Issue 3

T H e HA R B IN GER Issue 3 | September 30 , 2014 | Shawnee Mission East | 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS, 66206 | wwww.smeharbinger.net

A PICTURE is worth

1,000 FOLLOWERS

Freshman Matthew McGannon makes a profit running his Instagram account @basketballcoverage, selling ‘shoutouts’ to his 170,000 followers pages 16-17 photo illustration by Annie Savage

INSIDE:

NEW STUDY ON TEENS AND SLEEP SPOTIFY VS. SOUNDCLOUD news: page 4

a&e: page 27

FANTASY FOOTBALL TREND sports: page 31

Letter From The Editor

BREAKDOWN A ROADMAP TO ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

SLEEPLESS STUDIES Out of the print Harbinger’s seven editors, only two of us got the doctor-recommended eight hours of sleep last night. Morgan got four and a half, Sophie and Phoebe five, Pauline six, I got seven and Tommy and Annie somehow managed eight.

Sleep deprivation runs rampant through high schools, and the staff of the Harbinger is no exception. We stay up late to get that last edit, make another graphic and wait for that one source to call us back.

And that’s just the stuff that we do for the paper. We’re involved in other extracurriculars like student council, football or debate.

We take AP and IB classes, and we still manage to have a personal life, just like everyone else walking the halls. So I think it’s safe to say we aren’t the only Lancers running on little hours of sleep and large amounts of coffee. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 87 percent of high school students get less than the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep.

Why do we do it to ourselves? How am I suddenly looking at a clock that says 11:30 p.m. when I sat down at my desk at 4:30 p.m.?

Why do we overcrowd our schedules with activities that end up cutting into our sleep?

Maybe it’s the pressure surrounding us to be the best, or maybe it makes us feel better knowing we spent more time studying.

Maybe we just can’t sleep because we’re worrying about what we have to do tomorrow.

Whatever the reason may be, it’s clear that high school students have a tendency to be overworked and under rested.

Will starting school later help? Sure, it would be nice to have an extra hour in the morning. But if I knew school started at 8:40 a.m. instead of 7:40 a.m., I would probably just stay up to 12:00 a.m. instead of 11:00 p.m.

We could push back the start time of school, or we could just start getting more shut-eye. I know it’s sometimes out of our control, but there are also nights when you can choose to just sleep. In the long run, outside of our academic careers, one extra hour of studying or one missing math assignment won’t matter. But developing healthy sleep patterns will.

CAROLNE KOHRING CO-ASSISTANT EDITOR

photo essay

arts & entertainment

Spoti

27TUNE SHIFT 27LIFE-SIZED SURPRISE fy

Internet streaming changes how students are listening to music

News

6

COFFEE SHOP CHANGES

New nutritonal standards for schools affect the products Columbia Brew coffee shop can sell

Asking a girl to homecoming with a giant cardboard cut-out isn’t as easy as it looks

Features

Alt-Copy

18 RARE RIDES 31

These four Lancers each have unique ride — new or old — that stands out in the lot

A FOOTBALL FANTASY

Fantasy football season provides an addicting activity for students

editorial

REGULATIONS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

3

The Federal Government should teach students how to eat healthy through choice

No sugar in the coffee shop, no Otis Spunkmeyer cookies in the lunch room and healthy vending machines are placed around the halls. These changes and others around East are part of new health initiatives from the federal government. They try to improve school food programs and encourages healthy life choices. Current programs, however, do little to to teach students how to make the right nutrition choices for themselves.

According to the CDC, 35.1 percent of adults and 18 percent of children ages six to 19 are suffering from obesity in the United States. From young children to adults, it is clear that there is a problem with the types of food eaten, oversized servings and inadequate knowledge in regard to proper nutrition and exercise.

The government, specifically the United

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.

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp ASSISTANT EDITORS Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk HEAD COPY EDITOR Pauline Werner ASSISTANT HEAD COPY EDITOR Hannah Coleman ART & DESIGN EDITOR Phoebe Aguiar NEWS SECTION EDITOR Sophie Storbeck NEWS PAGE DESIGNERS Will Clough Will Brownlee SPREAD EDITOR Aidan Epstein FEATURES SECTION EDITOR Hannah Coleman

States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and programs created by first lady Michelle Obama aim to create healthier generations.

These programs attempt to combat childhood obesity through the education, accessibility and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

The Let’s Move program is designed to be especially influential for younger children who are beginning to develop their eating and physical activity habits. The Healthy Hunger Free-Kids Act of 2010, which includes the Smart Snacks in School, is part of the USDA’s attempt to provide access to healthy food to all children in public schools by making nutritious food more readily available.

The new standards impact the lives of students, from kindergarteners to seniors, despite the significant age and developmental difference between grade levels. The

THELATE P W E N 1/4 1/4

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.

FEATURES PAGE DESIGNERS Anna Dierks Caroline Heitmann Claire Pottenger COPY EDITORS Pauline Werner Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Hannah Coleman Tommy Sherk Audrey Danciger Caroline Kohring Sophie Storbeck Maddie Hyatt Julia Poe Susannah Mitchell Phoebe Aguiar FREELANCE PAGE DESIGNERS John Foster Maxx Lamb STAFF WRITERS Davis Finke Katharine Swindells Lauren Cole Teagan Noblit Jessica Parker Elaine Chamberlain Stella Braly

Kylie Schultz Celia Hack Daniel Rinner

more independent older students are not as impacted by changes in the lunchroom as students still in elementary school.

Even with the limitation of foods and serving sizes at schools, Healthy Hunger Free Kids, Smart Snacks in School and Let’s Move are not actually educating students on what choices to make. The unhealthy choices aren’t accessible in school but this doesn’t prevent a student from having them at home.

Simply limiting or removing certain types of foods is not a conducive way to teach young adults how to make healthy choices, because it is forced and students are not given understanding of what the healthy choices should be due to a lack of explanation why these types of programs are important in schools.

Currently at East, for these programs to reach their goal they must address the issue

1/2

THE HARBINGER STAFF Fall 2014 Audrey Danciger

STAFF ARTIST Yashi Wang PHOTO EDITOR Annie Savage ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Hailey Hughes OPINION SECTION EDITOR Audrey Danciger OPINION PAGE WDESIGNERS Courtney McLelland Chloe Stanford Ellie Booton A&E SECTION EDITOR Audrey Danciger A&E PAGE DESIGNERS Yashi Wang Maddie Hyatt

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR Will Oakley SPORTS PAGE DESIGNERS Ellis Nepstad Michael Kraske Alex Masson

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Annika Sink Abby Hans Abby Blake Kaitlyn Stratman Haley Bell Alison Stockwell Paloma Garcia Morgan Browning Kylie Rellihan James Wooldridge Joseph Cline SMEPHOTOS Paloma Garcia EDITORIAL BOARD Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Pauline Werner Tommy Sherk

Caroline Kohring Hannah Coleman Julia Poe Mike Thibodeau Susannah Mitchell Phoebe Aguiar Katharine Swindells ADS MANAGER Celia Hack ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Susannah Mitchell Julia Poe ONLINE HEAD COPY EDITOR Maddie Hyatt ONLINE PHOTO EDITORS Katie Lamar Callie McPhail ONLINE CONVERGENCE EDITOR John Foster ONLINE INDEPTH NEWS SECTION EDITOR Mike Thibodeau

of obesity in relation to the average high school student. Our school needs educational sessions and information on healthy choices and how to make them available to students rather than simply removing unhealthy foods from the school, so students have an understanding of nutrition that is practical outside of a controlled environment.

The government should provide the healthiest food options in schools and educate students about how to live a healthy lifestyle. The existing programs implementation, but does little to actually teach students how and why they must make health conscience choices.

EDITORIAL BOARD VOTES: FOR: 6 AGAINST: 5 ABSENT: 1

DAIRY PROTEIN WHOLE GRAINS FRUITS & VEGETABES

ONLINE NEWS BRIEFS SECTION EDITOR Will Clough ONLINE HOMEGROWN EDITOR Katharine Swindells Sean Overton ONLINE OPINION EDITOR Katharine Swindells Sean Overton ONLINE A&E EDITOR Katharine Swindells Sean Overton Online Sports Section Editors Michael Kraske Daniel Rinner VIDEO EDITOR Matthew Bruyere PODCAST & RADIO EDITOR Leah O’Connor EASTIPEDIA EDITOR Matthew Kaplan

INTERACTIVE EDITOR Mike Thibodeau HEAD WEBMASTER Jacob Milgrim APPRENTICE WEBMASTERS Katie Lamar Katie Roe LIVE BROADCAST EDITOR John Foster ASSISTANT LIVE BROADCAST EDITORS Ellis Nepstad Katie Roe MULTIMEDIA STAFF Tommy Sherk John Foster Gabe Snyder Katie Roe Sean Overton Leah O’Connor Matthew Kaplan SOCIAL MEDIA Katharine Swindells Tyler Keys

4

EYES WIDE SHUT

news

written by Courtney McLelland photo illustration by

Kaitlyn Stratman

With high school students getting little sleep, a later school start time is considered

A

ccording to the National Sleep Foundation, 87 percent of high school students get less than the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep. This is largely due to school beginning early in the morning.

The Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement on Aug. 25 requesting school districts move start times to 8:30 a.m. or later for middle schools and high schools, so that students can get the necessary amount of sleep.

Currently 15 percent of high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later and 40 percent of schools start earlier than 8:30 a.m. Since then, the start of school time has been a part of conversation nationwide.

While some students and teachers desire more sleep and are advocates of a later start time, others see it as a potential problem.

Freshman Lila Leonard juggles an after school job, play rehearsals, orchestra and hours of homework. With all of these activities, Leonard only gets a few hours of sleep and feels the effects during the day.

“I would want school to start the same time as middle school starts [8:45 a.m.], because right now I only get three hours of sleep a night” Leonard said.

While some students believe the start of school time should be pushed back, others believe it should remain the same.

Sophomore Michael Hamilton participates in all honors and advanced classes, yearbook, piano lessons and tennis.

“It doesn’t really matter if school starts later because the lack of sleep I get is due to having so much to do,” says Hamilton. “If school starts later it is just going to make me stay up later.”

According to the National Sleep Foundation, not getting enough sleep can lead to the inability to learn, listen and concentrate in school, as well as forgetting information such as names, numbers and homework.

The reality is that adolescents are still developing

3

WAYS TO

and growing, which means a lack of sleep is harmful to a teenager’s health.

“Sleep problems in childhood are known to be predictive of the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms as the child matures”. Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom, director of the National Sleep Study, and professor at the University of Minnesota said.

According to her, lack of sleep during teenage years is damaging to a child and can result in serious side effects later on.

English teacher Melanie Miller is a proponent of school beginning later in the morning.

“I personally would love to start school later.” Miller said. “I just don’t know logistically how the school districts would figure it out because of things like parents getting their kids to school.”

Perhaps getting little hours of sleep is just a part of being a teenager.

Senior Akshay Dinakar is the founder of Knee Hockey Club, co-president of the art club, an editor on the Freelancer, a member of NHS and takes AP classes.

“One of my general goals in life is to reach an insane level of optimization. I think that it is one of the purposes of human existence -- to try and be as efficient as possible.” Dinakar said. “We only have a certain amount of years to live, so what I tend to do is I just make long schedules for myself and plan out what I am doing every night”.

Time management plays an important role in a teenager’s life. How else is anyone going to come home from swim team, practice piano and then study for their Chemistry test the next day? It takes a diligent worker, a good work ethic and a lot of energy to get everything done.

A large portion of teenagers across the nation desperately need more sleep. Whether this is accomplished with a later school start time, or students need to take on less activities, sleep is definitely a necessary proponent.

FALL ASLEEP

drink warm milk according to WebMD

Listen to

calming

music Keep it

(see page 23)

cool:

63

T

above Sophomore Christian Kennedy and junior Tyler Armer practice a scene during a rehearsal for the show.

he East theatre program will perform a musical instead of their typical play this fall.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” will premiere on Halloween weekend, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1.

This change was implemented by theatre program directors Brian Cappello and Tom DeFeo. “We have so much musical talent,” Cappello said. “A lot of other schools do two, so we thought we’d try it.”

Last year’s musical, “Shrek The Musical”, was nominated for four Blue Star Awards, an annual awards show for local high school productions and won three. The fall musical’s student director, senior Asia Mundy, believes that the Blue Star awards were also a motivation behind the decision.

“When you have a mu-

5 sical, you have more opportunities to win scholarships and awards and stuff like that,” Mundy said. “Having two musicals is also a way to gain publicity [for the East theatre program].”

The decision was announced at last year’s theatre banquet in May. According to Mundy, the thespians were surprised, but immediately on board.

“I love that we’re doing a musical,” senior Austin Dalgleish said. “It really fits the department we have right now, so I’m glad they made that decision.”

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” follows six students competing in a spelling bee, whom the audience gets to know through flashbacks giving insight into their lives and families. The show specifically tracks the growth of two main spellers, Barfee and Olive, played by junior Tyler Armer and senior Abby Cramer.

F A L L S H OW

news

“We chose this [show] because its not a traditional musical, it’s an acting musical,” Cappello said. “It has a lot of character parts that take a lot of acting ability.”

The fall musical will be a smaller production compared to the usual winter musical. There are only 10 actors, as opposed to “Shrek the Musical’s” much larger cast. Sets and costumes of the fall musical will be more low-key, and the show does not have a lot of large dance numbers. Instead, Mundy says the show is more about character development than over-thetop song and dance.

Preparation for the show has begun, but, according to Mundy, there is still a lot to be done. “[The show] is going great,” Cappello said. “These guys are really into it; they’re picking stuff up immediately.”

While they usually put on a play in the fall, the East theatre program will perform a musical written by Caroline Kohring photo by Annie Savage

6

news

FOOD FIGHT

More options and new nutritional standards create competition between the different food services at Shawnee Mission East written by Morgan Krakow

NEW TO THE COFFEE SHOP a closer look at the new changes

removal of high sugar and fat snacks have been replaced with healthier options like protein bars

The coffeeshop has started serving iced coffee along with the normal hot coffee

Sugar and cream have been replaced with skim milk and artificial sweeteners

The Columbia Brew Coffee Shop buzzes with activity on a September morning. Students, crunched for time and drowsy from lack of sleep, hand over cash and begin filling their mugs.

But this familiar scene has a prominent difference this year. The once over-flowing stock of Big Texas cinnamon rolls and miniature donuts has since disappeared. Likewise, the sugar shakers, half-and-half milk and hot cocoa packets have vanished from the shelves.

Due to the new Smart Snacks regulation, Columbia Brew is adjusting. In order to keep up with standards, coffee shop supervisor Tamara Fryer and students like senior Emma Handy, who works in the shop during first hour, have thrown out many of their old sugary products. They are trying to find ways to keep business up and satisfy students as well.

The regulations are a part of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, which was originally implemented in 2010.

However, a part of the act called the Smart Snacks initiative began on July 1, 2014.

The Smart Snacks component takes a restructured look at school food as a whole. District nutritionist Jill Funk said that regulations apply to anything bought or sold on campus during the school day. This includes fundraising items, school store merchandise and the coffee shop.

“It didn’t just target the school meals, it looked at the whole school environment,” Funk said.

These regulations require that the first ingredient of each product sold must be a fruit, vegetable, dairy or protein. Products are also allowed if they contain at least a quarter of overall fruit or vegetable content.

As a way to comply with new regulations, East administration replaced the vending machines. However, for Columbia Brew these new machines are hurting business. The H.U.M.A.N. vending machines and lunchroom cafeteria both offer beverages similar to the coffee and juice sold in Columbia Brew.

According to Fryer, the vending machines cut into coffee shop prices more

than the lunch room, mainly because the vending machines take cash and debit cards.

“If a student has a debit card and no cash, then they’re forced to go to the machines,” Fryer said.

Fryer looked into buying a debit card machine, but did not feel that it was feasible for their current funds. Instead, in order to maintain profits from last year, they’ve improvised in more ways than one. Aside from adding sugar-friendly items to their shelves, Columbia Brew has added iced coffee. In addition, they’ve replaced the old coffee syrup flavors with new ones that have artificial sweeteners.

The usual process of buying and deciding on goods changed this year as well. In years past, Columbia Brew sold only the most popular products, the ones they knew would sell. They didn’t consider the health effects of the options. So this year, Fryer worked with Funk in order to find cost-effective as well as healthier options for the shop.

“In order to find items that meet the federal guidelines we have to do some digging,” Fryer said.

At first, both Fryer and Handy witnessed backlash from the students in regard to the renewed items.

“The flow of traffic is different,” Handy said. “Regular customers aren’t there.”

But as time progressed students seemed to warm up to the food. Senior Carolyn Wassmer likes the new snacks offered at the coffee shop. She usually buys a Clif Z-Bar while also filling up her mug with coffee.

“If you’re hungry, a donut isn’t going to fill you up. That’s just going to make you more tired,” Wassmer said. “I think having healthier options is going to help you concentrate better and it’s just an overall good thing.”

While the coffee shop faces new challenges this year, they will stay creative about how they approach nutritious items and the student favorites they are known for.

photo essay

7

A ROYAL awakening

Homecoming King and Queen nominees were woken up on the morning of Sept. 22, and then taken to McDonalds where they recieved their crowns photos by Hailey Hughes above Senior Dan Walker receives his crown from friend Caroline Kohring. “I felt like a big king, I knew it was going to be a good right day and it was.” Walker said.

Senior Noah Marsh left hugs Gunnar EnSenior Garrett Bloom shares a glund to congragulate photo he planned to instagram for him on his nomination. fellow nominee Brett Faulconer’s “I loved seeing everybirthday. “I knew it would be a one there and decided great day because it was my birthto start congratulating day, but being nominated made it the other gents. “ even better.” Faulconer said.

Marsh said. below Senior Gunnar Englund was excited to be nominated alongside his girlfriend, senior Kendall Dunn. “I’m really glad we both got nominated because now we can get into the dance for free.” Englund said.

above Senior Catherine Sabates arrives at McDonalds. “I was really confused, they were banging on pots and making alot of noise and ripped off my covers. But once i realized what was going on I was so excited.” Sabates said.

Read your Harbinger cover to cover? Don’t know what to do with it?

RECYCLE!

news

9

rd

nd

school, local a

Quidditch Tournament The Coalition Quidditch tournament is on Sunday, September 28th. Each team must pay $25, and all of the proceeds are going towards an organization in Cambodia called the Sao Sary Foundation.

The Sao Sary Foundation runs a variety of different programs, but Coalition is focusing on a water sanitation project. For the past three weeks, Coalition has split into three different groups, each to raise money for one of the three projects the Sao Sary foundation works on.

One group is raising money for the Child Protection Project. The second group is raising money for the School Supplies and Education Project, and the third group is fundraising for the Water Sanitation Project.

All of the money from the tournament will go towards helping build water filtration systems in Cambodia’s most impoverished communities. Coalition is hoping to have 32 teams all together.

Co-president Carolyn Wassmer spent the past summer in Cambodia working with the SSF on the Water Sanitation Project.

“The effect these filters have on a community is truly amazing,” Wassmer said.

Each filter just costs $50, and it provides for a family of five with clean water for 40 years. Every two teams that play in the tournament can buy a filter.

Photos of the Week photos by Hailey Hughes

loe Stanfo written by Ch n w o d n ke s bro worldwide new

Police Brutality in KC Bryce Masters, a Kansas City teen, was taken to the hospital in critical condition after an Independence police officer tased him with a stun gun at a traffic stop on September 14th. The gun struck Masters just six inches from the heart.

Masters tried to explain to the officer that his windows would not roll down, yet officer Runnels handcuffed him and carried him to a nearby driveway and dropped him on the pavement after they had tased him.

Officer Runnels claims that the teen was uncooperative, physically resistive and refused to get out of the car.

Runnels warned Masters that he would use his stun gun if he did not cooperate. He used the stun gun on Masters while he was still inside of his vehicle.

Witnesses have a different view on the story.

“The cop was like, ‘you want to mess with me,’ and pulled out his Taser and tased him. I thought he shot him. Then he pulled him out of the car handcuffed him and drug him around the car,” witness Michelle Baker told KCTV. Masters was put into a medically-induced coma, which he is now out of. He is being treated for severe acute oxygen deprivation to the brain during cardiac arrest. Doctors say that it’s hard to know the long-term effects of his injuries. He remains in critical condition.

Junior Lance Meng thinks the police were in the wrong place to taze Bryce Masters.

“It was clearly a misunderstanding,” said Meng. story and full photo on page 29

Scotland Rejects Referndum The people of Scotland voted “No” on their independence from the United Kingdom (UK) on September 18th.

The turnout for the vote was 84.6 percent, which is high for a ballad in Scotland. The implications of the voting results could have changed the UK dramatically.

After the voting booths had closed, 55 percent of voters had voted against independence.

For centuries, these two countries have been rivals.

Recently, Scotland has become more politically liberal, and has clashed with more conservative England. These attitudes created a large faction that wanted Scottish independence.

This historic vote had monumental ramifications for not only the 307-year-old UK, but also the United States and the rest of the world. Many countries worried that the breakup of the United Kingdom could have undermined London’s standing as an international financial capital.

President Barack Obama also welcomed Scotland’s decision to stay a part of the UK. “Through debate, discussion, and passionate yet peaceful deliberations, they reminded the world of Scotland’s enormous contributions to the UK and the world,” said Obama, according to BBC News.

Freshman Jemima Swindells lived in England for 14 years before she moved to Kansas City in 8th grade. She was never strongly opinionated either way because she “couldn’t empathize with the whole patriotism part of it.”

“If they left, it most likely wouldn’t do well for their economy because they would have to switch to Euro, which isn’t as strong as the British Pound,” said Swindells.

Pros and Cons for Staying United Pros

left Homecoming nominees were suprised by STUCO members and taken to breakfast

The UK still remains a powerful force in the UN. Scotland still holds US nuclear weapons which they would have relocated.

Cross-border businesses were prepared to leave Scotland

photos by James Wooldridge

photos by Joseph Cline

left Senior Mitch Tamblyn dribbles the ball during the boys soccer game Sept. 24 against Lawrence.

97%

voted

Cons

Scotland doesn’t have a seperate political identity Still doesn’t have complete control over oil reserves Scotland has less control of its political destiney

45%

voted yes

10 opinion 10 opinion

an o

pini

on o f Ju

y rtes

lia P oe

FREEDOM TO BE BRAVE

u s co o t pho

ulia of J

Poe

During a summer journalism workshop Julia Poe was impacted by journalism and civil rights icon John Lewis

H

e walked into the room, and a boy next to me stood out of respect. There was a hush over the conference room. He shuffled onto the platform at the front of the Newseum banquet room in Washington D.C. He settled into the chair set out for him, folded his hands in his lap and waited.

“I would like to introduce Mr. John Lewis.”

A year ago, I did not know his name. I did not know that his hometown is Troy, Alabama. I did not know that when he was a teenager, a white man smashed a Coke bottle crate over his head in a race riot.

A year ago, Mr. Lewis could not bring me close to tears just by walking into a room. But this summer, Mr. Lewis changed the way I approach journalism.

I met Mr. Lewis this summer at the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Conference in Washington, D.C., hosted by USA Today. The conference was designed to bring together 51 of the most passionate student journalists in the country, and to teach us to love the first amendment.

We spent five days touring D.C. and hearing from speakers who taught us the importance of the first amendment. As a journalist, I thought I already knew why the first amendment was important. Yet those five days taught me how critical the first amendment is to a sustainable country.

A month before the conference in June, the first packet arrived on my doorstep. It was heavy and contained my inch-thick rules manual and agenda for the five day convention. Brimming with excitement, I ripped it open and scanned every single item.

My eye paused over Mr. Lewis’ name. He would be speaking about free speech alongside other civil rights activists. I had learned about Mr. Lewis in AP American History; he was a Freedom Rider and civil rights leader, one of the most important men in African American history alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I checked out his 800-page memoir from the library

and devoured it in a week. The book focused on Lewis’ activism as he remained devoted to the beliefs of nonviolence throughout the civil rights movement.

From his stories of sitting at lunch counters as white men poured mustard in his eyes, to his accounts of the March on Washington, I was in awe.

I couldn’t wait to meet Mr. Lewis. It didn’t matter that the Free Spirit Conference included guest speakers such as David Gregory and private tours of the Capitol building. I knew that the hour with Mr. Lewis would be the highlight of the trip.

To me, Mr. Lewis was something close to a saint -- he fought for freedom, for liberty, for the first amendment.

And he won.

I could probably write a novel about the ways that the experiences and the other students at Free Spirit affected me. But the day that we met Mr. Lewis touched me the most.

Most 17-year-olds don’t have a clue about Mr. Lewis’ sacrifices and accomplishments. But the 51 kids at Free Spirit did. The group offered more diversity than my Shawnee Mission East background had ever afforded.

My dinner table that night consisted of a black boy from D.C.; a Tea Party conservative Pentecostal from Philly; a Japanese girl from Iowa; and a Muslim girl from South Dakota.

Despite our mixed backgrounds, every student understood that Mr. Lewis was one of the brave people who made this diverse collection of students possible.

He took the stage and spoke of quiet courage. He told us that we were born with bravery, with pride, with a duty to serve and protect the rights of others. He told us to use our words with brilliance and compassion.

When Mr. Lewis opened the room to questions, I stayed silent. Before, I had crafted dozens of questions, but I suddenly felt that I didn’t have a place speaking.

So I listened.

I listened to my friends as they shared the racism and sexism they encountered in their hometowns. I listened to one girl explain how her school administrator read over every page of her newspaper, taking out anything that he didn’t agree with. I listened in awe as they asked for Mr. Lewis’ advice, and cried as they received his praise.

What I gained during that hour was a deep respect and gratitude for the lack of obstacles in my life. I’ve never experienced sexual harassment on account of my gender, or been insulted or teased for my ethnicity. At East, Mr. McKinney supports the free speech of The Harbinger, and our district is open to the free speech rights of Kansas student journalists.

I haven’t grappled with censorship, or racism, or a close-minded community. But I met 50 kids this summer who had; who stayed brave in the face of criticism and refused to abandon their rights to free speech.

Those kids impressed me and inspired me. They reflected the spirit that drove Mr. Lewis to protest the injustices of his time, and they proved that teenagers still have voices strong enough to change the nation.

I only have one picture with Mr. Lewis. He’s blinking and I’m mid-laugh, but it’s still one of my prized possessions.

Somehow, meeting Mr. Lewis and hearing my friends speak to him changed me. It made me realize that my passion for journalism needs a focus, and that focus should be the truth. It made me start to pay attention to the world around me.

Now, I read the news and try to understand it better.

I keep in touch with the 50 kids from Free Spirit, and remind myself to use the freedoms I have wisely. And I look at the picture with Mr. Lewis. I hope that someday I will have the chance to be as brave as him.

Fingers

Slipping

Through Her

Tendonitis has caused sophomore Celia Hack to give up control of basic activities involving her hands

N

o, no, no! Just draw the x-axis straight, I think to myself. Is it really that hard to do?

The frustrated thoughts don’t stop, and an opinion of Celia Hack I finally just have to say them aloud. Here I am, stuck at the kitchen table, dictating to, while actually trying not to yell at, my mom: “You know, it wouldn’t take so long to scroll down on the Mac if you just use two fingers, the way everybody else does it,” I tell her. Frustrated, she rolls her eyes. She likes to do it her way.

Two minutes later, I can’t hold myself back.

“Wait, stop. Can you move that number a little farther to the right?”

I ask, hoping she’s not mad at me for being ‘too picky’.

“No, even farther.

No, Mom, even farther.” I like to do it my way.

That’s how every math problem is done. I am not supposed to write, type, play viola or play piano right now.

I tell everybody it’s tendonitis, but honestly the doctors don’t know.

The most specific they can get while still being honest is an “overuse injury”, brought on by late nights finishing my Conjuguemos, among other things.

Tendonitis is “an inflammation or irritation of a tendon”, according to webmd.com. In simpler terms that apply to my situation, it means that both of my hands ache deeply, almost like calves would be the day after a long run, from my elbow to my fingers.

I dictate homework to my mom, my sister, my dad, friends, my next door neighbor, the kid who lives down the street.

Pretty soon, my family is going to get so tired of being subjected to constant nitpicky comments, they’ll refuse to write for me anymore. Who am I kidding, my mom is already tired of listening to my OCD comments.

Dictating your math homework, number by painstaking number, is something I hope none of you have to go through. It’s slow. It’s mindnumbing. And nobody understands what the heck you’re trying to say by “double parentheses, then switch the x and y”. It’s definitely an exercise in giving up control.

And if you’re a bit of a control freak like me, giving that up is more painful than the physical pain.

So, school is tough. Friends send me all my notes over text and in low-quality iPhone photos. Bye-bye, tidy notebook with notes perfectly arranged. Worksheets that everyone else completes at school, I have to do at my house. I do them over voice-to-text on my laptop.

The hardest part is dictating tests to lab aides, people who I usually have never met and have to try to express math, aloud, to.

Of course, the first thing we did when I told my mom that my hands hurt was go to the doctor. The first doctor we saw gave me a prescription for twice the daily dose of ibuprofen and told me to wear casts for a month. It didn’t work. With their next step being a steroid shot, my terrified mom practically dragged me out of there.

Because it was only the first month of treatment, my parents were trying to convince me that everything would still work out. I wasn’t so sure.

The stream of doctors we saw and all the treatments I tried after that seemed to be never-ending. Chiropractors, orthopedic surgeons, and finally ending with an occupational therapist. I tried deep tissue massages, deep needling, and a steady diet of supplements like Magnesium and Vitamin D. The occupational therapist, who is helping me today, gave me stretches to do for my hands and exercises to strengthen my back. It almost seems like I’m not doing anything. In my mind, I’m not sure if doing a couple of stretches can help me, and if they can, it sure is happening slowly.

Tendonitis may sound bad, but the inability to do certain things is far worse than the pain. Nobody can see it because I don’t wear casts or braces. It isn’t completely impossible for me to write or type either, but when I do I’m usually in pain.

But the consistency and seemingly neverending situation is extremely frustrating.

I know that going through this experience is supposed to make me learn things.

To make me look at myself and say, “Wow, I am a little bit of a control freak” and to learn how to fix that. To look at the future, the unknown, with more hope and less negativity.

I don’t know when my hands are going to be better. I don’t know if they are improving or getting worse, because sometimes they feel great and sometimes, they just don’t. I know I’m supposed to be an optimist. Supposed to convince myself that I’m improving.

Supposed to ignore the bad days and focus on the good ones.

Maybe if I focus on the good days and think the optimistic thoughts, it will show in my body. My hands will improve. I can play piano again, for as long as I want. No more pain.

That’s the dream.

But it seems like just that: an unachievable dream. To me, it’s a lot easier to think of the worst possible situation: I can never use my hands again. Is that likely to happen? No. Is it even a possibility?

I’m not entirely sure.

But that’s all that’s running through my mind.

artwork by Audrey Danciger

opinion

11

opinion

N

12

O

LONGER

OKLAHOMA

JOE’S

I’ve always considered it a blessing to grow up a block away from a nationally recognized restaurant. Somewhere that celebrities go while they’re in town. A place where, just to place an order, you’ll have to wait in a line for at least 25 minutes. Being able to walk ten minutes from my house to eat arguably the best barbecue in the country is something I take pride in.

But my whole world has changed. About a month ago, Oklahoma Joes announced its big news: the award-winning restaurant is changing its name to “Joe’s Kansas City BarB-Que”.

When I first heard this news, I was shocked. From the day I was born to a couple weeks to go, it’s been “Oklahoma Joe’s.” Whenever I’m craving some delicious, greasy barbecue, I go to the place with the name I trust. Home of the Z-man. Home of the most delicious french fries you’ll ever eat. Home of Cowtown Barbecue Sauce. Not only does the Oklahoma Joe’s name sound right, but it feels right.

Now I get that it’s in Kansas City, not Oklahoma, but that doesn’t matter. It’s always been Oklahoma Joe’s. Okie Joes is a great nickname for a great restaurant. It has a sound that I’ve come to know and love my whole life -- one I’ve come to trust. “Joe’s Kansas City” just doesn’t roll off the tongue nicely like “Okie Joe’s” does.

Starting three years ago, Joe’s began placing the new name on some of their products. In 2011, they released Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que Sauce -- no Oklahoma in the name.

Then, a year and a half ago, they released Joe’s Original French Fry Seasoning. I didn’t notice, though -- I was always too busy devouring my barbecue to see that it didn’t say “Oklahoma Joe’s.”

Kansas City Barbecue restaurant recently changed its name sparking controversy and calling into question it’s identity with Kansas City opinion of Michael Kraske

Although I don’t approve of the name change, I like the approach they took to it. Instead of jumping right into the update, they’ve slowly been pushing the name onto the Kansas City people for a few years now, which was smart. They let the customers ease their way into this name change, and become familiar with it instead of breaking it to us all at once.

I agree with some of the reasoning behind the switch -but that doesn’t mean I like it. Having Kansas City in the name is pretty cool. From now on, when people talk about the restaurant, the name won’t imply it’s anywhere but KC. I like that, I really do. But is it worth changing the name over?

Absolutely not. The Oklahoma Joe’s name is such a classic that it should never be changed, no matter what.

Changing the name doesn’t add anything to the restaurant, it only takes away its history. The goal of the name change was to promote the fact that the BBQ joint is in Kansas City. People already know Oklahoma Joe’s is in Kansas City. Changing the name doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Will I stop eating this food because of the change?

There’s nothing in the world that could keep me away from the place -- not even changing the great Oklahoma Joe’s name. But it makes me sad knowing that soon enough, when I walk up Belinder Rd. and take a left on 47th St., that sign won’t feel like home.

“We want the name to more clearly reflect who and what we are. Same owner, same great food, slightly different name — maybe a better name.” Jeff Stehney, Co-Owner

Different Name, Same Food

Z Man Sandwich beef brisket + provolone cheese + onion rings

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Slab of Ribs

pulled pork + coleslaw +barbecue sauce

Full Slab of Ribs + Barbecue sauce

Eng i FAI neere LU d for RE

opinion

13

Sop spe homor n e Eng ds a pa Claire inee rt o ring f he Potten Cam r sum ger p mer unw at a illing n l

y

photo illustration by

Abby Blake

written by Claire Pottenger

M

y lungs burned as I willed myself to hold my breath for five more seconds.

Don’t breathe, you can do it.

As the little hand on the clock hit the thirty second mark I inhale deeply -- and apparently loudly -- because the seven pairs of glazed-over eyes sitting at the table with me, all snap to my face.

Actually, make that six because the girl across from me fell asleep again with her face hidden behind her hand.

Luckily, the professor lecturing us ignores my gasp for air and keeps droning on about the composition of concrete.

As riveting as that information is, I decide to keep practicing holding my breath. I was determined to break three minutes before the two hour class period was up. *** When my mom first told me I was going to engineering camp, I was not happy, to say the least. No way was I going to take a week out of my entire summer to go to school for engineering.

My mom’s genius idea for me to major in engineering dawned on her in the fall of last year. She explained to me that it’s a field that needs women and it’s a job that makes money because of the demand for workers.

But when my mom had this brilliant idea she did not consider one important fact: there is not a bone in my body that is interested in a career that revolves solely around math and science.

For months we argued over it. Numerous times me casually mentioning something at dinner turned into my mom telling me I should be an engineer.

“Oooh, I for sure want a BMW when I am older.”

“Well Claire! If you become an engineer you could afford that easily!”

“Being a lawyer might be interesting, but you have to go to through law school and that just sounds terrible.”

“Well you know what degree only takes four years of college

to get a job in? That’s right! Engineering!”

Her enthusiasm for me to be an engineer radiated off like waves. At first it was easy to roll my eyes and shrug her off, but then the side-comments became impossible to ignore.

Our last argument came up the spring of 2014. My mom mentioned to me there was a summer enrichment camp at KU for engineering. The first ten girls to sign up went to camp there for a week completely free.

This lady was crazy if she thought was I going to take a week out of my summer to go to a camp for something I have no interest in.

Being my superior, my mom got what she wanted. I went to this camp, but on one condition: if I went and I still felt the same way about engineering, the subject would be put to bed.

Which is how I found myself sitting in a classroom at KU halfway through June, bored out of my mind to the point I was practicing holding my breath.

A day in the life of a camper at KU Engineering consisted of a 7 a.m. wake up call and a morning filled with lectures and labs. The lectures consisted of two or three professors talking about the field of engineering they teach.

The labs were almost as bad as the lectures. They consisted of touring the different parts of KU’s teaching facilities as opposed to doing actual science.

My personal favorite was a riveting light lab on our second day. We sat in a dark room for an hour and a half listening to a professor with a heavy Chinese accent discuss the luminosity of light bulbs.

I kept myself entertained by seeing how many NIPS caramel candies it would take to cement my teeth shut.

At noon came lunch. After another hour of eating and a trek back to the school of engineering, the lectures would resume.

I would bide me time until dinner, listening to more professors I couldn’t understand talk about more subjects I wasn’t interested in.

As the days went by, my initial suspicions were confirmed.

Engineering really wasn’t my cup of tea. Not only that, but I have no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

There is nothing that I‘m passionate about. I’m not a good enough athlete for it to be my profession. I have decent grades in all subjects but there is nothing I really love and I don’t have a “favorite” subject.

Over and over, the professors kept reiterating “soon enough you will be in college and you have to start planning ahead!”

It started to make my head spin.

How am I supposed to pick classes that will to start shaping my career? I usually just have trouble telling my mom what I want for dinner before 3 p.m.

Then, while learning about the structure of bridges, I had a realization: the reason why my mom sent me to camp. It wasn’t to get me to become an engineer. It was for me to learn what the field was about. Despite being completely miserable at camp, I did learn a lot. Before I went I really had no idea of all the opportunities being an engineer could bring.

All I knew was that it involved a lot of math and science, which I have no interest in. I also kept feeling like I wasn’t a strong enough student to take on such a difficult degree.

Now I know that is false. If I set my mind to it I could graduate with a degree in engineering. The only thing that turns me away from it is that I am not passionate about what makes things work.

My mom just didn’t want me to funnel my options. She thought I was placing limitations on myself with my supposed lack of knowledge.

Now that I understand the field, my mom now trusts in my judgement. I am sure there is a part of her that wishes I would become an engineer, but for now those dinner-time discussions have come to a halt. I am free to worry about my future without the added pressure of my mom’s approval.

14

A MINOR feature

Change written by Yashi Wang

A band experiences changes when a key member decides to break off

photos by Callie McPhail

Set against a backdrop of white Christmas lights and paper hearts, on a stage barely a foot off the floor, the band Snow Day in May debuted as freshmen on the East music scene last year.

A roomful of hands clapped out a beat in unison.

Expectant faces gazed up at the band. The musicians’ eyes, bright from the adrenaline of the stage, stared right back.

The relentless shouts of “one more song” kept their hands moving and their lips singing through three songs.

At Coalition’s Love146 concert, dressed in their AC/ DC shirts and their plaid button downs, the unassuming freshmen received praise for their unique interpretation of riff-driven rock. Eyes were on them.

But just weeks later on the day after April Fool’s, guitarist Deegan Poores decided to leave the band, bringing down their carefully constructed mix of music styles.

“I didn’t want to play that kind of riff rock anymore, I wanted to take more of an alt rock direction,” Poores said.

He Facebook messaged the band. At first, the others thought it was a joke, until the band’s other guitarist Jake Ledom talked to Poores and texted the other members a confirmation. Just like that, Snow Day in May lost one of its founders.

I was in the school, and I was pacing back and forth in the hall,” lead vocalist and keyboardist Guanghao Yu said.

“Someone thought I broke up with my girlfriend.”

The loss dealt a heavy blow to the band. Although they’d never had an official leader, Deegan became an unspoken figurehead since eighth grade, when he and Yu pulled together a collection of school friends and neighbors to form Lusitania, Snow Day in May’s origin. Out of all the members, Deegan had the most experience in performing, collaborating and running a band in general.

“When he left, the leadership role was left up to us,” Yu said. “We also needed to adjust [our music style] to the new lineup with one guitar.”

While faced with these challenges, the band hasn’t had many opportunities to solve their problems.

They haven’t had a practice in months.

‘Can we do it this Saturday?’

‘No, I have baseball.’

‘Can we do it this Saturday? This Sunday?’

‘No, we’re going to Schlitterbahn.’

‘I have to do homework, I can’t.’

“Everybody just had their own obligations,” Yu said. “We are just trying to compromise to make it work.”

Now sophomores, with a summer behind them, they’re working to recover. Yu especially is reaching to pull the band back onto its feet, asking about possible practices, looking into potential gigs and searching for new members to fill the hole that Deegan left.

It’s not their first member loss. The band originally consisted of Poores, Yu, Ledom, SM South freshman guitarist Will Schultz and BVNW junior bassist Zac Johnson. Last fall, Schultz moved to Iowa and Johnson moved to Florida, but not before both quit, and not before Johnson left them with the new name of Snow Day in May. Under the new name, the band picked up drummer Mikey McFarlin and bassist Logan Fancolly.

The slow breakdown of the band didn’t begin with Poores leaving. It began with something the band was once praised for: their unique clash and mixture of styles, from jazz to classic rock to heavy metal. Somehow, along the way, this talent fractured into painful creative differences.

Even the remaining members have trouble finding common ground in the songs they want to cover. McFarlin especially stands apart. While the other members at least all fall into the rock genre, McFarlin is much more jazzoriented. He is even considering leaving the band, but he still acknowledges the excitement of playing and creating music together. It’s something he doesn’t want to leave behind.

“When we do have the feeling of synergy, I feel like that’s the best part,” McFarlin said.

For the members, four of whom have never been in a band before, that synergy was a new feeling that hooked them from day one. The first practice of Lusitania was in Schultz’s basement. Yu sat at a little electric keyboard,

Ledom perched on a couch with his guitar, Poores was on drums, Schultz strummed his bass and Johnson plucked at his guitar.

“We went over “What’s My Age Again?” and when it came together for the first time, it was exciting,” Yu said.

“I’ve wanted to play in a band all my life, and I was finally achieving that dream.”

There are still days when fooling around with songs brings the band back to lighthearted times.

McFarlin remembers when they sat down with “Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones and just played it, faster and faster, until it all fell apart into laughter.

It’s those moments crammed into a basement, when everything clicks and their playing is at its best, that continues to inspire and unite the band.

Snow Day in May still has hope for the future. Their next chance to perform is at Coalition’s Love146 concert, a year after their previous success. They are well aware that it is their lack of unity holding them back and breaking them apart. According to the members, they still have time to fix their faults.

“I think [all the members] are very good and they have their own ideas and diversity, and they all bring things to the table,” Yu said. “We just need to make those things work together as a whole.”

Steps towards new beginnings 1. Taking on other influences like The Replacements, and R.E.M 2. Moving from classic rock to alternative 3. Working on starting a folk band 4. Finding a time and place to practice 5. Writing songs and picking covers

GOURMET AND GOING TO GOURMET, AND GOING TO STAYSTAY THATTHAT WAY WAY

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16

INSTA-PAID

Spread

Freshmen sports enthusiasts create fan accounts that have grown into way more than just a typical Instagram page written by Stella Braly

T

ogether, Freshmen Matthew McGannon and William Benjamin have 325,000 followers on Instagram. They get between 7,000 and 11,000 likes on each photo they post. For them, everyone’s favorite photo-sharing app for cats, selfies and food, has become more than a social media outlet. It’s become a business.

“People want more followers or a brand wants more people knowing about it,” Matthew, owner of Instagram accounts @ basketballcoverage and @trickvidz, said.

“So they go to an Instagram account and buy a shoutout from them for a certain amount of time. You keep it up for like one hour, then you delete it,” Shoutouts, essentially, are posts made to promote an account. Prices for shoutouts are based on the duration of time that they remain posted. They range from $15$40 and can go as long as 24 hours. But in order to earn money from selling shoutouts, accounts need a substantial amount of followers, such as Matthew and Will’s.

Their accounts have grown to 170,000 and 155,000 followers respectively since they began over a year ago.

“It took us a while to start,” Will said.

“When you don’t have very many [followers] it’s harder. We had a competition who could get more [followers]. Once we reached 10,000, that was a big moment.”

Matthew and Will teamed up with other accounts and promoted each other to gain an even greater amount of followers.

As the boys’ accounts grew even larger, the two realized that they could make money off of shoutouts. Both began earning money near the 70,000 and 75,000 followers mark.

“Other accounts around my size were selling shoutouts and I thought it would be cool to do it too,” Matthew said.

Shoutout purchases are coordinated through email and Kik Messenger, a free instant messaging app. After sharing

INSTA-STATS

Spread

17

Take a look at their top instagram accounts’ accomplishments

BASKETBALL COVERAGE STATS

NFL.32 STATS

photos by Hailey Hughes

information, money is transferred through PayPal. “It’s like any part-time job,” Patrick McGannon Sr., father of Matthew, said.

“I’m just trying to make sure he gets it into the bank or a savings account. He’s always been a sports nut. Even as a little kid, every morning at 6 a.m. I would hear that ESPN song on the TV set. He would watch ESPN and he would know everything. So I think it’s fun for him to validate that huge interest.”

Will and Matthew work hard on their accounts, updating multiple times a day and doing their best to gain followers. Followers are mainly gained by how well things are presented and how quickly updates are made compared to other accounts.

Will and Matthew put different hours of work into the account depending on the day and time of year. During off-seasons for basketball and NFL and when Matthew and Will are busy with school, it’s harder to make posts and gain followers.

Matthew’s brothers, Connor McGannon and Patrick McGannon Jr., are both big supporters of his account. They help by offering advice on post presentation from their college homes in Texas and Tennessee.

“Matthew is lucky that he has two brothers in two different colleges around the country,” Patrick Sr. said. “They’re talking to their friends, who are talking to their friends and that helps his distribution of his account. You’ve got these kids following him that might be from New York or kid who then tells 10 friends.”

Patrick Jr. and his friend Scott Schober both were impressed with the follower amount and effort McGannon put into his main account @basketballcoverage. “[Our friends and I] started following him around 2,000 followers and we were incredibly impressed,” Scott said. “After we came back from summer this year, he had [around] 60,000 followers. And at that point we all became pretty invested in it.

We started commenting and following it pretty closely.”

At first their parents were wary about the idea. They didn’t understand how one could make money off of a simple photo sharing app and didn’t know if it was safe.

The parents were concerned about what personal information there would be online and how the money would be handled and transferred.

“I got on and checked it out and I asked him a lot of questions because I’m just not that social media-savvy,” Patrick Sr. said about his son and his account. “It’s like a bunch of kids sitting around in the cafeteria and talking about their favorite sports, but this happens to be with 170,000 people.”

While money and being popular on Instagram, or “Insta-famous”, are positives, there is some controversy within the Instagram community surrounding the practice of selling shoutouts. Some people feel as if shoutouts fill the page with information that people don’t necessarily want to see, essentially clogging up their Instagram feeds.

“Whenever [Matthew] does shout outs, I get the heat from my friends. If you go to the page during a shout out, it’s a battlefield.

Everyone is dropping f-bombs, ripping into him and telling him that they’ll find his family,” Patrick Jr. said.

Despite the threats, Patrick Sr. feels as if the whole process is a valuable experience his son.

“He is learning something,” Patrick Sr. said. “We talk a bit about what appeals to people and a little about business marketing and things like that. I tell him to just keep it fun.”

FOLLOW AT:

FOLLOW AT:

@BASKETBALL COVERAGE

@NFL.32

The Bio:

The Bio:

The BEST Basketball account on Instagram.

An account for all people that love Basketball (Kik:ncaabasketball99 to buy a cheap shout out)

-Best NFL Coverage -News/Videos -Photos and videos belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement intend -For Business, kik: NFL.32 nfl.com

Followers to Follow Ratio

169k:174 155k:86

For a 24 hour shout out, both accounts charge $40

16

INSTA-PAID

Spread

Freshmen sports enthusiasts create fan accounts that have grown into way more than just a typical Instagram page written by Stella Braly

T

ogether, Freshmen Matthew McGannon and William Benjamin have 325,000 followers on Instagram. They get between 7,000 and 11,000 likes on each photo they post. For them, everyone’s favorite photo-sharing app for cats, selfies and food, has become more than a social media outlet. It’s become a business.

“People want more followers or a brand wants more people knowing about it,” Matthew, owner of Instagram accounts @ basketballcoverage and @trickvidz, said.

“So they go to an Instagram account and buy a shoutout from them for a certain amount of time. You keep it up for like one hour, then you delete it,” Shoutouts, essentially, are posts made to promote an account. Prices for shoutouts are based on the duration of time that they remain posted. They range from $15$40 and can go as long as 24 hours. But in order to earn money from selling shoutouts, accounts need a substantial amount of followers, such as Matthew and Will’s.

Their accounts have grown to 170,000 and 155,000 followers respectively since they began over a year ago.

“It took us a while to start,” Will said.

“When you don’t have very many [followers] it’s harder. We had a competition who could get more [followers]. Once we reached 10,000, that was a big moment.”

Matthew and Will teamed up with other accounts and promoted each other to gain an even greater amount of followers.

As the boys’ accounts grew even larger, the two realized that they could make money off of shoutouts. Both began earning money near the 70,000 and 75,000 followers mark.

“Other accounts around my size were selling shoutouts and I thought it would be cool to do it too,” Matthew said.

Shoutout purchases are coordinated through email and Kik Messenger, a free instant messaging app. After sharing

INSTA-STATS

Spread

17

Take a look at their top instagram accounts’ accomplishments

BASKETBALL COVERAGE STATS

NFL.32 STATS

photos by Hailey Hughes

information, money is transferred through PayPal. “It’s like any part-time job,” Patrick McGannon Sr., father of Matthew, said.

“I’m just trying to make sure he gets it into the bank or a savings account. He’s always been a sports nut. Even as a little kid, every morning at 6 a.m. I would hear that ESPN song on the TV set. He would watch ESPN and he would know everything. So I think it’s fun for him to validate that huge interest.”

Will and Matthew work hard on their accounts, updating multiple times a day and doing their best to gain followers. Followers are mainly gained by how well things are presented and how quickly updates are made compared to other accounts.

Will and Matthew put different hours of work into the account depending on the day and time of year. During off-seasons for basketball and NFL and when Matthew and Will are busy with school, it’s harder to make posts and gain followers.

Matthew’s brothers, Connor McGannon and Patrick McGannon Jr., are both big supporters of his account. They help by offering advice on post presentation from their college homes in Texas and Tennessee.

“Matthew is lucky that he has two brothers in two different colleges around the country,” Patrick Sr. said. “They’re talking to their friends, who are talking to their friends and that helps his distribution of his account. You’ve got these kids following him that might be from New York or kid who then tells 10 friends.”

Patrick Jr. and his friend Scott Schober both were impressed with the follower amount and effort McGannon put into his main account @basketballcoverage. “[Our friends and I] started following him around 2,000 followers and we were incredibly impressed,” Scott said. “After we came back from summer this year, he had [around] 60,000 followers. And at that point we all became pretty invested in it.

We started commenting and following it pretty closely.”

At first their parents were wary about the idea. They didn’t understand how one could make money off of a simple photo sharing app and didn’t know if it was safe.

The parents were concerned about what personal information there would be online and how the money would be handled and transferred.

“I got on and checked it out and I asked him a lot of questions because I’m just not that social media-savvy,” Patrick Sr. said about his son and his account. “It’s like a bunch of kids sitting around in the cafeteria and talking about their favorite sports, but this happens to be with 170,000 people.”

While money and being popular on Instagram, or “Insta-famous”, are positives, there is some controversy within the Instagram community surrounding the practice of selling shoutouts. Some people feel as if shoutouts fill the page with information that people don’t necessarily want to see, essentially clogging up their Instagram feeds.

“Whenever [Matthew] does shout outs, I get the heat from my friends. If you go to the page during a shout out, it’s a battlefield.

Everyone is dropping f-bombs, ripping into him and telling him that they’ll find his family,” Patrick Jr. said.

Despite the threats, Patrick Sr. feels as if the whole process is a valuable experience his son.

“He is learning something,” Patrick Sr. said. “We talk a bit about what appeals to people and a little about business marketing and things like that. I tell him to just keep it fun.”

FOLLOW AT:

FOLLOW AT:

@BASKETBALL COVERAGE

@NFL.32

The Bio:

The Bio:

The BEST Basketball account on Instagram.

An account for all people that love Basketball (Kik:ncaabasketball99 to buy a cheap shout out)

-Best NFL Coverage -News/Videos -Photos and videos belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement intend -For Business, kik: NFL.32 nfl.com

Followers to Follow Ratio

169k:174 155k:86

For a 24 hour shout out, both accounts charge $40

18

THE SLUGBUG

feature Sophomore Hayley Bell received her car as a surprise present on her 16th birthday. She was expecting to get a Jeep Liberty but her parents found a used Volkswagen bug. Bell had always wanted a bug it was her favorite car. Her older sister also had a bug when she was in high school, and Bell wanted to follow in her sister’s footsteps. Hayley loves hearing people

yell “slugbug!” as she drives by.

“It sounds bad, but I love when people beat each other up because of my car” Bell said.

THE MERCEDES Junior Worth Blackman has a 1980 280 SL Mercedes Coupe. His grandfather sold his house in Minnesota, and, rather than putting the car in storage, they decided to give it to Blackman.

“I like driving it in the summer because I can put the top down” Blackman said.

He loves cruising around with his music playing. Being from

LANCER LOCOMOTIVES

1980 and it is still running shows how impressive the Mercedes Coupe. They have continued making the car 30 years later. The car can compete with any new Mercedes. Even though it’s 30 years old the car, has only had routine maintenance, like an oil change. His friends all want to ride in his Mercedes because it rides smoothly and they think it makes them look important.

A peek into the East parking lot

photos by Hailey Hughes written by Teagan Noblit

THE CLASSIC Senior Kendall Dunn drives a red Volkswagen Cabriolet.

Dunn got her car around spring break sophomore year. She found it on eBay in Paradise Valley, Arizona. She had her former Economics teacher, who commuted to East from her home in Arizona test drive it for her. She then had it shipped it to Kansas.

The car was made in 1991 but only had 51,000 miles on it.

“It’s an old car, so I have to deal with little problems, but luckily nothing major,” Dunn said. Dunn loves her car, especially because no one else has the same kind.

THE “SULLI”VAN Junior Henry Sullivan rolls into the East sophomore parking lot in his 2001 gold Honda Odyssey. He is bobbing his head to his music and turns his bass all the way up. He climbs out and admires his mom’s old car.

“My friends call my car the sulliVAN” Sullivan said.

DON’T TREAD ON MY GUN RIGHTS VOTE FREEDOM FIRST www.nraila.org

Senior Hannah Arnspiger has a “run.” bumper sticker to express her love of running, who’s run cross country and track all four years.

When he turned 16 and got his license, Sullivan only had two choices.

The van, or no car at all. One feature he likes, though, is they huge subwoofer speaker that his sister’s boyfriend installed. Sullivan’s favorite car memory was being backed into by Junior Joey Wentz on his first day of sophomore year. The sulliVAN has a couple of advantages like the spacious seating for 7 and comfortable headrests.

EXPRESS YOURSELF Lancers show their spirit through different bumper stickers

Sophomore Caroline Kessinger has a National Rifle Association sticker on her car. “[My brother and his friends] got it as a joke,’ she said. “It’s not his car anymore, but he still won’t let me take it off.”

MIDDLEBURY

Sophomore Jack Young, who has his sister’s old car, has a Middlebury College sticker on his car. “[It’s] where my sister goes to school,” Young said.

feature

19

Piano PLAYER STATS

KEYS to the 7 COMPETITION 19 Sophomore Brenen Prinzing was raised in a family of musicians, now he plays piano competitively at national and state levels

written by Jessica Parker

H

is fingers fly up and down the black and white keys. His head is bowed downwards, swaying intently with the rhythm of the notes. Sophomore Brenen Prinzing’s eyebrows furrow in concentration. This is where he belongs: on the small black bench behind the Yamaha Baby Grand piano.

Music became a part of Brenen’s life on the day he was born.

His mother and father are both professional violinists in the Cameleon Ensemble quartet based out of Kansas City. As a music major, Brenen’s older sister attends St. Olaf College, a liberal arts school in Minnesota.

“In our family, both my husband and I are professional musicians.

And it is my personal belief that the study of music, especially at a very high level, actually makes you a better person,” Brenen’s mom Cathan Prinzing said. “So I require it for all my children.”

When Brenen was seven, he began simple piano lessons. At eleven years old, he entered his first local piano competitions for prize money. Year after year, his love for the piano grew stronger.

Some kids have soccer tournaments, others have dance recitals, but Brenen has piano competitions.

Brenen commonly competes in the spring and fall. Spring is based on concerts while the fall concentrates on competitions and judging.

The one most concernable however, is the Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) state competition. In November, he will have a chance to show his skills and give himself a chance to advance to the regional competition: one step closer to reaching his goal of nationals.

Brenen is involved in the MTNA, a Midwestern organization in which a teacher trains their student to master five pieces of music a year. The state competition is at a different location every year, usually in college auditoriums. This year it is in Columbia, Mo. “I practice all year around, no breaks,” Brenen said. “I must practice between two to six hours every day. Just those five pieces, every day.”

To him, that amount of time is not a ridiculous number. Through the years he has realized that there is never too much practice, that there is always room for improvement. He needs to build stamina, and the only way to do that is by playing.

Brenen prepares for the competition by choosing five pieces ranging from four to nine minutes each. He plays one from each era of music: romantic, baroque, classical, impressionistic, and modern.

He is taught each piece and within two to three months he must have them memorized. That leaves around seven months to hit every note accurately without the “cheat sheet”, because when the time comes the sheet lays only in the hands of the judges.

Every year it is the same routine--Brenen sits in the vacant auditorium, with only the presence of the judges. He is perched on the

photos by Allison Stockwell

bench with posture fit for a king, behind the 88 keys he knows like the back of his hand. For the next 26 minutes, Brenen plays the same five pieces he learned 365 days earlier. All of the work, all of the memorization, everything he worked so hard for in the past year is finished in 26 minutes.

The judges watch every movement and listen to every note. Each performer receives a rating as well as a thorough critique from the judges panel.

Last year Brenen did not place, but received a 1+, or in layman’s terms, fourth place. He did not advance to regionals.

“If you can’t play everything note-perfect, let alone dynamics and articulation, you have no point in going. You will not place,” Brenen says.

Not placing is one of the last of Brenen’s worries before the show.

First he must persevere through his stage fright. Brenen commonly experiences sweaty and clammy hands before taking the stage, therefor he carries a hand handkerchief with him at all times.

“Going into a room with five experienced piano professors that have the music right in front of them and know every single time you mess up is just really nerve racking,” Brenen says.

Warming up for 20 to 30 minutes before each show is a normal ritual for Brenen. On the other hand, his post concert tradition is something he considers unique. Since coffee and sugar have thrown him off focus in the past, he is banned from these delicacies a whole week or two before he performs-- restricted to mainly salads. After his show, whether he wins or gets dead last, all he looks forward to is indulging.

“Afterwards, it is so satisfying to know that I am free to eat what I want to eat, and just go and get a large amount of caffeine,” says Brenen.

Knowing that a group of his senior competitors have graduated, his goal of advancing to nationals is looking a bit more obtainable. Competing at regionals as a freshman was an eye-opening experience, and he now knows what it will take to come out on top.

“Just that feeling after those 26 minutes, that is what I practice for. That is why I play piano. It is for that feeling of success afterwards. Even if I don’t win, I know that I played the best I could possibly play,” Brenen said.

“It is all about the feeling of knowing that you achieved what you set out for,” Brenen says.

5 4

Years Playing Hours/ Week Spent Practicing Competitions Per Year First Place titles

20% of children play an instrument

50% 80% of adults say they wish they had played an instrument Info courtesy of citydata.com

20 feature

Will you

go to

Homecoming with me?

Freshman Robbie Veglahn goes above and beyond when asking freshman Grace Chisholm to Homecoming

Timeline of Homecoming Instagrams Freshman Harrison Gooley asks freshman Katie Hise on Sept. 1

Freshman Ben Dollar asks freshman Sarah Wilcox on Sept. 4

Freshman Robbie Veglahn asks freshman Grace Chisholm on Sept. 9

Freshman Jack Workman asks freshman Catherine Watkins on Sept. 13

written by Alex Masson

After two weeks of preparation, with a shirt and a

video, freshman Robbie Veglahn asked a girl to homecoming.

This question took the help of two professional soccer players and an Olympic athlete.

On September 9, Veglahn waited for a brown Buick Enclave driven by Chisholm’s mother to pull into the driveway of a friend’s house. The SUV coasted to a stop in front of a Leawood home. Veglahn, with a jersey in hand, tapped on his phone a couple of times and sent a video.

Veglahn’s plans to ask freshman Grace Chisholm, in the approaching van, had just begun.

With each step he took towards the car now parked in the driveway, his heart beat faster. Veglahn nervously paced across the yard while Chisholm exited the SUV. As Chisholm jogged up the freshly mowed lawn, she greeted her friend.

She managed a “hey,” and Veglahn held up the jersey. It was a dark blue Ivy Funds Sporting KC jersey with “Homecoming with Robbie?” printed on the back.

“Homecoming?” Veglahn asked.

“Yes!” Chisholm shrieked.

She hugged him, her friend who she had known since sixth grade. Her friends inside the car popped out with iPhones in hand, ready to snap photos of the new Homecoming couple.

Veglahn gave the dark blue Sporting KC jersey to his new homecoming date, hugged her again and left.

Chisholm got back into the van, looking at the jersey with the sentence “Homecoming with Robbie?” printed on the back. She let out al sigh, laughing nervously.

“Did you see the video?” one of Grace’s friends asked.

Graces phone ringed with a message. It was from Robbie, a video. She hit the play button on her iPhone.

“Hey Grace...” a voice from the video started.

US men’s olympic soccer team player Matt Besler appeared on the screen. He and fellow Sporting KC player Jon Kempin told a story about of how Robbie needed help to ask a girl to homecoming, and they were there to help him out. At the end of the video, Besler told her to say yes.

The video was supposed to be seen before Robbie held up the jersey, but because of the signal strength, she had just now received seen that video.

Two weeks before , Robbie texted his neighbor.

“Hey Jon, I was just wondering if you would help me

out. I was thinking about asking this girl to homecoming and I was wondering if I could have your help because she loves soccer.”

His neighbor replied, “Of course man, I would be more than happy to help.”

His neighbor, Sporting KC goalkeeper Jon Kempin, sent back a lengthy list of ideas and suggestions. It ranged from mundane things such as a signature on a sign all the way to inviting her to a practice where the players would ask her themselves for her to go Homecoming with Robbie, but they eventually decided to make a jersey and the video.

It took three days to finalize the idea and two full weeks to make the jersey and video since the team was on the road , playing games in Boston and New York.

Since all of Veglahn’s friends had already asked their dates to homecoming, he was getting nervous about the time it took to get the jersey and video. Veglahn finally got the jersey three days before he asked her, and the final piece was the video.

On a Tuesday morning, while all the freshmen worked on the Lancer Day float, adding patriotic decorations to it, Robbie waited for the video from his neighbor while working on the float and chatting with Grace.

Veglahn kept one eye on his phone, nervously checking it for a text that would have the video that would finally let him ask Grace to Homecoming. Originally, Veglahn planned to ask her during the float building, but the porting team was practicing all morning.

In an attempt to stall, Veglahn talked and chatted with her on the football field. But minutes too soon, Chisolm’s mother picked her up without warning. While the car was driving out of sight, the iPhone in his pocket buzzed and dinged with the video.

Three hours later, Robbie and his mother rushed around traffic trying to get to Chisholm’s house before she could, to no avail. They arrived shortly after Grace was gone and had to chase her down as she picked up her friends for the car pool to a soccer practice.

Eventually Veglahn and his mother beat Chisholm to her team mates house, where Veglahn waited for Chisholm’s car to pull into the driveway. As the brown Buick Enclave pulled into the driveway, he nervously stepped towards the car with her jersey in his hand.

photo essay

1.

CRAFTIN’

To ask Lawrence to Homecoming, Fenimore decided to put a picture of Lawrence’s face over Josh Zillner’s on a cutout of the two soccer players. “Making the poster was so weird, because I felt like I was cutting her face,” Fenimore said.

3.

2. APPLICATION After gluing Lawrence’s face over Zillner’s, Fenimore brought it to her house.“I was confused at first,” Lawrence said. “It took me a couple seconds to understand why my face would be on his body.”

21

THE SNEAK

Fenimore made the cutout during seventh hour. “I had to try to not see anyone in the hallway so they wouldn’t ask why I was carrying Kara around,” he said.

SAVING FACE photos by Annie Savage

4.

Senior Will Fenimore borrowed the Harbinger’s cardboard broadcast advertisement in order to ask senior Kara Lawrence to homecoming

5.

4.

6.

FITTING IN Fenimore had to stuff the seven-foot cutout into his car before going to Lawrence’s house. “Driving to Kara’s house was hard, because my car is so small that her face was just right next to me the whole time,” he said.

5.

SURPRISE

Lawrence was shocked to see Fenimore and the cutout at her house after school. “I opened the door and I saw my face on Josh’s body and I was just so surprised,” she said.

6.

THE YES

Fenimore was planning on asking Lawrence before the two were nominated for Homecoming Queen and King. “I’m really glad Kara said yes because since we were both nominated we get to go to the dance for free,” he said.

22

feature

O p p o r t u n i t i e s To C a r e

Staffer shares volunteer opportunities available to East students to bulk up college applications, finish National Honors Society service hours, and above all, feel good about helping with important causes.

Children’s TLC For many people one of the most rewarding things you can do is work with young children who have mental and physical disabilities.

Children’s TLC is a preschool on Main and 31st Street for children with disabilities. They work with kids with disorders such as Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome or Autism, to try and teach them the learning skills they will need as they grow older.

Red Cross First-aid is an extremely useful life skill and can be used to improve the lives of people around you. The American Red Cross, is a humanitarian organization that provides first aid services free of charge within the community and is ready to help in a disaster.

What YOU Can Do Receive free first-aid training from the organization. Go to events such as community fairs or charity runs and provide first-aid treatment to injured members of the public.

As a first-aid volunteer you are required to work three events of your choice a year, which can be anywhere between two and ten hours long.

What YOU Can Do Help plan and implement their fundraising events, such as the Groundhog Run in January or Parent’s Night Out in November.

Volunteer at the preschool. Although it clashes with school hours, it runs through summer, which is when they need volunteers most.

Apply as a group of friends, or even a club, to run a day-long service project. It can be anything from a swim-day to a holiday themed activity day. This is perfect for if we have a day out of school.

You can also help out at Red Cross blood drive by registering people or handing out refreshments.

photo courtesy of

Children’s TLC Offical Website

. A. S. H R. E. You may have many causes you think are important, but don’t know how to get involved with them. SHARE has already done half the work for you. SHARE is a student-led program at East that coordinates a huge number of volunteer opportunities throughout the school year, both within East and with outside organizations.

What YOU Can Do Brighton Gardens - volunteers take part in activities with people of Brighton Gardens, the senior citizens residency on Mission road.

You can help families get the boost they need by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity KC. Habitat for Humanity KC provides homes for low to medium income families that need shelter. The families have to put 350 hours of work and some money towards the house and the rest comes from volunteers. This year, Habitat KC aims to complete 35 projects -- from small repairs to building brand new homes in the Kansas City urban core.

Project Warmth - students hold drive to collect warm clothes for winter for those in need.

Soup Kitchen - students serve lunch to those in need at Grace and Holy Trinity Soup Kitchen

What YOU Can Do Volunteer by painting, drilling or sawing on the construction site.

Before you can start going to events, you have to attend a volunteer orientation and a first aid training session at the Red Cross KC headquarters on Armour Blvd.

Contact Kimberly Stafford at 816841-5312 or kimberly.stafford@ redcross.org

Work in the office doing tasks such as answering phones, greeting guests and drafting e-mails.

Become a store clerk in ReStore, Habitat for Humanity’s home improvement store.

How YOU Can Get Involved

Visit the website childrenstlc.org for more details on specific volunteer opportunities and steps required to join the volunteer team. You can send further questions to info@childrenstlc.org for more information and assistance.

- Molly Cunninham, Director of Development

Habitat for Humanity

How YOU Can Get Involved

How YOU Can Get Involved

“Seeing the little milestones reached and miracles that occur on a daily basis with our children is inspiring and motivating.”

written by Katharine Swindells

Sign up week has already taken place but you can still get involved. Go to smeastshare.com to find which project you want to be involved in, then contact one of the eight Share execs to get started.

“The Red Cross can provide opportunities for confidence and leadership to prepare young people for their future and their communities future.” -Glenn Haager,

First Aid Station Volunteer Manager

photo courtesy of

Red Cross Official Website

“SHARE is so great because it provides everyone at East with the availability to get involved and give back to our community,”

-Lauren Hunter, SHARE Executive.

photo by Annie Savage

How YOU Can Get Involved To become a volunteer, complete the form online at or contact Dana Bass at (816)924 -1096 or dbass@habitatkc.org.

Also contact Dana Bass if you are under 16 but would like to get involved.

“Habitat for Humanity Kansas City is important because it unites people, from all walks of life, to work together and improve families lives.”

- Lindsay Hicks, Development Manager at Habitat for Humanity Kansas City.

photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity

Although I lack even the tiniest bit of rhythm and my vocal range is limited, music is still pretty prevalent in my everyday life. If I’m not humming some off-key Lana del Rey you can bet I’m singing the one line I remember from that song I heard on the radio

z z z z z

Playlists

last week. But most of the time I’m just getting my headphones yanked out of my ears by people who have apparently been talking to me for a good five minutes.

I’ve got a playlist or two for every emotion and

New Slang The Shins

Sleep

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) Sleeping at Last Higher Love James Vincent McMarrow Fire Escape Foster the People

find that best way to power through loads of homework is to get motivated with some lively music. The songs on my study playlist are still mellow, so I don’t get too distracted, but have a speedier tempo than those on my sleep playlist. They all have a certain euphonic flow that won’t disturb your train of thought in

Sun Two Door Cinema Club

Study

Blue Ridge Mountains Fleet Foxes Avant Gardener Courtney Barnett Dreams Fleetwood Mac

T

Done Madden Brothers Sexx Laws Beck

Driving

Flagpole Sitta Harvey Danger In One Ear Cage the Elephant How Deep is Your Love The Rapture

No Scrubs TLC Can I Kick It Tribe Called Quest Mama Said Knock You Out LL Cool J No Diggity Blackstreet

hether I’m about to go scream my head off at a football game or walk around in heels for four hours at Homecoming, I need my adrenaline to be pumping. When ravaging my closet or struggling to steadily apply eyeliner, I listen to music that has me bopping around and belting out every lyric, whether it’s

Shake it Off Taylor Swift Countdown Beyonce Crazy Beautiful Life Ke$ha Reflections MisterWives Radio

Playlists

asically pertaining to anything before 2005, ‘Throwbacks’ is a vast category that can’t easily be put into one playlist. You’ve got your throwbacks for each decade, each genre, and heck if they’ve been around long enough you even have throwbacks for different artists. The term ‘throwback’ is relatively new, coming into play

W

Fireball Pitbull ft. John Ryan

Getting Ready

he best part about having my own car is being able to pick the soundtrack that defines each cruise down Mission Road or road trip to Colorado. My driving playlist varies with my mood, but for the most part I like to listen to loud music that gets me excited for wherever I’m going. The songs I’ve picked are ones I regularly

B

Whatta Man Salt n’ Peppa

Throwbacks

hey say silence is deafening.

For those of us who can’t fall asleep without listening to music, this couldn’t be more true. That’s why I created this sleep playlist.

It lulls me into a peaceful state so I can slip into a deep sleep more easily. The songs on this playlist are mellow, calming and completely void of any loud crescen-

I

Psylla Glass Animals

Artists

23

written by Audrey Danciger

event I could possibly experience. Every genre from folk to rap is represented and country is even growing on me. So check out these micro-playlists I’ve created that compliment many of the situations we as students go through every day.

T

Christians in Black Rogue Wave

alt-copy

Songs

dos. Some are love songs, some are a bit sullen, but all of them are slightly hypnotic. This is especially handy when my mind is wandering to thoughts of how I did on that last quiz in history or what I’m having for lunch tomorrow.

the middle of an intense chemistry equation. However, you don’t have to worry about dozing off at your desk. The peppier beats will keep you going into the long hours of the night even when all the caffeine from your venti Americano has worn off.

belt out the lyrics and pound my palms on the steering wheel to.

Some of the vocals are laced with a twinge of anger, but this just serves as a better compliment to my frequent road rage.

mainly with the hashtag “#tbt” on Instagram. Because of this, every time I hear the word throwback I immediately think of things that people just like to bring up to feel cool, even if they aren’t really that old. So here is my ‘Throwbacks’ list that I always feel really hip listening too, consisting of 90s hip-hop, rap and r&b. right or one I just made up. Even though I don’t typically listen to a lot of pop, this playlist is my go-to for getting jazzed up to go out. Try to resist all you want, but shortly after you click play your toes will start tapping and you’ll feel the irresistible urge to get up and dance.

More

24

a&e

Indie Cuisine

Spice

it Up

Flavors of Pakistan and India mingle at local restaurant Chai Shai

written by Maddie Hyatt

I

f you want to travel to the land of Arabian Nights, exotic bazaars and curry-infused cuisine look no further than Chai Shai.

Chai Shai is an Indian and Pakistani influenced restaurant run and operated by a Pakistani family. The head chef is an elderly woman who lived in Pakistan for most of her life.

In the heart of Brookside, Missouri Chai Shai is located in the middle of a neighborhood setting. It is surrounded by houses except for the row of about four stores.

Walking in the front door of Chai Shai I was immediately hit with the overpowering aroma of curry. The spicy smell wafts through the room and onto your clothes, nose and hands until it’s the only scent you can detect. The size of the restaurant may add to the effect of the smell of Middle Eastern spices. It’s relatively small, but the dim lighting, sleek tables and outdoor patio make the space seem more open.

My friend and I were seated at the front of the restaurant. Right after we were seated, we ordered Chai

Shai’s famous appetizers -- vegetable samosas. Samosas are a fried, flourbased pastries stuffed with either a vegetable or meat-based content.

Unlike a typical sit-down restaurant, Chai Shai requires you to order at the bar.

Because of the spice in the food, I needed at least seven glasses to try to put out the fire in my mouth.

Chai Shai started out as a catering business for only samosas. As they gained popularity, customers started requesting dinner dishes, eventually launching the restaurant.

The vegetable samosa we ordered was stuffed with spiced potatoes, peas, corn and cilantro. The “spiced” flavor came from the Indian spices, but the real kick came from the green chili pepper sauce it was served with. Although the chili sauce was hot from the pureed green chili peppers, it had a sweet under taste with a hint of mint that toned down the spice.

As an entree, we decided to split the achari chicken. Achari chicken consists of whole pieces of chicken

(some with bone some without) cooked in a pickling sauce. I was a little worried the pickling sauce would taste like pickles but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The sauce was minimal in pickle flavor and strong in the curry flavor. To tone down the spiciness of curry I poured a sweet and seasoned yogurt sauce, called ratha, on top of the chicken. The pickling actually ended up giving the chicken a tart and tangy flavor.

It was delicious and tasted similar to the popular Indian chicken dish, chicken masala.

Before going to Chai Shai, Indian and Pakistani food is not something I would have thought to eat regularly, but this restaurant changes that.

After experiencing both the food and ambiance it would be a mistake to not come back. The unique flavors and dishes served at Chai Shai set it apart and above other Indian restaurants.

spicy mango

vegetable samosas

achari chicken

photos by Paloma Dickey

masala paneer

a&e 25

Comes to Zac Brown Band came to Sporting Park on Sept. 11 and amazed the crowd with their packed set list and smooth sound written by Aidan Epstein Fans packed like sardines in the Sporting KC stadium, thunder sounded and lighting struck the stage. “Let It Rain,” the opening song plays and a storm is brought to life by a huge screen in front of the stage projecting falling rain and lightning bolts. And now there’s that familiar sound of the Zac Brown’s smooth southern voice that so many people go crazy over.

The screen becomes less opaque and shows the band of “misfits” jamming out behind it.

The screen is lifted. The best concert I’ve ever been to begins.

For the die hard fans, every word that comes out of Zac Brown’s mouth is also coming out of yours. But for the average fan, one would know songs like “Colder Weather,” “Whatever it Is” and “Chicken Fried.” I’d consider myself an above average fan.

There were probably three songs in the stacked set list that I didn’t know any of the words to and over 5 that I knew every word by heart.

My favorite song the band performed was “Keep Me in Mind.” It’s one of their more upbeat songs and I love singing along.

Unfortunately, “Highway 20 Ride,” my all time favorite ZBB song, was not on the set list.

That

artwork by Audrey Danciger

was the only negative thing I can say about this concert.

Where I was standing made my experience even better, I had rockstar seats. It was set up like a standard concert, a big stage and then a runway-like part of the stage stuck out from the middle where the band would walk. I was standing second row from the main stage and second row from the runway. I was so close I could see all the hairs of Zac Brown’s beard.

I was so close that John Driskell Hopkins handed me his guitar pick. If you don’t know who John Driskell Hopkins is, don’t feel bad, he is a guitar player in the band and does many of those low vocals you hear throughout songs.

Another impressive member of the band is the violinist Jimmy De Martini. He is that edge that has helped made the band so successful. It makes the band sound old timey or almost like you’re sitting around a campfire, especially when the band sits in a circle on rustic chairs and does some of their songs acoustically.

The three hour concert seemed like it never ended, which was great. They played a set. Took an intermission. Played another set. Disappeared and then ran back on stage in glow-in-the dark skeleton suits.

By this time it was pitch black outside and most of the stage lights were off, so the members of the band were glowing. Literally in their glowin-the-dark skeleton suits. They ironically played “Day for the Dead” as they hit the stage, but their final song was the classic “Chicken Fried.” It’s so well known that I’m pretty sure everyone was expecting to hear it for the encore, because the band couldn’t perform without doing it. It just wouldn’t be right.

This tour didn’t need to promote a new album, it was just a great show on its own. They didn’t play their newly released song “All Alright” either. I went to their concert last fall and found it to be almost identical besides the opening act and finale. That could upset people, but I loved it just as much, if not more, because of their great live presence.

From a storm to a visit from skeletons the Zac Brown Band concert was spectacular. Their feel-good country music pumped up me and the crowd and I would definitely go see them perform for a third time.

ZBB Benchmarks Didn’t make it out to Sporting Park on Sept. 11?

No problem. Check out this list of Zac Brown Band hits from each of their major albums

“You Get What You Give” 2012

• ‘Knee Deep’ • ‘Keep Me in Mind’ • ‘Colder Weather’

“Uncaged” 2010

• ‘Jump Right In’ • ‘Goodbye in Her Eyes’ • ‘Sweet Annie’

“The Foundation” 2007

• ‘Toes’ • ‘Chicken Fried’ • ‘Free’

2,200 members of the community will see this ad.

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* Discounts for High School Students!

a&e 27

the NEW WAY TO STREAM As Apple rushes to keep up, new music sites like Soundcloud and Spotify offer listeners unlimited tunes for free written by Will Oakley

LOUD C D N SOU

O

n SoundCloud, a free music sharing app, senior Gracie Guignon can listen to anything from Lorde to senior Derek Steiert’s home recordings.

The app encourages all musicians to upload their recordings and remixes to their own profile for other users to like and share. And in Guignon’s case, this is perfect for the kind of music she prefers to listen to.

“I’ve liked mainly remixes, because that’s what I love to listen to,” Guignon said. “There are basically endless amounts of remixes for one song that I’d be able to scroll through by people that I wouldn’t normally have heard of.”

Guigon currently has 44 followers on SoundCloud. In other words, those 44 people are able to see the remixes and songs that she likes to listen to such as “The Anthem” (Flume Remix), or Coldplay’s “Midnight” (Kygo Remix).

With songs such as Habits by “Tove

Spoti

photos by Abby Hans

Low” and “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit on top charts, it seems like dance music is on the rise. So it would be fitting that, instead of having to pay to listen to these songs, there would be a way to not only get these songs for free, but also without ads.

SoundCloud saw this growing trend, and capitalized at the right moment. According to Forbes.com, the number of SoundCloud accounts in the last year have skyrocketed, growing by over 70,000 users a day. At that rate, the app could hit 55 million users by year’s end.

Yet, the one complaint with SoundCloud continues to be that it is merely an app that allows its’ users to delve into new remixes and artists, but not to simply listen to classic songs that people listen to on a daily basis.

“Some songs aren’t on there that I want to listen to,” Guignon said.

“Sometimes there’s only a remix, and you can’t find the original depending on the song.”

fy

J

unior Charlie Jensen’s music taste ranges from a little bit of jazz to a lot of country. This provides a problem when he’s buying songs on iTunes: it’s not free.

If Jensen wanted to listen to “Take Five,” a jazz song by Dave Brubeck, on iTunes while doing homework, he would have to spend $1.29 on that one song. Next, after doing some homework, if Jensen wanted to listen to “Fly Over States,” a country song by Jason Aldean, he would have to spend yet another $1.29. In ten quick minutes, Jensen just spent approximately two and a half dollars on two songs.

Spotify, an increasingly popular app, provides a solution: instead of paying over a dollar for two songs with iTunes, Jensen could have listened to all of Dave Brubeck and Jason Aldean’s songs for free on Spotify. This is exactly why Jensen loves Spotify.

“I get to listen to literally anything I want to for free, really whenever I want,” Jensen said. “I mean I could

have a full album of any country singer in front of me, without paying for it.”

According to Forbes.com, iTunes is losing business because of Spotify.

In the last year, Spotify has gained 66 percent more paying customers, altogether totaling over ten million. Also, iTunes has recently bought the “Dre Beats” company for $3.2 billion, which possesses a free music app, similar to Spotify. It is speculated that Apples feels the strains of its business going to Spotify, and feels that it must catch up. It’s clear that Spotify is no longer an unnoticed app. It’s something that millions of people, like Jensen, now prefer over iTunes.

SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Comparing Spotify and Soundcloud

4O MILLION registered users

FREE

SOUNDCLO U

D

Users can upload their own songs

UNLIMITED SKIPS

SPOTIFY

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owned by Facebook

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See Amanda Run

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New cross country coach, Amanda Besler, meshes with her student athletes and coaches with only one month under her belt. written by Ellie Booton “QUADS!” she yelled a she folded her calve behind her thigh.

With her signature blue baseball cap on, GaryGribble tank top and Nike Tempos, Amanda Besler looks around at the circle of runners surrounding her. They’re wiping sweat off their foreheads and stretching their quad-muscles. They’re laughing and hanging onto each other for balance. But most of all, they’re following instructions. Her instructions.

This year, East welcomes new cross country coach, Amanda Besler.

For Besler, the 3-year gap between her own college cross country career and her students’ high school career allows her to form a more relatable relationship with the runners.

“I like to believe that I coach by example.” Besler says.

Every day after school, Besler laces up her neon yellow Nike’s and trains with the varsity girls.

When head cross country coach Tricia Beaham calls out routes, she stands in the middle of all the girls, listening as intently as they do.

Then, they’re off.

“I didn’t realize how much she makes our run until she was gone one day,” Senior Cathy McAllister said. “Without her, it just wasn’t the same.”

When she was a high school freshman joining cross country, Besler simply saw running as another way to become an in-shape midfielder for her club-soccer team, Kansas City Futbol Club(KCFC).

But, after making varsity, she looked at cross country in a different light.

“I had played competitive soccer all my life, Besler said. “And sometime during my junior year I got burned out and decided to focus on running.”

So, senior year of high school, Amanda quit soccer to hone in on running. From 2003-2007, she ran Varsity at Olathe East High School, where she learned team strategies like running in a pack during races and won State her senior year.

Coaches Corner

From there, she would walk onto the University of Kansas’s cross country team and eventually earn her scholarship.

Running anywhere from 70-80 miles a week, even practicing twice a day on occasion, she committed herself to the program. She even ran a 16 minute 27 second 5K at an indoor race at KU, a record that is still standing for the university.

“It [was] a grind at times,” Besler said.

Compared to high-school cross country, college running was not just a fall sport. Once the fall season ends, indoor track starts for the winter season and outdoor track in the spring. With her constant travel schedule, KU provided tutors and academic advisors in order for her to stay on top of her schoolwork.

“You don’t live the ‘normal’ college life, but you meet a lot of great friends and get to travel to a lot of cool places along the way.” Besler said.

Three years later, one of those friends she made referred her to the coaches at Shawnee Mission East, where she would apply and soon be hired to coach high school runners.

And now, only one month in, Besler cracks jokes and roughhouses with the runners. Not only with the student athletes, but with the other coaches, too.

“Coach Besler has fit right in,” cross country coach Michael Chaffee said. “She has such an amiable disposition that she gets along with anyone.”

As for the upcoming season, Besler is shooting for both the boys and girls varsity’s to qualify for and contend in state.

But, for now, she can only focus on improving the team’s athleticism...and on learning their 100+ names.

Besler runs in front of a Iowa State as well as a Oklahoma State runner during a college meet. bottom Besler runs for Kansas University during a meet.

photos courtesy of The Besler’s

“I think it is great to have somebody younger on staff that the kids can relate too. And she has a lot of knowledge that she brings to the team.”

David Pennington

“Amanda coming on has been a great asset. She is young and enthusiastic, and she has plenty of expierience that she is able to share with all of our athletes.”

Trisha Beaham

“[I feel] great being one of the coaches. It’s been fun [coaching] so far, and there is a lot of good kids.”

Amanda Besler

sports

SOCCER

29

left Junior goalkeeper Thomas Allegri jumps to save a shot during a game against SM Northwest. The Lancers lost 1-2

The East soccer team has developed strong companionship this season, helping them implement their team strategy written by Pauline Werner

Varsity boys’ soccer coach Jamie Kelly always tells his captains that players on the team don’t all need to be friends. All that is necessary, he says, is that the team can set any negative feelings aside when they step on the field.

“On the field you have to be friends, brothers,” Kelly said. “The more they hang out together, and enjoy each other’s company, the more likely they are to be friends.”

But that hasn’t been a problem for senior Varsity captains Will Fenimore, Josh Zillner and Michael Moedritzer. To hear Fenimore say it, they’re weirdly close.

“It’s a weird group that would never all be friends if we didn’t play soccer,” Fenimore said.

“But we are and we’re really close.“ Right after the team rosters were posted, the new Varsity members got together for a slumber party at Fenimore’s house. They played FIFA, ping pong and got Taco Bell. Since then, they’ve had several more “slumbies.” And a favorite place for regular team breakfasts is Chick-Fil-A. On Sept. 18, the Lancers played the Lawrence Free State Firebirds, beating them 8-1. The important part for Kelly, though, is that, out of the 8 goals, 7 different players scored.

“We’re a team where we don’t have one standout players, it’s more everyone,” Fenimore said.

“We don’t have that one guy who’s going to be all-State and scores 30 goals.”

The team plays with a strategy that, according to Moedritzer, results in 8 out of the 11 play-

ers on the field making offensive plays. They play possession soccer, in which the team aims to keep the ball to themselves and in control.

An onlooker from the stands would only see a player touch the ball once or twice before looking to pass to a teammate. Kelly says that this method is commonly used because it has several advantages. A lot of dribbling, according to Kelly, invites the other team to collapse on a single East player, increasing the chances that the Lancers will lose control of the play.

“We pretty much try to get teams out of their comfort zones so they lose the ball,” Fenimore said. “And then we pass it around.”

Kelly says that being friends makes this strategy more effective -- an easy off-the-field dynamic translates onto the field. When passes need to connect smoothly and the players need to rely on one another, they trust each other, according to Zillner.

“If someone messes up, we’re not like ‘I’m not going to pass it to that person,’” Moedritzer said.

After going undefeated in a preseason tournament in the top bracket, the team is 4-4. The captains will continue to strengthen the team’s camaraderie and they’re confident that they will get nothing but better as the year goes on and that their record with improve.

“There’s another thing about soccer,” Fenimore said. “We’re really good looking.”

Road to the Playoffs

Opponent SM North Olathe North BV Northwest Olathe South Leavenworth

Date 10/2/14 10/7/14 10/8/14 10/14/14 10/17/14

Location SM Soccer Complex ODAC BVDAC SM North SM Soccer Complex

photo by James Wooldridge

Join us for the third annual OVERRUN Ovarian Cancer 5K Run/Walk and 1 Mile Teal Trail Walk Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 8:30 a.m.

Blue Valley Recreation Complex- 9701 W. 137th St. Overland Park Register now at www.overrunovariancancer.com Lancers receive $5 off registration with this code: golancers

FANTASY

sports

FRENZY written by Davis Finke

W

THE

LEAGUE

search before the draft,” Holtgraves said. “There are countless articles on ESPN about what quarterbacks will be a bust, and who will come up big, its all about winning the money at the end.”

Holtgraves’ league costs $10 to participate, and the winner gets $100.

Second place gets their money back and everyone else has to accept defeat.

100 dollars may seem like a lot, but leagues that go through companies like VISA or Mastercard, can have grand prizes up to $50,000.

Junior Glazer says that if you’re a football fan, why wouldn’t you play fantasy football? According to Glazer, the money is a good motivation to play, and on top of that, it’s addicting. It requires you to watch all the games on Sunday, and it just makes the game more intense.

It’s not just boys who are addicted either, girls are in on the fun as well.

“This is my first year playing, and I’m definitely doing it next year. It’s just fun. I try to check it everyday, and I talk about it pretty much non-stop,” senior Olivia Myers said.

For these East students, fantasy football is as important to them as the real game itself. The betting and competitiveness are what keeps their head in the game. It’s addicting, and unites all different groups of students. From girls to boys, and from sports enthusiasts to IB kids. It unites them all.

STAT CHECK ON THE TOP THREE FANTASY PLAYERS

Peyton Manning

photos courtesy of MCT Campus

Drew Brees

5,477

Jamaal Charles

5,162

passing yards

259

passing yards

450/659

carries

446/650

completed

1,287

completed

55 touchdowns 406 FANTASY POINTS

AT THE START OF FOOTBALL SEASON, EAST STUDENTS TAKE PART IN CREATING A FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM

photo by Annie Savage

hen NFL season comes around, Kansas City Chiefs fans get pumped. And not just for the games, but for fantasy football. There are many strategies for winning, some people may go for a good draft, others may take advantage of the waivers list, but it all comes down to one thing. Winning. There isn’t a greater feeling than coming out on top at the end of a hard fought season, and marching away with that grand prize. Easier said than done.

Fantasy football has been around for years — there are commercials, ads, and websites for it; kids all across Shawnee Mission East take part in it.

Junior Jackson Holtgraves has been a member of a league with other kids from East for two years. Members include juniors Henry and Charlie Kircher, Jack Tyler, Worth Blackman and Alex Glazer.

“Fantasy football is pretty much my favorite thing to do in the fall,” Holtgraves said. “Watching all the games on Sunday, hoping your players make big plays, it’s just exciting.”

In fantasy football, participants select NFL players in a draft, and form a team. The new team plays someone else’s in the league, and how the players do in real life gives them points on a participant’s fantasy team. The team who has the most total points at the end of the week wins the game.

There are different ways to draft. There’s an online, or offline draft. With an online one, everyone in the league must go somewhere, and make their picks from the same computer. An online draft, however, requires that everyone be on their computer from home, and make their picks from there. For a successful season, it all starts from there.

“We do an offline draft, it’s sort of a tradition, we all go to the Kirchers house and make our picks,” Holtgraves said.

According to Holtgraves, the quarterback is the most important player to draft. Quarterbacks provide for, on average, around 20 percent of your weekly points, so without a good player, it’s going to be tough to get a W. “Every year, I try to pick a quarterback first, and I do a lot of re-

yards

39 touchdowns 348

31

FANTASY POINTS

12 295 FANTASY POINTS

touchdowns

*as of Sept. 24

32

photoessay

photo by Annie Savage

photo by Annie Savage above Senior Derek Steiert laughs with his fellow teammate, sophomore Clayton Phillips. “The soccer team bond is very different from any other team because we don’t have many guys,” Steiert said. “We all became really close after the first week and we’ve been nothing but brothers since.” below Senior Harrison Short reacts to a call made by the ref. “They weren’t really giving us the calls we were looking for,” Short said. “Everyone was starting to get more frustrated.”

photo by Annie Savage

above Junior Andrew Mulligan celebrates after senior Derek Steiert scores the second goal of the night, which was then called a foul and didn’t count.

“I thought it was an incredible volley. I was really disappointed when the goal was called”, Mulligan said. “When we score, it’s an amazing feeling celebrating with your supporters and teammates.”

photo by Annie Savage

WHATEVER IT TAKES

photo by Annie Savage

photo by Annika Sink above The Lancer Dancers performed at their first soccer game of the season last Tuesday. “Performing at the soccer games is a lot different than football games because you’re right in front of the student section. It’s usually pretty cold, and its hard to move around for hip-hop on the turf”, senior Gracie Guignon said. “We think soccer deserves attention just as much as the other sports do.” left Sophomore Stanley Morantz scored the first and only goal of the night. “It felt great,” Morantz said.

“It was a great pass from Zillner and I wanted to score another one.”

This is Morantz first year on varsity.

The boys’ soccer team fell to Lawrence Free State on Fri. Sept. 23.

Predicted to win, Free State came back with two goals and won the game. The final score was 1-2.