thetrojanbluestreak.com

As season cools, keep your wallet warm

byhillaryLAWRENCE

As winter rolls around, students begin to bundle up; however, there are ways to bundle up without spending a bundle.

A big fashion this year is scarves, but nobody wants to spend $29.50 for a scrap of fabric from American Eagle. The cute styles are next for nothing at Wal-Mart. It’s only $9.99 for an easy way to dress up a simple long-sleeve tee.

“I found my scarf for $4 in Cambodia. I’ve liked scarves for years, before they were cool,” senior Jenna Dolecek said.

Another fashion is oversized sweaters. Not only are they comfortable, they keep you warm and are easy to dress up.

For the high prices Hollister is the typical place to find sweaters in every shape, size and color. But a much more economical version is at Target, with prices beginning at $17.99.

An easy way to dress up sweaters is to pair it with skinny jeans.

Speaking of jeans, that’s a critical staple to a girl’s winter wardrobe. Make sure you buy jeans that are comfortable and fit correctly. These are one thing that you shouldn’t skimp on. A dressy pair of jeans can complete any outfit.

Coats are necessary to cover up. While the NorthFace jackets are in, they can cost you a load of money, beginning at about $65. Old Navy sports a cheaper version of this pricey jacket for a mere $15.

“TJ Maxx is a great place to find cheap NorthFace, but the Old Navy fleece does me just fine,” senior Madison Starns said.

Shoes and bags are the final accessory. While everyone covets the UGG brand boots, a much cheaper and simpler alternative is available. For a pair of short slippers, three different colors can be found at Target for a mere $16.99. For a longer pair, $24.99 is the price, with color options to choose from as well.

Senior, Tiffany Wilson said, “I find cheap boots at TJ Maxx. I have a real pair of Ugg boots but I wear my knock-offs more because I can buy more colors.”

Several other knockoff Uggs can be found as well in the mall at places such as Charlotte Russe for anywhere between $30 to $40 or American Eagle for $69.50.

Winter bags can be hard to shop for, but anything black or brown can tide you over in the winter months. No need to splurge on the Guess or Coach purses though.

Accessory City is the place to go for all the knockoffs that appear to be real. There is no place better, except maybe New York City. If you feel the need to purchase real purses, TJ Maxx is a good place to find them cheaper than the mall.

This winter, don’t fret about spending your entire paycheck on fashionable necessities. Take this advice, and you’ll have enough money left over for an Orange Julius.

byashtonSCHRAG

As senior year kicks off at East High school in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, relationships start to become complicated, and finding the right colleges to go to stresses all students.

I thought High School Musical 3: Senior Year was great. I think it tops all the High School Musicals.
I think it tops all of the other ones, because it has better costumes, all the characters are older, the props and background sets are much better than the other ones.

The costumes in the third one were good, however, the costumes this time were much more bright and colorful.

Throughout the movie, there are arguments between many different characters. There is a new girl named Tiara, and she becomes Sharpay’s personal assistant.

Troy and Gabriella’s relationship take different turns throughout the movie, and they get closer together through their tough times.

The movie also included their senior prom, and how everyone asked their dates. The way Troy and Chad asked Gabriella and Taylor I thought was adorable!

The music is awesome, its by-far the best soundtrack out of all three.

All the main characters are making decisions about where to go to college, however they don’t want to be separated from their boyfriend or girlfriend.

In the end of the movie, everyone graduates, and tells where they are going to college, however I won’t spoil the end result of the best movie in the sequel of all the High School Musical!

bymorganMESSMORE

After swapping a single George Washington for a newly recorded EP titled “Anatomy of a Disaster” with senior Teddy Bamford, I walked into my third hour graphic design class and plugged in my computer station’s headphones, like every other day. Unlike every other day, I had – fresh out of the oven - Nothing For Now’s five-track CD in hand.

For weeks I had been anticipating the album. The local music scene in Wichita is slowly dwindling down the drain, so I was excited to hear that someone from my own school decided to step up to the plate.

From the moment I heard this, I have been in sheer awe of the epic sound the band spews forth. Not only is it an exceptional progressive metal album, the skill of these young men – ranging in age from 17 to 18 – have proven to have what it takes for an impressive release.

Within five tracks, the album describes things like corrupt cities and dehumanization with intensity, brutality and integrity – nothing but pure metal. The stunning display of ferocious high-speed blasting, heavy bass-driven beats, razor sharp chord ripping, catchy riffs and powerful melodies combined with strong technicality has the ability to numb your senses and lift you into another state of consciousness. I hope that puts a little bit of light on things if you haven’t been following very closely.

With an influence list too long to mention, each and every track is infectious in it’s own way, while never sounding like the last one. Opening the CD is an intro, just giving you a taste of what’s coming. The track pumps you up for the rest of the album, making you want to get on your feet and move. The intro sounds like a calm before a storm with its guitar slowly transitioning in with every chord. After a moment of silence, the storm hits – literally. Drums crash in, with a steady, profound beat.

Following is “I Got the Dews, Dude,” “My Mistake” and the song they’d like to call their first single, “Crab Cakes and Football.” In each and every song, these boys never seize to amaze me. The phrase “they will be coming for you” in the second track puts you in a place where you’re running from whoever “they” happen to be. The fast-paced song sends a rush through your body.

Back-up vocals are coalesced into the third track, which is a nice melodic change of pace. A song about destruction, the lyrics “these fires spread like disease…bring the tyrants to their knees” blow my mind. Props to Dylan – you’re a lyrical genius.

Next on the list is my favorite of the bunch. Though it’s my favorite, I find it hard to describe. I’m guessing that it is because I was speechless when I first heard it. Three minutes into the track is the kind of breakdown I look for in every song. The guitar sends chills down your spine, the bass makes the hair on your arms stand up, and the drums make you want to continuously bang your head. Simply put, remarkable.

Ending the album is an instrumental song that cries, “to be continued.” The transitional sound leaves you wanting more. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing what’s next.
If you haven’t heard them by now, maybe their music isn’t quite in the genre you typically listen to, which is okay. A word of advice? Give them a chance. Their sound is truly epic, and I assure you – you won’t regret it.

Nothing for Now: way to keep music alive. It’s incredible to know that there’s still some talent in Kansas. Keep it up guys. Ultimately – two thumbs up. I wish I had more thumbs.

School funds reduced due to many factors

byjessicaFINDLEY

Every student at Andover High School is worth $195.

This may sound ridiculous, but it is very true according to the Andover School District budget.

According to Principal Bob Baier, the school receives $195 for each student who enrolled at the beginning of the year. Most of this money goes toward classroom supplies. This equates to about $121,680.

The classroom budget goes toward textbooks, library funds, the nurse and counselor’s office expenses and teaching supplies.

The other part of the budget is $79,000, which funds the activities and athletics departments. This includes debate, clubs, advisories, all of the sports and band.

Both of these parts of the budget add up to the grand total of $200,600.

However, the budget for this year is significantly smaller than last year.

The total of the budget before the cuts was $211,300. The cut amounted to $49,000, which brought budget down to $162,300.

The superintendent and budget manager for Andover planned the budget for this year at the end of last year. Unfortunately, that budget did not account for the many troubles that occurred.

“There are many reasons why these changes have been made,” Baier said. “The continued fast growth of Andover Schools, having 43 new staff members, opening two new grade schools, an average 5 percent teacher salary increase and the inflation of motor oil and utilities prices all add up to a smaller budget.”

Baier also said since the two new grade schools have opened, there have been many unexpected constructional expenses.

The budget cuts do not, however, change teachers’ salaries. Teachers are a part of the Andover Education Association, and this association does the contract negotiating for the teachers.

Teachers are guaranteed their contract salary because the salaries were determined before the budget was planned. Once the contracts were signed, salaries were frozen.

The teachers are affected, however. Their classroom budgets have shrunk, which limits the amount of “extra” things teachers do with their classes, such as creative projects or crafts done on the teacher’s budget.

Art teacher Lana Kaylor is feeling the squeeze of the budget cuts.

“I will do less of a variety of projects,” Kaylor said. “I am more limited in experimenting and trying new things with my students.”

This trend in budget cuts depends on the state legislature. All public schools in Kansas were told that next year they would receive an extra $59 per student.

For USD 385, that would be about $300,000 to be split among all of the schools.

This proposal is still up in the air.

“These are tough times for everyone, whether at home or school,” Baier said. “Everyone has to make adjustments.”

Although these budget cuts are crippling to the school, Baier has high hopes for the year to come.

“We will continue to make sure that we are the best school around,” Baier said.

byvictoriaLEE

Spride is defined as a combination of spirit and pride. Out of the whole student body, only about one fourth of the students show school spirit according to the results of spirti week.

“On game days students could wear school colors, paint their face, dye their hair, and get friends to go to the game,” sophomore Phil Johnston said.

StuCo members were required to wear the theme of the day during spirit week clothing and many other students were influenced to participate also.

“Spride is trying to promote students to get them to follow in StuCo leaders footsteps,” Student Council sponsor Kara Flaharty said.

Many students wonder why Spride is important. Sophomore Monica Farfan has an opinion on this matter.

“It will get the school pumped up and it will bring the school closer together and make Andover look more unified,” sophomore Monica Farfan said.

Pride is also a very key part of that equation too, becuase it makes students feel that they can be excited to be from Andover and want to share that when people ask.

“When people ask where you go to school, we want people to be proud to say that they are from Andover,” senior Megan Rahal said.

Other people may not be spirited because they might be new to Andover and many feel loyalties to other schools. There are ways to change that though.

Some of the ways that students could show spirit according to BGnews is to make poster slogans, spirit signs, make yard spirit signs, create big time banners, have a spirit fence and decorate balloons.

“Just get more involved, because it is good to support the school you go to,” senior Richard Gearitner said.

bykendraBLOSE

If you are a regular school lunch consumer you may have noticed the significant increases in prices since last year. Many are upset about this and are asking why. Anne Katt, the food service director for the district, provides some insight on the recent dilemma.

“When figuring prices for different food items and meals we look at the cost of the food, the milk, the wages and the state guidelines” Katt said.

The school lunch program runs on a 25 day cycle and tries to provide a nice variety for the students.

“Some meals cost less to the district than others. Our sloppy joe meal is not an expensive meal to make. Our breakfast for lunch however is one of the more expensive meals offered. Wednesdays are usually the less expensive recipe days” Katt said.

The school lunch program is basically its own business; it is not at all funded by the school.

“We pay for our own equipment, people, utilities, etc… it’s like a separate business” Katt said.

Like every self run organization there is either excess revenue or excess expense produced, unless a company breaks even. When the school lunch program makes excess profit, the money goes toward practical and necessary causes.

“We try to break even… we try to cover our costs. We use the slight balance left over to purchase equipment, purchase uniforms, pay our employees, and sometimes even fund school projects. We helped fund the new gate at Andover High School” Katt said.

The state reimburses the school lunch program for the students that receive free or reduced lunches due to financial stability. Less than 10% of students in the Andover district receive free or reduced lunches.

“The Andover School district is paid by the National School Lunch Program $2.82 for each meal that a student receiving free meal benefits purchases, so we try and match what the state recommends” Katt said.

The raise in lunch prices is not aimed to make money off of students; the prices rose to keep up with the raise in price of needed supplies to run the lunch program.

“There have been a lot more complaints this year about the prices, even though we offer some of the cheapest meals in the district” Lunch cashier Carol Adelson said.

The highest price of any meal offered for lunch is $3.50, which to some is to expensive.

“The prices are kind of ridiculous. For $3.50 I could go get a sandwich at Panera” senior, Grace Cha said.

Senior Joe Ryan believes “it is a lack of competition; they can charge whatever they want. I could go to the grocery store and buy the same food for a lot cheaper.”

For some students, the price of the food upsets them because the quality does not match the price.

“The quality of the food is bad. Even if the portion size was larger the price would still be too high because most of the food is terrible” senior, Charlie Pinell said.

Regardless, the school lunch program is doing their best to try and offer reasonable prices for students with enough money left over to run their business.

“The prices are good right now. You can’t go to McDonald’s and get a meal like you do here” Adelson said.

bycourtneyMOORE

Despite obstacles throughout the evening, Student Council sponsor Kara Flaharty managed to keep this year’s homecoming under control.

“Deciding the theme and getting all the materials is my favorite part of the job,” Flaharty said.

Flaharty is currently the Student Council sponsor, overseeing school events and just being in charge.
“I help the kids get organized and set up decorations,” Flaharty said.

She is also 4.5 months pregnant.

“My feet have swollen from a size 6.5 to an 8,” Flaharty said.

However, she was determined not to let her state hold her back. Flaharty stayed on top of everything, and handled issues with finesse.

The evening went smoothly, for the most part. According to Flaharty, the turnout was good (about half the student body) and Student Council made plenty of money.

However, a series of unfortunate events threatened the night’s festivities. On the day of homecoming, the backdrop fell apart, so Flaharty and her team of students had to create a new one.

A balloon arch was set up at approximately 1 p.m. Flaharty returned to the school to find the arch completely deflated on the commons floor.

Flaharty admitted that she began to get a little emotional about that time.

“Being pregnant makes me less patient,” Flaharty said. “I lose it a lot faster.”

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., she and a group of students created the final backdrop that lasted the entire night.

The dance began at 8 p.m., but was delayed by the DJ’s equipment malfunctioning. Later in the night, an overloaded circuit caused the music to stop and mayhem to ensue.

“I was getting really into it,” senior Corey Glaser said. “The song was awesome. It just killed [the mood].”

The rest of the evening went smoothly.

“I thought it was funny how everyone wanted to get breathalyzed,” Flaharty said.

This was the first year for breathalyzers to be used at homecoming, and will mostly likely be used again.

Winners of this year’s homecoming court were Andy Harris and Ellen Stout.

“I was kind of surprised,” Harris said.

Sabra Clark was also a candidate.

“I was really glad about the nominations,” Clark said. “It’s cool because we’re all friends.”

Overall, Flaharty believes this year’s homecoming was a success.

“I think it went really well,” Flaharty said. “It was one of the best homecomings we’ve ever had.”

byryleeELLISON

One biggest days of the year in Andover is the big rivalry game between the two high schools, but those days may have come and gone. Next year, Andover Central will be moving up a division from 4A to 5A.

Inversely, Andover will be staying in the 4A division, because Central had more students than Andover did when the state tallied the count.

“Division classes for each school are decided by the size of the sophomore, junior and senior classes.
“If a school is in the top 32 in size compared to other surrounding schools, it will be placed in the 6A division in the state,” Athletic Director Gary Merritt said.

The rules are different for 5A and 6A vs. 4A and smaller. The class a school is in is all dependent on how large the school becomes compared to the other schools in the state.

“The same rule is followed for 5A, and the top 64 in size are placed in the 4A division. This process is continued for all of the divisions. The more students enrolled in the top three grades, the higher the division a school will be placed in,” Merritt said.

Next fall, when Central moves up to 5A, they will face new schools that are known to be bigger, more competitive, and it will not know the backgrounds of the new teams.

“It’s pretty cool because it seems cooler to say we’re 5A, but it’s also kind of upsetting because we won’t get to see the people we’ve made friends with and played against over the past 4 years,” Andover Central senior Kelsie Meier said.

Many students at Central have mixed feelings on the division change. Moving up or down divisions can be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage.

“It depends on the sport, like basketball will be easier but soccer is harder. Five-A is a lot more of private schools so they are usually really good at one sport and not so good at the rest, so it just sucks for that one sport,” Meier said.

Even though both of the high schools share a community and district, the division change will separate the schools even more. Some think both high schools should be required to stay in the same class as far as size, but this year Central broke through and passed Andover.

However, some think the schools should be separate giving each school more individuality.

“I don’t think that they should be required to. For one, say one school has way more kids than the other; it just wouldn’t be fair to make them the same class. They still need to keep the Andover vs. Andover Central game, though,” Andover Central sophomore Landon Huslig said.

Student athletes who attend Andover have a very different perspective on the whole situation.

“It will be very different not playing them in baseball districts,” junior Aaron Hansen said.

Although Central will continue to play in the 4A division for football, it will move up to 5A in every other sport.

Because the league “locks in’ football games schedules every two years, Central will be required to play 5A after the 2009 football season.

Students prepare college application essays

byhillaryLAWRENCE

Scholarships is the word that sends fear into every senior’s heart. While deadlines are around the corner, some tips are necessary to ensure your success.

In order to be considered for a college scholarship, generally each applicant has to submit a couple of essays to the school of his or her choice. These are used to distinguish students in many different ways.

People who review applications tend to look for individualism, so the same “my parents are my heroes” story tends to get a little boring. Try to spice up your story by adding your own personal voice.

Senior Daniel Hobble, recently got accepted to Oklahoma State University and obtained a $5000 scholarship. He had to write five essay questions in order to receive this award.

“Make sure you use all of the space allotted [for your essay], and make sure your idea is developed. Include multiple aspects of your life,” Hobble said.

According to counselor Sue Coffman, the thing you should be thinking about as you write your essay is “why should they pick you over someone else? What is it about you that makes you unique?”

But where to find all of these mysterious scholarships that people seem to keep getting? If you apply by Nov. 1 to the University of Kansas or Kansas State University, all general scholarships are automatically submitted in your name.

The next best thing is outside scholarships. According to Coffman, the best way to find legitimate scholarships are web searches.

“Fastweb.com is a really good source to find outside scholarships,” Coffman said.

Early planning is the best.

Senior Joe Ryan, recently got accepted to West Point Academy. He endured the rigorous application, fitness exam, scrutiny on his extra-curricular activities, numerous staff recommendations and congressional approval to get in. This took a total of six months.

“Find a college you like, go for it, and start early,” Ryan said.

The short of it is to keep your essays succinct and individual, and get all your applications in on time.

byvictoriaLEE

Grants applications were recently due to the Andover Advantage Foundation, and teachers who receive one will find out soon.

The Andover Advantage Foundation is a non-profit organization that benefits all Andover schools in the district. This was set up for teachers to get more money for their classrooms or different activities that the school funds.

This organization was founded by a group of concerned citizens who had the common belief that the quality of life in a community is directly related to its educational system, according to that organization.

Its goal is to support all Andover schools. The organization has have a board of directors that is composed of a cross-section of the community representing all schools, and this is providing multiple educational opportunities above and beyond the funding provided from the state.

Andover has brand new schools, so what types of things does the foundation fund?

Andover schools were set up with bonds, which teachers are not allowed to use for their classrooms. The foundation understands teachers cannot buy multiple things that they need because the bond doesn’t fund them.

When people donate money to the foundation, the money goes to teacher grants, programs that directly benefit the students, and equipment to supplement programs. The teachers first fill out an application with their “great idea.”

Weight trainer Pat Moore recently applied for a grant.

“I applied for a grant about the end of September. I wanted to get several circuit timer clocks, two new racks for the weight stations and vertical and velocity testers.”

Next, teachers are evaluated, and if the board sees the teachers’ ideas as having multiple uses, then they will try to give teachers the grant they want.

Another question that is asked is: Don’t the taxes people pay already go to the school?

Teachers only receive about 70 percent of the tax money this year because of budget cuts, and they recently cut the amount that they believe a student cost by almost $1,000 a student, which really adds up to a lot of funding being taken away.

The Andover Advantage Foundation has many profitable uses, and it has the ability to affect students immensely.

“It allows us to get some stuff we couldn’t get before,” Moore said.