The Budget, Issue 2

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Royalty embrace Homecoming Alfie, Fangman crowned at halftime ceremony

BY MALLORY THOMPSON For seniors Lindsey Fangman and Tristan Alfie, the best part of Homecoming night on Friday could have been being crowned king and queen.

It could have been watching the Lions beat the

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defending state champs, Olathe South, 34-27. It might have even been dressing up and being hugged by friends and family.

Instead, their highlight — the one they couldn’t stop talking about — was riding around in a golf cart decorated with their names.

“That was easily the best part,” Alfie said.

When Alfie was driving, Fangman said she enjoyed pushing down the gas pedal.

“We would zoom forward, and I would be like

‘No! What are you doing?’ “ Alfie said.

To get to the golf carts, these seniors had to go through two rounds of voting that selected the 12 final candidates.

Making it onto court, “was a humongous surprise,” Alfie said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

The court included: seniors Brad Strauss, Shane Willoughby, Tristan Alfie, Adam Edmonds, Audie Monroe, Erick Mayo, Alexis Mountain, Mackenzie Owens, Chandler McElhaney, Sydney Watson, Zoe

Reed and Lindsey Fangman.

After a week filled with premiering the Homecoming video, participating in Rally Around the Lion and riding in the Homecoming parade, the night Continued on page 2

Seniors Lindsey Fangman and Tristan Alfie congratulate each other with a hug after the news was announced that they were the queen and king.

Photo by Abby Gillam Vol. 123, Issue 2, Oct. 3, 2012

Homecoming: wardrobe malfunction adds to nerves Continued from Page 1 finally came when they would find out the results — at halftime of the football game. LHS was taking on Olathe South, which won the class 6A football title in 2011, making the game highly publicized.

With a news helicopter, news broadcasting cameras, photographers and a packed fan section, Fangman had one more thing to worry about: her dress had just ripped.

At the beginning of the game, someone accidentally stepped on her dress. So Fangman, her mom and her mom’s friend rushed to the bathroom to quickly stitch it back together before halftime.

“I was a little freaked out,” Fangman said. “I thought it was ruined.”

Luckily, the sewing job proved successful.

“It looks fine now, you can hardly tell,” Alfie said. “You have to really be look-

ing at it.”

As the clock ticked down to halftime, candidates simply had to sit and wait.

“That minute — the last minute of the [half] — was the longest minute of football in history,” Alfie said.

Fangman agreed the nerves began kicking in at this point.

“We were so nervous,” Fangman said. “We were like, ‘Even if we don’t win, it’s still going to be great because we love everyone on court.’”

When their names were announced, the only emotions the two could feel were excitement and shock.

“I still can’t really believe it,” Alfie said.

This experience meant more than just a cape and a crown for Alfie and Fangman.

“It’s the thought that everyone voted for us,” Fangman said.

“The thought that we were chosen to represent the school,” Alfie added.

Both agree they will take away new friends and memories from being on Homecoming court.

“We were all really good friends, and it was a lot of fun,” Alfie said. “Everyone deserved to win.”

Quick thinking and a little help allowed senior Lindsey Fangman to get her dress stitched back together in time for the halftime ceremony. Photo by

Abby Gillam

Video uses new approach Film class tells story in Homecoming video

BY TIFFANY ROBBINS Homecoming is a tradition of voting, assemblies, campaigns and filming.

But this year, the traditional lip dub Homecoming film underwent changes.

The Homecoming candidates and the film students from room 125 had their work cut out for them this year when it came time for the Homecoming video.

“We wanted to try something new and fresh, more narrative,” said senior film editor Eddie Loupe.

Room 125 productions decided for this year’s Homecoming video to replace the traditional lip dub with a narrative piece. The film was about a day in the life of high school students. They felt that by making it a narrative film it would bring out the personalities of each individual candidate while still showcasing LHS. “Well, obviously it is about the candidates and the video is a way to try and include not only the candidates but show that what makes the video important is the school itself,” Loupe said.

The film students enjoyed the time they spent with the candidates.

“The candidates were excited to be in the video and representing our school the entire time,” senior Savannah Jones said.

Jones with the rest of Room 125 Productions spent four weeks working on the video.

During the first two weeks, they created a plan for the new video. One week was spent getting to know and filming the candidates. The last week was spent editing and perfecting the final details of the film.

Both the candidates and crew behind the camera had to work together to create a successful film.

“When you are the one behind the camera you have to understand that there is a lot of planning and organizing involved,” Loupe said.

Loupe said he was surprised by the acting skills the candidates brought to the table.

“It was easier to work with them this year than in the past, some were unexpectedly good at acting,” Loupe said.

After they completed the editing process, the candidates and the film crew were excited to show the film at the Homecoming assembly.

“It gives the student body a chance to see a really entertaining video and the candidates a chance to show their personalities,” homecoming candidate Zoe Reed said.

The student body responded positively to the new video idea.

“The new idea was very interesting,” senior Dominic Cole said. “It added a fresh twist to things.”

New name for GSA aims to be more inclusive Group formerly known as Gay Straight Alliance shows inclusiveness of gender minorities

BY VAIL MOSHIRI The Gay-Straight Alliance is starting the year under a new name that members hope will be more inclusive.

From now on, GSA will call itself the Organization for Sexuality and Gender Equality, or OSGE. “We wanted to make it clearer that gender minorities were accepted in the club,” said club copresident Felicia Miller. “Gay is used as an umbrella term for sexual minorities sometimes, but it’s not used to include gender minorities. We just wanted to make transgender students feel more comfortable.”

Miller, co-president junior Cheyenne Whitney and sponsor Arla Jones and other members of the group encountered a few obstacles as they considered the name change.

During the club fair students advertised the new name as “Queer-Straight Alliance,” or QSA. Formal complaints arose about using the term “queer.” The

sometimes offensive term has been reclaimed as an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities, Miller said. Still, club members had to find a new name under pressure from parents.

“Parents wouldn’t let the students come if it used the word queer,” Miller said.

About 25 people came to the first after-school meeting of the year, but Whitney expects a slimmer turnout in the future.

Despite the fewer expected to turn out, OSGE’s focus is on educating anyone who comes. “[The club] definitely brings awareness, and the announcements help get the word out there, so we can educate people about the LGBT community,” Whitney said.

One such thing that they hope to educate people

about are popular terms that many don’t know the true definition of. Such terms include: Transsexual: A term used to describe those who are transitioning from one gender to another.

Transgender: Anyone whose mental gender does not match with their physical gender.

Drag Queen: Someone, male or female, who performs femininity theatrically.

Drag King: The masculine version of a drag queen.

But, Whitney and the rest of the Organization for Sexuallity and Gender Equality want to make it clear that it is a club open for anyone.

“Our group’s really accepting,” Whitney said.

“You can still come and learn about everything [no matter what your orientation is].”

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Teachers can’t strike here but retain a strong voice While Chicago educators may strike, Kansas teachers are limited in negotiations

“Being here in Lawrence, I think we have enough power that we can negotiate what we need to be teachers,” Hundley said. “Now if you ask any person do they ever get paid enough, do they ever get small enough classes, do they ever get all the supplies? No. There’s always a little bit more that you could get or would help with teaching.”

While unions might seek more, Hundley said it isn’t out of greed.

BY YU KYUNG LEE “I don’t know if any teachers had got into teaching to get While students in Lawrence were in class, students in rich,” he said. “We are teachers because we love it. The only Chicago enjoyed an unexpected break. reason unions are around is to protect our rights.”

Teachers went on strike, picketing school grounds. Most In Chicago, the school board was proposing longer school students might wish for a seven-day break, but the implicahours, more school days and pay for teachers based on stutions of a strike can be serious. dent test results. Meanwhile, teachers complained of oversized Depending on the state, unions have varying powers of classes and funding constraints. negotiations. In Chicago, where the school district is run by While salary was a negotiable topic for the Chicago teachthe mayor, Rahm Emanuel, the teachers union felt that it did ers, many topics like class sizes were beyond the reach of not have enough power to get demands of teachers met. negotiations. In the end, teachers settled for a smaller than “Rahm Emanuel didn’t seem to respect the teachers or the originally requested raise (an average of 17.6 percent over four union and just wanted to ram years) with other demands his proposals through -- good regarding job security and or bad,” said Jay Hundley, an limiting plans to tie teacher LHS teacher who represents Teachers unions’ power to negotiate with the school districts pay to student assessment the school for the Lawrence varies from state to state. The map below shows the collective scores.

Education Association, the In Lawrence, negotiations bargaining rights of teachers unions in each state. Source: local teachers’ union. also went into overtime this National Council on Teacher Quality While some in Kansas year -- though no where near might have had sympathy the contention in Chicago. for the striking teachers in Sanburn said the school Chicago, a similar strike district was cautious about wouldn’t be allowed here. It’s raises after Gov. Sam Brownforbidden by state law. back pushed for tax cuts that The last -- and only -- time many worry will force cuts a teacher strike occurred to education spending. If the in Kansas was in 1973 in district committed to paying Topeka’s Seaman Unified teachers more, Sanburn School District 345. Unlike said it could later be forced in Chicago, Seaman teachers to make tough choices like went against state law in laying off teachers or increasstriking. Teachers lost their ing class sizes. Teachers will jobs in the aftermath of the be paid about $200 more strike, and many believed than last year, and a $1,000 it damaged the union more one-time bonus offered last than it benefited it. year will be added into the Wade Anderson, the base pay. negotiation director of the “We got everything we Kansas National Education asked for except for the Graphic by Zach Spears Association, the main teachsalary,” Hundley said. “We ers union in the state, said it’s didn’t like that but we also “amazing” that’s the only strike given sometimes contentious knew that the state legislature is not real friendly and doesn’t negotiations, but the law has a lot to do with that. look like it’ll be friendly to education for next couple years.”

“It seems unlikely to me that we’ll have any work stopFor both Lawrence and Chicago, concerns about teacher pages in the future -- at least without any change in law in evaluations cross state lines. Unions have traditionally fought Kansas,” he said. “If it does, it’ll be because circumstances are plans to tie teacher pay to student test scores. very extreme.”

Kansas will soon have to face the very same question.

Does that mean that teachers in Lawrence have less power The state got a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind than do teachers in Chicago? Not necessarily. The state law legislation that requires teacher evaluation to include student that bans teacher strikes was intended to promote a spirit of performance. Currently, teacher evaluation is not based on compromise, not to hinder the powers of teachers, Anderson student merit for it is a negotiable item for unions. said.

“Either it will take legislative action for the state legislature While striking could provide powerful leverage in negotiato pass a bill that says local boards no longer have to negotiate tions as it did in Chicago, Kansas teachers have greater powon this evaluation tool, in which case it would no longer be ers at the negotiating table. in the union’s control at all, or we are going to have to figure “Teachers in Kansas have the opportunity to negotiout a way to get the teachers to agree to that by offering them ate; teachers in Chicago don’t,” said USD 497 school board something else that they really want,” Sanburn said. “And in president Vanessa Sanburn. “Really the only thing the teachers a year where I don’t think there’s going to be extra money to in Chicago can negotiate on are salary and possibly the benefit spend on raises, it’ll be interesting to see how that happens.” items, so that’s the only leverage they have along with their As our own school district faces these difficult decisions, ability to strike.” it’ll be important for the union and the school board to mainEven the decision to expand the school day from six tain a cooperative spirit. to seven classes had to be discussed and accepted by the “A lot of times that we look like we are enemies but we are district’s teachers union. actually partners to educate students,” Hundley said. “That’s Hundley said he feels secure even without the power to go the way the relationship should be: friendly and professional. on a strike.

We are trying to help each other here.”

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Sophomore publishes first book Dylan McManis’ novel ‘The God Tournament’ hit the shelves at Barnes and Noble last month after two years and seven months of hard work

BY ABBY GILLAM Most high school students have goals to be on student council, ride on the homecoming float or even make the varsity soccer team, but sophomore Dylan McManis may be in a class of his own with his accomplishment.

McManis began writing the book when he was in eighth grade. “The God Tournament,” a teen supernatural book that is a part of a planned series, The Ragnarok Chronicles, incorporates concepts from different mythologies and has a world-end scenario.

Since finishing the manuscript in December, McManis has been editing and working with his publishing company, Rowe-Publishing Design. Rowe-Publishing Design is a homegrown, family-oriented publishing company centered in Kansas.

“I’m mostly planning right now [for the

4 | The Budget

next book in the trilogy],” McManis said. “I have a fifth of one done right now.”

For McManis, the prewriting process is just as important as the final copy. When he prewrites, he lists out the major events he wants to accomplish, like adding in a new character, and goes from there.

“I would usually jot down into my iPod [concepts to cover in the book],” McManis said. “I see how it links to my book and if it’s really cool, I’ll see how I can incorporate it.”

Along with prewriting, the publishing process is just as important when producing a book, he said.

Before showing his book to his publisher, he said he had to go through and make any edits. Next, he took his work to his publisher and they discussed any possible edits that need to be made.

“My publishing process took about seven months,” McManis said. “Even for the big publishers, that’s what it’s probably going to be like especially with first-time authors.

After you get your first book published it’s going to be a lot quicker and it would only be about two months.”

McManis also writes short stories and poems for the Graffiti Magazine and has started writing novels that don’t belong to the trilogy.

“I’ve always been a creative person and I’ve never been good at sports,” McManis

said. “I wanted to do something with my life that could make people smile and entertain them.”

But writing hasn’t been all fun and games to the young-adult fiction writer.

Writing and publishing his first novel was a chaotic process due to the amount of time it took as well as the high stress-level. But for McManis, the amount of time and effort paid off in the end.

“It really makes you look at the world through different eyes whenever you read something or write an essay,” McManis said.

“You’re thinking of it more on the technical and creative side then you are on the ‘Oh my gosh, I’m writing an essay this sucks.’”

Even though writing has been and will be a major part of McManis’ life, he does not intend on solely being a writer in the future, but does want to write on the side for some spare pocket change. He hopes to major in English and teach or get a cooking degree and go from there. “[Writing is] a real good and happy part of my life but it won’t ever be able to take up the entire bit,” McManis said.

The newly published author Dylan McManis holds out a hard copy of his first novel of the Ragnarok Chronicles, a trilogy, “The God Tournament.”

Photo by Abby Gillam

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Oct. 3, 2012

Students shared their involvement in a survey given during lunch.

Graphic by Gracie Rinke

Overinvolvement a way of life for some

Busy students learn to balance commitments to school, activities

BY KEYTY ASHCRAFT Some students can’t pass by a sign-up sheet without writing down their names.

They’re involved in everything -- at the risk of losing sleep and sanity -- but say they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I do feel overwhelmed, but I get through it,” senior Grace Morgan said. “I just know that there’s always an end to it, if it’s ever in a really bad time.”

Morgan is involved in cross country, track, FYI Club, Knitting Club, National Honors Society, National Art Honors Society, choir, and orchestra. She also volunteers at the library and is very involved with her church.

“I go on mission trips,” Morgan said.

“This summer, I went to Denver and we

Oct. 3, 2012

worked with the homeless in that whole area. I’ve also gone to New Orleans and helped rebuild homes for (Hurricane) Katrina. I do [other] stuff with the church, too, like with Family Promise, or around Thanksgiving [we] pass out meals to people.”

Senior Emily McEntire is also very involved. She is in cross country, track and National Honors Society, along with Sign Language Club. In her spare time, she works with the youth group and nursery at her church, along with her job at the Body Boutique nursery.

“It’s school every day, cross country every day, working [is] four hours on Monday, four hours on Wednesday, and lots and lots of homework,” McEntire said. “Saturdays, [I have] all day cross country meets, and Sundays is all working and volunteering.”

Morgan also has a hectic schedule.

“I’m basically gone from 6:30 in the morning to 5:30 at night,” she said.

However, all of this involvement isn’t limited to just seniors. Sophomore Sadie Keller is involved in volleyball, soccer, Heart of a Lion, FCS, FYI, Choir, Band, Stuco, Forensics and National History Day. She is also hoping to be in the musi-

cal.

“I have to prioritize and not spend time on off-task things, like reading or watching Dance Moms,” Keller said.

Another very involved student is senior Audie Monroe, who, although he lives in Ottawa, manages to make it to cross country and cheer practice, Club Couture, FYI and FCS meetings, A Capella choir concerts, along with offand-on volunteering.

“Everyday I wake up at about 5:15...

[My commute] is like 30 minutes,” Monroe said. “I get to school at 6:45 usually.

Tuesdays I get home around six, [and every other day] I get home at around nine.”

Prioritization is key for students involved in many activities, and some of them admitted to losing sleep in order to finish homework in time. “[When I feel overwhelmed], those are the nights I stay up really, really late,” McEntire said.

They also had other tips for students struggling with time management.

“Don’t put the things you struggle with aside -- make those your first priority,” Keller said. “And get help where it’s needed.”

Page Design By Yu Kyung Lee

They all agreed that procrastination is a challenge.

“Figure out what days you can work on something [and] what classes you need to put more effort into than others,” Morgan said.

Monroe had some specific advice for underclassmen especially.

“When you’re younger, definitely try tons of new things,” Monroe said. “But when you get older, you want to start prioritizing and understanding what’s going to actually help you in your career or in your future. If you’re spending like 20 hours a week doing something you’re not going to pursue after you get out of high school, you probably should stop doing that, unless you have time for it. But if there’s other stuff you want to do, it’s a good skill to learn what you should be doing and what you shouldn’t be doing.”

The busiest students learn to say no when they don’t have enough time for what they find most important.

“Sometimes I have to cancel on volunteering or have to skip a practice or something like that because schoolwork comes first; it’s kind of the core of everything,” Morgan said. “I have to make sure I have time for that.”

Monroe also had to make sacrifices to make time to do what is most important to him.

“I don’t get to go to youth group anymore because I just have too much going on,” Monroe said. “Instead of investing myself partially into something, I stop doing something completely, because I’d rather be fully invested than partially invested.”

Some say they would like to continue their busy schedules in college.

“I really want to do running in college, but that’s a big ‘if,’” Morgan said. “I’d really like to do music too and definitely volunteer. I know the classes are harder, but you have more time. I know I’m not going to be gone for 11 hours [each day] like I am now.”

Something each of these students agree on is that they couldn’t see themselves any other way.

“A huge part of high school are the opportunities to be involved in different areas, and LHS is known for kids being very good at lots of things,” Keller said.

“Extracurricular activities give me a chance to learn responsibility, make friends, and a chance to excel in leadership.”

5 | The Budget

Daily Chesty’s Chat asks LHS to ‘think about that’ Senior Cole Cummins asks the questions students ponders Do fish ever get thirsty? How do you handcuff a man with one arm?

What if the red that you see is different from the red that I see?

Students are presented with perplexing questions like these every morning during Cole’s World, this year’s Chesty’s Chat segment hosted by senior Cole Cummins.

“I wanted to bring insight and

laughter to the great students of Lawrence High School,” Cummins said.

Each day students look forward to hearing the question of the day.

“I like that you actually have to think about the answers,” sophomore Nicole Kelly said.

That is what teacher Jason Lichte, who oversees the Chesty’s Chat auditions, had in mind when he picked Cummins.

“We look for creativity and something that would apply to students,” Lichte said. “I think it gives students a little something to munch on intellectually.”

Chesty’s Chat may seem all fun and games, but it can be difficult to think of a question everyday. “[The questions] come to me when I am in deep thought, like right before bed or in the shower,” Cummins said. “[When I run out of ideas] I text [senior] Brad Strauss.”

Something else to look forward to is the special segments on Fridays. Cummins calls them Celeb Fact Fridays.

Most questions trigger a soft chuckle throughout classes, while some make students groan and roll their eyes.

“My favorite one was the one about Pinocchio,” Cummins said.

“The worst one was probably the oxygen making your voice deeper one.”

Cummins says he has been receiving both positive and negative feedback about his daily questions.

“People say they like them, others say they don’t,” he said. “But that’s OK, haters gonna hate.”

Which side are you on? As Cummins would say, “Think about that.”

Speaking into the phone, senior Cole Cummins reads off his daily Cole’s World on the morning announcements. On Sept. 26 his question was “Why do hotdogs come in packages of eight when hotdog buns come in packages of 10?” Photo by Ella Magerl

This graphic shows the composite scores for the graduating classes, nationally, state-wide and locally. The highest score possible is a 36. While Lawrence students perform above the state and national average on the ACT, the average score for students has decreased.

Graphic by Nathaniel Reynolds

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Athletes move up in teams

Dedication and work through off-season shows coaches athletes improved

BY MALLORY THOMPSON

After a summer of dedicating every morning to two or more hours of weight lifting with his team, senior Arthur Hall accomplished his goal of making varsity football.

Many other athletes showed their dedication and improvement this season, allowing them to make the jump from one level to another.

“I attended summer weights and only missed two days, so it was nice that all the hard work paid off,” Hall said.

Hall admitted waking up early and exercising for over two hours was not an easy accomplishment.

“It’s hard to be in the weight room at 7 a.m. for nine weeks when some of your buddies are sleeping in,” football coach Dirk Wedd said.

Hall made this sacrifice in honor of his senior year.

“I think just the whole aspect of [this] being my last year of playing football kind of got me more amped up,” Hall said. “I just felt like this is my team now.”

Sophomore Keeli Billings, who was also looking to improve this season, continued playing volleyball during her off-season -- through the winter and summer. This led to her move from freshman team to JV. “I wanted to be able to move up and show the coaches that I’ve improved,” Billings said.

Many cross country runners also worked during the off-season. These runners improved by conditioning during the summer, cross country coach Brian Anderson said.

“They faced heat and many miles of running with runners who are faster than them,” he said.

For most players, this transition required changes. “[These runners] have improved their drive to excel and are more willing to get out of their comfort zone to

achieve new goals,” Anderson said.

Other mental adjustments also had to be made.

“They all had to decide how badly they wanted to be LHS football players,” Wedd said.

Being on higher teams leads to a change in the level of competition players face. Along with this comes added difficulty.

“Varsity is a lot more pressure,” sophomore cross country runner Caitlin Lewis said. Lewis was mainly on JV last year, with a few varsity races later in the season.

This year, she has already began qualifying for varsity races.

This pressure comes not only from coaches and fel-

Sprinting to the finish, sophomore Caitlin Lewis finishes her race at Rim Rock during the Jayhawk Invitational on Sept. 22. Lewis ran with JV this race, getting a time that qualified her to run varsity for the next meet. Photo by Madison Ruder low teammates, but from fans as well.

“You’ve got the crowd, which just adds a lot more adrenaline,” Hall said. “It’s a lot more fun to play in front of your friends.”

Hall would advise anyone looking to move up in teams to “Just keep working hard. Coaches will notice,” Hall said. “If you want a spot, go for it.”

Tailgate break down: keys to success

BY HARLEY PHELPS

Junior Marly Carmona “It ranges from all different age groups. It’s a great way to meet new people.”

Friday nights 45 minutes prior to kick off, you can find a variety of LHS students in the parking lot, tailgating. Students use tailgating as a pre-game hype to get the students ready and prepared to cheer at the games.

After talking to several regular tailgaters, the most important steps to having a tailgate were compiled and the keys to success were confirmed.

Junior Haley Ryan “In order to tailgate to the fullest, grub is essential. Ain’t nobody happy if yo tummy ain’t happy.”

Graphic by Zach Spears

Senior Connor Murphy “Have someone who is good at grilling, like me.”

Oct. 3, 2012

Senior Chandler McElhaney “The bigger the tailgate the better the tailgate.”

Page Design by Mallory Thompson

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9 | The Budget

the

Budget

The Budget is published every three weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 660462999.

The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contributions from 21st Century Journalism and guest columnists. The newspaper’s goals are to inform, entertain and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members. The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising.

The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of Lawrence High School or USD 497.

OPINION

Homework overloads students Teachers should carefully consider the burden of take-home work

BY KATIE JACOBSEN Exhaustion, back pains and a lack of time have students questioning the importance of homework.

In classes, teachers stress that in order to succeed, homework must be complete. However, many students struggle with completing everything due to other engagements and the amount of work required. Some studies show that if students have too much homework, it diminishes the effectiveness.

The amount of homework teachers give should be reevaluated and adjusted to more positively influence student achievement.

When 14 students were asked how they felt about homework, most understood its importance but saw it as too repetitive and time consuming. Eight out of the 14 said managing homework as well as extracurricular activities leads to long days and late nights, some staying up as late as 2 a.m., receiving less than five hours of sleep.

Many students like some classes and dislike others based on the amount of homework.

According to a review on homework by the researchers at Edvantia for the Center of Public Education, there is “no conclusive evidence that homework increases student

Issue Editor-in-Chief: Yu Kyung Lee Editorial Board: Mallory Thompson, Sports Yu Kyung Lee, features Lily Abromeit, News Ella Magerl, Design Abby Gillam, Photo Mara McAllister, Online Staff: Kaitlin Ashcraft-Galve Candace Barnes Isaiah Bell Jordan Brown Ashley Hocking (Managing Editor) Louisa Holland (Opinion Editor) Vail Moshiri Harley Phelps Nathaniel Reynolds Grace Rinke Tiffany Robbins Kendra Schwartz (Assistant Online Editor) Zach Spears Shelby Steichen Morgan Wildeman Adviser: Barbara Tholen

10 | The Budget

achievement across the board,” which makes such requirements seem unfair and unnecessary. Why do 10 problems when you can sufficiently learn the material in five? With homework, less is more.

Stress and sleep deprivation in teens are two major effects of too much homework. According to one study by sleep expert Dr. Mary Carskadon, teens should receive no less than nine hours of sleep every night in order to stay healthy and fully focused in the classroom. Few teens, however, have such a luxury.

As many are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities and have jobs, homework becomes a late-at-night task. Carskadon suggests that in order to get enough sleep, teens should eliminate extracurricular activities and avoid afterschool jobs. This is not possible for most students. On top of time management, teens struggle with the stress put on them by adults and others to get good grades.

Fatigued and stressed, students struggle to maintain good academic standings.

Some may argue that stress and fatigue only affect a certain amount of the student body. However, heavy backpacks often lead to back and shoulder pains that affect the majority of students. Since many teachers assign bookwork, students can carry in their bags up to seven textbooks. In an article by ABC News, it was recorded that students carry nearly 22 percent of their body weight in their bags, which for many students is more than 30 pounds.

Even when both straps are worn, the weight of the bag is often distributed unevenly putting more pressure on one shoulder than the other. This uneven pressure causes shoulder pain and can affect the curvature of the spinal cord, leading to severe back pain.

From a medical perspective, late nights and heavy bags are unhealthy for students. If too much homework can so negatively affect teens, it should be rethought to more effectively meet students’ needs.

Rethinking homework would help many perform better in the classroom.

But where should teachers start? Many students suggested general things such as cutting down the amounts and limiting repetitive questions. Other suggestions went more in depth. One student said teachers should switch to more worksheets, so they wouldn’t have to carry so many textbooks. Another student suggested making homework a less dominant part of the overall grade and another went so far as to suggest making homework optional for those who need it but not mandatory for those who don’t.

Homework isn’t a bad thing. It can be a very useful tool. But, too much homework is rarely a good thing. Reevaluating homework amounts and coordination among teachers would lead to a healthier, happier learning environment for all students.

Graphic by Felicia Miller Oct. 3, 2012

OPINION

Daily dash to class creates problems Longer passing period would help students better prepare

BY LEAH NOVINGER With elbows flying and kids pushing, it’s hard for students to get to their classes before the bell rings. Due to the narrow hallways and spread-out classes, students are struggling.

The length of passing period is only five minutes. That’s five minutes for students to use the restroom, stop at their lockers and get to class on time. For students rushing from the English hallway to the annex, it’s nearly impossible.

LHS needs to extend the passing period by a minute or two, so students can make it on time to their classes.

Of course, the school would have to revise the schedule and in effect, decrease class time. But students would be on time to their classes, and the benefits of that would pay off throughout the rest of the class period.

Most importantly, students could stop at their lockers to get their specific materials for their next class. That means that they would be more prepared and ready for their courses.

Another disadvantage of having a short passing period is that teachers often waste class time re-explaining or revising attendance just because a student was late.

Finally, teachers’ preparation time will be increased and they will be ready when their students start to arrive. Teachers will be able to finish up any work and be ready to teach their students.

Overall, six to seven minutes of passing is a longer and more useful time for students to get ready, use the restroom and make it to classes on time. While having to change the schedule, making the passing periods longer would help, not only the students, but also teachers in many ways.

Graphic by Zach Spears

Bus drivers should remember guideline: No Child Left Behind Too often, buses drivers leave riders in the dust

BY MATT ROE Buses need to do a better job serving the school. Buses depart school too soon and drop students off too early on late-arrival days.

Imagine, you just walked out the doors after school when you notice a large group of students bunched around the spot where your bus usually waits for you. When you approach the spot, you notice that the people clustered around the spot also ride on your bus. After finding that nobody knows where the bus is, you spot it. The empty bus is stuck in traffic three blocks down the road. You and your bus-mates run to catch the bus only to have the traffic clear, allowing the bus to go on without noticing you. This is a scenario that is faced almost daily by students who ride a bus to and from school.

Often, students are left behind at the fault of bus drivers who fail to follow bus company rules requiring them to wait 10-15 minutes after school for students. In addition, buses drop students at school an hour early on late arrival days. This has to stop.

It may be inconvenient to bus drivers, but they should have to do exactly what the bus company tells them. A bus that leave early hurts the bus company’s reputation. Yes,

Oct. 3, 2012

following the rules may take slightly more time out of the bus drivers’ schedules, but it is their job to follow the schedule and rules given to them by the bus company.

Buses should wait the required waiting time after school, so students don’t have to rush to get to the bus. Buses leave way too early most likely due to bus drivers wanting to finish their routes early, and if you do get left behind at the school you will have to wait for a family member to pick you up, which could take hours depending on how far away they work. Whole busloads of students have been left behind before because the driver wanted to finish the route early, spreading the problem to many families.

In addition, on late-arrival days the buses pick students up more than an hour before they should. It is true, of course, that keeping the same schedule all year long makes it easier for the bus drivers, but many problems result.

Students arriving at school early disrupts zero-hour classes because students often mess around in the hallways before school. Of even greater importance, security guards have to work harder on late arrival days because they have to watch all the students wandering in the halls for a longer period of time than on normal days. Finally if bus students didn’t have to get up as early they would have more energy and attentiveness in class which would help the teachers.

The bus company and the school district should cooperate to conform to the high school schedule, making the bus more enjoyable for students. If they can’t cooperate then USD 497 may want to consider using a different bus company.

Fall program should better recognize all fall athletes

BY LOUISA HOLLAND

Along with the leaves changing color and the switch from shorts to jeans, fall also brings the LHS fall sports program.

And that’s where the controversy comes in.

This year, the LHS fall sports program came out as usual — but with some noticeable errors. For example: the Freshmen Volleyball team’s picture was actually the C-Team Volleyball picture and the C-Team Volleyball picture was already printed on the previous page.

On top of having technical errors, some students feel as though the program features too much LHS football coverage.

Matt Weiss, a junior on the varsity football team, argues that, “Football is always going to be the biggest sport because that’s the ‘American sport’ and that’s the sport people want to watch. That’s the big sport of the year, so why not have a lot of football pictures in there?”

One reason why the program features LHS football extensively is that the football parents put it together.

I don’t find any problem with the fact that LHS football appears on 33 pages of the 52 page sports program, including the cover. It’s the football parents who took the time to create the program after all. It

Page Design by Kendra Schwartz

Football is the focus throughout the fall sports program beginning with the cover, which is featured above. might be worthwhile if other parents of athletes from other sports had more of a say, but if the football parents really care about the program and want to design it, I have no issue.

What I do have a problem with is the technical errors of the program. While football is awesome, there are other fall sports with athletes who deserve to be recognized. When small errors aren’t noticed, it seems that those pages were just thrown together and that the errors don’t matter, when actually, they do.

All athletes, no matter what sports team they are a part of, deserve to shine. If those sports are covered in the fall sports program, then those teams deserve to have their respected pictures without error.

11 | The Budget

Class captures Kansas views

BY ELLA MAGERL

Angelia Perkins’ zero hour photography portfolio/studio class took a roadtrip from Sept. 22 to 23, traveling across western Kansas. They made many stops along the way, including Rock City in Minneapolis, Kan., the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kan., and Castle Rock in Quinter, Kan. They stayed overnight at the Ringneck Ranch in Tipton. This was the first overnight photography class field trip Perkins had ever organized.

Scaling the side of a rock, Senior Tom Foster is photographed by senior Sarah Sutterfield, while senior Emmett Wick and junior Kelsie Middaugh adjust their camera lenses to capture the perfect image. Photo by Above:

Ella Magerl Aligned to shoot pictures of the rolling hills at Ringneck Ranch in Tipton, Kan., are senior Mara McAllister, senior Morgan Scnheider and junior Kelsie Middaugh. Photo by Left:

Ashley Hocking Foster climbs down a rock tunnel in Castle Rock. “[Castle Rock] was definitely the highlight of the trip because we explored all these rock caverns for about an hour and a half,” Foster said. Photo by Ella Magerl

Oct. 3, 2012

The 100th anniversary Red & Black yearbook is on sale now in the finance office

Page Design by Ashley Hocking and Ella Magerl

check us out online.

ORDER NOW! 2013 yearbook

www.lhsbudget.com

Far Left:

12 | The Budget