The Epic - Issue One

8800 W. 85th St. Overland Park, KS September 18, 2014 Vol. 53- Issue 1

the epic.

Reactions to the new Tech Intiative. pg. 13

News Prince George is getting a sibling!

Prince William and Kate announced that they will be having a second child. This child would be fourth in line to the throne after Prince George who is 13 months old.

BRIEFS

Bet’s Off!

$111.1

A new Kansas law deems playing fantasy football for money illegal.

million raised for ALS from Ice Bucket Challenge donations, as of Sept. 9.

The Big Apple Apple recently revealed the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, two of the largest iPhones to date.

The iPhone 6

For Scale: • Soda Can: 4.8 inches long • iPhone 5s: 4.87 inches long • Poptart: 4.92 inches long • Note Card: 5 inches long • Post Card: 6 inches long • Lunch Fork: 7 inches long • Pencil: 7.5 inches long

5.44 inches long and 2.64 inches wide

The new iPhone 6 Plus is actually only 1.65 inches shorter in length than Apple’s iPad mini.

These two graphics are actually made to scale on how large Apple.com lists the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to be, just to give you an idea.

The iPhone 6 Plus 6.22 inches long and 3.06 inches wide

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Issue 1

Seminar Scuffle

Changes are coming to seminar, possibly for the An opinion of the staff Seminar is one of the most important “classes” we have here.

It gives students a chance to travel to multiple teachers to make up any missed work during the school day instead of having to come in outside of school hours to do it, but the freedom of seminar might be cut back quite a bit.

All of the previous years, seminar didn’t really have many rules. As long as you were quiet, did work, had a pass when you left and got back before 2:30, you were golden. This meant that if a student missed multiple days of school and subsequently multiple tests, quizzes and science labs, they could make up as many as time would permit. This is no longer going to be the case though.

Seminar will now have a set amount of times that you can travel per seminar. There will still be the normal 1:15 bell to let students out of seminar if they have a pass, but now seminar will be chunked into two 40-minute portions. After a student arrives in their class that they received the pass to go to, they will have to stay there for 40 minutes

Staff

until about 1:50. At 1:50, another bell will sound letting students travel to another room if they have a pass or back to their seminar class. They will have to stay in that room until 2:30 where all students that aren’t in their seminar class must return back to it.

This normally wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but for students that actually have to use the time to try to make up assignments, this change could be detrimental. Imagine if a student missed three days of school due to some sickness. They would most likely try to use seminar to catch up on what they missed, but with the new rule in place, they could only make it to two classes to make up quizzes, tests or whatever else they might have to do. The student would now have to come in before or after school to make up for their other classes.

This change is going to negatively impact many students.

In some classes, like Chemistry, some quizzes are only about 15 questions that are fairly straightforward, like writing the atomic symbol

for a specific element. Finishing this quiz would take about 20 minutes at most, but with the new rules, a student that finishes the quiz early must stay in the room until the bell rings to release them. This rule wastes valuable time that a student could be using to make up more assignments.

This change does have some merit to it though. Some students abused seminar’s freedom in the past years. Due to most teachers having a seminar, it is very difficult to have a hallway supervisor.

Because of this, some students would use their pass to leave and then proceed to roam the hallways for their entire seminar. This change would make it more difficult for students to leave their seminar, and therefore more difficult to walk the hallways. These students are a problem, but a bad apple can’t be allowed to spoil the entire bunch.

Just because some students take advantage of seminar’s freedom does not mean that all students should be put in lockdown for about 40 minutes at a time.

To end this, we are going to

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Max Meyer and Brock Burnett

ASSITANT EDITOR

Kristin Wells

MANAGING EDITOR

Drake Mattis

PHOTO EDITOR CARTOONIST

September 18, 2014

Rachel Harvey Alex Ralston

try to make an appeal to any staff members that have power over this change. We at “the Epic” do truly understand the reasoning for changing the seminar schedule in order to control students that disobey the seminar rules, but by changing the schedule, many students are being limited to the amount of work they can get done.

Do not let the disobedient students ruin seminar for the ones that actually want to use it to its fullest potential and make up assignments and tests or quizzes that have been missed.

The staff needs to be receptive to student feedback, and there will be plenty of feedback. Students have already been voicing complaints about this system. Their complaints might be unwarranted since we haven’t actually had a seminar with these rules in place.

By listening and cooperating with each other, students and staff can truly make seminar a place where students that want to be productive can be, while still being able to keep students out of the hallways.

WRITERS Isaiah McKay Spence Lasalle Isabelle Frankel Jude Kennedy Colette Balas Karen Barkema ADVISOR

Megan Bartlett Sylvia Bryan Kathleen Gartner Lexi Hart Samantha Jansen Amy Morgan

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SAGA 2015

SENIOR ADS Early bird deadline Sept. 19 Regular deadline Oct. 24

Find the ad packet and contract at www4.smsd.org/amymorgan under the documents tab For more information, contact Amy Morgan at 913-993-7911 or amymorgan@smsd.org

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram! @smwjournalism

www.smwest.com Your source for school news

News

Man Behind The Curtain Sophomore English teacher Bruce Adams is the new technical director.

By Megan Bartlett

T

o make a show great, you can’t just have a couple of actors standing around on an empty stage. There has to be something to look at and for the actors to interact with. That is the technical aspect of theater, and this year someone you might know is going to be in charge.

Bruce Adams, sophomore English teacher, is the new technical director at school. As tech director, he is responsible for designing the sets, organizing the student work calls to build those sets, and the successful execution of all technical aspects of each show during rehearsals and performances.

Adams will also help with the light and sound alongside Bill Thomas, the light and sound director. Art Winter, the school’s tech director two years ago, is coming back to work with Adams on design ideas.

“I’ve been to shows in the past that Art [Winter] has worked on, and his work is great,” Adams said. “We’re gonna bounce ideas off of each other and hopefully take the best parts of them to make a great show.”

“The possibility of coming back and working with the students, faculty and staff at West was one of the things that kept me going during my absence,” Winter said. “Actually getting that chance and once again being able to work with so many talented and creative people is very

September 18, 2014

energizing.”

Adams’ theater career started in high school.

He acted in a few shows and then designed sets his senior year. He’s taught at two other schools and was involved in theater at both. While his involvement was limited to one play at the first school, he was assistant technical director and worked on lights, set and sound at the second school.

“It’s nice to get back to it. I’ve been away from [theater] for a while, so I think it’s gonna be fun, especially in an auditorium as nice as the one we have at school,” Adams said.

“It’s fun when sets not only look good, but also when they give directors and actors a chance to really have some fun, use the space, give the audience something interesting to look at,” Adams said. “And of course, the set is also used to tell the story, so do the lights, so does the sound.”

“I think it’s going to build throughout the year.

The first show has a simpler set and they get more complicated with the musical and with the spring comedy,” Adams said.

Both Adams and Winter are excited to see what kind of challenges this year will bring.

“The fall play has Shakespeare married up with Jersey Shore,” Winter said. “That has to be funny and fun to do. Should the set be built with

massive 16th century looking arches, or look more like a street somewhere in New Jersey?

This year’s musical, Frog and Toad, has great music and lots of energy. It also has many technical effects to challenge our students. The spring play, Get Smart, continues the comedy theme. It too has many technical challenges, not the least of which is figuring out how to build the ‘cone of silence.’ All in all, it promises to be a great year.”

Theatre Season Midsummer/Jersey Oct. 30, 30 and Nov.1

Frog and Toad Jan. 29-31

Get Smart

April 30 & May 1-2

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News

The New Downtown Lenexa is expanding to make a new downtown area

By Samantha Jansen and Colette Balas

It all started with a process of vision inspired by the citizens. The current construction of the apartments and the small shopping center is just the beginning of the new things soon to come to Lenexa.

In 1997, the Lenexa council planned a meeting with its citizens. They call it the Vision 20/20. They came up with a design to put a unique spin on urban living in Lenexa. The plans have recently taken off with the addition of many restaurants and small businesses around 87th Street, specifically, 87th and Renner.

The main vision of Vision 20/20 is a city center.

“City center will be one more place people can come for a community experience,” Mike Boehm, Mayor of Lenexa, said.

The city center will be made up of four quadrants: center, east, north and northeast. The center will be home to Perceptive Software’s World headquarters.

“I think that’s the most exciting thing for all of us,” Doug Robinson, Lenexa Administrative Services Director, said.

They are also moving City Hall, creating a place for outdoor concerts and markets, and potentially building a new library. “ We’re really creating a new downtown.

That’s not something you see every day,” Robin-

son said.

The council is currently in the design process for a recreational center similar to Matt Ross.

It will include a gym, pools and a lazy river. They hope to have it completed by 2017. Life guards from the Lenexa staff will have an opportunity to guard year round at this center.

A new hotel is also being built that will allow businesses to hold meetings and conferences .

“The Highup Place hotel is going to be made of lots of glass and will be five stories tall,” Boehm said.

The concept of the new urban area in based off of designs in The Plaza. In the future, they

want there to be no street parking and just have parking garages.

“But that is a long ways away,” Tim Green, City Engineer, said.

There have been some unexpected obstacles. The main obstacle was the recession in 2008. That brought the whole project to a stop because investors were hard to find and it was a bad time to start such a big project. However, if they would’ve started on the project before the recession, it would have been more difficult to build.

“Things happen for a reason, I believe that.”

Boehm said.

Lenexa wants to bring mixed development to the town with residential, commercial, and retail all together. The apartments are upscale and expensive.They want to cater to business people who travel a lot, but still need a place to live.

The hotel will bring in a professional clientele.

The recreational center and shopping center will provide a family atmosphere.

“The main goal here is to create a place where you can live, work and play. We want people to grow up and retire here,” Karen Gables, Lenexa planner, said.

PHOTOS BY ASHLEY STERBACH

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Issue 1

News

Home Away From Home

Three foreign exchange students start the school year as they grow accustom to the new lifestyle, food and school system.

By Lexi Hart All the way from Hamburg, Germany is one of the foreign exchange students, Julia Gross.

Even though she is only 16, she is enrolled as a senior, because of the way the school system works between Germany and America.

“This new school system is totally different from Germany, here you can take what you want,” Gross said.

She chose to come to America because she wanted a chance to improve her English, taste the food and lifestyle, experience the different school system and have the ability to choose her classes.

“We make an exchange year and I wanted to learn English. New Zealand was a good choice too but it costs three times as much as America,” Gross said.

Overall, America is not too different to her than Germany, however it’s the little things that catch her eye.

“For example, we never put ice in our drinks. Also, I’m allowed to drive when I’m 18, but I’m allowed to drink when I’m 16,” Gross said.

Another change is the food.

The American food is definitely a change in style, as she is not used to all the fast food and huge portions.

“Here the food is much more unhealthy, and the portions are just bigger,” Gross said.

Also, the living style is a lot different in America. In America most families live in houses with lots of rooms and a few floors. In Germany, they are used to smaller apartments for their living space.

“In Germany there are a lot of apartments, and here it’s just only houses. Here I have my own bath-

room. There are so many rooms,” Gross said.

She thinks our school is great and very supportive of our sports.

In Germany, they don’t have really any sport clubs where there are tryouts. The school system is a big change. Where she’s from they have a school that has multiple buildings, to house 1st through 12th graders.

It was important for Gross to get involved in such a big school.

“I wanted to make it on the volleyball team, but the problem is I’m a senior so I have to be on the varsity, and all the people on varsity have been playing much more volleyball,” Gross said.

She plans on auditioning for our drama play coming up and she also plays the viola in the orchestra.

She misses her family and being able to speak her native language.

From Bavaria, Germany is another one of the foreign exchange students, Valerie Eckart. Valerie will also be spending the year here before returning back to Germany.

Eckart has been to the United States before. She went to Boston last year for four weeks, and that trip sparked her interest in coming

September 18, 2014

back and going to school.

“The school system is different.

We don’t have middle school,” Eckart said.

That is the reason why she wanted to come back to the U.S. She really liked our school system, so she wanted to give it a try.

She mentioned that in Germany, students don’t get to choose their classes or electives. But the difference that stood out was that our milk and juice cartons here are a lot bigger than in Germany.

“Your orange juice is much more bigger than in Germany. The plastic thing, I don’t know what to call it,” Eckart said.

With being many miles away from home, homesickness hasn’t been an issue at this time.

“At the moment not so much because everything is new, but I miss my dogs,” Eckart said.

Eckart is adapting well to the school as she is involved with cross country and plays the violin in orchestra. She likes the school, even though it’s a lot bigger than what she’s used to.

“It’s much bigger than my school. At my school I think we have about 700 to 800. It’s really cool and really big,” Eckart said.

The third foreign exchange student, Amalie Vallentin, comes from Germany’s neighbor to the north. She is from Copenhagen, Denmark and is here to experience America.

Before coming over, she already knew some English. She wanted to learn more about the language and also she wanted an experience away from home. On top of that, she likes America and wanted to come live here for the year.

“I want to learn the language more and I wanted the experience.

I wanted to be away from home, and I thought America was a good choice, both because I know the language so I can communicate with people, but also because I like to be here,” Vallentin said.

She noticed that our people here in America are more social.

“Here people are more kind.

They talk with strangers, and they would never do that in Denmark,” Vallentin said.

Even though she isn’t involved with anything in the school, she likes the school and the people in it.

“I like to be here, everyone is kind, and all my teachers are very good and sweet,” said Vallentin.

Vallentin is a little homesick but is enjoying America and the opportunity to learn here.

“I miss my family and friends of course, and sometimes I also miss to speak Danish,” Vallentin said.

All of these foreign exchange students are happy to be here.

They are grateful for the opportunity to be in America and go to school.

Eckart holds her home flag.

PHOTO BY MADDY SHACKELFORD

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News

Party in the House Participants in Boys State "run" the government for a week.

By Kristin Wells

S

tate is not just for the athletes of the school.

This past June, seniors Matt Connell and Peter Dring went to state, Boys State. It was held at Kansas State University, and all the participants stayed in the dorms there.

“Boys State is a youth government program that gives juniors in the state of Kansas who are role models in their school a chance to hone their leadership skills and be part of government,” Dring said.

The boys create a mock government and run it as if they were running the state of Kansas.

“They try to get themselves organized. They try to get themselves elected to office, so you may have a governor. You may have senators and reps, and judges and all these type of things,” Ron Walker, AP U.S. History and AP Economics teacher, said, “Then they actually run for election. They have platforms and elections, and they actually try to get stuff done.”

Every boy who participates has a different job as part of the government.

“I was a city council member, so every day I met with our city council, and we passed resolutions that dealt with our city’s issues. Every day we got an update on our city’s statistics, crime rate, health, education, that sort of thing.

We pass resolutions to help solve problems in our city and to try and improve those statistics,” Connell said.

Dring had a slightly different role and experience at Boys State. He ran for Attorney General, but he wasn’t chosen. He was then put into the Department of Justice.

“I just kind of thought it would be a cool place to be, as opposed to Department of Agriculture or Vets Affairs. What we were supposed to do was fill out forms and complete projects that were given to us online,” Dring said.

What Dring didn’t realize was that he was going to end up right in the middle of a scandal.

September 18, 2014

“What we actually ended up doing was finding out that a lot of campaign donations and money transfers were done illegally. We followed the money and the trail and found out that the Attorney General from my own party actually took money, which was illegal. Then he tried

“If I had the opportunity to, I would do it again. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life.”

to frame us by having a pack put money in our account,” Dring said.

While Dring had a very interesting week, scandals like that are relatively rare at Boys State. Even with all that craziness, Dring still loved his time there.

“If I had the opportunity to, I would do it again. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” Dring said.

Connell benefited from the experience for many reasons.

“I took away from Boys State a stronger sense of civic duty and a greater understanding of the inner workings of the government and the many problems that our society faces,” Connell said.

The boys worked hard, but they had time to relax. They had some free time and got to know people from across the state.

“By the end of the week, we all got pretty close as a group, as our council, and it was pretty emotional once everyone left, believe it or not at an all-guys camp,” Connell said.

“My favorite part was finding out how fast you can make a family within your community and all the people that you’re with. It’s really cool to be able to have that kind of connection with somebody as a friend that fast,” Dring said.

Boys State is sponsored by the American Legion, a veterans organization.

“My favorite moment was the closing ceremonies when there were a bunch of vets up front, and they were singing a bunch of patriotic songs. We were singing along, and it was super emotional because the veterans were all holding hands. It was awesome,” Connell said.

While Boys State is only for boys, there is an opportunity for girls to get involved.

“There’s Boys State and Girls State, both of them. They’re both sponsored by the American Legion, and the primary purpose is to try to get young people interested in government and be good citizens,” Walker said.

It does cost money to participate, but there’s money available for people who want to go.

“Sometimes people don’t take advantage of it because they think they can’t afford it, but really somebody would help them,” Walker said.

Boys State is not some new program. It’s been around for a while and has a tradition.

“What’s really interesting is a lot of politicians, a lot of people in Washington today, they went to Boys State. Bill Clinton, one of his famous pictures, he’s meeting President Kennedy as a 17-year old kid from Arkansas,” Walker said.

No matter what exactly went on at Boys State, it’s an experience neither Dring nor Connell will forget about.

“I would definitely recommend the experience because there’s nothing to lose. Whether you’re interested or not, it might spark your interest. If it doesnt you’ll still have fun,” Connell said.

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Opinion

“This school year is going to kill me”

8:30 am - New message from ---- : “i woke up at 5 so i could study for the mr. ____’s test” The other week a teacher of mine assigned our class more homework than usual over the Labor Day weekend. Somebody in our class said, “Mrs. ----, you shouldn’t give us any homework – it’s Labor Day.” And the teacher said something like: “Well, you have three days to do it; you’ve got plenty of time.” That comment really got me thinking.

10:00 am - Google Classroom reminder (Mr. ----): Current Event due tomorrow. Shoot, that’s due tomorrow? But he didn’t even tell us beforehand…

Isn’t the purpose and reason behind the weekend to rest? Even the concept of Labor Day is based on the idea of taking a total break from work. So why give more assignments on the weekends if we already get five days of them per week?

Alert: Work on your math homework. Test on Friday Reminder: Meet with Mr. ---after school I counted up the average daily amount of hours I spend on homework and it added up to about five hours. (That’s a lot of time to

An opinion by Alex Ralston

spend on homework, considering I spend seven hours daily on class work anyways.) I get home at 3:15 pm if there aren’t any traffic jams or activities I’m working on after school. So I have about six hours and forty-five minutes left in my day before I go to sleep, and five of those are eaten up by my school work. But maybe I want some time to relax in between each session of school work– maybe soothe my mind, so I don’t overwork it going straight from deriving polar functions to reading about a couple of decades of American history in one sitting– that rest time might very well make up thirty minutes of my allotted six hours and forty-five minutes. So now I’m down to– 11:52 am - New message from ---- : “this math homework hurts my brain. i’m seriously going to be up late working on this with everything else i need to do” – I’m up to five and a half hours out of six hours forty-five minutes.

What about the bathroom breaks I need? What about eating dinner with my family? Those two things combined take up about forty-five more minutes. I’m up to six hours and fifteen minutes out of six hours forty-five minutes. What about the chores I need to do? My

family depends on me to clean up around the house because they work so much. That’s another thirty minutes, thus fulfilling my allotted time. I would be able to go to bed and get a moderately good rest at this point.

Reminder: Soccer practice from 3-5:30 pm Google Classroom reminder: Mr. ---- added an assignment. Oh @#%!, soccer practice. I totally forgot about that.

What about sports and other extracurricular activities? Those things take up a major amount of time. Any West athlete knows that it’s extremely hard to squeeze in homework after your practices and games. What if you’re in a school club? Meetings after school take up even more time. So now I’m encroaching on my sleep schedule.

7:14 pm: New message from ---- : “well we could probably beat those other teams if we just focused on strategy instead of only exercise.”

7:16 pm: New message from ---- : “yeah. i’m actually dying from all those squats, i just want to take a nap” So now I just lost two hours from my sleep schedule, which means I’m getting about six hours

of sleep. That’s about three hours under the recommended amount of sleep you should get (the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, suggests at least eight and a half hours of sleep nightly). About 80% of students aren’t getting enough sleep according to the AAP. The effects of sleep deprivation pop up constantly during school and at home: lack of concentration, mood swings, sometimes even depression and anxiety. Those last two make it even harder to sleep.

Twitter Notification (@----) : “my favorite thing about the school year so far is all the breakdowns i’ve had from being so stressed about homework [crying emoji]”

Keep in mind, this is the worst case scenario that I’m talking about. However, the worst case isn’t far from what students are really experiencing. I don’t think it’s about improper time management on the student’s part; I think the problem lies in too much homework. That’s the conclusion I’ve made, and I think a majority of the student body would agree.

12:41 am - New message from ---- : “i’m still not even done with my physics” 12:45 am - New message from ---- : “UUGGGHHHHH”

One Step Closer to World Peace An opinion by Jude Kennedy

Imagine if we lived in a world where there was no crime. A world where every human lived together with peace and tranquility. Sadly, we don’t live in a world like that.

We live in a dog eat dog world.

Sometimes the wrong people get put away, and the criminals run clean. In the last few years, there has been a serge in the police force

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of a new piece of equipment that would let the viewers see exactly what the officer is seeing. This piece of equipment is called, the badge camera. Badge cameras are exactly what they sound like, little cameras on a police officers badge.

Badge cameras have a big part in figuring out who committed the crime. Since the camera see

exactly what the police officer is seeing, it makes it almost impossible to tamper with the crime scene or abuse the suspect. Still people don’t like the idea of badge cameras, saying that they invade the suspects personal space, but i think that is a small price to pay, if you fall victim to police brutality.

Badge cameras are here to

stay. They have already helped many police stations around the world catch their suspects and also make sure they have no bad cops on their force. All though the world isn’t a perfect place, we can try to make it the perfect world we want with the help of badge cameras.

Issue 1

Opinion To Read or Not to Read, Love at the First Page

Blue Coat Controls Me

An opinion by Isaiah McKay

An opinion by Kristin Wells

I’ve been told that reading is a lost art.

I beg to differ though. I think people are reading more now than ever.

The thing is, it’s not books that they’re reading. It’s texts, posts, tweets, or really, anything on a screen.

So, what I think people mean to say is that people aren’t reading books anymore. And to me, as quite possibly one of the biggest bookworms on the face of the planet, that’s kind of a sad fact.

Within this past decade, technology has blown through the roof. New ideas and updates keep coming faster than I can keep up with them.

It’s incredible. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and all the things it allows us to do.

But technology has taken over our lives. Now, we feel empty without our phones on us. If our WiFi is down, we panic. We can’t stand to be disconnected.

It’s not that technology is bad. It’s the fact that kids’ attention spans are so much shorter. It’s the fact that we are glued to tiny devices that can find and do almost anything for us.

I’m not writing this to bash on technology. I’m writing to speak up for something that I love.

My love of reading was something instilled in me as a very young child.

I started to read children’s books at the age of 4 and by kindergarten, I was reading the Nancy Drew books. Needless to say, I kind of enjoyed reading and took off with it.

And I still do! Any free time I have, (which is not much, thank you, junior year) you’d be very likely to find me with a book in my hand, sprawled in some weird position across a chair or my bed. The feeling of the pages in my hand, turning each page with anticipation and wonder of what will happen next exhilarates me.

You’re probably thinking I’m a little odd by this point. I mean, I just talked about how READING makes me feel alive and phones are bad.

Weird, right?

But see, that’s the problem with all this technology. It’s made us less sensitive to certain things. We see horrific images on screens and it doesn’t faze us. Therefore, reading doesn’t provide the same simulation for the brain as it once used to.

Congratulations to those of you who read enough to make it through the end of this column! Now go out and read a real authentic book. You never know, you may fall in love at the hands of a paperback.

September 18, 2014

I was super excited when I got my device during my second block. It was the kind of excitement that you feel when you get something new and can’t wait to study all of its uses.

That feeling quickly changed once I got home.

In the search bar I typed www.google.com/images, suddenly an unfamilar screen pops up with a huge icon, Blue Coat. At the bottom of the screen, I skim some microscopic text but immediately notice “SHAWNEE MISSION SCHOOL DISTRICT.” I cleared the bar and typed in www.netflix.com and pressed enter. The exact same restriction page was displayed on the screen alerting me that SMSD controls everything.

I tried to come to some conclusion as to why I can’t access these sites at home. I couldn’t think of any logical explanations regarding this pandemonium.

Next day at school, my friend leans over to me and tilts her screen so that I can see what is displayed on her MacBook. She was on Twitter just scrolling down her timeline looking at tweets.

“How did you do that?” I quickly asked in shock.

She leaned over, opened Google Chrome and showed me something called Browsec. It was a way to view restricted sites without using a nonschool owned device. Of course, I was not the only student aware of this new development - everyone knew.

A few days later, that same friend that introduced me to Browsec leaned over my desk and told me to delete it.

“Everyone knows about, and I think teachers are checking if you have it downloaded or not,” she said.

As quick as I could, I made sure anything related to Browsec was erased from my computer. Throughout my classes, many teachers were giving lectures about how irresponsible students were being, and that some students were having problems with their Macs due to Browsec and other proxy extensions.

There have been examples in history showing that once something is banned or restricted, it makes people want it more. Then, someone creates a shortcut to get around it.

Basically the moral to the story is no matter how hard you try to restrict something, there always becomes a black market for it.

The only question left is how the district can effectively put limitations on what can be appropriately accessed at the right time.

P.S. Google Images is now accessible.

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Feature

The Loe Down Q&A with Mr. Loe

By Kathleen Gartner Epic: Where did you go to high school?

Mr. Loe: I went to high school in Kansas City, Kansas at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science.

Epic: What was your favorite part about high school?

Mr. Loe: Everything. I had an exceptional high school experience- a very diverse community, excellent teachers, great extra-curricular opportunities and strong music and arts programs. It was a unique experience because it was down in the inner-city but very safe.

Epic: What were you involved in during your high school career?

Mr. Loe: Academics were number one in regard to high school but I played bass in the orchestra, was part of the football team, did a little diving- I would say that I wasn’t very successful, track and baseball.

high school time, and I wanted them to feel very comfortable. The bottom line is that its a big enough high school where we don’t have to see each other all the time. Maddie was okay with it because she was a senior and only had one more year. Kenzie was a little more reluctant.

Now I think she’s come around to realizing that she can still have her own life and not have Dad “stalking her in the hallways” as she said.

Epic: What’s the hardest/worst part about the job?

Mr. Loe: It’s a big building with so many things to do. I have to learn to be better at using the team, because there’s an awesome team here. They do so much work! I’m coming from

an elementary where there was one building administrator, and here you have four building administrators, an athletic director, an awesome front office and counseling.

Epic: What’s the best part about the job?

Mr. Loe: The students, staff, and community.

This is a beautiful place to be in regard to those things. The students are awesome. It truly is a unique place, and I know since I’ve been in other buildings. And those other buildings were good, but there’s just a really tight bond at West among students, and staff, and families. It kind of sets it above the other communities.

Epic: What are you looking to improve or change?

Mr. Loe: There’s lots of good things here,

Epic: How many years have you been in

but I think the one thing we’ve got to really tackle is the best integration of this technology. How are we best going to use the tools we’ve been given? The staff has really jumped on it.

education?

Mr. Loe: This is my 22nd year.

Epic: What advice would you give to

Epic: Where all have you worked?

Mr. Loe: I’ve been a Shawnee Mission lifer! My first four years were at Westridge Middle School as a language arts teacher, and then my next eight years were here with the Vikings- I was an English teacher.

Then I spent six years as an associate principal at East, and then I did three years at Comanche as a principal, and now I’m here.

Epic: How do you feel about being the principal at your daughters’ school?

Mr. Loe: I love it. I don’t know how they feel about that (my daughters). We actually had a discussion when the job opportunity opened up. We talked about it as family because my thoughts were that it was their

12

students?

Mr. Loe: You have to be actively engaged and try new things at this point in your life. It’s probably one of the most safe places to do it. In and out of the classroom, you’ve got to be involved. It’s boring if you’re not actively engaged.

Epic: What makes West best?

Mr. Loe: It’s that community bond between students and staff. It’s the unique element of support that everyone has with each other.

I mean we’re not perfect, and we know that, but it just seems that this area comes together a lot of times. No matter what the situation is.

Issue 1

Feature

Technology Takeover Staff and students have been dealing with the pros and cons of the SMSD Technology Initiative.

By Drake Mattis and Isaiah McKay

PHOTOS BY MERANI RIVAROLA

September 18, 2014

13

Feature

Decent Reception

Students were asked to fill out a survey about their thoughts on the new tech initiative. These are the results.

By Megan Bartlett, Spence Lassalle and Logan Peterson.

89% of students surveyed favor Google Chrome.

Only 11% favor Safari.

Netflix

was the site most students wanted to see unblocked with 40% of students wanting it unblocked.

44% of students use Stickies to keep track of their assignments.

14

SEP

% 9 2

p kee . r to ments a d n n e g l i ss Ca use f their a o k trac

Issue 1

82% Only 47%

of students have or plan on getting a case for their laptop.

.

of students prefer paper textbooks over online textbooks.

Students on average use their laptops in only 4 classes.

iMessage was the most commonly used app amongst students.

September 18, 2014

15

Feature

Russian Regard

Ryan O’Neil, junior, was an exchange student in Yaroslavo, Russia.

By Isabelle Frankel

The Astrakhan Kremlin in Astrakhan, Russia. Photo by Ryan O’Neil Ryan O’Neil, junior, had a unique opportunity when he participated in an immersion program in Russia.

The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) provided O’Neil with a merit based scholarship to go to Russia. The NSLI-Y is sponsored by the United States Department of State and their goal is to “prepare American citizens to be leaders in a global world.” They send students to countries with less commonly-taught languages including Russia, China, India, Jordan, Turkey, and other locations.

“I’ve always been interested in languages, so that was a good opportunity since I’ve wanted to learn Russian for a long time now. I applied about this time last year. You apply and you write two essays, then you go in for an interview and find out in February if you get accepted,” O’Neil said.

After he got accepted, he began his journey.

18

“I was there for six weeks with a host family the whole time. I lived as a local as if I was born and raised there.” O’Neil said.

O’Neil was completely immersed in Russian culture and went from knowing no Russian at all, to being fluent by the end of his visit.

He and 11 other American students lived near each other in Russia. Each day they had class for four hours. They also took trips to museums or historical churches every Saturday.

He enjoyed “seeing what they consider history instead of seeing American history.”

When O’Neil wasn’t in classes he was free to do what he wanted.

“Typically we would walk around and go window shopping or we would go to restaurants and try new food. Just seeing the city because it was pretty big; I still haven’t seen all of it,” he said.

O’Neil is very interested in foreign languages.

“My second year of French I realized I liked languages. I wanted to expand, so I took Arabic and I like Arabic so I was like ‘Okay, I just like languages,’ so then I went to Russia,” he said.

He plans on being in the military in the future and is aware of how much knowing foreign languages is valued.

“Often times you get payed for each language you know. Say I run into an Afghan who doesn’t speak Arabic, he speaks Farsi (the Persian language), well most Arabic elders also speak Russian,” he said.

O’Neil has high hopes when it comes to learning foreign languages.

“Eventually, hopefully, I can cover the globe.

So next I’ll do, Chinese so that can cover Asia, then Spanish to cover South America.” O’Neil said.

Issue 1

Feature

A Walk to Remember A biennial event brings all students together for a common goal.

By Isabelle Frankel Students are doing their part to fight back against cancer by participating in Relay For Life this October.

So far, over 400 people have signed up to participate in the event that takes place on Oct. 9. At Relay For Life students stay up all night walking laps around the track to honor people fighting cancer.

Each participant raises $100 so they can stay the night. 60% of those donations go straight to cancer research, while the other 30% goes to cancer mission programs. These programs, like Road To Recovery, Hope Lodge, help facilitate the lives of people battling cancer.

“We’re 89 participants away from having the biggest high school Relay in the whole metro area,” Luke See, American Cancer Society sponsor, said. Luke hopes to beat the record of other schools by having 500 participants.

The students surpassed all of the committee’s goals of having 350 participants, $50,000, and 51 teams.

The committee of 21 students has been preparing for Relay since last spring.

“It’s more of a committee that fits the Relay instead of having a one size fits all,” See said.

The committee is organized into three sub-committees that are lead by seniors, Kaylyn Olson, Meredith Clark and Tori Thomas.

“Specifically I deal with the money aspect of the event, Meredith is in charge of all of the people, and Kaylyn is in charge of the actual

“Relay brings everyone together because cancer doesnt have a face. It doesn’t discriminate. It affects

everyone.”

activities we do at Relay,” Thomas said.

Some changes in activities have been made from Relay two years ago.

“This year we’re offering wristbands that you can buy, and if you have a wristband you can get different food throughout the night,” Clark said.

There are many other events that happen

Most Commonly Found Type of Cancer in 2014 in Men and Women Prostate

30%

of the estimated 585,720 cancer related deaths in 2014 will be caused by tobacco use.

September 18, 2014

Breast

throughout the night, including a lap for survivors and their caretakers, a lap that all the attendees of the event do together, and a luminaria lap to remember loved one’s “We’re trying extra hard to keep people awake from 3:00 to 5:00 because that’s when most people get tired. Making sure everyone is involved all night is the hardest part of planning,” Clark said.

Relay for Life promises to be an amazing event for everyone who participates. It’s not only a night to hang out with your friends. It also allows you to give back to your community and celebrate life.

“It’s kinda cool, like Relay’s the only thing that everyone can do. The theater kids, the athletes, the socially awkward; they all can come to Relay and have an equally shared experience that’s fantastic. Relay brings everyone together because cancer doesn’t have a face. It doesn’t discriminate. It affects everybody,” See said.

77%

of all cases of cancer are diagnosed in people ages 55 or older.

Happy Birthday Source: http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2014/index

19

@SMWjournalism

The End of Late Starts Late starts lead way to full days off

By Sylvia Bryan Every day of the week, about 8,000 Shawnee Mission high school students get up near sunrise to get to school on time. Late starts were the only exception, but not anymore.

On late start days, school would begin two hours behind schedule at 9:40 a.m. instead of the normal 7:40 a.m. Secondary level teachers attended PLC meetings, where they would gather with other teachers from their department.

Until this year, middle and high schools had a late start the first Thursday of most months, but this year there won’t be any at all. They’ve been replaced by a full day off, which will be one of the first two Tuesdays in a given month, except months like December or March when students already have a week or more off.

A related change is the elimination of monthly Tuesday early dismissals.

In past years, these were used as teacher in service days, usually the week before student grades were finalized. This year, there will still be occasional early dismissals, but they’re all on Thursdays. PLC meetings and in service days are being combined on the first Tuesday of the month, which is why late starts and Tuesday early dismissals won’t be happening

20

anymore.

Students have had mixed reactions. Some, like Nicole Brinkman, junior, are excited for the change.

“Why wouldn’t people like it? We have a full day off now, that’s way better!” she said.

On the other hand, Cheyenne Stevens, junior, thinks students won’t respond well to the new schedule.

“I think people will be mad because they won’t get to sleep longer or have shorter days,” she said.

Other students are annoyed by the change.

“That’s stupid,” Drake Spearman, sophomore, said. “Why would they even do that?”

“I’m upset because now I’ll have to always get up early,” Gisselle Gutierrez, sophomore, said.

Despite the initial hesitation and excitement, only time will tell whether or not students (and staff members) will come to like the schedule change and its side effects.

Issue 1

Challenges to Come

Sports

Changes to the game plan are poised to help the football team PHOTO BY KELSEA LILLA The team scrimmages at practice.

By Max Meyer

With a new year comes a new identity.

The football team is well on their way to finding their own. One of the big changes for the team this year is a shift more towards platooning. Platooning is when a player plays only on offense or defense, not both. However, the team will not fully change to platooning.

“We try to find 22 starters,” Tim Callaghan, head coach, said. “Our guys will know two positions.”

“It helps us get more reps at the position the coaches thought we could help the team out,” Jonathan Shull, quarterback, said. “It definite-

ly made us better at the position that the coaches told us we were going to play.”

Another change for the team is on the offensive side of the ball.

More veer (option) is being added to the game plan this year.

“At least first or second week it will be weird because teams will not be prepared to have to stop that,” Josh Compton, linebacker, said.

“It’ll just be another thing teams will have to prepare for because we already have a tough offense to stop.”

“I think it’ll be a nice change of pace from our normal offense,”

September 18, 2014

Shull said.

The team has faced the challenge of having multiple “heat” practices this year. That means that players are given a break in between each drill, and players wear shells (helmet, shoulder pads and shorts).

“I really don’t think it’s made a big effect because we’ve been going 100%,” Compton said. “But even in the time we get we’ve been getting coached up the whole time, preparing, seeing their offenses.”

Despite some of the challenges provided by the heat practices, such as not being full contact and

shorter practices, there are some advantages.

“I think it’s (heat practices) been a good thing for us,” Callaghan said. “Doing a heat schedule makes coaches be more efficient with their planning.”

The Sunflower League appears to have some very good teams this year. Shawnee Mission East returns this year after an appearance in the State Championship.

Olathe North has multiple Division 1 players on their team.

“I think there’s probably three or four teams,” Callaghan said. “I think Olathe North, Shawnee Mission East, Lawrence, Lawrence Free State will all be good.”

“Toughest game, our two biggest games, Lawrence Free State or Shawnee Mission East because they’re probably the two best teams we’ll see,” Compton said.

The team meets up with a few of the perceived best teams in the Sunflower League. They faced off against Lawrence Free State on Sept. 4 in the season opener. They also see East on Sept. 26.

“We got killed by them (East) last year, and we want to avenge that. They’re also our main rival,” Compton said. “And Free State is one of our new rivals, and it’s also the first week.”

After a long offseason the team looks to improve throughout the season, and reach their peak by the time playoffs come around.

“I think just improve everyday. It’s just the clichest thing,” Callaghan said. “There’s little things we’re going to keep getting better at. I expect to be playing pretty good ball by the time we get to districts.”

21

Feature

Fall Sports Preview Athletes from the eight fall sports are interviewed

By Lexi Hart and Karen Barkema

Cross Country

With Michael McCosh

1) Every day after school from 3 to 6, Saturday meets 2) Calms himself with Mo Ghile Mear, which is folk inspirational 3) Half Clif Bar and lots of water 4) Track sprint workouts, thought it would never end 5) None, but as a team, the assistant coach does visualization with running music

Volleyball With Camryn Blanton

1)After school from 3-6 saturday 8-11am 2) “Fergalicious” by Fergie 3) Chipotle 4) Sprinting to touch 18 lines in 50 seconds, practices after games, if whole team missed a serve it equals one minute of stairs 5) No

Football With Josh Compton

1)Right after school 3-5:30 or 6 and Saturdays 2) Doesn’t listen to any specific music 3) Turkey sandwich from Goodcents 4) Tackling drills and sprinting and running lots 5)Same undershirts and socks, do the same tape

Girls’ Tennis

With Meredith Clark

1)After school from 4:15-6 2)Blasted music in vans to games, High School Musical is her favorite 3)Gatorade and water and parents bring snacks 4)Suicides across all four courts 5)Right before a serve, she bounces the ball to a rhythm in her head PHOTOS BY GRACE ARMENTA

22

Issue 1

1) When do you practice?

2) What is your favorite pump up song?

3) What is your favorite pre-game meal?

4) What was your hardest practice?

5) Do you have any superstitions? If so what are they?

Sports

Gymnastics

Cheer

With Caroline Miller

With Ariana Coker

1) Everyday after school from 3:15-5:30 2) No particular song but she will play a playlist on Pandora that will pump her up 3) Subway as a team 4) Last year the practice before state was a lot of pressure 5) No superstitions

Boys’ Soccer

With Jack Arndt

1) Everyday after school and also on Saturdays 2) Any Queen song 3) Red Barron breakfast pizza 4) First C team practice w/ Coach Moles, ran 2 miles before practice and then the rest of practice they ran the track 5) He doesn’t put his jersey on until right before warm ups

1) Mondays and Wednesdays after school 2) The pep talk pumps her up 3) Pasta 4) Last year the team ran suicides (up to 1/4 of the court and back, 1/2 up and back, 3/4 up and back, then the full court up and back) for each person who wore jewelry or incorrect clothing to practice 5)She has to tie her right shoe (stepping foot) right before starting the routine

Girls’ Golf

With Elena Nannenman

1) Everyday 2) “Yeah” by Usher 3) Chocolate and banana protein shake 4) Practices aren’t that hard, however she doesn’t enjoy walking everywhere 5) She has to look good

PHOTOS BY GRACE ARMENTA

September 18, 2014

23

Sports

Evaluating Change Will the College Football Playoff really solve anything?

An opinion by Max Meyer Oklahoma

Alabama

Michigan State Florida State

For years, one of the biggest pushes in college football was for a playoff, but now that it’s here, it won’t fix everything.

Since the BCS was implemented in 1997, it was debated if it was the best way to find a national champion. Sure, finding the number one team in the country has normally been easy, but finding that second best team; nearly impossible to do without some controversy. Then, came the tie-ins to certain bowl games that each conference had, and whether or not mid-majors should ever be allowed in the national championship.

There was a solution to that: a college football playoff. That would fix everything right? However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The College Football Playoff, while fixing many of the issues caused by the BCS system, also creates many issues of its own. First, instead of debating about which two teams should be in the national championship, it’s the top four. In most years, the debate would come down to the second team in the championship.

It would come down to a choice between two or three teams. These teams would have one loss or on some occasions they would have two.

Now, with the playoff there are four spots to fill.

It’s impossible to just choose the conference champions from the major conferences because there are five of them. It also has to be taken into

24

Champion

account that a mid-major team could very easily go undefeated.

Another issue with the playoff system is if only one team can come out of each conference.

I like to think that this would be the case, but for many of the college football fans down in the Southeastern Conference area that is not the case. It is widely known that the SEC is considered the strongest conference in college football by many. I do think that is the best conference, but I tend to think that the gap between the other major conferences and the SEC is not as big as some may think. My opinions aside, the respect of the SEC by most may cause some to be inclined to put a one-loss SEC team in the playoff over an undefeated mid-major team or a one loss conference champion from a major conference.

The solution I pose for these problems is not perfect, but it should be able to suffice. Guideline one for my solution is that all teams in the playoff must be a conference champion. If you aren’t good enough to win your own conference you shouldn’t get a chance to play for a national championship. Guideline two is that the weakest major conference should be agreed upon by the playoff committee (a 13 person committee is in charge of choosing the four teams), and the champion from that conference should be left

Oregon Auburn

out. I have to apologize to all mid-major teams and fans. As much as I love seeing a Boise State in a big game, under most circumstances a mid-major does not deserve a playoff spot (see Hawaii in 2008). A team shouldn’t be put in the playoff simply because they rolled through an easy conference. There may be an occasion where a mid-major team is as good as Boise State in 2007 when they beat Oklahoma, but that is only under extreme circumstances. Guideline three and the final guideline is don’t doubt the eye test. When deciding the best teams in the country there is no better way to do that than watching them play with your own eyes. A good example of this would Texas in the 2005-2006 season when they won the Big 12 Championship by 67 against Colorado. Also, last year Florida State had multiple 30 plus point wins during the year. A final decision on a team should never come down to stats.

Finally, don’t blame the committee for everything. Yes, you may disagree with their decision, but the committee is going to take into account the opinions of people across country.

One way or another their choice is going to lead some good games. Just be glad that it’s not you on that committee, and sit back and enjoy the football.

Issue 1

Sports

Let’s Get Ready to Tumble Gymnastics team has a new style

PHOTO BY KAMRYN MARSHALL The girls gymnastics team has gone through some major changes.

Anne Heinlein, the new gymnastics coach, went to school and competed on the gymnastics team at Olathe South. She also has coaching experience from a club team called McCracken’s.

“Coach Heinlein came prepared; she’s so organized,” Hannah Figgins, varsity gymnast, said.

Heinlein has a new method on how she divides varsity and JV. Instead of a predetermined JV and varsity team, the girls’ performances at practice will set which team they compete on.

“I really like her because she definitely runs a tight ship, which is a lot different from coaches we have had in the past. But she knows what she’s doing, and I already see improvements on the team since she started coaching us,” Caroline Miller, varsity gymnast, said.

They also have an assistant coach, Maelee Spring, who has been a gymnastics judge for several years.

“Coach Spring is really great.

It will be awesome having her on our team to make sure we get the highest scores possible,” Figgins said.

There are some new faces in the gym this year. Due to expensive equipment and a lack of space, the girls from SM North have been practicing with the team at West. The girls get along very well and support each other.

September 18, 2014

By Colette Balas

Miller practices a routine.

“I was kind of worried about it at first since our gym is so small, but it works out really well and I’ve gotten pretty close to some of the North girls. They’re really positive and encouraging, overall just a really great team to work out with,” Miller said.

The girls are all coached together by Heinlein and Spring. The equipment is divided up by vault, bars, beam and floor and they rotate with different groups every day.

Heinlein likes to mix up the schools so that they can get to know each other and act like a big team.

“The one thing that helps me with the North girls being there is that it forces me to work harder because they are all really talented,” Sammie Haverfield, varsity gymnast, said.

State this fall will be held at West. There is a rotation of 13 schools and West was chosen this year. The last time West held state was in 1985.

“West is the perfect place to hold state,” Don Perkins, athletic director, said.” All of the gyms are close and the Bridge and cafeteria can be used for resting and warming up.”

“I’m excited about state being at West this year because I know I will feel comfortable competing on our own equipment that I’ll be practicing on all year. It’s also my senior year so I love having my very last meet being at my home school,” Miller said.

25

Sports

The Run Down Cross Country is often oversimplfied as just "running long distances". Think again.

By Max Meyer and Kristin Wells

Routes

“Reilly Wiscombe ran with Alli Cash a couple weeks ago because she was still back in town from college and they ran to my house which is a 14 mile run,” Jeff Onnen, coach, said.

“Typically during the week we have what we call a tour of Shawnee Mission, and different weeks of the season we’ll take runs to different high schools,” Onnen said.

N&E 8 mile route NW 9 mile route S 10 mile route

“My favorite route is the Westridge route because it goes by the fastest. The longest route is the North route because you’re on a straight street the whole entire time. Actually the longest routes and the worst routes are anything at Shawnee Mission Park because you’re constantly on those trails,” Riley Kaiser, runner, said.

26

Practices “Total mileage in a week depends on the week, but it’ll usually be about 40-50 miles,” Reilly Wiscombe, varsity runner, said.

Monday -

The hardest workout of the week, it’s not necessarily the longest, but it’s the toughest in terms of the intensity of the workout.

Tuesday -

A shorter recovery run.

Wednesday - A long distance run.

Thursday - A mid-distance run.

Friday -

Easiest run of the week.

“You do a hard workout, and then an easy workout to recover,” Onnen said.

“It’s also a mental workout. With the longer runs and stuff, it’ll make the races feel shorter,” Ian Wiscombe, varsity runner said.

Issue 1

Sports Pre Race Prep

“The night before, I get all my stuff out that I’m going to wear in the morning. When I go downstairs, I usually get a Gatorade and a water bottle and then I’ll pack food to eat throughout the day,” R. Wiscombe said.

“I don’t like to sleep like everyone else does. I’ll go walk the course, no matter the course, listen to music and get us in the zone,” R. Wiscombe said. ”We watch the races before ours and we’ll warm up 45 minutes before we’re supposed to start. It’ll consist of a 10 minute jog, we’ll do lunges, drills, skips, marches and such. We usually like to get a nice build up to a sprint in our spikes about 5-10 minutes before the race is called,” R. Wiscombe said.

The sweats will come off and then we’ll go. We wear sweats as long as we possibly can to keep us warmed up,” I. Wiscombe said.

If you’re doing XC, then a lot of the time, you can have the endurance to start out with, but not everyone has the speed. That helps a lot at the end of a race, getting a good start and finish,” I. Wiscombe said.

Baldwin Invitational Sept. 20 9:00am to 12:30pm Baldwin City Golf Course 1500 South St., Baldwin City, KS 66066

Upcoming Races

Rim Rock Carl Owczarzak Farm Classic Fall Classic Sept. 27 9:00am to 2:30pm Rim Rock Farm 2276 Burnett Ln., Lawrence, KS 66044

September 18, 2014

Oct. 11 8:30am to 1:30pm Theater in the Park 7710 Renner Rd, Shawnee, KS 66217

State Meet Oct. 31 10:30am to 1:30pm Rim Rock Farm 2276 Burnett Ln., Lawrence, KS 66044

27

A&E Sylvia Bryan’s Review of Kimbra’s "Golden Echo"

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28

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listening to it. It’s good to listen to while you focus on something else, like homework.

Even if you’re currently not a Kimbra fan, her music is similar to Adele, Ellie Goulding, and Lana del Rey’s, so if you like any of them, it’s worth giving her a chance. However, she has her own unique blend of styles and techniques, so it’s completely possible you still won’t enjoy it. If you don’t normally listen to this genre the whole album might be a bit hard to swallow, but if you want to try something different there’s no harm in just listening to “90s Music”, “Rescue Him” or “Slum Love” which are each strong individual pieces, even though only the first was actually released as a single.

All in all, I liked the album. It has its faults, including the length, slow intro, and cluttered production. But it also has stronger points, like Kimbra’s talent, creative lyrics, and a good song to song flow. If you’re a Kimbra fan, feel like a change, or are bored and want to listen to something new, “Golden Echo” is an album you should look into. But if you decide to skip it, you won’t be missing anything amazing, and there are definitely better albums out there. Even so, there are much worse ones, too, and I think this was ultimately a good contribution to the music world. It’s very unique, and it could only be done by Kimbra.

bo

t

Most people remember Kimbra as that chick from Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”, but she deserves more credit than that.

Kimbra has released her second album, “Golden Echo”, once again demonstrating her own talent outside of collaboration with other artists. Her only album before this is “Vows”, which came out in 2011.

However, like her other work, “Golden Echo” won’t be to everyone’s taste. The deluxe edition of the album is quite long, with a 73 minute run time and a slow start. The music is on the heavy side, and can overpower the lyrics in some places, so if you’re looking for something to sing along to, this might not be it. Kimbra’s unique vocal style could also be a turn off for some. But it will be very appealing for others. For example, if you miss Amy Winehouse, this album could be worthwhile for you.

The songs complement each other nicely, and transitions are consistently fluid. Even though the album is lengthy and can be slow at times, it’s better as a whole than as 15 individual songs, so if you can, listening to it all at once is ideal. However, if you just want to listen to a few songs, “90s Music” and “Rescue Him” have the strength to stand alone and will give you a snapshot of the entire album in a fraction of the time.

The album is mellow enough to make good background music without being distracting, but still distinctive enough that you won’t forget you’re

Issue 1

Alex Ralston’s Review of Kimbra’s "Golden Echo"

.

September 18, 2014

on vocal harmonies that are executed pretty well and kind of remind me of the kinds that Queen used.

When it comes to the songwriting and lyrics on this thing, don’t expect much complexity. Most of the song structures work with the same exact formula over and over again, which can become slightly boring and predictable. There are no real tweaks to this formula ever, and it’s repeated nearly ad nauseum. The lyrics on here also tend to be a bit one-dimensional and generally just center around some generic love interest or concept of love that is really naive and basic.

This lyrical content almost never changes throughout the album and most obviously comes about on the song “Miracle”, probably the cheesiest, sickeningly sweetest track on the entire album. It doesn’t fit in at all and is probably the most basic form of a pop song that exists, something that seems like Kimbra included because it might have been catchy and poppy, but even this song is so sugary that I can’t imagine it even getting on the radio. And on the song “Rescue Him”, Kimbra talks about some guy who cheated on her and paints him as a sleazy character. However, she states that she’s willing to give her body to him whenever he wants (“I will rescue him, I will rescue him / each time he knocks I let him in when he wants it / time and time again, time again”). Does she recognize how she’s portraying herself? This sort of basic, dry lyricism really doesn’t give much personality to either Kimbra or her songs, and made me lose interest in “The Golden Echo” pretty quickly.

Towards the end of the album, there’s a track that is uncharacteristically morbid and slow for Kimbra. “Waltz Me to the Grave” is a very beautiful send-off track where Kimbra talks about being ready to die. This song is really the only time where Kimbra displays some sort of charisma and sense of adventure, and it’s done very well. This and “Slum Love” have some of the better lyrics, which drop all the vague references to love and add some specificity; the instrumentation is also different and refreshing.

Overall, Kimbra really tried to create a unique album by blending a mixture of styles into one distinctive sound, but it just didn’t go well. The production was really hit-or-miss, with some very simple and catchy songs or directionless and overwhelming soundscapes. I really enjoyed the more stripped down and hip-hop flavored tracks. As far as the lyrics went, I wasn’t thrilled or interested in the slightest. She had a lot of potential to create something great, but it just fell flat, which makes “The Golden Echo” an echo I don’t really want to hear.

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Kimbra is a singer/songwriter hailing from New Zealand who has been known for her poppy style and most notably her features and collaborations, especially on Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” This feature brought her plenty of buzz and anticipation for her debut album from 2011, “Vows,” which showcased her pop sensibilities with singles such as “Settle Down” and “Warrior”. After three years, Kimbra is back with her sophomore release, “The Golden Echo”.

“The Golden Echo” is different from “Vows” in that most of the piano and live instrumentation has been replaced almost wholly by synths and different electronic sounds. She seems to be going in a new direction, however satisfying that may be. For starters, Kimbra adds in a whole slew of new genres to her album such as vaporwave, jukebox and funk, 80s synth pop, and even some R&B and hip-hop. This eclectic mix can sometimes make for some interesting soundscapes and intensely catchy grooves, but for the most part just ends up creating some very directionless songs and textures. For example, on the opening track “Teen Heat” Kimbra starts out with some very relaxed, sleepy vocals over a slow drumbeat paired with electric pianos. But then she adds an overthe-top chorus that adds too much to the song and really contrasts the verses in a very unflattering way. A lot of the songs come off this way, like she made a half-hearted attempt to create a soundtrack to a “Mamma Mia”-esque musical.

This oftentimes complicated and unnecessary instrumentation comes into play on some of the other tracks here (like the pre-chorus in “90s Music” and the outro of “Waltz Me to the Grave”). When the production is focused, it’s great; but when all these other sounds are introduced they just become a distraction, as if any time Kimbra heard a neat sound she had to add it into the song she was recording. Again, the production isn’t bad by default (in fact, some of the hip-hop and R&B flavored tracks on “The Golden Echo” are some of the best, offering the simplest and catchiest production). But it often just gets overwhelmed by a whole bank of sounds that weren’t needed in the first place, no matter how interesting they seemed individually.

Kimbra’s voice is really smooth and pretty, which goes well over most of these beats. While she doesn’t exactly show off the widest range, she has a very nice vocal style and she adds in a few vocal flourishes throughout. She actually has some surprising versatility in regards to the genres she attacks and conquers. There are a few Motown and R&B inspired songs that her voice just covers beautifully, especially when she tries her hand in singing at some lower tempos and pitches. She also focuses a lot

A&E

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A&E

A MARVELous Summer Marvel releases yet another blockbuster, but "Guardians" was something unexpected.

By Logan Peterson Comic book heroes meets “Star Wars” in the Marvel sci-fi adventure, “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

It tells the story of Peter Quill, a human who, 26 years after being abducted from Earth, is now an intergalactic thief. Quill has become the target of Ronan the Accuser.

This film was a huge gamble. Marvel Studios, instead of hashing out a by-the-book sequel or reboot, decided to take a risk with this project.

On paper, it looks like a failure from the start. The comic books had a very small following and some of it’s characters would be hard to portray on screen.

I myself had little faith when I saw the original previews.

However, Marvel has proved, as they have time and time again, that they are like the blackjack dealers in a Las Vegas casino. They keep the aces up their sleeves and the odds are always in their favor.

From start to finish, “Guardians” is a wild ride, bolstered hugely by Chris Pratt’s funny and charismatic performance as Quill. He proves that he is much more than the foolish oaf from “Parks and Recreation.”

What makes the film so great is that not only are the action sequences incredible and exciting, but it’s also one of the funniest films I’ve seen all year. This is due, in part, to Bradley Cooper’s hilarious voice-over performance of the wily, gunslinging Rocket the Raccoon.

Rocket, along with his partner, the heartwarming tree of few words named Groot, steal the entire show with their impeccable comedic timing and love for all things destructive.The other members of the crew include Drax, the vengeful alien whose family was killed by Ronan, and Gamora, who is an ally of Ronan, but is secretly working to thwart his plans of

intergalactic domination.The film is overflowing with memorable characters and equally memorable scenes.

One of my favorite scenes in particular is the prison break scene, where we find our heroes incarcerated by the intergalactic law enforcement Nova Core.

This is the scene where they really find their footing and learn to work together as one, as the Guardians of the Galaxy. It really is just an awesome scene that uses CGI to the best of its ability.

I wish I could give equal love to some of the smaller characters. Marvel has a tendency to give big name stars small roles in order to set the table for future films. Although it worked for “The Avengers,” it is almost tiresome to see how many A-list actors had less than 10 minutes of screen time.

What made “Guardians” such a special film was that the producers had a lot riding on them. After they brilliantly set the table for “Avengers” in 2012, audiences weren’t going to settle for anything less, and the creative minds at Marvel weren’t going to deliver anything less.

Watching this film reminded me of a few things. The first being, never underestimate the creative minds at Marvel; the second being, never underestimate the depth of their pockets.

“Guardians” is a funny, non-stop action sci-fi romp, with a lot of heart, and great performances to top it off. I loved every minute of it and I highly recommend it.

Grade: B+

X HOT OR NOT you sent us what you thought was #hot and what was #not. here is what you said

@caarmar

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Fall play #HOT

the compass test at JCCC #NOT

@hayhayitshaylay When you first take pizza rolls out of the oven... #HOT

The ACT #NOT

@Allen_Jenae These Tuesdays we have off are kinda #HOT

No Netflix on our laptops #NOT

@kuhayetee

@messatace

@macqumc

Issue 1

Around the World

A&E

Africa, Japan and Brazil. Oh my!

By Samantha Jansen

Summer is a great time to relax, hang out with friends and go on vacation. This summer, three students took that to another level when they visited a new country.

Senior Lucie Rogers traveled over 8,700 miles to get to her destination, Zambia, Africa. Rogers and her family spent 15 days in Africa. One of the first things they did when they were in Africa was go on a safari in one of Africa’s National Parks.

“We went on a driving safari where we would go out and watch animals when they are most active, which is dawn and dusk,” Rogers said. “We also went on hiking safaris that were like the driving safaris except you couldn’t get as close to the animals.”

Next, Rogers and her family stopped by a town where they went fishing, canoeing and visited Victoria Falls. At Victoria Falls, she went on a microlight plane that soared over the waterfalls.

“It was cool to see a new culture, but they are a lot like us,” Rogers said. “They used to be a British colony, so they were very English in their ways.”

This was not the first time she had been in another country.

“This was my first time in Africa, but fourth continent,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the trip most similar to the trip to Africa was the time she hiked the Inca trail in Peru. She said this was a fun trip and a new experience.

Sophomore Adam Leligdon visited Japan.

“We went to Tokyo first and saw the city. Then we saw museums and different landmarks,” Leligdon said. Also in Tokyo he went to see the world’s tallest freestanding structure, the Sky Tree.

Next, he went to Kyoto where he saw old temples and the more traditional parts of Japan. This isn’t the first time Leligdon has been out of the country.

“I’ve been to around 15 different countries,” Leligdon said. These countries include Indonesia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and all over Africa.

Sophomore Melisa Torrico went to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil this summer.

Torrico went with her mom to visit family, mainly her two uncles and their families who she stayed with during her trip. When her uncles weren’t working, her family went to the beach. “ I hung out with my cousins a lot. We went ziplining and paintballing,” Torrico said. Torrico’s favorite part of the trip was going to see Christ the Redeemer, and Pan de Azucar National Park.

Tokyo, Japan 6218 Miles from Overland Park

Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

5405 Miles from Overland Park

Zambia 8518 Miles from Overland Park

(CC) Source of World Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/9/91/Winkel_triple_projection_SW.jpg

September 18, 2014

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By Alex Ralston