Issue 10 of the 2013 Harbinger by The Harbinger

Shawnee Mission East l 7500 Mission Road, PV KS, 66208 l February 4, 2013 l Issue 10 l www.smeharbinger.net

THE HARBINGER PG 21 CHECK OUT THE WPA CANIDATES

EVIDENT

SUCCESS

NFL STATE

COMPETITION

NATIONAL FORENSIC LEAGUE

photo by Caroline Creidenberg written by Chloe Stradinger

“Soooo, what do you say you and I get out of here, (wink) and I put a baby in you?” senior Liam Murphy asks junior Karl Walter. “No strings attached.” Karl pretends to set down a soup bowl. “Do you have, any idea,” Karl says in a dainty voice, rising in volume while pointing a finger, “How long I’ve been waiting to have a baby like this!?” Karl sticks his chest out, puts his hands on his hips and gives a flirty smile. He holds his smile a second longer before he and Murphy make a “whoosh” sound. “So, she got hit by a bus, huh?” Karl says, this time in a low, fratboy voice. “Poor girl.” “Well, the bus took quite a serious hit, too. Large girl, comfort-

ably in the 200s,” Murphy says using big hand motions. The boys continue their performance, changing voices and body language to transform into new characters. It’s 9 a.m. on a Saturday in Lansing, Kan., and the 4A high school is buzzing with Karl, Murphy and over 150 other students dressed business-casual. It’s only the first forensics tournament of the year, but the team is already drawing laughs and good scores out of the judges — sophomores, juniors and seniors alike are taking top spots, qualifying teams and individuals for state, winning sweepstakes and gaining momentum for the rest of the season. Debate and forensics coach Trey Witt, a former East forensicator himself, knows the importance of early season success, especially by team leaders.

continued on page 19

THE FORENSICS TEAM’S COLLABORATION AND DEPTH PROVIDE FOR A HOPEFUL SEASON

2 | NEWS

THE WEEK IN PHOTOS

DO YOU KNOW THE NEWS? Take this quiz and find out.

1. What class at East is now being offered as AP for the first time?

THE NEWS BRIEFS FEB.4, 2013

HEADLINES AND HIGH SCHOOLERS written by Tiernan Shank

art by Miranda Gibbs

Above: Junior Savannah Bellem holds a parakeet on her shoulder during a presentation during a environmental ed.

photo by Annie Savage

SAFEHOME ASSEMBLY COMES TO EAST During seminar on Feb. 7, SAFEHOME, the Domestic Violence Center in Kansas City, KS, is giving a presentation called “The Outrage” that focuses on teen dating violence and sexual assault. The presentation features high school actors in a 90 minute presentation, in which SAFEHOME presents statistical information and depict realistic dating situations. The presentation is part of

seniors Addie Anthony, Madi Bradley and Maddie Connelly’s DECA project, Stop the Silence. “We want to show kids how to get out of a bad relationship and we hope Outrage will make kids and staff more aware that it’s not just the physical abuse of dating violence,” Anthony said, “it’s the mental and emotional that all falls under dating violence as well.”

A. Latin B. French C. Spanish The answer: A

Recently Dr. Worley’s cirriculum was recognized by the college board as exceeding AP standards.

For more information visit smeharbinger.net 2. What group is reconsidering its membership policy concerning gays? A. US Military B. Girl Scouts C. Boy Scouts

Above: Juniors Alec and Justin Armer act as the roles gangsters one and two during rehersal for the school musical, The Drowsy Chaperone.

photo by Connor Woodson

3. What was the score at the basketball game against Rockhurst? A. 62-50 B. 78-67 C. 86-82 4. What newspaper will be recieving a new masthead? A. The New York Times B. The Washington Post C. The Wall Street Journal

CRIME RATES INCREASE 2013 seems to be a big year for burglary in Prairie Village already. With 10 residential burglaries reported as of Jan. 29 the Prairie Village Police Department, is seeing an increase compared to the total 45 residential burglaries in 2012. Of the 10 burglaries reported so far, seven have been west of Mission Road. According to the Prairie Village Post, Police Chief Wes Jordan told the

Prairie Village City Council, “Sometimes these things spike without much rhyme or reason and then disappear just as quickly. But we are taking these latest incidents very seriously.” According to Prairie Village Post, the Police Department recorded no homicides, six rapes, three robberies and 68 assaults in 2012.

Above: Freshman Paxton Pruneau jump ropes while freshamn Molly Manske watches during their third hour gym class.

photo by Kathryn Jones

5. Where did an explosion at a nightclub take place killing about 230 people? A. Colombia B. Brazil C. Venezuela 6. Which class will be cut next year? A. Discrete Math B. Algebra 1A C. College Prep The answer: B

DEBT CEILING First the Fiscal Cliff and now the Debt Ceiling, the Federal Government is ringing in the new year hard at work trying not to crash into the $16.4 trillion debt limit. Congress is working on a bill that would delay the debt-ceiling deadline until May 19. The bill would also give each

chamber three months to approve budgets. In order to push congress into action, if the senate and congress fail to reach these goals by April 15 they will be facing a loss of their paychecks. Failure to increase the debt limit or reduce federal spending would result in a large economic downturn.

Above: Students hold up and wave the East flag at the basketball game against Rockhurst. Students dressed in scrubs and lab coats for the theme.

photo by Stefano Byer

Due to the Common Core cirriculum Algebra 1A along with Algebra 1B will not be offered next year.

For more information visit smeharbinger.net Answers 1. A 2. C 3. A 4. A 5. B 6. B

T H E F LU AND YOU written by Morgan Krakow

As reports of the flu rise around the country, so do absence rates at East. Jody Gustafson, the Attendance Center clerk, said that she has been seeing around 200 students absent a day for the last two and a half weeks. This is 35 students more than are usually absent. Although not all of those absences are illness-related, Gustafson has seen a lot more students calling in sick during this time of year. Dr. Angela Myers, an infectious diseases specialist at Children’s Mercy Hospital, attributes the increase in cases of the flu to the weakness of the vaccine and the strength of this year’s strain of influenza. The influenza virus has the ability to change its genetic material. This change in the genetics of the virus is called a drift which allows the strain to rev up its potency and, in turn, affect a larger body of people. According to Myers, the flu this year has drifted so far from last year that the human body can’t adapt and fight the new strain. “This year’s strains have drifted enough that people don’t have very much immunity from previous years,” Myers said. According to Myers, another reason for this year’s widespread flu cases is because of a weaker vaccine. “The vaccine this year is only about 62 percent effective and so people that got the vaccine are still at risk for getting the influenza,” Myers said. “Generally [people who got the vaccine] don’t get as sick but they still have some risk to get the in-

Flu season brings sickness accross the country

fection,” Sophomore Garrett Bloom was one person who received the flu vaccine and still contracted the flu. “I’m now realizing that it seems like it was a waste of time to get the flu shot and have it not take effect, or just take effect in a minor way,” Bloom said. Bloom was sick for two days of school but had a lingering cough for almost two weeks afterwards. That cough was just one of several other common symptoms of the flu Bloom exhibited. Common symptoms of the flu include high fever, aching muscles, chills, headache, fatigue and nasal congestion. These symptoms are some of the reasons Myers stresses the importance of getting vaccinated even though it’s not 100 percent. “It’s important to protect yourself and it’s important to protect other people,” Myers said. The elderly, young children, people with asthma and people going through chemotherapy are more susceptible to the virus, and it can have a greater effect on them. While not everyone is in the high-risk category Myers said that everyone who can should still get vaccinated because the flu can come with other complications like pneumonia, for those in the high-risk categories. High school students can also be more susceptible to the illness because of the time spent in close quarters at school. “It’s really important to think about it on a global sense, or a community sense, of protecting

NEWS| 3

THE BREAKDOWN Peak Flu Months Dec Jan

others,” Myers said. The 2012 vaccine is still available and is effective until June. Pharmacist Debra Richmond at Feb Mar Bruce Smith Drug Store says that in addition to the flu vaccine, people should take extra care in the winter months to help prevent illness. [symptoms and signs] “Wash your hands with soap and water,” Richmond said. “Wash them thoroughly. Then avoid Sore contact. Don’t drink out of other people’s sodas, Throat Fever Fatigue runny noseaches don’t share food.” Richmond said that they have seen a lot of casNausea es of the influenza at the pharmacy this season. She said the treatment for the influenza varies. Prescription anti-viral medication Tamiflu is usuDeaths this Flu ally the first medication used to help treat the flu. season viruse “[Tamiflu] helps decrease the severity and s in the are sp U.S. lessen the duration of [the influenza].” Richmond when read pe said. with t ople he fl Myers said that it is really important to come cou gh, sn u ee into the doctor within the first 48 hours of conor tal ze k. tracting the flu because the anti-viral medications stop being as effective after two days. 133.5 million Influenza After the first 48 hours are over Richmond said Vaccine Doses that the drug store will suggest certain over-theDistrubuted counter medications to treat the symptoms. Reducing the “We’ll [recommend] cough suppressants to risk of influenza for 60 percent of treat the coughing, [we’ll recommend] fever-repeople ducers such as Tylenol to reduce fever and body aches,” Richmond said. Richmond said that she thinks the flu has still yet to peak and that they will probably be seeing more cases in the next month.

COUGHChills

Headaches

x 37

information from Centers for Disease Control

4| NEWS Left: English teacher Kristin Fry paints the windows next to her door following new precautionary measures.

COMPARING THE

BIG THREE A look into three Johnson County districts and the actions they are taking to improve safety measures

SHAWNEE MISSION information courtesy of Dr. Krawitz

photo illustration by Alexa Young

photo by Jake Crandall

SECURING THE BUILDING The district and East adminstration propose possible changes to prevent tragedies from occuring in the future written by Andrew McKittrick

Of the 11 deadliest shootings in U.S. history, five have taken place since 2007 including killings at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and in Aurora, Colo. Over five events, 99 people have lost their lives. In reaction to events such as these, the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) along with the East administration are working to implement new policies and features at schools to protect the students and staff in their buildings. New policies are slated to be implemented starting as early as the fourth quarter of this school year including covering windows on doors, monthly code lockdown drills, locked doors during classes and possibly even a rifle stored in the Student Resource Officer’s (SRO) office. The first change coming to East in the upcoming months is updating the name of code reds to code lockdowns. This is a change occurring across the nation as it will allow for a consistent understanding of what the procedure is. These code lockdown drills will also begin to be practiced on a monthly basis instead of the current rate of two a year. In addition to changing the name of the drills, they will be more serious for the administration according to Principal Karl Krawitz. The windows next to doors creates another problem for school administrators. One of the aspects of a code lockdown procedure is to move all students and teachers out of view from these windows. However, in some situations students can be seen or this is not possible. To aid in hiding students from view, school administrators are looking into applying contact paper to these windows. This would allow the windows to be blocked without the need for tape or glue. Another change the school is considering implementing is locking classroom doors dur-

ing teaching periods. The drawback to locking doors for teachers is the fact that classroom doors cannot be locked from the inside. This means that for teachers to lock their doors, they must use a key to lock the door from the outside, creating an inconvenience. Locking doors would help to slow down a would-be perpetrator, something that according to Dr. Krawitz is the first plan of action in case of a school shooting. “You want to stall [the perpetrator] as much as possible or put up as much resistance as you can in the first six to seven minutes,” Dr. Krawitz said. “That’s what they call the response time needed.” Although the generally accepted time according to Dr. Krawtiz for slowing down a perpetrator is between six and seven minutes, the time needed to stall an attacker would most likely be less at East because of the proximity to the Prairie Village Police Department. “Now for East that’s not necessary,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Prairie Village [Police Department] is right there and at any given time there are 20 to 25 officers over there in some capacity that have guns. We aren’t going to have the same response time as some other schools in the district.” Along with the changes coming to classroom safety, the SROs are looking into improving their office. The first area of renovation that SROs are looking into is changing the current two-way glass in their office to one-way glass. This would allow the officers to see a possible perpetrator walking into the school without the perpetrator seeing the officer. For the SRO’s, installing one-way glass is the first step in helping their ability to increase the response time. A second upgrade the officers are looking into is storing a rifle inside their office during school hours. These rifles would be

taken home by the officer each night. For the officers, having a rifle at school would be a benefit over the current Smith and Wesson M&P pistol. A rifle gives the officer greater accuracy and range, something that is necessary in long hallways according to SRO Joel Porter. Another benefit that the Prairie Village Police Department gave to East is the three dimensional mapping that the department provided for the school. Over the summer, an officer walked the halls of East with a camera to create a three dimensional map of the school. According to Dr. Krawitz, the mapping is unique to East and allows for more accurate police responses in case of an active shooter. This three dimensional mapping would allow officers unfamiliar with the building to work with administrators inside the building and cameras to build an accurate idea of where the perpetrator is. “The program has been placed on the computers in each patrol car,” Porter said. “So officers who are unfamiliar with the building can pull it up quickly to see where they may need to respond. Information can also be relayed to officers outside the building of locations inside where officers are located or help is needed, and officers would be able to find it quickly.” Although the East administration and SMSD are doing everything in their power to protect the safety of the students and staff at East, these events will continue to occur according to Dr. Krawitz. “You could say the unpredictability is becoming the norm,” Dr. Krawitz said. “If the unthinkable and unpredictable is becoming the norm then that is pretty scary. Ten years ago did we worry about mass shootings in our country? I don’t think so.”

The code red procedure will now be called “code lockdown.” These drills will be held once a month as opposed to the former twice a year. Teachers may potentially have to cover all windows, as well as keep doors locked at all times.

BLUE VALLEY information courtesy of Dan Carney, Director of Safety and Security

The district allows everyone in the community to contribute ideas toward bettering safety procedures. A committee will then come together to evaluate suggestions for procedure improvements. Teachers have begun taking precautionary measures such as making sure doors are locked, and if strangers are in the building, making sure to contact them and ask what their business is.

OLATHE information courtesy of Lavern Fields, Manger of Safety and Security

Requires visitors at all elementary schools to provide photo ID for entry into the school, then they must be buzzed into the building. District correspondents reguarly meet in Crisis Management Teams to evaluate safety measures and determine new safety procedures.

READTHIS

The Harbinger supports the idea that the East student body needs to evaluate their wild ways

art by Paloma Gustafason-Ika

THE HARBINGER a publication of Shawnee Mission East high school 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208

Editors-in Chief Anne Willman Chloe Stradinger Assistant Editors Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight Art & Design Editor Paige Hess Managing Editor Jennifer Rorie Head Copy Editor Matt Hanson Assistant Head Copy Editor Sarah Berger Copy Editors Anne Willman Chloe Stradinger Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight Erin Reilly Morgan Twibell Sarah Berger Matt Hanson Julia Poe Jennifer Rorie Sophie Tulp Grace Heitmann Morgan Krakow Ads Manager Sophie Tulp Circulation Manager Greta Nepstad

STAFF 2012-2013

Editorial Section Editor Jennifer Rorie Editorial Board Chloe Stradinger Andrew McKittrick Anne Willman Jennifer Rorie Katie Knight Grace Heitmann Matt Hanson Julia Poe Kim Hoedel Duncan MacLachlan Sarah Berger Sami Walter Morgan Krakow Staff Writers Mike Thibodeau Emily Perkins Rock Caroline Kohring Michael Kraske Susannah Mitchell Taylor Bell New Section Editor Sarah Berger News Page Designer Julia Seiden Opinion Section Editor Kim Hoedel Opinion Page Designers Greta Nepstad Morgan Krakow

Fifty-eight MIPs, one discouraged administration and one death of a classmate later, we’re still misbehaving, and East is still not listening. In a desperate attempt to catch your attention, The Harbinger made an executive decision to waste a headline on this. So hear us out while we give you detailed directions on how to redeem our school’s embarrassing reputation: take responsibility. Feel free to re-read that if you missed something. In all seriousness, Lancers, things have gotten out of hand. Our notoriety has spread from the district to the state level. It’s not just about the alcohol; it’s about the entitlement we feel, the example we’re setting for the future classes and the refusal to learn from the most tragic lesson we’ll get. The partiers are not the only ones at fault; the parents and kids who passively watch their children and classmates have work to do, too. It’s our school and our community. It’s time we take responsibility for what we are, and admit we aren’t being Shawnee Mission Wonderful. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t the first Lancers in the history of Lancer Village to party. It’s a cowardly excuse to say that the only reason our school has more offenses is because we have more cops. It’s ridiculous to see our behavior as justifiable in any way. So here’s how we go back to being wonderful. First, let’s admit we have a problem. Let’s thank Dr. K for his tireless efforts on trying to fix this problem, and let’s show him we’re finally ready to listen. Think of it as a retirement gift. Next, let’s be smart. This doesn’t mean

EDITORIAL | 5

locking yourself in your room with a book on the weekend, or even cutting down your social circle. We all know what a good decision feels like, so let’s do what we know is right. Let’s be aware of where we are and what example we want to set. For instance, maybe a basketball game isn’t the best place to be too drunk to stand up. Maybe we shouldn’t pass down the tradition of bad decisions to our wideeyed underclassmen. Let’s have fun, but let’s think about what that means. Let’s realize that if we have to rely on alcohol to have a good time, then there’s probably a deeper problem. We don’t need to cut our social scene, we just need to refine it. There it is, Lancers. It’s just an article, and in comparison to all the other things that have happened, it would be a surprise if it made an impression on you. Let’s realize we’re still just kids, and we’re going to make mistakes, but there’s no excuse for not learning from them. We’re underaged, and are not entitled to do whatever we want. We’re hurting our friends, our family and our peers. We need to go forth and give our community a reason to say ‘it’s a great day to be a Lancer’ again. So first, let’s take responsibility.

EDITORIAL BOARD VOTES

FOR AGAINST ABSENT

13 0 0

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

Feature Section Editor Hannah Ratliff Feature Page Editors Maddie Hise Pauline Werner Will Oakley Caroline Kohring A&E Section Editor Tiernan Shank A&E Page Designer Megan McAlister Sports Section Editor Mitch Kaskie Sports Page Designers G.J. Melia Sam Pottenger Grace Heitmann Co-Spread Editors Morgan Twibell Leah Pack Freelance Page Editors Phoebe Aguiar Megan McAlister Sophie Tulp Alex Goldman Maggie McGannon James Simmons Audrey Danciger Jennifer Rorie Business and Circulation Manager Greta Nepstad

Social Media Director Mattie German Staff Artists Emily PerkinsRock Hailey Hughes Paloma Gustafson-ika Photo Editors Jake Crandall Caroline Creidenberg Assistant Photo Editor Maddie Schoemann Staff Photographers Erin Reilly Neely Atha Taylor Anderson Stefano Byer Tessa Polaschek Alexa Young Molly Gasal Annie Savage Leah O’connor Kathryn Jones Connor Woodson Hayden Roste Meghan Shirling Katie Sgroi Hailey Hughes Online Editors-in-Chief Sami Walter Duncan MacLachlan Assistant Online Editors Julia Poe Zoe Brian

Head Copy Editors Jennifer Rorie Vanessa Daves Multimedia Editor Dalton Boehm Convergence Editor Erin Reilly News Editor Pauline Werner Online Photo Editors Marisa Walton McKenzie Swanson Assistant Online Photo Editors AnnaMarie Oakley Paloma Garcia Video Editor Nathan Walker Live Broadcast Editors Andrew McKittrick Jack Stevens Homegrown Editor Maxx Lamb Opinion Editor Taylor Bell A&E Editor Morgan Krakow Sports Section Editors Alex Goldman Mitch Kaskie Blogs Editor Taylor Bell Podcast and Radio Editor

Thomas Allen Eastipedia Editor Susannah Mitchell Interactive Designers James Simmons Will Oakley Anchors Kyle Winston Joe Bahr Morgan Twibell G.J. Melia Tessa Polaschek Mitch Kaskie Annie Foster Webmasters Chris Denniston Jack Stevens Multimedia Staff Dalton Boehm Chris Denniston Maxx Lamb Kathryn Jones Nick Miriani Jack Stevens Mattie Germann Emily Perkins Rock AnnaMarie Oakley Tessa Polaschek Will Brownlee Sophie Mitchell Annie Foster Advisor Dow Tate

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

6|OPINION

THE

FELLOWSHIP OF THE GEEKS

Staffer reflects on her childhood excursions with friends

photos by Hailey Hughes and Paloma Garcia-Dickey My friends and I were never much good at being little girls. Afternoons were spent pulling up planks on our backyard porches to look for treasure. Nights were spent watching “Lord of an opinion of Kim Hoedel the Rings” followed by mornings rampaging through our yards pretending to be off on our own adventure. Similar days were spent swapping Hobbits for Jedi and plastic swords for light sabers. Even our grandest attempts at little girl lifestyles ended in a pathetic mess. Tea parties were soon morphed into slob parties—the goal being to make the biggest mess of the apple juice and cookies we used in place of tea and biscuits. Play dates would always morph into prank wars. There was no greater joy than inflicting some sort of lighthearted pain upon the other. Filling Pixie Sticks with salt or mixing ketchup into each other’s drinks when our backs were turned. We seemed to grasp the concept of being little boys much more readily. Nothing much has changed. We’re all still wreaking havoc together and we are as odd as ever. In place of running through the neighborhood defending different galaxies and worlds, we’ve adapted to digital adventures of Xbox’s Lego “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings.” We’ve grown out of building forts in the garage pretending it’s Mount Doom, but not all imagination is lost. We did still dress up like Ents for the midnight premiere of “The Hobbit.” The way we go about making fools of ourselves has changed, but the art isn’t lost. Our Friday nights are spent lounging together in sweatpants and T-shirts watching “Star Wars” marathons on Spike and playing Nintendo 64. We switch off between houses,

generally ending up at whichever has the most promising amount of food. Proper etiquette requires the invited party to bring a food offering they have shamelessly stolen from their own pantry, a skill we perfected as young padawans, sneaking upstairs to steal more junk food. Growing up, my older brother was the only definition of cool I had. I tried to emulate him in every way from his code of conduct to his musical tastes. For several years I refused to wear any type of skirt of dress. To me they were a disciplinary device designed to keep girls from climbing and hanging upside down and I couldn’t understand why they were never forced upon my brother. I have this theory that I gradually train myself to be less and less cool. Among my closest friends we share the same oddities and nerdities that would get any of us thrown in a dumpster in a stereotypical 90s middle school sitcom. But amongst us, it’s cool. Or it’s better than being cool because being cool is boring. Why be cool when you can make a fool of yourself and have a laugh doing it? I’m not saying I was always above it all — not at all. Late elementary school and throughout middle school I worked entirely too hard to be cool. I wore that stupid bump in my hair, took my matching Vera Bradley wallet, pencil case and bag to school everyday and you couldn’t find a single piece of clothing in my wardrobe that didn’t sport an eagle, seagull or moose somewhere obnoxiously visible. I think it took me a long while to realize you couldn’t simply look cool and get into the club; you had to act it too. That is where all hope was lost. I never said the right thing, I never held myself in that mock-adult fashion everyone seemed to master in at age 12. The only thing I excelled at was silencing entire lunch tables with uncomfortable jokes. I used to attempt to hide my weirdness but now I’ve given up. I think what happened was that I truly realized I just don’t care. I figured out, the weirder and stranger I was, the more I could make people laugh. Even if they were just

laughing at me, it never really mattered. I think we come to a point in our lives where we realize that the only people worth being around are the ones who, in turn, want to be around us. If my irrational immaturity and strange behavior weirds you out, that’s totally fine, we just don’t click. My closest friends and I can make fools of ourselves together. The people who mock us or call us crazy are the kind of people we don’t want to be around. We’d rather them think us crazy. If we’ll never be friends anyway, why not leave an impression? I like to think of ourselves as adding a little color to someone’s day. Last summer, we kept a variety of hats: a coonskin cap, a pink Corn Palace cowgirl hat and a tree hat, in the car at all times, along with a vuvuzela. We would each don one of the hats every time we drove around and sporadically blow the horn out the window at people walking by and outdoor restaurants that appeared to need livening up. Even if people only snarl at us, we’ve made their day a little less ordinary. Most people would say what we do on a daily basis is embarrassing, but it doesn’t really matter what the random dude in the car next to me thinks of our violent interpretive dancing. Does it matter what the cashier thinks of the USB cable I wore around my head into Hen House? No. ‘Cause in the end, I’ll never see them again in my life and who knows, every now and then you get someone who will dance back to you or compliment your eclectic headpiece. I think one of the main reasons I love being so shamelessly strange is its a simple way to find the good humored people of the world. Its like a signal; send it out and see if any other weirdies respond. When it comes down to it, the people whose opinion I truly care about are the ones who play along.

SHARING MEMORIES Kim’s friends reminisce about their time together

What’s one of your strongest memories from spending time together?

SENIOR Polly Haun “Running around downtown in our tree hats and my flip flops broke. So we had to buy tape to tape it back together. A French woman asked to take our picture cause she thought the hats were a fad.”

SENIOR Jessie Burns “We rode a ride at Worlds of Fun called Le Taxi Tour. It was a stupid ride for little kids, but we were screaming like it was a roller coaster. I was half way out the car and Kim was driving.”

JUNIOR Kayla van Thullenar “We were wandering around the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson and rode the ski lift trying to see Big Time Rush on stage. We also have an endless Facebook thread we use to share stupid gifs and weird photos that make us laugh. ”

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8 | OPINION

OUTTHE OF

Above: Will Oakley attempts to build a fire with one arm.

photos by Anna Marie Oakley written by Will Oakley

was convinced I could spend the night anywhere in the wilderness. Name a place—any place—and I could handle it. So what if I just had surgery on my right shoulder and had the equivalent of one and a fourth functioning arms? So what if it gets down to 15 degrees at night? So what if there is going to be nobody within a mile of me? I was practically Survivorman. Without a sliver of doubt in my mind that I would last the full night, I set out to spend the night in the woods. This wasn’t a typical camping trip with your mom, sister, dog and infinite supplies type of deal, either. This was for “all the man cards,” so to speak. I decided to bring a Buck Knife, lighter, 24 oz. water bottle, three pieces of beef jerky, shovel, sleeping bag and a plastic Costco “can’t hold more than 175 pounds without snapping into little pieces” chair. What about a tent, you ask? No way. Tents are for wimps. How about a flashlight? Not happening. At that point, as far as I was concerned, I could run into the woods dressed as Daniel Boone, wearing a coonskin cap and wooden clogs singing “Kumbaya,” and come out the next day without a scratch. I was convinced that I would find a wild stallion, bareback it, and gallop triumphantly into the night. There was no stopping me. My destination was a small farm outside of La Cygne, Kansas. In other words, a place that you’re never going to hear the name of again. One of my buddies has a farm there and was polite enough to let me be homeless in his woods for a night while he and a couple friends enjoyed tacos in a hot tub. I could have spent the night in some random park in the city, or could have pitched a tent in my backyard, for that matter. Yet, that wouldn’t be nearly as adventurous and miserable as this. Pulling up to the barren farm, a thought that would define my night pulled up into my mind: “What the hell are you doing here, Will?” What place does a kid who doesn’t even know how to change the oil in his car have sleeping in the woods of La Cygne, Kansas? What is a kid who has rarely ever been south of 150th street doing past 430th with an eight inch Buck Knife and a fishing hat (like that’ll help)? Not only that, but what is a kid with an impaired arm doing trying to lone wolf it in 20 degree weather? “You’re an idiot, Will,” I was telling myself, but there was no turning back. The time for curling up into a little ball and weeping was reserved for after my adventure. I set out on my ordeal with a walking stick in my left hand and a sling enveloping my right. I set up camp under a cozy hill near the end of the property. This would be

Staffer Will Oakley attempts to spend the night alone in the woods

WILD

my five-star hotel for the remainder of the night. At the bottom of my hill, I would spend the next 45 minutes digging a 3’x3’x1’ hole into which I would build my fire. This was the most degrading part of the night, because a normal person would have taken five minutes to dig a hole that size. But for a cripple like myself, I had to use an unbearably awkward motion that took almost five times as long. It took me awhile, but I did it. Poorly, but I did it. Once my uneven hole was dug, it was now time to start my search for firewood. Lucky enough, there was a large pile of sticks about a quarter mile down the property from my hill. Unfortunately, that pile of sticks was much farther away from my hill than one would think. I made a few treks, each one ending with me tripping, getting angry, kicking the air and having to pick up all the sticks again. Coming back from my third trip to the stack of branches, I noticed there was a stack of hay 30 yards from the pile. My Survivorman-like instincts told me that this would be a perfect fire starter. I grabbed a couple handfuls of hay and skipped back to the bottom of my hill as happy as Matt Cassel after pulling a miracle touchdown out of his ass. With my hay on the bottom, my precious twigs next and then my larger stumps on top, it was fire time. I lit the dry hay and it caught fire as quickly as you can read the Declaration of Independence. Let’s just say my lighter was broken the first 20 times I tried to turn it on before the hay finally lit. Once some of the hay succumbed to the flames, I needed to replenish it until the twigs caught fire. Once my twigs combusted, the rest of my wood burst into flames. Looking at my beautiful fire, I was the happiest man west of the Mississippi. At that moment, I sat in my Costco chair and realized that I stood a chance of surviving. Until 11 p.m., I passed the time sitting in my chair, singing Robert Earl Keen’s “Five Pound Bass,” to myself and reenacting the movie “300” with my Buck Knife as my sword. I was feeling pretty good roasting my three pieces of beef jerky over the flame for my three course meal. I was thoroughly enjoying myself... Ignoring the fact my pile of firewood was slowly diminishing. The time to trudge a quarter mile back to the pile of wood had come. It was time to leave the cozy spot below my hill. I set out, holding my buck knife in my only working hand for protection against nothingness. My imagination was getting the better of me -- whenever I heard anything, whether it be a gust of wind, or a twig breaking in the distance, it was a bear. A big, brown, hungry bear ready to eat up

a crippled 16-year-old boy. It didn’t matter that I knew there are no indigenous bear species to Kansas. It was still a bear. Carrying my wood back to the fire, I was still petrified that something was out to get me. That, and the fact the temperature outside was starting to plummet, caused me to be unable to feel the fingers of my stub arm. My night was becoming worse. When I finally got back to the safety of the bottom of my hill, I sliced my middle finger of my left hand with my buck knife -- another sign that maybe my Survivorman-like instincts are not very Survivorman-like. So now, not only was I crouched around my fire, convinced a bear would pounce on me, I also had a gouged finger, bleeding all over the place...tight. Consumed by my terror, I was in a world of my own, only thinking about what was out to get me and the blood gushing out of my finger. What I didn’t realize was that my Patagonia ski jacket’s sleeve was too close to the fire, and was morphing into a black crust. When I did finally notice, my thoughts went something along these lines: “Are you kidding me!? This sucks five times beyond any sucky thing I have ever done in my life. Not only am I freezing my stub off, but you can see the bone on my finger, and I’m going to be a midnight snack to a 500 pound bear any second. That and I now have a jacket with a cauterized sleeve that smells like burned cat poop. I have the survival skills of a young child.” Meanwhile, the solemn cry of a coyote rang from somewhere far across the trees into my frostbitten ears. I was done. That was the final straw. Bon voyage. At that point, I didn’t care if I would be mocked for the rest of my life for not staying the entire night. There was nothing on this earth that could have convinced me to stay in those woods for another five minutes. I packed my bags, peed out my fire, and half sprinted back to the farm house. I probably looked like a loon, having to hold my arm at my side so I wouldn’t jar it. My night in the woods had come to an abrupt conclusion. It became apparent that I fit in the wild about as well as a pork chop in a Synagogue. Maybe I would have lasted if I had two unimpaired arms, but I didn’t. All in all, I lasted a total of seven hours. My night of sure manliness and vigor turned into a complete failure beyond all proportions. The night was worse than what my confidence-blinded self could have ever expected. In other words, it was utterly miserable. So, if any of you brave souls of Shawnee Mission East plan on sticking it out in the woods by yourself for a night in mid-January, please don’t; especially if one of your arms is unable to bend far enough to touch your chin.

OPINION | 9

SEC SHAME DAY L

ucas Jones’ dunk wasn’t the only eye-opening thing from East’s Jan. 4 victory against Leavenworth. The most notable thing I took away from that game didn’t happen on the court; it happened in the stands. Our student section had taken on an unusual pattern: it was split cleanly in half. On one side of the stairs stood young men and women decked in blazers and dress shirts or sun dresses. And on the other side, the fans just hadn’t dressed the theme. I’m sure many of the fans dressed in full SEC Gameday attire were confused by the lack of participation. They may have assumed that everyone loved the classic theme as much as they did. But that’s not the case. More and more students are beginning to dislike SEC Gameday. As someone who’s never liked the preppy theme, I’m just glad they’re finally coming around. My problem with SEC Gameday doesn’t have anything to do with the clothes themselves. Vineyard Vines and Southern Tide are fine brands. I just have a problem with what the theme represents. When students don their Vineyard Vines dress shirts and Ralph Lauren polos, they aren’t doing so just to look nice; they’re looking to assert their superiority over the fans of the opposing teams. I get that. Competition among fan bases is a natural part of sports. Even I want to prove that Lancers are better than Raiders or Hawklets. However, I think we’re going about it the wrong way.

Senior explains his distaste for SEC game theme written by Matt Hanson

Here at 7500 Mission Road, certain students have developed the belief that with the right clothes, they can be classy. They think that by wearing blazers and sun dresses, they can prove that they’re classier than the opposing team’s fans. But these students are missing the point of class. Class isn’t something you can purchase at Halls. More than anything, class comes from within, and that’s something that our students seem to have forgotten. The other team’s fans may not be able to afford such nice clothes, but is their behavior any less classy than those of us who can? Because for most of my career at East, it seems that has not been the case. They’re not the ones who are notorious for drinking before games. They’re not the ones who have to be babysat by their administrators every game. They’re not the ones clinging to wealth as an indication of superiority. We are. Ultimately, flaunting class is counterintuitive. Wearing classy clothes at games doesn’t indicate maturity or class. To many, it shows an immature desire to prove our superiority and a superficial definition of class. There are better ways to prove our superiority and class than dressing up in expensive clothes. I’m not the only student who realizes this. I’m not the only one who wishes our student section would abandon this embarrassing theme once and for all. That much became evident in the Leavenworth game. And therein lies

HANSON’S GUIDE WHAT MAKES A GOOD THEME? Opportunities to one-up your friends Accessible Positive

WHAT MAKES A BAD THEME? Intended theme isn’t clear Difficult to wear Mean-spirited Theme vs. weather

photo illustration by McKenzie Swanson

the biggest problem with this theme: opposing fans aren’t the only ones who hate SEC Gameday. There are many within our own section who dislike it as well. Some may not be able to afford the top-dollar clothes that the theme requires. Others may dislike the implied arrogance that seems to always accompany the theme. Regardless of the reason, many East fans don’t like our school’s preppy theme. But the seniors who have control of the student section seem to be oblivious to this. The opposition to the theme represents a growing disconnect between the leaders of the student section and their section, and that’s a big problem. People don’t come out and say it like I do, but there are many who disagree with the direction of the student section. Without a unified student section, we can’t give our Lancers the support they deserve. So here’s my advice to those who lead our student section: pay attention to more than just the front row. Stop picking themes that embarrass our section and divide our fans. Learn to pick themes and chants that the majority of the section can agree with, and not just your friends. I believe a lot of our student section leaders can do better. We don’t have to stop trying to out-class the opposition. We just have to learn to do it differently. And if we do, I believe that we can make a better student section for the remainder of this year and years to come. Just please start by getting rid of SEC Gameday.

To picking a theme photo by Marisa Walton

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ONLYCHILD

the

OPINION | 11

art by Morgan Krakow photo by Annie Savage

Julia Seiden explains what it’s like to be sibling-less.

written by Julia Seiden

ut of my group of friends I am one of two that are only children. I have never had to leave my friend’s house early to pick up a little brother from baseball practice, or give the car back to an older sister or even have to change the channel for a sibling. Avoiding these hassles are some of the perks of being an only child, but not having any siblings does have its downfalls. My parents, as well as other parents of only children I know are way more protective than most. I have to text them when I make it safely to my destination of a friend’s house, they always peek in on me just to make sure I’m doing my homework and other little things that can get on any teenagers nerves. All of my friends are very responsible and do all of their homework, but I never hear them complain about how much their parents push them to do well in everything. It’s probably because their parents have extra kids to watch over. My grades cannot fall below As and Bs, no partying and definitely no hanging out with weirdos. The pressure to make good grades is one of the most stressful parts of being an only child. All of my other friends’ parents care about their kids’ grades, but nowhere near as much as my parents and other only childrens parents’ do. Parents with more than one kid probably get several emails a week about different kids and it could get pretty confusing, but not with an only child. Our parents see every email, every grade card sent home and anything else that deal with grades. I always thought of it like I’m their only chance to create a successful child, better not screw it up. I know this is common of overbearing high school parents in general, but it seems like most only children get this way more often than needed.

The worst part of being an only child is the fact that you get so lonely. I can’t just walk into my sibling’s room and just talk about school, friends or just life. If I tried to do that with my parents, it would end up being a two-hour long conversation about my college plans. There are so many times that my friends have been kidding and have said they would give me their sibling, but to be honest, I would gladly take their offer. It may sound crazy, but they have no idea how weird it feels during family dinners when you’re the only kid at the table and your parents talk to your grandparents and you’re just left alone scrolling through Instagram or Twitter. By second grade I realized how different it was to be an only child and how lonely it could be. Everyday we were supposed to write about something that happened to us over the past week. So all of my classmates would scribble down a couple sentences about how they went to the petting zoo with all of their siblings, while most of my writings were about me going around the lazy river all by myself. I soon began to write about my “little sisters” Julie and Juliet (yes, I was very creative with the names). I felt so left out. What else was seven-year-old me supposed to do? The thing that amazed me was that the entire class, even

the teacher, believed me! So I continued to lie through the second grade about my imaginary family and all of my wonderful adventures I had with my pretend sisters. Finally by the end of that year my tiny conscience got to me and I told my teacher the truth: that I was actually a lonely and awkward kid. I don’t think the rest of the class ever found out, or cared, but that was when I realized how badly I wanted a sibling. I would beg and whine for my mom and dad to give me a sibling. Somehow they explained to me that my mom couldn’t get pregnant after me, so I made up a new plan: to adopt an Asian baby. That never happened, but all through elementary school I waited for my parents to give me what I wanted -- and they usually did -- but it just never happened. It became more of a joke in my family as time went on. By the end of elementary school I had accepted that I was going to be the only kid in our minivan for the rest of my life. There are some advantages to being an only child: I was spoiled when I was younger (okay, maybe I still am). I am a total daddy’s girl. I got everything I asked my dad for until I became a teenager and my parents have always had time for me. I was never shoved away because my mom was too busy with a screaming sibling. I was always their number one priority; I never had anyone to compete with for attention. Nobody wants to be the only kid at the dinner table, by themselves going around the lazy river or even making their parents empty nesters with just one good-bye. As far as I’m concerned, I’m still waiting for that Asian baby to show up on my doorstep.

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OPINION | 13

MANAGING MONEY MONEY MOGUL

JUNIOR DESCRIBES HER HABIT OF SAVING Movie tickets, after 6 p.m. at Cinemark, are $6.25. A small an opinion of Greta Nepstad popcorn is $5.75. A small drink is $4.25. The light seeps from the room and the previews start, but all I can do is add it all up. The money. All I can think about is the money I spent in the last 15 minutes. $16.25. Round that up, and I just lost $20. That’s two weeks worth of allowance, the type of allowance that you work for, clean bathrooms for, not money handed out for simply existing. Twenty dollars is half of the money I earned babysitting last weekend, or all of my tips from the past two days at work. I’m not good at spending money; it’s not something I take lightly. I’ve tried impulse buying, but all it does is make me feel guilty and anxious. Saving money, or spending it, isn’t a struggle for me. I’ll say I’m getting a cup of water at a restaurant when I’m actually going to fill it up with soda. I’ll buy a $40 dress, if it’s clear that it’s been marked down, but only if I don’t buy the $30 pair of corduroys. Analyzing and adding and subtracting the money I earn and spend is an automatic reaction when I see a price tag. Clothing is my least favorite thing to spend money on. Walking into a store, I’m confused and annoyed when I see a $160 price tag on a dress made of cotton with triangles strategically cut out of the

waist. I’m always amazed by people who buy items like that. When I walk into a store, it’s straight to the sale section I go. No detours, just to the place where the prices are reasonable and life makes sense. I once bought two items of clothing in the seventh grade that were over $100: a blue Northface jacket in a size up so I wouldn’t outgrow it, and a pair of tall chestnut Ugg boots. Now the Northface is matted and the Uggs are stained and are a tight fit. I regret buying those two items; they were never worth the $200. Decisions and regrets like these have made me hyper-aware of my spending. My friends call me stingy, but then again, they have debit cards that go to their parents’ accounts. My parents aren’t inconsiderate towards me; they simply don’t pay for my movie ticket or Panera dinner. It’s not what they do, and it’s not what I expect from them. I hear my parents talk about paying for health insurance, for dental insurance, for car insurance. I hear them talking about paying taxes for the house, for the cars we own, for their income. I hear them, and it makes my head throb because this is what I’ll be talking about in a few years. Somewhere along the way, I decided that if I save as much money as I can now, I won’t be overwhelmed when I start having real financial responsibilities in the future. That does not make me stingy. I’m simply not willing to be wasteful with the money I work for.

photo by Tessa Polaschek and Molly Gasal

SUPER SPENDER JUNIOR DISCUSSES HER EMPTY POCKETS

Hello, my name is Sarah Berger, and I’m a shopaholic. I know an opinion of Sarah Berger some people out there might not believe that shopping could be an actual addiction but let me tell you—it is. I am a compulsive shopper and overspender, and I have a problem. My first shopping spree was before I could even remember. Only days after being born and released from the hospital, my grandma took me to the baby department of Dillard’s. Somehow in the span of that shopping trip she managed to buy every single pink item of baby clothing in the store. That trip was the first of a long list of shopping sprees that I have been on in my life. I love almost everything about shopping. Nothing beats that warm fuzzy feeling I get whenever I wear a new outfit for the first time or whenever I get compliments on what I am wearing. I have come to the love the adrenaline rush I get everytime I swipe my credit card for a big purchase. When I shop I am extremely compulsive. Everytime I walk into a store I usually go straight for what is on the front mannequins or in the displays. Unfortunately for me, these are usually the most expensive things in the store. Most of the time it takes me awhile to make that first purchase, but once I do there is no stop-

ping me. Because I am so compulsive I have developed some problems in my shopping strategies. First, I hate to try on clothes. It takes way too long -- during that time I could be finding a cuter sweater or a cooler pair of jeans. Most of the time this proves to be one of my major downfalls, because more often than not, some of these clothes do not actually fit me or I already have something just like it. My adrenaline rush quickly turns into buyer’s remorse. Another problem I have is my increased tolerance to spending large amounts of money. Large amounts of money that I should be saving or in most cases do not have. By the end of the first day with my credit card the starting balance of $200 dwindled to a grand total of $8.17. From that first trip in eighth grade to now I don’t even flinch when the overly perky saleswomen tell me the total of my bill, but when I check my bank account the regret comes instantly. My card has yet to be declined but I know that day will come soon, and I am dreading it. I know that one day I will have to stop, but I simply don’t want to. The first step to overcoming any addiction is admitting that you have a problem. Well here it is: I have a problem. But I am okay with that. I am a shopaholic and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

INKED 14 | FEATURES

Students and teachers talk about their tattoos

written by Paige Hess

photos by Jake Crandall

JACKSON STEPHENS

GABBY MAGALSKI

KELSEY SCOTT

EVAN WARREN

“R.I.P. TY”

SCORPIO SIGN

There are many ways to express feelings and some help to bite away at the pain. But how do you replace someone who was a part of your life? Senior Jackson Stephens thought about this question for a long time and finally decided came to the conclusion of a tattoo to commemorate his friend Tyler Rathbun. He consulted his parents and at first, the conclusion concerned them. But after a detailed list of pros and cons he was able to convince them to agree. “Just like venting to a friend helps when you’re feeling sad or screaming helps when you’re hurt, this tattoo helped me express my emotions I felt without putting others through the hassle of trying to comfort me,” Stephens said. Stephens no longer has the memories flood back every time he sees something that reminded him of Tyler. He has his tattoo that allows him to look in the mirror and not only see Tyler standing next to him, but as a part of him — plus all of their jokes. “When I see it I think of World of Warcraft (WOW),” Stephens said. “I can’t tell you how many hours me and Alduine (Tyler) sat side by side playing WOW. I see me and Ty larping at soccer practice. When I look at it, I don’t see anything, I see Ty.”

Go to smeharbinger.net for an interactive experience with audio and photos

TATTED TEACHERS

STAR Tattoos are a family tradition for senior Gabby Magalski. She grew up looking at the black four-inch scorpion tattoo climbing her mother’s forearm. This is not her mom’s only tattoo either, she has another one of a mountain and stars in a circle that represents her youth. That’s why when Magalski turned 18, the idea of receiving a tattoo wasn’t foreign. “I made sure it was exactly how I wanted [the tattoo] before I got it,” Magalski said. “I had this tattoo idea in my head for about six months and so I knew I wouldn’t regret it.” Magalski and three friends went to Timeless Tattoo after looking online for hours for different versions of the astrological sign, Scorpio. She finally decided on a cursive-looking version of the sign on her left forearm. “[My mom and I] have a tattoo in the same place,” Magalski said. “So it kind of represents her because it has the same meaning but is a different symbol.” Magalski believes her tattoo tells her story — along with the connection to her mom, it represents where she comes from. “Mine shows who I’ve been since birth so that’s why it’s my first because it’s like the beginning,” Magalski said. “Your astrological sign is based upon the time of year you were born so it’s my first tattoo and its who I’ve been since birth.”

NAME: Jamie Kelly SUBJECT: Math TATTOO: Adidas logo SIGNIFICANCE: As a soccer coach and player, Kelly only dons Adidas cleats

Senior Kelsey Scott may not have her father’s approval, but her mother is a different story. “My dad isn’t too fond of [my tattoo],” Scott said. “He thinks tattoos are kind of trashy but my mom handled it differently. It made her want to get one that means something to her so my mom and I are getting the ‘hakuna mata’ symbol and ‘mother-daughter’ in chinese.” Scott is a fan of tattoos, thinking they can represent a whole story in someone’s life. “I actually think tattoos are amazing to look at,” Scott said. “I love seeing other people’s tattoos and it made me want some as well.” This amazement led her to the permanent star between her index finger and thumb. “The exact symbol is just a star, and it reminds me more of my childhood before I actually knew what stars were, and when I thought I could make a wish on a star and it’d come true. So it was kind of symbolizing that my wishes will come true throughout my life.” Scott was only 16 when she received this wish. “My friend Jordan gave [the tattoo] to me,” Scott said. “Sometimes I wish I would have gotten it in another place besides my hand, but other than that I love it.”

NAME: Jodie Schnackenberg SUBJECT: Art TATTOOS: dog’s names on foot and wrist, cicada, branch with names of friends/family who’ve past away, dove

NAME: Shaban Scott SUBJECT: Woodshop TATTOOS: two fraternity symbols, dancing “Bad to the Bone” skull, and his son

POSITIVE + NEGATIVE Unconventional is the way junior Evan Warren decided to go with his tattoo. The tattoo was given at a friend’s house dotby-dot rather than with a tattoo gun, which vibrates and gives multiple dots at once. The needle had to be dipped in the ink every time for individual pokes to make lines. After the third session of reinforcing the ink with junior Gaby Azorsky, the plus and minus signs on his hands were finally done. Warren had been contemplating the idea with junior Caroline Roe for a while before going through with it. He wanted to make sure he had a reason for the tattoo — which he found through many life events. “I suppose it wasn’t a single event but a continuous stand of bad choices until the debts got too heavy,” Warren said. “I basically collapsed and rebuilt myself the best I could. It’s your cliche ‘learn from your mistakes’ type of deal.” Warren was finally feeling self-satisfied and prepared for the worst in life. He didn’t want to lose that mental state, so he got the tattoo as soon as possible. “Like most people, my tattoo is reflective of an experience in my life,” Warren said. “For the most part it reminds me that I have ultimate control of the choices I make regardless of third party suggestions.” Warren chose the signs because they were simple enough to do with a basic sewing needle in a minimal amount of time while still getting the point across. This point was to encourage him to retain the disposition of making the right life choice regardless of the circumstances. They’re adequately concise. “[The tattoos] symbolize the factors I couldn’t control in my life so when I’m overwhelmed I simply lock my fingers together and figure it out,” Warren said.

FEATURES | 15

MAKING new AMIGOS

East students travel to Spanish-speaking countries with AMIGOS despite risks and rigorous preparation

photo illustration by Molly Gasal written by Taylor Bell

The young students are being rowdy and they’re not paying attention to your health lesson. What do you do? Junior Madi Lage has been given this practice scenario, and is attempting to problem solve it with her group of fellow volunteers. She is at a training meeting for AMIGOS, a non-profit organization that allows students to volunteer in Latin America to help communities. “AMIGOS’ purpose is to show first world kids in America what third world countries are like,” Lage said. “And to show how other people are living.” For 6-8 weeks, the students live with native families in the community they are working in. They stay in their host home, usually along with multiple “siblings” who are the children of the host parents, for the entirety of their stay in town. Junior Cecilia Kurlbaum is also currently training for her first trip with AMIGOS. “I first heard about [AMIGOS] freshman year in Spanish 2,” Kurlbaum said. “Every year they come in and [past AMIGOS volunteers] talk about it and they try and get you to do it.” The project’s participants spend months preparing and training for their extensive trip. Starting at the beginning of the school year, they go to meetings almost every Sunday for three hours. Consisting of constant lessons of what to do when you arrive at your coun-

CLAIRE maclachlan Matagalpa, NICARAGUA 1,879 miles from KCI

Funniest thing that happened on your trip?

“A neighbor was showing me her new babies... and I noticed that they were twins, so I tried to say, ‘I’m a twin, too,’ but I think I accidentally said ‘I have twins,’ because she asked me how old they were.”

Above: Junior Dara O’Connor and her AMIGOS group in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.

try, the meetings can seem boring, according to Lage, but they are meant to inform the participants of every precaution they should take while in the country. The training also helps the students understand how to care for rambunctious kids that they will be teaching during their stay. For senior Claire Maclachlan, the sizable training turned out to be a blessing when she arrived in her community of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. While at first she disregarded the meetings as insignificant, Maclachlan admitted that because of the tedious training, she knew exactly what she was doing while working in her country. “I really hated the meetings the first time around, I didn’t give it a high priority,” Maclachlan said. “But I used a lot of the cultural sensitivity [we learned] to adjust to the new culture.” While in their assigned country, the students work on their community based initiative (CBI), which is the project that they work with their community to develop. While in the mountains of Jarabacoa in the Dominican Republic, junior Dara O’Connor worked on teaching the locals about clean water. Depending on where the student goes, the project changes to fit what the community needs. “We will work with the community to help them learn how to continue these projects on their own,” Lage said. “I hope it helps me get closer with the community, that’s why I’m doing AMIGOS, so I can learn about their culture. Through AMIGOS, teens can experience these different cultures while helping families in the community. The non-

profit organization focuses on teaching locals, especially kids, about health and the importance of education. Volunteers will spend time in classrooms with the local kids, teaching them important values that they will carry with them when the teens leave. With up to eight weeks in a different country, and speaking a different language, Kurlbaum is nervous about not understanding anyone. “Everyone speaks Spanish there,” Kurlbaum said. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to follow anything they say.” Often the volunteer is the only one that speaks English in the community. And since the requirement for the trip is to have only completed Spanish 2, it causes most to pour over their Spanish books before their plane takes off, but not O’Connor. She learned that immersing herself in the language was the way to learn it. “I didn’t speak very much Spanish before my trip,” O’Connor said. “but you just need to converse every chance that you get while you’re there.” Speaking a whole new language isn’t the only tribulation the volunteers have to deal with. Participants have trouble handling what most Latin American citizens eat, their digestive system usually can’t handle the bacteria in the food and water, so the students will have to be careful when eating or drinking anything while in their country. “We have to use purifying tablets before we drink our water,” Lage said. “We also have to purify it before eating food made with water.” DARA o’connor Even with these drawbacks, 16 students from jarabacoa,DOMINICAN REPUBLIC the Kansas City Area have decided to join the AMIGOS program and travel to Latin America, 1,986 miles from KCI Craziest thing you did on your trip? and many veterans of the organization are grate“In my community, everyone plays in this ful for the lessons they learned while away. Mariver under a waterfall... and at my despe- clachlan learned how to give the community a dida, or going away party, I jumped off the beneficial addition to their town, without doing waterfall. It was terrifying, but my friends it all for them. O’Connor became very attached and I did it all together and it was great.” to her host family, so much so that they still have her picture hanging on their log walls. “I think we really close ourselves off to other cultures and what’s going on around the world,” EMILIE bruyere Kurlbaum said. “If you can go out and experience another culture firsthand it just makes you stop cotopaxi, ECUADOR and think.” 2,953 miles from KCI Students who have done the AMIGOS proScariest thing you had to do on your trip? “Our community was very spread out and gram continue to talk to Spanish classes about we were eating dinner at a different fam- the benefits of being a volunteer in Latin America. “AMIGOS really focuses on the community ily’s house. When we were coming home doing things to help themselves,” Maclachlan we cut through the field and the dogs were barking at us and we were freaking said. “Your goal as a volunteer is not to help these out because we couldn’t see anything and people, it’s to facilitate them.” so we’re running and we ran right into a cow and then we ran into a llama.”

16|SPREAD

A KID-FRIENDLY

ENVIRONMENT Environmental Ed students put on interactive presentations for different elementary schools written by Leah Pack

Above left: Senior Nick Kraske does an imitation of Bruce from “Finding Nemo”. Above right: Senior Jacob Lanan gives a presentation to a group of elementary school students.

n excited group of kindergarteners count the number of teeth on a life-size drawing of an extinct shark’s jaw. As they shout out their guesses, senior Environmental Education student Nick Kraske sneaks behind the three trifold boards set up for the fish presentation. The group of kids turn around just in time to see a shark puppet poke out from the top of the board dedicated to fresh water fish adaptations. Before they know it, Kraske, is now taking on the role of Bruce the shark from “Finding Nemo.” “My favorite part is surprising the kids with the shark puppet because it’s always interesting to see their reactions, whether they are curious or scared,” Kraske said. “I like when they are surprised because it gets their attention at least, for a couple of seconds.” Elementary schools from across the Metro area have been visiting East’s Environmental Ed classes since they began giving presentations about the science department’s animals 27 years ago. Science teacher James Lockard developed the program after seeing that other schools did interactive activities with their Environmental Ed classes. Not only has this program give high school students a chance to teach younger children, but the elementary school students also experience a unique, more hands-on way of learning. Since then, Lockard and science teacher Russell Debey have devoted the entire second semester of Environmental Ed to preparing for the different presentations and teaching the elementary school children about different species. When the students aren’t preparing for or giving the presentations, they learn about current environmental issues in the world. “We spend two weeks at the beginning of second semester with students giving the talks to each other and grading each other and after two weeks they are ready to

Below: Kindergarten students observe the different animals in the Environmental Ed room.

KIDS CORNER

Jase McDonell

SPREAD |17

photos by Neely Atha

go,” Lockard said. After returning from winter break, the Environmental Ed students from each hour are required to list their group preference for the presentations from most desired to least. There are a total of nine groups: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, birds, recycling, turtles, fish and snakes. Their names are then drawn randomly, leaving their potential animal group up to luck. Each presentation group will have three students at most from the two Environmental Ed classes.The Environmental Ed students switch groups throughout second semester, giving the students a chance to work closely with different animals and peers. Once the groups are decided, the preparation process begins. Lockard and Debey provide their students with some possible lesson plans to get them started. Most of their information for the presentations comes from the concepts covered in first semester when they are taught about a variety of different animals, and from their research on the internet. They are expected to retain all the information in order to use it when teaching the elementary school kids. “It’s really cool to see the amount of work you put into a class and the amount of information you learn become useful after taking a test over it,” senior Evan Bloom said. “I’ve learned so much more by being put in a teaching position where I am forced to know the facts so I can tell the younger kids about them during my presentation.” When it comes time to present, the elementary school students are split up into groups that rotate to allow them to see every presentation. The presentations are 10 minutes long and are mainly focused on the basics of each animal group. “Somewhere along the line we try to sneak in a little environmental message about what the animals’ state in the world is,” Lockard said. Along with the basics like the animals’ habitat, diet and appearance, the high school students are required to go over the adaptations of each species and specific facts about the animals that the East science department owns such as a snapping turtle and owl. The elementary school students are also given the opportunity to hold the animals. “I think it’s a good program because it is a hands on experience so they hear about the animals, they read about

animals and the teachers read to them about animals but the coolest thing is now they get to touch them and hold them,” Apache Elementary kindergarten teacher, Jane Roberts said. To ensure that the animals are in a safe environment, the first week of school the Environmental Ed classes went over the rules on handling the animals safely and the proper way to act around them. Since then, they have been shown and talked to about how never to force a kid to interact with any animals if they don’t want to. Before the elementary school students are able to listen to the presentations, Lockard gives them a five minute speech talking about holding and supporting the animals, making it clear that they don’t have to touch the animals, and other basic rules pertaining to how to treat an animal. “Before we come to see the presentations we talk about handling the animals just like Mr. Lockard because they are young and impulsive so you have to cover the bases,” Pembroke Hill kindergarten teacher, Christy Rodes said. Not only are the elementary school students getting the chance to learn from people closer to their age, but they also get to answer quiz questions and take turns holding animals. The students who hold the tarantula even get rewarded with a special certificate. In the past, the science department has had Samantha, a 12 foot long python, slither over the elementary schooler’s legs as they were sitting on the floor listening to the snake presentation. These interactive learning experiences provide the children with a much different style of learning than one they regularly receive in the classroom. “I think it benefits my students from just getting a first hand, up close look at animals and it takes a lot of fear out of the animals,” Rodes said. “It’s nothing like they’ve ever seen before and when they leave they just want to come back.”

Oak Park Carpenter Elementary Kindergartners share their favorite moments from the Environmental Ed presentations “I liked that we got to see the turtle’s hard shells. I learned that some turtles like to eat green beans, but I didn’t get to feed them because they weren’t hungry today. “

“My favorite part was seeing the bunny rabbit because I got to pet it and it was soft.”

Lauren Wright

“I saw the snakes and I liked the pink one. I got to hold the snake all by myself and it felt bumpy. “

Ada Brown

“I liked the owl because it looked like a great horned owl. I liked the turtles because I put my hand in the box and caught them.”

Brady Roche

MEET the ANIMALS A look at some of the beloved animals of the Environmental Ed room

photos by Annie Savage

NAME: Savannah Monitor BREED: Monitor Lizard EATS: When it’s young it eats insects as it gets older it eats mice and rats OTHER INFORMATION: Can be found in the grasslands of Africa (or in our case the Environmental Ed room)

NAME: Aldo BREED: Owl EATS: Frozen mice/rats OTHER INFORMATION: Has lived in the Environmental Ed room for over 30 years and Mr. Lockard is the only person legally allowed to hold it

NAME: Star BREED: Amelanistic Cornsnake EATS: Frozen mice/rats OTHER INFORMATION: This snake does not have dark pigment which gives it red eyes and a bright yellow scale color

NAME: Oreo BREED: Rabbit EATS: Thin, straw like, rabbit food OTHER INFORMATION: Known for being cute

16|SPREAD

A KID-FRIENDLY

ENVIRONMENT Environmental Ed students put on interactive presentations for different elementary schools written by Leah Pack

Above left: Senior Nick Kraske does an imitation of Bruce from “Finding Nemo”. Above right: Senior Jacob Lanan gives a presentation to a group of elementary school students.

Below: Kindergarten students observe the different animals in the Environmental Ed room.

KIDS CORNER

Jase McDonell

SPREAD |17

photos by Neely Atha

“My favorite part was seeing the bunny rabbit because I got to pet it and it was soft.”

Lauren Wright

“I saw the snakes and I liked the pink one. I got to hold the snake all by myself and it felt bumpy. “

Ada Brown

“I liked the owl because it looked like a great horned owl. I liked the turtles because I put my hand in the box and caught them.”

Brady Roche

MEET the ANIMALS A look at some of the beloved animals of the Environmental Ed room

photos by Annie Savage

NAME: Aldo BREED: Owl EATS: Frozen mice/rats OTHER INFORMATION: Has lived in the Environmental Ed room for over 30 years and Mr. Lockard is the only person legally allowed to hold it

NAME: Star BREED: Amelanistic Cornsnake EATS: Frozen mice/rats OTHER INFORMATION: This snake does not have dark pigment which gives it red eyes and a bright yellow scale color

NAME: Oreo BREED: Rabbit EATS: Thin, straw like, rabbit food OTHER INFORMATION: Known for being cute

18| FEATURES

RUNNING THE RUNWAY written by Sophie Tulp

Exiting through the clean white waiting room that just earlier in the day she had been anxiously sitting in, Hannah Butts thought about her future. She had just signed a contract with the agency Factor Women — the same agency that was formerly Elite Model Management, frequently used by America’s Next Top Model winners. This was the agency that only took 1 percent of interviewers. This was now her agency. Just five months earlier, Hannah never could have imagined the direction her future would take. Five months earlier the only shoots she appeared in were those for her friend’s Photography 1 portfolio. They were her first modeling shoots, and were done with her best friend, senior Maddie Carver. The only place they would be “published” was to her Facebook feed. But this shoot was not the kind she has now become used to now as a professional model: the kind of shoot that requires hours of makeup and hairstyling and carefully striking poses. “I think it is so fun to dress her up because she has the perfect body and she always knows exactly what I want in the picture and what I’m going for within the shoot,” Carver said. “All our photo shoots were just for fun because we both enjoy the different aspects of photography.”

After the shoot for her photography class, Carver realized Butts had potential — potential beyond recreational modeling. Carver knew that Butts had a shot at making it big time in the industry, and it was with the help of her best friend that Butts first began to immerse herself in the world of fashion and modeling. “The only reason I have any fashion sense is because of Maddie Carver,” Butts said. “She’s been my best friend since seventh grade, and before I met her I couldn’t put makeup on and I was such a tomboy. I couldn’t get clothes together or anything. She’s like the only reason I know anything about style.” With the help of Carver, Butts learned how to choose her outfits and apply makeup. By the summer going into her senior year, she had caught the eye of a local photographer and the father of one of her friends, Tom Foley. Soon, Butts’ career began to take off. Her father, Jeff Butts, credits his daughter’s success to her good people skills and strong work ethic. “She handles herself extremely well with people she works with, and takes it very seriously,” Jeff Butts said. “Her having good people skills and a good work ethic I think really helped her get as far as she did in such a short amount of time.”

Butts began to shoot with Foley for his portfolio and soon he began to refer her to other photographers. Friends of Foley began talking to Butts about interviewing with agencies for modeling. “A few of the photographers I shot for were actually from Chicago, and they were the ones who really pressured me to interview with the agencies,” Butts said. “I knew that if I wanted to do modeling, I wanted to go all the way. It would be too easy for me if I stayed modeling in Kansas City to just go to K-State like I had always planned.” After signing with Factor Women, Butts was faced with a life-changing decision. The agency she had just gotten a spot with was based out of Chicago. Butts would have to move over 500 miles away to pursue her newfound career. She found the best option was graduating a semester early from school. This gave her a flexible option for her regular commute to and from the agency based out of Chicago. The process was not particularly difficult for Butts. The school she had previously attended in Ossawattamie only required 28 credits for graduation, so she already had many of her credits out of the way. All she has to do is finish up American Government, and English online. Although Butts has chosen her

Senior model graduates early to pursue a fast-paced career in Chicago

immediate future of postponing college to model in Chicago, she still has other aspirations for the direction of her future. She still has other plans. “I have wanted to be a vet since I was three, and I still wanna do that, but it will just take longer,” Butts said. “I know this isn’t a thing that I wanna do until I’m 50,” Butts said. “But I do really like modeling, and I’ve found I’m good at it and I’m happy doing it, so why not?” Modeling makes her happy, but it doesn’t come without stress or doubt or fear. Fear of disappointing her family and her friends. Fear that everyone will expect so much of her, so much more than she can manage. Her father knows his daughter is starting a future, different from many other 17-yearolds. A future where she will be living alone in a big city, pursuing an often times unpredictable industry. But he believes in her, even when she does not believe in herself. He gives her advice to find her passion, and let it lead her in the right direction. “God gives you certain gifts, and don’t waste them,” Jeff Butts said. “At some point in your life, you’re going to think ‘Boy I sure wasted a lot of talents I was given,’ so find a passion and do something with it.”

FEATURES | 19

FORENSICS for the win

THE BREAKDOWN

Above: Senior Liam Murphy and junior Karl Walter perform their duo from “The Brothers Soloman” at the Lansing tournament.

continued from cover

“It’s perpetual — the kids motivate each other,” Mr. Witt said. “Once you get a little bit of success, the other kids see that and they want to see that [too].” And the forensics team has first place role models; down the hall in Lansing, seniors Annie Sullivan and Nick Kraske prep for their impromptu duet acting event. They choose four slips of paper — two people, a place and a thing: William Shakespeare, Susan B. Anthony, a teacher’s house and “Ghostbusters.” With only 30 minutes to prep for a seven-minute skit, the duo takes first place — Sullivan is a raunchy teacher as well as a hoarder and makes her student, Kraske, clean up her house, which is haunted. In a high-pitched third grader voice, Kraske makes innocent references to “the pile of tampons in the corner,” and questions why there’s a man locked in a cage in the corner. “That’s just my ex-husband,” Sullivan says, without missing a beat. Kraske and Sullivan move through their piece with confidence and pace. The performance quality of their skit at the Lansing tournament was matched by other East forensicators: four people/teams placed first and three qualified for the state tournament. East won sweepstakes. The team is no stranger to success — just go into their room 413B, tucked away be-

hind the library, and look at the trophy-covered cabinet tops. Nearly 50 state and local trophies from both the forensics and debate teams have accumulated over the past four or five years — so many, they use one as a bathroom pass. “They’re almost all mine,” Murphy joked. The first semester debate season brought home a first place trophy for four-speaker state and qualified two debaters for nationals this upcoming summer. The forensics season is just kicking off, but with the depth and personality of the team, East hopes to improve on their second place title at state last year and take the win this season. “We definitely have a very large ego as a squad, which makes sense because East is a large ego of a school,” sophomore Ali Dastjerdi said. According to Dastjerdi, one of the reasons for their success is their team cooperation. While other schools compete against each other, East is all about team success. In debate, they compiled evidence and research so everyone had the strongest possible case. In forensics, they remind each other that the important thing is the team’s success as a whole; when two duo teams were ranked first and second going into finals in the Lansing tournament and the teams started to joke about who would win, Karl reminded everyone

that it didn’t matter, as long as the East teams took the top two spots. During class, everyone stays busy — each forensicator participates in at least two events, and according to Murphy, there’s a direct correlation between time commitment and success. So the team practices. After the team celebrates their win with donuts and reflects on the Lansing tournament, they get back at it. Senior Jack Mitchell looks for a new book to “cut” or find quotes from to turn into a humorous interpretation — a 10 minute memorized performance of a published piece with no props. Dastjerdi and Murphy discuss splitting up research on bills for their congressional debate. In the three hour event, where “members” have to ask “privilege to exit?” and get a “motion to acknowledge” before they can take a bathroom break, participants meet in “chambers” of 20. They give speeches and vote on bills that local schools submit, such as “A Bill to Regulate Prenatal Gene Therapy,” or what Dastjerdi gave a speech on in Lansing, “A Resolution to Withdraw from NATO.” Sophomore Henry Walter does a peer evaluation — another key to the team’s success—on his brother, Karl, as he practices for poetry. “Chinese pugs no have Weight Watchers!” Karl says in a sassy girl voice with an asian accent. He’s practicing for the upcoming tournament in oral interpretation of poetry, reading “The Dog Pound” by Jake Barton, and giving a voice to different dogs: an Irish Setter, a Black Lab, a Chihuahua and a Chinese Pug. Mr. Witt repeats “Chinese pugs no have weight watchers!” exaggerating the accent and incorporating hand — paw — gestures. They go back in forth, repeating the same line over and over until Karl becomes comfortable being a small dog.

details about the debate season and a few forensics events

D E B AT E This season’s topic: Should the United States increase it’s investment in transportation infrastructure? This season’s success: East’s four-speak team (meaning the individual teams debated only the positive or negative side of the topic) placed first at state. Two individuals qualified for Nationals.

FORENSICS SPEAKING EVENTS -Original Oration: a 10-minute original persuasive speech -Informative Speaking: seven-minute original speech informing about a topic of choice -Impromptu: five-minute speech over one of three drawn topics with five minutes to prepare -Domestic/Foreign Extemp: seven-minute speech addressing one of three given topics about domestic/ foreign issues with only 30 minutes to prepare and research. PERFORMANCE EVENTS -Humorous/Dramatic Interp: ten-minute performance of a funny/serious piece of a published work -Duo Interp: ten-minute performance with a partner, but no props, costumes, looking at each other or touching

Left: Juniors Sam Bernard and Alec Armer pretend to be a dragon in duo interp

Senior Liam Murphy, junior Karl Walter and sophomore Henry Walter take a break from the tournament

Senior Nick Kraske acts like a child and senior Annie Sullivan acts like the ghost of Susan B. Anthony

-Oral Interp of Prose/ Poetry: seven-minute reading selection of a prose/poem

ONLINE | 20

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE Tune in to smeharbinger.net to bring the game to your living room

BASKETBALL

DATE

TIME LOCATION

OPPONENT

FEB. 5

7 P.M.

EAST

OLATHE SOUTH

FEB. 8

5:30 P.M.

EAST

S.M. NORTHWEST

FEB. 8

7 P.M.

EAST

S.M. NORTHWEST

FEB. 15

7 P.M.

NORTH

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FEB. 21

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EAST

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MIXED G

Which celebrity would you ask to WPA? 2Will Smith 3Hayden Panettiere 4Beyoncé 6Meryl Streep 5Alex Morgan

6The Humpty Hump D:3

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Gabby Magalski

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G:1 H:7 I:4 What is your go-to shower song?

an Anne Willm

Jack Sernett

Hannah

9The Squirrel 8Drop it Low

C:8

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5Anything Ballet

7Sprinkler

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atz

Gracie Tapp

A:5

ano Bye Stef r

B:3

A:9

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2Krumping

Imagine Dragon 9 “After Tonight” by Jason Nozuka

Har bou r

A:2

4Bernie

8 “Radio Active” by

Trouble” by Taylor Swift

per la p

David K

7“I Knew You Were

What is your favorite dance move?

3Grinding

6 “One Time” by Justin Bieber

ith Sm

S ott Sc

Anna Sheridan

5 “Ignition Remix” by R. Kelly

8 Ryan Reynolds

Reed

ril Grace Cant

Clint Dunn

1Shopping Cart

What is your go-to shower song?

4 “Love on Top” by Beyonce

to Yesterday” by Boys II Men

9Nicholas Cage

7Aziz Ansari

on nn Ga Connor M c

2“It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye

3“Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi

Pa sh ia

Jake Crandall

Liz Gray

Ma son

a 1“Yeah!” by Usher

te ino Britney H

Chloe Hubler

What is your favorite dance move?

Which celebrity would you ask to WPA?

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Polly

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1Anna Kendrick

GUESS WHICH ANSWER BELONGS TO WHICH CANDIDATE

AJ Orth

MIXED | 21

photos by Caroline Creidenberg

Brennan Williams

Troy Wilkins

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OUR ES Y T NOW NDIDA K O A T GET EART C ETH SWE

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A&E | 23

t’s no secret that online shopping seems to be the favorite pastime of most American girls. And I’m a part of that percentage of online shopaholics. I spend hours on my phone or on my computer everyday looking at clothes and electronics and cute furniture for when I one day settle down and have my own house. And yes, it’s all pointless. I buy probably 1 percent of everything I look at. I just hate shopping in person. It’s because I hate the dreadful idea of going to a store and spending hours locked up in a dressing room while my mom or my friend or whoever I’m with keeps bringing me clothes to try on. Or even worse, when the women in my family all go on shopping trips together. Hearing every single person’s opinion, saying it’s too big, or it’s too small, or it makes me look fat,

or maybe it makes me look skinny, or it just doesn’t work. Shopping and I go way back, and our relationship has been rocky. But when shopping went online, it seemed to offer me some easier alternatives, an alternative where I could sift through the things I liked and try them on at my own convenience when they were sent to my house. Online shopping is a phenomenon that just recently made it’s debut. Paypal, a system used to pay for items ordered online, was created in the last decade. Cyber Monday first started in 2005. I know my friends and I just discovered the world of shopping online within the past year. And when shopping went mobile, that’s when it really started getting big.

It seemed like apps upon apps upon apps of online shopping were created in what seemed like just a few months. I couldn’t stand the idea of shopping before, but now I can’t get myself to stop! I spend hours on my phone, looking up WPA dresses and new swimsuits for spring break and shoes, just because. So for those of you who are like me and can’t stand braving the idea of shopping on a Saturday afternoon, here’s how your life can get easier -- or worse, depending about how frugal you are with your money. Online shopping is wonderful, but shopping from my phone is my weakness. If you want to become an online shopping junkie like me, here are the top five apps you need to have.

THE INS AND APPS

Online shopaholic discusses her love for shopping online, especially now that it’s going mobile written by Vanessa Daves

Etsy

Wanelo Wanelo: Want. Need. Love. Wanelo was discovered by everyone right before Christmas, and it seems to be the next big thing. Wanelo is like Pinterest, except it’s exclusively for shopping. In the main feed, you can see things that have been posted that day by anyone in the Wanelo world. The great thing about Wanelo is it’s not limited to one store -- anything you see online is fair game to post on Wanelo. That said, you will see things ranging from skirts to hot tubs to chiffon dresses to swingsets.

Etsy is crafty. It features products made by people from home, such as jewelry or clothing. Browsing is simple because everything is split up into different categories -- Handpicked, Seasonal, Weddings, For Her, For Him, and so on and so forth. There are about 10 different categories. What I like most about Etsy is that it has a broad range of items that are generally between $5 and $40. Everything is affordable and quality because it is from individual sellers or vendors.

Alright, ladies, if you haven’t heard of Asos but call yourself an online shopper, you’re out of your mind. It has everything from dresses to shoes to accessories, all extremely affordable and super adorable. This site is stocked with all different kinds of styles, so you can definitely find something that works for you. I found my WPA dress on this one for $30, and I absolutely love it. So if you’re into bargain shopping for cute clothes, this is the app for you.

I can’t leave out the guys on this one -- shopping isn’t strictly just for girls, and my boyfriend can tell you that. He is the master of shopping and finding super cheap deals. And because of that, this app wasn’t his favorite. Uncrate sells a lot of very expensive items, but they are all too bro to leave out. From bacon flavored shaving cream to a hot tub boat, Uncrate has stuff that any guy would dream of having and more. It’s a brocessity.

Gilt For the higher-end shoppers out there who want to spend some money, this is for you. Gilt sells designer brands for up to 60 % off the retail price. Now, just because it is cheaper, doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Like I said, this is for people who are willing to lay down the cash, because everything starts at about $25 and can go up the the thousands. But if you’re really determined, you can find some great deals for that next date night. Gilt couldn’t be a better name for this app.

ING THROUGH THE FACTS

MOU S

Uncrate

Asos

on August 27, 1979 online shopping was invented by Micheal Aldrich fact from timetoast.com

top items bought online

1 clothes 2 jewelry 3 electronics 4 furniture 5 music

statistic from visual.ly

78% shop online from a poll of 150

30% of people shop on apps through their phone from a poll of 150

BEST PICTURE PICKS

THE FAVORITE

LINCOLN

HANSON’S PICK

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us.co m 2012 was a great year for movies. I’m not just calling it a comeback for Hollywood — I’m going to go ahead and say it was one of the best years in film in my lifetime. Part of that evaluation has to do with my personal taste — 2012 had something for every taste I have in film — and part has to do with the sheer number of quality films released this year. With such a great year for cinema, the Oscar’s should be more entertaining than they have been in years.

MATT HANSON GIVES A RUNDOWN OF THE 2013 OSCARS

GOLDEN GLOBES VS. OSCARS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE THE GOLDEN GLOBES FEATURE TWO CATEGORIES FOR BEST PICTURE AND ACTOR/ ACTRESS—MUSICAL/COMEDY AND DRAMA. THEY ALSO INCLUDE TELEVISION AWARDS.

THE STATUES HEIGHT: 10.75 in. WEIGHT: 5.5 lbs.

BEST ACTOR NOMINEES

BRADLEY COOPER “SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” N ICK A D THE P S

ITE VOR FA

With 12 nominations, Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” established itself as the Academy’s 2012 darling. With a smart, sophisticated screenplay and a magnificent performance from Daniel Day Lewis as our nation’s 16th president, it deserves plenty of recognition and isn’t a bad pick for Best Picture. But is it really the best 2012 had to offer? As a starstudded historical production, “Lincoln” may be a disappointingly safe choice for the Academy to make.

ITES V N I Y GER CORDIALL EMY AWARDS P D A C REVIE RA W TO OU on phot THE H

HANSO N’

24 | A& E

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS “LINCOLN”

THE OSCARS ONLY FEATURE DRAMAS IN THE BEST PICTURE CATEGORY—SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN SCRUTINIZED IN THE PAST.

DENZEL WASHINGTON HEIGHT: 13.5 in. WEIGHT: 8.5 lbs.

“FLIGHT”

THE VENUE THE KODAK THEATER

THE BEVERLY HILTON

THE HISTORY “Silver Linings Playbook” was funny and well-acted. “Lincoln” presented historical events accurately and in an entertaining fashion. “Zero Dark Thirty” was thrilling and intense. “Argo” did all of that and more. Part espionage thriller, part CIA drama and part Hollywood comedy, “Argo” was the most balanced and diverse movie of 2012. Ben Affleck’s crowd-pleasing account of the real-life rescue of six U.S. embassy workers from hostile Iran was both entertaining and enlightening and deserves to win Best Picture. But the Academy might not pick the historical thriller because “Lincoln” and “Zero Dark Thirty” are more traditional choices.

BEGAN: 1944

BEGAN: 1929

YEARS

THE 2013 HOST SETH MACFARLANE

JOAQUIN PHOENIX “THE MASTER”

TINA FEY AND AMY POEHLER

HUGH JACKMAN ` “LES MISERABLES”

A&E | 25

This February there are several new movies coming out which would be perfect to watch for Valentine’s Day or with friends during the month. On Feb. 14 “Safe Haven” is coming out. This movie, about a romance colliding with a secret from the past, will appeal to several girls, being based on the popular book by Nicholas Sparks. Whether you see it with your date or with friends this movie would be a great addition to any Valentine’s Day plans. On the other hand, you don’t have to see a serious romantic movie on Valentine’s Day. It might be fun to mix things up a little and see something outside of the cookie cutter romantics that usually appear in February. Maybe you just want to see a funny movie with a light plot. If this idea seems appealing, then go see “Escape From Planet Earth” which is conveniently released on Feb. 14. This animated space themed hero vs. villain story will be sure to give you a couple laughs.

On top of everything that has just been mentioned, don’t forget about the events that are going on a East this month. Of course it hardly needs to be mentioned by WPA is on Feb. 9. This opens up endless possibilities of things to do on the days leading up to the dance. Have fun getting ready for the dance. Plan some new ideas for the after party -- book Mission Bowl or plan a beach-themed party. Whatever you do though, enjoy this dance and the preparations leading up to it. Also remember the boy’s Basketball game on Feb. 22. against Shawnee Mission South. This will be the biggest game in the recent history of this rivalry. If we beat Rockhurst, we have a chance to beat South. The teams are both as good as ever; statistically South is in the top 10 in the country and East’s record is 11-1. All of this makes for a very climactic conclusion for the boy’s basketball season before subsets. Don’t forget about the girls’ team, too. Go to their game Feb. 8 against Northwest.

MOVIES

AT SCHOOL

FUN IN FEBRUARY

ebruary is one of those unexciting months. Everyone seems to say “I can’t wait until December, for Winter Break,” or “I can’t wait until May, when school ends.” But I’ve never heard anyone ever say the words, “I can’t wait until February”. The reason why is very clear: February is just boring. It is the lull after the ex-

citement of Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas lights and the New Year countdown. Usually by February these things have been packed away or forgotten. What remains is a craving for some sort of celebration to look forward to. The dilemma is there is almost nothing to look forward to except for the holidays of Presidents’

written by Megan McAlister

CONCERTS Another fun thing to do this February with friends would be to go see some of the concerts that are being held in Kansas City. On Feb. 14 Lady Gaga is coming to the Sprint Center. If you don’t go to see her perform songs from her latest album, Born This Way, definitely go to witness firsthand her custom wardrobe. You can buy some tickets for as low as $52 on Sprint Center. com. Also scheduled to come to the Sprint Center is Maroon 5. They will be performing with guests Neon Trees, American rock band from Utah, and Owl City, the electromedia project of Adam Young, one night only on Feb. 27. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to see this popular band in KC. Tickets to this concert are as low as $28 on the Sprint Center website, which is a great price for inviting friends, but make sure you purchase them soon, because the price may change closer to the date.

Day, and of course Valentine’s Day. And we don’t even get the day off for Valentine’s. However, February does contain some fun things like new movies, concerts and other events that are sure to get you off the couch and do your best to enjoy the next 28 days.

art by Miranda Gibbs

AROUND TOWN There are also several things going on in the Kansas City community this month. On Feb. 9 there is the Chocolate Rush 5k near Metcalf Ave. Sure it will involve waking up before nine on a Saturday, but it will be worth it to get a cool t-shirt. You will also have a chance to win a champagne diamond necklace. It only costs $25 and you can register online at chocolate rush.org. All the proceeds will be put towards purchasing playground equipment for the Salvation Army’s homeless center in Olathe. It’s a great chance have fun while supporting a good cause. Union Station has a really cool exhibit to check out about the science behind rock. If you haven’t already been to “The Science of Rock n’ Roll”, make it a priority to do so. Tickets can be purchased online and are only $13 for students. You can experience rock in a whole new way looking at the influences of technology on rock and its psychology. So look it up online.

26| SPORTS

KANSAS C I T Y NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE THE

“BLUES” HEAD COACH: VLATKO ANDONOVSKI

Kansas City becomes the home to a women’s soccer team in the newly established National Women’s Soccer League. written by Grace Heitmann Becky Sauerbrunn grew up playing soccer in her hometown of St. Louis, Mo. Like most Olympians, she kept playing in college. After college, she had to play more — for free on a semi-professional team, then on a pro team and finally on the Olympic team. So when the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league announced their end last summer, Sauerbrunn knew she needed to find somewhere else to play. Sauerbrunn talked to teams in Sweden and Germany, thinking she would have to go overseas just to play soccer. But on Aug. 9, the day before she played for the United States against Japan in the Gold Medal Match at the Olympics, it was announced that a new women’s professional soccer league was being formed. Sauerbrunn would no longer be needing her passport. She’d be staying in the Midwest, playing for a newly formed women’s soccer team, FC Kansas City.

FC Kansas City is one of the eight inaugural teams of the newly-formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Come spring, thousands of fans across the nation will watch as the first season of the NWSL plays out. In past years, lack of a fanbase, fighting between teams and financial instability contributed to the eventual collapse of the WPS league early last year. “The big advantage this time around is the the [United States Soccer Federation] is running the league,” Our Game Magazine writer JJ Duke said. “They will do whatever they can to keep the league alive for many years.” The NWSL has adopted a more international style this time around. Even FC Kansas’s team name reflects the styles of Euro-

pean soccer with FC standing for “Football Club”. The NWSL was formed with a partnership with the Mexican Football Federation (MFF) and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). Together, the three federations will pay for a total of 55 of their top players’ salaries. To spread the wealth, those top 55 players were distributed among the eight teams in the NWSL on Jan 11. The players ranked their top four cities and gave one “veto” city in which they would not play in. From the allocation, FC Kansas City received Americans Nicole Barnhart, Lauren Cheney and Sauerbrunn. All three players were on the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) that took second at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup and won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics. “[FC Kansas City] was my first choice and I was really lucky that I got it,” Sauerbrunn, a defender, said. “It’ll be great just because I’m living in Denver right now with my boyfriend and then my parents and my family are in St. Louis. It’s the best of both worlds for me.” Having players from all over the world will bring diversity to the field. The drive, determination and speed will be seen from the Canadians. The Mexicans’ always colorful tricks will be much welcomed. While the adaptation of playing as one team in the United States might seem difficult, Sauerbrunn is optimistic. “It’s not as hard as you think to get everyone on the same page no matter where they are from,” Sauerbrunn said. “I think you learn that you kind of have to step out of your comfort zone. It’s not easy being in a foreign country and speaking a different language but it’s something that if you do and you break out

of your comfort zone... it makes it a lot easier for everyone to just get along.”

With the growing reputation of being a soccer town, Kansas City was chosen as a top city to host a team over cities such as Los Angeles, Vancouver and Philadelphia. “I really feel like that’s a testament to the growing strength of the soccer community in Kansas City,” East junior Cicely Krebill said. Krebill has been a lifelong fan of soccer and plays soccer at Brookside every year. “Kansas City’s really backed the [soccer] program and we’re ready for some more soccer.” FC Kansas City will help grow youths’ goals of playing professionally. The league is putting dreams back into place for young girls, in both Kansas City and around the country, who have always wanted to play professional soccer. “I think it will give girls my age and younger a goal to set instead of just wondering what will happen after graduating and playing in college,” senior Addison Steiner said. Steiner, a forward, has played on varsity for four years and will be playing soccer at Northwestern University next year. Growing up, she has always wanted to be a professional soccer player. FC Kansas City will help to inspire other young girls to strive for a career in professional soccer. “It will hopefully open up people’s eyes to see how important soccer is to girls,” Steiner said.

DISTINGUISHING THE LEAGUES NWSL

WPSL

A professional league backed by the United States Soccer Federation, the Mexican Football Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association.

A semi-professional league that is popular among college students to train during offseason.

The National Team players from each federation are paid by their federation and were allocated through the eight teams.

None of the players in the WPSL are paid. Many teams help in finding their players jobs in the community.

Each team can field a total of 20 players and can only have two international players besides their allocated players.

There is a lot of freedom when recruiting players and the league has no player caps. Teams can only take college players after their college season.

photo courtesy of mtccampus.com

Local Kansas Citian rises from homeless-ness to create a semi-professional women’s soccer team. written by Julia Poe Tired, stressed out by his corporate day job, Shawn Daugherty is in his element. As the owner of the the newest women’s soccer team in Kansas City, he is living his dream. He has worked 10 hours a day alongside his day job for almost two years to create a semiprofessional women’s soccer team, and finally, the pieces are starting to come together. This summer, his dream will be realized when his team, the Kansas City Shock, takes the field to play their first game. Already, Daugherty feels more accomplished than he was three years ago. Then, he was newly divorced and newly homeless. He didn’t have time to dream about anything more than a job and somewhere to sleep at night. “I was like, ‘What do I do with my life now?’” Daugherty said. “I was given every excuse in the world to get angry and bitter. And when all that went down for me personally, I chose not to hate. I want to be known to do something different.” Once he had a job and a home again, it didn’t take long for Daugherty to start dreaming big again. In college, he had planned to become a missionary in Africa. Now he sees soccer as a way to do missionary work in Kansas City, by cultivating a team and a community that is both passionate and positive. His team doesn’t have a full roster yet. Or an office. Or a field. Nevertheless, Daugherty feels confident that the Shock will catch on quickly in Kansas City. Daugherty had always been a women’s soccer fan, especially after working for the team at his college, Southwest Baptist University, in Bolivar, Mo. He was inspired at a United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) game against Canada in September 2011. Listening to the sold-out crowd, Daugherty realized that there was a market for women’s soccer in Kansas City. “I’m listening to the kids just screaming their heads off,” Daugherty remembers. “And I’m thinking, there are 17,000 people here in Sporting Park for a women’s soccer game. There has got to be a market in Kansas City for a team like this.” The goal was simple — create a soccer team focused on community involvement. Daugherty decided that the main problem with past women’s soccer teams and leagues was a lack of emphasis on connection to the community and local businesses. Two leagues collapsed in six years, disputes broke teams apart and games hardly pulled 100 fans. “The biggest problem you saw was teams focusing on just trying to get those big ticket players, your Abby Wambach or your Alex Morgan,” KC Shock’s Marketing and Pub-

lic Relations Manager Haley Rose said. “We wanted to focus on the business side as well, trying to establish a good fan base and a good community first.” Daugherty began his team on social media, asking questions on Facebook and Twitter to gauge the audience he might receive. Encouraged by positive responses, he began to assemble a staff of part-time volunteers. In late summer of 2012, Daugherty paid the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) entry fee and the Shock officially became a team. At the time, all that Daugherty had was a staff and an idea. No coaches, no players, no field or merchandise. Daugherty and his staff of six started from the ground and worked up, always remembering their main goal: to be different. From that stemmed their catchphrase, at first tongue-and-cheek, now a business model: “Dare to be different. Shock the world.” That model made them decide to chose dubstep for their music, to call on local businesses for sponsorships, to select an anonymous group of mask-wearing soccer fans called The Underground as their supporter group. Most importantly, KC Shock is a soccer team, and finding players was the first step. The WPSL does not allow teams to pay their players, making it difficult to pull big-ticket players from colleges. To catch the eye of hopeful players, Daugherty and Rose compiled a list of high school teams and Division I, II and III college teams in the Kansas City area. In fall of 2012, they emailed around 570 coaches and received 100 inquiries and 30 players at tryouts in return. The team will host another tryout on March 9 and 10. The Shock hosted their first tryouts on Dec 27, 28 and 29. The tryouts pulled players from the Kansas City area, across the country and from countries like Scotland and Australia. Their first player, Aliesha Cassie, was signed on Jan 15. Cassie played in her hometown of Banff, University of Texas at Brownsville Player of the Year in college. “Aliesha brings a great deal of experience to this team,” said Shock Head Coach Nicole Ortiz. “She is a well rounded player that can fit anywhere on the field. At tryouts she showed great leadership and skill that will help our team succeed in the first year.” Ortiz will focus on recruiting college-age players to her program. She and Daugherty have agreed to only allow players to join the team if they have graduated from high school, to allow them time to mature as players. Daugherty has turned the selection of players over to Ortiz. Now the owner focuses

on promoting and business. Daugherty needed sponsors and wanted to work with local Kansas City businesses. He contacted businesses across the Metro area, explaining his new team and emailing them sponsorship packages. At the least, Daugherty will ask businesses to post KC Shock stickers in their windows. His supporter group, The Underground, will help him to spread the stickers in businesses throughout Kansas and Missouri. From there, sponsorship packages range from $100 to $20,000. With a budget of $72,000 a year, Daugherty is certain that it won’t take long for his team to have proper sponsors. His efforts have already caught the attention of several local businesses. Blanc Burgers will become the official burger of the KC Shock and Caribbean Cowboy Barbecue Sauce Co. will create a special “Shock” sauce. Pro Ebiria, the company that makes Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen’s gloves, will also supply the KC Shock keepers with gloves. “It’s caught on so quickly. It’s crazy,” Daugherty said. “There are so many local businesses in Kansas City... they’re all interested when I tell them about my business model. People are really on board with it and it’s just making me so excited for this summer.” With a steady sponsorship built up, the staff began to search for a stadium to play in. Daugherty and his staff contacted several stadiums, including Livestrong Stadium, but were not able to establish an agreement with any of them. In the meantime, the staff is continuing their search, focusing on a stadium with small size that is accessible to most of the Kansas City area. “We’re going to look to be centrally located,” Daugherty said. “The clubs in Kansas are extremely elite. Lee’s Summit has a massive soccer association, but in Lee’s Summit it is a ton of recreation programs. If we can find a way to appeal to all people and maintain professionalism at the same time, that’s something that I think Kansas City would love.” The specifics of the team — players, uniforms, final sponsors and vendors -- are still mostly in limbo. But Daugherty and his staff are determined to remain true to their focus of providing an inexpensive community for soccer. “Of course, on the field we want to slaughter our opponents just like any other team,” Daugherty said. “But the environment, it’s gonna be custom. We like to rewrite the rules. We color outside the lines without crossing the lines. That’s my best way to sum us up right now, and we’ll see how that idea works.”

SPORTS | 27

KANSAS C I T Y

SHOCK WOMEN’S

PREMIER SOCCER L E A G U E

OWNER: SHAWN DAUGHERTY

HEAD COACH: NICOLE ORTIZ

photos courtesy of Weber Creative

MagicMike

28 | SPORTS

Freshman finds success on the wrestling mat

ince he began wrestling in third grade, freshman Michael Aldrich has sat in the stands with his family and friends at East Wrestling senior night. This year however, Aldrich wasn’t in the stands for senior night. He was on the mat. His opponent was a friend from Spring Hill, Cody Slyter. Soon after the match began Slyter got the takedown on Aldrich. From there it was back and forth. Aldrich realized Slyter was high on his hips. Aldrich then shifted his momentum forward, and flipped Slyter onto his back. From there, Aldrich caught Slyter’s head and arm and pinned him in the second round of the match. Aldrich wanted the ref to call the pin so badly, and the anticipation made it seem like forever, but when he did it was awesome. “I’ve loved senior night since I started going,” Aldrich said. “There is always electricity in the air for the seniors last home match. To get a win that night was special.” * * * In addition to making varsity as a freshman, Aldrich has found a lot of success on the mat this year. Aldrich has medaled in three tournaments and got sixth place at the Bobcat Invitational this year, a tournament with 36 teams that is known for tough competition. Aldrich attributes his success to experience and technique, but above all hard work and dedication. “It’s really just showing up to practice every day,” Aldrich said. “You really have to commit yourself to the sport. You have to show up to practice even if you’re not feeling like it.” He spends his time at practice conditioning and improving his technique. To simulate a live match Aldrich live wrestles with

ng ghti

i nd F

written by Sam Pottenger

his partner. He also works on new moves, like the team’s move of the week, something all the wrestlers practice to add to their arsenal of moves. Aldrich says that wrestling is a sport that requires tough practices and intense conditioning to be successful. Practices usually include a track workout, sprints and running up and down stairs. Being in shape is another thing that helps Aldrich in his matches. “We do a lot of conditioning,” Aldrich said. “When you’re out on the mat with your adrenaline going it’s usually the conditioning that is one of the key factors because if you’re not fit then you won’t compete well.” Sophomore wrestler Will Amrein says wrestling can be a demanding sport, but Aldrich doesn’t seem to mind it. Amrein has wrestled with Aldrich since his first year at Kansas City Wrestling Club. “Wrestling is the hardest sport I have been a part of, but [Aldrich] makes it look easy sometimes,” Amrein said. “He has a great work ethic. He also has good technique and he is always looking to get better.” Aldrich thinks that the toughness of wrestling is a good thing. He reminds himself of a Dan Gable quote, “Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy,” and Aldrich truly believes in this. He says it pays off a lot and shows him that he can overcome challenges in other parts of his life. One of the JV coaches, Ryan Wendorff, loves the level of dedication from athletes like Aldrich. “Wrestling isn’t for everyone. You have to practice in the hot and smelly wrestling room every day, and then get up at 6 a.m. on Saturdays in the freezing cold to travel to tournaments,” Wendorff said. “But what makes coaching worth it for me is to see a

This is a point in the match when both wrestlers are standing and try to set up potential moves and takedowns by positioning their hands and bodies in a certain way.

photo by Maddie Schoemann

wrestler like Aldrich who has a lot of passion mature into a great wrestler and great kid.” Coach Ufford, the head varsity wrestling coach, believes what makes Aldrich so successful is his ability to listen and get better. Ufford says that he is very coachable and always is always trying to improve on his moves and technique. Aldrich fills the 106 pound weight class for the Lancers, which is usually a tough spot to fill with a skilled wrestler. To stay at the lightest weight class in high school wrestling, Aldrich must watch his weight. He doesn’t even lift weights because he can’t afford to add any extra muscle mass that would set him over 106 pounds. Aldrich is also the only freshman wrestling varsity this year, and Coach Ufford says that his relationship with the upperclassmen is special. “They take him under their wing,” Ufford said. “If it’s his technique on the mat or he is struggling with a move they will take him aside and help him. They see him like a little brother.” As Amrein mentioned someone like Aldrich is always getting better. Aldrich says that he enjoys setting goals and then reach-

Talented Takedowns Here are three of Aldrich’s favorite moves to unleash on his opponents

Up Down Position

This is a starting point for wrestlers after the ref stops play going out of bounds or the end of a round. Both wrestlers try and maneuver for a better position to pin or reverse their opponent.

ing them. Ufford says Aldrich and his practice partner, Barrett Cooper, help each other improve at practice, and they both see to it that they accomplish their goals of being state qualifiers and potentially state placers. The end of the season is approaching, along with the road to the state tournament. It becomes a time for all wrestlers to focus and get to work. Right now Aldrich has his eyes on getting to state, but first he must make it through sub-districts and districts. “It’ll get monotonous but you just have to push through it because the season isn’t over yet even though its so close that you really want it to be,” Aldrich said. “This is when it starts to get exciting.”

Scan for video of Aldrich Wrestling

Low Si

ngle

Leg

This is Aldrich’s favorite move, he shoots for his opponents lower leg and uses it to try and gain better position and take him to the ground for a two point takedown. photos by Taylor Anderson

THE

SPORTS ROUND UP

written by Mitch Kaskie

60 SECONDS WITH

John Reuter > Sport: Wrestling

Q: Best finish this season? A: I got second in the Johnson County Classic, so that was a pretty big deal for me. It’s my first year of full varsity wrestling so I’m pretty happy with the way I’ve been performing. I want to keep on improving and hopefully get first place at league, regionals and top three at state. Q: Biggest competition this year? A: Andrew Denning from Lawrence, he’s currently ranked number one in state for my weight class. I’ve never wrestled him before but he has a similar style and body type as me. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen. Q: Expecting or hoping to place top three at state? A: I’m hoping, but I have to set that goal and work for it and expect to achieve it. So I have to have that in mind the whole way to state. Q: Why is this your first year on varsity? A: Well we had Blaine and Blake Hill in my weight class. Blaine was a two time placer [at

photo by Jake Crandall state]. He got second his junior year and third his senior year. I couldn’t really beat them, but wrestling the two in practice last year definitely prepared me for my opportunity this year. Q: So how did you do on JV for three years? A: Freshman year I took fourth at JV Sunflower League, which is pretty much state for JV since that’s their last meet. But sophomore and junior year I went undefeated on Varsity. So I guess I was above average on JV (chuckles). Q: Next meet? A: We have districts right after school Friday. It’s at East so hopefully we get some people to come down. Then it’s the final stretch of Sunflower League, then Regionals and finally State.

ConnorWilkins > Sport: Track Texas > College: Christian University

Q: How did your season go? A: For the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons I have a few major goals. I would like to score points in either the 600 or 800 at the Big 12 conference meet for the indoor season. While continuing to increase my fitness and general racing ability heading photo courtesy of towards outdoor. For Connor Wilkins the outdoor season when, I’m more worried about actual times that I’m running, I would like to run 1:50.5 for the 800m run and 4:09 for the 1600m run. Q: How is playing in college different from high school? A: I would say the biggest difference for me at least in transitioning to college from running to high school is how periodized your year is and the increase in how many miles you run a week compared to high school. In high school I only ran 5 or 6 months of the year and in college I run 10 months of the year. In high school I ran around 10-15 miles a week and practiced four times a week and only once a day, and in college depending on the time of year I can be averaging anywhere from 50-80 miles a week and running twice a day 4 days a week, along with lifting weights and doing pilates three times a week. Q: What tips can you give to high school athletes pursuing a college career? A: One thing I think it is something high school kids don’t really understand is that unless you are the absolute best of the best in the country in high school you are most likely not going to get 100 calls from

RIVALRY HISTORY THE RIVALRY A look inside the past of East vs. Rockhurst All-Time (1975-2013)

Hair Era (1998-2013)

EAST

13 7

ROCK

WINS WINS

18 7

THEY’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE SENIOR

POINTS

REBOUNDS

Zach Schneider

Vance Wentz

SPORTS |29

CATCHING UP WITH

NUMBERS

“

STAFFER

coaches from every school you want to go to. You really need to reach out to the coaches and tell them in a professional manner what you think you can bring to their team or organization. Chances are they need you, but its very hard to find people with the large amount of people trying to get into athletics. Secondly, I would tell them that they should never give up on their dreams even if people tell them they cant do it. Playing a sport in college is a tremendous commitment and unless you are extremely talented to even make it to college sports you have to sacrifice a lot of other things in your life and you have to really believe in what you are doing and spend a tremendous amount of time practicing and honing your skill that you want to do in college. Which means skipping parties on weekends and not hanging out with your friends as much as you want. Q: Favorite part or moment so far? A: There have been a lot, but I would say my favorite part of college athletics is just the fact that everyday I surprise myself and learn more about my ability to trust myself and give my all everyday. I think in a lot of areas of life you can’t get tangible feedback to how hard you are working and I have to deal with that very scary feeling of being out on a track where you don’t really have intangibles and everything you do is a black and white time that is a direct reflection of the hard work that you put in day in and day out. As for my favorite moment, I would say getting 10th place at the Mountain West Conference meet last year. It was just fun to be up against a high level of competition and being able to perform when it counts.

TWEET OF THE WEEK Sad bird :/

pictwitter.com @danyasawi During the Rockhurst game Friday

8 RETWEETS 63 FAVORITES

HARBIESSAID IT. Bigger game- South or Rockhurst?

“

Favorite chant?

Years since the Lancers have defeated Rockhurst. The last time was the 07-08 team who finished the season 16-6.

“Probably the South game. It’s the last game of the year. Although Rock is our rivals, I feel like South is the hate Rival. It’ll definietly be a good one.”

“Definitely Seven Nation Army. Nothing is better than the entire student section that loud right before the tip off.”

The most points East has beaten Rockhurst by under Coach Hair. It happened in 2000, 2007, and 2013.

“South for sure. I don’t like Rockhurst, but South makes me want to puke. I knew we were going to blow out Rock. Now we’re going mop the floor with South.”

“The new Thunderstruck Tuna chant that Patrick Blackburn came up with. Nothing gets me going more than some classic ACDC.”

Times the Lancers have defeated Rockhurst away from home under Coach Hair. The last time was in 2007 when the Lancers won 50-38.

“Definietly the South game. Beating Rockhurst was awesome, but South is just a better rival. They are in our district, and there is just more history between us.”

12 4

“I know it’s overdone, but ‘I Believe’ is the best! It always gets the student section riled up, and it means that we’re winning for sure. And who doesn’t love winning?”

30 | SPORTS

THE

ULTIMATE WORKOUT

New exercise has a growing popularity at East

Above: Kevin Cole uses a weight bar for jumping exercise. Top Right: Jack Sernett gets ready to attemp a pull-up. Bottom Right: Kevin Cole hurries to use rowing machine. Below: A step by step process by Kevin Cole of doing a thruster.

written by G.J. Melia photos by Stefano Byer all stats courtesy crossfit.com

Groans, weight bars crashing to the ground and exhausted bodies collapsing to the hard gym floor are the only noises heard in the gym. CrossFit is the opposite of a routine-based workout. It consists of constantly varied functional movements done at a high-intensity. It combines the essential skills needed for multiple sports into one exercise. “It’s different because you get the best of both worlds,” Ronny Oswald said, the owner of Sky’s the Limit CrossFit. “You get to do strength and conditioning with an actual coach.” Kevin Kelley, another coach at Sky’s the Limit CrossFit and the East lacrosse coach, strongly recommends crossfit for his players and any serious athlete. “Whatever sport you’re playing, you have to maintain a certain level of intensity the entire time,” Kelley said. “With CrossFit, it’s mostly compound movements. And you’re doing it with minimal rest in between.” Junior Kevin Cole, a lacrosse player for Kelley, began doing CrossFit the summer of his freshman year. Kelley asked the team to try out CrossFit, and Cole was hooked from the start. Cole participates in the class at Sky’s the Limit CrossFit Mondays through Thursdays, and on occasion he will go to the open gym on Saturdays. Cole feels the reason why CrossFit is so different from running or lifting is because it is a non-stop workout. “You get the strength from lifting, but you’re always moving so it incorporates the cardio aspect of it.” Cole said. “A lot of the lifts that we do are specifically called CrossFit lifts because they work more than one muscle in your body.” Also, the workout changes everyday, so it is a different experience every time. Usually, the workout is designed so that the athlete is doing a contradicting motion each day. The average CrossFit workout time is around 30 minutes to an hour, but it can vary. Also, a 30 minute stretching session is recommended after the initial workouts. “There’s generally a warm-up, a [strengthening exercise] and then the workout of the day,” Cole said. “You might not do the same workout of the day but you can do the same warm-up or strength.” Cole brings a new direction to his recovery from his workout. After CrossFit, he participates in a hot yoga class at Yoga Fix. It helps him find a good balance between getting stronger and being flexible. “I’m trying to get stronger but also be healthier so I have just framed everything I do around a healthier life,” Cole said. “It’s just like really great

Sernett’s Favorite Workouts

for stretching, because I used to not really be flexible.” Cole is using CrossFit as a part of training for the upcoming lacrosse season. On the other end, senior Jack Sernett needed something to fill up the time when the soccer season ended in November. That’s when Sernett tried out CrossFit. “Over the summer, I saw the CrossFit games on TV, and I started to follow it more and more,” Sernett said. “I wanted to try to it so I went to their website, and I looked up all the videos and started doing all the workouts by myself.” Sernett now goes to Prairie Life Center, where he has a membership and participates in a CrossFit class. He goes Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 6 to 6:45 p.m. “We usually do two [workouts of the day] in one session,” Sernett said. “You get in, you do a warm-up, then there’s the workout of the day on the board. It’s fun because you can compete with the other people who are doing it. By the end I feel like I’ve worked out for like three hours.” The days Sernett does not do CrossFit, he lifts weights to continue to get stronger and better prepared for his CrossFit workouts. He has gained 10 pounds of muscle since the soccer season has ended just from working out alone. One of his goals is to compete in a CrossFit competition someday. “It’s always at a high-intensity so you can do a 10 minute workout and then you could be on the ground gasping for air,” Sernett said. “I mean it’ll be terrible, but it’s addicting.” Gary Taylor, Sernett’s trainer at Prairie Life Center, has been a CrossFit coach for over six months and is experienced in the field for two years. Taylor recommends working out of any kind for five days in a week, so the body has two days to recover. “As far as lifting, you need your heavy days, you need your CrossFit days, and you need your rest days,” Taylor said. Even as Sernett goes on to college, he would like to stick to his same workout routine: three days a week of CrossFit, and three days a week of lifting. “I’ll be 80 and I’ll still be doing the workouts,” Sernett said. “It’s something I think I’ll be doing forever.” While crossfit workouts can vary, the overall goal is to get stronger and be prepared for any confrontation that presents itself. “You have different challenges in life,” Taylor said. “Who knows what will happen tomorrow. You may need to be able to do a movement you’re not used to doing.”

14 minute in honor of Tyler 5 rounds completed 7 90 pound thrusters 7 pull ups 7 knee tucks 7 wall balls 7 chest to floor

15 minute for time Toes to bar 40 pound Kb power cleans Burpees Jump rope (50,75,100,125)

SPORTS| 31

Dropping the Ball

Staffer Decides to Drop his Chiefs Season Tickets written by Tommy Sherk

from his own fans. There is so much disrespect for the players at Arrowhead Stadium, and the loyal bond between fan and player does not exist anymore. The Chiefs need to improve their team because they losing support fast. While waiting until the draft to improve the actual team, the Chiefs are making management changes. It looks as though they are taking the steps necessary to start off on a new foot. I think Chiefs’ Owner Clark Hunt had some important new years resolutions, because Scott Pioli and excoach Romeo Crennel were fired. Soon after, two men with stunning reputations have been hired. John Dorsey, from the Green Bay Packers, will become the new General Manager. Andy Reid, who will become the new head coach, is well known for leading the Philadelphia Eagles to multiple NFC championship games and a Super Bowl. The change of coaching staff will have positive outcomes. Andy Reid will probably help bring new on-field strategies, which is good, because the team needs a new strategy past year our offense really struggled. Touchdowns felt almost too much to hope for. The defense wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely not stopping other teams successfully. The teammates will be more comfortable with Andy Reid as their coach as opposed to Romeo Crennel because Reid is actually has quality experience as a coach. The Chiefs are in dire need of a new quarterback. With 12 interceptions, I don’t think Matt Cassel will be returning. Tyler Bray, fresh out of the University of Tennessee, could be

a potential quarterback for the Chiefs to pounce on. Though there is criticism of his accuracy, I’m betting he could complete more passes than Cassel. The Chiefs have also had their eye on linebacker Manti Te’o, which would be a strong pick (if he gets relationship problems sorted out). T.J. McDonald is a valid consideration as a safety with 96 tackles and two interceptions. I do believe that these players and new management could help mend the dying team, but I don’t think change will come immediately. I have heard many people say that Andy Reid will bring the Chiefs to the Superbowl or that possible new players such as Michael Vick could bring the team awesome success. However, just like a wounded ankle, sports teams take time to heal and regain their full strength and potential. These fans need to get a grip on reality and accept that success for the Chiefs will not come quickly. I want the team to start looking like a real NFL team again, even if it takes time. I want them to be able to complete passes, come up with better offensive strategies and score more touchdowns. I believe with the right management, players and coach that this team can shape up and become something so much more than it has been these past few years. For now, I need to take a break from the Chiefs. Repurchasing season tickets won’t be an option unless the team starts kicking ass. Until then, all I have is hope.

Arrowhead Atrocities 1970 Last Super Bowl Victory

1993 Last time Chiefs won a Playoff game

2008 T-2nd worst all-time record

2009 Chiefs Hire ScottPioli

2010 Last time to the playoffs

2011 Last in the AFC West

2012 2-14 Record

Dec. 31st Romeo Crennel fired

Jan. 4th Scott Pioli fired

CHIEFS

KANSAS CITY

ope led me to them. Hope of change and victory. They took that hope -- along with my money - and sucked it all up. They have been the source of disappointment and shame for many others besides me. Now, in the new year, I have decided to end it all. I am going to terminate my Kansas City Chiefs season tickets. For 10 years my family and I have been season ticket holders. Though there have been a few prosperous moments, the Chiefs have for the most part been on a gradual downward slope. So, my family’s decision to end our season tickets wasn’t too difficult. I won’t miss the drunken cursing of men smeared in bright red and yellow face paint, overpriced food slopped together by old women or constant interceptions of the Chiefs’ passes. Yet, putting up with these annoyances used to be worth it for the feeling of superiority I felt as I walked from the stadium to our car after a win. But these days, I am much more familiar with a different walk: a walk of shame. This past year, the Chiefs record was staggering 2-14. In the past five years, they have won 25 games, and have lost more than double that- 55 games. In that time, they have been to only one playoff game, and lost. They have gone through three different coaches, each one worse than the one before. Getting back fans’ support will be a struggle for the Chiefs. When Matt Cassel was lying on the ground of Arrowhead stadium from a head injury, he heard cheers of joy...

photo by Connor Woodson background courtesy of MCT Campus

32 |PHOTOESSAY

Shawnee Mission East cruised to a 62-50 victory over rival Rockhurst High School

BORDER BEAT DOWN

Above: Students met the players as they left the court photo by Stefano Byer Left Top: Before the game, Principal Karl Krawitz and Rockhurst administrators led students into the gym in groups of 25. “This is going to be an interesting night,” Krawtiz said. photo by Annie Savage Bottom Left: The team gathers around Coach Hair in a huddle. Overall, Hair believes that the team “got off to a great start and came out very hot.” photo by Jake Crandall Far Left: Sophomore Lucas Jones puts up two points for the Lancers. “I was very excited,” Jones said. “I’m sure all of the fans were too.” photo by Jake Crandall