Titan Scroll December 16, 2011

Titan Lee’s Summit West High School 2600 SW Ward Road Lee’s Summit, MO 64082

Candlelighting flame burns out

Scroll

lswestonline.com

pg. 3

Charity Scams

Fake Twitters

Dance Team

Pg. 31

Friday, December 16, 2011 Volume VIII, Edition 5

Pg. 21

Pg. 4

On the Cover “Some things don’t last

Titan Scroll Staff

pg. 24

forever,” said History Teacher Cindy Denker.

“Students weren’t responsive to it.”

Editor in Chief Sydnee Owens

Assistant Editors

Haley Roach and Katey Stoetzel

Graphics Design Editor Jesse Eiskina

News

Assistant Graphics Kylie Lanning

Candlelighting cancelled pg. 3 pg. 4 Charities vs. scams Late start days

HW now vs. then.

Broadcast to Joplin

Opinion

Sports Girls basketball

Advertising Manager Business Manager Nicole Conniff

Distribution Manager Aaron Brower

Writers

Photographers

Nikki Andriano Meg BrittonMehlisch Annie Greenwell Claudia Guthrie Andy Evans Tiffany Jenkins Riley Manning Meg Peterson Anna Poudel

Maddy Arsenault Nathan Foster Kathryn Hilger Morgan Johnson Ryan Miller Alex Palmer Steve Rhodes Bailey Romi Michelle Stout

Page Designers

pg. 12 pg. 21 pg. 22 pg. 23

Merrilee Boughan Justin Hunley Nate Mitchell Tristan Owen Derec Owens Brooks Rast Carlie Nash

pg. 26

Staff Artist

pg. 24 pg. 25

Meagan Shanahan

Adviser

Carol Ullery

Buisness Adviser Karrie Smythia

The Titan Scroll is a student publication of Lee’s

pg. 26 pg. 27

Cheer/ Dance

pg. 31 pg. 32

Boy’s basketball

Taylor Jensen

pg. 10 pg. 11 pgs. 13 -20

Wrestling Swimming

Andy’s Assertions

Copy Editor

pg. 25

pg. 9

Calender Fake Twitters Video games Concert review Hunger Games Nite Lite

Judd Kirn and Joey Franke

Gabrielle Hayden

Well..If you ask me

A&E

Assistant Photography Editors

pg. 6 pg. 7

pg. 8

Titans rap Winter Music Concerts Holiday Special

Ariel Thompson

pg. 5

Staff Editorial/ Katey’s Conundrums

Feature

Photography Editor

pg. 28 pg. 30 pg. 222

2• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

Summit West High School. It welcomes all letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit for libel and for space. No unsigned letters will be printed. Letters may be dropped off in Room 2048 or mailed to 2600 SW Ward Road, Lee’s Summit, MO 64082.

Volume 8 of the Scroll is published 12 times during the 2011-2012 school year. The opinions contained do not in any way represent the Lee’s Summit West faculty, administration or the R-7 school district administration or school board.

December 16, 2011

Candlelighting No Longer

Tiffany Jenkins Candlelighting, a tradition that began at Lee’s Summit High School and carried to Lee’s Summit North then Lee’s Summit West, will be no more at the sister schools.

According to Principal Dr. David Sharp, about 75 percent of all students at West choose not to participate in the Candlelighting ceremony. They either check out or stay in an alternative quiet room.

In the last two years. data shows that only about 400 students remained at school, with nearly half of those choosing not to attend the Candlelighting, said Sharp.

Last year, a record high 972 students checked out of the building.

“I was actually really surprised when I heard that it was canceled. It was a strong Lee’s Summit West tradition and a really big thing each year, said Senior Anika Karlsson. “I guess a majority of the students left anyway and didn’t really care.”

Sharp said the Candlelighting ceremony cost about $3,000 each year and with only half the school in attendance, it became an issue of wehter it was worth it. “[Candlelighting] is a cost containment item. It’s very expensive to

December 16, 2011

do, from renting the chairs and the screen, to the purchasing of the candles,” said Sharp.

History teacher Cindy Denker, who has assisted in organizing Candlelighting for 20 years, both at Lee’s Summit and at West, said that it was a cost issue, especially when less than half the student body participated.

Since the Candlelighting tradition started at the first Lee’s Summit school, some say the tradition never really caught on at the other schools.

“I think our students have spoken,” said Sharp. The fact that no one wants to attend the ceremony lets staff know that students don’t find it important enough to stick around after their last final exam.

“I really liked it last year, and was going to go all four years, but I guess it doesn’t matter to me,” said Sophomore Maddie Jacobson.

West has made an attempt at continuing the tradition, but with more students being checked out of school

each year to avoid attending Candlelighting, Sharp said it is time to move on.

“I’m sad to see it go, it was a wonderful thing, and was unique,” he said, “but it’s time for us to look for a new tradition.”

“Some things don’t last forever,” Denker said. “We had very minimal commitment; students weren’t responsive to it.”

It seems as though the majority of students are not disappointed about the tradition ending, some are even pleased.

Senior Sarah Seyfried said, “Thank

God it was canceled, it was stupid. It wasted time and the fact that we even had to dress up for it was just plain stupid.”

For those who hate to see the loss of the candlelighting tradition, many are hoping to refocus on building stronger Titan traditions.

“A tradition that Lee’s Summit West has is the senior send-off. No other school has that, it’s something that is ours,” Denker said.

“We can open up our doors and start something new,” said Sharp.

Photo by Ariel Thompson

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 3

Opportunities to give abound; but don’t get taken Sydnee Owens It’s common around the holidays for there to be more advertisements to help those in need. Whether it’s dropping some spare change into the bucket outside the grocery store for the Salvation Army, volunteering at a local charity site or donating to Hope House through the school, there are many different opportunities to donate.

But some may ask, where exactly does all that money go? In this day in age, can people really be trusted? According to Rick Dawson, Executive Director of the Heart N Hand Foundation in Cass County there are plenty of things teens can do to help out and plenty of red flags to watch out for to make sure no one falls victim to a scam.

“There are so many different options. You can do

community outreach or holiday programs or fundraisers.

There are food pantries, clothing pantries and thrift stores.

We even have teenagers come in and do Christmas wrapping for all of the adopt-afamilies,” said Dawson.

Dawson said the important thing when volunteering is to keep in mind what hits the heart the most.

“Being specific is very important. Know where your heart is and what you want to do.” He said there are even evaluation tests available to help identify which charity is most interested in helping with. Whether it be stopping hunger, homelessness, helping people find work, or making sure people have clothes to wear, the more specific the concern, the easier it is to come up with a goal and meet it.

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Because it is so easy to donate or do charity work and get involved, it’s also easy for people to scam others with good intentions.

“There’s a lot of scamming going on out there,” said Dawson. “One major red flag is people trying to do something that an organization in the area is already doing.”

One big thing many teens may face is getting scammed on social networking sites, like Facebook.

“On my Facebook I don’t ask people for stuff, I just let people know what we’re doing,” said Dawson. “I don’t ask people for money, I make them ask what they can do to help.”

Dawson explained that it is pretty simple to identify most scammers.

“When it comes to people who are not running legiti-

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mate organizations, they’re not usually around very long. They’re just trying to do something for themselves real quick.”

There are also some tips for researching an organization.

“On an organization’s website you can see board members and who sponsors and supports them; the more the better. Books should also be publicly open, if they’re not, they’re probably hiding something,” Dawson said.

Dawson explained that a non-profit organization would want people to know that they are indeed a non-profit organization.

“I want people to know that 100 percent goes back to the community,” he said.

There is an abundance of legitimate opportunities to donate for the holidays. Photo by Maddy Arsenault

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December 16, 2011

Students, prepare to sleep in on Wednesdays

Annie Greenwell The school board approved a two year calendar that includes late start Wednesdays. Every Wednesday school will begin at 9 a.m.

Some may wonder what other changes that this may cause. Teachers will get the chance to meet together every week to get curriculum together and to make sure students are doing well and progressing academically.

Some students didn’t even know that late starts were in the works. “I did not know about this, and if someone were to tell me, I might believe it, but I would think it would only occur on a special occasion like in place of an early release.

I’m excited that it will be happening once every week,” said Junior Alisha Price.

Jeffrey Miller, who is the Assistant Superintendent of human resources said, “The team focused its work on what is best for student learning and

ultimately student success. Through the previous survey, we learned that parents’ concerns focused on student supervision issues and daycare costs related to the late start days. By working with our staff, we have recently developed a plan to offer a student supervision option for parents that will begin 90 minutes before the late-start Wednesdays. This option is for students kindergarten through high school and is no cost to parents.”

“Already this week, we have heard from

several parents expressing gratitude for the fact that their concerns were listened to and addressed through this plan,” said Miller.

However, due to late starts there will be two full days added to the 2013-2014 school year.

Miller said, “Actually research has shown that regular time for structured teacher collaboration improves student academic performance and student success. This is the goal of the late-start

Wednesdays: to provide time for teachers to improve instruction for their students thus improving s t u d e n t performance.”

Also, one of the main reasons that late starts have come into the picture is because budget cuts have caused teachers to lose days for meetings and plan

days.

“Students will feel more attentive and teachers will have an extra plan period.

I also think I think kids will be more focused throughout the day since they are getting more sleep at home and not in the classroom,” said Junior Connor Thomas.

The district has not yet evaluated the lunch schedule for next year, but the late start shouldn’t greatly effect the time.

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Piling homework breaks students down

Taylor Jensen Homework has always been a dreaded word for high-schoolers to hear. No matter what classroom door is opened, there’s bound to be homework mentioned, whether it’s the confusion over last night’s work or tonight’s assignment.

Whatever the circumstances, homework has been around for a while and plans to stay.

Ever since long before the millennium, homework was an understood concept.

Now, some students think homework has increased in quantity and difficulty.

“I think schools have become more competitive, especially to get into colleges, have a good class rank, and get good grades. Homework is a way to do better,” said Koford.

Koford’s father Eric Koford said, “I come from a family of educators and have watched the purpose of homework change over time. It has changed to match a new level of overachieving and hyper-competitive parenting. Many parents want their children to be excellent in all things, so they can make it to the best schools and therefore have the best careers. That has become the Homework: Then and Now new purpose of education. Education Whether or not homework really has is not for educating anymore, but is increased is a topic two students have the chosen path for socio-economic corresponding thoughts on. achievement. We don’t teach and learn “I think we have a lot of assignments to learn, but to achieve the test score that and could probably have less; then we results in the higher grade and thus the wouldn’t hate it so much,” said Junior better educational opportunity.”

Kennedy Koford. “I think we have harder homework and a lot more than our The Purpose of Homework parents had. Sometimes I don’t think they Many are concerned that the purpose believe I have as much homework as I do. is becoming more distorted as time goes I think we have more than they did and on. they just can’t comprehend it.”

“Sometimes I feel like homework is just Sophomore Liz Black said, “I think we busy work, but at the same time, I can see have more homework now and I don’t like where it’s important because it reinforces how time consuming, sometimes difficult, what’s being learned so we better and frustrating it is. Almost every night I understand,” said Kennedy Koford.

Black’s mother Kim Iorns said, “If a student doesn’t learn from the homework, it is a waste of time.

It needs to be designed to help them think through complexities and develop their own thoughts.

Homework should enhance learning and practice on topics that you For Junior Kennedy Koford, Algebra II is part already know. It seems of her homework load every night. Photos by like some teachers give Michelle Stout homework if they run have homework in all my classes, which out of time in class.” means I have to get everything done and Eric Koford said he wonders if stay on top of things.” homework is being approached correctly anymore.

Increased Competition “Homework is to teach effort and test The amount of academic the student’s ability to learn outside of the competitiveness is one aspect that many classroom setting...Many of the things believe leads to the seemingly more that were taught when I was in school are homework. the same, but the amount of homework to

achieve the same teaching is more copious today,” said Eric Koford. “I don’t know that the homework is harder, but there is a lot more. Many parents seem to think that lots of homework means that my child is receiving an excellent education. I don’t know if educators fall into this trap too, but the pendulum seems to have swung to the side of more homework is better.”

For the most part, Eric Koford said he understands his daughter’s frustration with the hours upon hours of homework she oftentimes has.

“If five of your seven classes a day are giving one hours worth of homework a day, that is too much. I think that it leads to burnout. For high school students to be putting in those types of hours on top of the time in class is too much. I think students today expect and are used to a lot of homework.”

Technology’s Effects on Homework “Technology has changed and we know more things than back when my parents were younger,” said Black.

Adults tend to blame popular technology for the students “inability” to complete assignments. Students joke around, their statuses claiming it’s all Facebooks’ fault for distracting them.

With technology such a large part of students’ lives, could it be contributing to the new attitude towards homework?

Black said entertainment such as Xbox, Twitter, and texting are oftentimes what receives the most attention, rather than the work still filed away in backpacks.

Students tend to stay up past midnight to complete work, but when it really comes down to it, how much of the evening is devoted entirely to homework without distractions?

Kennedy Koford said, “We always have that option to text or get on Facebook.”

How much is too much?

If one were to go back a couple decades or so, differences were apparent.

“I think that teachers should hold students accountable for their homework, but there does not need to be as much.

We didn’t have as much and most of my teachers were products of the 60’s/70’s, so they had a very New Age approach to the educational system, ” said Eric Koford.

“We didn’t have as much homework when I was in high school. A lot of my friends blew their homework off, crammed for the big exams, and still did well in their classes. My parents had no clue what my homework was and only knew how I was doing when they saw my report card. The general attitude is that it is a necessary evil. It is a means to an end. It wasn’t until college that I really started to love what I was studying and homework wasn’t a chore.”

With Winter Break approaching, students hope for a true break from all chores, especially homework. Iorns said she would like her children, and others, to have a vacation without homework.

“I think teachers give us a lot of homework over breaks and it’s ridiculous.

We have family time and other things,” said Kennedy Koford. Her father agreed, saying Christmas and Spring Break are tough because of family travel, but Titans don’t make many plans for Thanksgiving in hope of continuing football.

While the amount of homework has seemed to increase over the years, high school students will have to in some way come to terms with it.

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December 16, 2011

an T t i T

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Find out more information at lswestonline.com and watch Titan T.V. during study advisory and lunch Tuesday.

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Sophomore Maddie Myer- “We saw a lot of mangled trees and a lot of untouched houses- houses that were still destroyed.”

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Sophomore Jade Thomas- “Some of the people said they weren’t really affected because nothing happened to them but then some other people said that it’s brought everyone closer and taught them not to take anything for granted.”

Broadcast teacher Karrie Smythia- “I think the city is kind of ready to move on and rebuild.”

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Photos courtesy Jeremy Flowers

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 7

Staff Editorial:

Majority rules: candlelighting abolished

Well, we got what we wanted, Candlelighting is cancelled for good.

We’ve griped for years about how Candlelighting was a waste of time and money. And considering the attendance, or lack there of, the ceremony was meaningless to students.

So why such a big deal? Well it’s been a respected tradition at Lee’s Summit High School for over 50 years. Some of our grandparents can even reminisce about going to Candlelighting when they attended Lee’s Summit High School. But Candlelighting has evolved over the years.

It originally focused on the Christian holiday celebration, but as shown through court cases, schools cannot hold an event at school for only one religion. So about 25 years ago the Lee’s Summit tradition became more of a cultural awareness ceremony instead.

The 56-year-old tradition never really transferred from Lee’s Summit to its sister high schools with the same meaning as it held at its original home. It was like trying to have the 4th of July in Italy—as much as

you may try to continue a tradition in a foreign environment, nine times out of ten it’s not going to be the same.

The unfortunate part is that most West students never gave Candlelighting a chance. Many never attended even once or for those who did, it was because their parents made them go. For a lot of those who did go, they went in with a negative attitude t e l l i n g themselves it would be a miserable experience.

If this is the mindset going in and the entire time is spent sitting through the ceremony thinking, “This is so boring; why am

I here. I had to dress up, my feet hurt.

This is so stupid...hot wax is about to drip onto my hand and it’s really going to burn...These speakers are so boring and I don’t care about what they’re saying...oh everyone is giggling because the speaker couldn’t get her candle to light right away oh my gosh how embarrassing...

Ugh is this over yet? I just want to go home.”

O k a y obviously no one is going to have a good experience with this mindset. But if we stopped c omp l a i n i n g for just two seconds and actually looked around and took in the atmosphere of what this ceremony meant, maybe we

could have appreciated it at least enough to respect the concept.

Listen to any teacher who previously taught at Lee’s Summit and they will say Candlelighting at West never reached the level at Lee’s Summit. It’s a completely different atmosphere. It’s actually respected there.

That was just never the case here at West. So really, the administrative decision was right. There is no reason to continue having Candlelighting here because it’s not the same thing as it is at Lee’s Summit. This by no means makes West bad or disrespectful, just different.

Traditions at West, like Senior Send Off or singing “Sweet Caroline” at the football games, those traditions are very much respected and West is proud to call those its own traditions.

Candlelighting should continue to be Lee’s Summit High School’s thing and West will continue to carve out its own unique niche.

Katey’s Conundrums:

How Pancakes taught me how to write

Commentary by Katey Stoetzel Ideas range from small to large, complex to simple. But no matter the nature of the idea, it is still important. When it comes to writing, the simplest idea can grow in a writer’s mind to a point where

that’s all they think about. When this happens, it’s time to grab a computer and/or a piece of paper, which ever the writer prefers, and begin to write this idea down. No matter what people say about the idea, it is vital that it gets written down, because one can ever know what might come from the idea.

This has happened to me on a number of occasions. The first time was in my eighth grade creative writing class. Out of all the possible, or rather, impossible ideas to choose from, I chose ‘How Pancakes Took Over the World on May 5th, 2012.’ At the time, I believed this to be a most brilliant idea, complete with the potential to be both a children’s book and a young adult novel, granted I was open to the idea of portraying the pancakes as a murderous breakfast meal. In the end, I went somewhere in between children and young adult. After the disastrous one page draft, I kept writing. Different ideas presented themselves to me and I went along with it. First, it was about

a dad who could predict the future and saw the pancakes coming to take over the world, and thus created an alternate universe to hide him and his family. Then, the story turned into an actual children’s picture book about a mad scientist who worked in the kitchens of IHOP and created living and breathing pancakes who destroyed the town, but in the end, helped put the town back together. I was obsessed with this pancake apocalypse idea, and if you asked any of my friends about it, they would agree; I was out of control.

Freshman year began and with it, the final story. An orphan named Max whose dreams foresaw the future. But that wasn’t the only special quality about Max: he’s from another world, an alternate universe as some would say, and it’s that world that the Pancakes were overthrowing. For two years, I ran with this story; writing, editing and rewriting.

Then, five chapters later, I was done. It was the middle of sophomore year and

8 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

I truly started to realize just how stupid the whole story was. But just because I stopped writing that particular story, doesn’t mean I gave up on other stories.

If anything, the pancake story influenced me to continue writing and ultimately, made me realize that I wanted to write for a living. Because despite all of the looks I got from people when I made them read what I had, despite the demeaning comments I received and all the laughs I got, I enjoyed writing it. I pursued the idea as far as I could take it, and in doing so, I learned a lot about myself as a writer and as a person.

Through this pancake story I have learned to ignore what others say about my ideas and the way I write. I like to go out on precarious limbs, because if I don’t, I’ll never know how good I can be.

I believe it’s important for a writer to not doubt themselves, but instead to continue on in the only way we know how: in the written word.

December 16, 2011

Well if you ask me...

Hunting isn’t that bad

Commentary by Sophomore Ann Bales Everywhere you see people throwing paint on people who wear fur coats that they probably spent more than the worth of most of our cars siting in our school's parking lot.

Also, I see people getting upset because an "innocent" animal got shot and eaten for dinner. Well, sorry to offend the Titans who love PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), but news flash: furry animals KILL. They are a cause of accidents, hospital visits and deaths.

Does anybody remember about a woman almost dying because of her pet chimp attacking her? She had to have PLASTIC SURGERY, which probably cost a butt load of money. She spent months in a hospital, also a lot of money.

I can tell you one solution that will cure these deaths (again, PETA people, my apologies)-HUNTING. I was raised in a home of my dad hunting and coming home with deer and turkeys and then later that week having them for dinner.

I honestly think that is the solution.

If we hunted animals for food, fur and other goods, we would have fewer accidents.

Also, it can help our failing economy.

More goods shipped outside the U.S., that means we can have more money in our country, making the stocks go up and making people feel assured to buy in the stock market and our economy will get better with time.

But the only obstacle from making this social right for all is PETA. They make people look like the "bad guy" when we hunt animals because it's "unethical" to hunt animals that can kill if struck by a motor vehicle.

But that's not necessarily true; hunters are mostly humane to the animals they kill. They aim for vital areas so they are in less pain rather than if they just aimed for a leg.

So what I’m not saying is that ani-

mal activists to keep their mouths shut about whaling and killing endangered animals. Those animals MUST BE protected against the dimwits who only kill endangered animals for only a specific part and put the rest to spoil. They are the ones who are doing wrong.

But they need to look more towards that compared to good doers who hunt to protect everybody else from dying in an animal related accident. They shouldn’t be angry with the hunters, they’re doing this as humanly as possible (MOST are), and so they’re not doing anything wrong, so they need to be less forceful on the hunters and more onto the whalers and endangered animal killers.

So in conclusion, PETA people, let the hunters be. They're only trying to make our world safer and our economy a little bit better.

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• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 9

Titans rhyme their way into life long hobby Anna Poudel Their band evolved from “jam sessions” that started over winter break last year. They started talking of forming a band after discovering a shared ability to appreciate the mechanics of a song, said Senior Connor Hampton of the band he and Senior Spencer Chaney started.

“To be quite honest, they’re like bread and butter, you can’t get between those people. They’re like the same person... yeah, bread and butter, peanut butter and waffles, something along those lines,” said Senior Andrew Walker.

“I feel like most people just hear music, and some people are given a gift to analyze it and hear it and play it and I’m really blessed to be one of those people,” said Chaney.

This ability might come from the fact that music has always been a big part of their lives, or vice versa.

“Even when I was a kid, when I was into a song I would have my own jam session in my head, it was crazy…I have a constant beat going in my head,” said Hampton.

Music provides the perfect outlet, Chaney’s family’s cover band Panic Rep. song going,” said Walker.

Chaney and Hampton agreed. They said Just by themselves, Hampton and Because Chaney and Hampton want they like to express themselves in a way Chaney put on spontaneous to be able to perform their own that clicks with them as well as other freestyle performances, music for audiences, they plan to people. sometimes at parties or give new songs a more rock sound.

“I feel like everywhenever the mood This is unlike “A Day in the Life”, body has their strikes. which has strong rap influence. own type of “We’ll just be driv “It’s like, when I play and I music and ing and Teddy’ll play something well and I get just being [Hampton] start into it, it’s the ultimate rush of able to sing beating on his lap playing a song and what’s in and Spencer your head will start rapand appeal ping and to other they’ll people, it’s already just crazy have a having people that that cheering, it’s kind of a cool can hapthing,” said Hampton. pen,” said “The more I play and make Chaney. music, the more I love it, and I Hamphope I can do it for the rest of ton and my life,” said Chaney.

Chaney Seniors Connor Hampton (left) and Spencer Chaney (right) rap with freestyle beats and also perform words as the mood strikes. They can be found rapping in their cars, at parties, or with their together in band. Photo by Joey Franke

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December 16, 2011

Winter concerts take different light Band:

The band winter concert played out on Monday. Band instructor Clif Thurmond stated that “to prepare for our concerts we rehearse everyday in class like they are music majors in college and not in high school. They are expected to come to class knowing their music so that we can enjoy the process of putting it together.”

“The preparation for concerts is the thrilling part about band and the concerts are simply a showcase and celebration for all our hard work together,” said Thurmond.

The Symphonic Band will also be having a concert on Sunday January 22nd. Thurmond stated that the concert will be their preparation for their performance at the state music teachers convention on January 27th.

Choir: The choir’s Winter Corral Concert took place on Tuesday.

Choir Instructor Amy Krinke said that they had been preparing for the event since midOctober, and that they had chosen music that would stretch both the students and the audience, showing just how well the Choir could perform.

Orchestra:

The orchestra held their annual winter concert Monday. Senior Jamie Ward stated that they played four different Christmas songs and they ended up playing really well.

In order to prepare for their concerts Ward said that, “we have rehearsal everyday and this year for orchestra we would have a quartet play our music while we listened and then we’d play it back.

Although concerts are a huge aspect for any musical performance, Senior Hannah Schwagerman claimed that this year it was all in fun. “Since we lost a lot of seniors last year we suffered a pretty hard blow; but we still did pretty good. Really we’re just playing for fun this year because we’re only planning on doing one competition,” she said.

December 16, 2011

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Sunday

December 2011- January 2012 Tuesday

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Friday

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

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Christmas!!

1 New Years Day

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Piranha 3D Movie Release

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Hanukkuah Begins 27

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Wrestling vs.. Ray Pec

Bake Cookies Day Kwanza Begins!

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21 22 Start of Winter First Day Break of Winter1 (end of first semester)

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Saturday

Hanukkuah Ends!

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Girls Basketball vs.. St. Joe Central Home Boys Basketball vs.. St. Joe Central Home

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50 cent’s “The Return of the Heartless Monster”

4 Winter Break ends

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Christmas Eve New Years Eve!!

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Boys Basketball vs..

Truman home

(second semester begins)

Girls Basketball vs.

Park Hill Home

12 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

13 Man on a Ledge Movie Release

14

Dress Up Your Pet Day

November 16, 2011

Can you name the Santas?

Look for answers on page18

1.

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y a d i l o H e Th l a i c e p S

2.

4.

The Titan Scroll presents eight pages of holiday bliss 7.

5.

December 16, 2011

6.

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 13

SPOILER ALERT!

How did you discover the truth about Santa Clause?

“It was like 2 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep, so I went downstairs and my mom was building a train set so I just kind of shrugged it off. I didn’t really care at that point.”

-Senior Dill Reader

“We were sitting in Nina’s basement and first I told her the Easter bunny wasn’t real and then I told her Santa wasn’t real and she got really mad and teared up and then she told me to go home.”

-Junior Madi Mosier

“I wa s on th nine and m e more couch an y dad sat d told us do of an -Seni wn i u d s e a S a or Co a nner nd I cried nta was Brun .” s

“Then I told my mom and she sat me down and explained that he really wasn’t real.”

-Junior Nina Privatera

“In church, we learned that to be a Saint you had to have died.

So I knew that ‘Saint Nicholas’ wasn’t real because he would have to be dead.”

-Senior Nick Thorsen “I was in Target and I asked my mom if Santa was real or not. She asked me why I wanted to know and I told her I was just wondering, and she said ‘There are some things in life you just need to know, and Santa isn’t real.”

-Senior Ashley Donnelly.

14 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

December 16, 2011

“The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud For All to Hear.”

-Elf

“Also Michael Buble has a great album. Classic songs. Justin Bieber only has one good song and that’s ‘Mistletoe.”

-Freshman Nathan May

, soft y r e ’s v called t I . g k trac ne son d n u o s So ’s this s e r Exp . There per.” r a l c p “I like the Lady Gaga Christmas e Po g musi ear dri h T t “ n y album. Also, my favorite Christmas Ma eali ’s a app eve,’ it athan song is ‘Happy Christmas War is Over’ N i ‘Bel hman

by John Lenin. I’m a big John Lenin fan. s e r F Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Wintersong’ is also

“I love Jus tin Bieber .H deeper an d more de is voice is v eloped in so it soun this album ds really g ood.”

-Sophomo re Taylor Lacy

“The Michael Buble Christmas album is amazing. His voice makes me feel all warm inside.”

-Senior Nicole Lounsberry

good. She has covers classy Christmas songs and also writes her own.”

-Sophomore Tony Van Pelt

Ingredients: 1 package of oreos 1 8 oz package of cream cheese 1 package of almond bark

December 16, 2011

RE

BALLS

Directions: 1. Twist oreos and take apart 2. Scrape cream from cookies into bowl 3. Add cream cheese to bowl and cream together 4. Put remainder of cookies in ziplock and seal and crush well 5. Add crushed cookies to the creamed mixture and stir 6. Roll into one inch ball and chill 7. Melt almond bark 8. Dip cookie balls into almond bark and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet 9. Let stand or chill until almond bark hardens 10. Serve and enjoy!

Makes about 3-4 dozen balls

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 15

Katey Stoetzel Haley Roach

What to do when you find an elf in a tree house

Everyday as Charlie walked home from school, he passed an abandoned tree house off the side of the road. Charlie liked to take the long way home because there was always that sense of possible adventure and even though nothing of interest ever occurred, he still trekked through the grass and the trees in hopes of being flung into the type of adventure he’s only read about in books.

But on this particular day, a few days before Christmas, he could tell something was different. In the window, something, He didn’t have to time to distinguish more than that, for he took off running toward his home in the hopes of escaping certain death.

He sprinted up to his room and collapsed onto his bed, panting. You idiot, he thought. That was your chance! A chance for adventure and you ran away like a coward.

So, the next day, after deciding to face his fears, he made his way back to the tree house. Still wary, he approached the tree house with caution. He was about five feet away from the tree when he heard a racket coming from the house. Charlie braced himself for what was to come, but all he heard was the shaky voice of--a girl? “Get out of here or I’ll eat all your gummy bears!!” He peeked through his fingers and what he saw almost threw him into a fit of laughter, for he was sure standing right in front of him, brandishing a stick, was an elf.

“Umm, I don’t have any gummy bears,” he replied nervously. “But I can go get some?”

“I don’t want any of your candy, just get away from here! You walk by here every day and it’s creepy!” the elf squeaked. Charlie did not understand how she, or it...the elf, or whatever this thing was, could call him creepy, while she stood there in her bright pink

*The following is a fictional narrative for your holiday pleasure

yelped and threw the stick to the ground, stomping on it with all her might.

“I’m sorry, but to be honest, I didn’t think you existed,” Charlie confessed. “My older brother told me only kids believe in Santa.”

“Are you kidding me!? Who the heck do you think makes all your presents? And wraps them? And feed the reindeer?” the elf girl shouted, waving her arms around like some complete wack job. “You know what? I don’t care what you think! I want you to leave because I have to figure out how to get back to the North Pole and I’m running out of time!”

Charlie wasn’t sure what to think. This girl sounded as crazy as his Great Grandma Loretta and something told him he should turn around and run back home.

But on the other hand, a part of him felt it was his civil duty not to abandon this girl in the woods in the dead of winter. North Pole or not, the elf girl was far from home.

Charlie had been lost in thought when he looked up and saw the small elven girl throwing a few belongings into a bag.

“I want to help you,” he stated.

The girl looked up from shoving what looked to be about a hundred suckers into her backpack, and gave Charlie a most bewildered look. “Well as cute as that is, I don’t need your help or anyone else’s,” she said, swinging her pack over her shoulder. “Now, I need to get going before you waste another second of my life.” Charlie raced to keep up with her as she marched her tiny legs in the opposite direction.

“I want to come with you! Please, let me come,” begged Charlie, not entirely sure why he felt such an urgency to go.

The girl turned around, and shot him dagger eyes, “Okay kid, listen up. I’m not really a threatening elf, but if you don’t stop pestering me I will have you put on the naughty list faster than you can say caramel covered candy cane.”

“I want to have an adventure! That’s why I came here today.

Then I found you, an escaped elf trying to get back to the North Pole. You seem very lost, and I happen to have a great sense of direction. Also, a compass. I won’t talk. I eat mostly regular food, so all that candy is safe, and I promise to laugh at all your jokes. If you let me come, you won’t regret it,” said Charlie, puppy dog eyes and all.

“You seem persistent, and I really want you to shut up. My name’s Piper. Please don’t make me regret this.” And with that, she turned and disappeared into the trees.

Charlie raced to keep up with Piper, overjoyed with the fact that he had officially started his first real-life journey.

They walked for what seemed liked hours, through brushes and trees until they came upon a small cherry red sleigh. On sight of the sleigh, Charlie recognized Piper’s problem. With previous knowledge of Santa-related theories, Charlie knew in order for Piper is a 12 year old elf who lives in the North Pole. Due to her sassy attitude a sleigh to work, it needs reindeer and this sleigh was clearly and her belief that no one at home wants to listen to her, she ran away. lacking in the flying deer department.

“So, Mr. Adventure can you tell me where two small reindeer might be?” Piper asked. She sat down on the snow tutu, gray polka dot tights and evergreen vest, her curly brown hair twisting around covered ground and pulled out a bubblegum flavored candy cane. “Santa’s gonna kill her pointy ears. me,” she sighed. Charlie was surprised to see Piper’s sassy attitude quickly change into “I don’t mean to be blunt here, but are you an elf?” Charlie asked. one of sadness.

“I don’t mean to be blunt here, but are you an idiot? Of course I’m an elf!” she “Well, we can’t accomplish anything by sitting on the ground and we definitely don’t exclaimed, attempting to swing her stick at Charlie, but clipping her leg instead. She want the jolliest man on earth to turn into an elf murderer, do we?” Charlie extended

16 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

his hand to her, which Piper ignored. knew it, he was submerged in a chilly, EggNogg River.

“The last time I saw Dazzler and Roger was two days ago. Stupid deer. They’re afraid As his head broke the surface, he could see out of the corner of his eye the cherry of everything. By the looks of it, they gnawed the ropes and probably went back home, red sleigh floating just to the left of him. He grabbed it just before the strong current because Santa forbid! no one can function outside the North Pole!” she explained, still swept it out of his reach. His heart sunk as he realized Rudy and Piper were no where staring at the sleigh. Then, she slightly turned her head towards Charlie and smiled, in sight.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 and Charlie decided if he ever saw that smile again, he should run.

Piper jumped to her feet and exclaimed “I have an idea!” and pulled out a small vile filled with what looked like pink, sparkly sugar. “I’ll pour this flying dust on you, strap you to the the harness, and have you fly me back to the North Pole!” she said, the words streaming from her mouth at one hundred miles per hour.

Charlie slowly backed away from Piper’s wild expression. “Umm, I don’t really feel like becoming a reindeer for a day,” he said slowly, and before Piper could tackle him and pummel him to death with her candy cane, and Charlie was sure she would do it, he added “But I do have a better idea.”

He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back through the brushes and the trees, past the abandoned tree house, and right to his front porch. To Charlie’s relief, his parent’s cars were no where to be seen so he didn’t have to explain why he had a lost elf girl with him.

Inside the house, he whistled for Rudy. Rudy, a three year old Golden retriever, came bounding around the corner, sliding across the wooden floor.

“Meet your new reindeer, Piper.”

Flying was a sensation Charlie would never forget. He didn’t even mind the ice cold wind slashing his face, or that his parents were probably going to call the police when he didn’t come home, or even that he had no wiggle room because him and Piper, who’s attitude had returned as fast as it had disappeared, were both squished into the one seater sleigh.

“Are you going to be in trouble, Piper?” Charlie questioned.

“I don’t know.” Piper replied, clearly still annoyed with his presence.

“Do you have dogs in the north pole?” he tried again.

Piper rolled her eyes, “What happened to the whole not talking part of this deal?”

“You know, I always imagined elves to be nice, but if you were a kid you would definitely not be on the nice list. You know that Piper?” said Charlie, knowing he didn’t really mean it. He realize he had even come to consider this strange, bratty, elf girl a friend.

He was lost in thought, and realizing Piper hadn’t replied, he glanced over and saw her quickly wipe a tear off her cheek.

“I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry. I just got annoyed for a second, I don’t really think you would be on the naughty--” Charlie said, trying to apologize.

“Charlie,” Piper said, “I know I’m a bad elf. They don’t want me there. And no one wants me here either. You don’t have to try and lie to me.”

But before Charlie could reply, he felt the sleigh jerk and begin to fall out of the sky. Amidst the screams coming from Piper and the harsh sound of the North wind echoing all around them, Charlie became acutely aware of the fact Piper ponders what to do about her missing reindeer. Roger and that there was a river below them, and it was this river they were headed straight Dazzler, whom she named, went missing two days ago. for. Charlie didn’t even have a chance to scream his lungs out because before he

“I will have you put on the naughty list faster than you can say caramel covered candy cane!”-Piper

Titan Scroll

December 16, 2011

An elf, a sleigh, and magic dust is all 12 year old Charlie needs for the adventure of a life time.

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 17

“What to do when you Find an Elf in a Tree House” The thickness of the river made it impossible for Charlie to swim his way to the shore, but he finally spotted Piper. Behind her, Charlie saw Rudy doggy paddling, struggling to keep up. As Piper frantically pointed to what seemed to be a waterfall Charlie realized they needed to act fast.

Charlie was finally able to reach the edge of the river bank and he used one hand to grab onto a rock, but unfortunately was forced to let go of the sleigh, watching it topple over the cliff.

By this point, Piper and Rudy were almost in reaching distance.

He would never have time to save them both, but he had to try.

Gripping the rock as tightly as his cold fingers could manage, he reached out.

Warmth flooded his entire body as he felt Piper’s hand wrap around his.

Charlie lifted Piper out and then looked back out across the river, and saw nothing. He knew it was useless but he shouted Rudy’s name through his tears.

He was just about to let go of the rock, and continue searching when strong hands pulled him out of the river.

It was then he noticed the crowd that had gathered along the side of the river.

There had to be at least 20 elves all dressed in green and red with panic stricken faces.

Charlie was laid down on the cold ground, and looked up to see a jolly man, with a beard as white as snow, and a red suit looking back at him.

“Well, I guess this is one way to get to the North Pole,” Santa laughed.

The next few moments were a blur, but with the help of the elves he somehow ended up in comfy chair, with a cup of hot cocoa in his hands.

Surrounding him were elves of different ages, staring in awe, like they had never seen a human before.

Which he decided may be likely.

“Charlie,” said an older elf woman, who looked like she had been crying for days, “My name is Maggie and I just wanted to tell you thank you. You saved my daughters life, and we will never forget you. You are welcome here anytime.”

His heart dropped. He was honored to be welcome to the North Pole at any time, he just wasn’t quite sure he wanted to leave after just a few hours.

“Charlie,” said Santa, “I am sorry to overwhelm you, but there is a blizzard coming in and it would be best to get you back home before conditions worsen.”

Charlie was aware that the real, live Santa Clause was speaking to him but he couldn’t find it in him to focus. The only thing on Charlie’s mind was Piper.

He didn’t want to think about going back to his normal life, without Piper, after all they had been through.

“Can I see her? Can I see Piper?” was all Charlie could say.

“She’s resting, honey. I understand your concern but you and Santa really need to get going if you want to beat the storm,” said Piper’s mother. Finally Charlie found his voice.

“I’m sorry, miss, but I can not leave the North Pole without seeing Piper,” stated Charlie, getting up from his seat.

Santa and Maggie exchanged glances. Charlie waited for them to answer his request.

“Well, there is another option,” Santa began to explain.

He looked over at Maggie again, who nodded. “We

cont. from page 17

can offer you a place to stay. Our human size quarters are available.

And you could stay as long as you want.”

Charlie smiled. “I would love to stay awhile.”

At that moment, the door to the room burst open and Piper came running in. As was usual, she was eating a candy cane.

“Charlie, you’re staying?” she asked, a grin spreading across her face.

Charlie nodded.

“Piper, what did I tell you about eavesdropping on other people’s conversations? And you’re supposed to be in bed resting!” Maggie exclaimed.

But sleeping was the least of Piper’s concerns.

She ran towards Charlie and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I thought you were gonna die,” he whispered.

“Thank you Charlie,” was all she replied, “you are the best friend an elf could ask for.”

Charlie spent the rest of the day following Piper around as she finished up some of her elfly duties she had missed out on the past week.

Soon, night came and Charlie found himself standing next to Piper as they watched Santa take off into the night sky.

Among the squeaky cheers from the other elves, Charlie made out Santa’s deep voice ring out “Merry Christmas to all!” which generated even more cheers. He glanced at Piper and planted a kiss on her cheek. She turned and looked at him for a moment, but then giggled and gave him a hug. Charlie had never felt happier in his entire life.

As the crowd began to disperse, Charlie and Piper walked hand in hand back to the Dining Hall to begin what Piper had told him was the oldest Christmas tradition around: the Christmas Day Feast. Charlie imagined the warm taste of turkey and rolls and mashed potatoes because through all of the excitement from today, he just realized he hasn’t had a proper meal since the day before. But just when they were about to go inside, Charlie heard a familiar bark come from behind him, and Rudy came bounding toward him, almost knocking him over.

“Rudy! You’re alive!” Charlie exclaimed. He noticed a tag on Rudy’s collar that read: “Merry Christmas, Charlie. Love, SC.” He laughed, and together, Charlie, Piper and Rudy made their way into the hall.

Charlie laughed when he saw the tables Can you name the Santa? in the Dining Hall filled with every kind 1. Senior Matt Graham of candy he could imagine. But he joined 2. Sophomore Haley Zimmer in the feast anyway and decided there was 3. Sophomore Katie Carpenter no better way to spend Christmas.

4. Senior Shannon VanRoss

The End

18 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

5. Junior Alex Westhues 6. Senior Matt Hall 7. Junior Brianna Jones

December 16, 2011

We

Briseno Embraces Christmas Spirit Through Festive Sweaters

Tuesday

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For the past two winters, Junior Timmy Briseno has whipped out his holiday sweaters. Briseno has dedicated December to being “sweater month.”

He has one for every day of the week. “I like wearing sweaters becasue they are different than the usual hoodie and they are quite festive,” said Briseno.

Thursday

December 16, 2011

FRIDAY • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 19

Holiday mad libs: _________ (adj.)

Some spend their ________________ (adj.) winter nights just wishing _________________________ (student of opposite sex) would call them up and ask them to do something because with so much free time you are pretty dang ______________(adj.) Instead of being bored this winter break, get ________________(adj.). The first suggestion is go ____________________(word ending in ing). Find some friends, an old sled, and hit the hills. If you are not a fan of the ______________(weather) there are a few other things you could do. To keep ________________(adj.) find a ________________(noun) and cuddle up in it. Then plop in your favorite _______________(noun) and enjoy a movie night at home. To improve this even more, add in a _____________(adj.), warm cup of _______________ (liquid) and sip the night away. If you are feeling festive you could always pop a bag of __________(food), put it on a string, and decorate your Christmas ______________(plant.) For those people who do have money, there are plenty of ways to spend it. Just strap on your _________________(article of clothing) and go ice skating!

If you are _________________(adj.) with all the Holiday shopping, there are also a few ways to keep that task fresh. The first is too take your ______________(animal) into every store you go. Just make sure your ___________ (noun) does not ___________ (verb) on anything in the store. Try ________ (verb) Christmas Carols at the top of your lung the whole time you are in the store. Get the other _____________ (noun) to join in with you, Need help shopping for your family? Let me _____________(verb) you. If you have a ___________(adj.), little sister, you cannot go wrong with the __________________(celebrity) CD. If you a have brother, just throw some _____________(type of candy) at him and I am sure he’ll be fine. For an older sibling, just buy them a __________________(noun) and call it a day. Parents are pretty easy. I am sure your mom would love a new _______________ (appliance) and your dad would enjoy a ______________(noun). Also, listen up ______________(noun) and girls, make sure that you are being ________________(adj.) because you wouldn’t want to end up on the _____________(noun) or find ___________________(noun) in your stocking on Christmas morning.

20 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

December 16, 2011

Home

@ Connect

itters beg w t e k in Fa

# Discover

as jo

s e t ke, escala

b u r e l l y b y i ng c o t

Claudia Guthrie & Anna Poudel Cyber bullying proves itself problematic for West students, as the four to five cases of it handled weekly by the Counseling Office shows.

“I think it’s bigger than what we even know here because although some cases are reported, many are not,” said Counselor Joni O’Neill.

Cyber bullying has found a new outlet in Twitter in the form of parody accounts, or fake Twitters.

Many fake Twitters are just for fun, but some can go too far. Freshman Megan Creek has been the victim of two fake Twitters. Creek’s friends made the first account.

“I was like, ‘Haha, this should be funny.’ So I started reading their tweets and at first they were funny, like at first it was one of those funny fake Twitters that people have and it was just stupid stuff. And then, after about six or seven tweets, I noticed that it kind of changed and they started to become mean. Like, they started becoming like cyber bullying stuff,” said Creek.

Creek was able to deactivate the Twitter. But the following day, she

December 16, 2011

discovered another had taken its place.

“The second one was a lot worse than the first one,” said Creek. “There was only three tweets on the second one but just the things that they said, it wasn’t even funny anymore, it was total cyber bullying.”

The second account was deactivated a couple days later. Creek still doesn’t know who set it up.

“I could understand if it just stopped with the first one. Like, ‘Oh that was funny’ and then it kind of became mean, but now it’s done with. I don’t understand why they had to take it to the next level just to get under my skin,” said Creek.

Senior Matt Graham was also impersonated on Twitter. He said the things said about other people bothered him more than what was said about him on the account.

“If you make fun of me it’s fine, but just don’t bring other people into it,” said Graham.

However, not all fake Twitters are malicious.

“I can see why people get offended by them, but if someone’s just doing it

as a joke or to be funny and the person that it’s about doesn’t mind it, then I don’t see anything being wrong. But I can understand why people would get offended,” said Senior Luke Knott.

A fake Twitter was created about Knott as well.

“It pretty much just talked about me playing football and the clothes I wear to school, all that good stuff,” said Knott.

“There was nothing really offensive on the Twitter, though.”

Junior Michael Holt thoroughly enjoys being the subject of a fake Twitter.

“A couple words to describe it- One, fascinating. Two, I’m enamored by it almost. I don’t feel offended by it at all really, because it’s just me. It’s my true self coming out, except through other people,” said Holt.

But in some cases fake Twitters that start out as fun can escalate and the fun can fade, as was the case for Senior A.C. Long.

“I initially thought it was funny, I got a good laugh out of it, but it just started to annoy me to the point where I ultimately blocked the account,” said Long.

O’Neill has advice for students regarding cyber bullying.

“Students need to get stronger about, if someone is being mean online, to not have contact with them,” said O’Neill.

“Students are more courageous and say things online that they would never say to someone’s face. And it’s also more devastating to the student being bullied because of the number of people it can be passed on to and rumors can be spread so much faster than they were years ago because of the internet.”

“At first I was hurt, just kind of like why would people say that about me and stuff like that. But then I just kind of got over it because I mean I know those things aren’t true and I like who I am and if other people don’t like who I am then, there’s nothing I can do about that,” said Creek. “To anyone who ever gets cyber bullied or anything, don’t take it personally. Just be strong and get over it as quickly as you can because that’s the only way you’ll move on.”

Information contributed by Nikki Andriano

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 21

Reality clashes with fantasy in two new popular games Claudia Guthrie “It’s a brand new game, just came out.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” and It’s just something refreshing to play oth“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, two highly er than the old ‘Call of Duty’ games,” said popular video games, hit Reker. store shelves in November.

“Modern Warfare 3” is the eighth installment in the “Call of Duty” video game series. “MW3” is a first-person shooter game set in World War III. The game was released midnight Nov. 8.

Junior Bradley Reker went to the midnight release of “MW3”.

“We were the first ones in line. It was actually really fun. It started raining. It was raining like the whole night. We had our ponchos and umbrellas and stuff,” said Reker. “We waited in line, I think it was like four hours or something. We were pretty much the first ones in and we got the game and we were out in like 15 minutes.”

There were a record number of pre-orders Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was for “MW3” and the largreleased to the public Nov. 11 at the est day-one shipments in history, with 6.5 mil- same time as The Elder Scrolls V: lion copies sold the day Skyrim it came out.

“What’s unique about the series is it’s “MW3” allows players from all over a first-person shooter that’s been able the world to interact with each other or to carry on basically for years, changing with those at home. every time that it comes out,” said Junior “It’s a big social thing to play ‘Modern Nathan Hall.

Warfare 3’,” said Casey. “So if you play it “MW3” introduces new features to the you get to hang out with a lot of other “Call of Duty” games. This includes dif- people. It helped me bond with my dad, ferent Kill streaks, weapons, ways to die, that’s why I like it.” and maps.

Reker said the game has helped him “There’s nothing really unique about become friends with another student. it. It’s an expansion, it’s following the sto- “We’ve actually become pretty good ryline but it’s just the same thing over and friends. I’ve hung out with him a few over again, to me at least,” said Junior Jes- times after school. We play Xbox togethsica Casey. “The title is ‘Modern Warfare er all the time,” said Reker.

3’ so I feel like it should have expanded Just days after “MW3”’s release, more.”

“Skyrim” was launched Nov. 11.

“Skyrim” an open world fantasy game, the fifth in “The Elder Scrolls” series.

“Skyrim” has received exceptionally positive reviews, including a 9.5 out of 10 from IGN. “It’s an RPG so you can pretty much play as whatever you want and it has over 300 hours of gameplay,” said Junior Keaton Thomson.

“I like the graphics and I like how they added dragons. It’s fun, it’s different,” said Casey.

“It’s in ‘The Elder Scrolls’ series, so that’s pretty unique. They’ve already won game of the year twice with those, so that’s pretty good,” said Thomson.

Unlike “MW3”, “Skyrim” is not a direct sequel to the previous “Elder Scrolls” game, “Oblivion”. “Skyrim” introduces dragons and allows the player to create their own character. The player can explore the land and ignore the main sto-

ryline for as long as they wish.

“Pretty much it’s just an improvement upon the last one and the others,” said Thomson. “It takes place in the same world, just a different area of it. They added dragons and of course they updated all the graphics and things like that. But it’s pretty much the same kind of theme but with a different story.”

Thomson said he has played “Skyrim” for a total of 80 hours. He has no desire to play “MW3”.

“It’s a ‘Modern Warfare’ game, that’s pretty much the answer right there.

They’re not good. It’s pretty much the same thing over and over,” said Thomson.

Reker and Casey said the two games are too different to be compared.

“First person shooters are completely different than just a story-based game like ‘Skyrim’,” said Reker.

“I don’t like either one of them more or less because they’re so different,” said Casey. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges. It really depends on what you’re in the mood for.”

In Skyrim, players roam the digital world fighting dragons and completing special tasks. Graphic by Tristan Owen

22 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

December 16, 2011

Florence and the Machine review tionlessly in the center of the stage. Behind her was an eight piece band, includ Florence and the Machine played a ing two pianists, two back up vocalists, sold-out show for the opening concert of and a harpist named Tom. The Night the Buzz Stole XXXmas.

The band opened with the song “Only The Night the Buzz Stole XXXmas is If For A Night”, which was directly folan annual concert hosted by radio station lowed by Welch’s soaring vocals in “Seven 96.5 The Buzz. This year was the first time Devils.” the event extended to three consecutive For the first half of the set, Welch renights, other than the previous years, mained rather stationary behind her which had been a single show. microphone. When she did move, she Florence and the Machine, aka Florwas graceful and commanding. With her ence Welch, is a British musician who powerful voice, delicate hand and head movements, and flowing red dress, she gave off an otherworldly goddesslike feel.

Welch came alive with the performance of the well-known song “The Dog Days Are Over.” She erupted into twirls, jumps, and claps. Every song following was conquered with the same enthusiasm, including “Shake It Out”.

Welch’s vocals were every bit as astonishing live as they are on her albums, if not more so. They were only flawed by continuous microphone For the first half of the show, Welch , the lead singer, remained stationary in the problems throughout the performance. center of the stage. Photo by Claudia Guthrie

Claudia Guthrie

has received worldwide acclaim for her two albums, 2009’s Lungs and 2011’s Ceremonials. The band took the stage at The Midland Theatre, the first time performing in Kansas City.

Local band Cowboy Indian Bear opened the show, followed by Two Door Cinema Club. Any mention of Florence by the preceding bands was met with screams and applause by the crowd.

The curtain rose soon after ten o’clock to reveal a barefoot Welch standing mo-

During “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, the mic quit working altogether. After quickly exchanging microphones, Welch bellowed “Rewind!” and proceeded to frantically spin and flail in circles all around the stage.

The curtain rose soon after ten o’clock to reveal a barefoot Welch standing motionlessly in the center of the stage.

After a fair share of twirls, dancing, and jumping off stage to high five the crowd, Welch walked off stage. Moments later she returned with the band for the encore, which consisted of the much more reserved nature she had exhibited earlier in the show. Welch ended the night with the songs “Never Let Me Go” and “No Light, No Light.” After a series of bows, the curtain dropped.

Florence and the Machine played the first of the three nights, while the Naked and Famous, and this energy took the stage. 311 performed the following night.

Night 3 was a free Matt & Kim show, after headliners Flogging Molly had to cancel due to medical reasons.

Visit us online at www.hadc.biz or call 816.554.3033 for more information You can also find us on Facebook!

December 16, 2011

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 23

Hunger Games trailer goes viral Katey Stoetzel

A group of teenagers are gathered in the center of a worn down village. Their attention is focused on a stage, where a woman dressed in bright pinks stands with a bowl that contains slips of paper. As the woman reaches in, there’s a collective hush as the crowd’s attention is focused on the next words that come from the woman’s mouth: Primrose Everdeen.

Thus begins the much anticipated trailer for ‘The Hunger Games,’ which premiered early in November. Since then, the trailer has hit over 4.5 million views on Youtube.

The story, for those who don’t know, follows 16 year old Katniss as she is forced to play apart in the Capitol’s Games: a fight to the death on live TV. These games were set annually as punishment for when the 12 districts started a revolution but lost 75 years ago.

The first time fans got a glimpse of any footage of the movie was during the MTV Awards and was only about 30 seconds long and featured Katniss walking through the woods. The second time around, fans got to see Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the beloved hero of Suzanne Collin’s national best sellers, in a full length trailer lasting two and a half minutes.

“The first trailer was kind of bad because it was short. But then they came out with the full length one and I liked it better because I had always wanted to see it as a full length movie and the trailer portrayed the suspense part of the books,” said Junior Kaitlin Lacy.

Right alongside Lawrence are Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale. In the spring, the cast list was announced, and along with it, some concerns about the choices.

“I was happy with the choices, but I wish Peeta was blonde,” said Lacy.

“I wasn’t sure about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss at first, but the more I watch the trailer, the more I believe she was the right choice,” said Senior Jamie Ward.

“I thought they did a great job with the characters. They were close to what I pictured while reading the books,” Junior Kayla West said.

The trailer only shows clips from the first part of the book, ending right when Katniss and the rest of the tributes are released into the arena.

Ward believes the trailer looked to be a good interpretation of the book, and had the “right amount of intensity.”

Lacy agrees the trailer was able to capture the essence of the book.

“When you read it, you’re like its really sad, but then you see it for real, it seemed a lot more devastating,” said Lacy.

Even though this is only the trailer, and the movie four months away, some fans have already picked out their favorite part.

Lacy said, “I really like the part where Katniss volunteered for Prim to go into the games. I got goosebumps.”

Ward’s favorite part was the end of trailer, where it shows Katniss being lifted up in a glass tube into the arena, with a countdown and various clips of the audience watching.

But no matter how many times this trailer can be watched, the release date of March 23, 2012 will not change and fans will just have to wait for the final production to hit theaters.

In the Games, Katniss’s weapon of choice is a bow and arrows. She grew up in District 12 where she learned to hunt and kill for her food; an ability she finds handy in the arena. Photo by Kathryn Hilger

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December 16, 2011

Locals sing their way into a good night Claudia Guthrie West students performed in their bands at Nite Lite XIII earlier in December.

“It kind of has its own legacy,” said Senior Austin Clowes. “Everyone knows kind of what to expect with Nite Lite, they have pretty high expectations with it and they want it to be a good show.”

Mammoth opened the night with plenty of energy. The band is known for naming their songs after people they know, such as “Bob Smith”, named after Junior Bob Smith, and “Featuring Gagne West”, after Junior Allysson Gagne. These names began after writing their first song, “Nathan Foster.”

“After that, we just kind of got the idea ‘What if we named all our songs after people? I think that’d be really funny.’ So then we wrote ‘Bob Smith’. It was very smooth when we wrote it, we thought it was the coolest thing in the world. We thought he was the coolest person we know. Bob Smith. Plus, really that name is fantastic so you can’t let that one just go,” said Clowes. Clowes is Mammoth’s guitarist.

Along with Clowes, Senior Jon Gibson performs in Mammoth.

Seniors Collin Cornelison and Joel Robinson both play guitar and sing in the band Gentle Mind. They describe their band as being “spacey and emotional, but like joyful emotions.”

“We try to be as out there as possible,” said Cornelison.

The Author and the Illustrator was the third band to take the stage.

“I feel it was one of our best shows,” said Junior Zack Hames. “For us, personally, it was awesome. It was one of the best shows we’ve played in a while.”

Hames plays guitar in The Author and the Illustrator.

The Whurlitzers ended the night. This year was the band’s third time playing at Nite Lite. Their performance was considerably more laidback compared to the others’, and contained a great deal of crowd interaction and joking around.

“We try not to take ourselves too seriously, as you can tell from my T-shirt,” said West graduate Jared Bajkowski, motioning to the size women’s small baby blue Whurlitzers shirt he wore.

December 16, 2011

Jon Gibson performed at Nite Lite with his band, Mammoth.

Photo by Anna Poudel “Having fun sounds so kiddie, but that’s why we’re doing it. We just want everyone to have a good time with us.”

The Whurlitzers are currently finishing their album. It is expected to be released in January or February.

Though two Kansas City- based bands, Honest Cowboy and Burning Symmetry, played at Nite Lite, the night was dominated by Lee’s Summit bands.

“All the bands get together and that doesn’t happen very often,” said Cornelison. “It’s like a family reunion.”

In the past, more well-known bands would perform at Nite Lite. This year consisted mostly of high school bands.

“This year we played with a bunch of bands that we’re friends with,” said Bajkowski. “It’s cool to play with those guys.”

“It’s a really good show to play for all my friends. It’s really close to home, which is awesome. It’s just fun, it’s an easygoing night. I don’t have to try to impress anyone or something. I just have fun,” said Hames.

Some say that the lack of variety and bigger bands has affected attendance.

Metal music used to be a big part of Nite Lite. Up until this year, Nite Lite had been divided into two nights- one night for metal, one for alternative.

“I would say it’s slowly gone on a

decline on how many people come out.

I remember everybody used to talk about how huge of a thing it was,” said Bajkowski. “This is a big show for local bands and it just seems like it’s kind of declined.”

“In past Nite Lites we have had larger crowds, Saturday also used to be our big crowd night. The music has softened over the years, more alternative and less screamo and heavy metal,” said Junior Allysson Gagne. “This year we only had one night because it ended up costing us money to have two nights. Nobody shows up on Saturday night anymore, so we just took it away.” Gagne has helped run Nite Lite for the past three years.

“I would argue the point that it wasn’t as large of a production, which is fine.

But before they always made a point to have two or three big bands come in from out of town or out of state, and it attracted a lot more people. The crowd was bigger and more varied. It’s really odd because there were kids from 7th grade up to mid 20’s or 30’s even sometimes. Now it’s much more high school kids. It’s not as wide of a group.

But that’s fine, it’s kind of a tighter-knit group than before,” said Clowes.

“Nite Lite was a huge deal like four years ago,” said Hames. “There were tons of big bands and now it’s condensed

to all high school bands, and I think in that regard that it’s kind of gone downhill.”

There were even rumors of Nite Lite ending after this year.

“The future of Nite Lite is very uncertain. We will most likely continue with one night, but eventually I hope to go back to two nights. There was talk of this being our last Nite Lite, but I think we got a big enough crowd to keep us going for another year,” said Gagne.

Nothing will be known for certain about the future of Nite Lite until January. People remain hopeful it will continue on and give local bands another show to do what they loveperform.

“Usually you can feel when something works. And it doesn’t even have to be your band. When you play something or you hear something being played for whatever reason it just kind of clicks at that moment and you can tell everyone’s having the same feeling or vibe out of it, that’s a pretty cool feeling.

Especially if you’re playing it and you can tell it’s working that night or that song or whatever it is, when it works everyone is in the same place that’s a really cool feeling. I like shows a lot for that,” said Clowes.

“Anyone else with a passion will understand that whenever you can do your passion that’s when you feel the most emotion, that’s when you can be the most comfortable,” said Hames.

“I really like that you can get somebody engaged in what you’re trying to create. And with a live thing it’s really like a give and take thing. The crowd gives you energy and you’re giving them a reason to be energetic,” said Bajkowski. “I’m a really social person, I love being up on stage. I like to perform and I guess why I like performing in a nutshell is just that I can influence the emotions of other people to make them see a new point of view or a certain emotion to what we’re doing. The fact that The Whurlitzers or Author and the Illustrator or Mammoth can make someone moved through music, they can affect people, and that’s a big deal to me. Moving people is a big deal.”

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 25

Dohnalek bounces back after surgery

Meg Britton-Mehlisch Basketball is a series of movements; each one can change a game. Senior Erin Dohnalek recently learned this lesson when her senior year was changed by one seemingly normal movement.

“I was at basketball camp and I was playing basketball and I was on like seven hours of play when I tore it,” said Dohnalek.

The injury she sustained playing the game that was almost second nature to her was a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Though the physical pain of the injury has kept

Senior Erin Dohnalek watches her teammates get ready for an upcoming game. Photo by Alex Palmer

Dohnalek working in rehab, she said that’s not even the worst part.

“It’s pretty hard. You have to watch your team play and rehab is extremely difficult and the surgery itself is bad. The worst part is watching everyone else,” said Dohnalek.

It isn’t only Dohnalek who feels that something is missing this basketball season. With Dohnalek being one of only two returning Varsity Seniors, her injury has caused the team to refocus its game without Dohnalek’s link.

“Anytime you have an injury it changes the role of everyone else on the team,” said Coach Darin Hall.

“For us she did an outstanding job rebounding the basketball last year, she’s a kid that can score inside and outside, and she’s a kid who gave us a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things…. She could play all five positions on the floor,” said Hall.

Another noticeable gap this year is the on court connection between Dohnalek and Senior Emiah Bingley.

“When you have her and Emiah on the floor, teams can’t concentrate on stopping more than one player,” said Hall.

Dohnalek even felt sorry for the affect her injury had on Bingley. “She was shocked when it happened because now she’s got to do a lot of the work herself because she’s the oldest and the only one that’s really experienced. So I give her props for everything she has to go through,” said Dohnalek. “I made it hard for her.”

Though it’s not as if Dohnalek’s done nothing to try to get back in the season, working with Bingley, even after the injury she was getting the best medical attention she could find to try and avoid a situation like this.

However Bingley is still succeeding, scoring her 1000th point this season.

Dohnalek said she supports Bingley, but is still enduring physical therapy.

“I went to the trainer, [at the basketball camp] she said she was 88 percent sure it was torn, so I came home and went to the ER. The doctor told me it was

26 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

just a sprain and I didn’t believe him, so I went to the Kansas City Chiefs’ knee doctor and he told me it was torn, so we got it fixed in about two weeks and I’ve been in rehab ever since then.”

While rehab may never match up to the joy of basketball for Dohnalek, Hall said that it may bring more reward than loss. “Right now she can run straight and do some shooting.

The one positive thing is she had some technical things she needed to improve on her shooting so on a positive note, this has been an opportunity for her to correct those things that she was having difficulty with,” said Hall.

Dohnalek’s not predicted if she’ll be able to rejoin the team in a few months or if she’s be able to play.

“I think when she gets close to being released out to playing again, we’ll have to sit down and make a decision about it,” said Hall.

And while Dohnalek’s story and skill may be unique, her injury is not. According to an article by USA Today, there’s an estimated 56,000 ACL tears that occur because of sports and “high school and women’s basketball players are five times more likely than their male counterparts to suffer the injury.”

While breaking this statistic and playing maybe important to Dohnalek, she’s decided she’s going to let the pieces fall where they may. “I want to come back and all but I’ve got to do what’s best for me,” said Dohnalek.

December 16, 2011

Austin Eveler wrestles his way onto the Titan squad Anna Poudel Freshman Austin Eveler is a two-time youth state champion wrestler and now he’s come to West’s Varsity wrestling team.

“He’s , how do you put it, as a freshman coming in, he has laid out the experience and confidence to compete,” said wrestling coach Ethan Hauck.

And wrestling, said Eveler, requires confidence in addition to strength.

“It’s more knowing that you can beat your opponent and knowing you have a mental advantage over them and knowing you can hit your moves and just knowing you could win,” said Eveler.

Hauck agrees that having confidence gives wrestlers an advantage.

Training with the Purler Wrestling Academy and Titan Institute, not to mention winning two state titles and winning in a national Freestyle Greco tournament, helped build Eveler’s confidence.

“As far as having the confidence, coming in as a freshman, is fairly unique. You know, some people now days, it’s not totally rare to have some people throughout the state or throughout the nation that

have wrestled since they were five or six that have had considerable success. So I mean there are those people out there, he happens to be one of those people that has had success on a large scale,” said Hauck.

The secret to success, said Eveler, is hard work and staying focused on his goals, such as wrestling for a Division One school, namely Cornell, and being a NCAA champion wrestler.

“During the NCAA championships, they’ll be on ESPN, and there’s, under the big stage, it’s like an elevated mat and you run onto the mat on the stairs that lead up to it and run onto the mat…you’re being watched by everyone and when you just pretty much, winning in front of all those people,” said Eveler.

His determination to succeed and a love for the sport keep Eveler motivated to push himself.

“I want to be the best in the country,” said Eveler.

His aspirations require a lot of time and effort be put towards training. But, said Eveler, the victories make the effort pay off, and it helps knowing that he can pull through physically demanding times.

“He’s very focused and loyal to what he does. He learned, I guess, from that first time at state he placed.

He learned that hard work pays off because he worked hard. He was working out every night after practice” said Joseph Eveler.

“He just works very very hard. And I can’t honestly tell you where the drive comes from, it’s just inside him,” said Brandy Eveler, Austin Eveler’s mom.

Being directly responsible for the outcome of his matches and not relying on a team appealed to Eveler.

Other than that, he’s unsure of what in particular drew him toward wrestling.

“Since the start of it, it just seemed right, that this was my sport,” said Eveler. “I just like, I’m not real sure.

It’s just the sport, it’s pretty fun to do. I like training hard.”

Brandy Eveler said there was also something else that interested Austin Eveler in the sport.

“He thought the shoes and singlets were cool,” said Brandy Eveler.

Whatever the draw, it caught Eveler from a young age. He was asking to go along with his dad to watch wrestling practices when he was four.

“He always seemed to be really interested but I didn’t want to push him into it, so I just coached and he would watch,” said Joseph Eveler.

Eveler started wrestling at four too. Said Joseph and Brandy Eveler, he learned to take his losses with his victories, and improved his performance by studying wrestling and people who have been successful at it.

“He just loves it. He doesn’t think he’s a big deal, but he spends a lot of time preparing,” said Joseph Eveler.

As for wrestling this season as a Titan, Eveler said it would be fun.

As the beginning of the season, it’s too soon to tell what will happen and changes are still being made, said Hauck. There’s one thing about this year that stands out.

“I think that we have a couple, two of our captains are Matt Lemanowicz and Andrew Bestgen, the other one is Evan Boehm but at least two of those guys are goofballs, or knuckleheads, but they do work very well together and very hard and I think they’re great examples of people that can work hard and have a good time,” said Hauck.

Two time youth state champion wrestler Freshman Austin Eveler made varsity this year and is pushing himself to the top. Photo by Justin Hunley

December 16, 2011

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 27

Girls swimming dives into their season Anna Poudel Only a week and a half into the season, the Girls’ Swimming and Diving Team’s prospects are promising, said Assistant Coach Jennifer Ailshire.

During the swim team’s first meet, Senior Alyson Raymond earned a spot at the state swim meet by swimming the 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 1:02:99, ten hundredths of a second below the qualifying time.

“I thought it was a good start to the season and I’m excited about it and I’m ready to swim in more meets,” said Raymond.

Raymond’s working toward the goal of breaking one minute in the 100-Yard Backstroke. Being able to swim the event in under a minute is not only a personal goal, but necessary to being an all-state swimmer, according to Ailshire.

The swimmers are all working on dropping time and much improvement is expected. Those on Varsity swim four to six miles a day, between the two and a half hour practices every day after school, and the hour-long practices twice a week before school.

“I foresee many of the Varsity swimmers dropping a lot of time this season,” said Ailshire.

Of these swimmers is Senior Lyndsey Sherrow, who is .07 of a second from qualifying in the 100-Yard Backstroke.

“It’s really frustrating because a little time makes the biggest difference. It all depends on that time,” said Sherrow.

Helping these two swimmers takes a different approach, because they have different strengths.

“They’re both very hard workers and they’re both very different swimmers. Alyson swims y e a r round. She

Girls swimmer swims butterfly in a race against Blue Springs South and Lee’s Summit. Photo by Ariel Thompson

has a tremendous work ethic. Lyndsey, the only time she’s in the pool is during the high school swim season.

She has a natural, raw ability for swimming and she has fun,” said Ailshire.

Last year, Raymond and Sherrow swam together in a relay, for which they got an honorable mention at State.

Raymond qualified in the 100-Yard Butterfly and 200Yard Freestyle, while Sherrow qualified for the 100-Yard Backstroke.

For so early in the season, it’s rare for students to swim so well. But Raymond and Sherrow aren’t the only ones who are off to an unusually good start.

“Everyone’s getting close to their fastest times or even faster…usually it takes a while to get to your best time, like the middle or end of the season,” said Sherrow.

This season also features what Ailshire calls a great, strong group of freshmen.

“It’s going to be fun to see them grow over the seasons,” said Ailshire.

Meanwhile, Sherrow and Raymond aim to end their last season on a high note.

Junior Kayla West swims freestyle across the pool.

Photo by Ariel Thompson !

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December 16, 2011

December 16, 2011

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 29

BCS Bowl Orange Bowl Fiesta Bowl Sugar Bowl

Andy’s Assertions

Andy’s Assertions

Commentary by Andy Evans

The BCS (Bowl Champion Series) system for selecting what teams play in which bowls is one of the most broken and poorly put together in all of sports.

The BCS is all about putting the teams that will attract the most fans and biggest audiences (and make the BCS the most money), rather than putting best teams, against each other.

For starters, the BCS National

Championship game is set up exactly how it should be: #1 vs.. #2. Even with the controversy of LSU and Alabama meeting for the second time this season, the BCS got this one right. They put the two best teams playing each other in the championship. But the other four may need some work. Let’s start with the Orange Bowl.

This game consists of the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) champion and the next highest BCS ranked team that doesn’t automatically qualify or next “at-large” team. This setup placed the Clemson Tigers, the ACC champs, facing the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Now, while I do not doubt Clemson’s adeptness as a team, I am saying that they should get the chance to play in a BCS game because of their skill and ability as a team, not because they won the ACC. If we’re being honest the ACC is a basketball conference, not a football conference. I’m going to go out on a limb and say if you match any ACC team up with a correspondingly ranked SEC team; the SEC is going to win every time.

There is no reason the ACC should get an automatic bid.

Next is the game that has been greeted with the most distaste by college football followers: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Apparently, a team can go to the ACC championship game, lose by four touchdowns, and still somehow manage to make a BCS bowl, because that is exactly what Virginia Tech did.

Virginia Tech has no right to be in that game over clearly superior Kansas State and Boise State football teams. K-State’s only two losses came at the hands of the then #9 ranked OU Sooners and #3 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Boise’s only loss was against an 18th ranked TCU team. But because the BCS selection committee decided Virginia Tech would draw a bigger crowd, they got the bid.

I personally have no problem with how the Fiesta Bowl is laid-out, however. The Big 12 Champion vs. the next at-large team seems perfectly logical to me. The Big 12 has proven itself over and over to be an elite athletic conference. The only real issue this year is I think Oklahoma State should be in the National Championship game, rather than Alabama, solely because Alabama already got their “shot at the title” when they lost to LSU earlier

4 • News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports •

this season, but I understand why that didn’t happen. But beyond that I believe Stanford is an obvious choice to be the next team selected. They took second in the Pac-12 to the Oregon Ducks, who play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

I, once again, am perfectly alright with how the Rose Bowl works, because it faces off two teams who both have won their respective conferences: the Pac-12 and Big 10. There is really no argument, then, that both teams are worthy to be in the game. Both conferences have proven to be tough conferences to reach success in and therefor the victors of those conferences should get a BCS opportunity.

Finally, my proposition to the BCS: Leave the Championship as it is: a simple #1 vs. #2 bout for the title, stop giving the ACC an automatic bid until they can prove themselves to be worthy of it, and the biggest suggestion I have is to simply pick the next three highest ranked teams to compete in the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls, quit messing with all of the politics of making every conference happy and putting as much money in your own pockets as is possible.

November 4, 2011

s r e d a e l r e e h

C

fight for first

Riley Manning West Varsity Cheerleaders will be participating in a competition at Staley High School on Sunday.

The competition is sponsored by the Universal

Cheerleaders Association and will feature both high school and competitive cheerleading teams, however they will compete separately. The cheerleaders usually only cheer in two competitions a year, but this year they’ve added more competitions to their schedule.

“Since we usually only do two competitions a year, this one will be a new experience,” said Junior Taylor Sullivan.

However, the girls didn’t have to learn a new routine for the competition. “The routine has stunts and tumbling,” said Sophomore Amy Danaher. “It’s the same as regionals and state but with an added person.”

While some of the cheerleaders are less than excited to be going to more competitions, Danaher said,” I’m excited, I like competing.”

Sullivan explained how the girls usually get ready for the competition. “We usually go to lunch with the team and do our hair together.”

Danaher added that despite many people’s assumptions, the girls get along for the most part.

If the girls place first at the competition they will get Titan Cheerleaders come together to spell out a bid at nationals, however they aren’t allowed to go because of the cost.

T-I-T-A-N-S with their pom poms. Photo by

Joey Franke

Senior Lacy Koch dedicates much of her time to cheer on her classmates in their activities. Photo by Ryan Miller

Westside Girls prepare for state

Sophomore Becca Hopkins flashes a smile while performing The Westside Girls jazz routine. Photo by Ryan Miller Taylor Jensen Three-time State Champions Westside Girls prepare to yet again make the journey towards State.

Although they were unable to attend their last competition at Liberty due to unexpected team injuries and

December 16, 2011

illnesses, they have another competition to look forward to.

Junior Andrea Allison said, “At this competition, we will be facing 50-60 other dance teams. This should give us great preparation for State and it will also give us a chance to see some of the competition that we will be facing at State.”

The Miss Kansas competition is hosted by the Golden Girls at Olathe South High School. The West Side Girls will make the trip for the January 13-14 competition.

Senior Maddie Howard said, “It’s just a competition that we signed up for since we couldn’t go to Liberty.

We’ll be doing out competition dances, jazz and hip-hop, along with other dance teams for places.”

Not being able to participate in the Liberty competition had its benefits.

“We’ve never been to a competition like this before so it’s kind of all new teams. There’s going to be a wide variety of schools there, some we haven’t competed against before.

So basically, anything could happen,” said Howard.

According to Allison, they are currently practicing twice a week for two hours, but once the competition nears, there will be additional practices. She also said that this year, West will be hosting the 2011/2012 State Competition.

Junior Lauren Volz said, “This will prepare us for the North Invitational in January and for State.”

“Our goal is to perform at our best at every one of our competitions, in hope that we will perfect them enough to win a State Championship,” said Allison.

(Left) Dance Team doing synchronized turns during the All-State assembly that was held on Tuesday.

Photo by Ryan Miller

• News • Opinion • Feature • Arts&Entertainment • Sports • 31

Boys basketball swooshes in goals for fresh season

Haley Roach

As the basketball season begins Freshman Jarred Dixon has some goals in mind.

Dixon is striving “to have an undefeated season,” he said.

Dixon is the younger brother of former West player Michael Dixon who now plays for Mizzou.

Basketball coach, Michael Schieber said that M. Dixon and J. Dixon do not have a lot in common when it comes to they way they play.

“Mike is a lot taller and leaner and Jarred is a lot more compact,” said Schieber, saying J. Dixon and M. Dixon usually play different positions.

J. Dixon said, “people think I can be better than him or as good as him but it doesn’t really effect me that much.”

Sometimes, J. Dixon does get help from his older brother with basketball.

“He’ll tell me how I played after a game or sometimes when he’s home from college we’ll work out and he will tell me what I need to work on,” said J. Dixon.

While J. Dixon can see his strengths are shooting and penetrating to that basket, he also said, “I can work on defense and getting quicker,” said J. Dixon.

Varsity Basketball Update

When it comes to boys basketball the team has one goal on their mind: Winning.

“I believe our goals are of course winning and having fun while we’re doing it,” said Senior Robbie Jarrett.

They also are working as coming together as team.

“The hardest part is probably the team chemistry and communication,” said Jarrett, “we are improving it by talking a lot more and being positive.”

After ending last season with 12 wins and 15 losses, Jarrett said, “I feel like we have come back this year with a better attitude.”

Varsity played Rockhurst on Monday, coming away with a 60-58 point win.

Tuesday the boys went up against North Kansas City resulting with another win and a score of 6119.

Check online to see the results from last nights tournament at Avila University.

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Senior Austin Panko drives the ball down the court to score against Rockhurst on Monday. Titans won 60-58. Photo by Joey Franke

December, 16 2011