VOLUME 6 ISSUE NO. 1
September 7th 2012
THE SPARTAN VOICE WICHITA COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER
“Proba Te Dignum”
Got Water? by Julia Camp With the new laptops, many new rules have come into play including the banning of water in lockers and classrooms. While this rule originated in a desire to make sure our laptops stay safe in order to avoid hazardous spill, it has ended up having negative side-effects on the hydration of our sports teams. “My legs have been cramping up more than usual during the school week,” says Junior Julia Gurney in the early morning of cross country practice. “In summer, we’d be able to hydrate throughout the day, but without being able to take water to class, hydrating is hard.”
Photo by Jordan Hull
“Hydration is difficult now because we After listening to the complaints of the cross country team, I can’t bring water into the rooms, and we went to see if this problem had arisen in other sports as well. I don’t have time to go to the water started with the tennis team. Sure enough, all the tennis players I fountains in between every class,” talked to expressed concern with the hydration of our team. interjected Arri Evans. “We all want to perform at our best, and dehydration can stunt the success of the team,” says Brooke Withrow. Many others soon chime into the Girls volleyball also seemed to have some issues with the conversation as they too complained of new rule. “This has been a big problem! As volleyball players we headaches due to lack of hydration. need to stay hydrated. continued on page 2
Jake Barrett talks about his fantastic experience at the Hoby Conference this summer. Page 8
The Rich Kids of Instagram by Wynn Hukle page 3
Press from your Prez. Vafa Behzadpour. Page 4
Why Girls Love Olympic Athletes By Caroline Breit With the end of the Olympics, we must come to the sad realization that the “Olympic Fever” is quickly dying down. To compensate for that, we girls (or most of us) still obsess over our favorite Olympians that we so madly fell in love with this summer. Is it strange to walk the hallways of WCS and see countless IPhone backgrounds set as these athletes? Or is it strange that Pinterest has been completely flooded with pictures of them? Of course not. I’ve quickly realized that there are two main reasons us girls love Olympic athletes. First, the majority of them compete shirtless. Second, they helped us win the Olympics, with a total of 104 medals (compared to the 87 medals China took home). Although we may love each and every athlete, I can only choose three to deem Best Olympic Heartthrob. Ryan Lochte: He beat Michael Phelps in the 400m IM, has an American flag grill, has a hilarious Funny or Die video (Go watch it), named his dog after Lil’ Wayne, coined the catchphrase “Jeah!”, and wants to be the next Bachelor. What could be better?
Tom Daley: He’s British, he’s the same age as most of us seniors, has the best Instagram pictures out there, has his own book, and is friends with Liam Payne. Unlike Ryan Lochte, he wears a Speedo (although unfortunately, he doesn’t have a grill).
Australian Men’s Relay Team: The relay team won bronze in the 400x100m Medley Relay, have accents that rival Tom Daley, and are known for their Olympic beach photo shoot. So girls, keep in mind that the Rio 2016 Olympics are only four years away. And until then, obsess away!
Got Water cont. I don’t see why having a bottle of water is a problem,” says volleyball player Meme Wheeler. “People should just be responsible for keeping their own computer safe, and if they want to choose to have a water in their locker, that should be their own choice.” Hydration in football is perhaps the most important of all due to the amount of heavy pads and helmets that keep in the heat. “It’s very easy to get dehydrated in the heat,” says Sophomore Jack Copher. Serious dehydration can cause someone someone’s performance to drop by up to 15 to 20 percent. For a cross country runner, this would mean someone who normally runs a six minute mile would now run between a seven-thirty to eight minute mile. Not to mention, in extreme causes it can result in someone passing out. But if hydration has become such a problem, what can we do to insure the hydration of our athletes and the safety of our computers? Personally, I think the school should consider allowing high school students to keep a water bottle in their lockers and in class as long as the water has a lid to keep it from spilling if it mistakenly gets knocked down. While accidents are still possible, I find the alternative of dehydrated athletes a greater risk.
Rich Kids Of Instagram By Wynn Hukle If you haven’t heard of Instagram, you have probably been either A: living under a rock or B: doing something very productive with your time. Nonetheless, for those who do not know, Instagram is the wickedly popular smart phone photo social-media application that was purchased by Facebook earlier this spring for a staggering $1 billion dollars. One thing that Instagram is famous for is it’s abundance of hipster-esque photo junkies. The fun part is being able to make the Myspace girl bathroom “selfie” you just took look like an artsy Polaroid portrait. Similarly, you can also make that bowl of Ramen Noodles you were about to devour look sophisticated enough to be served at the Buddah Bar in NYC. Much like Facebook, some people use Instagram as a way to promote their bling, be it purse, ring, car or even a yacht. From this, began the wickedly entertaining Tumblr called “Rich Kids of Instagram” where the best of the best “look at how rich I am” photos have been gathered and placed in one single blog. It features photos of exuberantly wealthy people enjoying the luxuries of an exuberantly wealthy life. For instance, there is an Instagram photo of a bar tab for over $100,000. It is audacious yet wickedly entertaining. Some of the photos are truly beyond words. We’ve attached some of our favorites here, enjoy!
They have more money than you and this is what they do.
PRESS from the PREZ. The Unwanted Spartan By: Vafa Behzadpour
72
.
No that is not the amount of hours you spent doing your pre-calc homework last night. Yes that is the average number of heartbeats per minute for a resting adult, but thats not the point I’m trying to get across! 72. That is the number of state championship banners hanging in our gymnasium. So if we are such a strong addition to the league and such great competitors, why does no league want us? Bad
sportsmanship? That can’t be it! We have won several school spirit awards and have been commended for respecting other teams. (Not to mention we gave up the shenanigans chant...which is shenanigans.) Are we not good enough? Well I think the number 72 earlier stated already answered that. Maybe it’s because we smell bad. But wait! We go to a private school so we can afford showers. Ah private school! That must be it. The difference between us and them. Private vs public. Spoiled vs hardworking. Rich vs...well the stereotypes can go on and on. But the reality of the matter is as a result of us paying for our education, we are different. We are unwanted. The unwanted Spartans. It doesn’t matter how hard we play, how we raise the level of competition or how we have the potential to be a great addition to any league. No league wants a private school with spoiled kids that can beat them in sports, academia or anything else related to hard work.
Because hard work is their field. We have everything handed to us, they WORK for it. As many of you may read this you may think to yourself, “this is NOT true at all!” because I know I do. The bottom line is people will never accept the fact that private school kids can work to and we are no different. Just like Coach Fiegel said during morning meeting last week, “we were assigned to a league. No one wanted us in their league.” This puts us walking on thin ice. One screw up we can be out of yet another league and in search of...well in search of nothing because theres nothing for us after that. The only thing we can do at this point is keep doing what we do, which is win and continue to respect others. Maybe thats why we are unwanted, because we can win and still respect others...or maybe its just the win part. But whatever the reason, as senior varsity basketball guard Taj Holt would say, “We gotta stay on our grind, do what we do and haters gonna hate.”
FANCY THURSDAY
— Spartan Voice
“We are too fancy for paper.” -Jordan Hull
If you didn’t know about it, now you do. Fancy Thursday is the newest thing at Wichita Collegiate School. There is now officially no excuse not to participate. Fancy Thursday is exactly how it sounds: dressing above par for one day a week. Thursday. So, Spartans, break out those blazers, Sperrys, button ups, really anything that floats your boat as fancy.
Patrick Maloney* Patrick overslept yesterday and couldn’t dress appropriately. This will NEVER happen again. So disappointing......
COLLEGE VISITS Both TCU and Tulsa are visiting Collegiate on Monday morning!!
Meet Mr. Phillips. By Austin Daniels Where have you previously taught? I spent the last 12 years teaching U.S. History and AP Psychology, and my wife has been teaching there with me for the past 6 years. What brought you from there to Collegiate?
Stop by room 121, Cool Beans?
I noticed the position open up and saw it as a great professional opportunity not only for myself but for my family as well. This school has reputation for putting academics before anything els and I find that to be very important and makes Collegiate different from other schools. What did you major in college? Has history always been your favorite subject? I attended many schools including Virginia University and Wichita State where I acquired a dual major in history and psychology.
Press from our president:Vafa Behzadpour
Do you have any children? Yes, my oldest son Alex who is 11, my daughter Emma who is 8, and our 5 month old son Nicholas. Are you excited to be a part of Collegiate? Do you like it so far? I am very excited to be a part of Collegiate. This is a great school for great people. How do you feel about all the computers? Does Heights have a similar computer program? The computers here are fantastic! Its amazing how everything I need for my classes can be provided immediately and my students have easy access to all the papers they need. Heights had nothing like this and the transition from paper to paperless is difficult at first but will end greatly. I wish I would have had access to this sooner.
“Yes, the theme for homecoming is ‘merica. If you don’t like it...well, that’s just un-American. God Bless!”
Whats your favorite era/event of American history? Colonial history is great as well as the Civil War. However, I really like the post war WWII period because of the baby boom, the development of suburbs, and how a lot of things we use today were started in this period.
Why Parth, why? By Rachel Fernandes & Kara Maloney
It has been a very emotional week for the Spartan Voice staff, due to the loss of one of our greatest writers, Parth Khare. As many of you may know, Parth has changed his rigorous academic schedule to add band, thus he has in fact left the Spartan Voice crew to become a trombone player. We miss his wit and charm, avid music playing, cheesy jokes, and beautiful interpretations of "I'm Sexy and I Know It". Due to our depression, we have decided to interview Parth about his whereabouts after leaving the Spartan Voice crew. How are you doing Parth? I'm pretty good... So how has your experience in band been? Its been pretty good... Do you enjoy it more No comment. Well it’s a difficult question. I'm sorry, did you just not like your classmates in Spartan Voice? What?! I loved my classmates it is just that I understood the school’s need for an additional trombone player.
What was the deciding factor between choosing band instead of Spartan Voice? Like I said earlier I understood the school's need for and additional trombone and felt that I could fulfill it. Do you think they will care about you as much as we did? Oh...hm one sec. Yes I do because Collegiate is a family environment. Can you sing classic songs like "I'm Sexy and I Know It" or "Baby" in
Can you Shuffle everyday in band? Didn't think so. No. What have you got to say to your old Spartan Voice classmates? I still love you guys and uhm,
IT'S NOT LIKE I’M DYING OR ANYTHING Has this interview made you feel bad? No comment.
band? Uhmm no.
Super Easy Breakfast With Chef Jemma. Ingredients • 1 large egg • 2 tablespoons of peanut butter • 1 slightly ripe banana • Butter for the fry pan Instructions 1. Mash the banana in a bowl very thoroughly 2. Add egg, mix 3. Add peanut butter, mix (Make sure the batter is smooth)
4. Put the butter into a fry-pan on medium-high heat 5. Scoop a ¼ cup of pancake mix at a time into the fry pan 6. Cook pancakes until it is a dark brown on both sides. I like eating this with blackberry jam, but it is really your preference. If it does not taste good, you made them wrong.
Hello Class of 2016 by Kate Sorensen
Who is the class of 2016? Well, we’re here to tell you! Here is a look at the new freshmen class. We chose three select freshman and asked them questions about high school, laptops, and a few other obscure questions. Grace TaylorWhat are your expectations for this year? “A good time.. I just wanna have fun!” If you could have any car, what would it be? “Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile” What are your favorite parts of high school so far? “I like the breaks and the freedom” Favorite quote? “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Anon Hasan Raffi What are you most excited for this year? “I’m excited for the new environment, new teachers,
and I’m excited to learn new things.” What do you think about the new tablets this year? “I think they’re amazing, and I think they will be a great way to learn.” What do you think about doing most of your classwork on the tablet, rather than paper and pencil? “I think it will be interesting and challenging, but I’m ready to learn how to do it.” Kendall Reed What are your expectations for this year? I’m expecting to do well in all my classes, and do well in my sports. How do you like the new laptops? I love them! They are an awesome piece of technology Favorite quote? “The place where the possible and the impossible meet, to become… the possimpible.” – Barney Stinson If you could have any car, what would it be? A yellow Mustang.
Sophie Shawver What are you most excited for this year? “Basketball games, dances, that fun stuff that we don’t have in middle school.” What do you think about the new tablets this year? “OneNote is helpful and always having the internet right there is great. They’re helpful and annoying at the same time.” What do you think about doing most of your classwork on the tablet, rather than paper and pencil? “I feel like it would save a lot of trees. But it would make our eyes tired from staring.” If you could have one wish, what would it be? “I would wish for more wishes.” What do you want to be when you grow up? “Whatever makes me happiest.” Freshman year is probably the most exciting . Go and enjoy this year, it’s gonna be a good one filled with adventures and brand-new experiences! Have a good year! ;)
THE SPARTAN VOICE ACCEPTS THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES: The Spartan Voice is a newspaper operated by students at Wichita Collegiate School. Content in the Voice will consist of articles, editorials, letters, and any other material pertaining to the Wichita Collegiate community. The Spartan Voice was founded on the principle that all students should have an equal opportunity to share their opinion in an open, unbiased forum of discussion. Students, faculty, administrators, and parents make up the four fundamental parts of the Wichita Collegiate community. Although controversial subjects maybe featured in The Voice, no part of the community will be discriminated against. The views expressed in printed material do not necessarily represent the views of The Spartan Voice or Wichita Collegiate School.
SPARTAN VOICE STAFF Wynn Hukle, EDITOR Vafa Behzadpour, Patrick Maloney, Bell Schwartz, Riley Kemmer, Caroline Breit, Daniel Hullings, Jake Barrett, Julia Camp, Rachel Fernandes, Diana Kim, Austin Daniels, Aaron Clothier, Jordan Hull, Kara Maloney, Jemma Davies, Grace Kohn, Jenna Farhat, Sophie Shawver & Kate Sorensen.
Hoby by Jake Barrett
This last summer, Micah Watson and I were nominated by our school to go to a leadership seminar called Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar, or HOBY. Going into it, I was pretty skeptical about it, but I just thought I would suffer through a few days of lame “You can do it! Go change the world!” speeches so I could put it on my resume. This initial skepticism was justified almost immediately when we pulled up to the dorm parking lot at K-State and a whole bunch of junior staff were cheering and shouting and taking all of my stuff for me (though the last bit was pretty nice). Then we went to the icebreakers where everything started to sink in. We learned all of the cheers and chants that we would be shouting as we walked around campus to our places, and I thought “Oh boy, I get to embarrass myself everywhere I go for four days...” We split up into a bunch of groups and I met a bunch of great people and we quickly became good friends. It was about that time that everything changed. I stopped caring about the dorky cheers that we had to do and just embraced it. Sure, from the outside I probably looked pretty dumb, but to anyone from HOBY, it looked like I was having a great time! I learned a lot about myself and about being a leader. I couldn’t even imagine having so much fun at a leadership camp. In addition to the thirteen other friends in my group, I made another sixty friends in the staff and other ambassadors. At the end of the last day, everyone was crying because they would have to leave their new family... their HOBY family. (I’ll admit that I was even tearing up.) To all of you freshman and sophomores reading this, sorry juniors and seniors the camp is only for incoming juniors, PLEASE talk to Mr. Ashbrook about wanting to go to this (but freshman wait a year before
asking). It was one of the funnest things that I did all summer, and the only thing that was even better was the HOBY World Leadership Congress that I went to a month later, which I will talk about in a late article because this one is getting really long! I guarantee that it will be a good time for you, and if it isn’t, sorry, but then you’d have lots of knowledge about leadership and definitely a few new friends. If you have any questions or concerns, PLEASE come talk to me about it. Go Spartans!
Locks on Lockers.....
Got Questions? Ask Ashbrook!
By Daniel Hullings. We all heard in last Thursday’s morning meeting that there has been some trouble with people locking their lockers. There haven’t been any reported thefts but the best way to prevent it would be to actually lock your locker. It really is not that difficult. Why take the chance of letting some freshman snatch you $1700 laptop because they lost theirs? We owe our parents and the administration at least a little adult decision making and responsibility. They have gone above and beyond to make the laptop program as successful as possible. Please lock your lockers so freshman can’t snatch your laptop.
By Grace Kohn 1. How do you feel like the school year is coming along? I couldn’t be more pleased with how the year has started. I was a little nervous about introducing 266 computers into the Upper School, but the teachers were well prepared and the students have embraced the tool and been very patient. 2. What brought on the idea of the infractions this year? The brilliant mind of Mr. Nesmith. One of our frustrations over the last few years is that we have warnings, detentions, and suspension. In my mind those steps seemed too dramatic. Infractions allow students to make mistakes and then learn from them. The fact that infractions add up over a semester hold students accountable and consequences are more evenly distributed. 3. How do you feel about the new technology? I love it. I wish I knew more. I know that I’m only touching the surface of what my computer could do for me. 4. How do you feel like the students will adjust to the new technology? After 8 days of school, I’d say they have adjusted. They will find new, exciting, and efficient ways to harness the power of these computers. 5. How do you feel like the teachers will adjust to the new technology? The teachers have been amazing. For those of us who haven’t grown up with these tools, the learning curve is steep. I have no doubt that the teachers will find a multitude of ways to use these computers to enhance their already exceptional teaching skills.
Tennis Review: 2012 Edition. By Diana Kim. Collegiate tennis has always commenced with an amazing start, and this year shouldn’t be any different. We all have already won countless numbers of games and we aren’t expecting any less. We have tremendously upped our practices and, as a team, have experienced a lot together already. Although the team lost some great players from the previous year, don’t expect us to back down at all. Tennis this year will be very, should I say, different in some sorts. Within the past few years the team has lost a number of players and this year the numbers seem to have also decreased. But does it all really matter? In a way yes, but essentially no. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discourage anybody out there who wants to play tennis; we will welcome you with open arms. But it doesn’t matter because it all really depends on how hard the team plays and if they have passion for it. Will the numbers matter? Hopefully not. As always we will be heading for state and trying to win that glorious plaque that has “State Champs” engraved upon it. But no matter the number, the rest of the team will come out and support as much as we can. And I’m not saying only the team can come out and support our other tennis buddies. We would absolutely love for anybody else to come out and cheer on. Is football really the only sport that can have a huge student section? Absolutely not. It can be for any sport, really. Volleyball, golf, bowling, softball, and baseball. So whenever you have time, grab a cherry limeade from Sonic and come watch. I would suggest you really watch: Regionals: October 5th-6th State Championship: October 13th-14th
COLORED JEANS By Sophie Shawver. An upcoming trend this past summer and soon to come fall is the vibrant colored jeans. Girls everywhere are rocking any color jean imaginable. There are so many ways to wear these funky pants, you dress them up or dress them down. These colorful pantaloons can be worn with flats, sandals, boots, or heels. What’s more, patterns always compliment the pants well and accessorizing is key! Colored jeans work well in the summer with their fun colors they can also transition into fall and winter with darker colors.
What did he say? By Bell Schwartz
The economy is arguably the hottest topic for the coming election, but women’s health issues also seem to be coming to the forefront. Since the famous ruling of Roe V. Wade, women’s health rights have caused a great division between the two parties and have caused many heated debates, but why are women’s heath rights even up for discussion? Roe V. Wade stated that under the 14th amendment, women had the right to an abortion; but this right should have never been up for discussion.
sisters, and wife’s. They are half of this country and they are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health,” on the contrary the Republican Party seems to have a much different stance. Their presidential candidate himself has flipped flopped over this issue enough to make his view now seem inconsequential.
reality however, Romney’s VP pick Paul Ryan alongside Todd Akin sponsored a bill to redefine rape. The purpose of this bill was to cut federal funding for abortions for rape victims and to only cover abortions for victims of “forcible” rape. This bill not only reflects badly on the GOP due to its very insensitive nature but also due to its stupidity, since the definition of rape is any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon someone. Even if one is However, there are some very fiscally conservative and disagrees prominent members of this party who are voicing an opinion that as with Mr. Obama’s economic policies if you value your a female is very concerning. Over In our declaration of individual rights, you will vote the past year there have been Independence we clearly state several bills sponsored to not only Obama this November. After all that were endowed with certain isn’t the Republican Party’s main end abortions, but also to end inalienable rights, how is a goal less government contraceptives. These bills alone women’s right to her own body interference? What is more not included in inalienable rights? are frightening, but what is even intrusive then controlling what If our government cannot protect more frightening is the party’s one can do with one’s body? these inalienable rights, then what new view on rape. Todd Akin’s is our government’s purpose? Our recent comment stating that if a woman is being “legitimately” current president’s opinion on women’s health issues is, “Women raped her body can shut down so she doesn’t get pregnant, has been are not an interest group. They played off as a onetime mishap. In are mothers, and daughters, and
B2SB TONIGHT $3
MIDDLE SCHOOL POST PARKING LOT GAME-11PM
Every Collegiate Upper School student is invited.
SPARTANS vs. Buhler..... 7pm