MHS Mentor Issue 16

M the MENTOR

Jan. 29, 2013

Manhattan High School, Manhattan, Kan.

Chinese exchange students make for a cultural exchange Liz Logback Features Editor

Twenty-eight smiling new faces left the intense schooling in China and entered the American high school experience. The delegation from Luhe School from Beijing, China, arrived in Manhattan on Jan. 19 with 26 students and two teachers for a threeweek stay with host families from Manhattan High.

The program was set up by professor Jishu Shi who works at Kansas State as a recruiter.

Shi travels to China numerous times a year and had previously set up a similar program at a school in St. Louis. All of the students selected to come to MHS have an interest in attending college in either the United States or another English speaking country after high school.

Junior class counselor and American Field Service advisor Tony Wichmann hopes the experience will be a positive one for the visiting students.

“The main goal is for the students to work on English

and class materials. We want to expose them to the American culture,” Wichmann said.

Sophomore Yang Shuyi, who is going by the American name Stark while here, is staying with the Ian Miller family.

“I love it here,” Yang said. “[It’s] different than China. It’s free.”

The Luhe students were each assigned a mentor from AFS who they could shadow and travel through their school schedule with. After a week and a half, mentors will be traded to give the students an opportunity to experience new teachers and work. Yang’s mentor, junior Ethan Schmidt, is finding the program beneficial.

“It’s fantastic. I learn about his culture while he is learning about mine,” Schmidt said.

“It’s great to be the one who makes their time in school worthwhile.”

The Luhe school is an unusual sight in China. Private boarding schools are practically unheard of, especially ones that focus on teaching English. Students who attend

the school are expected to focus on their studies and have a rigorous schooling schedule.

A normal day is 10 hours of studying, with a goal of preparing the students for a successful life after high school.

“There’s more pressure [in China]. It’s way more easier here,” Yang said.

Some of the Luhe students are feeling more “relaxed” during their stay and have come to enjoy the community events in Manhattan.

The students attended a K-State women’s basketball game last week and plan on taking some tours around the region and Ft. Riley in the weeks to come. The Luhe students will continue to experience life outside of their own culture, while MHS students are exposed to a lifestyle that’s unique from their own.

“It’s very important to broaden your mind and extend your senses beyond those of your own border,” Schmidt said. “It really gives you a sense of respect.

News Volume 100 issue 16

Career Expo provides students with information on possible careers

On Jan.22, Manhattan High hosted its first Career Expo where MHS classes set up their own booths explaining their ciriculum and future career choices. Eisenhower Middle School recieved a tour around the high school and visited booths as well.

Jordan Morris, photographer

Science Olympiad breaks school record BOE disscusses Dheepthi Perumal Multimedia Editor Science Olympiad dominated at their Regional competition Jan. 16. The team traveled to Salina to participate in the Division C Senior High Regionals.

Placing first place in 16 out of 23 events, MHS demolished the other 11 schools.

“Our overall score was the best one we have had yet,” adviser Dick Nelson said.

Thirteen schools from all over Kansas went to Kansas State UniversitySalina to compete in the Regional Science Olympiad competition. The schools had students who competed in 23 events, including Astronomy, Forensics, Water Quality, etc. MHS had all

their students compete in the all the events, and when a school does not participate in an event they get a score of how m a n y teams are in 1 t h e competition plus one, so 13 points at the regional competition.

T h e goal as a team is to get the least amount of points in an event and end

Brown Bag lunch series returns John Riforgiate Staff Writer The Brown Bag lunch series is back. On Wednesday, Jan. 30, during first and second lunch, Manhattan High students will have the chance to learn about the world of business.

BBLS is a short speech hosted by the Career and Technical Education department. CTE is hosting this event to prepare students for the world outside school.

“The greatest benefit is that they can hear from people in careers already,” CTE coordinator Dawn Lindsley said.

Dean Youngers, the construction manager for the recently finished MHS renovation project, is speaking this week. Youngers had to col-

laborate with a wide variety of people to finish the three-year construction project. He is a local businessman with experience in the world of enterprise.

Last time there was a speech, 60 students from both lunches combined signed up, but because this was a new phenomena, many people didn’t know what to think.

Lindsley expects a better turnout this time around and is enthusiastic about helping students learn about the corporate world.

This special opportunity is only open to the first 50 students from each lunch who sign up in Lindsley’s room, E-106. Those who take the initiative by deciding to attend will be entered in a drawing for the latest Kindle Fire.

Clu b Notes Scholars Bowl Members of Scholars Bowl will be on TV soon. The team filmed their first episodes for QUEST on Jan. 19.

“I am not supposed to say how we did but I will say that will be our only show this season,” Scholars Bowl coach Ted Dawdy said. “This year I was a veteran so I sort of knew what to expect, regardless of if we won or lost, it was a fun experience,” Varsity team member Logan Sutton said.

The episodes are set to air sometime in March.

The Varsity team competed at a Robin Varsity tournament Jan.17 at Washburn Rural and the team went 8-3 to finish in third place. The J.V. team competed at Flint Hills Chris-

tian on Jan. 15 where they went undefeated and won the tournament.

On Jan. 17, MHS hosted a novice meet with 14 teams participating -- MHS had two teams. The first team consisted of Joshua Schwartz, Luke Wuri, Ben Broxterman and James Walters. They went 6-0 in pool play and defeated Jeff West in the semi-finals but lost to Lawrence Free State in the finals. The second team consisted of Grant Urban, Joseph Trujillo, Lindsey Hageman and Sterling Edgar. They went 4-2 in pool play but failed to advance past pool play.

Scholars Bowl will compete at regionals on Thursday at Lawrence Free State. Eleven teams will be participating.

The top four teams will advance to the state tournament

with the least amount of points.

MHS ended the competition with 38 points, second place Salina South with 85 points and third place with Ell-Salina High with 135.

“I was impressed with the students,” Nelson said. “In the end their hard work paid off.”

Although MHS’s team did dominate in certain events they got second place for five events and sixth place for two events. Science Olympiad has only one more meet until State. Their goal for State is to improve in all their events, and see what they did wrong

and improve.

“My only issue is that because we did so well our students will be overconfident for state,” Nelson said. The next competition for Science Olympiad is scheduled to be an invitational at Kapaun Mt. Carmel at Wichita and all the students on Science Olympiad are excited.

“My goal for the competition is to do better and fix things that went wrong at Regionals,” junior Sriramana Sankar said.

Graphic by Dheepthi Perumal

Low unemployment rates in Manhattan prove beneficial for upcoming K-State students Sarah Shi News Editor Labor Force statistics of the top 16 Kansas cities by population show that Manhattan is ranked third in employment growth over the past decade.

With a net employment gain of 23 percent from January 2002 to November 2012, Manhattan only falls behind Overland Park and Olathe.

For seniors attending Kansas State University this fall, the stats are optimistic for those who plan to support themselves through off-campus jobs while in college.

“It’s a great thing that KState has one of the highest employment rates because you have to pay for school somehow,” senior Mikayla Barth said. “It’s better to find a job now than pay interest in student loans later. I’m not too worried about finding a job in college.”

Barth’s parents will give her a set amount to pay for part of the tuition, but it is up to her to pay the rest through either scholarships or money from hosted Feb. 9 at Washburn Rural.

-Julith Perry

Medical Explorers With a small group of 12 members, the Medical Explorers got a tour of Pederson’s Lab on College Ave last Friday.

Pederson’s Lab is a facility for different services including Cytology, the microscopic study of cells, Surgical Pathology and Laboratory Directorship. The lab handles running different tests including fluid testing, results from gynecological pap smears and preparing specimens for microscopic examination.

The tour was conducted by Jennifer Torrey, a laboratory consultant and client representative for Pederson’s Lab. She led the club through the different exam rooms that were used for researching and testing and explained all that is

working.

“I will probably keep babysitting and work at my church nursery here and keep whatever job I’m sure to get this year through college,” she said.

For senior Carly Tracz, having connections within the Manhattan community gives her confidence that finding a job here won’t be a problem in the future. “I used to work at Bed Bath and Beyond. When I left they told me that if I ever wanted to come back that they would find something for me,” Tracz said. “It’s all about the connections.”

With the prospect of new businesses coming into Manhattan, senior Emmianne Jagosz is not worried about finding a job.

“It’s good that Manhattan is growing. It means the local economy is getting better and the possibility of more job opening is greater,” Jagosz said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll get a job. I really want to work at a clothing shop like Dillard’s or Gap because I want to go into apparel marketing in college.” done in each area.

In addition to the different medical departments in the building there were different fields of business including administration, billing, transcription and courier duties.

The members all got a look into another big part of the medical field that isn’t just about doctors or nursing.

“I like how this tour shows that Medical Explorers aren’t just for people who want to be doctors. It can also be for people who want to do other work in the medical field like the technicians,” club president Mohana Chakrabarti said.

Thursday, Feb. 7, Medical Explorers will meet to hear from a guest speaker who will discuss new medical procedures and will demonstrate a robotic arm that is to be used for surgery.

-John Rockey

community changes, high school recognition Naomi McClendon Entertainment Editor There was no further discussion at last week’s Board of Education meeting regarding the proposed high school schedule. The meeting, however, was still heavy with Manhattan High School issues.

During the special recognitions portion of the meeting, MHS Thespian Troupe #941 was recognized by the board for their award from the Kansas Thespian Conference -- the Gold Honor Troupe Distinction Award. The award is based on several categories, including number of productions, number of community services, fundraisers and social service plays. Head of Drama Department Linda Uthoff explained that the board has been generous in the past in giving the Thespians recognition for their contributions to the community.

“We’ve been recognized in the past for things like becoming a Blue Ribbon Group and for the Gold Honour several times,” Uthoff said. “They’ve also invited us to perform little bits or scenes from upcoming productions, just to make people aware of what we’re doing.”

The board also heard an update on the Bishop Stadium Artificial Turf project. The five-year-long campaign for an artificial turf approved its first reading last fall. According to the board, Manhattan is the only 6A high school that has a natural grass surface. The turf, which would cost $400,000, has a 10-15 year life expectancy and would be funded by the district, private donations and business donations. At last

Gifted A frequent guest of the White House, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, paid a visit to Kansas State University today in a Landon Lecture entitled “Israel, The Ultimate Ally.” Gifted facilitator Carla Johnston took a group of around 30 students to watch the lecture in Forum Hall. “[The lecture] gives exposure to speakers that the student might not normally get to see,” Johnston said. “The speakers always cover a variety of topics and it also gives us an opportunity to be on the K-State campus.”

Students that attended the event each had different reasons for attending, but all seemed very interested in the Israeli speaker.

“I thought it would be interesting to hear what one of the ambassadors from one of our most important allies

week’s meeting, the board was informed that the necessary funds have been secured for the project. According to the report, the new turf should be installed and ready to use by the first home football game of next year’s season.

Sophomore football player John Rockey thinks the new turf will be a great thing for Manhattan. “I’ve heard about getting a new field for the past year,” Rockey said. “It’s a great idea.”

Rockey suggested that the new turf will provide both athletic advantages and long-term benefits. “Every other team and their sister plays on turf.

We can adapt to playing on any kind of field, but to play on one kind of field would be much easier,” Rockey said.

“And the financial costs for keeping up a grass field is $50,000, so to put in a synthetic field for a little bit more would save money.”

After the report, superintendent Bob Shannon presented a Resolution on the Appropriate Funding for the education of Our Nation’s Military Dependents. The program is aimed to help students, particularly at the high school, who have family members in the military. The program is one of many in place across the nation’s educational laws to serve military families in education. This particular grant has been a joint project between Geary County and Fort Leavenworth School districts to continue support in Kansas legislature, and it equals about $500,000 for our district. The current resolution is set to expire at the end of this budget year. The new resolution was approved by the board. would say because there is a lot of trouble in that region right now,” senior Benjamin Carter said.

When senior Taylor Bates heard about the lecture, she realized the great opportunity it was, considering her prospective major.

“I decided to go to this Landon Lecture because I’m going into international corporate tax law and I thought that having a lecture with an international figure would be very instrumental to my studies,” Bates said. “I’m hoping to learn more about the relations between the two countries and how that affects policy decisions and things like that.”

Oren’s visit makes the this the 162nd presentation to take part in K-State’s Landon Lecture series.

-Kaitlin Wichmann

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Jan. 29, 2013

the MENTOR

Opinions

Super Bowl Preview Question of the Tre Fuentes

staff writer

It’s official. After 21 weeks in the NFL, only two teams remain. The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens will face off in the Super Bowl this Sunday. Both teams are incredibly deserving to be the champions of their respective conferences with some of the best players in the NFL and two of the premier coaches in the NFL in Jim and John Harbaugh. And now, the two teams will put their whole season on the line with an estimated 111 million people watching.

The hype leading up to the game will be historic, as never before have the two coaches in the Super Bowl been brothers. I’m sure by the time the Super Bowl actually begins,

ESPN will have interviewed everyone in anticipation, from their parents and other siblings to their third and fourth cousins. Whatever happens, and as long as the Harbaugh brothers remain coaches, the Ravens and 49ers will become one of the most intense rivals in the NFL. So, without further ado, here is my analysis and prediction for the big game.

Ravens: Ray Lewis, the face of this storied franchise, is on his last breath and has announced he will retire at the end of the season. Most people (including myself) thought his career was over after a tricep injury in the middle of the season, but miraculously he made it back in time for the first game of the playoffs. Ever since, he has been romping the field like a mad man, leading the team in tackles in all three of their playoff victories. He has given the entire team newfound energy, as everybody is stepping up their game. Terrell Suggs, the other Ravens linebacker who also missed a majority of the season with an injury, is also playing unbelievable.

On offense, they have Ray Rice, one of the best running backs in the league. Ray Rice’s ability to break the long run at any given moment along with the fact that he is pretty good at catching the ball out of the backfield makes him a dual threat. And quarterback Joe Flacco is playing.... like a quarterback! He originally has been criticised for not being as good as some of the other elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but this year he’s going to the Super Bowl.

49ers: Collin Kaepernick is playing like a hybrid of Michael Vick in the good ol’ days on the ground and Aaron Rodgers through the air. There is literally no safe way to play him. With only 11 men on the field for each team, it’s impossible to defend the entire field.

You stack the run, you’ll leave someone open in the field for a deep pass. You defend the pass, then Kaepernick will gain 40 yards through the ground. No exaggeration.

And that’s just one player.

Frank Gore is one of the most physical running backs in the game. Not to mention the fact

the 49ers have one of the best offensive lines in the league, leaving him plenty of holes to jump through.

On defense, the 49ers are stacked. Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith are probably the best linebacking duo in the league. They are going to get to the quarterback. And the quarterback is going to remember it. This team has so much talent and depth, they have a serious shot at the Lombardi trophy.

Final Verdict: Both teams are worthy for being where they are, but in this instance, I have to give the nod to the Baltimore Ravens. Ray Lewis is going to go out on a bang following his retirement, and the entire team is willing to play hard for him. Also, on a side note, Michael Oher, the main character in the movie “The Blindside,” is also going to suit up in the Super Bowl for the Ravens. And he is actually really good. I would love for his family to see the very kid they adopted end up being a Super Bowl champion.

Could we possibly be looking at a Blindside sequel?

A ‘ theism’ a meaningless word Tim Higley Guest Writer While I think Logical Positivism is a perfectly reasonable approach to life, language and logarithms and that Bertrand Russell’s notion of happiness is based solely on the projection of enlightened self-interest certainly makes sense -- I have to admit that I think Russell’s argument in his little book Why l Am Not A Christian is more or less laughable. It is an exercise in straw man demolition, pure and simple; that is, possibly, the philosopher’s intent. Sadly, though, many a stray reader is apt to succumb to the unfortunate possibility

that the book represents some sort of logical refutation of theistic faith or conviction.

The fact of the matter is, quite simply put, that Russell is not a Christian because he doesn’t believe in God; he is, by his own rights, an atheist.

The harvest home gathering of sheaves he brings into play in this debate with his own projected backward Pilgrim are hardly necessary to explain his disbelief in anyone’s conception of the Judeo-Christian God, or any other postulated divinity. What’s more, the counterargument Russell lays low throughout the book is no argument any thoughtful or spiritually astute believer

would ever offer. Now, I realize that a good many believers are let off the hook by this qualification, but that isn’t what I’m trying to discuss. To those whom Russell is able to engage with his parody, I say: enjoy the fight. But for a good many of us who do not call ourselves atheists, the issues Russell addresses have little if anything to do with our inability to embrace the term.

The difference -- phenomenologically speaking -- between being a theist and an atheist plus a couple of dollars can buy you a latte macchiato at Barnes & Noble. It is no more logical to believe in the non-existence of the

empirically indemonstrable than it is to believe in the existence of it. Of course logic is precisely what’s not at issue as regards belief. For myself, I would say that none of the nonexistent Gods that atheists believe in are worthy of my belief; therefore I am not atheist. By the same token, there are no doubt a multitude of Christians who will find me wanting when weighed in the balance of their own belief.

That, however, is none of my concern.

Week

Would you rather be smart and appear dumb or be dumb and appear smart?

T his question appeared in the last edition of T he Mentor. T hese selected answers were chosen from submissions on the website, mhsmentor.com “I would rather be smart but appear dumb. That way, when the smart people discovered that I was truly smart after all, they will be the ones who would look dumb!”

- Alan Brown, freshman “Smart and appear dumb so nobody really bothers you or sets too high of an expectation.”

- Breana Brooks, sophomore

“I would rather be dumb and appear smart. I would like the appearance of being smart but still be able to have “people skills” which most smart people lack a lot of.

But having great intelligence and having no where to use it would drive people crazy!

They have to have a challenge or else the intelligence might be used for something unproductive.”

- Ben Stonebraker, freshman

This week’s question...

Are you more yourself with your best friend or when you’re alone? submit answers at mhsmentor.com and it may appear in the next issue.

Be sure to leave your full name and grade.

Tim Higley teaches AP Language & Composition and Comp 101 at MHS

Coaches must remember they are teachers first Connor Bliss

trending co-editor

The phrase “student-athlete” is what society calls athletes who are still in school.

People will bring up how the student is first and the athlete is second and that’s how they should live their lives. But maybe it’s time to have “student-athlete” flipped on to the teachers so that it becomes “teacher-coaches.”

At Manhattan High these teachers exist. Instead of be-

ing teachers first and coaches second, they end up being coaches first and teachers second. Most of the teachers at MHS are nothing at all like this. They spend long hours after school helping students and grading papers but some forget what they were first hired for. The teachers who don’t get their priorities straight have students who are forced to switch out or else face a bad report card.

On my first day of this school year I had one of these teachers who was confused about what their job description really was. As he was giving the regular “what to expect for the school year” speech he literally told the class that he was not as good as the other teacher who was teaching the

same subject. This did not help with my already scary suspicions of the teacher that I had gotten through horror stories of his teaching skills.

The teacher was willing to help answer questions but would sometimes ridicule students if they asked too often.

He did not create a healthy learning environment, which did not help when paired with his subpar teaching skills.

As a result, my grade plummeted and I had to jump ship or else go down with the class.

I wasn’t the first one to switch out, either, and my new class is still receiving transfers from his class.

Before this class, the subject was the one I had the least confidence in, and the teacher lowered my confidence in that

subject even more. If there were any good side effects it would have to be loving my new class and teacher twice as much as I would have loved him had I not gone through a bad teacher first.

We’ve come to the point now in society where athletics rule, and that philosophy is encroaching on our schools.

For instance, Bill Snyder is the highest paid person on staff at Kansas State University. Thankfully, at MHS the coaches are teachers and only get a small bonus for coaching a team. But if this teacher were to be fired, people would not regret losing a teacher; they would regret losing a coach.

It’s not just teachers and athletes but society, too, needs to get its priorities straight.

Politicians cannot be trusted to fix economy Americans left in the dark on the quest to rebound Derrek Williams

staff writer

America is not what it used to be and isn’t looked up to any more. This should not be be taken as anti-patriotism; I am patriotic and that’s why I feel so strongly about this.

We used to be the country people wanted to be in because we were successful. Yes, we are more successful and better off than many other countries, but right now we are at one of the worst economical situations in U.S. history.

Our country has a debt of just under $16 trillion, about $2 trillion to China alone, and we keep ‘’borrowing’’ more and more and not paying any back. The money that we owe

is being used on a lot of needless spending, like running bases that are in countries that we do not need them in, supporting other countries when we need to worry about ourselves first and paying money to other countries for supplies that used to be made here.

One simple solution would help a lot -- move factories to America, giving jobs to Americans, which helps with unemployment. Because the money would be staying here in America instead of going to China, we could use it to pay off the debt.

Another factor is how much is being wasted on needless spending. If we stopped or cut down the needless spending then we would be able to pay off a lot of our debt really fast. Most of the debt we have is a little bit to many different countries and groups. If we paid off the smaller debts first that could show that we are trying to pay off the debt and then maybe release some of the pressure that China has been putting on America.

If the debt was paid off then

that takes care of one of the big problems with our country and then we can slowly work on other problems. One of them is inflation of the U.S. dollar. The government is having more money printed than there is to back up the value of it. It is basic rules of supply and demand; the less of the product there is the more it is worth, and the more there is the less it is worth. It is not hard to see that prices on most things have gone up lately -for example, gas prices. Some prices are due to shortages of the product, but for the most part it is because of the fact that the value of the dollar is not as strong as it used to be because of over-printing causing inflation.

I feel the biggest problem that causes the problems is the leaders of our country. I know that they get blamed for so many things that they did not have a part in but there is a lot that is their fault when it comes to the economy. They can control how much money is being printed, but they do not change anything. They

control the needless spending that uses the money being “borrowed,” but they keep spending. They control money given to big companies, example airlines, when they do not need it because they are so successful but just want more money. But then they don’t give money to the businesses that do need it. They refuse to take blame and accept the consequences of their actions, but then when something goes wrong with a citizen, example the Newton shooting, then they are quick to then blame and penalize citizens.

The problem is that the politicians are just looking out for themselves. The average U.S. senator gets a yearly income of just under $200,000, and the president gets $400,000 every year for the rest of his life after being elected. The average citizen gets a yearly income of about $34,000 and has to work hard everyday to look out for themselves. But the average citizens are the ones who get the consequences from something the government has done.

Halsey Camera, Cartoonist

the Mentor staff editor in chief/opinions -Ben Shields news editor -Sarah Shi entertainment editor -Naomi McClendon sports editor -Nick Bandy features editor -Liz Logback trending co-editors Connor Bliss Maddie Ross photo editor -Kaitlin Wichmann copy editor -Kayla Dieker multimedia editor - Dheepthi Perumal adviser -Kristy Nyp

staff writers - Tre Fuentes Julianne Harkness Tristan Knott John Rockey Seth Runyan Maddy Sparks Derrek Williams photographers - Jordan Morris Derrek Williams Kaitlin Wichmann cartoonist - Halsey Camera contributing writers - Eli Redeker Tim Higley circulation - Stephan Shimkus Kristyn Baker Pixie Khan Austin Tatum Andrew Klimek

The Mentor is published each Friday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,800 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contributions from the public. E-mail us at mhsmentor@gmail.com.

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the MENTOR

Entertainment

Jan. 29, 2013

Marching band takes the stage Sarah Shi News Editor

The Big Blue marching band put on their last performance of the year, Turf Tunes, as part of a celebration of their 10th consecutive year getting a superior rating at the Fort Hays Festival. Held on Jan.17, the band performed their pregame sequence as well as a conglomerations of songs they played throughout the fall semester.

“It was excellent,” marching band director Joel Gittle said. “We got a standing ovation.”

The performance was originally scheduled for Dec. 20, but due to the snow day, the event was cancelled and put up for discussion on whether the band should still have the performance.

“The students still wanted to have it so we decided to reschedule but it was such a hassle finding a date that didn’t

have any conflicts,” Gittle said.

“You know, the spring semester has so many things going on with sports and even when we performed Turf Tunes we had people who couldn’t make it.”

The band performed their Home of the Brave routine as a conclusion to the end of the marching band season and a performance for the parents who couldn’t make it to their Friday night shows or their

festival.

“I think we did fine,” junior Lane Sorell said. “We played the same tunes as before so we expected to do well and we did.”

I definitely miss being cold in the morning,” Sorell said of what he would miss the most about marching band. “It’s a good wake up call.”

Awards were also given out that night which included, Section of the Year, Big Blue’s

Most Valuable, and Most Im- form.” proved Band Member.

For junior Madi Fellers, it “It was was bittersweet night a good as she realized it was night. It “It was like closing a the end of marchprovided chapter and starting ing season. “It was closure like closing a chapter for some of a new one.” and starting of a new of the se-Madi Fellers one,” she said. “I realniors,” ized that I’ll only get Gittle to do marching one said. “For more year when I’m [seniors], it’s the last time they a senior. Marching season just will be able to wear the uni- goes by so fast.”

Drama students get made-up Missoula make-up experts show Manhattan their tricks Ben Shields editor in chief

Last week, two makeup experts from the Missoula Rep. Theatre troupe visited drama department head Linda Uthoff’s Stagecraft to pass on some wisdom. Missoula sends teams like this around the country for six to nine weeks at a time and typically spends one week in each town. Before their stop in town, Grace

McGeogh and Vicky Siegrist were approached by the Manhattan Arts Center about taking some time to go to an area school, and they agreed.

McGeogh and Siegrist covered areas of basic straight makeup (makeup that makes the face look natural from the audience), highlighting, shadowing (important to make features stand out) and sanitation.

Sophomore Kelsi Weston gets a Black Swan mask painted on her. “They went step by step,” she said. “It was easy [to learn] with the strokes she did.”

Top: Cecilia Potts-Moore is subject to some stage makeup demonstration.

The face is whitened and then applied with powder to separate the black and white Bottom: Potts-Moore checks out her new look.

Junior Sierra Newberry gets some work done. “It’s always good to reinforce what we’re teaching in class with outside speakers,” Uthoff said.

Bands Battle it out at Auditions

Student, teacher judges determine which groups perform at Battle of the Bands Naomi McClendon entertainment editor

Senior Summer Senn (Summer Time) sings a heartfelt original tune about falling in love.

Senior Eli Redeker covers Bob Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry.”

Junior Gavin Sedlachek performs comedic raps about various fruits, kites and splashing in the pool. His band, Leopard Print Mafia, was the only one to not make the cut.

After four long hours of chaos, four acts emerged victorious from Battle of the Bands auditions last Thursday. Of the five that auditioned, two bands and two solo performers were selected to perform on the Feb. 22 show: Nearly Flightless, Fuma, Summer Time and Eli Redeker. The auditions, which consisted of a three-song performance by each band, were judged by a panel of Manhattan High School teachers and students.

“We had to change our band’s line-up, so we weren’t really prepared,” said senior Andre Middendorf, bassist of FUMA. “I’m really glad we

got in though; it’s always fun to play on a big stage.”

The comedic rap duo Leopard Print Mafia was the only band that didn’t make it past auditions. Although they didn’t make it into the show as a band, the dynamic duo of Andy Hodges and Gavin Sedlachek will get their chance to entertain the crowd as Battle of the Bands’ emcees.

While only five bands were allowed to audition, six bands showed up. The fivepiece metal band White was told that their performance would not be judged because they didn’t meet the Battle of the Bands requirements. According to the rules, a band is allowed to have one member who does not attend MHS, as

long as they are enrolled in a high school. Since one out of White’s five members is an alumni of Manhattan High School, the band was not allowed to compete.

It wasn’t just White that was upset by the rules. After auditions, a group of students organized an effort to allow the band to play at the show. After discussion with administrators, it was decided that White could play at the show, but not compete for the prize, as the band, regardless of all else, does not meet the event’s requirements. Each of the competing bands agreed to give up five minutes of their stage time in order to open a spot for White to play a set.

Senior Andre Middendorf, freshman Nathan McClendon, junior Albert Cochrane and senior Naomi McClendon nervously test out their band’s new line-up. FUMA won the 2012 Battle of the Bands.

Ben Shields, Photographer

2013 Winter Homecoming Graphics by Dheepthi Perumal

Dress up Days Monday-Basketball Day Tuesday- Football Day Wed.- Baseball Day Thursday- Soccer Day Friday- MHS Game Day

2013 WINTER HOMECOMING KING & QUEEN CANDIDATES AFS-KAYLA McCLINTOCK ANIME CLUB- AKITRA PORTER(JR) ART CLUB- REBECCA KENSA (JR) BLUE M-KAYLA DIEKER BPA-CAMERON GARWOOD CHEERLEADING KATHRYN EVERRET & KRISTEN QUEEN DANCE-HOLLY ORRIS EARTH CLUB-NICHOLAS DONOHOUE FCA BRITTANY JONES & CAITLYN WEBB FCCLA-TYLER HENRY FFA-RYAN WILLIAMS FRENCH CLUB-SOPHIA HARMS GERMAN CLUB-ABBY SARVIS HERITAGE PANERL-ROSHNI SINGH KEY CLUB-SOPHIE WANG MENTOR-BEN SHIELDS NHS-PAT ZENK&AMY FAN SADD DRE’VEL TAYLOR SKILLS USA-WADE STRODA(JR)

SCHOLAR’S BOWL-LOGAN SUTTON SPANISH-JOE COONROD&MADDIE WINKLER THIS IS HOW I SCREAM-LORA PELLEGRIN STUCO-PATRICK DAY & EMMA MILLER THESPIANS-DA’MERIUS FORD & ILANA BUDENOSKY TLT-ALYSSA FREY(SOPH) TRIBE-EMILIE LIEBE&KYLIE SMITH BOWLING-ALLAN CABANATUAN &MIRANDA DOOLEY BOYS BASKETBALL-BLAKE SAVILLE&JONATHON TAYLOR GIRLS BASKETBALL- ELAYNA SPILKER & KRISTEN THOMPSON SWIMMING &DIVING- BRETT BANDY & RILEY RATLIFF WRESTLING- DAVIS MATTHEWS & JASE STONE

TUG-O-WAR

JUNIOR BOYS vs. SOPHOMORE BOYS SENIOR GIRLS vs. JUNIOR GIRLS

FRIDAY Feb. 1 PEP RALLY GIRLS & BOYS BASKETBALL GAMES TUG-O-WAR FINALS

4

Jan. 29, 2012

the MENTOR

Sports

Wrestling takes first out of 15 John Rockey staff writer Continuing to improve and learn from meets and mistakes, Manhattan High wrestling shows that they work as hard as ever to compete every moment on and off the mat.

Over the past two weeks, Varsity traveled to Blue Valley Northwest and J.V. competed at Seaman and home.

On the Jan. 18 and 19, Varsity headed to Blue Valley Northwest for a tournament against 15 other teams. The team took over and took first place with 194 points, with several people placing in their classes. Jase Stone (113), Dal-

las Vesta (126) and Michael Leeper (152) all placed first in their classes with Kian Clemens (120) and Davis Matthews (126) each taking up second place and Austin Chauncey (160) placing in third.

“We lasted longer in our matches and weren’t getting as tired,” senior wrestler Jase Stone said. “We were also getting first takedowns.”

The meet marks the most important turning point in the season as the team has a month until the State tournament.

“It’s kinda where we’re starting to really click,” wrestling coach Devin Schwartz said. “Most of our teaching is

done at this point in time.

J.V. had a tough time competing at Seaman for a duel.

They started off good and

Junior Eric Sanchez wrestles an opponent last week. MHS finished first out of 15 teams at the Blue Valley Northwest tournament.

John Rockey, photographer

Boys get first road win, first home loss Nick Bandy sports editor

The Basketball Team 7 .......................The Runner Ups 0 forfeit

Tuesday 1/15

Bowlers compete at JC Bowl

Intramurals Week 5 Monday 1/14 Stiff Competition 44 . ..................................................T Icicles 17 Team Pain 58 ........................................Coconut Bangers Ball 32 eLemonators 71 ........................................Bandy of Brothers 41 My Dixie 41 ..........................................................The Monstars 40 Los Grande Basquetbolistas 7 . ........Flyin Flamingos 0 forfeit Vatos Locos 37 . ...........................................Dumbledie’s Army 22 Yao Know What I Ming 7.................................... Beaches 0 forfeit Team Meatballs 48 ..........................................Dirty Cheetahs 16 Hoopers 7 .............................................. The Pink Ladies 0 forfeit

Dino Might 46 . ....................................................................Elite 37 Honey 7 ......................................................Hydro Circus 0 forfeit JED 7 ...................................................... Rainbow Nation 0 forfeit Baked to Perfection 52 . .............................................Badgers 44 Flyin Hawaiians 46 .............................Dirty Troy & the B Boys 35 Hot Pockets 43 ...................................................Sucks to Suck 30 Brickz 48 ............................................................... The Lolipops 28 Balling for Soup 64 ...................................... Flying Squirrels 39 The Jack Jacks 7 .................................................. Swag Masters 0 The VPs 23 ...................................................... The Whistle Pigs 22

Wednesday 1/16 Swagon Dragons 42 ....................Hunter & the British Gents 10 Par’s Team 39 .............................................. Quidditch Rejects 13 Par’s Team 7 . ............................................Free Ballers 0 forfeit Dumbledie’s Army 7 ........................ Divalicious Devils 0 forfeit Vatos Locos 7 . .................................................. Beaches 0 forfeit Flying Squirrels 7 . ................................Swag Masters 0 forfeit Team Pain 50 .................................................................T Icicles 40 Coconut Bangers Ball 42 ...........................Stiff Competition 31 My Dixie 68 .................................................Bandy of Brothers 63 eLemonators 69 .................................................The Monstars 38

Thursday 1/17 Dino Might 7 .........................................Flyin Flamingos 0 forfeit Elite 7 .............................Los Grande Basquetbolistas 0 forfeit JED 40 .................................................................................Honey 29 Hydro Circus 0 .......................Rainbow Nation 0 double forfeit Badgers 39 . ...............................................Flyin Hawaiians 39 tie Baked to Perfection 7 . .........Dirty Troy & the B Boys 0 forfeit Brickz 38 ................................................................Hot Pockets 28 Sucks to Suck 7 .........................................The Lolipops 0 forfeit The Jack Jacks 36 ........................The Manhattan Ballers 36 tie Divalicious Devils 0 ............................Beaches 0 double forfeit

Danielle Cook staff writer On Thursday, the MHS bowling team travelled to Junction City for a tournament at JC Bowl. Both the Girls Varsity and Girls J.V. took second place, the Boys Varsity took third and the Boys J.V. placed first, improving their scores and rankings since the Topeka tournament.

The team has been working

Tre Fuentes staff writer The Manhattan High Girls Basketball team finished a challenging week competing at the Mid American Classic Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, topping it all off by finishing second at the tournament. The Lady Indians faced off against Valley Center, Andale and Olathe respectively, losing only to Olathe at the competition. After the tournament, the MHS girls are now 10-3 on the season and 4-2 in the Centennial League.

The Lady Indians started the tournament facing off against Valley Center without their leading scorer on the team, Elayna Spilker, who missed her second straight game with a leg injury. However, the Lady Indians didn’t seem to miss a beat, taking control of the game early on and enjoying a comfortable lead into the third quarter.

Valley Center attempted a comeback but fell short as the Indians stayed cool and calm on their way to 48-44 victory.

Caroline Ballard led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kristen Thompson also had an impressive night for Manhattan, tallying 13 points, including nine from three-point range.

“I am really happy with

hard to improve their skills so they can continue to move up placements in each tournament.

“We’re continuing to improve by the day, so it’s all going really well,” sophomore Katherine Eimer said of the team’s practices.

The next bowling tournament that the MHS team will compete in will be held by Sacred Heart.

Athlete of the Week Maddy Sparks staff writer

Alex Huerta He is one of the best bowlers in Manhattan High School.

He has been one of the most consistent bowlers on the team.

team, that makes the team better?

A: We’ve already broken last year’s record for team score, so if we can up that, that’d be nice, and I’m just a great team leader and more consistent than anyone else.

Q: How do you think your Q: What inspired you to teammates help you be the start bowling? best you can be?

A: My dad got me into it. A: They push you to pick It’s a leisure sport.

Q:

What individual goals and team goals do you have for the rest of the season?

A: I plan on breaking the individual record at 714, and I’ll try and get 20 pins above that.

Q:

What contributions do you think you bring to the

tion to improve.

“We didn’t listen much to the coaches much and we were needing to get off the bottom more,” sophomore wrestler Ben Gorman said.

“I personally felt that we could have done a whole lot better,” freshman wrestler Dalton Jueneman said.

All that remained was the Manhattan invitational that hosted several other teams close to Manhattan Friday evening.

Of the wrestlers to place, Dalton Jueneman (106-B), Ethan Hemmert (132-C), Esteban Foster (138-B), Derek Forrest (152-A), and Kaden Frasier (152-C) all placed first.

Ethan Bartel (138-D), Kendrick Riveria (145-C), and Glenn Bennett (160-B) placed in second.

And then Sterling Shimp (132-A), Ben Gorman (132-B), DeShawn Horton (138-C), Erick Sanchez (145-A), Nick Adams (160-B), Nathan Shank (160-C), Anthony Renteria (195-B), and Florian Thelsen (285-B) all placed in third for their classes.

Coming up this week, both teams will head off for the Washburn Triangular on Thursday; and then to finish the JV season, the team will compete in the Junction City invite this coming Saturday.

MHS Girls stay strong, finish second at Mid American Classic

sophomore Peyton Stephens led the way in scoring with 15 each, and Jonathan Taylor filled out the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

MHS returned home to play Emporia last Thursday in an important League matchup. The Indians jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Emporia answered and cut the lead to two after the first quarter.

“They made some runs, we made some runs, we just needed to pick it up defensively because offensively we were fine,” junior Darian Taylor said.

Emporia led 39-30 at halftime, but the Indians came out strong and tied the game at 44 late in the third quarter.

Things fell apart on the defensive end for the Indians as they allowed Emporia to score 22 in the fourth quarter, and MHS lost 73-60.

“We haven’t won a game when we’ve given up more than 50. We need to fix up the defensive end,” Brooks said.

On the bright side, 60 points is the third most the Indians have scored all year.

Hudgins led the team with 15 points.

“He can step out and shoot the 15-footer, he shoots freethrows well and he can attack the glass,” Brooks said.

Next up for MHS is another league rival Washburn Rural, who they will play on Tuesday.

Normally in a high school basketball game if a team scores 60 points they usually come out on top, but the Manhattan High boys basketball team lost a high-scoring matchup 73-60 last Thursday against Emporia, their first loss at home. Before that, Jan. 17-19, they traveled to the McPherson tournament and went 1-2 -- placing 6th overall. They are now 6-6 on the year and 2-3 in the Centennial League.

They started out the tournament with a 55-45 loss to

Blue Valley West, but they beat Maize the next day, getting their first road win of the year.

“It’s been a long time coming, but I think it shows us how intense we need to be on the road,” head coach Tim Brooks said.

That win put the Indians in the 5th place game against Lawrence Free State. They led by one after three quarters, but gave up 21 points in the fourth and were defeated 59-52.

“We had a lead and got comfortable. We quit doing the things that got us there,” Brooks said.

Senior Jacob Holloway and

well, but faltered midway and would finish the meet at a split decision, 20 to 20 matches, leaving the team with motiva-

up easy spares, hard spares, anything that helps, really.

Q: Who do you want to win the Super Bowl?

A: 49ers.

Q: Who is your favorite athlete?

A: I play baseball so it has to be Albert Pujols.

the way the entire team performed,” Thompson said. “I think we all just want to try as hard as we can and have no regrets, and I think we did that.”

Friday night the Lady Indians faced off against top ranked Andale and capped off another game with another victory, 49-41 in Manhattan’s favor. For the second straight game, the entire team played well by playing together as a team and playing with confidence. Ballard and Darby Price led the team with 13 points apiece in a well fought effort. What is especially impressive is the Lady Indians’ ability to play so in big games without one of their best players on the team.

“Some of the more experienced girls have willingly taken on new roles for the team,” head coach Scott Mall says. “That and the fact that some of our new girls have also stepped up in the tournament has been big factor in our success.”

The Manhattan High girls finished the Mid American Classic tournament on Saturday against undefeated Olathe South, the number one team in the state. The Lady Indians were behind for a good portion of the game but came from behind and led going into the fourth quar-

ter thanks to a buzzer beater by sophomore Par McNair.

Olathe South ended up winning the game and taking first in the tournament after the 5148 win over the Indians, but it wasn’t easy. Ballard had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Price had 12 points and eight rebounds. Price was also named to the all-tournament team after leading the Mid American Classic in rebounding. And with their victory over Andale and almost-win against Olathe South has proven that the Lady Indians can compete with the best teams in the state on any given day.

Ballard, the leading scorer for the Lady Indians since Spilker has been out, has especially been impressive. Ballard has led the team in scoring in the Mid American Classic, and has been a key part of their success.

“I just want to do my part for the team by giving everyone confidence and to just go out there and perform,” Ballard said. “I think we all played well, we just fell short a little.

The loss to Olathe South has helped us to see what we need to work on hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and get better from here on out.”

The Lady Indians get to rest until they take on Topeka High on Friday at home.

Swimming takes first Alan Brown staff writer Last week, the Manhattan High School Boys swim team once again prevailed in their meet, cruising with a first place finish over opponents Newton and Emporia. The Indians finished with 244 total points and 8 first place finishes.

“Our guys have been working hard all year,” coach Jerry Carpenter said. “We have developed a deep and strong team.”

A few standouts that placed highly included Brett Bandy, Matt Bandy, Cameron Beauregard, Evan Olson, Levi Jones, Jordan DeLoach, David Woods and Jack HublerDayton. Several swimmers improved their times as well.

Senior Brett Bandy, one of the most consistent producers for the team this year, is currently in the hunt for breaking the state cut in the 100 meter butterfly. As a junior last season, he finished just three seconds away from the cut.This year will be his final chance to compete at the state level. “[It would mean] a lot,” Bandy said. “It’s been my goal for three years now.”

Bandy has pushed himself in practice to get his goal, and participated in early morning practices with a few of his teammates DeLoach, Beaure-

gard and Riley Ratliff. Bandy plans to rest for the rest of the week, and then hopefully beat the state cut at the Manhattan Invitational on Feb. 2.

The season appears to have started out slow for the Indians, who now are now consistently placing first in each of their meets. Carpenter gives credit to hard work and discipline as the main reasons leading to the recent success, but also is quick to point out that MHS competed against very strong teams during the beginning of the season. He thinks that this week’s Manhattan Invitational will have quality competition as well.

“The Wichita schools are traditionally strong, as is Maize,” Carpenter said. “We will have a great challenge ahead of us.”

The remaining schedule for the Indians will be a bit hectic, but as the schedule shifts to meets at the end of the week, it gives the team much more opportunities to rest. It is this time of year when the swimmers start to gear more toward speed drills and it is also the time when seniors will be looking to finalize their swimming legacies.

MHS will host the Manhattan Invitational this week at K-State. The divers will compete on Friday, Feb. 1 and the swimmers will compete on Saturday, Feb. 2.

the MENTOR

Features

Jan. 29, 2013

5

Italy former home to student Liz Logback Features editor He has lived almost every American’s dream. With an apartment that overlooked beautiful scenery, more than enough pasta to eat and a four-hour school day, junior Chris Mack lived in Naples, Italy, for six years and is now adjusting to American life.

Mack’s mom is in the military, forcing the family to move often, but when the family found out Italy would be their home, they couldn’t help but be excited. The new culture they found in Naples took some adjusting to, though. Mack and his family had left South Carolina and entered a country with new language, pizza so gooey the cheese always fell off and a town where stores and houses were crammed together on narrow cobblestone streets.

Everything from school to the way the government was organized seemed different in Italy.

School days were four hours long, starting at eight and ending at 11. And although they had to attend school on Saturdays, Mack’s school was

still given a summer break.

“People didn’t really care about their grades,” Mack said. “It was a lot more relaxed than [Manhattan].”

He ran on his school’s track team and was a member of the football team, and although Italy plays a lot of the same sports as America, golf and tennis are almost nonexistent.

The clothing was also an unusual part of the Italian culture for Mack. Everything was tight fitting, and name brands or chain stores found in the U.S were hard to come across.

“JC Pennys and Sears are all new to me. They didn’t have that in Italy,” he said.

Mack feels Italy is a free spirit. The police often don’t make arrests or “get into people’s business.” When Mack was 14 he went to a club for the first time where he met up with some sailors that weren’t concerned at all with his age and gave him a few drinks.

“The police are more nosey here. They don’t care in Italy,” Mack said.

The driving is unique, too.

With narrow streets and no stop signs or stop lights, the

roads can get kind of messy.

“Driving there is crazy.

They really don’t know how to drive,” Mack said.

Although a lot of the other laws are relaxed in Italy, driving is prohibited until 18 years of age.

“It’s weird how many kids drive here,” he said.

Mack enjoys the two countries quite a bit and finds dislikes and things he likes about both of them. He likes the food better in America, but the loose laws better in Italy.

And although the people in Italy were outgoing, Mack is confident that he misses their bold personalities the most.

“People in Italy usually think for themselves; little kids up to old men are always yelling and screaming,” Mack said. “But they are pretty laid back.”

Mack plans to join the MHS track team and possibly go out for football next year.

He is also excited to explore places like Chipotle and the mall and to get a little more familiar with the American lifestyle.

Junior Christian Mack admires the many ancient buildings and structures in his former home of Naples, Italy where he lived for six years due to his mother’s placement from the military. Many of Italy’s buildings have been preserved through the ages with minimal reconstruction.

Courtesy photo

Fishin’ for fun: FFA casts their poles

Junior Megan Lundin, FFA sponsor Doug Muller and MHS teacher Gordon Thorton scout for fish at Willow Lake on Jan. 21. The trip was supposed to give FFA members a chance to bond. Although the cold weather kept some students away, the trip was still considered a success.

Derrek Williams, photographer

Derrek Williams Staff Writer A day out of school could have meant a fun day spent trout fishing for a group of Manhattan High School FFA members, but cold weather limited the number of participants.

After a couple of months of planning, the chapter hit the lake together on Jan. 21 but only two members and sponsor Doug Muller were able to attend.

The trip was originally scheduled for December but the members wanted to wait to buy their fishing stamps until January. Even though most members of the chapter bought their stamps, not many attended because of the cold.

The trip was supposed to go from 1 to 4 p.m. but didn’t get

started until 1:30 and ended at 3:40. Junior Megan Lundin and senior Ryan Williams showed up, but Williams was only there for a few minutes and ended up not fishing.

“I think we should do another trip.”

- Doug Muller “Ryan shriveled up from the cold weather and had to leave,” Muller said.

Gordon Thorton, another MHS teacher, happened to be at Willow Lake at the same

time and ended up fishing with Lundin and Muller.

Results of the day were as slim as the member turnout.

“I had got a total of four rainbow trout, Mr. Thorton had five, and Mr. Muller had a bunch of bites but didn’t catch anything,” Megan said.

The fishing trip was intended to be an opportunity for some of the members to talk to each other and to be able to just mess around, but the trip did not go as planned.

Still, it may be something the group continues to do.

“I think we should do another trip,” Muller said.

“The weather should be getting better so more people should come and we should be able to catch more fish when the ice thaws and they are more active.”

6

the MENTOR

Jan. 29, 2013

Trending

A ‘ merican Horror Story’ doesn’t answer questions it poses

With season two of “American Horror Story” finished, it is clear that showrunner Brad Falchuk took a risk. Rather than continuing the highly

acclaimed storyline from the first season, he lead it to a new direction -- “American Horror Story: Asylum.” A new storyline and setting were implemented while using many of the first season’s actors. While it became easy to overlook these small complications, there are many larger issues lying underneath.

One of the biggest conflicts that this season had is the amount of branches the storyline took. While you can give credit to the show for being ambitious by doing this, it ultimately fails in having a strong central plot. When the

first season ended, there was a definite sense of closure. The burning questions that viewers had were answered dramatically and even built on those ideas.

“Asylum” introduces such intriguing situations such as the fantastic Bloody Face storyline, then takes a steaming dump on the viewer with scenes such as Sister Jude’s confrontation with an alien and treats it as if nothing occurred throughout the rest of the season. This is why this season’s consistency really holds it back from being amazing. Characters such as

Danielle’s Hits and Misses

Lana go against their feelings; she began to develop some emotional connection to her lost son through flashbacks and her interview. Then suddenly she kills her son with no remorse, even though he was crazy and the son of Bloody Face through rape. Since there are many of these scenes that inhibit the viewer from becoming truly absorbed into the show. Since they lack complete knowledge, it becomes difficult to look back without overall frustration.

However, there are some great things that can be found in this season. Jessica Lange,

for instance, is what defines this show. Her acting in this season sets an extremely high bar not just for television, but any media. “Asylum” is easily one of Lange’s best performances as she makes you hate her, then suddenly feel the pain she’s been through.

As mentioned earlier, the Bloody Face storyline is the best writing used for the entire season. Other than the lackluster ending to Lana’s story, there are some great emotional and unexpected scenes that keep you begging for more. The aliens that were used during “Asylum” never

“Community” is set to start its fourth season on Feb. 7, after originally being set to air Oct. 19 of last year. This example shows the tribulations that “Community” has gone through since its premiere on NBC Sept. 17, 2009.

One issue that “Community” has had since its conception is its ratings. The ratings started at 7.9 million in its pilot and have never surpassed that mark. Just 2.48 million viewers tuned in to the finale of season three.

As viewers have moved away from their televisions to watch “Community” their

eyes have shifted to their com- returned after the hiatus on puter screens. This is proven March 15, 2012. by their winning of last years “Community” has also Hulu “Best of Show” award. suffered from the loss of key However, ratings may not members of the show. Many be as large as the titans of the members of the cast and crew industry. The fan base is small departed after the third seabut vocal and has saved the son. Season four will be withshow on occasion. In the 2011- out showrunner Dan Harmon, 2012 midseason, as well as several ex“Community” was ecutive producers. pulled and put on Chevy Chase, whose hiatus and replaced relationship was rewith “30 Rock.” The portedly rocky with fanbase responded Harmon, left during on Twitter with season four and will #SaveCommunity only be in 11 of the and #OccupyNBC. 13 episodes.

Their presence was The show has not just seen on the been almost canInternet, though, Photo courtesy of celed before so any when fans gathered imbd.com episode could be its outside NBC’s headquarters. last. If Greendale is to remain They sang songs from the open people need to watch show and chanted “Go Green- -- and not on their computdale.” Their pleas for continu- ers. Jeff Winger and his study ation were successful and got group will start school again response from NBC saying at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. that it was not cancelled and would return. “Community”

‘Community:’ the life and times

Photos courtesy of cnn.com, and stadiumsofprofootball.com

Miss: American Idol. Between Nicki and Mariah, there’s way too much diva in one room.

Hit: Homecoming Week.... fun!

Hit: It’s almost Super Bowl time!

Miss: The whole Manti Te’o thing.

Enough said.

Miss: The Kansas weather is going crazy. One day it’s freezing, and the next feels like spring.

Hit: Season 11 of Project Runway just started!

New at the library dark times of the Civil War. Grahame-Smith also cleverly shows the involvement of vampires in the war on both sides.

If you happen to be interested in a very pleasant twist on history, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is for you.

The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor “How far would you go to survive?” is a common The following novels are now theme found in Robert Kirkavailable to be checked-out from man’s “The Walking Dead” the MHS Library in the new franchise. “The Rise of the Governor” does not shy away books section. from that idea and even pushes that Abraham Lincoln: theme to if you’d be Vampire Hunter able to recognize Conspiracies and yourself after all that top secrets are what has happened. Being author Seth Grahathe first novel in the me-Smith brings to franchise’s history, the table with his Kirkman proves that novel “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunt- Photo courtesy of “TWD” can be thoroughly enjoyed in er.” Despite the dull imdb.com summer flick and ridiculous many formats.

This novel, which is the name, Grahame-Smith gives a very clever fiction book while first in its trilogy, is used to staying true to such a histori- give a history of how Philcal figure. He takes readers lip Blake became known as through Lincoln’s emotional “The Governor.” Kirkman childhood and seamlesslyin- shows Blake as an ordinary tertwines actual events with man who has a daughter to the vampirical world. The en- protect and a childish older tire book is based off his sup- brother to keep watch over. posed secret journal which a Blake and his brother, Brian, failed writer is forced to make constantly clash with their a book out of after an encoun- thoughts throughout the novel ter with a vampire. Through- in very satisfying ways. Kirkout the novel, there are many man uses these characters excerpts from this journal, to ponder on whether or not which can easily be interpret- killing the undead is truly a good-moraled act. Being part ed as Lincoln’s own writing.

Grahame-Smith takes his of “TWD,” there is of course readers through every hard- some great character developship Lincoln faces, from ment, action and one of the death of loved ones to failures biggest twists at the end. “The which makes it impossible for Walking Dead: The Rise of the reader to not feel the same the Governor” is an amazing, emotions. Readers will read must-read for any “TWD” fan about how vampires nearly or any zombie-genre fan. took over the country in the

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really fit into the storyline, nearly everything about the aliens were never mentioned again so viewers could understand.

With so many burning questions that fans have after this season, it would be an injustice if Falchuk didn’t push the show’s writers to answer them in some format for next season.

W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T

Tuesday: After yesterday’s heat it’s now 20 degrees. That’s Kansas for ya!

Wednesday: Who cares?

Thursday: Cloudy, with a chance of meatballs Friday: Dennis Quaid must save his son (Jake Gyllenhal)

who is trapped in New York following a global superstorm. (2 out of 4 stars) Saturday: Locusts.

Sunday: Super Bowl Sunday. The game is being played in the New Orleans Superdome. Gee, I can’t remember the last time there was so much media attention on the Superdome. Oh, wait, I can. Sorry.

Monday: Rain refuses child’s request to go away and return another day.

Graphic by Dheepthi Perumal

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