Northwest Passage Volume 41 Issue 5

northwest

passage Volume 41

Issue 5

November 20, 2009

brokenhearted Ben Meseke was forced into a leave of absence after 12 years teaching and coaching 24 See Black Friday from different perspectives 14 Use these recipes to spice up your dinner selections on Thanksgiving this year

12

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Shawnee Mission Northwest 12701 West 67th St., Shawnee, Kan., 66216

_________________________________ 04 / news briefs

news

See what’s going on around the school and in the community.

06 / happenings and numbers

04

Plan your schedule around this week’s happenings.

opinions Marissa Bruns

______________________________ 09 / giving the wrong thanks The truth comes out about the first Thanksgiving.

10 / the great health care debate A health care debate rages between two members of the Passage.

11 / dealing with diabetes National Diabetes Month gives a staff member a chance to reflect on her disease.

Shoddy pop artists are degrading the quality of our music.

______________________________ 12 / thanksgiving treats

22

Brittany Bonsignore

11 / I want that old time rock n’ roll scene

Use these creative recipes to enhance your Thanksgiving this year.

13 / reviews A Rocket to the Moon, Tim McGraw, now playing.

19 / scene static

________ w features

Apps of the Issue, Live Noise, Sudoku and the Student Shuffle

____________________ 14 / great deals, long lines

See Black Friday from the perspective of a shopper and retailer.

16 / new faces of faith

top: Junior Paige Stevens gives blood on Nov. 10 in the NW gym. bottom: Senior Lippi Souza fights for a header on Nov. 7 against Dodge City. It was the Cougars’ last game of the season; they took 3rd at state.

The National Catholic Youth Conference comes to downtown KC this weekend.

_________________________________ 21 / the boss

sports

Best sports picture and athlete questionnaire.

22 / exceeding expectations A surge of momentum enables the boys’ soccer team to finish on a high note.

24 / brokenhearted Forced to take a leave of absence, Ben Meseke had a profound influence at NW.

/ Samatha Kendrick backpage photo /Daniel Bauer

cover photo

The purpose of The Northwest Passage is to relay important and interesting information to the community, administration and students of the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. As a newsmagazine, The Northwest Passage will cater to the interests and concerns of the student body. Outside concerns and activities will only be covered if they somehow affect the school or students. The Northwest Passage is a 24-page newsmagazine. The paper will be distributed every two weeks during third hour. Subscriptions will be available to the community for $25. The Northwest Passage firmly supports the First Amendment and opposes censorship. The content of the newspaper will be determined and created by the entire staff. When questions concerning word choice, legal problems or ethics arise the editorial board and adviser will discuss the problem to find a solution. In these cases, the co-editors-in-chief will have final say in all decisions. Letters to the editor will be accepted and encouraged, but will only be published if signed. The staff reserves the right to edit for grammatical mistakes, length and good taste. Letters may attack policy but not people. In no way will ideas or viewpoints be changed. The co-editors-in-chief reserves the right to refuse any letter.

staff

co-editors in-chief / david catt, ryan mccarthy copy editor / ed spaunhorst design editors / ashley lane, stephanie spicer

photo editors / hannah williams, david freyermuth graphic editor / tyler absher news editor /lauren komer opinions editors / david catt, ryan mccarthy features editor / maria davison scene editor / evan shinn sports editor / clay coffman ads editors / kayleigh bray, ashley calvert web technical / andrew keith web managing editor / mary salazar web master / stephanie rupp staff writers / nick alexander, jeremy allen, rachel alvey, nick feighner, rachel ferencz, kelsey gasser, andrew keith, brady klein, brianna leyden, maddie niemackl, cj reliford, madi watts, andrew zimmer

northwest passage/smnw.com

Paint Your Wagon gets positive feedback NW’s fall musical, Paint Your Wagon, opened Nov. 12 and ran through Nov. 14. Many audience members did not know what the play was about, so they went to the play with an open mind.

“I really liked Paint Your Wagon. It actually stood out from other plays I’ve seen,” sophomore Brittany Rakestraw said. “The pit [orchestra] really helped because I’ve never seen a play with a pit before; plus, the

actors are just really talented.”

The auditorium was nearly full all three nights the play ran, even on Friday, which is generally the day people don’t come to shows. About 585 people attended on Thursday night, 570 on Friday and 550 on Saturday night. Revenue from ticket sales was about $6,000.

“Even though Friday is called ‘slump night,’ we perfected everything, and

everyone was really excited.

We were afraid the audience was going to be awkward, but they weren’t and when they clapped, it urged us on to be better,” sophomore Savannah Slavin said.

Director Keli Rodgers said, “I was really pleased. The boys were cohesive, and every single actor was on the whole time. It was more than I expected, and it was just really on the verge of fabulous.” Brianna Leyden

Former soccer standout continues success in college

CAITLYN MASSY

CAITLYN MASSY CAITLYN MASSY

CAITLYN MASSY

Taylor Isenhower was shredding up the soccer field for the Lady Cougars last year, garnering All-Metro and All-Sunflower League honors. Now, as a freshman forward for Memphis University, she can add a few more honors to her resume.

Isenhower was recently named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team for her performance this season.

Starting eight of 19 games, she helped the Tigers to a 16-7 record and a third consecutive Conference USA (C-USA) Championship title.

Isenhower scored two goals in a 6-2 win in the first round of the conference tournament against SMU. She was selected as the Offensive MVP for the tournament.

“It was awesome. I wasn’t really expecting it,” Isenhower said.

Isenhower has had a total of six goals and two assists this season and was also named C-USA Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 25.

“It feels like I’ve accomplished a lot. At first I just wanted to make the traveling team, but then I realized I should be playing. Whenever you get to go in games, you have to go all out and hopefully the coach notices,” Isenhower said.

Memphis earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships with its conference tournament win but lost in the first round to Texas A&M, 3-1. David Catt

MARISSA BRUNS Taylor Isenhower, a former NW soccer player has continued her success in college playing for the University of Memphis.

04/november 20

Blood Drive breaks record The Fall Blood Drive, Nov. 10, collected 160 units (pints) of blood, surpassing the goal of 135 units.

StuCo sponsor Sarah Dent said she was surprised by the turnout.

“We were particularly concerned about H1N1,” she said, “but we went ahead and kept our goal.”

The previous record for the most blood collected at Northwest was 142 units in Nov. 2008.

“It was amazing because we shattered the record,” sophomore Eric Zoellner said.

Zoellner was in charge of running the blood drive.

“It was more work than

I thought it was going to be,” he said. “It was a little overwhelming.”

The blood goes to the Community Blood Center. All of the blood stays in the Kansas City area.

“It was several years ago, but there was a terrible bus crash in Kansas City,” Dent said. “The Community Blood Center told us that some of our blood saved some of the little kids’ lives. It’s stories like that that make you think, how neat.”

Combined with the 127 units collected in the spring, the blood drives at Northwest brought in enough blood to save 574 lives.

Lauren Komer

CCC provides turkey dinner to people in need CCC students are collecting turkeys and all of the trimmings of the Thanksgiving dinner to give to families in the Kansas City metropolitan area. For some, this will be the only real meal they will have this year.

“It’s my moral duty to do this.

I am helping the community be better. Through our actions we can be the good our society wants us to be,” said senior Chris Nel. Students are taking donations for the Nov. 23 event. The dinners given out will include everything from yams to a turkey. The goal

is to provide 50 dinners for the area’s needy.

“One family called me and wanted enough food just for one day, and then they would go back to the way things were, with no food,” Poplau said.

Donations are made by the

students and families. Steve and Deb Beyer, a couple that donates every year, donated 30 turkeys, 12 of which will be saved for the Christmas dinner at Quick’s BBQ on December 7.

in April 2009. It is spread by being around someone who is contagious and is coughing and sneezing, as well as by touching objects with surfaces that are contaminated with the H1N1 flu virus just like the regular seasonal flu.

The virus can live on almost any surface, including door

knobs and books, from two to eight hours. Washing hands thoroughly and applying hand sanitizer are the best ways to prevent contracting the virus. As of Tuesday, the number of cases of swine flu had been reported in the Shawnee Mission School District. Rachel Ferencz

Nick Alexander

Northwest receives first set of H1N1 vaccinations Northwest received its first round of H1N1 vaccinations Tuesday, but it was only for students who were considered “high priority,” or those with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, diabetes, etc.

“The CDC continues to reassure us that there will be enough vaccines for anyone that

wants it. But we do not know at this time when the vaccines are available,” nurse Cindy Alexander said.

The school’s web site and the nurse’s web backpack are updated as new information about the vaccines and the H1N1 virus becomes available. The H1N1 flu (swine flu) was first detected

news\05

northwest passage/smnw.com

happenings

by the numbers

Nov. 23

7 p.m.: Winter sports parent meeting in gym

100,000+/ 1,100/ 73/ 1mil/ 21,443/ 580/ 2,800/ 11/

Nov. 25-27 Thanksgiving break

donor groups

Nov. 25-30 Marching Cougar Pride trip to Los Angeles

hospitals served

Nov. 26 Thanksgiving

patients who received blood between 1958-2008

Dec. 1

9:40 a.m.: Late start

platelets of blood donated to the Community Blood Center in 2008

Dec. 2

7 p.m.: IB parent meeting

units of blood needed every day for the Community Blood Center

Dec. 3 Winter group photo day 7 p.m.: Winter choir concert at First Baptist Church of Shawnee

“

donors in Kansas City

units needed for patients every week

mobile blood drives each day donating to the Community Blood Center

Thanksgiving is America’s national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.

—Michael Dresser, radio talk host,www.quotegarden.com

06/november 20

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10/29/09 12:36:51 PM

PLYMOUTH

Giving the wrong thanks The first Thanksgiving is completely different than how most people think.

Everywhere this November, people will gather over a good meal and celebrate our ethnocentrism ... oh, um, Thanksgiving. Everyone has heard the story: The Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock aboard the Mayflower, and they struggled through a hard winter. In the spring, a Native American named Squanto helped the Pilgrims learn how to grow crops. Thankful for his help, the Pilgrims hosted a feast, invited the Native Americans, and put aside their differences to celebrate the harvest.

Too bad that’s not what really happened.

First of all, the Mayflower wasn’t even bound for Plymouth Rock in the beginning (which, by the way, is in Massachusetts). It originally set

out for Virginia, so how did it end up so off course?

According to James Loewen, “Some historians believe the Dutch bribed the captain of the Mayflower to sail north so the Pilgrims would not settle near New Amsterdam (New York City).” Whoa.

A little under the table action going on, huh? lauren Do you know why the Pilgrims picked Plymouth when they finally arrived there? They chose a warehouse-stocked, deserted Native American town. The Native Americans had either died or left because of the plague, leaving the town and the newly planted fields of corn.

The Pilgrims didn’t stop at just using the town. No, journal entries from the time period recount people digging up Native American graves and taking objects buried along with the bodies.

Let’s recap: So far, we have a bunch of squatters who dealt under the table and robbed graves. Aren’t Komer you proud of our ancestors?

How about Squanto? Most of what you know about him is true.

He returned from England after working on ships to find his entire village wiped out. After that, who could blame him for helping out the Pilgrims? He pretty much single-

handedly kept the Pilgrims alive for the first two years.

As you can see, it was the Native Americans who kept the Pilgrims alive during all of this.

And do you know who the Pilgrims thanked? God. They thanked him for bestowing the plague upon the Native Americans and for sending them Squanto to guide their way.

They believed they were superior, so God took care of them.

So let’s put it all together: The original Pilgrims were ethnocentric grave robbers who squatted in Native American homes and bribed captains. These are the people we celebrate every November.

Someone want to pass the turkey?

opinions\09

northwest passage/smnw.com

The Great Health Care Debate Two members of The Passage staff argue over the countries most constriversial issue.

Ryan McCarthy

Andrew Keith

It will be paid for by the American people I can not disagree with my counterpart on that. However, it will not be at the same cost as Mr. Keith suggests. I think when more people see their cost going down for health insurance that the total cost of the bill will go down. I think President Obama is trying to figure out the best way to cover the most people in the shortest amount of time. Obama sees this window to get health care passed is so small and he knows it could be decades before the Democrats get another chance to improve America.

It will be paid for by you, your children, and your grandchildren. ObamaCare will cost around $13,000 a year in taxes, per family. The national debt has tripled since Obama was inaugurated and in this time of financial insecurity, how can healthcare reform be paid for without pushing the U.S. deeper and deeper into debt? It is a known fact: if income doesn’t match spending, a debt will result. You cannot spend your way out of a debt, even if you are Barack Obama.

We need to stop looking at how the government is paying for it and worry about who is going to be covered. As far as cutting corners we have already done that by not giving people affordable options of healthcare in the first place. The bill clearly states that we will be cutting $ 400 billion from Medicaid and Medicare. I think this will not go over well with the American people, but it will be helpful in the long run to obtain coverage for everyone.

Just like any other government program there is wasteful spending and cutting $400 billion from these programs will help to cover more people in the long run.

Obama has said “The elderly will have to learn to do without [healthcare]” ObamaCare is socialized medicine and a limitation of freedom hidden behind the guise of ‘Helping America’. Regardless of party affiliations, anything politicians say should always be taken with a grain of salt, but why is this issue an exception?

Socialized medicine will cover the majority, yes, but leave the elderly out in the cold.

I think $1.1 trillion (or whatever the price tag is now) is far too much for Health Care because we don’t know where all the money is going. The bill for Heath Care is over 1500 pages long making it almost impossible for anybody to read. But that is nothing new on Capitol Hill. Bills have continued to grow ever since lobbyists and special interest groups have been able to put their paws on the country. However, we have spent over $900 Billion on other foreign adventures over the past nine years so I can’t see why Americans would be all right with helping are own people if we have been helping the Middle East.

The way to fix the healthcare system in the United States is through capitalistic competition between insurance companies. A trillion dollar reform is not needed.

With healthcare reform, the bill sacrifices the existing healthcare for a small percentage of the population that is not currently covered. The bill does not help insure people, it merely forces them to pay higher taxes in order to be eligible for a sub-par socialized healthcare system.

Yes. I think it is ridiculous that we claim that we are the greatest country in the world and yet we are not one of the best countries at covering our entire population. We cover only 83 percent of United States citizens. To me, health coverage is not a privilege. I have been fortunate enough to live in a family that has never had any serious or life threatening injuries, but I know that if something happened to me, my family would not have to worry about emptying their entire bank account. Not everyone in this country has that same kind of security.

Healthcare is not an unalienable right. The Declaration of Independence states that Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights, not ‘free healthcare for all’. Each individual is responsible for his/her own actions, and in turn, shouldn’t each individual also be responsible for his/her healthcare needs? The proposed bill, it claims that 46 million are uninsured in America.

That figure is based upon the US Census most recent data, which includes illegal aliens. If the data is wrong, how can the results be correct?

I think a government-run option is not good for our capitalistic society in the long run, but until the health insurance companies decide that the American people should not be paying ridiculous amounts of money in order to protect themselves, I think a public option would be an excellent idea. President Obama’s plan states that the people and small businesses will be able to buy insurance at competitive prices. And if the public option price is lower than what the insurance companies are charging, insurance companies will face losses. Americans are paying way too much for health insurance. I think without reform by the insurance companies a public run system is inevitable.

With the healthcare reform bill, H.R. 3200, the devil is in the details. Public Option really means insurance provided by the government– also known as socialized medicine, or a government run healthcare system. The problem with the public option - it is a joke. The public option will force existing private insurers out of business, because it has a major unfair advantage – it is funded by taxpayer dollars. As ObamaCare (aka public option) takes effect, insurance companies will be unable to compete and in turn, they will be pushed out of business.

If every citizen is already covered by ObamaCare, why would any company chose to provide private insurance at an additional cost to them? If the bottom line of a business is at stake, why would any employer choose to cover its employees when ObamaCare is a qualifying option?

10/november 20

Dealing with diabetes

After surviving this disease for 10 years, National Diabetes Month gives me time to reflect.

It was Nov. 22, 1999 — the day my life would change forever.

For weeks, my body had been at war with itself. I was dehydrated and yet constantly drinking water. I was 5 years old and had dropped 10 pounds within a few days, causing my body to look like nothing more than skin and bones.

As I get older, the memories grow more vague, but I remember going to the doctor’s office and hearing the nurse say, “She needs to go to the hospital right now.” Nothing can compare to the worried expression on my mom’s face.

At the hospital, they poked my finger with a small needle and checked my blood sugar, which was 785 — the normal blood sugar for anyone with a working pancreas is 70 to 150. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Over the next three days, the nurses at Children’s Mercy Hospital worked to get my blood sugars in check and educate my family and

friends about the disease. I was back on the years that I have lived completely unaware of how much with diabetes and realize how much my life would change. it has changed me.

When I was diagnosed, they put Certain aspects of diabetes make me on insulin shots. Every time I put me different from other teenagers, food into my mouth, I had to draw like having to be hooked to a up a syringe of insulin, and at the machine or poking my finger four to tender age of seven, learn five times a day in order to give myself a shot. The to live. These aspects little pink machine that are mostly negative, but sits on my hip is not a the mental ones are not. cellphone.

Since being diagnosed, When I was in fourth I’m at the hospital every grade, I finally received four months for checkmy first insulin pump. ups. I have seen many Instead of 6-8 shots a day, teens and children who Rachel Ferencz I now lived with a tube have been diagnosed in my arm and a machine on my with diseases far worse than mine. hip that would act as my pancreas I value life — and every day I have outside of my body. I still wear one here — a lot more than I would if I today. wasn’t diabetic.

I live a relatively normal life.

Sometimes I look around and I play volleyball as much as I can, see teens my age complaining about I hang out with my friends every huge tests, annoying parents or a weekend and I love hanging out with grueling practice waiting for them my team. As I approach the 10th after school. Sometimes I wish they anniversary of my diagnosis, I look could imagine having to deal with

those things plus diabetes. If diabetes wasn’t always on my mind, I would risk internal damage later in life or I could become extremely sick and possibly die.

However, I have the power to turn this disease into a positive instead of a negative. I don’t feel lucky to have it, but diabetes has truly shaped me as a person, and without it, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today.

November is American Diabetes Month and according to the American Diabetes Association, 24 million people in the U.S. are living with this potentially life-threatening disease. That includes me.

Over the Thanksgiving vacation, take some time to learn about diabetes, and consider donating to help find a cure. You’d be helping not only me, but also the other 24 million people affected by this disease.

It’s the people who donate who give me the opportunity to sit down at the table this year to celebrate surviving 10 years of diabetes.

I want that old time rock ‘n roll

Music today seems to have gone overboard with raunchy and heartless lyrics.

Often I find myself lying in bed in complete awe. It amazes me, this phenomena that is the current musical culture. The lyrics run through my mind, begging questions that will never be answered.

Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick. I wanna take a ride on your disco stick.

Why, Lady Gaga, why? These lyrics honestly sound like the script for a soft-core HBO porno. Instead, they are the lyrics for a Top 40 single.

Ridiculous.

And yet, women often complain about being exploited and misrepresented in today’s world, in music particularly. In all honesty, they have every right to. I will admit it is becoming increasingly excessive and downright disrespectful. Listen to songs by Lil’ Wayne or any other rapper who feels the need to place a Lil’ before his or her name. Or if you are in the mood, watch one of their

music videos. It will be three minutes straight of exploitation of women.

Heck, even song titles nowadays are filled with sexual innuendo It might be a shock, but Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop” is not actually about a lollipop.

So why would Lady Gaga, who tries to define herself as classy with a side of raunchy, do this?

She is promoting the disrespect of her own gender. She is showing young and aspiring pop jeremy stars that it is fine to write crass lyrics about sex.

Lady Gaga and many other musicians today are taking away from the romanticism of lyrics.

Lyrics should come from your heart, not your lower body regions.

Why can’t music go back to the way it was? With artists like Jimi

Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan or The Beatles. Artists who gave each song all their talent. Artist who didn’t sell out because they felt like the needed to have a Top 40 hit by shocking fans with sexual lyrics.

They played because they loved it. You can hear it in their music.

Don’t believe me?

Jimi Hendrix is a perfect example. He is one of the most influential guitarist and was declared the greatest guitarist ever

by Rolling Stone. Yet, in allen the years Hendrix was active he only had one Top 10 single, which was a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”. Technically this made Jimi Hendrix a one-hit wonder.

There are plenty of artists out there who remain unknown even though their talent is far greater

than that of the Top 40 artist. It gives me hope for music when I hear it from musical story tellers like Joe Bonamassa, The Mountain Goats and The Decemberists. I’ll even admit that listening to Owl City makes me appreciate modern music slightly.

Yet, I’m still convinced that if another musician had the greatness of the musicians of the ‘60s and ‘70s existed today, he or she would go relatively unnoticed.

Music today doesn’t offer much to me, not because I am a huge music critic but because I just want my music to offer me an experience emotionally. I want to feel something.

I want to hear lyrics as art and poetry.

I guess it isn’t so bad, though.

I mean, now all I have to do to become famous is go into our school bathrooms, put some of the colorful words written on the wall to a catchy beat and I’m on the Top 40 charts.

opinions\11

northwest passage/smnw.com

thanksgiving treats Is your turkey too dry? Is your grandmother’s traditional cranberry sauce still too gross?

Is your pumpkin pie’s spice too strong? Well, you might want to consider adding some new foods to your Thanksgiving feast. Every year many families serve the same stereotypical foods for Thanksgiving — turkey, rolls and mashed potatoes, and the same

deserts, pumpkin pie, cherry pie or pecan pie. Perhaps it’s just because of tradition, but have you ever considered starting new traditions by adding new dishes to the table? “[Adding new disshes to Thanksgiving dinner] gives you something to talk about,” sophomore Connor Stubblefield said. “Our family now eats cow-

Thanksgiving

tounge and it tastes exactly like bologna, but tougher.”

Cow tounge may not be your first pick, but if you’re a fan of cooking and want to help with the celebration, but don’t want to waste your day away slaving at Thanksgiving dinner, consider making some of these easy-to-do recipes for the table.

If you’re not a fan of cook-

ing, try dining out instead. According to the National Restaurant Association, 11 percent of Americans dined out on Thanksgiving Day in 2001. Places like Boston Market, McCormick and Schmick’s and Mimi’s Cafe are a few of many places that provide a Thanksgiving meal for the Holiday. Evan Shinn

Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats

Turkey Cookies TIME: DIFFICULTY: INGREDIENTS 1 roll (16.5 ounces) Pillsbury Create ‘ n Bake refrigerated sugar cookies 1 container (16 ounces) chocolate creamy frosting Candy corn Orange decorating icing Black decorating gel Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits : Heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Bake cookies as directed on roll. Cool completely, about 20 minutes. : Spoon chocolate frosting into resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag. On each cookie, pipe frosting on outer-edge half of cookie. Arrange candy corn over frosting for feathers. : Pipe orange icing onto each cookie to resemble turkey face and feet. Use orange icing to attach baking bits to turkey face for eyes. Pipe black gel on baking bits for centers of eyes

Acorn Doughnut Holes

DIFFICULTY: INGREDIENTS: 24 chocolate-striped shortbread cookies 12-ounce package of chocolate chips 24 marshmallows 1 tube of yellow decorators’ frosting

: Set the chocolate-striped cookies stripes down on a wax-paper-covered tray, spacing them well apart.

: Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or double

boiler.

: One at a time, stick a wooden toothpick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and promptly center it on a cookie. : Using a second toothpick to lightly hold down the marshmallow, carefully pull out the first toothpick. : Chill the hats until the chocolate sets, then pipe a

yellow decorators’ frosting buckle on the front of each hat.

DINE-OUT STUFF

TIME: DIFFICULTY:

If you’re tired of waiting around all day for your Thanksgiving meal, just to find out at the last minute that the highlight is a burnt turkey, you might want to consider trying something faster and more reliable.

INGREDIENTS

Boston Market

Doughnut holes Peanut butter and/or chocolate frosting Crumbled toffee Pretzel sticks

: Cover one end of the doughnut hole with either peanut but-

ter or chocolate frosting and then dip them into crumbled toffee. : The pretzel sticks are used to make the stem.

12/november 20

For $7 a person, get your choice of a take-home-and-prepare whole turkey, spiral sliced ham or boneless turkey breast with gourmet sides, cornbread and holiday pies.

Mimi’s Cafe Serves breakfast at 8 a.m., and will serve traditional holiday meals fare at 11 a.m - 7 p.m.

McCormick & Schmick’s Offers a traditional turkey dinner, as well as ham, smoked oyster stuffed and pumpkin pie. Regular menu will also be offered.

A Rocket To The Moon On Your Side

A Rocket To The Moon’s On Your Side is one of the catchiest new albums you’ll come across. Although it’s rather generic as regards to poprock bands, it sure beats the electric auto-tune noise front man Nick Santino was creating when starting out the band solo.

At that time, his style wasn’t one I preferred, but its trendy aspects led to millions of plays on MySpace by teenage girls and positioned him to create something more mature and talented — a real rock band.

Predictable and clever, On Your Side’s melodies and lyrics play over and over in your head for hours on end, and before you know it, you’re

Tim McGraw – Southern Voice Tim McGraw wrote his new album, Southern Voice, in the fall of 2006 after the death of his stepfather. So, as can be expected, the album is riddled with sorrow and deals with subjects like death, regret and abandonment.

Songs such as “I Love You, Goodbye” and “You Had To Be There” focus on the subject of a father abandoning his family. “I’m Only Jesus” addresses weighty issues like suicide and drugs.

The feel of this album is a nice change compared to the peppy sound of McGraw’s older hits, such as “Somethin’ Like That” and “I Like It, I Love It,” but the downfall of Southern

Voice comes when McGraw tries to do exactly that.

The title track is a reflection of every stereotype of country music there is. The lyrics are predictable and almost seem like a mockery of the country genre. “It’s A Business Doin’ Pleasure With You” isn’t much better, facing the same lyrical problems.

Ironically, these two songs are the first two “hits” from the album.

There is some deep musical value in the album Southern Voice, you just have to dig a little deeper than the title track to find it.

Ed Spaunhorst

ready to sing every word when you hear it again. Singles like “Mr. Right” and “Anabelle,” whiny songs about girl problems, wouldn’t be my first picks to represent the album because its originality isn’t one to marvel at.

Instead, I would’ve picked “Life of the Party,” a powerful combination of in-your-face vocals, easy-to-listen-to chords and self-proving, revengeseeking lyrics. It’s short, sweet and straight to the point.

Another favorite off the album is “Like We Used To,” a song that exemplifies the musical talent of the band. In spite of its probability of swooning the hearts of every 15-yearold girl on the planet with its mushy

lyrics, its structure, melody and mood sets you back to a nostalgic time when you were happiest.

Overall, A Rocket To The Moon’s album is well put together, as far as song choice and tone. More diversity would be nice, but with the outof-the-blue song “Sometimes,” its cheesy lyrics and slow hip-hop jam almost kill the album itself. So with that in mind, they should probably stick to what they know they’re good at — drawing in high school girls with their high-pitched vocals and love-songs. Evan Shinn

now playing 2012

courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

Pirate Radio

courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

Dare

According to the ancient Mayan calendar and other historical documents, astronomy, biblical and scientific data the world will come to an end in 2012. In this movie groups of people led by an Academic researcher get together in hopes of finding a way to salvage mankind from this destruction.

Pirate Radio is the rebellious story of eight DJs who are on a journey to bring back rock n’ roll to the masses. Since rock music was banned from the radio stations in Britain, these DJs took matters into their own hands. Playing records of classics such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and many more the DJs define the generation of the 60s uniting them with the riffs and melodies of this outlawed music.

Dare follows three teenagers through their last semester of school in a last-ditch effort to shake things up before graduating and start living as adults by taking the biggest risks of their lives.

courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

scene\13

northwest passage/smnw.com

S L A E D T A E R G

S E N I L G N LO Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of bargain shopping that marks the beginning of the holiday season. This year, shoppers and retail associates are preparing for the hectic day of mobs of people and long lines.

Hundreds of people line up outside the doors, eager to raid the mall in search of holiday bargains. Waiting, shoppers mentally plan out their strategy — which stores to hit first, their budget and Christmas gifts that need to be checked off lists.

Coined as Black Friday in the 1960s, the day after Thanksgiving has become a day of nationwide holiday bargain shopping. According to BlackFriday.com, this day of madness not only marks the beginning of the holiday season, but it represents the turning point of companies from “in the red” to “in the black,” or making a profit.

“Once you get out there, it’s insane.

There are people that run and people that grab things from each other. But

it always marks the beginning of the holiday season for me; it’s fun,” social studies teacher Sarah Dent said.

This year, Black Friday is Nov. 27, but shoppers and retail employees are already planning for the big day.

Retail Perspective Stores spend time before the big day planning, ordering and putting items on shelves.

“We usually have a holiday meeting weeks beforehand to plan sales and anticipate the number of people,” Forever 21 associate Keenya Williams, said.

According to a manager at the GAP, the store receives new holiday inventory and displays just for Black Friday.

“We always have boxes in the back for weeks before, and we have to get it all out on the floor,” Williams said.

On Thanksgiving day, many stores advertise their best deals and opening times for the next day.

Because Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, most people have the day off work. But it’s another story for people working in retail. Retail employees have to be at their stores before opening time, usually between four and six in the morning.

In order to get through the day in one piece, stores have to prepare in ways beyond putting out loads of shipment. Stores hire dozens of seasonal associates to help manage the extra holiday crowds.

According to American Eagle

manager Christina, shoppers buy more on Black Friday, so stores have to handle more business, which requires more employees.

While Williams said the boxes pile up for a long while before Black Friday, by the end of the day the racks are empty.

Although preparation begins early, specifics aren’t delivered to individual stores until the last minute, making Black Friday even crazier.

Thousands of people around the nation drag themselves out of bed to hunt for deals on Black Friday, and retail associates work through the craziness that ensues from this mass shopping extravaganza.

Occasionally, shoppers are in such a hurry they get hurt. According to a

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Journeys manager, a woman bent down to pick something up and came up so fast that she hit her head on the counter and passed out and had to be taken to the hospital.

“It is just a crazy day; everyone is everywhere, and you can hear sensors falling to the ground,” Wet Seal manager Bre said. “You work your hardest to try to reach upwards of $10,000 and make the day successful.”

Shopper Perspective On Black Friday, Dent goes shopping with her aunts, sisters and mom.

“Its a real family tradition for us,” Dent said.

On Thanksgiving Day, while some of her family watches football, Dent passes around the ads. She figures out what stores have what items and when they open. Then she maps out the route.

“We’ve got it down to quite a science,” Dent said.

Dent has her plans formulated

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to go as smoothly as possible.

Occasionally, they work out even better than she planned One year, her husband wanted an Xbox for Christmas. Dent saw that Circuit City had one for a great price. So she headed out there early in the morning to see if she could get her hands on one.

She pulled up to the store right as they were opening the doors.

Without realizing there was a line of nearly 250 people circling the store, she walked right in the front doors, picked up what she needed, paid and left.

“I was in line and paid within two minutes of getting in the store after I cut the 250 people in line,” Dent said. “It was mortifying, yet very satisfying that I actually got what I came for.”

While most people go out on Black Friday for the bargains they can get, senior Sarah Sexton braves Black Friday for nothing more than the experience.

“It’s a different experience. It’s really energetic. I never go to

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actually buy anything; I just go for the experience. The people watching is fun. People go completely crazy over sales and stuff. It’s really funny,” Sexton said.

Toys “R” Us is Sexton’s favorite place to people watch on Black Friday.

“Toys “R” Us is super fun because that seems to be where people go the craziest,” Sexton said.

Sexton not only enjoys the excitement of early morning shopping, but also the tempers of the other shoppers.

“If you’ve ever waited in line on Black Friday, people just get really mad. Like really, really testy, and it’s really funny,” Sexton said.

“I’ve run in front of slow people just to grab something I know they want and then I walk around with it and put it down somewhere,” Sexton said. “People get really mad.” Rachel Alvey and Maria

Target: 5:00 am Sears: 4:00 am Kmart: 6:00 am Walmart: 12:00 am Macys: 5 am.

Best Buy: 5:00 am Kohls: 4:00 am Toys “r” us: 12:00 am

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features\15

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nal catholic yo o i t ut na

new faces of faith

More than 20,000 teenagers and adults are flooding to Kansas City for praise, worship and life experiences.

Hands wave simultaneously in the air as thousands of people sway to the blaring music coming from the speakers. It’s standingroom only, and the entire Sprint Center is filled wall-to-wall with teenagers and adults alike. Their loud voices yell out the lyrics, and the body heat coming from everyone is almost overwhelming. This isn’t a normal concert, it’s the National Catholic Youth Conference, known to many as NCYC. NCYC is an event held every other year in different cities across the country. This weekend, upward of 40,000 teenagers and chaperones are estimated to be coming from all corners of the country to Kansas City for the event.

“I went as a freshman, and I had the time of my life. I learned a lot, and I grew in my faith, so I decided to go back for round two

church,” said Mary Mueller, Good Shepherd youth minister. “I think if you need to see enthusiasm, passion and spirituality alive in young people, that’s the place to be.”

At NCYC, the day is split up into two general sessions at the beginning and end of the day, concurrent sessions, workshops and free time.

For the general sessions, everyone gathers in the Sprint Center. The conference is so large that it is expected to overflow into other buildings including Bartle Hall.

On stage in front of the thousands of people, 30 to 40 Kansas and Missouri teenagers, called “animators,” lead everyone in praise and worship.

“You had to audition by sending in a tape of you dancing and singing, and then they told you if you were in or not,” freshman and

this year,” junior Eric Bracken said.

This weekend more than 61 teenagers from Good Shepherd Catholic Church and St. Joseph Catholic Church alone are experiencing NCYC. “NCYC is an incredible opportunity to experience the large

animator Amanda Gerber said.

“Once you found out you were an animator, [all the animators] had a three-day session where we crammed in seven songs, with actions for them, and dances.”

Also at the general sessions are keynote speakers, who range from priests and inspirational speakers

16/november 20

to famous Christian singers and songwriters. After the first general session, the attendees break out into concurrent sessions and workshops that can include up to 1,500 people. Recognizable speakers this year include John Angotti, part of a Christian group that performed when the pope visited Washington, D.C. and popular Christian music artists like the SpiritandSong Band and Popple.

“You could chill and talk with other Catholics about your faith, and speakers come in and talk to you about it, too. It’s a really cool thing,” Bracken said.

Another part of NCYC is the Thematic Park. This year’s park, called the “Reign Forest,” is more than 200,000 square feet, the largest ever at NCYC. The park is a place for vendors, Catholic universities and schools, and the workshop presenters to connect with the teens attending. The “Reign Forest” is placed in the Sprint Center for easy access, and it is a way for those vendors and such to get to speak one on one with the participants. Also in the Reign Forest are games, dancing, comedians and concerts from Christian bands.

“NCYC is music, presentations, prayer, reconciliation, adoration, fun and games, massive crowds, and chaos,” Mueller said The National Catholic Youth Conference is the largest conference to come to Kansas City since

the Sprint Center was built. With the influx of people downtown this weekend, the nearby restaurants and stores are sure to receive a large increase in business because participants are encouraged to buy their own food for lunch and dinner.

Some of the most memorable moments of the conference, though, are the church services themselves.

“The services are amazing because there’s just this mass amount of people there, and you have this feeling that Christ is in all of the people,” Senior Meghan Barnes said.

Teens will leave the Sprint Center revitalized in their faith, and some people may be totally changed by the experience.

“It’s a really great event for teens. It allows them to see that their faith is bigger than themselves, and that Christ is someone they can have a true relationship with,” said Chris Walters, St. Joseph youth minster.

“When you’re hanging out with people of the same age and faith, you have a sense of belonging, and you know that everyone’s there for the same purpose, to grow in your faith and learn more about God,” Bracken said. “When you’re in school, you won’t talk about God with your friends, but when you’re [at NCYC] you actually want to talk about it. It’s a weird feeling.” Brianna Leyden

what to do downtown

By Kelsey Gasser and Brianna Leyden

The National Catholic Youth Conference is the largest convention to come to the Sprint Center since it opened in October 2007. Other conventions have included SkillPath Seminars, which included nearly 15,000 people, and Women in Faith. Whether downtown for a convention or for any number of reasons, visitors have the opporunity to experience the many new shopping centers, eateries and entertainment brought about by the new development in the area.

1400 Main St Possessing a downtown, urban atmosphere, this theater is set apart from the ordinary movie viewing experience. The building originally opened in October 1921 as a movie house, but was recently revamped to accommodate the expectations of today’s moviegoers and re-opened in May. Admission is $10.

1370 Grand Blvd.

Lucky Strike Lanes is located upstairs in the Power and Light District.

Not only do its fun neon colors draw you in, but its fantastic food keeps you there. An upscale bowling alley, Lucky Strike serves as a perfect place to relax, have some fun and, of course, make some lucky strikes.

The bowling alley is closed to those under 21 after 8 p.m. along with the rest of the Power and Light District.

1211 Main Street This cozy, American-themed bakery began in honor of owner Loraine Waldeck’s mother. Mema’s sells every kind of delicious pastry you can imagine plus hot coffee, warm soup, and amazing sandwiches all under $10. Their quality ingredients and extra time emphasize that their priority is quality, not quantity.

10 East 13 Street Owned by the local Cosentino family, Cosentino’s Downtown Market was the first grocery store in downtown KC. Offering everything from delicious and extravagant cakes and pastries to its own sushi bar, the store has everything you can imagine, including an 83-foot salad bar, bakery, and movie rental.

1401 Grand Blvd.

Connected to the Sprint Center, this museum has a huge collection of interactive basketball exhibits and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The museum allows its visitors to see a college basketball game from the view of the players, a shortened goal for slam dunking and a recording of a coach pep talk.

Photos by Kaittie Blanco

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STUDENT SHUFFLE

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9 2 7 3 5 4 7 8 9 1 4 3 5 5 8 3 7 9 5 2 8 9 5 6 7 8 9 7 2 3 1 5 2 7 8 5 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 8 8 1 1 2 4 5 3 7 5 9 1 2 3 8 5 7 1 9 2 6 2 9 4 5 1 7 8 9

Tastes like Kevin Bacon by Iwrestledabearonce "I like this song because the girl is a screamer and sounds really brutal; it’s really unexpected.”

Why didn’t you get a haircut? by Math the Band “This song has the best synth solo that I have ever heard and just raises my mood to a whole new level.”

Still Here by Girl Talk "He’s one of the best mash-up artists I know, and the fact that he was an engineer before he was an artist makes me appreciate him more.”

Hiphopapotamaus vs. Rhymenocerous

by Flight of The Conchords "They are the best folk comedy duo (from New Zealand) that I know of, and they are really funny.”

Artichokes by Maps and Atlases "It’s a really good ‘math rock-band,’ and this song has a really odd time signature to it.”

LIve noise The Music of Led Zepplin at The Midland AMC, Nov. 25 The Cranberries at The Midland AMC, Nov. 29

Apps of the ISSUE iTunes Application Store He can’t even spell the number 85 right in Spanish, but Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has somehow managed to create an app for his life experiences. Users will have access to Chad Ochocinco photos, videos and Ochocinco’s social Experience messaging updates. $2.99

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The photo for this issue was chosen because of the controversial issues surronding the state gymnastics meet.

Senior Sierra Trussel is evaluated by judges for her floor rountine. By Andy Wickoren

Gymnasts take third amid controversy The gymnastics team lost first place at state competition because of coaching error.

The gymnastics team placed third in a controversial finish on Nov. 7 at the state meet in Newton.

Coach Jackie Cipollini submitted an “illegal inquiry” for senior Sierra Trussel's beam score, resulting in a point deduction to the overall score of the team.

"When I found out we had the penalty, I didn't understand what had happened," athletic director Richard Grinage said.

"When they announced us as third, I was shocked."

Becky Oakes, the assistant director at the National Federation for State High Associations, told 0

highschool.rivals.com why the rule is in place.

"It's for the flow of the sport itself," she said. "To allow a coach to always question an official could really interrupt the flow of events for the athletes and the competition."

Trussel at first expected the deduction to be appealed, but later found it was not appealable.

"We were kind of hopeful it would change," she said. "I think we're kind of getting over it. We know we were the better team, and we are the better gymnasts."

The deduction can be compared to strike in baseball, in that the judge's call cannot be overturned.

"It's hard to accept when someone makes a mistake that costs the entire team a point," Grinage said. "For me personally, the whole thing was very hard to accept."

Cipollini told the KC Star, "The Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars gymnasts showed their strength, their pride and their confidence. They were the team to beat. People in the stands stood and watched. We were the strongest team and had the highest score with 103.9 points, but, because of a ruling that has never been enforced in 30 years; we got a 102.9 and were third place."

Grinage later explained the situation to the gymnastics team.

"The girls took it well. We have a very mature team."

Trussel said she was happy with her performance overall.

"I thought we did the best that we could. We scored the highest that we had all season," she said.

Grinage who attended the state meet to support the team said he has a hard time acknowledging what happened.

‘It's still hard to believe that a penalty like this could cost the state championship. I wish it wouldn't have happened."

Lauren Komer

sports\21

northwest passage/smnw.com DANIEL BAUER

Above: Holding up three fingers and the third place trophy, the boys’ soccer team celebrate their victory. The crowd cheered in support for the boys whose hard work was reflected in the number of students who showed up to join in their season and state play.

season of momentum After a loss to Rockhurst, the Cougars lose three straight.

The drought is ended in a 7-0 victory over SM South on Senior Night.

22/november 20

Brittany Bonsignore

The Cougars lose in the semis to Washburn Rural, 3-0, but beat Dodge City 2-0 to take third at state.

After beating Olathe East in the final game of the regular season, the Cougars upset the number one seed Hawks again in regionals. They carry this momentum into the State Quarterfinals, upsetting the number one seed again by beating the Olathe South Falcons, 2-1.

exceeding expectations

all year for the Cougars­ — never say never. During summer conditioning, it seemed as though there was an air of uncertainty hovering around the upcoming season; who were going to be the leaders this year? Who was going to step up to fill the shoes of the many seniors that were lost from last year?

“With the group of guys we lost last year, we were just wondering if these guys were going to be able to step up and fill their shoes,” coach Todd Boren said.

After losing an overtime battle to the nationally ranked Rockhurst Hawklets on Sept.

28, the team dropped two more

a team and realized that we had the potential to be really good,” junior Kyle Moore said.

Throughout the season, and well into the postseason, the NW fans gave a huge boost to the Cougars. At almost every game, the designated fan section spilled over into the rest of the bleachers.

The NW fans outnumbered opponents’ fan sections.

“It was really fun going to the games this year. I loved going; there were always tons of people there,” senior Tyler Amble said.

“As a fan you could kind of feel the team’s momentum. Every time the team won, we would all go crazy. It was awesome.”

Going into the season, the expectations had been relatively low, which may have contributed to the team’s success. After a shaky start to the season that left the team with a losing record, 5-6, a 7-0 win against SM South sparked a surge of momentum that would carry the boys to the end of the season.

After upsetting the numberone-seeded Falcons, the Cougars went on to the state semifinals to play Washburn Rural High School. Washburn was 17-1 at the time, losing only to St. Thomas Aquinas. The Baby Blues had beaten the Cougars earlier in the year, and the eventual state champions had the speedy and slender team outsized and outmatched.

Despite the largest turnout of the year from the NW faithful, it was the first time in five games that senior Jon Kankam was not able to do a post-game victory back flip, as the Cougars fell 3-1.

Sticking with the theme of the season, the dejected boys wiped away tears of sorrow to prepare for the consolation game the next day. They came out with kicks of fury, beating the Dodge City Red Demons 2-0, and taking home the third place trophy. But after the miracle run they had made in the postseason, third place seemed like a letdown to some of the Cougar players.

“It’s frustrating getting this far and then not getting to the championship, you know, because that’s where everyone wants to be. We began the season with expectations to win the league.

That didn’t work out, but we came out in the postseason, and we really started clicking at the right time,” senior Lippi Souza said.

“Overall, I guess I’m happy with the result that we got in the end.”

Clay Coffman

Brittney Bonsignore

games and seemed to have lost its way.

“You know, that was kind of gut-check time right there,” Boren said. “That was going to be the time that the season was either going to completely implode, or we were going to try to screw our heads back on and get after it.”

The team came together and decided that they would not let the season go down in the record books as a failure. On their way to a third place finish at state, the Cougars upset two number one seeds­­ — Olathe East in regionals 1-0 and Olathe South in the quarterfinals.

“We really came together as

Brittney Bonsignore

It was an electrifying feeling.

Everybody knew the game was over; it was only a matter of time.

The Cougars had a 2-1 lead over the number one seed Olathe South Falcons with only seconds left on the clock. Senior Lippi Souza started his victory sprint toward the packed Cougar faithful fan section, tearing off his jersey.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, a Falcon player fell to his knees in disbelief, realizing that his hopes of a state championship had been squashed by the one team that nobody thought stood a chance, the team that continued to defy all expectations.

That seemed to be the theme

Daniel Magwire

Despite relatively low expectations at the beginning of the season, the varsity boys’ soccer team rode a late-season wave of momentum to secure the third place trophy at the state tournament.

TOP Seniors Lippi Souza and Sam McCrillis celebrate after McCrillis scores a goal against North on Sept.

10 at district soccer complex. It was the first of the three goals Northwest scored, leading the team to a victory against the Indians.

MIDDLE Rising from a crowd of

Dodge City players, sophomore David Fancher successfully heads the ball toward a teammate.

BOTTOM The team high-fives the crowd after the Nov. 7 win at the district soccer complex.

sports\23

brokenhearted Ben Meseke has given his heart and soul to Northwest for the past 12 years, teaching math and coaching basketball, but a heart ailment has forced him to take a leave of absence.

the heart

A man whose life exudes character is hampered by the organ he needs most.

As the varsity boys’ basketball team goes through their warm ups, the same figure stands below the basket, gazing at his team, ready for action. Donning a white shirt and orange tie, he ambles along the baseline, preaching words of encouragement and intensity. His eyes follow every ball into the basket, checking for rhythm and technique. After the game starts, he moves up and down the sideline, barking at the officials and planning the next strategy to counter the opponent. As the seconds bounce away in the fourth quarter, the infamous red towel is pulled from a gym bag sitting behind the bench. He begins to wave it over his head, signaling the offense to begin the stall and prepare for a win.

It’s been this way for 12 years, but this won’t be a part of this year’s basketball season.

On Nov. 6, coach and teacher Ben Meseke was decided to take a leave of absence because of a recurring heart problem.

“Every year I go in to see the cardiologist before the season starts, just to get his blessing on everything. Every year he says everything’s fine. Over the past 15 years, I’ve had two pacemakers put in and several operations on my heart,” Meseke said. “But it’s just been getting weaker and weaker.

When I walk from the car to the office, it just wears me out, and it shouldn’t be doing that.”

After analyzing the results of his annual heart tests with his cardiologist, Meseke decided it was imperative to stop teaching and coaching so he could be put

24/november 20

on the heart transplant list. “[Doctors] want somebody that’s rested and ready to go before they will do [a transplant]... It [became] so hard teaching all day,” Meseke said.

Less than 24 hours after the diagnosis, Meseke called his varsity players in for a meeting to tell them that he would not be their coach this season. The players were expecting a completely different meeting.

“We came in and Coach sat us down. Every year we talk about how close our team is and what our goals are gonna be for the year.” junior forward AJ Spencer said. “My heart just, like, sunk. I didn’t even know what to say.”

The team was caught completely off-guard. Meseke had been present at all offseason conditioning drills and meetings preparing for the upcoming tryouts. Although he will still try to fill some role for the team this season, players will be answering to interim head coach Mike Rose. Rose played

, , basketball at Northwest until 1990 and has been his assistant coach for the past two years.

“He’s such a good guy and so knowledgeable about the game,” Rose said, “I’ve learned a tremendous amount from him,” Rose said.

“It just shows how big of a warrior he is because some of us get scared of movies and all that stuff, and he’s been living with this heart thing forever, but he’s never been scared,” Spencer said.

Last week, Meseke checked into St. Luke’s Hospital, and, as of Monday, he was declared free of other illnesses and will be put on the transplant list after a final medical test. Ryan McCarthy

the teacher:

a personal reflection

by Lauren Komer

I remember walking in Freshman year and meeting my Honors Geometry teacher, Mr. Meseke.

It took me forever to find the room, 224. As I was walking in, he stopped me.

“Parlez-vous Francais?” he asked.

“What?” I said.

“Parlez-vous Francais?”

“Um, speakish the English?”

He stared at me. “This is French class,” he said, condescendingly.

“Oh,” I said, backing up to leave.

“No, no,” he laughed. “This is math. Go sit down.”

I didn’t like him much at first.

After a couple of weeks, I began to warm up to him. Unlike any other math teacher I’d had, he wanted us to think. Anytime we added a new theorem, he had us try to prove it. He never let anyone guess; he wanted a reason behind their answers. I had to work hard to understand the concepts, but with a lot of effort, I earned my “A’s”.

He’s famous for his Five Minute Fridays. We had a whole system worked out in case an administrator should walk in and see us “not working.” We all had to leave our books out, and two people were designated to answer questions.

Ours were “infinite” and “because it never ends.” If the administrator still hadn’t left, Meseke would ask another question, and everyone would hold up their hands. Two fingers meant “I know the answer,” and three fingers meant “Don’t pick me!”

“Whatever you do,” Mr. Meseke said, “don’t leave me with a class who are all holding up three fingers!”

Mr. Meseke even worked in a haunted house during part of his career and liked to talk about it.

“I dressed up as the scariest thing there,” he said. “11-17ths.

People are OK with 1/2, but 11/17ths really scares them.”

He truly cared about all of his students. At the end of the year, he taught us important math skills

for later in life, like how bank interest works and how to play the stock market.

I learned much more than math during that hour.

I remember the first time he told us about his pacemaker. He told a story about a basketball game, which they won. His heart rate went higher than it was supposed to, and as he was running down the stairs it shocked him. He landed flat on the floor. Of course, that just scared him more, and his heart rate jumped even higher.

The assistant coach didn’t know what was going on, went over to help Mr. Meseke and then got shocked, too.

I found the story funny, but didn’t see how ominous it was.

Mr. Meseke’s heart doesn’t pump enough blood around his body.

He could potentially die from heart failure.

Now, he’s left because the stress from teaching and coaching could cause even more damage to his heart. When I went to say goodbye, he was in the math department packing up his desk. All the math teachers were sitting at the table, silently watching him.

“I made you a card,” I said, walking up to his desk. I looked at his face, and my heart went to my throat. It was the first time he looked old to me. An almost tangible sadness hung over him, and as I hugged him goodbye, I felt tears rising.

Mr. Meseke is the best math teacher I’ve ever had. No one else seemed to care about me as much as he did. I never thought of him as the basketball coach, but rather my freshman geometry teacher who wanted us to succeed in life.

He’s one of the teachers that, as I look back, made a lasting impression, not just academically, but in my character as well. He’s in my thoughts and prayers right now.

Here’s to 11/17 and Five Minute Fridays. Good luck with everything, Mr. Meseke.

the coach

Meseke’s philosophies have taught players how to win on and off the court.

As the tip-off approaches, hundreds of Cougar Crazies pack the bleachers opposite the team bench.

Two students jump out from the crowd and begin the Cougar Coaster. The players huddle in the middle of the court one more time to get the final thoughts from their captain. Coach Ben Meseke watches with a stern look, ready for the game to begin.

Even before Meseke became the face of NW basketball, he had built a reputation as one of the best coaches in the state. His first 18 years as a head coach were spent at Topeka Hayden H.S., where he led the Wildcats to six 4A state titles and finished with a 253-158 overall record. In 1997, Meseke left Hayden and accepted the challenge of taking the NW basketball program to the next level.

“When I first came here, we only had six out of 29 years of winning programs, and I wasn’t used to that. I wanted to get it to a level where we were a contender at state,” Meseke said.

In Meseke’s 12 seasons at Northwest, the boys’ basketball team has had eight winning seasons, two sub-state championships, and four state appearances, including a fourth place finish last year. To put that in perspective, the Cougars competed at the state level only three times in the 28 years before Meseke began as coach.

“It’s definitely tradition with him. Ever since he got here, we

kept going up and every year we keep getting a little bit better,” senior Steve Carver said. “Hopefully this year we can keep his legacy going and his tradition going.”

Meseke instilled a desire to win and love for the game by emphasizing fundamentals and teamwork with his players. At the same time, his efforts have helped the players develop into more than athletes.

“When I first came here, I wasn’t a very good defensive player, and I didn’t have any fundamentals. He taught me so much on the basketball court. But off [the court], you know once you have a leader like that, some of his stuff rubs off on you, and how to be a good person rubbed off on me, and that rubbed off [on] the whole basketball team,” Spencer said. “We got closer to him, and we got closer to each other. When you’re closer to each other, everybody’s game gets elevated as they play.”

Overall, Meseke thinks he has left an impression on NW basketball and has set the program in the right direction.

“At first I looked at it as, this isn’t the way that I wanted to go out,” Meseke said. “But then I look at the tradition we now have, the team we now we have. I look at the teachers and administrators that I work with every day who are outstanding. I look at the Crazies, and I think, what a great way to go out.”

Ryan McCarthy

RIGHT Meseke taught the student body the Cougar Coaster last year during the WPA assembly. It has become a standard for student spirit at sporting events.

LEFT Meseke inquisitively gazes around the court after last season’s loss in the third place game of the state tournament.

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upcoming games

Boys Basketball: Fri. Dec. 4, vs. SMN 7 p.m Sat. Dec. 5, vs. Washington 7 p.m.

Fri. Dec. 11, @ SMS 7 p.m.

Fri. Dec. 18, vs. Lawrence 7 p.m.

Sat. Dec. 19, Hy Vee Shootout vs. Rockhurst @ Avila College Girls Basketball: Thu. Dec. 3, vs. SMW 7 p.m.

Mon.Dec 7, vs. SME 7p.m.

Thu. Dec 10, vs. SMN 7 p.m.

Mon. Dec 14, vs. BVNW 7 p.m.

Fri. Dec. 18, vs. Lawrence 5:15 p.m.

Boys Swim and Dive: Fri. Dec. 4, SM Northwest Tri 4 p.m.

Wed. Dec. 9, Manhattan Swim Meet 3:30 p.m.

Fri. Dec. 11, Olathe Invitational 4: 45 p.m.

Mon. Dec. 14, SM East Invitational 4 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 9, NW Invitational 10 p.m.

Wrestling: Fri. Dec. 4, Steven Leslie Invational @ Pleasant Hill High School 5 p.m.

Sat. Dec. 12, 7th Annual Cougar Invitational Fri. Dec. 18, Johnson County Classic @ Blue Valley Sat. Jan 9, Dick Burns Classic @ Bonner Springs High 9:30 p.m.

Wed. Jan 13, vs. Blue Valley West 6 p.m.

USA Today NCAA Basketball Poll 1. Kansas (27) 1-0 2. Michigan State (3) 1-0 3. Texas 1-0 4. North Carolina (1) 3-0 5. Kentucky 1-0 6. Villanova 1-0 7. Purdue 1-0 8. Duke 1-0 9. West Virginia 1-0 10. Butler 1-0 17. Oklahoma 1-0 BCS Power Rankings (NCAA Football) 1 Florida 10-0 2 Alabama 10-0 3 Texas 10-0 4 TCU 10-0 5 Cincinnati 10-0 6 Boise State 10-0 7 Georgia Tech 10-1 8 LSU 8-2 9 Pittsburgh 9-1 10 Ohio State 9-2 12 Oklahoma State 8-2

Thugs or basketball players?

Even though the Kansas basketball team is one of the best in country, their actions off the court are not the way student-athletes should act.

When college basketball teams are making headline news in the offseason, you pretty much know it’s not good. This has been the case for the University of Kansas basketball team this year. Although the media has hyped them up to be one of the most feared teams in all of basketball, it seems as if their egos could ruin their shot at glory.

Maybe it’s just me, but I have to say I’m almost embarrassed to be a KU fan this year. With the egos and attitudes these guys carry, I’d rather picture them with Missouri Tigers uniforms on their backs. What happened to the classy players former coach Roy Williams once recruited? The Nick Collison’s, the Kirk Hinrichs, the Aaron Miles’, the Wayne Simien’s. These guys were fun to watch and were role models. Sure, Bill Self is recruiting top-notch players, but these guys are just flat-out thugs. I’m not sure they even deserve to put on a Jayhawk uniform.

I’m having trouble deciding which was the stupidest/most immature thing that happened during the offseason. There are just so many choices. Lets’ start with Tyshawn Taylor, a sophomore guard who, for some unknown reason, according to kusports.com, decided to start a fight with the football team outside the Union and then, might I add, went home and posted vulgar language bragging about the incident on his Facebook status.

Really?

Come on, man!

5

Oh, wait, here’s a good one. as a pre-season All-American.

Brady Morningstar, a 6-3 junior Good luck, C.J. Let me know how guard, was arrested earlier this fall that works out for you. for suspicion of driving under the Should I even bother influence. The worst part is that he mentioning the fact that Sherron is now suspended for the remainder Collins is yet again facing weight of the first semester. Morningstar problems? This sure seems to be was supposed to provide the a reoccurring theme. Will Coach upperclassman leadership for this Self have to get another mug shot young squad.

Oh of Collins and post flyers well, I won’t miss him around Lawrence fast jacking up threes left food chains that read: and right. In my book, DO NOT SERVE THIS he’s overrated anyway. MAN? If that’s what it And can you takes... believe this all Now, don’t get me happened within a wrong, I do think that month? The summer there are some players Nick Feigher drama was just as with class on the team. bad. Last summer, sophomore For example, look at Cole Aldrich. center Markieff Morris was arrested Have we heard his name in the this summer for allegedly firing a news as of late? No. He’s someone jeremy allen BB gun from his dorm window. I want to see represent this great Did he really think this would go university.

Sherron Collins... unnoticed? If you haven’t figured haven’t seen him in the paper for it out yet, you’re kind of a big deal, anything out of the ordinary. But bud. Although Morris pled not just two guys when KU has a roster guilty, he later accepted a reduced of 12 people? Hmm... charge and agreed to serve 20 hours If you look on paper, there is of community service. no doubt in my mind that Kansas And how about those Henry has the most talent in the nation. brothers? Many have labeled them Their biggest problem this year as the two biggest recruits in the will be whether they can share the country. Before the brothers even spotlight and get everyone involved. stepped foot on campus, their father, They have a bench that could start Carl Henry, was quoted saying that at many other Division 1 colleges.

Xavier, a 6-6 shooting guard, would If these guys can set aside their egos for sure be a “one and done,” and for 40 minutes each game, I plan on C.J. was already better than current seeing them in Indianapolis come KU point guard, Sherron Collins. March. Rock chalk baby.

Keep in mind that Collins, along with Cole Aldrich, was announced

inside the numbers

3rd

The number of NW The place that varsity soccer finished in sports teams that made it to state. Girls state. They defeated Dodge City. tennis, girls golf, soccer, gymnastics, cross country

8

The amount of Big 12 teams that are bowl eligible this season. Two other teams including Kansas are one victory away from being eligible.

1332

Amount of combined points the Big 12 teams have scored so far in NCAA basketball.

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IN focus

“The students were going crazy over the soccer game. It showed me how much our school loves our sports program. It was amazing that the soccer team got to the state semifinals; I’ll remember being part of the Cougar Cauldron for the rest of my life.” —Junior Deep Desai