September 2014 Volume 100 Issue 1 100 Selma Ave st. louis mo 63119

W

ECHO the

We ECHO the news

Gwgecho.org

photo by jack killeen

2O

pin

ion

ECHOthe

2014-15 ECHO STAFFEDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aerin JohnsonJUNIOR EDITOR: Jack Killeen BUSINESS/ADS MANAGER: Alex RingOPINION EDITOR: Andy Kimball NEWS EDITOR: Bennett DurandoFEATURE EDITOR: Willie ZempelSPORTS EDITOR: Cal LanouetteENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Irene RyanGRAPHICS/VIDEO EDITOR: Bret WaeltermanWEB EDITOR: Phoebe MussmanPUBLIC RELATIONS: Brittany PattonCIRCULATION EDITOR: Andre ScottADVISOR: Donald Johnson

SOME MATERIAL COURTESY OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS/MCT CAMPUS HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER SERVICE

The ECHO is a monthly publication of the newspaper staff of Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, MO.

To contact staff members, call 314-963-6400 ex. 11157 or write wgecho@wgmail.org.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of a ma-jority of staff members; signed articles are the opinion of the writer.

Letters to the editor of 300 words or less are welcome; submit letters by the 10th of the month to wgecho@wgmail.org, or room 155. All letters must be signed, although the name may be withheld from publication if requested. The ECHO has the right to edit letters for publication as long as intent remains unchanged.

The ECHO is a member of SSP, Quill and Scroll, MJEA, JEA, MIPA and CSPA.

The ECHO is published monthly by the WGHS newspaper staff and serves as a pub-lic forum for its readers, providing an accu-rate, unbiased report of news affecting them and a forum for opinions of students, faculty and parents.

The ECHO staff has established as edito-rial policy that:

1) Obscene, racist, sexist and libelous ma-terial will not appear in the ECHO.

2) The ECHO staff and adviser are the only individuals who have the right to review the content of the ECHO prior to publication.

3) The ECHO will attempt to be fair, im-partial, accurate, truthful and responsible when presenting ideas to its readers.

4) The ECHO will make a clear distinction between fact and opinion.

5) All articles and graphics except editori-als (which represent the opinion of the ma-jority of the staff), news briefs and clip art

will have the authors identified with bylines unless it is written by a contributing writer who, for reasons of privacy, wishes to remain anonymous. Collaborated articles will have bylines of all who participated in the writing and researching of the articles.

6) Subject matter and opinions in signed op-ed articles will be considered those of the signer and not necessarily those of the ECHO staff, the WGHS faculty or the Webster Groves School District.

7) Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of ECHO staff members.

8) Issues considered controversial will be covered with the approval of the editors and the adviser. Staff members will not focus on controversial topics solely for the creation of news or self-publicity.

9) Any current student, staff member, fac-ulty member or building administrator who dies during the year will be recognized in the ECHO in the form of a 300-400 word obitu-ary with factual information (date of birth, date of death, survivors, organizations, hob-bies, interests) and one photo if possible. The ECHO will be sensitive to the feelings of the

deceased’s family and will treat all deaths with taste and respect. Cause of death will be included if the majority of the staff feels it is necessary to the story.

10) Letters to the Editor are welcome and will be printed so long as there is room and timing permits. The ECHO reserves the right to edit letters, as long as the intent is un-changed. Letters must be signed; names may be withheld from publication if requested. Letters containing obscenity, racism, sexism, libel or personal attacks will not be printed.

11) Online comments will require a name and e-mail address submitted that are verifi-able. Online comments that are found in vio-lation of the editorial policy and spam will be removed as quickly as possible.

12) All noteworthy errors in the ECHO will be corrected in the following issue.

13) Proper channels will be followed in or-der to obtain permission to use copy-righted material.

14) The ECHO is not a public relations vehicle for WGHS nor the Webster Groves School District.

September 2014

ECHO shares updated editorial policy

Willie’s ComicComic by Willie Zempel

3O

pin

ion

ECHOthe

September 2014

Police brutality has become a large is-sue of debate recently since the events in Ferguson, Mo.

According to thelawdictionary.org, “police brutality” is defined as the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by po-lice when dealing with civilians.

A Department of Justice study revealed 84 percent of police officers reported see-ing colleagues use excessive force on civilians, and 61 percent admitted they don’t always report serious criminal vio-lations that contain abuse of authority by their colleagues.

Now obviously not all police officers abuse their position, and most truly strive to benefit their community for the greater good, but there should be no police abus-ing power at all.

One way to help prevent police brutal-

ity is through the use of cameras. Some agencies require cameras on dashboards, but not all. Every dashboard on every po-lice car in the country should be equipped with cameras.

In fact, a petition on whitehouse.gov says all state, county and local police should wear a camera while on duty. The petition has gotten over 150,000 signa-tures. Also every Ferguson police officer has a body camera, according to the Fer-guson Police Department.

If cameras were implemented on police dashboards and bodies, police brutality would decrease immensely.

According the New York Times, po-lice in Rialto, Calif., have used cameras since 2012, and complaints against police dropped 88 percent, and use of force by officers dropped 60 percent the first year.

Cameras, knowledge reduce police brutalityEditorial

Another way to help prevent police bru-tality is by knowing one’s rights.

The accused has the right to remain si-lent at all times.

The accused has the right to refuse a search of his/hers personal belongings.

If one isn’t under arrest, he/she is al-lowed to calmly and respectfully leave. All the person has to ask is, “Am I free to leave?”

Remember to always act respectfully when dealing with police officers. Don’t argue or resist them in any way, and keep your hands where they can see them. They never know who they are dealing with.

If you ever feel your rights have been violated by an officer, write everything you remember happened down and file a complaint. Hopefully the public will be able to trust our officers in the future.

Let legal system operate in Ferguson

Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

Activists gather in front of the White House to de-liver nearly 900,000 signatures calling on the Depart-ment of Justice to fully investigate, prosecute and fire all police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2014, in Washington, D.C. (c) 2004, Abaca Press. Distributed by McClatchy/Tribune Informa-tion Services.

Kimball Konception

Andy KimballOpinion Columnist

If you have read any major news pub-lication in the last month, then you have heard of the situation in Ferguson regard-ing the shooting of Mike Brown and the many protests around the country.

On Aug. 9, Brown was in some sort of altercation with Officer Darren Wil-son and was shot and killed. Wilson is currently hiding because he isn’t getting nearly as much support as Brown did over the situation and has essentially a target on his back from some protestors.

Wilson’s name as the shooter was re-leased by the Ferguson Police Department at the same time as a video of Brown rob-bing a convenience store and shoving a clerk out of the way.

Since the incident, protests have oc-curred in Missouri and across the U.S., and protestors have meant well for the most part, but some looters took advan-tage of the situation and constructed riots.

Protesters held signs saying, “No jus-tice, no peace” “Killer Cops Have to Go!” and Brown’s stepfather Louis Head held

a sign that read “Ferguson Police just Executed my Unarmed Son.”

The details of the alterca-tion are unknown, however, and at this point, no one who has been protesting or investigating really knows what happened, and there are many different accounts from witnesses.

Forty FBI officers are investigating possible civil rights violations, and we hope at some point a con-clusion will be reached for the case, and we will find out what happened. Wilson, innocent or guilty, will have his life changed forever and will have a negative percep-tion from many different people wherever he goes, and I think if he is innocent, that is unfair.

While the police’s severe mishandling of the Ferguson protests haven’t helped Wilson’s image, he is still innocent until proven guilty, and more people should recognize that. It is only human to jump to

conclusions after a very controversial sit-uation, and this situation definitely quali-fies. It is especially hard in a situation that deals with the touchy subject of race.

In this case, I have trust in the govern-ment, and I won’t take sides until there is a resolution in the situation.

4N

ews

ECHOthe

Aerin JohnsonEditor-In-Chief

Ferguson, Mo., went to what seemed to be chaos after the fatal shooting of Mike Brown on Aug. 9. However, the protests oc-curring in Ferguson have come to Webster Groves.

After the shooting, pro-tests occurred and turned violent at night with loot-ing and a militarized police force.

In Webster Groves on Aug. 19, about 60-70 peo-ple from around the com-munity came to a protest organized by Webster Uni-versity’s chapter of the As-sociation of African American Collegians (AAAC).

“My friends and I wanted bring awareness to Webster Groves, since we are heavily involved in the community. We also wanted our voices to be heard and also show support for Ferguson. At Webster, I know a student that from the Ferguson area, this was one of our ways as showing that support,” said Henry Coleman, chapter president.

Coleman said he had been to Ferguson several times since the

shooting, and he had never seen a community come together like it has. In Ferguson, businesses came out to support the commu-nity. Saint Stevens had a food pantry for a small area by Fergu-son whose residents couldn’t get to a grocery store and, with the businesses around closed, could not get food.

“Anything that was opened 24 hours started closing at night,” said English teacher Rita Chapman, who lives near Ferguson. According to her, there was a lot of tension in the air though it wasn’t as bad as the world seemed to think.

Some Ferguson protests were dispersed by tear gas, but the Webster U. protest was calmer. Protesters held signs saying “United we stand” and “Why should I fear being a black man?” Protesters also shouted to passing pedestrians and cars,“No jus-tice, no peace” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

“I think everyone’s a little stunned by what happened,” Chap-man said.

Police were present during the protest, however, with a few cars parked in close by parking lots like WGHS.

Coleman said the police did not want to be involved and want-ed to make sure it was a peaceful protest.

Both Chapman and Coleman agree the Ferguson shooting has an effect on the Webster Groves Community.

“St. Louis is one of the most segregated cities in the United States. This does not stop or start in Ferguson. There is even a racial divide in Webster Groves. Wherever there is a racial di-vide, there will usually be a problem. Until we all come to un-derstanding of the history of the racial divide in Webster Groves, St. Louis and the entire United States, there will always be a problem,” said Coleman

Ferguson protests come to Webster University

September 2014

Bennett DurandoNews Editor

Principal Jon Clark’s announcement of a lockdown during fifth hour gave the 2014-15 first day of school an unexpected turn.

The cause, an attempted robbery of a jogger’s phone on Plym-outh Avenue, sent the high school into an hour-long precaution-ary lockdown, which gave students limited time to get to know their sixth hour teachers and classmates after being released.

Despite the chance of danger, students continued their first day bonding with fifth hour for an extended amount of time. Class went on, and after being released to the next class, the day fin-ished normally.

Meanwhile around the district, other schools farther from harm sent students inside, but issued no further safety precautions.

“What the grade schools went into was basically a modified lockdown,” said district head of public relations Cathy Vespere-ny. “They didn’t have all the (interior) doors locked, but all the students were sent inside.”

Avery Elementary principal Tony Arnold said of the first day situation, “Any students who were outside for a recess were

brought in, and we had that group have an indoor recess, and then any P.E. classes that were outside we also had moved inside to the gym.”

Grade schools and middle schools in Webster are supposed to keep their doors closed and locked to prevent just anyone from entering the building, and students are told to not let anyone who knocks on a door in.

“Just to make sure, the exterior doors were checked to be locked,” said Arnold. “Really, the (Avery) students weren’t in-formed because it wasn’t necessary. I wasn’t even completely aware of what was going on. Right then we wanted to be careful not to frighten (the students) unnecessarily.”

“It was business as usual,” said Arnold.Avery executes two or three intruder drills in the school year,

and they, like the high school, would directly announce it over the intercom if there was an intruder in their school building.

“I feel like the students take the drills seriously enough,” said Arnold. “They seem to understand what’s going on, I’m confi-dent about that.”

“I assure we’re consistent and if there were a dangerous situ-ation, we’d make sure to communicate it to the students in the proper way.”

District schools go into ‘modified lockdown’

Photo by Aerin JohnsonMaxine du Maine holds a friend’s sign at the Webster University protest for Fergu-son on Aug. 19.

News in brief...5N

ews

ECHOthe

September 2014

Bret WaeltermanGraphics/Video Editor

Camp Wyman will be the last three weeks of October this year after last year’s was cancelled due to the switch from fifth grade to sixth grade participants.

Camp Wyman is a week-long camp that seniors and juniors are allowed to go on as mentors. This will help the students get all their “A+” hours for the “A+ program.” The camp is located near Six’s Flags.

The reason the year was changed from fifth graders to sixth graders was because “the sixth grade will get a more valuable educational experience. They are a year older, more mature, and all of the sixth graders are in one building together for the first time in their educational career,” said Cliff Ice, assistant activi-ties director.

“The camp consists of rock climbing wall, many trails through the woods for orienteering and many more different activities such as making your own soap and team building,” said Ice, “The science curriculum is heavily represented.”

“About 45 boys and girls from the high school help as mentors at Camp Wyman,” Ice said. “The students will leave Monday for training at camp Wyman, and the sixth graders come Tuesday through Friday.

6th graders go to Wyman

School to host storm trainingMeteorology teacher Cici Faucher announced that WGHS

will host the National Weather Service Severe Storm training this Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Students, family and friends of all ages are welcome to at-tend, but those younger that the high school students will not be certified spotters.

In the U.S. about 300,000 trained volunteers help the Na-tional Weather Service and their communities to report local weather threats.

Seniors named SemifinalistsSeniors Lucas Eberhard, Allison Jones, Benjamin Killeen,

and Wesley Wride were named semifinalists in the 2015 Na-tional Merit Scholarship Program.

Students will continue to compete for National Merit scholarships worth about $33 million.

Restaurant seeks athletesWendy’s is looking for senior athletes with a B average , to

apply for its Heisman Award by Oct. 3. The first 25,000 students to apply for the program will re-

ceive a Wendy’s Gift Card worth $10. Winners at each stage of the program also receive increasing amounts of additional Wendy’s Gift Cards, with $500 Gift Cards going to two na-tional winners."

Durando wins CSPA AwardSports columnist Bennett Durando, sophomore, received

second place in the Sports News category from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Gold Circle Awards.

Durando’s award came specifically for his article “Webster Takes Down Kirkwood in Districts” in the February issue of The ECHO.

Only 1,533 of the 11,407 entries earned first, second or third place or certificates of merit.

6Fe

ature

ECHOthe

Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University senior, will carry the mattress she was assaulted on around campus until the uni-versity kicks her rapist off campus.

Sulkowicz is one of three women who made complaints against the same abuser, who was found “not responsible” by the school each time. She also filed a police report but was denied justice. Sulkowicz is doing this in protest and also as a perfor-mance art piece for her senior thesis.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) proposed a bipartisan bill, The Campus Accountability and Safety Act, on July 30, in order to reduce and prevent sexual assault on college campuses.

The proposal, led by McCaskill along with Senators Dean Heller (R), Richard Blumenthal (D), Chuck Grassley (R), Kirst-en Gillibrand (D), Kelly Ayotte (R), Mark Warner (D) and Mar-co Rubio (R), increases pressure on colleges to deal with sexual assault by putting requirements on the schools. Some of these include providing advisors for victims and creating standardized surveys for students about their experiences with sexual vio-lence on campus.

The bill will also increase the penalties for those schools that don’t comply with already existing laws like the Title IX. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. Failure to comply with the new bill, or any pre-existing laws/bills, would result in fines up to 1 percent of their budget. To give some perspective, for the largest schools, that amount could be $10 million or more.

A survey published by McCaskill in July of 2014 revealed that more than 30 percent of colleges in the sample did not provide sexual assault training for the students, and more than 20 per-cent didn’t even provide sexual assault response training for the staff. Federal law requires all schools to conduct an investigation into instances of sexual assault, but more than 40 percent of the

schools in the sample had not conducted an investigation in the past five years.

According to U.S. Department of Justice, between 20 percent and 25 percent of women will experience an attempted and/or completed sexual assault during their college career, but more than half tell no one of their victimization. McCaskill’s bill will help shift the responsibility of prosecuting the rapist from the victim to the administration.

The ECHO tried to speak to Webster University about sexu-al assault on its campus and got permission to contact Gladys Smith, its advocate for sexual assault and harassment. She did not respond to our calls or e-mails.

Senator challenges campus sexual assaultMcCaskill proposes bi-partisan anti-rape bill

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) speaks on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, in Washington, D.C., about a survey she conducted of colleges and universities and how they handle sexual assault cases. (c) 2004, Renee Schoof. Distributed by Mc-Clatchy/Tribune Information Services.

Irene RyanEntertainment Editor

Tips to Avoid Sexual AssaultAccording to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 20 and 25 percent of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career. Of those, 84 percent experienced

the incident during their first four semesters on campus.

v Stick with a buddy.v Secure a ride home with someone you know.v Keep your phone charged.v The elbow is the strongest point of the body-use it.

v Don’t drink from punch bowls or open containers.

v Once you receive your drink, don’t take your eyes off of it.* v Don’t wear earplugs when walking on campus late at night.v Carry pepper spray.v Trust your instincts- it’s better to be safe than sorry.

v Get medical attention immediately if you are attacked.

*Students at North Carolina State University are developing nail polish called “Undercover Colors” that will detect date rape drugs like Rohypnol, GHB and ketamine.

Here are some tips on how to prevent and protect yourself from rape.

September 2014

Photo Credit: Renee Schoof/MCT

8 ECHOIn

-Dep

ththe

Alex RingBusiness Manager

Opening this year’s Jazz and Blues Festival in Old Webster, The Funky Butt Brass Band debuted “originals and songs from the newest recording session” in its fifth festival appearance.

The band played on the Webster University stage on Sept. 20, at noon.

The New Orleans style brass band has six members, Matt Brinkmann (sousaphone), Adam Hucke (trumpet, vocals), Aaron Chandler (trombone, vocals), Tim Halpin (guitar, vocals), Ben Reece (sax, vocals) and Ron Sikes (drums).

The Funky Butt Brass Band is made of up of musicians skilled in the art of traditional New Orleans Jazz as well as other influ-ences. Tim Halpin described their sound as having influences from “Motown, Chicago blues, hip hop and 70s funk.”

The current six members first came together when a few of the guys subbed in for a band called “Gumbohead.” The play-ers met between connections from prior gigs and school. During that time they played some gigs and then decided to start another band, which later played alongside Gumbohead, and they called themselves Funky Butt Brass Band.

With influences coming from Rebirth Brass Band and Dirty Dozen Brass Band, both pretty mild names, why did they decide to go on a limb and call themselves “Funky Butt Brass Band?”

Chandler explained in the early 1900s, a theater and Jazz club called The Funky Butt was located in New Orleans. When the band heard about this, it decided to try it out, and the name stuck.

In 2008 the Funky Butt Brass Band officially started under its new name and soon played one of their first gigs at the Webster

Funky Butt Brass Band kicks off 2014 Jazz and Blues Festival

Groves and Blues Jazz Festival, which Hucke described as “a big night for us.”

Chandler said the band always enjoy playing in Webster be-cause “the people are very welcoming and appreciative, which provides a fun atmosphere.” The band said it enjoys festivals be-cause the sets are normally shorter and because the crowds are easy going and have good energy.

Photo by Alex RingAudience members listen to 442s with special guest Erin Bode Saturday afternoon at Webster’s annual Jazz and Blues Festival. Nine other bands, including WGHS’s Jazz I, entertained an estimated 14,000 spectators.

14th Annual Jazz and Blues Festival

Photo from Funky Butt Brass BandFunky Butt Brass Band members Ben Reece, Adam Hucke, Matt Brinkmann, Ron Sikes, Tim Halpin and Aaron Chan-dler opened this year’s Jazz and Blues Festival on Sept. 20.

September 2014

9In-D

epth

ECHOthe

September 2014

Illegal beverages may tempt underage fest goers

Photo by Alex RingAudience members listen to 442s with special guest Erin Bode Saturday afternoon at Webster’s annual Jazz and Blues Festival. Nine other bands, including WGHS’s Jazz I, entertained an estimated 14,000 spectators.

14th Annual Jazz and Blues Festival

Jack KilleenJunior Editor in Chief

Webster’s annual Jazz and Blues Festival is an opportunity for the audience to hear hot music and for students to try to drink cold, illegal substances.

According to high school police liaison Dan Dixon, Web-ster Groves stations roughly 10 police officers at the festival, with one on every corner and others in the crowds and walk-ing around. They keep their eyes peeled for underage drinking, watching for red flags like open containers, mugs from different restaurants, stumbling high schoolers, red eyes and belligerency. If they see minors hanging around the parking lot, frequently re-turning to cars to potentially refill drinks, the officers’ suspicions are aroused.

Dixon said, “We really haven’t had many problems at jazz fest with underage drinking. It’s harder for a student to drink and not be seen by adults who know their parents.”

Senior Katie Flood said, “I think that jazz fest would be an easy place for high schoolers to do it [under-age drinking] be-cause the adults are drinking and occupied, so they aren’t paying attention to whether their kids are drinking.”

Missouri law defines adults as 17 and older and the legal drink-ing age as 21. Until they are 17, citizens are required to have a blood-alcohol percentage of 0.00 percent but cannot be arrested due to their juvenile status.

When underage citizens are found in possession of alcohol, they are immediately given a minor in possession (MIP) offense. Underage adults must have a blood-alcohol percentage less than 0.08 percent. The proportion of drinks to percentage differs for

Photo by Jack KilleenAdults at Webster’s Jazz and Blues Festival wait in line at one of the kiosks stationed on Gore and Allen Avenues that offers alcoholic beverages.

everyone, being dependent on size, height and gender. “When you don’t arrest anyone, it’s a good day,” said Dixon.Officers may be on the job, but Dixon recalls seeing a few get

down in the crowd, enjoying the music the same as the audience. Dixon said, “There’s nothing’ like some good jazz and blues.”

10 ECHOFe

ature

the

Phoebe MussmanOnline Editor

Health and P.E. teacher and women’s cross country coach Ken Manwarring learned he had multiple myeloma and amyloi-dosis last year on Sept. 20.

Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow cancer limiting the num-ber of health-sustaining cells in the marrow; amyloidosis is a rare blood disease caused by an abnormal kind of protein, which in Manwarring’s case, is located in the heart.

Both of these diseases are treatable but incurable, so a complete recovery is impossible.

“Mentally, it devastated me because I am a normal, healthy middle-aged man who is active, and this completely came out of nowhere,” Manwarring ex-plained.

“Physically, I am no longer able to do some of the things I used to do. I rarely run, I do walk, I do still bike, but my fit-ness is definitely affected be-cause of the disease in my heart. I get tired more easily,” Manwarring said.

Manwarring underwent weekly chemo-therapy, which comprised of one injection and two sets of pills, for 20 weeks from October to February.

This caused him to miss one day per week of school, and in effect take time off of teaching and coaching.

“Coach actually didn’t tell us he had cancer until the end of our cross country season because he thought it could have affected our running. None of us would’ve guessed he was ill… he didn’t miss many practices and always had a positive at-titude,” junior Liz White said. “I know he devoted as much time as he could to coaching without letting his cancer influ-ence cross country training.”

Manwarring battles two cancers, keeps coaching“It is something I will always have to live with… even though this was initially a shock for

me and my family, we are looking at it with a positive attitude and attacking it head on. In my mind, there is no other way to approach it.” -Coach Ken Manwarring

Photo by Jane ManwarringCoach Ken Manwarring and several of his cross country athletes from last year wear Team Ken T-shirts to help raise money and support Manwarring, who is dealing with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis.

Manwarring received a stem cell/bone barrow transplant on April 15, lasting two hospital stays, and missed the remainder of the school year.

The first hospital stay lasted five days when his stem cells were collected and frozen. The second stay lasted 15 days, and included two days of intensive che-motherapy, followed by the return of his stem cells on April 15.

After a four-month recovery, Manwar-ring began weekly chemotherapy again on Aug. 22, which will continue for him every Friday until mid-December.

“All of the WGHS staff and students who are aware of this are extremely supportive, especially my cross country girls,” Manwarring said.

One of those girls, senior Sarah Ad-

dison, started a fund raiser on May 10, to show the community’s support by selling light green T-shirts saying, “Team Ken,” for $15 if at least 11 people buy them.

“I definitely didn’t expect the shirts to be the success they were…the school board got involved and a bunch of teachers bought them,” Addison said. Both students and staff purchased enough T-shirts in the previous order to produce a check of $700 for Manwarring.

“The Team Ken Shirts were such a cool thing. Sarah Addison started the fund raiser, which was a tremendous success. It was such a sweet thing for her to do, and I am truly appreciative of her and of all who purchased a shirt,” Manwarring said.

People can keep up with how he’s doing under his profile of Ken Manwarring on caringbridge.org.

September 2014

11Feature

ECHOthe

Jack KilleenJunior Editor in Chief

With 15 minutes on the scoreboard, the sea of yellow that is the home crowd breaks into applause. To a bystander it seems like a spontaneous burst of team spirit, but Webster supporters know it’s for freshman Alaina Bickhaus, whose 15 years of life ended only a few hours ear-lier.

Bickhaus, who grew up in Webster and attended the Computer School, Steger and Hixson, was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor, in June of 2013. She was taken off treatment on Sept. 9, and since then, spent her time on a hospital bed in her living room. Bick-haus was never able to walk the halls of Webster Groves High School as a student because of the cancer.

Bickhaus played basketball, volley-ball and swam for Webster Waves. As described by freshman and friend Katie Conley, Bickhaus was talkative, loud and good at making friends. She had a bit of an attitude that made her that much more fun.

Freshman Brendan Muldoon recalled the multiple meals he spent with Bick-haus, his mom and her mom, at The Pan-

Community dedicates game to cancer victim

Photo by Jack KilleenCrowd members participate in the minute of cheering held in honor of freshman Alaina Bickhaus during Thursday’s game against Parkway Central.

cake House. Bickhaus always ordered two plain pancakes, with butter and syrup, but never ate it all. While she was going through treatment, Muldoon would visit Bickhaus and just sit and talk with her while she lay in bed.

Muldoon said, “She’s a good friend to everybody, no matter who you are.”

On Sept. 18, Webster’s Varsity soccer game against Parkway Central was dedi-cated to Bickhaus. The crowd showed support towards the Bickhaus family by wearing yellow, the color that represents Ewing Sarcoma. Players wore yellow tape around their wrists and ankles to express their support.

“It’s great. I love seeing Webster Groves come together to support my sister,” said junior Trey Bickhaus, Alaina’s brother.

About 40 juniors came up with the idea to dedicate Thursday’s game to Bickhaus. This group communicated through the smart phone app, GroupMe, a means for multiple people to communicate in one message stream. Group members refer to themselves as “Squaaadd.”

Squaaadd wanted to do something to recognize the strength and courage Bick-haus and her entire family have shown throughout this tragic time. “She’s a part of our high school and deserves to be

honored,” Squaaadd members said.This group includes members of the

Selma Street Elite and 11 Varsity soccer players. Squaaadd contributed ideas into every aspect in which Bickhaus was hon-ored.

Head Varsity Coach TimCashel was glad to have his team dedicate the game to Bickhaus. He said, “When you get ap-proached with something like this, you just think about the family. We just want-ed to lift their spirits. Everybody feels sympathy for the family. I love soccer, but we’re also a part of the Webster Groves community. To me, it’s a function of the team and program to help.”

Junior Becca Riley organized the game dedication. She went to activities director Jerry Collins and Coach Cashel to gain their approval, orchestrated an announce-ment over the intercom about the game on Wednesday and Thursday and set up balloons, streamers and a banner to dec-orate Selma Field with the help of other students.

About why she felt compelled to do this, Riley said, “I would want the same support for myself if this had happened to my family and me. It’s horrible.”

As another means of tribute, a minute of applause was held with 15 minutes left to go in the first half, celebrating the 15 years of life Bickhaus has lived. During this minute, 15 yellow balloons were re-leased into the sky by friends of Bickhaus. There was also a halftime speech read by Selma Street Elite President Anthony Rivituso, senior. Riley wrote the speech with the help of junior Cullen Drissell, and then Cashel edited it.

Cashel said the parents were happier to have a minute of applause as opposed to a moment of silence because of its positive nature. “You like to think that someone’s life is celebratory,” he said.

According to Dr. Jon Clark, 300-400 students attended the game. He made an announcement concerning Bickhaus’s death the next morning, calling for a brief moment of silence throughout the whole school in her honor.

“Our support is with the Bickhaus fam-ily, and I know that I speak for the whole student body when I say that,” Cashel said.

September 2014

12Sport

sECHOthe

Bennett Durando Sports Columnist

As frequent state contenders in multiple sports, WGHS takes only the best for its teams. The bar continues to rise along with Webster’s expectations. This leaves countless other student athletes with little or no way to play organized sports.

Although nothing’s wrong with these competitive high school sports, the lack of other opportunities is a problem, and programs like CYC are not considered an adequate replacement.

A good substitute would be an intramu-ral athletic program. Setting up friendly, student-run teams, almost like school clubs, would take pressure off newcomers and those who feel they can’t succeed at the highly competitive level.

An easy opportunity to play sports for fun like they did through grade school and middle school would excite students. Imagine this...

You’ve just started kindergarten. You’re

playing YMCA soccer in the fall, CYC basketball in the winter, little league base-ball or softball in the spring. You get to have fun and meet new friends and swing a bat for the first time, or run the wrong way with the ball, only to realize it af-ter you’ve finished celebrating that you scored for the other team. You don’t care though, because you scored anyway, for the first time.

That sort of carefree happiness can be experienced by playing with your friends in an organized league for fun. Why should that have to stop at high school? It shouldn’t be too late by any means.

Sophomore Jacob Schmitt played bas-ketball and soccer for years growing up, then played C-Team soccer his freshman year. Rather than try out for the freshman basketball team last year, he opted for a less competitive option, setting up and player-coaching a CYC basketball team with his friends.

“I prefer these non-competitive sports because in my opinion, a lot of the fun is taken out of the sport once it turns more competitive and more intense,” said Schmitt. “Once you realize that you’re only playing for the fun of it and not just only ‘for the win,’ then you really get to cherish every second.”-

Schmitt’s team finished just 3-7, but he

did cherish every second, so much that he can easily recall their highlight moments (though few, he said) of the season.

“My intramural basketball team wore the colors orange and black to represent where we were from,” said Schmitt. “In one of our overtime games (sophomore) Eric Schaefer hit a game tying three as time ran out, then (sophomore) Bailey Os-burn ran the show in overtime, hitting at least four threes. We won the game by 10 points. It was a favorite sports memory in my life, and I’ll never forget it.”

Now Schmitt is planning a Vetta soccer team with his friends this fall, after not trying out for the high school team.

“It would be great for the high school to have an intramural sports system,” said Schmitt. “If you know or prefer some-thing like the CYC sports leagues, then this would be great (for you). A big group would definitely come out for these intra-mural sports, and I’m sure Webster would benefit from it.”

Students would benefit from a pro-gram like the one suggested by Schmitt. Besides the fun and lack of pressure, it would provide easy enjoyable activity in a society where child obesity is an issue, which may be worsening due to the lack of available athletic opportunities or other chances to be physically active.

Bennett from the BleachersWGHS should create intramural sports program

September 2014

Andre ScottCirculation Editor

Men’s Varsity soccer will play in the CYC tournament, Gateway Classic and Saint Louis Soccer Classic from Sept. 22 to Oct. 8.

Ranking number eight in the St. Louis area in Class 3 soccer, the Statesmen will face Rockhurst High School on Oct. 2. Webster is 6-3 on the year so far.

The team went to the Netherlands on July 16-25, to participate in the youth team’s version of Bundesliga and Eredi-visie, a professional association soccer competition.

The team played four games against four teams from the Netherlands and Ger-many. One game was an amateur game

while the others were against youth pro-fessional teams.

The teams showed “very high quality,” said head coach Tim Cashel.

While in the Netherlands the team had three practices. The practices mainly fo-cused on passing exercises because Dutch soccer focuses mainly on ball possession.

They worked with two different coach-es, with one working on tactics and the other working on “intense” drilling, senior Sam Craig said.

“The trip was life changing. I have never been closer to a team,” Craig added. Back at home the players focus on things like mental stability, pass plays, techni-cal skills and constant movement. Most practices end with playing a mock game to better players’ skills.

The team is mentally prepared in prac-tice by “paying attention to detail in train-ing and matches in terms of training at our highest level and implementing tactics,” Cashel said.

“We simply want to be the best we can be,” Cashel said.

Netherland trip improves Varsity soccer’s strategy, skill

Photo by Bret WaeltermanJunior John Conley retains the ball from a Rockwood Summit player.

Sports

13ECHOthe

September 2014

Andy KimballOpinion Columnist

When senior Cam Hilton, Webster’s

top wide receiver and defensive back, graduates this spring, he will extend his football career to the Mizzou.

Hilton, who was a star on the team that lead the Statesman to the Missouri State semifinals, was an All-State and All-Met-ro player as a junior, and had 70 tackles and seven interceptions last season, three of which were returned for touchdowns.

None were more prominent than his 100-yard pick six in which he weaved

through Pioneers to shift the momentum in Webster’s 21-19 win over Kirkwood in the frigid cold of last year’s District cham-pionship game.

Hilton had 1,100 all-purpose yards as a return man and had 922 receiving yards. He also had 19 total touchdowns.

He was also All-District and All-Con-ference on offense and defense.

Hilton was most proud of “All-State and All-Metro… because that means that I am one of the top players in the state and in the area.”

Hilton is a three-star safety prospect ac-cording to 247sports.com and is the 10th

Football star will take talents to Mizzourated recruit in Missouri. He was given an 83 of 100 score by ESPN.com and is listed as the top safety recruit in Missouri and as a top 50 safety nationally.

Hilton made the decision on April 19 to attend Mizzou because “It was the perfect fit for me. It’s in the best football confer-ence, and the SEC (southeastern confer-ence), the location, and the facilities are great.”

He chose Mizzou over Indiana, Vander-bilt, Iowa, Iowa State and Illinois.

Hilton started playing football in the first grade. He said he “wanted to try things out, but I was really too young to remember.”

Hilton is inspired by “my mom definite-ly, my whole family, my coaches, and Joe Scherer,” he said.

Scherer, who is a football coach in Saint Louis, played college football at Pennsyl-vania University and has a son, Michael, who plays linebacker for the Tigers.

Hilton will join a large number of Statesman athletes to play Division I ath-letics and, if he can make it to the NFL, he would be the fifth player from WGHS to do so, joining current Tampa Bay Bucca-neers defensive end Adrian Clayborn and statesmen football stars Keith Jones, Rick Cash, Herb Blumer and Joel Litzenitch.

Hilton will play safety at Mizzou. About plans after Mizzou, he said “When players play well and excel at Mizzou, they usu-ally go to the NFL, and that’s something I would really like to do.”

Photo by Bret WaeltermanSenior Cam Hilton runs into the open field against Jackson High School in the 2013 Class Five State quarterfinals.

Your Times.facebook.com/WebsterKirkwoodTimestwitter.com/WKTimeswebsterkirkwoodtimes.com

Fall Sports UpcomingVarsity SoftballParkway Central Tournament: Saturday Sept. 27Saturday, Sept. 27 @ Hazelwood Central 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 @ TBA 10:15 a.m.Saturday, Sept. 27 @ TBA 3:30 p.m.Games played at Manchester Athletic Association

Varsity Men’s SoccerCYC Tournament: Sept. 26-27, times, opponents TBA.Games played at Soccer Park.St. Louis Soccer Classic: Monday Sept. 29Monday Sept. 29 @ DeSmit Jesuit 3:45 p.m.Game played at Whitfield School.

Varsity FootballFriday, Sept. 26, @ Ritenour 7 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 2, vs. Parkway North 6 p.m.Friday, Oct. 10, vs. Rockwood Summit 7 p.m.Saturday. Oct. 18, @ McCluer 1 p.m.

14Ente

rtai

nm

ent

ECHOthe

Brittany PattonNews Editor

After a year of R&B singer Chris Brown continuously pushing back the release of his sixth album, on Sept. 16, Brown finally released “X.”

According to contactmusic.com, “X’s” original release date was July 16, 2013.

Then, the release date moved to Aug. 20, 2013. After missing its deadline again, Brown supposedly changed it to November. When November came, “X” wasn’t on shelves.

Then Brown planned to release it May 5, on his 24th birthday. The reason the May release was changed was Brown’s incar-ceration for an alleged assault.

While going through constant release delays, “X” also went through a name change, being originally entitled “Carpe Diem.”

During an interview with Ebony.com, Brown explained his reasoning for nam-ing the album “X.”

“The title of the album is called ‘X,’ so basically, it’s defining who I am as a

‘X’ sparks ‘New Flame’

The ECHO Family are some of the most benevolent members of our community, who with their donations support high school journalism and help make publications such as the ECHO possible.

To become a member of the ECHO Family, please contact Alex Ring at ring.alexlee@gmail.com

Laurie Murphy

Kathy Whaley

Julie Harrelson

Mary Ann & Don Schafer

Dugan Family

James Williams

Dr. Sarah Riss

Curtin Family

Kevin Killeen

Webster Groves Baptist Church

Zychinski Family

Cross Vitale

The Jeffries

ECHO FAMILY

Photo from chrisbrownworld.comR&B singer Chris Brown released his sixth studio album titled “X” on Sept. 16.

24-year-old male trying to grow up, but also ‘X’ is also a release,” he said.

The album features top singles “Loyal” (featuring Lil Wayne and Tyga), which was 10 on the Billboard Charts Hot R&B Songs, “Love More” (featur-ing Nicki Minaj), which hit on the Billboard Charts Hot R&B Songs, “Fine China,” “New Flame” (featuring Usher and Rick Ross), which was 15 on the Billboard Charts Hot R&B Songs and “Don’t Think They Know” (featuring Aaliyah).

The album has 22 songs on deluxe edition and 17 on the standard version.

Collaborations include sing-ers, Trey Songz, R. Kelly, and Ariana Grande and rappers, Ken-drick Lamar and Akon.

The ‘X’ deluxe edition is $14.98, and the standard version is $11.96 on Amazon.com, and on iTunes.com the deluxe edi-tion is $14.99, and comes with a digital

booklet, and the standard version is $9.99. The parental advisory is due to explicit

content.

September 2014

15Entertain

men

tECHO

the

September 2014

Aerin Johnson Editor in Chief

The time is coming when we try to get a chill from the world around us.

While some prefer the haunted houses where people jump out, I personally pre-fer getting a peek at the darker side of St. Louis history.

According to Dave Riordan of Riordan Tour, St. Louis is the fourth most haunt-ed city in the United States. He has run Haunted History Walking Tour around St. Louis for three years and shares sto-ries from St. Louis’ history that are sure to give you a chill.

To begin the tour, you first meet a Mor-gan’s Street Brewery, a restaurant with a friendly atmosphere and entertaining things such as paintings of bears and even a buffalo head.

Before going out, you can grab a bite to eat and get prepped for the walk ahead. There is a 10 percent discount at Morgan Street Brewery for tour group patrons.

After gathering everyone together, Riordan leads everyone outside to begin the tour with the rules or more specifically none.

Local ghost tour gives chilling historiesLet’s get scary...

“There are no rules!” Riordan says as he begins his tours earning a laugh. He has based this year’s tour on the 250th birth-day of St. Louis. He also mentions his own personal history with ghosts. Then he leads to the first location.

Riordan leads his groups around down-town to places like Rue Royal Street, Eads Bridge and what Riordan considers to be the most haunted area of St. Louis, Claymorgan Alley. He tells exciting and interesting stories has he takes groups around the Arch.

Riordan does the research for all his stories to make sure he’s getting the facts right for the most part. However he did give an exception if he found multiple versions of the same story.

“I reserve the right to tell you the more entertaining one,” Riordan said.

The tours usually have about 20-26 people on them and are perfect for all ages. Tours start at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and cost $20 per person.

When you walk down the dark cobble-stone streets and hear the wind whistle through the air, you’re sure to go back in time.

They are probably one of the most en-

Photo by Aerin JohnsonHaunt tour guide Dave Riordan leads a group down a dimly lighted street of St. Louis.

Photo by Aerin JohnsonDave Riordan leads tours through Claymorgan Alley, where bodies of cholera victims were put after they died.

St. Louis’ Top Haunts

1. Lemp Mansion

2. The Exorcist House

3. Alexian Brothers Hospital4. Powell Symphony Hall

5. Jefferson Barracks

tertaining tours you will ever go on, and you are sure to get a chill, a thrill, and whatever else you’re looking for this Hal-loween.

“The Big Overview” • Friday, Oct. 17 • 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. (financial aid, scholarships, tours, student/faculty introductions, lunch & more)

“Meet the Geeks” • Tuesday, Oct. 28 • 7 – 9 p.m.(cyber security, partnership in engineering, bioinformatics, One Health,

computer science and more)

“Educate The World” • Saturday, Dec. 6 • 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (deaf education, speech-language pathology, education/special education,

dietetics, family & consumer sciences and more)

3 Good Reasons to Visit

Learn More or Register: www.fontbonne.edu/wghs

1. Unique programs like cyber security, bioinformatics or applied (web/digital) design.

2. A personalized approach that’s hard to find.

3. Faculty dedicated to YOUR success and career preparation.

Fontbonne University Preview Days