Efficiency can counteract tuition increases

Last week I wrote that with today’s difficult budget situations, public colleges and universities in Missouri weren’t specifying any cuts they would make to match the increases in tuition they plan to implement at their schools in response to the state’s decreased funding for higher education. Governor Nixon confirmed in his State of the State address last week that the budget he sent to the state legislature for consideration includes a seven percent cut in higher education funding from the this year’s levels. While this is a blow to the state’s public colleges and will affect thousands of students, the importance of a college education can’t continue to gradually become less and less accessible to students because of increasing costs to attend. As is the case in many situations, the people most affected by these cost increases can’t control the rising costs, but they can do their best to create their own efficiencies and streamline their path to a college degree. Like anything, a well thought-out plan can save you time and money when it comes to making an education affordable.

One of the most effective ways to save money on college is to start before the student even leaves high school. Many local school districts partner with local colleges to offer high school students the opportunity to take what is known as dual credit courses during their junior and senior years. Paying a reduced rate, students are able to take college level classes in math, science, history, and language arts while earning their high school diploma. This takes out much of the overhead and extra fees colleges would charge a normally enrolled student. Since high school students are in class more during the week than college students, graduating high school seniors can sometimes graduate with as much as 30 credit hours already under their belt, equal to approximately an entire year of college. This varies based on the courses completed and whether the college will accept particular classes towards requirements in their degree programs. One reason to keep an open line of communication with high school counselors is so they provide specific information in regards to learning the specific requirements of individual colleges. They can research or at least provide guidance on where to find the appropriate answers.

There’s no use in taking college credit hours in high school if you waste them away once on campus. While few are able to simply turn a four-year program into a three-year college experience through dual-credit classes, it’s very possible and there’s no denying the cost savings of doing so. An extra class either in the evening, over the summer, or online on top of a regular course load every once in awhile can really make a big difference. The additional money not spent on rent, meals, and required fees that each semester contain can offer significant savings if avoided. On the other hand, extra semesters on top of the average four-year path to a degree caused by changing majors, failing classes, poor planning, etc. are wasteful and costly.

The advantages of dual credit are numerous and a cost effective head start to students. This gives them an early exposure to college level material while still in a familiar environment and the chance to save themselves thousands of dollars in additional student loans and interest. Buying textbooks online instead of at the university bookstore, working a part-time job a few hours a week, and taking advantage of some of the less expensive options that universities offer from time to time are a few more of the small things that can be done to decrease the cost of their overall education experience.

College institutions themselves may not be interested in simultaneously matching their tuition increases with new ways to efficiently provide a high quality education, but that doesn’t mean students can’t learn the valuable lesson themselves while going through the process themselves. Although I support Mark Twain’s idea of not letting school interfere with someone’s education, it’s a great time to have young adults see first-hand how planning ahead and looking for small savings can significantly benefit them.

Clash for a cause: Park Hill, Park Hill South primed for rivalry game that will raise money for the American Cancer Society

The Park Hill and Park Hill South boys basketball teams will face off on Friday night after coming off just barely missing out on tournament titles in the Basehor-Linwood and North Kansas City Tournaments this past weekend. Their second place finishes leave an unfulfilled gap of accomplishment for what will already be a contentious rivalry game between two of the hottest teams in the metro this season. Not only will the game itself be a matchup of two solid squads, but it will also bring together two fan bases for a worthy case as they raise money for the American Cancer Society.

“It’s a great chance for people to contribute along with our hoops club having a raffle,” Garrison said of the opportunities available to donate. “It’s the first year we’ve done it. The Great Kansas City Basketball Association has made it a goal to raise money for the American Cancer Association.”

"Friday’s game should be a fun night," Siouth head coach Anthony Perry said. "Park Hill is playing good basketball and it should be a competitive game.  Last year we had a game against Staley to raise funds for cancer and it was a great event for a great cause.  So I called David and asked him if he’d be interested in doing the same thing for our game and he agreed.  Everyone knows someone who has dealt with cancer and I’m excited about having the opportunity to help."

Park Hill (12-5, 4-1) and Park Hill South (12-6, 6-1) are two teams with considerable talent and experience. One key area to watch will be South’s Christian Hildebrandt and Park Hill’s De’Aris Flint, two of the most athletic players on the court. Hildebrandt’s three point capabilities make him a threat against what will otherwise be a physical and agile matchup between the two forwards. Another pair to watch will be Park Hill’s Anthony Walters and South’s Rocky Benson. The two point guards have displayed strong ball handling skills thus far along with the ability to be aggressive to the basket. Additionally, expect to see Benson handling defensive duties against Park Hill’s top-scorer Nsenki from time to time.

“It’s going to be a great game. They’re well coached and have got a good group back from last year and a good group of newcomers filling in,” Garrison said of Park Hill South’s squad.

The Trojans and Panthers featured similar paths to their respective tournament championship game appearances last weekend. Park Hill forced overtime in their semi-final game against Maryville before finally pulling out the victory 57-55 to advance to the title game against host school Basehor-Linwood. The home school crowd put the Trojans in a hostile environment, one in which they might not encounter all season with the nature of small-town Kansas basketball. A foul infested game, Park Hill simply was unable to rebound effectively and convert free throws to overcome Basehor-Linwood’s relentlessness. On top of that, the Bobcats were able to hold leading scorer Chris Nsenki to just 12 points. Despite not performing in several key areas, the Trojans were able to only be down by as much as 13 points in the second half before eventually falling 53-45 after cutting the lead to just three late in the game. De’Aris Flint led the Trojans with 13 points.

“I think we lost rebounds 11-2 in the fourth quarter and that’s when you have to do your best,” Coach David Garrison said. “When one part is off, you can’t have another off. We have to play through things, whether that is the crowd or a call. We can’t let that affect us when we’re playing against the hometown team. We can’t let things beyond our control affect our game.”

Garrison said the opportunity to play in Kansas against teams they’re not familiar with was a good thing.

“I think it’s a good break between the beginning of the conference season and the end,” Garrison said. “It’s a good chance to play teams you usually don’t see and is a nice change of pace.”

For Park Hill South, it wasn’t the semifinal game, but the title game that required overtime against Truman. In what appeared to be a tight game throughout, Park Hill South faced a 26-25 halftime deficit before regaining the lead going into the fourth quarter by just a point at 40-39. Over time was forced in the fourth, but the give and take experienced the entire game ended in the Patriots’ favor with a close 55-54 Truman victory. Christian Hildebrandt has 23 points along with Adam Schemenauer’s 14.

Winter Weekly Recap: Jan. 17-21

Park Hill/Park Hill South Wrestling
Park Hill South dominated their mid-week dual against William Chrisman as they pulled out the team victory 54-15 with wins coming in the form of pins from Alex Fortuna (112), Jimmy Carpenter (125), George Barth (130), Chase Gray (171), and Sam Eickhoff (215).

The always competitive Winnetonka Tournament was held this past weekend. Park Hill and Park Hill South finished behind first place medal winner Blue Springs and their 320 team points. Park Hill finished second with 260.5 points while Park Hill South finished sixth with 201.5 points. Park Hill's Michael Olsen (112), Bricker Dixon (125), Preston Crouse (145), and Nolan Smith (285) won their respective weight divisions. Park Hill South's Jimmy Carpenter finished second in the 119 weight division.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball
The Lady Panthers went 1-1 last week in the North Kansas City tournament with a loss to Oak Park and a victory against Belton. They came out slow in both the first and fourth quarters to Oak Park in a 46-27 loss. Samantha Roy lead the Panthers with five points. Against Belton, the Panthers led throughout and held the Pirates scoreless in the second quarter (18-0) and added another 14 points to their advantage in the third quarter (22-8) before going on to win 59-18. Tori Kerr led the Panthers with 14 points along with Haley Shelton's 13 and Courtney Claassen's 11. Now at 6-7, they play against Raytown South on Thursday.

Park Hill Girls Basketball
The Lady Trojans defeated the home town host Basehor-Linwood on day to advance to the tournament semi-final after a close 35-32 victory. Tied going into the fourth quarter, Park Hill led by Kyleesha Weston's all-tournament performance of 16 points edged the Bobcats by three to advance on to play Ottawa. Despite a 16-4 deficit against Platte County, Park Hill spent the entirety of the game battling back before falling 55-47. Weston led with 14 points in the loss. Another close game didn't turn in the Trojans favor as Ottawa stayed just in front of Park Hill throughout the game to slide to a 43-37 victory. Weston led once again with 23 points. At 6-8, they play North Kansas City Thursday night.

Despite funding cuts, yearly tuition increases are the easy way out

Shortly after taking office in January 2009, Governor Jay Nixon announced an agreement with public universities and colleges in the state of Missouri to preserve their funding despite what would likely be several years of state budget cuts. The agreement promised to maintain the previous year’s level of funding for higher education if, in return, university officials promised there would be no tuition increase. The 2009-2010 school year was the only time in the last decade there has been no tuition increase for Missouri public universities. It provided temporary relief from funding cuts that have increased compared to inflation over the last two decades.

Although the tuition freeze saved students from increases in 2009-2010, it was short lived. For 2010-2011 the University of Missouri System, comprised of campuses in St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, and Rolla, increased tuition for out-of-state undergraduate students and professional students. With more cuts in higher education scheduled for the 2012 fiscal budget, university officials have indicated an increase just below 10% is almost inevitable for all students.

As school districts across the country work to balance their budgets with cuts across the board, it was interesting to find there were few, if any, comments on any cuts the universities themselves were intent on making. When universities speak about tuition they lead you to believe it is all inclusive, when it really is not. A University of Missouri student taking a 15-hour class schedule would pay about $3,700 in tuition. This doesn’t include ‘required student fees’ which could add an additional $1,000 dollars to your bill. These can include fees for information technology, student activities, health center, and recreation center along with any additional fees the specific area of instruction wants to add. These fees are also scheduled to increase. These costs are before you even get to campus and don’t include marked-up books you buy and living expenses.

In difficult budget times, higher education is usually the first to get their funding cut. This is because they have more ability to generate revenues than other state-funded programs. In addition to students that pay to attend, universities generate a great deal of income through athletic programs, bookstores, selling food and other merchandise, and collecting donations from alumni. They’ve got the revenue part down, but in tough budget situations, you have to also find ways to reduce expenses. It’s easy to find new fees to impose and increase tuition every year, which had been done every year at public universities in Missouri prior to Nixon’s 2009 agreement. College campuses and people involved in academia have a wealth of knowledge and should be fully capable of producing solutions to overcome cuts in funding other than calculating what each year’s tuition increase should be over the Consumer Price Index.

Kansas City business executive Warren Erdman, a member on the University of Missouri Board of Curators, was recently reported to have said that a rise in tuition would lead potential students to believe the school is more prestigious and therefore would see an increase in enrollment. MU Chancellor reinforced this thought by claiming more than 200 more students would attend with an increased tuition. Despite having no evidence to support it, he doesn’t factor in the possible decrease in enrollment due to the same tuition increase. These blue-blooded comments are beyond unreasonable to accept for the thousands of Missouri high school students who will be enrolling in their freshman year of college this Fall, likely having to add more debt to student loans that will already hold back young adults financially for years after they graduate. If higher education really is about preparing students for careers and life beyond campus, then ensuring students can actually afford that education would help make that more of a reality.

Panthers experience change of pace

Run and gun.

A fast paced basketball approach of quick scores from aggressive offense and applying tough pressure on defense.

This is the style Anthony Perry and his Park Hill South Panthers have played for the better part of a decade. Last year, it led them to a Final Four appearance in the Missouri Class Five playoffs. With three core players returning from last year’s team and several players stepping up into strong supporting roles, South has now switched from the role of David to Goliath. But in the heart of a tough conference schedule, the Panthers have had to do something they haven’t done in quite a while: slow down.

With the loss of starting point guard Anthony Woods for the season, shooting guard Rocky Benson has moved to the top of the key to run the Panther offense. One of the Panthers’ top scorers, Benson’s role will now change with a newly oriented Panther offense.

“He’s had to change the way he plays. Usually our two-guard scores and plays defense against the other team’s best player,” Perry said. “With him at the point, we can’t wear him out on defense. His has to make sure the offense runs the way it’s supposed to.”

Plagued by injuries, the Panthers don’t have the depth they usually need to run their high-paced offense. The return of 6’3” Kendrick White to the lineup, which Perry describes as part of the heart and soul of his team, allows the Panthers to turn their focus to more of a half-court approach and use their size to attack the basket down low. Along with White, 6’9” center Adam Schemenauer and 6’4” forward Christian Hildebrandt make up a sizable and athletic post combo.

“Especially when you have the size we have. We’d be dumb not to look to the inside. You notice it more now because we’ve lost a transition guy,” Perry said.

On display last Friday, they hosted an outmatched Belton Pirate squad. Focusing on the post early and often, South guards looked twice, sometimes three times into the post to get the right look they needed. Although this only left the Panthers with a 10-8 lead after the first quarter, it was hard to shake old habits as they naturally turned to their fast-paced full-court game which extended their lead to 26-10 at the half. The second half was perhaps a leading example of how dangerous Park Hill South could be down the stretch as they combined their new post focus and potentially explosive full-court game with the athletic ability of Hildebrandt, one of the most difficult match-ups for an opposing team. South extended the lead to a final 54-19 victory. Hildebrandt scored 24 points, outscoring the entire Belton team. Benson and Schemenauer contributed eight points along with White’s seven.

“He does a good job, very unselfish player. He could come down and shoot the ball every single possession, but he picks out his opportunities. He allows his teammates to get into the flow of offense before he chooses his shots,” Perry said of Hildebrandt.

The key to seeing success when districts come around is combining their multiple threats with the ability to compose themselves and make the decisions necessary to carry them out.

“Force ourselves to be mentally disciplined is our goal. We understand what we need to do offensively and defensively,” Perry said. “Now it comes down to every possession being disciplined enough to do it.”

Winter Weekly Recap: Jan. 10-15

Park Hill Boys Basketball
The day off of school due to snow affected Lee's Summit West more last Tuesday as they hosted Park Hill in a suburban conference battle. Park Hill trailed by a score of 28-20 before mounting a 21-5 third quarter leading them to a key 62-49 victory. Connor Farmer has emerged as a scoring presence for the Trojans as he posted 17 points along with Chris Nsenki's 17. De'Aris Flint added 12. To close the week, Park Hill had a chance to knock off a talented Truman team, but were unable to gain any momentum as the Patriots outscored the Trojans in each quarter for a 60-5 win. At 11-4, Park Hill will be in a conference battle with Truman and Lee's Summit West down the stretch as their second meetings could make a difference in who claims the title. Park Hill will compete in the Basehor-Linwood Tournament this week followed by what is sure to be a great matchup at Liberty on Tuesday and rival Park Hill South on Friday.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
After two tough losses the prior week, the Park Hill South Panthers came back strong last week as they scratched out a nail-biting victory against conference opponent Raytown South 50-49. Christian Hildebrandt scored 16 along with Adam Schemenauer's 13. Outmatched in almost every aspect, the Belton Pirates received a tough task in traveling to South last Friday night. Although, close in the beginning the Panthers held Belton to just 19 points the entire game. Hildebrandt scored 24 points in an impressive performance that outscored the entire Pirate roster. The Panthers are now 10-5 and are playing in the North Kansas City tournament this week before facing off against Oak Park Tuesday and Park Hill next Friday night.

Park Hill Girls Basketball
The Lady Trojans only game last week as a rough one as they suffered a defeat at home against Lee's Summit West 63-38. Facing a tough Titan team, the Trojans fell to a 36-13 halftime deficit after West outscored the Trojans 23-7 in the second quarter. Park Hill's top average scorers, Kyleesha Weston and Helena Hudson, weren't able to break double digits with nine and eight points, respectively. The Trojans were able to turnout a better second half, going toe to toe with Titans in the third and fourth quarters, b the damage was done. Park Hill is participating in the Basehor-Linwood Tournament this week. They are now 5-6.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball
The Park Hill South Girls lost a close one last Thursday night against Fort Osage 34-30. Taking a 12-11 halftime lead, the Panthers extended their lead to six going into the final quarter, but Fort Osage's 14 points compared to South's four in the fourth quarter hurt the Panthers most. Stephanie Griffith led South with seven points along with Courtney Shelton and Mallory Ross's five points.

Park Hill Wrestling
After some frustrating dual losses early in the season, the Park Hill wrestling team bounced back in a huge way last weekend as they brought home the Capital City Wrestling Title from Jefferson City. Competing in a field of 11 teams from across the state, Park Hill racked up 238.5 team points and won four of the five championship matches they wrestled in. First place medals were awarded to Michael Olsen (112), Bricker Dixon (125), Russel Coleman (130), and Preston Crouse (145). John Erneste lost a hard fought dual in overtime at 103 for a second place finish. They compete in the Winnetonka Tournament this weekend.

Words Matter: Freedoms come with responsibility

We live in a passionate country. We’re passionate about our family, our work, our sports, and our politics. People who use their passions effectively are able to compose themselves in a way that allows them to keep strong emotions under control while putting their skills and energy into action. Not understanding our emotions could mean the difference between advocate and psychotic. This is particularly absent from people who tend to be unstable, which unfortunately we too often find out in the aftermath of a tragedy.

The tragic shooting rampage that took place in Tuscon, Arizona last weekend which claimed six lives including a federal judge and injured many others, one of which was Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords is an unfortunate example of what happens when passion is acted upon without control of emotion. Political passion is unlike any other. Wide-ranging and affecting so many different aspects of everyday life, it can boil the blood of even the most uninformed citizens, much less the ones who allow it to consume their lives.

The finger pointing and speculation as to why this happened has already begun. Liberals are blaming Conservatives and vice versa. Gun and mental health advocates are staking out their positions. Others say it was an isolated event carried out by a crazed person influenced by no one other than himself. Conspiracy theorists are concocting their own farfetched opinions which I tend to ignore in order to keep my own sanity.

Perhaps the most constructive action that results from this tragedy is a discussion on the affect words have on people. The political discourse has been quite volatile over recent years. Fueled by sensationalism from public officials, party leaders, and talk show hosts from across the political spectrum, the toll of being told almost daily various reasons why our country is on the decline will continue to be felt if not changed. Those that share their opinions and viewpoints to millions of supporters, listeners or viewers each day have brushed off criticism of their powerful words in ignorance or maybe it’s arrogance that their popularity depends on. They can’t admit there’s a problem, so you know they won’t want to be part of the solution.

Many of us can control our emotions when we hear such strongly worded opinions, but it’s the unstable that act on those feelings. While anti-government sentiment is a part of our American democracy, it leads to an overall lack of respect for traditions and institutions our country was founded upon. This isn’t about right or left-wing extremism; it’s about exchanging the sensational for the sensible and bringing it into the majority. The shooter in this instance was obviously disturbed and no one can be blamed for his actions, but if there wasn’t a problem with the political tone before, then why have public officials at least, been more careful with their choice of words in recent days. It’s almost as if they want to bring decency to the table.

I know a lot of very passionate Chiefs fans. A mild-mannered fan myself, I recognize the deep emotional attachment some of my friends have in watching them play. After a pretty good sized beating in last Sunday’s playoff game, it would have been easy to push the right buttons to set them off in frustration. Even with every right to do so, I chose not to because I knew of the possible negative reactions I could get if taken too seriously. The same could be applied to any MU, KU, or K-State fan at some time or another. Regular people display this kind of responsible behavior regularly that those with so much influence should learn more from because being the loudest person isn’t always strength and disagreeing without being disagreeable isn’t weakness.

Park Hill Wrestling hopes loss is a turning point

Every season has a turning point or a series of turning points, where the result changes the course individuals and the team had been on previously. Sometimes it can be brought on by an internal conflict within the team that brings them together and other times it could be caused directly by what happens in the process of competition. It’s too early to tell, but after beating Lee’s Summit and St. Joe Central earlier in the week, the Park Hill wrestling team has come to what they hope is a turning point after a one point loss to Northland rival Staley in the second round of a tri-dual featuring St. Joe Benton last Thursday night.

After Russ Coleman started the Trojans off at 130 with a victory against Jeremy Goss, Park Hill would go on to loss six of the next seven matches falling further and further behind. The exception was Preston Crouse’s pin of David Montoya in 1:11 at the 145 level. The Trojans’ fortunes turned though, starting at the 215and heavyweight divisions with Travis Marcum and Nolan Smith who fought out match wins 4-1 and 4-0, respectively. John Erneste took care of business at 103 with a pin in 1:59 followed by Michael Olsen’s technical fall against Chris Allen at 112. With one match remaining, the Trojans wouldn’t want anyone other than defending state champion Bricker Dixon on the mat at 125 against Trevor Engle. A contentious match followed with blood being drawn from Staley’s Engle which caused a stop in competition. Ultimately, Dixon outlasted Engle 9-4, but left Park Hill on the short end of a 31-30 victory for Staley.

“We were looking forward to tonight’s dual. We knew Staley was tough,” coach Bill Erneste said. “One of the neat things about wrestling is that it’s the fairest sport in the world. Usually the hungry dog gets fed. They (Staley) knew tonight would make them better so congratulations to them.”

For Staley the victory was a sign of a strengthening program. For Park Hill, it serves as a source of motivation.

“We thought we were going to win, maybe some of our guys were complacent. The good thing about it is, we’ve got a lot of season left,” Erneste said. “Maybe this slap in our face will let us know we need to work harder.”

Still early in the season, the loss could also be a reminder of how big of a target Park Hill wrestling has on its back from building a consistently strong program year in, year out. But Erneste made clear, that last year isn’t this year, and those accomplishments won’t win them anything this season.

“We have the state trophy in the closet. The reason we have it in the closet is so that they can see it when they weigh in and know that it was last year, not this year,” Erneste said.

While seniors Crouse and Dixon along with Cody Goodwin are helping provide leadership in this early part of the season, Erneste says right now the team is going through a growing period and the younger wrestlers getting tougher including Michael Olsen, whose key technical fall setup Dixon’s final match, and John Erneste, who pinned a tough opponent in the sixth ranked Jonathon Melton.

“That’s big, but you can’t always count on the freshman,” Erneste said. “Have to have some other guys to get in there and help us.”

Park Hill will travel to Jefferson City this weekend to compete in the Capital City Classic. As the season begins its steep descent onto the district tournament, the Trojans hope to be able to combine their decorated seniors with their eager young underclassmen to form a group capable of scoring enough points as a team to once again compete against the state’s best at districts and state in February.

Winter Weekly Recap: Jan. 3-8

Park Hill Boys Basketball
The Park Hill boys added two victories to their total last week to improve to 9-3. The two Suburban Middle Six victories against North Kansas City and St. Joe Central make the Trojans 3-0 as they head into an important three week stretch featuring a heavy conference schedule and the Basehor Linwood Tournament. En route to an 85-73 victory early in the week against North Kansas City, the two teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 66 before earning the final margin in a 19-7 final period for the Trojans. Chris Nsenki scored 31 along with Anthony Walter's 17, De'Aris Flint's 13, and Connor Farmer's 10 points. Park Hill was firing on all cyclinders Friday night against St. Joe Central as Coach David Garrison said it was one of the best performances his team has turned out all year as they defeated the Indians 77-60. The Trojans got out to a 36-22 halftime score before eventually extending it to as much as 22 in the third. Nsenki led in scoring again with 21 points along with Walter's 19 and Flint's 18. Park Hill benefitted from a tough defense that defended the paint fairly aggressively.

"It was really two things, our perimeter defense did real well at keeping the ball out of the paint, but then when it did get to the point we were working our tail off defending it," Garrison said.

With the loss of senior Brady Kreitzer for the season, Garrison says there are two players that he'll look to fill the void with Connor Farmer and Tre Durham.

"Between those two guys, just depending on the kind of matchups looks like, they'll be the guys that need to step in and play," Garrison said. "He's (Farmer) gonna sit on the block for us, he's going to rebound and score at the basket while Tre's a ball handle and will play the point for us, which takes pressure off Anthony (Walters), so he can score for us more."

With anywhere from 7-9 players that could start for the Trojans, depth has not been a problem. Garrison tries to use his players in situations that allow them to be most effective.

"It's a chess match, sometimes we try combinations that don't work, but other times its great. One thing we know with the people we have here, they're going to battle and not take any plays off," he said.

Park Hill Girls Basketball
After a 40-12 win over Liberty North earlier in the week, the Lady Trojans hoped to gain their first conference win against Truman last Friday night. A 23-11 halftime deficit put the Trojans behind in the first half, but they closed the margin in the third to narrow the lead to just 32-25. After playing a man defense in the first half, the second half was when Truman threw a zone at Park Hill. Although reacting to the defense and running their sets fairly under control, they weren't able to penetrate the basket enough to score as much as they would have liked.

"We didn't have the confidence to step up and make a shot," coach Aaron Neeser said. "We gave up the same number of buckets, they just got to the line more."

An intense fourth quarter cut the lead to as close as four, but the Patriots pulled away for a 42-30 victory. The Trojans are now 5-5 with a game against Lee's Summit West Thursday evening.

"I think what I'm most satisfied about is that they really care about each other. Usually when you have a new coach, you have a transition period where you struggle a little bit, but they're really buying into what we're doing. I like how hard we compete, we just have to get better at the little things," Neeser said.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball
The Lady Panthers improved to 4-6 on the season with a win on Thursday night against Belton 56-44. South outscored Belton in three of the four quarters before widening the margin with an 18-10 final quarter. They'll travel to Fort Osage on Friday night.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
The Park Hill South Panthers hit a rough patch this week with two tough opponents in the likes of Liberty and Raytown who both dealt them close losses. The Wednesday night effort at Liberty left the Panthers with a 65-60 defeat. Traveling to Raytown on Friday evening, the Panthers found themselves with a 10-point fourth quarter deficit, but battled back before falling 66-63. Christian Hildebrandt led in scoring with 20 points along with Adam Schemenauer's 19. South is now 8-5 with a home game against Belton to conclude the week on Friday night.

Park Hill and Park Hill South Swim/Dive
Park Hill South ran away with their own invitational this past weekend at the Park Hill Aquatic Center as they racked up 298 points in the 15 team field of competition. Park Hill finished fifth with 105 points.

Top performers for the Panthers were first place finishes from the 200 yard medley relay team of Lyndsay Ryan, Rachael Norfleet, Mary Cate Reinert, and Mariah Bryant, Bryant in the 50 yard free, Hannah Bortnick in the one meter dive, the 200 yard free relay team of Shannon Brouk, Olivia McLain, Miranda Henderson, and Bryant. South will attend the Center Invitational over the weekend.

Top performances from Park Hill came from Brynn Guardado with first place in the 200 yard free and third in the 100 yard free, and Eleanor Parrott with third in the one meter dive. Park Hill has a meet at Raytown Wednesday evening and another next week at St. Joe Central.

Everyday, not just beginning of year, is a time to carry out resolutions

It’s that time of year when New Year’s resolutions tend to generate the motivation for us to do something we’ve obviously left slip through the cracks in the year prior or, for many, several years prior. Losing weight, making/saving more money, being more organized, the list goes on. Personally, I’ve never been too fond of making New Year’s resolutions. Over the years I’ve realized that the beginning of the New Year shouldn’t be the only time to start the pursuit of new goals or change the direction of my own life.

While I’m not your ideal health/fitness commentator, losing weight seems to be one of the most popular goals to undertake each January. For anyone that is preparing for what could be their annual recommitment to health in 2011, I thought I’d share just a small bit of my own experience to simplify a subject that has been over-complicated. After putting on some weight during my college years, I’ve recently been able to work my way back to where I was shortly before starting college. I didn’t sign-up for Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or start eating at Subway every day. I didn’t buy P90X or Insanity workout DVD’s. I did it using what I guess now is considered the old fashioned way. By jogging several times a week and recognizing the amount of calories I eat each day. It didn’t all happen in a single day, week, or month, but was gradual over time. The products mentioned above are great business ideas because they play off the illusion that there is an easy, no effort way to lose weight. It’s something those seeking to lose weight are often in denial about the fact that it’s not an easy fix, but a long-term endeavor achieved slowly over time.

In a more broad sense, small changes made each day make a big difference in the long run. It’s really a mental game, taking motivation and discipline to stay focused on things that require such a long time commitment. The products mentioned above promise short-term results to people who might be attracted to buy one over the other for a variety of different reasons, but they all apply the proven principle of burning more calories than you eat to reach your goal. The simple idea of taking it day by day can be applied to more than weight loss though. It can apply to saving money, developing a skill-set, building a relationship, and many other things.

I’ve worked with many successful business leaders, but one of the more memorable things I remember one of them once saying was “It’s the small things we do right everyday that can add up over time and make us better than our competitors.” Those small steps are what successful companies, organizations, and individuals alike take to reach both financial and physical health over time with a patient and driven approach. It can be applied anywhere from weight loss to building a business’s reputation to learning how to improve your golf game.

While it’s good to think big with the beginning of the New Year, think big long-term. You’ll see more sustainable and stable results. Whether it be losing an average of a tenth of a pound or saving $10 a day, it adds up over the course of a year. While those small amounts won’t generate the instant gratification people so deeply seek sometimes, it could add up to close to 30 pounds and over $3,000 dollars by this time next year.

Park Hill grad contributes to Auburn's trip to National Championship game

While many kids back from college have time to enjoy at least one more week of winter break, there is one Platte County native that will be experiencing the thrill of a lifetime next week. During the 2009-2010 school year, we brought you coverage of then Park Hill athlete Steven Clark on the football field and basketball court. An All-State and nationally ranked punter for the Trojan football team, The Citizen was the only source to cover his recruitment and official signing with Auburn University early last year. After a 12-0 record capped off with an SEC Championship in December, the Auburn Tigers will face the Oregon Ducks in the BCS National Championship in Glendale, Arizona on January 10th.

Clark, a 6-5, 232 pound freshman, was thrown into the fire early this season as questions arose to whether he could perform better than the more experienced punter in front of him at the time. In the heart of their conference schedule, Clark saw action in five games from October to November. He booted nine punts averaging 34.9 yards/punt, which don't reflect the height that Clark has notariety for. Five of those punts ended in fair catches and two were downed inside the 20-yard line, two key stats punters are judged by. Probably his most successful game came against LSU when he punted three times for 112 yards in a 24-17 victory for the Tigers. In recent weeks, seniority has ruled as Auburn has decided to re-assign starting duties to senior Ryan Shoemaker, who has slightly improved. While coaches have been quoted saying Shoemaker is inconsistent, they also agree that for Clark to perform well enough to maintain the starting role over the senior would be tough for a freshman, but that he is young and has time to improve.

Glancing through both teams' rosters, you'll have to look closely to find anyone from the midwest being represented in the game. Auburn's Clark is the only player from Missouri while Oregon has one player from Kansas. So while you watch Auburn's Heisman Trophy Winner, Cam Newton, possibly lead the Tigers to a National Championship next week which they are currently favored to do, Park Hill alums and residents of Platte County can be proud that one of their own is a part of it all. Stay tuned next week for more of the Citizen's coverage of Clark's journey to the National Championship.

Lady Panthers come off break slow, but show fight in near comeback against Chrisman

After a two week winter break to work on tuning up their fundamentals, the Park Hill South girls didn’t come out of the gate Monday night against William Chrisman like they wanted. An athletic and aggressive Chrisman team jumped out to an early lead that eventually led to a 29-11 halftime score. The combination of South’s poor shooting performance and Chrisman’s ability to convert on second chance points was tough to overcome for the Panthers in the first half.

“I think our first half we just played tentative and scared, not sure if it was the break or what,” Coach Jenny Orlowski said. “They (Chrisman) rebound very well; they kind of push up from behind the basket and position themselves real well.”

Down 18 points, Park Hill South had to change it up in the second half. While the general approach to stopping a fast team is to slow their pace down, it didn’t work in the first half for the Panthers. So they came out in the second half needing something different. With more pressure on the Bears, including a full-court man press, they forced pressure on Chrisman at every opportunity.

“We tried to slow the game down in the first half by staying back in the zone and it didn’t work very well, so when you’re down 18 points you have be a little more aggressive,” Orlowski said.

Initially, this also put more pressure on the weight of South’s young guards to prevent the margin from widening and the key bench players needed to run such a defense. Frustrating at first, the Panther defense stuck with it and slowly but surely narrowed the margin to 48-41 with less than four minutes to play in the game. Additionally, the shots began to fall as Tori Kerr and Stephanie Griffith’s timely scoring put the Panthers in a position to mount a comeback. Griffith converted 3 three-point plays in the fourth quarter as part of an impressive 19 point performance.

“Stephanie is a solid player for us, not real flashy, but gets things done when we need it,” Orlowski said of her senior guard.

As the seconds ticked off the clock, the momentum wasn’t quite enough as Chrisman took advantage of several late fast break layups to increase the final score to 63-47.

“A lot of our bench players really stepped up tonight, that’s what we want in broad terms of a total team effort,” Orlowski said.

While Monday was only the first game of 2011, South will be looking to build throughout the second half of the season upon the things they discussed over the break.

“We talked about turning things around and beating a team we’re not supposed to beat,” Orlowski said. “They can play with Chrisman, and they believed that in the second half. It’s about believing in themselves.”

The Panthers are now 3-6 on the year with home games against Belton on Thursday followed by Winnetonka on Monday.

William Jewell Roundup: Dec. 27-31

Park Hill Boys Basketball
The Trojans were one quarter away from playing for the Patterson Division title last week at the Bank Midwest William Jewell Classic. They took a one point lead of 42-41 over Liberty into the fourth quarter of what was pretty much a neck and neck game throughout. Liberty swung a three-point advantage in the fourth into a 59-57 victory over Park Hill. The Trojans' leading scorer was Chris Nsenki with 24 followed by Brady Kreitzer's 12. Park Hill battled Rockhurst in the third place game, but fell for the second time this year in a 65-61 loss. Park Hill gave up 22 points in the fourth quarter to give up a seven-point lead they had coming into the last quarter. Nsenki had 20 points along with Flint's 14 and Kreitzer's 10 points. The Trojans are now 7-3 on the season with a game at Oak Park Wednesday and St. Joe Central on Friday at home.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
Park Hill South was much in the same boat as Park Hill when they fell just short of a title game appearance in the Cardinal Division when O'Hara tipped in a last second shot to edge the Panthers by a score of 47-46. Christian Hildebrandt and Rocky Benson led South with 16 and 13 points, respectively. After an exciting overtime victory over Blue Springs South earlier in the year, the Panthers experienced a rare lack of offense in their third place game as they fell 45-32. Hildebrandt was the only player in double digits for South with 13 points. South is now 8-3 on the year with roads games against Liberty and Raytown this week.

2011 will be positioning year

With the holidays nearly over and 2011 soon to begin, the national and local political scene will see new stories and trends develop with the New Year. While there are plenty of, if not too many, pundits to provide analysis of national and federal level news, the type of progress made over the three week lame-duck session in Congress shouldn’t be expected in 2011. The compromises made had liberal and conservative ideologues alike cringing while providing a pinch of hope to the moderate mainstream that something could be achieved with a little give and take. However, in 2011, especially early, expect a renewed sense of political play at work in Washington D.C., as a new Republican majority in the House seeks to solidify its position in the split-party government with most efforts focused on defeating an incumbent President in the 2012 election cycle.

In Platte County, several storylines have already begun to develop as a new batch of county elected officials took office this week. After overwhelming victories in November, Republicans hold every county office except for two. The remaining Democratic office holders are Treasurer Bonnie Brown and Public Administrator Terry Edwards. Local Democrats will look to them for leadership after severe losses in November’s midterms. They’ll also be looked to as watchdogs of accountability for Republican county office holders potentially reluctant to blow the whistle on each other.

The election of Jason Brown as Presiding Commissioner will add a new dynamic to the three-member Commission. Coming from an often combative, partisan Jefferson City atmosphere, the type of governing role Brown chooses to take will affect the perception of the way business is done at the County level. Whether it is that of an active consensus builder, intimidating strong-armer, remote overseer, or a combination of the three, a leadership style will emerge over the first several months. Brown will be seen as the most fiscally conservative out of the three Commissioners, making it interesting to see how his addition affects where financial priorities are placed and the bottom line of the County.

New County Clerk Joan Harms is already making waves in her new position. She recently released the office’s two experienced employees, which initially leaves the office responsible for handling a wide variety of administrative duties with little, if no institutional knowledge. One of the released employees was Marcena Fulton, who ran as a Democrat for County Assessor in 2008 against incumbent Lisa Pope. In a not completely unheard of, but mostly political move, the transition from staunch campaigner to office holder will be something to keep tabs on throughout the year.

Local school boards will face another year of tough decisions in 2011 as they continue to make reductions in their budgets. Elections in the spring may bring a new face or two to the boards, but much of the financial fates for the districts lie in the hands of lawmakers in Jefferson City who will decide how much funding will be available.

Many Platte Countians will be considering who should be the next mayor of Kansas City in February and March of 2011. While current Mayor Mark Funkhouser, has had low approval numbers over the past couple years caused by a number of unpopular decisions, he can't be completely ruled out of the running for a second-term due to a crowded and possibly diluting field of six challengers looking to unseat him. Among them is long-time Platte County resident and former councilmember Mike Burke. Towards the top of the list in terms of credible challengers, if successful, Burke would be the first Mayor of Kansas City from Platte County.

Towards the middle to latter part of 2011, expect Democratic challengers to begin throwing out feelers as whether to run for any of the three state house seats in Platte County or either of the two Commission seats in November 2012. Names mentioned for both include former State Rep. Jason Grill and former County Clerk Sandy Krohne, who both with high name recognition and potentially strong financial support would be capable of mounting competitive campaigns.

2011, like many political off-years will be a year of positioning for politicos. While most of the work done in the upcoming year will set the tone for the 2012 elections, we can only be optimistic and hope that 2011 is a time when elected officials recommit themselves to focus on measures that promote sound, good government principles they constantly campaign on. Because before you know it, the focus on governing will unfortunately be set aside for yet another election cycle.