NORTHST RTHE

Issue 4, Volume 27Blue Valley NorthOverland Park, KSNov. 16, 2012

There’s plenty to do in Kansas City if you know where to look.

Our metro area has it all: shops, parks and quirky cafes, all within an easy driving

distance. See the North Star’s guide to the perfect day in the City of Fountains on pages 12 and 13.

5 119

Abandoned dreams at Metcalf South

Journey to advocacy

Track and ÀHOG�VWDUV�

suit up

02 1HZV����1RY���������������1

The Broadway producers of “Peter Pan,” the musical that the theater department

was scheduled to perform this year, rescinded the rights for the school to perform it. !is forced drama teacher Max Brown to choose a new musical.“Broadway pulled the rights [to

‘Peter Pan’] because of the production [that] was coming through here,” Brown said. “Whenever there’s a national tour, they pull all the rights for all the cities that are in that tour zone. But [the show has] already been here, so it was their mistake.”!ere was not enough time for

Brown to convince the producers to give the rights back and for the tech crew to begin work on building the sets, so Brown had to "nd something else. He had chosen “!e Drowsy Chaperone,” which is scheduled to be performed on Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and 2, 2013. “[!e new musical] does look very

di#cult,” sophomore Lauren Keller said. “We’re going to have to build extravagant sets that work into each other.”Brown said that “!e Drowsy

Chaperone” will be just as good as past musicals, such as “Legally Blonde” and “Phantom of the Opera.”“[I picked ‘!e Drowsy Chaperone’]

because I love it,” Brown said. “It has lots of parts, and so I think it will be a great "t for us. Ultimately I think it’s going to be an even better choice than ‘Peter Pan’ would have been.”!ere will be an issue with time,

however, as the new musical was

chosen late enough to a$ect the tech crew’s window for building the sets.“For ‘Drowsy Chaperone,’ we started

Nov. 5. For “Peter Pan,” we would have started [in mid-October],” junior techie Danielle London said. !is switch does not a$ect actors as

tryouts took place at around the same time they would have for “Peter Pan.” But there is uncertainty among the tech crew about whether they will be able to get all the set pieces done in time.“Considering he gave us a harder

show and he’s cut back our time to do [all the work], I think we’ll probably be a little short on time,” Keller said. “But we’ve yet to not "nish a show.”Even so, there are advantages to the

switch, as now no one will have to deal with making actors %y across the stage.“‘Peter Pan’ would have been a lot

of stress and hard work, especially %ying,” London said. “We would’ve had to get a professional rigging crew to come in to %y the people. !at would’ve been a lot of stress that wasn’t needed.”Despite the potential for extra work

and the time crunch on the tech crew, students said they’re looking forward to working on the new musical.“Musicals are always a lot of work for

everybody, but it’s the work that is the pleasure,” Brown said. “Our passion is to create art. So that’s what we’re doing.”

Rachel Strohkorb��Staff Writer �

“That night looking outside, it was very eerie- no cars, no street

lights, no lights on the buildings,” 2012 North graduate Gabbie Fried said. Fried, now a freshman at New

York University, faced Hurricane Sandy in her Lower Manhattan dorm Oct. 30. “I had mixed reactions to how

serious this would be,” Fried said. “At home they always play up the snow storms and they end up being nothing. I wasn’t sure because I had never been in a hurricane before.” Having lived in Kansas for most

of her life, Fried had been through a number of large storms; however, no tornado or thunderstorm had prepared her for a hurricane. “[Newscasters] kept saying this

would be ‘the perfect storm,’ so I spent Sunday a&ernoon buying supplies in case the power went out. I bought a lot of things that I

knew I wouldn’t be able to use even if the power went out, but I also bought a cooler for anything that needed to be refrigerated,” Fried said. Hurricane Sandy gained strength

and hit New York City that Monday. “One of the sta$ members said the

last time the power went out was 10 years ago. !e Con Edison building that supplies power to everyone below 39th Street blew up [the night the hurricane hit] so no one had power,” Fried said. “We saw a huge %ash of light and heard the hum of electricity stop. Everyone ran to get %ashlights and we were told our toilets would still work and we had the backup generators for the hallway.” !e following morning, Fried

took shelter at her sister’s apartment uptown. “!e dining halls were beginning

to run out of food, but the employees had to stay there so we still had [food]

for the time being,” Fried said. Her classes were canceled for

the remainder of the week. Extensive damage from the

storm has crippled the East. Hurricane Sandy took 110 victims, according the the Los Angeles Times, and the damage is estimated to be around $50 billion according to CBS News. North’s yearbook sta$

challenged the other Blue Valley high schools to a one-day competition to see whcih could raise the most money for Sandy victims. North won with a total of $1053.03, defeating the other schools by a margin of over $500. Students can continue

to help those a$ected by the disaster by texting “Redcross” to 90999 for a $10 donation and by visiting www.salvationarmyusa.org to donate household items and clothes to victims.

Ashley Ruben��News Editor �

TECHIESBEHIND THE SCENESFreshman Jack Kirwan builds a key part in one of the props being used in “The Drowsy Chaperone”. “I really wanted to do tech because I wanted to try something new and because I’ve been an actor since 2005 and I wanted to know what happens behind the scenes.,” Kirwan said. Photo by Lindsay Rucker

1R��\RX�FDQ·W�Á\Rights to “Peter Pan” rescinded

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FALLING HOMES AND HOPESFormer North student Gabbie Fried is now a freshman at NYU, which was hit hard by hurricane Sandy. Many buildings that Fried visits daily were damaged due to the storm. “When I heard about this I was scared it was my acting studio, but I’m glad it wasn’t,” Fried said. Photo provided by Gabbie Fried

03������1��������1RY��������������1HZV

BMX rider aims for the Olympics

T here seems to be a common assumption that those who participate in BMX riding

are accident and injury-prone. But junior Adrian Sanders smashes that stereotype into the dirt. With the goal of making it to the Olympics, she is intensifying her training and beginning her journey to the top. “[BMX] is a sport where you ride a bicycle around a dirt track that has jumps in it and there’s a starting gate and a ! nish line, and whoever gets to the ! nish line ! rst, wins,” Sanders said. Sanders began the sport at age ten, and she now recognizes that reaching the Olympic trials will be di" cult. She has put a lot of e# ort into practicing and training. She feels that her skill will increase her chances. “Watching [BMX] in the Olympics this summer just made me want to do it even more,” Sanders said. “It’s going to be very di" cult, only two girls make the team, and I can count at least ten girls that I think are fast enough to be in the Olympics.”

She has built a training routine and practices regularly to reach her Olympic-sized goal. “$ ere are local races four nights a week, so I go to those to practice, and I have to go to the gym to work out twice a week. [I practice riding] six nights a week, but when the weather comes in, it’s harder to practice. ” Sanders said. Sponsors are a major aspect of BMX riding, and Sanders has received more sponsorships as she has become increasingly involved. “If a sponsor sees you as a rider, then they’ll help you out. $ roughout the year, they’ll give you money for races, bike parts, or uniforms.” Sanders said. Hayden Werp, another BMXer at North who has watched Sanders ride, knows the di" culty of the sport. “[Riding] is certainly di" cult for someone who shows up and rides the ! rst time. You can watch a video and think that it’s easy, but it’s really not at all. But [Adrian] is really good. I think her biggest strength is pedaling. She

one year before the Olympics. It will be hard for the year 2016, but it may happen in 2020. A% er I train and work at it, I think I’ll have what it takes to be in the Olympics.”

Kiera Bolden��Staff Writer �

gets out of the gate really quick- faster than a lot of other people,” Werp said. Senior Nathan Heeney, another BMX rider, commented on his observation of Sanders. “Whenever I see [Adrian] ride, she just kind of cruises... she does more socializing than riding. She’s good though,” Heeney said. Sanders responds by admitting that the practices are o% en causal. “When I get to the track, I do ! ve ! rst straights. And then I’ll do ! ve ! rst and second straights. And then I’ll kind of ride the track to get warm before the races.” Even with Sanders’ skill and hard work, she has her own setbacks. “$ e hardest part about riding would probably just be losing, because you work so hard at it and if you lose, you let yourself down,” Sanders said. Sanders has high hopes for the Olympics and is willing to put in the e# ort to win gold. “I’ll have to race junior women for two years, then there are two or three years before I can go pro. I’ll have

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @bvnnewsFOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @bvnnews

Junior Adrian Sanders pops a wheelie. Sanders has been riding since age 10. “$ e boys don’t take me seriously because there are only two fast girls on the track,” she said. Photo by Daniel Traub

04 6SRUWV����1RY���������������1

“The commitment is 100 percent,” senior Shea Flanagan said of her

dedication to tennis. She just ! nished her high school tennis career by placing second overall in singles at state on Oct. 13.Flanagan started playing at a young

age when her dad put her in a program at her country club. “I kind of always played tennis,

but when I was younger I did play other sports like basketball,” Flanagan said. “It was nice to have a mixture of team and individual sports. In

middle school, however, I quit all other sports so that I could focus on tennis and hopefully get a scholarship.”

She has spent a signi! cant amount

of time playing tennis in the hopes of one day

Shae Flanagan commits to UCONN

committing to a college. “I sacri! ced a social life, de! nitely,

over the last 10 years. It is an individual sport and you have to be disciplined,” Flanagan said.Flanagan has felt the pressure that

comes with playing tennis.“Everyone needs to stick with a sport

in order to learn to love it. Many people have quit and come back to the sport because they remember how much they love it again,” Flanagan said. “I’ve de! nitely thought about quitting several times, but with tennis you can take a week o" and cool

down.”# is was Flanagan’s

fourth time at state and it was an exciting time

for all the girls on the team.

“[State] was really fun.

Everyone on the

team

ATHLETE OF THE

M NTHsupported and cheered each other on during matches so it was really cool,” teammate junior Aishwarya Gondesi said.Her school coach of four years,

BVN girls’ tennis coach Ann Dark is delighted with her trainee’s career.“Shea has had an incredible high

school career. She has been to state 4 times and has made it to the ! nals in both singles and doubles. She has been such a valuable asset for our team,” Dark said.She has also improved signi! cantly

since starting on the team freshman year. “Shea has really developed her game since her freshman year. She is a year-round player and o$ en spends multiple hours a day training outside of high school practice. She has also really developed into a leader that the team can depend on,” Dark said. Her teammates and coach also believe that she has become a leader. “She’s a great role model, she works really hard and is very dedicated to tennis and she cares a lot about tennis and the team,” Gondesi said. “Shea is someone that the team can depend on. She is a natural leader and will do whatever it takes to help the team succeed.”

Senior Shae Flanagam rallies with a friend of hers at Blue Springs tennis club. Shay prepares for her next years at Yukon. “Tennis is really a sel! sh sport. I’m excited to go to college because it becomes a team sport again,” Flannigan said.

Faryal Jafri�Online Editor �

Her success has led her to be able to choose a college with a great tennis program that ! t well with her. She visited ! ve other colleges, such as Creighton and Xavier, but when she went to the University of Connecticut, she knew it was right for her.“When I visited UCONN it was the

perfect ! t, and I made my decision a week later. For me it was the

perfect balance of academics and athletics. I also loved the other girls on the [tennis] team,” Flanagan

said.Her teammates and coach were

very excited with her committing to UCONN with a full ride scholarship. UCONN is a division one school for tennis, which means that it is the top circuit.“I am thrilled that Shea has the

opportunity to go to UCONN. I know it was her top choice and for her to get an o" er is just really exciting,” Dark said.“Getting committed to play is the

best feeling,” Flanagan said. “It’s great because I know I essentially accomplished it myself because at the end of the day it is an individual competition.”

“Getting committed to play

is the best feeling.”

05������1����������1RY��������������6SRUWV

S enior Jasmine Smith stumbled upon track and !eld by accident. “My cousins were involved in AAU

(Amateur Athletic Union) and ran track; they convinced me to come with them to one of their practices,” Smith said. At the age of 5, Smith decided that shot put was her domain. “AAU had me try out all of the track and !eld events. I hated coming to the practices at !rst, but then I came across shot put and loved it,” Smith said. Although Smith had just begun shot put, Smith went to the Junior Olympics for shot put in her !rst year. She continued to do AAU every year. “I stuck with shot put and eventually started throwing discus when I was 11,” Smith said. Smith is currently working out a"er school with sophomore Cameron Baker, junior Saquib Javed and senior Kevin Tenny. #e group works out together three times each week. “We put in a lot of time now so we can succeed later. We want to put up some really good numbers when the track season rolls around,” Tenny said. #e group shares the same goal of competing at the college level. “Everyone is very serious about training. We really push each other to work harder,” Tenny said. Smith notes that a lot of people don’t realize how

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Sydney House

��Sports Editor�

Track athletes launch college careersimportant speed and agility are to throwing, in addition to strength. “We li" weights o"en to improve our speed and strength. Speed is especially important because you need to be able to accelerate through your throw to get the distance you want,” Smith said. “#e faster you go, the faster the discus will spin and the more hang time it will have in the air.” Coach Ryan Ritter works with this group to prepare them for track season. “Coach Ritter really pushes us. In order for Kevin

[Tenny] and I to be where we need to be for college recruits, we need to stay in the weight room and keep in shape,” Smith said. Smith notes that the techniques for shot put and discus are similar, but there are subtle di$erences. “I like throwing the discus a little more than throwing shot put because there is more !nesse to it. Shot put involves more strength,” Smith said. Several college recruiters have contacted Smith. “Indiana Tech, University of South Dakota, Emporia State and Wichita State have contacted me; all of these schools have Division I or Division II programs,” Smith said. Coach Rick Attig has been a resource for Smith during the recruitment process. “I have kept in contact with a lot of the college coaches and have helped Jasmine meet with some of the schools and stay in touch with them,” Attig said. Although Smith understands that doing track in college will take up a good portion of her time, she is ready to commit. “I have a few friends who are doing college track. #ey tell me that the payo$ is great because you meet a lot of new people and still have time to do all of the regular college stu$,” Smith said. Smith and Tenny have until February to decide which college they will commit to for track.

06 )HDWXUH����1RY���������������1

Living with llamas

Emily Levinson��Staff Writer �

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W hen biology teacher Montera Juraschek was 12, she moved with her family

from Washington, D.C., to a farm in Virginia. At !rst, she was upset, but then she met a llama for the !rst time. “[When we moved], I needed something to do. My mom met this man who raised llamas. [I] saw the llamas and I fell in love with them,” Juraschek said. When the man’s llamas started reproducing, he gave one of the baby llamas, which are called “crias,” to Juraschek. “It was like my baby from the start,” Juraschek said. “[W]e grew our farm from that point on.” As Juraschek raised the llamas, she said she grew as a person. “[Raising llamas] made me the person I am because I was responsible for a living thing at such a young age,” Juraschek said. “[I]t made me like biology. I wanted to be a vet. I decided not to go to vet school because it was too expensive. but my experience with llamas made me want to teach biology from then on.” When the llamas were older, Juraschek took them to shows where they were judged on their physical qualities such as wool length and bone structure, as well as other

qualities, such as their gait. “Some people have hundreds of llamas. We would have, at most, 25, and we would win because we would make sure their wool was right, we would make sure their legs were straight. We bred our animals so the traits were favorable, whereas when you have a huge farm, that doesn’t always happen,” Juraschek said. Although Juraschek’s llamas usually did well at competitions, sometimes things went awry. At one competition, a "irtatious male caused a great deal of tumult. “I was showing a male llama, and there was a female llama next to him. Usually, they separate the males and females, but this particular show, they [were] together. I was standing next to a female llama, and my male llama knew that,” Juraschek said. “He decided he didn’t want to be shown anymore.” “He started to court her in the middle of the show. #e female llama was not happy that my llama wanted to court her, so she ended up spitting on him, and he still wanted to court her, so we had to leave.” Juraschek doesn’t raise llamas anymore, but she talks to her students about her llama-farming past. “[When] people ask her questions, that’s usually when she talks about it,”

Biology teacher Montera Juraschek kisses her then-4-year-old llama, Quinn. Photo provided by Montera Juraschek.senior Melissa Berger said. “I just thought it was unique. It’s something a lot of teachers don’t have,” senior Raj Kulkarni said. Meanwhile, her parents continue to raise the llamas. “My parents.... kept some [llamas] for my kids. But my kids probably won’t grow up like I did because there aren’t llama farms in this area,” Juraschek said. Juraschek goes back to the farm a

few times a year to see the llamas. “When I go home, it’s like they remember me. I have a little call, and it’s like they remember that, so they know who I am,” Juraschek said. “I miss the responsibility of taking care of them, because it’s fun to watch the cria grow up. You get a real bond when you work with the animal. I really do miss that a lot.”

Llama Quiz Bowl Test yourself on your llama knowledge1. What part of the world do llamas come from? a. Central America b. Tibet c. South America

2. How long have llamas been domesticated? a. 5,000 years b. 1,000 years c. Since 1926 Quiz information from Mount

Lehman Llamas.comAnswers:

3. What animals are llamas related to? a. goats b. camels c. sheep 4. What is a baby llama called? a. a calf b. a chulengo c. a cria 5. When do llamas spit? a. a$er eating b. when they see the color red c. to establish dominance in the herd

6. How many toes does a llama have on each foot? a. Two b. #ree c. Five

7. What do llamas eat? a. cactus b. grass and leaves c. spaghetti

8. How do llamas communicate? a. humming b. bleating c. barking

1. c, 2. a, 3. b, 4. c, 5. c, 6. a, 7. b, 8. a

Photos from Creative Commons

07������1��������1RY��������������)HDWXUH

For some students, just getting through the day is an accomplishment. Seven hours

of class can be extremely taxing on a student’s mind and body. By the time the bell rings at 2:50, it is not uncommon for students to drive straight home and dive under the covers to catch some z’s. While many students may believe that their exhaustion is due to their rigorous schedule at school, an article in the New York Times suggests a di! erent cause. " e article argues that the reason behind regular a# ernoon naps is simply the way our bodies function. For weeks at a time, researchers put volunteers in an underground room isolated from all clocks and told the volunteers they could sleep whenever they wanted. “Le# to their own natural sleep

rhythms, volunteers tended to sleep in two periods, one long session at night, and another shorter period in the a# ernoon,” New York Times writer Daniel Goleman wrote. “It makes sense because even if I go to bed at 9 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m.,

I am still tired in the a# ernoon,” junior Chloe Johnson said. Leaving time to take a siesta is proven to increase alertness and provide more energy to

power through the rest of the day. “I read a study that stated if school started at 9 a.m., students would perform better. However, society doesn’t allow for it to work that way,” school nurse Julia Yano said. On the other hand, taking naps causes a person to fall into a deep sleep, making it more di$ cult to wake up because they experience intense grogginess and confusion when they awaken. But this is seen as a minor

repercussion when compared to the bene% ts. “Because the urge for an a# ernoon nap is appreciably weaker than the need to sleep at night, naps can be suppressed when they are inconvenient,” the article states. " is discovery contradicts the common belief that a demanding school schedule is the reason behind a# ernoon fatigue. “I take naps because school is so early that you need the extra sleep. " e high school workload does not give you a choice. Even if it’s natural, work adds to the problem,” senior Matt Hendler said. " e experiment, however, changed the perception that naps are an activity for lazy people or slackers. “I get sick on practically a monthly basis because I’m so busy, and sleeping always comes last to homework, dance and debate. It’s hard to % t it all in, so naps are kind of my go to,” sophomore Sophie Jerwick

said. “I love naps, but when you get your days and nights mixed up, you can’t live that. You need to % nd how much of a nap you can tolerate,” Yano said. When you just can’t keep your eyes open any longer, naps prove to be extremely valuable. Napping is a natural response to the way our bodies operate.

Daily naps promote healthy lifestyle

Many students eagerly await their a# ernoon naps and can be found passed out before the clock hits 3:30 p.m. Illustration by Chris Shanklin.

Mallory Bodker��Opinion Editor��

Weekday Warriors: Fighting through North’s hardest classes

Ranked the number two high school in the state by U.S. News and top 300 in the

nation, it’s no secret that Blue Valley North strives for academic excellence. Some classes, however, require more all-night cram sessions, careful note-taking and just plain luck than others. " ree students explain what it takes to stay above water in North’s most di$ cult courses.AP Physics

The laws of gravity, kinematics and thermodynamics are no mystery

to the students of Jan Cyr’s AP Physics class - they’re required knowledge. Senior Jessica Zidek feels the self-guided nature of the course makes it especially challenging. “We move through the material really fast, and it’s up to us to take the initiative to make sure we have it learned and work on all the practice problems,” she said. “I probably have about an hour of homework a night.” With her sights on an engineering

major, Zidek’s motivation in AP Physics comes from her career aspirations. “I want to be an engineer, so I’m going to be taking even harder physics in college,” she said. “I might as well get as prepared as I can so when I get there I don’t struggle.”

Honors

Latin IV

Seniors Jessica Zidek, Ethan Lo# spring and Jack " ompson immerse themselves in their subject matter. Photo graphic by Sarah Evans.

Latin may be a dead

language, but it’s very much alive to the students of Jonah Baldwin’s Honors Latin 4 class. “" ere’s constantly homework, and there are never days o! ,” senior Jack " ompson said.

“[I spend] probably around nine to 12 hours a week studying for that class.” Despite the course’s di$ culty, " ompson feels its small class setting is bene% cial for everyone.

AP Calculus BC

Calculators in hand, the students of Mike Koehler’s AP Calculus

BC class tackle even the most advanced challenges in mathematics. “It’s the most advanced material in any math class,” senior Ethan Lo# spring said. “" ere’s a lot of concept studying out of school.” To be eligible for AP Calculus BC, a student must be at least one year ahead in math classes. " ere’s eight [students],” Lo# spring said. “It’s small because you have to be prepared for the challenge by being in advanced math classes.” " ough the workload is di$ cult, Lo# spring is motivated to study by a drive for success – and admiration for Koehler. “It’s one of the most interesting classes in the school,” he said. “I also enjoy being in the presence of Mr. Koehler. He’s one of the smartest people in the school.”

get as prepared as I can so when I get there I don’t struggle.”

Honors

Latin IV

atin may be a dead

language, but it’s very much alive to the students

Honors Latin 4 f (x) =

“" ere are only eight students in the class, which makes it more

relaxed and open for discussion and questions,” he said.

" ompson also cites Baldwin as a positive

force in the class. “Mr. Baldwin is

brilliant, so he knows everything about the

subject, which makes

it so easy for us to feel enthusiastic,” he said.

Sarah Evans��Co-Editor in Chief �

“Leaving time to take a siesta is

proven to increase alertness”

08 )HDWXUH����1RY��������������1�

Weekend

School

Parties

Home-Life

Dressing

Food

“I go to the beach in the summer because I live on the coast. We spend a lot of time on the beach. When it’s cold outside, I just hang out with my friends and go to movies.”

“I’ve been sightseeing; I’ve visited the WWI Museum, MU and Je! erson City. I’ve only been to a few parties.”

“School in France, it’s like college. You could have a class at 9 and then nothing until 12. Last year my friends and I tried co! ee from every café near us between classes. Kids aren’t as involved in school because we don’t have sports in school.”

“School has more of a schedule here, but the way kids act with teachers is very casual compared to France. " ere is a formal relationship between teachers and students in France, while there is not that formality in schools here.”

“" e biggest di! erence is drinking. In France it is legal to drink at 16 years old, so people don’t really drink to get drunk. People drink, but it’s less to get drunk and not as big a deal. " e other di! erence is curfew. Parents are not as strict about curfew in France.”

“Kids drink to get drunk. Alcohol is a bigger part of parties here. Kids drink a lot in France, but drinking is seen di! erently there because it is legal.”

“Kids are o# en treated more like adults. Not everyone, but most kids are given more freedom than kids in the US.”

“Kids are treated more like kids. Once again, not everyone, but most kids are not given as much freedom as kids in France.”

“Girls in France don’t wear as much makeup as most girls here do. You see lots of designer brands, even if kids are dressed casually in France.”

“Kids dress very casually. " ere are not as many brand names, and if there are, they are di! erent from the ones in France.”

“" ere’s less food on a plate than in the US. " ere are lots of bakeries, and at almost every day I stop and get di! erent breads from the bakeries.”

“Everything, including the vegetables, tastes di! erent here. One of the biggest changes is the amount of fried food. " ere is lots of fried food here. Even though France has McDonalds, it tastes di! erent there than it does here.”

North has new students all the time, but there are not always kids from as far away as Lorient, Brittany. " is town in France is the home of one of the newest foreign exchange students,

Max Casagrande. Casagrande attended a school in France, but wanted a chance to “travel and see new places.”

" rough a program called Paci$ c Intercultural Exchange (PIE) in France and American Scandinavian Student Exchange (ASSE) in the U.S., Casagrande was given the opportunity to travel to Kansas and compare life in Kansas with life in France.

France United States

Student says “bonjour” to Kansas

vs.

di! erent here. One of the biggest changes is the amount of fried food. " ere is lots of fried food

Food

Sakshi Mahajan��Staff Writer �

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Buy a gyro sandwich

get FREE FRIES

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Photo from Creative Comons. Photo from Creative Comons.

09

As the nation wraps up an election season that focused largely on domestic issues,

many young Americans are looking inward, focusing on the economy rather than the geopolitical landscape. Not so with junior Emily Goldman, who said she’s committed to an issue with impacts far beyond America’s borders: Israel advocacy. A!er spending a quarter of her sophomore year at a high school in Israel, Goldman was accepted to a high school internship position with StandWithUs, the second-largest pro -Israel organization in the world. According to its web site, StandWithUs is an organization dedicated to “informing the public about Israel and to combating the extremism and anti-Semitism that o!en distorts the issues.” In Sept., Goldman attended a StandWithUs conference where she learned the tools of Israel advocacy. “[Israel] is misunderstood,” Goldman said. “"e media portrays it as this terrible, violent country with an unstable government. It’s not like

that. StandWithUs tries to help us work through our communities, and especially with our peers, to give the real view--the inside view--of Israel.” Goldman said that as she became more educated about Israel, her respect for it grew, independent of any religious associations. “To me it has nothing to do with religion,” Goldman said. “I went to Israel because, yes, I’m Jewish, and it was an initial draw. But that’s not why I support it. I think it’s pretty amazing that it’s the only democracy in its region. We have to help keep that democracy alive so it can keep that region stable in the future.” A strong U.S.-Israel relationship bene#ts both nations, in Goldman’s view.

“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the entire world, technologically, militarily, and together we’ve created really amazing things. "e U.S. not only aids that strength but takes away some outcomes in our own country,” Goldman said. Having encountered arguments that Israel oppresses its Palestinian and Israeli Arab inhabitants, Goldman has concluded that despite the nation’s many con$icts, the goal of all parties involved is peace. “Although the two parties [Israelis and Palestinians] sometimes don’t get along, they both want peace,” Goldman said. “Everyone agrees that that’s the bottom line, so it’s really time that we come to a compromise.” Pro-Israel activism has remained an important part of Goldman’s life at home in Leawood. On Nov. 2, she invited StandWithUs’s Central Region High School Program Coordinator Vida Velasco to speak to Club 121. Velasco said the goal of the high school internship is to prepare kids for anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism they might encounter on college campuses. “A lot of times we’re facing two battles, whether it’s outward hatred

or straight up ambivalence,” Velasco said. She believes networking, like the kind in which high school interns engage, is a crucial component of activism. “I drilled it into my interns this year that it starts one on one. "at’s the only way to change the dynamic on anything,” Velasco said. “I’m convinced that this is the future of advocacy.” To jumpstart that networking, Goldman said she invites questions about Israel or Israel advocacy. “Feel free to contact me with any questions,” she said. “If I can’t answer them, I will #nd an answer.” She also recommends that those interested in Israel read the book Start-Up Nation, which documents Israel’s rise as a miniature technological powerhouse. As for herself, Goldman said she remains devoted to the pro-Israel cause. “I don’t see myself living [in Israel], and I don’t see myself #ghting,” Goldman said. “But I do see myself, through the rest of my life, being an advocate.”

Junior stands with Israel Emily Goldman promotes strong U.S.-Israel relationship

������1��������1RY��������������)HDWXUH

Jessi Glueck� Co-Editor-In-Chief �

Junior Emily Goldman stands near the holy Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem during her time at Alexander Muss High School in Israel. Photo courtesy of Emily Goldman

Junior Emily Goldman (center) poses with Israeli emissary Ophir Hacohen and StandWithUs’s Central Region High School Program Coordinator Vida Velasco at the “Taste of Israel” event she organized Oct. 3. “As an intern my responsibility is to educate my peers about the Israeli-American relationship,” Goldman said.

10 )HDWXUH����1RY���������������1

When school ends, many students slam their lockers shut and head o! to work

at a clothing store or restaurant. "ese students will o#en go on to complain about the long hours and the ridiculous customer encounters they had while on the job. For juniors Kayla Shepherd, Brandi Bates and senior Maddie Douglas, this is not the case at their jobs at Helpers, Inc.

“Helpers, Inc. is a government-funded organization that basically provides helpers to families that have kids with special needs. "e helpers are then provided with hours from Helpers, Inc., which gives them the ability to spend time with that kid and do things that applies to that kid’s needs,” Douglas said. Every day at work is di!erent for Shepherd, who has been able to create

a lasting bond with the kid she works with. “With Helpers, what you do every day is di!erent and it’s not a meticulous type of thing. You’re just hanging out

with a really awesome person,”

Shepherd said. “With [Hannah], we do some reading, swimming, bowling and other activities. Last week she went costume shopping with me and my friends. Sometimes we go to Sonic and get slushies or go to the park.” For Bates, the routine also di!ers depending on the day, as she spends di!erent days working to develop certain life skills. “My Helpers family’s main focus is exercise, so I try to exercise with [Michaela] at least 30 minutes a day,” Bates said. “Another main focus is trying to get [Michaela] more independent so that she can move into her own apartment later on. We go grocery shopping, clean, do laundry...all [of] which will help her to become more independent,” Bates said. With the experiences made while working, Douglas has been able to realize new things and gain a di!erent perspective. “[Working for Helpers] taught me you can never underestimate people that may think or appear or act

di!erently than you. "ey might have so much potential and can enlighten you in so many di!erent ways,” Douglas said. Both Bates and Shepherd share similar sentiments, noticing that they have learned new things and been able to take a lot out of their experiences. “[Working for Helpers] humbled me in a way, which I probably needed. It has helped me not take things for granted,” Bates said. “I think my patience has grown a lot from my experience. I have learned that when I complain about certain things, they’re probably not nearly as bad as I think they are,” Shepherd said. “It’s also taught me to be more responsible with everything that I do.” As the girls continue their employment, they continue to learn.For Douglas, the job has become an important part of her life. “"is boy has changed my life, and I cherish every moment I spend with him,” Douglas said.

Students lend hand through Helpers, Inc.

Behind the Mask:

Hayley Berger��Feature Editor��

BVN fans may attend games, but many times they are criticized for their lack of

spirit. Our fans o#en pick and choose which games they attend and which opponents they jeer. “[School spirit here] is sad, pitiful and makes you cringe because it is so awkward. It needs to change,” the Mustang said. "e Mustang epitomizes its fandom because it is always there cheering no matter what team we face. Frustration with the lack of uni$ed school spirit comes from students. “I just think that people participate when they want to participate instead

of coming together as a school when it’s important. "ey just kind of do it when it is convenient for them. "ey are really bringing the spirit down,” junior Korynn McDonald said. “I understand that we kind of suck at football, and we aren’t allowed to grind, but we should support our

school more and contribute to it,” sophomore Judy Wang said. "e Mustang observed that the student body should take matters into their

own hands rather than complaining and not doing anything about the problem. “Maybe have the kids decide what to do instead of the administration. We need to have more people participate in the dress days. I think that we need

more participation. Also, more people need to actually attend school events like games,” the Mustang said. According to the Mustang, the seniors are actually the most spirited class in the school. “I think that the seniors doing their own thing is actually okay. It’s them bonding together. I think it’s funny that the administration is so against it because they are actually participating. Isn’t that what they wanted?” the Mustang said. By jumping and dancing around at school events, the Mustang encourages spirit by modeling how students should show their spirit. “I think that showing the student body that the Mustang is spirited will help them become more excited. I think that some people are ashamed and embarrassed when they jump around,” the Mustang said. Faryal Jafri

��Staff Writer �

“[School spirit here] is

sad, pitiful and makes

you cringe because it

is so awkward. It needs

to change.”

"e Mustang is a mysterious symbol of spirit whose

identity remains unknown. Photo by

Austin Fultz.

Junior Kayla Shepherd helps junior Hannah Vohs use %ash cards to work on reading strategies. “I chose Helpers because it’s something I feel passionate about. It’s too great of an opportunity to pass up,” Shepherd said. Photo by Austin Fultz

Mustang gives pep talk

11������1��������1RY��������������)HDWXUH

[Berger Time]

Hayley Berger��Feature Editor��

Hayley Berger��Feature Editor��

Dig deeper

Dead, deserted, empty: these words are all used to describe Metcalf South Mall

in Overland Park. When it opened in 1967, Metcalf South was the “hot spot” for teenagers, full of stores of all kinds. Today, however, the mall has lost its appeal as many stores have closed. “Coming here when I was little, this mall seemed so much bigger. !ey used to get Santa Claus up on the top "oor, and models used to walk around showing o# all the clothes from the stores. !ere would be 20, 30, 40 people over there and another 20 on that side. Every shop was full all the time,” Troy Williams, mall security, said. !ough many vacant lots remain, some spaces are $lled with specialty stores, such as Purrfect Pets, a cat store that has been there for nine years. “!ere really wasn’t a whole lot [when we opened], but there were some stores here and there that brought people in. Over years they have all moved out and le% the mall pretty vacant,” Elaine Doran, president of Purrfect Pets, said. Lack of business in the mall has put a damper on the cat store and its adoption rates. “Our adoptions have fallen about 50 percent since 2007 when the recession hit; adoption numbers have not returned to the pre-recession numbers yet,” Doran said.

Like Purrfect Pets, many stores have taken a hit from decreased popularity. “It’s ‘Mom and Pop Syndrome.’ !ese stores and their owners struggle to sell much when they’re open. Everything you can buy in this store can be found at the Walmart up the street,” Williams said. Despite slow business, the cat store has been able to survive due to its customer service.

“Many people don’t know we’re here. We get a lot of $rst time visitors, and they’re usually very impressed with how we run things,” Doran said. Another current attraction is Glenwood Arts !eater, known for its independent movies and ‘70s décor. “!is theater has a lot of retro styles. We still use $lms instead of digital like a lot of theaters are starting to use more of now. We have neons, and we use an old-fashioned popcorn machine. It just has a really di#erent style and design that’s unique to this generation,” Elizabeth Cowherd, Glenwood employee, said. While many choose to go to a bigger theater, Glenwood o#ers a di#erent

selection for people to enjoy. “We have a lot of indie and foreign $lms that you couldn’t see somewhere else. Right now we’re showing this documentary on Harry Truman, which is an interesting piece,” Cowherd said. “!ese indie $lms can give a new perspective. It’s good for teenagers going more towards arts and entertainment.” For the theater, the number of moviegoers depends on what movies are being shown. As for the rest of the mall, business picks up due to local wholesale vendors. !ese vendors open a few days every month with an assortment of specialty items. “!ere are a lot more people now that the early voting is going on, and the wholesale group is having their shows, so the tra&c picks up quite a bit,” Doran said. With plans in 2008 to revamp the mall, and more recent ideas of demolition, the future of the mall is undetermined. “!e future of this mall depends on whether Macy’s decides to renew or not with their contract next year,” Williams said. As the mall’s future remains uncertain, the stores that occupy it embrace their current situation. “We just celebrated our 9th anniversary. People came in and played with the cats. I think it was a good time,” Doran said.

“This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language,

of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, that ‘cellar door’ is the most beautiful.” Despite all the crazy things that happen in the movie “Donnie Darko,” the thing that really stuck with me was when the teacher informs Donnie of this linguist’s saying. !e scene was less than two minutes long, yet it le% me wanting to learn more. Upon researching, I found an article from !e New York Times discussing the phrase “cellar door” and the references made to its beauty over the years. Writers ranging from J.R.R. Tolkien to Norman Mailer have all been known to have included “cellar door” in their lists of most aesthetically-pleasing words. Before this, I’d never really stopped to think about the beauty of words. I’ve always loved learning new words, but I never thought that a word or a phrase had an intrinsic characteristic such as beauty to it. Every day, I listen to my friends complain about rhetorical devices they have to learn in their CA class. !ey always say, “We’ll never need to know rhetorical devices.” And maybe you won’t need to learn them, but to me at least, it’s interesting to learn about all the di#erent aspects of language; to learn that in every thing you say or read or hear, there’s more to it than just the words that form it. Even if you don’t purposely include devices, they’re still present within your words. !at’s why I $nd “cellar door” so interesting: the phrase is so ordinary that you’d never think there was more to it than its de$nition, yet writers have been able to dig deeper.

“Over the years,

[the stores] all

moved out and

left the mall

pretty vacant.”

Many stores at Metcalf South Mall are gated and locked, remnants of the previous stores le% behind. One is likely to see only select stores with their doors open. !ese stores have some trouble making a big income. Photo by Lindsay Rucker

Many people that used to shop at the mall no longer go due to its lack of stores, leaving hallways empty. “I used to go there all the time with my parents, but soon all the stores started closing and now there’s no reason to go,” senior Timmy Williams said. Photo by Lindsay Rucker

Local mall strives to survive

131��������1RY���������������)HDWXUH)HDWXUH�����1RY���������������1�����12The perfect day in

10:30- The Opera HouseErika Brown

��Photographer �Ellie Holcomb� Co-Editor-In-Chief �

11:15-River Market

12:20-Country Club Plaza

1:00-Eden’s Alley

hearty dishes. Dishes are delicious and warm, with balanced !avors and enough body to satisfy a meat eater.

2:00-Loose Park

Kansas CityKansas CityTThis KC Paleo place has a rock-and-

roll vibe, with indie music and guitars painted across the menu board. "e

multi-layer seating and shelves full of interesting knick-knacks make for a cozy-lodge feel. It’s de#nitely a place you could spend hours holed up with a laptop, good book or friends. "eir pancakes and the baked goods sold at the co$ee counter look impressive, and the !avor combinations are unique. "e food is average or only a bit above. "eir co$ee drinks are a cut above the rest. "e charm of "e Opera House lies in the atmosphere, the friendliness of the sta$. Hunker down here with guides, tickets, notebooks, family, and friends. Plan out the day ahead.

FFamily or friends have !own in for a weekend and you want to introduce them to the quirks and beauty of Kansas City. Maybe you just want to do something other than watch football and hit up Starbucks with a friend on

a free weekend. With several major shopping areas, beautiful space, and some good weather le%, you don’t have to venture far. Here’s how the North star would spend...

AA green reserve in KC’s busy Plaza area, Loose park is full of ancient

twisting trees, worn walking trails, ducks with sparkling personalities and friendly squirrels. 75 acres provide room to breathe, walk, jog and appreciate the history of the site. Loose Park marks the grounds where the Battle of Westport took place. Fairly underrated, Loose Park isn’t o%en crowded and provided the perfect venue for a peaceful a%ernoon walk. Take a few slices of bread and feed the ducks and squirrels. (avoid the geese).

EEden’s Alley is in the basement of a church- so the atmosphere is a bit lacking. "e all-vegetarian, part-vegan and part-gluten free cafe makes due with what

they have, hanging curtains for a private dining area and setting up a children’s play area. Tables are spread out, lighting is cool, and art decorates the open square space. "e wait sta$ is friendly. "e food here is a mix of fresh ingredients and classic,

TThe Country Club Plaza is mainly chain stores, but the appeal lies in more than the shopping. "is

KC gem is well maintained and home to beautiful architecture. Grab a camera and pose with every statue, then stop in Topsy’s Popcorn for a limeade. "e shopping on the Plaza can be enjoyable, from fun shops like Sur la Table and lululemon to favorites like H&M and Barnes and Nobel. "e restaurants there receive stellar reviews, such as Buca di Beppo, "e Classic Cup and Zocalo. Stroll the streets while Holiday lights are up and lit for extra beauty.

KKC’s River Market is an open square of everything you could imagine. It houses an ecclectic mix of characters

and goods. Walking around the colorful and packed open-aired stands, fruits and vegetables ranging from ordinary tomatoes to exotic and out-of-season mangoes are sold at reasonable prices. Tubs of spices mingle together in the air and create a spicy perfume. "ey’re scooped into clear plastic bags and sold for a quarter of what one would pay at a grocery store. "e City Market transforms as it snakes along, giving way to restaurants, a small co$ee shop, a bubble tea cafe and a bakery where a glass window reveals the kneading and baking process. "e smell of a grill !oats to hungry shoppers as men grill sausage and turkey legs on an open stove. Musicians play !utes, guitars, and trumpets, one man singing an old Beatles song, mixing music into the noises of the marketplace. "e center of the market is reserved for farmers stalls. "ey sell squashes, seasonal fruits, eggs, home-raised meats and fresh vegetables. Some bring cra%s to sell or fresh baked goods. At the end of the City Market is a museum depicting the Steamboat Arabia, and across from the Market are Bo Lings and "e Blue Nile, two fantastic lunch choices.

14 )HDWXUH����1RY���������������1

Anime-ting the school

Emily Levinson��Staff Writer �

Few welcome needles into their lives, whether it’s for a routine shot or a voluntary

blood donation. For some, however, this poking and prodding is a daily occurrence as they manage Type 1 diabetes. Going into eighth grade, sophomore Sara Coe became dehydrated and lost weight rapidly. “I got really sick and I went to the hospital, and they diagnosed me with Type I diabetes,” Coe said. !is “classical” diagnosis, following a period of illness, doesn’t always occur. For math teacher Mark Chonko, having a diabetic brother played a role in his diagnosis. “For me, it was actually a lot easier than a lot of kids because my older brother has had it since he was 5 years old, so as long as I have memories basically, my brother was diabetic,” Mark Chonko said. “My brother had gotten a new blood sugar machine, and I was 10 years old, and it was something to try out. We did a blood

sugar [test] on me and at the time it was 267--to say the least, fairly high. !ey started watching me closely.” At this point, Chonko was also diagnosed with type I diabetes. Type 1 diabetes results from the body’s inability to produce any or enough insulin, which regulates blood sugar. !is means that blood sugar becomes too high and makes the individual sick. Type I diabetes is chronic, meaning it a"ects people for life. “I’m going to have [diabetes]

for the rest of my life. I will have to deal with checking my blood sugar a couple times a day for the rest of my life,” Coe said. “It’s not the worst chronic disease I could get, but it’s still changed my life.” Diabetics manage their blood sugar through insulin injections. While insulin pumps are now common, an older method of doing this was through multiple shots a day. “I had to get four or #ve shots a day [when I was #rst diagnosed] and give seven or eight blood sugars a day,” Chonko said. He now wears an insulin pump, as does Coe, that administers insulin through tubing and a needle constantly connected to the body. “I have a needle in my body constantly. I only take my pump o" when I’m either showering or swimming,” Coe said. Chonko and Coe also both strictly monitor their diets. “For me, I think it’s made me healthier, in that I never drank really,

I never allow myself to not be active,” Chonko said. “In some respects, it’s helped me in the fact that I don’t have an option to do some of the things that other people do.” Even with the amount of daily medical treatment their conditions require, Coe and Chonko said they maintain a positive outlook. “Whether you’re afraid of [needles] or not, that’s the reality. You don’t have any options, so you take your medicine and you get it through an injection,” Chonko said. And with advancing medical technology such as the insulin pump as an alternative to shots and newer methods to test blood sugar, diabetes is more manageable than ever before. “Diabetes a hundred years ago would have been a death sentence, but since all of the technology, all of these new drugs that have come out-that makes my life pretty much normal,” Coe said.

Ellie Holcomb��&R�Editor In Chief �

Diabetics pursue ordinary lives

Mark Chonko talks to a student in his classroom a$er school. Chonko was diagnosed with type I diabetes in #$h grade. He wears an insulin pump, seen in this picture. Photo by Erica Emert.

W hile most students join clubs their freshman year, freshmen Jennifer Fu and

Jordan Vorndran started the Anime Club with their friends.

“I thought that BVN already had an anime club, but they didn’t, so we [started one],” Fu said. Librarian !eresa Gonzalez agreed to sponsor the club.

“It’s a good #t for the library because we have a big collection of manga,” Gonzalez said. Anime, a Japanese form of animation characterized by big-eyed characters with bright hair and small noses, has gained popularity in

recent years. “I like the style of the art, and how it’s so %exible, and I also like the plot....it’s just really fun to watch,” Vorndran said. “Most people think [anime] is just the big-eyed, pink-haired girls thing, but it’s not always like that.” “Other [animes] are realistic. !ose are the ones where the themes are more realistic.... !e ones with the candy-colored hair are more lighthearted,” Fu said. Anime is related to another Japanese art form, manga, which is essentially anime in print form. Popular manga includes the “Inuyasha” and “Naruto” series. “Manga is a black and white comic from Japan.... Anime is [computerized] animation, the actual show,” Fu said.

“!ey’re the same as normal books, except the way they’re drawn, and the plotlines are very complex,” Vorndran said. Anime Club meets on alternate !ursdays a$er school in the library. “We’re looking for a room where we can use a projector to show anime... right now we’re just talking about it,” Vorndran said. !ough the club is fairly new, the girls have plans for the future. “We’ll talk show anime, do cra$s. We’re thinking about bringing in food like pocky, which [is] bread, it’s thin and it’s coated in cream at the top,” Fu said. Fu said that new members are welcome. “If anybody likes anime or manga, you should join Anime club,” Fu said. Freshman Jordan Vorndran and freshman Jennifer Fu draw Manga in the new anime

club that they created. “We both really like anime and we wanted to see who else liked it,” Vorndran said. Photo by Austin Fultz.

Freshmen create club celebrating Japanese animation

15������1��������1RY��������������(QWHUWDLQPHQW

Look around at the clothes that boys are wearing. Notice a trend? It seems as if students almost follow a “dress code” that

consists of Ralph Lauren, Southern Tide, and Vineyard Vines. How did a simple trend transformed into a school

wide phenomenon?“I feel like the environment has in! uenced this

fratty style, which didn’t take a strong hold until last year with clothes like Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide and Southern Proper,” junior Allen Ye said." is style evolution has undeniably in! uenced

some boys to view frat style as a positive movement. “It’s refreshing that people want to look nice.

When you are older and work in an o# ce, you’re going to have to look nice. You are treating school like the o# ce,” junior Andrew Rohleder said.Junior Emma Mikulecky also approves of this

popular style of dress. “When guys dress fratty, it shows they care about

how they look, which is attractive,” Mikulecky said.Some, though, believe that fratty clothes don’t

guarantee “frat star status.”

“You’re not frat if you live at home with your parents. You can still look nice without dressing fratty,” junior Linda Yang said.“Some kids choose

their look based upon others, however I choose independence,” sophomore Connor Stewart said. “People may dress ‘frat’ to conform to the unpublished standards, and some people dress as who they are. ‘Frat’ is just an unde$ ned trend used by high school kids wanting to become sailors without a boat.”Due to the area’s a% uence, Ye believes that North

is notorious in the district for this fratty style.“" e trend is most noticeable at BVN because of

the wealth we have. I mean look out at the student parking lot and you’ll see BMWs, Mercedes and lots of other nice cars which is something that is not

prevalent at other schools,” Ye said.Some participants of the trend

have strong opinions about the fratty look.“People who don’t dress fratty

usually have horrible style. I mean dressing fratty isn’t the only nice way to dress, however, it’s very classy to do so,” Ye said.Others viewed the more

independent students as brave and admirable.“If we diversify our style, we’ll

always have di& erent groups of people. " e kids that wear cartoon shirts to school, we need those kids,” Stewart said.Stewart said he thinks frat is just another transient

style phenomenon. “Sooner or later, we’re gonna go back to wearing

baggy pants and neon clothes. Eventually, the fratty kids will be the ones wearing cartoon shirts,” Stewart said. Mallory Bodker

��Opinion Editor��

Battle of the brands:

Junior Allen Ye dresses to impress with his Ralph Lauren oxford. “I dress this way because of the environment.If I went to a di& erent school, I would probably dress di& erently,” Ye said. Photo by: Erica Emert

“Frat” look takes over

16 (QWHUWDLQPHQW����1RY���������������1

Upon entering the crowded restaurant tucked back behind a strip mall in a

tight little corner just o! College and Metcalf, the warm greeting and intoxicating fragrances of Kormasutra overwhelm the senses. " e initial “oh darn, this place is packed” reaction quickly faded as I watched the three best waiters I had seen in my life work the whole room and the line waiting to be seated. " ey served free glasses of a tart mango/yogurt smoothie to guests, both seated and standing, on the house, and carried out over# owing baskets of “naan,” an Indian # atbread. Speed is the name of Kormasutra’s

game; that is, until they have you seated. Our waiter enthusiastically o! ered the menu but recommended the bu! et and retracted the laminated list, encouraging us to get started

$ lling up our plates while he served us waters and iced tea. We sampled bright red chicken,

brilliant green stews, meat doused in a starkly orange sauce and a plethora of vegetarian options. It’s an absolute necessity to scoop some of the dry rice into the sauces, and I found that mixing everything together created quite a fantastic plate. Before we had even taken

pictures of the dishes, our waiter was smiling brightly, o! ering more mango smoothies and a mug of tangy, orange mango juice. " e experience of Kormasutra is as much the interactions as it is the delicious brilliantly colored food. Our waiter kept us well-supplied with delicious mango juice and our plates $ lled with even more sumptuous delicacies. Check some of them out below:

The world of Twilight is not a new one, but with the last $ lm adaption making its way

into theatres November 16, new fans may be attracted to the allure of its sparkling vampires and shirtless werewolves. " e lasting impact of the series is evident on the shelves of bookstores and in entertainment outlets, where comedians use the franchise as a punchline for their acts. " e timeless love story is aimed towards teenage girls, and many are devoted fans have remained loyal to the series and its characters since the dawn of its creation. Critics have been attracted to the series as well, among these are senior Melissa Berger. “Twilight is not literature, it’s written at an eighth grade level. Stephenie Meyer used a thesaurus to make it seem like she was an elevated writer, but she is not. Her writing is crap, her characters are crap. Her plot doesn’t exist. [Bella and Edward] are in an abusive relationship.” In case you haven’t seen or heard

the names Edward Cullen or Bella Swan, the plot of their relationship is this: Bella is a clumsy human who

becomes involved with the mysterious Edward. " ey eventually fall in love; a classic romance, but Edward is a vampire. Bella’s best friend is Jacob Black, who is madly in love with her, and he also happens to be a werewolf. Bella inevitably chooses to marry

Edward. " e love triangle was short-lived, but inspired a population of passionate “Team Jacob” fans. “My favorite character is Jacob

Black... I thought that he was the best character for Bella, and I liked his attitude in the book,” junior Allie MacFarlane said. Fast-forward to the present

movie adaption, in which Bella is a “newborn” vampire a% er nearly dying from giving birth to her half-vampire daughter, Renesmee. She plays a stronger role now, as a mother. She has the chance to prove this with the new con# ict. " e Volturi, or enforcers of vampire-law, believe that Renesmee is a threat to the public safety, and plan to kill the entire Cullen family. As opposed to the previous movies,

“Breaking Dawn: Part 2 will focus less on the romance between Edward and Bella, and more on the threat of war, in addition to Bella’s recent

motherhood. Perhaps this new focal point will also draw admirers of action $ lms.But the end is near. Twilight

has millions of loyal fans, but with the conclusion to the movie series and no new novels to continue the story, surely the fandom will slowly die. Senior Kayla Paget Kahn has

her own theory on the end of this fandom. “A% er the last Harry Potter movie came out [the fandom] kind of died down. Everyone still loves Harry Potter, but no one’s as upfront about it, despite how much they love it. I think that will happen with Twilight.”

End of Twilight fandom approaches

Kiera Bolden��Staff Writer �

Pop the bubble with À�QH�,QGLDQ�FXLVLQH�

Chris Shanklin��Staff Writer �

Stu! ed roll

Senior Brittni Walters shows her spirit for the last movie in the series of Twilight. “I bought my tickets the minute they came on sale. I’ve gone to each midnight premiere with a group of my friends.” Photo by Lindsay Rucker

=Rice requried =Spiciness

Green bean and chick pea casserole

Vegetable Creme Spicy Chicken Stew

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IT’S NOT JUST DOING HOMEWORK.IT’S DOING WORK THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE, TRANSFORMING AMBITION INTO ACHIEVEMENT.

umkc.edu/choose

Set your DVR to bust boredom this breakThe Ultimate TV Marathon

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1HZ“Go On”- NBC ! is show about a man mourning the death of his wife by joining a support group is, despite its heavy premise, shockingly funny. Matthew Perry stars as the arrogant but charming sportscaster, and the supporting cast is hilarious. Each episode has its fair share of laughs, crazy scenarios, awkward encounters and touching moments. ! is light show about a heavy topic is perfect for family or friends and doesn’t require knowledge of the entire season to watch.

Still awesome

“Modern Family”- ABC ! is gut-busting show captures the hilarious truths about family life in a quirky way, without a hint of (ok, without much) sentimentality. ! e characters are diverse, ranging from a gay couple raising an adopted Asian daughter to an older man married to a young Columbian wife. Watch this with your extended family over ! anksgiving break and " nd yourselves laughing at their – and your own – wacky family trees.

Old school

“Bu# y the Vampire Slayer” Grab this old classic at a video store or stream it from Net$ ix. ! is comedy about a teenager destined to turn vampires to pixie dust with nothing but a wooden stick has witty dialogue, an array of awesome monsters, enough jumpy things to keep you on the edge of your seat and now-familiar actors who were just getting their start. Alyson Hannigan of “How I Met Your Mother” fame plays Bu# y’s dorky friend Willow and Seth Green stars as Oz the werewolf.

Ellie Holcomb� Co-Editor-In-Chief �

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I t’s no secret that Net! ix’s movie selection is lacking. But when you spend time searching through the

service’s dozens of submenus, you’ll " nd those obscure and outlandish shows that you otherwise wouldn’t have heard of, and they just might become your new favorites.

:KDW·V�LQ�\RXU�1HWÁ�L[�4XHXH"A hit with critics and the winner of multiple Emmy’s, “Breaking Bad” is the AMC drama about a chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and resorts to cooking and selling meth to provide for his family. “I watch [Breaking Bad] because it keeps me wanting to come back a# er every episode. I like how the chemistry teacher applies his knowledge to creating something that you wouldn’t normally suspect him of making,” junior Jonathan Bush said. “$ e irony in the show is impeccable. I love it,” junior Alex Samuelson said. “Trailer Park Boys” follows three friends and their misadventures living in a trailer park in Nova Scotia. What started as an idea for a short " lm turned into a seven-season series. “$ e show makes me respect Canadians a little more. $ e characters can be stupid, but I look up to Bubbles, who I identify with because of his love for kittens,” freshman David Zack said. Although Net! ix is slow to update its movie

REVIEWS

Danny Rosenberg��Entertainment Editor �

I Imagine that you’re a successful young writer with the worst case of writer’s block. You stare at the blank screen,

waiting for the words to magically type themselves. We all know the feeling. But one night an idea comes to you in a dream, an idea about a girl. She’s by no means perfect; she is quirky, ! awed. Now imagine that a# er a long night of furious typing, that girl, the one you’re writing about, the " gment of your imagination, greets you in your kitchen as she casually eats a bowl of cereal. $ is doesn’t seem possible, but in a recently released dramedy, it happens. From the directors of “Little Miss Sunshine” comes “Ruby Sparks,” a story of love, youth and individuality. In it, Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”) stars as Calvin, the writer who somehow dreams Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan) to life. At " rst, he is skeptical, but when he realizes that others really can see her, he falls in love. Once she appears, Calvin stops writing Ruby’s story and allows their relationship to develop. $ ey get serious, so serious that Calvin " nally introduces Ruby to his mother. But Calvin is possessive, and they start to grow apart because Ruby wants to

be more independent. Sel" shly, Calvin tries to rewrite Ruby to make her more dependent, but he isn’t satis" ed with the result. $ is just goes to show that as much as you can try to change, you won’t please everyone. What I really liked about “Ruby Sparks” was its innocence. Calvin never asks the questions “how” or “why” Ruby can exist. Instead, he just lets life happen. A montage of the couple at the beach showcases the movie’s youthful disposition. $ e last third of the " lm, however, is harder to watch, as the tone shi# s to more dramatic and ominous. Calvin becomes more controlling of Ruby, and you have to ask yourself if what he’s doing is ethical. Nonetheless, the movie was still enjoyable, mainly due to comic relief provided by Harry (Chris Messina), Calvin’s cynical brother. All things considered, I would de" nitely

recommend “Ruby Sparks”. It had a strong cast and a thought-provoking plot. As the movie drew to a close, I grew nervous about its ending. Was Calvin going to wake up from a dream right before the credits rolled? If that had been the case, I would’ve thrown my laptop across the room and smashed it to pieces. Rest assured, I’m still typing.

collection, it does maintain a wide range of classics. “My son watches all of those great sports movies from the ’70s and ’80s, like ‘$ e Bad News Bears’. And the ‘James Bonds’,” social studies teacher Je% Breedlove said. As for TV shows, they don’t get much more unconventional than “Wilfred”, a comedy about the relationship between man and man’s best friend. $ e show follows Ryan (Elijah Wood), a depressed man who believes that his neighbor’s dog is actually a guy in a costume. “$ ere’s nothing on TV like [‘Wilfred’]. It’s a person in a dog suit saying and doing inappropriate things. It’s hilarious,” senior Curan Mehra said. “Sure, the premise sounds weird, but that’s why I like it, and that’s why I watch Net! ix: for the weird shows,” Mehra said.

Calvin (Paul Dano) falls in love with the main character of his latest novel (Zoe Kazan) and then she comes to life. Photo from http://wegotthiscovered.com

Danny Rosenberg��Entertainment Editor �

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Jason Gann stars as Wilfred, a dog

who befriends his owner’s neighbor. Photo from www.

ign.com

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Needless to say, another four years with Obama in o!ce is not what I was hoping for.

"e economy may be starting back on the right track, but it wasn’t through any of his e#orts. With the stagnating job market, what we need is a boost, and none of the president’s current or future policies are going to help us out on that front. Consider the looming $scal cli#, a

series of consequences set up by the Budget Control Act last year. "ey were designed to force Congress into cooperating on the subject of budget cuts in the hopes of $xing some part of the de$cit, a number that under Obama has increased by nearly $5 trillion. If an agreement isn’t reached before Dec. 31, there will be a 2 percent tax increase on workers, an increase in taxes on businesses and cuts on over 1,000 government programs, including Medicare and the defense budget. Will the president really be able

to get an already uncooperative Congress to $nd an agreement in time? With Republicans controlling the House and Democrats the Senate, and with Obama’s history of not compromising, there doesn’t seem to be much hope on this front. Taxes will go up for everyone, decreasing the amount of money available for consumers to spend. "e result would be a huge blow to the economy, which is the last thing we need in this shaky recovery. Another problem is Obama’s

health care plan. It will mandate that employers must supply

extensive health care to employees, which subtracts from the pool of hiring money. Do we really need another burden on the people who have the power to hire and $re? Unemployment will only be brought under control once the government realizes it needs to make hiring economical for business owners. Increasing taxes on entrepeneurs and requiring health care for employees will only make new hires even less desirable. Even Obama’s foreign policy has

taken us down the wrong road. What’s he doing about Syria and other unstable countries su#ering from the a%ermath of the Arab Spring? He’s allowing Russia to veto any e#orts at stopping the violence by taking everything through the UN.

And why on earth would Obama publically declare

the year we would de$nitely leave Afghanistan? All that accomplishes is giving the enemy a game plan for the future. "ey won’t give up at this point because we’ve told them exactly when they’ll win. Honestly, I don’t know what we’re

going to do for these next four years. Congress is still acting as bipolar as a hormone-ridden teenage girl, and I don’t think Obama is the guy to make them do anything. Another dip into recession is a huge possibility at this point, and Obama has proven to me that he isn’t the one capable of getting us out of this mess, both at home and abroad. "ings are not looking up for America.

Nation will be dragged down

by a Democratic president

Four years ago, Obama took charge of a diseased America and brought back the vigor of

the American dream. He was tasked with solving a plethora of problems: the housing market, jobs, the wars overseas and a list of more concerns that were le% behind. He solved many key issues such as funding a transition to renewable and clean energy, bringing the unemployment under eight percent and helping the poor get access to medicine. "is is why Obama got elected; he had a solid plan to bring America back and increase the amount of optimism in America’s future. Let’s $rst look

at the economy. Obama’s policies show more lenience toward the middle class, which is important because the middle class is key to the economy. A lot of the families at BVN fall into this category (yes, even at BVN), and Romney’s policies would have hurt them. People believe that the economy

comes from the big corporate millionaires who hold yacht parties every week, but that’s not true. It comes from the middle class citizens who each individually spend on food, houses, gasoline, and other things for their enjoyment. Obama’s strong in&uence over the middle class means that he has control over the economy.Considering other issues, foreign

policy was Romney’s Achilles heel. Unlike Obama’s well thought out and balanced policy with countries such as China, Russia and South

Korea, Romney made it clear that he did not want to be friends. Obama on the other hand wants to remove all troops from Iraq, strenghten ties with other countries such as China and help out other countries such as Cuba and their emerging government. He is also going to help establish a strong democratic government in the Middle East and bolster the countrys’ economies. Most importantly, he will continue to work on disarming countries with nuclear weapons and removing the threat from the

underground international markets. In today’s climate, where countries are on the brink of war and moods are sour between democracies and dictators, a weak foreign policy is the last thing we need to keep America secure.

Overall, Obama’s victory was a victory for American citizens. While Obama is sure to help strengthen the economy and lay the foundation for recovery, Mitt Romney would have undone all of this with increased taxes and inexperience with the middle class. While Obama has strengthened

relations with other countries, Mitt Romney would have o#ended others and put the trust of America in jeopardy. Obama will continue with the strong policies he has begun and lead America to new achievements. Now that the elections are over, it doesn’t matter if we are Republicans or Democrats. What matters is that we stand by the president’s goals for the future.

Obama continues to give

Americans a hopeful future

Ram Sivakumar��Staff Writer �

Rachel Strohkorb��Staff Writer �

Illustration by: Sarah EvansIllustration by: Sarah Evans

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Every time I’m stuck in class and the teacher introduces some pointless topic that

will surely be on the test, I am le! wondering, “when will I ever use this?” We have all been there, and although teachers try to present some random instances that you may need to know obscure facts about biology

re-envision the way you do your work. As opposed to seeing your homework as a stack of paperwork that has to be completed, you should split it up into di"erent categories so you can attack your work in an organized manner. It’s more important that you grasp the way you learn something instead of focusing on the concepts you are learning. You might not remember every lesson you learned in high school, but you will remember the way you tackled all of it. As we move on from high school to higher education and a career, our superiors are not going to care about the di"erent tidbits we learned in high school, but rather how hard we are going to work to achieve our goals. To get that promotion or to get that grade you wanted on the test, the best way you can di"erentiate yourself from others is by showing that you can work e#ciently and e"ectively.

and math, they may not be the most important aspects of your high school experience. School shouldn’t be about drilling random facts into our heads, but instead about teaching students how to keep a consistent work ethic and how to manage their time wisely. $e truth is that we do learn important information at school, but we barely remember how to use it the next year. According to Learning Expressions, a website dedicated to the development of children, students can lose three months’ worth of information over summer breaks. And even that loss is small when you consider the years that o!en separate classes on related subjects in school. When we were all 13 years old, and exited middle school, we studied in depth about how atoms bonded. Yet when I walked into my chemistry class last week and we did a simple review of bond formation, it seemed

as if it was a di"erent language. $e reason we don’t remember a lot of the things is because we never apply them. We never admire the bonds in atoms all around us while we are doing our everyday tasks, we never analyze sentence structure as we read books or watch TV and we de%nitely don’t converse in Spanish about pre-determined topics selected by the district.

Let’s be honest, no college or job is going to throw some random English questions

on your desk and tell you that you have 50 minutes to complete them. $ey really care whether you are going to work hard and meet their expectations. In the current school system, some students just focus on getting their work done as quickly as possible, regardless of the quality of the job. To be more prepared, and see more fruitful results, it’s necessary to

Hard work should be the new focusConcentrate on the process, not just getting the grade

Ram Sivakumar��Staff Writer �

For years, students believed the myth that all of their hard work in high school will pay o". By

the time senior year rolls around, they’ll be able to relax and enjoy their last year in high school. $is myth is far from the truth. My freshman, sophomore and junior years were no walk in the park. With each year, the rumors of their intensity seemed to be proven true. Freshman year was an easy start, sophomore year was taken over by AP European History, and junior year’s homework load was o!en too much to carry. My expectations were accurate; at least, until senior year. My senior year, so far, has been plagued by college applications, letters of recommendation, constant stress over

my grades and parents and family friends interrogate me about my future plans. $e misconception of the “senior year joy ride” has been tricking 12th graders for years. We are conned into believing that senior year is the slacker’s paradise, which is much di"erent from what I have seen. $e academic rigor of my classes has in no way been diminished. I was surprised to %nd myself studying for three tests, just one week into school. It didn’t take long for my work load to pile up and my free time to disappear. Finding the time to balance my social life and school work has become a task in itself. $ere just isn’t enough time to do it all: homework, applications, senior traditions. With so much work to

do and so much fear of missing out, our last year in high school has not been the year-long coast we were told to expect and has instead become a prioritizing game. Given the challenges that I’ve faced so far this year, I am beginning to realize a new mindset necessary. We should keep our eyes on the prize and consider how much this work is going to pay o". My hope is that the good times we were promised will come with second semester. A!er the applications have been %nished and the test scores have been sent in, perhaps we will be able to relax. So I plead to my fellow seniors not to give up hope yet. Do your best to hold o" the senioritis. Ashley Ruben

��News Editor �

Senior stress stacks up

Working For A Better EducationJunior Caroline Adams studies for tests in math and chemistry that she has to make up because she was sick. “To study, I make notecards, read and highlight things, make study groups, and I get tutors,” Adams said. Photo by Austin Fultz

Feeling the Pressure Senior Grace Muller sinks to the &oor a!er a stressful school day. “At %rst I thought it would be easy,- but then I found out it is one of the hardest years of high school. I needed to upkeep grades to get into college and hopefully a sorority,” Muller said. Photo by Daniel Traub

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P erfection is expected from teenagers today. We’re expected to maintain great

grades, score high on standardized tests and be passionate about one thing – or two or three. !is quest for excellence in specialized areas limits our ability to join di"erent clubs and activities. We shouldn’t be forced to decide now what we want to do with the rest of our lives. I personally have no idea I’m passionate about, and now is supposed to be my chance to #gure out what I enjoy. I’m not arguing that building a laundry list of 15 di"erent clubs is a smart move to make. It is important to choose activities that develop and test our interests, not activities that will please

a distant admissions o$cial. However, don’t make the mistake of restricting yourself to one or

two activities because you feel pressured to excel and show that you are passionate in those areas.

If you are not currently enjoying an activity, the

time may be ripe to try something new. Continuity is not a virtue unto itself. Sometimes by cutting down the time spent in some activities, there is more time to spend learning about other clubs where you can meet new people with

similar interests and accomplish something that you truly care about. We are given so many

opportunities to get involved in and outside of our school. From Student

Council to Environmental Club to theater, the opportunities are endless, so take advantage of them. In an excerpt from the Washington

Post, the Dean of Admissions for William and Mary noted that being actively involved in an organization looks better than just being a participant. However, the dean indicated that evidence of a curious mind can be more impressive than an exclusive focus on one activity. We have all heard that colleges want a well-rounded class of students, meaning students who possess varying interests. But this doesn’t mean that we should close ourselves o" to new opportunities because we feel that we need to focus on a few select areas. I’m not arguing that you should cut down the time you spend on an activity that you love. But if you are spending all of your time in an activity that you are not passionate about, you should not continue with that activity because you feel that is what college admission o$cers want to see.

I have seen so many students try to hone in on one activity that they aren’t even that passionate about because they feel that colleges want to see continuity and excellence in a certain #eld of interest. !is is a problem that so many of us feel this;

I’m guilty of it too. We should not feel that we need to know exactly what we we want to pursue for the rest of our life right now.

Confusion and uncertainty are just a part of growing up. Colleges know that. So instead of spending all your time on one hobby, give into your curiosity and go try something new. Take the time to stop by the next Kay club meeting or go out for track and #eld this spring. You might really enjoy yourself and meet a lot of new people.

W hen we think of !anksgiving, we mainly think of the

food: turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes-the feast. What we don't think about is where all the le%over food goes. As a nation and community, we seem to be wasting a lot of food. Each year, about 40 percent of all food in the United States is le% uneaten. We need to start thinking more about being good stewards of what we have, thinking about the food we waste, and thinking of those who have less than us. O%en when we purchace items, we tend to use them to some extent, but not o%en to the fullest. A%er a while, these items become uninteresting and are le% sitting in a corner, untouched and useless. We treat food the same way. For example, you spot a shiny red apple on the counter and are drawn

by its appearance, so you decide to eat it. A%er a couple of bites, you get tired of the taste. What do you do with the other half of the perfectly good apple? Simply toss it in the trash, and your problems are solved-or so you think. When food is thrown out, it stays in the land#ll close to three months, releasing harmful methane gases into the atmosphere. Besides just being harmful to the environment, it is also harmful to families’ bank accounts. A large portion of a family’s budget goes into food. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a third of a family’s food gets tossed out a week. In another report, they stated that a family of four throws away $2,275 worth of food every year. Why not just buy less food in the #rst place? !ere will be less food waste if we consider how much we need. Consider need versus want when

you’re at the store and save the extra money. It is a shame we have so much food waste when others are going hungry. If we don’t spend our money on excess food, we will have more money to donate to food charities around the world. More than 41 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa live on less than 1 dollar per day, and 32 percent of these people are malnourished. !ese statistics are even higher in India. Charities such as FoodBank South Africa and NGO in India are great charities to donate to. If you just give

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Sydney House

��Sports Editor�

Pressure to excel restricts opportunity

5 dollars each month, you will feed over 50 children that month and

provide a family with food for a week. You can easily save 5 dollars by not buying food that you would have tossed out anyway. Hunger is not only a problem in other nations, it’s a problem closer to home. Kansas City’s Havester’s is another great way to share food. Harvester feeds about 66,000 people a week, with your help this number can

increase. !e next time you think about tossing out food, think about those who don’t share in that luxury.

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Even wasting a little food can cost. Try conserving instead of wasting. Picture by Erica Emert.

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Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old who had spoken out for women’s rights and against

the Taliban, sat on a bus preparing to leave school in Mingora, Pakistan on Oct. 9. !e Guardian reports that a Taliban operative entered the bus and shot Yousafzai in the head. She survived, but the Taliban has threatened to target her again. Yousafzai’s shooting is a tragedy, but the really horrifying thing about it is that this kind of thing goes on every day in certain parts of the world--she just happened to make it to the press. Reuters quotes an Afghan o"cial, Elay Ershad, on the atrocities that occur in his country: "Every day an Afghan girl is abused, raped, has acid thrown on her face and mutilated. Yet no one remembers or acknowledges these girls.” It’s hard to wrap our minds around events like this. In a country where women have the right to vote and lead, the idea that there are places where women and minorities are denied the right to live is staggering. In America we may o#en feel that we’ve attained an enlightened era, in which despite enormous disagreements, almost everyone recognizes certain

basic principles of human dignity. Yousafzai’s shooting and Ershad’s response serve as reminders that intolerance--real, unambiguous, vicious intolerance--is alive and well in our world today. What does that mean for us? Every time I hear a story like Yousafzai’s I’m tempted to drop my career aspirations and become a human rights activist--but that’s not realistic, and we certainly can’t all be human rights activists. I do think, though, that by exercising the freedoms we have in America, we are in a small way pursuing the cause of freedom

around the world. When we debate an issue with our friends or campaign for a political candidate or invent something or write a book, we show the world that free people of all races and genders can accomplish incredible things. Exercising our liberty of thought demonstrates to global leaders that this is what people can do when they aren’t worried about being shot on their way home from school. In high school, freedom of thought and creativity aren’t exactly encouraged, either by classes which teach to standardized tests or by

a social scene that on the whole discourages individuality. But on the other hand, we have so many opportunities to explore our unique liberties, from writing letters to the editor to joining clubs that celebrate our identities to signing petitions to Congress. As senior Jenny Phillips put it, “!e di"cult part is getting the courage to voice our opinions. !e outlets are there.” We should have the courage to take our opportunities. Young people in other nations would die for them.

Find the courage to be free

Jessi Glueck� Co-Editor-In-Chief �

[Messages from Mallory]

North Star sta$ers Ashley Ruben and Ram Sivakumar practice freedom of speech by publishing whatever they choose. Photo by Jessi Glueck.

“Cmon! You’re going to be late!” We hear this phrase too o#en.

Society today has put a huge emphasis on timeliness. If you %nd yourself running just a few minutes late, there is a good chance that you will be penalized for it. I’ve witnessed my classmates walk into class a couple minutes late. !e teacher then rants about the importance of being on time and gives the student a detention for half an hour – a whole 30 minutes of sitting in a classroom a#er school for being just a couple minutes tardy. !is punishment seems a bit harsh. In reality, how much is really accomplished within the %rst %ve minutes of class? It is quite rare that the teacher actually begins to teach the lesson as soon as the bell rings. In my experience, the %rst few minutes of class are spent talking about the weekend or the latest news buzzing around the school. It is not necessary to penalize students for their absence in a discussion about the social events of last Saturday night. While some may be concerned that students would abuse the privilege of having more lenient authority %gures when it comes to timeliness, maybe it would have the opposite e$ect. We need to shi# our focus from the trivial emphasis on being exactly punctual to using the time we do have in class more e"ciently. It is unreasonable to waste time punishing people for something so insigni%cant when we should be moving forward to accomplish what needs to be done. A#er all, if people miss even a few minutes of a class that’s deeply engaged in learning, then it’s their loss. Mallory Bodker

��Opinion Editor��

!e First Amendment painted in the 400 hallway serves as a daily reminder of our unique rights. Photo by Jessi Glueck

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Jessi Glueck� Co-Editor-In-Chief �

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Sarah Evans

��Co-Editor in Chief �

Turn up the heat

Rule one of Blue Valley North: layers. I never leave the house without a t-shirt, jacket and

coat so I can bulk up for a freezing !rst hour and strip down for a boiling second hour. Hustling from my car on frosty November mornings, I rush inside to !nd little actual temperature change. It makes me wonder - in one of the best schools in the state, why can’t we settle on a comfortable temperature? It’s not just that I’m whiny. When I shiver through a class, I lose 6DUDK�6D\V���

focus and pay less attention to the lesson. Walking around school with perpetual goosebumps just puts me in a bad mood. While I’m put o" by

the cold, others have complained of sti#ingly hot classrooms. It seems that when it comes to room temperatures at BVN, there is no “in-between.” Yes, the primary focus

of a school should be on education, not meeting every request by a picky student. However, shouldn’t we seek to foster an academic environment in which students are comfortable and

uninhibited by shivering or sweating? Or at least where students can stop hugging themselves for warmth and take notes? $is issue may seem trivial to some, but it can manifest into a real problem with real e"ects on students. Hopefully, the administration at BVN can recognize the discomfort students undergo due to the very low or very high temperatures in classrooms. Hopefully, the future can bring regulation of thermometers to a reasonable temperature. Until then, try to keep your focus and remember to layer up.

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She stood 5’11, plus her teetering stilettos. Her legs were thin as twigs and her waist boasted a

size 0. $e photo was clearly digitally altered, but the sickest part was that it always had been- the model-esque frame belonged to Minnie Mouse, draped in a Lanvin mini dress for a Barney’s New York ad. $e designer frock didn’t drape kindly over Minnie’s mouse-y and so%-edged frame, so instead of changing the dress, Disney and Barneys New York changed Minnie Mouse’s body. $e adjustment sparked protests and a petition asking Disney to return Minnie Mouse to her original size.

Comments on the petition, listing reasons the 141,000 supporters have for signing range from a desire to keep their iconic Disney characters pure to more personal stories. “My nine-year-old girl asks weekly at least if she is too fat. She needs positive role models, not more uber-skinny images to compare herself to,” one signer wrote. A pop culture distortion of what we should look like, or who we should be, or what we can do to change this,

is nothing new. But when a childhood favorite -a Disney icon-is altered so that she can !t into a sexy mini-dress, it seems like a step too far. Ten million females and one million

males battle eating disorders, the mental health disorder with the highest mortality

rate, in the United States alone. With a stigma idealizing thin and children growing up fearing “being fat”, the hurdles are almost insurmountable. Does Disney need to add to the pressure?

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“Regrets of an Accomplished Child,” an editorial in the New York

Times, really got on my nerves. In it, features editor Pamela Paul describes an educational career in which she worked just hard enough to get the grade and avoided actually learning anything. She blames this, of course, on society: our excessive focus on avoiding failure encouraged her to pursue the appearance of success, even at the price of meaningful knowledge and experience. $ese days there’s a tendency to argue that failure is okay, that exclusive concentration on grades or

Ivy League acceptances is ruining us. Frankly, I’m sick of it. In real life, failure is o%en not okay. It can cost you your job or the trust of those you love. And failure in high school is just as important. If you don’t work to your full potential, you won’t get the future you deserve and desire. It’s that simple. Lots of successful people never learn how to fail. When they perform poorly, it makes them miserable. But that misery, that refusal to accept failure as an ordinary part of

life, inspires them to surpass their previous e"orts. You can’t let failure de!ne you, but you don’t have to resign yourself to it, either. Ambition is important. Our society

needs people who care about success more than it needs people who can deal with failure. So don’t

feel bad for panicking over that test or college application. Who knows? Along the way, you just might learn something.

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Around this time of the year, many families get together to share the holidays with their loved ones.

Some visit their grandparents, while others spend time with their immediate family. Newspaper and yearbook sta!ers, in fact, dress up as Pilgrims and Indians and have a "anksgiving feast. Here are some other "anksgiving traditions that thrive in our school.

Thanksgiving traditions range from classic to unusual

Sakshi Mahajan��Staff Writer �

Chris Shanklin��Illustrator��

“We go to Miami and party. We don’t do anything very traditional.”- Junior Morgan Zaslavsky

“We eat lots of seafood. - Senior Connor Neal

“We shave someone’s head every year. Last year we shaved KU and MU into family members’ heads depending on what team they like before the game.”

- Sophomore Phoebe Frazier

“I like to care for my athletes around the time of "anksgiving.”- Social studies teacher Gregg Buehler

“We put a tablecloth on the table and everyone writes what they’re thankful for on it.” - Senior Joshlin Manning

We roadtrip to California! Our whole family goes to visit my great-grandparents. - Freshman Autumn Carrin

“We have a pie eating contest with our hands tied behind our backs for all the kids and whoever wins, gets #rst pick on the turkey.”

- Junior Miranda Hall

“We have a big white tablecloth that every new family member signs. I inherited this recently and looking back, we’ve got generations of family members.” - Counseling Administrative Assistant DeDee Wilkinson

“I play football with all my friends and my friends’ dads.”- Sophomore Jamie Cohen

“We participate in the Turkey Trot 3k in Wisconsin with my extended family.”

- Junior Emma Mikulecky

My birthday is that weekend so we always have cake and pie. Usually Barbie cake is what my grandma always gets me. -Senior Megan Schultz

“We go to Panda Express and get a movie.”- Junior Allen Ye

Each member of our family makes their own dessert. - Freshman Maria Herrera

Students, teachers share their holiday traditions