The Harbinger: Issue 4

the harbinger.

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208

OCT 16, 2017 VOLUME LIX ISSUE 4

meet your

Junior Magnus Hagan transforms his everyday happy self into horrific characters while working at The Edge of Hell PAGES 16-17

COVER DESIGN E MILY FEY COVER PHOTOS DIANA PERCY AND ELLIE THOM A

THE HARBINGER

2 CONTENTS

table of contents.

peek inside.

editorial

Sensible gun laws are necessary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A more detailed look at a few of the stories in the issue

CENTER OF WARD PARKWAY | page 5 | newsures Legacy Development opens new restaurant pavilion between Ward Parkway and State Line on Oct. 26 featuring restaurants that are new to the KC area

NEWS

LEFT | The

new center of restaruants in Ward Parkway

| izzy zanone

ENDING THE INNER BATTLE | page 9 | opinion Last year, staffer Harrison Gooley tracked down his grandpa’s comrade from Vietnam and reconnected them for the first time since the war. Now, he looks back at the effect the reconnection of their bond has had on them both

News briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 NEW WARD PARKWAY RESTAURANTS . . . . . . . . . 5 Anti-GSA incident at Olathe Northwest. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Kansas public school funding ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

OPINION

RECONNECTION OF VETERANS EASES PTSD. . . . . 9 Finding Halloween spirit in a small town. . . . . . . . . . 10 Banned books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

F E AT U R E S

FINDING HER LIGHT | page 15 | features Freshman Madeline Stuart begins to find her way out of depression and anxiety photo by | Maddie Smiley

the harbinger staff.

PRINT EDITORS-INCHIEF Grace Chisholm Robbie Veglahn

Cook A&E- Grace Padon & Liddy Stallard Sports- Elias Lowland

ASST. PRINT EDITORS Emily Fey Lizzie Kahle

PAGE DESIGNERS Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron Natasha Thomas Gabby Leinbach Brynn Winkler Kaylin McCann Sarah Wilcox Sarah Bledsoe Meg Thoma Elizabeth Ballew Ava Johnson

HEAD COPY EDITOR Daisy Bolin ART & DESIGN EDITOR Anna McClelland ASST. ART & DESIGN EDITOR Katie Hise ONLINE EDITORS-INCHIEF Reser Hall Kaleigh Koc ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Annabelle Cook Will Tulp PRINT SECTION EDITORS Editorial- Caroline Chisholm News- Lucy Patterson Opinion- Gracie Kost & Scout Rice Features- Lila Tulp & Abby Walker Spread- Annabelle

Miranda Hack Jackie Cameron Maya Stratman PHOTO EDITORS Diana Percy Ellie Thoma Carson Holtgraves ASST. PHOTO EDITORS Grace Goldman Print- Audrey Kesler Online- Maddie Smiley SME PHOTOS EDITOR Carson Holtgraves

STAFF ARTISTS Skyler Boschen Donna Kay

HEAD PHOTO MENTOR Izzy Zanone

COPY EDITORS Mac Newman Madeline Hlobik Abby Walker Harrison Gooley Reser Hall Kaleigh Koc Annabelle Cook Will Tulp Caroline Chisholm Scout Rice Lucy Patterson Alex Freeman Pauline Shaver Daisy Bolin

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Tyler Browning Ellen Swanson Reilly Moreland Luke Hoffman Lucy Morantz Elizabeth Anderson Ava Simonsen Morgan Plunkett Katherine Odell Katherine McGinness Hadley Hyatt Ally Griffith Kate Nixon Aislinn Menke Kathleen Deed

STAFF WRITERS Lucia Barraza

ONLINE SECTION EDITORS News- Alex Freeman Sports- Jet Semrick Features- Brooklyn Terrill A&E- Kaylin McCann Homegrown- Pauline Shaver Opinion- Miranda Hack Eastipedia- Lucy Kendall Humans of East- Kate Nixon MOBILE MEDIA EDITORS Anna Kanaley Lucy Hoffman ASST. MOBILE MEDIA EDITOR Brooklyn Terrill VIDEO EDITOR Avery Walker ASST. VIDEO EDITOR Drake Woods VIDEO TRAINING EDITOR Nic Bruyere LIVE BROADCAST EDITOR Peyton Watts

WEBMASTER Marti Fromm PODCAST EDITOR Lucy Patterson ANCHORS Ian Schutt Drake Woods INTERACTIVE EDITORS Will Tulp Annabelle Cook MULTIMEDIA STAFF Ian Schutt Dylan King Maggie Schutt Reilly Moreland EDITORIAL BOARD Grace Chisholm Robbie Veglahn Reser Hall Kaleigh Koc Emily Fey Lizzie Kahle Annabelle Cook Will Tulp Daisy Bolin Anna McClelland Anna Kanaley Lucy Hoffman Brooklyn Terrill Harrison Gooley Caroline Chisholm

Teacher has month-long trip to Rwanda. . . . . . . . . . . 13 Youtuber finds outlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 .

FINDING WAY OUT OF DEPRESSION. . . . . . . . . . 15 Cover Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16&17 A boy and his wolf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T Snapchat Discover review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“City of Saints and Thieves” book reveiw. . . . . . .

Acai bowl review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Split page movie review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SPORTS

. . . . . . . . . . . .

21 22 23 25

FEATURED ATHLETE SPECIAL SECTION

Parker Willis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Emma Linscott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thomas Luger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“On deck” sports alt-copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26 27 28 29

MORE

A boy and his wolf photo story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Lip dub photo story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30&31 Choir fainters alt-copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

editorial policy.

The Harbinger is a student-run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The contents and views of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 521 or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com

DESIGN CAROLINE CHISHOLM

OCTOBER 16, 2017

CONTROL THE CHAOS

EDITORIAL

GUN

3

violence

in AMERICA

270 320 million guns for

For the safety of American citizens, the US government needs to enforce stricter gun laws

FOR: 15

W

hat happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas. It stays with the families of the 58 killed and the near 500 injured. It stays with the Jason Aldean fans, who have blood-stained cowboy boots and shirts from using their bodies to shield each other from flying bullets. It stays in the history books that will label it as the worst mass shooting in United States History.

The nation woke up on Monday, Oct. 2 to yet another heartbreaking tragedy.

A white American man – not a Muslim nor a Mexican – obtained automatic military-style firearms and murdered innocent people. Police will spend their time trying to answer the trivial question of whether or not the shooter obtained his guns legally. Yet, the real question that needs to be addressed is why our country allows such weapons in the hands of civilians in the first place.

We may not be able to control the violent impulses of our citizens, but we can limit the semiautomatic and automatic weapons available to them.

Failing to do so is political cowardice.

This is not the nation we intrinsically are, but the nation we have chosen to be: hostile, fearful and heartbroken.

According to BBC News, numerous polls have shown widespread public support for strengthened background checks and banning certain types of high-capacity gun magazines and military-style assault rifles. But on the federal level, no action has been taken in years. If history acts as any guide, this shooting will not propel Congress to serve justice for the victims in this

AGAINST: 0 tragedy.

And it is not just this tragedy that needs to be served justice. Yet, the stalemate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress is preventing progress. Democrats don’t understand why Republicans won’t pass gun control laws, while Republicans see Democrats as demonizing the weapon rather than the shooter.

We simply lack the will to stop it. The National Rifle Association’s undue sway over Congress, as well as the politicians who support it, play a large role in this. Their delusion that “a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun” is just another disgusting tactic to put more guns in the hands of Americans with as few restrictions possible.

The organization, which consists of 5 million people, possesses an unrivaled influence over gun control. According to the LA Times, The NRA gave $27 million in direct and indirect support to 50 senators who voted against a bill to require universal background checks for firearms purchases. Their selfishness is costing the lives of innocent people.

Again we will hear the fallacy that the death toll would have been smaller if the people at the country music festival were armed. But even if they had been, how could they have fought back against a man shooting an automatic weapon from 32 floors above? They couldn’t have.

The gun lobby will continue to argue that military-style weapons are necessary for hunting and for sport shooting. Yet they are also used for their real purpose: to kill large numbers

of people in short periods of time. In the past 477 days there have been 521 mass shootings in the United States, according to the New York Times.

These are weapons of war – not leisure.

It was stunning to read the flash news updates when the death toll climbed to 50, surpassing the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. It was even more stunning to learn that this man legally owned 23 assault rifles, with more than a dozen modified to be fully automatic.

Both the shooting in Orlando and the Vegas massacres were made possible by the perpetrator’s Second Amendment right to walk into a store and purchase a semiautomatic assault rifle with little to no questions asked.

The Orlando shooter was an Islamic sympathizer, the Vegas shooter was a 64 year old white American citizen. The leader of this country and his followers truly believe that banning certain ethnicities will stop violence, while a man from our own backyard just buried 58 bodies.

We all should be like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn) as he told Congress to “get off its ass and do something.”

While our right to bear arms is a foundation of our country, the true foundation of American exceptionalism should be our capacity for constitutional and moral renewal. Not our impulses for self-destruction.

No motivation can make this barbaric act of violence comprehensible, nor can it assuage the grief and pain we all feel.

Our hearts go out to the families that were victims in this tragedy. As you all prayed for your lives, we pray that this does not become another statistic.

million people

FOR EVERY there are gun death

2

or MORE injured by guns

firearm sales

rise after

mass shootings

there have been

1500 mass shootings

since Sandy Hook

TOP 5 DEADLIEST SHOOTINGS IN THE US location

LAS VEGAS, NV ORLANDO, FL VIRGINIA TECH SANDY HOOK KILLEEN, TX

death toll

59 49 32 26 23

information courtesy of www.everytownresearch.org & www.abcnews.com

DESIGN LUCY PAT TERS ON

4 NEWS

east

THE HARBINGER

NEWS IN BRIEF

BY JET SE M R I C K Online Section Editor

SME holds annual peanut butter drive for Harvesters

The East Student Council started their annual peanut butter drive that lasted from Oct. 9 to 12. Throughout the week, students brought jars of peanut butter to their first hour classrooms that will be donated to Harvesters. The class with the most peanut butter jars collected at the end of the week will receive a donut party.

Last year, the top class was English teacher Samantha Feinberg’s first hour which collected 61 jars of peanut butter.

local

of the

This year the sophomore StuCo representatives collected the jars of peanut butter on Thursday.

“I would like to shoot for 8 jars per first hour, plus the 40 or so we collected on senior service day,” sophomore class president Ian Gould said.

The winning class has not been determined, but the winning class will be announced this week.

KC votes to extend streecar route to Plaza

Kansas City voted on Oct. 7 to elect a board for the Main Street Rail Transportation Development district.

The board will oversee the expansion of the Kansas City streetcar in the future. The election was the second part of the three-part project to extend streetcar service to the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Out of 35,000 eligible voters, 2,636 cast a ballot to select seven board members from a pool of 19. The elected board members are David Johnson, Cindy Circo, Jeff Krum, Ruben Alonso III, Jan Marcason, Crissy Dastrup and Leonard J. Graham. All of the board are in support of the streetcar according to current KC streetcar board member Matt Staub.

national

“It’s good that the board elected is a group that’s in support [of the streetcar],” Staub said. “If they weren’t, they could have interfered with the funding and delayed or halted the project.”

In order to build the line extension, a third public vote is needed to secure the $277 million dollars necessary to extend the route from Union Station down Main street to 51st street. The expansion would add 3.6 miles of track to the system and connect the plaza to downtown.

“I would ride it from here [to] downtown,” plaza area resident Betsy Paul said in an interview with the Kansas City Star. “It would be fabulous because it would open a lot of options where I wouldn’t have to drive my car.”

Wildfires destroy Northern California Wine Country

Northern California recently faced deadly wildfires that have destroyed 115,000 acres of land, as well as over 1,500 homes and buildings. Currently, there are 22 uncontrolled fires burning in the California countryside, according to the California government’s fire map.

The worst of the damage occurred in Napa and Sonoma counties, which are famous for producing wine grapes.

Over 52,000 acres of land has been torched in those two counties alone. As of Oct. 11, 21 people have died due to fire related causes according to the Los Angeles Times.

The fires are putting off massive amounts of smoke and ash into the air. The Environmental Protection Agency has rated the air quality as “unhealthy,” “very unhealthy”

and “hazardous” in some areas of California. Currently, fire departments across California are working to stop the flames.

“The circumstances of these fires by reason of their magnitude, are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat,” California Governor Jerry Brown said in a press release.

On Oct. 10, Donald Trump approved Governor Brown’s request for a major disaster and ordered federal aid to assist the state in recovery and prevention efforts according to the White House official website.

TOP | Sophomore Reilly Moreland flies her drone during the filming of the opening of the lip dub. | K ATE N IXO N MIDDLE | Junior Colin Hueser prepares to return the ping pong ball to his opponent during Ping Pong club. | ASLIN N M E N K E

BOTTOM | Junior Gabbi Talavera finger prints junior Lucy Crum during forensic science class. | K ATH LE E N DE E DY

DESIGN ROBBIE VEGL AHN PHOTOS IZZ Y ZANONE

OCTOBER 16, 2017

NEWS

5

the shops: break down A breakdown of the three preannounced stores in the center Legacy Development opens new restaurant pavilion between Ward Parkway and State Line on Oct. 26

W

BY AVA J OHNS ON Page Designer

ard Parkway Center is preparing to open 3 new restaurants in their $16 million pavilion. The restaurants will include MidiCi, The Neapolitan Pizza Company, Smitty’s Garage and Charleston’s. The pavilion will be on the lot that used to be Dillard’s department store, on 89th Street between Ward Parkway and State Line Road.

The official ribbon cutting for the new restaurant pavilion will be Oct. 26. At the ribbon cutting, Legacy Development will be announcing the three additional restaurants that will eventually occupy the six space restaurant center.

There will be weekend performers on Fridays and Saturdays throughout October, so visitors can come dine outside and listen to music. The genre of the performers will change weekly from Jonathan Ramsey, an Irish singer, one week to Casey Brett, a country singer, the next. The festivities will on end on Nov. 17 with a tree lighting and performance from the Big Rick Soul band.

Senior Frank Opelka, who lives at 85th and State Line, will be one of many students visiting the new restaurant pavilion.

“I’m excited because it’s going to be really close to my house, and we need some new restaurants in the area,” Opelka said.

The three restaurants will all bring different types of cuisines and flavors.

Smitty’s Garage will be the first to open on Oct. 9. Smitty’s garage is a retro themed “burger joint on steroids” that specializes in burgers, tacos and crinkle cut fries.

Following the opening of Smitty’s

Garage, MidiCi, The Neapolitan Pizza Company will open. MidiCi Pizza is set to have a mid-October opening and is a California-based pizza chain that focuses on Neapolitan pizzas cooked in a wood-

Obviously you go up and down State Line and there is a bunch of fast food, but there are not that many places nearby that you can sit down and order some food and maybe for adults order a cocktail DAVE C L AFLI N L EGACY DEVELO P MEN T fired oven in the middle of the restaurant.

The last of the three to open will be Charleston’s, an upbeat restaurant serving traditional American dishes such as steaks, burgers and sandwiches. Charleston’s will open the last week of October prior to the pavilion’s ribbon cutting.

Dave Claflin, the media representative for Legacy Development, stated that the opening of the restaurants was originally planned for summer of 2017. There has been some delay with opening because these new to market restaurants haven’t opened in this area before.

These restaurants were picked by Legacy Development because they wanted to bring new restaurants to the KC trade area that locals haven’t seen before.

“Obviously you go up and down State Line and there is a bunch of fast food.

You can get Chinese, you can get Culver’s burgers, a bunch of different things but there are not that many places nearby that you can sit down and order some food and maybe for adults order a cocktail,” Claflin said.

The restaurant’s saw the hole in the market for their types of restaurants as well so they were “fairly eager” to buy into the pavilion and liked the idea of adding sit down restaurants to State Line.

The pavilion is owned by Cornerstone Real Estate, an investment group out of Chicago. Cornerstone Real Estate company spent millions of dollars and 18 months on the tearing down and leasing of the four-story Dillard’s building that used to be on the South end of the Ward Parkway center. “[The investment group] has seen the benefit to doing things right and so they have invested way more than they had originally anticipated,” Claflin said.

The pavilion will have a structureplex awning over the whole complex with artificial turf underneath for kids to cartwheel on and parents to sit in lawn chairs. Each of the restaurants will have patios with railings outside. Within the patio spaces if the restaurant has liquor license then they will be able to serve liquor outside. The pavilion will also have built in sound systems, lighting, fountains and fire pits to add to the overall experience.

“This area is going to serve a need that is not currently being met,” Claflin said.

The hope is that this pavilion fixes the “sit down restaurant” market hole from 119th street to 83rd street and provides new places for people in the area to dine in at.

CHARLESTONS LEFT |

A row of booths overlooking Ward Parkway inside of Charleston’s

type: Classic American atmosphere: Warm and Cozy

social media:

www.charlestons.com @charlestonsrestaurant $

$$

$$$

price:

$$$$

midici’s pizza

type: Italian & Pizza atmosphere: Upbeat & Casual

social media:

www.mymidici.com @midici $

$$

$$$

price:

$$$$

SMITTY’S

type: Bar Food atmosphere: Retro/Arcade

social media:

www.halsmith.com @Smitty’s Garage

price:

$

$$

$$$

$$$$

ABOVE | A neon sign hangs above the main bar in Smitty’s garage, home to lots of signs and trinkets.

DESIGN K ATIE HISE PHOTOS AVA SIMONSEN

THE HARBINGER

6 NEWS

patching up their

pride

ME’s Gay-Straight Alliance club released a statement on Instagram Oct. 5 condemning attacks against Olathe Northwest Gender-Sexuality Alliance students during ONW’s homecoming parade.

“As Lancers, we are committed to supporting all members of our community and embrace diversity,” senior and club president Daniel Long said in the statement.

“Homophobia, transphobia, acts of bullying, discrimination and harassment in any form will not be tolerated. Olathe NW Ravens and SME Lancers are united in the values that our differences make us great.”

During the ONW homecoming parade on Sept. 21, Gender-Sexuality Alliance students were pelted candy as they walked the parade route. Other students hurled chants at them such as, “Make America Straight Again.”

The Olathe Northwest administration condemned the discriminatory incident and said the actions at the parade were, “absolutely not acceptable.”

Since the incident, a series of Tweets and Snapchats has continued the harassment, but others have created an outpouring of support. Junior Victoria Kepner, president of the ONW GSA, saw the support escalate on social media, but still struggled with the waves of posts calling them “leftovers nobody really wants.”

“Although it has inspired people to show support for the GSA, it has also inspired

others to spread words about us being dramatic and over-sensitive,” Kepner said.

“Then word of the incident spread around the school much quicker and people began to publicize their frustrations about the treatment of the GSA.” Long has seen the culture of hate in his life via Instagram where an anonymous account left hateful comments such as, “Kill yourself” on several of his posts. The influence that social media can have over these situations is obvious in both a negative and a positive way according to Long.

“ONW could unify people who are hateful or share the same hateful or ignorant attitudes towards the LGBTQ community,” Long said. “In a positive sense, awareness of what happened at ONW, like what’s happening now, unifies groups who come together against hate and ignorance and promote messages of equality and safety.

Jumping on these situations as soon as possible is the best way to create a positive response within social media and the community.”

Kepner, however, still feels unsafe while at school after the incident. The GSA had issues in the past with students using slurs, but none of them have ever experienced this level of aggression according to Kepner. For students who are a part of the GSA, going to school has been filled with not only stress from class, but fear of their peers as well.

“I do still feel fearful to mention that I’m a part of the GSA or anything that might hint at my sexual orientation,” Kepner said.

HATE Crime FACTS OF 2017 Nationwide statistics as of August

36

“I used to be a lot louder and prouder about the work that we did, but now there’s always something in the back of my head reminding me of how many of my peers seemed to agree that the GSA was useless.”

The GSA and administration at East have made an effort to make sure that LGBTQ students don’t ever have to feel that they aren’t heard and welcomed according to Long and principal Dr. John McKinney.

Long, over his four years at East, has developed a relationship between the GSA and the administration after meeting with him during his freshman year in an effort to try and create an environment at East that encourages acceptance and kindness.

“To me it is really important that we have a rapport and relationship and open communication,” McKinney said. “Four years ago I met with Daniel and a few of the GSA representatives at that time and said, “What can we do to ensure you feel safe [...] and respected? That is what a healthy environment is about.”

ONW parent Cassandra Peters, leader of JoCo Q-Space, a safe haven for LGBTQ teens, was hesitant to send her children back to school in fear that they didn’t feel safe after being berated on Twitter. She wanted to ensure they felt comfortable going and making sure they had the option to call her and leave if necessary.

Peters attempted to raise awareness about the incident through a Facebook post where she brought attention to the impact it was having the students of Olathe NW, including

hate-violence-related homicides of LGBTQ people

equivalent to nearly one homicide a week of an LGBTQ person

her own child. The day of the parade, the response on Twitter and Snapchat was filled with students being called “ugly. Because of this Peters says that it, “made it so the fear and hurt continued 24/7.”

Despite this, Peters saw her Facebook post spread to the point where they were featured in a story on NBC and had 150 people at their Ally rally. In support of the GSA, one local business owner displayed a 30-foot rainbow flag while another brought a giant rainbow heart made out of balloons.

“It way exceeded my expectations to brighten these kids day,” Peters said. “A lot of them lined up across the street screaming thank you.”

Peters was still frustrated with how the incident was handled by the administration and along with several other parents attended a school board meeting to share personal stories in an attempt to garner more support for their children, but was met with little response.

The reaction Long got from his statement was similar. He and Peters both felt that the issues that they tried to bring to the table were “flying under the radar” in the East and Olathe Northwest communities.

Though they saw the how social media was influencing the people in a positive way in their respective communities both struggled with the negative or lack of feedback they got from their audiences.

out of these

S

BY BROOKLYN TERRILL Assistant Mobile Media Editor

Hate act against the GSA at Olathe Northwest sparks mixed responses from the community on social media

16

were transgender women of color

INFORMATION COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL COALITION OF ANTI-VIOLENCE PROGRAMS

DESIGN ANNA MCCLELL AND PHOTOS DIANA PERCY

OCTOBER 16, 2017

T

BY ELIZABETH BALLEW Page Designer

he Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 2 that funding for education in Kansas is unconstitutional. The court’s decision in Gannon vs. Kansas said Kansas failed to provide funding necessary for success in the school system and funds overall weren’t equally distributed between districts. According to the Kansas Supreme Court, Kansas has failed to provide funding necessary for success in the school system. On top of this, the funding isn’t equally distributed throughout the districts.

Currently, the state funds $4,006 per pupil. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Richard Atha believes the state legislatures should fund up to at least $4,440 per pupil, which was the funding Kansas had before the recession. Blue Valley and De Soto School Districts received 2 million combined in extra funding to serve low income families, but no other district did even though many are in similar situations.

Due to a lack of funding, the SMSD’s infrastructure has suffered over time according to Dr. Atha. The district has had to make severe cuts from closing buildings to at cleaning the buildings every other day.

For 12 out of the last 15 years, Kansas hasn’t be constitutionally compliant, meaning they have been underfunded in education according to the Kansas City Star. Revenue for education decreased in 2008 due to the recession because of tax cuts initiated by Governor Sam Brownback. Representative Melissa Rooker said there was an understanding within the legislature that when the economy recovered, Kansas would get back to proper funding, but that did not happen.

“Brownback was elected and choices were made early in his term of governor that .... instead of getting back on the path complying with the [proper funding] and restoring funding, we continued to shortchange our schools,” Rooker said.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer will be taking over as governor for the remainder of Brownback’s term as he is accepting the position of Ambassador at Large for International Freedom creates the possibility for change.

Colyer has reached out and is talking to a lot of different legislators and trying to communicate that he wants to collaborate with them and work to solve some of the budget issues according to

Rooker.

“Whether his policy outlook will differ from Brownback’s is what I don’t know,” Rooker said. “But I do know the tone is different already.”

Teachers used to have five classes and two planning periods. Due to a round of budget cuts two or three years ago that was changed to teachers having six classes and one planning period so other programs could have funding, and School board candidate Mary Sinclair hopes to restore that along with adding more counselors.

“If we can get back to adequate funding levels, then maybe we can get teachers back to a workload that’s more reasonable and allows [teachers] to be more responsive,” Sinclair said.

School board candidate Mandi Hunter believes that adequately funded education would mean smaller class sizes and continued funding of programs that are in place.

In order to properly fund the schools according to the ruling, Kansas legislature will have to find funding.

According to Atha, funding could be raised through raising taxes, getting rid of tax exemptions, or making cuts. “[More funding for education] pays for itself,” Sinclair said. “If we are worried about the economics of it, it pays for itself. And then some. It’s a very sound investment.”

This school year’s budget, 20172018, is not affected by the ruling. East could see a change in school life as early as next year due to the possibility of additional funding, but it is unclear what those changes will be until the legislature gives the district a dollar amount. When the state Legislature puts a finance mechanism in place then the district will know how much revenue it will have, whether it be additional or less, and then it will plug it into the budget according to Dr. Atha.

The legislature has to have a plan by Apr, 30, 2018, and the court will rule on June 30, 2018. The plan most likely will result in additional dollars for the school, but there are a lot of unknowns. Until the plan goes through and there is a full budget plan the changes aren’t clear.

“No kid is more important than another kid. All kids are important,” Atha said. “It’s all important. That’s what the Supreme Court is saying. All kids deserve an equal opportunity for an education and education needs to be adequately funded in order to meet the State constitution.”

NEWS 7 Kansas Supreme Court ruling on educational funding has implications state-wide

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DESIGN natasha thom as

OCTOBER 16, 2017

OPINION

9

PTSD STATS ENDING INNER THE

BATTLE

STATISTICS ABOUT U.S. SOLDIERS WHO RETURN FROM WAR

Reconnecting with comrades eases a veteran’s battle with PTSD

BY HARRIS ON GOOLEY Copy Editor

“E

ver since you called me, I ain’t been back to that corner,” Mike Land told me as the smoke from his Camel cigarette rolled over his cracked lips.

If you didn’t read my story last year, I’ll give you a quick recap.

My grandfather, Larry Vanness, was a Marine in the Vietnam War and one of his closest friends was Land. Making sure the other wouldn’t get shot while they went the bathroom, they always had each other’s backs. They lost touch once they left the war and hadn’t heard from each other in 48 years – until I reconnected them last February.

Land was 17 when he joined the Corps.

Take a second and think about the 17-yearolds you know and let me know if you think they could fight in the ugliest war in American history – while they had a wife and kid at home already. Land was sent to Vietnam in June of 1968 and left in July of 1969. He spent 13 months in hell as an 18-year-old.

After Land returned from the war, his big welcome home was finding his wife had left him and taken their son with her.

She burned everything he had sent her from Vietnam. From pictures of the Cam Lo Valley to comrades’ addresses, it was all gone.

Three years later, he was sent back to Vietnam for six more months, spending most of his time offshore on a “float.” This time, the return home was even worse.

“I was a drunken dope head,” Land said.

“I was ready to fight anybody at any time, hoping there were at least two or three of ‘em.”

He became a drifter. One week he would be living in California with a retired woman of the night (interpret as you please), and the next he would be in Texas to visit his son.

Land’s wandering persona changed

when he moved to Texas. That’s when he met Elizabeth, his wife of 42 years. Land began taking construction jobs here and there and taking Elizabeth all over the country, from Hawaii to California.

They eventually settled down on a piece of land in Alvarado, Texas. And that’s when the flashbacks began.

Land was working as a construction superintendent for a new fire station in Dallas at the time. One morning, he went to open up the site, checked the area for safety hazards and went to the office to make himself some coffee. The next thing he remembers, he was at home.

“My wife found me in the front yard, crying like a baby,” Land said. “Making coffee was the last thing I remembered.”

The breakdowns and memory loss continued even after he quit his job. He was given a job as a carpenter by a friend he knew, and he was eventually moved up in the company to work as assistant superintendent. That’s when one of his worst breakdowns happened.

“A jet flew over the work site,” Land said.

“It sounded like the jets flying in to drop napalm over Mother’s Ridge back in ‘Nam.” The local police wanted to lock him up in the psychiatric ward, but Elizabeth refused. Instead, he was sent to the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Waco, Texas for nine weeks for rehabilitation.

Land had been admitted to the hospital, locked up twice in psychiatric wards in Waco and spent time in a civilian psychological hospital trying to cope with the psychological impact the blood and bullets of Vietnam had on his mind.

After getting help from doctors and psychiatrists, Land’s breakdowns tapered, but his flashbacks persisted. He began to sleep for two or three hours a night, waking every hour because he feared he was back on the cold, damp jungle floor of Vietnam.

He spent his days sitting in the dark corner of his barn alone, whittling sticks and listening to Johnny Cash. He may have gone outside to check his garden or get a

snack, but the majority of his day was spent in that corner.

The hardest part wasn’t the breakdowns or flashbacks. Land worried about his comrades; he hadn’t heard from a single person he met while he was on his first tour. He didn’t know where they lived, if they had kids, what their lives had been like. He didn’t even know if they had made it home from the war.

He had no one. No one to share stories with. No one to reminisce with. He had no pictures, addresses, phone numbers. He lost everything and everyone from the war.

“I needed someone like you to come find me,” Land told me. “I was in a dark place.”

Since the day I called him, Land said he has done a “complete 180.” He doesn’t sit in the corner anymore. He talks to Bro or Bird or Mitsuda, buddies from Vietnam, every day. He goes to group meetings with other vets to talk. He’s not alone now.

That’s because on June 24, 2017, my grandpa and Land reunited for the first time in 48 years.

“Damn man, you haven’t changed a lick,” Land said to my grandpa as he walked through the automatic doors of the Holiday Inn Express in McAlester, Oklahoma.

“Maybe a little rounder, but damn you look exactly the same.”

The hours were filled with 48 years of stories. But Land could only remember the basics. His post traumatic stress disorder had taken his memories. My grandpa had a war dog named Sarge for four months during his tour. Land had no idea. The look in his eyes when my grandpa tried to explain how he had Sarge was one of both confusion and sadness. He couldn’t remember names, faces, firefights, nothing.

But that didn’t take away from the happiness shared by the two Marines.

As I sat with the two brothers-of-war, Land placed his hand on my knee and his eyes filled with tears.

“Your grandpa saved me back then and you’ve come to save me now. Thank you.”

30%

OF VIETNAM VETERANS HAVE HAD PTSD

A THIRD OF RETURNING TROOPS ARE DIAGNOSED WITH SYMPTOMS OF PTSD

ninngs r u t re etera v

LESS THAN 40% WILL SEEK HELP

2 OF 3

TROOPS SUFFERING FROM COMBAT TRAUMA HAVE

FAILING

MARRIAGES

ONE THIRD OF OUR NATION’S HOMELESS

ARE VETERANS STATISTICS FROM

PTSD.VA.GOV AND PTSDUSA.ORG

DESIGN JACKIE CA MERON PHOTOS REILLY MOREL AND

10 O P I N I O N

THE HARBINGER

all roads LEAD to

atchison The halloween season holds more importance than candy and costumes for staffer

BY DAISY BOLIN Head Copy Editor

W

hen

the

temperature drops to 50 degrees, leaves crunch and pile up on sidewalks the colors of the trees get a little brighter to me. Nostalgia warms my heart with thoughts of Atchison, Kansas.

Typically the people I know love the Halloween season because it means running through The Beast. Some get jitters about carving pumpkins or watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” and trick-ortreating. But for me, the Halloween season is all about being greeted by the Shell gas station as my family drives into Atchison – the most haunted town in Kansas.

Established in 1855, Atchison is Amelia Earhart’s birthplace and part of the Pony Express trail, but more importantly for me, it’s rich with my family’s history and the location of many of my fondest memories. There’s no squirting blood or vampires hidden in attics: the thrill of Atchison’s eeriness is in the people who live there through stories they share.

It’s between the trees of Jackson Park and floating in the air on Parallel Street. The town is small, but the spooky reputation is colossal.

The notorious hauntings and annual ghostly tours are a part of their culture, not something “Atchisonians” abstain from or deny. This culture is what has made Halloween so special for me. While others were trading Whoppers for Snickers listening to “Monster Mash” I was becoming a part of Atchison’s tradition by hearing these stories.

One of my favorite memories of Atchison is when my aunt Denise and uncle Jack piled me and my brother in the trunk of their 1990’s Tahoe. They drove us around Atchison in the night to see gargoyles mounted on the home on 4th Street and the infamous “Sallie House” that Atchison is widely known for, where a six-year-old died during an operation and has wreaked havoc for the home ever since.

We drove over gravel through Jackson Park, once a zoo, and heard tales about animals who were released years ago and may still amble down Green Street. We always stayed in my grandmother Din Din’s house, right next to the park where a girl named Molly – who was found hanging from a tree after her prom – is still said to be heard screaming in the night.

I’d take these chilling legendary stories over a walk through The Edge of Hell any day.

The stories I hear aren’t just the legends everyone knows some are personal. They’ve been told in my family for as long as I can remember. My grandma Din Din grew up in a large home across the street from the town jail. When a criminal escaped from the jail, a body imprint was found in the monkey grass under the willow tree in her front yard. As a kid, when there were bumps and creaks in the night, her mom told her it was Mrs. Parks, the wife of the man who built the home.

Bats lived in the house tower and would occasionally creep down from the attic and Din Din would chase them with brooms.

My dad grew up visiting her childhood home on Parallel Street and still claims the attic there is one of the creepiest things he’s ever seen. He and his brothers found a china doll in a white dress with a cracked face and at some point, one of my uncles placed the doll in the window of the attic where it

remained for a long time.

These stories and experiences trickle through generations. One evening my family was walking through St. Benedictine college and we encountered a woman we still aren’t sure was real. She had been sitting on a bench overlooking the Missouri river when we watched her get up, lay two flowers down on the bench and practically float across the frosted grass in a full length black dress. Who knows whether we created the illusion of her floating across the lawn up in our heads. It felt surreal and so fitting for Atchison. Isn’t that what Halloween’s all about? The scary clowns and werewolf movies just don’t live up to these super-natural encounters.

Despite the undeniably ominous air, the town still feels homey to me. Sitting in one of our distant cousin’s, then, Pumpernickel Café, my brother and I learned how second cousins three times removed works. We got to know our great-great uncle Dick and see his art showing at age 90. We greeted Albert, the manager of Snowball’s, like family each time we stopped in to get ice cream.

Back in Kansas City, as Ward Parkway trees fade from orange to brown, I squeeze my eyes shut and the corners of my mouth lift into a smile. I think about the Ouija night we had there and see the fields of wheat that enclose the eerie town. I feel the goosebumps I get as we enter the town and instantly want my family and blankets and stories to pile in that Tahoe again.

I will drive my kids through the infamous “Atch.” I will tell them stories and relay family history during drives on the hilly cobblestone. I will hope they cherish the town’s spooky charm over trick-or-treating up the block the way I always have.

SPOOKY SPOTS A few haunted spots around Atchison

Gargoyle House

An evil curse is said to plague this house. Its homeowner attempted to move the gargoyles and later fell to his death on the staircase.

Atchison Street A woman riding down the street lost control of her buggy, plummeted into the Missouri River at the end of the road, and drowned.

Her ghost taunts men walking by on the river boardwalk.

Molly’s Hollow

Molly’s ghostly figure is allegedly visible where she hung herself in Jackson Park. Her anguished screams are still claimed to be heard today. information courtesy of legendsofamerica.com

DESIGN S COUT RICE PHOTOS ELLEN SWANS ON

OCTOBER 16, 2017

the RIGHTto READ

OPINION

11

Books can teach important lessons and should not be banned, no matter how sensitive a topic

BY BRYNN WINKLER Page Designer

M

y eyes scan the sheet of “The Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books” that laid on my desk.

Sitting in my fifth hour honors English class, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. “Harry Potter?” “Captain Underpants?” “The Giver?”

But my strongest reaction came when I saw “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee on the list.

The fact that a student may be prevented from reading the thought-provoking works of Steinbeck and Lee saddened me. Both books altered my outlook on life after reading them for the first time last year in my 9th grade english class.

Through the wisdom of Atticus Finch, Scout Finch’s father, the novel inspired me to not lose hope as I began to realize the grim realities of the world around me. As I read about Scout’s entangled journey through the loss of her childhood innocence in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I was beginning to lose my own.

2016 was a traumatic year for our country. Everywhere I turned there seemed to be more and more hate, more violence, more discrimination.

The morning news was constantly being plastered with more ignorant and racist tweets from the president. Another innocent African American was shot and killed by a police officer. More civilians were killed in a terrorist attack in Europe.

Both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of Mice and Men” helped me understand the

discrimination I was surrounded with and reminded me that I can fight it.

The atrocious prejudice against women in “Of Mice and Men,” prompted me with a new interest in women’s rights. The unmerciful racial discrimination portrayed in both novels shook my sheltered “Shawnee Mission Wonderful” world. And with all these new realizations I found an overall interest in equality and current social issues.

I have my 9th grade English class to thank for the guidance these books provided and the passions they sparked. The thorough in class discussions and insight from my teacher allowed me to see the deeper meaning of the books. For example, the once irrelevant mockingbird became a critical recurring symbol of innocent people being persecuted by evil. Soon, I was finding examples of “mockingbirds” all throughout the “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

It is essential that students not only read these books, but that they also have the opportunity to be taught and guided through these books in class.

But what continues to confuse me is how students across the country are being banned from reading the very same books that single-handedly changed my life.

Without Honors English 9 and my teacher Mrs. Jackson, I probably would have never read either “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Of Mice and Men.” It breaks my heart to think that some students won’t get to be changed by these novels. I’m just one girl — imagine what these books could do to a whole generation.

Although no specific books are banned at East, many classic books are being banned across the country.

However, these challenged books contain valuable lessons that outweigh the discomfort of the sensitive content.

Both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of

Mice and Men” have come under fire due to the their frequent use of racial slurs.

Throughout both novels, the N-word is used repeatedly, giving readers an idea of what life in the1930’s was actually like.

This hateful word is extremely offensive and degrading toward the African American community. I in no know way, shape, or form support the use of the slur today. However, I do believe it is beneficial for it to appear in the written text of these American classics.

Yes, the word is uncomfortable –– but even though history isn’t always comfortable, it still happened and it’s still real. In order for us to improve our society, we must know what our country used to be.

Through the use of the N-word, Lee and Steinbeck are showing readers the grave reality of racism, and in turn inspiring them to fight against it.

In “Of Mice and Men,” Steinbeck addresses another controversial topic: the degrading and mistreatment of women.

In the novel, the only female character is never given a name, but rather referred to as “Curley’s wife.”

Through this one small detail, the author is able to portray women as property, not people. Back in the 1930s, this was the reality for most women in America: they were seen as only valuable for making their husbands happy and raising children.

Ignoring this issue of sexism is dangerous. We must educate the current generation about our nation’s previous prejudice.

For those who believe these controversial topics are too distressing for young people,I say: let them read. Let them read so they can see how far we’ve come toward equality, but also so they may see how far we have left go.

MOST

INFLUENTIAL

BANNED BOOKS Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury California school – against religious beliefs

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger Removed in some schools nationally for obscenity and morality issues

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald South Carolina college – language and sexual topics

Uncle Toms Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe Various schools – accurate depiction of slave treatment

Scan to read a complete list of books + reasons

Information courtesy of bannedbooksweek.org

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SAYING YES

DESIGN LIL A TULP PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTEN ANDERS ON

OCTOBER 16, 2017

Teacher uses differences in culture learned while in Africa to aid her teaching

F E AT U R E S

13

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Differences in the economy between the U.S. and Rwanda

RWANDA

6 10 OUT OF

While at a “Hope House,” a non-profit home for children who’s mothers are working, Anderson talks with the kids in the garden. eventually a few found the courage to approach Anderson’s group.

Moments later the teachers were playing games and learning new nursery rhymes: things common knowledge to the kids. s Kristin Anderson scratches away on her small notebook But something was different about the trip for Anderson than for she looks upon the gravesite she sits around. Adjacent to everyone else – children would push through the crowd and latch on the memorial honoring the deceased from the Rwandan to Anderson just to get a photo or hug her. genocide in 1994 there is an elementary school. A wave of children After spending enough time with her translator companions, she file out in their red school uniforms. finally asked the children why she was so special to them. The answer “I turned away from the memorial and started to wave at the kids,” was the long blonde hair, the freckled skin and one other piercing Anderson said. “I then thought to myself, was I taking the easy way factor. out by turning to the kids instead of the memorial?”

“Everyone wanted a picture with me and for the longest time, and Anderson soon realized that rather than dwelling on the I couldn’t figure out why,” Anderson laughed. “Turns out everyone unchangeable past, she would focus on the future generations of thought I looked like Adele and that’s why they all wanted a picture.”

Rwandans.

There were a few conditions to the grant that paid for Anderson’s Kristin Anderson is an IB and Honors English 10 teacher at East. trip. She had to attend two eight-hour-long sessions to learn about She traveled for 24 days this past summer, all across Rwanda learning the history of the genocide and to learn some Kinyarwanda, the about the Rwandan genocide and the impact national language of Rwanda. She also had it had on the people. Anderson spent the 24 to return from the trip and create six lesson days learning about a culture and listening plans to teach her class with and to submit to personal stories and sharing them with to the grant committee so other classrooms Rwanda was always safe, at first it was can retain the same knowledge. her classes when she got home. a little strange having guards with To comply with a few of the rules of the Sophomore Grant Colvin, who is in guns everywhere but in the end I grant that paid for her trip, Anderson began Anderson’s sixth hour, was fascinated by to teach her English classes this year about the new information being introduced to his knew I was protected. the trip. Anderson began with having each of English curriculum. Kara Auvray who is also her students take a pretest to determine how a sophomore in Anderson’s sixth hour knew K R I ST EN AN DERS ON much they knew about the genocide already. a little more about the genocide going in but E N G L I SH TEAC HER She then proceeded to inform them about not the personal stories that the people there what happened and tell them the stories of told. the people she encountered.

“I have learned about the genocide before but that was just One day, Anderson’s group of teachers stopped at a church where straight facts and dates” Auvray said. “Ms. Anderson told [the class] the Tutsis, the main ethnic group targeted in the genocide, ran for actual stories and hardships and that was the most interesting part.” safety. Even now, the large metal doors were left blown open and the Anderson hopes to return someday to teach English to the young concrete hole where a bomb was placed stared back at Anderson. students in Rwanda. Emails are exchanged between Anderson and Purses, necklaces and a prosthetic leg lined the edges of the a few teachers back in Rwanda almost every day, talking about the church. These items were personal, according to Anderson. They teaching opportunities Anderson is qualified for in Rwanda. were the last things people touched before they were murdered.

After 24 days Anderson looked back on the never-ending eight That’s what made the experience real for Anderson – it wasn’t just hour classes and then rules that seemed to never end and wished she a gravesite, but a memorial full of things she had in her own closet. was back to the beginning of her adventure. By the end the shy glances While Anderson was there to study the mass murders of the and the quick whispers Anderson noticed from people thinking she Rwandan genocide, the majority of her experiences were positive. was a celebrity and the children games that sang out about death On the way to one of the memorial sites the road was blocked by were the some of the Anderson will hold on to for a lifetime. army trucks, so the translator went to investigate the problem. While he was gone a few children started to gather away from the group, and

A

BY SARAH BLEDS OE Staff Writer

$

PEOPLE 15 YEARS OR OLDER IN RWANDA ARE LITERATE

14,661

13.2%

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF MONEY MADE YEARLY

OF PEOPLE WITHOUT JOBS IN RWANDA

86.8% OF PEOPLE HAVE JOBS IN RWANDA

REPUBLIC TYPE OF GOVERNMENT IN RWANDA

INFORMATION COURTESY OF THEGLOBALECONOMY.COM

UNITED STATES

9 10 OUT OF

$

44,148 AVERAGE AMOUNT OF MONEY MADE YEARLY

95.7% OF PEOPLE HAVE JOBS IN RWANDA

PEOPLE 15 YEARS OR OLDER IN THE USA ARE LITERATE

4.3% OF PEOPLE WITHOUT JOBS IN THE USA

DEMOCRACY TYPE OF GOVERNMENT IN THE USA

INFORMATION COURTESY OF THEGLOBALECONOMY.COM

DESIGN S COUT RICE PHOTOS ELLEN SWANS ON

OCTOBER 16, 2017

the RIGHTto READ

OPINION

11

Books can teach important lessons and should not be banned, no matter how sensitive a topic

BY BRYNN WINKLER Page Designer

M

y eyes scan the sheet of “The Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books” that laid on my desk.

Sitting in my fifth hour honors English class, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. “Harry Potter?” “Captain Underpants?” “The Giver?”

But my strongest reaction came when I saw “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee on the list.

The fact that a student may be prevented from reading the thought-provoking works of Steinbeck and Lee saddened me. Both books altered my outlook on life after reading them for the first time last year in my 9th grade English class.

Through the wisdom of Atticus Finch, Scout Finch’s father, the novel inspired me to not lose hope as I began to realize the grim realities of the world around me. As I read about Scout’s entangled journey through the loss of her childhood innocence in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I was beginning to lose my own.

2016 was a traumatic year for our country. Everywhere I turned there seemed to be more and more hate, more violence, more discrimination.

The morning news was constantly being plastered with more ignorant and racist tweets from the president. Another innocent African American was shot and killed by a police officer. More civilians were killed in a terrorist attack in Europe.

Both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of Mice and Men” helped me understand the

discrimination I was surrounded with and reminded me that I can fight it.

The atrocious prejudice against women in “Of Mice and Men,” prompted me with a new interest in women’s rights. The unmerciful racial discrimination portrayed in both novels shook my sheltered “Shawnee Mission Wonderful” world. And with all these new realizations I found an overall interest in equality and current social issues.

I have my 9th grade English class to thank for the guidance these books provided and the passions they sparked. The thorough in class discussions and insight from my teacher allowed me to see the deeper meaning of the books. For example, the once irrelevant mockingbird became a critical recurring symbol of innocent people being persecuted by evil. Soon, I was finding examples of “mockingbirds” all throughout the “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

It is essential that students not only read these books, but that they also have the opportunity to be taught and guided through these books in class.

But what continues to confuse me is how students across the country are being banned from reading the very same books that single-handedly changed my life.

Without Honors English 9 and my teacher Mrs. Jackson, I probably would have never read either “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Of Mice and Men.” It breaks my heart to think that some students won’t get to be changed by these novels. I’m just one girl — imagine what these books could do to a whole generation.

Although no specific books are banned at East, many classic books are being banned across the country.

However, these challenged books contain valuable lessons that outweigh the discomfort of the sensitive content.

Both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of

Mice and Men” have come under fire due to the their frequent use of racial slurs.

Throughout both novels, the N-word is used repeatedly, giving readers an idea of what life in the 1930’s was actually like.

This hateful word is extremely offensive and degrading toward the African American community. I in no way, shape, or form support the use of the slur today. However, I do believe it is beneficial for it to appear in the written text of these American classics.

Yes, the word is uncomfortable – but even though history isn’t always comfortable, it still happened and it’s still real. In order for us to improve our society, we must know what our country used to be.

Through the use of the N-word, Lee and Steinbeck are showing readers the grave reality of racism, and in turn inspiring them to fight against it.

In “Of Mice and Men,” Steinbeck addresses another controversial topic: the degrading and mistreatment of women.

In the novel, the only female character is never given a name, but rather referred to as “Curley’s wife.”

Through this one small detail, the author is able to portray women as property, not people. Back in the 1930s, this was the reality for most women in America: they were seen as only valuable for making their husbands happy and raising children.

Ignoring this issue of sexism is dangerous. We must educate the current generation about our nation’s previous prejudice.

For those who believe these controversial topics are too distressing for young people, I say: let them read. Let them read so they can see how far we’ve come toward equality, but also so they may see how far we have left go.

MOST

INFLUENTIAL

BANNED BOOKS Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury California school – against religious beliefs

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger Removed in some schools nationally for obscenity and morality issues

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald South Carolina college – language and sexual topics

Uncle Toms Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe Various schools – accurate depiction of slave treatment

Scan to read a complete list of books + reasons

Information courtesy of bannedbooksweek.org

DESIGN LIDDY STALL ARD PHOTOS AUDREY KESLER

THE HARBINGER

14 F E AT U R E S

MISSRILEYGRACE

SUBSCRIBERS 3.8K

CHANNELING HER LIFE Home Videos

Playlists Discussion About

Freshman girl becomes a 14-year-old business owner after her Youtube channel gains popularity

“H

BY K ALEIGH KOC CO ONLINE EDITOR

ey guys it’s Riley, welcome back to my channel!” freshman Riley Atkinson says to the lone camera and ring light in her hot pink bedroom.

This week, she is shooting a fall night routine video for her lifestyle YouTube channel MissRileyGrace. After she finishes filming herself doing homework, going to dinner and the rest of her pre-bedtime routine, she will spend five hours sorting through footage, splicing together shots and setting them to music. Those five hours will only give her a 15.41 second intro, which Atkinson says is the most important part of the video since it’s the first thing the viewer sees.

From brainstorming video ideas to hitting upload, the selfproclaimed perfectionist spends between 25 and 35 hours on each video so she can upload something she feels proud off.

Atkinson has been uploading videos for almost three years and is about to hit 4000 subscribers, with videos ranging from back to school outfit ideas to vlogs to DIY Christmas gifts. Her channel has propelled her past her awkward stage and transformed her into a 14-year-old who can talk to anyone, according to her mom Kellie Atkinson.

Her videos have been viewed over 100 thousand times in total, and this past summer she signed with BBTV network, which allows her to make money off ads that play before her videos This network deal officially makes her a 14-year-old business owner.

But at school, she prefers to keep her YouTube relatively quiet. According to Atkinson, it’s scary to be so vulnerable, especially since all of her life has been online for three years.

“Some people say, ‘you should totally tell everyone — I would be flaunting it!’” Atkinson said. “[But] I kind of like keeping it on the down-low and not being known at school as the girl with the YouTube channel.”

Atkinson’s involvement with Youtube started almost three years before she made her own channel. She spent hours watching lifestyle YouTubers Bethany Mota and

CLICKWORTHY A look at her most popular video

Meredith Foster. Everytime she watched their videos she forgot about friend problems and homework, and her desire to make a channel of her own grew — she wanted to make her own “YouTube family,” just like the ones she was a part of with Mota and Foster. She wanted people to escape from the real world when they watched her videos.

She wanted people to look up to her like she did to them.

So in 2014 Atkinson slowly convinced her parents to let her start a channel of her own. They were skeptical at first because she was 12 years old and asking to show her whole personality to the internet, but Atkinson’s clear passion for YouTube forced them to agree.

“It’s just the safety concerns,” Kellie said. “It’s kind of tricky making sure nobody knows exactly where she is.

It’s something that I obviously didn’t have [growing up].”

After they agreed to let her make a channel, Atkinsonspent eight hours setting up her account — she had to teach herself how to upload videos and and set up profile and cover photos. Finally, MissRileyGrace was taking shape.

She started out filming videos on her iPhone 5S for a year, and she saved up for a $50 purple camcorder — she wanted to be “more serious.” Then, she graduated to the a much higher resolution Canon Rebel t5i camera, which she uses now. The next step was using four months of babysitting money to buy a $500 Sigma 30mm f1.4 lense that blurs out her room in the background and focuses on her face.

Two box lights, one ring light and a Macbook later, Atkinson considers YouTube to be the biggest part of her life.

“I used to be very, very shy when I started [YouTube],” Atkinson said. “I would never be as comfortable as I am on camera,” Atkinson said. “YouTube has given me more confidence. My personality has grown because of it which is really cool. I can’t imagine not doing it.”

Now that she has a larger following, fans have left comments complimenting Atkinson on her videos or letting her know that she has inspired them to make a channel of her own.

One video entitled “Unbreakable Smile” is different from Atkinson’s usual happy and carefree videos,

How Girls Prepare for Back To School 30,306 Views Published on OCT 4, 2017

58

as it is a short film that discusses difficult times she has experienced and how she remains positive.

One comment reads, “I had a breakdown today and it wasn’t pretty ... I couldn’t stop crying because of how unhappy I’ve been lately ... thank you for this!”

But when added to honors homework, tennis and dancing, weekly uploads can start to feel like more of a job, Atkinson said.

None of her friends know what it’s like to run a channel, causing Atkinson to feel like the odd one out.

Still, her subscribers are the reason she keeps uploading.

“When I started I thought [it] would be so cool for other people to look up to me, but I never thought it would happen,” Atkinson said. “I’ve had messages from lots of people saying when I post it makes them happy. That’s what motivates me to keep doing it.”

Atkinson has been approached by fans three times in public now — once at SPIN! Pizza, once at a carnival and once at a concert in Los Angeles. Each time, it feels just as weird. She sees herself as a normal girl.

“People are telling me ‘wow you could definitely go big places with this,’” Atkinson said. “[They] ask me if I want to do it as a job and I’d love to, but I don’t expect it. I’m going keep having fun and have it be my hobby and we’ll see where it goes.”

Atkinson dreams about acting, and she thinks that the only way she would be an actress is if she was a successful YouTuber.

“I feel like [YouTube] is becoming the new show business,” Atkinson said. “Since YouTubers already have a big audience, casting directors want to look at YouTubers so [their] followers would be like “oh they’re in this, so we should watch it.’ I think it would be fun to have my YouTube channel and also act in movies. But I’m not expecting that to happen.”

For now, Atkinson will keep making colorful and happy videos that offer her viewers a temporary escape from their problems. She ends every video the same way: “Love you guys so so so so SO so much and I will talk to you next time with another video!”

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DESIGN CAROLYN P OPPER PHOTOS M ADDIE SMILEY

OCTOBER 16, 2017

FE AT UR E S

FINDING HER

After struggling with anxiety and depression in secret for eight years, freshman begins to find her way out of the dark

BY LIL A TULP Staff Writer

F

reak. Slut. Whore.

Freshman Madeline Stuart feels the crumpled ball of paper strike her in the back of the head. She quietly reads the scribbled words and shoves the message into the bottom of her flannel Steve Madden backpack, right next to the others exactly like it.

I shouldn’t care — she tells herself — I don’t care.

But she knows that she always will. It’s nothing new, yet it still makes her mind go black.

Every day, Stuart deals with the hate that she and others bestow upon her. After eight years of hiding her depression and anxiety inside, Stuart is finally searching for light in her world of darkness.

“I’ve been really trying to convince myself that I am more to people than I think I am, and I’m more than what others say I am,” Stuart said. “It’s still not easy though, on my worst days it’s still a challenge for me to get out of bed and want to actually leave the house.”

Stuart has had her good days throughout the past eight years of battling depression. Days where she raises her hand in her World Regional Studies class or days where she works up enough courage to look at her purple hair

LIGHT

and brown eyes in the mirror. up inside of Stuart since the first But more often there were days grade. She just never told anyone. when she didn’t want to wake up.

While the only thing occupying And on November first of last year, most six-year-old-girls’ minds was Stuart had a very bad day. avoiding the “cootie-infested” boys In 24 hours, Stuart’s world on the playground, Stuart was unraveled.

She ended her already thinking about her body relationship with her verbally image. Her thoughts were jumbled abusive girlfriend of one year. Her with questions about why she heart stopped multiple times in didn’t look the same as the other the back of the ambulance after girls and why her baby fat didn’t she took 30 tablets of 50-milligram seem to be disappearing like her Amitriptyline, her prescribed classmates’. migraine medicine. Her parents After the incident, Stuart spent hysterically four days at rushed into KU the Marillac Medical Center Psychiatric hospital room Center for I’ve been really trying to Kids and was to find their daughter lying convince myself that I am d i a g n o s e d on the bed in more to people than I think I with severe a coma, unable am, and I’m more than what anxiety and others say I am to talk or move. depression, But what Stuart she said that M ADELI N E ST UART believed to be she realized FRESHMAN the worst of that she was all – the secret not only of her depression that she’d been hurting herself, but her loved ones hiding for eight years – was finally as well. As she saw her parents out. crying beside her hospital bed, “I was frustrated and guilty that she knew that she needed to stop she would do something like this. . . others from experiencing pain I couldn't believe I had missed [the like hers. From that point on, she signs,]” Stuart’s mother, Susan, began channeling her sadness into said. “The night before [her suicide singing, taking up the drums, and attempt] she had friends over and started intensive therapy every they were all so giggly and happy. other week, focusing on talking It seemed so out of the blue.” through her problems instead of But what seemed sudden for shutting them inside. everyone else had been building “[Taking antidepressants and

going to therapy] have been very helpful in talking through the piles of negativity she still has to deal with everyday,” Susan said. “Other students still say hateful things to her and don't realize that they’re hurtful, but she is learning to not let other people's behavior affect her daily life.”

By opening up through the support from her therapists, family and friends, Stuart has began to make changes in her life, starting by dying her brown hair and getting rid of the blades and knives hidden around her room that used to tempt her.

Now, her once locked bedroom door is wide open, and her timid personality is progressively growing stronger. Whether she decides to talk to the stranger sitting next to her in art class, or walk through the hallways singing “Riptide” quietly to herself, Stuart finally has some true happiness in her life and is realizing that she is wanted in this world.

“One thing that people don’t get is that depression is more than just sadness, it’s kind of like a numbness inside of you that makes you feel hopeless,” Stuart said. “But I don’t feel as hopeless anymore, I feel like through therapy and through talking to new people I’ve grown, and I now see that me and my life are actually worth something more than I thought.”

REACHING OUT Depression Hotline:

1-800-273-TALK

Exercise for 60 minutes daily

Schedule a dinner date with a friend

Pick up a former hobby

Don't hide inside: get a daily dose of sunshine

Don't skip meals.

Aim to eat every three to four hours

DESIGN ANNABELLE COOK PHOTOS ELLIE THOM A AND DIANA PERCY

THE HARBINGER

DESIGN ANNABELLE COOK P HOTOS ELLIE THOM A AND DIANA PERCY

OCTOBER 16, 2017

F E AT U R E S 17

32 16 F E AT U R E S

STRAIGHT FROM HELL

Student takes on new persona while working as an actor at The Edge of Hell Haunted House in the West Bottoms

PREPARING

TO SCARE 1

Gets in costume, which changes based on his character

ABOVE | The makeup artists at The

Edge of Hell use carbon-dioxed powered airbrushes.

TOP LEFT | Hagan sits in a makeup

chair as neon paint applied to his face before his shift.

LEFT | Multiple character masks sit on

BY GRACE CHISHOLM Print Editor-in-Chief

J

unior Magnus Hagan holds the door open during seventh hour on Monday afternoon, high-fiving all 170 Choraliers who walk past – just like he does every single day. Choir director Ken Foley calls him the “Walmart greeter.”

He’s not thinking about his audition later that night for Full Moon Productions, the owners of The Beast and The Edge of Hell. He’s already memorized his lines.

That evening, after 30 minutes of waiting outside Dracula’s Ballroom in The Beast, it’s his turn. He introduces himself, tells the judges he’ll be playing a character he described as a “bat-s––– crazy psycho,” and starts his scene.

“Now, to scrape your face from my fingernails.”

He tells one judge he’s going to rip his arm off and beat him with it.

***

Every Friday and Saturday night since that audition, Hagan has transformed himself into a different person while working for The Edge of Hell.

When his manager calls “places,” Hagan leaves the kid who listens to a playlist called “Magnus’ Happy Times Jam Mix” sitting in a makeup chair in The Edge of Hell’s musty basement green-room.

Hagan becomes a thing from hell: a cannibalistic gravedigger, a demonic soul, a murderous zombie.

Hagan wears the same black socks and black Adidas sneakers while stalking groups in the shadows of Hell as he does every day in school, but that’s the only similarity between Hagan and the characters he becomes. In character, he’s not troubled by making little kids cry when he’d usually feel guilt-ridden – it’s his job to frighten everyone.

“Moral standards? I kind of throw those out the door,” Hagan said.

Before he started working, Hagan had never stepped foot into The Beast or The Edge of Hell. Neither had his parents. He didn’t grow up loving horror movies – they gave him nightmares.

But he’d always joked with his longtime family friend Harry Loretzo, former “Rat Man” and current manager at The Edge of Hell, about wanting to work at the haunted house. So on his 16th birthday when he was finally old enough to audition, he took the chance.

Loretzo said he thought working at the haunted house could help Hagan break out of his shy demeanor. The other night at work, Hagan ripped two doors off their hinges.

“If I can get a good actor, I don’t mind if they break a little plywood,” Loretzo said.

Vice president of Full Moon Productions Amber Arnett-Bequeaith said the 500-550 hopefuls like Hagan who audition each season are placed into either The Edge of Hell or The Beast based on physical traits, prepared acts and personal phobias.

“It’s almost like the selection in Harry Potter to which house you’ll go in,” Arnett-Bequeaith said. “We don’t have the magic hat, unfortunately...”

the table of the makeup and changing room.

Hagan is a “floater.” Hagan’s one of three people Loretzo can place anywhere he needs in the house. Hagan learns the basic jobs of each room, like slamming doors and controlling a fog machine, but from there he can improvise. In the solitary, uncertain Attic Hallway, he’s a trapped spirit, locked into the dark, narrow space. In the cryptic, skeleton-and-tomb-lined Graveyard room, he’s a zombie hungry for flesh.

But even when he’s scaring people, he’s thinking about making them feel good, the same as when he gives away his spare change at lunch . After their initial fear subsides, many people actually smile.

“It’s like ‘You got me man, you got me,’” Hagan said.

“It makes them happy. That’s what I try to do as a person.”

Scaring is all about trial and error he said. He may say “I can hear you. I can smell you. I can see you. But you can’t see me” to one customer and breathe heavily down the neck of the next. Tongue clicking and saliva gurgling generates screams; screaming in people’s ears doesn’t work well as often.

Hagan is always looking for strong reactions, whether he’s scaring customers in The Edge or telling corny jokes to his friends. “‘What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!’”

Just like when people laugh at his jokes, every time he hears people screaming or watches them fall to the floor, he thinks of it like applause. He feels the same exhilarating rush when he scares someone as someone taking a bow on stage would – though he can’t laugh or smile freely when he wants to.

The $9-an-hour job has never felt like work to Hagan, though he does get physically tired around 11 p.m. after he’s scared “too many groups” to count.

One of the best parts for Hagan is working with oth-

2

Has makeup done by an artist using airbrushes and stencils

3

Performs warmup vocal exercises so that his voice won’t hurt badly when he screams

ers; actors often play off of each other. One night, Hagan and the mummy from the Aztec room faced across from each other in the darkness. They used a dead end to corner a group trying to exit the Graveyard. The mummy screamed, and the group unknowingly turned toward Hagan who waited in the pitch black as they screeched with terror.

“Hello there,” he said. A second round of shrieks quickly followed.

Hagan’s loved getting to know the people who work at

Seeing their screaming and faces you feel bad, but then you realize you’re getting paid for it. So, it’s all good.

M AG UN US H AGA N JUNI OR The Edge. He Snapchats the angel and the ghost bride.

There’s never awkwardness or tension; they’re all just there to put on the best show possible.

“It’s like we’re all misfits, but we know we are so [...] we’re all okay about it,” Hagan said.

Hagan has fun “messing with” groups. He listens to groups talking as they approach his room and learns people’s names, which always puts them on edge, he said.

He also manipulates games people use to find each other when they can’t see in the dark rooms, like Marco Polo.

One woman who’d been yelling “Marco” to her friend

couldn’t see him as he approached her. She collapsed, screaming with fear when he whispered “Polo” inches away from her ear.

“Seeing their screaming and faces you feel bad, but then you realize you’re getting paid for it,” Hagan said.

“So, it’s all good.”

Sometimes the kid who’s kind and loving and fun to be around, as his friends juniors Ren Kohlhase and Emily Albarran say, scares them too well. One woman punched Hagan right in the teeth, making his mouth bleed. He’s been punched at least ten times so far during the less than a month that he’s worked at The Edge.

But he’s never felt too unsafe. There’s a panic button located in every room for emergencies, though it’s mostly used to request water and bathroom breaks. He goes through three or four water bottles a night while slamming doors, sneaking between groups and pounding his fist on walls.

The scariest part for Hagan is not being punched – it’s being recognized. If someone realizes it’s him, he’s not doing a good enough job of matching the tone of the room and character he’s trying to portray, he said.

“They’re paying 25 bucks [so] they’re like pissing themselves or screaming on the floor [or] they’re crying,” Hagan said. “They’re paying for that experience.”

When his dad picks him up around 1:30 a.m. after a shift, he’s still wearing his full face of makeup. Sometimes it even feels unnatural for Hagan to go back to his regular voice.

But after every weekend, he’s back to “Magnus” on Monday morning – though more sore and bruised than before. You can find what he calls his “happy-go-lucky” self standing by the door of the choir room handing out high-fives.

DESIGN ABBY WALKER PHOTOS GRACE GOLDM AN

18 F E AT U R E S

GUARD

WOLF

Alaskan wolf becomes beloved family pet

BY LIDDY STA L L A R D Section Editor

T

he sound of rain hitting freshman Harrison Bechtel’s roof echoed through his house. Tok slowly found his way into Harrison's room and nudged him out of his bed and onto the floor.

“He’s protective of Harrison and shelters him during thunderstorms,” Harrison’s mom Amy said. “It’s sweet, but not fun to have Tok standing over him or trying to lay on top of him.”

Although Harrison refers to Tok as his dog, he is actually a 15-year-old full-blood wolf.

Tok is from a small dog shelter in the North Pole – more specifically Tok, Alaska.

Harrison's mom knew she wanted a hiking dog and a retired sledding dog. After multiple visits to different rescues she was connected with Tok through Petfinder.

When she got to the shelter, she told the owner she had come to see Tok. The woman who worked at the shelter shouted his name and claimed he would run around the corner in a second as she went inside to go get the adoption paperwork. Harrison's mom knew Tok was the one for her the second he came racing around the corner.

“His sweet face and gentle eyes won my heart,” Amy said. “He came right up to me and I’ve loved him ever since.”

She would make the five-hour flight to Alaska to visit Tok about once a month, but Harrison didn't meet him until he was seven.

Harrison’s mom and grandma came to pick him up after school one day with Tok eagerly waiting to meet his new companion in the back of the car.

“I remember just loving on him and sitting there with him,” Harrison said.

They never thought too much about Tok’s wolf-like behaviors and looks until they moved him to Kansas and people and cars would slow down to ask if he was a wolf or what variations of dog species he had in him.

Tok’s first veterinarian claimed he was a mutt, who possibly had a wolf as a distant relative.

At a more recent vet visit, to check out a bump on his leg, a veterinarian who used to work as a zookeeper spotted Toks black pointy ears and nose and knew he was different. She immediately grabbed him and started doing a check up.

"She started checking him out and then came back and said, 'you know your dog is a wolf right?'" Harrison said.

The ex-zookeeper vet pointed out that Tok’s toes are longer than an average family dog and his legs were built for distance running.

The news confirming Tok was a wolf didn't scare them. They didn't think twice about living amongst a normally wild animal: Tok was a part of their family and never showed aggression towards anyone.

“I think the worst thing he has ever done is picked up a bunny and barely put his tooth into it,” Harrison said. “He won’t harm you.

He'll be more scared of you.”

If anything, Tok is very shy and quiet. He hates loud noises and doesn't enjoy playing catch or running around with toys. Tok puts his ears back when he’s being shy but when he wants something puts them up and looks right at you with his big brown eyes.

“He never barks,” Harrison said. “He howls sometimes, but rarely.”

Tok acts as a guard dog. People are scared

NOT JUST

A BIG DOG

The main differences between dogs and wolves

Most wolves are carnivorous.

Their diet will consist of animals such as deer or beavers.

to approach him, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone. In the past 10 years, he has only growled once. A man tried to approach Amy, and Tok was doing his job protecting her.

“Tok must have sensed something because he had never growled and shown his teeth to strangers,” Amy said.

At a recent vet visit around August, Tok was diagnosed with blood cancer. Although Harrison and his family didn’t see a drastic change in his mood, they decided it would be best to move Tok out to Blue Springs to stay with Harrison's grandma where he would have a bigger yard to run around in.

Tok now lives with two small dogs.

Opi, who is 15, is more of Tok’s speed.

Harrison describes them as grumpy old men. Sophie is four and plays the role of the teenager.

The commute for Harrison to get to Blue Springs is around an hour, so between school and homework Harrison doesn’t make it out to see Tok very often.

When Harrison does make it to Blue Springs, Tok gets up from the spot he was napping in and comes to lay by him, despite his bad back legs that are beginning to give out because of old age and arthritis, just like he used to when it rained.

“Tok just lives that vibe so really he’s always technically with me,” Harrison said.

“Everywhere I go, I feel him.”

Wolves have bigger heads and are therefore believed to be smarter.

Most wolves become too much work for a household around 2-3 years of age.

Mentally, dogs have the equivalent mental age of a 30-day-old wolf puppy.

Wolf life-spans are typically shorter in the wild.

Information courtesy of missionwolf.org

ONE

DESIGN ELLIE THOM A

OCTOBER 16, 2017

OF THE

P H OTO STO RY

19

PACK

Freshman Harrison Bechtel has a full-blood wolf for a pet but treats him like a dog LEFT | Tok,

Bechtel’s pet wolf, eats dog food next to a photo of the family’s former dog, Teddy.

“They were best friends,” Bechtel said. “Teddy would always just grab his food bowl and bring it to wherever Tok was.”

ABOVE |

Bechtel watches over Tok as he attempts to climb the stairs.

“Most dogs hate me because of him,” Bechtel said. “I put on cologne or deodorant to hide [his scent], but usually dogs can still get a whiff of it.” |

| E llie T ho m a

LEFT | Tok looks out

the kitchen window into the backyard.

“I whistle to signify when its time to come outside,” Bechtel said. “That’s the way if I ever lose him he knows where to come back.”

| DIA NA PE RCY

E l l i e T hom a

ABOVE | Tok interacts with Bechtel’s

grandmother’s other two dogs, Sophie and Opi. “Sophie and Tok get along,” Bechtel said. “Whenever Tok gets attention, she gets attention too.”

| D I ANA PERCY

RIGHT | Because Tok has cataracts in

both eyes and can’t see his way around, Bechtel carries him. “He’s extremely blind,” Bechtel said. “He’s pretty smart though. When he was younger and could see better he used to be able to unlock our front door.” | DIA NA P ER CY

ABOVE | Bechtel leads Tok out of the gate to go for a walk around the neighborhood. “If people just assume he’s a dog we don’t really care,” Bechtel said. “He’s technically just a regular dog to us.”

| E l l i e t h om a

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DESIGN CAROLINE CHISHOLMPHOTOS ALLY GRIFFITH

OCTOBER 16, 2017

AT&T LTE

A & E 21

DISCOVERING G the fun in

SNAPCHAT

BY GRACE PADON Section Editor

rowing up in the age of technology, Snapchat has proven to be a main source of entertainment for my generation. It started as a way to send a silly selfie every once in awhile but developed into a form of mass communication within a few years, enlisting several news outlets and fashion magazines to share their top stories in a feature called “Snapchat Discover.”

Snapchat originally added their

Discover feature in early 2015, with just 11 magazine and website participants, such as Vice and National Geographic.

Now, over 50 participants have launched a Discover, with new ones being established every few weeks. Discovers are only available on the app for 24 hours and refresh with new handpicked stories by 8 a.m. every day. Users can subscribe to the Discovers of their choice to have them featured on the same screen as their Snapchat Stories with a click of a button, making catching up on current events just another step in your social media routine.

Grace’s favorite featured

TASTY

COSMOPOLITAN

Mashable

Top 10 baking hacks revealed

Find the best lip color for your skin tone

Top 5 camera tricks to getting the best lit photos

“Simple Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls” — tell me more. “Breakfast Burritos That Will Transform Your Morning” — sign me up. I always stop and watch a Tasty video when I’m scrolling through Facebook, so of course I subscribed to their Snapchat Discover. Tasty’s Discover is packed with mouth-watering 30-second videos of simple recipes that always leave me wanting a snack.

Featured on Tasty’s Discover are videos from every Tasty franchise, from Tasty Junior to Tasty Vegetarian, and many others.

The aesthetically pleasing bird’s eye view and clean layout of ingredients leads me to watch every video from start to finish, even if there happens to be pickles or mushrooms in the recipe – ew! While there are only three to four videos shown every day, I always look forward to seeing what Tasty has in store.

No, I haven’t tried Kim K’s new butt workout, and no, I don’t want to participate in whatever a “Pumpkin Spice Scavenger Hunt” is, but I will, however, wake up every Monday morning to read my weekly horoscope on Cosmopolitan’s Discover.

Cosmo is one of the original Discovers, generally consisting of a mix of gifs, “would you rather” questions and articles that don’t really mean anything to anyone but the celebrities in them.

Cosmo is the first Discover that I started to read regularly, and it’s not for the boyfriend quizzes or pictures of Zac Efron at the grocery store, but for the animations of puppies wearing sunglasses that can really take your mind off of parabolas during math class. Besides the occasional article about kidnapping survivors or abandoned pets, Cosmo’s Discover is lighthearted and full of youth. If you could look up “teenagery” in a dictionary, Cosmo’s Discover would be the definition.

Mashable’s Discover is the king of technology life hacks. Just by swiping through one time I learned that my Mail app on my phone is the biggest culprit of my ever-draining phone battery and that turning my phone sideways on the calculator app will turn it into a scientific calculator. Useful, right?

I keep coming back to Mashable’s Discover because it’s a welcomed switch from the Kardashians and beauty life hacks. This is one of the few Discovers that adults would have any interest in, but it is still targeted towards teens with a heavy use of emojis and animations.

Mashable’s Discover offers a daily mix of videos, gifs, illustrations and articles relating to the most up-and-coming technology and high tech rumors about next year’s iPhones.

ESPN

Basketball season is in full swing – see highlights here Sure, I can carry on a text conversation about the Chiefs game that’s on TV, but do I give a flying flip about recent NBA trades or who is injured on Montreal’s hockey team? ESPN’s Discover does a nice job of expanding my minimal knowledge of current sports news and is the only reason why I know Brandon Marshall is out for the rest of the football season.

ESPN’s Discover is unique to other Discovers because it is 90% videos, which I enjoy, but it is riddled with sports lingo that doesn’t always ring a bell to me. After all, it’s easier to watch a video of a play after a touchdown than read a headline about a two-point conversion (whatever that means). The past few weeks, ESPN’s Discover has been filled to the brim with memes about fantasy football and insane highlights from baseball games. ESPN’s Discover is probably useful to someone who spends more time watching SportsCenter than The Office, but it’s always nice to learn something new in the world of sports.

DESIGN ROBBIE VEGL AHN

THE HARBINGER

22 A & E

RULES OF BEING A

THIEF Throughout the book, the narrotor outlines 12 “rules” of being a thief – here are a few of the more important rules

SUSPENSEFUL Young adult mystery novel proves to be good distractor from school, but lacks in suspense

2 “Trust no one”

3 “Thieves don't have friends”

4“Choose your target carefully”

5 “You have to have a plan”

9 “Thieves and refugees don’t do police”

12 “Always be ready to bolt”

BY ABBY WALKER Copy Editor

I

n the midst of a reading rut, I turned to the Barnes and Noble best-seller list to get me away from exclusively reading “Jane Eyre” and metaphors about heavy high school work loads in “College Essays that Worked.”

Since I haven’t read a mystery since I was reading the “Nancy Drew” books in elementary school, young adult mystery “City of Saints and Thieves” by Natalie C. Anderson stood out to me. I hoped it would distract me from the stressors of college applications.

While the unique setting — in the urban city of Sangui, Kenya — successfully did this, the blunt writing style made me feel like I was reading at a middle school level.

“City of Saints and Thieves” follows the story of Tina, a teenage girl living alone on the streets in Sangui after her mother was murdered four years prior.

Tina thrives as a thief with the “Goonda” gang, but stereotypically wants revenge on a grey-haired Roland Greyhill, a business fraud who she believes shot her mother.

With the help of the Goondas, Tina plotted to break into the home of Greyhill.

But when Tina is caught by Greyhill’s son, Michael, they agree that Tina won’t expose Greyhill until after Michael helps her find out if he is the actual killer.

9 out of 10 ROOM

Walker compares the level of *on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most mystery in other novels* mysterious and 1 being the least

9

This book, set in modern day Africa where Anderson has done research, was a refreshing change of pace compared to the New York- and Chicago-based books I normally read. Anderson’s history of working with the United Nations on refugee relief

If you’re looking for a quick, Sunday afternoon read, this is the book for you, but don’t expect a challenging or existentially thought provoking novel.

This book probably won’t go down as a classic but was worth a couple of hours.

AB BY WALK ER SEN I O R equips her with knowledge of the culture that makes me feel like I know the characters. The setting gave me a new view of urban African that kept me reading to learn about culture.

Anderson’s extensive research also played a major part in the character development and diversity. Tina is black, but her sister and Michael, who both have white dads, are interracial. Anderson gives insight on what it means to be “mixed” in Africa and a degree of discrimination on those who are of mixed descent, a problem I hadn’t even considered.

While Anderson’s knowledge of refugee culture in Africa kept me enthralled in the dilemma of finding Tina’s mother’s killer,

5 out of 10

7 out of 10 CITY OF SAINTS & THIEVES

her writing style took some getting used to. I could tell where Anderson was coming from when she used short, concise sentences for dramatic effect, but she used the technique too often, leaving me feeling like I was in middle school again.

In writing “City of Saints and Thieves” Anderson seemed to lay everything on the table and draw conclusions for the reader.

She ruined the fun of figuring out a mystery book; I didn’t have to deduce anything for myself, eliminating the need to note clues and symbols that would usually keep me interested.

It may sound trivial and insignificant at first, but the huge font size that looked like it belonged in a special edition made for 80 year-olds distracted me from the actual words. If you’re someone who has the option to read on an e-book, this is a book I would opt to read on a screen since you can change type size.

Despite this, “City of Saints and Thieves” did what I wanted it to. It distracted me from the sluggish plot of “Jane Eyre” and gave my brain a break from college essay writing. However the straightforwardness and dramatic writing made me feel like I was reading below my grade level.

If you’re looking for a quick, Sunday afternoon read, this is the book for you, but don’t expect a challenging or existentially thought-provoking novel. This book probably won’t go down as a classic but was worth a couple of hours.

7

THE CIRCLE

5

AMAZING

DESIGN GRACE PADON PHOTOS K ATHERINE ODELL

OCTOBER 16, 2017

A & E 23

Health food chain, Robeks, opens its first midwest location at 135th and Metcalf

ABOVE | The Acai Especial bowl has acai,

blueberries, banana, and is topped with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and granola.

BY GABBY LEINBACH Staff Writer

R

estaurants like Winstead’s, Chipotle and Freddy’s make it so hard to stay focused on eating healthy – one look at a Winstead’s double with onion rings wipes the memory of a Health Nut salad from The Mixx from my brain. However, places like Robeks, with the slogan “Healthy Never Tasted This Good!,” are a reminder that smart eating can be satisfying as well as tasty –– for the most part.

Robeks is a juice bar that serves smoothies, juices, bowls and wellness shots to benefit your immune system – all made fresh before your eyes. The decor of the store replicates the freshness of their food promised on their website, and I felt

Cool Cucumber Cucumber Apple Lemon Ginger

like I was walking into a garden rather than a food chain. My empty stomach directed my eyes to the light blue, pink and green menu displayed on the wall.

I had difficulty choosing from the extensive menu with over 40 options separated into 11 different categories. I finally decided on the “Berry Beneficial” superfood smoothie, “Cool Cucumber” juice, “Acai Especial” bowl and the lemon ginger wellness shot, totaling at $22.97.

The first item I tried was the lemon ginger wellness shot.

“Shot” is a fitting descriptor for this drink, since it filled a plastic container about three inches wide. I asked for a mild amount of cayenne pepper, but I still mentally prepared for the shot, due to my prior experience with health tonics. My motivation to drink it was the wonders it promised to do for my immune system, so I quickly downed it in one gulp.

My face scrunched up in a there’s-a-Warhead-candy-in-mymouth kind of way. Eck. Terrible. I prayed that it would keep me from getting sick this fall, or else I had endured that for nothing.

Luckily I got the sour taste of lemon and ginger out of my mouth with the “Berry Beneficial” smoothie that came next. The sweet flavors of the whole strawberries, whole blueberries and raspberry juice were strong and refreshing.

Unlike the DIY smoothies I attempt to create at home, the “Berry Beneficial” was the perfect consistency — not too chunky yet not too smooth. In less than two minutes, it was already half-way gone.

Before I could fully finish my smoothie, the “Cool Cucumber” appeared on the counter. I love juices and

WHAT’S IN IT? Berry Beneficial

cucumber in general, so my hopes were high for this one.

At first I was underwhelmed by the flavor, but then my face scrunched up yet again at the bitter taste. I thought about how unfitting a refreshing name was for this concoction that made my throat burn. I quickly grabbed my “Berry Beneficial” to chase it down.

At that point my taste buds had been on an emotional roller coaster, the wellness shot started them at a low, then the smoothie made them shoot up, only to have a stomachdropping plummet with the juice. When I got my “Acai Especial” bowl, I had no idea what to expect. My tentative first bite was greeted by the unique, but pleasing, taste of blended acai. This was my first acai bowl since I went to Aruba two years ago, and I was surprised that this Kansas version was just as good.

The oats, granola and fruit filled me up before I saw the bottom of the bowl, which is something I can’t say about some salads I’ve tried. The bowl alone would be the perfect amount of food for lunch, and definitely made me feel less guilty than two slices of cheese pizza from the East cafeteria.

On my journey home from the store’s location at 135th & Metcalf, I felt like it was a mission accomplished. The bowl and smoothie were surprisingly filling. Even after cheering at an entire football game that night, I had plenty of energy.

Though the thought of the wellness shot and Cool Cucumber juice gave me chills, they didn’t ruin the overall positive experience I had at Robeks due to the colorful and fresh atmosphere. The next time I’m trying to eat healthy, I know where to go.

Lemon Ginger

Strawberries Blueberries

Lemon

Banana

Ginger

Flax Seeds

Cayenne Pepper

Agave

we serve the

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

4195 Somerset Dr. Prairie Village, KS, 66208 (913) 648-2326

WANT EVERY ISSUE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOORSTEP?

CONTACT SMEHARBINGER@GMAIL.COM TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE HARBINGER TODAY!

DESIGN LIZZIE K AHLE

OCTOBER 16, 2017

A & E 25

DOUBLE FALL FEATURE

One autumn movies falls short expectations while the other meets them

MOTHER!

BY THE TIME Sunday rolls around, I know I need to find something to do – I hate to waste a day. I decided to venture to the movie theatre, in search of a thrilling movie. “Mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence, is about a couple who has a very complicated relationship. She is married to a poet who has a difficult time writing, until his wife became pregnant which inspired him to release new work. The poet has people who worship him, because of his previous and new work, which essentially puts a strain on his and the mother’s life.

Before watching the movie, I decided to give the trailer a watch. I found it very intriguing and expected to be beyond scared. Many critics seemed to like the movie, saying that it was supposed to follow a Biblical plot. I was interested to see how a thriller and the Bible would tie into each other. Unfortunately, the Biblical allusions were not evident at all until the last 30 minutes of the movie.

I knew there was going to be plot issues when the movie opened with Jennifer Lawrence walking around her house for five minutes, not saying a word.

I resisted the urge to pull out my phone even though I was dying of boredom.

After realizing I had spent more time looking at the “EXIT” sign than watching the actual screen, I decided to indulge and order a brownie sundae, which hopefully

KINGSMAN

would motivate me to stay in my seat.In the end, it captured my attention more than the movie itself. I struggled to put the sundae down, but I did in hopes that “Mother!” would get more interesting.

The movie “Mother!” began to pick up about an hour in, when super fans of the poet decided to show up at his house. They worshipped him to the extent where their own son died, envious of how much love they had for the poet.This scene probably the most exciting part of the movie so far, so I decided to keep watching.

While I got my hopes up after the 75 seconds of intense action, the movie became boring again. I was confused to begin with on where the plot was going and weirded out by the amount of violence.

I was especially disturbed when the people who worshiped the poet, killed and ate his baby, symbolizing eating the body of Christ.

I was not scared one bit, just disgusted.

“Mother!” was disturbing with absolutely no plot, if I did not stress that enough. It seemed like every scene was just Jennifer Lawrence wandering around her house and obeying the poet. The only redeeming part of my experience was eating buttery popcorn and a nice brownie sundae. Otherwise, I would not recommend this movie to anyone, especially the greatest horror fanatic.

“KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE" is about a secret spy organization located in London. Their main mission is to help protect the world from a drug organization known as the Golden Circle. This movie is action-packed with fight scenes and undercover operations. It grabbed my attention from the start, but that might have been entirely because it features Channing Tatum, who plays a secret agent.

This movie was a sequel to “Kingsman: The Secret Service” which was released in 2014. The second movie had me on the edge of my seat to the point where I spilled my popcorn. I wish I would have seen “Kingsman: The Secret Service” prior to watching the second one. Still, the plot is straightforward enough that I managed to follow the story even without seeing the original.

The movie opens up with the main actor, Taron Egerton, fighting a member of the Golden Circle. May I just say, though I didn’t know who Egerton was until this movie, I would definitely watch movies featuring this hunky Welsh actor again.

The leader of the Golden Circle, Poppy, targets drugs addicts. She implants a serum in every drug, with hopes to have them die a slow, painful

death if the president doesn’t agree to her terms to end the war on drugs. That itself had me wondering what would happen to everyone who had taken the drug.

Besides being action-packed throughout the entire movie, anyone who loves sappy romance would enjoy this movie as well. Taron Egerton is motivated to save the world by his love for Princess Tilde, who ends up taking the drug Poppy released. I watched people in the theater feel for the characters by their gasping reactions.

The lady in the seat next to me even cried during a particularly emotional scene when one of the head spy’s sacrifices his life to complete a mission.

“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” had plenty of plot twists that inspired me to continue watching. It is not your typical “the hero’s win” kind of movie because there are many deaths of good and bad spies along the way that lead up to the end.

Even if you do not like adventurous or action movies, I would still recommend this to anyone. Plus, who doesn’t like a movie starring Channing Tatum? There’s no doubt in my mind that the movie was well-worth the nine dollars I spent.

REVIEW RATINGS

REVIEW RATINGS

Kaylin's: Rotten Tomatoes:

BY K AY L I N M CCAN Staff Writer

1/5 3.4/5

Kaylin's: Rotten Tomatoes:

3/5 2.5/5

DESIGN ANNA MCCLELL AND PHOTOS MORGAN PLUNKET T

THE HARBINGER

26 S P O R T S

the harbinger

fe atured at hle te s PA G E S 2 6 - 2 8

Record-setting kicker stays humble after local fame

“O

WORK HARD, STAY HUMBLE. parker willis

BY LUCY PAT TERS ON Copy Editor

ne kick and you’re a celebrity!”

Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen says.

Junior Parker Willis gives a small smile, a soft laugh and stands up from his seat to walk over to the door. He accepts yet another pass for yet another interview with the local news. Just days after Willis’s school record setting 56-year kick, everyone from the PV Post to Fox4 KC has tried to get an interview with Willis.

But this “fame” is new to Willis, and so are Friday night lights.

“People just found out who I am this week,” Willis said. “Now people look at me in the halls and say ‘hi’ just because I had one kick. It’s kind of weird.”

Once a soccer player, Willis tried out for kicker freshman year. He then started attending Kohl’s training camps across the country, and made varsity his junior year. Now, students chanting “PAR-ker WIL-lis” can be heard through the stands, a surprise to Willis. But Willis doesn’t strive for screaming students or high-fives in the hallway; he’s just a football player.

“His character is pretty awesome,” senior football player Jack Workman said. “He’s a real stand up guy and a class act. He can kick the crap out of the ball... and those two don’t come together very often.”

Fast forward to mid-season. The Lancers have possession — 56 yards from the goal posts.

“All of the sudden, I hear ‘Willis! Get in there!’ from Coach Delaney,” Willis said. “And I am just thinking, this kick is so far. I’ve made 60-yard kicks in practice, but it’s different under the pressure of a game.”

Willis walks onto the field, having just finished stretching, takes a breath, and kicks — just like normal, just like it’s practice.

The ball sails 56 yards through the air and goes through the uprights.

Willis is swarmed by teammates; the football

players give him high-fives and head-bumps. His parents, Heidi and Matt, are congratulated by fellow Lancer fans.

“I knew he could do it,” Special Teams Coach Brandon May said.

But while fans roared, Willis wasn’t focused on the record or the score.

“I wasn’t thinking about making the goal or what I had just done,” Willis said. “I was just celebrating with the guys.”

And that’s how Willis rolls.

In addition to football, Willis is also involved in KC K-Life, a Christian Youth Organization. K-Life helps to enhance kids’ understanding of the Bible, and also helps to build character, something Wills come by naturally.

“Yes, the kid is a stud who probably has reasons to have an inflated ego, but he doesn’t carry himself that way,” K-Life leader Scott Caldwell said. “It’s his humility that allows him to perform and yet shrug off the success without letting it build his pride.”

While he’s not kicking record-setting kicks, Willis can be seen off the field, hanging out with the football players on the sidelines and joking around.”

And Caldwell admires this about Willis: his ability to show compassion and kindness where ever his is — be it the football field or the K-Life house.

“I love that I see him treating people with compassion and kindness wherever he is,” Caldwell said. “He’s the kind of leader who leads by his actions, and he’s the kind of guy that I would want to surround myself with if I were in high school…

And that will lead him far in life.”

In addition to people skills, Willis also holds true potential in college football, something he has expressed interest in, since joining the football team.

“The kick will help his exposure to college football teams. If Parker keeps working hard the sky’s the limit.” May said. “I sure would like to see him kicking on Saturday’s!”

DESIGN ANNA MCCLELL AND PHOTOS DIANA PERCY

OCTOBER 16, 2017

BY MEG THOM A Staff Writer

S

enior Emma Linscott reaches across the center console to turn up the volume.

She and her brother Hayden are in search of the perfect song to have stuck in their head throughout the duration of their two-hour long swim practice ahead.

The collaborative playlist “Summer 16” made by then-junior Emma and then-senior, Hayden, almost blew out the speakers of their 2001 Toyota Tundra with a mix of their favorite hiphop and country music — just one of the many things they have in common.

With Emma in the passenger seat and Hayden driving, the two made their way to their Kansas City Swim Academy practice at the East pool, where they spent most of their time together. With the six days a week for the three years in high school together, the time added up and their skill sets became stronger and so did their bond.

Even when they weren’t swimming, “Criminal Minds” was being binge watched, a round of golf was being played or a full on fluent French conversation would break out while doing homework.

The bond which they thought could only be broken by the distance of college has been rekindled. Now senior Emma has committed to swim at the University of Minnesota. There, she will be joined with her brother once more for another three years of swimming together maturing their relationship.

Known as “Baby Linscott” around the halls of East by Hayden’s friends, Emma has already adopted a new name when she visited the University — “Little Linscott.”

In this whole new atmosphere, Emma’s integration will be much easier with her brother by her side according to their mom, Martha Linscott.

“They both won’t admit it, but they

SPORTS

will like having someone on campus who gets them,” Martha said.

Not only will Hayden be able to introduce her to the team and get her settled, but Hayden believes Emma will also reciprocate with reaping the benefits of her supportive sister qualities. After years of being the boys swim manager, her winter season was filled with training herself while also supporting her brother from behind the block.

“Weirdly, she always has a way to keep me motivated,” Hayden said.

“When she gets pissed, she yells at me, but it works.”

After Hayden signed to becoming a golden gopher last April, Emma didn’t realize that the following year, she wouldn’t have to “be cheering him on,” as she said in her Instagram post, but would be swimming alongside him.

“I posted on Instagram [in April] for Hayden’s signing to Minnesota, having no clue that I would be doing the same thing this coming April,” Emma said.

Emma had other offers from schools like Miami of Ohio, Wisconsin and TCU that were potential prospects for continuing her swim career. However, having Hayden already at Minnesota this year gave her an “in” with the team and helped her feel more comfortable with the decision.

Though they will both be training for sprinting races with the same coach, the men and women’s teams will train separately which will also give them time to themselves and more of a sense of freedom.

Along with swimming together, they will both be majoring in business, Emma on the marketing side and Hayden on international relations. They will both me doing many of the same things, but will still allow each other to have their own space.

“Even though we will be at the same college doing the same sport, I think we will both allow each other to be our own person,” Emma said.

Emma’s Times through the years

freshman 100 fly 59.90 200 IM 2:16.40 50 free --in meters

27

emma linscott sophomore 58.01 2:11.97 ---

junior 56.90 --24.42*

lly fusenior e p o h

break 55 2:07.00 23.00

*0.06 away from school record

DESIGN ELIZABETH BALLEW PHOTOS K ATHERINE MCGINNESS

THE HARBINGER

28 32 S P O R T S

LUGER’S N Thomas Luger is named Junior Golf Student Athlete of the Year by the Midwest Section PGA

BY AN N A B EL L E COOK Assistant Online Editor

T

hen-8th grader Thomas Luger stood in the brisk winter air at Kansas City Country Club. Bundled in layers and a beanie, a golf club was frozen to his hands as he perfected his chipping.

A week earlier, he was sprinting back and forth across a gym, conditioning for basketball season. But now, standing on the freezing range, Luger realized that teeing up ball after ball was better than any type of running drill.

From then on, Luger stopped playing basketball and made golf his identity.

“For whatever reason, that moment in the cold made me think, this is what I want to do — like a lot,” now-senior Luger said. “So I kind’ve stuck to it and said, ‘this is it.’”

Now, four years after deciding to pursue golf seriously, Luger has been named Junior Golf Student Athlete of the Year by the Midwest Section of the PGA. Two weeks ago he opened a letter from the PGA and received the news, along with a congratulatory text from his coach, Andy Fisher. After being nominated by Fisher and filling out an application in August, all of his wins and hours spent after school on the golf course from middle school until now were being recognized.

“I’ve watched him go from being a beginner into someone who is physically capable of shooting great scores and having great finishes,” Fisher said. “Watching Thomas flourish with success in golf has been really fun for me.”

Luger will accept the honor at the awards ceremony on Oct. 23 at Prairie Band Casino & Resort. Every year, the Midwest Section PGA honors a student golfer in the Kansas and Missouri region who has not only has been successful on the golf course, but also in the classroom; his involvement in

THOMAS LUGER’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1.

PAR

National Honor Society and three AP classes help him meet this criteria.

With his involvement in National Honor Society and AP classes, Luger meets this criteria.

This isn’t Luger’s first time being awarded for his golf performance. He got second at state his junior year, placed in the top five in an American Junior Golf Association tournament in Lawrence this summer and won the Kenneth Smith Award last year. The Kenneth Smith Award is given to the most outstanding high school golfer in Kansas City, which also factors in academics, leadership and community service.

But Luger’s talent didn’t come naturally to him. Everyday, Luger goes out to the course and hits over 250 golf balls and works out twice a week. Sometimes Luger’s practice time is split, focusing about 60-70 percent of practice time on short game, chipping and putting, and then the rest of the time practicing his drive on the range.

Sometimes this involves sacrifice, like missing the J-Cole concert because he had a tournament the next day. Other times it involves enduring the frigid February weather for the sake of getting in a few more practice swings to give him an edge over his competitors.

“It’s easy to go play at one o’clock on a Saturday when it’s 75 degrees,” Luger said. “But it’s harder when it’s five o’clock, 48 degrees outside and it’s raining. Being there when no one else is there, that’s my pillar of hard work.”

The weather is a trivial factor in Luger’s training and it hasn’t held him back from triumph in his golf career — he remembers winning regionals in torrential rain his sophomore year.

Besides putting in those extra hours of driving, putting, and chipping every day, another crucial component to his success is how young he started. Luger has had his hands on a

Top 5 in AJGA

2.

golf club since he was 3 years old, when his father would take him out on a cart and play a few holes. Although he wasn’t Tiger Woods, he would run around the course and try to hit the ball every now and then.

In seventh grade, he began playing competitively and is now a part of the AJGA, Kansas City Junior Tour and Kansas Golf Association. Through these organizations, Luger competes in tournaments across the country—everywhere from Santa Barbara to Tampa. The dedication put into these tournaments and wins that came from them are what led Fisher to nominate him for the award.

“I will usually see Thomas [at Kansas City Country Club] every day I am here,” Fisher said. “It’s cool to see that amount of enthusiasm from young person in anything. You very rarely have someone that committed to getting better. He never seems to tire of it.”

Along with national and local associations, Luger also plays on the East golf team and has been on varsity since his freshman year. Luger has noticed that because of the supportive nature of the team, he prefers East golf to playing individually. “[My teammates] are counting on me,” Luger said. “I need to play well for them. And maybe that’s something I’ve struggled with in summer golf because there’s no one else in your corner. I can always shake off a bad shot because I know the other guys are right behind me.”

Luger’s teammates agree with the decision made by the Midwest PGA, saying that he not only brings an immense level of talent to the team, but also leadership.

“Thomas works harder than anyone you will ever come by,” senior varsity golfer Max Maday said. “He is always hitting balls no matter the weather — he sometimes even plays in the snow.”

2nd in State 3. 4th in State Junior Year Sophomore Year

4. Top 7

at KJA

DESIGN ELIAS LOWL AND

OCTOBER 16, 2017

S P O R T S 29

BY ELIAS LOWLAND Section Editor

SPORTS on deck

LIBBY WILS O N

Girls Golf competes at State on Oct. 16. The Lancers look to return to the top of the podium after placing second last year.

DIA NA PE RCY

Football plays on Oct. 19 against SM West at the SM North Stadium. This is the final game before the playoffs begin on Oct. 27.

Cross Country competes at Regionals on Oct. 21 at JCCC. After losing by one point last year, the Lancer runners hope to finish on top.

I Z Z Y Z A N ON E

ATHLETE’S QUOTE

THIS WEEK

We are in a great position as the playoffs get closer. We are playing well together and are getting better and better every week. M ILTON BR A A S CH s eni or

in sports

Senior Kristian Jespersen kicks the ball away from his opponent. | K AT H E R I N E MCG I NNES S

Senior Kirsten Erickson returns the ball across the court.

Senior Ally Huffman practices a serve during warm ups. | AI S L I N N

| AUDRE Y KE S LE R

MENK E

GAMES COMING UP

TWEET OF THE WEEK

JONAH WATT

I am very excited to announce that I will be furthering my education and baseball career at the University of Central Arkansas. Go Bears!

ELLI E TH O M A

38 Retweets

249 Likes

FOOTBALL vs. SM West Oct. 19 at SM North

SOCCER vs. TBD Oct. 21 at Olathe East

VOLLEYBALL vs. TBD Oct. 21 at Lawrence HS

CROSS COUNTRY

Regionals Oct. 21 at JCCC

DESIGN DIANA PERCY

THE HARBINGER

30 P H O T O S T O R Y

LEFT | The Lancer mascot and principal Dr. McKinney stand

arm-in-arm at the end of the Lip Dub, singing the school song.

“I know the young man that was our Lancer mascot, and I really like the energy he brings to it,” McKinney said. “You want a mascot with over the top energy and I think he did a nice job what that.” | e llie t ho m a

BELOW | Senior George Sulllivan and sophomore Lily Turner practice their “Roman poses” for the Lip Dub. “We won this pig at a Latin convention last year,” Sullivan said. “It’s been up in the Latin room ever since.” | DIA NA PE RCY

RIGHT | Senior Toni Englund finishes

LEFT | Freshman

the dance the senior varsity Lancer Dancers performed for the Lip Dub. “It was slightly difficult to hear the music when we were dancing, with all the kids cheering,” Englund said. “But we did our best to stay on timing and pick up the choreography when we heard the song.” | DIANA PERCY

Mikeya Clardy makes a poster with glitter paint for Fashion Club’s seciton of the Lip Dub. Fashion Club, Photo Club and Art Club met after school the day before the Lip Dub to prepare signs.

BELOW | Seniors Daisy Bolin, Grace Chisholm, Kaleigh Koc and Robbie Veglahn sing “All You Need is Love” with art teacher Mr. Finkleston. “I really like East and I’ve made it my home,” Finkleston said. “I wanted to be a visible cheerleader for the school and the great things that we do here.”

| DIA NA PE RCY

| D I ANA PERCY

ABOVE | Choir teacher Mr. Foley belts out his chorus of “Bohemian Rhapsody” with the Choraliers. “Last week was our choir concert so we were sort of doing other things,” Foley said. “We basicaly put it together in a couple of days.”

| DI A N A P E R CY

DUBBED

DESIGN DIANA PERCY

OCTOBER 16, 2017

P H OTO STO RY

31

Last Wednesday, the Lancers recreated their famous Lip Dub from 2013, including appearences from clubs, sports and teachers

RIGHT | Social

Studies teachers Mr. Kramer, Mr. Laird, Mr. White and Mr. Wagner dance to “YMCA.” “I’ve seen the original Lip Dub [...] and I’m not kidding when I say I get tears in my eyes,” Kramer said. “It truly is always great to be a Lancer.” | DIA NA

PE RCY

ABOVE | Principal Dr. McKinney flies the drone over the seniors on the football stands to film the Lip Dub’s introduction the week before the actual video. |

e llie t ho m a

LEFT |

ABOVE | Senior Riley Lathrom

lip syncs “Crazy in Love” with the theater students. “I was super excited to hear that we were doing this song, because I knew all the lyrics,” Lathrom said. “I had a lot of fun pretending to be Beyonce for 20 seconds.”

| D I ANA PERCY

RIGHT | Principal Dr. McKinney

applauds the students after the last take of the Lip Dub. “It went phenomenal,” McKinney said. “Our students as always, as usual, stepped up and said ‘We are doing something cool and special.’” | lucy mor antz

FAR RIGHT | Mr. Haney carries

a drone through the crowd, filming the Lip Dub’s introduction.

| e l l i e t hom a

Sophomore Willa Ivancic carries sophomore Isabelle Abio on her shoulders during Coalition’s section. “I basically had her on my shoulders for almost 20 minutes and I felt like I was about to pass out,” Ivancic said. “And that was only the first runthrough.” | e llie t ho m a

SME CHOIR

DESIGN WILL TULP

34 32 A LT- C O P Y

THE HARBINGER

PASSOUTS Singers discuss their experiences fainting during choir

SENIOR RILEY BEVERIDEGE-CALVIN • SOPRANO 1 • CHORALIER • 3 YEARS ON EAST CHOIR

• SOPRANO 2 • CHORALIER • 3 YEARS ON EAST CHOIR

SENIOR

AMBER LA PRAIRIE • ALTO 1 • CHORALIER • 4 YEARS ON EAST CHOIR

JUNIOR

OLIVIA PERRY What happened when you fainted?

How did you faint?

I WAS JUST IN, then I was out, and then I was back in again. Two girls, one was senior Izzy Zanone and the other was my folder partner, who stand next to me, grabbed me. But Izzy grabbed hard, and I remember waking up like, ‘Ow, my arm hurts.’ And there’s this thumbprint bruise now.

I DIDN’T FEEL WELL, and it was a really high song near the end of the concert too. I told junior Megan Walstrom, who was standing next to me, “If I grab your hand, I’m going to faint.” Since then, we still talk about what happened. The other day, at the first choir concert this year, she was like, “Last year, you said you were going to grab my hand, and then you didn’t but you still fainted and I didn’t know what to do!”

Why do you think that you fainted?

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN dehydration, or the fact that it was super hot up there. We are packed like sardines in the soprano section, plus I had a sweatshirt on, plus the bright lights. If I wasn’t dehydrated before I was definitely becoming dehydrated as I was basically standing in an oven.

Is there anything you can do to prevent fainting?

FOLEY TELLS US to eat a good dinner, don’t lock your knees, wiggle around between songs to get the blood flowing and drink plenty of water to prevent fainting. Other than that it’s just about hoping and praying.

Was it embarrasing?

NO, I FAINTED in seventh grade at a choir concert on a blind girl. She didn’t know it was happening, and I think it freaked her out more than it did me. So I had fainted before in front of people and was just like “Well, that happened.”

How did your parents react?

MY DAD DIDN’T REALIZE it was me because he was so far back. At the end, my dad was like, ‘Hey, it’s the end of the concert, I want to give you a hug before you go home.’ I just responded, ‘Well, I’m not there, I fainted. I don’t know if you realized that.’

Do you look back on you fainting and think it was funny?

NO, ITS NOT FUNNY. People try to make it a funny thing, but it’s not. It could be really serious.

When it happened to me, we were going on tour for the women’s choir, and I just got so overheated, I just gave out and had to sit down in the back.

What happened leading up to you fainting?

BEFORE, I PROGRESSIVELY WAS GETTING hotter and hotter, and my friend who caught me said I turned white. And right before my eyes started to roll back, apparently, but other than that I was hot, and my legs gave out on the spot.

What were your thoughts during and after fainting?

I JUST WAS HOPING that everyone would keep going and not look at me. I didn’t want any attention, and I just wanted everyone to keep singing.