The Epic - Issue 6

the epic.

Learn about illegal video and music streaming that goes on at West pg. 15

PHOTO BY CALEB VERING

8800 W. 85th St. Overland Park, KS March 12, 2015 Vol. 53- Issue 6

Table of Contents Photo by Maddy Shackelford A story about KC coffee company “The Roasterie”

Read about a new self-defense club at West pg. 9

Learn about West students who work at a new Freddy’s pg.

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Read about one of our janitors who doubles as a starving artist pg. 20

Learn about a local lacrosse team at South pg. 24

Read a reveiw of a local Grinders restaurant pg. 25

Staff

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

WRITERS

Max Meyer and Brock Burnett

Isaiah McKay Spence Lassalle Isabelle Frankel Jude Kennedy Colette Balas Karen Barkema Megan Bartlett

ASSISTANT EDITOR Kristin Wells

MANAGING EDITOR Drake Mattis

PHOTO EDITOR Rachel Harvey

CARTOONIST Alex Ralston

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Sylvia Bryan Kathleen Gartner Lexi Hart Samantha Jansen Logan Peterson Caleb Walker

PHOTOGRAPHERS Gabi Chavez Merani Rivarola Maddy Shackelford Kamryn Marshall Grace Armenta Rian Stallbaumer

Nina Williams Maddie Loe Kelsea Lilla Hope Erickson Caleb Vering Breanna McKinney

“The Epic” is the newsmagazine of Shawnee Mission West, 8800 W. 85th St., Overland Park, KS 66212. It is produced by a staff of high school journalists dedicated to the principles of journalism: to present facts and occurrences truthfully and without bias. Articles of opinion or analysis are labeled and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and/or the publication.

In accordance with Kansas law, “The Epic” staff is entitled to freedom of the press. Neither the West administration nor the SMSD are responsible for any article, advertisement, photograph, illustration or opinion piece in “The Epic”.

“The Epic” encourages letters to the editor, but they must be signed and submitted to room 11. “The Epic” is published monthly. It is printed by the Sedalia Democrat and is distributed free of charge to students. For advertising information call (913) 993-7911.

ADVISER Amy Morgan

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Issue 6

An Executive Misstep Governer Sam Brownback has made recent, controversial changes An opinion of the staff Kansas state Governor Sam Brownback has been causing ripples through the state lately with two important changes.

Last November, Kansas held their gubernatorial elections. Governor Brownback sneaked by with 49.8% of the votes; beating Representative Paul Davis who received 46.13% of the votes. Only a few months into his term, Brownback has shown interest in balancing Kansas’s budget.

Brownback recently unveiled his Stop-Gap plan that would cut public school expenses by $44.5 million. The plan will also delay major Kansas highway projects; cutting more than $155 million. In addition, Brownback plans on cutting teacher and government worker’s pensions by $58 million.

Educational funding is something that affects all of us here at school. These spending cuts have the potential to directly influence students in the coming years. “The Epic” staff finds these spending changes to be counterintuitive.

This decision also contradicts his campaign run, promising to support education.

One common misconception is that the district has extra money to spend after the Digital Learning Initiative that was implemented this year. If this were true, then losing funding from the state would have minimal damage. However, the money used for the Digital Learning Initiative came from the capital outlay budget that is entirely separate from the operating budget.

The operating budget underwent many budget cuts 20092012 including reductions of special education, janitorial and administrative staff. Also, a number of full-time teachers were let go and some were reduced to part-time. The strings program for fourth graders in the district was scraped on top of that. The biggest cuts came with the closing of three schools in the district.

Keeping all of this in mind, additional budget cuts to the district will have repercussions that will affect all students.

March 12, 2015

We as students understand that our districts is in need of many improvements, but the district lacks the money for them.

The budget cuts aren’t upsetting just because they hurt our schools, but because Brownback had to make these cuts due to his reduction of income taxes earlier this year.

Brownback should have thought about the consequences of reducing income taxes first.

Brownback has also caused controversy in the press by removing an executive order that was put into place by former Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2007. The executive order barred state employers from discriminating applicants based on their sexual orientation. Brownback backed his decision by saying that Sebelius’ decision was done “unilaterally” because it was not passed by a state Legislation.

“The Epic” feels that this decision is a step backward.

When progress had already been made to eliminate discrimination, Brownback made his decision to remove it because of a trivial fact of how it was put in place. Employment should be based exclusively off of credentials and aptitude.

Refusing to hire someone because of their sexual orientation shows extreme prejudice and immaturity.

The staff here at “The Epic” feels that Governor Brownback’s recent decisions were ill advised. Although cutting education funds pushes a few more dollars into the state government’s wallet, there are no other positive outcomes.

Fewer funds for schooling causes there to be a possibility of teacher and administrative cuts or fewer resources for students. Also, the decision to grant government employers the ability to discriminate prospective employees based on their sexual orientation is outrageous. Realistically, employment should have nothing to do with a person’s sexual orientation, but by their work ethic, skills, abilities and credentials.

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Issue 6

BRIEFS BBQ BANDIT!

Did You Know?

A robber has sprung up in Texas, but he’s not stealing money. The robber has taken hundreds of pounds of meat from barbeque restaurants around Texas. He also stole beer and a new trash can.

The robber has still not been caught.

Actor Tim Allen wasn’t always the lovable funny TV father he is today.

On October 2, 1978, Allen was arrested for drug trafficking. He was in possession of about 1.4 pounds of cocaine. He plead guilty and gave names of other suspected drug dealers in order to have his life sentence reduce down to only 3-7 years.

Andrew Lincoln

Chester A. Arthur

Trivial Pursuit of Knowledge Entertainment: Kanye West announced the name of his upcoming album.“So Help Me God” will be Kanye’s eight studio album coming out sometime in 2015.

Geography: The United States plans to continue sanctions put in place against Russia until 2016.

Can grow some Plays a rad zombie kill- wild facial The 21st President of hair. ing dad on AMC’s “The the United States.

History: The Musashi, a World War II era Japanese

battleship, was recovered more than 70 years after being sunk. It was struck by 19 torpedos and 17 bombs.

Walking Dead”.

Venn Diagram

Arts&Literature: A posthumous work by Dr.

Seuss will be published in July. “What Pet Should I Get?” is the most recently found work of Dr. Seuss.

Not #not, Not #hot, but

Science&Nature: A new study found that children that didn’t eat peanuts before age five are seven times more likely to develop a peanut allergy.

#Meh

Sports: Associated Press will now be using soft-

ware to automatically generate stories about NCAA sports. These stories will begin with college baseball being the first sport to be written about.

1. The color changing dress 2. Snow without snow days 3. Skim milk 4. Stay-cations

Racial iQuality

Apple announced that they would be releasing a new set of Emoji symbols that would represent all different races. These new Emojis will be released as a part of the next iOS update. Previously, Emojis were mostly caucasian, but this new update will allow different skin colors to be used for almost every Emoji.

March 12, 2015

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MarchApril

By Kristin Wells

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Early Dismissal

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Percussion Concert @ 7pm

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Easter

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BREAK St. Patrick’s Day

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Palm Sunday

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SAT Pi Day

SM HS Band Festival

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April Fools’ Day

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SM HS Orchestra Festival @7pm

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Good Friday

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Passover Begins

Issue 6

News

New Year, New Team Flag team is coming back to West this fall

By Sylvia Bryan For several years, flag team has been a part of dance team. But due to increased interest in dance, the two will be separated again beginning next school year, meaning West may be the only Shawnee Mission high school with an independent flag team.

Whether or not flag team is separate from dance team depends on the student participation level, and in Shawnee Mission it’s up to each school whether or not to have individual teams.

“South used to have separate teams, but there weren’t enough people so they had to re-merge. We could see it at other schools eventually, but I don’t know for sure if anyone is doing it next year,” dance team coach Anne McClain said.

Dividing the teams will allow more people to get involved with the programs,

since it will increase the needed number of students. Additionally, it will give dance team the opportunity to focus more on competitions.

“We’ll focus on dance all year round.

We’ll still be on the track at football games and on the sidelines at basketball games, so that’s not changing, we just won’t do the halftime show with the band,” McClain said.

Current dancers will decide which team they want to be a part of next year, when flag team will take over dance team’s role in the football halftime show.

“I liked doing flags. I liked performing at halftime and stuff, it’s just that band camp was the most miserable thing ever.

And it’ll be better for competitions,” dance team member Melyssa Bussell said.

Elementary and middle school students involved in dance will be unaffected for the time being, but that could change.

“Since middle school sports just got started, adding dance team is still down the line. They have a long range plan for adding in individual sports later on,” McClain said.

When dance team is introduced to middle school, flag team may also be added, which would allow students more time to develop the skills needed for whichever team they choose.

As for current students, flag team will be coed and open to all grade levels.

Anybody interested in getting involved with flag or dance team next year can find information about both teams on the dance Web Backpack.

PHOTO BY MADISON LANGFORD March 12, 2015

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(913) 642-MATH

Issue 6

A Kick and a Punch New club teaches girls to defend themselves

By Megan Bartlett

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here’s a lot more than trying to punch someone in the nose when it comes to self-defense. A teacher at school has taken it upon herself to teach the girls at our school what to do in the face of trouble.

This semester, science teacher Amanda Fritzel has initiated a self-defense class for girls every Wednesday after school.

Many girls don’t realize how important it is to know how to keep themselves safe.

They feel indestructible and only see every instance of abuse from strangers as a statistic. Learning how to be alert in dangerous situations should be something every teen girl has on her to-do list.

“Last year I attended a self-defense seminar and realized that one seminar is not enough. I felt it was my duty to do something about it,” Fritzel said.

Fritzel has seven years of karate experience, so she has been teaching some of those basic skills in the class.

“So far we have just been learning how

to get out of certain kinds of holds and really basic techniques,” Fritzel said, “But in the future we want to possibly do some throws and just get more and more into detail about protecting yourself.”

Fritzel plans to continue the class for as long as there is interest in it.

“I felt it was my duty do do something about it.”

- Amanda Fritzel

“As of now I have one dedicated student. I don’t know if it’s just that people aren’t aware, but I have noticed quite a few permission forms are gone and none have been returned.”

Junior Jamie Ganapini has been the only student in the class so far, but because of this she gets the most out of her experience.

“The class has helped me a lot so far.

I’ve learned a lot of really good ways to protect myself,” Ganapini said.

Ganapini has been exposed to this mind set since she was young. Her uncle was a big influence in her decision to be involved in the club. He has taught her a lot, but she wanted to learn as much as she could.

This class not only teaches physical self-defense, but about street smarts as well.

Fritzel emphasizes being aware of your surroundings and listening to your instincts when something feels strange.

“You can never be too prepared. I hear many girls say that they don’t feel they need it, that they think they’ve got everything down pat,” Fritzel said, “I personally think they’re in denial, and to go to a class like this you have to admit that you don’t know anything, and that there is something to learn.”

“I think all girls should take it, it’s definitely been helpful,” Ganapini said.

Fritzel is teaching a student about self-defense.

March 12, 2015

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Opinion

Feminism For the Non-Feminine

An Opinion By Isabelle Frankel Feminism is currently gaining significant support from young people. Although I am thrilled about its growing popularity, I have noticed that there are still not enough young men getting behind the movement.

I think that male participation in modern day feminism is extremely important.

For women who experience inequality first hand on a daily basis, it’s much easier to want to strive for fairness. For men on the other hand, it’s easy to overlook the injustice. It can seem like the feminism movement is a one sided movement of women trying to elevate their social status until they stand over men but the fight for

gender equality is one everyone needs to be involved in.

Feminism has benefits for men even though it’s easier to see those for women.

For example, the wage gap is a tangible goal that women can strive for, but the society we live in also creates injustices that affect men.

For me, the biggest problem our society faces in terms of gender equality is confining people in boxes based on their gender.

If you’ve ever found yourself shopping for childrens toys you’ve probably experienced this. On one side of the store you’ll find the boys section- painted blue and black, filled with toy trucks, legos, baseball bats and toy guns. On the opposite side you find the girls section- pink and purple with hyperrealistic toy dolls, pretend kitchens and vacuums.

Splitting something as simple as toys up into these two categories severely damages children’s mindsets. These kids grow up believing that since they are boys, their place is working on construction sites or playing sports, and they can’t stay at home with their family and raise their children.

Society puts ideas of what is “normal” for men and women to do. For example, the idea that men need to initiate a relationship. I’m sure many guys at our school find it frustrating that they’re the ones who ask girls to school dances and pay for tickets and dinner. With the exception of WPA, men are always put in charge of their relationships.

The unequal society that we live in today keeps everyone from reaching their full potential. Men should be allowed to stay at home and care for their children while his wife works a corporate job, if that’s what they wish. The fragile concept of masculinity that says something as simple as a boy crying is a sign of weakness is detrimental to all men.

Feminism isn’t just about trying to get equal pay for men and women or replace all positions of power with women so that they can “crush the patriarchy.” As I see it, it’s more about trying to end the way society confines people based on their gender, an issue that affects everyone.

Thats why the fight for gender equality needs supporters from both genders.

Reading Isn’t Fun An Opinion By Isaiah McKay Reading was never something I would devote much time to. As a nine-year-old boy, I would raid the children’s book section at book fairs.

I enjoyed picture books with vivid images and enormous fonts, which made me grow accustomed to not actually reading but skimming. It made it much easier for my eyes to just move fast through text saving loads of time.

As time passed, I would avoid reading at all costs and find other things to entertain my adolescent mind.

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Occasionally teachers would make my class do quick reads. I soon became accustomed to teachers saying, “Isaiah! How’d you read that fast?” or “Did you really read that ENTIRE passage?” Someone would always tell the teacher that I skimmed it, then she would force me to read the passage out loud. Then grew my hatred towards reading.

Once middle school hit, summer reading assignments became the new trend. Not only did the assignment include reading a book I had no choice of, but also writing about that book. I was able to skim most of the required books, pick out various details within the story and end the project with great grades. Fortunately, I finished the year off with huge praise from my parents for my surprisingly high grades. It had worked for a while at least.

I didn’t know that in high school read-

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ing becomes a task that doubles in time and effort after factoring in annotations, side comments, socratic seminars and extracurricular activities. It was a harsh reality to smack into, but ever since I have it’s become less and less of a daunting task.

Now after almost four years of high school, I try very hard NOT to take the easy way out. Procrastination is one of the simplest ways to avoid feeling overworked.

I’m seven months into my senior year and my motivation and drive to get things done is dwindling by the moment. If only there was a proven way to reverse these detrimental side effects.

There is only one fact to realize after reading this.

Reading is never fun but you should do it (because your teachers say so).

You will survive. Read on!

Issue 6

Opinion

An Opinion By Kristin Wells There are many things that define me.

Some things I have defined for myself and some things I have been defined by.

I define myself by my activities, my passions, my personality and my dreams.

These are the things I choose to be, the things that I am good at, the thing that bring me joy.

But I have also become defined by my ACT score, my GPA and how many extracurriculars I have managed to pack into my schedule. Maybe it’s just me that feels this way, maybe not.

Boxed In

To colleges, my identity is seen as numbers and an application. Granted, colleges try to get to know you as a person through visits, but the way that I get into college is based on what’s on my application.

As a junior, the pressures of college and my future plans are incessant and intense.

I feel like everytime I check my phone, I have another college email and consistent college letters float through my mailbox.

Each and every one is looking for a student who is hardworking, dedicated and intelligent. There’s nothing wrong with that. I just feel that I have to fit that mold.

In order to embrace who I am through college and find a career that suits my unique interests and personality, I must have a certain test score and fit in the box of the perfect student. I’m exaggerating a little bit, but I can’t be the only one that sees the irony here.

Personally, I would love to go to the college of my choice, regardless of my

ACT score and regardless of how much money I have to pay. But in this world, it’s not possible. We should be able to attend where we want and what fits best for us.

Maybe I’m just ranting and rambling, but I think it’s become more of a normal thing for some students. I see people around me, my friends, my peers, striving so hard to fit that box, that they lose all touch with themselves and in turn who they are, outside of their academics.

There comes a time where we try so hard to be our best self that we actually end up losing sight of who we are. Is it possible to be so absorbed in our future and our academic identity that we can’t maintain our connection with the now and who we are in it?

We can try so hard to steer clear of the boxes and bubbles that society tries to place on us, but they are inevitably there.

Freedom Of Speech

An Opinion By Jude Kennedy

What makes America such a great place is the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives you the freedom to speech, press, and assembly. It also states that you have the right to petition and the freedom of religion. Not only is America a great place to live, because of the First Amendment, it can be one of the most annoying places, all thanks to the First Amendment.

Throughout the history of the United

March 12, 2015

States of America, there have been many times where the First Amendment has had an impact of change in America. Of course, not all groups of people who want a change are the most fun to listen to, but we have to respect their ideas and their action to change.

Today, groups of women called feminist, are a core group in the subject of change in America. In theory feminists strive for the outgrowth of the general movement to empower women worldwide.

Feminism can be defined as a recognition and critique of male supremacy combined with efforts to change it. Usually when a group of people call for change, there is another group trying to stop them. In this case, the meninist movement. Meninists, for the most part, are boys who find it

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amusing to make fun of feminists rights’ to press. In my opinion, both sides are dumb; one more than the other, but still dumb.

I’m not going to preach to you about feminism and meninism, but remember they have the right to fight for their meaning of life and we must respect them and their ideas.

During the Superbowl, an add campaign aired which tossed controversy throughout the internet, #ThrowLikeAGirl.

I didn’t like the commercial, not because I am against feminism, but that it should have leaned toward being yourself and not worrying about it. Instead of #ThrowLikeAGirl how about #ThrowLikeWhateverTheHellYouWantToThrowLike.

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Issue 6

Feature

Not Your Average (Cup of) Joe KC’s Roasterie breaks the daily grind

By Kathleen Gartner

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ou don’t have to go far to taste some of the finest- and freshest- coffee in the world.

“If you get your coffee by 12:30 am, you know your coffee was roasted that same day,” Danny O’Neill, founder, said in a 2015 video.

Hometown specialty coffee company The Roasterie has been air roasting their premium beans since 1993.

It all began when O’Neill traveled to Costa Rica as a foreign exchange student and got to see coffee plants for himself. It wasn’t long before he was hooked. After he came back, he started tasting a variety of gourmet/specialty coffees from around the world.

“I kept dreaming about it, thinking about it. I was talking about coffees, and people made fun of me they were like, ‘Yeah, try

make a living off of that,’ And it was a joke,” O’Neill said.

Yet despite criticism, O’Neill decided to start a coffee roasting company. However, he had one major obstacle.

“I had absolutely, positively nowhere near enough money to really start a business and to go rent a building, buy a building, or rehab it in any way, so the idea to start in my house was huge. We did roasting in the basement, we packed on the middle floor, and we stored coffee and coffee bags and all kinds of stuff up on the third floor,” O’Neill said.

The idea took off with customers, and now Roasterie coffee can be found across the nation in stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club as well as online. The Roasterie’s production is now housed in its very own “Bean Hanger” in downtown Kansas City.

The Bean Hanger includes a cafe, event

Photo by Maddy Shackelford March 12, 2015

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space, and of course, the bean machines.

The coffee roasting process begins all the way across the world in various coffee farms. Currently, the Roasterie sources their beans from 31 countries. Because the Roasterie is a specialty coffee company, they are very selective.

“We always look for that top two percent of the coffee grown in the world,” Paul Massard, coffee bean sourcer, said in a 2015 video.

At the farms, the coffee is hand picked in the morning and then laid out on a concrete patio to dry. In its natural form, coffee is a fruit with the “seed” being the roastable coffee bean. The coffee is turned every 15-30 minutes to create even drying.

After this, the coffee is rinsed of its dried fruit layer. The remaining beans are called “green coffee.”

Unfortunately, coffee trees can only be harvested once a year and yield a total of 1.5 - 2 pounds per year.

“Every two bags of coffee we sell in the cafe really represents one tree,” Mike Valent, tour guide, said, “One tree doesn’t even produce one bag’s worth of coffee (the 150 pound production size) over the course of its life. And then its gone forever.”

The green coffee is then shipped to the Roasterie’s storage building in Oakland, California. The beans are stored in California until closer to roasting because of California’s more constant humidity and temperature.

Throughout the entire process the Roasterie must be careful not to contaminate the coffee.

Coffee experts use the technique called cupping to determine the quality of the coffee.

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“Coffee takes on its environment, so you’ll have coffee that tastes like livestock if it’s shipped on a boat next to livestock or coffee that tastes like gasoline if its shipped next to gasoline,” Valent said.

The green coffee then gets sent to Kansas City to be roasted. This unprocessed coffee is stored in the “green mile” in the Roasterie factory. 150 pound bags of beans are marked with their country of origin such as Ethiopia, Sumatra, and Guatemala. These bags will be on the green mile for about six to eight weeks before they are roasted.

Unlike other coffee roasting companies, the Roasterie air roasts their coffee.

“We use a fluid bed to roast our coffee as opposed to the traditional drum roasting method. In the fluid bed there’s air blowing in there at 400-500 degrees to roast the

Feature

coffee, and the beans are kind of floating around in there from the air vent,” Valent said.

According to The Roasterie, this is what sets their coffee apart.

“Air roasting leaves more of that rich coffee flavor that you get when you don’t roast it as dark as some other processes can,” Valent said.

The Roasterie owns four main roasting machines. The largest roasts 300 pounds at a time and is used mostly for their blends.

For their more premium coffees they use 48, 10, or even 5 pound roasters.

“Anytime we’re roasting coffee we roast the components (of different bean varieties) separate. They roast at different levels because their chemical compound and water contents are a little different,” Valent said.

This means that each individual bean variety- like Ethiopian- are roasted separately and then hand blended to ensure that each bean is roasted to perfection.

After roasting, the Roasterie packages their coffee in special nitrogen flush bags.

This process removes oxygen and adds nitrogen to the coffee bags.

“Coffee starts to degenerate as soon as it is roasted,” Valent said, “This is because oxygen in the coffee starts to break down the bean, and it degasses.”

The Roasterie has a one-way valve on each bag that allows degassing to occur without letting in extra oxygen.

After this, the freshly roasted beans are sent around the globe to be enjoyed by coffee connoisseurs and students alike.

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Issue 6

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Feature

The Inside Scoop The new Freddy’s has just opened its doors, with the managers receiving mixed reviews

By Karen Barkema and Logan Peterson

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reddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers recently made its grand opening along the bustling 87th Street and along with it has come drive-thru lines a mile long and teenaged employees feeling overworked.

Ever since it’s opening on January 27, Freddy’s has been all the rage. Not only have the drive-thru lines been a traffic hotspot, but really the entire strip mall along I-435, which includes McDonald, Taco Bell, Sprouts and Sears Outlet, has been all the rage.

While Freddy’s was still under construction, the managerial staff made a concerted effort to hire several new employees throughout Johnson County. Gordon Waybright was one of those managers.

“We used four different avenues to draw applicants, social media was one of them,” Waybright said.

“We didn’t target any one age group because it takes a lot of employees with varied skills to run shifts,” Waybright said.

When the restaurant first opened, business immediately boomed. Eager customers practically waited by the doors with their mouths watering, silverware clenched in hand and bibs on their shirt collars.

“The first few months have pushed the employees to the max,” Waybright said.

Before Freddy’s official opening, there was a 30-hour training week for all employees. They learned all their respective jobs and were taught how to make the food. Several of the employees that attended go to this very school. Junior Tammy Hammatto is one of these many West students.

“The first couple of weeks were crazy busy and really hectic. My peers and myself included didn’t really understand how to efficiently do our assigned jobs, so service was slow and things got really

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backed up,” Hammatto said.

The managers have been criticized by some of their employees for overworking them and keeping students too late on school nights. Several employees resigned because of the extended hours. Sophomore Megan Fangman was one of those students.

“I wanted to apply to Freddy’s because I needed a job and it’s close to home,” Fangman said.

“Working was pretty stressful, but all the workers were pretty nice. All the managers were really nice, and they made it a comfortable environment,” Fangman said.

Although the managers continued to create a healthy work environment for all of the new employees, the restaurant was still always busy around the clock.

“I was working almost everyday after school. Some nights, I was there until midnight or later. I also worked eight hour shifts on the weekend,” Fangman said.

“I couldn’t balance school, clubs and a job that required that many hours. I was exhausted from working late nights and couldn’t catch up on sleep,” Fangman said.

Employees didn’t hesitate to let the managers know that they felt they were working too often.

“I do (receive requests) all the time.

The number of hours have decreased the most from the high schoolers. We work a lot of them until 10pm or later on school nights,” Waybright said.

Waybright wasn’t surprised to lose staff along the way. Many of the students that did apply for the sole purpose of working with friends and having a good time.

“Losing employees happen. Some had taken the job because of their friends and what not. We have lost about ten out of the initial 80 hired,” Waybright said.

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According to the Kansas Department of Labor any employee age 16 and over may work to any hour of the day seven days a week. The managerial staff of Freddy’s broke no laws when scheduling work hours.

Also, many of the West students that still work there seem to have a great time working there, regardless of hours.

“I love working with friends from West because it makes the hours fly by,” Hammatto said.

Aside from that, the restaurant continues to be a high traffic area and business is still booming.

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FREDDYISM

“Work hard, study hard and always tell the truth.”

Issue 6

TO DO: Stu(dying) A

Students share their studying methods struggles

By Isabelle Frankel

t one point in their lives, all high school students have found themselves sitting in front of a gargantuan textbook desperately trying to absorb all of the information by the test the next day.

There are many different methods for studying. Whether it be making flash cards or taking excruciatingly detailed notes during class, it seems to be difficult for everybody to find the key to success.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, students in high school spend an average of 6.8 hours per week doing homework.

“I usually start doing homework at at four and finish around 10 or 11 but that includes dinner and a few short breaks,” said Renny Ma, junior.

For Ma, as well as many other students, one of the reasons her school work consumes so much time could be because of the many distractions that students face while trying to study.

During this day and age, teenagers have smartphones and social media account.

These things potentially cause immense distractions for students trying to study.

“The biggest challenge I face while studying is probably disciplining myself when it comes to technology, I get distracted by social media and games,” Ma said.

As social media becomes more popular and accessible among high school students, their studying habits become more abnormal.

A common studying strategy is working in groups of friends. In theory this method seems ingenious, but actually trying to get things done tends to be a challenge.

“I think it’s a disadvantage to study in groups,” Parker Henley, senior, said.

Although some are able to effectively study in a group, it often leads to excess distractions and inability to fully learn the material.

“I prefer to study by myself because I can study at a pace that’s more suited to me and I can focus more on the things that I need to focus on and there are fewer distractions,” Ma said.

March 12, 2015

Mimi Rainen, English teacher, has a different view. She thinks that studying with other people is beneficial to those in the group.

She also suggests other studying techniques.

“Taking notes and reviewing them and picking out significant details.”

Ma, along with many other students, finds that the best way to study is to just read the textbook. Classes are usually planned directly around the textbook, so reading the designated chapters before a test will ensure that you know the required material.

Another challenge students face during high school is preparing for standardized test. These include the ACT, SAT, and AP, or advanced placement, tests.

“For the AP test you can get a lot of AP books from Barnes and Noble they should have a couple books for every subject,” Ma said.

There are also a lot of available resources for the ACT and SAT like review books and practice tests. Many know the Sparknotes website for its detailed summaries on

many required readings, but they also have a lot of test taking strategies.

“I took SEEK my junior year to help study for the standardized testing and I do a lot of studying for AP test, I take a lot of practice tests to get the timing down,” Henley said.

SEEK is a good resource for students who can participate in it, and there is also a test prep class taught at West that is available to all students.

Another important aspect of studying is how to stay organized. Students use planners and to-do lists to keep their tasks in order.

“I have a to-do list on my Mac, on my wall, usually on my desk, and my phone,” Ma said.

For other students it is easy for them to keep their assignments in order without the need of a planner.

“I just kinda keep it in my head. I have a lot of folders that I just keep all of my assignments in,” Henley said.

Studying habits and how to manage school work is a huge part of all high schoolers lives.

Kelsea Lilla uses her free time to get ahead on her homework.

Photo by Brooke Loiacono the epic 19

The Price is Wright West janitor practices lost art

by Samantha Jansen and Colette Balas

Photo by Rachel Harvey

One of Wright’s scrap metal sculptures.

Custodian Price Wright, also doubles as a starving artist. On top of mastering this lost art that is no longer taught, he works with metals, woods, plaster, sculpture and oil painting.

At the beginning of the year, one of his sculptures displayed in the West Patrons’ Gallery along with other works of art created by the faculty. The sculpture of a musician made out of recycled materials is just one of his many sculptures.

“I had a tin man, which was a medieval knight, a musician wood sculpture, and a gothic oil painting of three church women shouting inside the gallery. For the last five years I have been participating in art projects when Mr. Schieszer lets me throw a piece in,” Wright said. By putting his artwork in the gallery, he hopes to inspire students to pursue their talent and share their art.

He found his passion for art when he was young and he has continued on that pathway since picking up many other skills

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along the way.

“In my college years, I studied art in Colorado Springs while I was playing football and I majored in art,” Wright said.

After college he continued on to teach at many different places as an art teacher, open a daycare, and then eventually came back to his original field as a trained carpenter.

“I’m just a starving artist. I’ve been an artist in Kansas City for the last 30 years.

I’ve been in shows and district paintings.

I only do it though when I see visions, if they come to me I can do it,” Wright said.

He says that he cannot always make a piece among request he has to be inspired.

“Any artist will tell you, you got to feel it to do it,” Wright said.

He has been hired by people before to create works of art specially made for their house or business. He had a request from the Marriott downtown to paint a mural.

Price offered to paint the mural on the ceiling .

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“I asked him ‘You want me to do some Michelangelo stuff and put it on your wall.’ He thought I was kidding!” Wright said. It took him about a year and a half to finish.

In his spare time, he enjoys looking at works of art and when he finds one that he finds intriguing he goes home where he works on trying to master it. He learns the techniques used to create the painting then adds his own touches.

“I love the Nelson and when the new stuff comes in I think that I can do something different than that. So I go home and I master that piece that I’ve seen, but I add something to it, change it 10% and it becomes yours,” Wright said.

Price currently has most of his work in storage while waiting for the new gallery to be built. The new gallery where his artwork will be displayed is called the Atlas Gallery.

Issue 6

Sports

The Need For a DH

The designated hitter needs to be added to the National League An Opinion By Max Meyer David Ortiz, Billy Butler and Victor Martinez are some of the most-recognized names in today’s game, but players like them, true designated hitters (DH), can only be found in the American League (AL).

Since the introduction of the designated hitter in 1973 it has created one of the most interesting discussions in all of sports.

Should both the American and National League have the DH? Every year when AL teams travel to National League (NL) stadiums during interleague play, they are forced to bench one of their bests hitters and give at-bats to their pitchers. These pitchers are asked to step into the lineup when they often receive less than 10 at-bats in a year. For instance, James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie only had seven at-bats apiece last year. When the Royals travel to St. Louis each year to face the Cardinals, Royals’ pitchers have to go against a pitcher that has over 80 at-bats in a year such as Adam Wainwright who had 82 in 2014.

The disadvantage isn’t only just between the hitting ability of the pitchers.

The AL teams also lose one of their best hitters when they have to remove their DH from the lineup. For many AL teams the DH is one of most valuable players. On top of that, AL teams have to make many changes to their lineup. Several players will be forced to move up in the lineup. For hitters who grow comfortable in their spot in the line-up a move can really affect their production.

Not only do NL teams get an advantage during interleague play, but they also get an advantage during the World Series. Eliminating the DH for the AL during the World Series gives the NL an unfair advantage when the playing field should be as even as possible.

The DH also adds entertainment to a game that badly needs it. Having a player that specializes in offense is much needed today when offense is at an all-time low.

Home runs and extra base hits are some of the most exciting plays in baseball and

having a DH in the NL would greatly increase these plays. Not only are DHs more fun to watch, but watching pitchers hit is incredibly boring. Many times pitchers stand at the plate and wait until they have two strikes to swing. There are some pitchers who are good hitters (see Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner), but the vast majority are well below average hitters. There are also very few hitters who have as high of a percentage of their plate appearance end in bunts as pitchers do. While bunting and small ball may be enjoyable to watch for die-hard baseball fans it can be unbearable to watch for the casual fan. In order to catch up with other North American sports leagues in terms of excitement the MLB needs to do everything they can and adding the DH to the NL would be an easy way to do so.

Some would argue that getting rid of the DH would be altering the game from its roots. While that may be true, the game has already made the adjustment at all other levels. In every level of baseball from recreational teams for elementary school kids to AAA teams in the minor leagues the DH is used. It is only in the NL that teams are barred from using it. It doesn’t make any sense to have kids grow up playing one way and completely alter it when they become a professional.

Adding the DH into the NL would benefit players, teams and fans, so it only makes sense to make the transition. In game that has often lagged behind the changing times, this move could help catch it up.

Photo courtesy of (CC) Keith Allison David Ortiz, DH for the Boston Red Sox, hits a homerun against the Baltimore Orioles.

March 12, 2015

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Sports

March Madness Four of our staff members review the NCAA Basketball regular season and give their predictions for the NCAA Tournament

By Max Meyer, Caleb Walker, Logan Peterson and Drake Mattis March Madness brings out the best and the worst of college basketball fans everywhere. Every Selection Sunday is like a full moon: once it shows, the crazies come out. But, the craziness of the NCAA Tournament is completely warranted. Filling out a bracket each year is like an adrenaline rush as you contemplate upsets and discuss picks with your bracket pool members.

One of the biggest conversation points when discussing the NCAA Tournament is the number one seeds. The top four teams with the most impressive performances during the regular season receive top seeds. Teams such as Kentucky, Gonzaga, Duke, Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Villanova are all in the running for top spots on the bracket.

This year has proven to have many interesting storylines. Kentucky contented for an undefeated season, Gonzaga had perhaps their best team ever and KU claimed their 11th straight Big 12 title.

From day one, the season belonged to the Kentucky Wildcats and their pursuit for perfection. Every other team seemed to play second fiddle to John Calipari’s Wildcats and their towering big men, Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Even the other quote “best teams” in the nation faltered. Duke had a few tough losses, Virginia was plagued by the injury of their star Justin Anderson, and Kansas suffered a few devastating losses throughout the season.

Any analyst would say that this year was incredibly strong for big men, with Wisconsin’s Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and the aforementioned Stein and Towns. But, the surprising emergence of several great point guards defined the season.

Ohio State’s DeAngelo Russell and Duke’s Tyus Jones have made mincemeat of their competition and are well on their way to becoming lottery picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. Also, mainstays like KU’s Frank Mason and Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell have proven their worth, with hard-nosed defense and team first mentalities.

No matter who won or lost during the regular season, it doesn’t matter now. March is upon us and with that comes the hours and hours of Bracketology on every sports network from ESPN to ESPN 8 “The OCHO.” Bracketology experts spend 365 days a year trying to predict who’s in, who’s out and who will win it all. It’s essentially a crapshoot, but four writers on “The Epic” staff tried their hands at giving their predictions.

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Wooden Awards Candidates

Frank Kaminksy, Wisconsin Jahlil Okafor, Duke Stanley Johnson, Arizona

D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State Juwan Staten, West Virgina Montrezl Harrell, Louisville Jerian Grant, Notre Dame

AP Top 10 1. Kentucky

6. Wisconsin

2. Virginia

7. Gonzaga

3. Duke

8. Wichita St.

4. Villanova

9. Kansas

5. Arizona

10. Maryland

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Issue 6

Sports

Final Four Predictions

Max Meyer’s Take: Kentucky

Wisconsin

Kentucky Duke Duke

Caleb Walker’s Take: Kentucky

Wisconsin

Kentucky Arizona Arizona

Logan Peterson’s Take: Kentucky

Wisconsin

Kentucky Kentucky Virginia

Drake Mattis’ Take: Kentucky

Gonzaga March 12, 2015

Kentucky Kentucky Arizona

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Oklahoma

Duke Maryland

Arizona Virginia

Notre Dame Kansas

Arizona 23

Sports

South Side Lacrosse West students play lacrosse for a team at South

By Drake Mattis

Lacrosse is the fastest growing high school sport in the U.S. and is widely considered to be America’s sport of the future.

Since Major League Lacrosse was founded in the late 90s, lacrosse has boomed on the east coast and in Canada but it hasn’t been widely popular in the midwest until recently. In recent years, West students have found out about a club lacrosse team at Shawnee Mission South and immediately became interested. Since it is a club sport, this means it is not school-sponsored and players can come from basically any school nearby.

“I found out about the team because of an ad that was in the Epic last year that included the date of an informational meeting and I wanted to play a spring sport,” sophomore Jay Hawkins said. He then convinced some other friends to go to the meeting and give the sport a shot. “The first time I picked up my lacrosse stick, I fell in love,” Hawkins said.

Last year he played with several other West players and other players from schools including Shawnee Mission North, Northwest, South, Rockhurst, Bishop Miege and Mill Valley. Hawkins will be entering his second lacrosse season this spring along with six other players from West.

This year a new girls lacrosse team is starting, open for all girls interested in playing from any of the Shawnee Mission schools.

On the Kansas side, there are other girls clubs at Olathe and Blue Valley schools.

Lacrosse is typically played on a field similar to a football or soccer field but size can vary depending on the level of play.

Lacrosse a full-contact sport and the equipment includes a helmet, mouthpiece, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, athletic cup, cleats and a lacrosse stick.

“With how much it costs to play plus all the equipment, it can get pretty expensive at times, but once I get onto the field it’s all worth it,” sophomore Tyree Miller said.

At local private schools such as Rockhurst, Pembroke Hill and St. Thomas Aquinas, lacrosse is a tryout sport where you can get cut. On the Raiders, anyone can join despite skill level and experience.

“Last season we weren’t very good,” sophomore Brian Tines said. “We have a new coach this year and I think since we will be more experienced we will perform much better on the field.”

This year the club will consist of varsity and junior varsity teams with 33 players total and 23 eligible for playing time on both teams. With nine returning seniors, the team will look towards them for leadership.

“I recruited a few other of my friends this year and I think they will have a lot to bring to the table,” Hawkins said. “I like my teammates a lot,” Tines said.

“It took a while to get to know them at first but after I did get to know them they were really chill guys,” Hawkins said.

Lacrosse players are known for their close relationships and bonding they have with each other. “A lax-bro is someone you can trust and have faith in on and off the field,” Hawkins said.

“Lacrosse is essentially a combination of several sports: basketball because there are similar plays, soccer because of the similar positions, football because of the contact and hockey because both sports use sticks to score. It’s a game of inches, every play counts. It can be complicated and intricate at times but it’s always fun,” Hawkins said.

Photo by Kelsea Lilla

Hawkins takes a shot on cage at an indoor practice.

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Issue 6

Grinding Up a Review Review of the new resturaunt on Pflumn, Grinders

By Colette Balas

A wall inside of Grinders that is decorated by various bumper stickers.

Photo by Rachel Harvey

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rinders is a small restaurant known for its New York style pizza, Philly cheese steaks, and beer. The original Grinders is located in downtown KC. The Grinders in downtown also doubles as an outdoor concert venue.The newer Grinders is located on Pflumm, where Stonewall pizza used to be.

The atmosphere is very chill and decorated like an old English inn. Scattered around the restaurant recycled pieces of art. In the bar area, the ceiling was decorated with licence plates from all over the country. There were also paintings like an eye, which seemed to follow me as I walked around the restaurant. There was an outside courtyard with a fire pit, seating, and string lights.

So considering what it’s famous for, I ordered the Philly cheese steak and a slice of pizza. The owner is originally from Philadelphia, so he makes authentic Philly cheese steaks. It was the best Philly cheese steak that I’ve ever had. They made it with fresh bread, imported from and made in Philly, steak, onions, mushrooms, green pepper, and two types of cheese. My waiter recommended the “Le Hog” pizza. It has white sauce topped with bacon bits, canadian bacon, ham, and meatballs. The pizza was very different from any pizza that I’ve had. It was extremely thin, requir-

March 12, 2015

ing me to use a knife and fork to eat it. However, I was pleasantly surprised to like it as much as I did.

I had a very good experience at Grinders and to top it all off, my waiter was a West graduate.

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“Don’t Point That Thing at Me”

by Kyril Bonfiglioli

A book review By Spence Lassalle

Rating:

S

o why would I review a book that was published in the early 70’s and isn’t even well renown? Well, it is some what relevant. There was a film adaption that came out on Jan. 25 under the name of “Mortdecai” starring Johnny Depp. The film received terrible ratings and bombed at the box office. When I found out it was based on a series of books, I was really curious to see if they were better than the movie because obviously the movie wasn’t that good. The title of the book is “Don’t Point that Thing at Me” written by Kyril Bonfiglioli.

The first book in the “Mortdecai” series is somewhat a rough read because of the British dialect the author chose to use. I had to look up the meaning of some words because I had no idea what they meant. Don’t let the word choice take away from the story though. The book centers around our main character, Charlie Mortdecai, a man of many professions including assassin and art dealer.

The comedy is pretty funny and makes it a good page turner. It’s a book that you don’t want to put down.

The story centers around Charlie Mortdecai. Mortdecai is an art dealer who cons people when he makes deals or trades. A very expensive painting gets stolen, and Mortdecai gets hold of it and hides in the roof of his car. The painting is very valuable. He travels to the United States, which is probably the best part of the book (and movie) because he is entirely out of touch with American culture. Along the way, he runs into different people that want him dead. Throughout the book he gets tortured and beaten. The things he says before or during his beatings are pretty funny. He goes back to the U.K. at the end, but has to keep the painting in good condition along the way. There’s a twist ending that will surprise you, but I won’t spoil it.

My favorite character of the story is probably Jock; he is Mortdecai's bodyguard. The situations he puts himself in just to protect Mortdecai are pretty funny, even in the film. I’m glad this book had it’s funny moments because the laughs kept me going. Without the humor, the book would have fallen flat. To my surprise the book actually holds up pretty well for being published in 1973. Another funny thing about the book is that Inspector Martland (who is an old friend of Mortdecai) has a crush on Mortdecai’s wife. Mortdecai’s wife is an annoying character who is just nagging Mortdecai for basically the whole book.

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I did like this book a lot, and I do think it was better than the movie. The only problem I have with it is that the plot got confusing as the story went on. I saw the movie first, so I could kind of make an idea of what part I was at in the book. It’s not a bad book by any means, but I don’t think I’d recommend it to friends because it doesn’t seem like a book that would interest them. This story isn’t a book you just pick up and read. It’s what I like to call a nightstand book, meaning you keep it on your nightstand and read it before you go to sleep. All in all, I think the book is better than the movie. I don’t think we’ll be seeing a new Mortdecai movie just because of the response it’s gotten from critics, so you should just read the books instead if you’re interested.

Should I pick it up?

If you’re willing to invest time into the story, and think a story about an English art thief is your cup of tea, go ahead and pick up this book.

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Issue 6

“Schizo” “Schizo”

A book review By Sylvia Bryan

by Nic Sheff

Rating:

I

magine “Catcher in the Rye”, but 60 years later and with a schizophrenic narrator, and you have “Schizo.”

The book centers around Miles Cole, a high school junior who struggles with schizophrenia, while coping with the regular pitfalls of adolescence.

He’s pursuing a disastrous relationship with a girl who doesn’t treat him very well, to say the least, and spends a lot of time avoiding his friends. But his biggest problem throughout the book, besides his schizophrenia, is his search for his brother.

Two years before the story takes place, Miles’ brother went missing at the beach. The police think he drowned, but Miles believes he was kidnapped and is determined to uncover the truth, even if he has to do all the work himself.

Of course, he ends up using various illegal methods to accomplish this, such as stealing police files, hiding out in a stranger’s car, and repeated trespassing. Really, the most unrealistic part of the book is that he never gets in trouble for any of this. However, Miles is shown to be a pretty unreliable narrator, so maybe that can be excused.

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Interestingly, Miles’ seems to have a hard time getting closer to other guys, and his most significant relationships are with women.

Although he has male friends, he doesn’t seem to really like them that much, especially compared to his female friends.

Some of the sweetest parts of the book are when Miles and his little sister, Jane, have scenes together. His relationship with his mother is also quite touching, and so is his friendship with Jackie, his best friend’s girlfriend. It’s also nice to see a genuine male-female friendship that doesn’t end with them falling in love, a dynamic that seems to be rare for the young adult genre.

Miles’ disease isn’t the only thing that defines him, but it does play a huge part in his story. Due to the nature of schizophrenia, he, and consequently, the reader, never know what’s actually happening and what’s a hallucination. It’s pretty easy to tell that the crows that he thinks are always chasing him are fake, but other than that, you never really know.

There’s a twist at the very end that drastically changes the story in hindsight, but I won’t go into specifics, because if you want to read the book that would probably ruin it.

Also, the book has a pretty graphic depiction of a suicide attempt at one point, so if that would make you uncomfortable I would avoid it.

I thought “Schizo” was well written, and the story itself was quite interesting. My biggest criticism of it is that even by 2020, it will seem very dated. There are some references to pop culture and technology that just won’t be relevant by then. Some of them seem a bit dated already, and the book only came out in 2014.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the book and I think it’s a great, if scary, depiction of mental illness. I don’t think I’ll re-read it, because it seems like the kind of book that’s best the first time around, but it was still very worthwhile.

I recommend it, especially if you want to learn a little about schizophrenia. It reminds me of Laurie Halse Anderson’s books, if a bit darker, so fans of her’s also may want to check it out.

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A&E

The Magic of Animation

Film Critic Logan Peterson recalls his favorite animated films of all time

Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki, a god in the world of animation, created a beautiful film that blended gorgeous hand-drawn animation with an atmosphere of love, loss and understanding, with 2001’s “Spirited Away.”

It tells the story of Chihiro, a young girl who wanders into the spirit world during her family’s move into the country. An incredible world has been created by the Japanese visionary, one that has had even the brilliant minds at Pixar salivating for years. In this totally original world, Chihiro has been trapped in the clutches of an evil witch who runs a bathhouse for the spirits. What ensues is a thrilling and mind bending journey that will penetrate the audiences soul and put them inside this stunning universe. Hands down, this is the most dazzling animation I’ve ever seen in a film. The vibrant colors and complex character designs transcend the reaches of the adult mind. They look almost as if they’ve come from the imagination of an exuberant child. The story behind it all is truly touching as young Chihiro has her first experience with love with Haku, a river spirit who has also become prisoner to the evil witch. Throughout this undeniably amazing film are the morals of friendship and family which are elusively hidden behind stunning animation and a thrilling story.

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Beauty and the Beast A film that kickstarted Disney’s renaissance period in the 1990s, “Beauty and the Beast” tells the tragic story of a cursed prince and his quest to win the heart of a vivacious towns girl named Belle, before he is reduced to his repulsive form forever. Prior to this film, Disney had spent the last 15 years dry heaving poor ideas and films. This release, along with 1989s “The Little Mermaid” gave Disney a spark that would give them critical and commercial for the next decade. Nothing, though, comes close to “Beauty” with it’s amazing songs and poignant story that set a huge toll on an emotional level. From the cheerful tune of “Be Our Guest” to the beautiful ballad of “Beauty and the Beast,” these songs forever remind us of our childhood and continue to amaze us today. This film also changed the course of Disney princesses for the next several decades. These princesses would no longer be looked at as ditsy cleaning ladies, but as women who wanted more with their life and who seek purpose. Belle is the perfect example of what the perfect Disney princess should be. She’s always seeking knowledge and she doesn’t need the love of a husband to make her life complete. These morals resonate with women today as the feminist movement has never been more powerful. With it’s memorable songs, touching story and sweeping animation, “Beauty” became the first totally animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and with good reason.

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The Iron Giant “The Iron Giant” is set in 1958 Maine, where an intellectually gifted young boy named Hogarth befriends an alien robot that crash landed from a meteor, while a paranoid government agent tries to destroy it. This film unquestionably does such an amazing job paying homage to classic 1950s science fiction films and classic stylized film noir. “Iron Giant” has such a nostalgic feel to it with its 50s backdrop, including little touches like Winsteads-style steak burger joints and atomic war preparation videos being taught to students in the classroom. Though, these are hardly the main reasons the film is so memorable. The bond between Hogarth and the Giant is unbreakable. They not only are the best of friends that have such a great time together, but they both learn life lessons from each other that eventually lead to an intense and emotionally resonant climax. I myself was incredibly vulnerable and touched while watching the film and I’m man enough to admit that more than a few tears had stained my shirt collar by the time the credits started to roll. “Iron Giant” surely wouldn’t have such zest without the great voice acting of Vin Diesel as the Giant. Not many words are spoken, but the feeling speaks volumes. This film is unfairly forgotten when great animated films are discussed among movie-goers and I implore those who appreciate great films to reconsider.

Issue 6

Artist Profile

A Q&A with Harrison Berggren

By Brock Burnett

Q: What’s your favorite kind of art to make, right now?

A: As of right now, well I’ll just tell you what I’m doing. What I’m working on is 3-D pieces in ceramics, but I’m doing lots of surface design on them, so I’m basically merging 3-D and 2-D art.

Q: What brought you to experiment with that kind of stuff?

A: There was an artist I saw at the Red Star gallery that did things similar to these. He had sort of abstract shapes, but he made them into almost interior design sculptures, although it was a convex form, so it wasn’t like little houses or anything, but they were like rooms. This is very confusing *laughter* His name is Chris Theiss.

Q: What’s your favorite medium?

A: I’ve always liked drawing. That’s what I just do in my free time, and everything, so it translates into everything. Recently, well not recently, over the past couple years, I’ve started doing it with pen opposed to pencil because I don’t like erasing.

Q: How long have you been drawing?

A: I remember drawing my mom on a dirt bike back when I still thought dirt bikes were cool, which was like a long time ago.

Not that dirt bikes aren’t cool, but it was when that was like an obsession of mine.

Q: So it all started with that? Was there any kind of build up?

A: No no, it was with stick figures when I was like three. She still has it. It’s a green dirt bike, and the seat extends a good six feet up off of it.

Q: Is the work you do still very sketchy and hand drawn?

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A: Lots of the kind of stuff I do now is print making. So I have a block of linoleum, and again the reductive process. I carve away what I want to be white, and so they have to be a lot more technical than when I’m just drawing with a pen or pencil because everything matters. Every mark I make is very defined. It’s sort of cartoony still. I don’t realistically represent a lot of things.

Q: What’s the most exotic piece of art you’ve made? Like the most unusual. I guess it’s hard to base what’s unusual and what’s usual.

A: It is hard to base exactly what is usual.

We’ve done lots of things over the past few years. That’s part of the class, like the AP class, and something interesting that I like doing is encaustic. So, what that is, is basically it’s painting with wax.

Q: So this is a passion that you plan on taking beyond just now? Like professionally.

Q: Where does the obsession with that theme come from?

A: That’s something I’ve considered a lot recently. Just how the constructs of our society happened. Why everything is the way it is. Different universes have always interested me. Just the progression of everything… that’s so vague, I can’t even begin. *laughter* I’m finding it hard to vocalize it right now.

Q: Like if things we take for granted as cornerstones of our society just didn’t exist? War has been there throughout time, but what if it was not?

A: Yeah. What if? It comes down to evolution and the universe. How did we happen?

Why did we happen the way we did? If certain things were changed, it would be different, but it wouldn’t necessarily be better. Everything just sort of is.

A: Yes. The major I’m currently looking at is called industrial design. Basically what they do is design products to be manufactured. So, it’s not exactly what I’m doing now, but I think it will still be artistic and satisfy that need of mine. I’m looking at art schools though. Most of them have it. It’s sort of an art career.

Q: What would you say, as an artist, are the most constant themes in your works?

A: Lots of my themes are about relationships and society. That sounds so cliched.

My concentration last year was proposing alternate universes where problems we have, such as war or crime or things like that were fixed, but through... The implementation of whatever policy would fix them or just the lack of that problem, other consequences happened. That’s something I explored.

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Artist Harrison Berggren poses in the art gallery.

Photo by Rachel Harvey

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West Timeline

Fall behind on school news? Look here for a quick refresher.

@boysbasketball Boys’ Basketball team won against Wyandotte on March 4 and played against SM North on Friday, March 6.

@signingdayathletes 12 West athletes signed to play their respective sports at the collegiate level. Congrats to those 12!

@springbreak!

Spring Break begins for students on the 16 and ends on the 23. Enjoy your break, and we can’t wait to see you back on the 24!

@bandfestivalSMSD On March 31, all of the Shawnee Mission schools are performing at SMEast at 7 pm. Go support our band. #Kicksomebrass

@SpringShow2015 Spring Show is an event that is held by Dance Team and Cheer. It’s awesome! Come out and see it on Friday April 10, at 7 pm.

Want to stay entirely up-to-date?

Follow us for real on Twitter @SMWjournalism and check us out online at smwest.com 30

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Issue 6

Double Take

cher

s tea Mr. Taylor, Physic

Jacob Nelson, S

ophomore

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram! @smwjournalism

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March 12, 2015

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BACKPAGE

By Alex Ralston

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