Issue 1

Harbinger the

H T U R T E H T G N I APP

ISSUE 1 / SHAWNEE MISSION EAST / PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

SEPT. 2, 2008

R W N U

g n i l i a f e r a t n e rc e p 0 4 r e v o t u b , e t a r d r o c e r a at s t s e t P A g n i k a t e r a s t n e d u t s East Y // LOGANHELE

ave put hould h s y e th [the AP “I think ns on o r ti e “I h la c u a p ti te mics on said. r some s P Econo hy e y],” Ogd A c id rp li s . u o n p m M o a c a x g c t the e migh testin Rebec y r e to t e th a n , e th in o e y rc b d rd o ay foun on if u 14 pe and IB co think, m designati a five, hat is a nts have T e P d A . tu d e s . e t il re th a befo r, or were fa says th you get P e rule. t the year w e, a fou ing time las oles in th ber of A ase from d to sho e a thre h e iv m t re p n d a pass e c u o rs e c ig n in ll fi s lo re a e e c d ry th is e is e ts g v t r, n th a in e a m e e h d a rk w wo L ast y The ex erstand “For th East stu which is at were .” nts und ken by d kids th y said. I had ulative the exam policy a m n h u o e stude I c e th r d a a e tests ta ra if y h g is trict’s AP f the rp is It u d d s e M e

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8 pe ’m going m. Th abrupt ve, the ss’s fina any of the stude nal exam nd said ‘I nearly 3 ials attribute the la fi curriculu e is a fi ents a c r iv u e o c t y I u re f p

o m nd s n .’ c t a t a a n m u a ffi c s o w o rt o e th ti t a l y y n a n c o p a e o scho stude my w design believ ral de t a poli d the e a e P v e th A g iv S e t e in in c tl n c a b . o w e fa re e v s u o e lf n a e to a id en s rise to th fore last year, all lowest o d a large incre get myse who hav wanted ren’t ev t e P n s A w a ju o e e d to a y r b ls h th e e a e h t bu st wante at take in plac at East mean th twos eit g the test, failures. nal or ju st dents th ignation on in fi a k s E tu s r’ ta e e P .” th ts h f it c A n f on. ead o only ber o stude about the tea P des designati on, the h at a the num ver, allows get the A it for the rease in spects th t Cole Ogd e e c u k exam to w s in o ta t, h n e t. , o to als licy scrip epartm bough AP exam The po their tran st school year science d tudents last year take the AP en o v f h a e o s p w f r o se o f n o e o ts r e rp b ti e n h T stude numb esigna sole pu d est num h e P r ig a th A u h e fo r e e t iv fo th th e class’s e las t rece still get the test marked to take th y do no at least th g e n o in in th v s re a if re o h c u t no test fail passing s taken, the tests final. years. Of t n e rc e p 42

age 3

Continued on p

s e r o c s AP osed l c en

NEWS: Remembering David Lengle >PAGE 2 SPREAD: Principal brings policy changes >PAGE 12-13 A&E: Fall movie preview >PAGE 19

PAGE 2 NEWS / SEPT. 2, 2008

The good

samaritan

Sophomore dies after car accident, but his generosity is remembered // PAIGECORNWELLandBERNADETTEMYERS

At the funeral, friends and family of sophomore David Lengle listened to the story of the Good Samaritan, who cared for a stranger and expected nothing in return. The Reverend paralleled this sermon, given at the Aug. 22 service, with the generosity the listeners saw in David.

The same David who gave advice to all his friends, said “hi” to people he didn’t know in the halls and always said “thank you” no matter how small the favor.

David was hit by a car shortly after 5 p.m. on Aug. 15 while attempting to cross the street at 77th and Metcalf.

He and a friend, who asked not to be identified, had been walking from Quiktrip to the McDonalds across the street to rent a DVD. The accident is under investigation by the Overland Park Police Department.

David was pronounced dead early the next morning at Overland Park Regional Center. He was 15.

Friends were planning on meeting at Lengle’s house to hang out later that night, but instead ended up at the hospital. When David’s girlfriend, junior Audrey Howell, arrived at the hospital, she found her boyfriend on a ventilator. Two people were allowed to go into his room at a time, to say goodbye.

His last act of generosity was to have his organs donated. *** Light shone through the pink and yellow stained glass in the church ceiling as the Rev. Peter Rehwaldt officiated the service.

“As far as funerals go, this is not how its supposed to be,” Rehw a l d t said. “High schoolers are supposed to go to football games with their

friends. Not funerals. School dances. Not funerals. This was not how it was supposed to be.”

David had plans. Plans to attend K-State. Plans to always have fun. Plans to eventually propose to his girlfriend.

“He had a life to live,’ Howell said. “We planned on being together forever. We were going to have kids.

Seven kids. He loved kids.” *** When Katie Lavender, mother of sophomore Jesse Lavender, David’s friend and neighbor, met David at 5-years-old, he struck her as an extremely polite boy.

Because her husband coached basketball in elementary school, they gave David countless rides to games and practices.

“He’s the only friend of Jesse’s that always thanked us for anything, even when we first met him,” Mrs. Lavender said.

When she heard about the accident, she was the one who took David’s mom to the hospital. She was with friends and her “second son” when he died. She was at the funeral remembering David playing football with Jesse.

A reception followed the funeral, where a slideshow showed pictures of Lengle. One baby picture of David playing in the snow. Another with him sprawled in a pumpkin path. And another lying in a tire swing paired with his favorite quote by Bob Marley: “Live the life you love, love the life you live.” *** During the summers, Lengle helped his neighbors move, walked their dogs, and assisted an elderly family with their yard work. Always generous. He was the one who thought of things to do when his friends were bored.

“He didn’t like being lazy, like me,” Lavender said with a laugh.

David and his friends would watch movies, play Frisbee, walk to the creek with Lengle’s black labcollie mix, Murphy. He walked everywhere, and didn’t like wearing Donations to help defray David’s medical shoes. He had gotten a staph infection after he stepped on a rock and funeral costs may be made to: while playing Frisbee barefoot, The David Lengle Memorial Fund and had to be on crutches most of c/o Kate Lavender the summer.

5808 W. 79th Street “That really hurt him,” sophomore Russell Philpott said. “He Prairie Village, KS 66208 said he was going crazy being inor Bank side.”

UMB Even at night he was looking 80th and Metcalf for some way to entertain himself.

When sophomore Quan Brunt LEFT: Junior Audrey Howell and David Lengle was the first one to fall asleep one night, Lengle put shaving cream pose before the Homecoming dance last year.

They had been dating since June. ABOVE: David at his friend’s lakehouse.

// AUDREYHOWELL

on his ears, face and nose.

“I woke up and then fell back asleep,” Brunt said.

“And then he did it again. He’d always be up, ready to do something else.”

But Lengle was also the friend who let Brunt sleep in Lengle’s bed, while he slept on the floor. Always generous. *** After Rehwaldt told the story of the Good Samaritan, he explained how David knew how to love God, and love his neighbor.

“You all smiled when you saw one another earlier,” Rehwaldt said, addressing the more than 100 people who attended. “The love David showed is the same love you are showing to each other.”

More than half the East wrestling team attended, all sitting in the same row. Lengle wrestled his freshman year.

“He worked really hard,” wrestling coach Chip Ufford said. “He was not very outspoken but right in the middle of the pack. He did a good job doing just what he needed to do.”

Some students at the funeral said they barely knew David, but had said hi to him in the hallways, or had a class with him. Though Lengle’s closest friends were those who had gone to Tomahawk Elementary with him, he had a wide circle of friends.

“I’d see him in the hallways,” sophomore Mark Mergen said. “Some kids would just blow you off, but he’d say hi. He was understanding of people and what they needed.” *** “I love you.”

The last text message Howell received from David while she was at work was random. Rarely would he send a message out of the blue, unless he had a question.

“I love you more,” Howell sent back in her text message to him.

“The text message had been opened and read,” Howell said. “The last thing he saw from me said, ‘I love you more.’”

This was not how it was supposed to be. But David’a group of friends have now grown closer, according to Howell. They text each other during school, ask each other how they’re doing. When they listen to Sublime, David’s favorite band, they look up, saying out loud, “this is for you David.”

“Maybe that was one of God’s reasons, to bring us closer,” Howell said.

Howell knows David wouldn’t want them to be sad.

He’d want them to be happy, go on with their lives. Always generous.

“Some people have a limit on how much they can give,” Howell said. “For David, there was no limit.”

Failing to make

the

cut

Despite the recent rise in number of AP tests taken, more and more students are failing

// CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE “[The AP designation] looks really good to colleges,” senior David Spero said.

Ogdon recognizes that there has been a push by the district to increase the number of AP tests being taken by Shawnee Mission students.

“The reasoning behind [the AP policy] is that we feel, and I strongly feel this way too, that we should be in one of the top 100 high schools in the nation, when those rankings come out,” Ogdon said.

“Some parents felt so strongly about it that they actually wrote letters to the publications that come up with these lists and said, ‘Why aren’t we in the top 100?’ And the response they got back, the written response was that we don’t have enough people taking the AP exams.”

District Superintendent Gene Johnson said that making Newsweek’s “America’s Best High

// CC C

REI

DEN

BER G

PAGE 3 NEWS / ISSUE ONE Schools” list was part of the AP policy discussion. But giving students college-like experiences was the district’s main concern because, according to Betsy Degen, the district Director of Curriculum and Instruction, it would be difficult for a Shawnee Mission high school to get on the list.

“It would almost need to be a requirement of students to participate, before we could every reach that top 100,” Degen said. “And that’s not a direction the district is going to go.”

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews designs the ratio that is used to determine Newsweek’s list. His ratio takes the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school divided by the number of graduating seniors. In the 2006-2007 school year, there were 570 tests, and 490 graduating seniors. Last school year there were 686 tests and 469 graduating seniors.

Principal Krawitz doesn’t want East to be judged by the scores alone.

“We get into trouble when all they want to look at are the numbers,” Krawitz said. “In some cases numbers are good, but it doesn’t show the true successes of the school. The numbers don’t lie, but they don’t tell the whole story.”

According to AP Psychology teacher and Social Studies Department Head John Comstock, the higher number of ones and twos is a problem across the district, in all subjects. Department heads from across the district have been pushing for a policy change that would make students have to pass the AP test to get the AP designation on their transcript.

Johnson said that the district is not planning a policy change because he has not received the AP data yet. Degen said it takes about three years of data to find out if a program is working.

Senior Alexandria Norton says there are two main reasons for students to take the AP exam, to get the AP designation and to not take the final.

M u r p h y thinks that the AP test is ideal prep ara -

tion to see what a comprehensive exam could take AP courses and do very well looks like. choose not to because they want to fo“As a parent, I am going to encourage cus in other areas.” my kids to take the exam,” Murphy said.

Krawitz supports the push for more “But I think there is a real difference be- AP testing, but wants East to stay true tween going and trying hard and going to the idea that education is about the in and knowing in your head, ‘I have no student. intention of taking this test’.”

“I want to encourage the AP testing, According to Leigh Anne Neal, the because it gives the experience of the district Director of Public Information rigors of college,” Krawitz said. “I would and Communications, students can tell those 69 percent [that received a receive college credit by taking the AP three or lower on their AP exams] I want exam, however, students that receive them to do better, but not for some magones and twos on the AP tests generally azine’s list. I don’t think you should have do not get college credit to go out and prove something to get on According to Degen, the AP program the list. I want [school] to be what it is, is designed to give the students a true not what others want it to be. You have college experience. Studies by the Col- to be genuine. You have lege Board say that students that are in to be real.” the AP program gain confidence that can be helpful for when the students go off to college. Taking the AP test is supposed to give the students a feel for the kind of tests they will receive in college.

“We know that preparation for the AP examination is a very worthwhile experience for students, regardless of the score they receive on the exam,” Degen said. “It prepares them for the experience they are going to have when they move on to the collegiate level.”

Degen says that the district Number of Seniors: wants the AP classes to be 05/06-438 rigorous. They also want every student to be pre06/07- 490 pared to take the end 07/08- 469 of year AP exam. But Ogdon has seen some Number of AP Tests Taken: cases where it is very 05/06- 249 difficult for students 06/07-304 because the teachers cannot teach the en07/08-487 tire curriculum.

“Sometimes Number of IB Tests Taken: the teachers drop 05/06- 113 the ball,” Ogdon 06/07- 147 said. “They get 07/08- 266 overwhelmed just like the Source: Barb Johnson students get overwhelmed.”

For teacher Rick Royer, KC area schools who made the list: the main problem is not that there • Sumner Academy: 2.95 is not enough time to • Hogan Prep: 2.267 cover the material, be• Park Hill: 1.925 cause he is still teaching • Blue Valley North: 1.467 to the district curriculum, which is not the same as the AP curriculum.

Source: Newsweek.com Dr. Johnson doesn’t consider the AP program an “end all” in the district.

“We have so many other opportunities for students,” Johnson said. “Some students who maybe

How East Measures Up

KC Connection

Newsweek’s Top 5 Public Schools 1. Basis Charter 2. Talented and Gifted 3. Suncoast Community 4. Science/Engineering Magnet 5. Stanton College Prep

Tuscon, Arizona Dallas, Texas Riveria Beach, Florida Dallas, Texas Jacksonville, Florida

17.167 15.953 10.387 10.245 9.893

Index of a school for Newsweek’s Top 5 Public High Schools is determined by the number of the combination of AP and IB tests taken that year divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Source: Newsweek.com

PAGE 4 NEWS / SEPT. 2, 2008

briefs The mini-plays Frequent Fridays start September 12th in the Little Theater at 3:00. The following are the Frequent Fridays for the first Quarter: Olivia Sieck.. Sept. 12 Anne Haines... Sept. 26 Christina Beynon... Oct. 24 Ansley Rowe... Oct. 31 Hillary Surface... Nov. 14 The deadline to enroll in classes at Johnson County Community College for College Now credit is Sept.

8.

Students can enroll online at www.jccc.org, or at the JCCC Campus in the admissions office Elections for Student Council Freshmen Class Officers and Class Representatives are Sept. 5 on the north ramp before school, during lunch, and after school. Remember to bring your student ID as it is needed to cast your vote!

Seminar Update: Student Council elections assembly (freshmen only)- tomorrow during seminar the freshmen class will gather to hear speeches from their class officer candidates.

Counselors will be visiting freshmen seminars Friday to discuss enrollment for sophomore year.

New sophomores will be doing MAP Testing during the Friday seminar period.

The Fall Sports pep assembly will take place during the Wednesday, Sept. 10 seminar period.

The Senior College Planning Parent Meeting is Sept. 11, in the library. The meeting starts at 7:00. Parents are encouraged to arrive early.

Want to be on the heart beat of all things affecting East? The Harbinger is now offering a text message service to help keep students in touch with events happening around East and local communities. To subscribe to this service create an account at www.twitter.com, register your cell phone, and “follow” the SME_Harbinger service.

Cafeteria commotion // NICKLUCAS

His knees locked and his legs as stiff as tree trunks, sophomore George Brophy staggers down the ramp to lunch.

Football tryouts have taken their toll on Brophy. Emotionless, he shuffles through the lunch line, grabbing his usual two slices of Domino’s pizza, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and a cold refreshing red Gatorade. Sweet relief.

He reaches the cashier and digs around in his pockets only to find a crumpled up five dollar bill. When he hands it to the lunch lady she gives him a blank stare.

“It’s eight dollars, honey.”

Brophy was shocked.

Rising food prices have left students stunned at the register this year. Meals have increased by 10 cents while a la carte items such as Otis have risen 25 cents. A medium Domino’s pizza has catapulted from $10 to $14.

Not only have the prices changed, but so have the meal choices. Even with cafeteria workers adding a unique menu boasting six new entrees, prices are still on the rise.

But East isn’t the only school to increase meal costs. The School Nutrition Association estimates that nearly half of the 15,000 school districts nationwide have increased meal costs, some up to 25 cents.

However, some districts such as the Kansas City, KS School District have not increased their meal prices at all.

Director of food services Nancy Coughenour explains that food prices

are rising because of a changing global economy.

“Foreign countries that have had lower populations in the past are growing and are demanding more food,” Coughenour said. “Also, experiments with new energy sources such as ethanol have used more and more crops to make the fuel, raising the price of products like corn.”

Other food products besides corn have seen even higher increases in prices. The cost of rice has risen almost 100 percent in the past year while milk has increased by 71 percent over the past two years.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, total food costs this year have increased 4 percent, the most in nearly two decades.

And with food prices expected to continue rising through 2010 more and more families will qualify for the Shawnee Mission’s free and reduced program.

The free and reduced program provides families with the opportunity for their children to receive free lunch and breakfast based on the family’s income.

These students are not be subject to free reign over the cafeteria though and cannot have food items like Domino’s pizza, chicken fingers or pasta. Instead, they are offered meals such as cold sandwiches, hoagies, tacos and nachos.

However, some students who buy their lunch such as sophomore Timmy Ahern don’t care or haven’t noticed that lunch prices have increased. “It doesn’t really affect me,” Ahern said. “But I guess my parents wouldn’t be too happy about

it.”

And because of rising food costs cafeteria workers have tried to shake up things by offering new meal choices.

Cafeteria worker Lora Dollar, and the rest of her team have made many positive changes to the cafeteria this year.

“We completely changed the menu this year,” Dollar said. “It is designed to be healthier and have less calories and fats.”

The cafeteria is now set up more like that of a food court. It was redesigned to help organize the chaos and spread out meal options.

Some of the new meal choices originate from the Cold Power Sandwich bar. Stocked with sandwiches and hoagies this is a healthy addition to food stations like Finger Foods, home of the chicken finger and fries combo, and Lancer Carbs, pasta bar.

This new menu now offers six new entrees including orange chicken, French toast sticks and ravioli.

The cafeteria is also serving breakfast this year. For $1.20 students can choose between one of seven entrees such as a sausage egg and cheese biscuit with a carton of milk.

As the cafeteria changes, students are getting a dose of reality.

“It makes me feel differently about what I’m buying and what I should eat instead of what I want to eat,” sophomore Bret Miller said.

thelunchscoop

Comparing Prices Last year

This year

Increase

Bosco Sticks Cheez-its Dominos Pizza

$2.25 $.30 $1.50

$2.50 $.50 $2

10% 40% 25%

Chicken Fingers

$2.75

$3

8.3%

Milk

$. 40

$.50

20%

Students dish their thoughts on the new menu:

John Henry Horton Trial Update: Former East janitor, John Henry Horton was sentenced to life in prison with the eligibility of parole after 15 years August 27 after being convicted in March of first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Lizabeth Wilson in 1974.

There will be an early dismissal Sept.

9 at 1:10 and an early dismissal Sept. 10 at 1:45 (pep assembly day). // ANDYALLEN

School lunch menus across the nation are increasing in price and becoming healthier

“I like the chocolate caramel chex mix. It is sweet and salty at the same time.”

-junior Sarah Sedorcek

“The salad is pretty good I guess.”

- freshman Kelly Kuhn

“The new deli wraps and fruit are really good and a lot healthier.”

-junior Ben Jensen

“Sometimes for breakfast I buy a bagel and cream cheese in the cafeteria when I get to school.”

-senior Holly Glynn

21

PAGE 5 EDITORIAL / ISSUE ONE

FOLLOWING THE PROPOSAL OF THE AMETHYST INITIATIVE, FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS IN AMERICA NEED T0 START...

TALKING ABOUT The United States prides itself on being an open democracy and a place where we discuss and address issues to find solutions. We have a national dialogue about how to deal with most issues from global warming to healthcare to illegal immigration. Until very recently one important topic has been missing from the conversation, underage drinking.

The issue of underage drinking was brought into the spotlight this July by the Amethyst Initiative, a group of 129 university presidents who are asking the nation to start talking about the drinking age in the U.S. and consider the possibility of lowering it. Amethyst Initiative chose it’s name because the word amethyst comes from the Greek words a- “not” and methustos “intoxicated”. They are stepping forward to address the policies they feel have led to a new culture of binge drinking on their campuses.

Much of the dangerous drinking that happens today in the U.S. is a result of our national attitude towards the issue. Telling teenagers to never drink and expecting them all to listen is unrealistic. Instead we need to look at how other countries with open attitudes about alcohol have made the introduction to drinking smoother.

David Joyce the president of Ripon College and one of the members of Amethyst Initiative said in an article in the Greenbay Gazette that an “informed and

ote 10FOR BY THE NUMBERS: 0 AGAINST The majority opinion of the Harbinger Editorial Board

the

dispassionate public debate” is necessary and it’s time to come up with“new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol” as a nation.

We should follow the advice of Joyce and Amethyst Initiative and open a dialogue about the solutions between both the nation and its lawmakers, and teenagers and their parents. National statistics are reflecting the need for discussion and then action.

The ‘absolutely no drinking, ever’ approach clearly isn’t effective since according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminstration, 50 percent of all 15 year-olds in the U.S have drunk alcohol at least once, and the average age U.S. teens begin drinking is 16.6 yearsold.

The university presidents who started Amethyst Initiative noticed that their underage students are more likely to binge-drink because they are only able to drink in secret.

Their observation was echoed by the results of a study from the Center for Alcohol and Drugs Studies and Services. This study concluded that the environment in which teens drink influences how much they will drink and that specifically those who drank only in private settings were more likely to binge. If teenagers instead started drinking in controlled situations with parents or other adults they

// celebrating200years.noaa.gov

The legal minimum drinking age around the world varies from one to 21 Here are a few examples:

0 ABSENT

Harbinger sept. 2, 2008 issue 1, vol. 50

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

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ STEPHENNICHOLS

NEWS PAGE EDITORS/

SPREAD SECTION EDITOR/ PHOEBEUNTERMAN

ASSISTANT SPREAD EDITOR/ DUNCANMCHENRY

A&E EDITOR/

JEFFRUTHERFORD

BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL

OPINION SECTION EDITOR/

MIXED PAGE EDITOR/

ART AND DESIGN EDITOR/

OPINION PAGE EDITOR/

HEAD COPY EDITOR/

EDITORIAL EDITOR/

NEWS SECTION EDITOR/

FEATURES SECTION EDITOR/

MEGSHACKELFORD TIMSHEDOR

MICHAELSTOLLE

JOESURNETT ANNIESGROI

MELISSAMCKITTRICK

France: 16

Germany: 16/18

depending on the province or territory

United Kingdom: 18

16 for beer and wine and 18 for spirits

courtesy of International Center for Alcohol Policies

A&E PAGE EDITOR/

MACTAMBLYN

Canada: 18/19

but 16 year olds can buy Greece: 17 alcohol at a meal with an adult 18 or older

SARAHMCKITTRICK MADDYBAILEY

ASSISTANT EDITORS/

Italy: 16 Australia: 18 but 18 for spirits

the

a publication of shawnee mission east highschool 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208

would have a better chance of learning safe behaviors.

Adults can talk to them about drinking and teach them how to drink in moderation.

Examples of how this atmosphere can teach safe drinking behaviors can be found in European countries.

In southern European countries such as Italy and Spain alcohol is less of an issue because teenagers are used to alcohol, since they have grown-up with it as a part of family meals. In fact, a World Health Organization study showed that the total rate of alcohol abuse in Spain was 2.8 percent compared to the U.S. rate 7.8 percent. In addition to reducing alcohol abuse, according to a recent BBC article, bingedrinking also occurs less often in countries such as Spain, where kids begin drinking in public with their parents in their early teens.

What it really all comes down to is communication. We need to follow the lead of European families that have been successful in teaching their kids how to drink safely and start talking about drinking. As a nation we need to talk about how we can help teenagers in the U.S. have safe and civilized introductions to drinking. That may just mean more focus on discussion and education about alcohol related issues or lowering the drinking age, but whatever the solution may be, it’s definitely time we started to talk and figure it out.

RACHELBIRKENMEIER AUBREYLEITER

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR/ SAMLOGAN

SPORTS PAGE EDITORS/ CAMSMITH ANDREWGOBLE

FREELANCE PAGE EDITOR/ MACKENZIEWYLIE SARAHLUBY

ONLINE EDITOR/ TAYLORHAVILAND

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR/ ELIZABETHMCGRANAHAN

ONLINE SECTION EDITOR/ CAMILLEKARRO

PHOTO EDITOR/ TYLERROSTE

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR/ MACKENZIEWYLIE

PHOTOGRAPHERS/ CHLOEFISCHGRUND MAXSTITT

KATIEEAST PATRICKMAYFIELD DANIELSTEWART CCCREIDENBERG ANDYALLEN

COPY EDITORS/ SAMKOVZAN KEVINSIMPSON ANNIESGROI

EDITORIAL BOARD/ STEPHENNICHOLS BERNADETTEMYERS PAIGECORNWELL MACTAMBLYN ANNIESGROI SAMLOGAN GRIFFINBUR MICHAELSTOLLE MELISSAMCKITTRICK

STAFF WRITERS/ LOGANHELEY KATHLEENIRELAND LANDONMCDONALD GRIFFINBUR BOBMARTIN JORDANPFEIFFER

STAFF ARTISTS/ DANIELSTEWART TAYLORHAVILAND NICKLUCAS

ADS/BUSINESS MANAGER/ ANNABERNARD

ASSISTANT ADS/BUSINESS MANAGER/ ANNABERNARD

CIRCULATION MANAGER/ SARAHMCKITTRICK

PAGE 6 OPINION / SEPT. 3, 2008

EIGHTSHINING MOMENTS an opinion of

Michael Phelps’ amazing run leads to greater passion for the Olympics and newfound patriotism

COUNT

AL M ED

Bronze

Silver

Gold

MICHAEL PHELPS’S

GOLD MEDAL TIMES (WR indicates world record time; OR indicates Olympic record) 1. 400m Individual Medley

4:03.84 (WR)

2. 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay

3:08.24 (WR)

3. 200m Freestyle

1:42.96 (WR)

4. 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay

6:58.56 (WR)

5. 200m Butterfly

1:52.03 (WR)

6. 200m Individual Medley

1:54.23 (WR)

7. 100m Butterfly

50.58 (OR)

8. 4 x 100m Medley Relay

3:29.34 (WR)

// china.org.cn

/ MACTAMBLYN

Michael Phelps transformed me into a more optimistic American.

As a kid in the U.S., I did not care or understand what was going on in our country. I was just too young to be able to wrap my head around the big picture, so I focused on events that I could somewhat understand, most of these being bad.

What jumps into my mind when I think of America, is: the Clinton-Lewinski scandal, the Florida recount, 9/11, the controversial War on Terror and increasing gas prices. If the U.S. wants to build patriotism in my generation, they don’t have the greatest track record.

Phelps and his magical run to eight gold medals, as well as the other U.S. athletes, have shown me a different outlook.

They have given me the opportunity to root for America in a time when the focus is on high gas prices and the dollar losing its value.

Originally, I tuned in to the Olympics solely to see Phelps make history. Nothing else. That’s all I wanted from Beijing.

And make history he did. He won each race in either dominant or exciting fashion, making gold medal winning look as effortless as Chuck Norris downing a thug on an episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” But while I waited for the post-race interview, I discovered events not involving Michael Phelps.

I watched everything from weight lifting to archery to gymnastics to table tennis. I laughed when I saw the female Chinese gymnasts who are supposedly 16.

I was heartbroken when U.S. softball lost to Japan, breaking their gold medal streak that had lasted since Atlanta way back in ‘96.

I felt triumphant when the Redeem Team (U.S. Men’s basketball) slamdunked their way to a gold medal, finally showing the world we

gold medal. are really No. 1 when it comes to hoops.

This Olympic team couldn’t have I was proud of these athletes. During every event I was come at a better time. With the genuinely excited. Whenever Misty May-Treanor and presidential election looming on the Kerri Walsh, who I had never heard of before Beijing, horizon, the focus of the country has won a point in beach volleyball, I pumped my fist, been on the negatives: our economy adding in a “Nice!” or “Good work!” for those particularly falling behind, the health care system tricky volleys. being sub par and our lacking social And it wasn’t just me. Approximately one billion people security system to name a few. It’s all watched the Opening Ceremonies, about 15 percent of the about the problems that McCain, Obama, world’s population. Estimates say that 200 million viewers or heck, even Nader will be attempting to tuned into the U.S. vs. China men’s basketball game, making fix come next January. With all these it the most watched game ever. And it wasn’t even downbeat problems swallowing in U.S. primetime. our attention, it is easy to think I felt apart of something much bigger. The that we are unfortunate to be numbers don’t lie, and I realized that I was American. probably not the only person in the world who knew Despite this, the inspiring the Olympics were going on. performances of American Although I Total athletes at the Beijing games Country was just single fish in the vast have made me realize just ocean who was rooting for the athletes, I still had 51 21 28 100 1. China to show some form of appreciation. Olympians how lucky I am to live in 2. U.S. the U.S. of A. We could dedicate their entire lives to their respective 36 38 36 110 be in a much worse competition.

They are the poster boys (and 3. Russia situation. Many countries girls) of the values America was founded on, like 23 21 28 72 cannot even afford to send work ethic and determination. athletes to the Olympics, Take Mr. Phelps as an example, the guy who much less win the most total indirectly introduced me to the other American medals. athletes. He spends 5-6 hours in a pool and consumes Although many mistakes have 12,000 calories every day! On top of this he travels // TAYLORHAVILAND been made in American history, we to various international competitions each year, setting his personal life to the side in pursuit still have to consider ourselves fortunate and be proud of of gold medals and representing his country what we have regardless of these trying times.

The athletes from Beijing and their efforts beyond the well.

For the first time ever, I was genuinely competition will stick with me forever. I’ve grown old enough excited watching women’s gymnastics to appreciate their accomplishments, and their significance (part of that having to do with the crush I in my mind will not fade. have on Nastia Liukin). It wasn’t just her

exceptionally good looks, but it was also her inherent determination for nothing less than a

mctcampus.com

Motivation

PAGE 7 OPINION / ISSUE ONE

for the

Sole

A teammate’s battle through bone cancer becomes the inspiration for one cross country runner and the rest of his team.

// DANSTEWART

an opinion of

/ SAMLOGAN I feel like I’m a decent runner. I wear shorts that can show off my ghosty thighs.

I’ve run down Belinder only to dip my head in the fountain at 65th and turn around.

I’ve watched one of my best friends become the cross country team captain and the whole time I could tell I was getting better— but still, I’ve never won a race.

“What’s up man?” I got that in the hall the day after I joined cross country a month late. It came the next day, too… and the day after that, I sent it his way. I didn’t know his name, but I had pointed him out at practice as ‘the kid who looks like he has curly hair, but really doesn’t’.

Then someone told me his name was Jonathan Stepp.

Jonathan got me back to practice after the first week and provided a sense of team among a group of guys who weren’t quite “varsity material”.

Running became peaceful. It put me at ease and made me realize what having fun while staying active was like. Cross country was a brotherhood, anchored by elementary-school-playground-like rituals, a dead Kentucky Derby horse and the wispy locks of a coach’s hair. Before I even knew what any of them meant, I felt compelled to be a part of it simply from the kindness of one fellow runner.

Although post twenty minute races kept

churning through my legs and soreness stitched together my joints I had the athletic time of my life.

The season ended and I didn’t see Jonathan anymore. I stopped running. Occasionally I’d play catch-up as Brian Simpson ran down Belinder, my legs like mashed potatoes, his like a true runner’s.

I stopped running because I was lazy.

Later in the winter, Jonathan was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He’d never be able to run long distances. I couldn’t grip the idea that the same kid who got me to keep running would never be able to again.

The hour after I heard that, I skipped class to grab my running shoes.

“

After I met Jonathan my first week of practice I never thought I’d meet someone again who would make me realize how liberating running can be.

Then I met Jonathan after 18 rounds of chemo.

“

Forrest Gump said that when he ran he thought about Bubba. He thought about Jenny, Lieutenant Dan, and Momma. I was going to run because Jonathan couldn’t.

I went faster and harder than I ever had before on that day. Thinking about a teammate of mine in a hospital bed, I took for granted being able to hit the street. I remembered only knowing him as the kid with curly hair, even though it wasn’t curly. And then it hit me— losing his hair was prob-

ably the least of his worries.

Jonathan checked in to his first round of surgeries and I had my first reality check understanding how lucky we are to even be able to run.

When he was first diagnosed with the cancer, doctors said without running cross country it could’ve been much longer until the malignant tumor in his knee was detected. Jonathan had felt pain throughout the season and finally had it checked out, eventually being diagnosed in an earlier stage than most with the same condition are.

Despite his condition throughout the summer, I didn’t stay in contact with Jonathan. I heard how he was doing through friends, and thought about him during runs. He made me consider that our sport was more than crossing the line first; it was about having fun and doing something you enjoy. Without him I would have never had such a chance.

After I met Jonathan my first week of practice I never thought I’d meet someone again who would make me realize how liberating running can be.

Then I met Jonathan after 18 rounds of chemo.

On the first day of practice it wasn’t cold outside, it was maybe 100 degrees. I got goose bumps as the hairs on my leg stood up when a bald, puffy-cheeked Jonathan made it to the hill next to the track to be presented as a team captain.

His complexion was pale like the chalk on the track, but his presence paralleled that of himself before he was ill. Always there for his teammates, always someone you wanted to be around.

I’ve never told this to Jonathan. I’ve never had the courage to. I consider myself stubborn after such a statement, realizing full well that the last time I was sick I had a bad bout with Chinese food and didn’t have

By The Numbers Most Frequently Occurring Types of Cancer for Males In Kansas

1. Prostate Cancer 2. Lung and Bronchus Cancer 3. Colon and Rectum Cancer 4. Urinary Bladder Cancer 5. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 6. Melanomas of The Skin 7. Leukemias 8. Kidney and Renal Pelvis 9. Oral Cavity and Pharynx 10. Pancreatic Cancer

Source: Center For Disease Control

to have a plastic port placed in my heart.

Forever I will consider myself grateful for the indirect acts of kindness, courage, and dedication a teammate has shown me without even being close friends.

Without Jonathan I wouldn’t consider myself a runner. I wouldn’t get to wear short shorts, take a dip in a public fountain, or watch one of my closest friends become a team leader.

I’ll never win a race, I don’t mind. Jonathan won his and with that the cross country team received the opportunity to take for granted the company and guidance of such a teammate.

PAGE 8 OPINION / SEPT. 2, 2008

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD After collecting as much money as possible from childhood bets and savings, one staff member began the search for his first car, which ultimately led to a “periwinkle four door”

an opinion of

and so we ventured to other lots, a la Dealership number two, which had advertised a $4,000 Corolla in Thursday’s classifieds. We had called a salesman in advance, but the rest of the office didn’t know that when we walked in.

Spring-loaded, a salesman pounced into commissionearning action as soon as he caught our scent. He held open four doors at once; pulled up the most comfortable chair he could find and would have baked cookies if he knew we were coming. He was devastated when we told him someone was already waiting on us.

Fifteen minutes later, an eternity in the used car business,

Tim’s Ride

“

Then we found the Corolla: a dirty ‘92 jalopy that looked like it had just come out of a “Die Hard” film.

“

/ TIMSHEDOR

“I’ll take you to get a car.”

Those magic seven words from mom signaled the end of my minivan days, and the start of a new, high-flying era of after-10 curfew and unlimited QuickTrip runs.

But like all things that come from the golden land of Detroit, there was fine print under this new lease on life. You have to pay for it.

I cashed grandpa’s birthday checks. I redeemed every I.O.U. since 2nd grade. I broke my Bugs Bunny souvenir bank. I felt like I had just betrayed my childhood innocence, but this was a moment I’d been waiting for since birth.

We went to our first lot and enlisted the first salesman who put his best, polished and gleaning foot before us.

As soon as we told him I was buying my first car, his face brightened and he had just the thing.

Right then and there I knew it was the one. As soon as he said “Corolla” I nearly swooned out of the plush seat. It was infamous for great gas mileage, was known for reliable mechanics and even had side air bags.

Overcome by this newfound desire for Japanese manufacturing, I demanded we see it immediately. He showed us a 2000 that had been traded just last night! It hadn’t been detailed yet and was covered in dirt, leaves and Lord knows what. It didn’t matter. One spin around the lot and I knew it had to be mine.

But my Mom warned against falling for the first car,

our man showed up. He didn’t look me in the eye and had the type of handshake that said you’re-wasting-my-timebecause-I-don’t-get-any-commission-on-a-$4,000-usedcar.

Nonetheless, he drove us three lots over to the used car junk yard and showed us a 1999 Dodge Neon that had just been traded in last night!

At an overpriced $6,000, it came complete with stick shift, roll-down windows and an interior design that deserved to be the pilot of “Extreme Car Makeover.”

Then we found the Corolla: a dirty ’92 jalopy that looked like it had just come out of a “Die Hard” film. The tag valued it at $4,500, but I don’t think it could make the trip out of the lot.

We skidooshed off the lot and went to Shawnee, Merriam and Missouri lots in pursuit of “other cars.” But the others couldn’t compare. Escort, Taurus, Camry, nothing was like

1996 Oldsmobile He shows off some of the features that make his car unique

my first and only love.

Every dealer laughed us off when we asked for a car under $5,000. But I didn’t care what they thought. Nobody else mattered; it was just me and my Corolla against the world.

We even visited a fly-by-night salesman, decked in a blinding lime green shirt and novelty sun hat. He showed us a car that had been traded just last night! It was a ’92 Honda Accord that looked like a D’Lorean on a diet. It very well could have been the Corolla’s ugly cousin. Yet, I was almost convinced because it came with the salesman’s word and a free coke!

I admit, I did cheat on my Corolla. I spent an evening with a 2001 purple Malibu with full ashtrays and a sub woofer, a car that had been traded just last night! But after finding oil in the brake pads, the family mechanic said forget about it.

Just when I thought I could come home with flowers and chocolate to make things right, tell my baby I loved her and would never leave her again, Dealership number one called.

The Corolla was spewing black smoke and they wouldn’t sell it to anybody. It was off the market. I almost wept.

I was heartbroken. I felt alone in this dark and sketchy world of excessive hair gel and “Great deals!” In dire desperation I looked through millions of Craigslist ads and tore up every classified since Apr. 5, 2008.

Nothing. It looked as though I would be bumming rides from friends and taking the bus to school for the rest of my life. I would live in the basement eating Hot Pocket lunches and Ramen dinners. I would never get a job or ever aspire to something more than a car-less bum.

Yet there was hope. Dealership #1 called once more.

They got a car that had been traded just last night!

It was a 1996 Oldsmobile Ciera. The periwinkle blue fourdoor looked, sounded and smelled like a car my grandma would drive before me, but that didn’t matter. It was $4,000, and our mechanic’s approval. I knew the Corolla would have wanted it this way. It was better for both of us.

The Tape Deck “I don’t have an iPod, and buying a new stereo is upwards of $150. So I knabbed some garage sale deals, made some mix tapes and learned how to work a cassette deck, a skill highly underrated .”

The Gas Tank Key

“In a time of raising gas prices and teen theft statistics, a gas key is worth the extra space on my key ring.”

The Bench Seat

// MAXSTITT

“I love this part of my car. It’s so legitimate. The front seat can hold three bulky bodies without forfeiting the safety of a seat belt and its surprisingly comfy. I feel like singing the anthem to “That 70’s Show” whenever I’m driving with this bad boy filled.”

W

//MELISSAMcKITTRICK

hen Helen Thompson thinks about September 11 and the attacks on the World Trade Center, she imagines an old 1950s movie – The Day the Earth Stood Still.

“It was like everything stopped; everything stopped,” Thompson said. “In the middle of Manhattan, you could hear a pin drop.”

For Thompson and her daughter, senior Christina Beynon, 9/11 means more than the day that terrorists attacked the United States.

It’s the day Thompson watched with her own eyes as the first plane hit the tower, ballooning into a cloud of smoke and dust. It’s the day she ran 38 blocks through the streets of New York in high heels. It’s the day she lived in a war zone, thinking the World Trade Center was going to explode around her.

It’s also the day Beynon realized how much her mom meant to her – the day she realized that someone could leave for a day and never come back.

“It really made an impact on me, my sister and my brother…my whole family,” Beynon said. “Even a couple years after, for some days I’d start thinking about it and get upset.”

On the first year anniversary, Beynon was shocked by how quickly the year went by… she felt like the attack had happened days, not months before. Although the family talked a little about the anniversary, Beynon since hasn’t made a point to mention it. This year, though, she and her mom want to go to dinner together.

“Sometimes I didn’t even say anything,” Beynon said, “because I thought it might be a sensitive subject. We don’t do a moment of silence or anything, we just reflect on the time we have. We both know what day it is.”

On September 11, 2001, Thompson was thinking only of launching her new company. She had a morning meeting with the Vice President of Merrill Lynch and was going to suggest eating at Windows on the World, an elegant, two-story restaurant on floors 106 and 107 of the North Tower. Instead, she held her tongue.

“I almost suggested eating at Windows on the World because it was such a beautiful morning in New York – I had never seen such a beautiful morning,” Thompson said, “but I thought that would not be appropriate since I didn’t work there … I feel like if I had said it we probably would have g o n e there.”

They were sitting by the windows of a lower-level restaurant, eating breakfast and discussing Thompson’s company, when she saw a plane fly past outside. Everyone in the restaurant stopped and looked outside, straight up into the air, thinking a small airplane had accidentally nicked the side of the building. After several seconds, they went back to their meals.

After what felt like only 10 minutes, everything changed.

“I saw the second plane,” Thompson said.

“At that second that I saw the second plane, I knew – I knew it was a terrorist attack.”

Beynon says that her mom is intuitive, that she can feel when something is wrong.

Thompson’s business partner wanted to get on the elevator, but Thompson knew that wasn’t safe. Instead, Thompson grabbed her briefcase and purse and literally ran for her life into the lobby.

“In a minute or 30 seconds or three minutes – I don’t know – everyone seemed to figure it out,” Thompson said. “As we got to… the main lobby…there were – it looked like thousands – just so many, people just descending and coming out of every available space and running towards the front door.”

Beynon has heard her mom describe the terrifying image as ants coming out of the woodwork.

“At the front there were people screaming and crying and looking up, and as we looked up there was just an enormous amount of smoke,” Thompson said. “People were on their cell phones and trying to get through and pointing and crying desperately, because they knew the people they worked with [and] cared about were up on the floors. There was sheer panic.”

One hour later and over 1,000 miles away, Beynon was in class with her fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Newitt. The class was working when Newitt, who had been checking her emails, told them to be quiet.

“She stood up and said that there had been a terrorist attack,” Beynon said, “on the World Trade Center in New York City.”

Another hour went by, with Newitt explaining the disaster to a class full of 10 year-olds.

“The call came

Seven years after the 9/11 attacks and her mother’s narrow escape, senior Christina Beynon knows the tragedy brought her...

BEYNON relaxes with her mom, Thompson, in their home. // TYLERROSTE

PAGE 9 FEATURES / ISSUE ONE

around 10: ‘Christina Beynon please come to the office,’” Beynon said. “My sister was there to pick me up from school.”

They went to Beynon’s half-brother’s house, where she began to feel nervous.

Thompson had called from a pay-phone to tell their schools that she was out of the building, but the family still hadn’t spoken with her. They didn’t know where she was, and watching news footage didn’t help – the images of people fleeing and rubble crumbling made the experience even worse. For Beynon, it sometimes seems like a day, not seven years, have gone by.

“I can remember every detail,” Beynon said. “We ate Panera…we went swimming.

I can tell you what I was wearing…it’s so vivid.”

Finally, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the telephone rang. Beynon was calling from a New York pay phone to say that she was safe.

“At that time she was in tears; she was really upset,” Beynon said. “I was upset – I knew what was going on.”

Thompson had run over 30 blocks in high heels, with debris falling and a herd of people sprinting beside her. She describes the scene as complete pandemonium: sirens, police, fire trucks, helicopters, and people all trying to make sense of the situation. Beynon remembers stories of people selling tennis shoes on the street so that others could flee faster.

“We went inside this building to get to safety – it was like the whole world had stopped,” Thompson said.

Cars parked haphazardly on sidewalks.

Cabs stopped in the middle of the streets – doors open, windows down, and radios humming. A message board on a building proclaimed what everyone already knew: “World Trade Center has been hit. New York at a standstill.”

“It was this quiet I had never experienced anytime in my life, especially in New York City, which has so much noise in it,” Thompson said. “The only noise you were hearing were the sirens and the helicopters. It was chaos. It was frightening.”

Thompson went with her partner to his hotel room – hers was in a restricted zone.

Hotels packed strangers into rooms together; people who stayed near the Trade Center and now didn’t have anywhere to sleep.

“She described the energy as being so dark,” Beynon said. “It was like that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know something really bad happened.”

The next day, Thompson wanted to get out. All of the airports were shut down. The bridges were impassable. The subway did not run. Nobody could get into the city, and nobody could get out. It felt like a war zone.

“There were armed guards everywhere,” Thompson said. “They were on street corners, in camouflage with their big rifles.”

Thompson and her partner finally found a train to Connecticut. They stayed with business associates while Thompson’s husband tried desperately to rent a car. After an entire day, he got what they believe was the last car in the state.

“There…[were] people lined up for blocks just hoping people wouldn’t show up for cars.,” Thompson said.

There, they rented a car and drove back to Kansas City. The family had lined the driveway with red, white, and blue balloons and had hung a flag on the side of the house.

“That was the greatest feeling of my entire life,” Thompson said. “Just driving into the driveway. As we pulled down Lee Boulevard and I saw my house…I just burst into tears.

It was overwhelming.”

Five days after the attack – on September 16, 2001 – Beynon saw her mom.

“I remember her pulling into the driveway in our house,” Beynon said, “she got out of the rental car,…[and] all of us just hugged on to her.”

Now, both Beynon and Thompson know that the tragedy brought them closer together.

“My story is obviously just like a little short fairy tale compared to what other people had to go through and their experiences,” Thompson said. “I just feel very blessed and grateful.”

closer to

home

PAGE 10 FEATURES / SEPT. 2, 2008

Achange in scenery Freshman reflects on his one-

Facts about Bangalore, India

year venture to India after mother receives promotion

• • •

Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India.

Bangalore has highest density of traffic in the world.

Bangalore’s poverty line is the least of all cities in the world

// TAYLORHAVILAND

// PHOTO COURTESY OF THE YEDO FAMILY

// SARAHLUBY No American fast food.

No high-speed internet.

No 1000-plus cable channels.

And for freshman Jacob Yedo, no clue what’s going on.

Last year, Jacob spent the school year living in Bangalore, India because of his mother’s job. She was a member of Accenture and got promoted to senior manager. After being told she was going to move to India for two years, the Yedo’s returned just nine months later when Julia was promoted again.

After first hearing about moving to India for his eighth grade year, Jacob was a little concerned.

“I didn’t want to leave my friends behind,” he said.

Jacob’s mom was also worried for Jacob.

“I was concerned because we were coming to India half way into the semester,” Mrs. Yedo said. “I thought it would be hard academically and socially.”

But once Jacob got there and learned a little about their culture, he began to enjoy his experience more.

“I assumed it would be worse than it was,” Jacob said.

“Because there’s no place as good as your hometown.”

In Bangalore, the kids spoke English fluently, but the adults spoke a mix between the native language, Hindi, and English. That was a major adjustment Jacob had to get used to. He also had to get used to the cable stations over there.

All he could ever watch was foreign music videos that were on 24-7.

When Jacob moved in October 2007, the school year was half way over. He was lonely at first because he didn’t know anyone or anything about the culture.

“It was hard [to adjust] at first because I was homesick and had no friends,” Jacob said. “But after a month I became sort of a comedian to make friends. I unalienated myself.”

Once Jacob began making friends, he began learning more about the culture around him. They showed local places to eat as well as the good shopping stores.

But Jacob soon realized that the kids in India were given a lot more freedom than the kids back home.

“Parents let their kids go out and do anything and they wouldn’t interfere,” he said.” The parents only wouldn’t allow

Coming to the Harbinger online: New videos, video podcasts, sports updates, page design and construction updates! at www.smeharbinger.net

the girls to hang out with the boys, but we disobeyed that rule.”

Although Jacob went over to India expecting the worst, he was actually sad to leave.

“At first he wasn’t all that positive about going,” Mrs. Yedo said, “but when he found out we were coming back early he was in shock. He had created his own social network and couldn’t believe we were leaving. He thought we were joking.”

Even though Jacob went over there with a semi-negative outlook.

“I miss playing basketball over there the most,” Jacob said. “Kids didn’t really know the rules too well, so they would make up their own rules and enforce them. It was aggravating, but I really enjoyed it.”

After being home for about three months, Jacob has had some time to reflect on his learning opportunity.

“Going over there made me more open to more cultures,” he said. “It has helped me to not stereotype people.”

Moving through the pain

PAGE 11 FEATURES / ISSUE ONE

Junior copes with the sudden loss of her mom // PHOEBEUNTERMAN Rachel Kaskie told her mom more than once she could get up by herself in the mornings.

Still, every day, Rachel awoke to her mom singing one of her improvised tunes. And if that didn’t work, her mom would gently shake Rachel’s shoulders or whack her with a pillow.

They were the first ones up. The mornings were their time together.

Now, Rachel wakes up to whichever CD is playing in her alarm clock.

Lately, it’s been Vanessa Carlton. Vanessa may be able to sing, but she can’t come to Rachel’s soccer games. Or read Harry Potter with Rachel before bed. Or cook a big breakfast for the family on Saturday mornings. Breakfasts on Saturday were a tradition.

Sometimes her mom made pancakes, but most of the time biscuits and gravy. Biscuits and gravy was Rachel’s favorite.

It’s also the last thing her mom ever cooked for breakfast.

They were on family vacation in Chicago—Friday, July 25th, a little over five weeks ago.

They’d already gone walking along the lake, been to the Museum of Contemporary Art, and, just the night before, seen Blue Man Group live. This had been a surprise for Rachel and her eighth-grade brother, Mitch.

Rachel overslept that morning—when she woke up, her mom fixed her a plate of biscuits and gravy. They were trying to decide what to do for the day. Her mom left it up to the rest of the family, and went to take a shower. Rachel went back to bed.

Rachel heard a high-pitched yelp from the bathroom.

Then a thud.

Rachel got up and went to the bathroom, thinking her mom dropped something. When she saw her mom collapsed on the floor, Rachel figured she’d slipped. Her mom’s body convulsed. Her dad was already there.

“Call 911,” he told her. *** Rachel’s Mom always told Rachel to finish what she started. It was a rule.

History has never been Rachel’s best subject. But dropping her history class when it was too hard or she didn’t like her teacher wasn’t an option.

When Rachel was part of the Olympic Development Program for soccer, she didn’t know anyone else on her team.

She had to play a position she never played. She didn’t like it and wanted to quit, but Rachel’s mom wouldn’t let her.

Rachel’s mom did it because she cared. That’s why once a week for four years, she sat on the chair to the left of the piano while Rachel took lessons.

That’s why Rachel’s mom came to almost all of Rachel’s soccer games. Sometimes after the game, she talked to Rachel about what the team did and didn’t do well. But if Rachel didn’t want to talk about it, they didn’t talk about it. *** Rachel ran down the hallway to her room. She found her phone faster than she’d ever found it before. She called 911, but realized she didn’t know the address of the condo they were staying in.

She switched places with her dad—he talked on the phone, and she started CPR. Rachel was a lifeguard at Roeland Park Aquatics Center

• •

// NICKLUCAS

• •

all summer, and happened to have her CPR mask in her backpack.

She checked for a pulse.

No pulse.

Listened for breathing.

No breathing.

She tilted her mom’s Rachel Kaskie sits with family. // Courtesy of KASKIEFAMILY head back, to open up her // KASKIEFAMILY airways.

Rachel gave her two breaths.

Nothing Her leopard gecko, Louis, was still in his aquarium. But happened. everything had changed.

Then thirty chest compressions.

The food started coming. At one point, five different people Two more breaths—time was running out. Her mom’s brought dinner for one night. Cards and notes jammed the hands were already cold.

Thirty more chest compressions. Two breaths. 30, 2. 30, mailbox. The Kaskies had a collection of flowers rivaling the Gardens at Versailles.

2.

Rachel’s mom was organized—so organized it took two She checked her pulse every two minutes, but there was days of searching to find the wills, because her mom had nothing. them filed in a folder labeled ‘Wills’.

30, 2. 30, 2. Her mom’s eyes rolled back in her head.

The visitation, the funeral, were a blur. Family came into 30, 2. 30, 2. Rachel kept going for ten minutes, until the town and left. Rachel tried to take care of the company like paramedics arrived from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Her heartbeat was completely erratic—without a pattern. her mom would have.

When everything settled down it got quiet. It sometimes They used a defibrillator to try and reverse it. They prepped the chest paddles—one on the upper right part of her takes Rachel two hours to fall asleep at night because she’s chest—the other below her heart, on the left. They shocked thinking of her mom.

One thing losing her mom has given Rachel is motivation. her three times, but couldn’t reverse it, so they put her in an She’s running cross country for the first time this fall. ambulance and took her to the ER. She’s also on the team to keep busy. She doesn’t want *** Rachel, her dad, and Mitch were escorted to the Family a lot of downtime for sitting around and feeling sad. Since her mom died, she’s been sleeping in on Saturday mornings.

Consolation Room when they got to the hospital.

Cross country races will be on Saturday mornings.

It was a small, bare, beige box of a room.

At practice, when she’s hot and tired and sick of running, There weren’t any windows. Fluorescent lights glared she thinks of her mom. down from the ceiling.

Finish what you start.

They sat on a tattered green couch. A young doctor came Rachel’s moving forward, now. She’s not going to stop in and sat on the arm of the couch closest to Rachel. studying or stop playing soccer or stop being herself.

A massive heart attack.

Her mom would never have allowed it.

Dead by the time she hit the floor.

Official time of death: 11:45 a.m.

Carol Kaskie was in near perfect health. She walked the family’s Brittany Spaniel Pointer, Hayley, every day. She lifted weights and worked out at Sylvester Powell in the mornings.

This kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen. There wasn’t any notice, any time to prepare. No time for a last ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’. No time for Rachel to say July 24 goodbye. // NICKLUCAS *** 6 p.m.- Rachel and Family go to dinner in a They went back to the condo to pack. Rachel packed her restaurant in Chicago. mom’s suitcase. The clothes her mom would never again 8 p.m.- Kaskies go to see Blue Man Group. wear. Her mom’s shampoo. Her watch. Her wedding ring.

10:30 p.m.- Family retires for the night.

Rachel couldn’t bear being in the bathroom.

They left Chicago at nine that night, stopping several July 25 times to stretch their legs and get food. No one ate.

10:30 a.m.- Family went to Breakfast, while They blared music. Rachel’s dad listened to oldies, and planning the rest of the day.

Rachel listened to her iPod. A lot of Evanescence. She didn’t 11:20 a.m.- Rachel’s mom collapses. want to listen to any happy music.

11:45 a.m.- Rachel’s mom is pronounced dead They arrived home about seven in the morning. The neighborhood looked the same—so did the house. All of of a heart-attack.

Rachel’s books were still in the bookshelves in her room.

LOSING

TIME

HEART-ATTACK STATISTICS:

1.5 million heart attacks occur in the United States each year.

The Nation Registry of Myocardial Infarctions reports that women have a worse outcome than men after having a heart attack. Data showed that women under the age of 50 had twice the mortality of men after having a heart attack.

Variances likely reflect increased the severity of disease in younger women.

About fifty percent of deaths occur within one hour of the heart attack--outside a hospital.

Deaths from cardiovascular disease in women exceed the total number of deaths caused by the next 16.

// womensheart.org

PAGE 12 SPREAD / SEPT. 2, 2008

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PAGE 13 SPREAD / ISSUE ONE

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Afte now t r years of e e Accor xt their frie lectronics // KEVIN ding nds fr b SIMPSO t o new can n eely d eing bann N o u e p durin w whip ou rincipal K ring certa d, studen i t their t g p as n a s sing p cell p rl Krawitz parts of th can Stud h e ’s hap e iPods ents can a riod, and d ones befor policy, stu day. p e , duri lso us u M d a r e oriart e n , ” n i n n da ts gl n e teach er’s d g these oc other elec unchtime fter schoo t o mu y said. “ Yo l, sic d uw “I am iscretion. casions, a tronic dev . s wel in Kraw own in au ouldn’t w Filbe l as in ices, includ i ant s tosho t z ck sa total supp disc also om in p semin id. ort so it’s ar at g stu ourage cla said tha or woodsh eone liste ridicu “It’s comm of [the po t t d h ning s op.” h e e s just n nts to l e u eed to lous to ha on sense. icy],” art te follow sage, bu hopes th M v t a e b e o c t ultim e res he po her J st pe teac The “W lie wi ately lenience w phon old rule g ponsible.” hers hunt ople have ason th the here is th licy. it is es an e a t t s up to ill h h v i t n e facu uden em d em, tegrit d iPo was u the t o ? l y w t ” y d o n K s if s nnec f the . Kids rawit z said the system “Som essarily s een, but D opportuni . if it d ty trict. r. Kra etime oesn’t witz t to confis sw cate houg contr e think w ht the ol,” K e h ave th rule rawi rules to cre tz said. “B ings in pl a u a ce te policy ts ] is re more pro ometime to create When asonable.” blems. I th s, we creat e ink [t Kraw Missi he ne itz w on w a sim West from as princip al il 2000 stude ar policy to 20 at Shawne i n 0 n e t 5, s had p it was pager lace. How there was l e s s e s of an ver, m policy Health issu than cell t phon ore respo will help eacher Su e. es, so nsibl e Ch stud s “I thi e fashion. ents com ipman t hinks nk muni it. It square h kids it w cate e t n h fi need it’s great,” e in a “I’m to C acces more that all stu y t sible.” have cell hipman s li a e r e h a t p i hone with Soph s, an d. “ These es. If they n d the o h took h omore R days, p e v a y h obby need is ph dents to be sses and la stude and he th one away l Moriarty c n e e w ast ye nts. t agree inks e the ru a s use it b k “I th le wil r during pa . A teach erfere, I thin t er l enco in said. ink it help ssing ’t n s e o p d u “ s e rage it r perio [Students] people to patie riod, ory Teache t d and nce fo be m is know H .”

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Parking Policy Students who received parkin // GRIFFINBUR was no distinct g passes were quick to notice ion between ju nior and senior that there been enjoying passes. While the new unrest juniors have ricted parking, according to th this is entirely e administratio unintentional, n.

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PAGE 14 FEATURES / SEPT.2, 2008

Karl Krawitz

A day inthe lifeof...

// KATHLEENIRELAND

4:30 a.m., Karl Krawitz wakes up, alarm free. He rolls out of his king sized bed and heads to the bathroom for his morning shower. With everything from his clothes to his wallet and phone set out the night before, it makes his morning routine a cinch. This is your principal, Dr. Karl Krawitz.,‘72 graduate of Baker University with a degree in Biology and Chemistry who became principal at East after realizing retirement was dull. *** After throwing on one of his favorite East insignia polos and a nice pair of slacks, he heads to the kitchen. Sitting at a basic wooden table outside of his country-style kitchen, Krawitz eats a breakfast of fruit and toast or maybe even a left over cinnamon roll from the night before. 5 a.m. is his usual breakfast time, which gives him just enough time to casually slink out the door without waking up his wife, Pattie.

5:10 a.m., Krawitz hops in his black Pontiac Grand AM and makes sure to remember to close the garage door before pulling out of his suburban cul-de-sac. Seventies and 80s music is what he listens to on his satellite radio during the 20 minute drive to work while he watches runners along Mission Road.

5:30 a.m., Krawitz finds a parking spot in the circle-drive by the main office. Because only SRO officers have a private spot, he makes sure to arrive early.

He enters his office which has everything from his favorite quote, (said by himself) ‘School is the one place each

Our new principal shows the Harbinger his laid-back style and dedication child should always experience hope – everyday,’ mounted on //MACKENZIEWYLIE the wall, next to JE Dunn conDr. Karl Krawitz taught Biology for two years and Chemistry for four years in the Olathe school district. His first administrative job struction hats and a bright pink was an assistant principal of Olathe South high school in 1981. He then became principal of Indian Trails. He retired in 2005 after and yellow ‘panic button’ given to him by his secretary, Loretta working at Shawnee Mission West for five years. Krawitz is now at East and would love to see as much school spirit as we can get. He Preno. Not that he panics much plans on being at 80-85% of the events, whether that is basketball or soccer or even cross country meets. He feels that his role is “to though; he feels he’s a pretty be a motivator and cheerleader for students and to be supportive of what they do.” laid-back guy.

“I try to be up and about,” Krawitz said.

The first thing he does after sitting down is take on the Then he moves on to loads of paperwork and tries to prenearly 120 e-mails that have built up for him overnight. pare meeting schedules and agendas for the week.

Once those are out of the way, he enjoys writing letters to 5:00 p.m., Krawitz leaves school. Though he plans to students and staff. They include thank you letters and even make that closer to 3:30 once things start to settle down. He motivational cards. He always tries to match the message on exits the back office door, by the bike racks, and begins his the front of the cards to what he writes inside them. journey home; which now takes anywhere from 25 to 35 6:30 a.m., staff begins arriving at school. While it’s still minutes considering rush-hour traffic. As soon as he arrives quiet he likes to glance through The Kansas City Star or anhome he gets ready to workout. other local newspaper, to see if there’s anything having to 5:45 p.m., he begins sit-ups, 400-500 of them a night. do with education that might effect the school. Then he gets Next comes his nightly jog down 119th Street. He used to relias much paperwork done as he can during the afternoon, giously run six to seven miles a day, but now, due to injuries, “Whenever I get a moment, I try not to waste it,” Krawitz sticks to walking and running four. Finishing with a cool said. down of a few laps around the cul-de-sac.

12:00 p.m., he considers himself lucky to get even 10 10:00 p.m., after eating dinner with his wife and maybe minutes for a lunch break. If there is time he’ll usually head getting some reading done, Krawitz watches NBC Nightly down to the cafeteria, saying hello to anyone he passes and News or ESPN before heading to bed. grabs a sandwich before going back to work.

11:00 p.m., he crawls back into his king-sized bed and After ‘lunch’ he deals with meetings and tries to travel in begins another cycle that is a day in the life of a principal. and out of classrooms for teacher observations.

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Senior writes book after finishing cancer treatment

one

// CAMILLEKARRO

Cross country captain, chambers singer, upcoming author, teenage cancer survivor. Senior Jonathan Stepp does it all with a smile.

“If [I] spend time being negative, people around [me] can be affected,” Stepp said. “[I] don’t want people to worry about [me].”

Stepp’s concern for people drove him to write a book to share his experiences of fighting cancer. And of course, to thank some people along the way.

The book contains 26 chapters, each one dedicated to someone inspirational. Every chapter begins with a letter of the alphabet and a corresponding lesson he learned during his nine-month chemotherapy treatment. With help from senior Stephen Nichols, Stepp hopes to release the book next summer.

After completing his eighteenth and final round of therapy Sunday, Stepp felt relieved. Although he is planning to undergo a two-week celebration with his excited family and friends, he tries to celebrate life everyday.

After being unable to walk for months, he is thrilled to drive to school or walk down the hall.

Stepp’s family, both at home, at church and in the hospital made up a sturdy support system on which he could rely on. “[Stepp’s family] faced his ordeal with such dignity and grace,” freshman English teacher DeBe Bramley said. “And in typical Stepp-style, always helping other people.”

Mostly, Stepp attributes his recovery to his faith, which grew stronger in the past year.

Through his church, Stepp received prayer requests and letters from around the world. From Tennessee to

New Zealand, people prayed for him to get through.

Stepp now uses those prayers for the Children’s Mercy patients still inhabiting his floor, 4-Henson.

“I always thought it was really cool when kids would leave before me,” Stepp said. “I knew that I would do it eventually, and it finally happened.”

Leaving the hospital was bittersweet. The nurses and patients on his floor were a second family to him, and it’s hard to let go of family, especially when they are that supportive.

To show his appreciation, Stepp wrote a thank you to every nurse and doctor he came in contact with during the last nine months.

It came to I always thought it was about 140 handreally cool when kids would written letters. leave before me. I knew that During March M a d ness, he I could do it eventually, and it a l s o raised finally happened. $ 4 ,4 0 0 senior Jonathan Stepp for his hospital unit through his fundraiser, “Bracketology for Oncology.” Over 120 people participated, and most of them exceeded the $10 minimum donation, With the money, the hospital bought three Wii controllers for each of the 25 rooms on Stepp’s floor. The remaining money was used to purchase new television remotes and a coffee machine, along with two year’s worth of coffee for the nurses. Stepp noted that they drank it in five months.

Although Stepp made it a goal to stay out of the hos-

“

“

T

is for treatment

H

PAGE 15 FEATURES / ISSUE ONE

pital next year, he will happily go back to help out. Next summer, he plans to be a care assistant, which is tantamount to a nurse’s assistant.

Stepp’s check-ups every two weeks do not interfere with his goal for good grades or a good year.

As captain of the cross country team, Stepp coaches from the sidelines, inspiring and encouraging the other athletes.

“He has always been very positive,” coach Michael Chaffee said, “specifically in regard to running.”

Throughout the last year, coach David Pennington assisted Stepp in ways outside of running.

“I used to pray with him and help him challenge his energy positively and believe in his faith,” Pennington said.

Stepp uses chapter six of his book to convey the importance of faith when fighting cancer.

As a lab assistant for Bramley, Stepp has racked up rave reviews.

“He’s got the good heart, the intelligence, the determination and drive, and he has that modesty,” Bramley said. “My ninth graders are going to benefit from him so much. What a role model.”

Stepp attends physical therapy two to three times a week to speed up the healing of his knee. This will help him gain more range of motion so he can drive more easily, and better yet run again.

Stepp’s goal is to be able to run in two months.

He may not run this season, but he’s not slowing down either.

LEFT: Because he has to take so much medication, senior Jonathan Stepp eats lunch in the nurse’s office. BELOW: Stepp sits with the choir during class. He had to miss seven months of school, but is now in Chambers choir and is the captain of the cross country team. // CHLOEFISCHGRUND

Left: Stepp eats in the nurse’s office during his lunch hour. He eats in the office every day.

Below: Stepp’s scar on his knee. He had to have INSERT NUMBER surgeries to remove the tumor on his knee.

{ MIXED

PAGE 16 MIXED / SEPT. 2, 2008

// BOBMARTIN

{

the page about construction workers

ERIC OUDERKIRK Oversight- Age 32

A football field is visible in the distance as Eric Ouderkirk works on the Biology wing. He played cornerback around 15 years ago when he attended high school in Blue Springs, Missouri. Nowadays he’s in charge of over seeing different projects all around the East jobsite, including the biology wing and gym. So far, Ouderkirk says that he’s enjoyed this job due to the ease he’s had working with people around the site, like his good buddy Brian Sherrets. Outside of his work, Eric can be found playing drums for the local band “Film at 11” who describe themselves as bringing a new style of music they call grunge-pop.

LINDY BAXLEY RooferAge 60

Hailing from South Carolina, Lindy Baxley has been working roofing jobs for 39 years, 30 of which have been in the Kansas City metro area.

Since the beginning of summer, Baxley’s been hard at work asphalting all around the campus and doing the time consuming job of removing and replacing delicate skylights. Shawnee Mission East’s renovations are sophisticated compared to the wooden frame school he recalls attending as a child. This job site’s different from what Baxley is used, because there are at all times students and faculty roaming around. “It’s different,” Baxley said with a laugh. “We have to park way back there [on Delmar] now, since the students are back.”

When the long workday at East is done, Baxley likes to sit down, relax and watch Judge Judy, or maybe catch up with the grandkids in Myrtle Beach.

BRIAN SHERRETS Labor Forman, Forklift Operator- Age 29

The Shawnee Mission District is familiar ground for Brian Sherrets. This construction worker of 11 career years went to Northwest and recently had a job working on Shawnee Mission West. Being on the East Campus since the beginning of summer, Brian thinks highly of the landscaping and general look of the place. The long timeframe of the project is the only concern. “We’ve got no room,” Sherrets said, referring to space constrictions around the site. He has high expectations for the final result though, “Should be good after the millions of dollars they’re putting into it,” Sherrets said confidently.

Even when he’s off work, the outdoors is a comfortable place for Brian.

When the week’s over, Brian enjoys riding fourwheelers and snowmobiles.

ERIC DEGASE

Masonary ForemanAge 48 // KATIEEAST

Times have changed quite a bit for Eric Degase since the Marryville High graduating class of ’78. He’s no longer socially stuck between the “Jocks and the Druggies”, and racing hot rods isn’t one of his weekend activities anymore. Eric is still in high school though, sort of. Working as a masonry foreman, Degase has been looking over a lot of the brickwork being done on the additions to East’s science wing, making sure everything is in top shape. Relatively new to the site, Eric is confident that the finished East will be “better than any of ‘em yet”. When getting away from masonry, Eric enjoys camping, water skiing and being in general a couch potato, all in the company of his loving wife.

//ANDYALLEN

//ANDYALLEN

•

•

DID YOU KNOW?

Many people enter the construction industry right out of high school without any formal classroom training. Laborers can learn their job in a couple days, but skilled workers such as carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers and other trade specialists either need several years of informal on-the-job experience or apprenticeship training.

Construction is a very physical profession and good hand-eye coordination is necessary. Construction is notoriously harsh on the human body, so strength and conditioning is important as well.

// TYLERROSTE

bls.gov, jobprofiles.com, myfuture.edu

WORD OF THE ISSUE from The Daily Candy Lexicon: Words That Don’t Exist but Should

{show-flake} n. Person who chronically misses every appointment (i.e. doctor’s appointments, hair cuts, dinners). (“Is Louise going to show, or is she pulling a show-flake again?”)

PAGE 17 A&E / ISSUE ONE BON APPETIT! The Harbinger votes on the best cuisine in KC.

BEST BBQ/RIBS: Oklahoma Joe’s 3002 W. 47th Ave. 913-722-3366 BEST SEAFOOD: McCormick & Schmick’s 448 W. 47th St. 816-531-6800

// TYLERROSTE

THE MAIN COURSE

With the public opening of the Broadmoor restaurant nearing, culinary students now have a helpful benefit for...

// DUNCANMCHENRY

The atmosphere in the classroom at the Broadmoor Culinary School is relaxed, for now.

Senior Spencer Knipper sits back in a swivel chair while senior Jarrett Kirk puts his white apron on. Except for a stove, the classroom looks more like a place where students would come to learn math or English than cooking. Only astute observers would notice the old crock-pot stashed away on top of a cabinet, or the plastic mixing bowls stacked haphazardly in the corner.

Knipper and Kirk, who divide their time between East and Broadmoor, will be preparing practice dishes for the grand opening of the student-run Broadmoor Bistro on Sept. 17. This year marks the first time that the students will be cooking in the school’s new professional grade kitchen and bakery on opening night.

They enter the kitchen, complete with three rows of stoves and a fully stocked spice rack with everything from Israeli Paprika to Famous Dave’s Steakburger Seasoning, and begin cooking.

The other Culinary II students haven’t arrived yet, so they start by looking at the list of recipes on the stainless steel counter and collecting ingredients. Kirk husks corn for a soup over a large trash bin, while Knipper cubes watermelon for a Shrimp Ceviche dish, only talking when it is to clarify something about a recipe. When he finishes cubing, Knipper hollows the rest of the middle out into a bin and starts peeling the green skin off the rind.

“I’m going to pickle the rind for another dish,” Knipper said.

Within a half hour, the rest of the CII students enter the room along with head chef Bob Brassard. After a quick reminder from Brassard to stay focused, the students get to work. The smell of chicken and vegetables soon fills the air as a student puts some chicken onto a tall stainless steel pot of boiling water, and Kirk begins chopping onions.

Brassard continues to observe the students.

He reprimands a student for leaving food on a

hand towel for one minute, and gives advice on the amount of corn to use in the soup the next.

The dishes being prepared will be shared by all of the culinary students the next day, and no one wants to disappoint. According to Kirk, preparing meals for each other is great practice for the restaurant.

“It gives us a feeling of what it will be like on opening night. It’s definitely a little more relaxed now, but we get used to the rush so we’re not just thrown into it and freak out.”

The Bistro was started in the fall of 2000 at the Broadmoor Technical Center in Overland Park. Broadmoor also offers other courses besides culinary and commercial baking, such as graphic design, filmmaking and small engine repair. Customers can dine at the bistro for the price of $25 on Wednesday nights, and enjoy the new restaurant that has been completely redone since the bistro’s beginnings in the school’s multipurpose room.

The Culinary Department underwent extensive remodeling in 2007, adding the new kitchen, bakery, upscale restaurant area complete with an outdoor patio and a new classroom.

The type of food hasn’t changed, but with 4,700 sq. feet of new space, they can now accommodate more customers and make more food, like a real restaurant. Before the remodeling, Chef David Finn’s commercial baking class and Brassard’s cooking class had to share a kitchen. With the new bakery, Finn’s students can bake up to 120 pies at one time when they used to be limited to two.

The food at the bistro has always been upscale, and this year will be no exception. Some of the items listed on the menu outside the bistro are shrimp avocado cocktail, apple grilled sirloin medallion and maricibo chocolate raspberry mousse for dessert. Brassard says that the food prepared by students is very professionally done.

“The type of food that the students are cooking

is the type of food that is out in the upscale restaurants,” Brassard said. “We emphazise plating design and flavor, and the student has the opportunity to practice real life skills.”

The bistro has already received personal as well as professional acclaim, from an article in the Kansas City Star to Shawnee Mission West principal Dr. Charles McLean.

“I had a great time eating at Broadmoor, and I was very impressed with their new space,” McLean said. “I felt like I was eating at a restaurant on the plaza. I was a little disappointed in some of the bread, but overall I thought it was exciting and full of good flavor.”

Along with teaching them to cook, the head chefs at Broadmoor utilize the Bistro as a way for the students to learn about the business aspect of managing an upscale restaurant. The school has a chef lecture series provided by a donation from Senator David Wysong, which allows five successful chefs per year to come talk to the students about owning and operating a restaurant. Broadmoor is the only program in the entire country that does this. Brassard says it has been very beneficial for the students, because they learn that even the most successful chefs have to start the same way that they are.

“These chefs have stellar restaurants with the average check being $50 to $150,” Brassard said.

“For the student to see and hear the chef’s stories about how they started out the same way that they are, that lends an understanding that it can be done. That they can be a chef.”

According to Brassard, although the bistro is a great place to come for a delicious meal, the chefs at Broadmoor don’t like to think of it as a business, but as experience-based learning.

“We’re not running a restaurant,” Brassard said. “We’re running education based on customers. It’s critical that people come and try the food to evaluate the student’s progress.

Anyone that comes to Broadmoor to eat is being educated as well as the student.”

BEST SALAD/ SANDWICHES: Ingredient Park Place- 117th & Nall 913-948-6800 BEST BREAKFAST: Eggcetera 51st & Main St. BEST PIZZA SPIN! 6541 W. 119th St. 913-451-7746 BEST ITALIAN Lidia’s 101 W. 22nd St. 816-221-3722 BEST CHINESE Pei Wei 9222 Metcalf Ave. 913-693-9777 BEST OUTDOOR DINING: Classic Cup 301 W. 47th St. 816-753-1840 BEST BURGER: Westport Flea Market 817 Westport Rd. 816-931-1932 BEST SUSHI HOUSE: Jun’s 7660 State Line Rd. 913-341-4924 BEST DESSERT: McCormick & Schmick’s chocolate bag (see best seafood)

PAGE 18 A&E / SEPT. 2, 2008

‘Death Race’ blows away competition

// LANDONMCDONALD

You don’t walk into a movie called “Death Race” expecting motivated acting, moving dialogue or even a coherent plot.

You just expect volatile, hard core action and plenty of it. In that regard, this absurd but lovable film is one of the most satisfying to be found in these dreary days of early autumn cinema, that unfathomable vortex between the big summer blockbusters and the prestigious, Oscar-targeted fare of late fall and winter.

Directed with a sledgehammer’s finesse by Paul W.S. Anderson, a man best known for throwaway video game adaptations like “Resident Evil” and “Alien vs. Predator” and based on B-movie maestro Roger Corman’s 1975 craptastic “Death Race 2000,” the new “Death Race” is a film for those who take their action raw and their car crashes burned to a crisp. Here’s a movie that knows exactly what it is and makes no apologies for it. And that simple but essential recognition begets a kind of gonzo joy, a sense of savage elation that even the most prudish viewer (or critic) would be hard-pressed to resist.

The plot is so thin it’s practically nonexistent. The year is 2012 and the American economy has crashed, making crime rates soar. Privatized businesses have taken over the overcrowded prisons and now run them as they see fit.

Reality TV, as inexplicably popular in the future as it is today, is taken to a more violent level when the Terminal Island prison, lorded over by the cold-blooded gaze of

&E APANEL

Warden Hennessey (the superb Joan Allen from “The Bourne Ultimatum”), starts forcing the inmates to race each other in a series of televised gladiatorial mêlées dubbed Death Race.

The rules are simple: win five races, get your freedom.

After being framed for the murder of his wife, former NASCAR driver Jensen Ames (registered bad ass Jason Statham from “Snatch” and the “Transporter” series) is sent to Terminal Island and ordered by Hennessey to surreptitiously replace recently deceased crowd favorite Frankenstein to improve Death Race’s sagging ratings.

Jensen agrees and enters a vehicular blood feud with the original Frank’s nemesis, the ingeniously named Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson). With the help of his loyal pit crew, including grizzled mentor Coach (the gravel-voiced Ian McShane from HBO’s “Deadwood”) and sexy women’s prison navigator Case (Natalie Martinez), Jensen tricks out a heavily armored Ford Mustang with enough firepower to double as a blue-collar Bond car.

The races, a well-staged fever dream of twisted metal and burning rubber, are shot with an adrenaline-fueled, reckless realism seldom seen in the CGI-soaked action movies of today. There’s the definite feeling that what you’re watching is the real deal, not some pixilated trifle but the well-deserved triumph of hardworking stunt drivers and pyrotechnic crews. It’s like a breath of fresh air to see real stuff blowing up on screen again.

// www.imdb.com

Adrenaline-fueled flick is thin on plot, big on action

Statham, Hollywood’s working-class action hero and a veteran of stunt school himself, gives another reliably hardboiled performance as Jensen. Sure, it’s the same guy he’s been playing for years, one he’ll reprise yet again in the upcoming “Transporter 3,” but the cockney actor looks like he’s having so much fun that you really can’t blame him. That said, I do look forward to the day he’ll tackle more diverse roles like his smart, funny performance in last year’s British crime lark “The Bank Job.” Joan Allen, like Paul Giamatti in 2007’s “Shoot ‘Em Up,” is a brilliant performer intentionally slumming and clearly having a blast doing it. Her Warden Hennessey is one cruelly cool creation, a petite blonde with a reputation so fierce that even the most hardened prisoner cowers at the sight of her and calls her “M’am” with an inflection somewhere between fear and awe. And just watch when she summons THE DREADNAUGHT. What follows is one of the best action sequences I’ve seen this year, an absolute jaw-dropper by any standard.

“Death Race” is Saturday matinee escapism at its best, pure and simple. It may be Hollywood junk food, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good for you. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional cheap thrill, as long as it feels fun, engaging and new. Not everything needs to be smart and elegant. Sound and fury have their place too.

| | We weigh in on what’s happening in the entertainment world

Jeff Rutherford A&E Section Editor

Rachel Birkenmier A&E Page Editor

Meg Shackelford Art & Design Editor

Will Maurice Green Best movie you saw Favorite lesserTired of hearing win “Dancing with this summer? known music artist? about “Twilight”? the Stars”?

“People” magazine or “US Weekly”?

Yes. World class The Dark Knight. Polaris. They did the Definitely. I’ve athletes make world As far as superhero music for “Pete and heard all I need to “People.” No doubt. class dancers. It’s movies go, it doesn’t Pete.” A Nickelodeon hear about vampire that simple. get much better. love. classic.

The Dark Knight.

Who? I don’t watch “Dancing with the Heath Ledger did an amazing job as The Stars.”

Joker.

I don’t have one.

No! The books are amazing. Don’t get me started about Edward Cullen.

No way! I’m obNo. I have complete The Dark Knight. Plastic Bertrand. faith that Misty May Heath Ledger’s per- It’s French pop and sessed. It will never formance was eerily I found it on Gossip get old. I’ll be at the will win. epic and enthralling. Girl. Enough said. midnight showing.

STAR SCALE | |Stay home |

| Rental at best |

|Worth seeing |

“People.” I like the People’s Puzzler.

“People.” US’s coverage is questionable.

|Instant Classic

PAGE 19 A&E / ISSUE ONE

FALL MOVIEPREVIEW After a summer full of the good (“The Dark Knight”), the bad (“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Greedy Producers”) and the ugly (“The Happening”), it’s time to settle back into the tedious doldrums of early fall, a time where cinematic afterbirth like “The Clone Wars” (I refuse to call it Star Wars) and grotesque semi-comedies, like “Disaster Movie,” are allowed to ooze their way into our theaters like waste from an overflowing septic tank. But just hang in there beleaguered fellow film freaks. Starting in mid-September, the movies get good again. Here’s the eight I have the highest hopes for.

// LANDONMCDONALD

MAXPAYNE 10/17 Normally I’m no fan of video game film adaptations, but I’ll make an exception for any film that follows rogue cop Max Payne on his quest to avenge the death of his family. The casting of Mark Wahlberg as Max is inspired (it should also ease my intense hatred of “The Happening”) and the first trailer exudes dark, stylized cool in the vein of “Sin City” and the underrated “Constantine.”

The only problems I can foresee are the unexplained CGI angel/demons and the nagging rumors that this gritty bone-cruncher of a video game is going to become a bloodless, PG-13 cop-out.

W 10/29

Oliver Stone isn’t my favorite director and I’m not sure about the ethics of making an unflattering biopic about a sitting U.S. president, however unpopular. But an early preview for this film, a chronicling of George W. Bush’s unlikely rise to power, makes it look alternately funny and thoughtful, a somewhat sincere effort to understand Bush’s psyche. Starring Josh Brolin (“American Gangster”) as the President, Elizabeth Banks (“Scrubs”) as Laura Bush and Richard Dreyfuss (“Jaws”) as Dick Cheney.

ZACANDMIRIMAKEAPORNO 10/31 Before the overrated Judd Apatow and Co. moved in and interrupted his reign, Kevin Smith was the king of gleeful smut in Hollywood. After twin flops “Jersey Girl” and “Clerks II,” Smith is in desperate need of a hit, and this envelope-pushing comedy should be his ticket back to box office success. The film is the story of Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), two lifelong friends with no benefits who decide to solve their financial woes by making an adult film together. This film was threatened with an NC-17 several times by the MPAA ratings board before Smith finally won his appeal.

// PHOTOS COURTESY OF IMDB.COM

BURNAFTERREADING 9/12 The Cohen Brothers, the eccentric geniuses behind last year’s brooding Oscar champ “No Country for Old Men,” triumphantly return to their quirky comedy roots with the story of retired CIA agent Osbourne Cox (John Malkovitch)) and the top secret file he loses while writing his memoirs. It ends up in the hands of overzealous gym owner Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand from “Fargo”) and her moronic personal trainer Chad (Brad Pitt), who try to use the file in a harebrained blackmail scheme. Also starring George Clooney as an overweight, womanizing government worker who’s sleeping with Cox’s wife (Tilda Swinton) and secretly wants the file for himself. In case anyone has any doubts that the guys who made “No Country” can helm a legitimate comedy, the brothers also wrote and directed “The Big Lebowski.”

CHANGELING 10/31

Clint Eastwood has directed some of the finest films of the last ten years, with “Letters from Iwo Jima” and “Mystic River” topping my list. So I’m really looking forward to his newest work, the unsettling story of a woman (Angelina Jolie) whose kidnapped son is miraculously returned to her years later. But soon she finds herself questioning if the child is really her own. Also starring John Malkovitch as a local reverend who may hold the key to the mystery.

RIGHTEOUSKILL 9/12 Thirteen years after their last pairing in Michael Mann’s sprawling crime saga “Heat,” veteran actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are together again as aging detectives hot on the trail of a serial killer whose only victims are despicable felons. As Pacino’s character says, they’re not sure whether to catch the guy or give him a medal.

The brilliant casting and engrossing set-up sounds like a movie lover’s dream, but the film’s director is Jon Avnet, who last film was the atrocious “88 Minutes.” This is one that will either amaze or crash and burn.

QUANTUMOFSOLACE 11/7

Terrible title, potentially great movie. Two years ago, “Casino Royale” revamped the James Bond legend with a fresh face (Daniel Craig, the best 007 since Sean Connery) and a much needed injection of realism and genuine human emotion. In this latest installment, the twenty-second Bond film, 007 continues to hunt down the evildoers who killed his lost love Vesper. His reckless acts of vengeance prompts M (still thankfully played by the indispensable Judi Dench) to banish him from MI-6. Abandoned by his allies and stripped of his license to kill, Bond must face his newest and possibly deadliest enemy Dominic Greene (Bond newbie Mathieu Almaric from “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) alone.

THEROAD 11/26

Cormac McCarthy’s harrowing post-apocalyptic parable about a father (Viggo Mortenson from “Eastern Promises” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy) and son surviving the End Times connected on a massive scale with readers around the globe. But will its bare bones styling, deliberate plotting and graceful prose translate well onto the big screen? The last McCarthy novel to become a movie was the multiple Oscar winner “No Country for Old Men” just last year, so another Academy windfall seems unlikely. But as long as the film sticks to the hallowed source material, “The Road” should still be a remarkable film.

DEEP ROOTS

PAGE 20 SPORTS / SEPT. 2, 2008

Grandpa Fotopoulos (Mom’s side) Played in Greek Davis Cup

Grandma Fotopoulos (Mom’s side) National tennis circuit

Uncle Fotopoulos Mrs. Fotopoulos Junior Tennis National Tennis Circuit Circuit

Mimi Fotopoulous 33rd in Nation

Grandpa Fotopoulos (Dad’s side) Played at KU

Aunt Fotopoulos 75-0 at SME, still a record today

Mr. Fotopoulos Played at Texas and OU

Chris Fotopoulous 98th in Nation

VS.

Freshman tennis star hopes to live up to high expectations // RACHELBIRKENMEIR

Freshman Mimi Fotopoulos had tennis running through her veins before she was born. Coming from a long line of tennis players, Fotopoulos was practically made for the game. Her grandfather was a Greek national team member, her father was once nationally ranked and her brother, senior Chris Fotopoulos, is now nationally ranked.

By the time Fotopoulos was two-years-old, she was already tagging along with Chris to his practices, sparking her interest in the game.

“One day I just picked up a racket and kind of just messed around,” Fotopoulos said.

Since then, she has continued to follow in her family’s long line of tennis footsteps.

Fotopoulos became more serious about playing when she was around the age of five, and her father and coach, Sam Fotopoulos, helped Mimi to prefect her skill and get ready to compete.

“I really respect my dad, and he’s a good coach,” Fotopoulos said. “I know he’s been where I am now, so it’s really helpful.”

By the age of seven, Fotopoulos had played in a few tournaments, and eventually got her first taste of victory.

“I couldn’t believe it when I won [my first tournament]. I had just started playing tennis,” said Fotopoulos. “I kind of just went out there and had fun. I entered to see what I could do and ended up winning,” said Fotopoulos.

As she grew older, Fotopoulos had to consider the option of home school. Many of her opponents are home schooled, and they are able to practice

Mimi Chris

whenever they want to. When it came time to make the decision, Fotopoulos chose a different route than most tennis players her age and decided to attend public school. “[Being home schooled] just wasn’t my path. I wanted to have another life besides tennis,” said Fotopoulos. “Later in life when I’m really old I’m not going to have tennis to fall back on.”

After starting high school this year she decided to play for the East tennis team, coached by Sue Chipman.

“We feel very fortunate as anyone would [to have Mimi on our team]. She’s hard working and doesn’t have a big head about her ability,” Chipman said. “And we hope Mimi can help us qualify for regionals this year.”

“I tell myself that this is the time that I have to practice,” Fotopoulos said. “If I want to reach a certain point, this is how hard I have to train to get there.”

Despite the high expectations, Fotopoulos has set for herself, she still wants to live a well-balanced life.

“For me, it’s good that I do other things like cheer, so when I go out there and play I want to be on the court,” Fotopoulos said.

To keep motivated and improve her game, Fotopoulos’s brother Chris practices with her. He has been a varsity tennis player at East for three years.

“It’s fun, and my sister is kind of competitive,” said Chris. “She thinks I’m not taking it seriously and will hit a hard shot at me…it’s funny.”

One of Fotouplous’ key tennis moves is her groundstroke, which has to do with playing backcourt instead of up at the net.

“I tell her that most of the girls that she’s playing won’t be as good as I am,” said Chris. “If she can hit shots past me, they will work against opponents.”

For Fotopoulos, playing the game isn’t about winning. It’s more about having a good time and being with her family.

“Unlike the most of the people I play, I have my family there with me, so it makes it just a lot more fun,” Fotopoulos said.

AGE STARTED: 2 AGE STARTED: 3 FAVORITE FAVORITE SWING: Two- hand forehand SWING:backhand slice TOURNEYS WON: 30+ TOURNEYS WON: 35+ MOST MEMORABLE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT: Eddie Herr MOMENT: Super Tournament National Hardcourts NATIONAL CLASS TENNIS RANK:

33

98

// NICKLUCAS HAVING played together since they were little, Mimi and Chris finally have a chance to both make a run at state this year. Mimi is a freshman and Chris, entering his senior year, has already been on two state teams. // ANDYALLEN

Toughing out the Tryouts

PAGE 21SPORTS / ISSUE ONE

More than 300 students went out for a variety of fall sports

ABOVE: Senior Sydney Danner sets up a ball for freshman Hayley Hansford to spike during volleyball tryouts on Aug. 21. // TYLERROSTE BELOW: Junior Grant Stauffer prepares for a cross country run. With temperatures over 80 degrees, Stauffer felt uncomfortable. “Why the heck am I running and it’s way too hot to be wearing a shirt,” Stauffer said. // ANDIEMITCHELL

ABOVE: Junior Spencer Barnhill and sophomore Andrew Goble fight for the ball in a scrimmage on Aug. 22 at the boys soccer tryouts. // MACKENZIEWYLIE BELOW: Freshman Carolyn Welter hits a back hand during tennis tryouts on Aug. 21. // TYLERROSTE BELOW RIGHT: Senior Elizabeth Beck prepares to go on the uneven bars during gymnastics tryouts. // NICOLELUBY

PAGE 22 SPORTS / SEPT. 2, 2008

A NEW

+

// ANDYALLEN give up his past roles in the school, but is glad to make the change.

He got into the office on July 28, about a week before he was expected. This was to make sure all the coaches had been fingerprinted and turned in any kind of paper work. Although his wife wasn’t ready to see him go he knew that he would need the extra time.

Ricker wanted the job because he knew how to work with the coaches and knows what the community is like in and out of the building.

He felt that it would be a new challenge, and had some things he felt like he knew he could change or improve.

Ricker had been looking to take on an associate principles position, and after Gary Howard resigned as athletic director, Ricker jumped at the chance. He was said to see Howard go, but was excited to see the new opportunity open up.

“He was great for this school, but he got an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up,” Ricker said. “I was just ready to jump on board.”

There are, however, cons to becoming the athletic director.

The biggest of all was not being able to teach anymore. He wouldn’t be able to work the kids in the classroom and every time he reworked the pros and cons list, that kept showing up.

“I am really going to miss not being able to teach everyday to these kids,” Ricker said. “But, I guess I don’t have to make any more lesson plans.”

The other thing Ricker will miss is being the head Varsity girl’s coach. He says even though he isn’t their coach anymore he will still be on the sidelines because he is required to be as athletic director. He also says he will be yelling at them from the sidelines if he gets the chance.

When the position opens up, it has to be made public first. Then they take all the applications and screen them to find out who actually has the credentials. Next, there is another screening to find who they want to interview in person. Finally four people were being interviewed, three in district and one out.

“Jim had an understanding of the culture and had a background in head coaching boys and girls sports,” Dr. Karl Krawitz said. “He has respect as a coach and he is a very personable guy. It is good to have people around that have walked to the path before.”

‘AD’DI ION

Jim Ricker replaces Gary Howard as Athletic Director // CAMSMITH

Without thinking, Jim Ricker almost drove off the road.

After completing his second interview for the athletic director position Ricker was told he would receive a call after about two weeks. But they only needed 45 minutes. While driving to Soccer Master to pick up soccer balls for the East Soccer Kids Camp, Ricker received the call that he had gotten the job.

Jim Ricker is now the new athletic director and has certain things he wants to change. He also has found it hard to

A FRESH START

He came in with a to-do list. He would have to make sure the coaches had everything they needed for their seasons, have the facilities for tryouts in the best possible condition, find a new varsity girl’s soccer head coach and change the current student support for sports.

The main thing Ricker wants changed is how the fans get behind the sports teams. He has been working with Krawitz to increase student following for all sports teams. They want fans to be rowdy and get excited for the teams, but they have to obey the guidelines set.

“I hope fans want to come out and support our teams and not feel like they have to be there,” Ricker said. “All sports need to be followed, not just those big sports like football, basketball and baseball. That’s what we are trying to change.”

Ricker has found Shawnee Mission East to be a great fit for him and his family.

“This school is great because it is a large school with a small town feel,” Ricker said. “We have all the support from Prairie Village because we are the city’s only high school.”

Head boys varsity coach, Jamie Kelly, knows that Ricker will do a great job with the task at hand. He has found that it is good to have someone as an athletic director who has a passion for sports, but for all sports. Jim Ricker has that passion.

“He is going to care about everything, and he’ll be fair,” Kelly said. “He wants to do this job and not just move up in the world.”

Ricker found that it would be a great fit because the coaches set such high standards. They not only set them high for the kids but they expect a lot out of themselves too, and hopes that the standards and traditions he has set for the girl’s program will continue and not be left behind once there is a new head coach.

Senior Libby Jandl has played for Ricker for three years and now will have to transition to a new coach. She will miss not playing for him because he has helped her develop into a successful player Jandl said.

“He always positively pushed me to become a better soccer player in a way that made me want to work harder for him,” Jandl said. “I can’t think of anyone else who would be better as an athletic director than Ricker; he has been a coach and teacher and knows how all of the programs operate.”

He will be leaving behind coaching the varsity girls and teaching economics, but he has found a new challenge to take on. After having the scramble of tryouts and coordinating schedules, he knows he’ll feel more comfortable once the fall season is over.

“It’s like I dove into the deep end and there’s no ladder,” Ricker said. “I just have to tread water to stay afloat.”

Football team looks to redeem themselves from past years // JORDANPFEIFFER

Similar to the 2008 U.S Olympic basketball team, the football team is looking for redemption this season. Lebron James isn’t on the roster and they are not all six foot eight inches tall and weighing in at 280 lbs, but as the football team practices for the start of the new season, they hope to find themselves with a winning record after a disappointing season at 2-7 last year.

Returning 14 players out of the senior class, and 24 juniors active on the JV/ Varsity, the juniors and seniors have started playing like a team.

According to Head Coach John Stonner, the team has come together better this season than last because the number of seniors has dropped.

“Fourteen-to-twenty seniors is a good number to have on a team, because there are less cliques within the team,” Coach

Stonner said. “They come together better and become more of a cohesive unit, which in turn makes them better leaders for the team.”

But senior leadership isn’t the only thing that all of the coaches are looking for this season. They feel that we have good enough players this season that anyone could step into a leadership role whether it be in practice or in games throughout the course of the season.

With that in mind, the practices have begun to intensify, and positions have begun to be filled by not just juniors, seniors and some surprise sophomores.

Lots of conditioning and hard hitting drills between all of the players on the team have insured that the best athletes will be on the field for the first Friday night game.

“The early practices are giving the juniors and seniors some opportunities for positions on the varsity team,” Stonner

said. “And if we feel the need to we will move more guys up.”

Sophomores Robby Moriarty and John Schrock are younger players that will be getting playing time as back up quarter backs to senior Curran Darling.

“The speed is a lot faster [in varsity] from what I heard from my brother,” Moriarty said. “But since I haven’t played my first game yet I don’t really know what it’s going to be like till I get out there.”

With Moriarty and Shrock backing up Darling this year, and sophomores Krey Bradley and Grant Ellis backing up junior wide receiver Kevin Hertel, the football team now has a young tandem of players to build on for future success with the team.

Although the most recent success for this team has only been two winning seasons in 2005 and 2006, with new

ATIO SENIOR-TO-WIN R Season

Seniors

Record

02-03

29

4-7

03-04

18

2-7

04-05

11

4-6

05-06

18

6-4

06-07

14

5-5

07-08

27

2-7

08-09

14

?

faces on the team and a young roster, the Lancers may just bring home the gold this season.

PAGE 23 SPORTS / ISSUE ONE

THE FALL COUNTDOWN Last year’s fall sports season

life in the locker room MOLLY TIDRICK

JUNIOR

brought us football blues and soccer woos. Here’s what to expect in the coming months.

3. Senior Standouts

The soccer team is led by 15 seniors, all of which were a part of last year’s playoff run. Mitchell Jennings, Matt Moedritzer and Tyler Owens captain the most hyped team this year.

TENNIS

The boys did it, now it’s our turn...

After last year, we all feel like winning state is a possibility. The top girls are fighters so everyone is just always so motivated.

She’s out of control on the court. We all get pretty into it, but she tends to scream alot when she plays. Some rain delays have been pretty interesting because of how slap-happy she’s gotten.

Chippy is just the nicest coach...

Sports PANEL the

Mrs. Chipman isn’t like your stereotypical coach. She just goes with the flow and is really easy to talk to about anything. It’s nice knowing she’s so funny and really all of us love her.

2. Acing Opponents

The freshman can be intimidating...

All the varsity girls in the top six compete really hard for the highest positions but with Mimi [Fotopoulous] now on the team, she and the other freshman are jockeying for every single spot. We all bond really well and are so nice to each other, but it gets intense on the court.

Girls’ tennis was a state favorite last year but should be expected to continue the “country club sweep.”

1. Allie in First

// TYLERROSTE

Lauren Reynolds is hilarious...

She can run with the boys and has hung around the top since her freshman year, but as a senior the cards are in place for Allie Marquis to finish first in the state for girls’ Cross Countrry.

Giving you the heads up on the sporting down low

College football national champion

Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin?

Varsity football vs.

Lawrence

World Series Champs

2008 Fall Sports Stud

Mizzou

Nastia

Lawrence, 28-14

Cubs

Matt Moedritzer

USC

Shawn

East, 21-17

Phillies

Mimi Fotopoulous

Shawn

Lawrence, 35-17

Rays

Marcus Webb

sam logan andrew goble cam smith

Georgia

PAGE 24 PHOTO ESSAY / SEPT. 2, 2008

ADDING

some fresh

LINKS As the new school year began, the Lancer Link crew welcomed our incoming freshman with some fun and games and also prepared them for the rest of their high school careers with some guidance and words of wisdom

ABOVE RIGHT: Freshman Brady Forbes squeezes junior Amanda Privitera attempting to pop the balloon in between them. This game was one of many played in the gym on the freshman’s first day. These activities were aimed towards helping them adjust to a new school and a myriad of new faces. // MACKENZIEWYLIE RIGHT: Mrs. Pence, Link Crew leader, led the freshman through many group activities such as a few different chants and dances. This gave the East newcomers a chance to have some fun while learning many crucial social skills required for high school. // TYLERROSTE BELOW: Freshman did a lot of group related stuff to help get them to know each other and understand what high school is about. The tasks promoted teamwork and togetherness, a theme throughout the day. // TYLERROSTE

ABOVE: Many of the exercises the freshman went through were to promote being together and working as a team. In the photo above you can see what one of the exercises was like. // MACKENZIEWYLIE RIGHT: Dr. Krawitz gave the freshman a speech to get them pumped up for the year. This will be Krawitz’s first year at East. // TYLERROSTE