Issue 9 of the 2014-2015 Harbinger

ISSUE 9 |JANRUARY 26,2015

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208

Gas prices are declining — experts disagree on the reasons why, but East students enjoy low pump costs while they last

INSIDE:

SENIOR STARTS SMOOTHIE BUSINESS LOCAL SANDWICHES news: page 21

a&e: page 26

JUNIOR RETURNS WITH SPANISH SOCCER EXPERIENCE

sports: page 31

2 editorial

11 VOTES AGAINST 0 VOTES FOR

art by Stella Braly

JE SUIS CHARLIE Recent terror attacks abroad demand Americans’ attention

We know the feeling. As Americans, we know what it’s like to have our way of life attacked. Not overseas, but at home. From September 2001 to the 2013 Boston Marathon, our memories are fresh. It’s an open wound that’s shaped our national identity as much as it’s shaped our foreign policy.

Even so, it’s easy to think of the succession of terrorist attacks in France as just another overseas tragedy. Where

we send news correspondents and the Secretary of State to make a speech, but thankfully not something that we in the States need to feel intimately.

The Harbinger wants to bring this issue home.

We stand in solidarity with the victims of shooting at Charlie Hebdo and the hostage situations that followed. We stand with the French Jewish community, with journalists exercising their right to free speech and with the people who make up the United States’ oldest ally.

We stand as a news-

paper, reminded that our rights to existence and publication come at a cost.

At the same time, though, we stand as a group of Americans who look to Europe and feel an echo of what our people felt on the morning of September 11, 2001. So we ask you to look up from your daily lives, and pay attention.

Realize that it wasn’t just a foreign country on another continent that was attacked. The right to freedom of expression was attacked. Of all people, Americans should appreciate the value of liberties

like that — they are the pillars on which the United States was founded.

Despite our differences, values like freedom of speech don’t carry a flag.

They belong to everyone, and unite us across oceans and borders. We stand together, regardless of citizenship or religion. We stand against those that would try to impose censorship, because nothing is more un-American than that.

THE HARBINGER STAFF SPRING 2015 CO-EDITORS-INCHIEF Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp

ASSISTANT EDITORS Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk

HEAD COPY EDITOR Pauline Werner

ART & DESIGN EDITOR Phoebe Aguiar

NEWS SECTION EDITOR Sophie Storbeck

EDITORIAL SECTION EDITOR Will Clough

A&E SECTION EDITORS Audrey Danciger Yashi Wang

CIRCULATION Kylie Schultz

OPINION SECTION EDITOR Audrey Danciger

FEATURES SECTION EDITORS Courtney McClelland Claire Pottenger

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR Will Oakley

SPREAD SECTION EDITORS Aidan Epstein Chloe Stanford

NEWS PAGE DESIGNERS Will Brownlee Ava Backer Ali Lee Chase Tetrick

A&E PAGE DESIGNERS Anna Dierks Abby Walker Ellie Cook Katie Hise

OPINION PAGE DESIGNERS Ellie Booton Alex Masson Tyler Keys

FEATURES PAGE DESIGNERS Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Daisy Bolin Celia Hack

SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Teagan Noblit Michael Kraske Ellis Nepstad Caleb Krakow

COPY EDITORS Maddie Hyatt Caroline Heitmann Sophie Storbeck Kylie Schultz Hannah Coleman Will Clough Ellie Booton Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk Pauline Werner Susannah Mitchell

PHOTO EDITOR Annie Savage

ASSTITANT PHOTO EDITORS Hailey Hughes James Wooldridge

EDITORIAL BOARD

Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Pauline Werner Tommy Sherk Caroline Kohring Susannah Mitchell Phoebe Aguiar Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau Will Oakley Audrey Danciger Julia Poe

ADS MANAGERS Abby Walker Celia Hack

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

Morgan Browning Haley Bell Joseph Cline Kaitlyn Stratman Abby Hans

Allison Stockwell Abby Blake Kylie Relihan James Wooldridge Annika Sink Katie Lamar Elizabeth Anderson Annie Lomshek Ava Backer Ali Hickey

STAFF ARTISTS Abby Walker Caleb Krakow Annie Lomshek

STAFF WRITERS Elaine Chamberlain Celia Hack Jessica Parker Daniel Rinner Chase Tetrick Ellie Cook Mac Newman Annie Jones Annie Lomshek Jemima Swindells Olivia Favreau Davis Finke

ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Susannah Mitchell Julia Poe

ONLINE HEAD COPY EDITORS Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE LIVE BROADCAST EDITORS Ellis Nepstad John Foster

ONLINE NEWS SECTION EDITOR Will Clough

ONLINE FEATURES SECTION EDITOR Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Michael Kraske Daniel Rinner

ONLINE ARTS EDITOR Sean Overton

ONLINE HOMEGROWN SECTION EDITOR Stella Braly

ONLINE OPINION SECTION EDITOR Celia Hack

ONINE EASTIPEDIA SECTION EDITOR Matthew Kaplan

ONLINE VIDEO EDITOR Matthew Bruyere

ONLINE SOUND EDITOR Leah O’Connor

WEBMASTER Jacob Milgrim

ASSISTANT WEBMASTER Callie McPhail

MULTIMEDIA STAFF Alex Masson Tyler Keys Gabe Snyder

Ellis Nepstad Matthew Bruyere Katie Lamar Abby Hans Annika Sink Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Katie Lamar

INTERACTIVE DESIGNERS Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Mike Thibodeau Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

ONLINE PHOTO EDITORS Callie McPhail Katie Lamar

SME PHOTOS Abby Han

ANCHOR

Taylor Norden

ADVISER Dow Tate

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

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.

School, Local and Worldwide News Broken Down written by Haley Bell

news 3

Timeline of Events

BOKO HARAM SEIZES NIGERIAN VILLAGES Boko Haram, an Sunni Islamic extremist group in Nigeria, kidnapped as many as 80 people during raids in Cameroon on Jan. 18, according to the BBC. About 20 of these citizens have been freed, while the others remain captive.

Boko Haram is based on the principle of forbidding Western education and is working to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. In their effort to do so, the terrorist group has destroyed towns, kidnapped hundreds and killed thousands.

The fighting, which was originally contained within Nigeria, spread to Cameroon with the last attack.

The day before the kidnapping, troops from Chad were sent to Cam-

eroon to aid Cameroonian troops as the Boko Haram attacks neared the Cameroonian border.

The jihadist group has been attacking Nigeria since 2009. In early January, an estimated 2,000 were killed in a Boko Haram massacre in Baga, a town in northeastern Nigeria, but the Nigerian government admitted to a death toll of 150. Boko Haram was also responsible for the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls last April.

As the fighting continues and is spreading towards nations that neighbor Nigeria, some African governments are calling on the African Union to create a plan for intervention.

2002 First known attack involved 200 Boko Haram militants who attack police stations in Nigeria

Abubakar Shekau is announced the new leader of Boko Haram

Synchronized Swimming Team in Jeopardy The Prairie Village Synchronized Swimming Team will be cancelled if 25 kids don’t enroll in the program this spring.

Community members interested in the program met with Nolan Sunderman, assistant to the Prairie Village city administrator, on Jan. 14 to show that there was still a desire for the program.

At the meeting, Sunderman agreed to open enrollment and hire coaches for the 2015 season. About seven girls will be returning this year.

The returning swimmers are trying to publicize the team and

encourage more kids to join. The swimmers plan to make signs and posters to distribute the enrollment information. They are also posting the information on Twitter and Facebook.

“Synchronized swimming is really a word of mouth thing,” senior Molly Pratt, who is applying to for the coaching position, said. “So we’re going to go to the elementary schools...and try to talk to the little girls about it because we really need a lot of younger kids to do it.”

If there are enough kids signed up before summer begins, the team’s season will begin in early June.

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Showing in February This year’s winter musical, “Little Shop of Horrors,” is about a maneating plant that is raised by Seymour, a florist shop employee. It will be performed on Feb. 4, 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. and there will be an additional performance at 2 p.m. on Feb. 7.

Tickets will be $10 for reserved seating or free with a student ID. East has done this show before, winning awards with it in 2003.

However, it will be different this year. The actors will put their own spin on their roles, portraying their characters differently than they have been performed in other pro-

ductions.

“I’m embracing the insecure and introverted part of Seymour, whereas most people do the goofy lifestyle,” senior Austin Dalgleish said.

One similarity between this yer’s show and the 2003 production at East will be the set design. However, the man-eating plant puppet will be new.

The 45 cast members have been rehearsing since December and are excited for people to see the show.

“I think they should come expecting to see a really funny, slightly scary show,” Dalgleish said.

Hundreds of gunmen take over villages, leaving as many as 2,000 people dead.

2003 2009 2010 2014

Boko Haram founded

by Mohammed Yusuf to establish an Islamic State in north Africa

In July, the uprising starts, killing both police officers and the militant group.

Yusuf is captured and dies in police custody.

The militants kidnap around 276 girls from a boarding school.

2015

Photos of the Week below

Senior Harrison Short warms up with his varisty bowling teammates before a game against Olathe East. photo by Joseph Cline

below

The crowd of a varsity basketball game against Olathe East cheers after Lucas Jones’ dunk during the last quarter.

photo by Annie Savage

right

Junior Joe Levin practices Brahm’s Akademische Festouvertüre on his cello for the symphony’s next concert. photo by Annika Sink

4 news

LOOKING AHEAD:

10 THINGSwritten TO EXPECT IN 2015

by Morgan Krakow

1.

THE WORLD: ISIS’S RISE

The Jihad militant group launching terror attacks across the globe has not let up. From shootings, to beheadings, to fancy edited videos, ISIS dominated Western media outlets in 2014. According to CNN, ISIS is even making $3 million a day in illegal oil money.

6.

AT THE PUMP: PRICE DROP

With gas prices at historically low levels, watch to see if we’ll gain or lose out on the practical prices. Check out the next page for more information on the price plummet.

2.

3.

7.

8.

THE MOVIES: STAR WARS RETURN

Star Wars: Episode VII is set to be released in 2015. Boxofficescoop.com reported that the new film will be directed by J.J. Abrams and even has buzz that the film will include actors like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

FASHION: BLAZER’S BEST

Males should also be looking for blazers. Instead of traditional navy blazers, guys should be mixing things up with a ‘statement blazer’.

They’ll fit tighter than a suit coat and can be brightly patterned or colored.

POLITICS: GOP GEARS UP

Even more so than the Democrats, the Republican party is already overflowing with candidates declaring a run for the presidency. Whether it’s another Bush or Romney’s attempt number three, 2015 likely beholds a fiery political race on both sides of the aisle.

POLITICS: DEMS READY

The gears have been set in motion for a 2016 presidential showdown, and 2015 is when the pieces will all come together. With multiple democrats vying for their party’s nomination, speculation on who will run is expected to hit fever pitch in the next few months.

4.

5.

9.

10.

FASHION: SUITED UP

Neutral cropped trousers paired with blazers will work for both summer and fall 2015. The versatility is important of these outfits is important, because it can be dressed up or dressed down.

IN KC: CONCERT TIME

The pop-rock duo Matt and Kim will be returning to Kansas City on May 7 to play at the Power & Light District with Meg Myers. Tickets for this all-ages show went on sale last Friday.

MOVIES: MINION TIME!

You heard it here first, folks.

Mark your calendars for July, 10. The popular animated films, ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me 2,’ are projected to release a third in the series entitled ‘Minions.’ This one will focus on those gibberish-speaking yellow guys.

SUPREME COURT

MARRIAGE DEBATE

The Supreme Court historically announced that it will take on the issue of the constitutionality of gay marriage within the United States in the next twelve months. There are already 36 states that allow same-sex marriage.

news 5

, rop d e y pric ountr s a c g e U.S in th e s h es t rice rac est p b w em ity the lo C s sa ing written by Tommy Sherk Kan ile hav wh nd OPEC said, let the pumps

A

flow with golden gas.

OPEC: “We need a reasonable price where producers will not start nagging. At a reasonable price we can invest to produce more oil. With this price, we will not invest.

Nobody will invest. If there is no more supply, the price will shoot up.”

-Abdalla Salem el-Badri, CEO of OPEC (From CNBC)

Since October, the downward slope of gas prices in the United States has left Americans in a confused happiness, unsure of who to thank for the money-saving, economy-stimulating rarity.

But who do we thank for the for these plummeting prices? A Saudi Santa? Friendly Frackers? New York Times writer Clifford Krauss says the Organization of Exporting Petroleum Countries (OPEC) is behind the drop.

In an attempt to stay on top of the oil market, OPEC has increased the production of oil, even though the price has dropped in the consumer countries. In an interview with International Business Times, natural resource analyst Chad Mabry predicts that the prices will continue to decrease, and not begin to rise for a half year.

Yet, OPEC’s motives are under speculation.

Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm, who has fought legal battles against OPEC, guesses that the oil organization is bluffing. In an interview with Forbes, Hamm predicts that the oil barrel prices will spike, and that the company’s intentions are to drown out smaller oil companies.

For now, the low cost of oil barrels affects this community especially.

Though Kansas Citians may walk away from the pump not questioning the money they just saved, they may not realize they are walking away with more than anybody else in the country. As of January 21, Gasbuddy.com named Kansas City, Missouri as having the lowest gas prices in country. That, combined with the fact that Kansas is the state with the third-lowest gas prices, provides the East com-

United States: “I would strongly advise American consumers to continue to think about how you save money at the pump because it is good for the environment, it’s good for family pocketbooks and if you go back to old habits and suddenly gas is back at $3.50, you are going to not be real happy.”

-President Obama (From Time.com)

munity with a unique, money-saving benefit.

“It’s made a huge lifestyle change for us,” Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen drives 196 blocks to school. Her husband, an assistant principal at Shawnee Mission South, drives separately. Together, they used to spend around $1,000 a month on gas. Rasmussen’s car cost her $60 to fill up, and now costs her around $30, making it less of a burden to drive to work and her sons to their practices. With close to $500 back in her family’s pockets, Rasmussen used the money to buy her sons new sports equipment, do “fun stuff” with her kids on the weekend and pay off bills.

Senior Chloe Costello, who drives a gas-guzzling Toyota Land Cruiser, used to pay $50 to $70 to fill up her tank every other week. Because she saves an average of $10 each tank, she gets to stock up on her gas card.

On the other end of the spectrum, senior Noah Marsh has to pay close to nothing on his fuel efficient car. Before the gas drop, Marsh’s Hyundai Veloster cost $35 to $45 to fill up a tank. Now, he enjoys paying no more than a $20 bill.

“It’s incredible. I definitely go out to lunch more often,” Marsh said. “Since I’m not spending my money on gas, I can spend it on other things I want.”

While some analysts predict that OPEC’s continuous production may not last a month, others say it will stay for the next half of 2015. Either way, the East’s entire driving community can benefit from the money they’ve saved on gas.

art by Tommy Sherk

Kansas: “So, if oil prices are going down as they are now, then the state of Kansas will get less money in severance tax receipts. And… it certainly makes a difference now when other tax sources, larger tax sources, like income tax receipts have been going down dramatically.”

-Former Kansas Budget Director Duane Goossen (From KSN.com)

$ 1. 5 5

K C , MO

Switch SEXUALITY

6 news

the

Flipping

Recent suicide of transgender teen increases public concern over conversion therapy An Ohio transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, born Josh Alcorn, walked across a highway over winter break and was hit by a truck. She programmed her Tumblr account to post a suicide note that day. In it she described her parents’ attempts to change her gender identity through isolation, taking her out of school and putting her into conversion therapy.

When junior Alex Long, who is also transgender, heard about the incident via Tumblr, he was reminded how controversial LGBT rights are. He thought some of the anger was towards Leelah’s parents for continuing to use male pronouns and Leelah’s birth name, while others aimed their anger at Leelah.

Alex’s mom, Terri Long, is a psychiatrist. When Alex came out to her, she was worried. “[My reaction] was being apprehensive about what his future would hold,” she said.

Terri was afraid of how other people would react.

41%

of all transgenders attempted to commit suicide in 2014

Terri said that she never considered conversion therapy for Alex. She said that none of the psychiatrists she’s heard from believe in conversion therapy for minors because it is ineffective and can be dangerous.

“It doesn’t work and it’s harmful,” Alex said. “[Leelah’s] parents put her in a situation she wasn’t supposed to be going through; it’s appalling.”

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, aims to change the patient’s gender identity and sexual orientation. Reparative therapy has been controversial since it’s use became widespread in the 90’s. It used to consist of physical treatments like electroshock therapy, but now less drastic, cognitive treatments performed by counselors are more common.

Leelah’s story and her suicide note spread through social media and caused an outrage.

Because of the attention Leelah’s story has gotten, people are joining the fight to

9

ban conversion therapy in all states. In Kansas there aren’t any laws prohibiting the use of conversion therapy.

Transgender Human Rights Institute made a petition on change.org calling out to President Obama to ban transgender conversion therapy. As of Jan. 20, the petition has around 326,835 supporters.

There’s another petition on the White House web site titled “Enact Leelah’s Law to Ban All LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy” with about 63,000 signatures as of Jan. 20.

Currently two states, New Jersey and California, along with Washington DC, have laws banning conversion therapy for minors. Protesters are attempting to get it banned in all states.

“The idea of therapy is self determination,” East counselor Becky Wiseman said.

“That people get to the place where they want to be, not parents, not grandparents, not school officials, but where a person wants to be... in their own life.”

million

Americans identify themselves as

written by Sophie Storbeck

transgenders

62%

of transgenders surveyed experience bullying each year

columns 7

Hiding Behind a Screen

Depression by Numbers Relating Social Media to Depression

Social media has a negative effect on today’s teens

18 16 14

opinion by Alex Masson

T

12 Percentage

here’s a saying out there that idle hands are the devil’s workshop. It has been said that these hands that aren’t active produce evil twice as quickly as working hands can produce good. It says that those idle hands can destroy lives, ruin memories and worst of all kill the soul in a blink of an eye. With social media addicted teens and their shotgun emotions, that saying is more truer than ever.

Like the comedian Nick Offerman said in one of his stand ups, our phones are essentially gateways to places we want to be. They teleport us to anywhere we want to be, and let us live the lives of others with the tap of a finger. You don’t realize it, but you can go from reading about a man who has over 50 cats in Oregon, to a shop in New York that serves mouth-watering food.

My sister, Keara, tried to make herself a whole new life through Instagram. She was posting pictures with friends, getting random people to comment on her posts to seem like she was more popular than she actually was. She would spend hours stalking her phone for any notification.

See, my sister went through high school with this idea my mother had pounded into her head that, “If you’re never going to see these people again after you graduate, why make friends with them?”

Because of that, friends would come and go quicker than the sun could set and rise again.

Then one day, one of my sister’s classmates commented on her weight on a post, and the sand castle of happiness that she had built came crashing down like so many others because of one person.

She stopped hanging out with friends, stopped going outside, stopped living for all intents and all purposes and slowly became a vegetable that cried and watched TV all day. She would constantly fight with my parents for no reason. She ballooned up to 400 pounds within two years, and by her senior year, she stopped showing up to school.

All because one person decided to pick on her.

It’s marginal to say that social media ruined my family, because in all reality, my sister had some pretty serious underlying issues that never got treated because of the idea that teens just “go through periods” in their adolescence.

My sister had social anxiety, depression and she was afraid of making new friends because of what my mother had told her. She then used social media to create a world that she could live in where she had friends. And it was all ruined because of one comment.

A bad decision by some idle hands.

Daughters 1986 Daughters 2006 Sons 1986 Sons 2006

10 8 6

Annie Lomshek & photo by Hailey Hughes

4 2 0

High school students need to realize that their life goes beyond pixels on a phone screen. It doesn’t matter if you can keep friends for five minutes or five years, it doesn’t matter if somebody says something mean about you over some site.

People can talk crap over whatever internet site they choose, they can berate you with hateful comments and make fun of every aspect of your body.

They can do a lot of things, a lot of mean things, but that shouldn’t change who you think you are.

Because in the end, what matters is life outside the phone screen.

Depressed Irritable Mood Mood

1/3

2/3

Number of social media users that have trouble sleeping after using social media information courtesy of

www.ayph.org.uk and www.huffingtonpost.com

8 columns

Staying n Their

Lane opinion by Mike Thibodeau

C

Bowling allows a father-son relationship to extend beyond that, into the photo by Annie Savage dynamic between a coach and a player

rash! The ball smashes through the head pin, the pins scatter leaving two on either side of the lane glaring at me like the uprights of a field goal. I tilt my head back in frustration, subtly covering my raised middle finger so you can’t see it from lane behind me, an admittedly bad trick I’ve picked up in high school bowling.

“Relax,” my dad says as he sits behind me. “Your line has changed. Move three and two on your next shot.”

“I know,” I laugh forcibly, bitter about the shot.

“You know I can’t give you that kind of coaching in a meet,” he adds in smugly as I pick up one of the two remaining pins.

“Oh, shut up. Sir,” I add in at the end. That used to be a prospect that would’ve scared me, not having him there to coach me. But in the past four years, he’s become less and less of a coach to me.

But only less of one to me. You see, he’s the head coach over at Olathe East, one of the best bowling squads in the Sunflower League, and a squad I bowl against every year. * * * I can’t remember how old I was the first time I went bowling. All I remember is that my feet were so small at the time the bowling alley didn’t have shoes small enough to fit them so I bowled in socks.

My dad’s had me in leagues since I was five. Every summer, he’d take me up to Mission Bowl and try to coach my little five year old brain not to bounce the ball off the bumpers.

When I was seven, bumpers were no longer allowed and I began bowling in father-son leagues with my dad.

Every single year we’d bowl in a league together. With his help, my average started to rise. He was there when I shot my first 200, he was there to see my first 600 series. When

I beat him for the first time, announced my name over the intercom at Mission Bowl.

But those little summer leagues came to an abrupt stop when I turned 10. My parents got divorced. In the chaos and turmoil of it, I nearly lost bowling. But worst, I was scared I’d lose my dad.

I only got to see my dad a few times a week back then.

My relationships with my parents had always been strong.

Through the divorce, my relationship with my mom held strong, but for awhile, I was worried my relationship with my dad would crumble beneath the weight of the divorce.

So my dad turned to something that we’d always done together; he turned to bowling to help bond us.

We signed up for a Thursday night league. Every Thursday night, we’d be up at King Louie Lanes. He’d coach me, I’d listen and I started getting better. And our bond started growing stronger. I could hear the pride in his voice when he’d shout “boom baby” after I’d throw a strike.

While he was coaching me over at King Louie, he picked up the head coaching job at Olathe East. On our bowling nights, he’d tell me about how their meets went, how the bowlers did, what his hopes were for the season.

And that’s when I started thinking about joining the bowling team when I got to high school.

When I got to Shawnee Mission East, the good East, I was set on going out for the bowling team. That week of tryouts, I was nervous I wouldn’t even make the team.

I must have called my dad at least twice a day to talk to him about it. Looking back, I’m not really sure why I was nervous. I shot a couple two hundreds, and, not only did I make the team, I ended up at the number three spot on varsity when meets started rolling around.

That year, my dad made sure his squad bowled ours;

his squad that won State the year before, anchored by their returning State Champion bowler Nicky Hurmence.

In that first meet I bowled against him; his team was stacked. To be honest I was a little terrified. My dad was there, we were bowling one of the toughest teams in the state and I was just a tiny, little freshman.

But I ended up being a tiny, little freshman who shot lights out that day. I shot in the 650s, placed third in the meet beating the defending State champ by 30 pins and I did it all in front of my dad. I know my dad’s proud of me, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him prouder. Out of all of the moments in my high school bowling career, that was the best. * * * I’m back up at the line. My feet a few boards to the right. I make my approach and swing the ball right over my new mark. The ball spins through the oil, catches the lane and *crash* smashes right through the pocket. Pins go flying across the board. Nothing’s left standing.

“See? What did I tell ya?” my dad brags as I strike.

“Hey, I knew what to do already,” I smile back, cocky as can be.

It was the same advice he’d given me time and time again. Advice that’s built up over the years, becoming my own knowledge. His coaching has helped me become the bowler I am today, but bowling has bonded me and my dad stronger than anything else could.

He is my coach, he’s my rival, but most importantly, he’s my dad.

columns 9

A popular part-time job for many students, babysitting can present scenarios beyond the usual opinion by Daisy Bolin

I

photo illustration by Callie McPhail

the

REAL BABYSITTERS of Johnson County

These Lancers know that babysitting doesn’t always just mean easy money and keeps them on their toes

“

catherine sabates, 12 photos by Katie Lamar

The girls I nanny had a few friends over and they said they wanted to make me some soup.

So naturally I thought that sounds like a fun time. Little did I know that the soup was made from paint and all different types of condiments from the kitchen. At first I was a little upset about the mess, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

“

just had to go to the bathroom. I left a five-year-old boy and his three-year-old sister in the kitchen singing “Let it Go,” and drawing while I went to the bathroom.

Strangely, I didn’t hear them arguing over the hot pink crayon. I had only been in the bathroom for a minute or two, but when I came back into the kitchen, my jaw dropped at the amount of glitter, glue and paint smeared all over the floor, table and chairs by little fingers.

I’m not talking just a little bit of paint, this was the whole bottle splattered into a toddler masterpiece.

They both looked up at me with pure joy; eyes wide and ear-to-ear grins like they had been having the best two unsupervised minutes of their life. Their mom would be home in ten minutes, only enough time for me to grab some paper towels and a couple of Clorox wipes. Scrubbing, I reminded myself that I would have forty more bucks for Urban Outfitters and some Cold Stone ice cream.

The last time I asked my parents for money to go shopping they told me I needed to make my own money and learn responsibility. Some of my friends can ask their parents for money and they will whip out thirty bucks to give them. My moneymaker is babysitting, and I do it a lot. Why do I spend so much of my time with sticky little kids, tending to their every need? Because while they test me, I am always rewarded with a warm hug when I arrive, and cash in the end.

My job is to make sure that any glittery paint messes get cleaned up. Apparently I have gotten pretty good at it because when the mom got home, she didn’t even notice a trace of the mess that was there just seconds before she walked in. I was paid and went home peeling dried glue off my fingers for the next thirty minutes. Turns out I was the one who brought the paint and glitter for the kids to splatter.

Whoops.

Another time, I was watching four five-yearold girls who were best friends.Typically there are plenty of things to do with these girls because they are always pumped up for scooter races. This time, however, it was pouring rain and rewatching episodes of “Good Luck Charlie” was getting old. The girls came to the conclusion that hide-and-go-seek was the only option.

I was voted to be the evil seeker. I counted to thirty and started by looking behind doors

halle connelly, 11

“

and under the girls’ beds. After checking every single room in the house, I only found two girls.

Eager to find the expert hiders, we all split up, one to the kitchen, one to the basement. I was sent outside to announce the game was over in case they were hiding there.

Yes, it was still pouring down freezing rain.

I called out “okay we give up girls,” and was heading inside when the door to the house shut behind me, and I heard the click of the lock. I sighed and turned to see all four faces pressed up against the window, sticking their tongues out at me and giggling. Of course this would happen. I mean, why would the girls be hiding in the freezing rain? I felt dumb, but I figured there was more to it.

Why would they lock me outside? So that they could do the only two things I ask them not to do. One, wear their mom’s heels. Two, eat more mint chocolate chip ice cream. All I could do was helplessly watch them from outside. The thought of one of the girls falling in the five-inch heels gave me goosebumps.

I tried all of the other doors to the house, but every single one was locked. I walked up to a window looking into the kitchen and knocked.

“Alright, I guess I’m gonna have to call your mom and tell her what you’ve done.” I said.

One of them held up my phone.

“But I have your phone.”

I rolled my eyes and admitted defeat. Duh they would have my phone. I reminded myself over and over, two hours left and fifty bucks headed my way.

What was I thinking making rules against heels and ice cream for four little girls? I would’ve done the same thing to my own babysitter.

Thankfully after about twenty minutes the girls got bored of eating ice cream and prancing around in oversized black pumps. They let me in. I dried off, grabbed myself a welldeserved bowl of ice cream and spent the next two hours braiding hair, and applying hot pink nail polish and blue eyeshadow.

Even when I am locked out, being dressed up in tiny tutus, or cleaning up last minute paint catastrophes, I still love spending most of my Friday nights earning a good fifty bucks with little ones to have fun with.

Getting to go to the plaza with my friends without borrowing money from my parents is an added bonus.

I had never babysat for this family before. The 11-year-old boy was so hornery, he just hated me. He was hitting his brother so I told him to go upstairs to his room, and then I went up there and he wasn’t there anymore. I was freaking out, then I figured out he had run over to his friend’s house around the block.

“

10 columns

Social Media

Phrases and

and

Sayings

Trends

Bae

Nash Grier

For me, calling someone bae is not endearing at all. Even when said ironically, the saying is still overdone and now 95% of the time isn’t funny or cute. Not to mention bae is an acronym for “before anyone else”, so when somebody begins a sentence with “when bae...” it doesn’t actually make any sense.

Good Lord, Nash Grier, you are not famous for anything. Your photoshopped blue eyes do not do anything but make people uncomfortable. I’m confused as to why or how you ever became vine famous because your vines are anything but original, not to mention racist and sexist.

YAAASS

I might go insane if I have to listen to one more drawn out, valley girl-esque “YAAASSS.” Answering something with “YAAASSS” is probably the most unintelligent, mindless response you could ever give.

written by Claire Pottenger artwork by Audrey Danciger

Hopefully we’ll be saying ‘Sayonara!’ to these 2014 trends

Verbally Hashtagging

Please, please, please for the love of all things good and holy leave hashtagging for the internet. Listening to someone recap their sentence with a hashtag makes my skin crawl more than nails on a chalkboard...#annoying.

Fleek

Hate to break it to you, but your outfit cannot be on fleek. Not your squad, not your eyebrows, not anything. Fleek is not a real word. End of story.

Ebola Jokes

There is nothing that irks me more than listening to a high school student jokingly diagnose their friend’s cough-like symptoms as Ebola. There is really nothing funny in joking about serious disease that has killed more than 4,000 people.

T

he new year is synonymous with new beginnings.

People vow to finally break their nasty habits, start to eat healthy and actually do their homework.

The common question asked is, “What’s your new years resolution?” Well, these are mine -- some that I strongly encourage others to

follow. When reflecting on the past year, I realized there are countless trends that began in 2014. Some of them great and some, in retrospect, not-so-great. So here is my self-proclaimed list of those terrible trends that we should pledge to leave behind heading into the new year.

Iggy Azalea

If I have to listen to Iggy Azalea rap in one more song, I may personally have to go find the self-proclaimed “realest” and ask if she would politely pack her bags and return to Australia. I’ll admit, Fancy was catchy, but after listening to how her “swagga on supa” more than five times per day on the radio, it got a bit old to say the least.

Buying Likes

Hopefully this doesn’t pertain to a lot of people, but the fact that people actually buy “likes” makes me sick. Don’t they realize they’re spending money on something that doesn’t exist outside the world of an app?

Selfie Sticks Turn Down For What

I wasn’t going to add this one to the list until I was at my volleyball tournament last weekend, and I saw some poor, misguided soul wearing a headband labeled “turn down for what.” I kid you not. Granted, that may be an extreme case of taking the trend too far, but it reminded me of the unfortunate saying that needs to stay in 2014. Sorry Lil’ Jon.

Goals

*Scrolls through twitter feed* Relationship goals, life goals, home goals, car goals, dog goals, food goals, clique goals. Enough. I don’t care about your goals. Please get them off my twitter feed. Particularly relationship goals. Girls I guarantee you no boy is going to inspect your twitter just to see what you want in your relationship.

I don’t understand why this was ever a thing. I get sometimes your arms aren’t long enough to fit everything/everyone in your selfie, but even then can’t you just ask someone in the general vicinity to take the picture for you? God forbid you have to interact with another human you don’t know.

Also, isn’t it inconvenient to carry around a three-foot-pole just in case you need to take a selfie when everybody already knows what your face looks like?

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feature 13

S W E N THE S D O H MET eir news

ing th t ways of gett n re e iff d ce n e ri Students expe

written by Olivia Favreau photo illustration by James Wooldridge Sophomore Katie Crossette sits on her computer watching livestream footage of the Ferguson protests. They are linked to her via Twitter, and another tab is tracking the hashtag and another is open to Tumblr, where her dashboard is flooded with other young adults voicing their rage.

It’s the night of Nov. 24, the day it was decided that Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted.

In a survey distributed by the Harbinger, it was reported that 70 percent of the news they consumed was linked to them via social media websites.

According to the survey results, news is no longer delivered through parents or a preferred news channel but instead a Facebook post.

“Now, a kid who’s in the Middle of Nowhere, Idaho can see some video of massacres in Syria and be like ‘man what the heck is this’ and he may not have ever even heard of Syria before,” International Relations teacher David Muhammad said. This new found access to resources has spurred students into activism.

One of those students is Sophomore Katie Crossette who uses her Tumblr blog as a platform of voicing her opinions and sharing the works of other online activists.

With the number of active Facebook users reaching 1.35 billion, according to Digital Marketing Ramblings, social media is taking the lead in how information is being

distributed. Based on a study done by Pew Research Center, 30 percent of Facebook users in the US get news from the website which accounts for 39.9 million people receiving a variety of stories. But Facebook isn’t the only powerhouse when it comes to users and the spreading of news. Twitter and Tumblr also bring in a substantial amount of viewers.

Just as social media has changed how audiences find their news, it has also changed how news is reported.

“Now, everyone’s a journalist,” Muhammad said.

With the ability to report breaking news just from a cell phone, too Muhammad there’s a mentality of “let me get my phone out and snap,” and within seconds it’s spread across an audience of millions, much faster than any traditional news source.

“With my phone I can snap a video of something like the Eric Garner video which could cause worldwide response and raise some very serious questions,” Muhammad said.

Despite this, Young Republicans Club creator Joe Mcliney said that this ability could jeopardize people’s ability to find reliable sources.“Technically these kinds of videos would be considered news but it shouldn’t be

considered a trusted news source.”

Social media has brought a voice to a whole population of people who didn’t have it before, including teens. Muhammad believes that kids as young as 17 or 18 can have valid opinions when it comes to the world they live in. He claims that the current generation’s understanding of social media and technology has lead them to be more in control of what kind of news stories are circulated. Once something has become viral like the ALS ice bucket challenge, the benefits reaped and awareness brought can be colossal. In fact, those numerous buckets of ice water that was poured on hundreds of heads led to $100 million being donated to the ALS Association.

According to Crossette, one of the best parts about spreading pertinent news and activism through social media is that, even if it isn’t made viral, it can still enact change on a large scale. In just the last seven days, Crossette has seen three Change.org petitions on her Tumblr dashboard without

even seeking them out.

Change.org is the world’s largest online petitioning website. It allows for people to create and sign petitions that go towards stopping injustices like the release of Kenneth Bae from a North Korean prison. Crossette tries to sign as many as she can.

“It’s just a simple thing to do that feels like it’s actually going affect the person on the other side of it,” Crossette said.“Which is nice because sometimes when you’re trying to spread advocacy through social media you kind of feel like you aren’t really making enough of a difference for it to count.”

Despite the changes brought through online activism, some people are still critical of these trends and what actuality they actually bring. Many people rejected the ALS ice bucket challenge because a lot of the challengers didn’t mention what it was actually going towards.

“I think we need to stop criticizing these means of getting people to become advocates.” Muhammad said “You know

Breaking It Down: A poll conducted of East students tallied how they get their news (out of 52 students) Do you actively seek out news stories?

Are a majority of the news stories you read linked from Facebook, Twitter, Buzzfeed, or Tumblr?

What are the top 3 stories that attract you?

20 18 16

46%

12%

Agree

Neutral

13%

BREAKING NEWS

37 votes

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

27 votes

POLITICS

22 votes

14 12 10

Disagree

8 6

2%

4

27%

2 Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

*students voted for more than one

w

14 photo essay right Senior Patrick Hornung celebrates his victory after winning the 400 Free Relay. “I won the race for my coach, Colby Danciger,” Hornung said. “He gave me some encouragement before the race and told me to do something special.” below Junior Adam Bublitz swam the breaststroke. “My best event is the 100 backstroke, which I did pretty well in last night, and dropped a second off my time so I was proud of that.”

photo by Annika Sink

above

behind

photo by Annie Lomshek photo by Annie Savage

Junior Tom Peters chats with teammate John Foster between events.

“I swim best when I’m relaxed and in a good mood. John’s a funny guy so I like to talk to him to pass time.”

Junior Henry Sniezek is one of the few divers at East. “I think we have a good bond since we are such a small team and I think that helps with our scores.” photo by Annika Sink

RACING

RIVALRY The East swim team fell to Blue Valley North 105-89, but will face them again tomorrow at the Topeka Invitationalw

behind

East teammates cheer on senior Benn Schmatz as he swims the 200-yard individial medley. “We were so amped,” senior Mitch Kerr said. “He was so going so fast we couldn’t believe it.” photo by Annie Savage

w

14 photo essay right Senior Patrick Hornung celebrates his victory after winning the 400 Free Relay. “I won the race for my coach, Colby Danciger,” Hornung said. “He gave me some encouragement before the race and told me to do something special.” below Junior Adam Bublitz swims the breaststroke. “My best event is the 100 backstroke, which I did pretty well in last night, and dropped a second off my time so I was proud of that.”

photo by Annika Sink

above

behind

photo by Annie Lomshek photo by Annie Savage

Junior Tom Peters chats with teammate John Foster between events.

“I swim best when I’m relaxed and in a good mood. John’s a funny guy so I like to talk to him to pass time.”

Junior Henry Sniezek is one of the few divers at East. “I think we have a good bond since we are such a small team and I think that helps with our scores.” photo by Annika Sink

RACING

RIVALRY The East swim team fell to Blue Valley North 105-89, but will face them again tomorrow at the Topeka Invitational

behind

East teammates cheer on senior Benn Schmatz as he swims the 200-yard individual medley. “We were so amped,” senior Mitch Kerr said. “He was so going so fast we couldn’t believe it.” photo by Annie Savage

Shawnee Mission Girls Lacrosse

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All female athletes from ANY SMSD high school or surrounding area private school welcome!

The 2015 season is about to start Learn and compete in high school level girls lacrosse this spring with teammates from other schools. From Mar. 1- May 15 our JV and Varsity teams will practice on weekdays and play games on both week nights and weekends.

New to the game? No problem!

We will be holding two “Get a taste of Lacrosse� sessions for new players to learn to throw and catch. These will be held on 1/26 and 2/2 from 5:00-6:00 at the Kansas City Sports Club located at 3610 W. 95th Street, Leawood (behind the Price Chopper).

Register on our website now!

Twitter: @smgirlslacrosse Website: www.smgirlslacrosse.com

Email: shawneemissiongirlslacrosse@gmail.com

16 Spread

Opinionsof the

ADVANCED A new aquatic facility will possibly be built for SMSD

A

plan to construct a state-of-the-art aquatic facility, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool and fitness center, has recently been formulated and approved for the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD). After months of brainstorming, discussing and debating among the SMSD Board of Education and the Facilities Committee, they decided to include the aquatic center as a part of the Local Option Budget (LOB).

The LOB is the name of a bond, which is money the school district borrows, like a loan, that taxpayers will pay back with interest. Voters in SMSD received ballots on Jan. 7, asking them to vote on the bond. The vote over the 223 million dollar bond will come to a close on Jan. 27.

The aquatic facility will allow Shawnee Mission swim and dive teams to evolve into better programs, according to District Athletic Director Matt Johnson.

“If the bond is passed,”Johnson said. “One of the biggest impacts the aquatic center will have is the fact that a facility of this size would allow the district to host large meets, which is something we struggle with at this time.”

The current SMSD high school swimming pools have limited space. Hosting a meet with more than two or three teams is virtually impossible, according to Johnson. The aquatic center would allow district swimming programs to host the regional, district, league and potentially even state meets, with multiple teams involved.

The LOB includes the reconstruction of several elementary schools, updating high school library media centers, renovating high school little theaters and adding turf fields to SMSD high schools.

The Shawnee Mission East cafeteria will also be remodeled and expanded. The schools will get new heating and cooling systems, and updated security and safety systems. Some of the bond would also go towards technology. The last section of the bond would go to the new aquatic facility for the district, along with the fitness and wellness center located at SM South High School.

“The facility will be state-of-the-art,” Johnson said. “Something that our pools haven’t been because they were built at the same time as our schools.”

The wellness and fitness center will have workout equipment and workout classes available.

Within the aquatic center itself, there would be a 50 meter competition pool, diving wells, locker rooms and possibly additional locker rooms for the stadium area because it is going to be located near the South stadium. There will also be some

Aquatics

common classroom areas and meeting space, as well as storage rooms for equipment for schools if they need extra space.

Another component of the aquatic center would be swimming lessons that the District will offer to every student in the district at the elementary school level. However, availability to all high school students is still undetermined.

“All of those type of things are kind of in the works and in discussion,” Johnson said. “Nothing has been decided, however there is a desire to have a district fitness center that is available for all students.”

The fitness and wellness center that is planned to be built next to the aquatic center will probably be similar to a gym like Lifetime Fitness, maybe a little smaller scale, according to Johnson.

“It will probably have ellipticals and bikes, with circuit training and weights” said Johnson, “There will be rooms for aerobics, cardio, and Zumba classes.”

The Shawnee Mission South location for the facility was chosen because of the amount of land that’s available at the site, according to the SMSD Associate Superintendent of Communication, Leigh Anne Neal.

“South has the land available to do that,” Neal said. “Superintendent Dr. Jim Hinson indicated it would be built at the south end of the football stadium.

The original location for the facility was a section of the Shawnee Mission School District Environmental Lab, near the intersection of 107th Street and Nall Avenue. Frustration felt by many students throughout the district resulted in a petition to move the location of the aquatic center.

The petition traveled around Facebook, gaining more than 2,000 signatures. One of those signatures was an SME Environmental Education teacher, James Lockard.

The Board of Education fenced in the area and designated it as an environmental lab in 1967.

Starting in 1969, environmental classes in the district use the lab for science programs.

Hannah Underwood, a sophomore swimmer at Shawnee Mission South, has a special appreciation of the lab, and the possible aquatic center.

“The lab is very important to South, because it was a donation from the people that used to own the land,” Underwood said. “Lots of people were freaking out when we first found out about the facility possibly being built on the grassland, and no one seemed to understand or even care that the district actually needs a nice aquatic center.”

Underwood and Lockard are glad the location of the center was moved next to the football sta-

Lancer Swim&DiveTeam

written by Chloe Stanford

dium.

“This is our district’s environmental lab,” Lockard said, “It’s the only one we have. There is a smaller one at Northwest, but as far as 23 acres of environment that you can study goes, it’s the only place.”

There are about a dozen different major kinds of trees in the lab, according the Lockard.

“I’m not sure how many species of plants, but its the only place in this part of Johnson County where you can actually go look at tallgrass prairie,” Lockard said.

Lockard brings his AP classes out to the lab on field trips to study different species of trees in the Woodland part of the lab. Students take a survey of the trees, then come back to East to analyze the data. The lab is also used by summer nature programs, and other high schools go over and use it occasionally. South students use it often in their curriculum, according to Lockard.

If the bond passes, construction near the stadium will start as soon as possible.

“Depending on the outcome of the bond, the district would begin processes on the project and form a timeline,” said Neal. “It is hard to determine when construction will exactly start.”

Bonnie Longan, the junior Captain of the East’s girls swim team, is unsure of how much the East teams would used the facility because of its location.

“It would be annoying to drive back and forth between pools if we practiced there one day and practiced at East the next,” Longan said. “It seems like South would really benefit more from the practices at the center because it’s right there at the school.”

The extra seating for parents and competitors will also be helpful, according to Longan.

“Our meets now are very cramped, and there is hardly any where to sit among the parents and swimmers at meets with more than two teams,” Longan said.

An additional section of the bond allows for improvements to the high school pools, so the teams can still practice at their home sites.

According to Neal, though the outcome of the LOB election can’t be projected, and the district is hopeful that the bond proposals will be approved by voters..

“Generally, the feedback from parents and community members has been very positive,” Neal said. “SMSD is fortunate to serve a community that values education and has a longstanding tradition of supporting its schools.”

TheLayout

of what the Aquatic Facility could * Alookrepresentation like *

Locker Room: This will be a place where Bleachers: These bleachers

would provide a place for all the spectators of the big events the center will host

the swimmers and divers can get ready and leave their belongings while practicing or competing

How will the new aquatic center affect East swim and dive?

Tom Peters

Junior Swimmer

“Our season’s times could be quicker from the special practices we would be getting. It’ll be nice to have home meets at the aquatic center ”

Mackenzie

Sweat

Senior Diver

“ I believe that the facility will bring lots of teams

Diving Well:

Separate from the competition pool

Blocks: There will

Aidan Hense

Sophomore Swimmer

most likely be 8-10 of them

Swimming Pool: 50 Health and Wellness Center: This will most likely

together if we are all practicing there and sharing the space. I think it would be greatly appreciated if we hosted state for the first time.”

meter competition pool

have ellipticals, bikes and weights. There will also be circuit training and Zumba classes

“ It would definitely impact us as high school swimmers because we can’t even host our Sunflower League Championships. The pools in SMSD are too small. Our Shawnee Mission pools are almost too small to host invitationals with more than five teams. The aquatic center would let us host bigger events.”

Emma Linscott photos by Katie Lamar

Freshman Swimmer

“I think it will have a major impact on swim amd dive. I think it will be really nice to have a pool where we can host big events, like state. It would be great to have state at a newer facility in Johnson County. ”

Spread 17

16 Spread

Opinionsof the

ADVANCED A new aquatic facility will possibly be built for SMSD

A

plan to construct a state-of-the-art aquatic facility, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool and fitness center, has recently been formulated and approved for the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD). After months of brainstorming, discussing and debating among the SMSD Board of Education and the Facilities Committee, they decided to include the aquatic center as a part of the Local Option Budget (LOB).

The LOB is the name of a bond, which is money the school district borrows, like a loan, that taxpayers will pay back with interest. Voters in SMSD received ballots on Jan. 7, asking them to vote on the bond. The vote over the 223 million dollar bond will come to a close on Jan. 27.

The aquatic facility will allow Shawnee Mission swim and dive teams to evolve into better programs, according to District Athletic Director Matt Johnson.

“If the bond is passed,”Johnson said. “One of the biggest impacts the aquatic center will have is the fact that a facility of this size would allow the district to host large meets, which is something we struggle with at this time.”

The current SMSD high school swimming pools have limited space. Hosting a meet with more than two or three teams is virtually impossible, according to Johnson. The aquatic center would allow district swimming programs to host the regional, district, league and potentially even state meets, with multiple teams involved.

The LOB includes the reconstruction of several elementary schools, updating high school library media centers, renovating high school little theaters and adding turf fields to SMSD high schools.

The Shawnee Mission East cafeteria will also be remodeled and expanded. The schools will get new heating and cooling systems, and updated security and safety systems. Some of the bond would also go towards technology. The last section of the bond would go to the new aquatic facility for the district, along with the fitness and wellness center located at SM South High School.

“The facility will be state-of-the-art,” Johnson said. “Something that our pools haven’t been because they were built at the same time as our schools.”

The wellness and fitness center will have workout equipment and workout classes available.

Within the aquatic center itself, there would be a 50 meter competition pool, diving wells, locker rooms and possibly additional locker rooms for the stadium area because it is going to be located near the South stadium. There will also be some

Aquatics

common classroom areas and meeting space, as well as storage rooms for equipment for schools if they need extra space.

Another component of the aquatic center would be swimming lessons that the District will offer to every student in the district at the elementary school level. However, availability to all high school students is still undetermined.

“All of those type of things are kind of in the works and in discussion,” Johnson said. “Nothing has been decided, however there is a desire to have a district fitness center that is available for all students.”

The fitness and wellness center that is planned to be built next to the aquatic center will probably be similar to a gym like Lifetime Fitness, maybe a little smaller scale, according to Johnson.

“It will probably have ellipticals and bikes, with circuit training and weights” said Johnson, “There will be rooms for aerobics, cardio, and Zumba classes.”

The Shawnee Mission South location for the facility was chosen because of the amount of land that’s available at the site, according to the SMSD Associate Superintendent of Communication, Leigh Anne Neal.

“South has the land available to do that,” Neal said. “Superintendent Dr. Jim Hinson indicated it would be built at the south end of the football stadium.

The original location for the facility was a section of the Shawnee Mission School District Environmental Lab, near the intersection of 107th Street and Nall Avenue. Frustration felt by many students throughout the district resulted in a petition to move the location of the aquatic center.

The petition traveled around Facebook, gaining more than 2,000 signatures. One of those signatures was an SME Environmental Education teacher, James Lockard.

The Board of Education fenced in the area and designated it as an environmental lab in 1967.

Starting in 1969, environmental classes in the district use the lab for science programs.

Hannah Underwood, a sophomore swimmer at Shawnee Mission South, has a special appreciation of the lab, and the possible aquatic center.

“The lab is very important to South, because it was a donation from the people that used to own the land,” Underwood said. “Lots of people were freaking out when we first found out about the facility possibly being built on the grassland, and no one seemed to understand or even care that the district actually needs a nice aquatic center.”

Underwood and Lockard are glad the location of the center was moved next to the football sta-

Lancer Swim&DiveTeam

written by Chloe Stanford

dium.

“This is our district’s environmental lab,” Lockard said, “It’s the only one we have. There is a smaller one at Northwest, but as far as 23 acres of environment that you can study goes, it’s the only place.”

There are about a dozen different major kinds of trees in the lab, according the Lockard.

“I’m not sure how many species of plants, but its the only place in this part of Johnson County where you can actually go look at tallgrass prairie,” Lockard said.

Lockard brings his AP classes out to the lab on field trips to study different species of trees in the Woodland part of the lab. Students take a survey of the trees, then come back to East to analyze the data. The lab is also used by summer nature programs, and other high schools go over and use it occasionally. South students use it often in their curriculum, according to Lockard.

If the bond passes, construction near the stadium will start as soon as possible.

“Depending on the outcome of the bond, the district would begin processes on the project and form a timeline,” said Neal. “It is hard to determine when construction will exactly start.”

Bonnie Longan, the junior Captain of the East’s girls swim team, is unsure of how much the East teams would used the facility because of its location.

“It would be annoying to drive back and forth between pools if we practiced there one day and practiced at East the next,” Longan said. “It seems like South would really benefit more from the practices at the center because it’s right there at the school.”

The extra seating for parents and competitors will also be helpful, according to Longan.

“Our meets now are very cramped, and there is hardly any where to sit among the parents and swimmers at meets with more than two teams,” Longan said.

An additional section of the bond allows for improvements to the high school pools, so the teams can still practice at their home sites.

According to Neal, though the outcome of the LOB election can’t be projected, and the district is hopeful that the bond proposals will be approved by voters..

“Generally, the feedback from parents and community members has been very positive,” Neal said. “SMSD is fortunate to serve a community that values education and has a longstanding tradition of supporting its schools.”

TheLayout

of what the Aquatic Facility could * Alookrepresentation like *

Locker Room: This will be a place where Bleachers: These bleachers

would provide a place for all the spectators of the big events the center will host

the swimmers and divers can get ready and leave their belongings while practicing or competing

How will the new aquatic center affect East swim and dive?

Tom Peters

Junior Swimmer

“Our season’s times could be quicker from the special practices we would be getting. It’ll be nice to have home meets at the aquatic center ”

Mackenzie

Sweat

Senior Diver

“ I believe that the facility will bring lots of teams

Diving Well:

Separate from the competition pool

Blocks: There will

Aidan Hense

Sophomore Swimmer

most likely be 8-10 of them

Swimming Pool: 50 Health and Wellness Center: This will most likely

together if we are all practicing there and sharing the space. I think it would be greatly appreciated if we hosted state for the first time.”

meter competition pool

have ellipticals, bikes and weights. There will also be circuit training and Zumba classes

“ It would definitely impact us as high school swimmers because we can’t even host our Sunflower League Championships. The pools in SMSD are too small. Our Shawnee Mission pools are almost too small to host invitationals with more than five teams. The aquatic center would let us host bigger events.”

Emma Linscott photos by Katie Lamar

Freshman Swimmer

“I think it will have a major impact on swim amd dive. I think it will be really nice to have a pool where we can host big events, like state. It would be great to have state at a newer facility in Johnson County. ”

Spread 17

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TH E

CLASSES LESS TAKEN

As enrollment for next year rolls around, students may come across classes on the list they’ve never heard of. Four students enrolled in unique classes share their classroom experiences and the real-world knowledge they’ve gained. written by Anna Dierks photo illustrations by Haley Bell

FINANCIAL LITERACY CALVIN JONES

J

unior Calvin Jones enrolled in Financial Literacy to learn lessons he knew would be important to his future. He knew the business field was an interest to him, but what exactly did that entail? For example, Jones didn’t know much about handling money but already considers himself to be more financially responsible.

Jones favorite thing about the class is that the students are allowed to openly debate and discuss different financial issues like retirement saving and the basics to managing budgets.

“I’m grateful that Mr. Klumpe is so passionate about our financial futures,” said Jones.

Senior Mitch Tamblyn would also agree that he learned a lot from financial literacy. Not only did the class make him more conscious as to how he was spending his money, but it also helped him to gain knowledge for how he should spend it.

“I definitely spend a lot less now on useless stuff and am starting to focus more on the long run,” Tamblyn said.

HUMAN GROWTH & CHILD DEVELOPMENT ISABELLE MACWHERTER

S

ophomore Isabelle Macwherter wasn’t crazy about Human Growth and Child Development from the start. Actually, it ranked pretty low in her list of preferred classes. Now though, the class is beginning to surprise her. It has already taught her more about children than she had ever known.

“I had absolutely no knowledge about children going into this class. I haven’t even ever babysat,” Macwherter said.

“But I am glad that now I will know quite a bit about what goes on.”

Macwherter looks forward to the point in the course where she gets to take home a fake baby. Though the baby cries through the night and costs nearly 150 dollars, Macwherter is ready to take on the challenge.

“Human growth and child development isn’t really a place for

those who aren’t planning on taking it seriously,” Macwherter says. “But I think you could take away a lot from the class.”

AP ART CAROLYN WASSMER

S

enior Carolyn Wassmer has been working on her 2D acrylic paintings for months. Wassmer’s focus this year in her AP Art class has been studying different landmarks around Kansas City and reproducing them on nineinch wooden blocks.

“Basically what we do is develop a concentration of twelve pieces we work on throughout the entire year,” Wassmer said. “Then we submit our pieces at the end of the year just like any other AP test.”

Her favorite piece from her concentration so far has been her painting of the Western Auto building. The requirements for these concentrations are very open ended, although most

students stick with 2D work. Each day in class is used for independent study, in which Wassmer brainstorms her next painting and begins to sketch it out.

“You have to be very self-motivated to do well in the class because it’s very easy to go in there and not do anything,” Wassmer said. “But I’d definitely recommend the class.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS JEFF MADISON

S

enior Jeff Madison considers International Relations his favorite class, and he’s only four weeks in. Besides the fact that his favorite teacher, David Muhammad, teaches the class, he also finds the course very interesting.

“I really like getting into debates in class,” Madison said. “And hearing other peoples’ opinions while voicing my own.”

Fellow International Relations class member, sophomore Sarah Milgrim, also enjoys it. Similar to Madison, Milgrim says she loves being able to learn more about the world through debates and class videos that she actually finds interesting.

The class involves a showing of a video series of journalists that travel to crisisstricken areas. In one particular video, a journalist toured Africa during the time of the Ebola epidemic, giving viewers an inside look as to what’s really going on halfway around the world.

International Relations opened Milgrim up to a unique global perspective that she wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.

Not only is the class popular among students, but also a favorite class of

Muhammad himself. He loves the fact that the class is so unpredictable. For instance, a news story could come up ten minutes before class and justw like that the lesson plan can change. Muhammad listens to the National Public Radio and also checks the British Broadcast Channel daily to make sure he is up to date on what’s going on in the world.

“I just want them to walk away and think ‘man I want know what’s going on in the world and why,’” Muhammad said.

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feature 21

THE SMOOTHIE KING Senior gains publicity after entrepreneurial endeavor written by Sophie Tulp photo by Haley Bell

A

fter cross country practice in June, senior Marshall Green developed a business concept while running. He came home to his dad and brothers and pitched them his “million dollar idea:” a vending machine that dispensed ready-made smoothies.

“At my house, my dad and I and my brothers have these inspirational moments all the time,” Marshall said. “We have these ‘million dollar ideas’ way more than anybody ever has [them]. My dad will say: ‘Marshall, this would be a great app’ and we talk about it for two hours then go eat dinner.”

But unlike their other ideas, Marshall is following through on this one -- the idea is becoming a reality. And with the attention from local news outlets, he is starting to get the publicity to attract investors and make his smoothie vending machine, “Fresh & Blended,” happen.

The machine, which would be sold to individual vending companies, would join the trend of providing healthier options to consumers, much like the “H.U.M.A.N” vending machines at East. Marshall’s will function by mixing fruits with juices, blending it in a cup and dispensing it to the customer in a matter of minutes.

This Wednesday, Marshall’s crowdfunding campaign, an internet fundraiser on the site Indiegogo will end. So far he has raised 1,200 of the 60,000 dollars he initially asked public donors for. The campaign would cover the cost of the prototype design, the price of developing recipes, bills and fees and initial inventory.

Even though he didn’t meet his quota, Marshall says the information and promotional video he made to go on the site featuring principal John McKinney, gym goers and East students helped to get the word out about his product.

“Marshall asked me to be a part of his video and of course I jumped at the opportunity,” McKinney said. “I’m very proud of Marshall and proud to be associated with such a great idea and project. I am always so impressed when students think ‘How can this be done better?’ The fact that he

is a senior in high school makes it that much more impressive.”

The campaign and the publicity it generated from local publication PV Post and Fox 4 News caught the eye of local vending companies. If interested, they could potentially invest in his product, supplying some of the funding and making up for the lack of crowdfunding revenue.

Before launching his campaign, Marshall researched the idea he saw a market for, and after preliminary research he found that there were few options out there like his. He liked the idea being in charge of his own project. He wanted to be an entrepreneur.

After contacting potential candidates to design the prototype, Marshall enrolled in the Fast Track New Venture course. New Venture is an entrepreneurial class sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, for people wanting to take an idea and make it into a product or business.

It was exactly what Marshall needed.

Entering the room for the first time, he noticed that not only did the class have just seven people, but he was by far the youngest one there.

“It was relatively intimate and nobody really wanted to ask how old I was, but they were trying to hint at it,” Marshall said. “I never told them.”

The class focused on bringing speakers in to talk about small business management, networking the interested entrepreneurs and helping them develop a 27-paged business plan -- a daunting task.

But after taking the class, he formed business relationships that could become investments once his prototype is functioning, hopefully within the next couple of months.

Along with being an entrepreneur, being a cross country runner and a Varsity wrestler, combined with senior year schoolwork, was not an easy task. Most nights Marshall found himself going straight from cross country to the entrepreneurial class in Olathe, and maybe eating dinner on

the way, getting home around 10 p.m.

As far as the business goes, this past week involved contacting the prototype designer, who he will soon meet with in Vancouver, Canada, and working with a recipe developer, all after practice each night. Marshall says that the pressure has shifted, going from just a fun idea he was pursuing, to a very real process.

On any given day, he goes from joking around and hanging out with friends to making phone calls and having professional meetings with investors. And at 17-years-old, he says the hardest part of the process has been dealing with people that don’t believe he can do it.

“That’s why I haven’t liked all this [recent] publicity,” Marshall said. “No one says it, but I can tell when [people] don’t think I’m for real or that I’m slacking, but it all takes time.”

But being young has its advantages for Marshall too. He met with a potential investor and a friend of his dad’s at Indian Hills Country Club one afternoon during the school day. After talking for a while, he asked Marshall where he went to college -- in the past tense. Laughing, Marshall explained that he was only a senior in high school, actually heading back to class after their lunch.

The investor was overwhelmingly supportive, commending Marshall’s drive and dedication to his business plan, as only a teenager.

Marshall’s dad and small business owner Jeff Green says that he is not surprised by Marshall’s drive in taking on this project.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised in general,” Jeff said. “Marshall has always been one to stick something out and make himself an expert in something he is interested in... [He] has witnessed up close the types of conversations involved in running a business...There are a lot of decisions to be made and problems to be solved behind the scenes so that a product or service comes together seamlessly to the customer.”

Marshall’s Timeline Idea to Reality Came up with idea

January 2014

October/November 2014

June 2014

Brainstormed with dad and brothers

Contacted recipe developer

Began 27-page business plan

Enrolled in “New Venture” class

August 2014

Crowdfunding ended Will speak at another conference

Contacted potential investors and prototype designer

Spoke at conference in Springfield, MO

December 2014

Patent pending Will visit designer in British Columbia, Canada

Future

22 alt-copy

HOW TO GET

MONEY

written by Phoebe Aguiar

After many seniors finally finish their obstacle courses of college applications, it’s right back to applications and essays for scholarships. With rising college tuition costs, scholarships are even more important, but how to find and apply isn’t always straightforward.

DISTRICT

U

Stepping Stone Scholarship The Stepping Stone Scholarship is for any Junior who attends a high school in the Shawnee Mission School District. It’ provides up to $500 for each high school.

Recipients will use the money to attend a summer program at a college to explore future employment and education options. Due Monday, March 2, 2015

COMPETITIONS

$

Shooting Stars Scholarship

Shooting Stars offers scholarshipa and recognition for Johnson County high school seniors who are involved in the fine arts. Student must submit an application an be recommended by a teacher. Applicants must also audition to be considered. Due Next year dates are not available

First National Bank 2014-15 Business Plan Competition

Chuck Sulzen Track and Field Scholarship Only available for East seniors who have been a varsity track and field athlete and are in good academic standing. The Chuck Sulzen Scholarship aims to provide support for a student who is planning to pursue higher education. The amount of money available varies every year. Due Friday, May 1, 2015

SMSD sophomores, juniors and seniors are able to compete in a business plan competition sponsored by First National Bank. Three different scholarships, $2,500, $1,500, $1,000, are awarded to the three winners Due No date set

Most colleges that East students attend offer numerous scholarships and opportunities for financial aid for grades, background, activities and programs. Often test scores and other academic rankings will automatically qualify a student for money from the school. In addition to academics, experiences and qualities, like leadership or an adverse background, qualify students for scholarships.

Athletics, fine arts, journalism, medicine and most college programs offer aid or scholarship opportunities for those who enroll in the program.

All of the scholarships schools offer can be found on college websites and by contacting school officials.

Awarded to SMSD seniors who are involved and accomplished in debate or other forms of public speaking. The A.C. Eley Debate and Forensics Scholarship is awarded to up to five candidates and each receive $500.

Due Monday, March 2, 2015

Be sure to know when scholarships are due so you have plenty of time to gather any information or resources you might need to apply

WHERE TO

LOOK Where to look for scholarships within and outside of the East community from reliable and trusted sources.

Competitions for scholarships aren’t just in the East community, there are state and national competitions that can be entered and there are often multiple winners and prizes offered for applicants

COLLEGES

A.C. Eley Debate and Forensics Scholarship

+

+

+

Apply for as many scholarships as you qualify for to better your chances of receiving money for the college or university you plan to attend

Fastweb.com

Check the Counseling Office

Recommended by the East counselors as a tool for students to discover and gather information on scholarships. Fastweb has local and national scholarships that are legitimate.

The East counselling office maintains a list of scholarships and competitions that are sent to the East Counseling Office on their web backpack. Counselors can also help you find scholarships you can apply for.

+

Another way to receive money for college is through financial aid. To receive aid, you must fill out the FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) online at fasfa.ed.gov. The amount of you receive depends on the income of your parents and other economic factors. Some schools only give financial aid and don’t provide any other kind of aid through the school

VINYL rewind to

a&e 23

Vinyl popularity has increased dramatically over recent years for good reason written by Ava Backer art by Yashi Wang

J

uniors Chloe Kerwin and Oscar Motsinger often find themselves at It’s a Beautiful Day in Westport, among band merchandise, tie dye and incense. Just past the wall of dream catchers is one of the store’s hidden gems — a back room chock-full of hundreds of vintage albums with everything from hard rock to folk to country to classical.

Flipping through hundreds of vinyls from every era, the two find their happy place.

Vinyl is fascinating music lovers young and old more than it has for decades. While sales of digital downloads are declining for the first time since the iTunes Store launched in 2003, vinyl sales are skyrocketing. 6 million vinyl albums were sold in 2013 and 7 million in 2014 according to Billboard.

“It’s an atmosphere thing,” Motsinger said. “It’s the finding the record, putting it on the turntable.”

Motsinger and Kerwin share the same fascination for music.

“I like jazz, it’s old fashion-y and it’s fun to listen to on record players,” Kerwin said. “And I listen to alternative. I really like Grimes, Little Dragon, a lot of different ones. But my favorite is probably the Charlie Brown Christmas vinyl.”

Kerwin and Motsinger listen to a variety of music, some they wouldn’t be able to find on iTunes.

“You can find a lot of weird, older music,” Motsinger said. “It’ll be anything from really obscure jazz musicians to some weird funk band that you could only find on a select few records.”

14 Times

Increase 2000 to

in Sales from

2014

46 Min.

Original Playing Time

Unlike Spotify and Pandora, vinyl isn’t free of cost.

Kerwin explains a whole album usually won’t cost more than a full album on iTunes, and the listeners get the “hands-on” vinyl experience as well.

“Then there’s the 50 cent bin at Beautiful Day,” Motsinger said. “It’s fun getting something and you have no idea what it sounds like, but you can take it home and try it out if it’s that cheap.”

Christian Laveau, who works at Mills Records in Westport, remembers himself half his size, dancing around his bedroom in his Sunday best along to his kiddie Winnie the Pooh record player, chiming his favorites from The Beatle’s “Abbey Road” on repeat.

Today, Laveau works at Mills, selling and trading vinyl records. Technology has improved and music has evolved, but his love for vinyl remains.

From iTunes to Spotify to illegal downloading, digital music is advancing everyday. Maybe the “vinyl revival” is just a fad, a bunch of hipsters trying to be cool and will fade with time, or maybe vinyl will be the next most favored way to listen to music.

“People want something tangible. We’re tired of pressing but-

1948

Vinyl Records first introduced

to the

public

tons.” Laveau said. Today, at the click of a button or a tap on your screen, we’re able to change the song in a split second. Vinyl isn’t quite the same.

“If you’ve grown up with it, maybe you won’t mind getting up to turn the vinyl over. But for younger people it might be a nuisance because they are used to music controlled by their fingertips,” Laveau said. “It’s an interactive experience.”

“But it never fails to make me enjoy music more.”

4/18 Record Store

Day this Year

24 a&e

S E R I A L thriller An online podcast telling the story of a 1999 murder trial

W

ith the rise in popularity of visual media and easy access to services such as Netflix and Hulu, audio entertainment and radio programs have become less and less prevalent. However, recently there has been a huge surge in the popularity of podcasts, especially one in particular: “Serial”.

“Serial” is a podcast spin-off of the National Public Radio program, “This American Life.” On “This American Life,” every show has a topic and various stories are told relating to that topic.

Producer Sarah Koenig, however, wanted to tell one story over a series of episodes, so she started her own podcast.

The first season of the podcast follows the true story of a Baltimore boy, Adnan Syed who was convicted of a murder. He was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. The conviction was based on indirect evidence with no physical proof connecting Syed to the murder.

Every episode of the podcast re-examines and reinterprets evidence, building a narrative of what could have really occurred that fateful day.

The podcast has all the makings of any crime drama you might see on TV. Fans like myself appreciate the show’s ability to communicate emotion and suspense through audio without need for a visual element.

“Serial” has been downloaded over 5 million times on iTunes, becoming the most popular podcast ever. And for good reason, too. “Serial” has all the makings of any television crime drama, but effectively expresses a narrative strictly through audio.

Koenig has a knack for making the listener feel involved in the investigation. It’s like you’re right there with her combing through the evidence. She presents the facts in a way where the

written by Will Brownlee

listener comes to their own conclusions but at the same time lets her opinion be known.

I don’t know whether or not Syed committed the murder, but I believe the primary witness, Jay Wilds, is involved. Wilds was able to locate Lee’s car, the one she was driving the day she disappeared. He proved to be unreliable, changing his story drastically over a series of police interviews.

He claimed to have helped Syed bury the body.

However he and Syed were just acquaintances, not good friends. Why would Syed ask a person he knew very little to help him commit such a serious crime?

These are the things Serial fans debate about endlessly on Internet forums such as Reddit. Everyone has an opinion and a strong one at that.

People have petitioned to release Syed and sue the state for his unlawful imprisonment.

The popularity of the podcast has sparked new interest in the investigation and the idea that Adnan Syed is innocent. His conviction was based on his lack of a solid alibi, making him unaccounted for at the time of the murder.

Listening to Serial is like riding an unstable roller coaster. You don’t know what turn the story will take next or what will happen around the next corner. Once the storyline was established, I quickly got invested in the series. I kept myself up at night thinking of all the possible scenarios that could’ve led to Lee’s death.

But whether or not Syed is innocent, “Serial” has accumulated mass popularity through a combination of intense interviews, shocking evidence, and classic storytelling. I can’t wait for the second season, which I’m sure will tell an equally captivating story.

n w o kd

a e r B of Ch

s r e t arac

HAE MIN LEE victim

ADNAN SYED convicted

JAY WILDS witness

PROSECUTION It was believed that Adnan was angry about his break-up and snapped. Also, when and where he was did not seem to line up.

DEFENSE There was no physical evidence. The witness could prove Adnan’s alibi. For the most part, Adnan was a well-behaved kid.

THE REEL WINNERS A look at three popular movies expected to win at the upcoming Academy Awards

N

written by Jemima Swindells

ow that the award season is officially upon us, it gives us the opportunity to judge celebrities outfits, subtly google the plots of the winning movies on our phones and nervously laugh at morally questionable jokes. The 72nd Annual Golden Globes took place on Jan. 11. and the Academy Award nominations came out four days later. The Oscars are going to be hosted on the evening of Feb.22.

‘Boyhood’ The winner of the most prestigious Golden Globesaward, Best Motion Picture Drama, was “Boyhood.”

Filmed using the same actors for period of 12 years, Boyhood follows the life of Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane from the ages of 5 to 18. Mason watches as his mother is abused by her drunken husband, and he stumbles through drugs and alcohol until finding solace in photography. Watching Mason and his sister grow up in front of your eyes can almost feel intrusive, as though you’re seeing stages of their lives that should be private.

Despite its long length of 2 hours, 46 minutes, the movie doesn’t feel drawn out and you remain gripped until the end. The film also won Best Supporting Actress for Patricia Arquette as the mother and Richard Linklater won Best Director. In the upcoming Oscars, “Boyhood” has been nominated for Best Picture again, as well as five other awards. “Boyhood” is predicted to win Best Picture and I think it will.

‘The Imitation Game’ Set during World War II, “The Imitation Game” tells the true story of Alan Turing, a British code-breaker who was persecuted for being homosexual. In the movie, Alan Turing and his team are given the task of breaking Enigma, the coding machine used by the Nazis. Benedict Cumberbatch successfully portrays Turing’s struggle between working on a supposedly impossible task and trying to fit into a society that oppresses him.

Nominated for a number of awards “The Imitation

Game” narrowly missed out at the Golden Globes after Eddie Redmayne snatched the award for Best Actor. This award was predicted for Cumberbatch. However “The Imitation Game” is nominated for eight Oscars including the highly acclaimed Best Picture and Best Actor, so we will have to see how the ‘Brit Battle’ between Redmayne and Cumberbatch plays out then. I think Cumberbatch could win this award with his incredibly powerful performance, however Michael Keaton could also be a strong contender

‘Birdman’ In a remarkable film that takes inspiration from his own career, Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson in “Birdman,” a movie about a washed-up actor who takes a part in a Broadway show in a risky attempt to reclaim his old career.

Some of the most interesting parts I found were when Thomson showed his dysfunctional relationship with his daughter played by Emma Stone. Edward Norton nearly steals the whole movie with his role as an arrogant but

76%

well-respected stage actor. With wins at the Golden Globes in Best Actor and Best Screenplay, “Birdman” is predicted to follow through with the success at The Oscars. Nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor, “Birdman” has tied with “Grand Budapest Hotel” for most Oscar nominations. I think that “Birdman” could win Best Director as the idea of the movie and the way it was played out was so powerful and that is down to the Director.

of the Academy this year is male

0

93%

women nominated for directing, writing or cinematography

of the Academy this year is white

0

people of color nominated for acting awards

a&e 25

26 a&e

LOOKING TO

LUNCH Local sandwich shops give variety of lunch options written by Ellis Nepsted

Fo o ’ s

M

ost people find themselves at Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard to get quality custard. However, Foo’s also offers an array of other options, including sandwiches.

As I walked in I saw a lot chocolates and of course, custard.

But then I spotted the sandwich section of the menu and knew what to order, the Banh Mi. The Banh Mi was originally a Vietnamese sandwich, but has many different variations.

When I received my sandwich after about a five or so minute wait, it looked incredible. The loaded hoagie roll was stuffed with grilled chicken, mayonnaise, a salad-like lettuce, minced carrots and, to add a little spice to it, jalapeño slices and sriracha sauce.

The chicken was extraordinary, the bread tasted fresh and the seasonings made the sandwich a memorable one.

To accompany the sandwich, I would suggest getting the roasted red pepper soup. The two together make a great combination.

The Banh Mi’s price matched the sandwich, in terms of it being good. The sandwich cost $6.75. The price was the cheapest of the three, and the sandwich was a decent size, loaded from one end to the other with food.

Unlike Which Wich, and Pigwich, Foo’s has more than just sandwiches to offer. The variety and quality of the food was great, and I would highly suggest going into Foo’s and trying the Banh Mi for yourself.

Pigwich

P

igwich is a small, yellow food cart with a pig painted on the side of it. The quirky food truck, which is a spinoff of the “Local Pig” meat shop, is located in the East bottoms in Kansas City, Mo. I ordered outside at the food truck, then I was free to walk around in the shop and purchase various kinds of sausages and burgers. Ten minutes after I ordered, a voice came over an intercom and said my name and order.

I ordered the cheese steak, which was a mini baguette loaded with sliced steak, cheese and veggies. The steak was cooked superbly, and tasted great. However there was quite a bit of meat. The veggies consisted of minced carrots and cucumbers. I thought it was a weird combination to mix cucumbers and carrots with cheese and steak, but it ended up tasting great.

The food was flavorful, however the menu was limited. I would not suggest Pigwich to vegetarians or vegans; the four item menu contained sandwiches all of which had some type of meat. The price was pretty fair, seven dollars for just a sandwich, and eight to add chips and a drink.

Overall, Pigwich was a great experience. I — a guy who orders Meat Lovers on pizza — loved it, and would recommend it to fellow carnivores.

Wh i c h Wi c h

A

long my journey for a quality sandwich in KC, I found myself in Which Wich, a sandwich shop located in Westport. Which Wich offers a different way to serve sandwiches.

Walking into the store, the first thing I noticed was the menu. Instead of making the sandwich as you move down the line, like at Subway or Goodcents, you receive an empty sandwich bag. The bag you get depends on what type of meat or vegetables you want. On the bag, there are boxes for toppings.

With this I was able to customize my sandwich.

I ordered a ham sandwich and made it to my liking with bacon, lettuce, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. The actual sandwich tasted better than any other chain sub sandwich stores I’ve eaten at.

One of many pros of Which Wich was the fact that they cut off the end of the bread. I’m not a big fan of ordering a 8 inch sub at Goodcents, and end up only eating 7 of it because there is an inch of unfilled sandwich.

By the time I bit into my sub, I instantly loved the taste.

Next time I am in Westport, I will definitely consider stopping into Which Wich again.

photo by Abby Hans

THE FAVORITE

THE RUNNER-UPS

The Bahn Mi from Foo’s

The Cheese Steak from Pigwich

What’s in it: Hoagie roll with grilled chicken, mayonnaise, lettuce, carrots and jalapeños

What’s in it: A mini baguette with sliced steak, cheese and veggies Cost: $7.00

Cost: $6.75 Reason: Accompanied by roasted red pepper soup, it’s unforgettable. With an overall great environment, a great meal is guarenteed.

Create-Your-Own Sandwich from Which Wich What’s in it: your choice of bread, meat, various toppings, and dressing Cost: $7.75

sports 27

lancers ON SOCIAL media Athletics SME “Congrats to Wiley Wright for being selected the 2014 NFHS Coach of the year #smeproud”

SME Office

Great Win and Great Fans! #winning

After a steady season, the dive team looks to gain ground after qualifying two divers for state early in the season written by Michael Kraske photo illustration by Will Oakley

T

he SME varsity dive team — consisting of senior John Foster, junior Henry Sniezek, sophomores Lawson Smith and Andrew Grinstead and freshman Dante Stokes — have qualified two divers for state as of Jan. 21. Foster qualified for state in the first meet of the year and Sniezek qualified on Dec. 9 against Olathe South and SM North.

“Qualifying for state felt awesome,” Sniezek said. “It’s really satisfying because I can support the team on scoring points at state.”

According to Sniezek, diving tends to be more complex

and confusing than other sports. Each dive has a certain degree of difficulty, representing how challenging each dive is. When a dive is performed, it’s scored by the judges on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being a perfect score. The median three scores are totaled for a net total and then multiplied by the Degree of Difficulty (DD). For example, if a dive receives a net total of 15 with a DD of 2.0, the diver’s total score is 30 points.

Recently, the team performed in the duel meet against Blue Valley North where Foster placed second, Sniezek placed third and Grinstead placed sixth. Stokes and Smith

have been injured the past couple weeks, after hitting the board at a meet and having a minor concussion.

The last regular season dive meet of the is the SME Diving Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 31. The invitational is the only meet of the year that is exclusively for divers. It will include teams from Olathe, Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Lawrence.

“As a team, we’re working really hard to make our dives better at practice,” Foster said. “We’re just doing what we can to score more points for the team.”

the

28 sports

FRESHFACE

written by Teagon Noblit

R

ight as the clock hits 3, every boy on the wrestling team is standing and getting loose, jumping up and down on their toes, swinging their arms back and forth. Then, East’s new wrestling coach, Ben Sutherlin, strides into the wrestling room.

“Start warming up!”

The 40 boys form a circle. Senior Marshall Green leads the team as they jog, sprint, leap and roll around the wrestling mats.

The boys get into pairs and start wrestling. Matches go for 30 seconds and the opponents focus on a specific move such as hand fighting. They crouch low to the ground and use their hands to gain a position to win the point and put the opponent on the mat.

Sutherlin has seen this warm up many times as a former wrestler himself and as a coach. He wrestled in high school and played football in college. He knows what it takes to win as an athlete at the high school and collegiate level and is willing to offer advice and share his experiences.

SME wrestling gets a new coach with a new attitude and vibe

photos by Mac Newman, and Kylie Rellihan We have 25 kids this year that have never wrestled before so we break it down for them and try and simplify it to the smallest degree so they can become Varsity wrestlers whenever they are ready.

-Coach Sutherlin “He is a lot more willing to get out there on the mat with them and show them what to do and wrestle with them,” said sophomore wrestling manager, Katie Aldrich, said. “He interacts with them and is really excited for them.”

The managers are controlling the clock and the music while the boys are wrestling.

“Turn up the music,” Green yells.

Right away, the managers are on it and the workout Pan-

dora music station is now blasting. The music riles up the boys and keeps them focused.

At first, Green was upset about getting a new coach because he felt like Coach Ufford was a great coach and he liked the way he ran the team. But Green has been impressed with Sutherlin’s coaching style, which is an aggressive and he likes his willingness to get involved in the team.

“He brings a lot of good energy,” Green said.

Sutherlin’s eagerness to be hands-on and help out the wrestlers comes from his past wrestling experiences.

“We have 25 kids [almost half the team] this year that have never wrestled before, so we break it down for them and try and simplify it so they can become Varsity wrestlers whenever they are ready,” Sutherlin said.

Sutherlin is relatable to the other wrestlers because of his experience. He knows how to win at the highest level and he wrestled at Shawnee Mission West during his high school

days.

Sutherlin also has experience coaching in the Shawnee Mission District, having coached at South and West prior to East. Sutherlin says there are no major differences between the two other Shawnee Mission Schools.

Sutherlin came into a successful program at East with some established veteran wrestlers like Marshall Green a senior, and Drake Yost, Michael Aldrich and Mike Bamford, both juniors. These four experienced wrestlers will need to help guide the young freshmen who have never wrestled before.

Sutherlin has had to teach some kids from scratch. They needed to learn all the basics before they could really start practicing.

Even with a young team, Sutherlin and Green expect ten wrestlers to go to State.

If the players work hard at every practice and compete at the level they are capable of, they will reach their goal of winning state and Sutherlin’s first year coaching will be a success.

“I know what it takes to work hard and to be a state placer.

All the extra effort it takes,” Sutherlin said.

A question and answer with junior and varsity wrestler, Drake Yost

Q: A:

What are some wrestling techniques or tactics you use, while in a match?

“I always try to be agressive and try to be the offensive player.”

Q: A:

What is crucial to being a good wrestler? How do you do it?

“Maintainig constant pressure, and constant movement with your hands and shoulders.”

Q: A:

How do you take a shot at another wrestler to bring them to the ground?

“Drop your level, and dive into your opponent’s legs this will hopefully take them down to the mat.”

sports 29

Sophomore Oliver Bihuniak lived and played soccer abroad in Spain for a year, developing a new appreciation for the game

written by Will Clough photo illustration by Hailey Hughes

BEND IT LIKE BIHUNIAK S

ometimes he forgets to call it soccer.

“I started playing football when I was about five,” sophomore Oliver Bihuniak explains.

There it is — football. That’s how you can tell. Oliver has been playing soccer — football — for as long as he can remember. He was only seven years old when he joined his first club team and learned how to master the basics: he learned to control the ball and guide it to the back of the net. Simple. By the time he was nine he was playing on two teams, which were both in higher age divisions. He definitely knew how to play, but after living in Spain for over a year, he realized he only knew how to play like an American.

Oliver had been playing like an American his whole life — that’s all he knew. He didn’t understand the culture and heart that the world associated with the game.

But after his move, Oliver began to see what he was missing. In Europe, he learned the history and emotion that was tied to the game. To the Spanish, it isn’t just soccer, it’s a lifestyle. It was football.

“Soccer in Spain is bigger than anything else here.

Everyone has a team and everyone plays. When the Spanish play, they are so passionate,” Oliver said.

“They will do anything to get a result, as if every game was their last.”

Before he left for Europe, everyone Oliver played with played like an American. They didn’t understand the lifestyle and history that came along with the game.

Oliver realized this missing link in ninth grade. His parents decided that the family needed a fresh perspective: they were going to move to Spain.

“The original plan was to go and come back after a year,” Oliver’s mom, Meredith, said. “It was just for an adventure.”

Oliver’s dad, Chris, grew up moving around the world.Thankful for his multi-cultural upbringing, he also wanted his kids to have similar experiences.

But moving would also mean leaving things behind, which made Oliver angry. No more hanging out with his friends after school, no more Five Guys hamburgers, no more soccer — the game was going to change to

football. If he left now, everything he had worked for would be lost by the time he came back. His friends would probably move on, and somebody would surely fill his spot on his old team.

Nonetheless, they bought the plane tickets, rented a Spanish house and enrolled in a school with an American-based curriculum. That August, they said goodbye and started their new life.

Oliver found himself in a place where he seemed to know nothing. He could name four people on the whole continent, and the fact that they shared his last name didn’t help. The food was bizarre and he couldn’t even speak the same language. Only one thing seemed to remind him of home: there was a soccer field near his house where he could practice the game that he knew so well from America.

The soccer field was where Oliver found an escape, but it was also where he found friends. It was where he went to hang out after school and it was where he was introduced to his first Spanish club team, San Jose.

Oliver began playing soccer with the team later that year. He had found a team that was competitive and enthusiastic. This style of play was cleaner, quicker, and had an air of confidence about it. The rules were the same, but the game itself was something different altogether. It was football.

As he played alongside the other boys, he began to think and play like they did. His confidence in the game began to strengthen and he started to feel more com-

fortable on the ball. Just like the players in Spain, Oliver began to dribble more and found that he was always hungry for the win. He began to play football like the Spanish did.

“I’ve noticed that I have started playing more like how I originally thought the Spanish play,” Oliver said.

“I dribble more and am more comfortable and confident when I’m on the ball.”

He had been living and playing in Spain for a year and half when his parents suggested they move back.

They had already overstayed their planned year and were ready to resume their life back home. While this meant that Oliver would get to go back to his friends and family in Kansas City, it also meant he would also be going back to American soccer. He would have to leave behind the intensity of the game and the passion that he had grown to know. Without the culture, the game wasn’t football.

Oliver joined a new club in America that December.

When it came to choosing a team, he looked to Sporting Blue Valley (SBV), one of the largest clubs in Kansas City.

“When we heard Oliver was making it back to the states he was offered the spot immediately,” coach Adam Lamb said. “I hadn’t personally seen Oliver play but I had heard a lot of good things.”

According to Lamb, Oliver lived up to these expectations.

“He has made a very strong start,” Lamb said. “Oliver is very technical ... great footwork and first touch and he seems to see the game very well. He also works extremely hard. He doesn’t seem to stop moving when he is on the field.”

Oliver knows where these things come from. He knows that his heart for the game is something that comes with the Spanish culture.

Sometimes he remembers the games in the field near his house. Sometimes he thinks back to the excitement that would come from the game. And sometimes he just forgets that he’s playing soccer. He’s playing football.

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photo by Hailey Hughes

sports 31

on the TOUR of Lancers among 50 teams nationally selected for elite football award written by Abby Walker

I

A NUMBER’S GAME stats from the Lancers’ record-breaking season

#2 ranked

in the state

WINNING STREAKS

.003%

Sunflower League 2014 records 15 games played games won

“Being one of the 50 picked out of 17,000 means being in the top one-fourth of one percent, or approximately .003%”

#126 of HS teams in the country

1o

5

LAWRENCE OLATHE OLATHE SOUTH NORTH

S.M. EAST

t’s a numbers game, football. The number of points, tackles, yards, records, percentages — they ultimately determine the outcome. Numbers can also indicate the success of a given season. Here are some numbers relevant to East- There are around 17,000 varsity football teams in the nation, and about 230 teams in Kansas alone.

MaxPreps, the high school version of CBS Sports, grants 50 of the top nationally ranked and state championship winning teams with the Tour of Champions. Being one of the 50 picked out of 17,000 means being in the top one-fourth of one percent, or approximately .003 percent. That’s not including the odds of winning state and making it on the nationally ranked list.

The MaxPreps ranking list uses an assortment of data to rank the best teams in the nation. Including the quality of teams played. This makes it completely unbiased to the popularity or history of a team. The data program used makes it just that much harder to win, but East has beat the odds. They ended the season ranked 126 nationally, and after the win against Hutchinson (33-14) on Nov. 29 in Emporia, East gained a spot on the tour.

Ever since the loss to Derby during the state game last year, the team has been working towards state. Never could anyone have expected them winning such a prestigious award.

“I couldn’t have imagined ending [my high school football career] on this,” Senior quarterback Gunnar Englund said. “I always dreamed of it but I didn’t really know it was this in reach.”

Senior safety Charley White feels the same about the ending of their high school football career.

“In my last game I know I did everything

right,” White said. “I ended as best as I could.”

For many that are a part of the team, including head coach Dustin Delaney, this award means more than any individual honor ever could.

“All of the honors are great,” Delaney said, “but whenever you get a team award it means a lot.”

At the varsity boys basketball game on Jan. 16 against SM West, MaxPreps came to present the award to the team and spectators during halftime.

The student section roared throughout the ceremony.

With the whole team out on the court receiving the award and listening to the MaxPreps representative’s speech, there were many reactions from the players.

“It’s just a great honor to get the trophy,” White said. “It’s actually really cool and it’s awesome to be honored in front of all the fans at the basketball game. It just means a lot because we’ve accomplished so much.”

In 2010 the East football record was 8-2. In 2011 it was 6-5. 2012 it was 7-3. 2013, 10-2. And finally, this year the record was 14-0.

“Being recognized and being so highly ranked means a lot,” senior defensive end, Kyle Ball said, “And kinda shows how hard the team worked and how much the team deserved it.”

After the loss last year against Derby at the state championship, the team was determined to come back and win this past year.

“We had high expectations from the very beginning, since last year, and we all just bought into it so we all believed it could happen,” Ball said. “I just couldn’t have asked for a better ending.”

32

photoessay

left The boys untie their skates after a long afternoon in 10 degree weather. Junior Andy Swanson had never skated before but gladly joined when was invited. “It was only my second time skating so I just borrowed skates from [sophomore] William Larson,” Swanson said. It was, for many of them, their first time playing hockey. They enjoy playing with Redmond’s older brother and his friends when they’re home for break. Swanson picked it up just as fast as the boys that had played before.

below

photo by Hailey Hughes

right below

During an after school game, junior Baker Stradinger got gets a bloody nose after getting hit with the puck by Redmond. “Hockey pucks are very hard and heavy so it was extremely painful,” Stradinger said. He enjoys being able to be outside in the winter.

photo by Hailey Hughes

below

Sophomore William Larson is the only underclassman that plays hockey with the junior boys. “I know them through lacrosse and swimming for East and country club swimming,” Larson said.

“They told me they were starting to play again and asked me if I wanted to join.” Larson and his friends would skate at Carriage Club during middle school but he had never played ice hockey.

“The best is just ripping shots but the worst is falling or getting hit in the face.” photo by Annie Savage

photo by James Wooldridge

icing

THINGS UP

Junior boys take advantage of the cold weather by spending time after school and on the weekends playing ice hockey on a pond on Ward Parkway. Junior Henry Redmond first became interested in hockey when him and his brother would watch the St. Louis Blues. “This year was when everyone [bought] skates and we started playing pick up with my brothers’ friends,” Redmond said. “Just before winter break, Baker and I bought our own goal.”

Henry Redmond helps a neighbor lace up his cleats. Charlie Zwillenburg lives down the street from the pond and decided to try playing with the high school boys. “[My favorite part] is coming out here with the older kids and dominating them,” nine-yearold Charlie said. “This is my first time coming out this year so it’s really fun.”