Friday, Oct. 12, 2007 [Vol. 39 Issue 2]

[the]imageLafayette High School 17050 Clayton Rd., Wildwood, MO 63011w w w.lafayettepubl icat ions.com

what’sinside

comingsoon[Oct. 15]NHS Meeting, 7 p.m.

[Oct. 17] Early Dismissal Day

[Oct. 18-20]Fall Play, 7 p.m.

[Oct. 23]Sophomore PLAN Testing

[Oct. 24]Key Club Meeting, 7 p.m. in the Commons

[Oct. 26]No School

[Oct. 27]ACT Testing, Greater St. Louis Marching Band Festival

[Oct. 29]Winter Sports Begin

[Oct. 30-Nov. 1]Hearing Screening in Room 108

[Nov. 2]Senior Lunch on the Shelf

[Nov. 7]STUCO Meeting, 7 p.m.

[Nov. 8]Early Dismissal Day

[Nov. 9]No School

Athletes of a different type take to the lanes and fields every week. Find out about a variety of aternative sports. [see p. 11]

Consistent traf-fic flowing di-rectly in front of

the school’s entrance has created one of the most difficult intersections to pull out of.

Concerns of drivers, pedestrians and parents have pushed the city of Wild-wood and Rockwood School District to begin preparation for a new traffic light on Clayton Road.

Curving of oncoming traffic, a hill and traffic backup are the main prob-

lems that student drivers face with the Clayton inter-section. Due to blind spots and poor visibility of other cars, the area has become a ‘hot spot’ for accidents.

“The only reason I got in an accident is because someone was going and they didn’t look to see if another car was com-ing. If a light was there, there wouldn’t have been an accident,” ju-nior Brianna Young-berg said.

Not only is the area unsafe for drivers, pedestrian crossing is risky as well.

With the result of the pedes-trian accident last year, the new crosswalk has been beneficial for people’s safety.

But a new traffic light would further ensure the safety for the pedestrian crossing, as well as drivers.

The light would allow drivers the full confidence of knowing when it is safe to turn without hesitation.

“At this point I think every-one just punches and goes whenever they can,” resident Tracey Carpenter said.

Carpenter and Debbie Ste-robl, who also lives near Lafayette, are both concerned with the lack of safety of the intersection.

Carpenter and Sterobl wrote letters list-ing hazardous problems drivers experi-ence.

Director of facilities, David Blick-enstaff, will help direct the project. The light is expected to cost a total of $150,000 for the signal and $11,250 for the design. The cost is to be split, 50-50 between the school district and city.

Traffic engineers are going to survey the area and traffic flow out of the cam-pus to ensure the best design is chosen.

“The signal is going to allow traffic to

flush out of the school in a more organized way than it does now,” Blickenstaff said.

The signal for traffic leaving campus at the end of the day will be timed for the buses and cars to move out quicker.

Initial design has begun this month and will continue until the construction is completed in April or March of 2008.

In the meantime, preparation for the lights will include replacement of a side-walk along both sides of the main drive, cutting down of the trees (five of which are rotten) on the drive and planting new ones, and finally cement foundations for the lights.

The end result is intended to be a saf-er, hesitant free experience for students when the light is completely finished.

“We all know the traffic signals and if there is a red light there, then the stu-dent’s going to stop, allow traffic to pass safely down on Clayton and then when the student gets a green [light] they will have a safe chance of making their left onto Clayton, or if they are going to turn right and proceed down the other way,” Carpenter said.

But many students views of the stop-light are divided.

Youngberg said the light was a good idea because, “it’s really hard to get out of the school with all the cars coming and it’s practically impossible to get out, and left turns are the hardest.

Sometimes I make right turns into

n e i g h -borhoods just to get out easier.”

Senior Emily Black said the light would improve student safety. “I think it will help with less accidents,” she said.

However, others believe that the light will be an annoyance as it is unnecessary and will hold up traffic instead.

“It just seems like too many lights in a row. You got one there, you got one at St. Albans, you got one at the three way intersection; it seems ridiculous,” senior Marc Polaske said.

The idea of a stoplight seems to, “make students more angry and they won’t be as patient,” senior Katie Strike said.

Construction should not interfere with traffic, since pipes that will carry the wir-ing are already under the street so there would be no need to trench across the intersection at all.

Blickenstaff said, “There will be times when there are trucks out there putting a concrete base to mount a traffic sig-nal pole, but I’m pretty sure were going to control that contracted work to keep them out of your way during arrival and dismissal.”

Officials hope the stoplight will im-prove safety once the work is complete and the traffic pattern is established.

“It probably will make it (traffic) a little bit slower, but accidents will be less so it really depends what everyone wants,” senior Olivia Jarboe said.

Want to relive the memories? A treasure chest full of photos ap-pears inside. [see p. 8]

French teacher Gina Lu-erding and junior Kelly Flynn tell how breast cancer has affected their lives. [see p. 7]

brookethibodaux[newseditor]

“The thing that really topped it for me was that

I happened to be there when the pedestrian

got hit at the football game

last year. I think

potentially something very

serious could happen there.”

traceycarpenter

photocredit[alexerdman]

STOPLIGHTgets the

GREENLIGHTSafety concerns prompted Rockwood and Wildwood officials to approve funding for a traffic signal for the front entrance. The work begins this winter and should be completed by April.

Students, beware of change! Grim news arrived from state headquarters through a series of phone

calls not too long ago. Twenty-five of Lafayette’s brightest students felt it the heaviest.

Dr. Tim Jones revealed that the Bright Flight scholarship program, traditionally awarded for an ACT score of thirty, has retreated to thirty-one.

There was a significant flaw in timing, and tim-ing is crucial when dealing with the schedules of others.

Herein lies the problem: because the judge-ment had not occurred prior to the new school year, previous achievers are left high and dry, knocked off the winner’s block without warning.

Twenty-five students have had their spirits crushed, forced to regain their momentum for, “a game they didn’t even think they had to play,” ac-cording to Assistant Principal Tim Jones.

Many have slipped into insanity, little more now than anxious time bombs of frustration and angst. These shaken souls have developed ex-tremely feeble nerves.

Lafayette has lost, more-or-less, over $150,000 of potential scholarship funding for college-bound seniors, the very test-takers who, after ac-complishing their goals of academic excellence, concluded that they were absolutely finished with the dreaded test, vowing to never lay eyes on it

again. Something here is seriously wrong. The state

department’s efficiency is questionable. Their in-considerate actions show a blatant disregard for all those at the receiving end of this bureaucratic nonsense. Had this new standard been initiated timely and properly, the whole mess could have been avoided. Why not enact a new year’s policy before the commencement of that year? It makes no more sense than a snake with sneakers.

As a staff, and a filter of information, we find this news disappointing. Bold as it was, this move serves no real purpose, short of aggravation, due to its poorly timed enactment.

The students of this district and state should not be at the receiving end of administration, and action toward any form of progress should aid in the education of the people. Therefore, why strip these bright, young students of their rightfully obtained college scholarships?

However, regardless of any inconvenience, the new standard has been set and the deed is done. Yes, it’s a pain to be thrown off-guard and forced into a bind, but obstacles are merely opportunities for achievement, for glowing success that would never be attained without some initial setback.

Now, all must pause for a moment of reflec-tion. Those directly affected should consider their options, for there are several.

First, there are the natural reactions as stated before, like insanity, re-examination, or failure.

Second, there is the option of Mary Mueller, a part-time Lafayette employee who specializes in boosting ACT scores. It is her duty to review your personal needs and provide specific assistance tai-lored to them.

Next, there are prep courses taught by Lafay-ette, which have been statistically proven to im-prove scores. These extra-curricular classes are available for this exact purpose, and are another valid resource to be taken advantage of.

And finally, there is the ultimate, universal solution. This bit of advice, the end-all-be-all problem solver, is simple: put forth your greatest effort to improve and grow with confidence and focus. If you fall off the horse, climb back up and be fierce. Tenacity, endurance…That is what it will take. True grit.

Wipe the dirt off your face and try again, try harder. Anyone who was cheated out of the Bright Flight money, although wrongfully de-nied something meaningful, has the potential to transcend their old scores, to replace them with a higher mark that will earn them scholarships and medals and awards.

Robbed, teased, and misled, all those who sat comfortably in their ACT scores must tread on with dignity, determination, and a powerful aca-demic momentum. The time has come for bright students to shine even brighter, and, after a long day of highly successful testing, perhaps even, at long last, earn a conclusive sigh of relief.

[two] imageopinions lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]imagestaff[people & policies]

Brooke Thibodaux newseditor

Aaron Casias asst.newseditor

Nick Elwood opinioneditor

Sydney Miller featureseditor

Kendall Brewer in-deptheditor

Nicole Castellano entertainmenteditor

Ryan Bueckendorf sportseditor

Alex Davis asst.sportseditor

Jared Anderson copyeditor

Sarah Calhoun admanager

Krista Hines photoeditor

Mrs. Nancy Smith advisermje

Staff: j.p.bartmess

mikebujnak erikdauster

bretthamlinkathleenwaddell

ninawalters minayu

InformationThe Image is published 10 times a year by

the Newspaper Production Class. Subscrip-tions are $25. Free issues are distributed on

campus. The 2006-2007 Image received a rating of First Class with three marks of

distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association and was named a

national Pacemaker Finalist. It was also named an International First Place winner

from Quill and Scroll, and Gold Medalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

PhilosophyThe newspaper’s primary obligation is

to inform its readers about events in the school and community and of issues of

national or international importance which directly or indirectly affect the school

population. The newspaper, while serving as a training ground for future journalists as part of the school curriculum, recognizes all

rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. Operating as a public forum,

student editors will apply professional standards and ethics for decision making as

they take on the responsibility for content and production of the newspaper. While

the student staff encourages constructive criticism of any part of the newspaper,

authority for content rests in the hands of the student members of the newspaper

staff. Students will not publish mate-rial considered to be legally unprotected

speech, or libel, obscenity, material disrup-tion of the educational process, copyright

infringement, or unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Contact Us We are located in Room 213 at Lafayette

High School, 17050 Clayton Rd., Wildwood, MO 63011. Our phone number is (636) 458-7200 ext. 2338 and our e-mail ad-

dress is smithnancy@rockwood.k12.mo.us Please visit us on the web at www.

lafayettepublications.com

PoliciesOpinions expressed on the editorial page

do not reflect the viewpoints or official policies of the school administration.

All editorials (unsigned) represent a major-ity opinion of the Editorial Board. Members

of the Editorial Board include all staff editors. Signed editorials, columns, edito-rial cartoons and reviews reflect the views of the author and not necessarily those of

the Image Editorial Board. Participation through letters to the editor by students,

faculty and the community is encouraged. Letters must be signed but names will

be withheld upon request and with the concurrence of the Editorial Board. Letters

should be limited to 300 words. The Image reserves the right to reject, edit or shorten letters. Letters may be submitted in writ-

ing to Mrs. Nancy Smith in Room 213, or to any Image staff member, or via e-mail to

smithnancy@rockwood.k12.mo.us.

Poor timing lets Bright Flight drift away, students feel a savage burn

staff editorial[ ]

Revolving Door:

In 20 years, a new religion will surpass Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It will convert even the most ample atheists and

agnostics. Replacing the lifestyle of Zen Bud-dhism, it will unite and save the world. It’s called Oprahism.

Oprah Winfrey, media tycoon, the most im-portant woman in recent history, and arguably the most influential woman in the world is an inch short of Heaven, or so it would seem.

Women flock to their homes for the 4 p.m. showing from Chicago’s magnificent mile to listen to Oprah’s advice, to see what books they should read, to see how they can make their life better.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Oprah is an amaz-ing figure for both women and philanthropy. Her charity works have no end.

Oprah’s Angel Network, to date, has raised $51 million, 100 percent going to charity. Oprah has built schools in South Africa for young women.

Overall, she has been estimated to giving $303 million.

However, the school that she has opened in Johannesburg, South Africa, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, has the somewhat luxurious surroundings of a Spa and Resort than the practical and specifically educational sur-roundings of a school.

The school has a maximum enrollment of 450 young women and includes the necessary com-modities of a beauty salon, an indoor and out-door theater and a yoga classroom. $40 million was spent to build a resort for 450 impoverished kids. That same $40 million could have been spent to educate and save thousands of children.

Oprah’s Book Club, which started in 1996, has made best sellers out of every book introduced; every book that Oprah mentions encounters the “Oprah Effect,” as it’s known. Oprah essentially decides what goes on the New York Times Best Seller list.

However, the selection method has encoun-tered criticism lately due to James Frey’s “A Mil-lion Little Pieces,” which was presented as a non fiction biography of Frey’s drug and alcohol addiction; turns out it was false to an unknown level.

The fact of the matter is that Oprah, like all people, believe it or not, has flaws.

There is nothing wrong with the person that Oprah is. She is one of the most amazing women in all of history; she is the Susan B. Anthony of our time and most likely of the future.

The problem isn’t with Oprah as much as it is with the fans of Oprah. Oprah’s fans seemed to have convinced themselves that whatever she says is not only correct, but the right thing to do.

Oprah did this, so I should. Oprah gave to this charity, so I will. Oprah says to do this, so I listen. Oprah cares about this, so I care.

Oprah is the good shepherd, but would you really want to be her sheep?

Faith better suited with daytime Emmysbretthamlin[staff reporter]

imageopinions [three]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

[stars & gripes]

stars to:

gripes to:

studentperspectiveTry opening your eyes to another side of life

Dope dog drug hounds take human form

nickelwood

SocialDecadence

jaredanderson

• The voice of Nick Gass echoes through the intercom once again! Announcements are finally back.

• Senior Women thrash like wild beasts & Male Escadrille dances like fools. Powder Puff is a glowing, ridiculous suc-cess, but where was the streaker?

• The administration gives a thumbs up to student wearing pirate hats in school on Pirate Day. They have spirit, yes they do.

• Latin teacher Jeff Tamaroff and French teacher Emmanuelle Echave are engaged. You know, Latin is the root of all the romance languages.

• The Island of Misfit Class Gifts has been discovered. The Class of 2006s benches are out front, and the marble sign from 2005 will soon be raised

• Mizzou is undefeated. 99.99 percent of the graduating class is ecstatic

• Britney Spears loses custody of kids to Kevin Federline

• Kevin Federline gains custody of kids.

• Progress in theatre construction continues to obstruct student progress in the hall-ways.

• The St. Louis Rams get slammed again & again. Most recently by their former quarterback.

• The Cardinals fly south for the winter, only this time, Walt Jocketty won’t be with them.

• Homecoming Hall Decs take nine hours to put up & only 30 minutes to tear down (after 2nd Hour).

• TKO DJs knock out sound systems by blasting single-minded music after they turned down James Brown. Put us in the DJ booth!

• With Homecoming over with, school is back to normal. So, how long until Thanksgiving break?

Giving money to those less fortunate than you in Africa is an admirable undertak-ing. AIDS victims deserve support and health care just like Americans with the dis-ease receive.

I have no problems with giving my money

to causes in Africa. But before you give money away, find out where it is really going and if your dona-tion is useful!

Some of the money sent to Africa goes straight to banks and is never spent. The money simply overwhelms politicians who sometimes spend the funds inappropriately or feel rushed to spend the money.

Or it ends up in the hands of corrupt govern-ment candidates who use it for campaign funds in excess.

Still worse, money often goes to corrupt gov-ernments who use it for a wide variety of things ranging from purchasing weapons to killing inno-cent people.

Relief workers from organizations such as the United Nations World Food Program are certain-ly needed in some African nations.

However, these workers face a difficult choice: help the citizens find food or lose their job. Work-

ers lose their jobs when they eliminate hunger be-cause there is no work left to be done.

Some of these relief organizations acciden-tally ask for too much food.

The extra supply ends up in corrupt political candidates’ hands. These highly questionable can-didates distribute the food to voters for support.

The organizations also harm local farmers. The farmers cannot compete with the larger, more corporate organizations.

Local farmers are out of luck because they cannot sell their crops at a low enough price to compete with the cheaply acquired foreign aid.

If the organizations left, African nations would not starve. Rather, they would be forced to trade with each other, stimulating the market economies.

Local farmers would also benefit as they would again be able to support their countries.

Similar to farmers, textile workers are harmed by clothing donations. Donated clothes eliminate jobs for these citizens: in 1997, 137,000 people were workers in Nigeria’s textile industry. By 2003, 57,000 had jobs in textiles.

Not only is the need for a surplus of clothes obsolete, (as very few Africans freeze to death each year) the donations given to Africa cause more harm than good.

Sadly, AIDS is a prominent problem in Africa. In 2005, an estimated 2 million people died from

the disease on the continent. However, reports about the disease have

clouded my mind. Some statistics about the dis-ease reveal a modest percentage of a 6 percent death rate for adults in Africa.

Other stats from the UN in 1999 project Africa will “lose one fifth or more of their adult popula-tion within the next decade from AIDS alone.”

Seven years later, in 2006, only 2 million Af-ricans died from the disease. Out of the 680 million people living in Africa in 2006, 2 million AIDS deaths affected a mere .0029 percent of the continent’s population.

So stop trying to help those less fortunate than us? No; be smart about aid to Africa.

Stop sending a surplus supply of clothing to the continent. Extra clothing does more harm than good as it takes away local jobs.

Do not believe that AIDS will wipe out signifi-cant portions of Africa’s population. It is a prob-lem, but not one of extreme proportions.

Support organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. This large organization helps teach Africans to feed and support themselves and their communities without foreign help.

If you have the time and money, do some re-search and possibly take a mission trip to Africa to help build up infrastructure in poor nations.

But whatever you decide to do, simply be in-formed of your good choice to help out.

Aid to Africa: Do your donations do harm or good

Dear Editor,Some mornings, I dread reading the headlines about

Iran — afraid and tired of what journalists and politi-cians have to say about my country. Words get twisted, photos photo-shopped, and stereotypes are in this way fostered by the media and officials of both countries. I wish that, to counter these misconceptions, Iranians and Americans would swap stories.

I’ll start. In Iran, there is a large alternative music character-

ized by wailing guitars and biting lyrics. Mostly rock, metal, and rap, these concerts are genuinely under-ground — illegal but very popular.

Iranian culture is very social, with parties abundant

in food, people, and noise. Iranian weddings, in par-ticular, are a real hoot.

Usually lasting deep into the night, they end only after everyone has chased the bride and groom’s car — speeding, blinkers flashing, shouting and tirelessly honking down the highway.

In Tehran there is Park-e-Mellat, a large beautiful park comparable to our own Forest Park: with play-grounds, pedal boats, and a miniature zoo.

Summer nights the park holds concerts of tradi-tional Persian music beside the boat dock, while on the opposite side of the park, dramatic, popular TV shows are shown on large screens. Iranian culture is very social, and parks are a place to gather and gossip

while children play soccer and chase each other with water guns.

Beside Park-e-Mellat’s colorfully-lit waterfall, kids on roller-skates and skateboards scream as they let gravity pull them down the hills. They swerve around other children vigilantly holding bastani-bollands — translated as “tall ice-cream” the tops of these frozen treats usually hover above the heads of the children attempting to eat them.

There’s so much focus on what divides us. My peo-ple, both Iranian and American, are great people of proud nations. I only wish they could see the reflection of themselves in each other more often.

Ghazal Ghazi, 12

“Are you okay?” Baffled by the unprovoked ques-tioning, I turned my head to discover the heavy eyes of an administrator studying me. I faltered momen-tarily, then returned, “Yes I am. Are you? What’s the problem?” As Assistant Principal Matt Dieckhaus investigated my ‘suspicious’ appearance, I began bracing myself for conflict. You see, my eyes pos-sess a slight, 100 percent natural squint, which I have donned every single seven-hour school day for over three years. Had he not recognized me?

Moments before, I had left my usual lunch table, headed for a moment of solitude and music away from the noise and chaos of the Commons. My progress was quickly impeded by the upper-hallway’s door guard, who questioned my destination, ready to deny access. I explained my position, willing to turn back if necessary.

Suddenly, Dieckhaus intervened and I was seized, taken to the senior office for close inspection. Dr. Tim Jones, summoned via radio, greeted the situ-ation with a puzzled expression, familiar with my clean record and solid GPA, assessing the peculiarity of my detainment. Reputation is crucial.

And for the record, I was in possession of noth-ing, wasn’t stoned or drunk, but I was extremely bothered by this unnecessary hassle. After all, no waste of time is acceptable in my book.

But sure enough, after Jones was informed of my ‘suspicious behavior,’ he stated, “Well, Nick, I’m gonna have to ask you to empty out your pockets.”

Forced submission is always degrading, make no mistake, but my margin had shrunk to nothing, and I was cornered. Dieckhaus, prodding my nerves, ex-plained, “If we’re wrong, then I’ll apologize and you can get going.”

Insubordination is a heavy offense around these parts. Anywhere that there’s authority, their will be strict punishment for those who do not obey its will. I was feeling that iron grip of rigid policy as I pulled out my pockets and removed my shoes for close inspection, as Dieckhaus stripped my backpack, re-moving all of its contents. Then, as the backpack was found clean, my wallet was investigated.

After it was all over, I could hear Jones mutter,

“Nick here is the Opinions Editor for the school paper.”

But I already knew this was the spark for my next story. It was obvious, a heinous display of ruthless paranoia. Why had this happened? Was it worth my distrust, discomfort, and absence from fifth hour? I wondered how the administrators would justify such a disheartening experience, they had joked to one another about how it was no big deal.

I was still unsure of why the administrator had felt it necessary to come hassle me. I was surprised, too, that after attending this school for so long, my face was unrecognized by an administrator, who, upon slight suspicions and serious profiling, decided this unrelated case was worthy of threatening a stu-dent with bothersome, trivial accusations. Should any free man be searched for contraband without creating a drug-related issue?

The interview with Jones came first, several days later. He spoke of policy, explaining the urgency of a potential drug bust, stating that it was imperative to strike the scourge without hesitation.

Drugs are to be hunted like a dog, utilizing feeble suspicions and hounds themselves to sniff it out. Police searches, planned by the county police upon availability of K9 dope dogs, are executed at ran-dom, and lockers may be torn through at a whim.

After a short wait later that day, I was greeted cheerfully by Dieckhaus, as if he’d been waiting ea-gerly for an interview.

He was completely confident in his view, which was, by all means, logical. I interpreted from his statements that drugs and booze were seen as a destroyer of lives and friendships, and many times they are. It was indicated, too, anyone who is caught with an illicit substance needs help with their ‘drug problem,’ and is therefore is worthy of harsh pun-ishment. Reform through isolation is absolutely nec-essary for these scum, for they are wrong and do not conform to the policies loosely stated in the Student Handbook.

Six of every 10 searches uncover an illicit sub-stance, and administrators are “surprised to do 30 searches per year.” I did the math: 18 of 30 search-

es are punishable. Therefore, I was one of, at most, twelve ‘failed’ searches. Twelve searches and one of those is because of my everyday eyes?

The administrators had explained their sides logically, I knew this. The trouble was they felt their views to be right and true, the Only Way.

If the real problem was the threat of drugs and their impact on society, punishment of the ‘wrong-doers’ will not solve a thing, only hold a student back. The event of a ‘failed’ search is natural in the weeding-out process of potential threats within school, but the weeding-out is unnecessary.

It is not the school’s job to intervene in a stu-dent’s personal business, especially when the ad-ministration does not have enough background to assess the issue as a whole. There’s a serious lack of trust. Students are not treated as equals, but rather are viewed as statistics, problems to be dealt with and solved.

“The school’s number one priority is safety. Number two is education,” explained Dieckhaus. This may be true, but are squinted eyes so great a threat to the safety and well-being of the student body, that it merits the degradation of an innocent man and an assault on his freedoms? These police-state tactics, excessive use of the Big Hand of Au-thority, are a far greater threat.

Remember now, that although we are within the walls of a school run by administrators, and are at the whim of their control-freak rules, we are still free Americans, withholding every right bestowed to us by the United States’ Constitution. They are no better than us.

[four] imagenews

]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]newsbriefs

GLAMOURNAILS NAILSSPA

125LongRD Chesterfield,MO63005 Telephone:(636)536-2206

FullSet$20.00

InsideoutYouthMinistrySundays@6pm

WildwoodChristianChurch16717ManchesterRdWildwood,MO63040

(636)458-2989

National MeritCongratulations to the 2008 Commended Students for National Merit. They include Car-en Abraham, Mayank Agarwal, Elizabeth An-gelo, Ryan Conde, Ryan Craven, Cole Donelson, Megan Drissell, Sarah Frueh, Erin Gardner, Charlotte Gaw, Kelley Hamrick, John Hardin, Lara Herzog, Alexandra Icet, Michael Izuchuk-wu, Daniel Jackson, Brooke Kinsaul, Kasey Klimes, Jared Legenzoff, Brandon Linn, Eric Lutz, Ryan Maddox, Eleanor Martin, Shannon Miller, Andrew Nandor, Alex-andra Nunn, Stephen Pan, Andrew Petry, Jes-sica Philbrick, Michael Rudd, Erica Shannon, Eric Vander Weerd and Tracy Wang. Alert Now More than 56,000 calls were made to parents and staff members of the District on Oct. 1 to test the new notifica-tion system.

Alert Now, will send announcements and emergency notifica-tions to deliver remind-ers, announcements and school closings due to weather.

Bright FlightOn Sept. 16, the Mis-souri Department of Higher Education changed the cutoff score from 30 to 31. At Lafayette alone, 25 seniors have lost their $8,000 as Bright Flight Scholars.

Software gives staff additional eyes

You are be-ing watched. C r o s s T e c

SchoolVue, a new surveillance soft-ware program, has been installed on school computers in the Library and in Technology and Business class-rooms throughout the school.

This software enables instructors to monitor students’ actions on computers and can be used to help teach students.

CrossTec SchoolVue is displayed as a toolbar on all log in screens on Library computers.

Once students log in, the pro-gram shifts: on some machines, it moves to the top of the screen on a toolbar.

On other computers in the li-brary, the software appears in the bottom right hand corner of the screen as an icon next to the clock.

CrossTec SchoolVue has student uses in addition to its monitoring capability.

Students can request assistance from their director or join a regis-tered class using the program’s tool-bar

The software can also be ac-cessed from the start menu if the toolbar is not available on the ma-chine.

Librarian Nichole Ballard-Long said, “It is helpful, but it might make kids nervous about using comput-ers.”

Freshman Charlie Frail said of the new software, “I don’t care that it [the software] is there because I am not doing anything I shouldn’t be doing on the computers any-way.”

However, sophomore Kevin Dunn said it “makes me pretty ner-vous. It’s kind of an invasion.”

So far, the software has taken ef-fect, as students and teachers begin to notice it and put it to use.

“Students have more awareness this year. Having it prevents student from visiting inappropriate web sites,” Ballard-Long said.

We can also take over the com-puter to help students out with class work if necessary,” Ballard-Long added.

District policy states, “All us-ers granted access to the District’s technology resources are expected to maintain a high level of profes-sional and personal responsibility.”

The software was implemented, “Mostly to make sure we follow the district’s Internet Acceptable use policy,” Ballard-Long said.

Student fines cover the $34 cost

per machine of CrossTec School-Vue. Dunn said that the software is, “a waste of money, I think.”

Junior Jake Welchans thinks the payment for the software is unfair.

“I had to pay a book fine, but the book was in perfect condition. I’m pretty sure I only had to pay the fine to help pay for the spying software.

Fine Arts teacher Bill Senti finds the software useful.

“When my room gets crowded, I can help a single student solve a problem remotely instead of having to drop what I’m doing to walk over and help the student,” Senti said

I can also send files to students and send instant messages to them using the software,” Senti added.

The software also enables Senti to share students’ work with each other.

“If a student is doing good work on a project, I can show everyone

without causing a crowd around one computer,” Senti said.

Senti thinks the software is use-ful for security purposes as well as teaching.

“I can look at each computer to make sure students are not doing in-appropriate things on their comput-ers and make sure they are on task.

The software is not just useful for catching wrongs, but it’s also useful to help teach students,” Senti said.

Business teacher Terry Hayes has CrossTec SchoolVue installed in his classroom.

“I haven’t been trained on the software, but it has good uses,” Hayes said.

“It can be useful in terms of monitoring students and sending homework to them. Once I get trained to use the software, it will be more useful,” he added.

jaredanderson[staff reporter]

[A Different Look]Graphic Design 2 students’ work is displayed on teacher Bill Senti’s computer using CrossTec SchoolVue. The toolbar at the top of the screen can be used by Senti to monitor and teach students. CrossTec SchoolVue is also installed in the library and in other business and technology classrooms in the school. [billsenti]

The new surveillance software installed

throughout computer labs is getting mixed reactions

from students, but staff members find it useful for monitoring and teaching

students.[

2008 Legend Now On Sale

www.lafayettepublications.com

Senior Photo Deadline is

Jan. 11!

imagenews [five]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

clubnews

The school store opened Oct. 4. Run by the Lancer Parent Organization, Lancer Landing sells school supplies and snacks. The school store from here on out will be sell-ing tickets for dances and other events. The school store is located in the old nurse’s office. It is open on 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Mondays and 7 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays to Fridays.

As students become more effective de-

cision-makers, it is logical that they should earn greater free-doms within the school.

Thus, an assumption is made that students will benefit if they are given more responsibility to determine the mapping of their school day.

This is the rationale for a proposed incentive program that will be implemented in the 2008-2009 school year.

Students accepted into this program will have the opportu-nity to enjoy special privileges throughout the normal school day.

Principal John Shaughnessy said potential incentives for students may include free time in the Library, Computer Lab or Writing Center, time for en-richment activities and parking privileges.

“The logistics [of the pro-gram] will be developed second semester after the master sched-

ule is designed and built. Each building will work out the spe-cifics for each individual school, according to their needs,” Shaughnessy said.

In order to be accepted into this program, a student must meet several specific require-ments which will be determined later in the year.

The proposed eligibilities require that the student meets a set number of credits (6 for sophomores, 12 for juniors and 18 for seniors), has no behavior issues or ISS/OSS the previous semester, has parent permission and does not have any failing grades or unexcused absences from the previous semester.

The district is also consider-ing having students enroll in a voluntary drug testing in order to qualify for the incentive pro-gram.

District officials said a drug test may be a prerequisite be-cause it makes sure students are not only doing well during school, but making the right

choices outside as well.“[If a student can say] ‘I’m

doing well academically and be-haviorally and I don’t mind par-ticipating in a voluntary drug test to make sure everything’s fine,’ he or she is a good candi-date for the incentive program and deserves special perks built into their school day,” Shaugh-nessy said.

Even though the district has a lot of interest in pursuing this option, the decision has not been finalized and won’t neces-sarily be the only way a student can participate in the incentive program.

It is also too early to know how the drug test would be implemented next year or how everything will be conducted.

“It is important that students are aware of these potential op-portunities. They will have a major impact on our school climate, our school schedule and the way we have daily op-erations around Lafayette,” Shaughnessy said.

Show me the money

schoolstore[ ]

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty Interna-tional will hold a Darfur benefit on Oct 27. in the Commons. Local high school bands will be performing and students are invited to come and discuss hu-man rights violations.

Valley TIFRockwood will start to receive all the incremental taxes from the Chesterfield Valley Property TIF (tax incre-ment financing). Dur-ing the next budgeting cycle, Rockwood could receive nearly $6 mil-lion in additional funds.

newsbriefs

Perk UpNew program offers privilegeserikdauster[staff reporter]

Tanning SpaThe Best Tan for Less!

Student Specials:Regular Tan $2.50

Bronzing Tans 3 for $10 WILDWOOD (636)458-2400 ManchesterRd.atWestglenFarmsByImos

[Mock Schedule]Here’s a sample of what to expect next year:

Zero Hour: 7:08-8:101st Period: 8:16-9:052nd Period: 9:11-10:003rd Period: 10:06-10:554th Period: 11:01-12:20 (Includes Lunch Period)

5th Period: 12:26-1:156th Period: 1:21-2:107th Period: 2:16-3:05

Student A1: Algebra III: 8:16-10:00 (A/B)2: AP Lit: 8:16-10:00 (A/C)3: AP Gov: 10:06-10:55 (A/B/C)4: Spanish IV: 11:01-12:20 (A/B/C)5: Guitar I: 12:26-1:15 (A/B/C)6: Chemistry: 1:21-3:05 (A/B)7: Drawing II: 1:21-3:05 (A/C)

Why are we moving to a new schedule?Missouri has new graduation requirements starting with the Class of 2010, requiring stu dents to earn 24 credits instead of 22.

What does a typical week look like?Monday (A Day) All seven classes meet.Tuesday/Thursday (B Day)

Blocked classes meet for two consecutive periods plus passing time. Standard classes meet in an identical pattern as on A Days.

Wednesday/Friday (C Day)Blocked classes meet for two consecutive periods plus passing time. Standard classes meet in an identical pattern as on A Days.

Will there still be Zero Hour and Flex?Both will still be implemented as normal. Zero Hour will be kept for two years and then will be reassessed afterwards.

Are all classes blocked?No. Classes will be designated as st andard only, blocked only or either. Students may elect to take 2, 4 or 6 blocked classes per semester.

Why are some classes only offered blocked?Most science classes must be taken blocked because most labs cannot be finished in 49 minutes. Some art classes must be blocked to allow time for their in-depth work.

When are blocked classes offered?Blocked classes are offered 1st/2nd periods, 3rd/4th periods and 6th/7th periods. Both Zero hour and 5th period are always standard classes.

When will students register for next year’s classes?Counselors will begin meeting with students individually in their Language Arts classes in January. Students will begin online registration for next year’s classes Jan. 18 and will continue until Jan. 28.

411 Stumbling Block? Schedule Q&A

Film ClubFilm Club, sponsored by Steve Klawiter, meets once a month on Wednesdays after school to watch and analyze films from a particular genre. Pick up a permission slip in Room 128.

Book ClubBook Club will meet Oct. 30 in the library with sponsor Nichole Ballard-Long.

Latin ClubThe Latin Club will be going to Eckert’s Farm for apple picking this month. For more information contact Jeff Tamaroff.

Marching BandOn Sept. 22 the Lancer Regiment placed 3rd at Farmington High School. The band will compete on Oct. 13 at Francis Howell.

[Information was collected from a Rockwood School District pamphlet and Guidance Department Chair Marybeth Desloge]

[six] imagein-depth lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]selfexam

“She was an impact in ev-ery part of my

life. Everything I am today is due to her. She will always be the big-gest part of my life. I admired her strength; she never complained and was always thinking about us. She would talk to me about death too. If she didn’t go through what she did, I have no idea who I’d be today,” ju-nior Kelly Flynn said.

Flynn’s mother passed away in the summer of 2005. Her mother was first diagnosed with breast can-cer when Flynn was three-years-old. She was treated and deemed cancer-free. There was only a five percent chance it would come back. It did.

Flynn’s mother battled cancer again for four years, starting when Flynn was in fourth grade.

This month is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) organization is comprised of several national public service organizations, professional medical associations and govern-ment agencies. These groups work together, increasing awareness of breast cancer issues, such as the im-portance of early detection.

Breast cancer is one of the top three deadliest cancers in the world. It may be hard to understand the ef-fect and the way this disease has im-pacted people close to home. Right around the corner in these hallways, unexpected students and teachers have dealt with breast cancer’s toll.

French teacher Gina Luerding is a three time breast cancer survivor, dealing with the disease since she was thirty-four years old. She was surprised the first time she was di-agnosed, because the surgeon didn’t think anything was wrong.

“The surgeon decided to biopsy the lump from my breast, but didn’t think it was anything. The cancer didn’t show up on the mammogram. After the surgery, when I woke up, he told me I had cancer and to see him at 3 p.m.,” Luerding said.

The experience was almost sur-real for Luerding. She remembered thinking that she wasn’t afraid to die, but had no desire to pass away.

“I didn’t get upset when I found out I had breast cancer, but I looked at it very logically and matter of fact. The hardest part was telling my dad I had cancer because he cried. I had to be strong for him, because his baby girl had cancer,” Luerding said.

Two years later, the cancer reoc-curred in a different place. It went into Luerding’s neck, crushing one of the bones like a soda can.

The doctors told her it looked

as though she was in an automobile accident. The broken bone was re-moved from Luerding’s neck and replaced with a metal plate.

“After my second experience with cancer, my goal was to be at school teaching full time, which would be three or two months after my bone marrow transplant. Basically, you are poisoned till you are at the brink of death, and then given your own bone marrow and blood for life. I was pooped after the treatment, but back at school. I looked like a mess, but I was back,” Luerding said.

Luerding’s final experience with breast cancer was in 2002 when the doctor found a little spot of the can-cer in her back.

“I am a lot more afraid of death now than I was five years ago. I feel confident death isn’t near, but there will never be a certainty. I see the oncologist every three months, even though the cancer hasn’t returned since 2002,” Luerding said.

Luerding was extraordinarily lucky to survive this disease three times, which is something she has split feelings about.

“I am tremendously grateful and proud I survived. Not proud in the boastful sense, but a humble pride. I wondered why me and not someone else. I use my survival in helpful ways because I believe God has a purpose for everything,” Luerding said.

Unfortunately, not all stories have a happy ending. Although statistics show that death rates due to breast cancer are actually dropping, and the American Cancer Society reports only about 1 in 35 women with the cancer die from it, that number was still too high for Flynn.

“The doctors said everything would be okay, but it wasn’t. When you see all of these statistics proven wrong, you start to give up hope. I wondered why my mom had to go through all that pain. It can happen to anyone. Breast cancer is not a sta-tistic, it’s real,” Flynn said.

When the cancer returned, it had entered her bones, and could not be removed.

“I remember my mother sat me down and told me. You cry, but you don’t really understand. I asked if she would die. She told me the can-cer grows slowly in the bones, so she would make it. The fatality of the cancer didn’t hit me,” Flynn said.

The breast cancer didn’t become serious until the summer before Flynn’s freshman year. At this time, the cancer had entered her brain and her liver. She was becoming weaker and weaker, often going in and out of the hospital.

“Everyone was always there for me. I’ve got really great friends.Ten minutes after my mother died I called them and they came over. My friend’s mother’s helped a lot too, taking me to places and shopping with me,” Flynn said.

Flynn’s mother passed away at the age of forty-six. After two years, Flynn is going through high school with a brave face and maturity.

“One thing I don’t regret is the past because my mother and I talked all the time about everything. I wish she could be there for me in the fu-ture; I wish I could do things with my mother you are supposed to. We can’t go dress shopping, she won’t be at my wedding, become a grand-mother, she wasn’t even able to see me enter high school,” Flynn said.

Both Luerding and Flynn are grateful, and have learned the im-portance of love, but obviously, for different reasons.

“I don’t know who’d I’d be if I hadn’t experienced this. I look at ev-erything differently. I may take some things for granted, but I am grate-ful for the time I had with my mom. You never get over these things, you just adapt to them,” Flynn said.

“I had an attitude of faith during my cancer. God is in control. There were certain things physically I could

do to help myself, but I accepted the outcome was not in my hands. I wanted to live life as normally as I could,” Luerding said.

Luerding, Flynn and many other women around the world have bat-tled this cancer, this war of disease.

For the year 2007, it has been es-timated that 180,510 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women. While the disease is the leading cause of cancer death for women, there is a cure: early de-tection.

NBCAM focuses on building breast cancer awareness and the im-portance of early detection. Studies show that regular breast self-exams, combined with an annual exam by a doctor, improves the chances of detecting cancer early.

For anyone who is dealing with breast cancer or watching a loved one suffer, Luerding and Flynn agree that it’s best to stay positive and find hope.

“Find someone to talk to about your feelings. Don’t bottle it up in-side. You have to face it, because breast cancer is not a death sen-tence. Most importantly, be in con-trol. Cancer does not define you,” Luerding said.

Step 1:

Begin by looking at your breasts in the mir-ror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips.

If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor’s attention:

•Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin•A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out) •Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling

Step 2:

Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3:

While you’re at the mirror, gently squeeze each nipple between your finger and thumb and check for nipple discharge (this could be a milky or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4:

Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few fingers of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together.

•You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast.

Step 5:

Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower.

Information was found from www.breastcancer.org

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[Five Steps] Breast Cancer Awareness Month

kendallbrewer[in-depth editor]

[Pretty in Pink]Donating money to NHS for breast cancer research, senior Theresa Hibler and junior Jessica Weingarten dig through their purses for change. October, breast cancer awareness month, is used as a tool, educating the women who are at risk for breast cancer and increasing their awareness of the disease. [kendallbrewer]

Staff member, student share their trials with breast cancer

Three-Time Survivor

An Unforgiving Disease

Raising Awareness

Every three minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. Women should start performing breast exams by age of 20 at the very latest. Here is how to do it.

imagefeatures [seven]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

Finishing the fight: Halo 3 Believe. This is one word that is used to sum up Microsoft’s third installment in the Halo series.

On Tuesday, Sept. 15 millions of gamers were finally granted their wish with the release of Halo 3. Moms were immediately buying bags of Dori-tos and cases of Mountain Dew to fulfill the crav-ings of basements full of kids.

According to Xbox.com, Halo 3 “has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in his-tory, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours.”

This topped the 2004 release of Halo 2 which had $125 million in sales.

Both Halo 2 and Halo 3 had thousands turn out for the midnight releases.

“I worked for the busiest district during the Halo 2 launch. There was a line of over 700 peo-ple,” said GameStop employee Jason Thurston.

Security is upped at the releases, but for the most part, there weren’t any problems.

“All of the workers have to be watching and they always bring in extra security, but everyone has already pre-ordered their copies so it isn’t go-ing to turn into a brawl like there was over Tickle-Me-Elmo’s,” Thurston said.

Die hard fans wait for over three hours to get their games.

“I’ve been playing for about three and half years,” senior Jeremy Studt said. Junior Adam Vinson said he’s played for over four years. The game offers both online play and a campaign. “I like the story, I play the campaign more than I

Final Halo is met with hype from millions and the revenue to back it up

MSNBC stated Halo 3 earned approximately $170 million on the first day of sales. This topped the Spiderman 3 debut which took in approximately $59 million.

Halo 3’s sales also broke Halo 2’s record of $125 million.

Halo and Halo 2’s first sales combined sold 15 million copies

Information from XBOX.com said Sept. 25 was the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.

More than 10,000 retail-ers hosted Midnight Madness events to celebrate the launch of this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise.

More than 1.7 million copies of Halo 3 were pre-ordered in the U.S. before a single store opened its doors, mak-ing this the fastest pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of Halo 2.

FACS Recipe of the MonthCoffin Sandwiches

[What About Halo?]

[Holding the Helmet High] Joseph Longo, freshman, opens the first Legendary Edition of Halo 3. The special edition cost $130 and included an art book, bonus content and a collectible Master Chief styled helmet. Gamers waited for more than three hours for their chance to get ahold of their copy a day before its actual release. [mikebujnak]

mikebujnak[staff reporter]

play online,” said Vinson. “I actually prefer play-ing online, in three and a half years of playing I’ve never even beat a campaign,” Studt said.

“I play custom [online] games instead of ranked games. Most people that play the ranked games suck anyway,” said Studt.

The release has gamers anxious to see what’s new.

“I’m hoping for everything to be better,” said Vinson. “I really want to see the campaign more Earth-based than the other Halo’s.”

Studt said, “I really want to see new weapons. In previous games everyone stuck to the battle rifle. I want to see more close range weapons, not rockets and other cheap ones. I also hope to see new, smaller levels. Previously, the levels were all fun and stuff but they were always too big or just weren’t that great.”

Microsoft previously released a Beta version to give players a taste of what was to come.

“I liked the fact that they released a Beta ver-sion so we could see what was going to be in the new game, but that lost some of the hype,” senior Eric Strobl said.

Even without all the hype, the game has peo-ple talking.

“It’s all about the maps, man. In Halo 2 every-one got so bored of the maps that you just played anyone for the stats,” Strobl said.

“One of the best new features is the ability to save film. You can replay anything you want from anyone’s perspective. Also, since it’s so new, there’s hardly any cheating at all,” Strobl added.

The game does have one fault though.

[The Waiting Game] Hundreds line up at the Chesterfield GameStop’s midnight launch of Halo 3. Stores nationwide stayed open late to get some of the games prof-its. [mikebujnak]

Halo 3 is supposed to push the Xbox 360 to its limits. That is good for players, but some say it’s only worth it with high-definition TV.

“HD is everything, that’s the only way you can really tell the difference from Halo 2’s graphics,” Strobl said.

After a hyped up release, a small fault like that will not stop the Halo 3 players. Game on guys, game on.

2 slices whole wheat bread 3 slices Oscar Mayer Smoked Ham 1 Kraft Singles 1 Tablespoon Miracle Whip Dressing 1 lettuce leaf

1.Cut bread slices into coffin shapes. 2. Layer with sliced meat, Singles, dressing and lettuce. Spear each sandwich with plastic toothpick to hold it together, if desired. 3. Cut sandwich into coffin shape using coffin template and sharp knife. For an even stron-ger template, trace the template onto a piece of cardboard and cut out.

Makes1serving.Nutrition:(perserving)Calories250Totalfat11gSaturatedfat4.5gCholesterol50mg

Sodium1360mgCarbohydrate19gDietary fiber 2g Sugars4gProtein18gVitaminA8%DV

[eight] imagefeatures lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

Moments To Treasure

01.02.

03.

04.05.

08.

01. 2 Coaches Down

Near the end of the gladiator jousting event,

Coaches Greg Beckmeyer and Boyd Manning

prepare themselves for a real show. As they were

about to strike, they both gave up and fell to the

cushioned inflate.

02. Lancer Victory

Encouraging the team, the cheerleaders root for

a win. The Lancers demolished Oakville 27-0.

03. Splitting FinaleFlexible Eugene Kim, senior, hits a jaw-drop-ping split at the end of the Male Escadrille routine at the Homecoming Pep Assembly. Kim and the rest of senior men performed for the students who missed out on the Powder Puff halftime event.

04.

08 Dominates

Dominating the juniors, the Senior Women defeated

the Class of 2009 by a score of 26-6 during the an-

nual Powder Puff game.

05.

A Planted Prank

Unknown pranksters planted a tree in the football

field the night before the big game Oct. 5. Rumors

said the hoax was courtesy of some Marquette or

Oakville students. 08. School

Seniority A chorus of screams and cheers broke out as the seniors claim their victory at the assembly. Seniors won nearly all of the Homecoming Week events, which maintained the long tradition of Senior Class victories.

06.

Blinging Victory

During lunch seniors Emily S

chroeder and Kyle

Haberberger dig their toes in

to victory. T

hey had

to collect a necklace and gold coins with only o

ne

foot to capture the win.

07.

Yo Ho- Yo Ho

Showing the rest of th

e school se

niors have

spirit, Karen Bossaller, M

arc Polaske and Sarah

Shapland dress up like pirates. O

ther dress up

days included Pajama Day and Spirit

Day.

07.06.

eventwinners[Hall Decorations]Freshmen-Princess Bride 4thplace

Sophomores- Treasure Island3rdplace

Juniors- Peter Pan2ndplace

Seniors-Pirates of the Caribbean1st place

[Pie Eating Contest]Sophomores 4thplaceFreshman 2ndplaceJuniors 2ndplaceSeniors 1stplace

[Buried Treasure]Freshmen 4thplaceJuniors 3rdplaceSophomores 2ndplaceSeniors 1stplace

[Gladiator Joust]Juniors 4thplaceSophomores 3rdplaceFreshmen 2ndplaceSeniors 1stplace

[Dress Up Day Winners]Teacher Day Mikerudd FacsdepartmentPirate Day Graystamulus LauriefayPJ’s Day Adamgoldberg PattymabieBlack, White and Gold Day Kyleolney Kathysoucy

[Fun Run]Freshmen- 36 people 4thplaceJuniors- 46 people 3rdplace

Sophomores- 82 people 2ndplace

Seniors- 84 people 1stplace

One Mile Walk Brentfolan Annarector KirtimehrotraOne Mile Run DannykenneyFive K Walk Alexmace Erinpetry DiannetinnucciFive K Run Aaronkirk Maddieconklin Johnshaughnessy

[Homecoming Court]

Freshmen: Knight ThomasswobodaMaid Megankelly

Sophomores: Knight NickgoldsteinMaid Mollybrand

Juniors: Knight IanmooreMaid Konnakandeh

Seniors: OtislewisMaid GabrielademosMaid MegandrissellKnight BrianferchoMaid LaurensanguinetKnight Ericbarford

King RyancondeQueen Elisewashington

2007 Homecoming features traditional favorites, silly shenanigans and an overall Senior Class victory in class competition

kristahines[photo editor]

imagefeatures [nine]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

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Struggling with the unfinished the-ater construction,

drama teacher Gary Fishgall chose a one set play, Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers to accommodate with the undersized platform in the Com-mons. Usually the dinner theatre oc-curs in the winter, the musical in the spring and the play in the fall, but this year, the Fall Play will be a din-ner theater event.

“It’s not a theater, it’s not a stage,” Fishgall said describing the platform in the Commons. “It doesn’t have any room.”

By the time Fishgall selected the play, Lost in Yonkers, he knew it would have to take place in the Commons.

Due to the informal setting, Fish-gall wanted to work around the dis-advantages and transform the show into a dinner theater.

“I picked the play [by] Neil Si-mon, America’s most popular play-wright, because it has a mixture of comedy, so it kind of works in the informal setting,” he said.

The entire play takes place with an interior set. This is one reason why this specific play fits well in the Commons.

“A play like Picnic, that we did last year, could not have been done in the Commons because the set was so elaborate,” Fishgall said.

Not only is the set small and fair-ly easy, but the cast is considerably small as well.

There are only four leads, played by seniors Cassie Michel, Shan-non Nicholson, sophomores Lucas

Klein and David Adams. There is a total cast of seven.

Klein said, “The small cast will be cozier, because with a big stage it would feel empty.”

Since the show will be in the Commons, the rehearsals have to

take place in the Commons as well. Stage manager, senior Mayank

Agarwal said, “There have been a lot of interruptions. On College Night we couldn’t have practice because people were there.”

In fact, the cast and crew have

had a hard time working around the noise and special events in the Com-mons, but it must be shared with other clubs and activities.

Klein said sports teams would come in the Commons and “talk re-ally loud.”

Not only has after school noise been a problem to overcome but Fishgall said “the quality of the sound in the Commons is not par-ticularly good.”

Fishgall said it isn’t as clear as he hoped but the cast will just have to work around it.

He had moved all the lights that were in the Theater into the Com-mons.

Therefore, the ceiling in the Commons is filled with high quality lighting units.

Sound and light crew aren’t the only crews dealing with challenges.

The set crew has also run into a few obstacles, such as struggling to find room for storage.

The stage in the Commons is used for various purposes before, during and after school.

Each set piece that the cast re-hearses with has to be brought back to the Theater room as soon as re-hearsals end .

“Generally it’s just a lot harder because we don’t have a place to put the set and props,” Agarwal said.

Technical rehearsals began yes-terday and the show will open Oct. 18 and run through Oct. 20.

The curtain is 7 p.m., but a din-ner buffet is served at 6 p.m. The package costs $15.

[Putting on a Show] After two hours of after-school rehearsal for this year’s fall play, Lost in Yonkers, seniors Aaron Casias, Sarah Luedloff, Cassie Michel, Shannon Nicholson, Chip Pavalack, sophomores Lucas Klein and David Adams strike a pose. The cast has had to deal with problems ranging from stage size to noise level in the Commons, due to the ongoing construction on the Theater. [kristahines]

Yonkers adjusts to venue changecoolwebsiteswww.letssingit.com“It has a bunch of lyrics and bands, and people comment. It’s good to see peoples’ perspec-tives and what [the lyrics] mean to them.”-carissasanchez, 10

www.postsecret.com“People mail in their secrets and a guy puts them up. Some of them are really emo-tional.”-jillcherkas, 11

www.guimp.com The Smallest Website Ever: “If I’m in class and I don’t want a teacher to see it I get on it because it’s so tiny.”-joshcavarretta, 12

kristahines[staff reporter]

[Fewer and Less]

Each issue, language arts teacher David Cho-ate will provide some helpful hints to improve your use of the English language.

Remember: Fewer refers to numbers. Less refers to quantity, extent or degree

Fewer students are taking Senior Comp due to Mr. Choate’s scathing red pen.

Mr. Senti drank less coffee today because his girlfriend told him caffeine makes him goofy.

[ten] imagefeatures lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

Truman

because, for me,Truman’s campus is

just the right size. I love walking around campus and seeing

people I know. ”ALISON STIEHL

Lafayette H.S., 2006

Business

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More Money, Less ProblemsStudents rely on parents, themselves to pay for rising tuition costs

“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car;

but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”

That was an easy statement for Theodore Roosevelt to make. Roos-evelt graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard, which was all paid for by the wealthy Roosevelt family.

Today, some kids have it easy when it comes to paying for college, but the majority has it tough.

Senior Sean McGuire knows that all too well. McGuire has to pay for college all by himself.

“My siblings have all paid for col-lege, so I know I’m going to have to,” McGuire said.

Over the summer, McGuire worked two jobs, laying down marble counter tops, and also working at the Chinese restaurant Hunan Express.

McGuire saved up $2,000 for college, but the money he earns doesn’t only go to college. He also paid for his car, and pays for his gas, insurance and clothes. “I’ve even loaned money to my sis-

ters, but it’s all good because I don’t have an immediate need for the money,” McGuire said.

McGuire moved in with his re-cently married sister while her hus-band finished school. Sean now relies on himself to wake up in the morn-ing and buy food for himself.

“My parents were okay with it. It’s helping me live my own life. It’s tough, but it’s fun too, he said.

McGuire is looking to college at either Missouri State University or the College of the Ozarks. Mis-souri State’s tuition alone is $5,000 per year for in-state, not includ-ing room and board and food. McGuire’s 3.8 cumulative grade point average (GPA) should help him attain some sort of an academic scholarship. McGuire scored a 22 on his ACT, he will be taking the ACT on Oct. 27 in hopes of raising that score.

In a report by CNN, the average cost for a four year private university topped $30,000 in 2006. However, 65 percent of college students at-tend institutions that charge less than $9,000 for tuition and fees.

Senior John McCutchen is taking a different route as far as financial aid goes. McCutchen is using a website called www.fastweb.com. Fastweb.com is a website that helps filter scholarships for students after they fill out a detailed questionnaire. The opportunities aren’t always practical, however.

“I got some weird scholarship of-fers,” McCutchen said. “The weird-est one was ‘Design the Border Fence’ contest. Literally, all you had to do was draw and design the bor-der fence, it was for $500.”

McCutchen is applying to Baylor, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Missouri. McCutchen has a 3.8 cumulative GPA and 30 on the ACT.

His scholarship towards Missouri took a hit when the Bright Flight Scholarship requirements were raised from 30 to 31.

“I have to take the ACT again at the end of the month. It’s all to get money back for [Missouri],” Mc-Cutchen said.

“I’m angry, that’s $10,000 that I had earned, not to mention my entire Saturday is going out the door.”

Twenty five years ago, Carnegie Mellon Uni-versity professor Scott E. Fahlman invented the “Smiley” in a com-puter message. Let’s review the sometimes, not-so-smileys

:-) This is the universal “Smiley.” Depicting the eyes, nose and mouth smiling. This is a posi-tive smiley.

;-) This is the “winky smiley.” The same as the universal smiley, but with a semi colin for eyes. This is also a positive smiley, some times too positive.

:-\ This is the “awkward smiley.” The mouth on this smiley is at a slant to emphasize awkwardness. It is most commonly a negative smiley.

:-( This is the “angry smiley.” The mouth on this smiley is upside down, as if it were a frown. This is a negative smiley.

:-0 This is the “shocked smiley.” It can be posi-tive or negative.

emoticonbirthday;-) :-) :-\ :-( :-0

bretthamlin[staff reporter]

PictureRetakesAreMonday!

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Fall brings the gridiron of foot-ball. Winter brings

the buzzer beater of basketball. Spring brings America’s pastime of baseball.

These represent the convention-al sports of each season. But in the depths of Lafayette, there are those sports which don’t get much atten-tion or participation, but have plenty of dedication.

“From end of September to the playoffs in April, we have practices once a week, meets al-most every weekend and take a one two week break in December for Christmas and New Years,” Head Coach Patti Elwood said of Lafayette’s bowling team. “It’s three seasons, so we have the longest sea-son of any sport.”

With its 12 members, who in-clude seven seniors and five under-classman, the bowling squad can make up two teams with one varsity squad and one junior varsity squad.

With such a long season, the team has a while to mesh together and get accustomed to each player.

“It is definitely a team sport, but there is some individuality in it as well with personal defeats and per-sonal triumphs,” Elwood said.

The team is lead by seniors Jeff Bohling, John Curley, Nick Elwood, John Ferry and Mickey Luberda. All these players are returning from last years team that finished with a re-cord of 15-13 last year and has a lot of potential to do well this year.

“We are going to have a pretty good team. The other teams we play will be solid, but everyone wants to

beat us because we are Lafayette. We should have a successful season as long as the boys work hard and have a will to win,” Elwood said.

The team plays local public school teams like Rockwood Sum-mit, Marquette and Parkway South.

Along the same lines of bowling, there are other students who par-ticipate in sports not associated with the school.

Down the street at St. Alban Roe, there is a high school soccer league. Many students participate in the league and practice and play games every week. Even though the com-petition may not be as tough as high school soccer, they still play hard and with a lot of passion.

“I have been playing with my friends in this league since seventh grade and we have stuck together for five years playing together,” se-nior Steve Lacour said.

Lacour, along with other students who either didn’t make their team or decided they didn’t want to play high school soccer, practices once a week and plays up to two to three games during the weekend.

“It is, surprisingly, just as com-petitive as high school soccer, but the kids are a little more laid back. The games are really fun and the teams play really hard. Both teams have a will to win,” Lacour said.

Even though the game may not mean much, guys on the team still pull for one another and want each other to succeed.

“We pep each other up and don’t choose favorites. We all are equally good and know we can’t just rely on one player to win. We need every-

one to contribute in order to win,” Lacour said.

Lacour encourages other students to join if they still have a passion for soccer, but got cut from their high school team or didn’t try out.

“We have some really good soc-cer players who didn’t make Lafay-ette’s team and it is a good way for kids to improve their skills and go out for the team next year,” Lacour said.

Both teams have openings for in-terested athletes. The bowling team is looking for more underclassman bowlers to be on the team. It costs $15 to play. Lacour said the soccer team can still take players on the team.

Whether you’re in the business of shooting off game-fowl on the bowling hardwood or game-winners on the soccer Bermuda grass, there’s a spot for you on these teams.

j.p.bartmess[staff reporter]

Off Campus: Athletes still show dedication while playing off beaten path

[Turkey Hunting]With a face etched in concentration, senior Nick Elwood displays perfect form as he bowls for Lafayette’s bowling team. Bowling is among the alternatives students are choosing over school sports such as baseball and football. [j.p.bartmess]

If you’re going to run cross country, start with a small country. This adage is featured on the backs of many team shirts around the Suburban West Conference. Not that Lafayette’s girls cross country team would know. Given Lafayette’s blossoming success within that same Conference, the back of the competition isn’t something the Lady Lancer cross country team has been seeing a lot of recently. Success within Conference is fine, but with several big wins at meets against top op-ponents, these runners have their eyes set on something larger. “I could picture us as Top Ten in State,” senior Hayley Olson said. “Ac-tually, I can’t picture us not getting there. ” This year, infused with the running prowess of senior Cheryl Held and sophomores Carly Michaelis and Jordan Taylor and reinforced with the returning talent of seniors Katy Cover, Olson, junior Brooke Thibodaux and sophomore Elizabeth Worley, the team is turning the heads of many. “Our team works really well together,” Olson said, citing this teamwork as one huge reason the team is enjoying the success they are. As usual, another reason is their longtime coach, Scott Brandon. “Coach Brandon has supported us a lot,” Olson said. “He wants to make sure we don’t mess things up. ” The Lady Lancers run at the Conference meet tomorrow at Jef-ferson Barracks.

Districts takes place Oct. 27 at Washington. Working harder, run-ning farther and having fun in the process, this is a new era for girls cross country.

[girls cross country]ryanbueckendorf[sports editor]

Girls tennis team prepares for State run

[Getting Low]Junior Rachel Bailey reaches down to return a volley during practice. The girls tennis team finished the season 13-1, with their only loss to St. Joseph’s Academy. [alexdavis]

j.p.bartmess[staff reporter]

Consistency on a sports team is key.

And when it comes to Lafayette’s girls tennis team, it is the focal point.

“We were very consistent in the season throughout, especially in dual matches, but we struggle with consistency in tournaments,” said Head Coach Donna Stauffer.

The team finished the regular season with a 13-1 record, but failed to win a single tournament.

They came in third at the Park-way Doubles tournament, second in their Conference tournament and second in the Rock Bridge tourna-ment in Columbia, MO.

“Even though we didn’t win the [Conference] tournament, we ended up winning our Conference since we did so well in our dual meets. Tour-naments tell a lot about how strong our doubles teams are and help us

make a decision on our lineup for upcoming matches,” Stauffer said.

The team made a change in their second and third doubles teams after the Parkway Doubles tourna-ment and it made a big difference in their upcoming dual matches.

“We defeated Ladue 5-2 after the tournament the week before and the change in the second and third dou-bles team served as the difference in the match. Without those two teams winning, we would have lost 4-3,” Stauffer said.

This change helped the Lady Lancers defeat John Burroughs in a dual match. Burroughs defeated last years State champ, St. Joseph, who the Lancers will have to defeat in or-der to make it to State.

“We have the physical and stroke game to beat them, but we just need to work on the mental toughness. We need our players to step it up and perform,” Stauffer said.

[twelve] imagesports lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]insidelook[boys soccer 2007]Starting off the season with a record of 12 wins and two losses is the way to go.

“We are off to a good start and are learning each game,” said Coach Tim Walters.

These wins didn’t come cheap. One win was over Oakville 3-1 and another was over Marquette 1-0.

The team was on an eight game winning streak until the finals of a tournament.

Losing in penalty kicks to Howell North was a hard way to go, but after that loss they bounced right back with three more wins.

Walters said they are looking to finalize a few positions, but hope to keep improving.

With the whole team really coming together as a whole, he remains optimistic.

“You can’t isolate one person. It has been a team effort,” Walters said.

Points- wise, the team is led by senior Stephen McMahon with 11 goals and five assists giving him 27 points overall. Right behind McMahon is Sean Butler (17 points), Harrison Grubbs (16 points), Matt Bleazard (14 points) and Zac Walters (12 points).

Out of the 37 goals scored, there are ten different scorers. The defensive players have only allowed nine goals in 15 games.

In the Suburban West Conference, McMahon is second for most goals trailing by only two and fifth for leading assist.

Senior Eddie Gaines is fourth in assists in the Conference.

In goal, Mike Hamilton has come up big. Hamilton routinely makes huge saves in some games, and has the least amount of goals scored on so far this year.

Coming up are key conference games vs Lindbergh on Oct. 16 at home and at Mehlville on Oct. 22.

On Oct. 25 they will get the opportunity to take down Fort Zum-walt West following a 3-1 loss earlier this month to that same team.

The soccer team is performing at the same click as last season’s State Finals team, but this time they are tak-ing no one by surprise.

“Once we convince everyone we are a team and not a bunch of individuals,” Walters said, “We will go far.”

[Beyond the Stats]McMahon tears up slopes, stats sheets

To put a spot-light on the stu-dent-athletes at

Lafayette, the Image sports staff will select one athlete to be the Athlete of the Month.

These athletes represent the fin-est Lafayette has to offer, in terms of their athletic prowess, their lead-ership presence and their unstop-pable will to win.

An Image sports staffer will in-terview these athletes in a Q and A format to introduce those individu-als who represent the Lancers in athletic competition.

Senior Stephen McMahon has been playing soccer almost as long as he has been walking.

McMahon saw time on varsity as a sophomore before jumping into a full time starting role last season as a junior. His speed up the wing made him a dangerous attack option to compliment All-State forward Sean Butler.

This season, he has broken through. Early on, he had to fill the shoes of Butler, out with mono, but he hasn’t slowed down since Butler’s return early last month.

Through Oct. 8, McMahon had already matched his goal total from last year with 12 of them of the game-winning variety. His 27 points are just four less than his 31 from last year

As McMahon continues to take his play to new levels, the Lancers continue to follow suit as the team takes aim at another Final Four.

Losses to Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt aside, the Lancers have lived up to the hype they re-ceived following a State Finals loss to Chaminade in 2006.

They were ranked 7th in the area prior to the Oct. 3 loss, behind only CBC, Chaminade, DeSmet, St. Lou-is University High School (SLUH), Howell North and St. Mary’s.

McMahon is also an avid snow-boarder, but knows that soccer comes first, at least during season.

If Lafayette is to make it a reprise of a historic 2006, McMahon and his teammates will have to make an effort, but a repeat of history is well

within their grasp. Q. Who is Stephen McMahon?

A. I am a snowboarder who plays soccer in his free time. Q. If soccer wasn’t a part of your life, what would you do with your spare time? A. I would say I probably would snowboard all the time. Q. What about snowboarding do you like? A. I just like going to different parks around the country. Q.: When and why did you start playing soccer? A. I started when I was young. My dad signed me up so I just started playing. Q. What level did you start playing at?

A. I was three when I started playing soccer for Eureka’s team. Q. How has the support of your parents and coaches influenced you?

A. My parents drove me to everything. Every practice and every game, they were there. Coaches in-fluenced me by telling me not to quit when I was going through a slump and having a tough time playing. Q. What is your first memory of soccer?

A. My first memory of playing soccer is when I always got to play in the rain at Lion’s Park in Eureka. Q. Whose style of play to you imitate?

A. I try to imitate Ronaldinho (of Brazil) but it doesn’t always work out for me. Q. What about Ronaldinho’s style makes his the style you imitate?

A. It has to be his moves. They’re incredible. They are really good.Q. If you could play with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

A. I would want to play with Bar-celona (Ronaldinho’s club team), be-cause they have an entire roster of world-class players on their team. Q. What has been the highlight of the season so far?

A. The highlight for me was when I scored five of our team’s six goals in our 6-1 victory against Troy. Being our team’s leading goal scorer and second in Conference is definitely another. Q. Who is your team’s biggest competition in the area?

A. Christian Brother’s College (CBC) is our team’s biggest threat because they are in our District. For

me personally, all opposing defend-ers are my competition. Q. What about CBC makes them a threat?

A. CBC works well as a team. Q. What are your plans for college?

A. I am hoping to go to Univer-sity of Missouri- St. Louis (UMSL) and figure it out. I hope to go there

and decide what career I want to pursue when I get there. I do plan on playing soccer in college. I am in-terested in going into business man-agement as a career. Q. Do you see yourself playing soccer in the future? A. I do plan on playing soccer in the future, for UMSL.

ninawalters[staff reporter]

[Wing Man]Senior Stephen McMahon sprints past a defender to receive a pass against Pacific Aug. 28. McMahon has played a major role in the Lancer’s ascent to the top tier of area soccer teams with 27 points at press time, leading the Lancers to a 12-2 record as of Oct. 7. [j.p.bartmess]

Softball tames Mustangs in District, looks to Stateryanbueckendorf[sports editor]

On Oct. 5, a Lafayette team played

a game upon which their season de-pended; a game which if they were to lose, as they did last year and the year before, it would spell the demise of their season.

Could this story be about the LHS football team?

Possibly, but this Lancer team did their damage with bats and gloves, no shoulder pads required, as the Lady Lancer softball team downed Marquette 3-1 for the District cham-pionship.

The Lancers are elated to have broken through; most were not on the team that last beat Marquette.

“We worked really hard as a team,” senior Allison Krebs said.

The win was no easy task, as it required defeating a dangerously tal-ented Marquette squad for the sec-ond time in the same season.

That Marquette had held the gun responsible for their early exits the past two years made it sweeter for these new-era Lady Lancers.

“Marquette beat us last year in the District Finals, so we were definitely out to get them,” senior Felicia Rob-erts said. “It was awesome.”

Up next for the team was Sec-tionals, which took place earlier this week. The team is confident that they have the players, mojo and coach to get them as far as they want to go.

Make no mistake about it, they will accept nothing less than State.

“Coach [Scott] DeNoyer has us saying we should be thinking we’re going to win State,” Krebs said, “so that’s our state of mind.”

Roberts agreed, again citing De-Noyer as one source for the confi-dence sprouting like figurative crab grass on the Lancer softball dia-mond.

“Coach is confident in our team,” she said. “We plan to win State.”

The team emphasizes that they are starting anew in Sectionals. No team’s record, their own included, means much on this stage.

“We have a clean start,” Krebs said. “Games in the past don’t mat-ter.”

Perhaps those games don’t mat-ter, but don’t tell the Lancers that.

Still stinging from the blows in-flicted by Mustang hooves of years past, the victory last Friday was as sweet and soothing as any salve ever was.

[Armed And Ready]With junior Meghan Lamberth on the mound, Lady Lancer fielders prepare to defend. The Lancer softball team is 19-7, with a key victory over Marquette on Oct. 5. They won 3-1 to take home the District Championship. [alexdavis]

imagesports [thirteen]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007] ondeckBoys Swimming:10/24- Ladue @ Affton

Field Hockey:10/15- @ Pkway West10/17- vs. Villa Duch-esne10/18- @ Marquette10/22- vs. Riverview Gardens10/23- @ Nerinx Hall

Soccer:10/15- vs. Pattonville10/16- vs. Lindbergh10/22- @ Mehlville10/23- vs. Washington10/25- @ FZ West

Tennis:10/9- vs. Troy10/13- vs. St. Josephs

Football:10/12- vs. FZ West10/19- vs. Pkwy South10/26- vs. CBC11/2- @ Marquette

Volleyball:10/16- vs. Pkwy South

Cross Country (Boys and Girls):10/13- Conf. @ Jef-ferson Barracks10/20- Dis. @ Wash-ington10/27- Sect. @ Jefferson Barracks11/3- State @ Jefferson City

Softball:10/13- State Quarter-finals

Golf:10/15-10/16- State @ Springfield

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Photo Finish: Fall sports hit stride

A No. 23 national ranking to open the season may have been the cause for some early losses, but the mettle of the Lady Lanc-ers came through during an 11 game win streak.

With another 20 win season assured, they turn their attention to the postseason.

Standing out from their wins are victories against Howell Central and Eureka, who elimi-nated them last season.

They still have one more conference game at Senior night at Lafayette vs. Parkway South.

The Lady Lancers took second at Districts with a score of 380 on October 3, as sophomores Lindsey Carper and Sarah Whit-man qualified for State with scores of 86 and 92, respectively.

State takes place this weekend in Springfield, MO. Whitman competed in the event last year while Carper is a first time State competitor.

The team was unde-feated in Conference, beating Kirkwood, Mar-quette, Mehlville, North-west, Parkway South, and Oakville.

The Lancers improved their record to 3-2 after a big Homecoming win over Oakville 27-0 last week.

The team is fourth the Suburban West Con-ference, but their offense and defense are both ranked third.

They play unbeaten Fort Zumwalt West (5-0) tonight at home, the second of a four-game homestand.

District play begins next week with home games vs. Parkway South and CBC, and then away at Marquette.

The boys took home first at the Fred Lyon Metro Invitational at Jefferson Barracks last week, de-feating the defending State Champ Fort Zum-walt West, along with Francis Howell, Lind-bergh, Parkway South, and Parkway North.

Senior Eric Lutz took fifth, junior Steven Stal-lis took sixth and senior Drew Stiehl took sev-enth.

The team will compete in the Conference meet at Jefferson Barracks to-morrow at 10 a.m.

Swimming is once again performing well in the Suburban West Confer-ence.

Lancer swimmers are in the top five in seven of the eight swimming events, with senior Na-than Rahe holding three marks.

The team are favorites to win the Conference, and thanks to freshman diver Ori Ptah they have recovered from an early-season swoon due to the absence of a diver. They have a key upcom-ing Conference match vs. Parkway South Oct. 16.

The Lady Lancers round out a solid season with several key games, in-cluding two against Villa Duchesne and Nerinx.

The Lancers haven’t faired well against the private schools this year, with a record of 1-4.

They played against Ladue on Oct. 10, with Public High League Title implications on the line, as the Rams and the Lancers ranked Nos. 1 and 2.

Also, they play at Mar-quette in the classic “Mar-quette-Lafayette” rivalry game next Thursday at 4:15 p.m.

[fourteen] imagesports lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007]

Rankings expose the best, forget the restThe dream was born in the humblest of settings. In living rooms across America, entranced by a glowing screen, we watched as our heroes played the game our fathers taught us to love.

We watched as they heaved touchdown passes across generation gaps and high-stepped their way to history, and a desire to follow in their hal-lowed footsteps took root in our hearts.

The dream continued in the backyard after the game, as we played Johnny Unitas, airing one out to our best friend’s Jerry Rice, just past the des-perate, outstretched hands of our little brother’s Roger Wehrli.

This pickup game of the greats continued into the brisk November evening until a call for dinner broke the reverie and we headed in for a hearty Sunday meal. Like so many young Americans, we were hooked.

Like many dreams, this one is not limitless. Most of us have traded in our footballs, jerseys and pads for equipment less glamorous; we will watch from the sidelines as new heroes emerge from the masses, bringing up a new generation in the tradition of the game we love.

Some among us have the talent to turn that dream into the reality we all crave. Physically, mentally and emotionally, they separate them-selves from the crowd with feats of athletic skill.

They have done what we could not; perpetuate the dream we all share as far as they could. Like a fullback barreling between hostile tackles, they refused to fumble the dream to those who wanted

to strip them of it. These players electrify scoreboards across the

area. They carry the weight of a community upon their shoulders, every play of every game.

We know they’re good. They know they’re good. Why should a cold, calculating website tell them, or us, otherwise?

Rivals.com and Scout.com have made a busi-ness of telling the world who’s who in the world of high school and college prospects.

Certainly, those players chosen as the top pros-pects are legitimate. Woe to the sportswriter who attempts to tell Terrelle Pryor (Consensus No. 1 on both Rivals and Scout) he’s overrated.

Obviously, this site is for the best college foot-ball and basketball players in the land; I’m not disputing that the athletes they have selected are anything less.

The issue with Rivals and Scout lies not in those who they list as the best, but with those who are left out.

The very concept of a site which ranks the best players in the country is flawed in that for each of the Rivals 100 or Scout Top 150, there are thou-sands of unranked players who have done every-thing right with nothing to show for it.

Technically nothing is wrong with this ranking system. It serves the purpose for which it was in-tended. The coaches, players and fans all get what they want while Rivals and Scout make money off of the process. No complaints are coming from their corner.

At the same time, everything is wrong with a system which has redefined a dream generations old, and not for the better.

30 years ago, high school football and basket-ball were all about snatching a piece of glory for yourself and your school, wearing a letter jacket and winning State.

Now, those sports have devolved into cru-cibles of pressure as players who merit a ranking are swept up into an upper echelon of unrealistic expectations at the expense of players who are playing at the height of their sports careers.

Such an experience can be the ruination of both types of players, and an obsession with rankings, scouting and college is largely to blame.

There is no easy solution to this issue; it is no fault of the websites that they rank the best play-ers. Still, we need to remember that high school football and basketball are more than just a pre-view for colleges and scouts.

For some, it’s still about following the dream as far as it will take them, and it is in these players that the dream we all grew up with lives on.

Finding gamechangers early changes game for better

bigleaguesstats, standings

& stories[ ]Following a Septem-ber implosion, the Cardinals fell to a third place finish and their worst record since 1999. General Manager Walt Jockey was fired last Wednesday, with a decision by manager Tony La Russa soon to follow.

RamsThe Rams, now 0-5, continued an incred-ible freefall to the dol-drums of the NFL with losses to the Cowboys and Cardinals.

The Rams play the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 14.

BluesThe Blues opened their season last Thursday against the Phoenix Coyotes. Rookie D Erik Brewer, the top overall pick in 2005, scored his first NHL goal last Saturday night against the LA Kings. The Blues play tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, and Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Mizzou FootballThe Tigers have ended the first half of the college football season with a perfect 5-0 record, notching a huge victory over Nebraska. Mizzou plays Okla-homa tomorrow.

Mizzou BasketballMizzou basketball gets an early start tonight with Mizzou Midnight Madness, offering anxious fans their first glimpse of Mizzou’s 2008 basketball squad. The Midnight Mad-ness is popular among recruits interested in the school’s basketball program. The event takes place at 9 p.m. at Miz-zou Arena in Colum-bia.

Cardinals

In so many ways, people say that you cannot predict a player’s future performance at the high school grade level. Many people think that just because a player is greatly hyped, it does not nec-essarily mean that he will excel at the next level, due to comparison of intensity.

But, for me, being able to judge a player’s per-formance on a five-star grading system is all you need to weed out the rest from the best.

Rivals.com and Scout.com, two high school football and basketball recruiting databases, both judge high school player’s on performance, and scale all the players to each other using a five-star grading system.

This system has been great for the time it has been there. For the most part, the top 25 players all make impacts on their college team, and the top players of each class all tend to take a little part of the national spotlight.

Rivals and Scout have both featured players like LeBron James, Vince Young, Adrian Peterson and Greg Oden as the consensus number one of their respective classes.

Being able to access information such as this has drastically changed the way that these sports go about their business.

Being able to watch recruiting this closely has been a huge catalyst for those looking to jump to the NBA, or for where in the world they will attend school.

For football, it definitely increases the amount of hype a player has, and changes up practice schedules, and even game days.

What players are able to do is set up what they call an “official visit.” This is an NCAA regulated visit that a player gets to a certain school. Hav-ing something like this play a part in recruiting is huge.

This allows players to see how they like the feel of the school’s game day atmosphere. Something like that is significant, and can be a deciding factor in how players come to their ultimate decision.

Recruiting, however, is intensely regulated by the NCAA. Coaches are not allowed to make any contact with a recruit until their senior season, which is absurd.

A coach should be able to talk to a recruit whenever he feels like it. Now, granted, he shouldn’t be going around to recruits’ houses at 10:30 p.m. on a school night to chat, but when a player is getting ready for a game on a Friday afternoon, a coach should be able to call him up and wish him good luck.

However ridiculous that is, it is even more ri-diculous that the NCAA recently banned coaches from contact ranging even to text messaging re-cruits at any time.

Again, a coach shouldn’t be texting a high school student 10 times a day, but every now and then, an uplifting or hintful text is not a big deal. All that does is build good relations between a recruit and a program.

I can see where the NCAA is getting off though. Using limitations like these will prevent the game of recruiting from turning into a head coach on the side of a 5th grade recess football

game trying to see who has the fastest 40 time.There are many players locally who are listed

down in Rivals or Scout, and are getting some mi-nor attention.

There are a few, however, that have been re-ceiving some major national attention.

Seniors Blaine Gabbert (Parkway West) and Wes Kemp (DeSmet Jesuit), are both ranked in the top 20 players in the state, and Gabbert is ac-tually in the top 15 players in the country.

Gabbert, who has made a verbal commitment to Nebraska, was scheduled to have his game against Parkway North televised on ESPNU, but suffered a shoulder injury before the game and did not play.

Kemp has also made his decision, and is head-ed to No. 15 Wisconsin.

Although it may not seem like everyone is cov-ered nationally, in my opinion Rivals and Scout both do a great job of covering the players who will end up making an impact in the future.

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[ ]Thirdand

Foreveralexdavis

[ ]Swinging for the Fencesryanbueckendorf

imageentertainment [fifteen]lafayette high school [oct. 12, 2007] spookyfun

just watch me

I’ll launch my careergive me the tools to succeed

Join us for an Open HouseSaturday, November 3, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Schaumburg Campus1400 N. Roosevelt Boulevard

Saturday, November 10, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Chicago Campus430 S. Michigan Avenue

Roosevelt offers degrees in BiomedicalSciences, Business, Communications,Education, Performing Arts, Psychology and Sociology!

To register: 1-877-APPLY RUwww.roosevelt.edu/openhouseapplyRU@roosevelt.edu

Dashboard Confessional: The Shade of Poison Trees

This October finds Dash-board Confessional front-man Chris Carrabba releasing his

latest work titled the Shade of Poison Trees. On Trees, Carrabba returns to his roots, focusing more on vocal-driven acoustic songs that are a pleasant surprises to older fans of the band. While bet-ter than recent full-band releases like A Mark a Mission a Brand a Scar, and Dusk and Summer, it still does not impress quite as thoroughly as older releases. Key tracks include the Title Track and “Little Bombs.”

Motion City Soundtrack: Even If It Kills Me

Even If It Kills Me opens with line ‘last night I fell in love with-out you.’ Perfect. Motion City

Soundtrack brings back all elements that have brought them popularity so far. This album is chock full of great riffs and Justin Pierre’s boy-ishly pop oriented voice. Previous MCS fans will find home in “Fell In Love Without You,” “This Is For Real” and “Point Of Extinction.” The only track that let Even If It Kills Me down is “The Con-versation,” which comes off as filler.

The Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

This shows listeners the Foo Fighters are still a musical force to be reckoned with. The first

single “The Pretender” is the best rocker on the album. The only problem is that it dwarfs the rest of the album and should’ve been put more in the middle. Foo Fighters bring all genres into one of their best laid out albums yet. Fans of the previ-ous album In Your Honor can find similar sounds in “But, Honestly” and “Statues.”

Kanye West:Graduation

Chi-town’s finest Kanye West is back with Graduation, his follow-up to the criti-

cally acclaimed Late Registration. On Graduation, West is at his finest producing toe-tapping hooks and string samples to accentuate his soulful Hip-Hop and R&B blend. While not quite as accom-plished or focused as his previous efforts, stand out tracks like “Good Life,” “Homecoming” and “Stronger” make the album a solid, memorable release from the artist.

50 Cent: Curtis

The results are in and by listening to this album it’s easy to see how 50

lost his ‘battle’ against Kanye West. The first few songs include gun shots and beats that sound mo-notonous. Okay we get it, you’re a gangster; how about being a musician? His collaboration with artists like Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige and more are better than him alone. The only song worth listening to is “Ayo Technology” which is on the radio.

Matchbox 20:Exile On Mainstream

After a five year break, the boys are finally ready for something

new. Each song has a catchy toe tapping beat, and “All Your Reasons” will be stuck in your head for days. Listening to the album takes you on a musi-cal journey. Through this ‘newer’ sound you can still find old tunes because the second disc con-tains a greatest hits album.

Music to do your homework bymikebujnak[staff reporter]

mikebujnak[staff reporter]

aaroncasias[asst. news editor]

nicolecastellano[entertainment editor]

aaroncasias[asst. news editor]

nicolecastellano[entertainment editor]

Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

Kanye West:Graduation

CreepyWorldfeatures: haunted hayride, cornfield and mansion, ending at Silo-Xhours: 7:30-10:30 p.m. (Sunday-Thursday) and 7 p.m.- 1 a.m. (Friday and Saturday)where: Fentonticket info: (314) 631-8000

The Darknesshours: 7:30- 10:30 p.m. (Sunday- Thursday) and 7 p.m.- 1 a.m. (Friday and Saturday)where: near Soulard Marketticket info: (314) 631-8000

Mr. Bill’s Thrillsfeatures: 19-room haunted barn, three-acre walk through a “Trail of Terror” and “The Black Zone”hours: 7- 11 p.m. (Friday- Saturday)where: Troy, MOticket info: $12

“Tour of the Unex-pected and Unex-plained”features: cemetery tours, ghost dinner tours, “the Exorcist Tour”hours: time varywhere: the Arch ga-rage and the Feasting Fox Restaurantticket info: (314) 845-0522

Friday, Oct. 12, 2007 [sixteen]

flagtheseThe PageantOct. 16 at 8 p.m.Brandi Carlile w/A Fine Frenzy$16

Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.Henry RollinsSpoken Word$22

Oct. 26 at 8 p.m.HIM$28.50

Oct. 27 at 8 p.m.Stephen Lynch$28

Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.Avenged Sevenfold$27

PopsOct. 16 at 7 p.m.Underoath$20

Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.VIVA LA BANDS feat.Cradle of Filth w/GWAR and CKY$28

Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.Chiodos w/Emery,Scary Kids Scaring Kids$15

ScottradeCenterOct. 13 at 8 p.m.Rascal Flatts$49.75

Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m.Van Halen$47

Family ArenaOct. 26 at 7 p.m.Casting Crowns$17-42

Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.Lithium: Tribute to Nirvana w/Even Flow: Tribute to Pearl Jam$10

The Fox TheaterOct. 16 at 7 p.m.Widespread Panic$32.50

Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.Bob Dylan w/Elvis Costello$57.50-77.50

Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.Carlos Mencia$37.50-45

New to CDOct. 16Avenged SevenfolSelf Titled

Jimmy Eat WorldChase the Light

Oct. 23Angels and AirwavesI- Empire

Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow

Serj TankianElect the Dead

The style of costumes has changed over the years. Instead of the traditional white sheet with holes in it, costumes have become more creative and detailed. According to Kristen the assistant manager of the West County Johnnie Brock’s the most popular costumes this year are pirates and the Playboy Bunny for girls. As for the guys; gangsters and pirates are the trendiest. Costumes have even jumped in price ranging from $50- $100 each.

Classic haunts will never go out of style

Senior Kylie Chi has been interested in photography since her sophomore year. This picture was taken for a digital rhythm assignment in Lauren Sakowski’s Photography 2 class. “I wanted to do something colorful because everything we do in class is black and white,” Chi said. She has her own darkroom at home and is a member of Photo Club.

Back In The DayFavorite costumes bring out a little character

Who’s Who?1. Jeremy Clark, senior. Age: 4

2. Kelsea Roccia, junior.Age: 4

3. Emily VonGruben, senior.Age: 3

Did You Know?•93 percent of kids trick or treat•Halloween is one of the oldest celebrations•A pumpkin is in the same family as a cucumber•The largest pumpkin is 1,446 pounds from Ontario, Canada•Orange = the harvest and Black = darkness and death•Magician Harry Houdini died from a ruptured appendix on Halloween in 1926•The Irish started the tradition of Trick-or-Treating

1. 3.2.][

[Jenny Helderle, 10] Age: 6

[Ryan Benthall, 11] Age: 4

[Anna Maness, 9] Age: 12

[Lucas Klein, 10] Age: 3

onArtCandy looks as good as it tastes when photographed just right

nicolecastellano[entertainment editor]

[info]tainment