The Mentor: Oct. 13

the mentor

Volume 103 // Issue 5 // Oct. 13, 2015

Manhattan High Students sit in the stands during last week’s homecoming pep rally. Later that day, seniors Sarah Middendorf and Gabe Awbrey were crowned homecoming king and queen.

PHOTO BY DYLAN THOMAS

Manhattan and Junction City players scramble for the ball following junior Ian Trapp’s quarterback sneak attempt in overtime on Friday. Junction City won, 17-14.

INCHES AWAY READ MORE ON PAGE 4.

PHOTO BY CORA ASTIN

New year, new assessments DAVID FLITER

Staff Writer

Kansas students have repeatedly outperformed the standards of the state assessment despite the level of funding cut from the schools.

“Though the media has jumped on the chance to give a mostly negative view on Kansas schools because of budget issues, things are going well.

We’re doing great,” principal Greg Hoyt said.

The state has to constantly change the standards according to the performance of students as a whole and due to the constant outperformance, new changes are made frequently.

These changes are made because of the demands of the workforce and postsecondary education. This past year was the first time that students took the assessment made by the CETE (Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation). Stu-

dents are graded based on four categories: category one below grade level performance, two performing at grade level but still not meeting college standards and three and four being on par with or exceeding the standards.

These results not only affect the next year of testing, but the classroom too.

“Generally teachers use state assessment scores to help judge what they are teaching in the classroom, and whether kids are learning what is given in the assessment. If the assessment is changing, it will influence what the teachers put in their curriculum,” school board member Leah Fliter said.

One issue that has been surfacing with test results seems to stem from the ethnicity of the student taking the test. It’s been shown in the statistics of the results that even though

SEE NEW PAGE 3

Spanish Club salsas GAVIN LARIOS Staff Writer

Last Wednesday during Tribe Time, Spanish Club got together in the North Gym and started salsa dancing their hearts out. Isaac Falcon, professional dancer, was the dance instructor of last week’s dance.

“One thing I like about salsa is that it brings everybody

together from all around the world and different parts of life,” Falcon said. “The classes I teach at K-State, I have students, military members, older couples from the community and professors who come to take the lessons.”

The dance instructor has been dancing since he was 15

Print Editor-in-Chief

Global news is a vital part of news today and can directly affect MHS students.

In order to inform our readers, The Mentor has compiled small summaries describing some of the largest happenings in the world today. We encourage the reader to read about these topics, and others, in greater depth.

French Club members and seniors Ashley Stuckwisch, Christine Martin, Isis Thorton-Saunders and Israel Wheatley get together for an intimate going-away party for club president, Wheatley. Stuckwisch will take over as president.

PHOTO BY TARA MAGAñA

TARA MAGAñA

Blue M Asst. Verbal Editor Much like the United States government, when French Club’s president, senior Israel Wheatley, suddenly left office, the vice president took over.

But this wasn’t a hostile take over -- just circumstances getting in the way.

“I’ve actually known since

this summer, but we just decided that we were going to move, like, a few weeks ago because my mom got a new job [in Colorado] and so our whole family is moving there,” Wheatley said.

When a president leaves office, the vice president has two options: to do what their predecessor wanted, or to do their own thing. Senior Ashley

Stuckwisch chose neither.

“I don’t really know any of his plans for this year so far since it is still kind of, like, early,” Stuckwisch said.

But with her new role, Stuckwisch wants to improve communication throughout the club.

“One of the things I want

station in Ankara on Saturday morning, killing at least 95 people and wounding 246 others in the deadliest attack on the Turkish Capital in years. Most of the victims were attending a lunchtime demonstration calling for an end to the renewed conflict between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish government. About 14,000 people were in the area. Two suicide bombers are believed to have caused the blasts, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised address to the nation.

“I lost two of my friends,” eyewitness Murat Tasdemir said to a BBC reporter. “They are now dead.

Many of my friends are wounded.

We had to carry the dead and the injured to the ambulances ourselves.”

Afghan President orders investigation into fall of Kunduz

SEE FRENCH PAGE 3

SEE SPANISH PAGE 3

GLOBAL NEWS MADELINE MARSHALL

Stuckwisch takes over French Club

McCarthy drops out of House speaker race, chaos ensues

House Majority leader Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the race to be current speaker John Boehner’s successor last Thursday. The unexpected move by McCarthy has thrown the House into madness.

“I think I shocked some of you, huh?” McCarthy said to CNN reporters following the decision.

Bohner is set to step down from his position at the end of this month and McCarthy was the ma-

jor frontrunner in the race. With Boehner and McCarthy’s actions and no clear successor, the obvious divide within the Republican party is only being furthered. In less than a month Congress must take action to raise the debt ceiling in order to keep the US from defaulting on its debt obligations.

In the past conservatives tried to stall this critical vote in order to pull concessions from Democrats.

With the uncertainty revolving around the House GOP, Congress’ future is unclear.

Explosions hit Turkish protests Two powerful bombs exploded at a peace rally near the main train

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appointed investigators to look into the the Taliban’s brief capture of the northern city of Kunduz, as well as a US airstrike that destroyed a hospital and killed 22 people, according to the Associated Press. The US says last Saturday’s bombing was a mistake; it came amid efforts to reverse a Taliban takeover of Kunduz.

Security forces say they have spent the past few days cleaning up Taliban remnants and fighting has been largely confined to the outskirts.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE NEWS CHECK OUT MHSMENTOR.COM

Opinions

The Mentor // OCT. 13, 2015 // MHSMentor.com Page 2

Multidimensinal representation of minorities in media crucial THIS EDITORIAL IS A COMPILATION FROM A DISCUSSION HELD BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD. TO LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION THAT LED TO THIS PIECE, VISIT WWW.MHSMENTOR. COM. A white middle class family -- the epitome of the American Dream.

Mom, perfectly kempt, is cooking dinner; Dad comes through the maple front door, briefcase in hand, and two children, in their riding boots and football jerseys, respectively, race down the stairs to greet him. Circled around their dining table, they wait for food

to be served -- it’s taco night and they are so excited to talk about their day.

Mainstream media has deemed this image to be the norm, the goal of anyone who wants to be content. In response to the premier of the movie “Stonewall,” based on the Stonewall riots in 1969, The Mentor Editorial Board felt it necessary to discuss the lack of minority representation, or rather, the erasure of minorities in mainstream media. The Stonewall riots were a movement started and led by trans women of color, but in the movie almost the en-

Question of the

week:

tire cast is made up of gay, white, cisgendered males. The lack of diverse representation in the media, or rather the focus on one privileged group, as depicted in “Stonewall” is extremely problematic.

While the cisgender, heterosexual, white male has been deemed the star of all media -- everyone else has been shunned to niche media forms. Think about a bookstore: there’s probably a section for African American Fiction, Gay and Lesbian Fiction and Women’s Fiction.

While such specialization can allow for positive spaces for marginalized groups, it also deems

What’s your weirdest fear?

Religions not trends

As time goes on, so do trends, styles and fashion. Most of the stuff that teenagers say, wear and do would be highly looked down on from people of other generations. One of the main things that is a new “trend” is taking meaningful symbols and customs from other religions and cultures and turning them into a fashion statement. For instance, the trend of Henna, Bindis and wearing religious symbols have turned into a fashion statement, when in reality it is a large part of a culture and religion.

Another common thing that people are now doing is taking religious symbols and putting them on their Instagram or writing them on their cars because they think that it makes them indie and bohemian, when they are really just turning a religion into a way to make them look cool.

I am family and friends with many people of all religions and ethnicities.

Seeing the people I am close to and how passionate they are about their religion makes me upset to see people making it into a brand.

The trend of teenagers doing henna has become popular. Henna is a Popular thing teens are doing now. They think that it’s like have a temporary tattoo. But what they don’t understand is that henna has ancient meaning to it and is not comparable to a temporary tattoo.

Clothing store like Urban Outfitters have even started selling clothes with religious symbols on them. This is insensitive to the people who live and practice these reli-

gions every day just to see people who know nothing about it, represent it.

Urban Outfitters has been infamous for selling clothes that have controversy. They have sold tank tops, shirts, socks and a duvet cover with the Hindu God Ganesha on it. This is very disrespectful to the religions that so highly respect the symbol. People need to stop taking these highly respected symbols that have been around for centuries and turning them into an item that makes them look cool.

A very large influence of this new trend is coming from the way celebrities dress to famous music festivals. This has rubbed off on almost all clothing stores. During the spring and summer seasons you will see stores with a “festival collection.” The clothing items in these collections are inspired from what people wear to music festivals. Included in these collections are clothing with Hindu symbols, Native American symbols and Buddhist symbols. Music Festivals have drawn the inspiration for their “festival wear” from these different cultures and religions because of the intricate designs they have. Even though the music festivals have absolutely nothing to do with any of these cultures or religions, the designs make them seem bohemian and indie.

The people wearing these clothes and the companies designing them need to put their feet in the other person’s shoes and see how they would feel if they saw someone wearing something that was very close, traditional and meaningful to them. People wearing clothing with these symbols on them because they look cool is not only offending a culture and religion, but taking away the meaning and turning it into just a cool design, and to an entire population those symbols are their entire livelihood.

STAFF MEMBERS: Madeline Marshall -- Print Editor-In-Chief/Opinions Greg Woods -- Online Editor -In-Chief Tracy Le -- News Editor Savannah Cherms -- Entertainment Editor Erick Echegaray -- Sport Editor Elizabeth Underwood -- Features Editor Angie Moss -- Trending Editor

thoughts, etc. And we all deserve to be represented as such. The trope that one’s minority status is the only defining characteristic of a character, whether it be in a book, movie or anywhere else, is sending those groups the message that they are not good enough. That they are second class and should strive to achieve “normalcy” in order to be happy. This is unacceptable. One’s existence is never defined by a single trait and minorities, in particular, deserve to see themselves reflected in media as the strong, diverse and complex people that they are.

“the allergy attacks from all this pumpkin spiced crap” -- Camille Fellers, junior (@Camillieonn) “hot coffee” --Krista Burton, senior (@itskristaanne)

“the nice weather and getting to wear sweaters” -- Emma Brase, senior (@emma_brase)

“watching Hocus Pocus non-stop” -- Riley Taylor, sophomore (@_rileytaylor5)

“I’ll tell you what I’m NOT looking forward to, less clever answers to these questions” -- Emma Landsdowne, sophomore (@epicemma55)

Next edition’s question:

MAYA MINOCHA

ing the demeaning of minority groups. By only including minorities as a way to fill diversity quotas and make punchlines, they strip them of their humanity.

Whether it’s the fat kid who’s only on the show to be made fun of, the “sassy black friend,” the “gay best friend” or any other supposed “deviant,” the majority of representation that those who don’t fit into the cis, straight, white, middle class mold receive is one dimensional and harmful.

All humans are multidimensional and complex beings. We have unique emotions, experiences,

What’s your favorite part of the fall season?

What are you looking forward to?

“‘my favorite thing about the fall season is the beautiful leaf colors. I can’t wait till Halloween” -- Frank Felber, senior (@frankdatank876)

Blue M Organizations Editor

their issues and plights unworthy of the general category of mainstream fiction. By “othering” minorities and atypical living situations, we “other” the actual people they represent. Accurate and multifaceted representation in media is crucial.

It gives people a stronger sense of self and acts as an affirmation of their identity and existence.

It gives younger viewers people to relate and look up to. It expands people’s assumptions regarding their own and other’s capabilities.

The mainstream media is doing a terrible job of this and is, thus, further-

“my favorite part of fall is the clothes, and I’m looking forward to second semester of this year.”

-- Kayla Allen, junior (@kaylamaeallen)

MHS LOSS NOT REFEREES’ FAULT GREG WOODS

Online Editor-in-Chief The Manhattan High football team lost in overtime Friday night to rival Junction City, 17-14, a game for the ages, one that went down in classic Manhattan-JC fashion.

It was perhaps the best game I’ve witnessed in person.

In addition to being a reporter for The Mentor, I’m also a student at Manhattan High and a fan of

the team. I want them to win. I wasn’t happy when they lost to Junction City, nor when quarterback Ian Trapp was ruled short of the goal line in overtime.

And even though many thought Trapp scored, the loss was not directly determined by that play.

Manhattan did not lose solely because Trapp was ruled short of the endzone.

Of course, the call was iffy. Even I thought he scored, as did several people on the sideline, as well as head coach Joe Schartz. But to say the refs cost the game for the Indians is faulty logic.

What about Raye Wilson’s 50-yard touchdown

rush? Not only did the touchdown obviously give the Blue Jays the lead, but it shifted the momentum to Junction City’s side.

What about Tim Bell’s fumble recovery for a touchdown, when the ball was dropped in the transfer from Trapp to Keiadrain McDonald? Obviously, that contributed to JC winning.

The Indians also missed two field goals, which hurt their chances at sneaking by with a win.

But let’s just say the refs called Trapp in for a touchdown. Manhattan takes the lead. There’s a fair chance the MHS defense stops the Blue Jays on their possession, win-

irregular heartbeats and death. What those classes don’t cover is what it feels like to suffer from one and how fast the human body is damaged from deprivation.

For those of you that aren’t as educated on eating disorders as others, here’s a brief summary of the most common ones. Anorexia Nervosa includes obsession with weight and what you eat.

It’s often characterized by not eating or skipping meals. Anorexia Athletica is similar, but the person suffering also over exercises to burn the calories consumed. Bulimia Nervosa includes purging after eating and using other methods to avoid weight gain. Binge Eating Disorder includes eating abnormally large amounts of food in a short amount of time, or eating until the person in uncomfortably full. There are other lesser known, yet just as serious, eating disorders such as Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Pica, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and Rumination Disorder.

I started seeking help for my eating disorder around spring break of sophomore year. At that

point I had gone from 135 pounds to 110 in a month and a half. My longest fast was nine days. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t walk without getting dizzy. I had already passed out several times that month.

I started recovering at that point, but it was overwhelming. I began making better decisions and getting healthier, but that only lasted about a month. Two days after school ended, I was admitted into a stabilization program where I was forced to eat six times a day or drink a protein drink -- which was horrible. By that point in time, I had done significant damage to my body. I had brain damage and fragile bones. I hadn’t had my period in months, I had liver and heart damage and I was told that my chances of being able to have kids was slim to none.

It’s the number one killer among mental illnesses; however it doesn’t get much recognition.

Around the world 30 million people suffer from eating disorders, yet they are rarely acknowledged and often hidden. Society has improved exponentially when it comes to

ning the game, but there’s also a chance JC ties the game with a touchdown.

It’s impossible to predict what would have happened if the officials called Trapp in, which is why it’s also irrational to say that one play is why Manhattan lost.

Calling Trapp short of a touchdown was a controversial call, and it was probably wrong, based on eyewitnesses on the field. But it’s illogical to say that it is solely responsible for the outcome of the game. There’s way too much that goes into a football game to blame the referees.

Acknowledge eating disorders as serious illnesses

ANGIE MOSS

Trending Editor Eating disorders are not a choice.

A person doesn’t just wake up one morning and decide they’re going to start starving themselves. They don’t decide to throw up their lunch or take diet pills every day.

It sort of just happens.

Sometimes it starts out as a desire to lose a couple pounds to fit into a dress or to be in better shape for athletics.

In my case, it started while I was a child. I began obsessing over weight and size around third grade and it became less of an issue in middle school. It appeared again freshman year and then went away again. Sophomore year, it came back stronger than ever.

Health classes cover eating disorders and their most dangerous effects briefly in middle and high school, including bone deterioration,

Cora Astin -- Photo Editor Andrea Lu -- Graphics Designer/Copy Editor Alan Brown -- Copy Editor Staff Writers -- Anna Alanazi, David Fliter, Ale Flores, Anna Hupp, Megan Klug, Gavin Larios, Jordan Lutz, Tara Magaña, Maya Minocha, Dakota Santiago Staff Photographers -- McKenna Eilert, Logan Logback, Moriah Presley, Lauren Race, Dylan Thomas

Kristy Nyp -- Adviser Circulation -- Kim Schnee’s fifth hour class: Kristyn Baker, Caleb Barnes, Dalton Blake, Wesley Cattanach, Charlie Dickey, Karl Drown, Rachel Efken, Logan Jones, Lynne Jones, Colten Kirk, Josh Kohls, Douglas McCaskill, Faith A. Parker, Alesha Pearl, Megan Ritthisorn, Bradley Rollins, Mythias Satterfield, Amissa Self, Tedi Stein, Hannah Sullivan and Austin Tatum.

treating people with mental illnesses like actual people rather than criminals. It’s come a long way, considering the mentally ill used to be jailed and tortured.

Society acknowledges Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder and Dissociative Identity Disorder as serious illnesses. Don’t get me wrong -- they are serious and need to be treated that way; however, eating disorders need to be acknowledged as well.

I’m trying to help people learn from my experiences. Eating disorders are life threatening. If you notice yourself or someone else consistently skipping meals, obsessing over weight, disappearing to the bathroom after meals, getting faint, eating large amounts of food, losing or gaining large amounts of weight or exercising more than normal, please seek help.

Dealing with an eating disorder is a hard journey and recovery is brutal for everyone involved.

Life, however, is worth the fight.

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 1,000 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Kansas 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 // OCT. 13, 2015 // MHSMentor.com Entertainment

New mixed choir has rocky start at first concert

LEFT: The Bellisima Voce Choir sings in the ‘’Two Piece: End Of Summer Concert.’’ The concert, which happened last Wednesday in Rezac, featured two songs from each choir. RIGHT TOP: The Varsity Choir performs in the ‘’Two Piece: End Of Summer Concert.’’ It was the first concert of the year for the choirs. RIGHT BOTTOM: The Pops Choir bows after their performance.

PHOTO BY DAKOTA SANTIAGO

SAVANNAH CHERMS

Entertainment Editor

It’s the first choir concert of the year. The first time the sequin red dresses and tuxedos come out, the first time the plaid skirts see the stage lights and the first time the new mixed choir takes the stage.

With the loss of Tomas Lambotte, last year’s

freshman Women’s Choir teacher, the women’s Bella Voce choir and the freshman men’s choir had to mix into one this year.

“A lot of the people in the mixed choir are inexperienced,” sophomore Gloria Gantt said. “A lot of people that were in Lambotte’s choir last year are, like, the top people in the choir this year.”

The combining of the choirs has been a stressful experience for almost everyone involved. The sheer size of the group could be too much for a choir room to handle, forcing the students to awkwardly file into the band room for rehearsals. Still, the choir overcame this to work through pieces of music to prepare themselves

for the first concert of the school year.

“It went all right. We had a few mistakes here and there though,” freshman Jacob Wineland said. “From what I heard, it sounded like we did pretty good.”

Wineland’s view was not shared by the entire group. Many members of the choir were unhappy with their performance.

“It’s the first concert of the year, and we got really distracted in class,” sophomore Brogan Holdren said. “That probably contributed to the fact that we weren’t ready to perform.”

Despite the lack of preparation, the choir is hopeful for the rest of the year. Chamber Choir has already begun practicing for the State Honor Choir

competition and pieces have been chosen for the audition-only choirs for the next concert.

“We get to work on harder stuff,” sophomore and previous freshman choir member Claire Todd said. “We have to make sure that we have it all down and that we can learn pieces faster and start working on harder stuff.”

Librarians select books as consensus ANNA HUPP

Staff Writer

We are all familiar with classic cliques of three. The Plastics from “Mean Girls” is one; the Three Stooges is another. If you want to go there you can even think of the Three Musketeers. There is also another classic clique, though I bet it’s never caught your attention before. It’s right under your nose, specifically if you’re checking out books at the Manhattan High library. Enter the power librarians.

MHS librarians work together as a commixture to select books.

“I listen to what either she [Gail Hughes] has to say, [about the books] or what Mrs. [Joann] Hettenbach has to say,” Kathy Musch, the librarian’s secretary, said. “We form a consensus.”

The criteria for selecting books for the MHS library is the fol-

lowing: “I want to read something that’s critically acclaimed, and so that’s what I start looking for,” Hettenbach, librarian, said. “I think that [awards] are good and valuable in many cases.” “[A book] has to have at least two good reviews by the school library journal or some scholarly source that only writes book reviews,” Hughes, librarian, said. “I know Mrs. Hettenbach often will go through the Salina Journal or different newspapers that review books weekly. That way you can read what they [reviewers] have to say without reading the book.”

“Recommendations are also important,” Musch said. “Kids will come in and say, ‘I’ve heard about this book. I’d like to read it, is there any way we can get it?’.”

“We also select certain books if there’s a movie [based on that book] coming out,” Hughes said.

National Book Award Longlist (released Sept. 14):

A Cure for Suicide (Pantheon Books) by Jesse Ball A Little Life (Doubleday/Penguin Random House) by Hanya Yanagihara Did You Ever Have a Family (Scout Press/ Simon & Schuster) by Bill Clegg Fates and Furies (Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House) by Lauren Groff Fortune Smiles: Stories (Random House)

by Adam Johnson Honeydew (Little, Brown/Hachette Book Group) by Edith Pearlman Mislaid (Ecco/HarperCollins) by Nell Zink Refund: Stories (Counterpoint Press) by Karen E. Bender The Turner House (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Angela Flournoy Welcome to Braggsville (William Morrow/ HarperCollins) by T. Geronimo Johnson

AHS: New season brings new horrors ELIZABETH UNDERWOOD

Features Editor

COURTESY PHOTOS

The newest season of hit series “American Horror Story” gives horror new meanings.

The much-anticipated premier of the fifth season of AHS has checked in. Taking place at the Cortez Hotel in Florida, this season has already taken turns and angles more daring than the previous ones.

Replacing Jessica Lange, who has starred in all previous seasons, Lady Gaga took her wild career to the next level. Obviously an inexperienced actress, Gaga is shockingly better than expected at her role as “The Countess Elizabeth.” Although part of this can be explained by how much the show in general relates to the outlandish styles of her music videos and personality, she has still added

much to portraying and bringing to life her vampiric character.

Despite the introduction of Gaga as a main character, and the exit of Lange, creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy still remained confident with how far they can go in the disturbing fictions of the show. With a multitude of gore and methods of striking nausea to the audience, very few people will be able to stomach the first episode.

Although hosting typical horror flick clichés, such as mysterious hands and an overflow of blood, this installment is showing to be an intriguing and highly disturbing season. With a family suffering the disappearance of their son to add to the fictional world of Gaga’s sexually driven vampire pack, this season has provided a high increased in sexually gruesome scenes and terror.

The terror and gore that is the defining point of the AHS series has only just started to unravel exactly what the true origin of American Horror is.

COURTESY PHOTOS

FRENCH FROM PAGE 1 to try to do is start, like, a GroupMe, which is a group messaging system that is pretty convenient because it sends to, like, any type of phone,” she said. “Everyone can get messages from it usually.”

With better communication, Stuckwisch hopes to improve club participation.

“I would like to have more meetings, I guess,

where people can get together and speak in French and maybe some, like, parties where we can make crepes or make different types of French food and we can discuss, like, French culture and stuff.”

But one thing is missing: a new vice president.

“We’ll probably hold another election to determine who the new vice president will be,” Stuckwisch said.

NEW FROM PAGE 1

SPANISH FROM PAGE 1

the number of African American and Hispanic students taking the test is increasing each year, the results stay relatively low on the category scale and tend to get worse.

“The question of racedbased and gender gaps has been pretty well established and has been talked about for decades,” Fliter said. “Many students who don’t perform well on the assessment tend to come from disadvantaged homes, they just don’t have the same environment that middle class or well-off families have. Unfortunately in our country that means many African American families, and in our district many Hispanic families.”

years old and first got into it by watching salsa dancers at a quinceañera in Kansas City.

“They gave a little lesson in the party, and then I tried it and I loved how they performed, and I always wanted to do that, so that’s how I got into it,” Falcon said.

Sophomore Niza Rangel enjoyed the salsa dance a lot.

“Everybody was, like, participating together, and we were just having fun as a group,” Rangel said.

“I get the opportunity to teach in high school, so I love that,” Falcon said.

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The Mentor // Oct. 13, 2015 // MHSMentor.com

Lei takes Regionals

SPORTS

ANNA ALANAZI

Staff Writer

Senior Cathy Lei returns a groundstroke to Derby’s Ashley Sherrow. Lei beat Sherrow 6-2, 6-1 and took the first place title at the Regional competition last Saturday, and qualified for State for the fourth year.

PHOTO BY TRACY LE

Four matches. Four wins. That’s what it took for senior Cathy Lei to bring home first place overall at Saturday’s Regional tennis tournament hosted by Topeka High.

Lei’s motivation and concentration paid off, as she, as Regional champion, qualified for State for her second year.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, because it’s my last year at State, I don’t want to let myself down so there’s a little bit of pressure there, but ultimately I just try to play my best,” Lei said. “Winning was nice, but also just being with the team and they all cheered me on and I was also happy with the way I played, so that fact that I played to my ability.”

One of those rounds required playing against her teammate, senior Lexi Bieker, who also qualified for State, placing fourth overall.

“I had to play Lexi so that was interesting,” Lei said.

“It was whatever because by the time we had to play each other we would be both in State already.”

Bieker relished in her wins. “[The best part was] beating a Washburn girl, the one who was the one above the Washburn girl that beat me at league to get into State,” Bieker said.

Bieker didn’t expect to qualify, but put forth an enormous effort.

“Starting out with a win versus Junction City. Lexi had a very hard fought win in her second match versus Washburn Rural winning in a tie breaker to punch her ticket to play in Olathe next Friday,” coach Tony Ingram said.

As a team, Manhattan played 12 matches in total against schools from all over the region.

“I am very proud of all the girls,for their commitment and hard work they put in this season.” Ingram said. “It being my first year and bringing in a few changes, they were receptive to the changes and continue to work to improve their tennis skills.”

Football clipped by Junction City in overtime GREG WOODS

Online Editor-In-Chief Whether or not Manhattan and Junction City play well in the games before their annual meeting never seems to affect their matchup.

The same held true Friday night at Bishop Stadium.

In a game with a plethora of momentum swings and drama, the Blue Jays (6-0, 6-0) reclaimed the Silver Trophy with a 1714 overtime win over the Indians (4-2, 4-2) in Manhattan Friday night.

JC’s Wayne Shirley hit a 27-yard field goal in overtime to win it.

There were plenty of theatrics before the field goal. On Manhattan’s previous possession, the Indians got within a foot of the endzone but were unable to convert when junior quarterback Ian Trapp came up short of the goal line on fourth down.

Manhattan also had a chance to take the lead late in regulation with a field goal, but junior Andrew Scott’s attempt from 28 yards missed the mark. Scott also missed a 33-yarder in the third quarter. Head coach Joe Schartz said that factored into his fourth-down play call in overtime.

“We had obviously

struggled in the kicking game, and we were that close,” Schartz said. “If it was three or four yards [further away], I might have thought about kicking it in overtime, but it was a half a yard.”

The Blue Jays then got the ball, and Shirley split the uprights.

Schartz felt Trapp scored on the deciding fourth down.

“We scored. [It was] six inches, and we got two feet,” Schartz said. “We were in. The ball should have been dead at that point. That’s one of the risks you take running

SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 5

Senior Schandon Mercado waits for junior quarterback Ian Trapp’s signal to snap the ball Friday night against Junction City. The Blue Jays edged the Indians in overtime, 17-14, to reclaim the Silver Trophy.

PHOTO BY CORA ASTIN

Soccer wins two straight matches, JV gets to finals Erick Echegaray

Sports Editor

Senior forward Gardner Blanck recieves the ball in Manhattan High’s 1-0 victory against Topeka High. Blanck along the rest of team will face Wichita Northwest later today at Bishop Stadium.

PHOTO BY SAVANNAH CHERMS

After a series of tough games that came their way in the last few weeks, the Manhattan High soccer team gained two straight wins to get to a record 9-3.

The first matchup was an away game against Hayden High on Oct. 6.

Manhattan won by mercy rule as they defeated Hayden by a score of 100. Senior Gabe Awbrey and senior Ben Turnley both had two goals to lead the Indians to another victory away from home.

The next opponent for MHS would be Topeka High. The game went scoreless through the

Cross Country competes at Haskell, preps for Centennial GREG WOODS

Online Editor-in-Chief With just days standing between the Manhattan High cross country team and the Centennial League meet on Saturday, head coach Susan Melgares knows the importance of rest. As a result, she chose to sit out her top seven runners on the boys and girls sides when the Indians competed in Haskell Invitational in Lawrence on Saturday.

“It allows you to gather yourself a little bit physically and mentally,” Melgares said. “And get ready for the big charge for the postseason.”

In order to qualify for Varsity medals and to

score as a Varsity team, Melgares inserted five non-Varsity runners from both the girls and boys sides into Varsity slots.

Even with the team’s strongest runners out, the boys side took fourth overall, while the girls took fifth. Junior Brent Telck, who finished 26th overall, was pleased with the team’s performance.

“I thought it was probably one of the best meets we’ve had,” Telck said.

“The course was easy and it just felt good.”

Melgares agreed, saying she was glad the runners could bring home medals.

“The times were good, the kids competed, we got a lot kids that brought

home medals, which are a special art piece from Haskell,” Melgares said.

On the girls side, sophomore Jena Vars finished 35th overall. She said the course was easier than any course the team has run on this season.

“We’ve been to Warner and Rimrock, which are definitely a challenge,” Vars said. “It was pretty flat compared to any of the courses.”

The Centennial League meet is slated for Saturday at Topeka High. To succeed at League, Melgares said her team needs to keep it simple.

“We’ve just got to keep the momentum rolling,” Melgares said. “And compete hard.”

first half with the teams sharing possession of the ball throughout the half.

Senior Austin French finally gave the Indians the win in the second half with a game winning goal. With that win the Indians moved to 9-3.

On the JV side, Manhattan competed in a quad tournament in which MHS won their first game and then lost in the second in a penalty shoot-out against Washburn Rural. “ The game was long.

It was disappointing that we couldn’t get the win” sophomore Brett Taliaferro said.

Manhattan has now lost twice against Washburn Rural this season

SEE SOCCER PAGE 5

Lady Indians finish second at regionals gavin larios

Staff Writer

The Lady Indian golf team placed second in Regionals at Clapp Park in Wichita yesterday with a score of 375. “There’s going Sweep- practice done i n g next week.” them by 50 points, Wa s h burn Rural came in first with a score of 325.

Sophomores Macie Myers placed ninth with a score of 88; Lydia Fry scored a 95; Delaney Wisdom scored a 96 and Bela Hager scored a 108.

Freshmen Camy McAtee scored a 96 and Elise

Jackson scored a 101.

“There’s going to be a lot of practice done before State next week, but I think we’re ready,” Fry said.

Despite their success, Hager believes to be a lot of t h e r e before State were aspects on -- Lydia Fry w h i c h t h e y could improve.

“I definitely was not on the top of my game today,” Hager said. “It’s not the worst I’ve done, but it’s not the best I’ve done, and I know where i need to improve at, and I’m going to work hard on it before State next Monday.”

Varsity Volleyball plays last home game Jordan lutZ

Staff Writer

Last week, Varsity Volleyball hosted two home games. Their first was on Tuesday. They went 2-1. The team first played against Highland Park and won both sets at 25-5 and 25-11. They then played against Emporia.

The team lost in a threeset game. The sets ended with 25-23 Emporia, 2520 Manhattan and with the third set at 25-21 Emporia.

“I feel that if we just brought a little bit more energy onto the court that we could have dominated Emporia. We had a good fight with them,” defense

specialist and libero Emily Wilson said.

“Well, you know we went 2-1 so that’s not bad but we wish that we could’ve taken that Emporia set too, hats off to Emporia,” coach Lisa Kinderknecht said.

In their last game of the night, the girls played against Washburn Rural.

Going on into three sets.

“I was really proud of our girls for coming back and taking the Rural match,” Kinderknecht said.

On Saturday, the team hosted a tournament in the North Gym. Starting rough, the girls lost their f irst game against Olathe East in a two-set match.

“We didn’t do as well as we could have. We didn’t play to our full potential,” senior outside hitter Maddie Mittie said. “I think the loss will motivate us.”

They went on to win a two set game against their next opponent, GardnerEdgerton.

“We came out with a lot more energy, last game we started out kind of slow,” junior middle blocker Gigi McAtee said.

Next the team played against Blue Valley West.

They lost both sets to Blue Valley.

“We played really hard and fought to the finish.

We just came up a little

SEE VOLLEYBALL PAGE 5

Page 5

The Mentor // Oct. 13, 2015 // MHSMentor.com

Features

Students plan future at college fair Andrea lu

Graphics Editor

Students discuss various colleges with their respective represetatives at the college fair in the commons area yesterday. Students were given the opportunity to leave class to have conversations with prospective colleges, allowing them to help finalize their futures.

PhotoS by Logan Logback

Orthopedic surgeon holds nothing back from Medical Explorers david fliter

Staff Writer

Manhattan High alumnus Adam Shaner used images and videos of surgeries to describe how gruelling a job in the surgical field can be. A normal day for Shaner, an orthopedic surgeon, starts at five in the morning and typically does not end until ten at night. Despite all of this, Shaner loves his job, he told the Medical Explorers members Thursday when they gathered in one of the Via Christi hospital meeting rooms for his presentation.

“When you see the Xray of the bone pushed back in place, that feeling is really rewarding,” Sha-

ner said.

The main job of an orthopedic surgeon is to fix developmental issues, but they also fix many common injuries like torn ligaments. They can even

understandably graphic, some students felt this added to the presentation.

“It made more sense to see actual bones than to see fake bones and dia-

“When you see the X-ray of the bone pushed back in place, that feeling is really rewarding,”

- Adam Shaner

remove tumors from vertebrae as he showed in a video. In the video, Shaner physically removed a tumor infested vertebrae from someone’s spine and replaced with a solid object that would serve as an adequate support.

While the images were

grams in class,” senior Rebekah Hennesy said.

In one section of his presentation, Shaner put up pictures of various surgeries he has done and asked students what the possible solutions for the injury could be.

He used a lot of audi-

ence participation in his presentation due to the large amount of anatomy students present for the extra credit opportunity.

Shaner closed the presentation by stating the main goal of an orthopedic surgeon: restore the anatomy, length, alignment and rotation. He also let those who are considering surgery as a career that orthopedic surgeons deal with simple injuries, but also incredibly complex injuries.

Overall, the Medical Explorers had a great time.

“I thought it was really neat. I was a little grossed out though,” vice president and junior Molly Smith said.

Yesterday, a frenzy of seniors and juniors attended the College Fair at Manhattan High, an event where students get the opportunity to explore different colleges in Kansas by talking to various college representatives.

Some attended for the mere purpose of seeing what different options were available while others, like senior Sarah Stewart, who already got accepted into several colleges, were looking for more specific aspects, like military aid.

“Well, I’m already accepted into K-State and I am looking for more military help right now,” Stewart said.

In fact, Stewart wasn’t the only one who had got accepted into a college or major university.

Many seniors, including Shelby Barron, have already got accepted into several colleges and are now faced with the decision of choosing where they want to go. For Barron, the determining factor for which college she goes to depends on the amount of scholarship money they offer her. “[I’m] definitely [considering] Bethel because I got accepted there and then Benedictine [and] KU. Those are the ones I’m considering that are

in Kansas because of the scholarships that you can get from those from [going to an] in-state college,” Barron said.

A goal for a large majority of the students was to learn about the different colleges and what they had to offer. “[I want to] gain more knowledge of what the different colleges have for me and what they provide for what I need,” Stewart said.

Barron agreed and liked the fact that there was a wide variety of colleges at the fair.

However, for junior Brittini Webb, going to the College Fair had a whole new meaning.

“Well, like nobody in my family has gone to college except for one person and that’s my older sister so I want to be, like, the second in my family to go to college,” Webb said. My dad never finished school so [it’s important for me to] prove something to him.”

Webb, unlike the seniors, was just browsing the different colleges and didn’t have any particular schools in mind yet.

“I haven’t looked through all the information yet but I’m hoping to gain like a couple colleges that I actually want to go to and that I actually want to attend,” Webb said.

Anime gets approval for convention ale flores

Staff Writer

At their weekly meeting Anime Club was delighted to find out that they now have permission to go to Naka-Kon, an annual convention held during March at the Overland Park Center.

Anime Club members are going to be able to do things such as panels, workshops and a cosplay contest.

“When we told them that we had permission everyone was super excited about it,” junior and Anime Club president Erin Heller said. “I’m glad to see that.”

The club had to go through a process to

get permission. They sent out a form to administration, who then determined whether it was a school-appropriate event and gave requirements to students that are going to attend.

“We’re very excited, Mr. [Marvin] Rupe worked close with us to achieve this. He’s amazing,” Tiffany Stevenson, sponsor of Anime Club, said.

Club members are really excited about the good news and started saving money to be able to go to the event.

“I think is going to be a really amazing experience with a great group of people,” Heller said.

Safe Zone Allies Program to be created AP Lit acts out Greek tragedy “Oedipus” Dakota santiago

Staff Writer

This Friday, MHS faculty and staff members will meet up to train for a volunteer program called Safe Zone Allies. The program is intended to offer support to students who want to talk to someone about an issue but don’t feel comfortable speaking with a counselor. A

FOOTBALL FROM PAGE 4 a quarterback sneak, is that the officials couldn’t see it.”

Junction City took back momentum late in the third quarter when Timothy Bell snatched up a fumbled handoff from Trapp to junior Keiadrian McDonald and took it 50 yards into the endzone, knotting the game at 14.

Despite the loss, Schartz was pleased with his defense on the night.

“The defense played lights out,” Schartz said.

“We basically pitched a shutout. We were right on everything that they were doing, and played an excellent football game.”

sticker will be placed at the entrance of the volunteers’ rooms to indicate to students which teachers are participating.

“We are not counselors, we’re just there to listen,” project leader Sara Rempel said. “If a student has a problem somewhere in their life they can see a sticker on the door or in the window of a room and know that

that teacher is safe to go and talk to.”

Although initially created with LGBT students in mind, the program is non-exclusive and open for other students as well.

“A lot of times LGBT students need more information or support, but we’re not excluding anybody from this service,” Rempel said.

The first score of the game came from Junction City, when senior Raye Wilson recovered a fumbled pitch in stride and took it 50 yards past the MHS defense. The Blue Jays led 7-0.

But Manhattan retaliated on the ensuing series. After junior Tariq Gerald returned the kickoff 54 yards to the JC 38yard line, senior Jon Chen broke free for a 34-yard rush, evening the score at seven points apiece.

The teams then traded drives until the Indians got the ball at their own 30. In a methodical drive, converting on three third downs and one fourth down, Trapp connected

with senior Adam AlSoltani on a seven-yard touchdown pass. The Indians took a 14-7 lead with less than a minute in the first half.

Senior defensive lineman Grant Parker said the MHS defense adapted well to stifle the up-tempo offense of Junction City, which entered Friday averaging 49 points per contest.

“They’re going as quick as possible,” Parker said.

“We were conditioned pretty well. We were prepared.”

Manhattan now turns its attention to district play, beginning on the road against Topeka High next Friday.

NEED SENIOR PICS? CONTACT MHSMENTORBUSINESS@GMAIL.COM TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT WITH A QUILL & SCROLL PHOTOGRAPHER.

TARA MAGAñA

Blue M Verbal Editor Instead of being handed a worksheet of questions, AP Literature and Composition students were tasked with the job of shortening Sophocles’s play, “Oedipus Rex,” and performing it in one minute.

“The point of the activity is to get the students to go back into the text and look at it closely and look very carefully how the play develops, how Sophocles develops the play and how he uses classic elements and tragedy to propel the viewers,” AP Lit and Comp teacher MaryKris Rober-

VOLLEY FROM PAGE 4 short,” sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Pease said.

Their losses and wins were tallied and the team was placed in the Silver bracket in which the girls went up against Topeka

SOCCER FROM PAGE 4 with the Varsity also losing earlier this year by a score of 4-2.

“It was a tough game.

We had a lot of opportunities so, same with Washburn. We couldn’t score so we lost in penalties,” sophomore midfielder

son said.

Split into three groups, Roberson’s first hour class was allowed to use ellipses to take out words and phrases they found less important, but beside that, they were not allowed to paraphrase.

“Everyone interpreted it different and saw different advantages to certain things and disadvantages to, just, other things,” senior Claire Kringen said. “It furthers my understanding of the play, Oedipus.”

Though mostly a closereading exercise, preparing to perform “Oedipus Rex” helped students prepare for the test the following day.

“It’s much more in-

teractive probably than most reviews,” senior Ashley Stuckwisch said.

“You had to, like, be more independent and figure out what was the important parts yourself instead of being prompted.”

But that wasn’t the only advantage to close reading.

“When we read [Oedipus Rex] in class, they’re reading for plot and for basic understanding of what’s happening and chronology,” Roberson said. “But then when you go back into it and really look closely at the text, you see more deeply, like how the characters are developed.”

High. The girls won 25-10 and 25-12.

“We stayed focus the whole time and we didn’t get down and play at their level, we tended to do that,” senior defensive specialist and libero Tammie Melton said.

The last match of the

day was played against Hays. The team won both sets 25-19 and 26-24.

“It was nice to win our last game home, for the seniors at least. It’s our last home game,” Melton said.

The girls came in third within their bracket.

Victor Banda said.

He along the rest of the JV team had won a game earlier against Emporia State to get them to the finals of the competition.

“We felt really sad but we just stuck together, we really felt we deserved it,” Banda said.

On the other side, the

Varsity team will prepare for their next game.

The Indians look to improve and gain 10 wins for the season as they face Wichita Northwest later today.

Page 6

The Mentor // Oct. 13, 2015 // MHSMentor.com

Trending

it’s playoffs time Legends are born in October and playoffs are happening, whether you’re ready or not. We’ve compiled a bracket, gameday essentials, an up-to-date Royals recap and you guys’ favorite part of being a ‘Yals fan.

back to october The MLB playoffs are back, and here’s how the postseason drama has shaped up

Texas Rangers

who will W I N

toronto blue jays

greg woods Online Editor-in-Chief The calendar has flipped to October, which means the Major League Baseball playoffs have returned. We’ve already seen some of the drama that comes with the postseason, and it hasn’t disappointed.

Let’s take a look back at how we got here.

The AL Wild Card game featured the Astros and Yankees. Houston’s Dallas Keuchel threw six shutout innings and the Astros shut out the Yankees, 3-0, and earned a series with Kansas City.

The NL Wild Card tilt was headlined by Chicago’s Jake Arrieta’s complete-game shutout. The Cubs supported their ace with four runs of support, winning 4-0, sending the storied Cubs team to their first playoff appearance since 2008.

Thus, the division series were set: Houston versus Kansas City, Toronto versus Texas, Chicago versus St. Louis and the New York Mets versus Los Angeles.

At time of publication, the Royals had just come back and tied its series with Houston, 2-2, with a dramatic five-run eighth inning. The deciding Game Five will be tomorrow in Kansas City.

The Blue Jays and Rangers are also tied 2-2. Texas took a commanding 2-0 lead with two road wins, but Toronto won Game Four Monday evening and evened the series.

On the National League side, the Cubs-Cardinals series is knotted at one game apiece at time of publication. Game Three was Monday night.

The Mets tallied three runs against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in Game One of the NLDS Friday night and won 3-1, but Los Angeles took Game Two and brought the series back even at one game apiece. Game Three was Monday night.

October is never short on miracles, and this one has seen its share of them. Will the Royals avenge last year’s World Series loss, or will a National League team win its first championship since 2012? Those are only two possibilities, and as baseball fans have come to expect, the improbable ones aren’t really that improbable.

Let the postseason march on.

games coming up this week Tuesday

Cardinals @ Cubs Astros @ Royals

Wednesday

Rangers @ Blue Jays* Astros @ Royals

Thursday

Cubs @ Cardinals* Mets @ Dodgers* * if necessary

3:30 p.m.

7 p.m.

3 p.m.

7 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

7 p.m.

New york mets

LA dodgers

?

Houston Astros

K.C. Royals

chicago cubs

St. Louis cardinals

are you ready to watch the game?

We all have our own game day traditions, whether we acknowledge it or not. In case you’re lost on what exactly your traditions should be, here’s a list of basic things you need to be able to adequately enjoy your game.

pick out the best jersey you have

If you don’t have a good luck jersey by this point in the season, you’re doing something wrong with your life. Superstitions are vital for #sports.

bless yourself with the best junk food there is

You need something to absentmindedly shove in your face while you stress out about whether your team is going to win or not. It might as well be something you’ll enjoy eating.

adjust the lighting

Don’t say you won’t take any selfies. This is America, after all.

pick the best people you know to watch the game with

you aren’t going to have fun if you aren’t in good company. You need someone with just as much passion and interest in your team as you to properly enjoy the game.

find the epitome of comfort to lounge in as you watch the game

Search through your house to find the best couch, chair of nails, beanbag, etc. in order to adequately enjoy the game.

You’ll be sitting for a while and depending on the result of the game, you may not get back up.

Comfort is key. Comfort is life.

have something that fills you with happiness on standby

We hate to say it -- but your team may not win. It’ll be okay eventually. However, you’ll have a void to fill in your heart. Whether it’s a picture of your favorite celebrity or a couple tons of ice cream, you need some happiness to help yourself out in your time of need.

rest your voice

What’s a game without yelling?

You need a strong, voice to show your spirit. Whether you’re cheering on your team or scolding them for deciding not to play well. If your voice isn’t gone by the end of the night, you didn’t do it right.

royals

we’ll always be

We asked you guys what your favorite part of being a Royals fan is and this is what you answered with.

“Constant emotional stress because of an unreliable team,” sophomore Neeley Bowden (@NeeleyBowden)

“Ben Zobrist and Mr. Ficke keeping the record, scores and the next game up on his whiteboard,” junior Josh Rockey (@josh_rockey)

“The emotion and intensity!

Especially the trash talk!” junior Chandler Mixon (@ChandlerMixon0)

“Sports fans shouldn’t be degraded by being called a ‘fandom.’ The spirit!” senior Israel Wheatley (@a_nu_matt)

graphics by Andrea Lu