the epic. (Issue 3)

the epic.

Houston p.2

p. 12

8800 W. 85th St. Overland Park, KS November 15, 2013 Vol. 52 - Issue 3

News

The Show Must Go On west loses another student in just over a month by isabelle frankel and brock burnett

Vanleeuwen remembers St. John at a memorial service.

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unior Houston St. John passed away in a fatal car crash on I-435 on November 5.

St. John was a member of Chorale, Madrigals and Theatre at West. He was also a Cadet Teacher. St. John participated in multiple Christian Youth Theatre productions alongside the West theatre productions he was in. St. John was going to be Tarzan in the CYT production “Tarzan”. He also was involved with Immeasurable Productions, a Kansas City production company that coordinates musicals for teenagers and young adults.

Students were horrified to hear that another student passed so soon. Many were in disbelief and shock. School, for many students, was the last place they wanted to go after hearing the news.

The next morning Dr. Julie Crain, principal delivered an all too familiar announcement.

Students showed their support for the St. John family in many ways. One way was through the website forevermissed.com. Forevermissed.com is a website made specifically to perserve and share loving memories of those that have passed away.

“I am so blessed to have called Houston one

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PHOTO BY ADDIE LAKE

of my close friends,” junior Katherine Reidel said through forevermissed. “He has helped me through so much and I could never have thanked him enough. I can only aspire to be as kind and compassionate as Houston. He has changed my life and I will always carry a part of him in my heart.

Love you, Houston.”

A memorial service was held for St. John on Friday, November 8. Members of the St. John family were in attendance along with many students, former teachers and other adults whose lives had all been touched by one way or another by St. John.

The memorial started with a performance of “Witness” sung by Chorale. Then six speakers who knew St. John personally talked about how he has changed their lives.

“Houston is not the kind of kid who’s easy to forget. When he walked up on stage you couldn’t help but notice him. There was no doubt that he was gonna make it big. Houston left an impression on everyone he met. He has a way of making you feel like everyone is his best friend. He made everyone feel loved and always took the high road.

He had more confidence in me than I’ve had in myself. Houston is a shining example of the person

we should strive to be like,” Reidel said.

“Houston will forever be a piece of our lives,” junior Emily Herbers said. “He was easy to count on for a smile or a hug. He had so much talent, just an indescribable amount. We all want Houston to know how much he changed us. Houston, I want you to know the role you played in my life, as well as so many people. You were a brother, a best friend, a role model, a shoulder to cry on, a smile to rely on and the perfect person to laugh with. Even though we won’t see you dancing anymore, we can find comfort in knowing that you are finally dancing in heaven with God. Standing with Michael Jackson on your right and Elvis on your left. Your light and passion for life will live on in all of us. I will always love you Houston.”

“The talent I saw blew my mind,” choir teacher Laura Vanleeuwen said. “Houston was a star in the performing area. I was in awe of what he was able to do. If we could all model our lives around Houston the world would be a better place. As we move forward in this school year that has knocked us down, we will continue to stand back up, stand strong and with all our strength, we will be stars here on Earth to honor Houston.”

by andy gottschalk

four black actors abounds

Chaz Ebert, movie critic and wife of the late Roger Ebert, wrote that this year black actors could potentially fill the bill with performances from ciritically acclaimed films like “Fruitvale Station” and “12 Years a Slave.”

“Oscar speculation has become somewhat of a sport,” Ebert wrote.

The band performs its annual lightshow at Senior Night. Each band member has glowsticks and flashlights taped to his body as he plays on the field.

oh dear

billionaire plans to build titanic 2

With lots of money and some spare time, Australian billionaire Clive Palmer is embarking on some ambitious plans - to rebuild the famed Titanic, which sunk 101 years ago. the U.S. Congressman spoke to students about governmental issues

highlights from kevin yoder’s visit

in business

Brad Stone’s new book about Amazon looks at the web giant’s sometimes agressive operations in bookselling.

“We’ve seen ... book publishers and their sales get turned off on Amazon until they come crying back to the table because they rely on Amazon sales,” Stone said in an interview on NPR. “The Everything Store” is for sale for $10.99 on Amazon’s Kindle.

earth is hot hot hot hot hot hot hot Global temperatures in 2047 are predicted to be higher than they have been in any year from 1860 to 2005, scientists from the University of Hawaii at Manoa said.

According to their report, our coldest years will be warmer in comparison to the hottest years in the past.

PHOTO BY BRIANNA COLE

but #MEH 1 News feed 2 “Could I have your

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

attention please? This is Dr. Crain.”

Cyber Monday Tony’s oven pizza YouTube ads SONIC ice Turning in tissue boxes for extra credit Barnes & Noble DVD Special Features

LEXY HARRIS

quoted In New York, if you walk outside you are involved. Everyone feels that, and everyone is feeding off that. I saw New York in ‘Ghostbusters’ when I was 4 years old and decided I would end up living there.

-Michael Cera on why he lives in New York, as told to “New York Times”

VENN DIAGRAM

100,000

estimated deaths from overdoses of narcotic painkillers in the last decade

The actress who voiced the character of Mrs. Krabappel, Marcia Wallace, on the popular animated show “The Simpsons” passed away at age 70. The show paid tribute to the actress in the opening sequences and ending credits. The “irreplacable” character will be retired, according to executive producer Al Jean.

mcdonald’s facing protests for higher wages

“The federal government is arguing you don’t have the same privacy with emails as you do with postal mail. I think these folks are out of touch.”

“Can we cut funding in defense?

A lot of Republicans don’t think we can, but I think we can. Our conversation is about how we can make the military work on less and make it work better.”

Not #HOT, not #NOT

a gecko Sells car insurance.

miley cyrus

They stick their tongues out.

Twerks.

The fast food chain already helps employees get food stamps. Now, as more than half of fast food workers have to rely on public assistance programs to support their lifestyles, McDonals’s is facing challenges to raise worker wages.

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photos (cc): John Penny, C. McKee, Fred Zilla, Auntie P

BRIEFSoscar buzz for

News

Opinion

contents Benolkin and Walker get in a fist fight. Just kidding. p.9

Fall sports are done.

So, what happened? p.22

Dory chooses a piece of art and briefly explains its merits. p.22

illustration by chance julian

P.D.-Awful As the weather here in Kansas gets colder, people are becoming more and more inclined to find a boyfriend or girlfriend to cuddle up with to survive the harsh winters.

The couples have already been sprouting up all over West, and we here at “The Epic” are not very fond of couples making love in the hallways. We understand that there is a time and place to show affection, but here in the hallways at West is not that place at all.

Everywhere you look, there are couples kissing, swapping spit and holding each other. We think that hugging and holding hands is fine because this isn’t overly excessive. When we say holding hands, we don’t mean stretching out across the hallway holding hands and blocking off one side of the hallway. We mean hands down by your side, not being obnoxious and not awkwardly hugwalking with each other. You know what we mean. When the guy stands behind

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the girl pressing his body to hers, and they proceed to do a “March of the Penguins” waddle down the hallway.

“The Epic,” you’re saying, “but my boy/girlfriend and I are a cute couple!

We look cute when we kiss,”. No couple looks cute when they are shoving tongues down each others’ throats. If you want to do that kind of thing, more power to you, but please do not do it at West in front of almost 2,000 other students that go to this school. It is uncomfortable for anyone looking, and it is especially uncomfortable for anyone that has to walk past or through the couple in order to get to their next class.

We feel that the school has to start taking action. So far, no rule exists in the SMSD student handbook about the restrictions of PDA. We believe that there should be some kind of rule against it.

Teachers now try to somewhat stop it, depending on who the teacher is. Unfortunately, these teachers can’t be every-

where, so PDA runs rampant throughout our school.

What exactly might this new rule entail? Well, we think that students should only be able to hug or hold hands at school. Kissing and making out would be off limits. The punishment would have to pretty severe so that people don’t take the new rule lightly or else things will revert back to the way they were. The last thing we need are more couples roaming the hallways doing that cuddle-walk at half of a mile per hour and blocking all of the traffic in the hallway.

“The Epic” isn’t against relationships.

We aren’t even against showing affection, but tongue-guzzling your significant other’s face in front of our classes is a bit gross. Nobody wants to see it. We have to mandatorily spend seven hours here at school, at least let them be enjoyable by making your Display of Affection Private.

This issue we cover stories from the death of Houston St. John to a prominent rapper in Kansas City. You’ll read about everything from Egyptian twins to the fanaticism of Black Friday.

staff

Editors-In-Chief assistant editor Managing editor Photo editor writers

Cartoonists adviser

Andy Gottschalk & Marleah Campbell Brianna Cole Lauren Scobee Sami Jett Betty Thomas Isabelle Frankel Jordan Johnson Max Meyer Brock Burnett

Spence Lassalle Kristin Wells Hannah Lane Gretchen Yearsley Chance Julian Alex Ralston Amy Morgan

No-Risk Assessment Free Consultation One Free Session

Opinion Marleah & Me

the drawing board by alex ralston

Time Travel

By Marleah Campbell

‘Drew

The “F” Word

By Andy Gottschalk I think I decided I would be straight in the seventh grade.

It seemed like a fine enough time to do so - I, like others, had been in middle school for about a quarter, and if changes were to be made they ought to be made soon.

The first clue I got that made clear to me gays weren’t welcome was during lunch on the first day of school. I sat down to an anonymous table of tweenage boys like myself.

The only difference was I was self-conscious and friends with none of these people. The rest seemed to have already made themselves at home.

“Are you gay?” I was asked when I sat down.

Maybe my face flushed red or perhaps I scoffed, as if I, like them, was certain in my sexuality. But nothing I did convinced them.

I was asked about girls around the lunchroom. Did I think they were hot? “Uh, sure.” My responses didn’t persuade them.

“I told you he was a fag,” one guy said while nudging another in the stomach.

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I ate my lunch quickly, left early, and held back tears during my pre-algebra class. It would be the first, and hardly the last time, people would call me out for being gay.

It was clear a sexual reinvention was what I needed.

Watching others pair off like the animals on Noah’s Ark convinced me that maybe a member of the female gender was all I needed to understand I was really a straight gay.

Hence I thought to ask my best friend out; she was funny and in a lot of my classes and I didn’t need to don a macho persona with her. It seemed like sufficient tactic for the job.

It wasn’t too successful. Neither she nor I was convinced I was actually straight, and the response from others was less hopeful.

People continued to call me a faggot, or remind me that I liked boys, both for personal pleasure and for audiences of self-assured seventh graders.

The same boys I met on the first day of school at lunch persisted with their remarks. They were often the strongest attackers, were in many of my classes, and seemed not to care that my own private struggle was being made public daily by their insults.

I prayed to the God I didn’t believe in that, were he to change my sexuality, I would repay him with whatever He wanted. It sounded ridiculous then, but what else might work?

The insults remained constant enough, but in time I stopped caring as much and other people grew up. By sophomore year I was only a little discomforted that I was followed in the halls by a boy who referred to me as “gay kid.”

He would call after me, but at this point I had stopped denying my sexuality and I appropriated “gay” to mean something less offensive, something that proved that I had endured adolescence with an affliction most, it seemed, viewed as a choice.

“Yeah. I am gay,” I thought, trying the word out in my mind, as if it were some badge of honor. I thought, “I am gay.

I’m really, really gay.”

As if I wasn’t reminded enough of my awkward days of braces and pigtails, I now have an app that will conveniently do it for me.

For those of you who are unacquainted with the increasingly popular app, Timehop collects your activity on different sources of social media and shows you exactly what you did on that particular day in years past. You can find tweets, Facebook statuses, Instagram photos, and pictures from your camera roll. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Of course after hearing about Timehop, I eagerly jumped on the bandwagon and was welcomed with open arms. “After all…” the unaware, naive version of myself thought, “what could be better than waking up every morning to reading all of the witty tweets and Facebook statuses I posted in middle school?”

Answer: anything. Anything at all could be better than that.

When I stumble across a particularly shameful tweet or status, I’ll screenshot it for the record books. Hall of famers include “I’ll always be a scrub” (Facebook status from about four years ago– eighth grade Marleah was having a rough day) and “#pizzastreet” (was I trying to get that trending?).

Despite a daily reminder in the form of a punch of shame to the face, I will admit that Timehop has a lot of benefits. Really, there are three main reasons why I keep the app on my phone and can’t help but checking it every day.

1) It’s fun guessing what I was doing on a particular day based on a vaguely worded generic update.

2) I’m a nostalgic person. Often, I look through pictures I posted on Facebook and think, “That was really three years ago?” I enjoy being able to be brought back to things I’ve done in the past that I’ve completely forgot about– a birthday dinner, a concert, whatever. It’s fun being reminded of outings I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

3) The little dinosaur mascot could not be any more adorable. His name is Abe. Although Timehop can be a great tool to remind you of your formerly embarrassing self, it also serves as a way to remind you of how you have electronically documented your life.

So download Timehop, and tell your future self hello on social media today. The one year older version of yourself will thank you.

Opinion Call Me Bricola

Good Music?

By Brianna Cole What is good music? Some may say a good record must have a catchy chorus and some may say the beat has to drop exactly thirty-two and a half seconds after the song begins. Asking whether something is good or not is a such a broad statement. What we should be really worrying about is whether the album as a whole is meaningful.

Recently I went to the Chance The Rapper concert and I was stunned by his performance and powerful words. As a music junkie, I intuitively listen to lyrics and can quickly pick

out the artists that are rapping because they have something to say or they are just trying to rhyme “gold chain” with “pinky rang”. At this specific concert, I was amazed by Chance’s lyrics. Unfortunately, whatever he says shouldn’t be a surprise to me, it should be something that all rappers try to convey.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that our generation loves the hip-hop/rap genre. With that said, those artists hold so much power. I don’t necessarily believe that music can brainwash you or take control over your mind, but I do believe these artists influence us in some way. Words are more powerful than we think and if we could all embrace what needed to be said, this world would be a better place. For example, as an active member of Starving Artists, I try to write and perform about things that speak to my peers. If I wanted to make it easy I could just stand on stage and rhyme words with no meaning.

Sometimes the best hip-hop bangers make no sense and once in awhile that is perfectly acceptable. But to overall say that 2 Chainz is the best rapper on the planet is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, I have a few of his songs on my iPod but his nonsense does not deserve my money for the full album.

So, what exactly is good music? I could argue for days about which artist is better than another, but at the end of the day we all have different opinions. Next time your Lil B loving friend argues whether his favorite artist is good or not, ask if the artist produces meaningful lyrics. I’m pretty sure you’ll come out on top.

the drawing board by chance julian

Scobee-dooby-doo

Move Out of My Way

By Lauren Scobee Every day the bell rings and an elephant stampede comes running out of all classroom doors. Hundreds of students with their baby elephant backpacks load into every hall and stairway imaginable. My problem is that this year hall traffic has reached the extreme.

When people, especially as small as me can’t make it through this crowd you know it’s a problem. Seriously, people, whatever happened to common sense and common courtesy.

Move! Do not stand in the middle of the hallway. Do not walk slower than our courtyard turtle, Bob. If he can beat you to the end of the hallway you know it’s bad.

There seems to be more students than ever, so obviously the halls are going to be more condensed. With that in mind most people should also think, hey, maybe we should walk on the right side of the hallways at a steady pace and, not right smack in the middle. If you did not get that memo from the voice inside your head that deals with reasonable crowd walking rules, consider yourself told.

I would like to make it to the lunchroom without having to form an aggressive conga line to push through the crowd.

Time square has turned into a human Friday night rush hour traffic session full of PDA and stubborn students. An easy solution to this problem is to just follow normal traffic rules and be mindful of those around you. This should not be hard, just pick up your feet and keep going. If you want to have a conversation with your friends, go for it, just not in a place where you are blocking the halls. Go to the side, wait until you are in the classroom or better yet walk and talk. I know, it’s a shocker. Who has ever heard of walking and talking at the same time?

At the end of the day and I am excited that school is over and ready to get home much like most of you. But, then comes walking into the hallway, the elephant stampede is back again. It’s not too bad, then I hit a group of people who came out of thin air walking slower than my grandma. Therefore the only choice left is to make my way forcefully. If you are said persons I am referring to, follow these rules you will not get pushed out the way.

If you know you are in the way and there is no one can get around you and your mini crowd, don’t even think about getting mad when you are bumped into by people who are actually trying to get somewhere. Move! Consider yourself warned.

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Feature

TEACHER BATTLE

benolkin

vs.

Constance Benolkin World Regional Studies

Sept. 27

by brock burnett

On what date did the most recent government shutdown start? (Oct. 1)

Ron Walker History and Economics

Sept. 28

Oct. 16

What date did it end?

(Oct. 16)

Oct. 17

Europe

In what continent has there been most recently been uproar an about possible NSA spying? (Europe)

Europe

John Boehner

Who is the Speaker of the House?

(John Boehner) What continent has the most countries in it?

(Africa)

Africa

Name a country with the letter “Q”? (Qatar)

I really can’t think of it.

John Boehner

Africa

Qatar

Mississippi, Minnesota, Illinois, Hawaii, Tennessee

Name five states with double letters in the name. (Illinois, Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee.)

Mississippi, Minnesota, Illinois, Hawaii, Tennessee

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Which of the 13 colonies made up the New England colonies? (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire)

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Sorry Benolkin! Better luck next time.

PHOTOS BY NATALIE DERKS

walker

Congrats Walker!

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Feature dory’s corner

Our Home

by betty thomas

the zaki twins were born in egypt, but now make there home here in america by kristen wells

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European and world history teacher Scott Dory choSE an artwork BY GUSTAVE BAUMAN to BRIEFLY EXPLAIN WHY HE LIKES IT AND WHY IT’S EFFECTIVE. [Gustave] Bauman merged the craft movement with affordable works of art.

“Rios Pecos” catches the exoctic and far away of the Southwest. He does a good job of grasping the awesomeness of nature.

The process he uses, of carving wood then painting it, adds depth to his work.

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ohn and Merit Zaki live 6,521 miles away from their country of birth.

The Zaki twins were born in Cairo, Egypt but moved to North Carolina when they were almost two years old. Later on, they moved to Arizona and finally to Kansas City.

The Zakis moved because the Zakis wanted a better life for themselves and their family. They saw that life in America.

“My dad could find a better job here so he could take care of our family,” Merit said.

Merit and John left a lot of family behind when they left Cairo.

“I have a lot of cousins and a lot of family there,” John said.

Since they were so young when they left Egypt, Merit and John don’t remember much about it from then. But, since moving to America, they have visited their hometown of Cairo just once.

“I have been back for three weeks when I was seven. I liked meeting my family,” John said.

“We met my family and visited a lot of monasteries, which are different from churches here,” Merit said.

Merit noticed the differences in the feel of Cairo compared to America.

“I feel like in Egypt, people are more family-oriented and connected. We look out for each other better. It was the entire atmosphere and the sheer size of the city that I liked,” Merit said.

Merit and John were both young when they moved to the states, it wasn’t too hard for them to assimilate with American culture.

“Once I started preschool, it became pretty easy since I was obviously too young to attend preschool in Egypt,” Merit said.

Merit and John weren’t the only ones that had to get used to living in a new country.

“It was just strange to know that your parents are just as new to the culture as you are while growing up. We were never as settled into the society the way people who had been here for generations are,” Merit said.

There are a lot more people in Cairo than there are in Kansas City, and the population is more dense too. Cairo is a lot bigger than Kansas City in population but not in area. This makes for a very crowded city. 7.8 million people reside in Cairo’s 175 square miles, where only 450,000 people live in the 320 square miles of the Kansas City area.

“Traffic is very dangerous and crowded in Egypt,” John said.

“I grew up in the suburbs here and Cairo is such a big city, like New York here. There were donkeys on the streets and farmer’s markets,” Merit said.

For John, the food was the biggest difference between America and Cairo.

“I like Greek food and most Egyptian food is based off of that,” John said.

There are some perks to living in America, too.

“There’s more freedom here and it’s not as crazy,” John said.

“I feel like it’s easier to be accepted. You don’t have to act a certain way because family tells you to,” Merit said.

America definitely does have more freedoms, like the freedom to practice a religion of choice. For the Zakis, it’s a great freedom.

John and Merit take their religion from their home country. They are Coptic Orthodox Christians, and that is the native Egyptian Christian religion.

Although they live far away from their birth place, John and Merit Zaki have made a home here in America.

Feature

Order Your Yearbook now!

by Dec. 13 $55

payment plans available!

See Mrs. Morgan in Room 11 or the bookeeper

@SMWYearbook

Heavy Fees with steep fees and heavy payments, school can weigh down family economics by brianna cole When students enroll at the beginning waive their cap and gown fees. of the school year, all parents must pay the Students who carry Medical Cards may be basic fees to attend. Although, some students able to obtain free and reduced lunch. Free may be paying more than others due to class and reduced lunch is calculated by the total selection, the standard fee is $213. This fee income of a home and how many family memincludes the books students annotate for Eng- bers. There are more students on free and lish, textbook rental, the mandatory activity/ reduced lunch at West than there are students participation fee, and an ID card. with Medical Cards.

Students who are financially struggling Once a student is on free and reduced are allowed to have these fees waived. With lunch, he or she can apply for the SAT/ACT the waiver, a parent will only pay $90 which and college application waiver. The ACT exam covers the activity/participation fee in order costs $36.50, students with free and reduced for the student to attend a Shawnee Mission lunch can apply for the waiver that will allow high school. Elective and English fees are not them to take the test twice for free. permitted to be waived. For example, the $25 Students who are either supporting art class fee must be paid. themselves, considered homeless, or are “Because the state has cut so much fundin a financial crisis can apply for the McKining, the school board has implemented that ney Vento Program. These students receive all students must pay the ninety dollar activity transportation to and from school and are set fee,” said counselor Cindy Neely. up with homes to stay in momentarily. The If a parent or guardian is still unable to program offers extra attention with tutoring pay the $90 fee, they may and helps students attempt to set up a paywith receiving school “Because the ment plan. In the past, Dr. supplies. The McKinney state has cut so Charles McLean allowed Vento program goes much funding, the this system. above and beyond than school board has The only way to obtain implemented that all just helping out with the waiver is to be a students must pay the fee waivers. Once a holder of a Medical Card student is on McKinninety dollar activity or a recipient of Medicaid. ney Vento, the school fee” A Medical Card is a form fees are waived, they of health insurance. Some jobs do not provide automatically go on a free or reduced lunch adequate health insurance so parents apply and receives help with doctor check-ups and for Medical Cards for their children. Medicaid anything health related. Students a part of the is also a state-funded form of health insurprogram receive a cap and gown waiver and ance but leans more toward those who are administration helps out by giving the seniors financially struggling. yearbooks.

If fees are unable to be payed off, students The counselors hand out Harvesters are not allowed to walk at graduation until Sacks to students who are in need of food. some sort of payment plan has been arranged The pre-packaged meals are not meant to with an administrator. In the past, students’ feed a whole family, but are enough to feed diplomas were held and they were unable to a student for the weekend or so. The sacks walk at graduation due to the issue of money. include: a can of fruit, Vienna Sausages, Although not being able to walk at graduation crackers, and cookies. The counselors do not may seem a bit extreme, the administration at keep tabs of the students who come in and West does a lot to help seniors with paying for grab the sacks. Instead, throughout the year a items that are needed to graduate. Administra- collective number of sacks are tallied. tion has helped students with financial issues

11

you’d have to drag these shoppers out kicking and screaming.

the frenzied annual event sometimes gets out of control by kristin wells

Even before the turkey has been swallowed and the final whistle blown on the football field, people are rushing out to participate in what is known as Black Friday shopping.

Black Friday began in the late 19th century. In that day, stores wouldn’t advertise for holiday deals until Thanksgiving was over, so when the sales began, it was a major deal. Over the years, the sales on Black Friday have gotten bigger and the opening time of the stores has gotten earlier. Stores are opening their doors in the wee hours of the morning and sometimes late Thursday night.

Marina Sarkisova, 2013 graduate, has been the manager at the free-standing PINK in Oak Park Mall for about a month, and worked there last year on Black Friday. PINK opens at midnight on Thanksgiving.

With lots of people around, the lines get long and people get impatient.

“When I got there at 10:30, there was already a huge line reaching all the way to Macy’s,” Sarkisova said.

Last year at PINK, there were a lot of girls and a lot of trouble.

Because of all the craziness that happened, PINK actually made it onto Good Morning America.

“It was very hectic and stressful.

We had girls physically push each other and two girls got into a fight.

The girls broke the gate and it got so aggressive that we had four mall cops and the police there. It

was just crazy! People will trample at ‘em early. Some of the most over each other and grab what they popular stores for Black Friday can,” Sarkisova said. shoppers are Macy’s, Old Navy, Sophomores Sabrina GorWalmart, Target and Best Buy. man and Madisen Broadway had Oak Park Mall also opens early. a much less hectic Black Friday PINK does not make advertiseexperience. ments for their Black Friday sales, “We’re usually actually shopalthough some people try to fake ping only an hour, but we wait in them. lines for a long time,” Broadway “PINK doesn’t advertise. We get said. Broadway goes with her dad, a lot of false ads that people will stepmom and sometimes her aunt try to bring in and use,” Sarkisova and uncle. said.

Gorman also says there is a lot Stores compete to see who has of waiting around in lines. Gorman the lowest prices and best deals for has been going with her sister, everyone. cousins and family for the last four “Best Buy and Staples usually years. have the best deals for me. We got “There’s a lot a laptop from of people and Best Buy for a “People will almost every really reduced store’s lines are trample over each price. I also like super long. So because other and grab Target you have to make I can actually what they can” get stuff there,” sure the item is really worth the Broadway said. wait in line!” Gorman said.

Gorman spends most of her Broadway and Gorman both get early morning shopping time at an early start on their Black Friday clothing stores. shopping.

“My sister and I normally go to “We usually go around 4 in the the mall and clothing stores like morning, but last year we went the Forever 21, American Eagle and night before at 11. I like going the PINK. I think Walmart probably night before. You get a head start has the best deals though because and I’m more awake,” Broadway everything’s on sale,” Gorman said. said.

Early morning shopping sprees “Midnight to 3:30 am was the like these require planning beforepeak time. By 7 a.m., it kind of hand. dies down. Once the mall opens, “We look up stores to see sales the people spread out a little bit,” to see if it’s worth going,” Gorman Sarkisova said said.

Most stores will have doorbuster “I’m not the one who looks up deals for shoppers who are up and the sales, but we do look online to

see what places have a big blowout on sales,” Broadway said.

Sarkisova, having to work on Black Friday, has a different side to the craziness of black friday.

“I kind of like the hype, even though I’m not typically a Black Friday shopper. ” Sarkisova said.

It’s not all fun and games while working Black Friday, but the PINK workers made the best of it.

“At midnight last year we had about 15-16 employees on the floor. It was cool to have that many girls because we all brought food for each other,” Sarkisova said.

Stores really do benefit from Black Friday sales.

“It is really a peak day for holiday season in general. Black Friday is probably the second highest business day. The first is the week of the semi-annual sale,” Sarkisova said.

Black Friday is a huge sale day for the year, when talking about profits. The few days right before Christmas when customers are out doing some last-minute shopping, are profitable for most businesses too.

On Black Friday, only stores who actually have a door to bust get the benefits of these deals.

Online stores don’t participate in Black Friday. They have their own ‘web-buster’ day called Cyber Monday. However, it doesn’t compare to Black Friday.

“I definitely like the hype. It’s really cool to watch people and see what lengths they go to,” Sarkisova said.

PHOTO BY DYLAN CROW

Arts&Entertainment

?Flipped

Has Brogdon

mrs. brogdon has completely changed the playing field in her geometry class by isabelle frankel

I

magine not having to do any tedious math problems after school, being able to take notes at home and apply what you learned with your class the next day. Students in Laura Brogdon’s geometry classes don’t have to imagine.

This year Brogdon started using the “flipped classroom” style of teaching. “It takes the instruction that would usually happen in the classroom and makes it homework. I record myself teaching the lesson and when the students come to class the next day we do the ‘homework problems,’” Brogdon said.

The district informed Brogdon of the new style last year.

Then she attended an inservice last summer where she learned about the flipped classroom and began making videos.

“April Bullman who is big on tech integration in our district helped me get everything off the ground,” she said.

With the flipped classroom Brogdon has noticed students who usually struggle in math improving and enjoying the subject more. Students seem to understand the lesson more and if a student doesn’t understand they’re able to come into class after watching the video and ask the teacher about it.

“Their confidence seems to have raised a lot because they have more connection with the material,” Brogdon said.

“I like it because in a normal class you can’t pause and rewind like you can at home, thats what I do and it helps me learn,” said Macaela Anderson, Sophomore.

With the flipped classroom style, Teachers are also able to discover a mistake students make and correct it early on.

Often times students in a normal classroom who don’t understand the homework give up, but doing the problems with the class eliminates these problems.

“I can see early on if they’re doing a problem and I can do it right there with them,” Brogdon said.

“The biggest problem I faced was trying to get onto the website we use to watch the video,” Matthew Winter, Freshman, said. Not being able to get access to the videos seems to be the biggest issue. Not all students have access to internet at home but Brogdon said most of the students find a way to do the work, whether that means going to the library or a friend’s house to use the internet there.

Students that don’t watch the video have yet another alternative. “She has two laptops in the classroom so normally she’ll have a day to finish the worksheet that goes along with the video and if you didn’t watch the video you use the laptops,” Anderson said.

Overall, the flipped classroom has proved to be very beneficial to students.

PHOTO BY SAMI JETT

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701

Feature

Balancing the ROTC Lifestyle

students in rotc have to do more than you might think by hannah lane

Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, otherwise known as NJROTC. The NJROTC students are a group that have spread themselves throughout the organizations of our school. They manage to get themselves involved in other parts of the school while also rising through the ranks in NJROTC. They do so by participating in community service projects as well as various other NJROTC branch off programs.

The people in NJROTC spend anywhere between 1 to 5 hours a week in NJROTC related programs and events. How do they balance it out?

“You just kind of mix and match,” Natalie Scala said, a sophomore and Seaman Apprentice. A Seaman Apprentice is the second lowest rank in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Scala is also in Coalition and a good student. She does community service with NJROTC and doesn’t let it get in the way because she loves helping people. She thinks that the strictness of NJROTC helps her keep her grades in line.

Many NJROTC students have a lot of their time taken up

by NJROTC and its requisites. A few though, like Sean Bruce who is a sophomore grader and Petty Officer 1st class, manage to fit in other extracurricular activities.

Bruce is in band, theatre, soccer, basketball and hockey.

He does all this along with the NJROTC community service which is done outside of school. Bruce also manages to take honors classes as well.

“It just happens to work,” Bruce said,” but I’ll spend about three hours on homework.Bruce may be covered in work, but there are some officers that have a bit more balance. Hannah Walker, for example, is involved in swim and does community service with the other NJROTC students.

Walker has her schedule so that the NJROTC Drill Team takes up her morning and swim team takes up the afternoon.

She is at the school from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. every school week for P.T. or, Personal Training. To describe how hard it is to strive in school and NJROTC, she supplied me with the Marine Corps. quote, “Always earned, never given.”

Where Does It Go?

booster club distributed almost $40,000 dollars this year to sports and clubs. by isabelle frankel

$4,000

These are the Booster Club budgeted dispersments for 2013-2014. Some sports/activities that are not included in the graph either didn’t request funds this year or recieved a large amount last year. Sports are able to get money from the Athletic Department if they need it.

Booster Club decides who gets money depending on which sports haven’t gotten a lot in pervious years and need to buy new equipment or uniforms.

$3,000

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Website

Girls Golf Boys Golf

Volleyball

Bowling

Gymnastics

Boys Swim

Boys Tennis

$1,000 Girls Tennis

Cheerleading

Wrestling

Girls Soccer

Atheltic Depart.

Track

Cross Country Dance

Trainer&Weights

Boys Soccer

Football

Boys Basketball

Softball

$2,000

Big 12 Max-ketball predicitions about how the big 12 college basketball season will go an opinion by max meyer

Sports

No Days Off? Think Again. buffer week brings around a much needed break

T

I

t’s that time once again. Big 12 men’s basketball has returned. This year appears as if it will be one of the most entertaining and unpredictable seasons in recent memory (even if K-State won’t be as good as last year).

This year seems as if it will consist mostly of a fight between the youth-driven Kansas team that is replacing their entire starting lineup from last year, and an Oklahoma State team that has a strong cast of returning players led by Marcus Smart.

Kansas comes into this year with a ridiculously stacked recruiting class headlined by Andrew Wiggins that earned the Jayhawks’ the top recruiting class for this year according to espn.com. However, we shouldn’t just hand Kansas the title.

Oklahoma State returns an incredibly talented group of veterans that finished second in the league last year. Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year and member of the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, Marcus Smart is joined by Phil Forte, Markel Brown and Le’Bryan Nash who all return this year.

Isaiah Austin, Corey Jefferson and Brady Heslip return from a competitive Baylor team from last year. They along with Iowa State

could prove to be dark horses in this year’s title race.

These four teams appear as if they will be at the top of the conference with Kansas and Oklahoma State leading the pack.

Both teams have a considerable amount of talent, there is no doubting that. Kansas’ team this year is similar to the Kentucky teams of 2010-11 and 2011-12 (Kentucky won the National Championship in 2011-12), as much talent as you could ask for, but very little experience. Kansas will be able to match up athlete for athlete with any team in the nation. Kansas also has one of the top coaches in the conference, Bill Self. His experience and coaching ability will no doubt help the freshmen grow up quicker.

Oklahoma State possesses almost as much talent as Kansas, but they have more experience. This experience could prove to be very valuable if the race for the title if it is close at the end of the season.

In the end, I have to pick Kansas. Kansas has talent this year that is rarely ever seen.

Plus, Kansas somehow finds a way to win conference championships. There is no reason to start picking against Kansas until they give us a reason not to.

by max meyer

he week before winter sports tryouts would seem as if it would be the biggest week for athletes to stay after school to prepare, but athletes aren’t allowed to.

Buffer week, or better know as dead week, is the week prior to the start of winter sports. The weight room and gym are closed and no sports activities can be held. Why does this rule exist?

The rule was originally implemented to allow schools across the state, particularly smaller schools, the ability to hold concerts, plays, and musicals that week, so athletes could participate in them. These students normally would not have time to participate in those activities if they played a fall and winter sport. Originally there was also a buffer week in between the winter and spring seasons, but it was dissolved around 20 years ago.

If buffer week did not exist normal weights and conditioning would be held for winter sports. For instance, girls’ basketball has conditioning on Mondays and Wednesdays, and weights on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Open gym time would also likely be held for boys’ and girls’ basketball.

The buffer week has evolved into a week of rest for athletes who play both a fall and winter sport. If it were not for this week these athletes would end their fall sport and move directly into weights and conditioning for their

winter sport.

“Some athletes need that (a break). Some athletes don’t need that break and don’t want that break,” Don Perkins, athletic director, said.

Coaches can also benefit from having this time off. In smaller schools coaches often coach multiple sports, so it gives them the break they need.

“It gives coaches a time to meet,” Ryan Darst, varsity boys’ basketball coach, said.

Overall, buffer week is seen as a nonissue by both athletes and coaches. They do not think it really affects athletes at tryouts.

Mixed emotions are held about whether or not buffer week would be held if the athletes and coaches could decide.

“It gives kids time to rest before tryouts,” Addie Arner, girls’ basketball player, said.

“You wouldn’t want them to be sore at tryouts.”

“It’s kind of 50/50. Kind of rather have it not be here, but we need protecting from ourselves to not over do it,” said Darst.

“I’d probably leave it to the athlete having their personal preference,” said Perkins.

Buffer week is the gap that bridges fall and winter sports. For the most part it serves as a positive time off for athletes and coaches.

photo (cc): mvongrue

17

Sports with ?Q&A ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ?Lucas ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Leighton ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?meyer ? ? ? ?by?max ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?? ?? ??

Senior Lucas Leighton is prepping for his fourth and final swim season.

NATALIE DERKS

MM: How many races do you have in a year?

LL: One every week for about eight or nine weeks depending on whether or not we go to state.

MM: What races do you do?

LL: I swim the 200 (yards) freestyle, 100 back(stroke), and a section in the 100 freestyle.

MM: What makes swimmers different from other athletes?

LL: You have to be comfortable in a speedo.

It’s a full body workout. You’re using your arms and legs and core all while not being able to breath underwater.

MM: Would you recommend swimming to other kids?

LL: Yeah, it’s a blast. We have the most fun of any team or any sport during practice. It’s rewarding, and that’s a fact.

MM: What is practice like for you guys?

LL: At the peak of the season we’ll swim about 7,200 yards in a practice. Practices are about two and a half hours long. We dance on the blocks for about five minutes before practice starts.

MM: Expectations for the year?

LL: Last year we did a lot better than the year before. Outlook, very good. We have a whole bunch of returning seniors. We’re deep as a team.

MM: What traditions do you guys have?

LL: We have underwater dance parties. We always go out to eat after meets.

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That’s All, Folks

with the fall season of sports wrapped up, here’s a look back at the teams’ seasons. by marleah campbell

Fall sport athletes compete to the best of their ability.

GYMNASTICS

High expectations for this year’s season came together for this year’s gymnastics team.

“This year we really came together as a team. Our hard work paid off each week and showed at our meets,” senior Megan Vanderpool said.

The team won four meets, got second once, and got third once. They placed third as a team at the State meet.

“State went pretty well but we didn’t do our best. Free State and Olathe Northwest were our biggest rivals this season. We beat them at league but didn’t manage to at State,” Vanderpool said.

Despite Vanderpool’s higher expectations for State, she is still happy with the season.

“This season was a lot of fun and I’m really proud of the team and all of our accomplishments,” Vanderpool said.

GIRLS TENNIS

A successful year for the girls tennis team resulted in a winning record and a third place finish as a team at State.

For senior Abby Banning, her fourth year of tennis was a memorable one.

“This season was so much fun because of all the girls and how close we all got. Our coach always makes things fun because she’s a goofball,” senior Abby Banning said.

Individually, junior Katherine Cao placed fifth and junior Josephine placed sixth.

“We had a really successful season which was a great experience,” Banning said.

PHOTOS BY SAMI JETT, LEXY HARRIS, AJ VERDINI

FOOTBALL

This year’s football team finished 4-5, just missing playoffs after a 14-17 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest.

Despite the season being cut short, senior Cooper Arner fondly remembers a year of playing football with his best friends.

“My favorite part about the season was having a chance to play the sport I love with the team that I love,” Arner said.

Arner’s favorite memory was getting 115 receiving yards against Shawnee Mission Northwest.

“Although the season did not turn out how we wanted, I could not be more proud of this team. We came together after a horrible tragedy and never gave up,” Arner said.

BOYS SOCCER

The boys soccer team finished 3-13-0, with their season ending in an 8-0 loss to Olathe East in Regionals.

“We definitely didn’t do as well as we hoped but it was still a lot of fun,” senior goalie Michael Hall said.

Senior Jonathan Shipp finished out his fourth season with the team this year.

“My favorite memory from the season was or “Play for Dre” game against Leavenworth, and scoring in that game,” said Shipp.

Hall had a similar favorite memory from the year.

“My favorite memory from the season was scoring a goal against Leavenworth,” Hall said.

VOLLEYBALL

Varsity volleyball had a major improvement from the last couple years finishing with .500 league record.

“Although we didn’t advance past Substate we definitely got better as a team throughout the season,” senior Lindsey Eck said.

The team was led by a new coach this season, Mary King.

“We have a new varsity coach this year.

She really knows what she is talking about and how to push us to always want to get better and win, but she also has a ton of fun with us when she can,” season Lindsey Eck said.

“My favorite part about playing volleyball is definitely spending time with the girls on the team. We’ve all become so close the past four years and it is so much fun always being around them at practices and team dinners,” Eck said.

CROSS COUNTRY

At the Regional meet, the team won by 49 points along with placing their top five runners in the top 10 all within 13 seconds of each other–– a first for West.

“After Regionals, we competed at the State meet at Rim Rock and all ran well. In the end, we tied for third with Olathe East but lost in the tiebreaker for fourth place so we didn’t get a trophy. We’re still so happy with how it all turned out,” senior Alex Elliott said.

According to Elliott, the team’s success came as a surprise to many.

“No one in the coach’s poll had voted us to do well at all since we lost so many seniors,” Elliott said.

Perkins at Work

Sports

our athletic director does much more than you might think by brock burnett Don Perkins is more than meets the eye.

M o s t students know Perkins as the athletic director here at West, and he is often seen driving his golf cart around the track at football game, but Perkins does much more than just advise the football team.

“Everytime I attend a sporting event I see somebody doing well. Obviously the state championship in football. Last year was very exciting.” Perkins said about his favorite memory about being an athletic director.

Perkins has been an athletic director for four years, and he is starting his 40 year in education, but his most exciting moment so far might not be what you are expecting.

“I’ll tell you one of the things I have never gone to until I became athletic director was the state cross country meet at Rim Rock in Lawrence. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more exciting start.

When they come up over that hill after they start, and they’re stretched 100 yards across there it’s really an impres-

PHOTOS

BY ALYSSA GREGORY, MADDIE LOE

sive sight. I look forward to going over each year.” Perkins said.

Perkins also deals with some behind the scenes college signing with some athletes.

“Really all I do is help with the signing ceremony.

That’s the only official thing I do. Yes, since I have been in the area, coaching baseball and football and being around sports for forty years, I do have some contacts. I do assist informally. I’ll have people call me that know me and say ‘Hey, what about this young man?’ or ‘What about this young lady?’.” Perkins said.

Being Perkins definitely comes with its perks.

“I get to meet a lot of nice people. As a football coach and a baseball coach, you kind of stay into those sports, but now that I’m athletic director I get to know the gymnasts, I get to know the wrestlers, I get to know the cross country runners. A lot of times those are athletes that the only way I knew them was from class.

Now I get to see them on the field too. That’s exciting.

That’s why I do it.” Perkins said.

for the love... or the game?! chloe mcmahon and alex elliott run cross country together, but chloe and louis rollins have been dating since july. so who knows her better?

fav. tv show?

DREAM COLLEGE? best feature? hours of sleep per night? siblings’ names? fav. gatorade flavor?

by marleah campbell

Alex Elliott, Teammate

Chloe McMahon, Athlete

“Desperate Housewives” Iowa

“Desperate Housewives” Iowa

“Desperate Housewives”

Hair 5

Hair

Hair

7

6

Katie, Kelli, Jack

Katie, Kelli, Jack

Katie, Kelli, Jack

Light Blue

Light Blue

Red

Louis Rollins, Boyfriend KU

Looks like Alex wins this round.

Time to step up your game, Louis.

19

Arts&Entertainment REVIEWS

The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Thor: The Dark World marvel’s god of thunder gets a deserved sequel by spence lassalle

W

hat are the words to describe this movie? It is awesome. I’m not just saying this because I’m an Avengers fan, because even if I wasn’t I would still be awed by this film. I’m not one to give away spoilers but if you’re looking for some they are all below. Anyways, if you’re looking for a movie for the family this would be the perfect choice because there is a little bit of everything in it. If you’re going to see it though, you should probably see “Thor” and “The Avengers.”

Before we see anything, we see the new Marvel opening with the all new Marvel Studios Fanfare that sounds absolutely amazing.

Early in the film we see Thor’s brother, Loki, being punished for his crimes in that he did in “The Avengers.” Loki is put in a prison with a bunch of other criminals. When a powerful enemy that escapes try to take down Asgard and the world Thor must call for Loki to help him. Thor isn’t quite sure if he can trust him or not but he is truly desperate for help. I don’t want to spoil anything important but there are a couple of plot twists.

Honestly I wasn’t expecting for me to like this movie as much as I did. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki)’s roles are hilarious when intended. To me it’s a mystery of what happened to Thor and Loki’s father because he kind of disappears at the end of the movie. It really wasn’t clear what happened to him. The movie’s score was performed by Brian Tyler and it was pretty good; it sounded similar to “Iron Man 3.”

The Avenger movies are known for hav-

20

ing cameos and scenes after the credits, but only Captain America had an appearance in this one. Thor and his brother Loki are walking down a hallway and Loki keeps Shape Shifting into different characters and then for a short moment he shifts into Captain America.

By the end of the movie I was at the edge of my seat and I had to remind myself to stay for the entire movie from beginning to the end of credits and this time I was glad I stayed because these scenes were worth the wait. This movie had two credit scenes, one at the middle and one at the end. The one in the middle has Thor’s friends handing some strange man what I think were the power cells.

The one at the end had Jane Foster eating breakfast with her friends and out the window thunder and lightning strike down and Thor is standing on their back porch and Jane runs up to him. They kiss, and then this big creature from earlier in the movie is seen chasing after birds. Next, the screen goes black, and it says Thor will return in big white letters. I still would’ve assumed that even if I hadn’t stayed after.

I think this movie had something for everybody in it. A lot of action, some comedy and drama, and a little bit of romance, which makes me insist you check it out. I hope there will be a 3rd “Thor” film, but until then we’ll probably see him in “The Avengers 2” (which is scheduled for a release in 2015) before that. The next scheduled Marvel film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” is set for a March 2014 release.

an angry and impassioned eminem returns to an earlier style with his new album by gretchen yearsley

S

lim Shady, better known as Eminem, has been in and out of the studio since 1996 and he is still at it, now releasing The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

While Eminem took a mini vacation from entertaining, he came back swinging, trying new things to fit the glove of his new generation of listeners. His first track on the album “Bad Guy” sounds like a throwback to when Slim Shady was Stan (a person who claimed to be Eminem’s biggest fan) in one of his previous albums. It is kind of a slowdown from the other tracks and the rhymes are as simple as things 2Chainz might rap.

What gets stuck in your head at first is always the beat of a song, so when the song “Rhyme Or Reason” sampled the song “Time of the Season” by the Zombies it was unexpected, really adding to the song’s effect. It enhances the adrenaline in his fierce rhymes and flows really well, but replaying it about four times you might be able to rehearse the lines perfectly due to the fact they sound so repetitive.

Eminem has always had tons of emotion and a story behind all of his verses. There is a track called “So Much Better” which is one of the best songs on the whole album. It is a perfect example of who Eminem is, it talks about the anger he has towards a woman who broke his heart. This would be good for a pump up playlist, the thoughts of proving people wrong are voiced within the words.

The power and desire to be better than the rest is modeled throughout the album,

especially in the track called “Survival” which is a breathtaking full of rage song. This is a something you would play in a stadium to get the crowd on its feet. The beat is thrilling and the words are powerful.

Lets take a second and try not to cry when playing “Berzerk” aka worst song on the whole album. For this single to be released to gain hype for the album was a terrible choice. It sounds like nothing but noise, and you cannot understand what is being said. I could rap better than this.

While I was let down by a few songs, I also fell in love with a few. One of those songs I have on replay is “Stronger Than I Was” which is about a relationship that just is not working out. It speaks out to so many people. It has passion and there is meaning and pain behind every line.

One thing that is different about this album than ones in the past is that there are a lot of artists featured on the tracks. I was really impressed by the song “Headlights” it features Nate Ruess. This just isn’t another rapper, but Nate is a pop singer from the group Fun, and that is a huge twist.

I really like the way he changes the sound of the song, I am definitely impressed with the risk they took.

All in all, if you have liked Eminem in the past you will not be let down by this album. It brings passion, adrenaline, and meaning all together.

Arts&Entertainment

Culver’s vs. Freddy’s The fries were very thin and long. They looked fairly well seasoned. Once I bought my fries and shake, I noticed my fries were room temperature. They weren’t cold, but it didn’t seem like they had been cooked recently. The shake, however, was very cold and looked as if it was just hand-made.

Appearance

The fries, unlike Freddy’s long rod-shape fries, were crinkle cut fries. They were very hot, but the temperature really depends on if the restaurant has made a new batch recently. I had to wait for about five minutes because they were still frying a new batch. The shake, on the other hand, came out soupy. It was cold, but it looked unappetizing. It was mainly liquid. I want my shakes to be cold and thick, not cold and runny. I would say that Culver’s and Freddy’s tie here.

The shake had a very rich chocolate flavor. It almost tasted like it was dark chocolate, and I love dark chocolate. The fries (after reheating in my microwave) tasted very good. They were salty and crispy. Dipping the fries in the shake was the best part of this meal. Individually, both components are great, but together they are heavenly.

taste

The shake was nothing special. It tasted like any other shake you would get at a McDonald’s. The fries were ok. They didn’t have the subtle pepper flavor that Freddy’s fries had.

Culver’s fries were average and that’s all they were. As for dipping the fries in the shake, it was definitely a step up from eating the two components separately, but didn’t compare to Freddy’s. Freddy’s wins in the taste department.

For the chocolate shake and the french fries, it was only about $4 including tax. It is not as cheap as McDonald’s or Wendy’s, but Freddy’s is definitely not expensive in any way.

For the quantity of fries and the taste of the shake, Freddy’s is definitely a great choice price-wise.

Price

For the shake and fries at Culver’s, it was a little under $6.

Again, not super expensive, but Freddy’s wins this category by being about a dollar cheaper.

Freddy’s is very generous in their food distribution. The fries and shake lasted a long time, even though I only ordered a small size.

quantity

Culver’s fries were plentiful, but because of their size there weren’t nearly as many as Freddy’s. The shake was also a little bit smaller than Freddy’s. I ordered a small at both places and Culver’s gave me less. Freddy’s wins this one.

Freddy’s wins!

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photo (cc):taekwondoweirdo

two burger joints duke it out by brock burnett

Arts&Entertainment

Who Am I Supposed to Follow? twitter gets pretty stale when you don’t follow some fresh faces with funny tweets. here are some people you should check out by brianna cole

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@themercinater Ashley Mercer

All hail the homecoming queen! Senior Ashley Mercer runs Twitter daily.

Her humor and pop culture references gain numerous amounts of retweets.

Mercer has once received 600 retweets for one tweet. Can you say Twitter Famous?

@Wordstigram

Every day we check Instagram and every day we see the same cliche photos. There’s always that one girl who posts a picture of the same boy for #ManCrushMonday. This account calls out all of the laugh out loud worthy pictures that we all take.

@TFLM Texts From Last Night

One text can summarize an entire situation. This account quotes texts that random people submit. The texts are incorporated with humor and ironic situations. Turn the notification to get these sent to your phone on, you won’t regret it.

@NotGirlyThings

Have you ever seen one of those memes that explain what a girl really wants? For example, one may read: “Carrying everything in your purse.” This account takes the quote literally and follows it with a hilarious meme.

@NordicNasties

Keep up with anything student section related by following this account.

Themes are tweeted directly from here and also game times. The student section is an essential part of a varsity sport so follow this account and be a part of the greatest student section in the Sunflower League.

@SNAPSforSAPS

Roses are red, violets are blue. Poetry is cool, and following this account is too. The Starving Artists Poetry Society is a young and upcoming club.

Through this account, open mics are promoted also even poetry slams with cash prizes. This account is for those who are a part of Writers Workshop, or are interested in poetry.

@AndyLarson96 Andy Larson

Beyonce, or formally known as Andy, is one of the most hilarious seniors that roams these halls. This theatre kid will fill your timeline with side-splitting wisecracks. Everyone should give this kid a follow.

Austin St. John photography

austinstjohn.com

Arts&Entertainment KC’s

Rap

King q&a with nesto the owner, a prominent rapper in the kansas city area by lauren scobee

LS: How did you get started with music?

N: I did every single open mic I could, performed anywhere, anybody that was talking about music I rapped to them, battling anybody. I talked about people; I started stuff, whatever it took to get my name in somebody’s mouth that mattered. I followed people, not stalkerish. Like I looked where the radio people would be at and go there. To be a part of what they were doing so they could see my face, so they can see who I was. I met a man named Jus Jay, who passed away. R.I.P. He must have seen me in a show, we had the same manager and he called around to a radio because he was a comedian and told them to check this guy Nesto out. That’s how I got started on the radio. You have to know someone. I had to learn the hard way.

LS: What was your inspiration to become a rapper?

N: My brother [Ev] started beat boxing, but I was too busy playing basketball. He kept telling me how I needed to check out some of these beats. This was back in early 2000 or 1999.

He does all my production, making all my beats.

LS: Before music what did you want to do with your life?

N: I wanted to be a basketball player. I thought I was a point guard because of my height I was short but they kept putting me as a forward using my body. I always wanted to be a passer but they kept on going out of bounds, maybe I should have looked.

LS: What message do you portray in your music?

N: When people tell you no you can still do it, there is always a way to overcome people trying to hold you back.

LS: What is your future plans in music?

N: I want to be one of the greats, who inspired a lot of people.

Want people to say that Nesto is one of the guys I look up to. I want my music to be the music that you listen to, to lift you up and get through your problems. Give back to my community and schools, to the people that have dreams.

LS: Where did you grow up?

N: Philadelphia.

LS: What made you go to Kansas?

N: My dad was real sick, he had two or three heart attacks in Philly and my mom was real depressed so she decided that we should move to Kansas where my aunt was living. Kansas is like my second home.

LS: What about your family?

N: I have one kid, don’t want any more. My mom is a hard worker; she takes care of kids who have special needs for about 15 years. I grew up with one of them, Jake. My cousin has Down syndrome. Living with them made it easy for us the embrace those with special needs. My brother [Ev] is two years older than me, he makes all of my beats and is also a father, and he has a son. That’s what it is about, being a good dad.

Look at what my dad did for me and do that for my son.

LS: How do you incorporate your family in your music?

N: Tell the truth, try not to make up, fabricate too much stuff, everybody fabricates a little bit of this, a little bit of that to sound good. If they’re mentioned in there they know that it’s a true statement.

LS: How has your music changed from when you first started to now?

N: More substance, I used to just rap and didn’t have any format for choruses and bridges. Over time I got a lot of influences from Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, Kansas City artists and meshed those with the east coast artists. I used to do long verses and instrumentals, which are beats that are already out, now I use originals so I have to come up with my own thing.

LS: How would you describe your friends?

N: Crazy, crazy some of them weird, different, honest. They tell me if they don’t like something and even though I have the last say I take everyone’s opinion into consideration, they are consumers too they buy music. Loyal, most of them have kids too so they are good fathers.

LS: How did you become friends with Tech N9ne?

N: Tech, I met when I was seventeen at a strip club. I rapped at a show and his old business partners and my friend Shadow said that he was going to go to this strip club and introduce me to his friend Tech. We got there, was introduced to him and lost track until I was twenty- one when I was at Chapman Studios. They have a kitchen area and Tech was in the fridge trying to find some beer or something. When he saw Tech and told him who he was and ran, apparently he had been looking for Nesto. A few months later he came to one of his shows, when Tech was off tour they got together and laid a few tracks down. Ever since then he’s a big homie.

LS: What’s your opinion of other rappers in Kansas City?

N: They’ve come a long way; I respect the older rappers, but we young it’s new, it’s fresh, the new KC. I remember back in the day when I first came down here the music sucked, the radio sucked, now they’re doing better. Mainly because back then music was separated, now music that people dance to here people dance to in Philly too. With YouTube and the Internet no one is left behind anymore.

LS: What is your least favorite music?

N: My least favorite is country. Only when you are on a long drive, country music keeps you up.

LS: Your most interesting performance?

N: A couple months ago I was opening up for Kutt Calhoun and when I’m on stage I get real hyped. Not like Bone Crusher.

The mic that they used was a cord mic and the microphone drops in the middle of my rap, everybody laughed at me, but I redeemed myself. I did the robot and redeemed myself.

In my eyes I’m Chris Brown but in everyone else’s eyes, I’m probably that guy from ‘N Sync that can’t dance, Lance or something like that.

I love ‘N Sync they were dope back in the day, I love Justin Timberlake.

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