11411 Pflumm Rd. Overland Park, KS 66215 Volume 24, Issue 3 October 27,2011 the SHIELD www.stasaints.net The student voice at Saint Thomas Aquinas “Aida” set to bring love story to Aquinas stage Inside Seniors Max Wilber and Comparing the differences between social Jeff Thelen spend a day media, with Father Andrew to Centerspread, Pages 8-9 discern their vocations, Features, Page 5 2 October 27, 2011 Contents Contents News Briefs Qadaffi killed Students involved in many activi- Libyan Colonel Muammar el-Qadaffi, the dictator who fled from power, was captured and killed by Libyan officials Oct. 20 after fighters seiged Qadaffi’s hometown of Sirte. Qadaffi’s body was displayed ties in and outside of school feel the in the town of Misarta for Libyans to celebrate the end of dictator’s regime. stress of being well-rounded, Turkey Earthquake A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook parts of southeastern Turkey on Oct.23, killing near 400 Campus News, Page 4 people and injuring almost a thousand people. The epicenter of the quake was located in Ercis, which lies on a major fault line. Once banned by some teachers, Aquinas featured on morning news show Wikipedia is gaining credibilitiy Saint Thomas Aquinas was featured on the weekly Friday-morning “Cool School” segment of the KCTV5 morning news show, Friday Oct. 21. The show highlighted excellence in service, academics and Campus, News, Page 3 extra-curricular activities such as Key Club, Forensics and We The People. 26 Seniors recognized as Kansas Honor Scholars 26 Students at Aquinas were honored as Kansas Honor Scholars at a recepetion Oct. 26 at Olathe Junior Melissa Feuerborn spends East High School. Honors Scholars are those students who rank in the top 10 percent of their senior class. hours everyday training for The awards are given out by the University of Kansas. gymnastics, Various trips offered to students Saint Thomas Aquinas will be offering various trips to several locations throughout the entire Features, Page 6 school year. Spanish students will be traveling to spain this summer, while Japanese club members will fly to Japan to visit our sister school. Mission trips are offered to juniors and sophomores during spring break and seniors will be making a pilgramge to Rome during that time as well. Apple Creator Steve Jobs’s death impacts Aquinas, Upcoming Events Features, Page 7 Oct 28- Volleyball State Activities to do in the fall, Oct 29- Cross Country, Volleyball State Entertainment, Page 11 Oct 30- Open House Oct 31- Halloween, Catholic Charities Canned Reality television does not match up Food Drive Begins to real life, Nov 1- All Saints Day Mass, Priority Opinions, Page 12 Scholarship Deadline for KU/KSU Nov 3,5,6- Fall Musical, “Aida” Preview of State Championship Nov 9- Student Council Town Hall Meeting competitions, Nov 10,11- NO SCHOOL Sports, Page 14 Nov 12- Extravaganza Campus News October 27, 2011 3 Wikipedia’s credibility questioned Wikipedia The site “Wikipedia” has Fun Facts taken steps to help prevent fraud in their articles, allow- The wiki software, cre- ing for more credibility. ated by programmer Ward Cunningham, took ALEXIS LEIKER its name from the Ha- Managing/News Editor waiian term “wiki-wiki,” which means quick. The debate whether to use Wikipedia as a source for school assignments has always been a Wikipedia has no ads. popular topic among students and teachers alike. In past years, teachers have warned students to Bad weather leads to stay away from the site because of doubts on its credibility, but more Wikipedia updates. recently some views have been changed on using Wikipedia as a reasonable source, as long as it’s Wikipedia generates ap- not the primary source. proximatley 684 million According to its own site, Wikipedia is a “free, Web-based, page views each year. collaborative, multilingual ency- Alexis Leiker | The Shield clopedia project supported by the Senior Carly Van Blaricum and freshman Paige Klimas use Wikipedia as a source to research various subjects. nonprofit Wikimedia Founda- about living people, and in some good place to start,” business and but it still has some flaws,” De- The English language tion." It was founded in 2001 by cases, important biographies. It technology teacher Al Miner said. partment head of technology and Wikipedia has more than Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. requires material to be signed Wikipedia also makes sure social studies David Shriver said. Since its beginnings, Wikipedia 3 million articles. off on by an experienced editor that there is a “history” page “I will use it if I want to know has amassed an archive of 18 before it is seen by the general attached to every article so that something really quick, like a million entries in about 279 lan- reader. There is a layer of review every past revision or edit can name of something.” guages and is one of the 10 most to prevent some "edits" from be seen. This makes it easier to Though some students find Members of the Wiki- popular web sites on the Internet. appearing immediately. Founder compare old and new versions, that Wikipedia is easier to use pedia community are The “wiki” technology allows for Jimmy Wales strongly agrees with undo changes that an editor while researching topics, many collaborative, real-time editing. referred to as “Wikipedi- the idea of “flagged revisions.” considers undesirable, or restore are tentative to use it. It works by starting as a ans.” “We have really become lost content. The "Discussion" “It makes me hesitant be- "stub," a first stab at defining a part of the infrastructure of how pages associated with each article cause it’s not professionals writ- topic. Someone then expands it, people get information. There is are used to coordinate work ing it, however, because everyone while another contributor may a serious responsibility we have,” among different editors. Regular is allowed to edit it, people can 31% of Wikipedia read- shrink it again; some edit for style Wales said in an article for the contributors often maintain a correct it if it’s wrong,” senior ers are women. and others edit for typos. New York Times. "watch list" of articles of interest Martha Krattli said. Since it is set up in this style, With about 280 million to them, so that they can easily Some feel that Wikipedia is some teachers do not allow stu- users, it can be understood why keep tabs on all recent changes to better used for information on dents to use Wikipedia as a source many worry about the reliabil- those articles. opinion topics or “hot topic” Wikipedia is ten years because of fear of obtaining infor- ity of Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s Computer programs called subjects. old. mation that is false or written by reliability, though, is actually “Internet Bots” have been used “If you look, you’ll see on someone with low credentials. higher than many people would widely to remove vandalism as Wikipedia that (the article on) The creators of Wikipedia think. Experts found that there soon as it’s made to correct com- George Washington weighs in recognized this problem and took are about four errors per article in mon misspellings and grammar, at 9,892 words, Optimus Prime steps to solve it. One step Wiki- Wikipedia and about three errors or to start articles such as geogra- at 26,119 words, Abe Lincoln at pedia took was initiating the plan per article in Britannica. phy entries in a standard format 14,100, and Steve Jobs at 6,854 of “flagged revisions.” Flagged “I wouldn’t use (Wikipedia) instead of statistical data. words,” Miner said. g revisions are limited to articles Information acquired from onlinemba.com/ as a primary source, but it’s a “Wikipedia is fast and easy, wikipedia 4 October 27,2011 Campus News Keeping up with a well-rounded student and get into bed around 11. and friends may be necessary Kyle Lickteig PHOEBE BEACHNER The next day and the next day to keep up with such a busy Reporter are instant replays. These are schedule. Everyone’s life in- Year: Junior the typical days a “well-round- volves stress but not everyone ed” student lives. is able to cope well with it. Yet Athletic Activities: Soccer everyday 3:30 – 5 p.m. with at least Get up, go to school for The key is to keep or- those who can always keep two games per week. seven hours, go to practice, get ganized. Cutting out social their head high, keep calm and home around eight, eat dinner, events, unique opportunities, carry on. g do homework, then shower and sometimes close family Job: Quik Trip, but I don’t work during soccer season. Laynie Timmons Extracurricular: Choir School Work: Mostly honors classes, 1 ½ hours nightly, 7 Year: Senior hours of sleep. Athletic Activities: In the Fall, I have volleyball 3:45- Free Time: Lots of school spirit, I try to attend lots of sports 5:30 p.m. with tournaments on Saturdays and in the games. Spring I run track at 5:30 p.m. then have volleyball 7:30 College: Yes, engineering possibly at K-State, but I won’t play – 9:30 p.m. soccer. Job: No job, but get paid a monthly allowance to pay for Motivation: My girlfriend Kelsey Ryan. gas. Stress Level: There is no point in stressing out. Stress won’t Extracurricular: Staples and taking photos for the year- help; just move on and get back in the game. g book. School work: Homework sucks. I’m in all honors classes with homework in at least 2 classes each night.