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VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 21 • APRIL 11, 2017 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

THE MENTOR

Musical arts students compete in regional competition ELIZABETH ALEXANDER FEATURES EDITOR

After weeks of practicing, tuning instruments and perfecting their unique skills, Manhattan High School students within the music department group together to compete in the Solos and Small Ensembles regional competition.

This past weekend, solo performers or groups of varying numbers were welcomed to play pieces of their choice to local judges.

Practicing these pieces could have lasted between six weeks to two whole months. Students are ranked by these judges on a 1-5 scale based on their performance.

This competition provides students from all departments -- choir, orchestra, and band -- to have a lot of freedom in what they perform and who they perform with. It gives them a unique opportunity to show off their own unique skills in any appropriate way they desire.

“I don’t worry so much about the scores they get,” McClendon said.

“It’s really about the experience. … This is their chance to stand on their

own two feet, to grow personally.”

While students found themselves nervous or anxious about performing in more of a free-lance environment, many found themselves impressed by the results they received in the end.

“We didn’t practice as much as we had wanted to, so I didn’t really expect very much, but then we did better than I expected,” junior Gillian Nichols said. Nichols, who had been a part of two ensembles, received a one in both groups, which is the highest ranking one can receive. Now both of these groups will be heading to state, along with many others that qualified. The state competition will be held in Topeka on April 29.

Not only does this competition allow students to enter a competitive environment and show off their skills, it also gives them an opportunity to hear outside opinions and learn what they need to work on. While the judges give them a score, they also write up a card with notes and comments that competitors can look over to know what needs to be fixed. The feedback

ABOVE: Singing in unity. Senior Jacob Ashmore, junior Faolan Benco, sophomore A.J. Bunning and junior Jacob Wineland performed “This Marriage” by Eric Whitacre on Saturday, scoring a 73 from the judge.

BELOW: In the moment. Sophomore Jane Yoo performs her viola solo. Yoo performed “Adagio” by Schubert and scored a two. Yoo was one of the many Manhattan High students on Saturday to perform and be scored by a judge.

PHOTO BY HAILEY EILERT

helps students polish up their skills and be even better for state or to qualify next time. Of course, judges are also free to tell students some of their finer points as well and what makes them stand out as performers.

“Kids get feedback on what they did, what they

need to work on… so it’s an educational process as well,” McClendon said.

Despite how nervous some students were to perform, MHS students surpassed expectations as the majority of them passed with a score of one or two.

Student Council works to support the Red Cross Manhattan High deemed safe after gun threat Donor. Senior Shawn Woodard carefully watches the stress ball, while he prepares to donate blood.

PHOTO BY CORA ASTIN

MICHEAL SIMMONS STAFF WRITER

Gratification is just one of the many words that can be used to describe how volunteers, nurses and donors felt after participating in the Manhattan High blood drive on Tuesday.

“The event has been really strong the last few years in terms of volunteers and donors,” student body president and senior Nate Clark said.

“The usual turnout for donors is around 60 to 70 people and the volunteers are usually just StuCo people so like five to 10 people and it really

GLOBAL

NEWS MIRA BHANDARI COPY EDITOR

For more information visit mhsmentor.com.

mation and sharing that, ANGIE MOSS PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF it's very difficult because Parents and students alike woke up to an email last Wednesday from principal Greg Hoyt and were burdened with the choice of whether to stay home or not due to a threat for Manhattan High School.

According to the Riley County Police Department, a 15-yearold male student at MHS posted a story on Snapchat last night that contained a gun and the comment “Don’t go to school tomorrow.” Upon seeing the Snap, another student at MHS immediately called RCPD and notified them of the threat.

“We’re really appreciative that someone would come forward and report something like this, especially if you don’t know the seriousness of it,” assistant superintendent Eric Reid said. “Let the authorities figure out how serious these things are so without people giving that infor-

if it’s an actual situation where something could happen and someone held on to that information, it puts everybody in a bad spot.”

After receiving the threat, RCPD went to the suspect’s home and conducted a search in which they didn’t find any firearms, but they recovered two realistic-looking BB guns. The BB guns were taken in for inspection and a report for aggravated criminal threat was filed. The student was not arrested, but has been suspended from the high school.

“There’s certain things you don’t say and do,” school resource officer Randy Pushee said, “like you don’t yell ‘fire’ in a movie theater, ‘bomb’ on an airplane and you don’t make any indications of threats to schools or businesses because a criminal threat is any threat to communicate violence, communicated with the intent of placing fear or to cause evacuation, lockdown or disruption in regular ongoing

hasn't changed in the past few years, it's been pretty steady.”

Seniors Adelaide Bliss and Meg Mankin along with juniors Joy Gruenbacher and Neely Joyce played a big role in making this event happen.

They signed up volunteers and registered donors for the event as well as helped the Red Cross nurses during the blood drive.

“Last semester blood drive had a really good turn out and it was really full, this time it wasn't as busy or full, but it has definitely been good so far,” senior Grace Gallagher said. “I think the

biggest thing that stops the blood drive from being even more successful than it already is, are the age and medical requirements.”

The blood drive has been very successful in recent years. One of the few challenges they face are the Red Cross requirements. The age requirements are 17 or older and if the donor is 16 then they must have a parental consent form signed and turned in before donor are allowed to donate. There are also medical requirements such as a weight requirement and an iron requirement.

U.S. STRIKES SYRIAN AIRBASE

ISLAMIC STATE ATTACKS EGYPTIAN CHURCHES

ATMOSPHERE DETECTED AROUND GJ 1132B

PESTICIDES FOUND IN IOWAN TAP WATER

In light of the gas attacks in northwestern Syria last Tuesday, the United States commenced a missile strike two days later on one of the nation’s government airbases under the jurisdiction of President Donald Trump. This strike marks the first time that the U.S. has involved itself in the Syrian Civil War.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on two Coptic churches in Egypt on Sunday. This resulted in 44 deaths and an official declaration that Egypt will be entering a threemonth state of emergency, which enforces the implementation of various precautionary measures.

For the first time, an atmosphere has been detected around a planet 39 light years away from Earth. This planet, GJ 1132b, was first discovered in 2015, but in a study published early last week, it was determined that an atmosphere containing hot steam surrounds it.

Neonicotinoids, a widely-used pesticide, have been detected in Iowa’s drinking water according to a recent scientific study. They are used agriculturally to coat seeds as the chemical is lethal to insects, but will not cause such drastic harm to humans.

activities of any building, place, assembly, facility of transportation or in a reckless disregard of the risk of causing such fear or evacuation or disruption of ongoing activities.”

Due to the threat, students were given the opportunity to stay home from school if they didn’t feel safe attending. MHS security and administration also requested a heightened RCPD presence at the high school for the day.

Not too long after the initial threat, a copycat threat was sent to an RCPD social media account. RCPD determined that the threat was from a former student of MHS, notified the appropriate authorities and determined that the threat was not credible. “[We’re] trying to work in good faith with our parents and students to keep them safe and give them good information,” assistant superintendent Eric Reid said.

FOR MORE COVERAGE ON ALL SCHOOL EVENTS, INFORMATION AND GAME SCORES, VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

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OPINIONS

Indian mascot should be removed

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QUESTION

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Tradition is a cherished aspect of society, one with which we can experience and bond infinitely with those who share it with us.

However traditions are destined to be changed; they are supposed to transcend culture. They are supposed to transcend society as we evolve as humans, as we create a more acceptable environment for everyone. In response to the Board of Education’s public forum last Wednesday concerning the survival of the Indian mascot, a staple of Manhattan High for over 75 years, the Mentor editorial board believes in the

WEEK

removal of the Indian mascot for its all-around harm to students and members of our community, those especially who are Native American or of Native American descent.

There has been no issue of such controversy -- one dealing with unity and change, one fueled with such passion -- that it has split our school in two. The issue of the Indian mascot bleeds more than just the standard issue of tradition. It bleeds the psychological harm to Native American students caused by the mascot. It bleeds the racial stereotyping of people of an ethnicity op-

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS.....?

“One Direction to get back together, & go on a reunion tour” Junior Gillian Belle, @gillian_belle

“The mascot changed (: ” senior Adelaide Bliss @adelaideb99

“The mascot stays...” junior Connor Lierz, @RealDealLierz

“All I want is the last 3 years of my life back” senior Aaron Castro, @_a_castro

“A world where we don’t only think of our own wants :’)“ junior Victoria Bedros, @victoria_bedros

NEXT EDITION QUESTION: WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER AND WHY?

pressed since the founding of this nation.

While it is understandable that current students and alumni have a certain connection with this name, the problem is bigger than just that of name. It’s bigger than all of the athletes and students who have honorably sweat and bled the name. It is in fact more complex than one man -- that man being former coach and educator Frank Pentrup, the man who the mascot is intended to honor.

The problem is of a population of people not being able to move on with society because of the caricature they were

For too long men have been harshly silenced for their opinions on abortion. The belief that abortion is solely a women’s issue has circulated through society and become popularized through the feminist agenda.

But men have just as equal a right to a voice in the abortion of their child as the mother.

J u s t like in custody hearings, men deserve to have a voice in the decision concerning the care of the child. Men are just as qualified to raise a child as the mother is and should not have to watch helplessly as their child is killed because of an inconvenience to the mother.

Humans receive half of their genetic information from the father and would not even exist without the actions of the father. The male has an exactly equal right to his child as the mother does because the baby is equally his.

Feminists claim that the decision is up to the woman because it is “her body.” However, this argument can not be logically defended because while the baby Print Editor-in-Chief -- Angie Moss Online Editor-in-Chief -- David Fliter News Editor -- Angie Moss Opinions Editor -- Erick Echegaray Features Editor -- Elizabeth Alexander Sports Editor -- Jacob Clanton

studies, mainly one by the American Psychological Association, have found Native American mascots are harmful to students, even when it is not explicitly stereotypical or racist.

Some believe the mascot should be kept for historical reasons, to push forward Native American education, specifically about their culture and tradition.

When the mascot issue came to the Board of Education back in 2001, they made a promise for a push and it never came. Regardless of a mascot change, Native American history should be pushed and fought

for. History will not disappear if the name Indians changes to something else. The changing of this tradition will not put them down. It will let natives who live and breathe today come to peace with an image of themselves they can’t escape.

Similarly this issue will not disappear. It will be brought up again if it is put down just like it was 2001. Let’s look past tradition and move forward, for the good of the people around us, for the new students and citizens of Manhattan, so we can all support and embrace a name we can all be proud to put our name next to.

People protesting Trump violates nothing ALLISON CLAUSS 21ST CENTURY JOURNALISM STUDENT

Many supporters of president-elect Donald Trump are complaining that Trump protests are unreasonable, childish and unnecessary. This is a hypocritical ideology.

They say these protests need to stop, and nothing they do can change that fact that Trump will soon be president of the United States.

Maybe their protesting won’t keep Trump out of the White House, but peacefully protesting is a right they have. This is also a right many supporters of John McCain had when they were protesting against Barack Obama in the Obama vs.

McCain election in 2012.

The current protesters

Abortion not just women’s issue KENNY CECIL 21ST CENTURY JOURNALISM STUDENT

made out to be for centuries. A stereotype which connects all natives disregarding their tribe or their actual heritage.

This is not honor. This is racial stereotyping. Multiple Native Americans, of many different heritages, have come forward and said the mascot does not represent them nor honor them.

The mascot or symbol might not seem racist or malicious in nature; even some natives agree with this statement. Regardless of the apparent non-malicious intent of the name, the name Indians creates a scenery where racism can happen. Multiple scientific

is inside the womb, it is not part of the womb.

The baby has separate DNA, blood, organs and skeletal system. The baby is a living organism within the body of the mother and is therefore a separate being.

Crimes committed against women including rape and sexual assault deserve the voice of women to speak out and raise awareness.

Although female babies are aborted at a substantially higher rate,

man’s responsibility but a human’s responsibility to speak out if they witness injustice.

It is hypocritical to think that only women get to have an opinion on abortion because it is like saying that African-Americans are the only ones allowed to speak about the civil rights movement or that Jewish people are the only group of people allowed to speak out against the Holocaust. When an injustice is occurring, people have a moral obligation to put an end to it, and if men are silenced f r o m h e l p ing the cause GRAPHIC BY because VANESSA GUVELE they are m e n , then it is males are obviously not aiding the immoral sitexcluded from being the uation by cutting down victim of abortions. Like- its enemies. wise, men should be perMen deserve a mitted to voice their frus- platform to speak on tration at the injustice of abortion, to save their abortions because male children -- to do the infants are victims of right thing. Silencing abortion as well. It isn’t them and telling them just females being abort- they have no business ed. Most abortions take being there is just a place before the sex can way for Planned Parbe officially decided how- enthood and the proever it is absurd to think choice advocates to that only female babies carry on in their work are aborted. Being part uninterrupted as they of the group victimized, continue to extinguish men should have a voice the flame of yet anon the issue. other of the 1.4 billion It is not simply a lives taken since 1980.

Entertainment Editor -- Preston Harrison Trending Editor -- Savannah Cherms Content Editor -- Anna Hupp Copy Editor -- Mira Bhandari Photo Editor -- Dylan Thomas Graphic Artists -- Elizabeth Alexander and Vanessa Guvele Business Manager-- Lily Colburn

Social Media Manager -- Savannah Cherms Staff Writers/Photographers -Hasan Al-basri, Cora Astin, Alli Bruce, Taylor Bullock, Karen Estrada, Megan Klug, Mikayla Larkin, Jordan Lutz, Alyse Maender, Karmen Martinie, Bhawantha Nilaweera, Johnathon Ostermann, Lauren Race, R.J. Wall-

are practicing this right every American has, from their First Amendment rights. Trump even said on his Twitter, “Just

Obama got reelected says, “He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!”

“Congress shall make no law Trump respecting an establishment of h i m s e l f religion or prohibiting the free wanted to exercise thereof, or abridging start a prothe freedom of speech or of the test at this press or the right of the people e l e c t i o n . to peaceably to assemble and to P e a c e f u l petition the Government for a re- p r o t e s t s are legal dress of grievances.” every -- First Amendment to the U.S. in s t a t e .

Constitution Revolutions are had a very open and suc- not peaceful and would cessful presidential elec- violate the First Amendtion. Now professional ment. protesters, incited by the Even if Trump did media, are protesting. not say this over TwitVery unfair!” But it is per- ter, many Republicans fectly fair according to themselves protested the U.S. constitution.

Obama when he first beA tweet from Trump came president in 2008. back in 2012 when Whether these protests

were peaceful or not, they happened because the opposing party was elected. The same thing is happening now, and Republicans are complaining when many of them were practicing their constitutional rights and doing the same thing years ago.

Complaining about people practicing their rights and doing the same thing many others did years ago is hypocritical and won’t stop anything. If one truly wants these protests to stop, give a better argument instead of something being “unfair” and people being childish. The First Amendment still has great relevance in today’s society, and should be treated with respect. If it is not, people very well may start a revolution.

Time to stand against fracking “Fracking” is a simple term that the majority of people don’t know much about, which is quite an issue when it is wreaking havoc on our planet.

Since the practice of fracking has increased over the last few years, we have seen terrible results.

Earthquakes are now more prevalent around areas where fracking occurs. Our other natural resources have been tainted by oil, and even if a fracking spill doesn’t occur, the process still uses millions of gallons of water every year, a resource that is essential for all life. We have seen the signs, and for too long we have ignored them.

It is time to take a stand against fracking.

Short for hydraulic fracturing, fracking is the process in which a fracturing fluid, which is a mix of chemicals and water, is pumped into the ground in order to break the shale formations beneath the surface, which releases gas that can be brought to the surface and used.

At first, it seems like a great idea. We need more gas, and if there is more to be found in the ground, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t extract it.

All it takes is one earthquake to change people’s minds. Earthquakes, while not unheard of in Kansas, are rarely felt. However, within the last few months we have experienced two. After one of these

events, all it takes is one glance at your phone to see people posting about how they could feel the ground shaking beneath them.

In the most recent of these, the source of the earthquake could be traced back to one location: Cushing, Oklahoma. Smaller earthquakes had preceded the one that hit on Nov. 6 of this year, but no one thought to stop. After all, fracking was the source of income for many in Cushing’s community of roughly 8,000 people.

It wasn’t until then that fracking gained serious national coverage. A 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit the town, causing quakes that could be felt for miles. The effects were even felt here in Manhattan, a full state away. The methods we are using to extract oil is causing the very ground we walk on to move and yet, we do nothing to stop it.

Fracking spills damage the environment in a way that is nearly irreparable. When accidental spills do occur, the water that is affected can have dangerously high levels of chemicals for years after. This can injure or even kill wildlife that comes into contact with the tainted water.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency may have concluded that fracking had no negative effects on public drinking water, but for the people of Pennsylvania, the story did not end there. In Bradford County, Pennsylvania, testing concluded that water samples from

three different homes contained increased levels of a compound used in drilling fluids. The real question is, how did those chemicals get into the water, and how will it affect the people who drink it? Bradford is just one of many cases of water contamination resulting from fracking; it is not an isolated event. If fracking continues at the rate it currently is, it will only make things worse.

Even if we are lucky enough to not experience a fracking spill, the process itself takes millions of gallons of water.

On average, each well takes 9.6 million gallons of water to function.

Once the water has been used in the fracking process, it’s contaminated, and there’s no way to reverse the effects.

All it takes is one Internet search to see the widespread drought our country has been facing. Fracking makes this worse. If not properly disposed of, the water can cause widespread damage to plants and animals in the area. Fracking isn’t making anything better, it’s just changing the problems we face.

We have ignored the effects of fracking, claiming that it’s safe. On the surface, many see it as creating jobs and increasing the oil we have, when in reality it is much worse. If we don’t do something to slow down the fracking industry, natural wonders may not be here for future generations.

Remember, we only have one earth, and we must strive to take care of it.

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The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 5872114. 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 and National Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is a public forum. E-mail us at mhsmentor@gmail.com

KAITLIN CLARK 21ST CENTURY JOURNALISM STUDENT

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

Martinez introduces diversity into a male dominated sport ERICK ECHEGARAY OPINIONS EDITOR

Breaking gender roles harder than she hits the mats, junior Christina Martinez will bring a different dimension to Manhattan High wrestling this season as the sole female grappler displaying an Indians singlet.

“I’m a hard worker and I won’t quit,” Martinez

said.

She has a certain familiarity with wrestlers.

“I wrestled when I was younger,” she said. “My dad was a wrestling coach and my two brothers wrestled.”

Grown and fed wrestling because of her family, Martinez is no stranger to the male-dominated sport. Although she has not competed for MHS before, or during middle school, wrestling culture

Martinez running laps with fellow wrestlers during practice.

PHOTO BY MIKAYLA LARKIN

has always been around her. The culture is in her.

“I would say [wrestling] was a part of my childhood,” Martinez said. “My dad always wanted me to wrestle.

I always went to all the camps and tournaments with my brothers and stuff. I was in gymnastic at the same time so I didn’t do it during middle school. My whole family wrestled so that always inspired me to do it.”

She will take her place on the J.V team, facing other more experienced wrestlers, but more importantly the taboo of being different as well as new.

“There was always a lot of girls wrestling so I always wanted to do it in high school,” Martinez said. “It wasn’t really supported here that much. You had to be a certain weight and I’m

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Martinez gets ready before practice by stretching.

PHOTO BY MIKAYLA LARKIN

heavy enough now so.

They didn’t really like it but they kind of have to deal with it now.”

Among her rivals will stand a myriad of different individuals, the majority male.

“It just feels normal,” Martinez said. “It’s harder wrestling guys but I pre-

fer it because it is harder, you just really have to know the sport especially because you are wrestling guys. The only difficulty is that they’re built differently and they’re usually stronger,” Martinez hopes to grow as a wrestler and to remain healthy through-

out the season. Her future as a wrestler depends on it.

“My goal for the season is to go the whole way without getting injured,” Martinez said.

“Depending on how this year goes I’m hoping I will wrestle next year too and then we’ll see.”

Kansas States Indigenous Alliance taking a stand for mascot change TAYLOR BULLOCK STAFF WRITER

The Indigenous Alliance at Kansas State University was created in 2015. It has a mission to “create decolonized spaces at the university and increase the presence, promotion and support of indigenous faculty, staff and students at K-State.”

Last Wednesday Indigenous Alliance cochair LaVerne BitsieBaldwin stood up to voice her concerns on the Manhattan High mascot at the public forum in Rezac Auditorium. Baldwin gave visual examples of offensive behaviors that went unnoticed in the past and stated her claim for the mascot to be removed altogether.

“I knew [the mascot had extreme support] as soon as I came into the community more than 23 years ago,” Baldwin said.

“It’s pretty pervasive, especially if you work on campus.”

At the forum BaldDEBATE FROM PAGE 1 fined by one word.

“Reconciliation,” McGimpsey said. “Just bring the team back together this season. Last year was not so great. We lost a long-time coach; we had to deal with that.

It just wasn’t a good year last year. This year was coming back together and showing everyone what Manhattan can do,” NHS FROM PAGE 1 door for roughly an hour, collecting an average of about 50 cans per group.

“I like going to all the houses and collecting stuff, and I like talking to people,” junior Kendra Geisbrecht said. “We filled up so many of our plastic bags one time … they gave us eight cans and then we were walking away from their house and our bag actually like ripped open. All our cans went out. It was really fun though.”

Afterward, the students regrouped in the nurse’s office. Smith counted the cans collected by each group and announced which group had obtained the most.

win presented a slide with photos of a past yearbook, a sign at high schools sporting event and a T-shirt, all that have one thing in common: wrongly used.

A past yearbook titled “Through the eyes of an Indian” appeared to have a medicine wheel on it.

A medicine wheel is assumed to hold religious, territorial and astronomical significance to Native American Indians.

“It’s like not knowing what a cross is and using it upside down,” Baldwin said.

Along with that was a sign reading “Stomp the Indians.”

“Stomp the Indians.

Stomp the white people.

Stomp the black people.

Stomp the Asian people.

Stomp the Muslims.

That’s not normal,” Baldwin said. “That’s trying to normalize violence against a people.”

The tribal elder T-shirt for the cross country team parents was used as an example as well.

“I think the situation there is they’re support-

ing their student athlete,” Baldwin said. “But, what they don’t understand is that tribal elder is not something you can just buy with a shirt. Tribal elders have a deep responsibility to the culture.”

ReImageMHK is another organization of

One of the next meets for the debate team will be the Regional Qualifier for floor speaker.

“We need to be focused,” Colburn said.

“There is a lot of research that needs to be done if we want to compete against those top teams.

McGimpsey will go to a state competition, hoping to be successful in his last year in debate.

Regardless of the the

results, Kleiner hopes the last competitions have a lasting impact on her debaters.

“It will be good competition but it will be a learning tournament,” Kleiner said regarding the regional qualifier.

“It’s been good helping people magnify their strengths, and dealing with novices. I think just for them getting the opportunity to try has been important.”

“[Members of the winning group] got candy bars,” Smith said. “They had 70-some cans, and the next group had about 45.”

The NHS members also ate the pizza and ice cream Smith had provided and talked for about an hour and a half, leaving Manhattan High around 8:30 p.m.

“It’s good for kids to be able to do service projects together like and then have some friendship time also,” Smith said.

Why did NHS execute the drive? “[I organized it] to benefit families,” Smith said. “[It is important for students to volunteer] to better appreciate their

blessings and to give of their time.”

Additionally, Key Club has made several posters around the school advertising a can drive MHS is conducting through Advisory Period classes.

“The officers chose this as a service project,” Key Club sponsor Laura Sapp said. “[Club members] came and made them during Advisory and then put them up around the school.”

The drive ends Dec. 14, and students are encouraged to donate basic canned goods to help out people in Manhattan and the surrounding area less fortunate than themselves.

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age MHK member Joe Sutliff Sanders said.

“These parents don’t intend anything other than to show love and support for their children, and if our mascot were “The Pirates,” they would have written something like “First Mate” on the back. If we were “The

“That’s trying to normalize violence against a people.”

--LAVERNE BITSIE-BALDWIN SAID like-minded individuals who stand behind the decision to change the mascot.

“These are parents who love their children and don’t want to show any disrespect, and yet they put on shirts that casually steal a title that they have no right to. It would be like putting on a uniform and wearing medals from wars that you were never in: you didn’t earn that, and you shouldn’t wear it,” ReIm-

Grizzlies,” they would have written “Den Mother.” But because we’re the Indians, they wrote “Tribal Elder.”

Baldwin,Sanders and many other manhattan citizens belong to a local organization called Reimage MHK. Reimage is a group of like-minded individuals who stand behind the decision to change the mascot.

“What makes this issue so tough is that although the people who

want to retire the mascot have objective evidence that proves that the mascot damages the learning environment of the school, the people who want to retain the mascot have a personal and absolutely genuine attachment to the mascot, an attachment that they forged over years or even decades of cheering for people they loved,” Sanders said.

Like many other teachers, parents and staff education is an important factor in all aspects. “[The mascot] cuts the chances of them being able to hire good teachers that have Native ancestry, because you’re mocking their race,” Baldwin said. “You’re mocking their culture.”

Native education is a demanded increase as well to benefit the Native students and non-Indigenous students.

“It’s exhausting for Native people to be so vigilant and to have to educate on every single issue that people don’t

understand,” Baldwin said.

Many people are behind the scientifically proven side of damage behind the mascot.

“If scientific study after scientific study shows that something is bad for education, then you have to change it,” Sanders said.

Though seemingly pro-mascot change, Sanders defends all parties with a peacemaker attitude.

“They are not bad [people], they are not mean-spirited, and they are not any more racist than any other element of our society,” Sanders said. “But this mascot puts these good, well-intentioned people in a position to do bad things.”

All in all both feel ready for a new mascot.

“It’s 2016 and it’s time to change the mascot to something that everyone can get behind,” Baldwin said.

Tribe connects MHS through school spirit

ANGIE MOSS PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

There are many things that happen behind the scenes in a high school: lessons plans from teachers, maintanence from custodians and school spirit being spread by the school spirit club Tribe.

Tribe officers are responsible for picking themes for all games, organizing both homecoming weeks each year, creating posters to tell students when events are and boosting morale throughout the school. Anyone in the school can be a member of Tribe, but only seniors are able to be officers.

“Tribe is a school spirit club and we want to be able to get everyone involved in cheering on our sports teams and joining clubs and other activities going on at the school,” senior Liz Wilson said. “Those are the basic traits of a Tribe officer. All of us bring so much more to the table individually,

but those are the basis of Tribe.”

Although Tribe is known throughout the school, there are some events that it organizes that the general student body may not know about.

“I feel Tribe is a pretty well-known club,” senior Melisa Cross said. “This year we did throw the first formal Homecoming.

We also planned and put together the whole pep rally, so that’s really awesome. I feel most students don’t know that we did both of those major things.”

Being a Tribe officer also comes with the opportunity to further develop vital skills that may not have been as important before, such as communication.

“People who don’t typically put themselves in the situation to pull off an event as big as homecoming don’t realize how vital our communication skills become,” senior Grace Gallagher said.

“We had to really come together and work as a

group to find certain strengths that would most benefit the student body through the event. It’s not just ordering some decorations and calling it good.”

While it does come with a lot of responsibility, Tribe provides many different areas to prosper in and develop a sense of inclusivity for MHS. “Being a Tribe officer, to me, means that I can help other people get more involved. Whether it’s in a club, sport or dance, and to get more people to show more school spirit. I am very capable of doing that in my position as Student Section, which I share with [seniors] Lauren Davis and Grace Gallagher,” Wilson said.

“We get to help with the student section chants and pick themes for the games. And when we pick themes, we try to do something fun and easy that a lot of people can do, and we try to get everyone involved in the chants.”

Senior pictures and PDA ads are due Dec. 16.

Email to mhsbluem@gmail.com with name attached.

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SPOTLIGHT

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

Board members Aaron Estabrook, Pat Hudgins, Darrel Edie and Marcia Rozell sit at the front of the auditorium ready to hear testimonials regarding Manhattan High’s Indian mascot.

PHOTOS BY HASAN AL-BASRI AND LAUREN RACE

Board of Education holds public forum regarding mascot ANGIE MOSS PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Duke Prentup, son of former MHS coach and educator Frank Prentup, pointed out that he could see why people may be offended, but he noted that the tradition and process by which the mascot was chosen made this situation unique and therefore should be preserved.

“The honor bestowed on my father and consequently to Manhattan High School was never meant to be, and to this day is not meant to be, denigrating, demeaning or insulting,” Duke said. “In my opinion, it’s only denigrating, demeaning and insulting to those who, in fact, want to be denigrated, demeaned or insulted.”

Rezac Auditorium, typically known for a sense of unity and happiness, soon came to

A Student Council committee aimed at keeping the Indian mascot made claims that the Indian mascot is unique compared to other schools due to the honor and reasoning behind it. Senior Gabriella Radina represented the committee at the meeting.

“Our mascot is unique. Our history is unique. Please do not try to rewrite history,” Radina said. “Do not give in to pressures to follow the crowd.

Stand out, be strong, keep this legacy alive.

Erasing our mascot erases a legacy of strength. It erases an identity. Our world may have changed since the mascot was first implemented, but does that mean our school stands for different standards?”

learn desperation, incivility and bitterness as the Board of Education heard over 60 testimoni-

The StuCo committee formed for the purpose of convincing the Board to retire the mascot noted the statistics surrounding the mascot, but then drew attention to the comments left at the bottom of the page.

Such comments were too explicit to be displayed in front of the crowd.

Committee head Isaac Sorell also highlighted other restrictions that Manhattan High students face due to the mascot.

“By having the Indian mascot, the student body has given up many freedoms,” Sorell said, “including dressing up at games, creative freedom of designing shirts and expressing school spirit in more traditional ways. Additionally, having the Indian mascot has led to a concerning amount of disrespect. Not only from other schools, but also from students within our own school.”

Kansas history shows prevalent Native American roots DAVID FLITER ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

With the mascot debate continuing to rage on, it is important to remember the culture of local Kansan tribes. Here is a list of tribes that have been a part of Kansas for centuries: Arapaho: The Arapaho speak a unique language known as Heenetiit, which is a Algonquian language that branches off of the Gros Ventre tribe. They are federally recognized for the reservation known as Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation.

They used to be staunch allies with the Cheyenne before the intervention of the United States military. Their culture was centered largely on warfare and they were adept at horseriding and its combat advantages.

Cheyenne: A tribe also using the Algonquian language, the Cheyenne’s language was known as Tsisinstsistots.

A Cheyenne prophet, known as White Medicine, was fabled for predicting the introduction of the U.S. military into Native matters, and the conflict that erupted between the Cheyenne and the U.S. Government.

Like the Arapaho, the Cheyenne were highly

skilled on horseback but were not known to start conflicts. They tended to be Stalwart Defenders of their lands and their allies’ lands. Along with the Arapaho the Cheyenne were present at the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado territory where innocent men, women and children were slaughtered

by U.S. troops.

Comanche: Speaking the Shoshoni dialect, this tribe got its name from the Ute word for “enemy” which is Komansi. The Comanche were known to sell the victims of their victories of tribes that they had beaten in conflicts to Spanish and Mexican settlers, as well as taking their own captives from said foreign settlers. The Comanche were known as some of the most skilled horsemen of the plains Native Americans.

Kansa: The name Topeka translates to “a good place to grow potatoes” in the Kansan language known simply as Kansa, which is a dialect of the Sioux language.

The Kansa lived in what is now Manhattan, in a village known as the Blue Earth Village. Also referred to as the Kaw, the Kansa tribe had a close relationship to the Osage tribe. These two

tribes typically married into each other, as well Osage: Typically feared by other tribes for their abnormal height, ranging up to seven feet tall, the Osage were a tribe formerly of the Ohio River Valley before they were forced to move due to invasions by the Iroquois tribe. The Osage were famous for their buffalo hunts and for being courageous and fierce warriors.

Pawnee: One of the most powerful plains tribes, the Pawnee were one of the tribes known to stiffen their hair into Mohawks. They faced the loss of many of their people as they were cut down by diseases brought by European settlers. The mother is the keystone member of the family structure of the Pawnee, and the people of the tribes were often associated by the villages their mothers were from. One group of the Pawnee known as the Skidi practiced human sacrifice as they believed it caused increased soil fertility.

An act passed in 1975 known as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance act gave the Pawnee a return to self government.

als regarding Manhattan High's Indian mascot.

The public forum was held at 6 p.m. last

Wednesday in Rezac and was open to anyone in the community to either speak to the Board

directly or to submit written comments. Brian Jordan moderated the event.

ReImageMHK member LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin teamed up with Joe Sutliff Sanders in an effort to promote changing the mascot. Bitsie-Baldwin called out specific examples that can be seen as an offensive use for an Indian mascot, such as the Cyborg Indians team name and the plastering of the Indian across the windows of local businesses around town.

“The mascot curriculum abuses Indigenous spirituality from misusing sacred objects, it’s perpetuating false stereotypical images of indigenous cultures in history,” Bitsie-Baldwin said.

“It’ll contribute to antiIndian racism in the United States and it allows a dominant society to define Indian-ness, which undermines Indigenous identity, culture and sovereignty.”

Several speakers in favor of retiring the Indian highlighted the oppression, emotional pain and psychological effects that come with being characterized as a mascot. “[The Board of Education is] making people live under a stereotype,” community member Carla Jones said. “I’m proud to be here to tell [the Board] that...I understand people who think this is oppressive, and I understand the people who say that we don’t want that to be a symbol, we don’t want that to represent us.”

Various people in the crowd claimed that the mascot should be kept to preserve the tenacity and honor of Frank, along with providing more educational opportunities for Manhattan High students.

“Teach our children about people whose cultures are different than theirs and the one they grew up in, and learn to respect and work for people in other cultures,” community member Paula Kelly-Frey said.

Several suggestions were given included educating MHS students on the reasoning for choosing the mascot, along with providing students with authentic information on the culture and proper history. Several speakers from the Public Comments section of the forum pressed for more education on the topic as well.

“We can improve Native American education,” community member Mike Smith said. “Think of something you really want to believe in, talk about it...will it be difficult? Yes, but we will find that history is only remembered when it’s passed from generation to generation.”

WHAT ARE OTHER SCHOOLS DOING? KANSAS Other school districts within the state have considered changing their mascot, but have been unaware of the controversy surround Manhattan High’s.

“We have not had any recent conversations about our mascot and making any changes. I was unaware that your district is looking at possible making a change,” David Tappan, Principle of Shawnee Mission North, said.

“I hope that what we’ve been doing can be taken and put into other schools because we understand the difficulty and the oppression and everything that’s been going on,” senior Bryce Hopwood said, “but we want to make sure our mascot is depicted correctly and respectfully and we also want to represent them not only as a civilization, but also as people and we want them to be proud to have us represent them.”

TEXAS

COLORADO Strasburg High School in Strasburg, Colorado, recently faced the same backlash regarding their Indian mascot, but decided to keep it after partnering with a local Arapahoe tribe. So far, no one has challenged the decision to keep the mascot.

“While traditions are important, they do not trump kindness and respect,” Chief School Support Officer Drew Houlihan said in a press release after the decision was made. “We owe that both to the students at these schools and to the community at large...HISD must retire, re- spectfully, school symbols that no longer reflect the values of who we are.

Houston Independent School District made the decision to retire all culturally offensive mascots, resulting in the change of four high school mascots.

ANGIE MOSS PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESTON HARRISON ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

GRAPHIC BY ELIZABETH ALEXANDER

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES

Controversial subjects guarantee differences in opinion among the masses of people involved. That being said, it’s important to always try to look at all sides of the issue to get a well-rounded perspective. Here is what Manhattan High’s current students, including foreign exchange, as well as alumni had to say regarding the Indian mascot.

STUDENT “At Manhattan we honor the Indian name and mascot. We are proud to be the Indians. It represents strength, courage and respect,” -- junior Jalin Harper said.

“It’s a sense of pride, it’s a compliment to all of the Indians, not a form of disrespect. Copying is the highest form of flattery,” -- junior Caleb Payne said.

“In my opinion it isn’t meant to be offensive, it’s meant to be a symbol of pride and in that sense there is no need for change. However, some people may be offended at the use of the Indian mascot when support for Native Americans isn’t greater,” -- junior Jonah Evarts said.

“I personally believe the mascot is offensive because our depiction of it, the chief with the headdress. In that depiction we are generalizing the entire race, a race which has been oppressed and misrepresented throughout history. We are depicting them in an aggressive warlike state, which in my opinion dehumanizes them,” -- junior Kathy Burton said.

Within each of Manhattan High School’s hallowed halls reside the histories of those who have walked through them over many decades, and the futures of those who one day will.

Over the years, many Manhattan High traditions have stayed a part of the school, such as student drama productions and sporting events. Some however, have come and gone with the changing of time, trends and societal thinking. The MHS Indian mascot is a controversial part of school history that is no exception to these changes.

“I believe that the few traditions that have changed,” Randy Nivert, MHS alumnus from the class of ‘71 said.

“Changed because of lack of support and the attempt to always find an easier way to do them. If we all make a concerted effort to continue these traditions, the traditions

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ALUMNI

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

“It is the most polite way to try and honor the local native American heritage which has been historically whitewashed and digitally ignored,” -- Justin Briggs, a graduate of the class of 2003, said.

“It doesn’t offend me as an individual. If someone or a group of people really had a problem with it, I guess [the school board should] change it, but I don’t think it’s necessary,” -- Switzerland exchange student Sina Fuchs said.

“My feelings about the importance of the Indian symbol to MHS and the Manhattan community have not changed in the 50 years since I graduated from MHS,” -- Linda Wassberg, graduate of the class of 1966 and current President of the MHS Alumni Association, said.

“I really like the mascot. Before I heard of the whole ‘if it offends someone,’ I never thought about this, so I kind of really like the mascot. I feel like it’s also just a tradition with the school here. I don’t even like it because it’s a tradition. I feel like we just want to say ‘strong and united school’ maybe. For me, that’s what the Indian mascot represents,” -- Germany echange student Juliane Dylla said.

“No one talked about the history unless they were defending it. It’s weird to me how people only became passionate about the heritage once they thought it might be ‘taken away,’” -- 2015 graduate Caitlin Rusk said.

“The Indian symbol is a positive celebration of multicultural world that we inherited and which live in today. It is not ‘cultural appropriation,” -- said Janet Duncan, graduate of class of 1958, editor of the Alumni Mentor and a member of MHSAA.

History behind MHS traditions: Indian mascot has not always been treated respectfully MIRA BHANDARI STAFF WRITER

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SPOTLIGHT

will continue.”

Nearly 40 years ago, MHS referred to Homecoming week as “Indian Uprising,” and festivities included a large bonfire in the parking lot where the South Gym now stands as well as an ex-

tion is the Indian mascot, which has been surrounded by community-wide speculation for decades. Nivert believes that the Indian mascot should continue to represent Manhattan High as its mascot.

travagant parade, complete with participation from various city-wide groups and custom-built floats. This tradition, though no longer a part of Manhattan High, is fondly remembered by alumni.

Considered by some as another MHS tradi-

“The Indian has always been treated with the utmost respect and dignity,” Nivert said. “It is a symbol of pride and power. Many Native Americans who attended MHS support the mascot, one Native American designed and drew the mascot, and the community as a whole supports the mascot.”

On the other hand, however, the mascot is also seen as just one out of a number of things that should be changed within MHS. And furthermore, that no new mascot will please every individual who is affected by it.

“There are far too many things we could fix, it does not matter,” said Robert Harper, also a Manhattan High graduate from the class of ‘71.

“The minority kids got a bad deal then and still do. Even as a teacher of many years here, I still get dumped on and disrespected. No matter what the name or mascot, someone will have something to say about it.”

Nivert affirms that regardless of what the future holds for the Indian mascot, it will always be a part of Manhattan High.

“I have lived and grown up with being an MHS Indian my whole life and I am proud to be an MHS Indian,” he said.

File photos courtesy of 1971 Blue M yearbook

the we

“This was drawn by a Native American to honor another Native American so I don’t see any racism,” -- Denmark exchange student Noah Steffenson said.

the the

Legalities behind mascot changes require sufficient evidence of harm to stand ground in courtroom SAVANNAH CHERMS TRENDING EDITOR

While Twitter has been on fire with comments left and right about each individual’s opinion, and the board meeting was filled with plenty of valid points, there are still going to be those that feel there is more they can do to persuade this change.

If you are looking to back your perspective with the big guns and set up a lawsuit, here are the grounds you will have to be presenting on.

In order to even set foot in a courtroom, you need to have more evidence than “this offends me.”

“There is not a legal

right to be protected from being offended,” Student Press Law Center executive director Frank LoMonte said. “[If the argument is] that this is offensive then that doesn't even get you inside a courthouse. The only way you could potentially come up with a lawsuit is if the mascot particularity is associated with the behavior that it provokes and is causing a hostile environment.”

An argument that has been presented time and time again when this discussion comes up is the research showing that using a heritage or race as a mascot causes psychological damage to those in the school.

LoMonte says that unless there is real proof that education is being hindered, there is a slim to nonexistent chance of getting far in court.

“You would have to show that somehow it is interfering with the ability of the targeted demographic to take full advantage of the benefits of a public education,” LoMonte said. “That's where a civil rights case can begin. Not that it annoys me or offends me, but that it actually interferes with my ability to get an education. If it gets that far then you have grounds for a civil rights claim under Title XII in the federal code.”

THE COST OF CHANGING

$

The following numbers are an estimate provided by Assistant Superintendent Eric Reid. The numbers were collected without soliciting formal bids and can possibly be altered later.

Total cost: $318,690

12 percent -other items such as signage, emblems, scoreboards, etc., $37,600

27 percent -replacing all other sports uniforms, jackets, warm-ups and travel bags, $85,635

5 percent -track uniforms, $15,550

8 percent -replacing basketball uniforms, $26,440

5 percent -refinishing score tables, $17,500

9 percent -refinishing gym floor, $28,000

12 percent -replacing one end zone at Bishop, $40,000

17 percent -football jerseys, pants and jackets valued at $54,750

GRAPHIC BY ANGIE MOSS

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

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SPORTS

Wrestling returns, places third at opening tournament ERICK ECHEGARAY OPINIONS EDITOR

For months, mats have been rolled up sweat-less, without the rumbling of giants running and tumbling over them; practicing the sport like the Greek Olympians who came before them.

When the leaves fall, the mats unroll. The training room opens and a new generation of players led by coach Robert Gonzalez ready to gear up. Wrestling is back and with only one goal in mind.

“This year is the year,” junior Abraham Sanchez said. “All of our guys who returned are all here with the same mission. Win an individual state title.

With that will come the state title.”

For their first competitions of the season, Manhattan traveled both to Washburn Rural and Gardner Edgerton for

their first dual and tournament respectively.

While the Indians lost to Washburn by a single team point in their debut, they managed to place third with 157.5 total team points in the Gardner Edgerton Invitational. A competition which hosted teams from Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.

“We proved to be the dominant team we are,” Sanchez said. “It’s the best we have ever done as a team at that tournament.”

He placed fifth in the 126-pound division. Defending state champion and Tennessee-Chattanooga commit Mason Wallace, senior, along with junior Jalin Harper, managed to reach finals in the 145 and 152-pound divisions re-

their ability down the road.

After last year’s close encounter with a state title, Manhattan remains in the hunt.

The team hasn’t seen a title since 2012, a Junior Abraham Sanchez tries time reto break Senior Mason Wallace down in order to score during m o v e d from this Manhattan’s practice PHOTO BY MIKAYLA LARKIN g e n e r a tion of grapplers’ spectively, losing their championship matches mind. The senior class, led by Wallace, Devin to place second.

“We had a lot of guys Norris, Joe Braun, Eldon place,” Harper said. Picou and Zephry Kill“Even the guys that didn’t ham, remains without a place placed. They were state title.

“My goal is to domiscoring and they fought hard fought matches so I nate,” Harper said. “Mathink it’s going to further son has won state and

Championship defended: girls basketball wins Shootout JACOB CLANTON SPORTS EDITOR

Winning any sort of title once is hard enough.

To go out and defend that title just ups the difficulty.

Manhattan High (3-0) girls basketball did just that, as it beat Thomas More Prep (2-1) 6855 to win the Hays City Shootout for the second straight year. “[After the game, I was] just excited,” senior Gigi McAtee said. “We expected to do well, and we went 3-0 last year, and so it just felt good to get off to a good start for the season again. This was our second year doing it, and so being able to play early and to get a couple wins under our

belt was key.”

Though the Lady Indians won handily, there were some things that could be improved on.

“We could have cleaned some things up with our fouls,” junior Chrissy Carr said. “We just play so aggressive [that it’s bound to happen]. We can clean it up, and we can reduce our turnovers too. I feel like we’ll just work on not using our hands so much [in practice], and not bumping the players, like as they’re going up, and just working more on our help defense.”

MHS was led by Carr, who scored 16 points. Sophomore Kia Wilson finished with 12 points and junior Megan

Worthington added 11 points.

“It really helped [that my teammates were moving around] so we could find like holes in the defense,” Carr said.

“It made it a lot easier to score like when we got the ball moving, and once we got like inside touches with our posts ... they scored ball inside too. So that helped a lot like to open up gaps for the wings.”

Carr, McAtee and Wilson all made the AllTournament team. This is a team compiled from the best players throughout the tournament.

“It was amazing and it was nice to be able to do it with two other of my teammates,” Carr said.

“It was just an honor to be able to make the AllTournament team.”

Playing in an early season tournament gave the Lady Indians a chance to figure out what they need to work on.

“I think [we need to work on] sharing the ball between everyone,” McAtee said, “just working on figuring each other out, and how we play.

[Also] working on our press, because we’re such a quick team and we have 12 girls that can play, and just getting that down so we can use that all game.”

The Lady Indians’ next game will be Dec. 16 against Junction City in the North Gym.

I haven’t. I placed third and second. My goal is to dominate every Kansas kid.”

Underclassmen also look to this season for victory: to win the last unwinnable prize still rejected to them.

“We think if we win every match we are bound to win the whole thing,” Sanchez said. “I want a state title as bad as every other guy.”

The junior class, led

by Harper, Sanchez and Reece Wewer, among others, also look for a glorious season, one where they can bury last year’s hatchet, and champion once and for all.

“Our goal is absolutely a state championship,” Harper said The next Manhattan meet will be a double dual hosted by the Indians at 10 a.m. Saturday.

TOMMY EKART BASKETBALL

•13.7 ppg during Shootout •All-Tournament team recipient JACOB CLANTON SPORTS EDITOR

Even though senior Tommy Ekart suffered an ankle injury over the course of the Hays City Shootout, he was still rewarded with the Most Inspirational Player award and an All-Tournament team selection.

“Feels good,” Ekart said. “I [was named to the All-Tournament

team] last year too, so you know, it was a good feeling.”

Ekart earned that selection by averaging 13.7 points per game.

Though Manhattan lost its final game, Ekart contributed 10 points, good for second on the team.

Boys basketball loses to Hays High in final seconds of Hays City Shootout JACOB CLANTON SPORTS EDITOR

With less than five seconds left in the game, Hays High senior Shane Beren put up a long field goal in the hopes of breaking a 49-49 tie and winning the Hays City Shootout championship.

His shot hit the rim and, under the watchful eyes of Manhattan and Hays fans alike, bounced off and dropped to the ground, leaving MHS fans happy.

Their joy was shortlived though, as Beren grabbed his own rebound, and threw it up as he fell out of bounds behind the goal. As the ball travelled over the backboard, the buzzer sounded, giving this

shot the power to make dreams come true.

With fans from both sides holding their breaths, the ball fell through the net, clinching the game for Hays High (3-0). This day, Hays’ dreams came true, as Manhattan (2-1) was denied a chance to repeat their Hays City Shootout championship win.

Some argued the goal should not have counted, as it travelled over the backboard.

“Afterwards,” senior guard Trevor Hudgins said, “people started talking about how rules applied or whatever, and like how it can’t go over the backboard, and so I thought we should have gone into OT, but [the refs] just went back to

the locker room.”

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) basketball rule book, Rule 7-1-2b states that “A ball is out of bounds: when it passes over a rectangular backboard.”

There was no decision made on the court though, meaning the shot stood, giving Manhattan the 51-49 loss in the championship game.

This loss was a reflection of the Indian’s poor fourth quarter, as they scored only six points.

“The second half was just bad all around basically,” senior guard Tommy Ekart said. “I mean we just didn’t execute very well, [and we] didn’t play with enough inten-

sity in the second half.

Fourth quarter was just the worst quarter by far that we had.”

MHS had other issues leading up to the final quarter, primarily its rebounding struggles.

“We’re short on bigs,” Hudgins said, “and I think the guards really need to help the bigs [in rebounding] because we only have a couple [of them].”

Even so, there were some positives that came out of the tournament.

The Indians continued to fight, and had no major fixes that needed to be made.

“I feel like we didn’t freak out when things weren’t going our way,” Hudgins said, “or when the refs weren’t calling

[correct calls] at least, and we just need to fix the little things, we just got away from the little things at the end, and it kind of lost us the game.”

Playing in an early season tournament also allowed the team to gain some much needed experience.

“Most of those guys haven’t played a minute of Varsity before,” Ekart said. “That was probably a good thing to have in the preseason tournament, so it will help us in league.”

The team was still led by its seniors, as Hudgins led the team with 16 points. Ekart and senior Cade Roberts tacked on 10 each.

Hudgins and Ekart were both named to the

All-Tournament Team, a team made up of the best players throughout the tournament.

“It feels pretty good to be a part of that,” Hudgins said, “but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.

They gave me the ball, they finished my assists, they hustled, they were right there with me, so pretty [it was] cool to win that.”

Ekart also won the Most Inspirational Player, an award he feels honored to have.

“Feels good,” Ekart said. “I did it last year too, so you know, it was a good feeling.”

The next game for the Indians will be against Junction City on Dec. 16 in the North Gym.

Swim finishes fourth in first meet Bowling holds tryouts for new year JOHN OSTERMANN STAFF WRITER

During the winter season the most recognized sport at Manhattan High is basketball, but outside of the gym in the natatorium hard work is being done. The MHS swim and dive team has been preparing for their first meet, the Topeka West Invitational, which occurred on Wednesday.

Nerves were coursing through the swimmers but the excitement of competition drove them to do their best and finish in fourth place out of 10 teams.

“I was very nervous because it was the first meet but I also had a goal in my head of starting off the best I possibly could,” junior Dirk Andrade said. “I set a goal to be the best in my heat and not only compete

against the other teams but my teammates as well. And with so many great swimmers this year competing against them every day makes me a better swimmer.”

There are quite a few new swimmers joining the team this year so the competition was new to them. The returning swimmers looked to help them calm their nerves and new what to expect for themselves.

“This will be my second year of swimming and I’ve been to plenty of meets so I know what the competition feels like,” sophomore Suman Wang said. “With more than half the team being new swimmers we didn’t really know what to expect. The meet was mainly just a test to see where the team was.”

Wang finished 15th in the 50 yard freestyle with

a time of 26.21 and 16th in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.63.

With 32 swimmers this year the team seemed to lack a common bond at first, but junior Preston Harrison believed this meet changed that.

“The swim meet was great and we did very well, but the bus ride back was the best because we bonded and grew close together as a team. That is the biggest thing I took away from this first meet,” Harrison said.

Harrison won the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 54.58 seconds and finished third in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.13.

The team competes in their next meet tomorrow at home against Dodge City, Lawrence and Lawrence Free State.

LEFT: Head bowling coach Robert Regan confirms students trying out for the team are eligible. “We’ve got a good turn out,” Regan said, “definitely more people here than last year, which is good.”

BELOW LEFT: During the first part of tryouts, freshman Michael Michmoran arcs backwards, completing the movement he started when he walked to the front of his lane and dropped his bowling ball.

BELOW: With all eyes on him, Regan explains the next teambased part of tryouts.

PHOTOS BY ANNA HUPP

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

Band, SADD participate in parade ALYSE MAENDER STAFF WRITER

Manhattan High school band students grabbed their instruments and suited up for the bitter cold to march in the annual Manhattan Mayor’s Christmas Spirit of the Holidays Lighted parade.

This was unusual for band students as they usually are committed to performing for the MHS basketball team on Friday nights.

During the parade, MHS band played a mash-up of popular Christmas songs and the Students Against Destructive Decisions

club members marched and passed out candy to spectators.

Peri Carney, a senior band student, wore a sweater, jeans and long socks under her uniform but was unable to fight the cold. Still, the most memorable moment for her was not the cold weather, but spending time with her peers in her last year of band.

“I had a really fun time, but there was a period of time before the parade started that we had to goof off a little bit and have a good time” Cerny said.

“It was freezing cold, but we suffered through it.” senior Rosie Cowens agreed.

While Carny favors the time spent with peer,

Cowens prefers the moment of marching in the parade.

“My favorite part was when we marched through Aggieville because there is a lot of people waiting down there,” she said. “It’s just the love and the appreciation was amazing.”

The only representatives of MHS during the parade was the band and SADD, but their participation leaves an impression on the Manhattan community.

“It shows that were apart of the community, it shows that we like to be in parades and it shows that it doesn’t matter what the weather is like, the band will always be there,” Cowans said.

New ‘Moana’ heartwarming HAILEY EILERT 21ST CENTURY JOURNALISM STUDENT

OF

ARTIST

uses actions based on Samoan war dances and Polynesian traditional dances, embracing Southern Pacific culture.

“Moana” also PHOTO COURTESY includes PolyOF DISNEY nesian myths reflecting the culture. The songs include Polynesian drumming and are crafted by Opetaia Foa’i, a Samoan musician. The cultural aspect in “Moana” is important because it is a big factor in Moana’s character and values.

“Moana” was a heartwarming movie with funny villains that are enjoyable to any age.

The use of culture helps the audience feel more in touch with the characters. ThroughPacific culture. The song out the movie Moana’s “We Know The Way” was character develops well, nominated for Best Origi- making it a more enjoynal Song -- Animated able movie. Disney did Film. a fantastic job with the Moana is a princess new animated movie of color, adding more “Moana.” diversity to the Disney franchise. The movie

THE

A thrill-seeking adventure occurs in the new Disney movie “Moana.”

The story, released Nov. 23, is set in ancient Polynesia, where a young girl named Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho a Hawaiian-born actress, breaks the trend of princesses searching for love. Instead, Moana is on an extraordinary search to save her people. Before enlisting on her journey, Moana meets a demigod, Maui, voiced

by Dwayne Johnson, who helps Moana through the endearing journey.

The movie received the Truly Moving Picture Award and was nominated for the HMMA award.

It is rated PG and shows the heartwarming journey of a girl in search of

her identity.

The sound track includes 39 powerful songs that encompass the movie and Southern

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ENTERTAINMENT

The Big Blue Marching Band sits at attention during a break in their show “Blue Journey.”

The band performed the show at festival and received a Division one rating.

PHOTO BY BHAWANTHA NILAWEERA

Fantastic Beasts rocks North America JACOBY KERR 21ST CENTURY JOURNALISM STUDENT

for the first movie and is in the process of writing the screenplay for the second movie.

“Fantastic Beasts” was directed by David Yates who has also directed “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Harry Potter and

In another branch of J. K. Rowling’s magical world lies the motion picture “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which PHOTO was released COURTESY OF WARNER a week before BROTHERS Thanksgiving, with Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Katherine Waterston as Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski and Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein.

The movie made an astounding $356 million in the box office.

With a budget of $180 million, the movie went above and bethe Half-Blood Prince” yond breaking even. and “Harry Potter and Rowling announced the Deathly Hallows.” that this is the first He was chosen to direct installment of a fivethe first three films with movie series; she also the next two “Fantastic wrote the screenplay Beasts” movies release

date set in 2018 and 2020.

The movie takes place in 1926. Newt, on his way to Arizona, meets Jacob, a no-maj (non-magic being), at the bank after Newt’s Niffler escapes. Then after a bank briefcase mix-up, Jacob accidentally lets loose some of Newt’s beasts, but not before Newt is arrested by Tina who is a member of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).

“Fantastic Beasts” starts slow but speeds up within the next 15 minutes after Newt notices his Niffler is gone.

The movie ran smoothly with little hold-up and no confusing elements.

However, the movie seemed to end with something missing as Newt gets on a boat back to London and promises to handdeliver Tina a copy of his book.

Christmas lights and decorations adorn Blue Earth Plaza at the annual Festival of Lights.

PHOTO BY DYLAN THOMAS

RAEGAN POULSON ARTIST

JEREMY WOOLEVER STAFF WRITER

“What got you into art?”

Answer: “Just seeing the beauty and things that are around me, mainly I like people, and I just love how people are all different and beautiful in their own different ways. Nature is also an inspiration of mine, and I love how nature is always changing, it’s just beautiful.

“Is there any aspect of art that’s your favorite?”

Answer: “That everyone sees things differently, and we all show how we see things differently.

We’ll paint, or draw or whatever it is, we’ll put it in a picture different than other people will see.

Just different variations of the same thing from different people, it could be so different.”

“Is there any part of art that you feel in the most important, that it can’t work without?”

Answer: “Feeling and emotion works very deep with that. I just don’t see people painting or drawing or any of that without a feeling, without emotion put into it. Even if its sadness, depression or anger, there’s always something that’s going to be inspiring you to put something down.”

Festival of Lights offers festive break for students SAVANNAH CHERMS TRENDING EDITOR

As Christmas time rolls around the corner and the cold finally sets in, many Manhattan High students can be found bundled up and enjoying Manhattan’s annual Festival of Lights in Blue Earth Plaza. As the tallest Christmas tree in Kansas lights up downtown, the Christmas spirit seeps into all those who visit.

“I think the music that correlates with the lights on the tree is a big drawin factor,” junior Neely Joyce said. “I felt very Christmas-y [after].”

The Christmas cheer brought on by the tree lighting is one that many MHS students share.

“I think [opening] night especially is more for the kids and the families because it gives them something fun in Manhattan to do,” junior Kelsey Neufeld said. “I think the rest of it is just to symbolize that Christmas is supposed to be happy, and giving Manhattan a special light to focus around for the holidays is really sweet.”

Small-town mentality is one that plenty of Manhattan residents have, but during the holidays that isn’t such a bad thing.

“It was one of those things that really unified us which was really good I feel like, in this time where everyone is a little uncertain,” Neufeld said. “There was just a

lot of holiday cheer and everyone was happy and the Christmas music was playing really loud and it was kind of cold but it wouldn’t be a Christmas tree lighting if it was warm.”

While many students and families visit the tree, not many people get to see behind the scenes of the spectacle that is the Festival of Lights. Senior Gabriella Radina, however, had the inside look.

“My dad owns Radina’s, and we are one of the companies that pays for it so he was working on it for months now,” Radina said. “He was there early that morning and helping to get everything set up and then I went that night with my mom and sister. It’s a

really cool [to see] how they put it all together.

I got to see the all the debates and there was some tension going on between some things but it’s really cool knowing the people that are on the stage and watching it all be put together.”

Many students like to use the festivities to take a break from the stress of upcoming finals and other troubles.

“I like to go finals week,” Radina said. “I take a break from finals week and I take a look at all the lights and sit down there and it’s just a good way to decompress right before cramming for finals.”

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TRENDING

VOLUME 104 • ISSUE 10 • DEC. 6, 2016 VISIT MHSMENTOR.COM

#NODAPL What is going on at Standing Rock?

Then

At this point everyone has probably heard or seen the news about the North Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL. You’ve probably seen images of protesters, videos of police officials firing water cannons or heard of some of the injuries that have come from this protest that has been going on for almost three months now. So just what is DAPL? The Dakota Access Pipeline is an oil pipeline that is in the works of being built and will span from North Dakota, near the Canadian border, through South Dakota and Iowa, to Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline will make its way through the Missouri river, and that is where the problem lies. Environmentalists and local Native American tribe members alike fear that should there be a leak or spill coming from this massive pipeline, the oil would destroy any clean drinking water.

Many native tribes are protesting because the construction required for the pipeline would disturb sacred grounds and break long-standing treaties.

As protests continue to flare up, a handful of big name celebrities have been out at Standing Rock showing their support. “Divergent” star Shailene Woodley even served a short jail time for “trespassing on construction areas.”

Now

After months of battling the cold and the authorities alike, a scene of happiness is found in Standing Rock. Sunday, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Obama administration have denied permission for the Dakota Access Pipeline to carry out its current route.

“The consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis,” reads a Sunday statement from the Corp of Engineers.

After the news was heard, celebrations were quickly underway at protest grounds and across the world. However, North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple has publicly announced his distaste for the change, stating that he felt it was a “serious mistake” by the Obama administration.

Despite the overall mixed feelings, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe stated that they would like to mend the relationships with law enforcement. The tribe also thanked veterans who had donated generously and offered their support for the protesters days earlier. Where the pipeline will go from here is yet to be determined.

BAD WATER: History repeats itself PRESTON HARRISON ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Racism, poverty, minority groups and money plagued one of the biggest North American water crises roughly two years ago in Flint, Michigan.

A group of stubborn officials and workers spent nearly a straight year putting off the growing concerns for the city’s water supply and its effect on health in

an already struggling community.

Today history repeats itself with the concerns over the area of construction for the North Dakota pipeline and citizens of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, along with much of the nation, know the possible outcomes all too well and are not taking them lightly.

Currently the North Dakota pipeline is under its first stages of construction in the southern por-

tion of the state.

However, with plans to run just outside of a large Native American reservation, progress has been converted to conflict and mass concern over the potential health of the reservation itself.

The pipeline would run just outside of the territory and come dangerously close to the major water source for the people of the reservation. This has caused most of the people who

live in the reserved territory and m u c h of the country to call for action and change on the plans of the line.

The major concern lies in the unreliability of

Casualties of the DAPL SAVANNAH CHERMS TRENDING EDITOR

As tensions continue to rise in Standing Rock, North Dakota, water protectors bear the cold to protect the sacred land that could soon be dug up and demolished to make way for a giant pipeline.

While these protests began as an entirely peaceful event, actions have been made to turn the protest around, which has resulted in several major injuries to water protectors. Here are just a few.

Sophia Wilansky, a 21-year-old water pro-

tector, had her arm blown off by a concussion grenade thrown by local police. Wilansky was handing out bottles of water to protesters when the grenade was tossed at the protectors and hit her. A GoFundMe page was put together to help with medical funds, and since the incident Wilansky’s arm has been amputated.

Erin Shrode, a California-based journalist, was shot in the head with a rubber bullet midinterview. Shrode states that she was shot pointblank in the middle of her interviewing a fellow protector, while other protesters were maced in the eyes and sprayed

with water cannons.

Along with Shrode, a 13-year-old girl was shot in the forehead and has suffered eye trauma and has compromised vision, according to reports.

The main and most reoccurring injury that has been coming out of the DAPL protests is hypothermia. As the over 400 protesters stand opposite of authorities, separated by a tall barbed wire fence, the authorities are firing water cannons, spraying the crowds with water in temperatures as low as 22 degrees. As of Nov. 21, over 22 people have been sent to local hospitals for hypothermia.

past pipelines in the state and surrounding areas. With the infamous reputa-

tion o f m a n y spills and failures, the fear of a spill i n t o the

important water supply has risen and set stage for protest. With that water supply being the Missouri River, there is certainly room for concern.

If such a spill were to occur, the local tribe and reservation would be put into an immediate state of emergency. If the crude oil were to reach the water supply, the oil would almost instantaneously affect the whole supply of water and put the local

population without easy access to fresh water for an extended period of time.

In a population that struggles with racial issues and major financial instability, the potential disaster would fall all too close to our nation’s most recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

That catastrophe alone has poisoned thousands of citizens and put many more at major health risks.

Now the people of the Standing

Rock Sioux Tribe protest in a hope to secure a safer future without the pipeline.

Yet once again following the same timeline as the Flint crisis, the local companies and state government have refused to acknowledge the concern with serious action. For the time being, the tribe can only fight and hope for higher authority to take a fresh and unbiased look at the possible struggles for fresh water.

How lethal are non-lethal weapons?

JEREMY WOOLEVER STAFF WRITER

North Dakota has been on fire with protesters lined up, hand-in-hand, trying to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline from being completed. They call themselves “water guardians” and have been completely at the North Dakota law enforcement’s mercy which the department reportedly is displacing with unnecessary and excessive force.

The law enforcement officials handling the protest have seen fit to disperse the crowds with non-lethal firearms

and ammunition, such as tasers and rubber pellets for their shotguns.

They’ve also employed batons for beatings, concussion grenades, tear gas and water cannons.

It’s been reported by protesters that rubber ammunition has been discharged in pointblank range. This type of ammunition can be used in various firearms.

However, for riots, it’s typically a shotgun because firearms chambered for cartridges such as 9.mm or 5.56 still have a risk of breaking bones. This ammunition is categorized as non-lethal, but the most accurate designation is actually less than lethal.

At close quarters and

point-blank range, they extend beyond that and can actually cause internal bleeding.

Along with less than lethal ammunition, concussion grenades have been deployed as well.

Concussion grenades weren’t originally designed for use with riots, but to be a medium that’s safer for friendly forces to deploy than a fragmentation grenade, but still as harmful. Unlike fragmentation grenades, these rely on the shock they produce, which can cause secondary fragmentation of debris lying around the environment that are sent flying with force.

Senior travels to Standing Rock to support North Dakota Access Pipeline protests LILY COLBURN BUSINESS MANAGER

While most students were relaxing and enjoying the start of their Thanksgiving break, senior Adelaide Bliss was working on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.

Bliss went to North Dakota to donate blankets she had collected from people around the community and to support those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“We went to an orien- were there. Additionally, tation that taught you the Lowell was worried they values of the Lakota tribe,” Bliss said. “It also got you prepped for if you were to go to the frontline [of the protest].”

Bliss and her father, Lowell Bliss, did not go to PHOTO COURTESY OF the frontline ADELAIDE BLISS because it was particularly dangerous while they could be arrested. How-

ever, Adelaide and Lowell had plenty of work

to do for the camp that

didn’t involve actively protesting.

“They were prepping for winter, building schools, and you could always help in the kitchen area or sort donations,” Adelaide said.

“We chopped firewood and they had us dig a root cellar, so there was a lot of stuff to do.”

Adelaide wanted to go to the reservation because it is something that she is passionate about.

“There is so much injustice in the world,

and this is like a tangible thing that I can go and help out with,” she said.

Adelaide found this experience inspiring, and she believes it would be valuable to any person travel or donate to the cause if they feel strongly about it.

“There were thousands and thousands of people there,” Bliss said.

“The fact that there is so much more happening than we think outside of Manhattan, Kansas. Not everyone has what we have.”