spartan banner | october 2015

Volume 54 October 2015 Issue 3

Bloated brains beg for a breakBy Mary Slavinsky, Editor-In-Cheif

TheSpartanBanner

Spartan Banner — October 2015

At Brookfield East, the average student takes dif-ficult, rigorous classes. Many students now take multitudes of honors and AP classes, in-creasing the already heavy workload of the college appli-cant. But are those extra GPA boosts really worth it? “In the best possible scenario, it could save you a year of tuition,” says Steven Goodman, an edu-cation consultant and college admissions strategist for Top-Colleges.com. A relatable situation for all students is practice after school, then a club meeting, a football game, and getting home at 9:00 just in time to start homework. On average, students complete three and a half hours of homework. The next day, another club meet-ing in the morning and then classes and maybe a test. This intense schedule creates many problems for high school stu-dents.

The sleep aspect alone causes great concern. Students usually stay awake because they have to finish homework. The Center for Ad-vancing Health (CFAH) found that a mere eight percent of teenagers sleep the necessary amount. The organization also found that the alarming aver-age hours slept was only seven hours and fifteen minutes--a full two hours less than the minimum sleep needed for teenagers. The lack of sleep can really take a toll: groggy sleepy feelings are only imme-diate effects. Long term prob-lems include an increased risk of heart disease and increased blood pressure. Also contributing to long term health problems are the increased stress lev-els in teenagers. Schools pro-mote achievement in classes, in sports, and in standardized tests, which put huge pres-sures on students to succeed. In fact, on average, teens re-

ported their stress level was 5.8 on 10-point scale, com-pared with 5.1 for adults. Nor-man B. Anderson, the APA’s (American Psychological As-sociation) chief executive and senior vice president, says, “it is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults. In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education, at school and at home, at the community level and in their interactions with healthcare professionals.” While his at-tempt to solve this problem is honorable, it is wrong. The problem at root is pressure from classes. The problem cannot be handled after the stress has taken root, an issue that can only be addressed by reforming the school system itself. Obsessed with their goals, students will do any-

thing to achieve. Madison Holleran, a freshman at Uni-versity of Pennsylvania, com-mitted suicide because of her 3.5 GPA. She felt such intense pressure to succeed that she felt this was the only way out. Her case is not isolated. Stu-dents have way too much pres-sure to succeed -- they have unreal expectations for them-selves brought on by school systems. Huffington Post found that about 8 percent of to-day’s U.S. teens suffer from some type of diagnosed anxi-ety disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Anxiety has also been on the rise among children and young adults since at least the 1950s. APs were instituted in the 1950s after the Russian spaceship Sputnik persuaded schools to think the math and science programs were not at a high enough level. Now, they contribute to severe health is-sues.

are no longer allowed to plan Cross Dress or Gender Bend-ing spirit days. “The goal of a spirit week is for all students to have fun and enjoy them-selves,” states Brett Gruetzm-acher, the Central’s principal, to continue would ultimately result in” hurt feelings and unnecessary offense.”

CONT. ON PAGE 3

Brookfield East has decided to further increase the stress level in students. The block schedule yields intense periods of AP learn-ing. Teachers have to shove information into students in order to get the class fin-ished in time, which leaves no time for the information to be learned. Only a great deal of memorization and stress. Excellence period can poten-tially cause further issues to arise, as it takes 7 minutes off of each class period, removing 7 minutes of time for AP and honors classes to get through difficult curriculum. Stress levels of students are climb-ing to dangerous heights, and the endless worry over GPAs and standardized testing is ultimately making the issue worse. The highly competi-tive atmosphere in which most classes function may have dev-astating consequences, which are already beginning to show. in academic institutions and programs throughout the US.

Gender bender fender bender creates tensionBy Anna Sipek, Photo Editor

Ah, the freedom of a miniskirt. The comfort of a baseball cap and khakis. Cross Dress Day has been a part of Brookfield East culture since long before our student body was born, but is this longtime tradition coming to a violent halt? Rumors have been circulating the school after ad-ministrative officials, Mr. Far-ley, and Ms. Schenk, reported-ly told individual members of the senior class to refrain from cross dressing and encourage

others to do the same. Later that evening, seniors posted about the incident in their Facebook group. This alleged statement was met with bla-tant disregard as the Seniors continued to observe the spirit day as planned. Dozens of both male and female students came to school adorned with clothing traditionally of the opposite gender, accessories and all. No punitive measures were taken. The day has always caused an uproar amongst

students. Many laughed and smiled. Overall the school seemed to enjoy the humor as-sociated with it. “I’ve always loved cross dress day,” one student said “it’s one of the best things to see the people you’ve grown up with in a way you never have. The silliness, it’s my favorite part.” However, the laugh-ter was not universal. A hand-ful of students throughout the school protested, arguing it not only mocked the transgen-der community, but reinforced

negative stereotypes they have fought so hard to dissolve. School is a place where stu-dents are meant to grow and feel positive about themselves, they declare. To feel uncom-fortable or persecuted because of what one wears or how one dresses is something no stu-dent should ever have to go through. Schools around the US including Brookfield East’s sister school, Brookfield Cen-tral, have taken action. Start-ing this year, seniors at Central

What’s Inside:A Cure for Cancer?-pg 2A Flash of Football-pg 4Boys’ Cross Country-pg 5Poll on Winter Sports-pg 5Fall Musical Preview-pg 6APUSH Course Changes-pg 7


news

Maybe malaria can cure cancerBy Namitha Alexander, Staff Writer

By Sarah Kalupa, Staff Writer

Cancer. An illness that gives and takes. It brings pain, desperation, grief and an increase in faith. It nips at one’s confidence, strength, hope, -- and hair. For years and years, many have thought that the cure for cancer will be one of the most challenging and rewarding discoveries of this era. Scientists may have just stumbled upon the an-swer while trying to find a cure for another deadly dis-ease: malaria. Essentially, the effort put into the cure of one disease could lead to the cure for another disease. An illness that is re-sponsible for about 450,000 deaths a year, Malaria leaves millions survivors’ lives with prolonged suffering. There is much research currently go-ing on to eradicate this deadly disease, especially with the

leadership of the Gates Foun-dation. Malaria is a blood-borne disease caused by a parasite. Mosquitoes carry the disease and spread it to other humans through bites. Scien-tists have been digging deeper into a boggling symptom of Malaria: if a pregnant woman contracts this disease, she will have a miscarriage within a few days. However, when ex-amining the unborn fetus, sci-entists found that the embryo had been growing normally. Scientists then discovered that the placenta was attacked by the Malaria parasite. Upon further testing, researchers discovered that a specific pro-tein in Malaria attaches to a carbohydrate in the placenta and kills the cell. The placenta is an organ that begins from a few cells, but grows to weighing

two pounds extremely quickly. That rapid growth character-istic is eerily similar to that of cancer tumors. Even more fas-cinating, scientists have found an interesting link. The same carbohydrate found in pla-centa is present in most of the cancer cells too, but not any other normal cells. That dis-covery was like the cancer cell identifying itself with a label. Scientists injected mice with multiple types of cancers and tested their hy-pothesis. Then, they injected some of the mice with Malaria proteins and added a cancer-killing toxin as well. They wanted to see if the Malaria proteins would attach them-selves to the carbohydrates in cancer cells, like they did with the same carbohydrates in pla-centa cells. The results were astonishing. The Malaria pro-teins located the cancer cells,

attached to them, and along with the toxin, the cells were killed with up to ninety per-cent success of cancer elimi-nation in the mice. So, surprise! Scien-tists unexpectedly just found the cure to cancer using an-other deadly disease called Malaria. So now everyone lives happily ever after, right? Well, not so fast. Tons of research still needs to be done to make sure this treatment is safe for hu-mans. Nothing is crystal clear yet. For sure, this cure won’t work for pregnant women, be-cause it will destroy their pla-centa. It will take at least four years for the solution to gain approval for experimentation on humans. After that, who knows how long it will take for this treatment to hit the mar-ket. Let’s wait hopefully on the success of the great effort.

While the news is great, we should realize that medical research takes time to see the potential. In fact, thousands of discoveries made in cancer go nowhere due to the potential side effects. It is a long journey for the ultimate cure to emerge for most diseases. Remember, Tu Youyou, the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for Medi-cine, was recognized for her work in Malaria that she con-ducted forty years ago. “I wish cancer just got cancer and died.” I guess we may be able to change that saying to, “I wish cancer just got malaria and died.” There’s a new burst of hope that this phrase may not be needed soon. These past few discover-ies may have been an accident. But this may just be an acci-dent everyone can forgive.

What do you have in common with an ape-like spe-cies that may have lived up to three million years ago? The practice of burying the dead -- and a genus. The new proto-hu-man Homo Naledi was discov-ered last September in a burial chamber in South Africa. Classified in the same genus, Homo, as the modern human, the species contains many similar features to the species Homo Sapien. From the fifteen skeletons discovered, a com-plete hand of Homo Naledi was pieced together, showing an analogous structure for its hand to the modern human’s hand, but reportedly carry-ing a more curved appear-ance. Additionally, the skulls of the two species are almost identical but the Homo Naledi would have had a markedly smaller brain, comparable to the size of an orange. Even the feet of Homo Naledi are strik-ing: arches indicate that the species may have even walked upright on two feet. So what does this mean for the study of human evolution? “A very important discovery,” Professor Chris Stringer of the National Histo-ry Museum states. The scien-tific community raves that the discovery of this new species provides an additional link in the chain of human evolution. The discovery even has distinct links to our own states. Dr. John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Mad-ison was one of the excavators and leading researchers on the site of discovery in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa. “We really expected when we start-ed that we were there for one skeleton, and that was going to be super important,” Hawks reported to Isthmus News. Due to the amount of remains

second year law student, has already blazed the trail. Ka-lupa worked under Dr. John Hawks for her senior thesis, A comparative study of type II and III Fc gamma recep-tor immune genes in Homo Sapiens, Homo Sapiens Ne-anderthalensis, and the Den-isova through the utilization

of a bioinformatics approach. By research on these genetic differences, Kalupa may have actually figured out the reason Homo Neanderthalensis died out: a compromised immune system that contributed to in-creased susceptibility to mod-ern diseases like tuberculosis. Kalupa proves that

Anthropology, the study of hu-manity, is always looking for more researchers. Check out the American Anthropological Association for more informa-tion.

discovered, and the range of ages and genders among the sample, Professor Lee Burger of Witts University tells BBC news, “We are going to know everything about this species. We are going to know when its children were weaned, when they were born, how they de-veloped, the speed at which they developed, the difference between males and females at every developmental stage from infancy, to childhood, to teens, to how they aged and how they died.” The question remains, however, of how the skeletons actually got to their location. The fact that the bones were carefully buried in a sheltered cave suggests that the Homo Naledi actually practiced the ritualistic burial of the dead. “The fossils were excavated from soft clay-rich sediments that had accumulated in the chamber over time; it also ap-pears that the bodies were in-tact when they arrived in the chamber, and then started to decompose.” The resultant paper from the excavation, Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo Naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Afri-ca, states “Most of the evidence obtained so far is largely con-sistent with these bodies being deliberately disposed of in this single location by the same extinct hominin species.” The evidence pointing to the burial of the dead among the Homo Naledi suggest a certain so-phistication not found among other proto-humans, making scientists question what it re-ally means to be human. Want to learn more? Want be the next to discover a new ancestor of the entire human race? Turns out Nicole Kalupa, Brookfield East alum-na and current UW-Madison

Throwing it back to...us?

Photo Credit: National Geographic

Science and Technology


While many are aware of the political instability in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, fewer realize the disadvantaged plight of these regions’ refugees. European policies and immigrant deaths in Europe have led to crisis and prompted widespread debate on how refugees should be handled within the EU. With millions of asylum applicants and immigrants flooding Eu-rope since 2000, the interests of the immigrants have come into conflict with the interests of European governments.

The origin of this so-called “European Migrant Crisis” is complicated. While immigrants from Libya and Syria are seeking asylum from civil war, the influx of refugees from Kosovo and Bangladesh is fleeing poverty and search-ing for job opportunities, cul-minating in the greatest Euro-pean immigration since World War II. Although the media is quick to point out that Eu-

rope’s strug-gling econ-omy won’t handle these immigrants, it fails to rec-ognize the difficulties that these refugees face.

First one must look at how immigration surges have affected European policy. The Schengen Plan, a controversial open-border treaty signed by twenty-six European nations to enable passport free travel, was recently undermined by several states such as Germa-ny, Slovakia, and France. Na-tions not wanting to receive these refugees are violating the plan by reenacting border con-trol policies, an action which is catastrophic to the fate of these immigrants. The Medi-terranean search-and-rescue plan Operation Triton, estab-lished in 2014, similarly takes preventative measures when it comes to naval immigration into Italy and the European

news

European migrants in crisisBy Sean Glatch, Staff Writer

Mediterranean Coast. While these measures have good in-tentions, they put refugees at a severe disadvantage.

In 2015 alone there have been more capsizing and ship captures than the past ten years combined, a result of an-ti-immigration policies which seek to eliminate illegal im-migration but instead attack harmless refugee ships. Thus the question arises: what con-stitutes illegal immigration in Europe? Despite protections from the Schengen Plan, anti-immigration sentiments in Europe are at the root of this plan’s violation, which sug-gests that the illegality of the situation is at the fault of Eu-ropean policy, not the fault of the immigrants.

Similarly, the attitude

against refu-gees in Europe is daunting. In Greece and Italy, a major-ity of citizens

believe that immigration has had a negative impact on their society, and many nations would like to see limits on im-migration.

Further, many want to see immigrants assimilating into European lifestyles, which is arguably an attack on other cultures and beliefs. Since many of these immigrants’ homelands are currently fac-ing cultural decimation due to terror and civil war, the cultural priority should be fo-cused on these refugees since Europe already hosts a strong immigrant population. This opposition to immigration is heightened by claims that im-migrants will put a strain on the economy and increase na-tional crime rates. But again, this is due to a conflict of pri-

ority. When European govern-ments consider immigration a strain on their nation. They are failing to consider these immigrants’ motivations. Families attacked and bur-dened by homeland conflicts won’t flee to another nation to take advantage of that nation, they seek to live the life that their motherland cannot pro-vide. When one realizes this motive is among a majority of those seeking asylum, the is-sue becomes less political and more racial.

The heart of the con-flict is not the effect of the refugees, it is the effect of Eu-ropean immigration policies. While nations could easily opt for an open immigration reform, unfounded racial at-titudes prevent giving protec-tions to these refugees. The European Migrant Crisis is a crisis founded upon European unwillingness, which is not on the fault of the immigrants themselves.

Gender bender fender bender creates tensionBy Anna Sipek, Photo Editor

Thank you challenge inspires citizensBy Emma Barbian, Staff Writer

CONT. FROM PAGE 3

He acknowledges stu-dents never had “the inten-tion to hurt,” but whether in-tended or not it is the job of the school to protect students from discrimination at all cost. Thus, administration set unwritten rules, guid-ing students towards days deemed less offensive and more “appropriate” for school grounds. If any students de-

cide to rebel, they will be promptly asked “to go to the bathroom and change.” When asked how he would differen-tiate between students who were cross dressing for the day and those that simply had a different style, or crossdressed on a regular basis Gruetzm-acher had little to say. The regulation will remain in effect indefinitely. Proponents of Cross Dress Day argue regulations like these are oppressive. It has never been about the LGBT community, they argue, but instead the satirization of gen-der stereotypes in our society. Furthermore, schools forbid-

ding cross-dressing amongst their students might actu-ally do more harm than good, some claim. If the school bans a day for deriding a certain culture will they inadvertently advertise those stereotypes as true? Will they cause tension or resent between those who are for and those against? Mr. Farley weighs in on the issue. “We want students to be open to the diverse needs of the student body.” With-in Brookfield East, there are many opinionated students who see the Cross Dress Day on opposite sides of the spec-trum; “this is an invaluable lesson on perspective.” He

asserts the student body must concede other opinions and ask themselves “is there a better tradition we can form [which] respects transgender students?” Overall, “the spot-light [on the transgender com-munity] is growing, and stu-dents should be able to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of welcome.” Leaning towards a different spirit day is not “ a criticism on s eniors, on stu-dents; it’s a well intentioned school culture building, [but] sometimes the unintended consequences” need to be ad-dressed. Despite all of this, ad-ministrators assert there are

no plans to cancel cross dress day, per say. Instead admin-istration will work together with the students to decide what it believes is best for the school. “We want student voice to drive our responsive-ness to all kids, [and] to use student feedback to mold our school community.” It seems the future of Cross Dress Days is in the hands of the classes to come, hanging amidst the politi-cal and social ideals of a new generation of thinkers.

In the wake of numer-ous murders of police officers across the country, some de-termined youths are stepping up. Brothers Ethan and Trevor Plumley, boy scouts from Tex-as, came up with a challenge of their own in response to the shooting of a deputy in their area. The idea is to shake the hand of a police officer and capture it on video, then chal-lenge five other people to do the same. The purpose of this undertaking is to change the views many people have about their local law enforcement of-ficers.

In another part of the country, ten-year-old Savan-nah Solis started a project of

her own. After hearing about two officers being shot in New York, she began sending hun-dreds of thank you cards to po-lice departments, along with candy or homemade cupcakes. She’s challenging others to do the same or to make a similar gesture.

Due to the reputation so many law enforcement of-ficials have gotten after videos of riots went viral, communi-ties often don’t feel safe. The officers who have received a handshake or a thank you card are all glad there are kids who are challenging popular opin-ion. Some of Savannah Solis’ thank you cards have brought even the most stoic officer to

tears. The gesture doesn’t have to be large; even the smallest of things are making a big difference. While most police departments tend not to accept unpackaged food items, there is an almost limitless amount of ways to show your support. The Thank a Police Officer challenge has grown much larger than the project of two scouts; in a skeptical society, it’s the change that of-ficers have been waiting for.

Photo Credit: thankyouchal-lenge.org

“While these measures have good intentions, they put refugees at

a severe disadvantage.”

SPORTS The football season has been good for the Brookfield East Spartans. It has just finished the regular season at 8-1, tying for the second best record in school history, also making the playoffs for the sixth year in-a-row and for the eighth time in school history. Finishing second in the conference, the team is heading into the playoffs with a No. 5 seed. The game will be on Friday at Whitefish Bay. Proud to announce that the team averaged 380 yards per game, the team ended the season with a total of 3418 yards so far. The running back Sam Santiago-Loyd has 1520 yards overall and has an average of 169 yards per game

with 9.2 yards per carry. The quarterback TC Swittel has 613 rushing yards and 420 passing yards this year for a total of 1033 this season. Will Schmidt is the leading reciever with 186 yards on the season and 14.3 yards per reception. Mitch Mikulsky is leading the defense with sixty-six tackles. Collin Rhoten and Caleb Wright are tied for most sacks this year with five a piece. It’s fair to say that the team has been very successful this year and it’s hoping to continue that success in playoffs.

Spartands headed to playoffsBy Dominic Cartier, staff writer

The Varsity swim team has had a wonderful first season filled with fun and ex-citement. Though early morn-ing practices are difficult to say the least, they have proven integral to the team’s success.

United by their vari-ous victories,the Spartans ranked highly amongst other talented teams, including Brookfield East’s long-term rival: Brookfield Central. A no-table win and favorite event for coaches and swimmers alike, the Conference relays were an important victory for East. Emotions ran high during the meet as Central and East were neck and neck in points, this final race would determine the winner of the entire meet. The girls screamed to support their teammates, and they pulled through. The victory was long awaited, eluding the team for many years. With a last min-ute three point win over Cen-tral, there was a great sense of togetherness.

Co-captain of Varsity swim, Elise Kreger, empha-sized this sense of unity: “ We are very tight knit, since we spend so much time together and are always pushing each other to work hard at practice.

We also have carbo-crams and other team building ac-tivities to strengthen our ca-maraderie. It’s cool to be at a meet and know that every single swimmer on our team will have her teammates cheering for her.” These ac-tivities, one swimmer attests, aid both new and returning members in preparing both mentally and physically for upcoming tournaments.

The dive time has also done well this season. The three Varsity divers, El-len Mahoney, Reegan Tilt-mann and Lizzy Oliver have competed well and scored valuable points for the team. Although new to diving this season, all three have rep-resented the team proudly. Coach Rose stated during an interview that he “respects their efforts,” and finds it “fun to have divers this year.”

East is looking for-ward to some exciting meets this season including the Varsity/JV Conference and Sectionals. Both meets will challenge East’s biggest competitor: Brookfield Cen-tral. So, the burning ques-tion racing through many a swimmers mind remains, what chance does Brook-

field East have? Will they be able to crush their opponents once again or will they fall short? Coach Rose thinks that the team is “well matched,” and that it is “like competing against your sister.” Similar teams, well matched skill lev-els and just a few meets to go all indicate one thing: the fi-nal result is still up for grabs. However, results aren’t just the flip of the coin, the differ-ence between this year and previous years is phenomenal. “ [ We have a] young team, but a very good team,” one which can bring pride to the halls of Brookfield East.

Overall the season has started off strong and the swimmers and divers are pre-paring for the big Conference meets during late October and November. The swim team is looking forward to the support of the student body as they face their opponents. Cheer-ing or even a simple good luck goes a long way to motivate the swimmers. Hopefully you will come and cheer them on at their next meet!.

Swim team ready to make a splash at sectionalsBy Nikhita Santebennur, staff writer

Brookfield East swim team preforms exceedingly well in their swim meetPhoto credits: Adam Storch, staff photographer

Spartan Banner — October

SPORTS


The Brookfield East girls varsity tennis team has ended their season with a bang. First they earned first place in both conference duals and their conference tournament. Then they recently won the sectional tournament, hand-ily beating out rivals such as Brookfield Central and DSHA with a first-place sweep of the singles spots and a strong showing in the doubles flights. This win allowed the team to advance to Team State, and secured places at Individual State for many team mem-bers. Individual State qualifi-ers were Emma Corwin, Carly Wolff, and Emily Horneffer in singles and Bella Auger, Han-nah Lein, Maria Korkos, and Sabrina Zhong in doubles. At Individuals, all matches were highly competi-tive. Wolff fought hard but lost in a tough first-round tie--breaker against Stoughton. Corwin and the Auger-Lein team both reached the round

in for the season, though some have managed to recover. Se-nior Andy Swietlik returned from an injury which plagued him for much of the season. At the McCarty Park tournament, healthy and hungry for victory Swietlik won the junior varsity race. The team continues to remain hopeful for the next few races, with Conference and Sectionals right around the corner. On Saturday Oc-tober 24 WIAA Sectionals are held at Mitchell Park. High rankings at this meet could be the team’s ticket to state. The varsity runners have worked tirelessly to qualify for this tournament, held at Wiscon-sin Rapids on the 31. Whether they com-pete at state or sectionals, the team is excited for the meets yet to come. Please, come out and support the team.

Girls tennis takes conference

Thus far, the men's cross country team has had a fairly successful season. Performances have been solid from the top down, as many new and returning members have continued to drop time throughout the sea-son. Senior Donovan Lutz has led the way for the team, run-ning a personal best of 16:25 for the five kilometer race at the Racine Case Eagle Invite a few weeks ago. Stand-out freshman Bennett Hanson has also put forth an outstanding effort, running just under the eighteen minute mark this past week at Tendick Park. He hopes to continue to drop time in the upcoming competitions. Unfortunately, the team has been privy to inju-ries and illnesses hindering a few much needed individual performances. Sprained an-kles, broken legs, and knee injuries keep many a runner

Boys varsity cross country running after stateBy Stuart Guildea, Guest Writer

Top : Brookfield East Cross Country Runners pass-ing the finish line at record times.

Bottom: Varsity runs through rough terrain at their tournament.

Left: Donovan Lutz pasing up his opponenets.

Photo Credit: Donovan Lutz

of sixteen before falling to highly-seeded players from Eau Claire Memorial. The Spartans (17-7) play at the Nielsen Center for Team State the weekend of Oc-tober 23, hoping to finish their season strongly. Their first match is against Manitowoc Lincoln (13-3).

By Sabrina Zhong

Student’s weigh in:Winter’s most exciting sportsBy Anna Sipek

BASKETBALL 38%

Andy Lucas, 11 “I just like the team aspect of it. The teams are very close to each other, so there are a lot of different people coming together. It’s like a family.”

WRESTLING 5%

Carlos Lopez, 11 “Wres-tling is a more physical sport. I think it’s pretty interesting.

SKIING 23%

Sean Keiper, 11 “It’s a pretty cool sport. It’s fun to do. I really like to watch it.

LUGE 5%

Hunter Clarkin, 9 “ It’s fast and dangerous. It’s like bobsledding with-out protection. You really don’t have any control.”

ICE SKATING 9%

GYMNASTICS 8%

Kara Delleman, 11 “ Gym-nastics requires grace and elegace. Gymnasts can be so agile.”

CURLING 12%

Tim Reddy, 12 “Most peo-ple haven’t seen curling, but it’s worth it because there is so much drama in-volved. Curling is the most fun sport ever.”

Abby Weisse, 12 “I Like it when people do the jumps and twirls. I don’t really know much about ice skat-ing but it looks cool. Some-times people fall downs and that’s funny.”

What winter sport are YOU most excited

for?

Girls Tennis team smiles for rhe camera after their win.

Photo credit: Sabrina Zhong

aRTS & CULTURE


This winter, the Brookfield East Drama De-partment will take audiences back in time to the 1957 stage version of “The Music Man!” When the musical was first brought to television in 1962, it was a smashing success, and BEHS students will bring the excitement to the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center this De-cember. This musical follows a traveling con artist by the name of Harold Hill (played by sophomore Bennett Shebe-sta) who is told that River City, Iowa is one of the hard-est cities to persuade in the US. However, he is up for the challenge of convincing the lo-cals to buy his items. Over the course of the musical he sells

instruments to the town people, promising to or-ganize and direct a future city band. Hill’s intentions are far from pure, though, and he plans to flee town with the fortune he made ripping people off. However, his plans are disrupted when he catches a glimpse of Mar-ian (played by junior Riley Hughes), a librarian who eas-ily sees through his act. He de-velops feelings for her, as well as doubts about his own future as a con artist. By curtain’s fall, Marian will have turned Har-old into a respectable gentle-man whom the town loves and respects. Although this may seem simple, a show like this

BEHS Drama Department brings you broadway hit: The Music Man!

doesn’t just “come together.” There are cast members, di-rectors, and crew personnel who all put in countless hours to make the production hap-pen. According to Mr. Sch-neidewent, it feels like open-ing a small business each year at this time. From August to De-cember, he must be the pro-ducer, director and educator for the students and commu-

nity. For example, he works out ticket sales and other logistics, directs and develops all of the artistic components to the show, and makes sure that everyone is on track. This also includes casting of characters and accli-mating students new to

the drama department to how things work. Some students come in with extensive experience and fit their parts in the show perfectly. However, others come in with little knowledge of theater and have to build from the ground up their dance, vocal, and acting skills. Mr. Schneidewent is also an educator for the students by providing them with valuable

lessons and a great learning environment. While a typical show in the past years would have two co-directors, Mr. Sch-neidewent is alone this year. He stated that “the biggest challenge so far has probably been not having another di-rector to bounce ideas off of.” He continued, “Last year our strengths really compliment-ed each other and we worked well together.” However, he is confident that everyone’s hard work will pay off. The Music Man will run from December 3-5 at 7:00 PM and December 6 at 2:00 PM at the Sharon Lynne Wilson center. Tickets went on sale October 19.

By Ava Barker, staff writer

Every single student at Brookfield East has prob-ably had the experience of sit-ting, bored out of their mind, in class at least once during their entire high school ex-perience. Stereotypically, in history classes, all teachers are confronted with the same question: how does one teach without boring students to death? Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer and creator of the hit musical Hamilton, provides a solution: put it in a rap. All joking aside, the lyrics of the musical are met-rically genius. Skillfully com-bining raps with historically accurate information, Miran-da’s Hamilton will make any history teacher proud. Ac-cording to the New York Post, the Hamilton soundtrack is actually rivaling rap albums on the music charts, and was able to attract 2 million Spo-tify streams in the first week of its release. In the early work-ings of the musical, Miranda gained considerable recogni-tion and even a performance at the annual white house poetry

jam. After this opportunity to perform for the president, Mi-randa honed his craft further, creating a hip-hop musical en-compassing so much informa-tion that if sung in the tempo of any other musical genre, would take four hours to per-form. The musical, timing in at just over two hours, encom-passes founding father Alex-ander Hamilton’s rise and fall from prominence in the Fed-eralist Party, beginning from his immigration to the US and ending with his duel to the death. That’s right, Hamilton was actually legally murdered: in the words of Miranda “It’s in your history book, check it!” As a work of musical theater, Hamilton is critically acclaimed. The Wall Street Journal states “Ham-ilton is the best and most im-portant Broadway musical of the past decade,” lauding its imaginativeness and its cre-ativity. The Chicago Tribune reviews that “Hip-Hop and Founding Fathers are dazzling in Hamilton,” reflecting not

only the excellent music but also the racially diverse cast, which was comprised of most-ly black and Latino perform-ers. The New York Times sim-ply reports “Yes, it really is that good.” It won the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and seven other Dra-ma Desk Awards. Deserving of the rave reviews, Hamilton ac-complishes what few history books, documentaries or reen-actments have ever managed to do: humanize the historical figures. Miranda manages to make Alexander Hamilton a relatable character that the au-dience can connect to and ad-mire. The musical follows the lives of real people-- not just mere historical figures. What one takes away from the musi-cal will not be the facts blandly presented in history books but the accomplishments and failures of the people it repre-sents. By this fact, the musical is not simply entertainment-- but art.

Photo credit: Adam Storch

“The biggest challenge so far has been not hav-ing another director to bounce ideas off of.”

Alexander Hamilton drops some beatsBy Sara Kalupa, staff writer

Hamilton playbill design Photo cred: ticketmaster.com

aRTS & CULTURE

Spartan Banner— October 2015

BEHS welcomes new faces

Taylor Bramschrieber is a new history and psychology teach-er. Q: What are you most excited about with coming to BEHS? A: The students. The students seem to be very energetic and very highly motivated. Q: Where did you teach be-fore you came to BEHS? A:Waukesha North High School. Q:Why did you choose to teach History and Psychology? A:I’ve always wondered why. Why things happen and I al-ways was asking questions in school about why things hap-pen which led me into the so-cial studies, and looking at the world, and asking why things are the way that they are. Q:What is your favorite food? A:Sushi. Definitely sushi. Q:What is your favorite mov-ie? A:The Dark Knight

Ryan Koch is a new member of the math department of Brookfield East. Q:Where did you teach before coming to BEHS? A:I taught eleven years at West Allis Hale High School. A:Why did you choose to teach Math? A:I had a high school math teacher who really peaked my interest in math and I enjoy working with students. I did a summer coaching job where I really enjoyed working with students. Q:What is your favorite food? A:Pizza especially Ian’s Pizza. Q:What is your favorite mov-ie? A:Bad Boys 2.

David Smith is one of the new English Teachers at Brookfield East. Q:What are you most excited about with coming to BEHS? A:I am most excited about be-ing able to work with such a great staff and work with the students who have a reputa-tion of being very bright and engaging which has already shown through.Q:Where did you teach before you came to BEHS? A:Last year I taught at Oak Creek and the year before I did some subbing in the Elmbrook district and student taught at Greenfield High School. Q:Why did you choose to be-come an English Teacher? A:I have always enjoyed being able to use my own creativity to prove a certain point and argue for certain things, and I think being able to justify your own stance by looking at evidence has always been very rewarding. Q:What is your favorite food? A:Steak. Without a doubt.Q:What is your favorite mov-ie? A: Either Super Troopers or A Night at the Roxbury.

Lindsay Skatrud is another new English Teacher at Brook-field East. Q:What are you most excited about with coming to BEHS? A:Everyone else is equally ex-cited about BEHS and that is cool to be able to with both students and staff who are ex-cited and happy to be at school everyday. Q:Where did you teach before you came to BEHS? A:I taught at Janesville Craig High School. Q:Why did you choose to be-come an English Teacher? A: I thought that English had much more gray area, and there could be bigger life dis-cussions than other content areas. Q:What is your favorite food? A:My favorite food is mozza-rella sticks. Q:What is your favorite mov-ie? A:My favorite movies are Wedding Crashers and The Shawshank Redemption.

Emily Paproki is a new Span-ish teacher at Brookfield East. Q:What are you most excited about with coming to BEHS? A:So far Brookfield East has been a really fun school to be at, and the students are all really eager to learn. I have had some really awesome col-leagues. I look forward to get-ting more involved here. Q:Where did you teach before you came to BEHS? A:I was at Pius XI for three years and Greendale for three years. Q:Why did you choose to be-come a Spanish teacher? A:Spanish has always been re-ally interesting to me. In high school I really enjoyed learing it, and when I was in college I had lots of opportunities to travel. Spanish for me has al-ways been a way to see new places and meet new people. Q:What is your favorite food? A:My favorite snack food is popcornQ:What is your favorite mov-ie? A: I really am a fan of Pitch Perfect.

Story and photos by Adam Storch, staff writer

Mary Mann is a new French teacher at East.Q: Where did you teach before coming to East?A: I taught at Central, and I still teach there.Q: Why did you choose to teach French?A: I fell in love with the French language and culture, so I de-cided to teach French even though I studied history and am certified to teach it.Q: What is your favorite food?A: I’m a foodie, I like any food that is good and well-prepared.Q: Out of all the places you’ve been to in France, which one has been your favorite?A: The south of France. I love Paris as well, but I studied in Aix-en-Provence before, so it’s very special to me.

With the new school year comes a host of new teachers being added to the staff of East.

As of the 2015-2016 school year, College Board has redesigned Advanced Place-ment United States History, or APUSH, for the third time since 2010 in an effort to paci-fy conservative criticisms. In April of 2015, the Scholars Concerned About Advanced Placement History met and drafted a letter ad-dressing their concerns of “ an arid, fragmentary, mislead-ing account of American his-tory.” The group insists that the 2014 framework gave too much “special attention” to the formation of separate gen-der, class, and ethnic identi-ties within the United States instead of focusing on the real “encompassing theme”: American Exceptionalism, the belief that America is and al-ways has been inherently dif-ferent from other nations. American Exception-alism. It’s quaint, yet duplici-tous. Nowadays this phrase is most associated with neocon-servative intellectuals who use it to highlight the greatness of the American way of life. Thus, they postulate that because America is exceptional, other countries should strive to be “more American.” Some may say this is nothing but a hearty dose of nationalism. Who doesn’t like waving a flag every now and then? The problem with the concept of American Exceptionalism is the fine line between exception and supe-riority. What started out as nationalism can quickly cas-cade into the pits of discrimi-nation, a dangerous place to be. This danger has been il-

lustrated most notably in Nazi Germany, the South American Spanish colonies, and during the age of American slavery. Focusing on this idea of American Exceptionalism promotes a skewed view of history, a view where America is and always has been differ-ent, better. This is not to say that the same is not true of a history based purely on lib-eral ideals. History is seldom unbiased; as the saying goes, it is written by the winners. Propaganda runs wild. The media is partisan. And it has been this way for years, it is human nature to judge based on experiences. Instead of im-posing others beliefs on their students, educators should encourage students to ana-lyze sources themselves. Al-low students to interpret his-tory with their own values. The College Board in particular, who has supported critical thinking in other classes, should not have been so swayed by the argu-ments of extremists. Moving forward, they should focus less on the popular opinion and offer learners an opportu-nity to draw conclusions from primary source documents. Supply students with the tools they need to find their own truths. To continue slyly im-posing ideas of exceptionalism is a crime against students, the college board is certainly above. So please, members of both the left and the right, stop using my education for your political agenda.

A PUSH towards conservatism?By Anna Sipek, photo editor

Page 6 far left: Sophomore Bennett Shebesta; middle: Ju-nior Riley Hughes and Senior Cameron Schmor; right: Ben-nett Shebesta; Page 7 above: Stage manager James Arndt

Editorial

Spartan Banner — october 2015

Fashion: Checking the factsBy Brenna Verheyen, Staff Cartoonist

Spartan Banner Staff

Mary SlavinskyEditor-in-Chief

Elizabeth GoblirschExecutive Editor

Simran Khunger News Editor

Anna SipekSports Editor

Michelle LiuArts and Culture Editor

Mark MaierEditorial Editor

Anna SipekPhoto Editor

Mrs. SkatrudStaff Adviser

Namitha AlexanderEmma Barbian

Ava BarkerDominic Cartier

Stuart GildeaSean GlatchSara Kalupa

Nikhita SantebennurAdam Storch

Sabrina ZhongStaff Writers

Brenna VerheyenStaff Cartoonist

Adam StorchStaff Photographer

As the official student news

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There is a conven-tional wisdom on the Internet known as “Godwin’s Law,” coined by a man named Mike Godwin in 1990. This law states, “As an online discus-sion grows longer, the prob-ability of a comparison involv-ing Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” Is this parallel being drawn because a person involved in the discussion is a jackboot-wearing skinhead with a copy of Mein Kampf in their hand, and several swastika tattoos on their face? Well, no. Usu-ally “You’re a Nazi!” translates roughly to “I don’t like your opinion!” It wouldn’t be so bad if this only occurred in online forums, but Godwin’s Law can be applied in a number of dif-ferent scenarios. One of those scenarios is politics. In this context, if there aren’t direct comparisons to Hitler, then there can be buzz-words that are supposed to in-voke a Hitler-like connotation. Perhaps the most common one is “socialist.” This term has been thrown at President Obama throughout his presi-dency, but people who threw

it at him tend not to know what it really means -- they just know it’s bad! It’s easy to say that people who hurl this word out at him are just racists who don’t want to say some-thing much worse, and while those types of people are out there, let’s just observe this in a vacuum. It’s not wrong to have objections to President Obama’s policies, but scream-ing “SOCIALIST!” as a means of objection is just a cop out made to avoid debating actual issues. Instead of debating what President Obama actu-ally believes in, discussion be-comes about whether or not he adheres to a label that was given to him by a person who probably doesn’t know what it actually means. It’s no won-der Congress is experiencing record-low approval ratings. Now. what do we do when a self-described socialist US Senator and presidential candidate like Bernie Sanders comes along? Is it OK to make Hitler comparisons then, as some people have done? No. Sure, it’s true that “Nazism” is a shorter way of saying “na-

tional socialism,” but this is just a label. Furthermore, the socialism part isn’t as impor-tant as the national part. In-deed, Hitler’s intense nation-alism is something that makes him more commonly associ-ated with fascism, which is on the complete opposite end of socialism on the political spec-trum. But even if Hitler was commonly associated with so-cialism, Sanders still shouldn’t be compared to him, because they have very different ideas, despite their common label. Sanders wants to draw inspira-tion for his policies from coun-tries like Denmark, Sweden, and Norway--we can debate all day on whether or not this is a good idea, but nonetheless, this is what he believes. He is not out to take over the world, create concentration camps, or commit genocide because he believes himself to be ra-cially superior. Also, continu-ing on that thought, Bernie Sanders is Jewish, so calling him a “Nazi” is not only wrong but also incredibly insensitive, especially since he has grand-parents who were murdered

during the Holocaust. Perhaps people who have called the Senator a “Nazi” don’t mean any personal offense, but the best way to avoid something like that is to not erroneously use the label in the first place. Mark Twain once said, “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I re-peat myself.” While this state-ment may not be universally true, sometimes it’s easy to see why such a cynical statement would be made; Godwin’s Law in action is just one of many reasons. Presidential elec-tion day is about a year away, which is quite a long time. We’ve had a decent number of Nazi comparisons made so far; if Mr. Godwin is right, then this is only the begin-ning. We may never see this nonsense end completely, as political issues can be debated for generations. But if we are all informed and responsible voters, then it won’t be hard to get beyond labels, thereby minimizing Nazi comparisons in discussion, and allowing for more policy comparisons.

Let’s tone down sensationalismBy Mark Maier, Editorial Editor

The Spartan Banner

@SpartanBanner

spartan banner | october 2015

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