MHS Mentor Issue 19

M the MENTOR

March 5, 2013

Manhattan High School, Manhattan, Kan.

Hoyt announced as 2013-2014 principal Michele Jones, APR USD 383 Communications Coordinator Greg Hoyt has been named the principal of Manhattan High School. Hoyt currently serves as the principal at Eisenhower Middle School in Manhattan. He has served as EMS principal since 2004.

Prior to that, he was a math teacher at MHS from 1988 to 2004. He has a B.S. in Secondary Education and a M.S. in Educational Administration and Leadership, both from Kansas State University.

“I am deeply humbled and honored for this opportunity, and look forward to working with the staff, students, parents, and community members that comprise Manhattan High School,” Hoyt said. “I wish to thank the entire Eisenhower Middle School Learning Community for all that they have

MHS and middle school orchestras perform together at Rezac

done for me, and for giving me the privilege of working with them. I am saddened to be leaving such a tremendous school, but look forward to this new opportunity in my professional life.”

“We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Greg Hoyt as Principal of Manhattan High School,” Superintendent Dr. Bob Shannon said. “Greg brings to the position extensive knowledge and experience of secondary education as well as familiarity with Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 and the Manhattan and Ogden communities. I am very optimistic about the leadership Greg will provide for the students, faculty, staff, parents and everyone associated with Manhattan High School.”

Hoyt will begin his new position on July 1.

Recently, students and teachers alike celebrated the possibility (and mourned over the false-alarm) of missing a few days of school. But snow days aren’t all just fun and games. Due to the harsh winter weather, events were cancelled, games were postponed and schedules were set back.

Based on a countless number of Facebook and Twitter updates, it seemed that all students were excited by the recent snow days. Some students, however, were disappointed by the cancelled days of school. “I love days off, but I was a little disappointed by the snow day because I had a lot to get done,” senior Carly Tracz said. “The yearbook deadline was soon, and I needed to work on it.”

The winter weather warning also put a stop to Manhattan High’s annual Battle of the Bands, which may not be rescheduled. “I was so upset that Battle of the Bands was cancelled, twice, especially since it wasn’t even snowing the second time,” student body vice president Patrick Day said. “We worked really hard to put the show on, and now it might not even get rescheduled because the availability for Rezac is so tight.”

Participating bands were also upset by the event’s cancellation. “It’s a bummer it got cancelled because we’ve been working hard and prac-

ticing for this show,” senior Andre Middendorf, member of FUMA, said. “And now we might not get the opportunity to play on that big stage.”

The snow day reached past the walls of Manhattan High. Student groups Business Professionals of America, the journalism department and the forensics team missed out on state-wide competitions.

Every year, BPA participates in an annual business conference in Wichita. The students involved spend months preparing presentations to be judged at the three-day event.

“We started to prepare in October,” junior Jerry Sextro said. “We’ve worked really hard and the event is always a fun time.”

Due to the weather, MHS’s branch of BPA was unable to compete this year. According to Sextro, administration determined that the club couldn’t travel in the snowy conditions.

“It was nice to have the snow days, but we would’ve been gone anyway for the contest,” Sextro said. “So it was really unfortunate that we couldn’t go.”

The final games for winter sports and the beginning practices for spring sports were postponed due to the weather warnings. Teams made changes in their plans -- whether it meant leaving early or postponing games -- to adapt to the weather. Spring sports meetings and practices were moved and postponed.

Clu b Notes Key Club

The month of March will see work for the March of Dimes service project by Key Club members. The club does a March of Dimes walk where people walk and donate to prevent prematurity in pregnancies, a fundraiser that happens in many states.

“It’s for a great cause and as a club we are happy to help out,” vice president Siera Haug said.

The club still hasn’t decided on the exact plan to raise money but it is in the works.

Key Club is also preparing to attend District Convention. DCONN is a convention where all members of the community service club Kiwanis, the adult version of Key Club, come together to talk about achievements and accomplishments as a club. This year is the first year Key Club is going to DCONN and members are excited.

“I have no idea what to expect from DCONN, but I hope it helps our club out with ideas for future things we can do,” president Sophie Wang said.

The final count on who all is going is still not confirmed but most of the club is going.

Until then Key Club will continue to iron out the kinks

in the recycling program.

Members say overall the changes in the program have more pros than the old way.

- Dheepthi Perumal

BSU

February has been historically recognized as Black History Month by every U.S. president since 1976, and in its honor the Black Student Union held a trivia contest from Feb. 15 to 28.

The contest had contemporary facts about black history, including questions such as the inventor of the Super Soaker, Lonnie Johnson. The prizes for winning the contest were two tickets to the March 8 Kansas State Men’s Basketball game, a $25 Chipotle gift card and a $10 McDonald’s gift card.

Coming off from a year with no sponsor, BSU has had many relevant events like this, thanks to Eric Coleman, the club’s new sponsor. “[It] wasn’t as well received as I hoped, but we plan on doing it next year,” Coleman said.

Coleman is working hard to reinstitute the club and plans to show club members examples of black student leadership at the colleges over spring break next year. “[I want to]

Volume 100 issue 19

College Goal Sunday helps students familiarize with FASFA Julianne Harkness Staff Writer

Snow day reaches past the walls of Manhattan High Naomi McClendon entertainment editor

News

Last Friday, middle school students from both Eisenhower and Anthony traveled to Manhattan High to work with high school orchestra students to prepare for last nights performance at Rezac.

Carly Tracz, photographer

MHS cheer alters audition process and qualifications Kaitlin Wichmann Photo Editor “We want you,” state the cheerleading flyers that have begun to pop up on the boards and walls scattered throughout the school. The posters refer to 8th through 11th grade girls and boys who are interested in trying out for the Manhattan High School cheer squad.

While the tryouts for the upcoming year is news in itself, there are also a few changes in the audition process. Knowing the changes in the audition process is crucial for boys and girls interested in joining the squad. Changes in recommendations and scoring are just a few of the differences this year in auditions, compared to last year.

“There’s not too many big changes,” assistant coach Maddie Tritsch said. “Basically what we did was instead of getting four teacher recommendations and a coach’s recommendation, we are changing it to two teacher recommendations, but they have to be from the girls’ core classes so we know how they act in serious classes.”

Upcoming and former cheerleader, sophomore concentrate on fundraising for next year,” Coleman said.

“We want to go on a trip of historical black colleges.”

-John Riforgiate

Forensics

School wasn’t the only thing that was canceled last week; the forensics tournament that was held at Topeka High School was also canceled due to the snow storm that swept through.

Although the snowstorm got in the way of having the forensics tournament, the tournament will still be held on March 29 and 30.

Forensics coach Shawn Rafferty said that even though the tournament had gotten canceled it won’t affect the team’s ability to compete when the tournament is made up.

“Having a break from now to the tournament is made up is beneficial,” Rafferty said.

“This means they can get more time to practice.”

“It was probably better that the tournament was canceled.

There were probably many schools that couldn’t go anyway, but it was nice to get time to rest,” junior forensics member Hanna Hayden said.

Other forensics members would rather have attended the tournament.

“I wish that the tournament had not been canceled.

The Topeka High tournament is one of my favorite tourna-

Dheepthi Perumal, sees the changes in teacher recommendations as an improvement.

“I think it’s really good compared to last year when students just went to random teachers to ask for recommendations,” Perumal said. “With the core teachers it’s actually the student’s participation in the class and it means something.”

The dancing and cheerleading will be scored differently than last year. The new scoring with the dances will be worth less and the jumps are worth more to show the importance of technique.

Clinics for learning the dance will be March 25-28 from 6 to 8 p.m., compared to one jam-packed evening clinic like last year. The cheerleaders will also be evaluated by the coaches.

“We are doing our own coach evaluations during the week of tryouts for each girl,” Tritsch said. “This will help us to better get them during tryouts before they even try and make the squad, as opposed to barely knowing their names.”

After the four days of clinics, the actual tryouts will be

on March 29 from 3:30 to 8 p.m. in the MHS West Campus gym.

ments to go to,” senior forensics member Jake Seaton said.

Though the team has to wait to make up the Topeka High tournament, they won’t have to wait long for their next one. The next forensics tournament will be on March 1 and 2 in Silver Lake.

-Maddy Sparks

NHS

AFS

Last Wednesday, three American Field Service’s foreign exchange students -- Katarina Zdolsek, Helene DeWilde and Florian Wirsen, from Germany, Sweden and Belgium, respectively -- put on presentations of their country and family back home.

“We had a really great turn out,” AFS president and senior Kayla McClintock said.

“It was really interesting to see the different families that they come from. The highlight was definitely the stereotypes.”

AFS vice president Christine Shiau, junior, agrees.

“It was so funny,” she said.

“Florian said that there’s a stereotype that Germany is known for a male model. Katarina said something about everyone being blonde in Sweden, which is kind of true because her whole family is blonde. And Helene said Belgium is famous for its chocolate and fries.”

-Sarah Shi

Even though Manhattan was covered in snow, Collegegoal.org still hosted the College Goal Sunday event in the cafeteria at Manhattan High School on Feb. 24. At this event, 35 students and their families came to the school from 2 to 4 p.m. to talk to people from the Kansas State University financial aid department.

“The event was to help students fill out their FASFAs, which were due March 1, with someone from the K-State financial aid,” counselor Erin Spreer said. “One student who will be a college freshman next year who attended the event was selected for a $500 scholarship just for filling out the FASFA. Sadly the student who won was from Wamego and not MHS, so we were not able to award any of our students with this money.”

This was the first year MHS was able to host this event due to the recent renovations.

“They wanted to hold it here sooner but because of the renovations we were not able to,” Spreer said. “They wanted a more centralized location than Junction City where it has previously been hosted.”

Engineering Club experiments with dry ice

In February, the Engineering Club made ice cream out of dry ice, condensed milk, vanilla, and milk.

Sarah Shi, photographer

The Manhattan High School National Honor Society is preparing itself for a new school year by sending notification letters to all eligible students. To be eligible to join NHS, the student must have a 3.5 GPA or above to receive the letter. “It is completely the student’s choice to apply to NHS,” MHS English teacher and NHS sponsor Regina Harden said.

To apply, students must validate extracurricular activities or community services they take part in. Students must then write a short essay about themselves and explain their character. The completed applications go to an unknown committee where the student’s acceptance is decided.

“We actually do not decide whether or not a student is accepted,” Harden said. “It is the most unbiased situation.”

MHS senior and vice-president Patrick Zenk and president Amy Fan are hopeful for the new members who get accepted. “The juniors this year, a lot of them are timid and aren’t very involved. I hope the classes of 2014 and 2015 step up their game next year and take control. I hope they become leaders,” Zenk said.

Both Fan and Zenk hope that they are really dedicated and enjoy helping the community. “Just for them to see the value of helping the communi-

ty, I really hope for that,” Fan said. “Plus, you get hours that help you for graduation.”

The induction for NHS will take place on April 29.

-Seth Runyan

This Is Scream

How

I

Manhattan High’s literary magazine is looking for submissions of art and writing, which includes drawings, paintings, mixed media, photos, poems, prose, and short stories. While short stories are welcomed, submissions of novel length stories or novels are not accepted.

The process of submitting work to the literary magazine is different depending on the type of submission. For drawings and artwork, it needs to be submitted to D-008, where it will be scanned and then returned to the creator. Digital submissions can be made to tihis.mag@gmail.com or to the TIHIS Facebook page.

“Like our Facebook page and submit digital submissions through there,” executive editor Lora Pellegrin said.

The deadline for submissions is April 19. Anonymous submissions are also accepted.

Students should stop by D-008 to submit works to be published.

-Julith Perry

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March 5, 2013

the MENTOR

Opinions

High school short Letter to on critical thinking the editor Connor Bliss

trending co-editor “What is the Humerus?”

This is a question you might expect to hear in “Jeopardy,” the television game show that consists of pulling from the back of your mind random facts that otherwise aren’t useful in any real world applications unless of course you’re on “Jeopardy.” These

questions do not require any critical thinking but force the contestant to rely on otherwise useless facts that they learned back in primary education.

Sometimes school can feel like this where you are not being taught to think but to repeat. America is falling behind not because we don’t spend enough time in school but because we aren’t taught right.

The classes you are required to take at Manhattan High School are in place to produce well-rounded students, which is something I wholeheartedly agree with.

But these curricula don’t seem to realize that the students

aren’t all going into those specific fields. This makes the questions very straightforward and repetitious and not very beneficial for real-life use. There need to be more word problems, more essays and less questions about plot points. I realize that repetition is a good study technique but this should stay out of the classroom. What the world needs is thinkers and not repeaters.

This idea of only having to study for the test reveals the short attention span that our generation has developed. Modern technology is to blame for some of our lack of attention span and criti-

cal thinking but the education system certainly hasn’t helped fix the problem. Students cram for the test the night before and then forget about it right after they take the test. Finals and midterms don’t do anything to help fix the problem, either. Students just cram again and forget again.

We need thinkers, not repeaters. We need life preparers, not high school teachers.

Critical thinkers are what America needs. I would rather leave high school with the ability to think critically with a bad GPA than leave as valedictorian and unprepared.

#FirstWorldProblems a wake up Liz Logback

features editor

The hashtag first world problems has been flying around Twitter tagged to the end of a tweet like “I wish I could text in the shower” or “It’s so awkward when I have an iPhone 5 and everyone around me has an iPhone 4.”

I suppose tweets like this

are a way to express the “struggle” of everyday routines and a way to relate to other American teenagers. And as much as I find them stupid, I have come to find first world problem tweets a real blessing.

While the first world problems are the epitome of the selfish American culture that revolves around what YOU want and what YOU need, they have reminded me to keep my eyes and heart open.

I know I’m the advocate for the “less fortunate” and third world countries, but first world problems are a blatant example of where the American society has gone wrong.

Tweeting about how you wish

you didn’t have to get out of bed to reach a bag of chips goes deeper than the fact that some people don’t have beds or bags of chips and it lands in the category of being just plain ridiculous.

I don’t want to go into a rant about how America is so blessed by all of its advancements and how we take that for granted, but I don’t want to ever forget that, either. I don’t want to become blind towards that fact that there are people with needs as simple as a bed and food. Never in my life do I want to become so absorbed in my needs and in my life that I forget about others and how I can better serve them.

So, I guess I’m saying thank you. Thank you teenagers, for tweeting about first world problems so that I can always remember the type of society I don’t want to get lost in. Thank you for sharing your simple struggles so that I may better see the real struggles others go through.

First world problem tweets are a very obvious flaw in our American system, but the system will always be broken and I am grateful for a daily, silly reminder of how blessed and available to serve I am.

Senioritis a curable disease Julianne Harkness

staff writer

There is a bad case of senioritis going around. Be warned. The symptoms may include laziness and an overexcessive wearing of comfortable pajama-like attire. It can also feature a lack of studying, repeated absences and a generally dismissive attitude.

The only known cure so far is graduating.

It’s the last half of senior year for the class of 2013. This does not mean we can let senioritis take over. If anything

now is the time to bump up the game. Time for overdrive mode. We have 11 weeks until graduation. That’s 77 days.

Slacking seems like a great idea right now with the end of the year in our sights. I’m not going to lie, I have been hit with senioritis. Hard. But I refuse to let that stop me from completing my work. If you allow senioritis to win, then graduating will be a much more difficult task to complete.

The only reason I say this is because I have witnessed senioritis take over a lot of seniors this year. We started as a class, now let’s graduate as one. All we have to do is tough it out for another two months and 11 days. That is not a long time frame at all.

Think about it this way.

If you start slacking now and stop turning in completed work, your grades drop. If your grades drop, you don’t

graduate. Therefore, senioritis is your enemy. Now, how can you avoid senioritis?

This is the technique I personally use. Try to focus in class. I know there is always that temptation of texting or talking to friends while in class. Try to avoid it. You always have lunch and passing period to text or talk. Now there is the homework issue. I hate homework. I’m about 80 percent sure everyone does.

Yet we have to do it. So, go home, pop in your headphones and listen to your favorite band while doing your homework. It really does help.

If that doesn’t help you, try recording class. With your teacher’s permission of course.

Once you do this you can go home and listen to it as many times as you need to. It helps when you are sitting down to do your homework because you will have the teacher’s lecture at your fingertips. If you

miss a part of it just rewind and listen to it as many times as you need to understand.

How easy is that? Even if you do this I still suggest you try to pay attention to class.

No matter who you are, senioritis will get you at some point. According to urbandictionary.com “senioritis affects everyone, regardless of gender, age, height, race, etc. It happens naturally like chicken pox, or diarrhea.”

You have been warned by a victim of senioritis. It is now in your hands to tough it out for another 77 days and keep on trucking through. We all will be cured soon enough. I have faith in everyone to be able to defeat senioritis and come out on top.

Dear Editor: I am not sure why Ben Shields gets on the mighty anti-Catholic horse of “pedophile-shielding,” and to be honest, nowhere in any Christian Church Canon Law that I’m aware of is “pedophilia” accepted. Now we do have evil people who commit horrible crimes against humanity and the Church, but this doesn’t mean we toss out religion. So Ben, if you’re trying to be funny with the comment, “altar boy,” it doesn’t work and shows your insensitivity towards child abuse.

I hope Ben doesn’t view his grandparents or other elderly persons with the description of “gnarly, fleshy old hands.”

No doubt my hands will one day be old and knotted, but today they still grip with strength and determination. I hope Ben or any other youth of his generation never have to endure the hands of one who lived through Nazism as this Pope has done.

I don’t get your opinion about the Catholic Church aligning itself with the GOP as if this is a bad thing. I would think the opposite is possibly true, such as the majority of American Catholics seem to be Democrats. Ben should be thanking the Republican Party for stopping such an evil practice such as slavery, as this could have continued into the late 19th century.

Rest assured, Ben, the Catholic Church leads the world as being the largest charity. And your comment about the pope’s stance on gay marriage, I find no fault with the Church’s stance on the union between man and woman. The Church believes marriage is more than a natural institution and is one of the seven sacraments. Society should have no problem with same-sex marriage, but this is a civil union and should not be confused with the Catholic Church’s stance on a Sacrament. So when reading the Pope’s complete message on World Peace, it was more of a caution reiterating truth about human freedoms, family and the common good and should be read by all. I for one was impressed.

MHS Parent (Name Withheld)

Dear MHS parent, Thank you for giving the perspective of conservative, practicing Catholic in response to my editorial. You are clearly educated about your faith and what it means (to you) to be a part of it.

However, I find much of your counter arguments to be heavy on pathos but at times lacking in logic. To call me insensitive toward child abuse is silly. In fact, dismissing this problem as simply an “antiCatholic horse” seems far more insensitive in my view.

I realize it is very frustrating when an institution very dear to you is often publicly derided, but there is something wrong with the Catholic church that needs addressed. I would argue the celibacy rule draws the wrong crowd.

Your accusation of ageism is your most hollow argument.

I think it was quite clear that in my description, I was simply making the point that the papacy has become a caricaturization, not dissimilar to the Queen of England. Time for the Vatican to break the pattern. I think you know, as the son of Steve Shields who has made long-term elder care his life work, I am not an ageist. In fact, this is somewhat below the belt.

Equally unconvincing is your citation of a 150-yearold accomplishment as a reason for the Church to align with the Republican party. If you cannot think of anything more recent, the party must be utterly bankrupt of ideas.

I also do not understand your point when you say the Church’s conservative stance is a good thing “such as the majority of Catholics seem to be Democrats.” Is that saying it’s a good thing for Church leadership to be disconnected from its members? Perhaps that is not what you meant.

Lastly, I am actually receptive to your point about gay marriage. I am not sure if I agree with it, but logically it holds up perfectly well (though I maintain that Benedict’s comments were bizarre and extreme). I applaud your progressive view of homosexuality and identify with your differentiation between sacrament and civil marriages and unions.

Regards, Ben Shields Editor-in-chief

Depression even more unbearable in high school the Mentor John Rockey

staff writer

Depression exists as an unseen illness in the lives of so many people we know or have heard about. We coexist with so many people who withhold an unbearable amount of grief, anger, frustration, sadness or harmful thoughts.

What makes this even worse is that unbeknownst to so many average people, they all can in-

stigate such feelings and push those feelings to the point of concrete action with frightening consequences.

Every living person at some point experiences turmoil in their lives. Death is inevitable for all people, which makes for an understandable amount of grief in anyone. But then anything else can happen from there. In school and real life, people get overwhelmed and feel powerless to the work before them. They feel they cannot succeed, which brings them down even more.

The list wants to draw on, but it’s social pressures that worsen these feelings of hopelessness. When a person has a problem, they think to share that problem, but do not from fear of rejection or misunder-

standing. If they have a problem on an intimate level like a sexuality problem, they could expect to be judged from a multitude in addition to the joking that is made in society now. That overwhelmed feeling is met with a tremendous amount of pressure to change on all fronts, leaving them more overwhelmed. When talking could help, all they can think of is the pressure that this is all their fault when it never was in the first place.

What makes depression is an overwhelming feeling of sadness over a prolonged period of time, not just feeling sad at a handful of controllable circumstances for a single period of time. All us Manhattan High students are fortunate to be in a school system

with people who help us deal with these situations on a frequent basis. Fellow students who deal with depression can empathize what you may feel.

Dear fellow classmates, look to your friends who become sad for whatever reason no matter the situation, especially if it’s something happy like a home game or amusing time in class. Look and see if they show anything externally.

Think back to any problems they have brought up or heard about. We are all surrounded by our classmates who have a mess of problems that goes more than skin deep. It may be as simple as days where they never seem to smile.

The Mentor is an open forum and accepts letters to the editor and guest columns. Letters must be under 350 words, and columns 300-600. Please differentiate between the two: letters are a response to content within The Mentor, columns are an opinion piece about a topic of your choice. All entries may be shortened or revised for errors, appropriateness or any other reasons deemed necessary by the editorial staff. Contact editor in chief Ben Shields at mhsmentoropinions@gmail.com or advisor Kristy Nyp at kristyny@manhattan.k12.ks.us, or hand in a hard copy in C-107. It is recommended columns topics are cleared with the staff prior to writing.

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 business manager - Jerry Sextro adviser -Kristy Nyp contributing writer - Patrick Day

writers/photographers - Danielle Cook Tre Fuentes Julianne Harkness Jordan Morris Julith Perry John Riforgiate Nastajja Rivera John Rockey Seth Runyan Maddy Sparks Derrek Williams circulation - Kristyn Baker Leonard Castilow David Clinkinbeard Patrick Falcone Corey Garrison Sam LaFleur Kasey Morris Mallory Morris Kendall Oatney Emma Rowley Austin Tatum Seth Wagner

The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,500 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.

Entertainment

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the MENTOR

March 5, 2013

Spring Entertainment Kicks Off Mr. MHS contestants take on old-school style in their first rehearsal Maddie Ross Trending Co-Editor Confused faces, off-count dance moves and a medley of N SYNC, Spice Girls and Aaron Carter.

These are all components of Saturday’s Mr. MHS rehearsal.

The pageant, which has been a Manhattan High School tradition for 28 years, kicked off

practice from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

-- transforming the commons area into a dance studio, using the glass windows of the library as mirrors.

This rehearsals focus was learning the two group dance numbers, one to open the show and one to close it. Choreographing the pageant is senior and Student Council secretary Emma Miller. She was assisted

by freshmen Claire Huber and Emily Katzenmeier.

“I started [choreographing] this week. I also helped judge the auditions and put all the songs together for the dances,” Miller said.

This is just the beginning of the preparation needed to take place before the event.

In addition to the contestant’s crafting their individual talent

Uthoff selects “T he Crucible” for spring play

routines, perfecting their many costumes including swimwear and evening wear, the lighting, set and rehearsing with the EmCees all still need to take place. “We still have one more big dance to learn, and then of course the show,” Miller said.

As far as the contestants go, this was the first step in preparation for most. “I have

done absolutely nothing,” senior contestant Zane Hayden said regarding his preparation thus far for the pageant. “I am least looking forward to forgetting everything.”

As rehearsal continued the off-count dance moves moved closer to the correct counts, confused looks became less frequent, N SYNC lyrics started to become stuck in every-

one’s heads and shimmying became a mastered skill by the contestants.

“There is still a long way to come but it is looking pretty good and it is going to be a good show,” Miller said.

Rehearsals will continue for the next two weeks leading up to the performance March 14.

CSI: NEVERLAND

Manhattan High’s 6th hour Drama I class investigates the murder of Peter Pantaloon in Wade Bradford’s “CSI: Neverland.”

Senior Da’Merius Ford runs lines outside the auditorium before his audition.

Naomi McClendon, Photographer

Sophomore Charlotte Benjamin and junior Ellie Mankin practice together before they audition for director Linda Uthoff.

Naomi McClendon, Photographer

Ben Shields editor in chief Drama department head Linda Uthoff announced last Monday morning the Spring play is Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” It is an allegorical drama set in Massachusetts at the time of Salem witch trials, symbolizing the McCarthyism Red Scare happening at the time of publishing. “The Crucible” won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1953. Auditions were Wednesday and Thursday after school and Friday during lunch.

Audiences may know Arthur Miller from his most famous work, “Death of a Salesman.” It, too, is allegorical, symbolizing the bankruptcy of the American dream and its vampirism on men who went after it. Like “Salesman,” “The Crucible” is a comment on American culture and its

flaws.

Uthoff selected “The Crucible” based on student feedback. Several of her students went to see “Death of a Salesman” in Kansas City last month and subsequently fell in love with Miller’s work. After “The 39 Steps,” most Thespians were in the mood for a heavy drama.

“I have always thought the crafting in [“The Crucible”] was very good,” Uthoff said.

“It has a lot of relevance as we’ve been talking about dogma. And even this bullying survey we just took. It all relates back to some issues you find in the “The Crucible.”

When you sense something is wrong... it’s hard to buck the majority of people who believe a different thing, especially as teenagers. It’s a valuable thing to say, ‘what do I stand for?’ Am I just going to follow everybody else or am

I not going be afraid to stand up and say, ‘I can’t articulate this very well, but this feels very wrong.’”

Uthoff says when she saw “The Crucible” for the first time, she walked out “a changed person” and believes it still is not free from controversy. Some feel Miller’s play is an attack on religion, and the content can be too heavy for some audiences “[Miller] does a very good job of characterization,” she said. “He has taken a lot of actual information and made it very dramatic and made you really care about these people.

Some are real life individuals who lost their lives in Salem.

You get a lot of independent american spirit. When you see a good production of something it changes you. Hopefully that will happen to our audiences too and they won’t be scared by the content.”

Julith Perry, Photographer

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3901 Vanesta Dr. Manhattan, KS Tweet: @MrKsBar 785-320-2730

Double Cookie Bakes With MHS ID

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March 5, 2013

the MENTOR

Sports

Girls’ season ends in second round of Substate Tre Fuentes staff writer

Junior Par McNair drives to the hoop in last Thursday’s game against Derby.

Photo by Tre Fuentes, photographer.

If you could use two words to describe the Manhattan High School Girl’s Basketball season, it would be teamwork and consistency. The passion they share for the game and their drive to win allowed them to be consistent on a regular basis. With a 15-6 record heading into postseason play, the Lady Indians had momentum being the #3 seed. Last Thursday marked their first game of the play-offs against Derby. Working together, the Lady Indians started with the lead, and never surrendered from there. By halftime MHS was up 34-20. The final score

Wrestling takes 6th at State John Rockey staff writer A lot can be said on the tough wrestlers that come from Manhattan High. They went onwards to Wichita for the 6A State tournament on Feb. 22 and 23 last month against a stiff competition and an impending snowstorm that quilted a massive portion of eastern Kansas. Defending State champions going against such tough competition this year, they did the best that they always did with confidence and respect, and came back with a modest sixth place overall with six wrestlers having placed in the top seven or better in their weight classes.

The Indians all knew what they faced going in. A tough number of opponents such as Garden City and Junction City. On paper, there were others who didn’t think much of them. But they knew how to work together and compete without caring how good the

opponent before them was.

“We knew we were more capable than people made us out to be,” senior Davis Matthews said.

Everyone encountered in one way or another their toughest matches all year.

Some like senior Jase Stone were having to play while suffering from injury. Stone had received nerve damage in his knee on his second match, but continued on wrestling his opponent from Garden City; he then took sixth place overall in his own weight class, feeling nothing but pride in what his teammates had accomplished.

“I think a lot of kids broke out at the tournament and really showed with the placers,” Stone said.

Following State and looking back, the team was feeling disappointed with their overall placement, but proud that they worked together at competing against their toughest opponents all year.

“The team always works together. We all stuck in there and then pulled together at the end,” senior Dallas Vesta said.

Wrestling results 6A State Meet Manhattan placed 6th overall with 86 points.

3rd place: Kian Clemens (120) Austin Chauncey (160) 5th place: Josh Mullin (138) Davis Matthews (145) 6th place: Jase Stone (113) Jordan Price (195)

was 53-35 in Manhattan’s favor. Sophomore Darby Price led the team in scoring with 19 points. Senior Elayna Spilker chipped in 12 points while junior Par McNair had 10.

Next, the Lady Indians took on Wichita Heights on the road at the Sub-state Final.

Things were a lot different in their second playoff game of the season, points were a lot harder to get and shots were tougher to defend. They still played a hard game, but came up short, ending their season after a 35-55 loss to Wichita Heights. Still, head coach Scott Mall believes his team did a lot things right, and the overall season was a success.

“Our girls work together so

well,” Mall said. “Offensively we move the ball and get it to the right place. We are more focused on us scoring than the other team. And with the teamwork our girls have, they are able to translate their communication off the court in the games themselves.”

With the 2012-2013 season in the books, the seniors left a legacy not only by their performance on the court, but with the help they have given the younger players in learning the game.

“All three of our seniors this year have had to deal with injuries of different sorts, but it didn’t stop what they were able to accomplish as leaders and what they did to

try to help the team out,” Mall said. “I think that was key to our success.”

Price, one of the undisputed verbal and scoring leaders on the team, also believes the teamwork and off-court success is key and will benefit them in the games to come next year.

“We have such good chemistry,” Price said. “It’s like a family, we get along so well.

As long as we continue to work together, there is a lot to look forward to.”

Boys finish season with dramatic games Nick Bandy sports editor As senior Chris Hudgins looked around the locker room, he realized it might be the last time he ever played a Manhattan High basketball game. They were tied 21-21 at halftime to Washburn Rural in the first Sub-state game, a game that would end the season for the losing team. So as Chris Hudgins looked around, he decided to do everything possible to win, and he did as he poured in 18 points to lift MHS to a 45-44 overtime victory.

“He is just a winner; he’ll do whatever it takes to win.

I think I only saw him take one bad shot all night,” head coach Tim Brooks said.

As the tight game drew down to the final few minutes, junior Brett Fehr stepped up off the bench and got a steal and four quick points to keep the Indians in the game.

“It was mostly my defense.

I played hard and made hustle

plays,” Fehr said.

The game was tied with one minute left, and as usual the ball found its way into senior Jacob Holloway’s hands, who has been the big shot maker in crunch time all year for the Indians. He didn’t disappoint the roaring home crowd as he nailed a three to give the Indians the lead. But Washburn refused to give up and answered with a big three of its own to send the game into overtime. In overtime it was all Hudgins, as his six overtime points led the Indians to victory.

“I’m so happy. We’ve been talking in practice about how huge this game is and how bad we’ve wanted another home game. We play better in front of a home crowd,” Hudgins said.

The week before, MHS had another dramatic week as they had to battle to secure a high enough seed in Sub-State to have the first round home game. They had to win one of their two games that week, so

when they lost to Hayden 4332 the pressure was on. They answered the call and defeated Seamen 59-50, giving them the home game against Washburn in the first round of Sub-state.

After their win over Washburn, MHS advanced to play Derby in the Sub-State finals, where the winner would advance to the State tournament.

They kept the game close and played better than their 7867 loss to Derby earlier in the year, but they still came up short as they lost 66-57 to end their season. The Indians were only down six going into the fourth and they launched a comeback led by senior Jonathan Taylor, who had 15 total points and 13 in the fourth, but Derby star Taylor Schieber was too much as he consistently hit big shots and he finished with 30 points.

The Indians finished the season with a 12-10 record, showing improvement over their 9-12 record last year.

Athlete of the Week

Tre Fuentes staff writer

Shon Eakes

Senior Jonathan Taylor signs with Mid-America Nazerene University as he sits with his family. He signed to play basketball and soccer, both of which he played at Manhattan High. For soccer at MHS he was a star midfielder and leader that helped the Indians to a winning record. In basketball at MHS he was the starting point guard every game and he led them to a 12-10 record. He is the first MHS athlete to sign to play two sports in college.

Kaitlyn Wichmann, photographer

Many people don’t view bowling as one of the high profile sports. But to sophomore bowler Eakes, it’s more than just a sport. It’s a life-long obsession. At the most recent tournament, Eakes placed 17th out of all bowlers in the competition.

He finished the meet with a score of 645. No matter what his score is, he always finds room for improvement and tries his best to get bet-

ter on a daily basis.

Q: When did you first start bowling?

A: When I was 4. I loved it as

a kid and have been bowling ever since.

Q: Many people don’t consid-

er bowling to be a true sport.

What is it about bowling that makes it a sport in your eyes?

A: It’s still a game. You’re still competing against other people just like in football and any other sport.

Q:

use to improve your game?

A: I started getting good at bowling once I started getting a good curve on the ball. It’s all about spinning the ball and flicking your wrist in the right way, at exactly the right time.

Q: Who is your favorite athlete?

A: Norm Duke is my favorite bowler. He is really good and makes over $25 million a year. That’s more than most athletes make.

What techniques do you

Bowling wins Regionals and takes team to State Danielle Cook staff writer The Manhattan High Boys Bowling team brought home their first-ever Regional championship in February but failed to see similar success on their trip to State last week.

Due to the weather complications, Regionals was hosted a day early on Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Manhattan at Little Apple Lanes. The boys scored a total of 2,720 points, setting a new school record.

The Lady Indians scored 2,199, landing them sixth place, sending two individual bowlers, junior Meghan Dooley and sophomore Katherine Eimer, to State.

Coming out victorious from the Regional tourna-

ment, the boys sent six bowlers to State, which was held on Friday at North Rock Lanes in Wichita. The boys who qualified for State included seniors Alex Murph, Aj Cabanatuan, Tucker Reffitt, junior Alex Huerta and sophomores Shon Eakes and Smitt Thiakul. Of the MHS boys who competed, Eakes placed, scoring 645.

Coach Chris George believes that in the past, the Regional tournament has been the height of the team’s scoring performance.

“We have bowled our best here [at Regionals], and our season has gone well,” George said.

Time is running out....

for you to buy the 2013 Blue M yearbook!

Only 100 extra copies have been ordered. Reserve yours today in the main office or in the journalism room (C-107).

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the MENTOR

Features

March 5, 2013

5

Reversing the teacher-student roles Nick Bandy Sports Editor It’s not often you see your math teacher sitting next to you in Spanish class. Jason Kazar, an Algebra teacher at West Campus, recently transferred from the East Campus, has a desire to learn Spanish, and Kazar’s students from the East Campus have had the opportunity to reverse roles and teach him.

“It’s neat because I was at the 9th grade center for four years and so some of the students I taught as 9th graders in Algebra are in my Spanish class now, so it’s cool to interact with them in a different way,” Kazar said.

This year at the West Campus he noticed several people who speak Spanish, and so after Christmas break Kazar decided he wanted to learn the language.

Math teacher Jason Kazar learns from his Spanish teacher Olivia Leon-Toomajian in his 4th hour class.

Kazar hopes to learn Spanish fluently one day.

Julianne Harkness, photographer

“I have some Spanish speaking students in my class and I always thought it would be nice to communicate with them,” Kazar said.

He began taking Olivia Leon’s fourth hour Spanish 1 class and he immediately became a big part of the class.

He is very active, constantly volunteering to help Leon and is always asking questions.

“He is a model for the students and he asks questions that provide a mark for me, because the students don’t always ask questions,” Leon said.

Perhaps the toughest part for Kazar has been trying to learn all the information from the first semester, but he has been helped along by sophomores and former students Caroline Ballard and Zach Mathies.

“We usually sit by each other so I help him out a lot,” Ballard said. “It was difficult but he’s a good learner.”

As much as the students help him, Kazar helps them back. His energy in class motivates students and he is an additional authority figure in the class to help keep the peace.

“Having Mr. Kazar in

Smiling through struggles

class has been a very positive addition, because the students see an adult is in class they see it as more serious and they see adults want to also learn Spanish,” Leon said.

Kazar no longer teaches at the East Campus, and he only teaches hours 1-3 at the West Campus. He sits in Spanish class 4th hour, and he also teaches in the evening at the Manhattan Area Technical College.

“My schedule is what allows me to do this,” Kazar said.

After almost two months, he is beginning to feel as though he is starting to pick up some of the language and he is finally achieving his goal of speaking to students in Spanish. He says hello and whatever else he can manage to Spanish-speaking students in the hallway and in his class.

“I try to talk to them a little bit and try to learn phrases but I’m not fluent enough to have a conversation,” Kazar said.

Next year he plans to possibly take the first semester of Spanish that he missed this year.

Student stays optimistic despite numerous medical diagnoses Tre Fuentes Staff Writer

If you tell a joke, she laughs. If you are talking to her, she smiles. There is rarely a moment when she doesn’t find something in life to be happy about. She enjoys physical activity and being with friends. And while senior Shelby Hill enjoys life, she doesn’t take it for granted.

Almost a year ago, Hill suffered more than just the common cold, being diagnosed with mono, sinus infections, scarlet fever, strep throat and Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE for short).

But that was just the beginning. While most of her sicknesses have died down, she has developed a sickness far worse than anything she previously imagined.

“Currently I have Dyspepsia and Gastroparesis,” Hill said.

“Basically everything I eat makes me sick.”

Gastroparesis, the worst of the two sickness, is a rare medical condition consisting of paralysis of the stomach, meaning food stays in the stomach a lot longer than it is suppose to. Because of this, the body suffers severe pain in the stomach, heartburn, abdominal pain, spasms of the stomach wall

and vomiting, among other symptoms. To make matters worse, the food she is allowed to intake is drastically limited.

“I can’t eat meat,” Hill said. “I like meat, but it hurts. I have even been on baby formula because nothing else seems to work.”

Dyspepsia, the second of the two illnesses Hill has, is a medical condition characterized by chronic pain in the upper abdomen.

Combine that with the fact that Hill still has EE; her illnesses do not mix well. “I’ve been to Manchester, Minn., which has some of the best doctors in the United States. One of the food allergists said he tested over 3,000 patients on food sensitivities and he told me he has never seen results like mine,” Hill said. “It’s kind of exhausting. I have to watch everything I eat, and I get sick anyway. There is nothing I can

eat without getting sick.”

One year ago, everything seemed fine. Now Hill is in a daily battle to stay healthy. But no amount of hardships Hill endures is going to change her positive outlook on life.

“Most people that have what I have keep it for the rest of their lives,” she said. “But my friends and family are real supportive of me and I know I can count on them to be there for me. I have a lot of faith and hope and I pray for strength, and I know that whatever happens God has a plan for me.”

Right: Senior Shelby Hill during one of many stays in the hospital. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past couple of months with a diagnosis that has doctors searching for treatment.

She can eat almost nothing without throwing it back up.

Courtesy photo

6

March 5, 2013

Capsule Reviews

The MENTOR

I’ve hit a wall with this whole music grading business. It’s not writer’s block – it’s worse than that, folks. The last few weeks have consisted of me typing short paragraphs like usual, only to be visited and revisited by the same thought: who cares? What’s the point, anyway? What I do here every couple of months isn’t even proper criticism; four or five sentences per album and a letter grade slapped on at the end ain’t a critique, it’s an ego trip. I didn’t even invent the format -- it’s Robert Christgau’s trademark and here I am acting like I own it.

I thought about doing all grades and nothing else this time.

Scrapped that idea when I figured Nyp wouldn’t go for it. Then I considered just stopping the whole process. But I like it too much.

So this batch is all one sentence apiece, no more, sometimes a little less. With each record, I asked myself, “Should I recommend people buy it?” Then in one sentence I created a variation of either “yes” or “no.” Because that’s all this thing really boils down to: a consumer report by a smart-aleck.

Batida, “Batida”: Seems pointless at first because it is, then after awhile you’ll be humming it. B

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Psychedelic Pill”: I caught up with this annihilating blast of a record months after it came out and haven’t stopped spinning it since; goes great with “Americana.” A

Tegan & Sara, “Heartthrob”: The world ain’t short on 80s synth throwbacks, but more the merrier I say; that is until we bring back Haysi Fantazee. B PLUS

Trending

My Bloody Valentine, “MBV”: Infinitely rewarding after multiple listens; read Rob Sheffield’s essay.

A PLUS

Johnny Marr: “The Messenger”: Not bad, but amazing how there is no weight of history whatsoever in the first solo album by a man who changed alt rock forever. B MINUS

Joy Formidable, “Wolf’s Law”: Folks who love this band love this record; I don’t love them, so... B MINUS

The db’s, “Falling Off the Sky”: Not my cup of tea; though I’ve never taken my tea with fiddles, drum machines and erratic tempo changes. C MINUS

Graphic by Maddie Ross

Lisa Germano, “Falling Elephants”: I docked a notch for one cut including “fraidy cat” and “frightened” in the same sentence, but otherwise excellent. A MINUS

Justin Bieber: “Believe (Acoustic)”: Seems pointless at first because it is, then after awhile you’ll be humming the originals. C PLUS

Playstation 4 officially announced Connor Bliss Trending Co-Editor Playstation Four was officially announced by Sony at a conference in New York City Feb. 20.

The conference was attended by members of the press and streamed over the Internet to millions of people, crashing the Playstation website.

No actual console was shown but the new controller was unveiled. The controller has remained the classic dualshock but

has evolved in some major areas.

The controller has adopted the concave sticks of the Xbox but kept them in the same position.

The home button has been replaced by a touchpad that doesn’t have a display but can be used to control on screen menus and other applications.

A share button has been added to let you share clips of the last 15 minutes of gameplay to Facebook and other social media sites. Friends will be able to spectate on live gameplay and take control over someone else’s game.

The Playstation Four hasn’t abandoned its move peripheral but has incorporated

it this time around into the controller with a 3-D motion sensing camera not unlike Microsoft’s Kinect .

The conference ran for two hours and Sony, with its partners, announced several new games. “Knack” was the first one to shown to showcase the consoles ability to stream games to its handheld cousin the Vita.

“Killzone Shadowfall” showed off the consoles high-performance graphics and seems to be an attempt to draw people into the Playstation ecosystem since it seems to be a reboot. Besides the first party games that were shown there were also presentations from third-party developers including “Watch Dogs” from Ubisoft and

“Destiny” from Bungie.

The console has been scheduled to launch in the holiday season of this year with no price announcement but the rumored month for launch is November.

Sony went first now Microsoft is expected to reveal their next generation console in April.

Photos courtesy of us.playstation.com

Maddy’s Hits and Misses Hit: Getting two snow days two weeks ago.

Miss: How much snow we still have left.

Hit: New season of “Duck Dynasty” Miss: We haven’t made a school-wide “Harlem Shake” video yet.

Photos courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org,aetv.com

Hit: Baseball is starting up.

Miss: Basketball is over.

‘Say You’re Just a Friend’ generic but catchy song Danielle Cook

staff writer

“Say You’re Just a Friend” is an upbeat new track from 16-year-old YouTube sensation Austin Mahone.

The single features hip hop/rap artist Flo Rida, resembling (and even lyrically mentioning) Biz Markie’s 1989 song, “Just a Friend,” which samples Freddie Scott’s 1968 song, “You Got What I Need.” Mahone’s “Say You’re Just a Friend” is also reminiscent of Justin Bieber’s work, the track echoing Bieber’s

early song styles, inclusive of YouTube at age 14 in San undeniably catchy beats, teen- Antonio, and landed him the dream of relatable lyrics becoming a and new-tosigned artist the-business with growvocals. ing popular“Say You’re ity among Just a Friend” y o u n g doesn’t display and teen much natural girls everyvocal strength where. “Say on Mahone’s You’re Just part, as the a Friend” is song is repetireally no diftive and slightferent than ly monotonous any other in melody. pop song However, Mayou’d hear hone’s voice out there on possesses a radio today, boyish charm, but it sure and clearly Photo courtesy of gomoxie.com is catchy, has potential, relatable as it’s brought him out of his bedroom, where and fun to dance around your he began covering songs for room to.