Kickapoo High School 3710 S. Jefferson, Springfield, MO khsprairienews.com twitter.com/khsprairienews (417)523-8781 November 28, 2009 Vol. 39 Iss.3

Rozell sisters make first in state. Check them out on pg.18

Ever wonder about cheese? Look at pg. 13

As of November 3, the bond issue has passed and schools will now start to re-ceive a no-tax stimu-lus package that will pay for improvements in elementary, mid-dle, and high schools. Since the bond passed, all the bonds must be sold to contractors and businesses. Once they are sold, the money will go into a city account that can be used to give money to those working in the schools. From there,

to wait for bond money, because of the largeness of the projects. “Its great to have the confi-dence of the community and we appreciate their support on the issue” Janet Miller, Phone Bank Coordinator for the par-ent teacher organization known as Better Schools for Kids said. Miller and Better Schools for Kids, helped get the issue out in the public and reminded fre-quent voters to vote on the issue. On top of the bond money giv-en to schools, Prater said that the state is expected to pass a five to seven million stimulus pack-age to help improve schools.

contractors, architects, and engineers will be hired to complete the new modi-fications needed through-out the school district. According Dr. Tom Prat-er, school board vice-pres-ident, the developments should start “very soon”. Prater also said that el-ementary schools should expect new air condition-ers this summer. Schools in need of stadium upgrad-ing, will be refurbished in anywhere from six to nine months. Schools that need new science rooms, and labs, like Hillcrest will have

Bond pass means changes on the horizon for SPS students

Facing 24 teams from all around Mis-souri, the cheer lead-ing squad had no fear in their eyes as they took the mat for their final routine. “We worked hard through-out October and Sep-tember, going to three practices a week to prepare for state,” said coach Castleman. The Chiefs were proud of their victory as they beat a yearly ri-val, the Ozark Tigers. “We worked really hard and really came together as a team for the state compe-tition,” said senior

Samantha Jenkins. “The team should be even stronger next year with only 3 se-niors,” said Castle-man. Congratulations to all the girls on a great season. Cheer-leaders will finish out the year by participat-ing in festivities at boys basketball games.

Cheerleaders place 5th at state competition by Chase Snider and Seth Seely

photo illustration by chase snider

by Courtney Hamilton

Follow the

profits around the Ozarks in

our full story on page 4

-more @

khsprairienews.

THE PRAIRIE NEWS

right: Students receive the H1N1 shot during a vaccine clinic at Kickapoo in which both the nasal and shot ver-sions were administered to staff and students. photos by Chase Snider

2News November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

Gas prices have plateaued at around $2.50 per gallon across the country and America’s dependence on foreign oil is greater than ever. The pressure is mounting for Amer-ican energy innovators to step up with a new alternative fuel source. Multiple energy companies and businesspersons have an-nounced their own plans for energy conservation, but most have fallen short of expectations. T. Boone Pickens, a successful oil tycoon from Oklahoma, announced plans to construct a windmill farm throughout the Texas panhandle in 2007, called the “Pickens Plan”. As of last July, however, these plans stalled after Pickens failed to obtain a loan for the project. Pick-ens is currently working to secure funding while the project is on hold. Pickens has also been a major proponent of natural gas, claim-ing that world oil production is about to enter a major decline while advocating that natural gas is available now with 50 percent cleaner carbon emissions than oil. Last September, Envion, a Washington, D.C. based com-pany, unveiled what is widely considered a major breakthrough in “green” energy conversion. The upstart company has found a way to convert plastic trash into oil that, when mixed with other

ing to kill two birds with one stone in their approach with these new conversion methods.“We are the world’s largest consumer and world’s larg-est producer of wase,” En-vion CEO Michael Han said. Eliminating the amount of plastic trash created by the United States also means eliminating environ-mentally hazardous areas such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,

fuel components, can be used to create gasoline or diesel engine fuel that will cost $10 per barrel – thirteen percent of the current price of a barrel of crude oil ($77). The process of turning plastic waste into useable oil is noth-ing new; in fact, many machines built to accomplish this same task require a lot of energy – more en-ergy to convert the plastics than energy gained from converting the plastics, thus resulting in an energy deficiency. The way that Envion ac-complishes this feat, how-ever, is new and innovative. The pioneering energy converstion plants make the waste-to-energy con-version possible by us-ing infrared technology. Infrared energy heats up the plastic waste to stabi-lized temperatures, remov-ing organic compounds called hydrocarbons. This act results in a new gain of captured energy rather than a deficiency like other methods, such as burning over an open flame, have yielded. Other chemicals that have no place in the oil-like mixture are separated out during the conversion process. It seems that Envion is aim-

the atmosphere from the burning. Envion claims to be able to pro-duce just three to five barrels of oil per ton of plastic fuel burned. This has caused some to question whether or not the burning of plas-tics for fuel is economically sound, citing electricity and labor as po-tential problems. Envion main-tains that the price of electricity per gallon of oil is just above 10 cents. Others have pointed out the pos-

sibility of harmful pollutants, chemi-cals not used in the creation of oil, releasing into the atmosphere during the burning process. Han explains that any fumes given off from. burning are all from metals and thus are not harmful to the environment. It remains certain that America needs to find an answer for its fuel deficiency problems. Envion is hoping to pro-vide a part of that solution with its own plastic-trash-to-fuel technology.

an area within the Pacific Ocean made up entirely of floating hu-man debris trapped within the powerful currents of the ocean. With all of the attention fo-cused on Envion’s new way of burning plastics, a few key points have gone unnoticed. One be-ing the small amount of oil cre-ated per ton of plastic fuel and another being the possibility of harmful emissions mixing into

H o w t o r e a d a n u t r i t i o n l a b e l

Serving Size: Serving sizes allow the consumer to know how much of the product they can eat without exceeding the marked amount of calories per serving. For example, in this product a serving size is one cup. Since there are 120 calories per serving and 10 serv-ings in the products’ packaging, that means that there are 1,200 calories per package.

Calories: Calories are a measurement of how much energy the consumer receives from a serving. Ac-cording to the FDA 40 calories or less is low, 100 is moderate, and 400 calories or more is high.

% Daily Value: The % daily value makes it easier to compare products. The percentage is based off of a 2,000 calorie per day diet. Therefore, with this product if you consumed 2,000 calories per day you would eat 12% your total fat for the day once you ate one serving.

Getting enough dietary fiber each day helps keep weight down, the heart healthy, and the digestive system regular. Vitamins and minerals improve the immune system and support healthy growth and development. For example, calcium keeps bones strong and iron provides energy.

The FDA suggests that people limit their intake of these nutrients. According to bigfattruth.org, trans fats and saturated fats raise bad cholesterol (LDL), causing the chances of heart disease to increase. They also lower good cholesterol (HDL). Polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats can help lower bad cholesterol, but you should still limit the intake of all fats.

The Footnote: This part of a nutrition label is the same on every product. It shows how much of each nutrient is suggested for anyone on a 2,000 calorie diet.

by Lauren Davisoninformation gathered from fda.gov and bigfattruth.com

Worried about what foods you are eating? Ever wondered what calories are? What is a % Daily Value anyway? These facts will show you how to read the nutrition facts on any product you buy. Now you can know what is going into your body and what it means.

Research leads to new fuel discovery for vehicles

Plastics from common household materials, such as water bottles, could soon be used to help produce a usable fuel photo by chase snider

by Michael Rothe

3Newstwitter.com/khsprairienews

Merck’s vaccine, Gardasil, has been known as the cervi-cal cancer shot for many years now. Cervical cancer affects the female re-p r o d u c t i v e system. Now this vaccine is available for men and boys. The shot was originally developed for women and girls ages 9 to 26 to protect t h e m s e l v e s against HPV, or human p a p i l l o m a virus, which a c c o r d i n g to the vac-cine’s web-site, www.gardasil.com, causes 70 % of cervi-cal cancer cases. How-ever there is now a new breakthrough with the pop-ular vaccine. The shot has been approved by the Food and Drug Ad-ministration for boys and men ages 9 to 26. Many may wonder, how can a shot made to prevent cervical cancer, which only occurs in

women, be beneficial to men? According to the Washing-ton Post, boys can contract and spread HPV. A recent ar-

ticle in the paper said, “Vari-ous strains of HPV also cause disfiguring genital warts, anal and penile cancers, and head and neck cancers.” However the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has

only approved the vaccine for prevention of genital warts. Even though the vaccine has been approved, wide-

spread distribu-tion to boys and men is not expected. Cur-rently doctors are not push-ing the shot for these patients. The vaccine is a series of three shots that cost $500 total.

Many insurance companies are not covering this cost for boys, so some feel the shot is unnecessary, especially since it

has not been proven to prevent cancer for males. For females the prevention of cancer has been proven, so many insur-ance companies cover costs.

One big controversy that has surrounded the Gardasil shot since it was first introduced for girls is whether or not this shot should be administered to children and teens. The goal is to have young people vaccinated before becoming sexually active. However, some feel the shot would cause this age group to be-come more sexually active due to a false sense of security. Senior Tremanye Williams agreed saying, “It creates more safety and fewer risks.” Marketing and Business teacher Mr. Scott Beaver on the other hand disagreed, “This age group should pro-tect themselves because they are going to do what-ever they want regardless.” Another concern is that the news about the new use of the vaccine has not been publicized well. Senior Rob-bie Flowers said, “There is just no awareness about it.” Some believe the shot

should not be just an op-tion and should be used by all teens. Senior Jasmine Austin said, “It should be mandatory for everyone.” Since doctors have been given the okay to administer the shot to boys and young

men, the ultimate decision rests solely with the patient whether or not they want to be vaccinated with Gardasil.

Don’t FeedYour Craving.

Set It On Fire.

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Gardasil vaccine now avaliable for both sexesby Katie Battalia

Photo by Mathieu Cugnot/ABACAPRESS.COM

4News November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

Following the vending machine Ca$h:Central- The Bulldogs have one joint building account in which the principal delegates money to projects as seen fit by the CHS administration.

Kickapoo- The Chiefs distribute vending machine profits in two ways. First, some clubs and activites have “set machines” meaning they receive the profits from the machine exclusively for their activity. Secondly, money is put in a general ac-tivity account that is used to fund everything from new paint for the building to student celebrations.

Parkview- The Vikings use vend-ing machine profits to fund a program simi-lar to “The Chief Fund” in which students can apply for money to help with educa-tional opportunites that might not otherwise be possible. Parkview administration noted that profits have dropped significantly af-ter the SPS Wellness policy was enacted.

Glendale- Falcons split profits between stu-dent and faculty funds based off what machines the profits come from. Student funds benefit the stu-dent body directly. Glendale administration also noted that profits have dropped as much as $30,000 since the SPS Wellness policy was enforced.

Hillcrest- The Hornets are one of two Springfield schools that assign vending machines to individual clubs and activites. A Hillcrest repre-sentitive said that currently there was no availabil-ity for additional machines due to the fact that the building’s electrical system could not support them.

Willard: A district contract with Coca Cola Inc. provides a varying monthly profit. All rev-enues come back to the high school in a general account to improve build-ing, parking, and safety for the school.

Republic: The Ti-gers put their vending dol-lars back into student ac-tivities to benefit students in the form of individual activities and other needs. They also use the money to fund clubs, sports, and ac-tivities when needed but not on a “set machine” system

Profits. It is an extremely important word in the economy. Vending machines have been a constant source of revenue throughout the history of public schools. Many administrations are expressing how their fund-ing is being reduced because of new wellness policies. One school experienced a drop of over $40,000 annually. Snack machine profits have also changed. The schools receive 20% of all vending ma-chine funds in the SPS district. Students money goes directly back to benefit their educational and ex-tracurricular opportunites. Most schools deposit profits into a large account that is then divied up among the building, while some schools give each activity their own machine. No matter how the money is spent, it is student money that is then returned to the general population of each building.

YOUR Voice:from khsprairienews.com

-story by Chase Snider and Alex Brown; illustrations by Chase Snider

5Newstwitter.com/khsprairienews

Up and Coming in November:

November 24 - Pride of the Tribe Assembly

November 25 - No School

November 30 -Boys’ BasketballVarsityLebanon Tournament

November 26-30 -

Thanksgiving Break

Quick Shots:

Prairie News staff visited Washington D.C for the 2009 national journalism con-vention. Aside from attending classes, adviser Leslie Orman, and student Chase Snider, presented a class to over 150 people. Above is the Lincoln Memorial, Washinton Monument, and U.S. Capitol. photo by chase snider

right: Ellie Weaver (11) helps an actress put the final touches before going on stage during the fall musi-cal Into the Woods photo by Chase Snider

View photos 24 hours a day at khsprairienews.com

bottom: A junior cheerleader leads part of the 2009 varsity squad photo by Kassie Wright

6News Feature November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

Kansas City/Independence

St. Louis

Memphis

Springfield

Branson

You Are Here (ish)

How far can you get on a tank of gas?-compiled by Megan Melugin -designed by Lauren MiramontiNational World War I Museum•

Stories of soldiers in World War I, what they experienced, saw, ans many other related events.

Harry S. Truman Library and • Museum

Books, papers, and historical arti-facts from the president.

Kansas Chiefs Football Stadium• Watch the Chiefs play and experi-ence the atmosphere of a professional football team.

Kansas Royals Baseball Stadium• Watch the Royals play and ea the traditional ballpark hotdogs and nachos.

Worlds of Fun• Over 200 rides and attractions of endless fun.

Missouri Botanical Gardens• Seventy-nine acres of historical landmarks and scenery, ranging from Japanese gardens to tropical rain forests.

St. Louis Zoo• See all kinds of animals, like bears, lions, tigers, penguins, flamingoes, and many more.

St. Louis Gateway Arch• Visitors can take a tram to the top and see the city, or visit the Lewis and Clark museum at the base.

The St. Louis Art Museum• Art from cultures all over the world.

Silver Dollar City• There are over 30 rides, which range from twists, turns, and massive lose-your-stomach drops, to child-friendly and a train to ride and see the whole park. There are also six different festivals, in which the park is decorated and transformed into a winter wonderland, and cultures from all around the world are represented.

Branson Landing• Shopping, food, water, and light show.

Tanger Outlet Mall• Stores like Coach, Ralph Lauren, American Eagle, Banana Republic, and many more have sales going on all year long. Also, a great spot for Black Friday.

Showboat Branson Belle• Dinner and a show. Talking dogs, dancing, acro-batic performances, and a ride on Table Rock Lake.

Veterans Memorial Museum• This attraction represents the sacrifices and heroic attributes of men in World War II.

Titanic: World’s Largest Museum Attraction• A replica of the Titanic of 1912. It was designed to give visitors a chance to really feel and imagine what it would have been like to be on the Titanic during that fateful trip to the Americas.

Trail of Lights• Travel through history, representing landmarks and religion by lights. During the holidays, it is changed to represent the season in magnificent colors and lights.

Graceland• Meet the King! Or at least remember him.

Sun Studio• The place where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others started their career.

Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum• Famous artists that called the Mem-phis home include Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and many more.

Memphis Zoo• A look at all kinds of animals.w

-map by MCT

O P I N I O NKickapoo High SchoolNovember 24, 2009

7

A Movie A Month“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a trip——in both senses of the word.

The Way It Is...

by Lauren Miramonti

Walking hand in hand with my boyfriend into the dimly lit venue on

October 25, a chill shot down my spine. How could Nick look so indif-ferent? We were about to see the great-est songwriter of all time, the icon of the

1960’s. Bob Dylan.

Dylan became the renowned image of the counterculture gen-eration with the release of his sec-ond album, “Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan” in 1963. His music was inspiring and songs like “Blowin In The Wind” won the hearts of Vietnam war protestors… and hippies. The song “Times They Are A Changin” made him the star protest singer of the decade. “The world was absurd… I had very little in common with and knew even less about a genera-tion that I was supposed to be the

voice of,” Dylan said in a recent article for Newsweek Magazine. He may have been the voice of the 60’s, but he still stands as a ma-jor influence in the lives of people today, (quite a variety of people, actually). From my balcony seat, I could see that The Shrine Mosque was packed with fans of all ages. A fami-ly of four was seated directly across from us wearing fe-dora hats, and clearly ready for the show to start as they twittered amongst each oth-er. Dylan’s reputation during the hippie/Woodstock move-ment also attracted a particu-lar crowd. I started to notice there were several pot refer-ences floating around… even some real pot floating around. I saw a group of people wearing glow in the dark Marijuana leaf shirts, several joints being passed around, and of course the intense odor that comes along with it. Of course with a number one artist like Dylan, security was far from relaxed. Several Event Staff-ers, in white t-shirts filled the floor,

equipped with flashlights. There was a quick shutdown of the joint passing palooza. If people in the balcony stood up, the flashlight was immediately beamed at your eyeballs, blinding you until you

were forced to sit down. These flashlights were a major problem for me. Here I am, this five-foot tall high school senior trying to see my favorite artist and he’s behind a speaker box. It was very inconve-nient, but luckily he rotated every other song to the center stage. The man’s charming good looks

were obviously dimmed due to old age, but he sang surprisingly well. It was a little bit of a mix between Randy Newman and the young Dylan. That night’s play list included “Leopard Skin Pill Box

Hat,” “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright,” “Most Likely You Go Your Way,” “My Wife’s Home Town,” “Rol-lin’ and Tumblin,” “Beyond the Horizon,” “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven,” “Highway 61,” “Like A Rolling Stone” (one of my favorites), and many others. That band was absolutely phenomenal! The lead guitarist was the most talented guitar player I had ever seen and the fact

that the band was dressed up like an old school rock ‘n’ roll

band was awesome! Fans had a lot to say about the concert on bobdylan.com. One registered user thought the energy in the crowd was amazing and that Dylan seemed to be having fun on stage.” Another user also com-mented on how much he loved Bob Dylan and how his wife start-

ed crying. I also somehow managed to get “something in my eye” while watching Dylan sing. It was a particular song that got me so worked up. When he sang “Not Dark Yet” it was the most inspira-tional and sad thing I ever heard. The chorus goes: “Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day. It’s too hot to sleep time is run-ning away. Feel like my soul has turned into steel. I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal. There’s not even room enough to be anywhere. It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.” I interpreted it as if Dylan were saying, “I’ve been through a lot in my lifetime and I know my time’s almost up. It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there,” which is probably what upset me. As he introduced his band and walked off stage, everyone was sort of calm. It was as if they didn’t really know what they had just seen. I can tell them exactly what we all saw. Bob-Freaking-Dylan.

You can tell a lot about a movie by the very first scene. So, when I was

greeted by Stephen Lang running smack into a wall, followed by the simple line of text: “Most of this is more true than you would be-lieve,” I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d gotten myself into. The title itself is all the hook this film needs to catch an audi-ence. I mean, when you hear The Men Who Stare At Goats, aren’t you the least bit curious about what the heck that could be about? Be-sides that, it has an all-star cast of George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. The title and the cast was enough to make me want to see it. The plot follows Bob Wilton (McGregor), a journalist whose life crumbles around him. Search-ing for purpose, he meets Lyn Cas-sady (Clooney) who is on a mis-sion so secret, even Lyn doesn’t

know where he’s going. Bob finds himself dragged into the trip of a lifetime and must brave IEDs (im-provised explosive device), kid-nappers, trigger-happy contractors, desert treks, an evil ex-psychic (Spacey) , and Lyn’s u n s t a b l e mind in search of the story he hopes will change the course of his life. Though it may look confusing at first, The Men Who Stare at Goats is, at its core, a story about good and evil—selfishness vs. unity. Peace is greater than war… Okay fine,

it’s a hippie movie. But surprising-ly—unlike Pineapple Express—it wasn’t just a stoner flick. Just like it wasn’t just a buddy movie, or just a road trip movie, or just a war movie. It was some sort of trippy

blend of all four and the result was so original I didn’t know what to do with it, at first.

In this world of recycling the last guy’s ideas, I think we’ve become preconditioned to accept copycats as simply “taking cre-ative license with a popular idea.” I mean, how many vampire nov-els and movies have you seen in the past year? Usually the general population gets so focused on one thing that the filmmakers jump up and say, “By God, let’s give ‘em what they want!” Very rarely are we ever given what we need, though. But Men Who Stare at Goats was that. It was eye-opening, without preach-ing or shoving ideas down the audience’s throat. It was funny, but not hilarious. It was well-made, but not spectacular. It was just enough, in moderation, with-out trying to throw an explosion into every scene (cough-Michael Bay-cough). Plus, half the movie was comically referencing Star Wars—a device that was particu-

A younger Bob Dylan, lacking none of his cool.-illustration by Kurt Strazdins/MCT

larly clever because McGregor portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three newest Lucas films. In short, Men Who Stare at Goats was a breath of fresh air—original and so creative that I was pleasantly surprised. I’m sorry if this review has come out sound-ing like I’m high, but that’s almost the effect the film has on the audi-ence—or at least on me. It seems to give off subliminal messages of relaxation, hope, and meaning. The last scene in particular actu-ally made me grin—full on, teeth bared, want to laugh out loud in happiness grin. But, by that point, it could have been that the film’s subtle intoxication was simply too deep into my system. Regardless, I walked away with a smile. I can’t say I’d watch it again right away, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I’d recom-mend it to anyone who ever want-ed to be a Jedi.

Actor Ewan McGregor, director Grant Heslov, and actor George Clooney attend the very first screening of the film in Venice, Italy.

-photo by Frederic Nebinger/abacapress.com/MCT

Makenzie Oliver

8 Opinion November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin BreadTurkeyZucchiniSquashSoupPumpkin PieYamsChocolate PieCakeAmbrosia SaladGravyCookiesApple PieCranberry SauceMashed PotatoesBlueberry PieGreen BeansStuffing

-wordsearch created by Courtney Hamilton-pumpkin illustration by Fred Matamoros/The News Tribune/MCT

-turkey illustration by Janet Santelices/The Miami Herald/MCT

Publication Policy The Kickapoo Prairie News operates as an open forum and intends to infrom students, tea-hers, administrators, and other citizens of the communitry of the school and to publish news on the basis of news value. The Prairie News, printed by Kickapoo High School, the District of Springfield, MO, is issued monthly dur-ing the school year. Stu-dents and faculty receive a free copy of each edition. Editorial Policies This publication reserves the right to edit all letters and quotes to insure that they contain no libelous material and no vulgarities. All letters submitted must be signed by the author, but names may be withheld upon request. Letters will be edited for grammati-cal errors. A chance for fair reply will be granted if neces-

Prairie News Publication Policysary. The need for reply will be determined by the editorial staff. Letters may be dropped into locker 2001. Opinions presented on music albums, movies, the theatre presenta-tions, books, television pro-grams, art work, etc. represent the opinion of the writer only and not neccessarily that of the Prairie News, or Kicka-poo High School. Likewise, all material in columns is the opinion of the columnist. Errors This publication strives for fairness and accuracy. The Ed-itorial Board will print a cor-rection in the following issue if it is determined neccessary. Comments or questions may be directed to: Editorial board, KHS Prairie News, and placed in locker 2001 outside of room 201, or you may contact Mrs. Leslie Orman, adviser, at 523-8781.

THE STAFFEditor-in-Chief - Lauren Davison

News Editor - Chase SniderFeature Editor - Jennifer Myers

Opinion Editor - Lauren MiramontiSports Editor - Jared Fenstermacher

Copy Editor - Jessica CrowderDistribution Manager - Joel Farris

Business Manager - Seth Seely

Columnist - Makenzie OliverSports Columnists - Sam Sherman and Seth Seely

Staff Reporters:Michael RotheKatie Battalia

Megan MeluginCourtney Hamilton

Alex BrownAshley Dun

Molly Greene

Pollster - Charmaine Larson

Adviser - Leslie OrmanPrincipal - Dave Schmitz

9Opiniontwitter.com/khsprairienews

In response to “In Lauren’s Shoes” [September issue], In the recent school paper, Lauren Davison wrote an article concern-ing Islamic education in the US. She states that “[there is] a point at which a religious practice could place others in danger.” The tone of her article suggests that these Islamic schools should not be al-lowed to practice in America. This statement is preceded by the state-ment that “congress is not allowed to restrict religious freedom.” What is overlooked in this case is that the teachings of Muslims are not illegal. The American gov-ernment has absolutely no right to stop or control these teachings. Though we may not agree, they are taking part in no illegal actions and we cannot intervene unless something illegal is done. Many people would argue that waiting until they do something illegal is too late, but with the freedoms of America being as they are, that is our only option. The Islamic schools have the right to teach whatever they want, regardless of the fact that others may not agree. The views expressed in this article are racist and prejudice and I am personally offended by the au-dacity of the writer to make such

Letter to the Editor

Ms. Hardman, In your letter concerning my September column you claimed that I am a racist. I would like to clarify some points. My column clearly states that I am referring to specific schools. I was not talking about the entire Is-lamic religion. You mention, “the tone of her article suggests that these Islamic schools should not be allowed to practice in Ameri-ca.” That was intentional. Schools teaching their students that other races and religions are wrong is not the problem, the problem is the schools that are teaching mur-der. I do, however, agree that the government can do nothing until these schools are openly causing danger to American citizens. That was my point. Congress cannot get rid of them without breaking this school’s religious freedom, which is frightening. There is a fine line between security and freedom and I believe that it should be reevalu-ated. Even though I never directly mentioned the Koran, you brought

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biased and negative claims about an entire group of people. Though there may be some schools that may teach violent practices, not all schools do and it is definitely not the common practice of the Muslim people. Though the Ko-ran may have violent suggestions, so does the Old Testament of the Bible. The Old Testament has just as much, if not more, violent ideas that suggest that people should use violence to tear down other groups of people. The war overseas may be associated with Muslims and there may be a small group of radi-cals that teach disagreeable ideas, but there are, and will always be, radical sects of every religion who take the words of their faiths liter-ally and act irrationally. This article is racist because it makes blanket statements about who the Muslim people are. Articles such as this cause Americans to hate people who are different from them and alienate them without knowing ev-ery side of the story. The actions of the radical few cannot account for the many.Sincerely, Wendy Hardman

up a valid point relating the Koran to the Old Testament. The Old Tes-tament is violent. The difference is that you do not hear about students being taught in school to slaughter a race of people because they are different and the Old Testament says it’s okay. You also make the point that this school represents a radical divi-sion of Muslims. This is absolutely true, but that does not mean that their teachings are okay with me. Also, you say, “this article is rac-ist because it makes blanket state-ments about an entire religion…” you are incorrect. If you do not agree reread my article because I specifically state that I am address-ing a specific school in DC.

Thank you for reading my column and I appreciate your letter, Lauren Davison

Do you ever wonder if what you are doing is for you, or for your

parents? I think about things like this all the time, especially now that I am a senior and need to be thinking about what college I want to go

to; or even what I want

to do with the rest of my life. My parents have always had a huge influence on my life. They have usually steered me in the right direction, or have at least tried to, without forcing me to do things that I was clearly not interested in. My mom al-ways let me try new things, like sports and clubs. I went from being a gymnast to a girl scout, then to a tap dancer, and from there I wanted to swim. Some parents are the type to sit back and let their kids make

their own mistakes and decisions about their life, while other par-ents want to control every move that their precious child makes, and can’t seem to let go. When is it too much for a teenager to han-dle; especially if your parents are the type that want to live their own dreams through you? Sometimes pushing a kid to play a certain sport, go to a college that they are not remotely interested in, or forcing them to major in a subject that they cannot even com-prehend is not worth the energy or hassle. I believe that parents who push their kids to be something they’re not is a waste of time, and I truly believe that parents who do that are in for a rude awakening. From a young age kids look up to their parents and sometimes parents take being a role model as a chance to force their own dreams and goals on their child. Some par-ents pressure their own kids into playing a certain sport, or even playing an instrument because maybe they didn’t get the chance or just didn’t make the cut back in the day. Parents who live their dreams through their kids are just

Students’ dreams and lives should be their ownby Molly Greene

Molly Greene

forcing the child to become more like the parent. Maybe some kids like this, enjoy being told what to do, when to do it, and even how to do it. For me, I know that I would not have learned half the things I know today if my parents were holding my hand the whole way through it, or shoving their own dreams down my throat. I think that kids today rely way too much on parents at times, and when it is time for them to go off on their own, what is going to hap-pen? Can you do your own laun-dry, or do you even know how to start the dishwasher? I know that this may seem easy to some kids, but I know plenty of people who rely so much on their parents and what they are told to do, instead of just doing it for themselves. Like the kid who takes all honors courses just because their parents want them to, or the star athlete that is playing a sport they don’t love because that was their par-ents dream, not their own. Be an individual, stand up for what you want, and please don’t let mommy and daddy baby you until you’re 21 or even 35.

10Opinion November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

In Lauren’s Shoes

-illustration by Logan Voss (12)

At our school that is not always true. This school has many stu-dents that lead the student body and work hard to improve it. On

behalf of certain members of the student body I would like to sug-gest that Chief Status be available to more students. The Chief Status is currently reserved for Freshmen Mentors, who are juniors or seniors that

help fresh-men dur-ing Chief Time. Ac-cording to an e-mail from as-s i s t a n t

principal Mrs. Sarah Odom, Chief Status is, “merely one of few ben-efits we give to those students who sacrifice their time in the summer and during Chief Time for our pro-gram.” However, this rule is unfair to other deserving groups of stu-dents. For example, Cabinet members plan numerous school events, give up their free time to prepare them, and work to make them something that everyone will enjoy. From mixers to dances, from assem-blies to How Night, these students bring out our school spirit. When Cabinet is at the school setting up for the next activity and working hard to design dance sets, I have to wonder why they do not have Chief Status. Especially when they give hours of their time and fresh-men mentors only give forty-five minutes, twice a week. The truth is, most freshmen men-tors only mentor because of the benefits they receive. Most upper-classmen are not going to want to be mentors to freshman when they could be sitting with their friends in the cafeteria, so they receive free parking, free dance tickets, and the right to leave class five minutes early. No offense, but the whole program is pretty much pointless. No one understands the importance of a fifty question time capsule and, having been a fresh-man mentor my junior year, I have to admit that I went crazy having

to answer bored freshmen who asked, “Why do we have to do this?” every day. Seriously, how many bogus answers can a person come up with? Every time I could escape from the tedious tasks I all but sprinted down to the cafeteria for travel time; as soon as the year was coming to an end I was certain I would not spend my senior year stuck with freshmen during Chief Time. Sure there are people who enjoy being mentors, but most of the mentors don’t really do much to earn their benefits (I know I didn’t). Honestly it seems like the whole point of Chief Status, at this point, is to coax upperclassmen into giving up their study and/or social time to force freshmen to do random worksheets. After all, there are other students who could benefit from these in-centives, such as the band’s drum majors, Drama II’s stage manag-ers, and A+ tutors. They all work hard to give this school a good rep-utation. These students not having benefits is, to me, the equivalent of the following situation: restaurant A pays their managers and crew workers equal salaries despite the difference in work quality, while at restaurant B the managers are paid double the crew workers’ sal-ary. Why would manager A want to continue to work hard if he is not paid appropriately? I know I am biased in this remark, but in my opinion, newspaper and yearbook editors deserve Chief status as well. Each month, three days in a row, the newspaper edi-tors stay hours after school to make sure that the student body receives a paper the next week. There are days that we are at school until 8 pm. Of course, the yearbook staff

In the real world, people with higher positions at their work place have more power and privilege.

Take Your Pickof pie!

Pumpkin 46%

Apple 38%

Cherry/Berry

-photo by Bill Hogan/ Chicago Tribune/MCT

-photo by Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/MCT

-photo by Mary Schroeder/ Detroit Free Press/MCT

16%

has these sorts of days, too, in or-der to insure that the students have a yearbook to take home. If that is not giving back to the school, I don’t know what is. Ultimately, what I am saying is there are other groups that don’t receive any perks for what they do. As an editor, being able to leave my class five minutes early would mean not having to worry about bumping an expensive MacBook on a rushing student. For news edi-

tor, Chase Snider, it would mean not having to maneuver his camera bags and laptop through a herd of oblivious teens. Administration should reconsid-er Chief Status. It could involve an application process or require oth-er methods. I agree that the Chief Status should be reserved—not ev-eryone needs to be walking in the hallways before class lets out—but the administration should defi-nitely make it available to the stu-dents that deserve it. Either way, freshman mentors are not the only group that deserves special recog-nition for the time they’ve given.

*based on a survey of 10% of the student body

by Charmaine Larson

Lauren Davison

11Opiniontwitter.com/khsprairienews

Story and photos by Chase Snider

Tragedy Strikes KickapooNo one asked Joel anything this month.

Shame.Write the questions and drop ‘em in Locker 2001.

It’s just that easy.

Deep fried. It’s not ex-actly a word that comes in to a girl’s mind when she’s think-ing of a night

on the town. This is what Forks and Knives reviewer Hannah Arnzen (11) was treated to as we hit up the new-ly-opened Quincy Magoo’s in south Springfield. Even though it was Fri-day night, we were able to slide in af-ter I got off work and have a quiet(er) corner of the restaurant to ourselves. That is if you could get past the guys playing pool on the other side of the bar along with the 15 plasma televi-sions blaring UFC fighting that il-luminated our table. However, we knew what we were getting into when we picked the upscale sports bar. Our service was slightly slower than we had expected, but the service was exceptional and we experienced a great sense of personalized attention. We especially enjoyed the ability to draw on our table (crayons provided) while we waited. The bottomless salsa remained, well, bottomless as it took half of our meal to get it refilled. On the contrary, the meal itself came in a pretty reasonable time frame and we were easily entertained while waiting. Presentation of the meal met all of our expectations. I went with some-thing I never thought I would eat in my life. A deep-fried hamburger. Han-nah decided maybe it wasn’t best to chow down on the fried dough (aka, heart attack with a side of fries) and opted for a mushroom swiss burger. My burger was spectacular—a hundred times better than what I had

expected. De-spite the deep-fried batter I was still able to taste the juicy flavor of my medium-well burger. I still haven’t decided whether or not there was actually a bun included under all that fried goodness, but regardless it was an amazing feat of human culinary achievement. Hannah was moderately im-pressed with her swiss-encrusted mushroom infusion of a burg-er. We each ordered a differ-ent side. The thick-cut fries for me and the home-cooked chips

for Madam Arnzen. The menu does provide a wide range of op-tions and we were appreciative of the wide variety of appetizers as well as the daily specials. (No they weren’t all alcohol related.) The overall timing of our ser-

vice would be rated at a

B- as the refill and follow up time was not quite where we felt it should have been for the number of diners there that night. Our final recommendations overall give the newly established restaurant an A-. We were very im-pressed with the pricing as we both made it out for under $25—a bar-gain for the quality of food. While it will never make our romantic date list (just keep in mind that that the sound level isn’t quite right for asking someone to the next level) it is definitely a worthy candidate for a night on the town, or to pull out the inner sports fan in your girl.

A view of what an average table looks like at Magoo’s.

The famous Quincy Magoo’s Batter-Fried Cheese Burger. It’s a miracle anyone survives it.

Mushroom Swiss Burger with a side of...pickles? Still looks good.

Hannah makes use of the provid-ed crayons and drawable table.

13Featuretwitter.com/khsprairienews

Survival Guide to Black Friday: How to navigate through the busiest shopping day of the year

Tips by Lauren Miramonti, Top 5 by Chase Snider

1. Start off right: Most people will wake up at un-godly hours in order to beat traffic and lines. Better solu-tion: just don’t sleep! Bang down the coffee and the energy drinks and spend your night on strategy.

2. Planning stage: Map out the city and surround-ing area and mark hotspots. Project which locations will be most crowded, and plan your path through the city in whichever order you de-sire. Some go for the most

3. Camping: Also a gam-ing strategy, camping is useful only if the store you have chosen is not a 24-hour facility. (This is very rare and so, is mostly ignored). If camping is necessary, be sure to bring your Boy

4. Shopping: Be pre-pared to mow down seemingly helpless civil-ians and children. Don’t worry-no one who is out on Black Friday morning is innocent. Casualties are a necessary evil. Be firm and don’t be afraid to be a little rude. Find your inner Christian Bale and yell at that lighting guy!

5. Perseverance: With the first stop out of the way, do not feel proud

crowded to least crowded, while others opt for a best sales to lesser sales strategy.

Scout wilderness survival kit and/or materials for a fire.

of yourself. The easy part is over. Camo paint and concealed weapons may be helpful. Just keep go-

ing and ration those caffeine patches. 6. Bodyguard: Be on the lookout for thieves and oppor-tunists. Guard your new possessions with your very life. Or at the least, the life of your

shopping buddy.

Top 5 Best Deals:1.$229.99-Windows 7 Laptop w/ 250GB Hard Drive at Best Buy

2. $179- Compaq Net-book - Atom Processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, XP Home at Bestbuy

3. $299- HP Laptop with Intel Celeron Processor, 15.6” screen, 3GB RAM, 160GB HDD at Staples

4. $69- Office Home and Student 2007 - Windows at Best Buy

5. $24.99- Epson - Sty-lus Multifunction Print-er/ Copier/ Scanner - NX110 at Best Buy

Cheese: What is it really?By Mike Baker, Journalism I student; graphic from MCT campus

Cheese. The little sprinkles you put on your hot dog, or much more? There are currently over 1400 different varieties of cheese ranging from basic ched-dar cheese to a $500 a pound moose milk cheese from Sweden. Lots of people eat cheese but do they know what it really is? Cheese is made by adding a pro-tein from the stomach of cows to their milk. The concoction is then allowed to sit for a set amount of time depending on what type of cheese it is go-ing to be. This causes the pro-tein and milk to separate into solids called curds and liquids called wheys. The curds are then collected and squeezed dry. This process is ultimately what determines what type of cheese the curds will turn out to be. Loosely packed cheese is often called cottage cheese. Extremely dry cheese is best

used as grated cheese since the dryness allows better grating. The largest cheese factory in the world is in Canary Wharf, London, England, on the site of the old Credit Suisse building. A Swiss cheese entrepreneur converted this old building into a massive production line ear-lier this past summer. This new cheese factory specializes in making Swiss cheese along with a few other generic types like cheddar and cottage. Most of the cheese is sent all around England to stores. Other places that are sent cheese by this factory in-clude French and German stores. “My favorite kind of cheese is American singles. They taste great on just about any-thing and it’s been my favor-ite ever since I was little,” sophomore Sarah Sanchez said. Cheese is also subject to many records and odd fascinations.

The world’s largest cheese wheel is currently in Ber-lin, Ohio. This massive wheel of cheese weighed just about 1,323 pounds and was roughly

8 feet across. The world’s larg-est block of cheese was in Que-bec, Canada and reportedly weighed close to 57,518 pounds! Cheese started out as a com-plete accident. Ancient Sumer-ians stored their milk in saddle-bags made of animal stomachs.

The enzymes in the stomachs would then react with the milk, effectively changing the milk into curds. The Sumerians who found these curds would, since

they used milk for nourishment, decide to eat them in order to sur-vive long trips. Over the years, cheese making would develop into more modern and safer ways, as is the way of most things in history. Ancient

Romans would have entire kitch-ens, called caseales, dedicated solely to the making of cheese.

Have a great Thanksgiv-ing break!

-From the Prairie News staff

top right photo by Rick Nease/Detroit Free Press/MCTbottom right photo by Kurt Strazdins/MCT

left and top right photo by MCT

photo (left) by MCT Directphoto (right) by MCT Direct

14Opinion November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

How to recycle more than paper or plasticBy Ashley Dun

1. Bicycles Take it to: Computer Recycling Center – 1434 N. National 866-2588 (any condition)Remember learning how to ride a bike? Well, those were good times, but now they are over. You probably will not be riding the same bike your parents bought you when you were five, so in-stead of just throwing it out, take it to Computer Recycling Center, and they will take it apart and sell the separate parts to be reused in other products—and it will not cost you a cent.

2. Computers and MonitorsTake it to: Computer Recycling Center – 1434 N. National 866-2588Stuck with a hand-me-down computer so slow it makes you want to throw it against a wall? Instead of trashing it, take it to Computer Recycling center, and they will tear it apart for you. Each part will be put in a pile and sent through a machine, which will compress it into a 3-4 inch cube that will then be sold to a company that can use it in some-thing else. Recycling computer monitors will cost about $20, but recycling the actual computer is totally free.

3. Cell PhonesTake it to: Staples – 2135 E. Independence 890-5146 ; 2636 N. Kansas Expressway 869-3890Oh no! You have just dropped your cell phone in a pool/ snapped it in half/ run over it with your car/ put it through the washer/ you name it. It is broken beyond repair and completely useless to you. Believe it or not, it can still be recycled. Drop it off in the cell-phone bin at Staples, and they will recycle it for free.

4. CarsTake it to: McCoy Iron and Metal – 321 N. Fort 866-3707 (remove fluids from automobile first)Have a junky old car that will not run anymore? Instead of throw-ing it out and helping pile up an-other landfill, take it somewhere that could use the extra scrap metal. At McCoy Iron and Metal they will take the car apart, melt the separate pieces down, com-press them into a little cube and sell them off to other companies to be reused. They will actually pay you about 5 cents per pound of the car you are recycling.

5. BatteriesTake it to: Batteries Plus – 2216 S. Campbell 823-8060Those dead double-A batteries might look harmless, but they could cause a lot of trouble if they were improperly disposed of. When they are carelessly discarded, the acids in batter-ies could harm wildlife, pollute groundwater, and foul the rest of the environment. Save Mother Nature the trouble and take those batteries to Batteries Plus to be recycled. Non-rechargeable bat-teries will cost 6 cents per ounce to recycle, but rechargeable bat-teries are free.

Illustration by senior Logan Voss

“Any time we can find a way to reuse or recy-cle something, we prevent the chance of con-taminants leaking into the soil and our water supply.” -Science teacher A.J. Gegg

photo by MCT Direct

Snyder’s team prepares rockets to launchPhotos by Jessica Crowder

From far left: freshman Ally Collins works on rocket; senior Jennifer Collins works diligently; Rick Snyder and Jennifer and Ally Collins work together as a team.

15Featuretwitter.com/khsprairienews

S e l f d e f e n s e : N o t a j o k i n g m a t t e r !Tips courtesy of Seth Seeley and Sam Sherman; photos by Chase Snider

In today’s day and age, it is better to be safe than sorry. There are threats everywhere, and it is helpful to be prepared. The following tips are given for the protection of any individual who needs advice on how to be

“tough”.

Tip #1: If someone is attack-ing you; a good way to defend yourself is to play dead. If you are really dedicated you should defecate in your pants. Even if the attacker knows you are not dead, the smell of feces should really get them. As silly as it sounds, this is a deterrent to those who would try to kidnap you.

Tip #2: If you are being at-tacked, try to give tips to the attacker on what they are doing wrong, or could improve on. Your attacker could get frustrated with being critiqued and move on or more likely they will take your tips into consideration as they continue the attack.

Tip #3: To defend against an attacker you should watch a lot of UFC or MMA fights, that way you are an expert on pull-ing off sick moves such as arm bars, rear naked chokes, kimu-ras, gogoplatas, heel hooks, and other stuff that we experts do.

Tip #4: Another good way to stop an attack is to kiss or show affection to your at-tacker, either the attacker will become grossed out and stop or you will start a relation-ship with your attacker. It is a win-win.

Rebecca Claborn : On the r i se to s tardom Singing releases endorphins. En-dorphins are chemicals that make you happy. It is one reason why senior Rebecca Claborn wants to be a professional opera singer. She has wanted to be an op-era singer for six years.“I’ve had voice lessons since I was nine. I have been in-volved in everything I can in choir and theater,” Claborn said. “I’ve done vocal competitions and I’m trying to go to different well-known schools,” Claborn said. She described her singing background and plans for college choice. She wants to attend “a school in a big city like Baltimore or New York.” “I plan to get a lot of education,” Claborn said. She will major in vocal performance and minor in music business as a backup career. “It [the music business] is working with contracts and financial stuff. I’m really good at math,” she said. Her mom has been a big in-fluence in her life, being in-volved with music herself. “I’ve been involved in music practically all my life in different ways. I owe it all to my mom,” Claborn said, “She used to take me to orchestra rehearsal and she would put a blanket over the pia-no. I would be playing with Bar-bies (in the homemade fort) while the director was talking and he could hear me singing.” She is into

a lot of different types of music. “I like everything except country. It makes me want to scratch my ears out, but I do like bluegrass,” Claborn said. Her current favorite groups are Mum, Beirut, and Cigur Ros. “It’s like folk music gone tech-no. It’s so relaxing, but it has a beat to it so you don’t feel like you are going to sleep,” Claborn said. She feels people need to listen to different kinds of music other than what is played on the radio. “There are so many other mu-sical doorways out there people won’t even experience because they are stuck. They listen to Brit-ney Spears and Kanye West and there are so many other things people won’t even look at,” Claborn said. She went on to say that before she dies, she would like to have brought back clas-

sics like Mozart and Beethoven. “I’m creative and I’m loud and outgoing. I’m not afraid to stick out,” Claborn said. She takes pride in being unique.

“When I leave high school I want to be the one who brought more fun into people’s lives,” she went on to say, “I like seeing people’s faces when they hear beautiful music.”

That is an element about singing

opera that makes her happy. She prefers opera because of the way opera singers “belt” the songs. “Belting is a different tech-nique and I like singing opera,” Claborn said, “My voice is a lot

different than a Broadway voice. I think it’s a lot more beautiful.”

Jennifer Larmore is Claborn’s favorite opera singer. They are

By Deanna Reed, Journalism I student, photos by Jared Fenstermacher

both mezzo-sopranos, mean-ing between soprano and alto.“It’s a deeper, richer tone,” Claborn said. She relates to many of the characters Larmore plays. Claborn’s best moment on stage was last year dur-ing the musical, the Mikado.“It was the finale of act one and my character comes in when ev-eryone’s so happy, and I’m ugly and mean. So I come in and my character gets the audience’s atten-tion not only because I’m ugly and funny, but I’m also able to capture

Senior Rebecca Claborn prepares for rehearsal for the fall production of “Into the Woods.”-photo by Jared Fenstermacher

their emotions,” Claborn said. Being able to travel around the world is a sig-nificant part of Claborn’s life. “I’ve lived in Japan and It-aly,” Claborn said. Although she was born in Japan she cannot speak the language. “Every morning I have a crav-ing for sushi,” Claborn said, “I used to be able to speak Ital-ian but lost it when I had to start learning Spanish.” She moved quite often because her dad was in the navy, but she did not mind because she benefited from it. Said Claborn, “I feel very cul-tured and open to new ideas.”

“There are so many other musical doorways out there people won’t even experience because they are stuck. They listen to Britney Spears and Kanye West, and there are so many other things people

won’t even look at.”

Claborn in her costume for the musical. Claborn plays the part of the Witch. -photo by Jared Fenstermacher

S 18S P O R T SKickapoo High SchoolNovember 24, 2009

isters insync

The word family is often used to describe the relationship shared by a team. But for sisters Carlee and Mackenzie Rozell, it really is family, and a successful one, at that.

by Alex Brown

After a three-hour match that ended in a Class 2 state cham-pionship, Carlee and Mack-enzie Rozell let out a scream that erased their fatigue. The duo had captured a state championship in the doubles category against a highly re-cruited team from St. Louis. “It was surreal,” sopho-more Mackenzie Rozell said. “I was ecstatic,” sister and senior, Carlee Rozell said. The three set match at Coo-per drained the Rozells of their energy but it did not stop them from coming back from losing the first set and tak-ing the second and final sets. “We’ve played so much that we can keep our nerves down, but there was a point during the match that we got kind of nervous,” Mackenzie said. Winning state is always the number one way to end a season and may-be even a tennis career. “I’m probably done but if I get a scholarship to a school that’s high in academics I might play. Georgetown is like a top fifty tennis school and it’s great in academ-ics, but I’m sort of look-ing at MU,” Carlee said. As for Mackenzie, she has a couple more seasons left before she plans on go-

dad the most, as he was the one who taught her to give 100% all of the time. She also said he taught her good sportsmanship and that it helped translate to the court. As for Mackenzie, ten-nis star Roger Federer is a good role model for her. “He keeps his composure when he plays and controls his emotions well. Even when he interviews he stays humble and that’s what I try to do,” Mackenzie said. Being able to play together as sisters has benefited the Rozells. They both have found a lot of good in it. “I really like it because we just connect on a deep-er level,” Carlee said. “We’ve become more ma-ture and we’ve made each oth-er better,” added Mackenzie. When asked about the com-petitive level between the two, they responded saying they used to be more contest-ed when they were young-er, but not so much now. While they may not be very competitive with each other any more, they are certainly competitive on the court, with a Class 2 state cham-pionship under their belt.

ing on to play in college. “I’d really like to get into a really good school like LSU or even MU,” Mackenzie said. How highly recruited the Rozells are will be based on how well they perform in the United States Ten-nis Association (USTA). “That’s where we play in the offseason. We’ll go all over to places like Flor-ida or California. You get ranked by how well you play there. That’s what colleges look at,” the Rozells said. Carlee said for now she is done with the USTA and is taking a break, but Mackenzie is already get-ting into her offseason. The Rozells got started playing tennis at a young age as Carlee explained. “I was about six or seven and I was driving around with my dad in our neigh-borhood. We drove by the tennis courts and I told him I wanted to play, so he went to Wal-Mart and bought me a cheap racket and a can-ister of balls,” Carlee said. Mackenzie explained that her reasoning for get-ting into tennis was main-ly because of her ambi-tion to follow her sister. Carlee looks up to her

Sisters Mackenzie (left) and Carlee Rozell accept the 1st place medal in doubles at the MSHSAA Class 2 tennis state champion-ships -photo by Kellyn Allison

19Sports

A K H S Q & A Q: Why do you run?

A: “I chose to run because I was good at it from the begin-ning and found success in it, I became addicted, eventually it becomes more of a lifestyle than a sport.”

Q: What accomplishments have you had?

A: “In cross country I have placed first in state, been All-state twice and was on a 3rd place team, as well as Ozark Champion.”

Q: How will the state race this year be differ-ent than any other race?

A: “I will have to try harder, everyone will be running their hardest, it’s the hardest course I’ve ever run.”

Q: What have you learned from run-ning?

A: “Hard work pays off and nothing comes instantly, you have to keep working.”

Q: What was your favorite memory before your senior year?

A: “Placing 3rd in the state as a team my sophomore year.”

Q: Was this year’s state meet as difficult as expected?

A: “No, it wasn’t, some of the big competition didn’t really show up.”

Q: How did you feel after the race?

A: “I felt good, felt like I had some left, very pleased, that’s the goal, to win state.”

Q: What did you do after-wards?

A: “We had a pretty fun bus ride home.”

Q: Where did the team place?

A: “The boys placed seventh and the girls placed second.”

w i t h D a n n y T h a t e r

Senior Danny Thater runs in the district race~photo by Liz Collier

by Joel Farris

twitter.com/khsprairienews

18 Sports November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

Blame it on the zebras

Former British soc-cer manager and commentator, Ron Atkinson, once said,

“I never comment on referees and I’m not going to break the habit of a lifetime for that prat.” Atkinson’s comment is just one of many, and is only one example of the ha-tred and animosity towards sports officials. It seems that, since the beginning of sports, the most common scape-goats of mistakes, losses, and everything in between have been the refs and in the past couple of weeks this definitely has not changed. Umpire, Tim McClelland, knows this hatred all too well. He is famous for over-turning Royal George Brett’s home run in 1983 for having

too much pine tar on his bat. It seems like it’s only gotten worse since then. He was the head umpire in Game 4 of the American League Cham-pionship Series(ALCS) this year, in which two calls made enraged all of America. You can also ask the SEC officiat-ing crew calling the Florida-Arkansas game. The whole crew was suspended after a blown call that could’ve af-fected the final score. What seemed to be the right call at the time was then shown to be an absolute mistake after replays were shown to the thousands watching the game. I don’t know which is worse, the fact that the refs missed these calls or the fact that everyone and their grandma were able to dis-sect the officiating multiple times on instant replay. I know it’s hard to believe, but yes, people (even SEC offi-cials) make mistakes. They

unfortunately don’t have the ability to watch every single play in slow motion from millions of different cam-era angles. They are watch-ing the game at high-speed, most of the time without the ability to overturn their mis-takes. So who’s to blame? Of course the officials, right? Wrong. People need to re-alize that no one is perfect and move on. Bad calls are sometimes part of the game. Let’s look at the ALCS calls. Two Yankees were caught on third base, and it looked as if both were tagged out. However, the third-base umpire ruled one safe. Fur-ther reviews showed that, in fact, both had been tagged. What was to follow were threatening emails, text messages, and phone calls from enraged fans wonder-ing how a professional um-pire could ruin such an easy call. “I’m just out there try-

ing to do my job and do it the best I can,” McClelland told the media afterwards. Well, Mr. McClelland, you must not understand. Your job, according to all the die-hards, is to have perfect vision, perfect decision-making in high-pressure sit-uations, perfect everything. And you sir, do not cut it. That is the world’s view on officials, and it needs to stop. If replay was allowed to over-turn every blown call ever made, the game would never end. Human error has been part of competition since its inception and it should stay that way. Sadly, the fusing of television and sports has led to this, and the hate mail probably won’t end, the death threats will continue, and the blame will always fall to the guys trained to not miss. Instead of looking at all of the blown calls, let’s look at the good calls, because

these guys have one of the most high-pressure jobs in the world. The officials are fed to all of the guys at home watching the game in high-definition with their buddies, they’re fed to the fans at the stadium watching on the jumbo-tron, they’re at the mercy of the endless camera angles showing every single mistake. What people don’t seem to realize is that these guys get it right 95% of the time. Could the average Joe watch a 100 mile-per-hour fastball and decide whether it came into the small window known as the strike zone? Can he make split decisions that could make or break the game? The answer is a re-sounding no. So go ahead, hate the zebras, hate the men who are in the thick of it all, blame them for all of your teams inefficiencies. Because after all, they’re trained to handle the death threats too.

He isman t rophy becoming a joke?

The Heisman trophy is awarded annually to college football’s most outstanding player. Steeped in tradition and bestowed upon some of the biggest names in college football history, the award is a wellspring of sports prestige. Lost amidst a legacy of guts and glory and stats and records, however, is a hol-low realization: the Heis-man, arguably once the most prestigious award in all of

sports, has become a sham. The bronze stiff-arm tro-phy’s beginnings were hum-ble enough; college football needed a way to recognize its best player, and that play-er needed his trophy. Created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) trophy, the DAC changed the award’s name in 1936 to Heisman after the death of the famous head football coach John Heisman rocked the college football world. For close to 70 years, players won the coveted award known simply as “the Heisman”, while slowly a pattern began to take shape.

An unofficial axiom was ac-cepted, disregarding the title of “most outstanding play-

er”, and shamelessly insert-ing in its place “most out-standing offensive player”. The first affront to the

Heisman’s legacy came in 1988 when Alabama line-backer Derrick Thomas fin-

ished 10th in the Heis-man voting, despite an NCAA record 27 sacks (a “sack” is the act of tackling the quarter-back behind the line of scrimmage while he is holding onto the ball) in a single season. Most players don’t have 27 sacks in their entire football career. To be fair, Thomas’ competition that year was stiff; the winner of the trophy that year,

Barry Sanders, is widely considered the greatest col-lege running back of all time. To finish 10th in the Heis-

man voting with those kinds of defensive numbers, es-pecially for a stat as game-changing as the quarterback sack, is insulting to defensive players, as well as anyone else who has played the game. This unspoken code of con-duct held true for decades. While numerous defensive players had come close to winning the award (the offi-cial Heisman website proud-ly displays a list of top five finishes for defenders), only one defensive player actu-ally won in the Heisman’s storied history. Charles Woodson won the Heis-man trophy in 1997 while

see Heisman, pg. 21

by Sam Sherman

by Michael Rothe

Dan Purdy/Biloxi Sun Herald/MCT Direct

19Sportstwitter.com/khsprairienews

playing defensive back for the Michigan Wolverines. Despite this break in the trend of quarterbacks, run-ning backs, and wide receiv-ers winning the Heisman, Woodson did not achieve the honor simply for his lock-down defensive efforts. The year that Woodson won the Heisman, he also starred as a kickoff and punt returner. Scoring touchdowns in the return game is something many felt helped Woodson lock down the coveted award. Fast forward to the 2009 college football season; the usual big names like Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Mark Ingram, and mid major un-derdogs like Tony Pike and Kellen Moore are all the early favorites to win. One man who makes it his mission every col-lege football season to sort out the numerous pretend-ers from the Heisman con-tenders is Kari Chisholm. Chisholm runs a Heisman trophy voter analysis website named StiffArmTrophy.com. Every year since 2002, Chish-olm and his crew have accu-rately projected who will win that year’s Heisman. This year, things are not so easy. “[The 2009 Heisman trophy race] is a very fluid situation this year because no one has emerged as that dominant player yet,” Chisholm said. Last year’s Heisman trium-virate of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow has been underwhelming. Brad-ford has been out for the year with a shoulder injury, McCoy’s trademark gutsy plays have been lacking, and Tebow’s Florida Ga-tors have won with defense and a strong running game. With the offensive names

of college football sputter-ing, it is only reasonable to give a fair shake to the defensive players; and no other player in all of college football is better than Ne-braska’s Ndamukong Suh. Every bit of 6’5 300 pounds, Nebraska’s leading tackler and sack artist is a dominating force on the in-side of the Cornhusker de-fensive line. Suh is widely considered the heart and soul of Nebraska’s defense, in-spiring the resurgent black-shirts (an old nickname for Nebraska’s defense) to a top ten defensive ranking in scor-ing defense and keeping the Cornhuskers in games they otherwise may have lost. On November 7, Suh led Ne-braska over the Oklahoma Sooners. Suh and his team-mates hassled OU quarter-back Landry Jones all game long and limited the Sooner offense to just 3 points. Suh’s heart and determi-nation (and great namesake: “Ndamukong” means “House of Spears” in Suh’s native language of the Ngema tribe of Cameroon) is one of a few qualities Chisholm believes Heisman winners show. “It’s not just a stats award,” Chisholm said. “It’s a lot about poise, leadership, and a ‘Heisman moment’”. Chisholm points to de-fining moments for past Heisman winners, such as Tim Tebow’s “I will not lose another game” speech after Florida lost to Ole Miss in 2008 as examples of a “Heisman moment”. So with the Heisman race still foggy eight weeks into the season, is it time for a change of pace in select-ing the Heisman winner? Said Chisholm, “Abso-lutely; two years ago the rule was you gotta be a ju-nior or a senior [to win the Heismman]. Rules are meant to be broken.”

SETH’S PICKSAcross the country op-

timism is high, every team in the nation is

undefeated, and everybody knows this is their team’s year. However, only one team will reach glory, and every coach, except for a handful, is nervous and anxious about the upcoming season. Spec-ulation will soon end and questions will soon be an-swered as the college basket-ball season is set to kick off. The established powers in college basketball return this year with the usual stacked teams and cocky fan base. Kansas, UNC, Duke, and Kentucky, all arguably one of the best programs of all time, have strong teams this year and will surely be involved late in March. Kansas enters the season as the number one team in the nation in the AP and Coaches polls. Senior Sherron Collins leads this talented group of Jayhawks into this season with high expectations. The Jayhawks were disappointed with last year’s Sweet 16 finish, and are hungry to get this season started. Although Kansas en-ters as the top team, this year is wide open and many teams have a chance to compete. Last year, North Carolina had one of the most dominant teams in the country, this year they are without Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Elling-ton, Ty Lawson, and Danny Green, who accounted for a majority of the points, min-utes, and leadership. This year they will have to rely on the talent of sophomore Ed Davis and the leadership of seniors Deon Thomp-son and Marcus Ginyard. Kentucky is probably the most talented team in the country but very untested. In new head coach John Cali-pari fashion, he leads a group of young, fast, and athletic

men into the season. With an amazing recruiting class fea-turing John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, and Eric Bledsoe and the leadership of Patrick Pat-terson and Perry Stevenson the Wildcats should be the class of the SEC, and if they can get team chemistry under control they could be playing deep into the tournament. If you looked at Duke at the end of last year, they would be the number one team in the nation. However, the offseason was not kind to the Blue Devils, as they lost superstar Gerald Henderson to the NBA and sophomore standout Elliot Williams to Memphis. Duke will have very little depth in the back-court this year, with only three scholarship guards, but that has never seemed to bother Coach K before, as he usually only plays a rotation of seven or eight men. What the Blue Devils do have is Kyle Singler, one of the best forwards in the nation, and the leadership of Jon Schey-er. It has been several years since Duke has reached the Final Four and with a mostly unproven field across the country this year, Duke could sneak into the title picture. The thing that makes col-lege basketball so entertain-ing and sets it apart from foot-ball is the fact that any team in the country can compete and has a chance to win big. Every year there are several “Cinderellas” that advance in the tournament. It is almost impossible to predict who this year’s underdog will be, but there are some worthy candidates. Butler is the top mid-major, if you can really call them that anymore after three straight appearances in the tournament. This year they have their best team and are a consensus top 15 team.

The Dayton Flyers are an-other top 25 team mid-major with an experienced team that could factor in. Siena in the MAAC, Xavier in the Atlantic 10, and of course Gonzaga out west round out the top 5 mid-majors. As for close to home teams, Mizzou lost their two lead-ing scorers and big men in DeMarrie Carrol and Leo Lyons, but coach Mike An-derson’s fast style doesn’t rely on leadership or big men. They should have an-other great shot at the tour-nament, which is a lot more than I can say for Missouri State. The local Bears are in for what looks like another rebuilding year, as second year coach Cuonzo Martin tries to improve on last year. Not one team in this year’s season will have complete domination over another; there are plenty of teams this year that can compete. It should be an exciting year all around and I will leave you all with a few of my predictions.

Heisman, continued from page 20

SEALZ’S TOP 101.Kansas2.Mich State3.Kentucky4.Texas5.Villanova6.Purdue7.UNC8.Duke9.West Virginia10. Butler

FINAL FOUR1.Mich. St.

2.Texas3.Duke (homer pick)

4.VillanovaDark horse- Tulsa

by Seth Seely - C o l l e g e B a s k e t b a l l E d i t i o n ! -

20 News November 24, 2009khsprairienews.com

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