Lawrence schools are no longer allowed to sell carbonated beverages or those with high sugar content before 2 p.m. This effects sales at the Bird’s Nest, lunchroom, or in any of the vending machines.

As far as snacks, the school has to carry healthy items that can have a maximum of 200 calories, a maximum of eight grams of fat and a maximum of eight grams of sugar. The main rule is if school’s want to sell one unhealthy item, they have to have one healthy item available according to Bird’s Nest adviser Phil Roth.

Some students say this new regulation will not change their eating habits.

“It will probably not affect me as much because I don’t necessarily eat those kind of things,” junior Hana Arch said. ”Nothing will really change about my everyday lunch at school.”

Last year the school was allowed to sell as much soda and snack food as they wanted. Students were also allowed to eat and drink soda in classrooms. This year even the teachers aren’t allowed to have soda on their desks.

“The rule for teachers states that any place that students have access too has to be free from carbonated beverages,” principal Ed West said.

The main reason for all these changes is mainly because the federal government pays for school lunches. If they were to come to the school and find out the snack policy wasn’t changed then the school would end up losing the two million we would normally get to pay for school lunches according to West.

Many students are wondering why the school thinks this is a good regulation.

“It’s part of the government’s policy towards improving the health of students, which means they are mostly worried about childhood obesity,” Roth said.

Many students feel the new snack policy is unfair.

“I don’t think [childhood obesity] is a very good reason for cutting soda and snacks because it’s the students choice to eat it, and if it makes them obese then it’s there choice,” junior Guin Toalson said.

Many sophomores who were looking forward to the old snack policy felt cheated.

”I can imagine the snack policy was pretty awesome just being able to eat whenever you want, [but] I can understand that people might not want snacks all the time because it can be disrupting,” sophomore Sam Boatright said.

Next year the snack policy will be even more restrictive. The school will not be allowed to sell any snacks or soda throughout the whole school.

Wait Untill Marriage. - 4 votes

My first encounter with someone I knew my age having sex happened in the seventh grade.
Since then, it has become more and more normal. In the past five years I have watched many people I know, including some of my best friends, make the decision to have sex.
There have been varied outcomes; I know some people who have no regrets and thought they were ready. Others, however, have either broken up with the person they had sex with or just had a bad experience.
Having observed all of these different situations, I decided that it would be best to wait until marriage to have sex. That’s not my only reason, but I really want to make sure that I don’t regret my first time.
I personally feel like, especially at this age, too many things can go wrong. Condoms can break, birth control can fail and the guy (or girl) can turn outo not t be the right one. Personally, having sex is a big enough decision that I don’t want to regret it.  

Just Be Committed. – 4 votes

Some people lie about it, some people brag about it, and some people hide it.  
Sex is different for everyone, and everyone has different experiences and reactions to it.  While it is an extremely personal decision when and whether to have sex, I personally believe in having sex while in a committed relationship. If teens are protected and know their partners well I don’t see many detrimental effects from having sex.
The notion that teens having sex will affect their grades or cause them to become addicted to drugs is ridiculous. Sure,  you are making yourself vulnerable and opening yourself up to heartbreak, but aren’t you doing the same thing by having a relationship in the first place? That’s what intimacy is all about.  
As far as having sex outside of a relationship, that’s just like asking for heartbreak. It would be hard not to get attached to someone you have a sexual relationship with, and to be “just friends” with that person would be very difficult emotionally.  While I would not go so far as to wait until marriage to have sex, I would not have sex without a committed relationship either.

Does It Really Matter? – 6 votes

As a high school student, sex is everywhere.
Whether you’re having it or not, it’s hard to miss. Some want to wait until they’re married, others until they’re in a committed relationship, and then there are the people who don’t need either reasons to go at it.
Personally, I think that sex is all right outside of a committed relationship as long as it’s safe and not with eight people at a time. It’s a personal decision and every situation is different; but as long as you use protection and know what you and your partner are getting into and the emotional side affects, it’s all right.
Having discussed it first and knowing what you’re getting involved in, there’s no reason as to why having sex would affect your school life or grades. Teenagers are capable of being in a sexual relationship without letting it play a part in other aspects of their lives. Even though we’re teenagers our maturity levels aren’t minute, and neither are our raging hormones.
Having sex is an important choice and as long as you discuss it with your partner and are ready for it I see no problem with having it outside of a committed relationship.

After last year’s budget cuts and class cuts, some departments found themselves a few staff members short. But the months of summer proved a sufficient time to hire new staff members.

In the foreign language department, Friedemann Eisert has returned (after previously working here from 1999-2001) to teach German. Eisert has been teaching German since 1972, and in the US since 1977. The past seven years he has been the German teacher at Southwest Junior High and Lawrence High School. He enjoys the change from school to school.

“I think it’s good to change schools sometimes,” Eisert said. “It keeps you flexible.”

Joining the family and consumer sciences department is Linda Graverholt as the new FACS teacher. Previously Graverholt taught at South Junior High, but she has enjoyed the transition.

“Everyone is very welcoming here,” Graverholt said. “It’s great. Like any new situation, I’m just trying to see how things are done, meet new people and try to remember their name. “

Eisert and Graverholt aren’t the only new staff members joining our halls. In the Music Department Meghan Hardy is taking over as the assistant band instructor. In the Career and Technical Education Department Luke Lang will be teaching automotive as well as the welding classes.

As with every new school year changes have been made but the tradition of excellence still remains.

Failure to communicate isn’t the only complaint, though. Fights are fought out via status’s so that all 986 Facebook friends know exactly what is going on, people are dumped through chat and messages and boyfriends are writing wall posts on their girlfriend’s profile that make everyone else want to vomit. Some say people are putting too much information up on Facebook and are using it to avoid difficult situations.

“I had a boyfriend and I thought things were going well, but then I got home and opened up my Facebook and there was a message and it was from him. It started out bad and then ended in him dumping me,” junior Kitty Tootle said. “It would have been nice for him to do it in person and talk to me about it first.”

Even when break ups are not handled on Facebook, the reactions can be expressed inappropriately through status updates.

“I broke up with my girlfriend who I had been dating for quite awhile,” senior Nolan Frank said. “I was expecting a vague status such as ‘I’m sad’. I was not expecting ‘f— you, Nolan Frank’. It led to a lot of comments from people who didn’t like me but those negative comments led to comments from my friends sticking up for me.”

It’s not only the content of the posts, but also their length that seem to cause controversy.

“When people have entire novel length wall posts or they post 200 [Photo Booth] pictures of just themselves, I think it’s a little excessive,” senior Kerian Thompson said.

Small and insignificant situations can be blown up into a bigger deal than they actually are if shared on Facebook.

“My friend Kathy and I got into a fake fight on Facebook and were changing our status’s to mean things about each other jokingly and people freaked out because they thought it was real,” sophomore Jacob Spain said.

The main thing to keep in mind when logged onto Facebook is discretion. When posting a status update try to remember how many people are going to be able to read it and how it could potentially affect them. Also, what kinds of things need to be put in a message instead of a wall post because it is TMI. And, lastly, even if handling something over Face

Barah started coaching to be a positive influence on kids. Currently in his sixth year of coaching overall, he was an assistant coach under Jason Pendleton last year for the soccer program. While he enjoyed his time as assistant coach, Barah is looking forward to being in more of a leadership position.

“It’s awesome because now it’s my voice and I can do things a little differently.”

One way Barah is doing things a little differently is in how he prepares his teams for practice with a whole new method of warming up for soccer practice: yoga.

“I started thinking what better way to make my players work harder, than to make them stretch more?”

By doing yoga prior to a workout, he personally could do more in the following days after the workout. Barah then applied this to the soccer program with the help of a team parent in the process of becoming a certified yoga instructor.

The coaching structure for the Free State soccer program gives Barah the freedom to work with three assistant coaches, each with the responsibility of either c-team, junior varsity or varsity.

“I have them all still participating in some form on the varsity team.”

Barah also asserted coaching the soccer program is identical for both genders.

“The expectations are going to be the same across the board.”

Even with the change in coaching styles, most players are taking it in stride.

“Barah has some good ideas, I think it’s gonna be a good year,” senior Nathan Bowman said, who is in his fourth year in the Free State Soccer program.

“Barah definitely knows what he’s doing on the fitness and soccer sides, I think we’ll all benefit from him,” senior Rachael Hodison said.

Soccer players take on a model set by Barah by garnering leadership amongst the more senior members of the teams and mentoring younger members to help them develop important skills to play well. This intermingling of different age levels brings cohesion among team members.

“The camaraderie that we have I think is what keeps us together … if we did not have that, that would tear us apart really soon, really quickly,” Barah said.

But Barah feels what soccer players do off the field is more important. This season, each member of the program must participate in a community service project.

“My whole philosophy is, you don’t just make players. What we’re trying to do is get better people coming out of our soccer program. I think once people start realizing that there’s a bigger thing than just themselves around the community and the world at large, I think they will learn a whole lot more and become better people for that.”

Girl Talk – September 10  @ Crossroads – Kansas City
Girl Talk is pretty much a concert for everyone. The best way to describe Gregg Gillis’s (aka Girl Talk) music is to compare it to an all-you-can-eat buffet. There is something there for everyone. He takes snippets, or samples, of many different artists and mashes them all up into a song. For example, in his song called “Play Your Part (Pt. 1),” he samples a total of 26 artists including: Jay-Z, Rage Against the Machine, Roy Orbison and Pete Townshend. While some people may say what he does isn’t music, it will be a great show no matter what you want to call it. Girl Talk shows are notorious for crazy people, lots of confetti, toilet paper cannons and ending with the majority of the crowd onstage.

Pavement – September 11  @ Uptown – Kansas City
Even though it’s a reunion show, there still have been few times I have been this excited for a concert. On Saturday September 11, the indie-rock group Pavement will perform at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City. Pavement had been on hiatus for 10 years before they announced this reunion tour. Although we were very young when their music was most popular, they are still very influential and have inspired many modern bands, including The National (also playing at the Uptown on the 29). I would not recommend missing this show.

Art Career Fair – September 22 @ Free State cafeteria
Who likes art? Who likes money? If you do, from 7-9 p.m. on September 22, Free State will host the first ever Art Career Fair. This is a great opportunity for students and their parents to talk with working professionals and see how it is possible to make a career out of art. The Art Career Fair will also educate students about what they need to do now, and in college to prepare for a career in art. There will be 25 different professionals attending this event, including: a furniture designer, comic book artist, computer game designer and an architect.

Girl Talk live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT0tX_h6U8E

Banff Film Festival: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uso3ZaEX21g

This year, with Student Council backing off from traditional events FYI is helping out the school in more ways.

“FYI will be participating in a number of school wide activities [in August] including: Green Machine Week, Sophomore Parents Night and a Fake ID 101 campaign with posters that include info about what a fake id is and what the penalty is,” FYI sponsor Peggy Nelson said.

Returning this year are the Festivals of Trees, Great American Smokeout and the Hallway Movie Night. There are also many new events joining the line-up in the FYI including the Tobacco Fear Factor the Game Show in November, Finals week survival guides and National Alcohol Awareness Month in December, and even a “Show the Love” singing telegrams in February. Currently their main project is the Pepsi Refresh Project.

“It’s a contest we were in to get more funding, about $50,000 to keep some of our programs,” Junior, Kelly Kristiansen said. “We told everyone we knew and they could go online and vote once a day.”

Though it won’t effect the club itself if they don’t get the money it will effect the pure education benefits like when students go into classrooms to discuss the Bullies to Buddies program.

While there are new events planned for this upcoming year there are still some classics returning from previous years.

“We’re going to do Mud Volleyball again and if there’s a parade we’ll do that,” Junior Alexia Jadlow said.

“We’re sponsoring the Homecoming dance this year,” Nelson said. “We’re looking at doing a haunted house for children, though we don’t have approval for that yet, and we’re doing It’s Good to Be Green.”

The next FYI meeting is on September 7 in Room 226 and anyone is welcome to join.

“Just check out the FYI door [room 226] and you can sign up for activities and there will be notices posted for meetings to join. All you have to do is be there and smile,” Nelson said.

Also, if the benefits of helping out the community isn’t enough for, there are scholarships given away at the end of every year. Last year nearly $1,500 in scholarship money was given out to the graduating seniors involved in FYI and a majority of that money is purely student funded.

Browning knows first hand what it’s like to discover skin cancer.

Skin cancer can occur when the skin is overexposed to the sun’s harmful UV rays and the cells of the skin mutate and reproduce rapidly. According to the American Academy of Dermatology this causes strange moles and irregular spots to appear on the skin. Some of these can be harmless, some however can become very serious when they are not checked.

Her daughter then pushed her to get it checked, when the results came back, she discovered she had melanoma.

There are three different types of skin cancer cells, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Melanoma. Each one is named after the type of cells that mutates. Basal and Squamous Cell make up the most cases, and is the most treatable, with a 90% cure rate for both, According to the Kansas Medical Clinic’s website. Melanoma however, is more rare, only about 32,000 Americans are diagnosed annually. If not caught early, this type of cancer also has the highest death rate.

“I didn’t use tanning beds unless I was going on a trip, to get a base tan, which I now know doesn’t help,” Browning said.

Tanning outside and in tanning beds can be a cause of  skin cancer. People who are naturally fair, with light hair and light eyes are more at risk. Skin cancer also may be hereditary, so if one of someones parents have had it, they have a greater chance of getting it. Getting a base tan before going out into the sun is a tanning myth. While this may help a small amount, it does not compare to sunscreen.    She has learned a valuable lesson from her skin cancer experience.

“For the past four years I have been very good about wearing sunscreen and wearing a hat. However, I remember getting a severe sunburn as a child and… not always being careful about sunscreen,” Browning said.

But there are ways to help the odds.   Wearing sunscreen outside is the best preventative measure, and wide brimmed hats for long days outside.  Unless there is an ice age, the sun is shining and can burn even when its cloudy.  Tanning beds have also been found to be very harmful to the skin. Avoiding tanning beds is a good way to avoid cancer.  Those who tan say its a great source of Vitamin D, but daily amounts of Vitamin D can also be achieved through a healthy diet including fish, certain dairy products and supplements.