1901 Louisiana St., Lawrence, KS 66046 Vol. 123, Issue 9, April 10, 2013

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Georgia Marshall works with horses to help adults, children with special needs

Freshman makes impact on farm

By LiLy ABromeit

Every Monday at 5:30 p.m. freshman Georgia Marshall can be found in a homey horse stable, mak-ing a difference.

In February, Marshall earned Volunteer of the Month recognition from CLO’s Midnight Farm, which provides opportunities for people with dis-abilities to meet farm animals and ride horses.

Just a few months ago, Marshall would not have expected the award. On her first day at the farm, she was nervous and unsure.

“Georgia was very quiet and reserved when she first started volunteering,” said Midnight Farm’s volunteer coordinator Brett Bauer. “She is now much more involved with other volunteers and staff.”

Bauer said volunteers like Marshall provide an important service.

“Many of our riders are not able to walk or perhaps have a language impairment,” Bauer said. “Riding and interacting with horses gets you up out of a wheelchair or leaves your physical disability at the gate.”

The animals provide both children and adults

with a chance to escape the challenges that typically surround their disability.

“The farm gives people a chance at freedom,” Baur said. “Horses don’t judge your ability to speak English. You can communicate without words or prejudice when you ride a horse.”

This is exactly why Marshall thinks volunteering at Midnight Farm is so important.

“I think riding horses is really interesting and fun and I think anybody, no matter what you’re like, should be able to experience that,” Marshall said.

As a volunteer, Marshall participates in the thera-peutic riding program. She grooms and saddles the horses, and more importantly, leads the horses for riders who are unable to do so on their own.

“Without the help of a leader, some of our riders would be unable to ride a horse,” Bauer said. “By participating in our lessons Georgia has given our riders opportunities that they would otherwise not be capable of.”

Being able to help people in a unique way is what makes volunteering so memorable for Marshall.

Continued on page 2

At the end of a ride April 1, freshman Georgia Marshall talks to Midnight Farm’s horse Cocoa with a young rider. Marshall volunteers each Monday evening. “I lead the horses around with their riders on them, and I saddle the horses and talk to the riders,” she said. Photo by Abby Gillam

Behind the lens:Photo students succeed in

national photo competition.Features, page 12

April 10, 20132 | The Budget Page Design by Lily Abromeit

Continued from page 1“I think I made a difference with them, just

being able to do it,” Marshall said. “Because if it weren’t for the volunteers, they wouldn’t be able to.”

At Midnight Farm, the riders are not the only ones who gain from the experiences.

“The benefits of therapeutic riding are end-less both for the riders and the volunteers and staff who are able to be a part of it,” Bauer said.

Through her time at the farm, Marshall has found rewards specifically for herself as well.

“It has made me more understanding and patient with people,” Marshall said.

Since her first day, Marshall has also become more outgoing and more comfortable talking to strangers.

This attitude didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the staff at Midnight Farm.

“She is very kind and caring with our horses and our riders,” Bauer said. “Georgia has been very reliable and often steps forward to work extra classes or trainings.”

“Georgia seems quiet at first but is always ready with a smile,” Bauer said.

But for Marshall, the change she sees in her-self isn’t as important as the impact she’s having on the riders.

“Just getting to see the kids’ faces when they do something right or they figure something out,” Marshall said. “They’re just so happy, it just feels good.”

Voters approve school bondsLHS among district schools to see improvements thanks to bond issue

On April 2, voters approved $92.5 million in school bonds with the support of 72 percent of voters. Most of the bond funds will be spent at the elementary schools. Among the improvements, funds will be spent on upgrading technology infrastructure to allow students to use more portable devices and create more secure entrances. LHS will receive $3.9 million from this bond. Here’s a look at the upgrades in store for LHS:

“Our current black box is too small to house an audience, so a new black box will give more space for the theater and small music events. The current black box will provide a storage area for the music department.”

— Mike Jones, band director

“For right now I’m not sure what it will do to the cafeteria, I haven’t been let in on those plans. I have heard that they’re

going to go to the back of the building and put on more warehouse usage back there. It’s great.”

—Pam Alt, cafeteria manager

E2

Rotunda

GYM

Performing Arts

Social StudiesScience

Career/Tech Ed

Trophie Hallway

Auditorium

Fine Arts

FIRE

Fire Alarms Security SystemElectrical/Technology

schoolwide UPGRAdes

cAFeTeRiAExpanded cafeteria/commons and food delivery and storage areas

BlAcK BoX TheATeRExpanded to be similar in size to Free State’s black box theater

Graphic by Nathaniel Reynolds

Marshall: equestrian program benefits all

April 10, 2013 The Budget | 3 Page Design by Ashley Hocking

Make plans forAfter Prom

LHS 11:30 pm - 2 amSaturday, May 11th

Printing donated by: Printing Solutions 841-8336

Free with prom ticketor buy a ticket at the doorDon’t miss out on:

Cash & PrizesFood

Music

Photo Booth

Games Hang out with friends,enjoy great food and fun!

Be There! By Mara Mcallister

Students and staff at Lawrence High are familiar with the constant presence of trash and food waste in the hallways.

Despite numerous trash cans and recycling bins throughout LHS, some students continue to treat the school like a garbage bin. This commonplace litter-ing hints at a bigger underlying issue: Is LHS environmentally friendly?

AP Environmental Science teacher Lisa Ball believes the school has room for improvement, starting with basic recycling.

“I still see lots of students throwing recyclables in the trash,” Ball said. “In my classroom, I try to catch them and send them to the recycling box, but I am sure we could increase our recycling rate school-wide with a little more education.”

Senior and presi-dent of the Environ-mental Club Hazlett Henderson agrees with Ball.

“We have recycling boxes every-where, but I think people don’t know how much they can recycle in them because they’re not just for paper,” Hen-derson explained.

On a grander scale, the Lawrence School District began an energy conser-vation program in 2003 that encour-ages staff to reduce their energy usage. Teachers are educated on the importance of turning off energy-consuming devices when they are not in use, particularly at night and over breaks.

In addition, air-conditioning and heating is automatically controlled, just as computers are automatically shut off at night. A district report estimated that roughly $3 million has been saved since

the start of the program.“The district also encourages recy-

cling, and when possible, uses energy-efficient building materials and systems,” said Julie Boyle, district communications director.

Newer schools such as Langston Hughes Elementary and South Middle School were constructed using “green ar-chitecture” that took advantage of clean energy and conservation.

The recently-passed school bond issue will allow schools across the district to upgrade mechanical, plumb-ing and ventilation systems to become more energy ef-ficient. The goal of these upgrades is to make a number of school buildings “net-zero,” meaning they will produce as much energy as they consume.

“Professional engineers have estimated that these upgrades will save the district $280,000

annually in utility costs,” Boyle said. “Those savings can be re-invested in education.”

While the Lawrence school district tries to go green, Saint John Catholic School, only a few blocks away from Lawrence High, is enjoying recognition for its green efforts. St. John was recently recognized as a Kansas Green School of the Year by the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education.

The award applauds St. John’s ongo-ing efforts to reduce waste and increase environmental education. The efforts began in the cafeteria where parents and lunchroom staff worked to reduce food waste while maintaining a balanced lunch for students.

“We were alarmed at the staggering amount of food wasted, averaging 40 to 70 pounds a day,” parent Rachel Myslivy said. “We saw a larger, systemic problem with the food culture of the school.”

So parents and students developed a new way to serve lunch and reduce waste. Previously students were served pre-made meals with set portions often resulting in wasted food. St. John students now pick the components of their lunch and get as much or as little as they want.

This strategy was implemented in ad-dition to composting food waste. Myslivy now estimates that on average St. John only throws away 10 to 20 pounds of food per day and saves $8,000 annually. Unike St. John, Lawrence High does not have a composting program in place.

Currently St. John Catholic School integrates environmental education into all grade levels. Students perform various science experiments and even create art out of recycled materials.

“Our school offers integrated environmental education across the curriculum and in all grades,” Myslivy said. “Working toward the Green School Designation provided a lens to focus our multi-faceted efforts across the cur-riculum.”

Ball believes LHS staff can do more to incorporate environmental education into their curriculum.

Currently, only two classes offered at Lawrence High focus on environmental education.

“There is a way to incorporate envi-ronmental education into virtually every course, because of its multidisciplinary nature,” Ball said. “We are all affected by environmental issues on a daily basis so the more we can increase awareness, the better.”

Being greenEnvironmental science teacher Lisa Ball offered these tips for being more green:1. Pick up trash2. Recycle3. Bring your own water bottle4. Conserve water

Graphic by Nick Steichen

Carpool

Environmental friendliness has room for improvement

Recycling cardboard boxes, senior Erika Brown and paraprofessional Jamie McCall help LHS stay green. Photo by Gage Nelson

5. Carpool

April 10, 20134 | The Budget Page Design by Yu Kyung Lee

lhsbudget.com

red & Black100thanniver

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yearbook

Order in the finance office or atwww.yearbookordercenter.com I can’t really

think of anyone I can’t trust to have a gun. All the teachers I know are pretty trustworthy.

I wouldn’t trust Ms. Rovenstine because I feel like she’d be scared with a gun. She wouldn’t know what to do.

My first thought is Mr. Hood. I really think that he is one of the most conscien-tious colleagues that I know ... I’d trust Mr. Hood with a gun, and nobody else.

What teacher would you trust or not trust with a gun at school?

What’s on your mind?

Drew Green Heather WisbeyJunior Sophomore English teacher

By yu Kyung Lee

Bill Patterson

By yu Kyung Lee

No one wants another Sandy Hook.But amid gun safety debates, the Kansas Legislature

has approved a bill expanding the places people can carry concealed weapons, not reducing them. The bill, which was approved Friday and sent to Gov. Sam Brownback, comes from lawmakers who believe putting guns into the hands of school employees could make schools safer.

Once signed by the governor, the bill would allow school districts to designate teachers and other employees to carry firearms. It’s a policy supported by the National Rifle Associa-tion.

“The supporters of this bill would say people who are trained to use guns, people who have passed the background checks and tests to carry a concealed handgun, make places safer,” said Rep. John Wilson, a Lawrence Democrat.

Wilson was among 38 House members who voted against an initial version of the bill, which sailed through the House with 84 votes in favor.

The Kansas Association of School Boards is supporting the law because it would allow local school boards to decide if they want to allow armed employees. However, many in the Lawrence school district consider the idea a step in the wrong direction.

“Certainly I recognize that people are concerned about school safety, but I don’t think that arming more people is the solution to ensuring safe schools,” said school board president Vanessa Sanburn. “There’s going to be a situation where one of the weapons is used on accident, and I think that the likeli-hood of that happening is much greater than the likelihood of an armed gunman or dangerous person coming to our schools with the intent to harm kids.”

If a student or intruder gains access to a weapon at school, a potentially dangerous situation would escalate quickly, senior Lauren Pauls said.

“I think it’s a terrible idea — being blunt and straight-forward,” Pauls said. “There are a lot of things that could go wrong that I think they are not foreseeing.”

For teachers, the idea of carrying a weapon in school is a hard one to swallow. The Kansas National Education Associa-tion, the state’s primary teachers union, said guns should be kept locked so students can’t accidentally access them.

“I am trying to be a nurturing educator and packing heat, it just doesn’t seem right for a teaching environment,” said Jay Hundley, the building representative for Lawrence Education Association. “And whether people admit it or not, if you are armed, you do act differently and you do approach people dif-ferently when you are armed, whether it is concealed or open.”

Currently, the only armed personnel in Lawrence public schools are the school resource officers who are trained police-men. As policemen, the SROs are required to carry weapons, but they had to get extensive training beforehand.

“I was trained in Lawrence Police Academy,” Lawrence High’s SRO Mike Cobb said. “It’s a 20 week program and almost a whole month is devoted to weapons training, weapon retention, overall safety of weapons, identifying weapons, and we do continuing education every year mandated by the state of Kansas and the federal government.”

While any staff member designated to carry a weapon at school would undergo training, many said weapons in schools should be left to the professionals.

“I don’t think it should be the responsibility of the teacher or your average citizen to be security and law enforcement,” Wilson said. “If anything, we need to consider increasing the budget for our law enforcement personnel. Because of their training, they provide better security than any citizen would be able to.”

In the wake of the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Lawrence school board has discussed how to prevent similar tragedies at home. Increasing the district’s partnership with local police was one of the plans discussed, Sanburn said. Single entrance to buildings and the elimination of portable classrooms are other safety precau-tions the district plans to take with the recently approved bond dollars.

“Unless we build our schools like prisons, we can’t prevent and make sure that we will completely protect our students, but certainly, there are commonsensical things we can do to ensure safer schools,” Sanburn said.

Even with the passage of the bill, it seems very unlikely the district will ever allow the staff to be armed.

“I don’t think our district is one that would make any major changes to our weapons policy,” Sanburn said. “But certainly, the idea of armed teachers or armed custodians or just a lot of armed people in our schools — even not in our district — is concerning to me.”

Instead of arming teachers, Sanburn said lawmakers should look to other solutions.

“I do think looking at mental health care as a nation and doing a better job of investing in good mental health care for our citizens is another way to really help ensure that tragedies like this wouldn’t happen,” Sanburn said. “Mentally healthy people don’t shoot up elementary or high school kids.”

Lawmakers seek to arm teachersProposed law would allow schools to take up arms for safety

The Budget | 5April 10, 2013 Page Design by Ella Magerl

By Ella MagErl

Latin teacher Jason Lichte and art instructor Wendy Vertacnik have taken students to Italy since 2000, but it’s not every year that they get to be in Rome shortly after a new pope has been selected.

“The pope’s selection changed a lot of things about the trip,” Lichte said. “When we arrived in Rome, the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel had been closed for three weeks, and we went the first day it reopened, so it was really crowded.”

For the travelers, having the pope selected right before they arrived added to the overall experience.

“Being in Rome after the pope was elected was cool since the whole city was kind of bustling and on its toes,” junior Alex Ewy said. “We were also in the Vatican the day before the pope’s first public speech, so it was super crowded with people from all over the world.”

However, sophomore Sadie Keller was glad the pope was chosen before they got there, as opposed to while they were in Italy.

“We would not have been able to do a lot of things if the pope was still being chosen, and the city would have been much more packed,” Keller said.

Pope Francis was selected on March 13, and the students left for Italy on March 14 and returned on March 23.

As students approached the trip, they had to prepare for international travel.

“This trip was the first time I had left the United States or been away from my parents for so long,” Ewy said. “I was really excited to leave the country, and I didn’t get nervous until I reached Italy and was in the midst of a bustling city where I didn’t speak the language, but I became more comfortable as the trip went on.”

While for some students this was their first experience traveling abroad, Keller has been to other countries before including Ireland, Morocco, Mexico, Canada and the Dominican Republic.

“I knew I would be safe travelling in a large group and I was ready to have an adventure,” Keller said. “I decided to go to Italy because I was interested in Roman history, and I’m partially Italian.”

Lichte has been taking students to Italy for 10 years. This year, 18 students partook in the adven-ture.

Lichte was inspired to start hosting these trips from his experience traveling to Italy when he at-tended Baylor University.

“The trip then was arranged around the idea that students would work ahead of time to learn all the information they needed to really enjoy the experi-ence,” Lichte said. “We have modeled our experience after that one.”

Starting 12 weeks before the trip, students at-tended six bi-weekly evening sessions where they studied the topography and history of ancient Rome and the origins of the Roman Catholic Church. At the end of the sessions, students had to take an exam over 17 Roman emperors and their contributions to

Rome, and another, labeling a blank map of Ancient Rome. Also, students had to write two research papers, one on an ancient Italian site and another on a work of art.

“After successfully writing their research papers, students [created] brochures for each and [became] our tour guide while on location for that specific site,” Lichte said.

The trip ecompasses locations in northern and southern Italy, as well as Rome. In southern Italy, stu-dents travelled to the island of Capri and the famous ancient city of Pompeii.

“A couple of students began weeping when we ar-rived in Pompeii because they were so overwhelmed by emotion,” Lichte said.

In Rome, the group visited sites such as the Pan-theon, the Forum, the Vatican and the Trevi Fountain.

“I got proposed to at the Trevi Fountain in Rome by [freshman Stefan Petrovic], and all the locals thought it was real,” Keller said.

Visiting northern Italy, the group focused on

the Italian Renaissance and the Middle Ages. The students stayed in Florence, where they got to see many of Michelangelo’s works, including his famous sculpture of David. They also got to see Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Caravaggio’s Medusa.

Visiting so many locations with a strong focus on learning gave students the opportunity to take in the culture and history of Italy, as well as gain valuable experience and insight.

“I learned a lot about Italy’s history and about the political, economic, and cultural climate,” Keller said. “Also, I made some great friends, learned the difference between Roman and Tuscan pizza, [and] realized hot water showers were not a necessity.”

Students traveled to Italy during spring break to experience culture, history

New pope influences school trip

Capturing the moment, nine of the 18 members of the group smile for the camera. They were visiting the castle of San Angelo in Rome. “It’s like the pope’s fortress if something bad were to happen,” senior Sarah Sutterfield said. Photo courtesy of Sarah Sutterfield

red & Black100thanniver

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Order in the finance office or atwww.yearbookordercenter.com

8 | The Budget Page Design by Abby Gillam April 10, 2013

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by Keyty AshcrAft

Black and white balloons float throughout the KU Ballroom, dancing silhouettes adorn the walls, seniors dance on the balcony that was once a stage. These elements will set the scene for this year’s prom.

Last month, Student Council decided upon four possible prom themes: Roaring 20’s, Narnia, Bollywood and Alice in Wonder-land. Seniors voted for their favorite theme. The results came in, and the 2013 prom theme will be Roaring 20’s.

While the prom committee does help coordinate the decoration process, most of the responsibility falls upon decorator Debbie Payne’s shoulders. Payne decorated LHS proms for more than 30 years.

“I’ve been doing this since 1980,” Payne said. “My degree is in design from KU. I’m actually a designer — an architect. For Law-rence High, I believe it was one of the many phone calls I made when I first got involved [in design] and we’ve kind of been doing it ever since.”

The prom committee relies heavily on Payne when it comes to

decorating.“I would say

we’re more like

coordinators,” junior and prom commit-tee member Abbey Berland said. “Because it’s not like Winter Formal where we have to decorate everything, we just kind of get everyone in place.”

Payne takes StuCo’s ideas and turns them into a reality.

“They generally give me a theme and then I try to put it all together for them,” Payne said.

However, decorations are not the only factor that goes into preparing for the event.

“It takes a lot,” junior and prom commit-tee member Anna Meissbach said. “It’s orga-nizing all the other StuCo members and their work schedules and pretty much just getting everything ironed out so it’ll run smoothly.”

While StuCo depends on Payne for the design, she depends on them when it comes to putting everything together.

“I meet with the students first, then we start ordering all of your products,” Payne said. “At that point, we start producing the most difficult things. There are times when I can actually reuse things, so get more for your prom actually. I don’t usually charge you for that.”

In terms of this year’s theme, students are excited to see how it will turn out.

“I just like that period,” Berland said, “but then my class doesn’t

get it so that’s the disappointing

part. I think we’re holding out for Chinese New Year, we’re saving it for [our prom].”

Payne is excited about this year’s theme.“It’s fun, flashy. Roaring ’20s is kind of

glittery,” Payne said. “It’s not just your stan-dard black and white, you’ll have a lot of silver and gold. ‘The Great Gatsby’ right now is a great example of the ’20s. So we’re going to do something like that. It’s just a fun time. Every-thing was big, people just partied and played. It’s kind of a perfect theme for your event.”

While planning is still in its beginning stages, seniors are already starting to talk about what it will look like when it’s ready.

“I love the jazz and glam of that era,” senior Kathryn Noble said. “I’m excited to see

the decorations, outfits and

music.”

turn back the clockSenior class votes on ‘Roaring ’20s’ for memorable prom theme

Roaring ’20s prom info:

When: Sat. May 11 at 8 p.m.Where: KU ballroom

After Prom will be held in the LHS main gym from 11:30 p.m. — 2 a.m. and is free with purchase of prom ticket. Activities include: drawings for cash and prizes, food, music, photo booth and games.

April 10, 2013 The Budget | 9 Page Design by Ashley Hocking

Abe and Jake’s Landing

For more information: www.projectgraduationlawrence.org

For Graduating Seniors of all 4 Lawrence high schools

Come celebrate together — dance, hangout, play

games, enjoy refreshments and win awesome prizes!

10:00 pm- 3:00 am

By Ashley hocking

Solo performances, theater produc-tions and choir competitions: These are the things junior Matt Rood lives and breathes.

“I’ve always really liked singing,” Rood said. “It’s something I’ve always done.”

Rood began his involvement in choir at a young age.

“I started [doing] Choristers, an off-shoot of the Lawrence Children’s Choir, when I was in third grade,” Rood said. “I just took off from there. I’ve been doing it ever since then.”

Earlier this year, Rood competed in Northeast Kansas All-District Choir. Members of the choir had to first pass a rigorous audition, which included sight reading and the memorization of several pieces, to be able to compete.

“They were really cool pieces,” Rood said. “I sang this German piece that was really sweet. It was called ‘An Die Musik.’ The other one was like this fast, high piece that showed off my range, and I did all these melismas that were crazy.”

Rood’s dedication and musical abili-ties have not gone unnoticed by choir director Dwayne Dunn.

“Matt continues to develop both vocally and in his leadership skills,” Dunn said. “He has amazing range and flexibility for such a young singer. We will really count on his senior leadership next year.”

Rood’s musical talents aren’t solely vocal. He also plays piano and aspires to be better at playing ukulele.

For the past two years, Rood has been taking private voice lessons with his voice teacher, Susan Hiers.

Initially in his voice lessons, Rood worked on classical and Broadway music, but is now branching into more variety.

“[Recently,] I’ve been getting into more pop stuff and exploring all different

kinds of music,” Rood said.When Rood made the switch to dif-

ferent genres of music, he wanted to get people’s opinions. He began recording himself singing and posting videos on social media sites like Facebook.

“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feed-back,” Rood said. “I love to sing, play piano and share that with people. I feel like if I can share how I feel about a song with someone, then they can understand how I feel about other stuff too.”

Rood’s friend sophomore Clara Cobb has seen many of the videos and has also noticed the positive feedback Rood has received as a result.

“There’s always at least 30 or 40 people that are just like, ‘Yeah, you go Matt. You keep doing what you’re doing’ and he should,” Cobb said. “He’s won-derful. He really is.”

Hiers has been working with Rood to perfect his performance of the piece “Many the Miles” by Sara Bareilles for the past two years. He auditioned the piece for Showtime and will be performing it as a solo along with five other songs. This is something he has been working toward for years.

“I’ve always wanted to be in Show-time,” Rood said. “I’ve kept a running list of songs I’ve wanted to do since I saw it years ago.”

He will be performing a solo, a duet with junior Katie Gaches, a trio with seniors Taylor Moldenhaur and Morgan Schneider, as well as in a small ensemble, A Cappella choir and Chorale choir.

Being so involved can sometimes take its toll.

“Sometimes, I bite off more than I can chew. I’ll do everything I need to do and it’ll be really difficult, but then I’ll get sick,” Rood said. “I gave myself pneumo-nia one year when I was in Music Band, two choirs and Jazz Band.”

In addition to an extensive musi-cal background, Rood is also heavily involved in theater.

“I’m currently in my sixth show at LHS,” Rood said. “At the [Lawrence] Arts Center, I’ve been doing shows with Summer Youth Theater since the summer after fourth grade.”

Rood has received many leading roles in plays and musicals.

When Rood was in eighth grade, he played a controversial role in a musical at the Lawrence Arts Center.

“I played Margaret Mead in ‘Hair,’ and I had to completely dress as a woman,” Rood said.

Last summer, Rood was the lead in “Cabaret,” a musical performed by the Lawrence Arts Center’s Summer Youth Theater.

“He was fantastic in ‘Cabaret’,” Cobb said. “He’s very, very talented.”

His most recent performance was “Fiddler on The Roof” at LHS, in which Rood sang a solo.

“I really enjoyed working with Matt on the LHS Musical, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ this winter,” Dunn said. “He did a great job with his character and could be counted on every show to deliver a strong performance.”

Rood plans to pursue a musical theater major in college.

“Matt has so much music in him,” Dunn said. “It is hard for me to see his future without a serious interest in music.”

For Rood, it is also hard to see a future for himself that doesn’t include music.

“I feel like it’s an emotional expres-sion. I can put things in a song that I can’t really say with words,” Rood said. “It means everything. I don’t think I could deal with stuff if I didn’t have sing-ing and acting.”

Performer excels

Belting out in song is junior Matt Rood. He is performing the song “Beautiful” in Showtime as a trio with seniors Taylor Moldenhaur and Morgan Schnieder. Photo by Ashley Hocking

Singer, songwriter, actor featured in six Showtime songs

April 10, 201310 | The Budget Page Design by Mallory Thompson

YearbooksOrder now.Pick up in May.www.yearbookordercenter.comor in the finance office

By ShelBy Steichen

As spring sports kicked off once again, athletes grabbed their gear and prepared for another season of hard work. But this season, one junior athlete will be lugging around three different sports bags: pom, soccer and track.

Junior Katie Lomshek has decided to partake in not just one, but three sports — all at the same time. Lomshek is a member of the track team, the JV soccer team, and recently finished tryouts for the 2013-2014 pom squad.

“I thought it would be good to try and just do differ-ent stuff in high school and just try out different things,” Lomshek said.

This year, Lomshek tried out for the girls’ soccer team, the first time she has played soccer since the age of 7.

“Since I thought it was a no-cut sport, I thought it’d be fun and different to do,” Lomshek said.

Being involved in multiple sports calls for long days for Lomshek. Attending multiple practices, working through a busy schedule of track meets and soccer games and coming home to the day’s homework becomes an intricate balancing act.

“I usually go to track right after school since I have weights, so I go to weights and then I have track outside and then I go to soccer,” Lomshek said. “Then I do homework after my sports.”

With pom tryouts beginning April 1, during the middle of Lomshek’s track and soccer seasons, even more was put on her plate.

“I’ve gone to the [pom] clinics when I could,” Lomshek said. “And [tryouts] start at 5:30, so I tried to get out of soccer a little early so I could go to tryouts.”

Though most students would find balancing three sports and homework a death wish, Lomshek’s coaches agree that being involved is beneficial to her all around athleticism.

“Kids can become more rounded athletes when participating in multiple sports,” pom

squad coach Loralea Wood, said. “They gain more organi-zational skills and the ability to communicate with coaches about their schedules. Coaches are losing the opportunities to work with kids that just want to focus on one sport and making them better all-around athletes.”

To Lomshek, her involvement also assists her in getting to know more people.

“Like pom, we have all our girls, and track we have the girls and the boys and then for soccer there’s C-team, JV and varsity,” Lomshek said. “It’s just different to be with all different people surrounding me with those sports.”

Despite the many benefits that come with being involved in multiple sports, there is bound to be conflicts in Lomshek’s schedule with soccer games and track meets. For her coaches, this is just a bridge they will cross

when the time comes.“Depending on the

game or meet we would talk and determine where she is needed,” girls’ soc-

cer coach Justin Young said. “This is something that now

the season is starting, the JV coach and I will need to talk with Katie to

determine if there are conflicts and what we will do so that we can plan ahead.”

If Lomshek is able to successfully conquer all three different sports and keep

good academics, her hopes are to continue her involvement in all three sports during next year’s spring sports season.

“It’s just really hard to do all of it,” Lomshek said. “But I hope [I can continue], I really do.”

Athlete attains balancing actStudent raises the bar this spring sports season, participating in three sports: pom, soccer, track

Junior baseball pitcher utilizes height, strength

By trAe Green

Standing at 6 feet, 7 inches tall, junior Bryce Montes de Oca does anything but blend in this season on the Lawrence High baseball team. The junior will be an integral part of the Lion’s pitching rotation this year after sitting out last season due to an elbow injury.

If opposing teams aren’t already thrown off by his size, Montes de Oca consistently pitches fastballs in the low 90 MPH range. That combination could throw off even the best hitters.

“What makes him good is that he’s so long, and leverage is such an important factor when you’re pitching,” head baseball coach Brad Stoll said. “He’s 6 foot 7 and it just feels like he’s right on top of you.”

Senior Adam Rea agreed Montes de Oca’s size is an advantage.

“His hands are so big,” Rea said. “When he pitches, you can’t even see the ball until it’s already out of his hand.”

Had the elbow injury not kept Montes de Oca in the dugout last season, he would have been a valuable arm on last year’s pitching staff. Instead of contributing on the field, Montes de Oca found other ways to help out last season.

“[The Injury] was kind of a devastating blow because he wanted to be such a big part of the team,” Stoll said. “But the thing that he showed was great character, he came to practice every day, was a great teammate, he ran charts. He just showed how great of a person he really is.”

Montes de Oca approached the injury with optimism.

“I’ve been hurt plenty of times, I just try and deal with the rehab,” he said. “Usually

you come out better than before, so I tried to make the best of the situation.”

When the injury healed, the hard throw-ing right-handed pitcher performed well at several national showcases. Those perfor-mances could possibly attract numerous college and professional scouts to watch the Lions this spring. Although most of the scouts will be in attendance to get a good look at him, Montes de Oca will pay little to no attention to the scouts for he is currently com-mitted to play baseball at the collegiate level for the University of Missouri.

“Very strong,” Montes de Oca said for the strength of his commitment to Missouri.

The commitment is even strong enough for him to sacrifice a spot on the varsity basketball team in order to avoid a potentially serious injury and to focus on baseball.

“Missouri offered me a scholarship, and that showed them having faith in me,” Montes de Oca said. “I wanted to give them faith and trust in me by just focusing on baseball. Also, my potential in baseball is better than it was in basketball, and baseball is just my favorite sport.”

Stoll is excited about the prospect of hav-ing scouts, strictly in attendance to discover talented high school athletes, at their games this year. Even though he already has strong plans to play for the MU after high school, Bryce Montes de Oca could be part of the reason one of his teammates gets a chance to continue their careers after high school.

“My message to the team is, Bryce is going to be throwing in front of 30 radar guns a night, maybe they [scouts] catch you as a third baseman, or a center fielder or a catcher,” Stoll said. “So it’s going to be beneficial to everybody, and it’s exciting.”

Running during practice is junior Bryce Montes de Oca. This season, Montes de Oca will be overcoming an elbow injury acquired last year. Photo by Ashley Hocking

Posing with her sports gear is junior Katie Lomshek. Lomshek chose to continue pom and track this spring sports season, and also tried out for soccer for the first time. She made the JV team.Photo by Shelby Steichen

April 10, 2013 11 | The BudgetPage Design by Lily Abromeit and Trae Green

The Budget is published every three weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 66046-2999. The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contributions from 21st Century Journal-ism and guest columnists. The news-paper’s goals are to inform, entertain and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members. The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising. The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the admin-istration of Lawrence High School or

USD 497.

Issue Editor-in-Chief:Yu Kyung Lee

Editorial Board:Mallory Thompson, SportsYu Kyung Lee, FeaturesLily Abromeit, NewsElla Magerl, DesignAbby Gillam, PhotoMara McAllister, Online

Staff:Keyty Ashcraft-Galve Brooke BramanTrae GreenAshley Hocking (Managing Editor)Forrest LassmanFelicia MillerVail MoshiriGage NelsonHarley PhelpsNathaniel ReynoldsGrace RinkeMatt RoePeter Romano Kendra Schwartz (Assistant Online Editor)Zach SpearsNick SteichenShelby SteichenMorgan Wildeman

Advertising: Isaiah BellAshley Castillo

Business manager:Pat Treff

Adviser:Barbara Tholen

Budgetthe OPINION

By Harley PHelPs

Running a school is like taming a circus.

You have the ringleaders, the lion tamers and the audience. The key to cir-cus success is the relationship between all members of the show and the way they are able to work together.

In the case of LHS however, adminis-trators, who should act as the ringleaders and lead the school in spirit and pride, act instead as more of “lion tamers” as they suppress the spirit of the student body.

“I wish they would have let us have school spirit and carry on the tradition that we expected to find when we got here,” senior Jeff Mekus said.

The relationship between the administration of LHS and its students is a strained one, lacking the crucial com-munication between the ringleaders of this circus and their lion tamers.

The first obstacle blocking this communication is that students of LHS don’t know their administrators. When The Budget surveyed 25 people and asked them to identify each of the five principals when shown their pictures, 46 percent of the answers were incorrect.

Not knowing the faces enforcing the rules strains the relationship between the student body and their leaders. Students may find it hard to respect and understand policies made by a silent administration.

“It’s hard for us to understand their decisions because they don’t allow us to explain our reasoning,” Mekus said. “They don’t talk to the student body about what we are doing. They just as-sume we are doing bad stuff. They don’t allow us to have a voice in our own school.”

Some of the administra-tors might occasionally be found walking the halls or standing near the cafeteria at lunch, but this presence may not

be enough. Many of them could learn from Mark Preut. Preut, who serves as assistant principal and activities director for the school, is more likely to be spot-ted at sporting events, StuCo meetings or school trips.

“I have the opportunity to interact with students on a pretty regular basis with different activities that they want to be involved with,” Preut said.

A more common place to find admin-istrators is in their offices, disciplining. Although they walk around, interactions between students and the administra-tion seem to most often occur regarding disciplinary action.

During the first week of school, one administrator made a comment about hoping to never have to meet most of the students. The administrators were imply-ing that they didn’t want a lot of trouble this year, but it still created an immediate distance.

Even though this was said as a joke, it represents the restricted relationship the administration has with students. They limited it strictly to a disciplinary-only relationship from the beginning.

“I feel like unless you are a superstar or someone who gets into trouble, you get little recognition or acknowledgment from the administration,” senior Brea May said.

Many students are used to coming from a junior high where they often experienced a closer relationship with their administration.

It is understand-ably harder for principals to

bond with 1,500 students as opposed to only 400, but at the same time, the relationship is just as important in high school, if not more important.

Students need to feel as if their ad-ministration wants to put effort into hav-ing a relationship with them. If students don’t feel like this is desired, they will not work to create one, thus enhancing a disconnect between those in charge and those under the reign.

“I think we kind of know what [the students] want,” Principal Matt Brun-gardt said. “[But] I don’t know that there is the greatest connection.”

It may seem as though high school students want limited interaction with their advisors, but the reason for this at LHS is because the only interaction that is done is with negative connotations. The relationship should be more than handling behavioral issues, rule enforce-ment and an occasional face on the side-lines. Our administrators should be seen in multiple lights, as both disciplinarians and as people you can confide in.

Although students see the problem, it is harder for the administration to understand.

“The assistant principals are seen in multiple capacities, when kids get in trouble they have to be the disciplinar-ian, then they try to do the outreach and sometimes the dynamic of being in the adult role with the teenagers poses barri-ers,” Brungardt said.

In the passing of a fellow

student, freshman

Julius Kam-

waro Maina, the administrative presence was lacking when most people would have liked, and expected, to see it most.

Maina died in October from brain cancer. However, this tragedy was ac-knowledged only with silence.

“Each scenario is different. Because of probably the limited number of stu-dents that knew him, the length of [time he was here],” Brungardt said. “Some-times when a student goes out and they pass away in a car wreck or something, that’s more surprising, then it’s a little bit different. We kind of monitored the situation through the crisis team and it seemed like, kind of the way it laid out, a decision was made to not do the all-school announcement.”

Because of this, some students may not have even known about the passing of one of their fellow students.

“It seemed like, because of the tim-ing, we chose not to make an announce-ment, to do those types of things, we just let the normal communication come out,” Brungardt said.

Julius may have been a freshman and had little chance to make an impression around the school, but to those who knew him, he didn’t go unnoticed.

“He was always happy and in a good mood,” junior Sami Buffalomeat said. “I escorted him to his classes once a week, and he would always make sure to say ‘hi’ to kids as we passed through the halls.”

The fact that the administration did not acknowledge the death of one of their own students during the school day disappointed Buffalomeat.

“I was told by multiple people that there was no administrative presence at the funeral, and if this is true, it shows how little the administration cares,” Buf-falomeat said.

Administrators need to be present in our school to keep a healthy relationship and have a fully-functioning school.

“The rich tradition of LHS is fading away due to the administration,” Mekus said.

Graphic by Felicia Miller

We need communication

April 10, 2013 The Budget | 12Page Design by Kendra Schwartz

red & Black100thanniver

sary

yearbook

Order in the finance office or atwww.yearbookordercenter.com

By Peter romano

Mill Street Loft ARTS in New York held a photography competition this year with entries from five different states across the nation. A total of almost 500 students from schools in New York and Kansas submitted photos, but in the end only 68 entries were accepted.

Of the 68 accepted entries, 11 were from Lawrence High. Sophomores Nina Friesen, Kearston Mohney and Alice Kelsey, juniors Tanner Glazer, Ashley Hocking, Haley Powers and Rachel Woolery and seniors Alex Hammer-schmidt, Gracie Rinke and Sarah Sutterfield were eligible to win awards.

Hocking received an honorable mention award and $50 for her photo “Inner Fire”, and

Hammerschmidt won the Best of Show award and $400 for her photo “Here I Was.”

When photography teacher Angela Perkins told Hammerschmidt she had won the competi-tion, Hammerschmidt thought Perkins had lied to her.

“I saw other people’s work and I know mine wasn’t as good,” Hammerschmidt said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”

Choosing a photo for the competition was not an easy decision.

“Well my film, black and white film, tends to be stronger than my digital, so I sent mostly that kind of stuff in,” Hammerschmidt said. “The one I ended up winning with is a little bit different. It is more surrealist than the other stuff, so that’s why I chose it.”

Sophomore Alice Kelsey was one of the students whose photo was accepted into the competition.

“I feel like it was the strongest composition-ally,” Kelsey said. “It had more characteristics that were intriguing.”

Lawrence High had more accepted entries than any other school.

“The kids did really good,” Perkins said. “I think [this] really says something about the level of kids here at Lawrence High competing. We also got Best In Show, so one of the students actually had the best image out of any students in the New York and surrounding area. I would say that’s something for Lawrence High to be really proud of.”

Inner Fire By Ashley Hocking Visitor By Alice Kelsey

Here I Was By Alex Hammerschmidt

Decay By Ryan Luna

Shadowed Escape By Rachel Woolery

Artists enter national contestTwo students win recognition and compensation for photographs

Below are a few of the submissions that were accepted to be displayed at the Mill Street Loft in New York City.