Issue 9

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theharbinger » »

NEWS: CodeRED may be introduced in PV, Mission Hills » PAGE 2

A&E: ‘Juno’ definite Oscar material » PAGE 22

ISSUE NINE january 22, 2008 shawnee mission east prairie village, ks

SPORTS: The Rockhurst game breakdown »PAGES 28-29

»sarahandrews

Controversy ignites after block scheduling for 2008-2009 passed (ADDITIONAL COVERAGE ON PAGES 7 AND 9) » devino’bryan After meetings and much discussion, Shawne Mission East teachers voted in favor of block scheduling for the 2008-2009 school year. The results have

caused controversy among staff members, parents and students.

On Friday, Dec. 14, two-thirds of teachers voted “yes” for a 4-1 block schedule.

As a result, Principal Susan

Swift says East will have block scheduling four days a week next year, with students attending every class on Mondays.

Swift believes one benefit to the 4-1 schedule will be the 90-minute

seminar period on Wednesdays and Fridays.

In addition to working on homework and getting help from teachers from other classes, Swift hopes that this time can be used

for standardized testing as well as assemblies so other classes won’t be interrupted.

» story continued on page 3

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New automated emergency system to be possibly s lintroduced eak in areato Prairie Village and Mission Hills

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» davidhenderson

In 2006 a seven year-old girl vanished from bed in Idaho. The local police turned to a new emergency alert system called CodeRED, which helped find the girl, who had wandered away during the middle of the night.

CodeRED is an automated emergency system that informs local residents of what is happening in the area, such as fires, gas leaks and child abductions. The system contacts residents through e-mail, telephone and text messaging. This technology could soon be introduced to Prairie Village and Mission Hills.

“We are currently just in the research stage of the game, so we have more vendors and products to look at before a decision is made,” Tim Kobe, Communications Supervisor for the Prairie Village Police Department, said.

Kobe recently held a meeting with the Prairie Village city council to discuss the possibility of implementing Code RED, which can contact up to 60,000 citizens in the span of just an hour.

CodeRED was introduced in the late 1990s in areas of Florida and has spread throughout the United States. It also claims to use new technology, that gets information out faster, and is more convenient than other emergency alert systems.

“In today’s high-tech and fastpaced world, it seems like everyone has access to a cell phone, PDA or other electronic device. The systems we are looking at are capable of sending messages to these various devices,

which would allow more citizens and businesses to be notified as soon as possible during an emergency,” Kobe said.

Clients of CodeRED can record their own messages alerting other local citizens of danger. CodeRED employees then review the message, making sure the message is an emergency. Local residents then receive the message alerting them of immediate dangers.

“As for the technology part, I think the way they’re doing it with text-messages and e-mails is the easiest and best way to spread that information,” sophomore Brian Rogers said.

The convenience of CodeRED is a big part of the decision that is to be made in Prairie Village and Mission Hills. It can send out messages to all houses in the local Prairie Village area in less than 20 minutes.

Prairie Village and Mission Hills are already ahead of other local cities because they already have local alert systems in place.

The current emergency alert system is called Communicator, but it is very difficult for the police department to use because of the complexity of the system.

CodeRED is similar to communicator as they both send messages through the telephone. The ability though for CodeRED to send text messages and email is what separates CodeRED from other emergency alert systems.

“Our current system is outdated and no longer supported by its company,” Kobe explained.

Currently the school is notified through the Prairie Village Police department if there is a situation going on in the area.

“Officer Sullivan, our SRO, shares any pertinent information with me and the associate principals,” Principal Susan Swift said.

Students seem to like the new idea, but are pessimistic about how it will help the community.

“How often do you see regular neighborhood people helping out in a fire, or being the ones to catch a kidnapper?” Rogers said. “I think it’s a good thought, and a good way to be proactive about those occurrences, but I don’t think its going to help.”

Junior Greg Gunthrie likes the new idea of information being spread more quickly, and could be more successful.

“I think it will work because, if people check their phones half as much as the people that I know then it will be a big success,” Gunthrie said.

Kobe is to go in front of the Mission Hills City Council to explain CodeRED in the next couple of weeks. A decision will be made as soon as possible by the Prairie Village and Mission Hills Police Departments.

Sweetheart Dance Come enjoy a night in Hollywood at the Sweetheart dance on Feb. 2 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets will be on sale before and after school and during lunch the week before the dance. Sweetheart elections are Jan. 31.

Empty Bowls Empty Bowls, a fundraiser for the City Union Mission, is Feb. 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at West. Works of art created that day will be auctioned off as part of the fundraiser. Tickets are $15, and are for the soup supper, school art show and an original handcrafted bowl created by a Shawnee Mission student. Tickets must be purchased Feb. 1, and can be purchased by calling Cortney Sivewright at 913-993-8619.

Carnation Sale The carnation sale is Jan. 29, 30 and 31.

Order forms can be picked up in the office and on the north ramp during lunch as well as after school in the front hall and spirit circle.

Carnations cost $1 each, with proceeds going to benefit the Love Fund, which is an organization dedicated to improve the quality of life of children in the greater Kansas City area.

Testimony allowed in Horton Case A judge ruled Jan. 7 that prosecutors will be allowed to present testimony from an alleged sexual assault victim in the trial of John Henry Horton, whose 2004 conviction for the murder of Lizabeth Wilson was overturned last year.

Wilson was abducted from the East parking lot in 1974, and the state contends that Horton abducted Wilson to sexually assault her and killed her with an overdose of chloroform. The defense claims that the testimony from a woman who says that Horton sexually assaulted her weeks before Wilson was killed, should not be allowed because it is “incredibly prejudicial” against Horton.

Late Start There is a late start Jan. 31. School starts at 9:40 a.m.

Code

red

22 jan.

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Code Red is a high-speed communication service used for emergency notifications

Situations where Code Red might be used NATURAL DISASTERS water safety fires tornadoes

SEARCH AND RESCUE missing children evacuation notices evacuation routes

CRIME prisoner escape warning crime watch support sexual predator alert

PUBLIC WORKS water contamination street closings utility outages source: www.coderedweb.com

SHARE Blood Drive The community blood center blood drive is Jan. 30 in the gymnasium. The blood drive is sponsored by SHARE.

All blocked in

NEWS

3

22 jan.

» story continued from page 1

Seminar period is one of the attributes of block scheduling that attracted teachers. English teacher Jeanette Bonjour thinks seminar will be helpful to students, especially those who miss school.

“It will be easier for students to make up sick work, missed tests and get teacher help,” she said.

Some teachers at East, like math teacher Monique Goodeyon, see many pros to block scheduling in addition to the added seminar period. She taught on block at Gardner High School and thinks it offers a less hectic schedule for students and teachers, fewer classes to be prepared for each day, and a more complete lesson plan for students in math classes that feel rushed in only 50 minutes.

“With more time in class you can present a concept and have time for it to develop,” she said. “You have time to practice problems so students understand the material better.”

Swift also sees similar pros to moving to block scheduling but from an administrative point of view.

“It allows flexibility in the classroom,” she said. “It’s less stressful for teachers because they have more time to focus on each individual class, and it may make for an easier transition into college since the schedules are more similar.”

Orchestra teacher Jonathan Lane is a teacher that is against block scheduling. He thinks Swift’s argument that it prepares students for college is unrealistic since college is fast paced.

“The more relaxed environment of block scheduling promotes less homework,” he said. “That’s not how it will be in college. You won’t have extra time at the end of college classes to work on your homework for that night.”

Spanish teacher Ann Hunt looks forward to the less stressful pace of classes. She thinks it will help students focus more in their classes because they will take in less information during the rushed school day.

“I think the present schedule is too hectic on students and teachers,” she said. “People are spent and tired of listening by sixth and seventh hour.”

Social studies teacher Vicki Arndt-Helgesen agrees.

She thinks block scheduling offers a way for students to get more rest by not having to worry about preparing for seven classes a day.

“When I look at my students I see that they’re absolutely exhausted,” she said. “It’s not possible to get everything done and have the time to do it well.”

On the other side of the argument, math teacher Rick Royer worries that the new schedule may make difficult classes more stressful on students instead of easier, as proposed by those in favor of block.

“By having to cover the same amount of information in fewer days the pace may be more frantic,” he said.

Lane also believes the change in pacing will harm his students. He believes the lack of daily repetition and practice the new schedule will create will hinder the quality of his class.

“Music teachers want repetition,” he said. “You need repetition to develop musical skills, like you need it for sports. You wouldn’t have a sports practice every other day.”

German and French teacher Karen Pearson thinks that may be a problem as well, especially in the lower levels of a language class.

“In any skill building course you need a lot of exposure at the beginning,” she said.

Swift says the push to move to block scheduling this year was mostly teacher-driven and that she was open to either option.

Bonjour says that block scheduling has been in discussion at East for about 12 years and that it was voted down once before. This year teachers talked about it in meetings and both proponents and opponents had a

chance to voice their opinions.

Seeing no apparent problem with the current schedule at East, Lane questions why the change is being made now.

“What’s broken?” Lane asked. “What are we trying to fix? A more relaxed environment doesn’t always equal better learning.”

Royer is also worried about the impact a drastic schedule change could have on a high-achieving school.

He thinks the more laid-back schedule and relaxed learning environment could have a negative effect on motivated students.

“Block scheduling could benefit low achievers at the cost of high achievers,” he said.

That is one of the main concerns of Debbie Ward, a parent who has two daughters at East. After hearing about the possible change to block from one of her daughters she began researching the pros and cons online.

“I have a senior, a freshman and a fourth grader,” she said. “Five years down the road I don’t want to find East has lower test scores because of block scheduling.”

Ward has been reading research provided by Phi Delta Kappan, an association for educators that produces the most cited education journal in the United States.

Phi Delta Kappan believes that the success of block scheduling depends on the professionals who implement it and that using a variety of instructional methods will help students learn at a higher level.

In addition a 1995 study by Carl Glickman, a University of Georgia professor, of 820 high schools and 11,000 students reported that schools where active learning methods were used had significantly higher achievement as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. He believes this is because teachers at schools with block scheduling may use the longer class periods to engage students in experiments, writing, and other forms of active learning instead of just lecturing students.

After reading this research, Ward supports block scheduling if teachers and administrators work hard to ensure the quality of classes stays the same. If East changes to block scheduling she wants it to be successful.

“I don’t want classes to end up being a thirty minute study hall,” she said. “I don’t want to see the quality of the school slip.”

East is not the first school in the district to pursue block scheduling. South looked into block in 1998 but decided to stay with a traditional schedule. Northwest is implementing a modified block next year with Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays being regular schedule and Wednesdays and Thursdays being block. West has had block for the longest in the district, over ten years, and North has had it for ten.

Shawnee Mission North principal Richard Kramer believes block scheduling is successful at his school because it creates a calm atmosphere and a safer environment by limiting passing periods. He believes changing to a block schedule can be challenging because it requires teachers to use different strategies to teach so they can fill up a ninety-minute period.

“It’s asking teachers to re-evaluate their lesson plans,” he said, “and to try new methods of teaching.”

Some teachers, like Royer, are not looking forward to changing the style of their classes.

“I’m comfortable with how I teach now,” he said. “I’m an old dog and I don’t want to learn new tricks.”

Arndt-Helgesen thinks this change in

New schedule decision sparks disagreements between teachers and students

teaching will be a learning opportunity for staff members as well as students because different teaching styles and activities can be explored.

“It offers the possibility for more innovative teaching methods,” she said. “I’ll have more time for Socratic seminars. It won’t work if teachers just hand out worksheets.”

No matter what opinions may be, Goodeyon hopes people, especially students, keep an open mind about next year.

“It’s hard because The Harbinger polled more than 150 stuit’s extremely new,” dents from all grades and asked whether she said. “There will they wanted block scheduling at East. be growing pains the first year. Hopefully people believe it will 41% voted for work well.”

Students 59% voted against

Teachers Teachers voted Dec. 14. According to Jonathan Lane, these were the results.

66% voted for 34% voted against

»alexanderson

NEWS

4

Turf’s up BY

» mikehake

Two seasons ago, head football coach John Stonner sent out an e-mail to the parents of all of the football players with two pictures and a brief message attached. One picture was of Shawnee Mission South’s plush artificial turf practice field, and the other picture, taken on the same day, was of East’s football field after several days of rainy practices: a muddy pit.

His point was simple. South had a perfect field to practice on every day, while East’s football team had to either practice on mud, risking leg injuries, or have a limited contact practice in a parking lot or gym.

Stonner and his 2009 football team won’t have that disadvantage as East is on SMSD’s 07-08 budget summary to get an artificial turf field.

East and Northwest were the last two Shawnee Mission schools to get turf fields, on a bond issue that the district

put in place in 2004. The field is on the same bond that will bring East a new auxiliary gymnasium, where the Spirit Circle currently is, and put digital projectors in classrooms district-wide.

West’s renovations began in 2006, the third year of the bond, and should finish renovations, including a new turf practice field, before the start of next school year.

A bid for the construction job hasn’t been put up yet, as the start date for work on the field hasn’t yet been decided. It will most likely start after the 2008 football season ends.

Stonner is already excited at the prospect of having a practice field regardless of weather. By the time district games roll around in October, East’s main football field below the junior lot has been torn up by players’ cleats during rainy practices.

A base layer of expanded polypropylene gives the field rigidity and is fitted with drainage holes so the field remains dry.

A real drag 22 jan.

» stephennichols

Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa and Shawnee all implemented smoking ban ordinances on Jan. 2. The ban reaches to almost all commercial establishments, which include restaurants and bars, places of employment, hotels and retail businesses, with the exception of stores that primarily sell tobacco. Restaurant patios are also exempt from the ban.

Although these are not the first smoking bans in the area (Fairway passed a smoking ban in 2005), these recent laws affect a much larger set of people, four cities worth, with a total of over 500 restaurants in the area.

So why hasn’t Prairie Village followed suit? Essentially, it’s a waiting game. Although P.V. does ban smoking in workplaces, there are two exceptions: restaurants and bars. The wait is for the six surrounding cities­—Kansas City, Missouri, Leawood, Mission Hills, Fairway, Mission and Overland Park­—to pass the full ban and then P.V. will also join.

So far, Mission and Mission Hills have rejected the ban, although Kansas City has two different smoking ban proposals on their ballot for the election on April 8. One of the proposals has been brought forth by the city council and it prohibits smoking in restaurants but makes exceptions for taverns and the floors of casinos.

2008

“It’ll be huge for us,” Stonner said. “In the past we’ve had to either practice on mud or on the parking lot, while they [SM North and South] practice on turf. It levels the playing field.”

Despite their past practice conditions, East is 5-1 against North and South in the past three seasons, with their only loss coming last year in a 42-38 overtime game versus. North.

The senior class of 2010 will be the first football team to get to play on the artificial turf.

“Going from turf [during the week] to turf [on game nights] will be a lot easier than going from a muddy field to a nice field,” sophomore running back Kris Hertel said.

“I’ll be able to get a lot better footing.”

Curly fibers called “infill” are placed in between the fibers to soften the field for players

Polyethylene fibers are treated and bound together to make the synthetic grass. These fibers are abrasion resistant so that athletes are able to slide with out getting “turf burn.”

BY

East scheduled to receive a new artificial turf football field

A layer of rubber granules are placed on the field to make it more resilient and springy.

» alexanderson and renli

Prairie Village comes closer to a smoking ban as four cities approve their own

The other proposal is brought forth by petitioners and seeks to ban smoking at restaurants and bars, but not casino floors.

The Leawood smoking ordinance was brought to the city council as a joint compromise between Clean Air KC, whose mission is to make all of Kansas City smoke free, and the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association says Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn. She also notes that there was little to no opposition of the ordinance.

“We really haven’t had any [opposition],” Dunn said.

The Restaurant and Hotel was behind it originally so that helped.”

So far, Dunn says she has received only positive feedback after the ordinance went into effect.

“I have had employees [in the restaurant] business who have come up to me and expressed their thanks for the ban,” Dunn said.

East students, such as Bob Enders, support the ban for the health issues. Enders lives in Leawood and has visited his fair share of smoky restaurants prior to the ban.

“I think it’s a good thing for public health,” Enders said. “It will mean a lot less second-hand smoke for people.”

The ban may increase public health, but senior John Zecy doesn’t agree with the policy based on the rights of the restaurants.

“I would never smoke, but I don’t think it’s the greatest idea,” Zecy said. “They already have designated areas for smoking, so I don’t see the sense in banning it.”

Plus, the restaurants are at risk to lose part of their customer base if smoking is no longer allowed.

“It does take away from the restaurant revenue,” Zecy said. “Which is unfair because smoking is legal.”

The fine for breaking the ban in Leawood is a maximum of $100 for a first violation. Subsequent charges increase from $200 for the second violation and $500 for any charge after that during a one year period.

Dunn is hopeful that the cities that border Leawood, KCMO and P.V. will also follow through with their own bans.

“I think it would be great if KCMO and P.V. stepped up and adopted it,” Dunn said.

» tylerroste and michaelstolle

Ali Kemp Foundation self- defense program comes to East, teaches girls basic self-defense moves BY

» elizabethmcgranahan

It was the afternoon of MORP, and senior Sarah Jones decided to go on a run to Porter Park before getting ready.

On her jog home, Jones said she noticed a man in a black sweatshirt walking towards her and as he began to speed up, Jones felt unsafe. She decided to turn off on the walking bridge by Porter Park.

“It was starting to get dark and I thought I was just being paranoid,” Jones said. “When I looked behind me, I didn’t see anyone on the bridge so I slowed down.”

After being attacked that day on the bridge, Jones felt the need to learn more about self-defense. She was among over 150 mothers and daughters who attended The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation (TAKE) self-defense class held for free on Jan 9. The two-hour class provides the knowledge to defend against attackers.

“I’m sure that if I had taken this self-defense class before, it would have helped,” Jones said. “TAKE is an awesome program and I think that every woman, no matter what age, should take a self defense class like this.”

During the class, Jones learned a variety of moves that she could have also used to protect herself on the day she was attacked. Jones said that shortly after getting off the bridge, a second man grabbed her from behind. The first man in the black sweatshirt appeared from under the bridge and stood in front of her. Both men grabbed her and punched her as she screamed and kicked. Jones said that after a swift kick to the crotch, the first man in the black sweatshirt went down. She continued to fight the second man, and eventually ran to a post office where she hid in the bushes. Jones considers herself extremely lucky to have gotten out of the struggle alive.

After the murder of their 19-year-old daughter, Ali Kemp, Mr. and Mrs. Kemp decided to start the self-defense program for teen girls. The class is intended to help girls protect themselves the way that Jones did.

“We didn’t want a thing like that to happen to another little girl like Ali,” Mr. Kemp said.

Senior Katie Zimmer, one of the girls who attended to class, said that she is appreciative of this program.

“It’s just two hours of your day and it can potentially save your life,” Zimmer said. “It was worth every minute.”

Jill and Bob Leiker were asked to run the self-defense

SIMPLE

self-

1.

defense

TIPS

class because both have had several years of karate training, but they say this class isn’t about learning karate.

“This isn’t about beating people up,” Jill said. “It’s about knowing what to do in a dangerous situation.”

The class began with a speech from Bob Leiker about the dangers of the community. According to Bob, the average rapist will have acted 16 times before being caught. He also says that criminals stalk their targets for six -12 times.

The most common attacks occur in safe places such as grocery stores, pools and parking lots.

“At the beginning of the class when Bob was talking to us about the dangers in our community, I was shocked and it scared me a lot,” sophomore Maygan White said.

Bob always starts every class with the shocking statistics, but he says that the reason isn’t to scare them.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this to scare you,” Bob said. “I’m saying this to tell you it’s out there and it’s real. You must realize the dangers surrounding you before you can take steps to protect yourself.”

Following the opening speech, the girls spread out through the gym and were taught moves that can get them out of almost any vulnerable situation.

“After taking the class I feel safer because now I know what to do and what not to do in a potentially harmful situation,” senior Jessica Perbeck said.

Sophomore Elizabeth Piper is one of the many teens that help the Leikers with the program. Initially, Piper started helping out because she wanted to do something good for others but ended up sticking with the program for more than a year now.

“It’s all about helping people’s confidence and increasing woman empowerment,” Piper said. “As cheesy as it sounds, it’s true. I’m glad to be a part of a great program like this.”

TAKE has educated over 26,000 females in almost six years and continues to grow.

“Coming to East was part of a plan to teach as many females as possible,” Jill said. “We want to reach out to everyone.”

Principal Susan Swift said that according to the response of the participants, the program was everything the administration hoped for. Dr. Swift also said that they

Quickly hit throat, then grab with cupped hand

2.

5

NEWS

Female em‘power’ment

JUNIOR Kristin Barker practices her techniques on the dummy under the supervision of instructor, Bob Leiker, as part of the TAKE self-defense program. »tylerroste

plan to have TAKE come again, possibly next year.

“Girls need to be safe and comfortable in the community,” Dr. Swift said. “If the tips that came out of this class helped, then we have reached our goal.”

Jones says the tips definitely helped. In fact, the move that Jones said saved her life is one of the moves taught during the class. The move is known as the foot to crotch technique.

“I was lucky the first time and got away,” Jones said.

“But now I know that if I ever get attacked again, I’ll have the knowledge to make it out alive.”

Grab shoulders, pull forward and knee groin

3.

Jab attacker open-handed, striking the nose with palm

» andyallen

SMSD hires firm for superintendent search

BY

» jordandietrich

The Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education started its search for a new district superintendent upon Dr. Marjorie Kaplan’s announcement of retirement in September.

The Board of Education obtained the services of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, Ltd (HYA). HYA, located in 25 states, is the largest executive search firm serving public school districts and has completed over 600 searches for administrative positions since 1987. The firm was chosen to identify candidates for the superintendent position.

“Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates is

going to narrow the candidates so we can make a final decision,” Dr. Craig Denny, President of the Board of Education, said. “[The Board] is looking for someone that has experience as a superintendent and has worked at a school with about the same size and demographics.”

HYA identifies candidates through the publication of a Leadership Profile Report in magazines and journals. The profile was developed on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.

The report includes nine criteria for a superintendent: leadership, high expectations, integrity, accessibility, decision making, fiscal astuteness,

organization /management, communication and background.

“I would like to see someone as intelligent as our current superintendent [Dr. Kaplan] and has a passion for the students,” principal Dr. Susan Swift said. “The underlying passion will really make the difference on how [the new superintendent] treats the job.”

HYA has reviewed roughly 165 Leadership Profile Assessment forms and has met with approximately 174 people. The candidates are narrowed to six or seven after a few weeks of identifying them. The Board of Education anticipates to interview

final candidates in March and to make an appointment for a new superintendent by April.

In order to be considered a candidate, one must have a teacher certification.

The new superintendent will be expected to take over the responsibilities of school operations.

“Somebody that comes in and tries to make a lot of changes probably wouldn’t last very long,” Swift said. “They would have to get to know the district and then issue maybe change smaller things.”

9

NEWS

6

Educational exchange

Educational travel

Students from Panama visit East to learn about American culture davidwebster BY

»

Panamanian students aged 10 to 17 years will begin their immersion into the United States by touring East, other area schools and businesses in an effort to observe how the United States functions. The students will be visiting Shawnee Mission East on Wednesday.

“These students are academically motivated with an obvious desire to explore another culture,” said Monique Grice, Director of Outbound Programs of the Council for Educational Travel (CETUSA), the program facilitating the Panamanian student’s trip. “This program allows students to perfect their English language capabilities which may grant them an edge in the competitive world of international business.”

CETUSA is an American student exchange program whose ultimate goal is to foster international peace between the United States and other countries. CETUSA ca-

ters to students from over 35 countries who hold an interest in exploring American culture first-hand.

“I feel that student exchange is presently the most effective form of foreign policy,” CETUSA Vice President Peg Tenhoopen said. “Whether we like it or not, our world is becoming smaller and more global, and CETUSA promotes a strong mutual understanding between the host family and exchange student.”

The students will come to Kansas City to learn about the United State’s educational system by touring various high schools in the Shawnee Mission area and taking English classes at a different location. They will also spend three hours a day, four days a week, studying the English language. For the remainder of the week, they will be touring state government buildings and taking field trips with their host families.

8.8 1903 2490 km miles of coastline

year of Panama’s independence

3,242,173 population

Panama: by the numbers

percent of people below the poverty line

85

percent who are Roman Catholic

All about CETUSA • CETUSA stands for The Council for Educational Travel • CETUSA is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Americans and those from other cultures gain a better understanding of each other • CETUSA’s programs are designed to benefit all program participants, including the student, coordinator, hosty family and school • The mission statement of CETUSA is “reaching out to encourage a lifelong journey of global peace and understanding

What they’ll be doing • The students will spend extra time learning about government, including going to different government buildings • While at East, they will attend a sophomore student council meeting • In the three weeks they are here, they will also tour schools and the city hall

“Learning English is largely a secondary fringe benefit for the students,” said CETUSA Kansas City trip coordinator Don Marsolek. “While the students’ classroom time will be spent learning English, CETUSA strongly stresses learning outside of the classroom with the host family.”

International interaction and an understanding of other cultures is also the mindset of the 11 students coming to Kansas City from Panama.

According to Grice, the 11 students all come from the same private Catholic school and all have a vested interest in learning about the intricacies of American culture.

“The time students spend with the host families is the most valuable because both parties share important pieces of their cultures,” Tenhoopen said. “The students will be spending the majority of their time with their host families, and this is where the majority of the learning takes place.”

Tenhoopen holds the belief that the experience beWays to get involved tween the host family and the students is what allows CETUSA offers a summer them to reach a mutual understanding. In addition, Tenhoopen feels that mutual understanding is best won homestay program, where students who are beginning through bringing an open mind to the table.

“When the students are younger they have an open to learn a foreign language, or mind and are more willing to accept and appreciate the haven’t but want to, can stay differences between another country and their own,” with a volunteer host family Tenhoopen said. “Ideally, the students will take what they liked back to Panama and apply it in their lives at and share in their daily lives. home.”

Outbound

for more information, go to www.cetusa.org source: www.cetusa.org, world fact book

GO SME Beat Rockhurst!!!

in education

EDITORIAL

A road

7

Block scheduling will hinder East’s academics

One hundred fourteen hours. Sixteen point nine full school days. That’s how much potential class time will be dedicated to nothing—dubbed euphemistically as “seminar period,” or study hall—according to the new block plan approved by the faculty and administration last month.

At the end of the second quarter, the faculty voted to implement the block schedule next year, which seems to be the latest trend in public school systems. The proponents of this progressive schedule change repeatedly point towards several possible benefits: according to a 1996 study by the Center for Education Reform (CER), “some argue that the Block format increases scheduling flexibility and is more conducive to team teaching, multidisciplinary classes, labs and fieldwork.”

Our well-tested seven classes, five days a week plan has survived 50 years, not to mention the fact that teachers, students and parents continue to find major flaws in the new plan. The administration should consult with the rest of the school community, especially the students who will be most affected by the change, and seriously consider how necessary this risky change is.

Like most fads, after a few years East teachers may realize change for the sake of change has few benefits. The same studies by CER reported, “In other studies there was no evidence that Block scheduling led to meaningful teaching innovation that resulted in higher student achievement.”

In 2000 W. Veal for the “Journal of Science Teacher Education” reported that classes meeting on a block schedule had 22 percent less in-class time than those in traditional schedules. As for the additional class time lost to provide a twice-a-week seminar period, administrators plan to use that time for play cuts, pep club assemblies and school-wide testing. In addition, any early releases or late starts will theoretically take time from the seminar periods. But if the administration plans to schedule assemblies or early releases twice a week, as this argument for the block plan suggests, then the school should question whether it values staff meetings or actual learning more.

“This reduced class time [under a block schedule] led to an increased pace of instruction in the block classes and caused frequent use of lectures to cover material in a more efficient manner,” Veal’s study reported.

Proponents of the block plan who argue it supports relaxed class discussions and topic exploration may find that with the loss of class time, teachers will actually be struggling to fit the minimum information into the 90 minutes.

In an ideal world, the high school classroom, with its high school students, would easily transition to a more collegelike schedule, with lengthy classes, larger homework assignments and more responsibility placed on the shoulders of the students. But high school has always been the transition from middle school’s militantstyle structure to college’s flexibility and independence for a reason: students need a stepping stone between the two extremes of preteen-hood and adulthood, and high school has always provided the platform.

Teachers willing to reshape their curricula and entire way of teaching could benefit from the 90-minute periods—the classroom could become a place of discussion and exploration, rather than a place for cramming as many topics as possible into 50 minutes. However, a Hackmann & Schmitt 1997 study found that teachers working with the block schedule often continued to use “instructional practices” better suited for a more traditional schedule.

If even a few teachers are unable or unwilling to adapt to the new schedule, then the damage they could do to students is reason enough to reconsider implementing block.

Students have already experienced the block plan for themselves. For one week at the start of the school year, learning was put to a virtual halt as teachers desperately attempted to fill the experimental 90-minute periods with busy work and students went home homework-less after finishing what little they had during class work time and the “seminar period.” Students welcomed the week-long break from

theharbinger a publication of shawnee mission east high school 7500 mission road, prairie village, kansas 66208 jan. 21, 2007 issue 9, volume 49

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

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the usual rigors of academics at East, but the appeal quickly faded as math teachers crammed two lessons into one period, English teachers assigned busy work and social studies teachers popped in videos to fill the time.

Granted, the teachers weren’t prepared for the temporary switch to the block schedule, which requires an entirely different teaching method, one that involves deeper exploration of fewer topics. The block will be perfect for art classes that have flexibility as to the number of projects completed in a semester. But courses with rigid curricula, like math, science, AP and IB courses, will be able to cover little more than half the material during the year. Students that struggle to comprehend each new concept will benefit as teachers spend 90 minutes rather than 50 teaching them, but students hoping to score well on AP exams will have a lot of outside learning to cover. Teachers will find themselves weeding books, projects and topics out of their lessons as they try to stuff the necessary information into the shortened year.

The teachers with high school experience and curricula designed for high school will have to retrain themselves for a college-like plan that means more homework per night, less busy work and more responsibility on the part of the students’, not to mention they’ll have to shave off a large portion of their current courses. But is it fair to expect them to do so in the name of keeping up with the schools around us?

A major benefit of the block plan is, as its supporters remind us, that it relieves students of some of their stress. A slower pace, fewer classes per day, less homework.

Students’ lives will certainly be easier. But at what cost?

East is known as a college prep school, due in part to its rigorous academics. Graduates return year after year to thank their teachers for overpreparing them for the heavy loads of college. In the long run, the stress students feel when cramming the night before a big Chemistry test or spending hours in the library researching for their American History papers conditions them for what lies ahead. College professors won’t care if students are stressed out by their workloads. High school shouldn’t be expected to cushion them either.

Those classes that are claimed to benefit most from the new plan—language (more time for immersion), music (longer practices) and science classes (lab time)—will likely be the classes most damaged by the every-other-day system that the block entails. Language and music teachers agree that daily exposure to the new vocabulary or music pieces is key to maintaining fluency or ability, respectively. The exposure may be in bigger chunks with the block plan, but progress will be reversed with every off-day. Science, like math, is a cumulative subject that benefits from daily reinforcement of new ideas.

The administration cannot simply accept the complaints and concerns from parents and students that will follow the mail notification for next year’s block schedule; they have to actually consider the voiced opinions and reevaluate the supposed need for change.

If they don’t, next year students will have about 114 free hours to ponder why their school ignored what they had to say.

a

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After ninety minutes of class.

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» renli

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9

» photos courtesy of www.highschooljournalism.org

OPINION

8

as l o c i N t n e d i s e r French p divorced twice, Sarkozy: supermodel! marrying a

John F. Ken multiple mis nedy: had tresses!

Rudy Giuliani: divorced three times!

d e t a e h c : n o t n Bill Cli ca Lewinsky! with Moni

Thomas Jefferso an affair with his s n: had lave!

Franklin Roosevelt: had a mistress!

e! c i w t rried

a m : n i cCa

M n h o J

FOCUSING

ON THE

FOOLISH

Fixation on candidates’ personal lives is irrelevant and unnecessary when judging politics

anopinionof

22 jan.

2008

I’ve really got to give it up for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Just three months after divorcing his second wife, an exmodel with whom he’d had an on-again, off-again relationship (interrupted by extramarital affairs by both parties), Sarkozy »thomasbraslavsky is reportedly poised marry his current girlfriend, Italian ex-supermodel Carla Bruni.

Way to go, Mr. President, I thought the first time I heard this story.

And then I pondered: would this kind of behavior – a president divorcing his second wife just months after being elected, and soon after getting engaged to a former supermodel – would this kind of behavior ever fly in my country, the United States of America? Would the public choose to focus on the political issues facing a president rather than his personal life? Moreover, would such an “immoral” character even be considered for election today? I knew the answer: not quite.

The presidential campaigns and primaries are well underway, and the American public has delineated what issues it finds important. There’s the war in Iraq; there’s immigration; there’s health care. But there’s also one criterion which has periodically crept up in discussions and debates about the candidates, which tries to set the bar for the contenders. I am talking about the so-called “morality” of candidates’ private lives.

All of this year’s candidates – from both parties – know that in order to get elected they’ll have to prove their “family values”. None of the frontrunners have shied from talking about their religious faith (though that’s a whole different story), and the electorate and media have probed deep into candidates’ pasts to uncover hidden transgressions.

Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani, perhaps more

than any other candidate, knows how this feels. His three marriages and ugly divorce while he was mayor of New York elicited criticism from some conservatives who chose to look into his personal issues rather than his political record. John McCain has also been censured for the incredibly immoral act of having been married not once, but twice.

But does a private life that is “moral” (really, who can provide an objective definition of the term anyway) actually translate into productive politics? Let’s look at a few examples from history.

Some of America’s greatest leaders of the Twentieth Century were (gasp!) unfaithful in their private lives.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the hero who brought us out of the Great Depression and led us during World War II – who suffered from debilitating polio but was loved so much by the people that he was elected to four terms – had a mistress for years. In fact, she was with him the day he died – not his wife. John F. Kennedy, one of the last century’s symbols of American youthfulness and a president admired by generations henceforward, was apparently not so content with Jackie – his numerous mistresses included such personalities as stripper Blaze Starr and, most famously, actress and icon Marilyn Monroe.

Did this promiscuity have any effect on their governing? Well, you tell me. FDR and JFK are not remembered for their glitzy private lives – their personal pursuits, whether “moral” in one’s definition or not, did not change their great political triumphs.

Or how about our glorious Founding Fathers? Surely their morals were not all intact. Thomas Jefferson not only owned slaves, but also had an affair and several children with one of them, Sally Hemings. Yet, who looks at this when remembering that Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and helped establish our country?

Not convinced? How about going the other way; were presidents with good family values, men who appreciated those around them and were seen as real defenders of decency and morality, necessarily more successful at running the United States?

Jimmy Carter, the church-going peanut farmer and

family man from Georgia, barely survived his single term in office, and is still remembered as having one of the lowest approval ratings of any president. One of the only presidents to even get near Carter’s disastrous ratings is our current leader, George W. Bush, that compassionate and moral individual with no major flaws in his family life.

Compare Bush to former President Bill Clinton, the promiscuous adulterer whose relationship with a White House intern was so dramatically blown out of proportion and forced into the national public arena in the ‘90s. That sinner gave our government its first budget surplus since 1969 and helped reduce our national debt, which at the end of his term stood at a little over $3 trillion. Under the saintly Bush, on the other hand, the surplus completely disappeared and warped into a deficit. Since Clinton left office, Bush’s policies have tripled our public debt to over $9 trillion dollars. That’s not what I’d call effective governing.

What it all boils down to, in my opinion, is hypocrisy.

Some voters expect candidates to be morally, instead of politically, competent. They have these guidelines regarding candidates’ private lives, but at the same time they ignore the fact that some of the most successful and popular presidents in our country’s history would not live up to the same standards. They expect our new president to emulate the examples set by our national heroes, but conveniently forget those leaders’ private faults.

I’ve got news for you: politicians are not gods. In fact, those two words are probably as contradictory as one can get. When you cast a vote for president, the goal isn’t to elect a flawless angel – the goal is to elect a competent leader who will tackle important public issues. You shouldn’t try to complicate the matter by setting a standard for private “morality”; you’d lose a lot of able candidates that way.

So it shouldn’t matter how many times someone has been married, whom they have divorced, or what their relationship with their family is. These issues are all disconnected from what he or she will do in office. After all, presidential candidates and presidents are just people, like you and me.

With one added perk: single, Italian, ex-supermodels.

9

OPINION

Should East be the

new kid on the block?

Senior explores block scheduling by shadowing a North student for a day anopinionof

In order to give block a fair chance and possibly dispel any of the negative misconceptions about it, I decided to shadow my friend, Newell, at North for a day to get the block e x p e r i e n c e .

Newell has the » natalieeisenach average senior’s schedule and the day I shadowed her she was going to English AP, Advanced Repertory Theater (ART), Student Council (STUCO) and Calculus AB. Overall my assessment of the day led me to the conclusion that block scheduling greatly favors elective classes and hinders the core classes. In Newell’s English AP class the class spent the first half hour presenting projects that they had made earlier. The rest of the hour was given to the class to work on another project. Half of the class was engaged in working on their projects while the other half causally worked on them and chatted or didn’t work on their material at all.

The same attitude was shown by the students later in math class. The first half of the class was spent reviewing the homework. The students focused until their work was graded and then after that

»lancervoice senior

David Isenberg

they began chatting again. With hour and a half classes, block scheduling relies on the maturity of high school students. For it to work effectively it is expected that they can focus for an hour and a half, review concepts on their own so they are not forgotten on the odd days and efficiently use the time that they are given in class.

Electives were a different story, however.

In Newell’s ART class a small group of students got to leave and go to Antioch middle school during the class. There they did improvisation exercises with the seventh grade drama class. The seventhgraders got into it, waving their hands to volunteer, screaming out suggestions and rolling around on the ground during their performances. Activities like this wouldn’t be available to theater classes if the block scheduling wasn’t in place. By the time they got back to school, there was still time for them to go over their sketches with the rest of the class.

While I was shadowing I asked students, teachers and the administration their opinions on block scheduling. Nearly everyone I talked to loved block scheduling – it reduced the homework load and allowed for more comfortably-paced classes. Mr. Rembler, their associate principal, told me that he had received the most negative feedback regarding their “T” day on Friday when they have a traditional schedule.

Amidst all these praises of block, one student’s comments impacted me the most.

» renli It was during math when a girl, who had been in three of my classes, slipped me a long hand written note. In it she described to me how she had come from a school similar to East in Georgia.

When she started attending North her junior year she felt that her education was hindered. She thinks that the classes go too slow and as a result the material isn’t completely covered. She felt that it was “holding her back.” She missed traditional schedules because they taught her to do homework and prepared her to be more studious for college.

She believed that everyone else loved block because they had never experienced traditional scheduling before. She felt strongly that she was missing out on her education and expressed her regrets that our school was adopting this similar policy.

That was when it hit me. East isn’t like the majority of North students – we’re like the girl from Georgia. Everyone is used to the order of a traditional schedule and switching to a block is going to impede the progressive and challenging curriculum we’re accustomed too.

Students can’t focus for an hour and a half, so teachers give them back time in class to work on projects or ask for help. That’s time that a new concept could be taught.

Block relies on the fact that high school students are mature and self-motivated in class – which they aren’t. In every class I

attended at North, there was an excessive amount of talking in class – students can’t focus themselves for that much of time.

For classes like math and language, students need the daily reinforcement as well. I believe students forget some of the material and that is why the math teacher spent more than half the hour going over homework.

So what if a traditional schedule eliminates time from class that students could visit teachers and work on homework? We all may be bitter about our homework loads, but by working hard and pushing ourselves now we are preparing ourselves for college. In college, an hour of class requires three hours of studying, on average. We aren’t doing ourselves any favors by taking the easy route now.

I know it’s a bit ironic for me to be preaching about block when I’m graduating next year, but I’m proud of my school and I want it to stay at the same level of excellence it is at now. Fifteen years from now I want to hear about East winning awards so that I can be proud enough to say I was in the class of ’08. I don’t want our school to regress. The student from Georgia was envious of our school and its education.

How can anyone believe we need to make drastic adjustments with evidence like that?

East has announced that next year the schedule will be switched to block schedule amid controversy among students and parents alike.

junior

Jacob Hamilton

sophomore

Kat Jager

freshman

Maddie Bavley

QUESTION 1: What was your reaction when you first found out about block scheduling?

I don’t care; I am a senior.

To be honest I think that it is an incredible dumb idea that would be detrimental to our education.

It kind of annoyed me, because I don’t want to spend 90 minutes in certain classes.

There are good sides to both. For example if we had scheduling it’d be less stressful but also long classes could get boring.

It will be easier in the sense that all we have is that night’s work, but harder in the sense that we will have double the amount.

I think it would help minimize homework.

They didn’t really care, but they felt bad that I didn’t really like it.

They seem to like the idea.

QUESTION 2: How do you think block scheduling will impact your homework load?

Yes.

I think that it would be worse for homework, because all the kids would put it off until the end.

QUESTION 3: What did your parent’s think of block scheduling?

They don’t care; I am a senior.

My parents laugh, and said that the administration was taking a step backward and they were sorry that I had to go through that senior year.

issue

9

10

OPINION

w00t were they thinking?

The 2007 Word of the Year, a gamer acronym, goes against English language guidelines anopinionof

»

mikemazzoni

Unfortunately for all of mankind, the human race has reached a chapter in history which may be considered one of its most embarrassing and unforgivable moments. This past year, thousands of people participated in the election of a “word of the year” in the 2007 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Contest. And what was the outcome? Voters decided to denounce every rule the English language has ever known and chose the word (if one can call it that) “w00t” as the 2007 word

of the year.

I sincerely hope that you are wondering what this word means. I know. I thought the whole thing was a joke at first. But it was not so. The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines w00t as follows: w00t (interjection) Expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay”. Example: w00t! I won the contest!

Wrong. You just won an open-handed slap across the face from your third-grade vocabulary teacher. What has happened is that a line that should never be crossed, has been crossed.

It’s not that I have a problem with the creation and use of new slang, I am all for it. Slang is each generation’s way of helping the English language evolve. Proof of slang’s importance is seen in the fact that approximately 25,000 words are added to the language each year. The thing we must keep in mind is that there are still rules to follow when putting new slang into circulation.

There are two major flaws in the word w00t that

»lancervoice senior

Kelly Tankard

break unwritten language guidelines. The first is that the word is derived from a phrase. The word is taken from the saying, “we owned the other team,” which I guess is really cool if you’re a gamer. Being the proud owner of a PSI that collects dust in my basement, I suppose I could never really understand how it feels to be that cool. Or why anyone would need to create their own word to describe their online glee. I guess it would just be too easy to use one of the hundreds of thousands of words that already exist…

What’s not cool is that the word is essentially not a word at all, but an acronym. Once a slang acronym like w00t has been recognized as a real word, a floodgate has been opened to a nearly infinite list of gamer and online slang and acronyms. At this rate we can count on omg, rofl and lolerskates being added to the ranks in the years to come and that is truly frightening.

The second rule broken is the composition of the word with the inappropriate replacement of the o’s with zeroes. Numbers and letters were meant to be kept separate, and unless you’re a seventh- grade instant messaging fiend, you are expected to keep the two apart. Any use of words incorporating numbers, outside of AOL, is pathetic and provokes horrible memories from middle school.

Some may call my view closed-minded or ignorant to change, and to you, I say this: You’re right. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I find it extremely hard to acknowledge words like w00t. They blatantly disregard every grammatical rule that has been set in place since the first caveman managed to grunt. The fact that thousands of people not only consider w00t a word, but the word of the year, is embarrassing.

The only solution to preventing future errors like w00t is for two things to happen.

One: if you are not satisfied with “regular” English or common slang and are compelled to create your own, just leave numbers out of it. Each time you do, you might save a dolphin or something and that is always the

Past Words of the Year 2006: truthiness (noun) 1 : “truth that comes from the gut, not books” (Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” October 2005) 2 : “the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true” (American Dialect Society, January 2006) 2005: integrity (noun) 1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values 2 : an unimpaired condition 2004: blog (noun) 1: a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer 2003: democracy (noun) 1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

» courtesyofmerriam-webster website right thing to do.

The second change that must happen is that should a group of people decide to create a mish-mash of letters and numbers and call it a word, we must vow to not support it.

What we have created is a classic story of good versus. evil; we have reached a fork in the road of our everchanging language.

Now it is time to make a decision.

We can follow the guidelines that allow English to evolve and advance. The other choice is to summon the language to a slow and humiliating death while being overrun with inappropriate slang-acronym gibberish. I believe that with your help, good will prevail.

Merriam Webster announced w00t as the winner of their 2007 Word of the Year Contest. “w00t” is a gamer acronym for “we owned the other team.”

junior

Colin Coit

sophomore

David Beeder

freshman

Bailey Spickler

QUESTION 1: How have you heard the word w00t used?

In middle school, maybe on instant messenger, not recently though . I don’t use it.

In songs, mostly old school songs.

At sporting events.

If someone’s really, really excited like- w00t! w00t- if they’re super excited.

I guess so, it was a good year.

No, I don’t really hear it often.

QUESTION 2: Do you think w00t is a good word to represent 2007?

No.

No.

QUESTION 3: If you could pick your own word of the year for 2007 what would it be and why?

Chica Chica Yeah!

Happy.

I’m good with what they’ve got!

Sweet – I use that one a lot.

A Journey

Hello?

FEATURES

11

from Russia

Senior Anna Sweeney works to overcome several issues since being adopted from Russia » renli BY

» mactamblyn

It’s easy for senior Anna Sweeney to make friends.

She’s talkative and outgoing by nature. The hard part for her is keeping them.

Raised in a Russian orphanage, she did not receive the attention and love of a normal child. This led to selfesteem issues, which in turn led to issues of trust with her friends and peers.

Sweeney came to America with just her passport and the set of clothes on her back.

Sweeney lived in Moscow, Russia in an orphanage until she was six. Her adopted parents, Mike and Ellen Sweeney, met her at age four through the adoption agency, Helping Hands. Around age two or three she developed crossed-eyes that led to double vision, a serious problem but one fixable through surgery. Mike and Ellen decided they wanted to adopt Sweeney, but at the time Russia declared a halt on foreign adoptions because they wanted to revise their adoption laws. This made it very difficult for the adoption to go through.

“That kind of sent us into a panic because we knew she needed this eye surgery,” Ellen said. “Because if she didn’t get it within the year or as soon as possible she could have permanent eye damage. We were very concerned about that.”

Eventually, Mike and Ellen were able to bring Sweeney to the United States when she was six years old. The process was long and complicated. The American Embassy in Moscow would not let Sweeney leave because they felt that it would violate the halt on adoptions. Ellen went to law school with a woman who was connected to a staff member in Sen. John McCain’s office. Sen. McCain had an adopted child, and understood the Sweeneys’ situation. He was able to help bring Sweeney to the United States on a medical visa.

Upon her arrival to the United States, she was quickly changed out of her Russian orphanage clothes in the airport, which the Russian orphanage director took back to Russia, and changed into another set provided by her new parents. Ellen thought that the journey out of Russia was incredibly traumatic for Sweeney.

“Anything that was even remotely familiar to her was basically gone,” Ellen said. “Toys, food, language, blankets, nothing. So, when you think about that for a little kid it must have been in some ways absolutely horrible.”

Here, she underwent three eye surgeries over the span of a year to correct her problem. During this time she had to wear corrective glasses. The eye surgeries were highrisk, but ultimately successful, although she still wears glasses.

All of Sweeney’s social problems stem from her time in Russia, from a reactive attachment disorder, which is very common among children who were adopted from foreign countries and had previously lived in an orphanage. It starts at a very young age for these children, as Ellen described it.

“When you’re two years old and you cry and ask for something from people, and nobody comes to help you, then you begin to think ‘What’s the point? I’m not important enough for anybody to take care of,” Ellen said.

This lack of love and attention to a small child can create problems later in life.

“Because you never felt attached to any caring people,” Ellen said. “When you were a baby or when you were a little kid, you don’t learn to have any regard for your own self. And if you don’t have any regard for your own self, you’re always trying to get attention from people, but not

in appropriate ways.”

Sweeney could not find a medium when interacting with other kids.

“At times I’d be soft-spoken,” she said. “I just wouldn’t really go into social situations, or I’d try too hard.”

These problems made it very hard for Sweeney to make and keep her friends. Her social problems hurt her self-esteem, which made it harder for her to make friends.

Ellen described it as a “vicious cycle.”

Her social problems caused many moves between schools. Sweeney went to Brookwood Elementary from kindergarten to fourth grade. Then she moved on to Barstow for one year. She proceeded to go to Horizons Academy, Bishop Miege and two boarding schools, Mission Mountain in Montana and Valmora in New Mexico, before finally landing at East this year.

Sweeney attributes her many changes of scenery to the fact that she had to fight with other kids to get what she wanted at the orphanage, which caused many of her social problems later in life.

“I didn’t really build those social skills when I was younger,” Sweeney said. “So when I came into a whole, entirely different situation I used my old ways instead of learning new ones.”

Because of these problems, it was hard for her to make friends.

“People didn’t really understand where I was coming from,” Sweeney said. “And I didn’t really understand where they were coming from. It was a lot harder to have social interactions, and I didn’t really know the right way to go about it.”

Along with her social issues, she also had to deal with the process of becoming an American citizen. For Sweeney to become an American citizen, her parents had to embark on another long, complicated process. After two years of talking to lawyers and immigration agents, she was finally instated as an American citizen.

Coming to America from a completely different country with different values, customs and beliefs would be hard for any six year-old, but it was more difficult to learn about American culture for Sweeney because she did not know English.

An opportunity to increase Sweeney’s knowledge of American culture came the day that Sweeney arrived, which happened to be the day before Halloween. The Sweeneys asked a Russian girl that attended East at the time come and speak to Sweeney about Halloween.

“She came over and talked to Anna for quite a while about the idea of what Halloween was,” Ellen said.

“Because there were people with all kinds of things in their yards. I didn’t want her to be just terrified and think that we’re some kind of weird culture.”

Ellen thought that Sweeney picked the language and culture up fairly quickly. She attended a special language school for a few months to aid her in learning English when she first came to America. While trying to learn English, Sweeney completely lost Russian. In the end, Ellen feels that Sweeney did not fully understand English until she was 10 to 12.

“She could understand the surface things pretty well,” Ellen said. “But she couldn’t really understand any complex meaning or emotions or how to talk about abstract ideas.

[Those things] were really hard for her.”

Sweeney thought that language acted as a barrier sometimes between she and her family.

“It was harder to understand what was going on,”

Sweeney said. “It was frustrating to me and my family, obviously.”

This caused an incident between Sweeney and Ellen that Sweeney recalled jokingly.

“I wanted a piece of gum,” Sweeney recalled. “And my mom couldn’t understand what I wanted. So I threw a huge fit where I was on the floor kicking and screaming.

She had to call my nanny to translate what I said. She got so mad at me because it was over a piece of gum. She thought I was dying.”

Sweeney’s mother was not the only person who had a difficult time with her. Ellen said that Sweeney’s oldest brother, Matt, had a hard time adapting to her. He was in fifth grade when she arrived.

“He was not really excited,” Ellen said, “I think he was a little jealous. He’d always been top dog. All of a sudden this attention to girls and having Barbie dolls around and all that wasn’t exactly a thrill.”

Sweeney had the same take as her mom. She thought that Matt soon grew tired of her talkative nature.

“He was really glad to have a little sister for like a month or two,” Sweeney said. “But then afterwards he was like, ‘Stop talking’.”

The Sweeney’s second son, Todd, who has a form of autism, reacted much differently to Sweeney being around.

“He has a little bit different take on life,” Ellen said, “he actually, I think, really enjoyed having Anna around.”

Sweeney’s best friend at the orphanage, Marina, has helped her get through some of the issues they’ve both faced. Marina was adopted at the same time Sweeney was to a family in Denver, Colorado. Even though Marina is only two years older than her, Sweeney described Marina as her “mother figure” when referring to the time she spent at the orphanage. The two talk every couple days, and Sweeney thinks it is beneficial that they have continued to stay in contact.

“Being able to do that helps me more instead of doing it by myself,” Sweeney said. “Because I’d never gotten on a plane, never been in a car, and I was going somewhere completely different than what I had been growing up in.

Having her there really helped me.”

Sweeney decided to come home for her senior year, simply to be at home. East is a very big school compared to the other schools she has attended, which is good for her.

“There’s more variety of people to get to know and be friends with,” Sweeney said. “So it’s a lot easier than a smaller community or school.”

She said she is doing well at East. Her plans for the future include going to Johnson County Community College next year and studying to be a social worker for domestic violence cases. She is not completely over all of her issues, but she has come a very long way since the day she arrived in the United States.

“I don’t think it will ever be completely perfect,” she said, “but I don’t think anything in life really is that perfect.”

She thinks her time in Russia has changed her viewpoint on life.

“It makes me have a different outlook,” Sweeney said, “when people are like ‘Oh, I have it so hard. My parents grounded me.’ I’m like ‘Okay, wow.’ Those kind of things aren’t as big as other things that I’ve gone through or other people have.”

issue

9

Filling Gaps

FEATURES

12

in the

After losing most of her vision at age five, junior copes with everyday life and expands interests » karenboomer BY

» paigecornwell

Junior J.T. Laurie sits wearing the shawl she made and fingering her computer to check what time it is, listening to the person talking to her. Her eyes dart around as she takes a guess as to what the short brunette in front of her looks like.

“I’m guessing you have blonde or blondeto-brown hair, probably to your shoulders, about my height, graceful,” she says, leaning back in her chair.

Her guess is right.

••• Laurie is visually impaired. She was born premature, and was given 100 percent oxygen, which made her blood vessels in the back of her eyes detach. By age five, most of her sight was gone. But despite being unable to see since the age of five, Laurie still enjoys reading, music, even knitting.

••• It’s 5 a.m., and Laurie is the only one awake in the house. Her room has furniture all along the walls, large wicker basket filled with yarn, and a four-poster bed with lots of blankets because she’s not used to the cold. She walks over to the chair where her clothes are laid out, then goes to make herself breakfast and tea.

She walks through single-story house, turning on the lights, which helps her to navigate.

She reaches the kitchen and uses the microwave to make herself tea.

“The microwave is marked with puff stickers with different shapes for the different buttons,” Laurie said.

After brushing her teeth she has some time to herself, and might knit or listen to music.

By 6:20, Laurie is out the door, waiting for the bus.

••• “J.T., what time is it?” special education teacher Traci Jardes, who helps Laurie during her fourth hour study hall, asks.

Laurie touches the braille watch she got for Christmas.

“It’s 11:11,” Laurie says.

Before she got her watch, she read from her braille computer to find out what time it was. Her computer has ten keys jan. that make up the different combina-

22

2008

tions of braille words, which she can type up to 100 words a minute on. She knows the keys for literature and math.

“Music is a magic in itself,” Laurie said.

She can play the flute, recorder, guitar and with some assistance to find the keys, the autoharp. She also likes to compose songs.

“When I compose, I have to think what this will sound like to the untrained ear,” Laurie said.

A minute before passing period, Laurie gets up from her seat to get her cane and her lunch then walk to the elevator. She used to use a walker because of a back injury, but has started taking mobility lessons again.

Her most recent accomplishment is walking to Starbucks with her teacher, a half mile there, a half mile back.

She reaches the elevator, steps in and hits the up button with ease.

••• The doors open, and Laurie steps out of the elevator. All around her, students are walking to their next classes. It’s passing period between fourth and fifth hour, and Laurie is going to her social skills class.

“I can always tell that I’m on the fourth floor because of the smell of coffee,” Laurie said.

Her right eye is considered her good eye, and and can see light perception, some color, shadow and movement, allowing her to navigate the crowded hallways. “(People) take up the space,” Laurie said.

“So I can see them.”

The crowd parts as she continues walking, a “sorry” accompanying each time her cane hits a foot.

“I try not to hit anyone,” Laurie said. “But sometimes I have to purposefully touch them to make sure they don’t hit me.”

She reaches the room. Outside the door is a price list of things she has knitted that she sells for her small business. She takes orders in the coffee shop during second hour. “(Selling things I have knitted) has allowed me to do something with leftover yarn, and give back to the community,” Laurie said.

To unwind, she likes to light a candle and knit.

“(Knitting) is a way to think but not have to over-think,” Laurie said.

She knitted the shawl she is wearing. The shawl is covered with stripes, and is being worn as a cape, fastened by a brooch. She knits with circular needles that are short and attached to a plastic string. Because she can’t differentiate between certain colors like purple and blue, she put all the colors of yarn in the order she wanted.

“I had my step-mom measure my gage,” Laurie said. “(The shawl) came close to 24 inches, which was what I was aiming for.”

She walks through the door and into the classroom. When second lunch comes around, she’ll be taking orders for scarves and stuffed animals.

••• By 5:30 p.m. she is home to her dad, stepmom and 19-month-old sister Bailey. Laurie smiles when talking about her sister, who she says wants to be like her. Education is very important to Laurie, and starts her homework once she gets home.

“College is definitely on my list of things to do,” Laurie said. “I intend to be a lawyer. Hopefully it will work out.”

At night, the dinner table becomes her desk, and XM radio becomes her best friend. Her books cover most of the table.

“I’m very disorganized,” Laurie said. “Everything gets undone.”

Though she uses lights, not being able to see has enabled her to have spacial vision, where she can sense waves and echos, so she doesn’t have to use her cane at night, and has a sense of what people look like by hearing them.

“I’ve heard it’s pretty common among blind people,” Laurie said. “I’ll do that on occasion, and give them my best shot.”

When her homework is finished, she will shower and get ready for the next day.

“Showering isn’t that hard,” Laurie said. “You just have to make

sure you don’t miss anything and learn to balance. But shampooing is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, because (my hair) is thick.” She hears her sister Bailey knocking on the door.

“But I’ve tried to bathe her too, and it’s hard!” Laurie said.

She walks into her room and finds her half-siamese cat, whom Laurie says loves her room. Before going to bed, she might read a book, she especially likes the Harry Potter and Wheel of Time series, or write. She has written about 50 poems, mostly in free-verse about nature, or work on one of the three novels she currently has in the works.

By 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. she usually will “crash,” falling asleep to a book or C.D. She’ll wake up again at 5 a.m. the next morning, ready to start her day.

healthy Eye (without retinopapthy of prematurity) 1. Optic Nerve: supplies reti-

1.

3.

2.

3. Cornea: transparent part of the eyeball’s “coat” that covers the iris and pupil and admits light to the interior

Laurie’s Eye

(with retinopapthy of prematurity) 4. Cornea: still allows light to enter 5. Blood vessels: abnormal blood vessels grow into vitreous humor

6.

4.

na and conduct visual stimuli to the brain 2. Retina: membrane that lines the eye; receives the image formed by the lens and converts it into signals for the brain

5.

6. Vitreous Humor: the clear, colorless transparent jelly that fills the eyeball behind the lens

7.

7. Retina: does not recieve information correctly; does not send correct information to brain

» www.rnib.org. »merriam-webster’s collegiate dictionary

Junior Chris Hasslewander had to make a decision between IB or playing baseball

BY

FEATURES

for the love of BASEBALL

13

» duncanmchenry

Until the end of first semester, junior Chris Hasselwander was a typical International Baccalaureate (IB) student.

He woke up in time for a 6:45 a.m. class and stayed up until anywhere from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. doing homework.

However, a choice he had to make in order to remain in IB caused him to leave the program. If Hasselwander had continued with IB, he would have had to drop seventh hour chemistry or quit baseball because he would have missed chemistry up to three days a week for games. Although Hasselwander is not the first student to face conflicts while in the IB program, he is one of the few to put his other activities first.

“I’ve been playing baseball for nine years, and I’ve been doing IB for less than a year, so I decided I’d rather stick with what I’ve already put time into,” Hasselwander said. “I also just feel like other stuff outside of school is just as important.”

In addition to his dilemma with chemistry and baseball, having to balance the IB curriculum with wrestling in the first semester played a part in his decision to

switch out. Along with regular homework assignments that aren’t due until the day of a test, IB students are required to complete a multitude of outside projects. According to IB coordinator Rebecca Murphy, this includes 150 CAS hours (Creativity, Action and Service), a 20-30 hour extra science project and a 4,000 word paper. Murphy feels that outside work like CAS and the paper are necessary components of the program.

“Many colleges want to see a student’s essay topic,” Murphy said. “It really helps a student to create a profile of themselves, and CAS mainly ensures that we develop whole individuals and not just brains.”

For Hasselwander, it became very difficult to balance the extra IB work with other time-intensive activities in his life.

“The workload is worth it for some people, but it just depends,” Hasselwander said. “I have a whole lot of other things in my life, and I just don’t juggle it very well.”

The types of commitments required for IB can be tough to make for someone in Hasselwander’s situation with many

extra activities. Junior Winn Clark made the decision to remain with the program despite being a member of the varsity basketball team. He agrees that the outside work in the IB program can be difficult to cope with.

“Lately it has been really tough, because I come home tired after practice, so I end up putting off homework and sometimes staying up really late,” Clark said.

Senior Ben Edmonds also switched out of the IB program last year for reasons similar to Hasselwander’s. According to Edmonds, the long spans of time between project deadlines made it difficult for him to balance schoolwork with other activities in his life.

“I’d say it was a lot more stressful balancing IB with other things because of the way work was designed,” Edmonds said. “You would just sort of freak out when you hadn’t finished a project a couple of days before. In AP there’s more deadlines.”

So far, Hasselwander’s transition from IB to AP has been fairly smooth.

“So far AP is really not that different,

although AP is a bit ahead, so I’ve had to go back and re-learn a couple of chapters,” Hasselwander said. “I’m not taking AHAP [American History AP] because they are so far ahead of where we were in IB, so I’m sure that would have made it much harder.”

As for the amount of time he has to complete homework, Hasselwander says it has gotten a bit easier without all of the outside work in IB. However, he feels that once baseball starts in late February, balancing his new AP workload with baseball could become difficult.

“I think it will get harder during the season with games during the week,” Hasselwander said. “You get out of sixth hour and sometimes don’t get home until 9:30 p.m. at night.”

Chris’ new schedule: Chris’ old schedule: 1. English 11 H 2.Chemistry 2 AP 3. Calculus H 4.Spanish 4 5. Biology 2 AP 6. Weights 7. US History

0. Theory of Knowledge 1.Biology 2 IB 2.History of the Americas IB 3.Calculus H 4.English IB 5.Spanish 4 6. Weights 7.Chem 2 IB

SME baseball news: photo illustration » mackenziewylie

• Baseball conditioning begins

Tuesday, Jan. 8 • It will continue every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday until Feb. 22 • Tuesday and Thursday: in the weight room, 3 p.m. to

4:30 p.m.

• Fridays: on the track, 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

• Workouts intended for all plays interested in playing baseball in the spring issue

9

FEATURES

14

Crashing

Down

Freshman injured in car accident with drunk driver BY

» conortwibell

Freshman Reid Brummer lay on the ground motionless in a dazed state, waiting for the whining sound of ambulances to arrive so he could be free of his insufferable pain. His head buried in the dirty grass, he waited and waited for what seemed to be hours for help to arrive at the scene of a head-on collision with a drunk driver.

“All I can remember was the guy’s car crossing over the median and seeing the headlights then - bam - everything went silent,” Brummer said.

Brummer, along with fellow freshman Jake Hallquist and Jake’s two brothers, were on their way to the Hallquist’s lake house in the Ozarks to celebrate New Year’s Eve. While Jake’s dad was driving their 2006 Honda Pilot, the boys were passing time by watching “Borat.”

“We were just hanging out and had just gotten McDonald’s and I heard my dad yell, ‘What the hell is this guy doing?’” and I looked up and saw headlights and then we slammed into the guy’s truck,” Hallquist said.

The Hallquists and Brummer were rushed to the hospital where Brummer

learned that he had punctured his intestine and his lung had collapsed. While Jake was lucky to only suffer from bruises on his torso and back pain, Jake’s father wasn’t as fortunate. Mr. Hallquist received over 50 stitches in his right knee because of a deep laceration and broke four of his ribs after the steering wheel crushed his rib cage.

Brummer says that not only was he affected by the accident physically, but mentally too.

“Well, I always wear my seat belt now and I just really appreciate things that I never thought I would have as I do now, like having fun with friends, spending time with family, food and other little things like that.”

Hallquist feels lucky to have been wearing his seat belt along with everyone else in the car.

“I’m pretty sure if we weren’t wearing our seat belts we probably would have died.”

After they were released from the hospital, they returned to the crash site to find a stash of open beer cans in the drunk driver’s truck.

DRINKING AND DRIVING DEATHS BY STATE IN 2005 STATE #1: California

TOTAL DEATHS 4,329

ALCOHOL RELATED: PERCENTAGE DEATHS 1,719 40%

#2: Texas

3,504

1,569

45%

#3: Florida

3,543

1,471

42%

#19: Missouri

1,257

515

41%

#33: Kansas

428

151

35%

NATIONALLY 43,443 total deaths 16,885 alcohol related deaths 39% of deaths were alcohol related

FRESHMAN Reid Brummer shows the scar he got in a car accident with a drunk driver. He was on his way » marygalvin to the Lake of the Ozarks for New Year’s Eve when the crash happened.

OCCURRENCE AND CONSEQUENCES OF DRUNK DRIVIn 2005, nearly 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. That’s less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of drunk driving among U.S. adults each year.

More than half of the 414 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 were riding with the drinking driver .

Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths.

During 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39 percent of all traffic-related deaths.

In 2005, 48 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or cyclists were struck by impaired drivers.

Nationwide in 2005, alcohol was present in 24 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes Of the 1,946 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2005, 21 percent involved alcohol.

22 jan.

2008

» marygalvin

Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and non-fatally injure someone every two minutes. sources: www.cdc.gov, www.alcoholalert.com

FEATURES

LEAVING IT ALL BEHIND

15

Two seniors – one departing, one returning – experience outdoor leadership program BY

»

phoebeunterman

For every morning his classmates spent sitting groggily in first hour, staring at the clock, Sam Slosburg woke up under the clear blue Pacific Northwestern sky. While they trudged through the hallways and parking lots, Slosburg navigated mountain trails and ridges. And while they sledded on two inches of snow, he was buried under six feet inside a tent in the Cascade Mountains.

Slosburg returned Nov. 27 after spending 77 days hiking, sailing and rock climbing at National Outdoor Leadership School’s Semester in the Pacific Northwest course. While Slosburg readjusts to life at home, senior Jenn Sunderland, who graduated at semester, will be in Arizona for NOLS’s Semester in the Southwest course.

According to NOLS Marketing Manager Matthew Copeland, NOLS is a 42-year-old non-profit learning institution that takes students on extended trips into the wilderness. Their main goal is for students to master technical wilderness skills, environmental education and leadership skills.

“When [students] finish NOLS, they should be qualified to safely and comfortably lead a group of students in the wilderness,” Copeland said.

This was the idea NOLS founder Paul Petzoldt had in mind when he created NOLS in 1965.

NOLS offers almost 80 different courses, in places like Patagonia, Alaska, New Zealand, the Yukon and the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The courses vary in length from 30 days to full semesters and feature activities such as sea kayaking, rock climbing, backpacking, and fly fishing.

Both Slosburg and Sunderland decided to graduate early and attend NOLS because they wanted a change from the normal high school routine.

Slosburg made this decision near the beginning of his junior year.

“He came to me and said he was done with high school, so we figured out a way for it [graduating early] to happen,” Patti Slosburg, Sam’s mom, said. “He decided he could pursue something new and different, and maybe do something more worthwhile.”

After Slosburg worked out how to get all his credits done, which involved taking English 12 and Government online, he realized he would have a lot of time on his hands.

“A lot of people at my summer camp had done NOLS and recommended it and one counselor I had gave me a little form when I was in eighth grade that I could send in to get information about NOLS,” said Slosburg. “Then, I thought it was cool, but after I decided to graduate early, I remembered the form and thought it’d be a perfect time to try it.”

Slosburg’s decision on which course to take mostly came down to time and money.

“It [Semester in the Pacific Northwest] was offered in the fall, which was the time I knew I’d be going in,” Slosburg said. “It was one of the cheapest semester courses. Also, the location seemed interesting and I’d never been up there before.”

Sunderland’s course includes backpacking the Gila Range in New Mexico and the Galiuros in Arizona, caving near Carlsbad Caverns, rock climbing at the Cochise Stronghold and canoeing the Rio Grande.

According to Slosburg, these adventure sports aren’t all NOLS has to offer. There are classes about wilderness first aid and environmental science.

“We actually had class, but it’d be outdoors and we’d just sit down and have a lesson about something like head injuries, as part of first aid,” Slosburg said.

All NOLS courses are approved for college credit, which is accepted at more than 400 colleges and

universities nationwide, including KU and KSU. Both Sunderland and Slosburg agree that the college credit is an added bonus, although it wasn’t one of the main reasons they chose NOLS. According to Copeland, the instructors at NOLS are qualified and well-trained.

“All instructors admitted to NOLS have very extensive outdoor and teaching resumes and once they’re admitted, they take a 35 day instructional course,” Copeland said. “After the course, they’re checked off to work different courses. Also, there’s tons of ongoing training, including 60 seminars a year.”

Slosburg confirms this, saying that the instructors were one of the best things about his experience.

“They [the instructors] were brilliant people— they all knew what they were talking about and they taught us everything we needed to know about safety, but they were also really cool people,” Slosburg said Slosburg was the youngest of his course mates, and the only who had graduated from high school early. His oldest course mate was 43, but most of the kids were in college. Working as a team was important because they had to be able to trust each other when sailing and rock climbing.

They also had to get along with each other, especially when unusual circumstances put them in close quarters.

“Once, we were snowed into a tent for 10 days on a mountain,” Slosburg said. “We were hiking and it just started snowing; in some places on the mountain there were six feet of snow. We didn’t really leave the tent unless we had to go to the bathroom and we spent most of the time eating.”

On hikes, they’d carry food in their backpacks, but when they were in the field, or the backcountry, they’d bring dry ingredients like flour, huge blocks of cheese, and large quantities of noodles or other foods, so that they could make meals.

There were three “transition days” during Slosburg’s course, when students spent the night at the NOLS base and were briefed for the next section.

They mapped out where they’d be going and given safety information. At the base, they were also able to call home, collect mail and do their laundry.

Sunderland spent three days at the NOLS Southwest Base at the beginning of her course, meeting her course mates, something she was looking forward to before she left.

“I met one of my course mates, a girl in her early 20s from Connecticut, on Facebook. It’s fun to look forward to meeting her rather than just seeing complete strangers,” Sunderland said.

Sunderland, like Slosburg, is the youngest of the students in her course, and feels this is kind of intimidating. Sunderland spent the week before she left mentally preparing herself as well as physically.

“It’s nerve-wracking because I don’t really know what to expect. I don’t know if it will be strenuous

from the start, or if it will be relaxing,” Sunderland said. “I’ve been talking it over with friends a lot to try and prepare myself.”

Copeland says the most important thing students need to attend NOLS is an excitement to be there.

“This is not a get-your-life-together course or a drug rehab course,” Copeland said. “Students should want to be here. Also, students need to have fairly good physical and psychological fitness.”

Sunderland also spent time shopping and packing. She was told to bring three layers of pants and jackets, Gators to wear over hiking boots, rock climbing shoes and a headlamp for caving, among many other items.

Both Sunderland and Slosburg say seeing their friends return to school is the weirdest part about being an early graduate.

“When I actually graduated, it was not a big deal at all, but it really hit me when people went back after winter break,” Sunderland said. “It’s actually kind of sad, because I loved East, but I’m still very ready to move on and go to NOLS.” Sunderland only began thinking about graduating early a week before her senior year began.

“It was a real spur-of-the-moment decision,” Sunderland said. “After talking to some kids this summer who had already graduated from high school, I realized that we all follow the same pattern without really thinking about it. That works great for some people, but I wanted to break the norm and challenge myself with this experience.”

Laura Wetzel, a close friend of Sunderland’s, was somewhat surprised when she heard Sunderland’s decision.

“Jenn doesn’t always express what she herself wants, because she cares so much about others, so it was kind of a surprise,” Wetzel said. “But [Jenn] ... knows who she is.”

While Sunderland explores the Southwest, Slosburg is interning at the Coterie Theatre as a production assistant. Both are applying for college next fall and Sunderland plans to walk with her class at Graduation in May. The most important or rewarding aspect of NOLS, according to Copeland, is its leadership curriculum.

“The set of skills NOLS teaches in its leadership courses is applicable to everything—the classroom, the business place,” Copeland said. “You really have to learn to work with the resources you have.

NOLS is such a spectacular chance to live simply and fundamentally in the wilderness for 30 days or three months.”

Slosburg believes that what he learned at NOLS will definitely contribute to whatever he decides to do later in life.

“All the skills we learned, like endurance and leadership, can be applied to life,” Slosburg said.

“Everything ... has its double in real life. NOLS was more about life than it was about rock climbing.”

THE OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE A few of the programs NOLS offers: ROCK CLIMBING Duration: 21 days Age: 16 and over (Average age 20) Tuition: $3,765 Dates: July 10-July 30, 2008; July 17-Aug. 6, 2008; July 24-Aug. 13, 2008 College Credit: (Optional) 4 Semester Credit Hours, 2 Hours Skills Practicum, 2 Hours Risk Assessment Course start/end: Lander, Wyoming

BAJA COASTAL SAILING Duration: 22 days Age: 16 and Over (Average Age: 21) Tuition: $3,625 Dates: Oct. 17-Nov. 7, 2007; Jan. 3-Jan. 24, 2008; Oct. 15-Nov. 5, 2008 College Credit: 4 Semester Credit Hours, 2 Hours Environmental Ethics, 2 Hours Leadership Techniques Course start/end: Mulege, BCS, Mexico Fly in/out: Loreto, BCS, Mexico

SALMON BACKPACKING AND RAFTING Duration: 28 day Age: 16 and Over (Average age 19) Tuition: $4,885 Dates: June 22-July 19, 2008; July 16-Aug. 12, 2008; July 24-Aug. 20, 2008 College Credit: 6 Semester Credit Hours, 2 hours Environmental Ethics, 2 hours Leadership Techniques Course start/end: Salmon/Boise, Idaho Fly in/out: Boise, Idaho

issue

9

FEATURES

18

E

BY

» melissamckittrick

very three and a half seconds, somebody in the world dies from hunger or hungerrelated causes. According to the United Nations, that totals to 25,000 people dead each day because of not having enough to eat. Although East has SHARE and other charitable programs, many East students want a way to help with global issues, too.

With the Facebook “Causes” Application and Free Rice Web site growing popular with students at East, users are trying to raise awareness about different global issues by recruiting members, displaying information about their beliefs, and even supporting charities financially; all the while, however, students are trying to make sure that their contributions actually have an impact on the world.

The Facebook “Causes” Application, one of nearly 13,000 different applications that a user can choose from, is a way for students to show their support for projects ranging from “Barack Obama for President” to “Stop Global Warming.” By displaying information on their profile, recruiting members, and donating money, users can help charities, nonprofit organizations, and campaign candidates.

“Basically, it just kind of publicly shows what you support,” junior Andrew Sweeney said. “It just shows you stand for something, and it’s an easy way to recruit people and spread awareness.”

After living in Africa for nearly nine years, many of Sweeney’s causes have to do with helping the continent. His causes include “Water for Africa,” a program funding the digging of water wells, and “Project Africa,” which works towards curing diseases on the continent. For Sweeney, Facebook Causes is a way to stay connected with his old home and to show his support for the area. Sweeney also feels strongly about his other causes, such as “Pro-Life” and “Abolish Abortion.” “[I] Definitely [care about] the pro-life ones… I’m huge on that,” Sweeney said. “Somebody invited me for a pro-life cause, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome.’”

For freshman Drake Winn, the Causes application is another way to learn about current events and explore political viewpoints. After hearing about the African Darfur situation in Debate, he immediately signed up to support the cause.

“It definitely spreads awareness,” Winn said. “I know that some of my friends have put causes on their page because of me, and eventually it gets spread to people that I don’t know and then to more people. The more people you spread awareness to and the more people you get the word out to, the more chance you have of people donating money.”

Although the majority of students mainly show their support through recruiting others and displaying information on their profile, some Causes also accept donations. Sweeney tries to join causes that he knows he can donate money to, ignoring the smaller ‘awareness’ Causes.

“I don’t get into the ones where just one person is leading it because I don’t see the purpose,” Sweeney said, “But if I see a way for me or anyone else in the group to donate, I join.”

Junior Emily Mullet, however, says that Facebook

Online

offerings

Students find new ways and places to give on the Web

»alexanderson

Causes are not a big way to donate at East. Although many of her friends added the application, most used it to raise awareness, not to donate money to charity.

“I don’t think that high school students are going to donate,” Mullet said. “I think that a lot of people have them to just kind of show what… [they] support, their views and stuff.

One Web site other than Facebook where students can donate something tangible – not just their support – is FreeRice.com. Free Rice, a site where users can “earn” rice by answering vocabulary questions, uses the money generated from advertisements to supply rice to over 75 countries. The site explains that, in addition to gaining vocabulary skills that will help in personal relations, education, and work, users have already donated over 14,324,058,130 grains of rice (as of Jan. 14) through the United Nations to help end world hunger.

“It’s kind of cheesy: not only educational, but helpful,” Winn said. “I do think that it really helps, because I mean me as one person spent hours on it, and I’m sure there are other people who have, too.”

The United Nations estimates that $195 billion a year can completely end world hunger. Although students agree that donating food to impoverished countries can

Donation Sites Free Rice

22 jan.

2008

help, they know that there are other problems, too.

“I think it’s good to give food because obviously those people are starving,” junior Grace Haun said, “but the problem in Africa is so much more complex.”

Jim Brandmeyer, the Chief Operating Officer for Turning Point, a non-profit organization that provides psychosocial counseling for families and individuals that have been diagnosed with a serious or chronic physical illness, says that the most important thing about donating to charities is having a connection to the cause.

“There are a lot of different organizations that are worthwhile that are looking for support, and I think that the important thing is to know what their mission is and to believe in their mission,” Brandmeyer said. “I think that’s more important – not that the UN and the food drive isn’t important –…for people to take care of their own communities.”

The ease of Facebook Causes to raise awareness and Free Rice to donate food, however, makes them a viable way to solve part of the problem.

“There are so many other things that need to be done,” Haun said. “I know that it’s helping, but at the same time I know that it’s not the solution.”

Here are three places to donate online

This site has is simple: match a word with its synonym, and the money generated from advertisements allows for the donation of twenty grains of rice to the hungry for every right answer

Facebook

The Causes section of Facebook lets users donate to thousands of charities from stopping puppy mills to supporting the fight against AIDS.

Turning Point This Kansas City based charity’s aim is to help people in the area who have serious or chronic physical illness.

source: each sites’s “about us” section

A&E

19

TUNING OUT: The writers strike back

» nbc.com and abc.com BY

» timshedor

When sophomore Olivia Botts sat down on the couch, ready for “Grey’s Anatomy,” she was expecting to see Seattle Grace’s best surgeons in action. She had heard whispers of a writer’s strike, but she hoped that it was only a rumor. The anticipation for a new episode had been slowly building through the day. But it was a re-run.

Since Nov. 4, cable shows have been airing re-runs instead of the typical new shows. The Writers Guild of America, or WGA, has gone on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, looking for higher wages on new media. They have refused to write any series shows until their demands are met.

Since the strike started, the future has looked bleak for everyone, producers, technicians, writers and viewers included. The writers are still no closer to their goal, but the effect of the strike is being felt at home.

“I miss my shows,” Botts, who watches an average of three hours of TV a day, said. “Now I only watch an hour and a half a day, but I am getting more sleep.”

The roots of the strike can be found as early as the ‘70s, when VHS tapes were first introduced. Production would be costly and the producers needed spare money to begin manufacturing them. Producers minimized writers’ contract to roughly 7 cents per every $20 movie sold. The rate hasn’t changed with DVDs, even though production is cheaper.

The writers are also looking for greater cut of the profit from internet sales. They receive small residuals for movies downloaded over the internet, but get nothing for streaming video.

“The major studios and networks made $95 billion in revenues last year alone,” a post on the WGA website’s FAQ page said. “When it comes to some new media distribution, the conglomerates are proposing to pay writers nothing.

On permanent downloads or ‘electronic sell-through’ they’re offering less than 1/3 of a penny for every dollar they make; the same we make on DVDs.” According to WGA East and West Presidents, their proposed contracts would cost the industry about $150 million over the course of three years, bringing the average

writer’s salary up $30,000 to $230,000. As of publication, the writer’s strike has cost writers over $202 million worth of salary.

The AMPTP feels that the writers are doing more harm than good.

“The people in charge at the WGA have led working writers into a strike that has now cost those working writers more in salary and benefits than the WGA’s organizers ever expected to gain from the strike,” a Dec. 28 post on the AMPTP website said.

To technicians and stagehands, the loss is far more.

Warner Brothers has issued job lay-off warnings to more than 1,000 workers, and the AMPTP estimates they’ve lost more than $349 million.

The viewers are feeling loss as well with popular cable shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office,” which have stopped airing episodes indefinitely. “Grey’s” aired their last show on Jan. 10, and “The Office” doesn’t have any reserve scripts to film.

“I just end up doing other things like dance or sports or homework,” sophomore Annie Bennett said. “I really miss ‘The Office,’ but I support what the writers are doing. I really wish they would hurry up and settle sooner.”

But not all TV will stop for the writers. Because they require little scripting, producers are packing programming blocks with reality shows such as “American Gladiator,” a souped-up version of the 1980s show; “Baby Borrowers,” where a couple borrows a toddler to be a parent; and “When Women Rule the World,” where men are put in an environment governed by rules written by women.

“I hate reality shows,” Botts said. “They’re not as fun to watch and they’re harder to get into. It’s fun [to watch scripted shows] because I can get away from my life and get into someone elses and see what’s happening.”

But some late-night talk shows have made a comeback in spite of being the first shows to go off the air. Some hosts were forced to come up with their own jokes without their team of 10 or more writers, but others found help.

David Letterman directly negotiated with writers through his own production company, Worldwide Pants,

and then licensed his show to CBS. Regardless of writers, Leno, who went on without his staff, still had 1.7 million viewers more than Letterman, although experts are predicting that Letterman will take the number one spot soon because of his writer-support advantage.

Some talk shows have returned as well. “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show with John Stewart” came back on the air Jan. 7. Colbert sported a ZZ Top beard and John cracked the usual jokes, but the shows weren’t the same.

“The shows definitely aren’t as good,” senior Eric Hamilton, an avid viewer of “The Daily Show” said. “It seems a little more forced.”

Until then, expect programming blocks full of reality shows and re-runs.

“I’m always excited during school,” Botts said. “I can’t go home and watch my favorite shows. It makes me very unhappy.”

WHAT’S LEFT of your favorite t.v. shows

MENU

SELECT

POWER

BROTHERS & SISTERS - 1 new episode left DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - no new 1 2 3

episodes

GOSSIP GIRL - no new episodes GREY’S ANATOMY - no new episodes HEROS - no new episodes 4 - 2 new episodes 5 left 6 HOUSE LOST - 8 new episodes left THE OFFICE - no new episodes ONE TREE HILL - 9 new episodes left PRIVATE PRACTICE - no new episodes 7 8 9 SCRUBS - 4 new episodes left UGLY BETTY - 2 new episodes left

» tvguide.com

issue

9

Rose Nails

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[

[ the page about...VOTING ]

JOBS i

» renl

Technology’s effect

on the election BY

» sylviashank

Checking his e-mail, senior Ben Edmonds sees a pop-up ad for John Edwards. He clicks on his inbox, and sees two emails from Hillary Clinton supporters. Also, his friend has emailed him a quiz (“Find out which candidate YOU support”) Finally, he opens Facebook, where the log-in screen advertises upcoming primary elections and encourages users to watch ABC’s election reports on the site.

Teen-dominated Web sites, such as Facebook, are creating their own election features, just one of several new ways political media is reaching youth in their natural habitat.

With less effort than ever before, youth are gaining exposure to the upcoming presidential election, through Web sites and TV shows they watch routinely.

Facebook is teaming up with ABC to bring political news to the site, the latest in a series of linkups between old media and new media. CNN has partnered with YouTube to air debates, while MySpace has joined with MTV to present a “presidential dialogue series” featuring presidential hopefuls.

American government teacher Fred Elliott has witnessed how this shift in technology is reshaping the political field.

“Because of technology, politics have come into the home,” he said. “It’s not just TV. It’s as simple as checking your e-mail and seeing a popup political ad.”

He also notes that the internet makes it easier to fundraise and to register to vote, a process Americans can now complete online.

Senior Kate O’Neill uses the internet to learn about candidates. She’s taken an online quiz that asks about issues and upon completion, matches the taker with his or her appropriate candidate.

O’Neill has also visited candidates’ homepages online, a tool she thinks her generation utilizes more than their parents.

“The Internet’s where we’ve been taught to go for research for school,” she said.

Because the youth of today are so familiar with computers, candidates are taking advantage of online advertising, blogs and video hosting sites, such as YouTube.

According to the site, five million viewers tuned in to watch the CNN/YouTube debates. In addition, hundreds of videos of candidates have been posted on YouTube.

Ezra Kohn, a programmer at Facebook, was in charge of creating Facebook’s latest political network. The new feature provides polls, videos, graphs and a wall on which users can debate presidential candidates.

For students like O’Neill, Google simplifies researching candidates. A 2005 study at Caltech found that 41.1 percent of internet users went online seeking information about the presidential campaign.

Corrie Kangas, political director of the Kansas Republican Party, expects voter turnout to increase because of the internet and new technologies.

“We’re not sending out as much information this year,” she said. “Instead, we’re referring people to the Web site.

The internet makes it easier for people to get information.”

Those aged between 18 and 24 have historically had lower voter turnout than adults.

In 2004, the year of the last presidential election, 47 percent of young adults aged 18-24 voted nationally, as did 66 percent of citizens 25 and older, according to the 2006 Kansas population survey.

Kansas is ranked 41st overall in turnout rate among young adults; however, it has seen an increase in young adult voters in the past two elections.

Facebook, which, according to CNN now represents at least 1 percent of all internet use, has been showing political trends which will encourage the youth to vote.

A Kansan registering to vote can choose to receive text messages about the candidates. Voting registries hope that making information more accessible, as well as using text messaging and online advertising, will increase voter turnout.

“Text messaging is a much faster way to get your message directly to the people,” Kangas said. “I think our use of [text messages and the internet] will increase voter turnout this year.

e t o V

VOTE

21

MIXED

[ MIX

ALL.IN.THE.

DO THESE TOPICS INTEREST YOU?

Young people are financially stressed and unemployed. But politicians won’t respond unless people vote. For a lot of people, breaking into the workforce and getting on a career path are real challenges when they have piles of debt, high rent and no health insurance.

Here are some more statistics on jobs, the economy, and young Americans: Hourly wages have fallen by 17.4 percent for male high school graduates and by 4.9 percent for women.

The average credit card debt among indebted young adults (18-24) has increased 104 percent in the last decade.

Enough said.

GLOBAL WARMING A warming trend of about 0.7 to 1.5°F occurred during the 20th century. Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and over the oceans. One debate exists in the scientific community as to how much this is a result of human activity and how much it is the result of a natural phenomenon — but there is no debate about whether it is happening.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

In 2003 Congress passed the Partial Birth Abortion Act Ban without a contingency to allow partial birth abortions when a woman’s health is at stake. Three separate federal lawsuits were filed challenging the Federal Abortion Ban. Oral arguments were heard on Nov. 8, 2006.

HUMAN RIGHTS

In a historic decision in June 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the military commissions at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay and affirmed the protections in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which ensure fair trial standards and prohibit torture and other inhuman treatment.

GAY MARRIAGE

In 2004, voters in 11 states passed initiatives barring gay marriage. Also in 2004, President Bush called for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage. Eight years prior, President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.

INFORMATION FROM WWW.ROCKTHEVOTE.COM

HOW TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN 5 EASY STEPS: STEP 1: Go to www.rockthevote. com to print off a form.

STEP 2: Sign it.

STEP 3: Stamp it with proper postage.

STEP 4: Mail it. (Must be mailed at least 15 days before the general election.)

STEP 5: Vote. (First time voters must show proof of identification the first time they vote.) issue

9

A&E

22

’ juno

e s t h t hi

motherload Great acting from lesser known stars delivers a powerful and funny hit BY

» landonmcdonald

Growing up isn’t easy. Making a good movie about growing up is next to impossible. Hollywood has been trying for years. All we’ve gotten lately is the moronically sublime “Superbad” and an endless parade of unfunny sex comedies, heavy-handed juvenile soap operas, and cheerleader rivalry flicks. The movie industry has had a real problem mixing raunchy humor and human emotion into anything resembling real, legitimate filmmaking.

After seeing “Juno” though, I think the problem might finally be solved.

A small cinematic miracle masquerading as yet another sarcastic adolescent comedy, “Juno” is a little movie about big issues. Within its relatively short running time, the film tackles teen pregnancy, abortion, marital fidelity, adoption, motherhood and strangely erotic armchairs.

It’s a lot to place on the diminutive shoulders of our small but feisty high school heroine, Juno MacGuff, embodied to droll perfection by the talented young actress Ellen Page (previously seen in the disturbing thriller “Hard Candy”). But Page pulls it off with such easy charm and earnest feeling that the performance feels completely natural, never sacrificing its quirky brilliance by veering into teen-movie stereotypes. Page might seriously be looking at an Oscar nomination.

The story kicks off with the 16-year-old Juno discovering that she’s pregnant with the child of her geeky best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera from “Superbad”) following an awkward sexual encounter in Paulie’s armchair.

After deciding against abortion when she discovers her baby has fingernails, Juno sets off to find her version of the perfect parents to adopt her baby with the support of her eccentric father Mac (the brilliant J.K. Simmons from the “Spider-Man” films) and dog-loving stepmother

more

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

Y M M O M

S E I V MO

22 jan.

2008

starscale

{ } poor {

(Allison Janney).

Eventually, they come across what appears to be the ideal couple, suburban newlyweds Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman from “Arrested Development” and Jennifer Garner).

The adoption is scheduled, and the 9-month countdown begins.

Juno immediately connects with the somewhat childish Mark, who shares her interests in old horror movies and indie rock bands. She fails to realize however, that he’s much less excited about being a parent than Vanessa.

Jennifer Garner, an actress who’s just been eye candy to me until now, gives a surprisingly heartfelt performance as neurotic housewife Vanessa, whose many hang-ups mask her simple, sad desperation to be a mother, a role she feels she was born to play.

The screenplay, penned by first-timer Diablo Cody, is a breath of fresh air in a season choked with bleak, overserious Oscar hopefuls. The movie is feel-good in a way that won’t make you feel sick or cheated afterwards. It earns every laugh. Every moment of emotion, from Juno’s awkward first sonogram to the spontaneous lover’s duet at the end, feels uniquely real and deserved.

Special mention must also be made of the film’s beautiful soundtrack, an extended serenade of offbeat folk rock and independent labels that succeeds in making an impression without being intrusive. Every song seems perfect for the moment, especially the gleefully strange version of “All I Want Is You” used for the partially animated opening sequence.

“Juno” is the surprise of the post-holiday season, a brilliant blend of youthful wit and adult wisdom. It rewrites the rules for what a teen comedy can be for the simple reason that it’s utterly unafraid of real human

} fair {

The true-life story of Loretta Lynn, a famous country western singer who was married at 13 and gave birth to four kids before she was 20. Stars Sissy Spacek as Lynn and a young Tommy Lee Jones as her husband.

} solid {

» www.m

ovieweb.co m

emotion. Movies like this could be the ones to define our generation. If we’re lucky, more are on the way.

Waitress (2007)

{

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Woman seeking to escape the grasp of her abusive husband, but becomes trapped by unexpected pregnancy. While the subject matter seems heavy, it is actually a lighthearted flick about the acceptance of motherhood. Starring Kerri Russell and Andy Griffith.

} excellent {

}

Although usually remembered for Sean Penn’s endearing surfer character and Phoebe Cates’s famous topless scene, a major subplot included teen girl considering abortion.

} masterpiece Star ratings based on writer’s opinion

23

A&E

GHOST BUST Despite decent acting, foreign film, ‘The Orphanage,’ leaves scares to be desired

» www.movieweb.com BY

» landonmcdonald

Horror is cinema’s most diverse and frustrating genre. It contains everything from indisputable classics like “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby” to disposable pop-garbage like the “Saw” franchise and its straight-to-video imitators. That’s the basic spectrum, but there’s a lot in between: bad, good, and so bad it’s good.

Then there’s “The Orphanage,” a subtitled supernatural thriller full of creepy atmosphere and virtuoso performances.

Based on that pedigree, it should be a classic. The film’s only problem is that it’s not scary. Not scary at all. It’s a horror movie that forgets to be horrifying. And like the killer shark from “Jaws” minus the teeth, that makes it pretty much useless.

The movie opens, as so many of its kind do, with a family moving into a new house.

Laura (the ravishing Spanish actress Belen Rueda) and Carlos (Fernando Cayo) are purchasing the old orphanage Laura grew up in with the intent to turn it into a home for sick and disabled children.

They also think it will be a good place to raise their adopted, HIV-positive son Simon (Roger Princep) in peace, despite the objections of a creepy social worker (Montserrat Carulla, the only truly frightening thing in the movie).

The precocious young Simon quickly

starscale

{ } poor {

takes a liking to the place and explores the seashore caves nearby. There he meets several “imaginary” friends and convinces his mother to let them stay at the house with the family. Laura, mindful of Simon’s overactive imagination, agrees and the trouble begins.

Before long, lights are flickering on and off, doors are slamming, disembodied voices whisper from upstairs, and a grossly deformed child wearing a burlap mask is haunting Laura’s dreams and making her question her own sanity. Then, to make matters worse, Simon disappears.

The rest of the movie details Laura’s obsessive odyssey to free Simon from the house’s malevolent spirits and discover the secret of the orphanage, a troubling subplot involving poison and child abuse that never seems quite as disturbing as it should be.

I’m sure certain aspects of what I’ve described above sound like the makings for an unsettling, spine-tingling good time at the movies. Sorry, maybe next time.

Despite its obvious ambitions, the film never achieves its potential. It seems like the director, Juan Antonio Bayona, is purposely holding back. I’m not complaining about the lack of gore or the absence of gotcha moments. Not having them actually

} fair {

} solid {

works in the film’s favor.

I’m talking about what “The Orphanage” wastes: suspense. It pains me to describe how many golden opportunities are lost or misspent, like when Laura feels a child lying next to her when she’s alone in bed or when she’s trapped in a pitch-black cellar or when the masked specter makes an unexpected appearance in a sun-lit hallway. Nothing interesting or terrifying happens, just endless set-ups with no pay-off.

Perhaps, I initially thought, the film would work better if viewed as a drama, a quiet meditation on an unbalanced woman dealing with the loss of her child. But then I remembered “The Others” with Nicole Kidman, the 2001 horror thriller with similar themes that managed to be both dramatically satisfying and horrifying all at once, a psychological shocker that knew how to seriously mess with its audience.

It doesn’t help that every potentially foreboding moment in “The Orphanage” is undercut by the terribly distracting soundtrack, a constant clash of mismatched violins that would make the composer of “Psycho” cry out in rage. This is especially annoying during the otherwise engaging scene where an ailing psychic (the regal Geraldine Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s daughter) tours the house, trying

} excellent {

to contact the angry dead.

Despite these and other failings, “The Orphanage” is not without its limited charms. The actors are all competent professionals; a real rarity in this genre, and their obvious commitment to the unoriginal, overlong script is more than admirable.

The standout is Rueda, who takes the paper-thin character of Laura and makes her growing pathos both poignant and authentic. Her performance is what sells the strangely sudden climax and infuses it with remarkable power, Here’s hoping she gets better parts in the future.

Horror is changing. The “torture porn” subgenre is thankfully in decline. Psychological horror seems to be on the rise, and that’s definitely a good thing. It’s been far too long since audiences have been treated to intelligent, well-crafted horror thrillers like “Seven” and ’28 Days Later.”

We need these movies, not only to scare and entertain us, but also to help us come to grips with the real fears we face every day. “The Orphanage” represents a futile attempt to accomplish this. But where it has failed, others will undoubtedly succeed in time. I just hope they hurry up, before audiences forget how to be afraid.

{

} masterpiece Star ratings based on writer’s opinion

}

issue

9

A&E

24

this is

one‘call’

you should

definitely

‘miss’ should

reliving

the horror BY

» clarkgoble

One Missed Call, director Eric Valette’s American remake of the popular Japanese horror-thriller Chakushin Ari, makes you laugh within the first few minutes and never looks back.

Too bad it’s supposed to be a thriller and not a comedy.

College students, one by one, receive a voice mail on their cell phones, preceded by an annoying, creepy ringtone, dated one or two days into the future. Each message tells the victim exactly what time they are going to perish and plays back their final words. Sure enough, each voice mail is true and the victims die just as the message claims they will. After their deaths, the cell phone contacts list is used to find the next victim.

The first five minutes show one victim being drowned by a mysterious hand that pops out of the pond in her backyard. The victim’s cat is the next to go, also being yanked underwater by the arm. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It’s a movie where you can be as creative with the deaths of people as you want, and you choose being yanked underwater as the opening murder? Another victim dies after a construction site blows up and in the wreckage, a metal rod impales him. He stands there shocked, wondering how the pole ripped through him.

I’m sitting there shocked, wondering how much more this movie can rip me off.

After realizing that if you listen to the words on each voicemail, you know exactly when each person will die, sudden loud noises or “scary” faces won’t be scary anymore. Once you hear the final words, you know something shocking is coming. This overlooked element of the plot completely eliminates the shock value of many of the deaths.

After a while, the victims realize what the messages mean and can anticipate their deaths. Yet, they do nothing to avoid them, other than predictably removing their cell batteries or destroying their phones, neither

22 jan.

2008

What is J-Horror? starscale {

}

poor

{

} fair {

Below are some classic horror film remakes

of which work. One victim heads to a coffee shop at the predicted time of 1976 his death. Another heads to the railroad tracks alone late at night.

C’mon. Give us a little credit, One Missed Call.

But the ridiculous plot doesn’t illustrate all of the issues I have with this movie. The acting, especially that of Beth (Shannyn Sossamon) and Detective Jack (Edward Burns), is shockingly horrible. It seems that the first time Burns looked over his lines for a particular scene was a minute before that scene was filmed. He shows no emotion. Sossamon does a bit better, but still won’t put her role in this movie on her resume.

Also, the most interesting scene in the movie occurs about 40 minutes into this 87-minute film, when one of Beth’s friends goes through an exorcism at her time of death. If you still want to see this movie, I would rec- 1974 ommend leaving after this scene. The ending is very, very anti-climactic and will only confuse you.

Another confusing aspect of One Missed Call is how a movie with such a thin plot was deemed good enough for release in 2,000 theatres nationally. O.K., so people in this country like using cell phones. We get it. I guess the director’s figured that if people like cell phones, they might like this movie.Instead, people will stop liking cell phones because of this movie.

1978 It’s a thriller that doesn’t thrill and a shocker that doesn’t shock.

If you check your phone during One Missed Call and realize you have a voicemail dated two days in the future, you might as well leave the theatre and check it.

Whatever happens to you, be it an impalement by a launched building material, a dive onto a railroad track with a train chugging your way, or some other outrageous death, will be much more interesting than the movie. { }

The 2006 Omen

Texas Chainsaw 2003 Massacre

2007

Halloween

The Hills 2006 1977 have Eyes

J-horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. J-horror is noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatment. It tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building, particularly involving ghosts while many contain themes of folk religions such as possession and exorcism.

» dictionary.com

} solid {

} excellent {

»movieweb.com

} masterpiece Star ratings based on writer’s opinion

Off toa

25

SPORTS

running start

Starting a new year at East, senior Darion Latson works hard to ensure a college track scholarship BY

»sarahluby

Senior Darion Latson couldn’t believe it. He was awestruck. He was speechless. He was tired. He’d just won the triple jump event at the Missouri Class 4 state championship meet in St. Louis his freshman year with a personal best of 46 feet and 7 inches.

He jumped a 44 in the first round and later went into a jump off with a senior, which he won by an inch.

“It felt good to have won that,” Latson said. “Especially since he was a senior and I was just a freshman.”

With this performance, everyone knew that this was just the beginning.

“I’d worked pretty hard to get to that place.” Latson said. “And I was just glad that I’d done it.”

In his sophomore year at state, he placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles, but he pulled his hamstring and was forced to pull out of the triple jump. And since he fractured his right ankle and pulled his groin muscle during his junior track season, he was not able to compete in the state meet or the summer track season.

At the end of his sophomore year, colleges started approaching him.

“It came on pretty heavy,” Latson said. “And I decided I should start running summer track.”

Latson then joined the KC Extreme, an Amateur Athletic Union, or AAU track team. They traveled around the country to places ranging from California to Indianapolis to Florida. At Regionals this past summer, he placed fourth in the young men’s 110 hurdles with a time of 16.26.

His current track coach, Thomas Edwards, believes that Latson can only get better.

“He is a hard worker and very dedicated,” Edwards said. “He knows when he’s done something wrong and always gives it his all.”

With placing fourth at regionals, Latson missed the cut off for nationals by one place. This finish triggered more elite schools to start recruiting him. And one school in particular stood out: the University of Florida. Wanting to return to his home town with lots of family there to support him, Latson knew this was a perfect fit. He gave a verbal commitment to them last month, and will officially sign with them this spring.

After transferring from Rockhurst at the beginning of the first semester, Latson is finding the transition easier than he imagined. At first, he wasn’t really happy with the

idea of leaving his two best friends and coming to a new school his senior year. He also didn’t want to leave behind his real pride and joy, football. He was the starting wide receiver and cornerback for varsity last year.

“Football was my main thing,” Latson said. “I’d been playing since I was in third or fourth grade.”

And with one of his best friend’s dad dying a couple of months ago, Latson found it especially hard to be at another school.

“He was like a second dad to me,” Latson said. “It was hard not being there for my friend through that time.”

But since then, Latson says that things have only gone up hill. And he’s gotten to enjoy being at East.

“East is a lot more diverse than Rockhurst,” Latson said. “And I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice to go to school with girls.”

With the school year dwindling down, Latson is focused on keeping his times up and improving his triple jump. Since coming off the injury sophomore year, his 200m has become faster, but his distance in the triple jump has not improved, mainly from the fact that most of the damage was done to his ankle.

“I have to perform well for the Florida coaches,” Latson said. “They’re gonna be looking at them and making sure I’m still working hard.”

Plus, to achieve his main goal of breaking at least one state record, he’ll need to keep working hard. But that shouldn’t be too hard, considering that his uncle, Mike Latson, was an Olympic runner in the 400m, with a personal best of 45.7.

In the state of Florida, Mike still holds the high school record for the 400m and the 100m with a time of 9.8.

He was also voted the second best athlete in Florida in

» annaleek

his best his goal

his

events records times 200 meter

dash 110 meter hurdles

triple jump

21.0

21.39

16.26 46’ 7”

14.2 48’

last year’s

state records 21.86 14.38

46” 10.5”

the last 50 years.

Latson’s father, Donald, also ran track in high school, but was more focused on basketball. He played in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks for a year before having to retire with a serious ankle injury.

By having Olympic- caliber athletes as relatives, Latson believes that genetics are part of the reason why he is so talented.

“After I quit baseball, my uncle pushed me to do track,” Latson said. “And it was only a matter of time before I figured out that I was good at it.”

In college Latson hopes to go to the national championship. And after college he wants to follow in his uncle’s footsteps. He wants to be an Olympian.

issue

9

SPORTS

26 Skiers and snowboarders drive to Snow Creek in Weston, MO to

hit the slopes

LEFT Junior Jack Bruger does a “180 Battle flag” trick in the Rattlesnake terrain park. The terrain park is one of the most popular areas at Snow Creek because both skiers and snowboarders can practice new tricks. » patrickmayfield BELOW LEFT Senior Dylan Roth learns how to snowboard at Snow Creek, where there are several easy trials. Snow Creek often creates its own snow. With over 60 snow machines, they can produce up to 12 inches of snow in 24 hours.

» sarahandrews

BELOW RIGHT Junior Pat Sixta is doing a “grab” in the terrain park.

Sixta enjoys shredding up the terrain park that includes bumps, jumps, mounds, rails, table tops and pipes.» patrickmayfield

WPA 2008

Brothers Shawn and BJ Hair will coach head to head when the East boys’ basketball team takes on Shawnee Mission North BY

» samlogan

“I bet my office is cleaner than his,” he said with a grin on his face that mirrored that of his brother, Shawn’s.

“What’s his like?” he said.

Thing is, though, it was cleaner. It was a new setting, a new school, a new team.

He was BJ Hair, his older brother is Shawn- the same guy on the t-shirts, the one in the nice suits every Friday night, and the man whose foot stomp from the same evening has an aftershock that can be felt the next Thursday. The same guy who’s coached boys’ basketball at East for 12 years.

This Friday, BJ and Shawn will hit the court the same way they did as kids in the backyard of their home near Bishop Hogan High School. Coach Hair and Coach Hair, respectively, that is.

“When we played it wasn’t very organized,” BJ said.

“Backyard basketball, frontyard football… He could without a doubt [beat

me up]. Toughening up a little brother is a good thing.”

BJ, Coach Hair’s little brother, has taken the reigns at Shawnee Mission North and hopes to bring a lackluster record from last year to a respectable position in the Sunflower League.

“Our whole emphasis has been to change that,” he said. “We’ve used East as a model- [Shawn] gets youth into the program and has them playing early.

The big thing is that we want our guys to compete and get into it.”

Last year’s East squad had a record almost opposite to what the Indians sported, 20-2.

“BJ’s situation is different than mine,” Coach Hair said. “He’s taking over a 219 team in his first season. He’s gonna make them compete, get tough on D and move around. You can always be in the game when you play tough D, and BJ will do just that.”

Just like he did at that same house by Bishop Hogan where BJ graduated in 1987.

“Competitive. That would be a good word to describe us,” Shawn said. “Yeah, he’s a better athlete… I’m just bigger, older, and stronger.”

Shawn graduated from Rockhurst in 1982 and went to Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield following that.

While BJ was then an undergraduate student at the same university, the two coached together

“

He’s gonna make them compete, get tough on D and move around. You can always be in the game when you play tough D, and BJ will do just that.

Coaching careers

- Shawn Hair

» katehardy

SPORTS

SPLITTING HAIRS

27

”

Shawn Hair BJ Hair

• Springfield-Greenwood Jr. High Assistant Coach with B.J • Head Coach at Ozark High School • Head Coach at Shawnee Mission East for 12 years

on the same bench for SpringfieldGreenwood Junior High seventh, eighth and ninth graders.

“We practiced early, like six in the morning, cause you know how it is, junior high practices always get the worst gym times,” BJ said. “We learned a lot from each other and it was great bonding for both of us.”

Following their days at SpringfieldGreenwood, the two went their separate ways.

Shawn went on to coach at Ozark High School outside of Springfield, MO. BJ went on to a junior varsity job in Lee’s Summit and a position on the William Jewell College bench.

“Coaching at the college level, every practice was a war. Guys were faster, bigger, more competitive,” BJ said.

Prior to taking over at North, he had a five year stint as the Winnetonka High School Varsity coach.

“My tool has always been to get the kids to buy in. There’s no magic pixy dust to get the guys to work,” he said, “The answer is just to show up everyday and have them do their job.”

The North-East rivalry appeared to already be in BJ’s blood, but he says it hasn’t gotten to him.

“You wanna see the Nut Cup? It’s ours now.”

“Football,” he said. “Was Shawn’s mentality. He’s a good athlete too… At least he used to be.”

“You be sure to let Coach Stonner know w e plan on keeping it here next year,” he added.

“Shawn and I haven’t

bought in to the hype,” he said. “I want to win, he wants to win, my guys want to win, and his guys want to win. So far it’s just something fun for people to talk about.”

BJ and Shawn both agree there’s no bad blood coming in to the game. “He’s my best friend,” said Shawn. “He’ll always be my brother- win, lose or draw. After the game we’ll shake hands, later we’ll talk about it, and that will be the end of it.”

Ever since they’ve played on that backyard court with a “regular goal” and a “dunk goal” the Hair brothers have always had the game in them.

“All the time we talk basketball- we share plays, drills, bounce ideas off each other and that won’t change now that we’re rivals,” BJ said. “We’re still family and I plan to be here for a while so it’ll even out….

I mean, yeah, we’re similar in so many ways, but maybe if I put on more weight I can get the foot stomp down…

But until then, he’s got me beat there.”

“

We’re gonna watch out for their transition O. Shawn likes to play like UNC- really fast. If you celebrate a basket, they’ll get a layup... and with a player of Mike’s [McRoberts] caliber on the court you have to slow ‘em down.

• Springfield-Greenwood Jr. High Assistant Coach w/ Shawn • Lee’s Summit High School Junior Varsity Coach • Winnetonka High School Head Coach for 5 years •William Jewell Assistant Coach

- BJ Hair

” issue » SMN journalism

9

28

SPORTS

IS THE

loveliest NUMBER

IF EAST BEATS ROCKHURST ON FRIDAY, IT WILL BE OUR FIFTH WIN IN A ROW. So in honor of the possibility, The Harbinger has compiled a long list of fives. Ten starters to watch for, five on each team. Five questions with coaches. Five questions with fans. And more.

This year, it’s all about the five. » lauranelson

East hopes to combat strong Rockhurst team through strong defense and a fast-paced game BY

FIVE

W’S of the game • Who: Coach Mark Nusbaum and Rockhurst High School (10-4), a private Jesuit school in Kansas City, Mo. • Who: Coach Shawn Hair and Shawnee Mission East (7-1, as of Jan. 16).

• What: This is one more chapter in the long-standing cross-state rivalry between Rockhurst and East.

• When: Friday (Jan. 25) at 7 p.m.

• Where: The East gym.

THEY SAID IT:

The Kansas City Star, on East senior Michael McRoberts: “The 6-3 guard averaged 15 points and seven rebounds last season... he is the key to a team expected to contend for a Sunflower League championship.”

» jordanpfeiffer

It’s been the same story for the past four years. The gym fills during the JV game, fans chanting back and forth for three hours strong, and the Lancers ultimately pulling of a victory against cross-state rival Rockhurst.

Five years ago J.D. Christie, East’s future all time leading scorer, finished off an unbelievable game against Rockhurst with a steal and an eventual dunk.

Three years later after a win the year before at East, and with Christie gone, the Rockhurst game looked out of reach. Rockhurst was led by future Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year Conner Teahan, who was having a career best season, with an average of over 25 points a game.

But yet again, East met another challenge face-to-face and prevailed in the end with a hard fought victory, and a game changing moment in the third quarter in which junior guard Mike McRoberts threw an ally-oop to senior center Bryan Nelson.

Rockhurst, only separated from East by a nine-minute drive, is a school that is thoroughly dominated by sports.

Their football program is coming off of a state championship, and the basketball team isn’t doing badly either, going into the rivalry game with a winning record of 10-4.

Even with the loss of their leading scorer, Conner Teahan, now at the University of Kansas, East basketball coach Shawn Hair believes that Rockhurst is still a formidable opponent.

“Rockhurst is still a very good team, even without the individual player in Teahan,” Hair said. “They have athleticism in Keith Langtry and Nathan Scheelhaase, and get up and down the floor well.”

According to Coach Hair, this game is going to be about defense. Both of these teams emphasize their defensive pressure, and use that as a main strategy in creating turnovers, which turn into fast breaks for easy baskets on the other end.

“I think it’s going to be a high scoring game this season because both teams get out and run the break well,” Hair said.

A fast-paced game is the way Hair likes to see his teams play, and when East gets the chance, they aren’t afraid to run the score, just like they did in a key win against Lawrence earlier this year, 74-52.

Rockhurst isn’t one to back down on teams either, their biggest win being against Blue Springs High School (5833), but senior guard Terrance Thomas believes that without Conner Teahan they will be able to focus more on the team, rather than one star player.

“We can play regular defense, and focus on guarding the team instead of an individual,” Thomas said. “We wont have to face guard one player, and then worry

about everyone else.”

Rockhurst however is going to have a lot to worry about. This year senior guard Mike McRoberts is looking to push up the tempo of the game, and is averaging 18.5 points per contest for the East team, which is the highest scoring average on the team. With his enormous amount of success on the offensive end, in recent games Mike has been double-teamed which has opened up opportunities for other players like junior guard Charlie Ludington to step up and knock down open shots from the outside.

“I told Ludington before a couple of the games to be ready to shoot the ball if I got double teamed,” McRoberts said. “And so far good things are happening.”

Averaging just over 7 points per game, Charlie has stepped up his game in the past 12 months from a good JV player to an outside threat for East’s varsity. Hitting seven threes (7 out of 12 attempts) Charlie had 21 points against the Lawrence Lions and looks to be a go to player for the next couple of months as the varsity basketball team starts its look towards March.

• WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHEER? TOP 5 GAME NECESSITIES: The Thunder Cheer, and “Bananas” because 1. Good team chemistry “everyone goes crazy and everyone falls down.”

• FAVORITE BASKETBALL MOMENT: • HOW DO YOU PLAN ON GETTING INTO THE GAME? 2. Fan support 3. Get posts the ball inside Losing his voice from cheering so hard.

Sykes doesn’t plan on leaving school. He is 4. Guards must shoot well going to stay in a teacher’s room and hang out.

• FAVORITE EAST PLAYER? 5. Make shots Charlie Ludington (“The Weatherman”) because “he makes it rain,” Sykes said.

• WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON WEARING? A t-shirt signed by the coaches and team.

22 jan.

2008

QUESTIONS with an East fan: STEVE SYKES

SPORTS

29

CENTER CHRIS ANDERSON

EAST PLAYERS YOU NEED TO WATCH FOR

FORWARD WINN CLARK

GUARD CHARLIE LUDINGTON

GUARD MARCUS WEBB

MIKE MCROBERTS

ROCKHURST PLAYERS YOU NEED TO WATCH FOR KEITH LANGTRY

GUARD MIKE MCROBERTS

senior (returning letterman) • 18.714 points/game • 5 rebounds/game • 2 steals/game

junior (returning letterman) • 14 points vs Raytown South

WINN CLARK

SAM SCHULTZ

junior (returning letterman) • 10.5714 points/game • 4 rebounds/game • 1.75 steals/game

junior (returning letterman) • 15 points/game • 17 points vs Raytown South

GUARD SAM SCHULTZ

junior • 7.14 points/game • 0 rebounds/game • 0 steals/game

CHRIS ANDERSON senior • 3.857 points/game • 4.5 rebounds/game • 0 steals/game

» andyallen

MARCUS WEBB

junior (returning letterman) • 9.5 points/game • 0 rebounds/game • 0 steals/game

GUARD KEITH LANGTRY

PAUL BOUSHKA

senior (returning letterman) • 10 points vs Raytown South

Nathan Scheelhaase

GUARD PAUL BOUSHKA

FORWARD FORWARD MIKE FORD NATHAN SCHEELHAASE

»courtesy of rockhursthighschool

CHARLIE LUDINGTON

junior (returning letterman) • 3.5 assists/game

MIKE FORD

junior (returning letterman) • 1 point vs Raytown South

STAFF MEMBER TAYLOR HAVILAND

EAST COACH BRYAN HANSON

ROCKHURST COACH MARK NUSBAUM

ROCKHURST PLAYER KEITH LANGTRY

Defense (East) Fast break points (East) Home court advantage (East) Clock (Rockhurst) Rebounding (Rockhurst)

Defense Fast break points Rebounding Playing tough basketball Beating Rockhurst’s intensity

Handle defensive pressure Control the game’s tempo No second shots Stay out of foul trouble Keep composure in hostility

Play hard Play smart Limit mistakes Tough defense Rebound

KEYS tothe GAME

• FAVORITE ROCKHURST PLAYER? Nathan Scheelhaase.

QUESTIONS with a Rockhurst fan: NICK KILGORE

• WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON WEARING TO THE GAME? • WHAT DO MOST STUDENTS DO ON THE DAY OF THE GAME? “I don’t really know yet, just whatever this year’s Some kids will be tailgating at theme is.

They usually are a movie.”

• FAVORITE BASKETBALL MOMENT? East and hanging out for a while.

“When Teahan hit a 3 at the last second • WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHEER? Kilgore plans on coming to East Nick’s favorite cheer is when a player misses a free to win the game in the Aquinas tournaright after school gets out and throw and the crowd chants, “Your team hates you!” ment.” (This is not from an East vs. waiting. issue Rockhurst game) ALL SIDEBAR INFORMATION COMPILED BY» taylorhaviland

9

30

SPORTS

On the

REBOUND Despite losing seven seniors, the Lancer basketball team is a contender for the state title » nickratliff

Going into the 2006-2007 basketball season, there were many questions to be answered about the East boys’ basketball team, such as how to replace the school’s all-time leading scorer, J.D. Christie, and a host of other veteran players. The team responded by going 20-2, only to lose in the sub-state finals.

Prior to this season, many of the same questions were asked, as the program again lost much experience and depth.

Again, the Lancers are responding.

“This year is no more different than any other year,” head basketball coach Shawn Hair said. “We expect a lot out of [the team] every year, and they expect to win as well.”

The Lancers, who graduated six seniors from the varsity level last year, are continuing their winning ways, victorious in their first seven games, before falling to Lawrence Free State on January 11.

Hair says that the team’s style of play hasn’t changed much from last year to this year, except for more of an emphasis on rebounding and protecting the ball, since the team is much smaller this year. Hair, of course, still preaches his trademark pressure defense as a way to get the offense going.

“We also emphasize pushing the ball a lot more this year,” Hair said. “Mike [McRoberts] is the best we’ve ever had at pushing the ball up the floor.”

The team’s defensive minded style in

COACH Shawn Hair huddles the team during a timeout. The Lancers suffered their first loss of the season against Lawrence Free State on Jan 12. » sallydrape

the HyVee Shootout game against Ruskin was especially evident. The Lancers ended Ruskin’s 34 game winning streak by beating them 71-38, playing trapping pressure defense the whole game, and taking Ruskin out of their fast break style of play. “[That game] was a good win for us,” Hair said. “It was a real shot in the arm for our guys.”

When the game does get slowed down though, the Lancers adjust quickly. Hair makes sure that his team can execute in any kind of game.

“Coach Hair preaches execution a lot in our practices,” junior guard Charlie Ludington said. “He wants it so that he can draw it up in a game and we execute it perfectly.”

Hair might be drawing up more plays for Ludington in the near future, as he hit seven three pointers and had a career high 21 points against Lawrence high school.

Ludington is one of many new faces on varsity this year, showing the strength of the entire program, not just the varsity team.

“One of the real secrets to the program’s success is that we win on all levels,” Hair

said.

Ryan Oettmeier, in his fourth year coaching the JV team, has seen most of the current varsity players come through the program, is integral to the program’s success and mirrors much of what Hair does.

“I expect nothing but the best from my players,” Oettmeier said. “I don’t take any excuses.”

To help his players make the jump to the varsity level, Oettmeier preaches and emphasizes much of what Coach Hair emphasizes.

“I make it so that if you’re deficient in some offensive skills, you can make up for it in defense,” Oettmeier said. “I also teach them to compete.”

Once the players reach the varsity level, Hair says that they really just want to play.

“The players really ‘ buy in’ to playing defense and doing the little things,” Hair said. “That’s our real secret to success.”

Have a Great 2nd Semester L a n c e r s

22 jan.

2008

Kansas High School Basketball Rankings 1. Highland Park (Topeka) overall class League: Centennial

8-0

5A

9-0

6A

8-1

5A

9-0

5A

9-2

6A

6-1

6A

7-1

6A

6-2

6A

7-0

4A

7-0

$A

2. Southeast (Wichita) League: Greater Wichita City

3. Bishop Miege (Overland Park) League: Eastern Kansas

4. McPherson League: Ark Valley

5. Leavenworth League: Sunflower

6. South (Shawnee Mission) League: Sunflower

7. East (Shawnee Mission) League: Sunflower

8. Blue Valley West League: East Kansas

9. Hesston League: Ark Valley

10. Hayden League: Sunflower

» www.cjonline.com as of 1/15/08

BY

baker senior• wrestling

Senior Matt Baker heads another strong wrestling team, placing first in the 189 lb. class at the Bobcat Classic. Six other top eight finishers aided the team to a fourth place finish in the meet, often considered harder than state.

the WEEK ahead

Tuesday what’s up this week in Lancer sports

Co-ed varsity Bowling @ KCC Tri- Although the boys finished last in their last meet, they should do better here. The girls, paced by Ali Dees’ top score, placed second.

Thursday

”

Baker and the rest of the wrestling team head to the SM North Invitational on Saturday.

point COUNTERPOINT NO YES ISSUE: Should LSU be considered this year’s college football national champion?

LSU is the best team in the country because they played in and won the best conference in the country, the SEC. Their two losses were in multiple overtime games, basically running out of steam like most teams would do over a long period of time. Also, defense, as proven by the last couple of years (except Florida), has won championships. LSU clearly had one of the best defenses in the country. Other teams like Georgia and USC were not consistently the best teams over the whole season, just playing the best football at the end of the season. LSU, besides the losses to Kentucky and Arkansas consistently played the best defense, and their offense fed off of the defense’s energy and good play. -Nick Ratliff

I’ve never been a fan of a proposed playoff system, but I think the human polls, a major component of the BCS, were very biased this year. O.K., LSU beat Virginia Tech, another BCS Bowl team, 49-7. But that was the second week of the season. Voters looked at that game as the example of what LSU was capable of and believed for the rest of the season they would play the same way.

Georgia, who played in the same tough SEC that LSU played in, dominated South Carolina in Week 2 but lost on the scoreboard. They later lost to Tennessee, a very inconsistent team but capable of playing great. But the Dawgs finished the strongest of any team in the title hunt. USC lost to Stanford, a terrible loss, and Oregon, who with Dennis Dixon was a top 5 team. Those losses are far better than LSU’s, regardless whether or not they occurred in regulation. But one thing’s for sure.

While they might have had the most talent, LSU was not this year’s best team. -Clark Goble

Friday Saturday It’s the HyVee Game of the Week, so it figures it’s also our Game of the Week. For the Lancers to win, they might have to overcome Rockhurst playing “junk” defense on senior Michael McRoberts (right). If he can get his shot off, the Hawklets may not have an answer for him. The key on the defensive end might be shutting down the post play for Rockhurst.

Junior Jack Slaughter(left) held Lawrence’s 6’8’’ center John Schnieder to no points and may be called on again to lock down a taller post.

» karenboomer

Varsity boys’ basketball vs. Rockhurst-

GAME of the WEEK

Girls’ varsity basketball at Emporia Tournament- The most successful basketball team, at least record-wise, has been the girls’ team. They were ranked #2 in 6A by the Topeka Capital-Journal and shut down a high-powered, undefeated Lawrence team. They have a great shot at winning this tournament, the Sunflower League and getting a #1 seed in their substate. Sophomore Janna Graf has been a force in the post. She is among the top 3 rebounders in the Sunflower League.

» tylerroste

Varsity swimming at SMNW- SMNW won their first meet of the season Jan. 7 against Lawrence, Shawnee Mission West and St. Thomas Aquinas. Evan Mesh and David Koeller are the top swimmers and led the Cougars to their 50-point victory. SM East, while more talented and deeper than SMNW, will need to swim well to come out with a win.

» karenboomer

matt

31

SPORTS

“

5 minutes with...

On the talent level at the Bobcat Classic-It is one of the toughest meets of the year, it has 30 teams from all over the state and even one from Iowa.

On Coach Ufford- Any wrestler in the East program today would tell you that Coach Ufford is an amazing coach and he has brought East wrestling to a new level. He demands so much of all of his athletes and he knows how to get the most out of his athletes.

On pro wrestling today- Professional wrestling like WWF and stuff like that is nothing like the sport that we participate in, in high school. The sport of wrestling in the Olympics is most like the sport in all high school programs.

On what is misunderstood about wrestling- I think people think it is just another sport when it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Dan Gable, a great wrestler and coach, once said that after wrestling, everything else in life is easy.

On his role model growing up- My role model as a kid was Barry Sanders. He was very successful with football but he was also a person of good character.

On his expectations for the team- I believe the team has a great opportunity to qualify the most amount of wrestlers to state we have ever had (nine), and also we want to place top five as a team.

On what he expects of himself- Personally I want to win state and continue on to college and wrestle.

Varsity wrestling at SM North Invitational- It’s not the Bobcat Classic, but this meet will provide a good outlook of the wrestlers that will be at East’s regional later on in the season. The success of the team at this meet will show which wrestlers have real shots at qualifying, and placing, at state.

issue issue

93

PHOTO ESSAY

32

LEFT: Junior Sarah (left) and freshman Megan Pavlu (right) laugh as they do an excercise at the Ali-Kemp self defense program for girls. All the girls lined up along the gym and did a number of excercises with a partner. They practiced self defense moves that could help them in dangerous situations like being assaulted or being attacked by a predator. » tylerroste BELOW: Sophomore Annie Bennett struts her modeling skills on the runway at the Ali-Kemp fashion show. There were three separate shows on Sunday, Jan. 13, with over 200 models from different schools. All of the dresses were donated and designed by Alfred Angelo. After the shows, the models and all the girls attending the show went to the self defense class exactly like the one held in the East gym. » mackenziewylie

strutting for a cause Girls attended a self defense class on Wednesday, Jan. 9 and then again on Jan. 13 following a modeling show held by the Ali Kemp program

FAR RIGHT: Juniors Katie Bartow (left) and Paige Cannaday (right) practice some of the techniques taught by Jill and Bob Leiker. They are the ones who run the selfdefense portion of the Ali Kemp program.

Since they both have years of karate under their belts, they are perfect candidates for the job. » annaleek RIGHT: Sophomore Erika Davee walks down the runway at the Ali Kemp fashion show. Many of the students that attended the show were from schools all over the district.

» mackenziewylie

22 jan.

2008