THE SPARTAN VOICEVOLUME 4, ISSUE 8 JANUARY 7, 2011

WICHITA COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

The Collegiate debate team has not qualified to four speaker state for the past 12 years, which shows what a huge accomplishment it is for this year’s team to qualify for the 4-Speaker State Debate Tournament. Only eight schools in the 3-2-1A divisions across the state have qualified for this state tournament which shows the necessity of a high level of skill needed to make it. The tournament will not be easy for Collegiate.   

Head Coach Rodney Wren elaborates. “State is going to be relatively tough because we are still young compared to the powerhouses that we will be competing against, Moundridge, Sterling, Independent, Rock Creek, all of which have had very successful programs for over a decade. I think we will be competitive mainly because we’re a dark horse.” Wren says “No one’s prepping to beat Collegiate.”

The tournament will be a Round Robin Tournament, everybody hitting everybody, with 7 rounds over the two days. The four speakers and alternate will be traveling to Blue Valley

Northwest High School on January 14-15. The qualifying students included Edgar Corrigan, Adam Saidian, Tiffany Massey and Jonathan Go.

Each debater has individual strengths that were able to be combined to complement each other and to gain success. Mr. Wren notes each team member’s strengths.

“Tiffany has an incredible amount of knowledge about a vast number of topics and a confidence to go along with it and talk intelligently about a lot of different topics. Edgar is a very passionate person and is really able to harness his ability to persuade people and display passion for argumentations. He and Adam work well together because

            “I’d say that if we had a secret weapon it’d be that were and unknown entity whereas all other schools are regular qualifiers.” Wren says. “Along with that our new affirmative case that we will be writing for state will catch a lot of people off guard.”

The tournament will be both a challenging event for Collegiate debaters as well as an exciting one “I am very excited in that we are amongst an elite group of scholars that have qualified.” Wren says with a smile. By Tara Kneller.

 

Debate Team Makes State for the first time in 12 years!

Second Semester SeniorsBy Max Craddock

There’s a disease spreading like wildfire through Collegiate right now and it’s not the flu. Senioritis has taken grasp over the senior class and it doesn’t appear to be letting go soon.

Senioritis is defined by Wikipedia as “decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers”. The main symptoms of senioritis include procrastination, lack of motivation, a drop in academic performance, and coasting, which is the act of going through classes with very little concentration on the subject at hand. Urban Dictionary defines senioritis as: A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation.

Most students have finished or are in the process of finishing their college applications. Some already know what college they will be attending next year. With graduation only five months away it is very easy for seniors to lose focus on the current school year and relax until college begins. However, this idea is destined for failure. With a full semester of tests and classes left, plus the gargantuan “Good Life” paper, things could go horribly wrong in a short amount of time. Thankfully collegeboard.com has composed a list of tips to avoid fully fledged senioritis.

· Take an A.P test- Nothing will help keep you more focused in class than to prepare for an A.P exam. If you do well enough you could even get out of college requirements.·Enjoy the senior experience- A great way to stave off senioritis is to continue to show tremendous school spirit. And the student section could always use more fans….·Start an internship- Watching successful professionals in your field of choice will make you want to be successful which will in turn make you work harder.

We proudly introduce our NEW STAFF . . . .

Kalli Sikes, Devon Rutledge &

Brooke Withrow.

These are all just tips. The choice is yours. You could succumb to senioritis and watch your school work suffer OR you could do what every senior dreams of and leave Collegiate in a blaze of glory.

Fresh New Year

BEIBER FEVER

PT. 2Questions with a 11th grader who

loves Justin Beiber.

By Tara Kneller.

Q: Do you like or dislike Justin Beiber?

A: LOVE

Q: Why or why not?

A: For one, he has a really good voice, and nice hair. I just really love him.

Q: How do other 11th graders feel about him?

A: Alot of people dislike him but I don’t understand that. It’s hard for me to put my love into words.

Q: What do you do to show you’re a fan?

A: Well, I buy all his new music. My mom got me a Justin Bieber board game for Christmas and I’m reallyyy excited to play!! So I will have to work on my Justin Beiber trivia. (I also love to post things on his twitter page using all caps and pressing enter alot in hopes that he’ll see what I posted and follow me).

Q: What is your closing statement for all of Justin Bieber’s fans?

A: Don’t hate him cause he’s beautiful.

By: Diana Kim

It’s a crisp new year, which means a brand new start to a new resolution for you! Telling yourself everyday that you’ll do this, or you’ll do that, but never actually got the chance to do so. How many times have you told yourself that you’ll actually start getting in shape tomorrow?... Or next week... or next month, or... Well no more of it! It’s a new year so maybe this year you’ll actually manage the time to do it. Getting healthy, getting better at that one sport you love, being more organized, and maybe even getting better grades (remember, a brand new year is a brand new semester!). These may be just a few of the resolutions students (and even adults) have for themselves this year. Some people are very sad that 2010 is over. Even though 2010 held many memories and adventures, most likely, 2011 will be way better! Why? Because its a new year, which means a new start. Make it however you want it to be!

Many students at Collegiate have new resolutions as well for themselves! These are just a few of them, and their resolutions.

• Brooke Withrow- “To make 2011 even better than 2010!”• Kathleen Haines- “To work out twice a week and stop eating

too much pasta”• Arri Evans- “To stay on top of school!”• Allison Zeitlow- “To work out four times a week!”• Vafa Behzadpour- “Well my thoughts on new years resolution

is that they are dumb because people only do them for about the first couple of weeks then quit, so I decided not to have one this year”

PROBA TE DIGNUM, friends . . . .

CLOWNS COME OUT AGAIN . . . .

Where would one go to see clowns, acrobats, and fire breathers in Wichita? The circus of course! Last weekend the city of Wichita was visited by a circus but not just any three-ring circus. Cirque du Soleil “Alegria” made its debut in Kansas, on December 29th – January 2nd. Everyone got involved in the show: the actors, the band, and even the audience. The set was gorgeous, costumes phenomenal, and acts magnificent. Trampoline jumpers, jugglers, contortionists, and trapeze artists wowed the crowd with their brilliance as they performed their art forms in perfect harmony. But with every great circus after the beauty of the performers one needs some comic relief. Cirque du Soleil was no different. Two adorable clowns made the crowd almost die of laughter as they goofed around mocking the act that had gone before. Everything about the show was to die for. If Cirque du Soleil ever returns to Wichita I highly recommend going to see it. You will not be disappointed.By Alex Waldeck.

PAPER TWEET with coach fiegelBy Jake Barrett.

Q: What are your New Year’s resolutions this year?

A: Gosh that’s a toughie, but I guess my New Year’s resolution would be to avoid these types of questions and to be thankful for the Spartan Voice. (Well! Here you Coach! -- How fast a person walks appears to project how long and how well a person will live, U.S. research shows).

Welcome to 2011 . . . .here to inspire you is

WIRED Magazine’s GROCERY STORE of the FUTURE

It’s a new year and it’s time for a new change! The new change comes from an old

controversy that has been around for as long as any of us students can remember. Jeans, most, if

not all, students agree that we should be allowed to wear jeans every day. It would be great to be

able to wear jeans all week and even a lot of teachers like the idea. However, we can’t simply

demand to have jeans and expect to see results right away. In order to get jeans into the dress

code we must make our argument clear to the correct people.

We must compromise in order to persuade the proper authorities that even when wearing

jeans we can still look professional and classy. The terms to the agreement should include: the

jeans are not allowed to have holes and when wearing jeans one must wear a regular in dress

code shirt. That way it is a win:win situation; we get our jeans and still look nice. Mr. Ashbrook

cannot just change the dress code he must go through higher authorities and those are the people

this argument should be presented to. Mr. Mykel has even said that in his opinion and

experience, the way a student dresses does not influence the way that he/her behaves in the class

room. If jeans really affect us that much then why are we allowed to wear them on Friday!? If

not wearing jeans was really that big of a deal then jeans would be banned even on Fridays.

Even the issue of faculty wanting us to look nice when people come to visit won’t be a problem.

Our dress code should be changed to “dressy - business- casual” which is jeans and a nice top;

there is no harm in that.

this isn’t old school,

it’s 2011!By Rachel Klingenberg

By: Jake Barrett

When somebody says “winter vacation,” most of the images that come to mind are snow, presents, Christmas trees (or Menorahs) and most of all, no school. Everybody enjoys the break from school after feverish, last-minute studying for finals. Even though we only have three or four finals while other schools have six or seven (one student at Independent said he had nine! NINE!), those few tests really take it out of you. One of the bonuses of the holidays is that siblings, or boy/girlfriends, in colleges come home for the break! Everybody gets to see the people that they missed while enjoying good food and no school.

Another great part about winter break is that many people go on vacations, whether they be someplace where you can ski or snowboard or chill on the beach. All vacations are fun. I went skiing with my family and some friends that we made when we used to live in Arizona, oh and Lily Shawver came too. Tara Kneller said, “I went to New York City, it was cold.” You can even see the tans on some people who went to tropical places. All in all, vacations to anywhere are fun if justto be with your family over the holidays.

Even if you didn’t go anywhere and stayed here in Kansas, you can still have a great time. You just received a bunch of new and cool presents to play/wear/whatever with and you get a whole two weeks to do it! (and guys, yes I mean video games). Ellen Healy stayed here in Wichita, and she said, “Yeah, it was fun!” So I guess that it doesn’t matter whether you go on a trip to somewhere else, as long as you have fun not being in school!

But of course, the main point of having a winter break is to spend time with your family and have a happy holiday. So as long as you had a good time with your family and friends, you had a good break. Snowball fights, decorating Christmas trees, spending time with your family and friends, making snowmen, getting/giving presents and many other cool things define winter break, so do whatever makes you happy. Oh, and the presents and no-school is fun too….

Winta Vacay THE SPARTAN VOICE:STAFF: Max Craddock, Serjay Sambros, Ellen Healy, Tara Kneller, Riley Kemmer, Rachel Klingenberg, Alex Waldeck, Diana Kim, Jake Barrett, Zach Alvarez, Devon Rutledge, Kalli Sikes and Brooke Winthrow.

The Spartan Voice accepts the following responsibilities: The Spartan Voice is a newspaper operated by students at Wichita Collegiate School. Content in the Voice will consist of articles, editorials, letters, photographs and any other material pertaining to the Wichita Collegiate community.The Spartan Voice was founded in the principle that all students should have an equal opportunity to share their opinion in an open, unbiased forum of discussion. Students, faculty, administrators, and parents make up the four fundamental parts of the Wichita Collegiate community. Although controversial subjects maybe featured in the Voice, no part of the community will be discriminated against.The views expressed in printed material do not necessarily represent the views of the Spartan Voice or Wichita Collegiate School.

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Horoscopes . . . your prediction of future events. Serjay Sambros

Aries You will find money on the ground, good for you.TaurusYou will tell a total stranger that you're "sick and tired of salad", today. The stranger will recoil in shock and horror.

GeminiYou will save money at Dillons, but only with your plus card. 

CancerBeing eaten by a shark is very improbable this week. Still be wary of large bodies of water. 

LeoIn the grocery store, you will see quite a few people with infants in their shopping carts. Try though you might, however, you will not be able to find the bin with the children. Perhaps they're sold out?VirgoAfter today the following expression will no longer strike you as being in the least bit amusing: "Friends help friends move. Real friends help friends move bodies." 

LibraSmall fluffy animals will come over and lean on you, today. It's just their way of showing their appreciation, and of telling you that you are furniture.

ScorpioToday you will read a small booklet titled How To Make A Fortune in Frog Farming, which will change your life.

Sagittarius Lately you feel blessed with great abundance, as though your cup runneth over. Basically, you just need a bigger cup.

CapricornToday you will be up the creek, but you will actually have a very large number of paddles with you, due to some excellent planning on your part. AquariusIf you aren't careful, you may accidentally insult someone by a poor choice of words, and hurt their feelings. In particular, the expression "hideously deformed" may not be as neutral as you believe.

PiscesYou need to work harder on your friendships. Why, you sometimes don't even like yourself that much, do you? Be nice to yourself this week - buy yourself some flowers or a nice gift. And stop suspecting yourself of having an ulterior motive!

CONGRATULATIONS . . . . You guys put the “ART” in SPARTAN!WCS winners of the Scholastic Art Awards of 2011!1. Parker Smitherman- GOLD key (Film- “Persistence”)2. Allan Spencer- GOLD key (Photo- Just Janet)3. Maggie Newlin- GOLD key ( Sculpture- “Book of Botanicals”)4. McKenzie Mull-Honorable Mention (Photo “On the Beaten Path”)5. McKenzie Mull Honorable Mention (Photo- “The Reach”)6. Maddie Janzen- Honorable Mention (Photo- “Airport of the Past”).7. Ryan Carlson- Honorable Mention (Collage- “Bush Time”).8. Rob Braithwaite- Honorable Mention (Sculpture-”Grumpy Man”)9. Alex Tatro- SILVER Key (Sculpture- “Dance”)

Gold Key works are forwarded to New York City for national adjudication.All of our student’s work will be on display at the Wichita Center for the Arts from January 25th- March 6th! Check it out!!!

WCS DRUMLINE: January 19th

Halftime Show @ WSU vs. UNI

Men’s Basketball Game!Music in 5/4 including “Step” by Radiohead, “Mars” by Holst and “Take

Five” by Dave Brubeck!Come Holla!!!!

SPARTAN

BASKETballtonight

starting @ 6pm

COLLEGIATE vs. ANDALE

COWBOY THEMe