Issue 9

the

ISSUE 9 SHAWNEE MISSION EAST PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS JAN. 19, 2010

Batting

FOR BRYAN Wiffleball tournament supports foundation in memory of 2009 junior Bryan Barrow

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EmmaPennington Since the first week of school, seniors Hannah Satterlee, Maddy Rich and Molly Tidrick had been thinking of and developing a concept for their DECA project. With few guidelines given for the project, they decided they wanted to do something fun for the students at East. They also wanted to honor their friend Bryan Barrow, who died in a car crash last spring Seeing how well SHARE’s dodgeball tournament went in the fall, the girls thought having some sort of competition or sporting event would draw a good crowd. First, the girls were thinking of doing a run for Bryan, then possibly an indoor soccer tournament. But when both of those ideas fell through because of weather and school regulations, they decided on a wiffleball tournament.

“When we were choosing a DECA project, we knew we wanted to do something that the students at Shawnee Mission East could relate to personally,” Satterlee said, “and we knew we wanted to incorporate Bryan’s Way somehow.”

The tournament will take place Jan. 20 and 22 from 5-10 p.m. in the main and auxiliary gyms.

>>continued on page 2

SENIOR Adam Levin, one of Barrow’s closest friends, sports eye-black reading “Be strong and courageous,” from Joshua 1:9, the bible verse that inspired “Bryan’s Way.” Mackenzie Wylie

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OPINION: Teachers paid on performance (pg. 10) FEATURES: Junior Jehovah’s Witness (pg.15) SPORTS: Stats guru (pg. 26)

page 2 news 01.19.10

With Honor Society requirements becoming increasingly varied and students lacking commitment, colleges are

>>AnnaBernard

Questioning

Staying up until 4 a.m. so you can finish the essay you’ve already spent twenty hours on. Leaving band practice early so you can make your symphony performance. Signing up ger sign off on services hours and that the hours must be for IB, AP and College Now just to have the designations on validated at the time of volunteering. Leadership, an imporyour transcript. Students find ways to cram multitudes of tant factor to Dr. Krawitz, entails writing an essay detailing activities into their schedules in order to transform into that two instances of leadership, one of which must be at East. outstanding, well-rounded person colleges seem to want.

Character used to involve students finding five people in the With over 700,000 members, National Honor Society (NHS) building to vouch for them, but this was far from an ideal is one such program. That’s not even considering other nasolution for Murphy. tionally recognized honor societies, each having thousands “You could cheat on a test in one class, but if you got of students claiming membership. But, according to a refive other teachers to [vouch for you], you could still slide cent article in the New York Times, when so many students’ through,” Murphy said. “…We feel that kids need résumés are jam-packed with honor societies, colto have good character everywhere, not just leges aren’t nearly as impressed. where they feel they’re going to be evaluCurrently at East, there are five honor ated.” societies -- NHS and National Art Honor Now, the entire faculty can provide Society, and the French, German, and input on an applicant’s character.

Admissions offices Spanish National Honor Societies. All toHowever, Murphy assures that no gether, over 165 students are involved, know when a student “black-balling” will occur. If a bewith each type of honor society having puts down a club for havioral incident is brought up by its own membership requirements. a faculty member, the panel will the sake of merely French and Spanish honor societvote on a candidate’s induction. looking impressive. ies require that juniors have all A’s and If the inductee feels their exclu>> KU Admissions Counselor seniors have all A’s and B’s in their lansion was unfair, they can file an guage class. German Honor Society

Nathan Mack appeal. mandates that members have 3.6 GPA Still, Murphy feels that the size over three semesters of German and a 3.0 of NHS isn’t what is making colleges cumulative GPA. NAHS membership is determined through disregard the program—it’s the enormous art scholarship, service, and character. variation in requirements for NHS chapters NHS has the most criterium for membership: appliacross the country. Murphy says that East has quite cants must have a 3.6 weighted GPA, pass an admina bit of leeway in choosing criteria for NHS memberistrative review of discipline, complete 20 hours of ship. East focuses primarily on the NHS pillars, wanting community service, and demonstrate leadership. to include all students who demonstrate good character, These requirements are a step-up from last year, leadership, and service. This isn’t so for all schools. and next year the bar is expected to rise even “I doubt there is any college on the planet that would higher. Next year’s applicants will need to have a put a kid into their college solely because they’re an NHS 3.5 non-weighted GPA in order to be considered member, and I doubt there is anybody that would keep you for membership. Murphy thinks the new GPA out solely because you’re not an NHS member,” Murphy requirement will predominately affect those stusaid. dents who are getting mostly B’s in honors classOther honor societies at East are faces, who, with the previous weighted scale, would ing the same problems. French National have been eligible for induction.

Honor Society (FNHS) sponsor Laure Los“We’re looking to induct the best kids ey is disappointed with student commitment to that we possibly can,” NHS sponsor Retheir respective honor societies. Losey feels that becca Murphy said. “[The students] that FNHS should be another outlet for students are self-motivated, that can meet deadlines, to learn and experience French culture and that can advocate for themselves.” enrich what they learn in class.

According to Murphy, Principal Dr. “I just think people come to put something Karl Krawitz requested that the requireon their résumé,” Losey said. “I don’t think people ments be reviewed when he first arrived at are very serious and part of it is because they’re involved in East. A panel of five anonymous teachers, a board that roway too many things.” tates from year to year, worked on revising the standards FNHS meets about once a month in school and once a so they would best exemplify NHS’s four pillars -- character, month out of school. The eight members will get together service, leadership, and scholarship. to do a French culture activity, such as boule, the French In order to preserve honesty in applications this year, it equivalent of bocce ball. Once, members acted out an enwas decided that students, like SHARE chairs, could no lontire French play, Le Borgeois Gentilhomme. French food is

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>>continued from page one

Wiffle ball tournament to raise awareness

There is a $10 entry fee per person with all profits going to the Bryan’s Way Foundation, whichwas started last spring after Bryan’s death, with partial money going to scholarships and the rest donated to various foundations under Bryan’s name.

Along with participating in the wiffleball games, students will get the chance to hear Bryan’s mother Anne Peterson speak about text-free driving. Peterson will be speaking to kick off the first night on the 20th.

Senior Adam Levin, one of Barrow’s best friends, will also play with his band Menlo

at the tournament. Being friends with Bryan and neighbors with the Barrows since childhood, he was happy to get the chance to play for such a good cause.

“I was excited to play, it’s always fun to play live in front of people.” Levin said. “Especially when it’s my friends and it’s twice as good that it’s for Bryan.”

This tournament will be Menlo’s first live performance. They will play for 30 minutes on the first day of the tournament.

For some students at East, the event is just another competition with classmates.

But for others like junior CC Creidenberg, it hits home to know that he’s supporting

always involved.

But, according to Losey, getting meetings actually scheduled has been an issue. Meetings had to be moved to the mornings because many members couldn’t make the ones after school. Losey feels that, while the initial requirements are suitable, the attendance policy should be stricter.

“A lot of people skip meetings or they can’t agree what to do,” Losey said. “Even if the officers have a plan and great ideas, it doesn’t mean that people are going to follow, which to me is very sad.”

Junior Natalie Parker is a member of FNHS and is applying to be in NHS. Parker joined FNHS because she was invited and she’d heard it was fun, but is mainly involved in honor societies for college applications. Though Parker feels that getting into honor societies is fairly easy, she doesn’t think that the requirements should change.

“I think it’s good that a lot of people can get in,” Parker said. “A lot of people work hard and the people that get in work hard, so I don’t think it needs to be any more selective.”

Senior Tara Raghuveer, co-president of NHS, believes that membership requirements could be slightly stricter, but feels that the additional standards added this year are a big step in the right direction. Though Raghuveer feels that the NHS members in her grade all deserve to be there, she is doubtful that membership means much to college admissions.

“I think a lot of colleges recognize that the standards for getting into NHS differ between schools and thus don’t take it into much consideration,” Raghuveer said. “…It’s helpful to have on your applications, but it’s not necessarily a deciding factor.”

While KU Admissions Counselor Nathan Mack feels that honor societies have not lost any of their prestige, he warns that simply filling an application with honor societies is not enough.

“We want to see that a student takes their experience in the honor society and makes something of it during their high school career,” Mack said. “Admissions offices know when a student puts down a club for the sake of merely looking impressive.”

One way of making the most out of NHS is through the volunteer opportunities, which was the initial reason Raghuveer joined NHS. As co-president, she helps organize NHS service projects. Raghuveer and senior Haley Dalgleish are in charge of the NHS peer tutoring, setting up tutoring days and organizing tutors. Murphy thinks that projects like these help instill life-long traits that ultimately overcome any short-comings of NHS. “I think that the pillars of National Honor Society and how you carry those ideals into other organization,” Murphy said. “It will give you a background that will make colleges more receptive to your admission.”

Bryan’s foundation while competing with friends and getting his mind off school work.

“I think it’s a fun way to support [the Bryan’s Way Foundation],” Creidenberg said.

“When you know someone who’s died, even if he’s not here anymore, you can help others through him or through the foundation.”

Peterson hopes to get the message of textfree driving across to students and teachers.

In her speech, she plans to talk about how students should not take chances because one mistake can be life-changing. The girls believe Peterson will really make an impact when she speaks at the tournament and hope students will listen.

“If you’re looking at your phone or tex-

ting, it’s not worth it,” Rich said. “If you make one mistake that could be a huge lifechanging event. People need to concentrate on being smarter when you drive because it can really affect other people’s lives.”

The girls want this to be a fun experience for the students at East as well as a way to remember their friend Bryan. If death is mentioned, they all feel it may reinforce Peterson’s powerful message.

“Think about what is in our control and what isn’t in our control,” Peterson said.

“And for what is in our control, then let’s make healthy, right decisions and not take chances...We may think ‘Hey it’s not gonna happen to me, [but] it can happen to you.

Bryan’s story could be your story, so do what you can to prevent it.”

issue 9 news page 3

MORE THAN A GAME

Johnson County Libraries lend video games to draw younger patrons

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MacTamblyn Perusing gameinformer.com for reviews of video games like “The Beatles: Rock Band” and “Madden NFL 10” may seem unconventional for a librarian.

But since 2007, when the Johnson County library system first incorporated video games into its selection, it has been a normal part of Youth Collection Specialist Debbie McLeod’s daily grind.

The goal of expanding the library’s collection to include video games began as an effort to bring more kids through the library doors. McLeod said that around the age of 11 and 12, kids, especially boys, begin to lose an interest in reading.

“Boys are more action oriented,” McLeod said. “Girls’ language development is ahead of many boys, but boys’ motor skills are more advanced than girls’.”

Putting video games on the shelves, along with the more recent development of hosting gaming tournaments at Johnson County Libraries, makes the library a more appealing place for all audiences in McLeod’s eyes.

East librarian Chris Larson also believes video games are a good way to lure kids to public libraries. However, she does not think it would work at East because they would disrupt the school learning environment.

“It’s a different area of the brain,” Larson said. “Hand-eye coordination is great to develop. There are certain skills and careers that are based on that. But I don’t think there is any substitute for reading.”

Back in 2007, video games were first put into the Lackman branch, soon followed by the Blue Valley branch. The collection has since been deemed “floating,” meaning that games are spread throughout the Johnson County Libraries by where they are checked out and returned. Like books, the checkout time for video games is currently at 21 days.

McLeod’s budget for video games is $40,000 this year, which is about one tenth of her budget for printed materials. It is up from 2009’s budget, which was $25,000.

So far, the library system has accumulated 1,821 games.

The games are purchased on the basis of demand, popularity and rating. Originally, she bought four copies per title on three platforms (XBOX 360, PS3 and Wii). Last year she expanded to eight, and now it has been upped to ten.

Although games such as “Call of Duty” and “Halo” are popular among children and adults across the nation, McLeod stays away from these types of “shooter” games that are rated “M” for mature audiences. Only “E” for Everyone and “T” for Teen rated games are accepted. She uses Web sites like gameinformer.com and esrb.org (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) to decide whether content is appropriate.

“Everyone knows when kids have fun they learn,” McLeod said. “It does give kids an idea of story line. All video games have some sort of a story line. It’s more free-flowing than you will find in a book. Younger

CrosswordCraze

High demand has the library printing more crosswords and sudokus

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MattGannon For the past five years, the library has been providing daily crossword and sudoku puzzles to any student wanting to keep their mind sharp. But the popularity of these brainteasers has skyrocketed in the recent year. The popular demand of puzzles left the library shelf bare by sixth hour, which created an increase in the amount printed. Over 250 puzzles are being printed each day this year, compared to 100 in years past.

Librarian Chris Larson has worked at East for 20 years and has never seen a craze like this, but is still not surprised by the popularity of the puzzles.

“Our school’s culture has always valued learning, and puzzles are a fun way for students to practice reasoning skills,” Larson said. “I think students also do these crosswords to help with ACT and SAT vocabulary which is great.”

Yet, the crosswords have brought some problems. Often students can be seen in class doing the puzzles instead of doing class work or listening to lectures.

“The puzzles are only meant to be a constructive way to fill the time after a lesson,” Larson said. “If a teacher takes a student’s crossword when it shouldn’t be out, that’s

fine.”

Pre-Calculus and Statistics teacher, Lucy Rupf, is a big fan of crosswords and finds them to be a great way to pass the time during breaks. She enjoys seeing her students getting competitive over these brain teasers, but believes that are being used at the wrong times.

“Students can be very compulsive with the puzzles,” Rupf said. “Crosswords and sudoku are actually becoming dangerous, because are being worked on during work time and lectures, which causes students to miss key information. This is why I take the puzzles away, and at times I actually finish the students’ puzzles and hand them back.

That is the worst punishment for a crossword lover.”

Sophomore Eli Mitchell has had his puzzle confiscated time after time, but remains a loyal crossword lover.

“I don’t do them during work time anymore, but it never interfered with my work,” Mitchell said. “I love the puzzles because they keep me sharp and it’s very satisfying to solve a clue after 10 minutes of trying to fit different words into the boxes. It is also helpful and fun when I do them with friends, and we all help each other when one of us is stuck on one.”

>>photo illustration by AnnaMarken kids sometimes can’t stick with that linear stuff; they like to go all over the place.”

To further attract kids into libraries, the Johnson County’s Central Resource Library hosted their latest gaming tournament on Dec. 29. Sixty-four competitors faced off in “Mario Kart” for the Wii system. In the past, as many as 128 gamers have competed in the tournament. According to Johnson County’s Young Adult Librarian Kate Pickett, the Central Resource Library usually hosts three gaming tournaments per year over fall, winter and spring breaks. Other games that the library has used for tournaments include “Super Smash Brothers,” “Soul Caliber 4” and “Madden NFL 09.”

Like Larson, English teacher Debe Bramley is a proponent of video games being available for checkout at libraries. According to Bramley, the idea becomes more im-

portant when it brings in reluctant readers, who may never set foot in a library without a catalyst like video games. Even then, Bramley reiterated the importance of books.

“There’s something so intimate about sitting down with a book and getting lost in your own imagination,” Bramley said.

Freshman William Barbour has no dislike for reading, but prefers a good video game to a good book. On a typical school night, he games 4 to 5 hours. His favorite type of game is the aforementioned “shooter” that the Johnson County Library system does not stock.

“Video games are a media that is more interactive than books,” Barbour said. “If you’re trying to be creative yourself, books are the best choice. If you want to be immersed in something more visual, I would definitely pick video games.”

English teacher, Laura Beachy, believes the crosswords and sudokus are great because of their instant results and unique challenges.

“Both are mental,” Beachy said. “They aren’t brainless like the funnies or cartoons.

The puzzles are never simple and take time and one has a great sense of accomplishment immediately after finishing one. Students don’t have to wait two weeks to see that they missed a few problems. They know they have got it right.”

But, Beachy also sees the issues that the crosswords have created.

“I think that even if the puzzles are being worked on after a test or a quiz, there are still better options,” Beachy said. “Time might be better spent if students read an outside reading book, or worked on home“I put dots in the work for another corner of the boxes class. But, I think that symbolizing the part of the attraction number I need. It of crosswords and makes it easier.” sudokus is that they Senior Brooks aren’t required. StuAnthony dents are choosing to

do them over work and that is the real issue.”

The recent distractions of the crosswords and sudokus, have led to the idea that less puzzles should be printed. Larson is considering limiting the crosswords and sudokus to 200 copies a day, in order to keep the school more green, not because of a few complaints.

Sudoku Strategies

9 7

6

“I write the number in the box of what the numbers could possibly be.”

Sophomore Tracy Woltemath

5 4 8 3 2

4 6 2 5

“I guess randomly.

It takes a long time and sometimes I get frustrated. But I usually win.”

Junior Sam Nelson

page 4 news01.19.10

Thurs Weds Fri

To comply with district standards, seven period days will switch to Friday

caused waves of teens to swarm Departments of Motor Vehicles across the state last month.

Long lines caused many to wait outside in cold winter weather. Mobs of young people, often armed with license books, filled Kansas DMVs in hopes of avoiding the new driving laws that went into effect on the first of the year.

These laws, designed to limit distractions for new drivers, place restrictions on teen drivers and push back the age one can get a full license from 16 to 16-and-a-half. Young drivers can surpass the laws if they have any type of driving permit before Jan. 1.

Prairie Village Police Officer Brady Sullivan believes the reasoning behind the new restrictions is sound.

“Teen driving, as it always has been, is much more dangerous than it is in other age groups,” Sullivan said. “The point [of the new restrictions] is to minimize distractions to minimize traffic crashes.”

As of Jan. 1, the laws restricted cell phone usage for teens younger than 16-and-a-half, except in emergencies. Other new restrictions include prohibiting 16-year-olds from driving be-

first six months, a driver can only carry one passenger under the age of 19 outside of their immediate family.

The group most affected by these restrictions is ninth graders. Freshman Collin Jones, believes it is necessary to place these restrictions on young drivers.

“Teens often think they’ll never get in a wreck, but it’s always a possibility,” Jones said.

“I think when you’re driving by yourself, you always make better decisions.”

However, other students, like freshman Alex Dellet, oppose the laws.

“It sucks if you’ve been waiting and waiting to turn 16 and then learn you have to wait even longer,” Dellet said. “I mean, what’s the point of a sweet-sixteen birthday?”

Sullivan believes parents play a key role in the success of these restrictions.

“The laws are more confusing than past restrictions,” Sullivan said. “[Parents] need to learn the laws and educate teens about them.”

Assistant Principal John McKinney said he wants to see East help in this area. He believes that by teaming up with the Prairie Village

get rid of distractions.

These distractions, which McKinney argues are far more numerous than in the past, include cell phones, iPods and GPS systems. When it comes to eliminating these items from cars, he backs up the new laws 100 percent.

“Talking on the phone is a distraction, but texting takes it to another level,” McKinney said.

Still supporting the restrictions, Sullivan would have liked to see the cell phone policy taken in a somewhat of “all or nothing” direction.

“In my opinion, [the laws restricting cell phones] should be for everybody or nobody,” Sullivan said. “Cell phones are just as distracting for someone from my age group as they are for teens.”

Sullivan explained that the these laws act as secondary violations. If someone gets pulled over for speeding or running a red light, the officer can then determine if the driver is of proper age. However, Sullivan stresses, the police reserve the right to pull someone over who they suspect to be breaking these restrictions.

SOPHOMORE JOSHWINTER

New driving law creates curfews and passenger restrictions for 16 year-old drivers >>Ian Wiseman tween 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the first six months, Police Department, East can educate parents The response to new Kansas driving laws except for work or school activities. Also for the about the laws, which he thinks were passed to

Q: What do you think of the 9 p.m. curfew?

A: It seems a little unreasonable. It could be later.

Q: Driver’s license at 16 or 16 1/2?

A: 16. The half a year doesn’t make a difference.

Q: Do young drivers get distracted?

A: Not just young drivers, but the newer the driver the more distracted you can become.

Q: What age do you think kid’s should get their license?

A: 16. They won’t learn that much in six extra months.

Q: Do young drivers get distracted?

A: Yeah, because they get too cocky.

Q: Should drivers be able to use their cell phones while driving?

A: Yes, as long as it isn’t completely distracting them from the road.

FRESHMAN EMMAROBSON

students, on top of club meetings, sports practices, and other events that take place during the school week.

“It’s nice to have an entire day for all my classes’ homework on Sunday,” junior Alex Pirotte said. “Usually on Thursdays I’ll have work, so it’s nice not to have a ton of homework.”

Other students like Pirotte enjoy having a more laid-back end of the week, and some teachers agree. Those teacher fear that Thursday nights will be filled with stacks of worksheets, unfinished essays and blank test reviews.

“Teachers with even hours tend to be sensitive to the following seven-period day,” McLean said. “We’ve never had a problem that I’ve heard of with homework.”

McLean is also confident that East will figure a working schedule out. Although Loe expects that there might be some bumps at first, there won’t be any big foreseeable problems.

Loe wants to maintain the scope of teachers and hours of education for students while dealing with less funding.

“We would never consider something as drastic as shortening the amount of days in a school year,” Loe said. “We are preserving our standard of excellence while dealing with the horrible budget cuts.”

JUNIOR BENLIU

>> Photo Il l

next week.

“We’re just going from a preview on Monday to a review on Friday,” Loe said.

Not all teachers share Loe’s view that Fridays will be used effectively.

“Since Friday is at the end of the week, people are tempted to goof around,” art teacher Wanda Simchuck said. “A shortened class period just gives people more excuse.”

Despite some teachers’ doubts, this system has been successful in the other Shawnee Mission high schools. Shawnee Mission West principal Charles McLean has had no problems with seven-period Fridays. He says that West has never had problems with wasted time on Fridays.

Teachers at West usually use Fridays for a culminating activity, according to McLean.

However, there is a rule that there is to be no major exams on Fridays so that students won’t end up with a multitude of tests on one day.

This means that Fridays are used to review information covered in the past week, and have a preview for upcoming events.

“For the organized student, I think it will be beneficial to know what’s happening in all their classes next week,” chemistry teacher Cole Ogdon said. “I think my students realize that putting off homework isn’t the best option.”

There will be a change of rhythm of homework for some, though. Students’ typical homework-crammed Sundays due to seven-period Mondays will be no more. Instead, it is predicted that Thursdays will be a busy night for most

usta rtion by

Dan

Stew art

>>Toni Aguiar

Since switching to block scheduling last year, seven-period days have fallen on Mondays. At a district meeting in December, Principal Dr. Karl Krawitz and several other district principals decided to move East’s seven-period day from Monday to Friday for the upcoming school year due to budgetary concerns and to be consistent with other schools in the district.

Current budget cuts, as well as those predicted for the future, have pushed administrators to try to stretch the district’s budget as much as possible. The tighter budget has forced the district to hire teachers that work at several schools instead of just one. Different schedules for different schools can pose problems for teachers.

With a consistent district-wide schedule for the SMSD high schools, this wouldn’t be an issue. In order to carry this out, a standard schedule for all schools must be implemented.

Since East is the only school with a seven-period Monday, it is changing to Friday.

“As money tightens up, we’ll need to do some sharing,” Associate Principal Steve Loe said. “We hope that this will let kids continue to have the range of teachers that they’ve had.”

Next year’s seven-period Fridays will allow this situation to exist. Shawnee Mission North and West have had this in place since block scheduling began in SMSD. According to Low, the switch next year will make the schedule more standard across the high schools.

And while this poses yet another change and set of schedules for block, Loe is confident that it will work. Monday served as a sort of “preview” for the week ahead. Now, teachers may give small quizzes, a review sheet to wrap up the week, or discuss what’s coming up in the

SENIOR ANNASWANSON

switching SEVENS

>>lancervoice

Tues

Q: How do you feel about the new driving curfew?

A: I don’t think it is fair. That is really early.

Q: Do younger drivers become distracted?

A: No, they are more focused because they are more nervous.

Q: What age do you think you should be able to get your license?

A: 16. The extra six months isn’t going to do anything.

Q: Should driver’s be able to use their cell phones while driving?

A: No texting, but calling is fine.

Q:What do you think about the 9 pm curfew?

A: I don’t think very many people will actually follow it.

Q: What is the right age for kid’s to get their license?

A: 16, that is what everyone before them did.

in brief { } THE NEWS the calendar

17 18

19 20

DEBATE

>>MackenzieWylie

24 25 26

9th Grade Enrollment

27

The Love Fund Carnation Sale is an annual event to raise money to help families at East.

The Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) runs the event and then turns the proceeds over to the current East social worker who then distributes the money as they see fit “[The funds] are used to help families at East that made need support,” PTA President Cathy Bennett

31 >>

A look at upcoming events at East from today until the end of January

>>AnnieSgroi

g n i u n i t n o c

ue ill contin w t a h t t an even A look at

uary

into Febr

SHARE “Blankets for Babies” Project Jan.27, Feb. 3, Feb. 17 in the East library

Debbie Ward has always been connected to Children’s Mercy Hospital. Her mom volunteered there when she was growing up. She chaired the twenty-fifth and final Tom Watson Golf Classic, a charity event to benefit the hospital. Her daughter’s pediatricians were at the hospital and throughout the years they participated in Chip It for Children, a charity golf tournament that helps the Children’s Mercy Cancer Center.

And now Ward is sharing that connection with East. Ward came to SHARE Director Pat Kaufman with an idea for a new project to make fleece blankets for the babies at Children’s Mercy.

This year SHARE added Freshmen Connection Projects to their organization, projects designed to get freshman involved in community service. According to Kaufman the ideal project for this new initiative has a flexible schedule and is fun enough to get freshmen interested in service. Ward’s idea fit in perfectly and the “Blankets for Babies” project was born.

According to Kaufman the goal of the project is to make 100 blankets. Any freshmen are welcome to come; no prior blanket-making experience is necessary.

“You don’t need to be able to sew at all, you just need to be able to tie,” SHARE Director Pat Kaufman said.

28 29 30

10th Grade Enrollment

Starts Wednesday Jan. 27

After over 30 tournaments, and all the researching and practice rounds that lead to them, the debate season has almost come to a close. But there are still a few events left. One of which is the KSHSAA State Debate Championship. Four East teams were chosen to attend--2 senior teams, 1 junior team and 1 sophomore team.

Junior Susie McClannahan is one of the debaters attending. She said that Debate Coach Trey Witt decides who will go based on their record and dedication.

“Here it’s really important that you have new evidence,” McClannahan said. “We’ll have to make sure we get all of those files ready.”

>> AlissaPollack

The “Little Lancer” Cheer Clinic for kids in kindergarten through the eighth grade was held Jan. 16 at East. Any aspiring cheerleaders in the area were welcome to attend. At the clinic particpants learned chants such as “Hey Lancers” and cheers the East squads learned at camp.

“It’s good for everyone,” cheer sponsor Kelly Chapman said.

“Our cheerleaders enjoy getting to see the kids. And they [the kids] are learning new things and enjoy performing .”

The performance will take place during the Girls Varsity Basketball game against SMNW.

LOVE FUND Carnation Sale

Friday Jan. 22 and Saturday Jan 23.

21

Thursday Jan. 21 7 p.m @ East

23

State Debate Championship

11th Grade Enrollment

CHEER CLINIC Performance

22

issue 9 news page 5

said. “It could be a variety of reasons like an economic reason where the child simply needs the money to go on a fieldtrip.”

The carnations will be sold for $1 each on Jan. 27, Jan. 28 and Jan. 29. Students can purchase carnations before and after school and during lunch by the counseling office and during lunch there will also be a sales table set up on the north ramp.

Order forms can be picked up starting Jan. 17 at the main office and in English classes.

SENIOR AND SHARE EXEC Louisa Morton puts the finishing touches on a poster to advertise the new Freshmen Connection project “Blankets for Babies.”

DanStewart

>>

For more updates and additional coverage of

website tagat East visit upcoming events

smeharbinger.net/upcoming-events

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East’s honors societies should adopt stricter policies to avoid

SPARK

losing their

>>Dan

art Stew

The

VOTE

the

The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

for

against

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11 1 0

issue 9 editorial page 7 Our school’s honor societies aren’t living up to their mission statements. Around 200 juniors and seniors received notifications this year that their GPA, at least a 3.6 weighted, qualified them to apply for National Honor Society membership, according to NHS sponsor Rebecca Murphy. By writing a couple paragraphs and volunteering for 20 hours, candidates are almost guaranteed to be accepted, barring any outstanding past difficulties with the faculty.

Believe it or not, these entry requirements are more rigorous than they have been in the past, and next year the minimum GPA will be raised to 3.5 unweighted.

Even so, once accepted a NHS member needs to turn in only 20 volunteer hours a year and attend a few mandatory meetings while also behaving themselves in front of faculty members to maintain their membership.

While we applaud the stricter NHS entry requirements, we feel that East’s honor societies can do even better, especially in our foreign language honor societies, where acceptance revolves largely around a student’s grades with little to no consideration given to character or leadership.

The job of an honor society is to not only recognize students, but to make them better by ensuring that they live up to the society’s standards of good character and service. An honor student is someone that actively works to make his school and community better while also maintaining a high academic standing themselves. Not only should the members of these honor societies be true honor students — at least upon graduation — but their ability to lead and willingness to help should be put on display more frequently in community and school service projects. When asked what a member of German National Honor Society must do to maintain their membership, one senior GNHS member who asked to remain anonymous responded “you have to maintain good grades, and be able to scratch your left ear with your right hand.”

The 20 volunteer hours per year a NHS member must complete to maintain their membership is currently the most demanding at East when compared to our other honor societies such as SNHS and FNHS. That means that the best stu-

A&E Page Editors >>Raina Weinberg >>Maddy Bailey a publication of shawnee mission east high school January 19, 2009 >>Bob Martin Mixed Editor 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208 issue 9, vol. 51 >>Toni Aguiar Opinion Editor Editors-In-Chief Sports Editor >>Aubrey Leiter >>Tim Shedor >>Sam Logan Opinion Page Editors >>Phoebe Unterman Sports Page Editors >>Tom Lynch Assistant Editors >>Corbin Barnds >>Kennedy Burgess >>Sam Logan >>Christa McKittrick Features Editor >>Kevin Simpson >>Evan Nichols >>Duncan McHenry Head Copy Editor Photo Editor Feature Page Editors >>Andrew Goble >>Mackenzie Wylie >>Sarah McKittrick Art and Design Editor Assistant Photo Editor >> Kat Buchanan >>Michael Stolle >>Dan Stewart >>Anna Bernard News Editor >>Grant Heinlein Spread Editor >>Annie Sgroi Freelance Page Editors >>Emma Pennington News Page Editors >>Kathleen Ireland Asst. Spread Editor >>Alysabeth Albano >>Collen Ireland >>Morgan Christian >>Haley Marin >>Lilly Myers A&E Editor Editorial Editor Copy Editors >>Mac Tamblyn >>Jack Howland >>Andrew Goble

>>Logan Heley >>Jack Howland >>Sam Kovzan >>Annie Sgroi >>Tim Shedor >>Kevin Simpson >>Michael Stolle >>Phoebe Unterman >>Kat Buchanan >>Evan Nichols >>Duncan McHenry Staff Writers >>Griffin Bur >>Grant Kendall >>Alex Lamb >>Anne Willman >>Katy Westhoff >>Ian Wiseman Contributor >>Kiki Sykes Editorial Board >>Griffin Bur >>Andrew Goble

dents East has to offer are required to spend less than 25 minutes a week each year of their membership helping in the community. A “Jersey Shores” episode is longer than that. Honor students are people that really want to make a difference in their community. Completing 20 volunteer hours does not show a strong desire to serve and thus our honor societies should require more service hours in their acceptance and graduation criteria. Just doubling the 20 hours to 40 would mean members are sacrificing barely 45 minutes of their week to plant trees or tutor freshmen. Understandably, these students may be busy with other activities. Even so, organizations like Youth Volunteer Corps offer four-day summer service projects which would allow members to exceed their required service hours after only two projects.

In addition to being active in the community, honor society students should be leaders within our school. One of the requirements for being accepted into NHS is Letters to to demonstrate leaderthe editor should ship in two activities. be sent to room 521 Once accepted, there or smeharbinger@ is no requirement for gmail.com. Letters a member to demmay be edited for onstrate leadership.

Members of honor soclarity, length, libel cieties should be held and mechanics and accountable for acaccepted or rejected tively participating as at the editor’s leaders in our school, discretion. as well as maintaining the integrity of an honor student.

Whether a college is impressed by a student’s white graduation cord is irrelevant. A successful honor society should developed their members into well-rounded and productive members of society. The service hours and leadership ability a student attains during membership in a productive honor society will influence a college admissions officer’s decision more than the number of honor designations on their résumé. Its great that we acknowledge our best students, but those acknowledgements lose their luster when our honor societies fail to do their job and the great potential these students show goes untapped.

>>Logan Heley >>Sam Logan >>Jack Howland >>Annie Sgroi >>Tim Shedor >>Kevin Simpson >>Michael Stolle >>Mac Tamblyn >>Phoebe Unterman >>Corbin Barnds Photographers >>Eden Schoofs >>Lindsey Hartnett >>Nathan Simpson >>Samantha Bartow >>Anna Marken >>Katie East >>Grant Kendall >>Claire Wahrer >>Michael Stolle Staff Artists >>Kennedy Burgess >>Morgan Christian

>>

Circulation Manager >>Jeff Cole Ads Manager >>Anne Willman Online Editors >>Taylor Haviland >>Michael Stolle Assistant Online Editor >>Logan Heley >>Pat McGannon PR Representative >>Jeff Cole Online Staff Writer >>Christopher Heady Online Photographer >>Max Stitt Anchor/Vlogger >>Andrew Goble >>Jeff Cole Videographer >>Alex Lamb Adviser >>Dow Tate

The Harbinger is a student-run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the Shawnee Mission School District, East faculty, or school administration.

page 8 opinion 01.19.10

just like

>>Katie E

ast

Senior examines how advances in technology have improved our theater-going experience an opinion of

If I’m going to pay $6-12 for a single bigscreen movie these days, I want to get an that >>KathleenIreland experience justifies not picking up a replacement at the neighborhood Redbox for a dollar. One justification I’ve recently discovered that qualifies a trip to the theater is getting the chance to see special effects that took more time to create than it did to film the actors.

Though computer generated imagery (CGI) has been in the movie industry since 1973, more modern techniques like photorealistic motion capture has been especially prevalent in the last decade allowing movies to appear more realistic and appeal to today’s viewers. In particular, recession-affected movie-goers, expect more from their movie experience in exchange for the lessthan-comfortable seating and overpriced

Buncha Crunch.

Of the top ten box office movies of 2009 given by yahoo.com, eight incorporated extensive, if not complete, use of special effects and CGI. The two that did not make use of CGI found ways of incorporating a bathroom tiger or quarterback-Cinderella-story as an alternate means for entertainment.

Critics lately have been taking stabs at excessive use of the effects because they feel producers are relying too heavily upon computers for the quality of their movies.

Sure it doesn’t take a mastermind to see that sometimes effects are used as a distraction for pitifully written storylines, but it’s hard to deny the potential of digital enhancements.

The 12-year development of Avatar used a new 3-D camera created by director James Cameron and his team along with state-ofthe-art imagery equipment. If Cameron had made his movie 12 years ago without the technology we have now there might have been floating mountains, but you’d prob-

ably still see the strings attached to the top.

“Obviously, CGI in the last ten years has gone through such leaps and bounds that today, people are looking for these kinds of movies to wow audiences with technology,” said Avi Arad, producer of the Spider Man series and Iron Man. As great as the animations were in the 1988 version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that I loved watching as a child, the cutouts looked like they were from a grade school coloring book. The 2005 version, on the other hand, features a lion representation so lifelike it would send Simba crying to Zazu.

There are just some things that cannot, and shouldn’t be, properly done without the use of a computer. Take Avatar for example.

The sense of other-worldliness you get from watching a phosphorescent plants could not possibly be duplicated to the same standards if filmed on a set with hand-made backdrops. In fact, the effects used in Ava-

tar were so noteworthy I would even dish out an extra six dollars to see it again in 3-D. And when it comes to an eight foot tall blue Na’vi alien, I’d bet on the creative abilities of a computer over a makeup artist any day.

Modern technology offers virtually endless possibilities as to what can be created on-screen. By using technology that used to be primarily for Sci-Fi and cartoons, producers are now able to flawlessly incorporate CGI into virtually any genre. With the advancements that have been made in the movie industry, it seems ridiculous not to use the technology available. If someone’s interested in watching a barely-edited film with minimal special effects there’s plenty of indies to choose from. But when it comes to quality films meant for the big screen, the superiority that special effects can create is indisputable.

Junior talks about how her television obsession affects her life I live in a world where dogs eat human organs, parents accidentally eat pot brownies and a wanna-be AubreyLeiter >> alternative Fall Out Boy bassist conveniently falls in love with a high-school senior. This world comes to a stop when the ‘Save/Delete’ screen comes up on my DVR and the television show comes to an end.

T.V. is taking over my life. I watch 13 shows religiously. Personally, I feel like this is more T.V. than any teenager should be watching but I can’t seem to bring myself to cancel any of the series on my DVR. If all of these shows were airing in any given week, it would add up to 16 hours dedicated to watching the television--meaning 15 percent of the time I am awake, I’m watching T.V. According to a study on health.com, watching too much T.V. can increase your chances of dying at an early age. People who watch more than four hours of T.V. a day were 80 percent more likely to die from heart disease. Great.

The sad thing is none of the shows I watch an opinion of

are even considered to be ‘good television.’

Every show is either an extremely unrealistic teenage soap opera, a completely staged reality show about the lives of rich people or a reality show with a prize at the end, ranging anywhere from being the next “American Idol” to finding the person your going to spend the rest of your life with. None of the shows I watch ever win an Emmy award. If they do win anything it’s at the “Teen Choice Awards” or some even earned a spot on ‘The Soup’s Clip Down ‘09’ where Joel McHale names off the funniest T.V. moments of the year—not exactly a high achievement.

Its 6 p.m., time for the news. The top stories are Simon Cowell announces his last season of ‘American Idol,’ the twins are moving out of the Playboy Mansion, and Tiger Woods is no longer an endorser for General Motors. I watch E! News every day. I could tell you anything going on with celebrities, but couldn’t tell you a thing about what actually matters going on in the real world.

The amount of television I watch begins to take a toll on my life, causing me to do things that aren’t exactly normal.

I get way too excited for season premieres.

In middle school I would make countdowns where I’d mark off the hours until the show

would start. My friends and I would have premiere parties with rules.

1. You can’t be late. We lock the doors three minutes before the show starts.

2. Absolutely no talking. Your gone if you speak during the show. Commercials are for talking.

3. Leave your smug, sarcastic comments at the door. We come into every season premiere with an open mind.

Also, my friends can count on me if they want to know anything about the CW’s One Tree Hill, the show that I personally feel dominates all others. I could tell you the song that plays when Nathan and Haley have their first kiss, their first kiss in the rain and when they kissed at their wedding. I am capable of naming the season, episode and scene most events take place. I’ve watched the seven seasons enough in my lifetime to have the entire series memorized.

Lastly, when American Idol season comes around, I start to think people don’t like to be around me anymore. I begin to relate everything possible to the show. For the past two years I’ve organized a bracket competition with my friends. Two years ago I won because I was the only one who had faith in David Cook. Last year I lost miser-

ably because the winner, Kris Allen, had only made it to the top ten on my bracket. I tend to get very competitive with the bracket competition and always have the brackets by my side for the results show.

To be completely honest, I want to get over my obsession with television. Obviously it’s affecting my life in a negative way because supposedly I’m going to die of heart disease. I choose to watch my shows over studying for tests, doing homework and even working on this story, and I end up being up way later than I should be. To do this I need to either cut out certain shows or make sure everything is done before I begin going into my television world.

Even though I say this, I feel like my life would be extremely boring without my television obsession. The people I spend my time with are used to me relating everything possible to my shows, complaining about how I wasn’t able to watch a show because of deadline and pulling out the ‘American Idol’ brackets at completely unnecessary times. Even though they bring out a side of me that isn’t exactly normal, my T.V. shows get me through the week.

TEACHER TREASURY

issue 9 opinion page 9

Sophomore feels that teachers should receive performance-based salaries On the campaign trail, and then again once he took office, President Barack >>TomLynch Obama made a promise to improve the public school system. Although most of his time has been spent dealing with the current economic crisis, he hasn’t forgotten about trying to prevent another one by making sure that public schools aren’t failing the next generation.

In the president’s proposal is a plan that aims at rewarding good teachers and weeding out the bad ones with merit-based pay.

“It’s time to start rewarding good teachers, stop making excuses for bad ones,” Obama said in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “If a teacher is given a chance or two chances or three chances but still does not improve, there’s no excuse for that person to continue teaching.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The teacher’s unions are at the root of the problem. These unions, particularly the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), have been ruining the public school system for too long.

These two organizations, as stated by Education Weekly, “[have] many resources at their disposal to try to shape education policy.” They aren’t just trying; they’ve succeeded. The AFT and NEA have successfully created a state-sponsored monopoly on education, using their bastion of political muscle. They have long controlled every aspect of the public school system, leaving almost no control for a school or district’s administration.

These Teacher’s Unions, like any “good” union, constantly lobby for higher salaries.

They are successful, not just at securing better pay, but at making sure that there is zero accountability for improved student performance attached.

The current system that determines

an opinion of

teachers’ salaries is based on two things that have very little relevance to the qualities of a good teacher: seniority and education. According to the current system, the oldest teacher with the highest degree gets paid the most. Now, don’t get me wrong, the theory behind seems sound on the surface. It appears that having a lot of education themselves, as well as a consortium of classroom experience, would make a good teacher. But, in reality, the best teachers are the ones with the most motivation to see their students succeed.

The problem with this theory is that a teacher’s knowledge is like money to be deposited into a safe, which is like a pupil’s brain. If the teacher doesn’t have the key to the safe, then how can they deposit the money? The key is overcoming all the distractions that keep students from learning.

If a teacher can’t do that, then all their old age and “experience” won’t be good for anything.

Unfortunately there are too many teachers across the nation that don’t possess these skills, or are too apathetic to utilize them. Even Shawnee Mission Wonderful has their fair share of careless educators.

There are two reasons that these teachers are so widespread. First, it’s hard to be a teacher. That’s why there are so many bad ones—because it takes so much effort to be a good one. That isn’t to say a lot of being a good teacher isn’t also about having a natural gift. Some of the most determined teachers, that would like nothing more than to see their students succeed, make lousy teachers nonetheless.

But, for most teachers, it isn’t a lack of ability, it’s a lack of motivation. This is the second reason: there is no accountability on the teacher’s part. When a teacher comes to the realization that regardless of how well they teach, their salary isn’t going to change, it’s hard to find any motivation to do their very best. Instead, they might likely find themselves simply trying to “get the job done,” with as little effort as possible. And while the reason I’m writing this is because I believe that most teachers aren’t earning

OBAMA’S EDUCATION REFORM Obama proposed to reward good teachers with merit-based salries.

Obama’s support for merit pay breaks with some in his party, who fear it can’t be administered fairly.

The Teacher Incentive Fund currently supports 34 grant recipients at a cost of $97 million this year and another $200 million was allocated through the economic-stimulus plan. Obama said he’d like to see as many as 150 districts added, but the administration did not say what its 2010 budget request will be.

>>wsj.com

WHAT HE HAS TO SAY

“

Because improving education is central to rebuilding our economy, we set aside over $4 billion in the Recovery Act to promote improvements in schools,” Obama said. “This is one of the largest investments in education reform in American history. And rather than divvying it up and handing it out, we are letting states and school districts compete for it. That’s how we can incentivize excellence and spur reform and launch a race to the top in America’s public schools.

“

WHAT IT IS

>>Alyssa Jolitz enough, there are a few that are earning too much.

These undeserving teacher’s jobs start at 7:40 and end at 2:40. They are just going through the motions. These teachers aren’t spectators at sporting events. They don’t sponsor any clubs. They don’t offer their help editing an English paper or answering questions about a math test. They don’t get paid for those things. A student’s performance in and outside of school isn’t going to have any direct effect on them. They don’t care about their students; to them, teaching is just a job. These teachers should be fired.

With a performance-based salary, all of that would change. Teachers would be motivated to do their very best during school hours, but would also have an incentive to help students beyond the school hours to make sure they succeed. Their salary, and even their job, would depend on it.

Each teacher’s salary would be assessed individually. The primary determinant would be student performance, but that wouldn’t be the only factor. Administrators would also assess the teacher on their performance and effort. Lastly, an external district or state official would come with the intent of making sure the best teachers were kept and that the worst were terminated.

This official would put together the student performance and administrative assessment, as well as conduct their own assessment to determine the final salary. The new salary would then be offered to the teacher

in the next year’s contract.

Higher education facilities already have performance-based salaries. What do you think makes one college’s business school better than another’s? It’s because one pays their business professors more than the other, and thus is able to attract better professors. And, when a professor does a good job, they are rewarded with a bonus so that the professor won’t leave.

If SMSD, or better yet, the state of Kansas, were to adopt a performance-based salary system, they would attract the best teachers in the country. Not to mention the ability to apply for federal money that has been set aside to encourage innovation and reform in public schools across the country.

Kansas should act soon, or the pot may be dry.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently signed performancebased salary legislation that finally challenges the status quo and the teacher’s unions who created it.

Schwarzenegger’s proposals include changing state laws to allow teachers to be laid off, transferred, assigned or rehired without consideration of their seniority.

Americans value hard work and innovation, they are the values that has made the US so prosperous in every other area. A person who works hard and yields results shouldn’t be making the same amount of money as someone who just shows up to work.

page 10 features 01.19.10

Coming

into

FOCUS

Senior wins suprise scholarship and leads busy, yet concentrated life.

>>photo illustration by Phoebe Unterman

>>KatyWestoff

Walking down the hallway during passing period, senior Qi Chen hears his phone ring. Confused, he casually pulls it out and answers the call, oblivious to its importance. The voice is unfamiliar, the tone congratulatory. Chen didn't apply for any scholarship, but he hears some good news: he just won the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement, winning $2,000 for his success in AP classes.

"Hey, this pays for all the AP tests I took," Chen said.

Admittedly, Chen didn't know what the Siemens Award was until he won it. There is no application for the Siemens Award: it goes to the two students who score the most 'fives' on math and science AP exams. One boy and one girl from each state receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Siemens Award. The award is based on eight possible math and science exams. Of the eight, Chen scored a five on four.

Chen has taken seven AP tests in his high school career and has earned a five on each one.

"Most 'studying' occurs the night before," Chen said. "I remember most of what I learn during the year anyway."

Growing up, Chen's parents exposed him to various activities, like playing the violin and learning Chinese. They encouraged him to do well in school.

From there, Chen excelled.

Chen's dad, Guozhu Chen, said that Chen has "become more independent" as he has gotten older and now does his own "thing,” choosing his own activities throughout high school. Chen has involved himself in the International Baccalaureate program, the robotics club and the programming team. He has received the Rensselaer Medalist Award for his academic success, the Columbia Book Award for outstanding students in their junior year and is a National Merit Semifinalist through the PSAT. Though Chen is not one to brag. According to junior Emma Schulte, a friend and Robotics teammate, he doesn't talk about academics much.

"He's actually really amazing that way," Schulte said.

"Somehow he manages to be in IB at the top of the class, be an integral part of the robotics team and he has a social life.

I don't know how he does it."

Chen said he focuses on what needs to get done and does it diligently. He steadily works on everything until it is all done. Usually his after-school hours are spent staring at a computer screen, doing all of the work he can do to the best of his ability. He works hard, but doesn't think anything of it.

"It's not really any work beyond what I expect," Chen said.

The typical routine for Chen is nothing abnormal. Wake up at 6, school at 7, home at 5 or 6 and then bedtime at 2

a.m. His actual homework load varies, but extracurricular activities and his outside interests keep him up late most nights.

On the robotics team, Chen programs the website and helps with the organization and planning of the robot. In addition, he just helps where he can, overseeing the build team and helping his teammates. The club, as Schulte described it, "is a bunch of nerdy teenagers in the industrial tech room, goofing off and having fun."

Most of Chen's time goes into interests beyond school.

Just by glancing at his Facebook, it is clear he has a fascination with the German language: virtually nothing is written in English. Chen started taking German for the IB program, but now he says he feels a "connection" with the language.

Chen feels that with German, he has a different realm of exploration than with English and gets to "play around" with the language.

"I think that as a part of learning any language, you're exposed to a new way of thinking, just a new perspective on things," Chen said.

To expand his thinking, Chen is teaching himself French.

In fact, Chen has a college essay in German explaining why

he's learning the new language.

"It's a weird effect of being in IB," Chen said. "Everyone knows another language, and occasionally people will have a conversation in a different language."

Several of Chen's friends are in French or have taken it in the past. Fellow IB senior Madeleine Pinne called him a “quick study." Chen has only started to learn the language, but is trying to work it into his life as he has done with German. Over winter break, Pinne and Chen shared a midnight conversation about a minor French grammar question Chen had.

“I don't think anyone in my French 6 class would stay up late to think about grammar, but that's Qi for you,” Pinne said.

She says she can't wait for Chen and herself to carry on a conversation purely in French.

Chen has the philosophy that "you get out what you put in." This is apparent in his work ethic and in his life. He does everything, from IB to math club, to the best of his ability.

"Most of my motivation comes from myself," Chen said.

"There's too much out there to discover to want to do nothing.”

issue 9 features page 11

an unexpected Since becoming Miss Teen Kansas, junior has stepped into

>>HaleyMartin

The final two candidates, junior Olivia Harlan and her roommate Mackenzie Eveland of the Miss Kansas Teen USA Pageant 2010, stood next to each other and began laughing in front of the audience and the judges. It could either have been from shock or because it was the first pageant for both of them, Olivia doesn’t know. But she does know that she never expected what came next.

“They announced the runner-up first and I looked into the crowd with the blankest face,” Olivia said. “The runner-up was hugging me and saying ‘You won! You won!’

My family and friends rushed on stage after I won, and all I said was ‘Well ladies, we’re going to the Bahamas.’”

Olivia began thinking about entering the pageant last summer. She had thought about it before, but never seriously. She called family friend and former Miss Wisconsin Anne Peterson to clear up questions that she had. Peterson told Olivia about how the pageant experience gives girls a chance to mature and allows them to learn more about themselves. To further convince Olivia to enter, Peterson, Olivia’s mom Ann Harlan, and Peterson’s friend, pageant coach Linda Loveless, went out to lunch and answered all of Olivia and Ann’s questions. They discussed the stereotypical “pageant girl” and whether or not she would fall into that category, saying that she wouldn’t because she’s beautiful in both personality and looks. They also told her about the benefits of doing the pageant.

“We encouraged her to be herself, because her beauty is inside and out, and to let that shine,” Peterson said. “She needed to enjoy this experience, to be relaxed and to look at this as a wonderful opportunity. Not put too much emphasis on winning but rather enjoy the experience of the whole event.”

Since winning the pageant, Peterson said Olivia becomes a delegate for Kansas around the country and throughout Kansas. Since she’s Miss Teen Kansas, Olivia will get to throw the opening pitch at a springtime Royals’ game. She will also be traveling with Miss Kansas, Bethany Gerber, volunteering in various places around Kansas, talking at elementary schools and meeting with the winners from other states, all while wearing her sash and crown. Olivia stays Miss Teen Kansas until after she participates in the National Pageant in August.

“I am excited to get to get to know Olivia. One thing that we will do for each other is that we will support each other at our national pageants,” Gerber said.

In order to get into the pageant, Olivia had to fill out an information sheet and a questionnaire. Olivia also sent in a head shot taken at her grandparents’ anniversary party.

After about three weeks she was contacted about her application.

“They call you for a phone interview, which I thought would be a little bit scary but it really isn’t,” Olivia said.

“They are just trying to figure out who you are and why you want to do this.”

During the interview they asked her questions about the activities she does, what she is involved in, what she

likes to do and why she wants to participate in the pageant.

Olivia started preparing in August, with Loveless coaching her through the process. She taught her how to walk the pageant walk, which meant learning to walk confidently and widen her stride. Olivia also learned that she needed to be relaxed in the pageant and enjoy the experience.

“Practicing feeling good about yourself and practicing feeling confident in your high heels is important,” Loveless said. “Also, not worrying about tripping, especially if you are coming downstairs, so that your heel doesn’t get caught on your gown.”

Since this was her first pageant, she thought that all of the other girls would be experienced and able to do it mechanically. But Loveless reassured her that the judges would be looking for a fresh face and not someone who could be associated with “Toddlers and Tiaras.” Olivia also found out that other girls were just as inexperienced as herself.

Another step in order to get ready for the pageant was purchasing three different outfits; a swimsuit, an interview outfit and an evening gown. For all of these she went to Sassy Chic in Overland Park, a store dedicated to pageants and prom.

By the time the pageant rolled around in December, Olivia had been working towards it for five months straight.

She had been doing things from practicing interview questions and picking out outfits, to feeling confident in a swimsuit and learning how to be relaxed in front of the audience and judges. Olivia and her mom loaded up their car, with all of the pageant gowns, make-up and hair supplies, along with clothes for lounging around in the hotel and headed for Lawrence. The rest of Team Olivia, which included two of her friends, her hairstylist, her coach and Peterson came up on Sunday for the pageant.

At the pageant, Olivia took photos with all of the other contestants in their various outfits. On Saturday they rehearsed their opening number wearing sweats and rollers in their hair while awaiting preliminaries that night. Saturday night they had their interviews.

“In order to work on the interview, Olivia and I would go on walks and practice questions and answers over and over again,” Ann said. “We would go over current events, in case they asked her questions about that.”

Sunday came with more rehearsals in the morning and the big show at night.

In the future, Olivia doesn’t plan on participating in any more pageants other than nationals, but she does plan on milking this year for all it’s worth. She will be going to as many public events in her sash and crown as planned, and more.

“Right from the very beginning, Linda and I looked at each other and knew that if anyone is going to win this pageant, it’s going to be Olivia,” Peterson said.

Trials of theTiara >>Mackenzie Wylie

JUNIOR Olivia Harlan poses for a picture wearing her sash and crown after being crowned Miss Teen Kansas. Harlan competed for the title after winning Photo courtesy of Olivia Harlan miss teen Johnson County.

Jordan Pfeiffer

>>

>>

A day-by-day breakdown of the pageant FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Registration and photos in evening gown

Pageant rehearsals throughout the day

Banquet dinner

Preliminaries, featuring every girl walking in their swimsuit and evening gown

Rehearsals for the opening number dance

SUNDAY Interviews and rehearsals in the morning The big show. Girls walk in their opening dress and dance The top 10 are announced and the winner is crowned

page 12 features 01.19.10

Vagrantly

VAERVAF

>>Katie Eastr

Junior pursues techno music career through online record deal

Favreau’s Fav’s

>>KatBuchanan

The 2008 Rothbury Festival in Rothbury, MI was kicking off the first day of their summer hodgepodge of performing arts attractions, and Gammon Favreau-Young and his mother, Gabrielle Favreau, were in the thick of it.

Gammon wiped his long hair out of his eyes and turned his attention to the festival schedule he was handed upon entering. He skimmed down the list, his gaze finally landing on a disc jockey seminar halfway down the page. The description stated that “Motion Potion,” a DJ from San Francisco, would be focusing mainly on funk from the 70’s.

Gammon told his mother he’d meet her later and set off in search of the seminar.

Upon arriving at a hulking stage in the middle of an open field, he found the small crowd of festivalgoers standing in front of Motion Potion’s set-up. Gammon quickly joined them, brushing past people and positioning himself to be as close to the DJ as possible.

Lecturing from the outdoor stage, Motion Potion explained the magic behind the music. He described how to DJ with the electric turntable the CDJ and how to use vinyl and how to respect the ancestors of the mashups. It was inspiration.

During the two remaining days of the festival, Gammon made a return to the DJ stage, in search of good music and answers to his remaining questions about DJ-ing.

Once the festival was over and Gammon was back in his Westwood home, he went online and ordered a CDJ of his own. He wanted the opportunity to borrow words from other artists’ tracks and make them his own.

The next summer, Gammon would hand Motion Potion his first album.

From an early age, Gammon showed an aptitude for music. Gammon’s mother remembers him expressing an interest as early as 10 months old.

“When he was still crawling, he would go over and turn on the CD player and turn up the volume and pull himself up to the coffee table to dance,” said Gabrielle. “This is a kid who had the ‘Beatles phase’ when he was in first grade.”

In second grade, Gammon was remixing music on the family computer, speeding up the tempo and mashing different melodies together.

He treated it as a pastime and didn’t think much of it other than a way to have fun.

Since acquiring a CDJ-400 in the summer before his sophomore year, Gammon had been experimenting with CD scratching -- he kept a notebook with him to jot ideas down for potential songs; he rounded up dozens of old CDs to use for his tracks; he spent as much time as he could during the remainder of the summer creating mixes and mash-ups on the MacBook his mom had purchased for him for that very purpose.

“I’m a strong believer that any time someone is inspired by an activity and loses time in a creative endeavor it is something to be supported and nurtured,” said Gabrielle.

Gammon found himself recording not only the mixes from his CDJ, but the ambience of organic sound.

He held up his laptop and pressed “record” any time he had it on him and was in a crowd, attempting to capture raw human emotion.

“Crowds are kind of like my music, I guess, a collage of voices,” Gammon said. “They also give the music a sense of life which is a little difficult to do when there are no organic recordings.”

At first, he used the CD remixes as well as the human ambience, blending the sounds together using GarageBand, a program on his MacBook. Starting this past summer, he has begun adding his own organic beats, recording his own tapping and scratching to create his “own kind of drum kit” and recording bits of himself playing guitar.

Even though he could produce quality songs using Garage Band, the lack of advanced programming gave Gammon limitations that he eventually wanted to break through.

He began using the program Abelton Live to edit his music, which cut the production time nearly in half. The program is able to analyze a song the second he drops it in, and then easily complies with the quirks and tweaks he applies to the music.

Though Gammon had purchased his CDJ a year earlier, he started to get serious about his music last summer. Before he knew it, he had created hours of short experimental songs. He wanted to get his music away from his Abelton Live library and out to the masses, and he began posting select tracks on LastFM, a Web site used to stream music

online.

After a few weeks of posting, Gammon was noticed.

Last June, an online producer named Simon McClure signed him to ROFLtrax.com, McClure’s record label of compiled artists.

Gammon adopted a stage name, calling himself “Vaervaf.” This DJ alter-ego is his last name spelled backwards, with a “V” replacing the “U,” as a tribute to his middle name, Valor. He didn’t want his stage name to be “inflated or mysterious”, so he went with a close and catchy variation of his name.

Within the span of three months, he had produced three separate albums under the name Vaervaf.

Each album is 30 minutes long, and with the addition of his fourth and most recent album, “Skidtooth,” he has two hours of music released on the internet available for download.

Though Gammon has been working on his experimental ambient music for less than a year, he has found himself to be reasonably successful; being featured on ROFLtrax has opened doors for him as an artist. He receives positive reinforcement from those who frequent ROFLtrax, and constructive criticism from first-listeners.

“Skidtooth has been a little controversial because it is much slower and more drowned than my other albums and I’ve gotten feedback that it is too slow,” Gammon said. “I try to make something new and switch the style every album, so I think it’s good that I’m shaking up the audience.”

Gammon has learned not only from his own audience but from others on the Web site, giving beginner artists advice on their work and receiving feedback on his own.

“Vaervaf is nothing if not a cultured man of good breeding; his patchwork masterpieces are a veritable donkey ride to earhole heaven,” wrote Breakmaster Cylinder, a fellow online artist.

Gammon views his aptitude for music as something fun and pastime-worthy, but not necessarily a career path. He’s glad to be able to broadcast his music to other people, but he isn’t sure of his future in music.

“I don’t know if it’s going to go anywhere,” Gammon said. “I mean, this either gets me famous or I end up just being a dentist somewhere.

I’m enjoying it for now. It’s just going and going and going.”

>>

“Talkie Walkie” - Air

“J Dilla”- Donuts “Foley Room” - Amon Tobin

To hear Gammon Favreau ‘s techno music as well as other East artists, visit smeharbinger.net and click on the homegrown tab

Love for Del

>>Photo courtesy of Braddock Family

DEL Braddock coaching a baseball game for his son’s team, the Dodgers.

>>ChrisHeady

As the 2:40 bell rang, football conditioning was the furthest thing from sophomore Adam Lowe’s mind. He had been consoling sophomore friend Kelsey O’Rourke for several minutes now, but it was time for them to go tell the others.

Wiping tears away from his eyes, the two walked down the hall. Silently. Holding hands.

They met the rest of their friends at the same place they always did, in front of the sophomore lockers. From the first look on Lowe and Kelsey’s face, they knew.

It had happened.

Their prayers had been unanswered. They knew this was going to happen, but at the back of their mind they had the notion that it wouldn’t. Consoling each other, Lowe led the group in a silent prayer. After 15 minuets the group dispersed.

Lowe was left in the locker room. Alone. It had hit him.

He was gone.

Del Braddock had died. **** It was around 7 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 13 when sophomore Kyle Braddock got the call. He didn’t know the number on caller I.D. and figured it was those people jokingly calling him about how his neighbor’s water was now turning off.

He ignored the call.

His mother, Cappi Braddock, received the same call around the same time.

She answered, and heard the news.

Her husband Del had suffered a massive stroke. He was in the hospital in Houston, where he’d been on a business trip.

Kyle, Cappi and her sister Nancy left at 6 a.m. the next morning. It was the earliest flight to Houston.

“I don’t remember sleeping that night,” Cappi said. “It was horrible. [There] was a real sense of denial that it didn’t happen.”

But it had happened.

Del was at a friend’s house before meeting up with other friends for dinner, when the biggest vein in his brain ruptured.

The house was in a rural area outside Houston, so the ambulances didn’t arrive for 30 minutes. By that time, Del had slipped into a coma.

When Kyle and his mother arrived in Houston, they went directly to the hospital. They were told not to bother with hotels and to get there as soon as possible.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Kyle said. “I was scared like none other.”

His father was on life support.

>>

To view the slideshow presentation from Del Braddock’s memorial service visit smeharbinger.net

issue 9 features page 13 Sophomore and friends mourn the death of a beloved father

“It was terrible seeing him,” Kyle said. “He was mostly recognizable except for all the tubes coming out of his head.”

Cappi and her son visited Del for a while, then went across the walkway and spent the night at the hotel connected to the hospital.

On Dec. 16, the Braddocks and doctors sat down and weighed their options. There was no question. They had to pull the plug. There was only a small portion of Del’s brain that wasn’t affected.

“If he would have come out of (the coma), he would have been like a vegetable,” Kyle said. “He wouldn’t be able to talk or walk or do anything on his own, so there really wasn’t a real point.”

Kyle didn’t want to be around when they did it. He couldn’t stand being there anymore. He needed to get out of the hospital.

So he visited his breathing dad one last time.

Kyle couldn’t look at him in the face. Tubes protruded everywhere - head, throat and neck - from the most important man in his life. Thoughts of father/son trips flooded his mind.

All the big games he watched with him on the beige couch in their living room. All the baseball games his dad coached him through. This was the man who knew every mascot of every college. This was the man who cooked him dinner every night. This was his dad. And he couldn’t even look at his face. It was just too hard.

Kyle had to say goodbye.

“I just told him how much I loved him and that I will love him forever,” Kyle said.

He exited the room and walked out of the hospital.

Now it was just Mrs. Braddock and her sister Nancy in the room. Cappi’s memories were swirling.

Life before Kyle. Constantly travelling. Not eating dinner until 9 at night because it didn’t matter. All his cooking. His love for uniforms. The random facts he knew that he’d quiz her on. How he always had to have a silly look on his face.

How you could count the number of serious pictures he’s taken on one hand. How everything was a joke to him. How he made her life fun.

The doctor turned off the life support. Four hours later, Del Braddock was gone. **** Kyle was finally home. He flew from Houston to Kansas City after seeing his dad for the last time, yet he felt better being home than in the hospital. At around 2:45 the next day, Dec. 17, friends started showing up at his house. According to Cappi, it has always been easy for Kyle to get his mind off of things.

“We just sat around. Watched TV. Talked about normal things,” Kyle said.

Lowe was one of the friends that was consistently at Kyle’s house after school.

“Del was like a second father to me,” Lowe said. “He acted like I was his other child.”

Lowe first met Del two years ago at a football camp when he was with Kyle. As many other’s first impression of Del, Lowe knew right away he was something special. Especially when Lowe’s first impression was Del jokingly telling another parent, “I’m Del Braddock. I do what I want.”

Lowe and Kyle played on the same baseball team seventh to eighth grade. That’s when Lowe discovered the humor and happy-go-lucky sense of living Del went about with. He could tell that even though Del wanted to win and do well, he really just wanted to goof around. He would show up late to practice and lay on the horn to let everyone know that he was there. He would make fun of George Bret’s ‘ready position’ by standing behind him and putting his glove on his head and crossing his legs. As Lowe’s friendship grew with Kyle over the next few years, it grew with Del. But Del didn’t just make his impression on Lowe, he made an impression on everyone he met.

“It didn’t matter if you knew him well or didn’t know him

at all,” Lowe said. “but when you were around him, he had this certain presence about him that turned a decent day into a great day. He loved life, and you could tell.”

Del’s effect on people was widespread.

Sophomore Logan Rose met him in fourth grade at baseball, and right away thought he was a genuine individual. Because of his charm, ability to lighten the mood and his obvious love for coaching, Rose continued playing baseball until eighth grade, way longer than he would have if Del hadn’t coached.

“He always had a smile on his face,” Rose said. “He was truly, truly just a great guy.”

Rose was at school when he heard the news about the stroke that Del had suffered. He gained more and more information about it throughout the day about what had happened. The more the news, the worse he felt.

“I don’t know why it had to be him,” Rose said. “He just such a great guy and I don’t know why this had to happen to him.” **** Walking through the doors into the East gym, there was a certain buzz in the air. It was the biggest game of the year, and the perfect time for the sophomores to pay tribute to their lost friend.

The sophomore basketball team was taking on Rockhurst the Saturday after Del’s passing. Just past the doors, Lowe, Sam Byers, Reid Frye and countless others were busy at work on a banner - a banner for Del. Written on an 8x10 foot sheet of paper was the only thing on the sophomores’ minds.

“Love for Del.” Players, students, and parents signed the banner in memory of the man that made life exciting and worth talking about.

Before the game, Lowe told the crowd of the loss he and the others had suffered and asked for a moment of silence.

During this, Kyle, with help, placed the banner above the sophomore bleachers. Where his would always be remembered.

Before the game began, Rose walked onto the court. The initials “DB” were clearly written in Sharpie on the tops of his shoes, in remembrance of his coach and his friend.

“He was such a great coach and probably the best I’ve ever had,” Rose said. “I just decided that I should dedicate my season to him.”

“Every time that I feel like I’ve got it tough I just look down and see DB and think about him and how bad he’s got it.”

It was a storybook ending. The sophomore Lancers upset Rockhurst with a narrow win. A win for Del. Since the day of the Rockhurst game, Lowe, Rose, Byers and sophomore Jeff Cole have been selling wrist bracelets and t-shirts in Del’s memory. Rose and Lowe came up with the idea one day after talking about how they should remember Del. “The demands so far are really high,” Lowe said. “Some families are buying 15 t-shirts for just one family.”

One hundred percent of the proceeds are being donated to an organization of the Braddock’s choice, which will most likely be a charity towards Downs Syndrome.

But even when the shirts and bands are all sold, and the banner in the gym falls down, Del Braddock will not be forgotten. Whether it was poking fun about everything he saw, heard or touched, or making others smile when they thought they couldn’t, Del Braddock will not only always stay with Kyle and his family, but the sophomores as well.

“If there was anything that Del wanted everyone to know, it was his love for his son,” Cappi said.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Kyle said. “I still feel like he’s still on that business trip. He just hasn’t come home yet.

“He never wanted anyone to be mad or sad or anything.

Even if you were having the worst day of your life, when you talked to him he made everything okay. I’m really going to miss him.”

page 14 spread 01.19.10

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s e t u s n i e i r m o t n s e v n e e S v e sS

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Coach and teacher John Stonner doesn’t go near the stairwell until the crowds are long gone. That’s when he can really talk to kids without having to push through all the people.

“I just ask kids how they’re doing, what’s up,” Stonner said. “If they’re on a sports team, I ask them how sports are going. When I see kids wearing K-State stuff, I normally start a conversation with them asking if they saw the game last night. If KU plays well, I’ll even ask KU fans how it’s going.”

“

9:19

9:14

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Junior Michael Tuschoff doesn’t waste any time. Once the bell rings, his earbuds are in his ears and his iPod in his pocket. He doesn’t linger in the halls, making his way to his next class to the techno beats of Wiz Khalifa or STS9, a couple of his favorite passing period bands.

“Listening to music gets me pumped for my next class,” Tuschoff said. “It depends on the music, but on a good day I can listen to around two songs [in a passing period.]”

Students and teachers talk about th

Passing period is more than just a simple it’s a time to say hi to or spend time with f by the coffee shop. And clogged hallways or always popular topics of discussion or com seven pictures and stories represent the d their passing periods.

9:18

“

Freshman Grace Dominique and sophomore Logan Rose spend a lot of their passing periods together. The two don’t have many of the same classes, but they always seem to find each other in the hallway.

“We usually meet up after class,” Rose said. “It always just kind of works out.”

Dominique and Rose both have had quite a few awkward hallway incidents during passing period.

“It’s always one of those ‘Do I say hi to them or not?’ situations,” Dominique said. Rose agrees. “Sometimes I just pretend to be on my phone or talking to someone else.”

“

“

“

9:13

Before the bell rings for the end of second hour, senior Danny Thompson has his hat on backwards, his backpack zipped and ready to go. At the sound of the bell, he’s out the door and halfway to the third floor before anyone else reaches the first step.

“You have to rush out of your class to get down the main stairwell or else it will take like twenty minutes,” Thompson said.

Though he’s been late to class before because of the problem, He refuses to go out of his way to the far staircases in order to be on time. His solution for the problem?

“It’s a lost cause,” Thompson said.

“People are always going to walk slowly.”

issue 9 spread page 15

9:15

“

Sophomore Audrey DiCarlo never hesitates to say ‘Hello,’ even to someone in the hallway she doesn’t know. In a school where the word ‘creepy’ is more common than a functioning pencil sharpener, she gets a lot of weird looks.

DiCarlo is by no means shy. And when she’s in the halls at passing period, she is constantly saying ‘hey’ and talking to friends.

“Sometimes I’ll go punch a friend on the back to say hi,” DiCarlo said. “And then it’s not that person. It’s funny until you do it to the wrong person. Then it’s just awkward.”

“

9:16

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For junior Hannah Earley, sometime seven minutes just isn’t enough.

Last year, she had to make the trek from math on the first floor to Spanish on the fifth floor.

“Three flights of stairs plus the ramp can be kind of exhausting in under seven minutes,” Earley said.

“I was out of breath by the time I got to Spanish.”

Earley also uses passing period to respond to texts she couldn’t during class.

“

heir passing period experiences.

>>

PhoebeUnterman e transition between classes. For some, friends. Others listen to music or stop r traffic jams on the main stairwell are mplaint among the student body. These different ways different people spend

9:17

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Trying to get to calculus at the climax of passing period, senior Charlie Moore blames freshmen for the main stairwell congestion.

“When I walk through the main stairwell, I feel like I’m walking through a grade school,” Moore said in reaction to the gaggles of freshman girls in several shades of Vera Bradley that congregate in the fourth floor landing. “The freshman stand right in front of the staircase.”

Freshman Addie Anthony disagrees. In her opinion, freshmen aren’t the only slow walkers and hallway blockers.

“I think it’s everybody,” Anthony said. “Though [freshmen] do tend to move out of the way when people are coming.”

There won’t be a resolution to this ongoing argument anytime soon—a classic case of upperclassmen scapegoating freshmen—but Anthony doesn’t really mind.

“We just have to get over it,” Anthony said. “Because we will work our way up to upperclassmen eventually and probably do the same thing.”

>>all photos by Grant Heinlein

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>>Griffin Bur

Junior Melanie Leng approaches the stranger’s door, textbook and magazines in hand. At 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, she’s up earlier than most teenagers. She’s still a little nervous, even though she’s done this almost every week since she was six. Maybe the person who opens the door will ask a question she can’t answer. Maybe they won’t answer at all.

But Melanie prays to Jehovah for confidence and trusts in her partner. Together, they’ll be able to answer the questions.

And the payoff at the end is always worth the jitters - to truly feel the joy of teaching. Melanie raps on the door and waits determinedly. The door swings open.

“Hello, are you busy? I’m a Bible educator and I was wondering if I could share our views with you.”

The homeowner nods politely, so Melanie begins her spiel. This month, she’s talking about stress at work.

“Do you ever feel like, in this economy, you’re overworked?”

Melanie gives her presentation, asking questions and offering her opinion from a biblical perspective. She’s quick to point out that she’s not trying to convert people, just share her opinion. After a few minutes she leaves the owner with monthly issues of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines.

She and her partner march on to the next house.

Roughly three hours later, they’re finished. They’ve hit 20 or 30 houses and covered multiple blocks, spreading the word about the Bible.

As a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Melanie, goes door-to-door preaching about the Bible and her religion.

While the Witnesses require members to preach a certain amount each month, Melanie goes beyond the basic requirements.

And though her mom, Mei-yan Leng, is supportive, Melanie’s involvement is her own choice. Her Bible teacher, the hour she spends reading the Bible each night - she came up with the ideas.

“I go to [congregation] meetings and I took her when she was younger, but when she grew up I told her ‘Make your own choice.’ That is the most important thing,” Mei-yan said.

In a lot of ways, Melanie is like every other teenager, with hobbies and a social life. She loves nature and all art forms, particularly drawing. But where others see secular activities, Melanie sees gifts from a higher power.

“Every time I’m out in nature or painting a scene, I feel so

thankful for the things that God has made for us,” Melanie said.

Her friends notice subtleties, small signs of her religion. When junior and close friend Susie McClannahan first ate dinner with her, she started eating while Melanie was still praying, only noticing when she looked up.

“Sometimes you can really tell that Mel’s religious. She doesn’t cuss, she doesn’t ever talk bad about people,” McClannahan said.

A lot of Melanie’s drive is to present religion in a friendly, warm light. Melanie sees some interpret the biblical God as an unforgiving figure, not the comforting Jehovah that she knows.

“If people can just understand the Bible and read it, they’ll know that Jehovah is a loving creator. He isn’t cold or scary,” Melanie said.

Still, not everyone is convinced of her benign intentions. While Melanie guesses that about 85% of residents respond positively, there’s still the occasional person who won’t answer the door or tries to start arguments. When she first started preaching, an older woman started a heated argument with her.

“I was just six or seven, so it was really scary,” Melanie said. “But now, when people want to spark arguments, I just say ‘Okay, have a good day’ and leave.”

Even with the odd setback, Melanie’s drive to teach persists. This drive to teach takes her out of her own neighborhood, and even into other countries. Born in Taiwan, she’s fluent in Chinese as well as English. Besides her Merriambased English speaking congregation, Melanie also meets with a Chinese speaking congregation in Independence. She preaches with both congregations, alternating Saturdays.

Though Melanie uses the same basic format when she preaches in Chinese, things are a little trickier. She and her fellow Witnesses have to scan phonebooks, looking for Chinese-sounding names. Then, they visit the houses, hoping that the residents speak Chinese. Sometimes, it’s frustrating, guessing in the dark. But when Melanie’s able to preach, it’s an inspiring experience.

“When you see their reaction, when they understand this new idea, it really helps you build your own spirituality and trust in Jehovah,” Melanie said.

But as powerful as preaching in another languages is, it’s

issue 9 features page 17

Junior Melanie Leng sudies the Bible with her Bible instructor. An important part of preaching is knowing the Bible so that she can answer any questions people have. all photos by Lindsey Hartnett

>>

even more fulfilling for Melanie to preach in another country.

For the last two summers, Melanie has visited her dad, Robert Leng, in Chile. Robert works for the Taiwanese embassy in Santiago, and moved there two years ago. When Melanie and her family told members of the Witnesses about their situation, they learned that there was a congregation in Santiago that spoke Chinese. Some were Chinese immigrants, others were Chileans learning the language.

Melanie and her mom, Mei-Yan Leng, began meeting with the congregation two summers ago. For the two months that they stayed in Chile, Melanie preached with the Chinese congregation. Shared religion initially brought Melanie and her Chilean preachers together. But Melanie’s Chilean friends kept making efforts to welcome her, inviting her to lunches at their homes.

Preaching there was a challenge; Melanie had to rely on apartment security guards to help her locate Chinese families. Though she speaks conversational Spanish, Chile was still a new experience. The train that swept her off to her meeting place, the city with over 5 million residents - it took true love of sharing her religion to help her push through.

“You realize that no matter where you go, you all share this trust in Jehovah,” Melanie said. “When you’re preaching, you’re helping people understand [religion.] It can be life-changing for someone.”

Jehovah’s Witness

Beliefs and Practices

How it compares to other forms of Christianity

Similarities

- Rely on the authority of the Bible - Only believe in one God - Trust in Jesus’ resurrection for salvation - Believe that God is the creator of the universe - Both have the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism

Differences

preaching her

faith Junior Melanie Leng spreads the word about the Jehovah’s Witness faith

Leng goes door to door preaching about her faith as a Jehovah’s witness. Every Saturday Leng spends several hours preaching.

- Jehovah’s witnesses believe that Christ’s Second Coming occured in 1914 - Don’t believe in the Trinity - Refer to God as Jehovah - Deny the existence of hell - Reject the image of the cross because they believe it to be a pagan symbol - Don’t celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and several other holidays because they believe they have pagan roots - Service in the armed forces or allegiance to government is prohibited

>>www.religionfacts.com

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issue 9 features page 19

Perfect Pit The

MEMBERS of pit band currently practice in the band room. Two weeks before the musical, they’ll move to the pit and practice with the cast and crew. Dan Stewart

>>

Pit band settles into their new pit for the upcoming school musical “Footloose”

>>KennedyBurgess

Choir instructor Ken Foley has directed professional pit bands in the past, but this year will be his first year directing the East pit band in the production of “Footloose”.

During last year’s renovations to the Dan Zollars Auditorium, a new orchestra pit was installed, providing a new area for the pit band to perform. The drama department’s production of “Footloose” this February will be the first time the new pit will be utilized. In the past, the pit band performed in front of the stage which sometimes distracted audience members from the production at hand.

The pit band won’t play in the pit until two weeks before the musical during technical week, where they will also work with the cast and crew for the first time.

Finding out about the new pit gave Foley and the pit band a new outlook on this year’s musical than previous years.

“I was all for the new pit,” Foley said. “I think it will help coordinate the production better in a way where I can direct both chorus and pit smoothly.”

Foley is eager to put his skills to the test. Juggling both the direction of the chorus and pit band as well as adjusting the band to their new pit, Foley anticipates his first practices with the band.

“From when I’ve worked with professional pit bands, we would rehearse in the pit a day before opening night,” Foley said. “So, a week seems like a lot of rehearsal time to me.”

Junior Joe Sernett was just as eager about the new adjustment to the theatre as Foley was.

“I thought it was pretty sweet,” Sernett said.

“It’s what the professionals play in so it’s cool that a high school pit band gets to experience that.”

Sernett wanted to play guitar in the pit band two years ago for “Guys and Dolls”, but the list was already full.

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Instead, he found himself watching the production from the audience.

“When I went to see ‘Guys and Dolls’, I felt myself watching the band play at times because they were just right there in plain view,” Sernett said.

The new pit will eliminate the problem Sernett experienced as an audience member, but it also raises the challenge of “playing with your ears,” according to Sernett.

“It could get really confusing,” Sernett said. “Foley will be standing in front of the pit, while he’s also directing the chorus and we’ll have to listen to the performance while watching for Foley’s cues.”

According to saxophone player senior Connor Creighton, those cues are key to staying with the chorus.

“We’ll only be able to see Foley’s cues,” Creighton said.

“They are going to be what keep the whole thing together.”

As of now, the pit band is just focussing on their first practices.

“We’ve only practiced twice because of those snow days,” Creighton said. “Everyone seems to be making an effort to learn the music so we can move forward to where we’ll be come technical week.”

Creighton already knows the first couple days in the pit will be rough. He hopes he and the other seniors can lead the group.

Inside the Pit audience

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4

5

1. Conductor: Ken Foley

3. Keyboard: Faith Trent

2. Drums: David Beeder Jake Williams Trevor Collins

4. Guitar: 6. Woodwinds: Joe Sernett Conner Creighton 5. Bass: Conner Callahan Greg Tracy Emma Reno

stage

Key:

covered

“It’ll be a different setting than where we’ve been practicing,” Creighton said. “I mean, we’ve never played in actual pit.”

Creighton and fellow pit band member senior David Beeder performed in the production of “Guys and Dolls” two years ago before the pit was a part of the theatre.

“We’ve always taken pit band seriously,” Beeder said.

“We feel more official now that we have [the pit].”

Both Beeder and Creighton agree the new orchestra pit is large improvement than what they had before. Before, the pit band was set up in front of the stage and off to the side, so the audience could see every move they made, even when they weren’t playing.

“We will no longer be awkwardly in front of the audience,” Creighton said. “It’ll make the whole production look better too.”

The new orchestra pit has not changed how the pit band members practice, even though the audience can’t see any mistakes they make unlike previous years. If anything they’re working even harder to prepare for opening night.

“We’re still in the first stages of rehearsal mode,” Beeder said. “The whole orchestra is really looking forward to technical week just to see how everything fits together.”

Foley is planning ahead for technical week. He wants the chorus and the pit band to practice with each other on stage before the pit band plays in the orchestra pit.

“I’m anxious to see how everything goes with all of these changes,” Foley said. “We just need to rehearse and practice until everything feels right for opening night.”

uncovered

current unused area

MISSION BOWL 5399 Martway Mission, KS 66205

At Mission Bowl we make it fun for everyone!

It is our "MISSION" to make you a part of our bowling family!

Hours Sun : 11 - 12 a.m.

Mon/Tues : 9 a.m.- 10 p.m Wed : 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Thurs : 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Fri/Sat : 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.

issue 9 mixed page 21

a little of everything

2010 month

by month

ring in the new year...

“In order to major in graphic design,I need a strong drawing portfolio. For me to do that, I’m going to do one drawing a day.”

Fresh New Start

January

>>

February

>>

April

>>

for an escape from school.

>>

>>

End of School

>>

July

Back To School

See the Leaves Turn

Summer

Work on your tan and your popsiclepurple tongue.

August

>>

>>Grant Stauffer

Prom, graduation and the end of school, all in one month.

June

Halloween

Warm Weather

Boot those winter coats out of your closet!

May

Enjoy the last days of warm weather as football season heats up.

“I’m going to be hiking and camping all over the Rocky Mountains with the organization NOLSstartinginSeptemberandIwon’tbeable to have haircuts anyway,so I’m trying to resist cutting my hair until next January.”

Winter Olympics

> > Spring Break Head to the slopes or the beaches

As usual, we’re back to good ol’ SME (or whichever college you choose)

>>Maggie Simmons

Keep an eye on Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White and Evan Lyacek.

March

Fourth of July

Celebrate by eating hot dogs with your family or shooting off fireworks with friends.

Take up a new hobby,try a new food, put in more effort at school.

>>Carolyn Welter

“I’ve always wanted to try yoga,so I’m going to start doing that this year! It’d be fun if I could get a group of friends to do it with. I’ve always wantedtotryhotyoga,too;it’slikeclassicyoga but you do it in a very hot room.”

4515 West 90th Street, Prairie Village, KS, 66207 Phone: (913) 385-9033

Snow day must haves

>> September >>

Start scavenging for your costume early. You might even find something for MORP.

Thanksgiving Break>> Time yet again to stuff yourself with turkey and pie.

End of Another Year Winter break provides a welcome rest from finals.

October November

December >>

My host family has been so nice! The Blessens — they are the best family ever.

What is your favorite restaurant in KC? Brio on the Plaza; I love pasta!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Kenya, to volunteer.

What is the biggest difference between teens in Poland and teens in Kansas?

In Kansas there’s a lot more cliques. In Poland, we’re more together because we stay with the same class all day.

hot chocolate mix

sleds

seconds

30 senior

with

What is your favorite thing about East?

The teachers are nice. I also like the school colors!

Favorite song to sing in the shower?

Polish: “Alexander” by Myslovitz American: “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus What is your favorite thing about America?

car scraper sweatpants

Dominika Golinska

snuggie

page 22 a&e 01.19.10 >>AlexLamb

A

fter the rise of the Twilight phenomenon in today’s culture, the vampire genre seems to have lost its bite. What used to be seen as a vicious, blood-soaked and scary creature that feeds off humans is now thought of as an over-sensitive, whiny and wimpy pretty boy who courts a vulnerable teenage girl. Vampire fans craving the blood-suckers of old need to look no further than “Daybreakers,” a return to the gory horroraction of vampire flicks such as “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Blade” and “30 Days of Night.” And like those movies, “Daybreakers” isn’t a revelation of vampire cinema, as was 2008’s “Let the Right One In,” but more an adequate thrill ride that’ll wet viewers’ fangs.

It’s 2019, and almost everyone is a vampire due to an “outbreak” 10 years before. The few humans remaining are hunted and farmed for their blood, but with supplies almost depleted and the human race near extinction, a working blood substitute must be found immediately. As the availability of blood dwindles, people start turning into giant, bloodthirsty bat-like monsters due to their severe starvation, and society brinks on chaos.

The CEO of one of the farming companies, Charles Bromley (Sam Neill,) charges chief blood scientist and human sympathizer Ed Dalton (Ethan Hawke) with developing the needed substitute. But after a chance encounter with some on-the-run humans, he’s introduced to Elvis (Willem Dafoe), a former vamp who became human again, and Ed sees an opportunity to find the cure for vampirism. Joining up with these refugees, Ed sets out to find the cure before the blood runs dry and the last of humanity is lost.

At first, the film seems serious enough with its allegory of a society feeding off limited foreign resources.

The atmosphere and originality of this world, from the cars equipped with windshield and window plates and cameras on the outside of them (allowing for daytime driving), to the homeless people begging for blood, highlight the detail, inventiveness and unique perspective of the movie. But the first time a body literally exploded in a gaudy flash of tomato red carnage, drenching the entire room and every person in it in blood, I started to realize “Daybreakers” is just a high grade B-movie at its core, not wanting or meant to be taken completely seriously, only dressed up in A-movie effects and production design. Later, when vampires started getting stakes to the heart and each one instantaneously burst into an exaggerated fireball on the spot, I was absolutely sure of this.

Dafoe’s Elvis character, a wise-cracking, crossbow-toting, bad-ass road warrior full of funny one-liners, further supports my realization, and feels lifted straight out of some campy, low budget creature feature from the ‘80s. But for Dafoe fans and those who have caught on that his performance is supposed to be silly and overplayed, like Mel Gibson’s Mad Max character meets B-movie legend Bruce Campbell’s Ash from the “Evil Dead” series, he’s an absolute joy to watch. Deliciously cheesy, he ends up being one

lines

to r teeth in Sink you vampire her some ot ooks, clasand b movies rary. ntempo sic or co

STAR SCALE |

Gory flick injects fresh bloo d into vampire cinema

of the standout and best aspects of the film.

Hawke, on the more serious side, again showcases his talented acting skills and makes a strong argument as to why he deserves more leading parts. He’s more than competent in his role as the humble citizen turned savior, and creates quite an engaging, likable hero. Neill, as an evil corporation leader who slowly becomes the bad guy, seems to be emulating Agent Smith from “The Matrix,” but considering that he’s supposed to be overly earnest and zealous, his exaggerated performance fits the bill nicely. At times, the delivery of his speeches seems cliché and they fall somewhat flat, although the over-the-top tone calls for it, thus making them tolerable.

Australian brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, secondtime writer/directors, excel at immersing viewers into their

1976-2002: ‘The Vampire Chronicles’

by Anne Rice

1897: ‘Dracula’

by Bram Stoker

1954: ‘I Am Legend’

by Richard Matheson

| Stay home |

new ground

1996: ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’

1991: ‘Vampire Diaries’ Vol. 1-4

by L. J. Smith

|Rental at best |

well thought-out vampire world, with the very interesting, exceptionally original and cleverly flip-sided story, as well as with their dashing sense of style. Although they veil the tale in a deeper meaning, the underlying genre piece is pretty simple at its heart. Bloodstained in a filter that effectively darkens the mood yet intensifies the settings, the visuals are always a treat to look at, but midway through they get a bit stale, which assists to unfortunately slow down the pace for a while. The one upside to this is that the situation becomes more tense, and neatly brings about the exquisite bloodbath finale.

Speaking of which, “Daybreakers” is one of the most wildly and violently berserk vampire movies I’ve ever seen. Vampires tear people apart limb by limb, dismembering and beheading, the blood from cut-open chests is lapped up with the ferocity of feral tigers, detached arms fly through the air like doves in slow-mo and bodies erupt in spasms of flames, guts and tons of gore. Any gore hounds out there need to see this movie, and anyone who’s squeamish should stay far away.

However, as great as “Daybreakers” does violence, it lacks on the horror. There are some real cheap scares here and there, but the film fails to take advantage of making the gore chilling or disturbing, aiming rather for wonderfully excessive. The deformed, blood-deprived creatures could have been ghastly and terrifying as well, but are instead mostly just cool to look at, due to their impressive make-up and special effects. At least the action sequences are entertaining to watch, filmed slickly and sporting eye-catching visuals, such as a daylight car chase where the rays of sunlight streaming through the bullet holes in the car pose more danger than the bullets themselves.

So if you’re looking for some vampires to put Edward Cullen to shame, “Daybreakers” is your best bet at the moment. Well thought out and always intriguing to witness, the film entertains sufficiently even if it feels like there could’ve been about 10 extra minutes of exposition and some more thrills, particularly scary ones. There’s a more professional and allegorical side to it as well as a less serious side, and if viewed from the latter, “Daybreakers” makes for a pretty fun night at the movies.

1997-2003: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

|Worth seeing|

|

|

1998: ‘Blade’

2008: ‘Let the Right One In’

>>www.movieweb.com >>www.vampreverse.com

|Instant Classic

>>celebritywonder.com

issue 9 a&e page 23

‘Revolt’ a successful

Michael Cera proves again that he has mastered the ‘awkward teen’

>>RainaWeinberg

Before seeing Youth in Revolt, I was banking on another stereotypical Michael Cera role featuring extremely uncomfortable conversations, the pursuit of a “perfect girl” and enough vintage t-shirts to clothe a Decemberists concert.

In short, just another quirky coming of age film along the same lines as Juno and Superbad. Everything I counted on was correct, but surprisingly, those things turned out to be in the movie’s favor. Rather than leaving the theater rolling my eyes at yet another disappointing teen movie, I left the theater pleasantly entertained and grateful that all of my predictions had come true.

The movie begins with Nick Twisp (Cera) a socially awkward 16-year-old on a quest to win over the love of his life while also losing his virginity. This is basically Michael Cera playing the exact same character from almost all of his movies, minus the retro hoodies, but still with the same goal he has in all of his roles: “becoming a man.”

Nick lives with his single mom Estelle, and her temporary boyfriend Jerry, played by Zack Galifiankis (Alan from “The Hangover.”) While playing Jerry, Galifiankis delivers yet another hilarious role. He plays a sloppy moocher who is a transparent jerk to everyone but Estelle. Whether he’s burping loudly at the table or making sexual innuendos to Estelle right in front of Nick, he keeps it trailer park casual while wearing a bare midriff shirt that exposes skin no one wants to see and cut off jean shorts that were in style only in the age of the mullet.

When Jerry sells a faulty car, the three leave for his “vacation spot” which ends up being a rusted trailer in the center of a religious trailer park in the small town of Ukiah.

Immediately following their arrival, Nick passes the instant love of his life (cue slow-motion walk by.) Sheeni Saunders, while on the way to the washroom. During the time Nick and Sheeni spend together, the audience learns that Sheeni has a fixation with French culture. While Sheeni discusses films and actors with ease and confidence, Nick stumbles around with what he is trying to say and in turn loses the unspoken battle of who knows more. This characterizes Nick very well by showing that although he is opinionated and has a great amount of knowledge, he gets thrown off by a girl who is on his level. By the time Jerry decides to take the family back home, Sheeni realizes she loves Nick and they devise a plan to work their way back to each other.

This begins the funniest part of the movie: Nick’s inven-

Stay home |

tion of Francois Dillinger. He isn’t a friend Nick has hired to do bad things for him, he is Nick’s supplementary personality whose only motive is to do the bad things that Nick simply cannot do, and get him kicked out of his house. Francois represents everything that Nick is not: dangerous, confident and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal. It is obvious that Nick doesn’t have what it takes to be bad when his first attempt at getting kicked out of the house consists of cutting his mom’s bras in half.

Enter Francois, who features Cera sporting loafers, a fabulous pencil-like trash stash and an affinity for smoking cigarettes. With Francois in the picture, several catastrophes occur. Nick burns down half of Berkeley, convinces a girl to get Sheeni kicked out of French boarding school and pushes his dad’s car off a cliff. As expected, Francois gets Nick into

“The Awkward Teen” RAINA’S FAVORITE CERA CINEMA BRACEFACE (2001)

Early on in Michael Cera’s career, before impregnating Juno Mcgruff, he was winning over Sharon Spitz in Braceface. His charming personality and cute cartoon looks made him a hit with the ladies. The actor has clearly come a long way in nine years.

Superbad (2007)

The quintessential Cera film. To impress a girl, Cera’s “Evan” goes on a wild ride involing everyone from the cops to the iconic “McLovin.” Everybody has seen this movie, and it captures the high school spirit like none other in recent years.

Juno (2007)

An Oscar winner for “Best Screenplay,” Juno had a heartfelt story that was still able to make me laugh.

While still playing the typical high school teen, Cera took on a bit more of a serious role, and it was nice to see that other side of him for once.

>> movieweb.com, cdn2.ioffer.com

all kinds of trouble, which builds up into one giant mess that he must dig himself out of. Said mess basically consists of an entire town out to get him thrown in jail.

Personally, I love watching a character comedically struggle through the mess they’ve made. It brings light to situations that in real life would turn out completely differently

| Rental at best |

| Worth seeing |

than they do for Nick. Situations where faking suicide doesn’t include pushing a car off of a cliff into a foot of water.

Sometimes the two characters act side by side, while at other times it’s Francois from Nick’s point of view, and Nick from everyone else’s point of view. One of the best shows of character conflict happens when Nick decides to try eating illegal mushrooms. After Nick cautiously takes the recommended two, Francois proceeds to walk up and shove an entire handful in his mouth, while urging him to “have fun.” Watching Cera play two completely different, yet both hysterical, roles is what makes the movie so great. He turns himself into two different actors. It’s not Michael Cera playing Nick and his split personality, its Michael Cera playing Nick Twisp and Francois Dillinger.

Before seeing Youth in Revolt, I was positive that Michael Cera was forever stuck with being typecasted as the nerdy teen. After his performance as Francois, many more diverse roles are sure to come. Francois stole the movie. He made even little things like smacking a bowl of cereal off the table funny.

Although Cera steals the spotlight the entire movie, Portia Doubleday (Sheeni) manages to hold her own next to Cera, who had everyone won over before the movie even began.

She delivers a solid performance for her undeniable breakout role, mastering the art of acting like a girl uninterested in love when the audience can see that she undoubtedly is.

While the movie contains French cultural references that will likely be lost on the majority of the audience and extremely annoying, overly intellectual dialogue, it worked.

I found myself annoyed with the two leads for the unnecessary use of extra words but realized that talking in short, witty banter was what made them unique. It worked to show their character traits and eventually became endearing.

Everything came together to create a movie that at some points made me cry from laughing so hard, such as when Sheeni’s brother drugs his parents, and at other times cringe at all the awkward moments Cera creates. With the actors throwing out countless one-liners, there was hardly ever a funny line left without laughter and I’m certain that the film will leave movie-goers asking themselves whether they’re Nick Twisp or Francois Dillinger. Personally, I would side with Nick in thinking that we all have a bit of Francois Dillinger in us.

| | Instant Classic |

| |

ae

page 24 a&e 01.19.10

n e m n i a the & t r r e t a d n & n e e cal arts

When in Rome Christina Applegate stars in a romcom set in one of world’s most romantic places, Rome. I cracked a smile twice during the trailer, and that’s coming from a guy who usually cringes at the sight of movies in this mold.

Flash-backs. Flash-forwards. Electromagnetic abnormalities on a seemingly non-existent island in the South Pacific. Dozens of complex characters, all with back stories. All is well for “Lost” fanatics, but at times the show can be enough to give Spielberg a headache. If you haven’t started watching this brain-buster yet, don’t bother trying to start now.

Elton John & Billy Joel Two pop superstars make a stop at the Sprint Center. This tour has seen the two legends play for well over three hours on most occasions. Make sure to pace yourself when belting along to “Crocodile Rock” at the beginning of the show.

JAN.

THURSDAY

TODAY

Extraordinary Measures

I grew up watching Brendan Fraser in movies such as “George of the Jungle” and the “Mummy” series. Seeing him in a drama revolving around finding a cure for a rare genetic disorder seems like a stretch, but co-star Harrison Ford gives the film credibility.

23 26

Animal Collective

29

Tech N9ne

JAN. 23 MONDAY 26 JAN. FRIDAY JAN.

29

22 19 2727 TUESDAY

FEB.

Johnson County is not typically considered a hub for punk-alternative rockers, but Josephine Collective managed to break out and sign with Warner Brothers a few years back. After their breakup last May, the band will play their reunion show at The Beaumont Club.

FRIDAY

THURSDAY

Josephine Collective

22 22

TODAY

FEB.

“My Dinosaur Life” is the newest release from the Minnesotan punksters.

The first single from their fourth effort, “Disappear,” was released back in October as a freebie on their Web site.

FRIDAY FEB.

5 MARCH 5

FRIDAY

>>MacTamblyn Motion City Soundtrack

A look into this winter’s latest entertainment

“Campfire Songs,” a 2003 album by these trippy musicians, will be reissued next week. The album was originally released on a tiny label, and has since gone out of print.

Once again, KC’s own Tech N9ne will perform back home. The setting for this homecoming: The Beaumont Club in Westport. Tickets are $30.

Shutter Island

Scorsese and DiCaprio collaborate for the fourth time on this horror thriller, an adaptation of a 2002 novel of the same name. Set in a mental institution on an island off the coast of the Northeast U.S. in the ‘50s, this release promises to be a creepy look at insanity.

Alice in Wonderland

Another classic directing/acting combination of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp hits the silver screen in 3-D. The film is a remake to the original “Alice in Wonderland,” so in this film Alice is returning to Wonderland.

Burton’s enormous amount of eccentricity seems well-matched with an already twisted classic.

>> Movieweb.com, idancerecords.com, rockmusic.today.com

January of 2008, I never really understood why they received so much attention. Their speedy garage band style seemed cool, but I’d heard it done before and done better by artists like “Arctic Monkeys.” The band’s single “A-Punk” was admittedly catchy, but still I didn’t buy in.

Having one of the first new record releases of 2010, the band is back with their follow-up “Contra,” and already, I’ve learned something this year - I was wrong about these guys.

The album sounds distinct; it isn’t what I’d consider very “radio friendly” and no two songs sound alike, but that seems like the exact thing the band is going for. Generally aiming for the upbeat mood that made “A-Punk” so great, tracks like “Cousins’ and “Holiday” will please the fans with catchy riffs and a fast pace. It’s that kind of style that the band has mastered and what ultimately changed my mind about them.

Even with the highly danceable undertones that encompass much of their work, the group isn’t afraid to take a few chances with slower tracks on the record like “Taxi Cab”, which sounds like it was recycled from an old “Velvet Underground” LP. While this is definitely a positive thing, the group often makes it clear on “Contra” where they draw their influences from, as many other artists’ techniques can be heard through these songs. That isn’t to say the band’s not original; there are many elements of the album’s mere 10 tracks that stand out.

Using horn segments, xylophones, tribal drums and more, the group develops some interesting instrumental segments to accompany their fast and often intricate vocals. While creative moves like this are probably second nature to a band as adventurous as Vampire Weekend, it’s admirable when that many styles and sounds are able to work so well together.

Vampire Weekend’s four members met while attending Columbia University, so it’s no surprise that what we find in “Contra” is a band focused on smart rock that doesn’t follow the trends set by other popular rock groups.

From the mellow feel of Contra’s opener “Horchata” it’s easy to assume that this is just another group of bearded 20-somethings who think they can play guitar, and to be honest, that’s what I thought at first.

issue 9 a&e page 25 It’s the guts of Contra that really speak volumes to me, though. Each song brings something new, and the record just kept surprising me.

The way the album’s first single “Cousins” transitions into the fantastic and catchy “Giving up the Gun” at the album’s wind down reinforces why “Contra” is actually worth listening to in its entirety. Hearing the iTunes 30 second samples certainly won’t do songs like this any justice.

For all the album does right, there is one slight hiccup that I just can’t wrap my head around. The last song, the aptly titled “I Think Ur A Contra,” just doesn’t close well at all. For a slow ballad, lead singer Ezra Koenig’s high pitch vocals aren’t particularly pleasant, and they leave a sour taste compared to the tracks leading up to it. Although it’s not completely perfect, this record is one I can see myself coming back to even months after this review is printed, and that means something considering how much I’ve already heard it.

From first listen, Vampire Weekend may sound like every other band that college radio stations swoon over, but they’ve got talent beyond many of their competitors and can be enjoyed by just about anyone with an open mind. I think, finally, many teenage girls and I have found something vampire-related that we can both enjoy.

|

“Contra”- allusions in history

|

Nicaragua

The Clash

January 2010

>> www.mtv.com

STAR SCALE|

| Press ‘skip’|

|Borrow it |

|Download it |

2008

Vampire Weekend songs are used in the movies “Step Brothers” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”

Spin magazine names Vampire Weekend “The Year’s Best New Band”

Produced by Konami in 1987, “Contra” was the beginning of the “run-and-gun” style of game. It was followed by many sequels.

k’

Band tours the United Kingdom with the Shins

March 2008

Video Game

ire Weekend ’s sophomo album delive re rs original so unds

November 2007

Band’s self-titled first album is released. peaking at number 17 on Billboard 200.

The Contras were the rebel group opposing the socialist party, starting July, 1979. The name came for the shortened version of the Spanish- la contrarrevolucion

FVaamr From ‘We e p

2006

Vampire Weekend forms at Columbia University, named after band member Ezra Koenig’s short film

January 2008

Vampire Weekend’s new album name is derived from various places across history. Here’s a look at a few of their sources of inspiration...

The 1980s British punk-rock band released an album titled “Sandinista!” Sandinistas were the rival political group to the Contras.

Vampire Weekend also perfoms a song called “Diplomat’s Son,” a possible reference to The Clash’s lead singer, Joe Strummer.

“Weeken d” through the years

Vampire Weekend’s second album, Contra, is released on Jan. 12, 2010 >> www.vampireweekend.com

>> all photos courtesy of www.flowfestival.com

>>BobMartin When New York indie rockers “Vampire Weekend” first debuted in

|Auditory Brilliance

page 26 sports 01.19.10

Kevin Booker’s top

5moments EAST

1.

2.

Loyalto theLancers

>> Photo illustration by DanStewart

>> KevinSimpson

The success of the 1999 and 2000 girls’ soccer teams helped salvage the history of Lancer athletics, for all sports.

These teams ran through nearly every opponent they faced, losing just twice in 41 total games. They were led by thenhead coach Jim Ricker, and had a pair of All-Americans in Stacy Leeper and Carrie Fry. But, as Ricker puts it, “for every good team, there’s a good manager that helps out the coach.”

The Lady Lancers were managed by Kevin Booker, class of 2000. Booker, who was cut from the boys’ team, did it all. He scouted opponents. He made sure the equipment was ready for practice and the uniforms were set for the games. He worked with Ricker’s brother to ensure that every game was filmed.

But perhaps most importantly, he kept stats. Booker loved being able to know which players were the goal scorers, which ones were the key assist makers and which goalies were the toughest to score on. Ricker vividly remembers all the times that Booker would let him know who the best teams and players in the area were. The success that these teams experienced piqued Booker’s passion for East athletics, and it blossomed into a goal: to get the history of every varsity program documented and recorded.

“I think it was necessary to do because nobody else had [kept any records],” Booker said. “[The records] help us appreciate the students, faculty and administration that came before us. If it wasn’t for them, [current students] wouldn’t be able to play today. It’s for the whole Shawnee Mission East community.”

Booker started with the sport he knew best: girls’ soccer. He perused through old Hauberks, Harbingers and just about anything else he could get his hands on that would yield scores of old Lancer games. After talking with the athletic director at the time, Booker was granted access into the school’s archives, and his goal inched closer and closer to fruition.

In 2004, after three years of hard work, he had completed his records. Booker’s giant notebook included results to each and every varsity sporting event in East history. He had each coaches’ record. He had the Lancers’ home and away records for each sport. Booker even had East’s record against every individual opponent it had ever played. The information was the most comprehensive athletic documentation in school history.

Despite his accomplishment, Booker was not content with his life. He worked at Outback Steakhouse during the day. At night, he returned home at late hours with no time to do anything. His clothes smelled of grilled onions and cheese fries.

“I knew I had to make a change in my life,” Booker said.

“It wasn’t a good way to survive - paycheck to paycheck. I needed to do something with my life; I needed to see what was out there in the world.”

Booker joined the United States Army, and was sent to Fort Campbell, KY in October 2004. Ricker thought his former manager had once again done the right thing.

“I thought it was a pretty good idea for him,” Ricker said.

“It gave him a little more direction and the structure that he needed.”

Booker was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. After a brief stay in Kentucky, Booker was deployed to Iraq in May 2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom 3. He was stationed in Camp Al Taji, a rural area just north of Baghdad.

East graduate remains dedicated to the Lancers by keeping stats

During his time in Taji, Booker never forgot about his hometown and his alma mater.

When they saw donkeys walking up and down the main highway, all he could think about was the humorous thought of the animal slowly jaunting down Mission Road or I-70.

When Booker encountered a familiar face, the thoughts of East became even more real. Booker came upon Sam Dodge, class of 2005. Once they got over the coincidence of meeting one another thousands of miles away in Iraq, the pair reminisced over their respective times at East. Booker also kept his passion for Lancer athletics alive by checking the school Web site and sending frequent e-mails to friends and family; Ricker said they’ve kept in contact weekly ever since Booker’s graduation.

Finally, in May 2006, Booker returned to Kentucky for the Army. In March 2007, the Army thanked Booker for his service and allowed him to return home to Kansas City, since his three year service was complete. His stay in the army left an impact on him.

“When I came home to Kansas City, I was able to appreciate life a whole lot more,” Booker said. “Everything that I grew up with I had taken for granted, and [I realized] you have to go out and earn it.”

Booker was determined to ensure he wouldn’t let his fresh start go to waste. He got a job with Embarq phone company when he returned from Kentucky. After stints with the Johnson Country Water District #1 and the KC Wizards, Booker found a job with Kansas City Power & Light, where he has now worked for nearly a year and a half.

Even with his new job and new outlook on life, Booker did not allow his love for Lancer athletics to be tossed aside with his Outback Steakhouse work uniform. He attends as many East sporting events as he possibly can, and re-

The school opened in 1958 and Dave Moke scored the first touchdown in SME history against Wichita Southeast and went on to win the game 18-7 Coach Hair took the Varsity boys’ basketball team to state in the 2005-2006 season and finished second in the state. Their record that year was 18-7

3.

sumed updating his records.

“It’s a motivation,” Booker said.

“It’s a stress reliever from work.”

Ricker isn’t surprised that Booker continues to work on his findings.

“Kevin is very loyal to Shawnee Mission East,” Ricker said. “He’s a super nice guy and I don’t think there’s a mean streak in his body. He’s somebody who found a lot of friendship while at Shawnee Mission East, and that’s why he’s willing to go the extra mile for his school.”

Now, he has the game history of every single varsity program. His knowledge of Lancer athletics is unmatched.

He knows that East boys’ basketball has won seven of its last eight against Olathe East. He could tell you how many district titles the girls’ tennis program has won (37 of a possible 40). He can even tell you how many East alumni have served in Iraq or Afghanistan (seven, by his count). Booker keeps his stats up-to-date by getting in touch with coaches after each season and updating his records.

It is Booker’s dream to one day have his records published, and Ricker can foresee that happening in some capacity, possibly as a flyer of some sort.

Booker believes it’s his duty as an alumnus to continue to support the athletic programs just as enthusiastically as he did when he was chasing down soccer balls and keeping the uniforms organized as Ricker’s right-hand man. Booker simply wants all Lancers to understand this responsibility.

“It’s a privilege to go to East, and not that many people get to say that they did,” Booker said. “You can’t forget the history that you’re a part of while you were there.”

With Booker’s help, it has become much easier to remember.

In the 40 years of girls’ tennis, SME has won 37 of 40 SMSD tournaments

4.

5.

In the 2001-2002 season, Coach Todd Dain and the SME football team were district and sectional champs for the first time From 1997-2000 the Varsity girls soccer team won three 6A state championships under Coach Ricker

THE

SIDELINE

our who, what, when and where of East sports

READY FOR ROCK

issue 9 sports page 27

Duel Pool IN THE

After struggling through the first part of the season with only one win against Shawnee Mission North, the Tonight is senior night for the boys’ swim team as they’ll face rival BV boys’ basketball team will have to change the tide next North at home in a preview of the battle for state. Here’s who to watch. week for the annually anticipated rivalry game against CLAY FINLEY SENIOR JACK WALKER SENIOR Rockhurst. The Hawklets will come to the East gymnaA proven leader for four years, Walker’s final seaHaving yet to lose a heat this year in the 50 mesium anchored by seniors Cooper Beckett and Dexter son has been as good as all the others, having ter freestyle, Finley has launched himself as a McDonald and junior Frank Arbanas. Coach Hair will some of the fastest freestyle times in the state. favorite in Kansas to potentially take first place be facing his alma mater in a game his team has won His events should be hot contests in the pool in that event. Tonight he’ll face competition four out of the last five years. Expect a packed house, tonight for his last home meet. he’s seen already at the Olathe Invitational.

BATTLING ON THE MAT

Although having yet to take a 100% healthy varsity line-up to any of their tournaments, the wrestling team still managed to finish in the top 10 at the Johnson County Classic, having three individuals make the finals of their weight class. If the team can manage to get at full strength by February they should be able to make a good push at the end of the season to continue coach Ufford’s success at the helm of a squad that has seen tremendous finishes at Regionals and State since he took over.

PETER FRAZELL

JUNIOR

TROY DEMOSS

FRESHMAN

After spending the first half of the season with a Despite being the youngest varsity swimmer on the team, DeMoss is undoubtedly one of the club team, Frazell started the second semester best as he too has come from working out with with the Lancers and will be competing for the first time tonight as he hopes to improve on a club team to high school competition at the start of the semester. last year’s 7th place finish at the state meet.

HUNTER STEVENSON

SENIOR

WILEY WRIGHT

COACH

A regular on the podium, Stevenson will face a A 25-year veteran at East, Wright brings his experience to a team that knows him well. His familiar foe in Mustang senior Joe Lytle. The two have battled in the 200 and 500 meter laid-back motivation has pushed teams to the freestyle events before and will again tonight top before and tonight’s test against BV North before a home crowd. will be no different for his style.

Petrow

With enough state championship rings to fill a single hand, boys’ swim and dive coach Wiley Wright has brought a strong team to the top of the competition once again in his 25th season at the school. Having seen the ups and downs of this team’s history, Wright’s boys look to be in strong contention for a seventh straight Sunflower League title and a shot at their fifth state title in six seasons if everyone stays healthy and ahead of rivals Blue Valley North and last years’ state champions, Olathe East.

>>Anna

QUARTER CENTURY STRONG

BOWLERS START SEASON

THE

week ahead SCOUTING OUT THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

tues. 19th: boys’ swim & dive @ home SENIOR NIGHT VS. BV NORTH

tues. 19th: wrestling @ home SENIOR NIGHT VS. OLATHE SOUTH

BUYING TIME WITH...

JAKE FLEMING

SENIOR

BASKETBALL HEAD

ON WHAT IT’S LIKE BEING IN THE FRONTLINE ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD AND IN THE STUDENT SECTION.

They both require a lot of leadership and enthusiasm. People are always counting on you to do your job so they can do theirs. In the case of the student section that comes to me starting a chant others get in on.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH CHANTS TO DO AT CERTAIN POINTS IN THE GAME?

It just depends on the flow of the game. If were on offense then we’ll try and get chants like “Let’s go Lancers” going to get the momentum behind us. It’s definitely best to always keep them short, sweet and to the point

THE BASKETBALL HEADS HAVE A LONG TRADITION, IS THERE PRESSURE TO BE ONE OF THEM THIS YEAR?

Absolutely. East has always been known for being loud and rowdy during games so i think the basketball heads play a big part in getting that excitment going throughout the student section year after year.

thurs. 21st: boys’ bball @ salina invitational ROCKHURST IS COMING TO OUR PLACE NEXT WEEK, WHAT’S ON TAP FOR THE BIG RIVALRY GAME? TOURNAMENT THROUGH SATURDAY

We’re going with a “Jersey Shore” theme: slicked back hair, cut offs or wife-beaters, fake tans; anything that our favorite MTV reality show stars would wear on any given day in their lives. It should be pretty sweet

thurs. 21st: girls’ bball @ home

IF THE ADMINISTRATORS WEREN’T ALWAYS IN FRONT OF YOU, WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN ARRESTED YET?

LEAGUE GAME VS. SM NORTH

tues. 26th: girls’ bball @ bv north INTER-LEAGUE BATTLE

Maybe... I get pretty into it when I think a bad call has been made or something like that, but thankfully no officials have been harmed yet. Since my dad is a cop it probably wouldn’t really go over too well, anyways.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON DESPITE THE TEAM STARTING SLOWER THAN HOPED?

This is the part of the season when we start playing our rivals in the big Leauge games so I think we’re going to amp up the noise level and get excited for the team to push them through to the end in these games that matter the most.

KatieEast

Being the late-comers to the winter sports season, the bowling team started competition last week and will continue through the start of March. Led by junior Ali Dees, the co-ed team will have potential to send individual bowlers to the state competition, a rare feat in the short history of bowling team at East.

page 28 photo essay 01.18.10 With a win against Olathe Northwest last Tuesday, the Lady Lancers’ improve to 6-2 and are

reaching new

heights ABOVE: Seniors Hannah Gerwick and Maddy Rich defensively trap an Olathe Northwest player.

LEFT: Senior Alison Stephens goes up for a shot in the paint but is stopped by two Northwest players. “I think when everyone does their part and we compete as a team, only the little things matter,” Stephens said. “The big plays don’t make us win.”

>>all photos by Mackenzie Wylie

FAR ABOVE: Sophomore Shannon McGinley goes up for a rebound. “I just try to be as strong as possible when I’m going up with the ball and I always keep my eyes on the basket,” McGinley said.

ABOVE: Seniors Gretchen Hummel, Tommy Rappold and Jake Fleming cheer on the Lancers as they’re winning the game.