coach Shawn Hair, nothing will change with how he runs his summer program except for when things are scheduled. The team will still compete in the Rockhurst summer league where the East squad plays other teams around the area, travel to team tournaments and hold their own camp at East as they have in the past. Hair will also keep to bringing in people from the outside to coach during league games.

“I think that having other coaches and previous players coach the team is a good thing I don’t want to change,” Hair said. “It gives them different direction because of different experiences and it also allows me to sit back, watch and evaluate my players.”

Varsity girls volleyball coach Scott Dowis will hold practices two to three times a week in the summer for his whole team to get together, but they won’t be mandatory.

In his opinion, the rule will make scheduling easier and the structural practices will

improve the players. More playing time will allow players more time to help gain college scholarships.

“The time can now give colleges more time to see players because of the year round play,” Dowis said. “Kansas and Missouri schools want to sign our players, but because they aren’t playing as much as other girls they aren’t being signed. It’ll really help give them a little more edge.”

Ricker wants to make sure that athletes know that nothing is going to be mandatory.

But for most athletes it’s best for them if they can see as much face time with a coach as much as possible. So coaches will have to cooperate to make sure that kids aren’t being pulled at too much and the events aren’t going to overlap.

“You have to remember kids are still kids and need summer,” Ricker said. “And coaches have families they want to be with, so I don’t think there will be constant sports events going on.”

Elevating her game

PAGE 22 SPORTS / JAN. 20, 2009

// KATIEEAST

Junior Janna Graf leads the Sunflower League in points, rebounds and steals on her way to guiding the title-hopeful Lady Lancers to a 6-1 start // SAMKOVZAN

When asked about what she’s good at in life, junior Janna Graf would mention a variety of things: she’s an honors student and a hard worker. She’s easy to get along with and really good at multitasking.

Chances are she mentions nothing at all about basketball.

Never mind that she was seconds away last season from leading the Lady Lancers to their first state tournament appearance since 1990 as a sophomore. Never mind that she is at the top of the Sunflower League in scoring, rebounding and steals.

No, Graf would much rather brag about her team.

“A team of five always beats one star,” Graf said.

She has a point. The Lady Lancers are off to a 6-1 start and have beaten the likes of defending state champion Lawrence and rival Shawnee Mission South. Despite losing four key seniors last year, East has hardly skipped a beat.

Graf isn’t surprised. Since the players are close on and off the court, the team has no problem playing well together.

“We have to be good teammates if we want to have a good team,” Graf said. “I think we’re doing a good job of that.”

Though Graf will always maintain a sense of modesty, it’s hard to ignore her individual performances this year. Averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds per game through the first seven games of the season, she has been vital in a number of Lancer victories.

“She’s got a motor that never quits,” head coach Rick Rhoades.

“She never stands still and is always working hard on the court. Her teammates have done a great job passing and screening for her, so she’s really been able to carry us.”

Graf and the rest of the team hit a stride the week before winter break in mid-December. First came a victory against rival SM South on Dec. 15. Graf’s double-double, along with 20 points from junior Haley Dalgleish, helped seal a comfortable double digit victory.

Four days later, East was given a chance to show the entire city they were legitimate. In a game televised by Metro Sports, the Lancers cruised to a 23-point win over the Liberty Blue Jays in the Hy-Vee Shoot-out at Avila University. Graf scored 18 points as the team was aided by the return of senior forward Natalie Parsons.

The next day, East had the opportunity to go undefeated heading into winter break. Trailing by five at halftime against Olathe Northwest, the team was in need of a spark.

Graf provided just that.

Single-handedly out-scoring Northwest by nine in the third quarter, Graf’s performance was impressive enough to land her the Female Athlete of the Week award in the Kansas City Star.

“It was a cool accomplishment because I’ve seen a lot of other great players get [the award],” Graf said. “But I wasn’t going to let it get to my head. The season wasn’t even a quarter done when I got it, so I knew not to think much into it.”

Always looking ahead, never satisfied. To her teammates, this seems to be what Graf is all about. Long-time friends and junior teammates of Graf, Hannah Gerwick and Haley Dalgleish have always admired her modesty.

After news broke out about Graf winning Female Athlete of the Week, Dalgleish was one of the first to congratulate her.

“I was so proud of her, but when I told her congratulations she was just like, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal really,” Dalgleish said.

The day after an impressive eight-point win over defending state champions Lawrence on Jan. 12, the team took part in a film session.

“She had 18 points and a bunch of rebounds against Lawrence,” Gerwick said. “The entire time we were watching film she was pointing out everything she did wrong.”

The individual numbers she is piling up are nice, but essentially mean nothing to Graf, especially if the team fails to make it to state.

“If you look back in 40 years, you aren’t going remember all the stats,

AS GRAF GOES, SO GO THE LADY LANCERS >> Graf has scored 18 or more points in five games.

“

East’s record is 5-0.

Besides scoring, she gets a lot of rebounds and steals, and hustles on defense. As a teammate , I really appreciate how hard she works.

”

>> Senior guard Libby Jandl

“

”

That tells me we are scoring because people are looking for her, setting good picks and getting assists.

>> Head coach Rick Rhoades

you’re going to remember going to state,” Graf said.

East was agonizingly close last year to making it to state for the first time in 19 years. As a young sophomore, Graf averaged a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds a game. Having a chance to win the game at the free throw line, she remembers everything about the sub-state championship loss vividly.

“We weren’t really supposed to be as good as we were, so everyone was excited for the seniors {before the game},” Graf said. “This was their chance to go state and I felt I kind of lost it for them with my free throw misses.”

The loss stayed in the back of the team’s mind the entire offseason.

No one felt worse about it than Graf, but it only made her feel that much more excited for the beginning of this year.

Thus far, the Lady Lancers seem to have plenty of potential to make a postseason run. The team’s three seniors – Libby Jandl, Christina Davis and Natalie Parsons – have all been great leaders in Rhoades’ opinion. “[The seniors] have kept everyone positive in practice,” Rhoades said. “There is no jealousy and I would say those three probably work the hardest in practice.”

Rhoades explained that this team, although not as quick or athletic as last year’s squad, is more physical and better suited for success deep into the season. Davis and Parsons give the Lancers’ size that hasn’t always been present in the past. The constant hustle and resilience of Graf and Jandl provides the team with toughness.

“Being a bigger team this year will help us in the long run,” Rhoades said. “I’ve found that’s really what it always comes down to at the end of the season – being physical and tough.”

Regardless of how the team fairs, Graf will be an essential ingredient to East’s success. All she knows is that for the next month and a half, it’s not about her. It’s about the team.

“For us to [make state], I need to play my role, whether it’s making the shot or making the pass or getting the rebound,” Graf said. “I’ll do whatever I need to do.”

Rhoades expresses a similar urgency in wanting to finally get past the sub-state championship.

“We’ve lost that game three years in a row now,” Rhoades said. “The team hasn’t been to state since 1990, so this school really needs to get over that [sub-state] hump.”

Graf admits that she has individual goals for the future, such as playing Division I basketball in college. More importantly though, she wants to go to a top-notch academic school. Her three Honors classes keep her more than busy when she isn’t on the basketball court.

According to Graf, however, all of this can wait. She has a season and a half left in her East career and believes that not playing to her ability night-in and night-out would be unfair to the team.

This is why, she explains, that being satisfied with her personal performances does no good.

“I never let [my success on the court] get to my head because I don’t want to feel satisfied or cocky,” Graf said. “I wouldn’t have gotten this far without four other players on the court. Sure, I’d like to play in college, but that can wait. Right now my goals are the team’s goals.”

PAGE 23 SPORTS / ISSUE NINE

BORDER BATTLE

East boys’ basketball tries for sixth straight win against Missouri rival Rockhurst // KENNEDYBURGESS

Students start lining up to get into the game as soon as the final bell rings to leave school. They stretch to the parking lot filled with Jeep Liberties. By the time the first quarter starts, the gym is packed to its capacity with North Face-wearing teens there to cheer on their school with pride and dignity in hopes of victory.

Players’ names may change and the location may be different, but both schools wait for it every year in anticipation of a win. It’s the big game that brings two rivaling schools together for one eventful night that will surely prove which school is more “baler.” That one night sets the stage for a familiar and intense rivalry between two local schools. That one night is the East vs.

Rockhurst Basketball game.

For the past five years now, East has triumphed over its rival, Rockhurst. On Jan. 30, East will see if they can dominate Rockhurst for a sixth time. To recap last year’s televised Metro Sports Game of the Week, East put up an intense fight against Rockhurst.

This year the game is to be broadcast over the radio instead of being televised. The reason for this switch is due to Rockhurst’s gym size and the inability to fit the whole camera crew, which could affect the hype of this year’s game compared to last year’s.

Last year, the score stayed close all the way up until the final minutes of the game but a hard fought fourth quarter by East players including now senior Winn Clark was the deciding factor.

East finished on top with a score of 43-38.

“They aren’t thinking about the previous years we’ve played East,” Head Rockhurst coach Mark Nausbum said. “For the boys, they try to take every year as a clean slate.”

This year’s varsity team hasn’t lost to Rockhurst since they’ve been at East and the seniors don’t want this to be the year they give up a win.

“It’s neat for our kids to come to the gym and see a line of students waiting to watch them lay-up,” Hair said. “It is definitely different but for the most part they can handle it because other games bring big crowds as well.”

This game is the only game in the whole season where a junior varsity game is sold out. This rivalry brings a large amount of fans to the freshman and sophomore games, regardless of where the game is located.

“It is a completely different atmosphere for the JV kids,” Hair said. “The players get taunted, there is even more emotion in the game on both sides and it helps a little bit to prepare them for the atmosphere at the varsity level.”

For the players the game is different than any other game because of the crowd. The chants created by the opposing side always have to one up the other one. There is always a come back something said.

Hair doesn’t know what exactly to attribute to the game’s immensity to. Whether it is the school’s success in academics or sports or the fact that there are many friends that sport the opposing Columbia blue, black and white.

“There are kids that had gone to Indian Hills and Mission Valley that decided to go to Rockhurst, and kids that went to Cure of Ars’ and St. Paul’s that go to East now.” Hair said. “Just knowing kids at the opposing school adds another element to the game.”

This year, keeping both teams focused is important to Hair and Nausbum in order for the players to execute well. It’s easy to get caught up in the atmosphere of the game, according to Hair, this game especially.

“It’s not up to me or Hair. In the end, it’s up to the player’s to execute,” Nausbum said. “I know the team will play to their best ability because it is the big rivalry game against East and I know they’re looking forward to it because of that.”

East’s undefeated season ended Jan. 9. They had a disappointing loss against Shawnee Mission West. East had beaten West earlier in the basketball season, but the rest of the season is looking very good for East.

Rockhurst on the other hand, had a slow start to their basketball season, with a 5-7 record. However, Rockhurst had a good showing recently at the William Jewell Basketball Tournament and are playing better now as a team.

Clark and the other East players are as psyched as ever for this year’s game and come with their most intense game face on.

“The atmosphere is always great,” Clark said. “It has been every year and I don’t think it will be any different this year.”

Nausbum said the players don’t look at this year’s game as another year to lose to East. They look at it as though it will go either way; the past games against East don’t matter. They play to win.

The coaches are preparing for this game like any other Rockhurst/East game.

“Coach Hair is approaching the game like he has every year,” Clark said. “But he is throwing in some new plays Rockhurst hasn’t seen from us before. It’s my last year at East. It’s the last year I’ll ever be apart of the rivalry with Rockhurst.”

Needless to say, this year’s match-up between East and Rockhurst will not disappoint those who come to watch. Like previous years, it will be a hard fought battle until the final buzzer. The crowd will be as loud as ever and there’s no doubt both sides of the gym will be packed with fans. Those who have attended the game in the past should know to show up as early as possible because there’s guaranteed to not be an empty seat in the house.

The game will be held at Rockhurst High School on Jan. 30 with tip-off for the varsity game scheduled at 7:30 p.m.

// MACKENZIEWYLIE

Coaching with no regrets East coach Shawn Hair revels in coaching against his alma mater // CAMSMITH

After crushing Rockhurst in five past boys varsity basketball games, East coach Shawn Hair has no regrets.

The ’82 Rockhurst grad and freshman/sophomore guard’s first priority as the new Lancers’ head coach 13 years ago was to make sure that Rockhurst was on the varsity basketball schedule.

“There’s no doubt I’m a Lancer,” Hair said.

During Hair’s time at the top of the key, the Rockhurst/East game never reached the immense proportions of sold-out JV games, “we’ve got girls!” cheers and students lining the sidewalks around the school three hours before game time.

He never had the opportunity to go back and coach at his alma mater, but when the East varsity boy’s basketball job opened up 13 years ago Hair jumped on it.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself for the games,” Hair said. “I want to make sure they are ready for games every time to go out and give a good performance like they can.”

For Hair, the game has become what people look to as the biggest game of the season even if he wants it to be considered as important as the others.

“It has become the biggest rivalry in the city and that adds a bigger hype to the game,” Hair said. “The kids interact between each other so much and the new technology allows the kids to communicate that much more, its heightens the game that much more.”

Hair doesn’t put the Rockhurst game on a pedestal; he prepares for the rivalry face-off just like any other game. He tries to treat them all the same, but for some reason it just doesn’t work that way as both schools’ fans near-riot in tip-off anticipation.

“It has become an event rather than just a game,” Hair said. “It is the highlight of the season for people and it is a game everyone has to go to.

This just makes the atmosphere that much more fun to play in.”

PAGE 24 PHOTO ESSAY / JAN. 20, 2009

MOVING

ON STRONG On Jan. 13, the Lancers won 66-58 over Lawrence, giving them a new record of 6-2

ABOVE: Head coach Shawn Hair and assistant coach Todd McAtee shout at the players from the sidelines. The Lancer players had an excellent game; senior Winn Clark scored 18 points and senior Charlie Ludington had three three-pointers.

RIGHT: Drill team members junior Keelia Corcoran and sophomore Emily Welter dance their routine at halftime.

// ALL PHOTOS BY TYLER ROSTE

LEFT: Senior Marcus Webb stretches to get the ball in the hoop. Webb had 12 points including a three-pointer for the night.

BELOW: Seniors Gordon Smith, Bryan Parman and Calvin Tidwell distract one of Lawrence’s players while throwing the ball back into play.

FAR-BELOW: Senior Winn Clark breaks for the basket. The Lancers had a slow first half, scoring only 25 points. In the second half they had a big comeback finishing with 41 points for the half and 66 points on the game.