THE SPARTAN VOICEVOLUME 5, ISSUE 9 JANUARY 27TH, 2012 WICHITA COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

DIGITAL EDITION:WWW.THESPARTANVOICE.BLOGSPOT.COM

Latops are Evil.By Riley KemmerLaptops are going to happen, there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.  But are these laptops for the better?  That is up to you to decide.  I am not arguing that we should have these laptops, nor I am saying we shouldn’t, I am simply bringing some of my concerns, and others to light.   One of my biggest concerns is the policy of technical difficulties.  I’m not sure if there is one in place as of now, or if there ever will be one.  But I am sure we all know that even though most of us students, and hopefully the teachers, know how to use a laptop that there is still going to be massive amounts of: lost papers, malfunctions, accidental deletions and so on.  Some of which would undoubtedly be on purpose just to get out of work.  So I ask, what happens if something like this happens? Are you just out a grade even if it is not your fault?  And how can this possibly stay consistent throughout the year? On a brighter note for most of us kids, or young adults… whatever you call yourself.  What is the point of coming to school at all next year?  If all it takes is WiFi to connect to the teacher’s class then why bother coming at all?  I know I would rather wake up, grab my laptop and climb back into bed and just listen to the lecture and watch the notes than actually going to school.  I mean that is essentially like a teacher coming to your house with a whiteboard and teaching you while you are in bed!   Sure the teachers can always argue you aren’t getting the one on one attention, or even the classroom environment that going to class provides, but to me all that means is none of the normal distractions posed by your friends or the occasional attractive person in your class.  I am sure the average GPA would go up if you could be taught from the comfort of your own house.  So this could turn out to be a good thing… maybe.

This brings me to me next problem with laptops.  There are so many things that can happen to a laptop to break it.  So what happens when yours breaks?  Is this the new equivalent of being sick? How are you going to do your homework or even participate in classes if your brand new “hand held classroom” is busted?  I’m sure that there are enough backup laptops to suffice the demand of broken ones, but is there a limit to how many you can break? And honestly what is keeping people from stealing them so they have a spare one for when they go home?  I mean if I were in the need of some quick cash I could jack a few that the careless person would leave laying in the commons and sell them.  How is this going to be stopped?  I know that this idea sounds preposterous to members of the WCS community, but are we all so different than any other high school student with a want for money and with an easy opportunity staring us in the face to make it?

Vol.5 issue 10February 9, 2012

CONGRATULATIONS Trace, Sydney, Ellie & Maggie!

The latest Spartans signing up for more glory!

Pink SlimeBy Elly VosburghMcDonald’s recently announced that it is going to discontinue the use of “pink slime” in its burgers. “Pink slime” is a controversial meat product made of boneless lean beef trimmings, which consist of what is left of the meat after all the choice cuts have been taken. It is legal for consumption in the United States after being treated with ammonium hydroxide in order to kill of various bacteria to make it safe for human consumption. In the U.K. however, this product is banned for human consumption and is used instead for dog food. The decision was made based on the inability of Beef Products Incorporated to supply this product to McDonald’son a global basis. Burger King and Taco Bell have also stopped using this product in their food.While the removal of “pink slime” from fast food products may be a start, what other chemicals are found on the shelves in your local supermarket? In the United States more than three thousand substances can be added to food for preservation, coloring, texture, increase in flavor, and much more. Packaged foods today are loaded with countless artificial sweeteners, preservatives, flavor enhancers, and unfamiliar ingredients that you can’t even pronounce. From monosodium glutamate (MSG) to Aspartame, such chemical additives and artificialsweeteners have been known to increase the likelihood of certain cancers, brain tumors, heart disease, and a general state of bad health. Reading food labels can bepuzzling and misleading, as hundreds of ingredients are classified under the heading “natural flavor” or “spices”. Despite the legality of such substances, thedangers of such chemical additives remain under question.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/

British Chef Jamie Oliver, a.k.a. The Naked Chef, has led a campaign here in the States to persuade McDonalds to alter to their toxic ingredients. According the the Daily Mail newspaper “US Department of Agriculture

microbiologist Geral Zirnstein agreed with Jamie that ammonium hydroxide agent should be banned.”

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092127/Jamie-Oliver-Victory-McDonalds-stops-using-pink-slime-burger-recipe.html#ixzz1liu5cAIc

Visit Jamie’s website for more information and to sigh his Food Revolution Petition!

By Edgar Corrigan.In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 4 months (or you happen to be blind) there is a Chick-Fil-A being constructed in our very city of Wichita! As you read this article, more and more progress is being made on the mythical EastWichita Chick- Fil- A. The restaurant will be located near the intersection of Rock and Central, and it will serve as a prime location for Collegiate students desiring a delicious open lunch destination in the future.It may surprise some to learn that Wichita actually already does have aChick-Fil-A restaurant located on the Wichita State campus. However, the hours and location can sometimes be a challenge for the average chicken connoisseur. The new Chick-Fil-A is going to be a total “game changer” for the city of Wichita. It will serveas fully functional Chick-Fil- A with reasonable hours. The new location will have a fully accessible menu, and an entire staffs to serve you’re every need.The demand for an acceptable Chick-Fil- A in Wichita is nothing new. In fact, there was a substantial group on Facebook petitioning to bring a “free-standing” Chick-Fil-A to the area. Posts from the group date all the way back to 2009, and many members of the group have posted passionate pleas to finally get this magicalchicken in Wichita for real.No specific date has been set for the grand opening, but become a fan of the East Wichita Chick-Fil-A location for news and special offers.

Q. Favorite artist?A. Eric Church, I assume you are talking about music and not art?Q. What colleges are you looking at/ or attending?A. Attending Ole Miss. Shout out to Eli Manning, Ole Miss alum, super bowl champ.Q. Favorite T.V. show?A. It’s not on anymore but I’ve seen every episode of Friends.Q. Hottest celebrity?A. It’s a toss up between Eva Mendes and Jennifer Lopez….andJessica Alba and Jennifer Anniston…Q. Dream job?A. Professional golfer.Q. Who do you admire?A. There are many people I admire. My dad would be at the top of the list though.Q. Favorite color?A. red/white/blueQ. What animal best describes you and why?A. Why is this always a question? I don’t know; I put llama when I answered this for homecoming though.Q. What is your least favorite thing about Collegiate?A. Homework.Q. What is your favorite thing about Collegiate?A. The cool teachers.Q. What are you looking forward to in the future?A. Experiencing new things.Q. Where do you want to live one day?A. Texas would be nice, somewhere away from KansasQ. What do you want to do as a job?A. Commodity trading is something I’m interested in right now, but we will see 4-6 years from now. Yes Forrest, I know what a commodity is.Q. If you could have any superpower what would it be? Why?A. I would probably go with flying. I don’t know why.

An Interviewwith Senior William Short

The Sum Total of My Good LifeAn Experiment in Revelryby Andrew Elkouri “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.” –Hunter S. Thompson There is a common misconception in circulation that the spirit of the good life rests in intellectual proficiency and moral prudence. Nothing could be further from the truth. To grasp the root of the good life, one must first confront devastating shortcomings and the sheer banality and hollowness of life. Of course this is undeniable. Anyone who has studied life in any depth will notice, with relative ease, that we are born into a losing struggle. We are born as if shot from a cannon at a twenty degree angle: the peak passes quickly, and thereafter it is a steady decline until we slam into the cold, unforgiving ground. Life invariably takes more out of the person than the person takes out of life. Despite the painful somberness of life, we have reason to remain hopeful. This hope lies not in moral goodness, but rather, the philosophy from which all hope is derived: hedonism. Here is a definition of hedonism for the luckless, uninformed dopes wasting their lives until educating themselves in the most elementary, self-indulgent aspect of life and basking in its blissful deliverance from futility and monotony: in a word, hedonism is pleasure-seeking. It is the idea that pleasure is not only what motivates us, but also the only thing in life of any value; pain similarly motivates us, in the sense that we want to avoid it, rather than attain it. Never mind friendship, family, moral goodness or intelligence, life is all about pleasure. It’s dead easy. And to live otherwise is downright obscene. Keeping in mind that life is meaningless, barring the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, the best sources of pleasure must be examined. My contention is that as the tedium of an activity increases, the meaning and importance of that activity proportionally decreases. For example, while fighting through this paper, I more than once considered dropping out of high school, revoking my United States citizenship, and moving to the Dominican Republic. It is the type of assignment that you need to get as far away from as possible. By contrast, last weekend – when I did nothing but play

Xbox and eat a bag of Doritos comparable to the size of a small ostrich – a cathartic wave of purpose washed over me. So it seems beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only reasonable activities in life are those which entertain you, because they aren’t boring, and are therefore meaningful. If nothing else, grasp only this: all that can bring one meaning is found in what brings one pleasure.

I’d like to end with an encounter in the movie Play It Again, Sam, which tersely summarizes the very essence of the good life – concern only for pleasure, the avoidance of pain, and nothing else. In a rather memorable scene, the great Woody Allen is looking for a date in an art museum and notices an attractive woman gawking at a Jackson Pollock painting:

Allen: That's quite a lovely Jackson Pollock, isn't it?Woman: Yes, it is.Allen: What does it say to you?Woman: It restates the negativeness of the universe. The hideous lonely emptiness of existence. Nothingness. The predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless, bleak straitjacket in a black, absurd cosmos.Allen: What are you doing Saturday night?Woman: Committing suicide.Allen: What about Friday night?

You are being USEDBy Parth Khare

Recently, Facebook has filed documents that will allow it to sell stocks to the public. What was the estimated value? 100 billion, which is twice the value of Boeing and three times that of Starbucks. But, what’s the difference? Unlike other companies whose employees’ work hard to make products, Facebook uses your information as a source of income. Every time you click that innocent looking “Like” button, youtechnically give Facebook free money. Advertisers buy ad space on Facebook and add “key words,” so whenever you post or like something related to them, the ad goes to your page. For example, suppose you love cookies. You go to Facebook and writea status that has the term “cookie” in it, like “ LMS if you like COOKIES, ” or “OMG I LOVE COOKIES”, or you “Like” someone’s cookie status. Facebook catches “cookie” and “innocently” places an ad on your page for a local cookie shop. Then Facebook makes money of advertisers. So eventually its 845 million users will become their free source of money, benefiting the current employees of Facebook. Last year, Facebook made $3.2 billion in advertising, which is equal to 85 % of their income.That is PUNY compared to Google who made 10 times as much or about $36.5billion in advertising, by using the information of users emails, Google Plus, etc. It’s not just Facebook or Google; HUNDREDS of other companies also profit on people’s online data by using “cookies” or other tracking mechanisms on people’s computersand in their browsers. Yes, you now have a reason to delete your Facebook account.

SADIE HAWKINS......

TONIGHT!$3 per person

1. Ladies, be prepared to pay for dinner and tickets to the dance.

2. As per tradition, couples should try to have a matching element of attire.

3. Gentlemn, be Gentlemen.4. This is a Spartan Event, i.e.

exclusive to Spartans.

In the Rounds, 8-10 pm.

GROUNDHOG DAYBy Brie Coyle Every year on February 2nd we see the prediction for how much longer we will have winter. this year on Groundhog Day many gathered around to see the most famous groundhog either sees his shadow or he doesn’t. This groundhog, a.k.a. Punxsutawney Phil, has been doing his duty for around 126 years, surprising people with his long life. Punxsutawney is famous in Hollywood too; he has been in numerous films with famous stars, “GoundHog Day” with Bill Murray is probably his best work.

The annual Groundhog Day is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and this year Phil did see his shadow, meaning we have six more weeks of winter.Many people in Kansas are agreeing on the fact that here hasn’t been much of a winter; but things are starting to change since the groundhog made his prediction!

A Moment of Sydney Lower’s Life

By: Christy Peterson

SV: How did you decide to go to Fort Hays for college?Sydney: Because they have the coolest mascot in the world! Victor E! and Gentry goes there… Duhh!

SV: Did you want to run in college?Sydney: Yes, since sophomore year, I wanted to be just like my daddy.

SV: When does track start?Sydney: Around February 28th.

SV: Are you sad to leave Collegiate?

Sydney: I’m ambivalent but I cry myself to sleep every time I think about not seeing Trace Clark everyday.

SV: What was your childhood dream?Sydney: To become a Disney Princess.

SV: What is your favorite high school memory?Sydney: Winning state basketball.

How did you decide on your major (a high school math teacher)?Sydney: Mrs. Thiel inspired me.

SV: How is it being Senior President?Sydney: Coolest thing in the whole wide world!

SV: What were your thoughts as you won Homecoming Queen or before?Sydney: I was super pumped for Joey and was cracking up about his celebration dance.

SV: What was your favorite childhood toy?Sydney: My Teddy Bear.

SV: What is your greatest fear?Sydney: Being attacked by Dr. Nixon!

Check out some ways girls asked guys to Sadie Hawkins..some by cakes, posters, sportswear, candy, car tagging, and even shoes.

By Kara Maloney

Hunter Morris’ Locker is candified.Jake Barrett gets a Cookie Cake.Joey O’Hara receives customized dancin’ shoes.Mitch Copeland finds a special something and Sam Beren is a balla!Mr. Osland gets a cute treat! Awww.

THE SPARTAN VOICE ACCEPTS THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES:The Spartan Voice is a newspaper operated by students at Wichita Collegiate School. Content in the Voice will consist of articles, editorials, letters, and any other material pertaining to the Wichita Collegiate community.

The Spartan Voice was founded in the principle that all students should have an equal opportunity to share their opinion in an open, unbiased forum of discussion.

Students, faculty, administrators, and parents make up the four fundamental parts of the Wichita Collegiate community. Although controversial subjects maybe featured in The Voice, no part of the community will be discriminated against.

The views expressed in printed material do not necessarily represent the views of The Spartan Voice or Wichita Collegiate School.

SPARTAN VOICE STAFF Serjay Sambros, Editor

Wynn Hukle, Jake Barrett,

Edgar Corrigan, James Engel, Andrew Feist, Perri Fisher, Bell Schwartz, Elly Vosburgh, Riley Kemmer, Parth Khare, Christy Peterson, Kara Maloney, Eric Kelly, Diana Kim, Brie Coyle, Joey O’Hara, & Reema Krichati.

SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALSBy James Engel

The super bowl has always been a very big deal in sports. We always look forward to watchingthe big game and eating tons of junk food. Even though the game is always close and interesting,there is something that is usually a little more important for some of us- the commercials. In the past,commercials are known for being extremely expensive and usually funny. So every year the commercialsare as important as the game. People want to judge what will be the funniest commercial and what onesare just plain stupid.

This year the commercials seemed to play a favorite to dogs. According to a Cleveland based marketing firm that has been tracking Super Bowl Ads for over a decade, the commercials with dogs were the most popular. The Volkswagen commercial with the dog working out so he can catch the car was the most popular dog commercial in most polls. The second most popular commercial was a Bud Light Commercial where the dog (names Weego) would get Bud Light every time his owner said his name. Other commercials that featured dogs was the Doritos commercial where the dog would bribe his owner with Doritos and- my personal favorite- the Sketchers commercial where the Pit-bull won the race and moon walked over the finish line because he was wearing sketchers.

There were a few other good commercials that did not include dogs however. There were twoChevy commercials that both were memorable. A grad student getting his graduation gift and thinkinghis parents bought him a Chevy Camaro when really the car was his neighbors; he ended up receivinga mini fridge (every seniors dream). The other commercial had some controversy. The commercialwas the day of the Apocalypse and everything was ruined. Then a Chevy truck drives out of ruins andhe driver meets up with some other friends who had Chevys. He asks them where Dave was and onereplies, “Dave didn’t make it. He didn’t drive the most dependable truck on the road. He drove a Ford.”It was a good commercial but caused controversy because Ford was not happy about them using theirname in the commercial. Even with the controversy their approval rating about the car went up and wasconsidered a success.Even though there were some good commercials, there was no single one that was better thanthe rest. None of these commercials will be considered the best of all time or even in the same ballparkbut it doesn’t matter. It gave us a good source of entertainment on a Sunday night and gives us a reasonto look forward to next year’s Super Bowl.

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdon Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdon — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family — responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated). Rather than quote the numerous highlights in this letter, I'll simply leave you to enjoy it. Do make sure you read to the end.(Source: The Freedmen's Book; Image: A group of escaped slaves in Virginia in 1862, courtesy of the Library of Congress.)Dayton, Ohio, August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the

Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me

good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you

all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-

five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a

preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been

proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you

to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a

month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to.

Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to

the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his

hire.In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both

good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also

please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my

life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.From your old

servant, Jourdan Anderson