Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
THE MENTOR TRUTH & EDUCATION
‘All gas, no brakes’ MHS moves on to round three of playoffs, faces familiar foe
Volume 107 Issue 8 MHSMentor.com
Indian Insider Video:
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Story by Cole Schmitt Social Media Manager
The Varisty football team holds up their Regional championship plaque after winning against Lawrence Free State, 49-28. The win determined the team’s next game, which is at Derby on Nov. 16.
Photo by Sophia Comas
M
anhattan Varsity football (9-1) defeated Lawrence Free State (82) last Friday night 4928 to move on to round three of the playoffs. The
“It could be the last game of our lives...” -- Ben Bolt
Indians did what they have done many times this year -- start off strong and put the game out of reach. “We just played very
well as a team,” senior captain Sam Shields said. “[Free State] was very confident going into the game but so were we. We just played our game and controlled the line of scrimmage.” The Indians started off strong going into the halftime break with a 21-point lead over the Firebirds. They never looked back from there as they defeated Free State. “With playoffs our mindset is that it’s win or go home,” Bolte said. “Especially for our seniors, it could be the last game of our lives. We executed with firing off the ball on the line and
Board of Education
making clean handoffs to our backs, and great balls to our receivers. It was all gas and no brakes.” With the win, the Indians will be moving on to face off with the number one team, Derby. The Indians are looking for revenge against the undefeated Panthers as they went down to Wichita and lost last year in the state semifinals. “We are all excited,” Bolte said. “We all have butterflies in our stomachs, light headed, but in a good way. See more on MHSMentor.com
Photo by Sophia Comas
Discussion over Juul lawsuit Story by Sophia Comas Online Editor-in-Chief
Junior quarterback Dayne Aschenbrenner gets up after a tackle with the assistance of senior Sam Shields. The team played against Lawrence Free State and won 49-28 in the Regional championship game.
Photo by Sophia Comas
StuCo to raffle front parking space
School to implement physical mascot Story by Julianna Poe Sports Editor
The secondary mascot at Manhattan High school progressed recently through meetings between Student Council, Tribe and cheer captains to discuss the logistics of implementation. “We’re two years later and there’s been a lot of articles written about it, a lot of opinions met with student leaders and assets,” principal Michael Dorst said. “[We asked ourselves] ‘is this the time to do this?’ and it was agreed upon.” Two years ago, the student body of 2018 through 2021 conducted a vote to elect a secondary mascot. Altogether, 889 students participated in the election with the choice of either a sunflower, bison, wolf or the option to have no additional mascot. Out of the 67% who choose to have a secondary mascot, the wolf received the most votes. Following the vote, on Dec. 20, 2017, the Board of Education voted to give the final approval of adding an additional mascot to Manhattan High over to StuCo. “I don’t believe that the task that was charged to us on [Dec.] 20 is meant to change the minds of… individuals,” Dorst said. “One thing that an overwhelming majority of people I believe would agree on [is] it would be inappropriate to have an image of an Indian on the sideline[s].” See more on Page 4
Pre-construction process begins Story by Kyla Barnett Features Editor
Last fall’s election cycle passed the USD 383 bond referendum to expand Manhattan High School, adding new parking lots, classrooms, as well as making space for the freshman who will join West Campus. To prepare for this construction, Olsson Associates engineering firm was hired to work on some of the preconstruction processes. The work began
on Wednesday with a core sampling on the west side of the building before moving on to the northeast lot on Thursday and Friday. The drilling kept about 10 parking spaces in the Northeast lot occupied but had no effect otherwise. According to head principal Micheal Dorst, Olsson is going to use this to find the composition of the soil to aid in the remodeling of the school. See more on MHSMentor.com
Story by Brianna Carmack Entertainment Editor
Parking has been a hot topic at Manhattan High for years. Students are faced with the challenge of finding a parking spot in the morning, often settling to park outside of school lots. However, Student Council is giving one student the opportunity to stand aside and watch the madness unfold as they pull into the best parking spot the school has to offer. The parking spot,
Sophomore Joe Hall sprints to the endzone as he makes his 91-yard touchdown from a pass by junior quarterback Dayne Aschenbrenner. Hall made the first touchdown of the game, ultimately leading to the team’s win.
located in the front loop of the school, will be awarded by StuCo through a raffle, which will serve as their semester fundraising project. Students will be able to enter the drawing buy purchasing a raffle ticket for $1, starting in December. “StuCo has to do two fundraisers a year and it’s a part of our constitution,” senior and student body president Hannah Higgins said. “We were thinking about what we could do that would be something
that StuCo can do every year and [senior] Will Bannister came up with the idea to raffle off a parking spot.” The winner of the raffle will be announced at the Manhattan v. Junction City basketball game on Dec. 1 and will keep the spot for the rest of the school year. Above: An empty parking spot stands still in the chill of Monday afternoon in the front loop parking area of West Campus. According to Higgins, the raffle spot will be located in this lot.
Photo by Brianna Carmack
The USD 383 Board of Education heard a proposal to join a litigation against the company Juul at their latest meeting last Wednesday. Should they vote to take action, the board would become the sixth school district in Kansas to join the lawsuit. The proposal, brought to the board by Kansas City lawyer Eric Barton, would put the district as well as Manhattan High in a position to potentially testify against Juul’s negative impact on minors, who are claimed to be specifically targeted by Juul’s marketing. According to Barton, Juul is the “architect of the epidemic” in teen addicts. “The litigation that we’re talking about.. is by no means going to solve the vaping and Juul problem,” Barton said in his proposal. “It is a serious public health and youth health issue right now and what this litigation aims to do is both provide a source of pressure on Juul… [and] also provide a vehicle to generate some resources for school districts… to try to help their students get through the addiction crisis.” See more on Page 4
StuCo changes constitution to accommodate members Story by Kris Long Opinions Editor
Student Council is currently in the process of implementing changes to make meeting attendance more flexible for StuCo members. The change comes after widespread violation of guidelines requiring members to miss no more than two meetings
before facing impeachment. According to senior StuCo President Will Bannister the new requirements are part of an effort to make StuCo rules generally more fair and efficient. The issue of member attendance reached the point where almost 50% of members were eligible for impeachment -- meaning they
had missed two or more meetings. Current StuCo constitutional law mandates that all of those members be investigated and possibly removed from office. “A few weeks ago is when it kind of hit a critical mass,” Bannister said. “Because such a large percentage of representatives have already hit that line for
impeachment, we went ahead and said that we’re going to make a temporary amendment.” The biggest issue with current requirements is that going through the formal impeachment process for all of the members in violation would take up a massive and unrealistic amount of StuCo’s time. More on MHSMentor.com
OPINIONS
Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
Volume 107 Issue 8
Page 2
New school board should prioritize student voices This editorial is a compilation from a discussion held by the editorial board. To listen to the conversation that led to this piece, visit MHSMentor.com
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ast Tuesday’s elections voted in a new USD 383 school board and the results brought both experienced and new candidates to the board for their four-year term. Members Kristin Brighton and Brandy Santos were elected for their first term. Curt Herrman and Darell Edie and were reelected to their positions on the USD 383 board. It is the opinion of The Mentor Editorial Board that these newly-elected members need to continue and expand upon their efforts to incorporate the position of the student body into their decisions and policy-making. USD 383’s school board has done an exemplary job so far of incorporating students’ opinions into their decisions. This has been shown by actions such as the passing of the trans-
gender guidelines allowing the students to choose if they wanted a performance mascot. However, the people who elect the school board are not -- for the most part -- students, they are our parents and other adults in the community. It’s therefore understandable that members would focus on the adult point of view. The most important idea the editorial board would like to impart on our new and returning members is the need to consider the students’ view when making policies. We are the ones being impacted on a daily basis by the decisions the board makes, not our parents. While the stereotype of a high school student isn’t a particularly a responsible persona, the reality is that a majority of us are capable people. The point of high school is to prepare students for their lives as adults. If we don’t engage in policies that affect us because we feel like we have no place in doing so, we will lack experience in critical area
-- such as picking candidates and engaging in our communities required of active adult citizens. The more members of the school board listen to those who they directly affect, the better Manhattan High can be. That said, it’s the responsibility of students to keep up with local government and let their voices be heard. The board has a good relationship with Student Council and us as student media at current. It is essential that this is continued and expanded upon. Both the school board and students could do more to establish a better relationship. High school students rarely attend board meetings -- many don’t even know their representatives’ names. Involvement is limited even on top issues that directly affect day-to-day life at MHS, like Michael Dorst being appointed principal last year. This is because it is easy to ignore seemingly trivial local affairs when students are constantly bombarded
Editorial POLL: Four members of the USD 383 school board were either elected or reelected last week. Although out school board is elected entirely by adults, should the board prioritize student’s opinion?
no no
yes
*Responses gathered from MHS students on the MHSmentor’s Instagram. 78 students voted in the poll. Graphic by Kris Long, social media by Cole Schmitt
with news at the national and international level. Many of us focus our attention onto these hot-button topics and national elections when they are much less likely to directly impact us than local government policies.
If students and our new school board members work to continue to establish an open dialogue -- something that MHS is more than capable of doing -- it would m better prepare students for their futures.
School should provide feminine products Censorship not justified population is suddenly okay Recently, a friend of mine
Story by Meredith Comas Print Editor-in-Chief
Dear reader, I usually begin these columns as if we were old friends, conversing over a cup of coffee. I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me this time, as I can find no such approach to this topic. I’ll state it bluntly: women have periods. Women need period products. If you are as disgusted by these words as Capitol Hill seems to be, I suggest you bid farewell here and instead meander on over to a different article all together. “Women have periods.” Such a shameful statement for only three words. As a girl, I can confirm that no one has as much disdain for this topic as we do. Every month we sit through a villainous agony that wrenches our insides up into a bloated, throbbing mess of hormones for upwards of 72 hours. We spend countless dollars -hard-earned at 82 cents per every dollar earned by a man -- on products that are still taxed as a luxury or “unnecessary item” in 41 states. It’s a comfort to know at least someone sees this as a luxury.
told me her idea to supply medically-necessary menstrual products within Manhattan High’s rest rooms, to which my immediate thought was “it’s about time.” However, she encountered difficulty in getting her idea made into reality due to questions of cost and sanitation. Here’s the bottom line: girls need period products. Not every girl can afford these on their own. Schools need to be placing these products inside rest rooms -- no girl should have to endure the panicked dash to the nurse’s office in hopes they get there before mother nature whisks away any chance of having a normal, comfortable learning environment. Manhattan High’s female student population is 50.59% of the school. If over half of our student body is in need of these products, why aren’t we providing them? Would you deny a band aid to someone who is bleeding? If you managed to slice open your finger with a piece of paper and proceeded to bleed, could you just hold it? No? It doesn’t do that? Are you sure because one time I read this article… I promise I know what I’m talking about because I have a brother who got a papercut and he told me everything so I definitely understand your specific situation. I’ll say it again: girls need period products. Unless we wake up one day and the
with “free bleeding,” we must provide girls with products just as we would someone with a paper cut. Neither situations are preventable ones. It is so easy to collect product donation or pair with organizations whose sole mission is providing menstrual hygiene products within schools. Google is an excellent resource for finding these groups, as I do not have the word count to spell them out for you. As for the sanitation of dispensers, why not clean them the same way we clean sinks and paper towel dispensers? I fail to see the difficulty of finding a way to sanitize these if we’ve been cleaning our bathroom amenities -- hopefully -- the whole time they’ve been here. Surely, in a school of over 1,800 students and a multitude of brilliant educators and janitorial staff, we can find a solution to this “hiccup.” I have a lifetime to look forward to fighting this battle on a monthly basis with the comforts of my ability to afford the necessary products. But there are so many girls out there who cannot and are forced to give up their educational rights for something as simple as a tampon. If schools promise an education to every child, a safe learning environment to every child, shouldn’t this be a simple step to ensuring that promise? Until I write again, “We can find a solution to this hiccup.”
Students deserve freedom of expression
Story by Sammara Jacobs Staff Photographer
The press and journalism should have the legal right to say whatever they feel like saying if they’re not invading anyone’s privacy, they’re not promoting violence and it’s not libelous. So why should we be treated like we don’t have this right? It is the First Amendment after all. Students have every right to
express themselves because they have freedom of speech. Teachers should let students express themselves more because if they don’t, the student would be really closed off, lose trust in authority and not be able to think for themselves. People in general should have every right to express how they feel in any way they want. Students feel like they aren’t being heard or listened to by any adult and nine times out of 10 they feel like their opinion isn’t going to be accepted. Adults don’t listen to children or teenagers as much as they should, which is why many people are antisocial and not participating in most activities dealing with voicing their opinion. They feel
Meredith Comas -- Print Editor-in-Chief Sophia Comas -- Online Editor-in-Chief Anika Nyp -- Blue M Editor-in-Chief Kris Long -- Opinions Editor Julianna Poe -- Sports Editor Kyla Barnett -- Features Editor Brianna Carmack -- Entertainment Editor Hannah Heger -- Trending Editor Joshua Flickinger -- Photo Editor Jennifer Sadler -- Assistant Photo Editor
like their opinions might be rejected. People can be shallow and judgemental about how people express themselves. Insted of being judged, people should be allowed to voice their opinions even if you don’t want to hear it. That’s how they express themselves and that’s how they feel comfortable. Once an authority member shuts that student out and makes that student feel like they shouldn’t be themselves then that student is going to try and be someone they’re not. People should say what they want to say and do what they want to do, as long as it isn’t hurting anyone else.
Cole Schmitt -- Social Media Manager Rachel Edie -- Business Manager Staff Writers and Photographers -- Andrew Adams, Paris Burgess, Andrew Davis, Jeremy Emberton, Sammara Jacobs-Brown, Lauryn Maxwell, Gage Mingo, Madison Ritz, Katya Tarabrina Video Production -- Mbofho Ndou, Gabe Jernigan, Declan Weixelman, Gavin Gaston, Kevin Breedan, Giuseppe Maioranna,
Story by Julianna Poe Sports Editor
Less than a day before Halloween, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he did not “think it’s right for private companies to censor politicians and the news” because it would revoke users’ freedom of speech. Hours later, in a different approach to the same issue, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey came to the conclusion “to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally.” Despite backlash, Zuckerberg has a valid point. Social media platforms should not remove paid political promotions, regardless of the assumed effect they have on their audience. The decision to do so is pointless, given their impact is solely determined by the viewer of said post. Such censorship would mean freedom of speech would gradually fade into background noise while social media platforms will gain the power to control what users ultimately see. When scrolling through a social media feed, advertisements concerning political candidates can be seen throughout. According to Dorsey, voters who see misleading messages from paying advertisers will eventually be steered in a different candidate direction. However, people — especially today — are not nearly as open minded as Dorsey suggests. “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions,” Dorsey tweeted. There is no way for Dorsey to know how much commercial advertisement affects who voters want in office since it is impossible to read others’ minds. Based
Tristan McLaughlin, Grace Wilson 21st Century Journalism -- Ashlyn Cassel, Mckayla Clarksnodgrass, Alexus Forsythe, Emmarae Hayes, Lasirra Hines, Hannah Loub, Marley Blue Neel, William Robben, Taryn Robinson, Aubrey Strother, Aspen Tallent, Adam Wollenberg Kristy Nyp -- Advisor
on his tweet, it’s implied voters can not differentiate bogus news from the facts on their own. Social media platforms -- which supposedly have a strong, forcible influence on how the world views various topics -- must, according to Dorsey, censor what “today’s democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle.” Moreover, Dorsey believes a political or global issue ad must earn the right to receive attention, not buy its way into the spotlight. However, any person or business with an initially large platform could simply share their political stance or a world problem they wish to address without paying for advertising via the media and still gain a high reach. This shift in balance creates a rift between profiles with a massive public presence and those with little to none, and instead hands those with the glory of a large following easy means for attention. To Dorsey, there is a need for “more forward-looking political ad regulation.” Yet, if the issue Twitter has with political and global issue ads is the “highly optimized and targeted” messages that skew its readers’ point-ofview, then it is reasonable to remove business ads from companies to protect the people’s opinions. For that matter, left Twix and right Twix advertisements pose the need to be removed as well. In the long run, the process and reasoning behind revoking political and global issue advertisements won’t provide any benefits. All it will do is create the illusion of justified censorship. Taking away specifically paid advertisements does not solve this problem -- which is essentially irritation of focused advertisement. While purposefully misinforming people for political gain is corrupt, there are means to fact check the news today by putting forth the effort to do some research. Furthermore, possessing the capability to recognize fabricated news is important, especially since we can not control the actions of those who choose to write false articles.
The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kansas. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,000 Mentors are distributed each week free of charge to all faculty 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.
SPORTS
Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
Volume 107 Issue 8
Page 3
Harkin becomes first-time state champion Story by Sophia Comas Online Editor-in-Chief
33 seconds. Buzzfeed broke 15 laws in 33 seconds. Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in what’s considered one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history in 33 seconds. To anyone unassociated with those things, 33 seconds is an insignificant amount of time that usually goes by unnoticed. For junior Daniel Harkin, he’s a part of that list of uniquely accomplished tasks. With a lead of 33 seconds, Harkin won the boys State championship race. “I was too tired to think,” Harkin said. “I was very tired and also happy to see all my hard work pay off.” The race, which took place on Nov. 2, featured some of Harkin’s fiercest competition. In the previous season, he placed second, but this year he decided to handle things differently. “State was very exciting because it was something I was thinking about winning for a long time,” Harkin said.
“I was 30 seconds faster and I won, so this year was so much better. [I hyped myself up with] caffeine and telling myself this was really important.” After Harkin finished interviewing with reporters at the race, he waited for the rest of his teammates to join him at the finish line. Once all were there, he was honored with the Bob Timmons award, which was given to the meet’s fastest runner, regardless of class. He considered it to be one of the most remarkable times of the entire season. “[My favorite moment was] being on the podium,” Harkin said. “I was just happy. I wouldn’t change anything.” Harkin’s win contributed to the team’s overall score of fourth place. While he was pleased for himself and his impressive track record, he was also disheartened that the team didn’t place within the top three. However, he’s happy that the season has ended, giving him time to take a much-needed break.
Junior Daniel Harkin being interviewed by a local news reporter after winning the State championship. Harkin placed first by a margin of 33 seconds and received the Bob Timmons award for top runner overall. His first place finish contributed to a team score of fourth place.
Photo courtesy of Max Bowyer
See more at MHSMentor.com
French breaks records Story by Kris Long Opinions Editor
“Now, for your Manhattan Indians starting line-up,” boom the speakers at Bishop Stadium. “Number 10, senior, Hunter French!” This has been a familiar sound during French’s high school career. He has started nearly every 2018 and 2019 match for Manhattan High boys Varsity soccer. The commitment has paid off. After finishing his final season French has left a mark on MHS
Senior Hunter French looks for a pass from a teammate. The game against Haysville Campus went to 2-1 in favor of Manhattan on Oct. 29.
Photo by Julianna Poe
soccer and has the opportunity to continue his playing career in college. French started Varsity his junior year, though he was a player on the Varsity side his sophomore year. During the 2018 season he broke the goals in a season record for Manhattan High with 28, then topped that this year with 32. Manhattan alumnus Max Lansdowne had the career goals record before French broke it this year with 46. See more at MHSMentor.com
Football captain Hoover Story by Julianna Poe Sports Editor
Since he was six years old, senior Tyce Hoover has had a fascination with football. “There’s just something about football that’s really stuck with me since I was little,” Hoover said. “The drive that I have for football … it doesn’t come the same
way with other sports, like the intensity and the teamwork and the passion.” When Hoover was little, he and his father would attend the Manhattan High football games. “[My dad] introduced the game of football to me when I was young,” Hoover said. “I kind of just fell in love with it …
I’ve really tried to model myself after him.” Hoover has played since first grade. “It goes by really fast,” Hoover said. “You have to enjoy and cherish every moment because it feels like yesterday I was a sophomore ... Just go compete and have fun.”
Senior Tyce Hoover, number eight, stands with fellow Varisty football player Nathaniel Hanson, senior, during the JC football game on Oct. 11.
See more at MHSMentor.com
Photo by Jennifer Sadler
Undefeated, third at State Story by Madison Ritz Blue M Student Life Editor
Freshman Jillian Harkin beams while passing the ball at a postseason practice on Friday. Harkin went undefeated up until State where she placed third.
Photo by Hannah Loub
Top stroke improver Story by Hannah Heger Trending Editor
From the rain and wind to the sunny heat of Kansas, sophomore Kealyn Lhuillier has golfed through the worst and the best weather this season. “[That] moment when I found out I scored a 52 on the last tournament that had the worst weather … which was a 14-stroke improvement from my prior season, [I was] so excited to reach my goal of improving my average score little by little,” Lhuillier said.
Serving the ball over the net and hoping for the best, a once-in-alifetime opportunity was awarded to freshman Jillian Harkin, who was undefeated in her tennis tournaments all season. Harkin scored 32-0 during the whole season until she scored third at the state tournament.
Photo by Jennifer Sadler
“This year I think my favorite aspect of tennis was having a team that was really supportive,” Harkin said. “I’ve always just done it by myself or with my family, so it’s really fun being on the team.” Throughout the season, Harkin played one singles on the court. See more at MHSMentor.com
Sophomore Kealyn Lhuillier holds up seven fingers, half the number of strokes she improved by from season start to finish. Lhuillier placed 11th with a score of 52 at the Council Grove tournament on Sept. 26.
The improvement in her average score has been one of her many goals as a high school golfer. “My goal for the rest of my high school career is to continue my aspirations of improving my average score and also seeking out those people who can help me be a better golfer,” Lhuillier said. But Lhuillier doesn’t plan on accomplishing these goals on her own.
Photo Courtesy of Lindsey Siebert
See more at MHSMentor.com
Sophomore on Varsity Story by Rachel Edie Business Manager
Sophomore Monroe Say, number five, sits on the edge of her seat anticipating the play at the tournament against Emporia, Highland Park and Washburn Rural on Oct. 8. Say competed as the youngest player on the Varsity team throughout the 2019 volleyball season.
“I was so excited,” Harkin said. “I had people always asking me ‘are you disappointed with third because you’ve never lost before?’ but I was just really excited.” Harkin’s passion for tennis began when was just four years old, which is when her dream of becoming a star tennis player began to grow.
For most underclassmen, Varsity is nothing but a dream on the competitive teams of Manhattan High. For Monroe Say, sophomore, that dream turned into reality. Say has been playing volleyball since elemen-
tary school. Her decision to play volleyball was influenced by watching her cousin play on the MHS team here. “I grew up watching my cousin Kenzie play volleyball for MHS and knew it was something I wanted to do,” Say said. Say started with local Recreation Commission teams seven years ago
before eventually moving on to school teams on the “A” team, then transitioned to a traveling team with her aunt, Angie Miller, as the head coach. While on the traveling team — called the Jets — this year her position was a right side hitter. See more at MHSMentor.com
FEATURES
Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
Volume 107 Issue 8
Page 4
AFS holds Potluck
Top: Junior Alejandra Segura Lobo presents her information board on her home country of Costa Rica during the AFS potluck gallery walk. Bottom: AFS students and families gather together to eat after their gallery walk.
Pattamon “Pat” Na Rangsee presents about her home country of Thailand in a gallery walk. This was part of the AFS potluck, an event that allowed students to express culture.
Photo by Kris Long
Photos by Kris Long
Story by Kris Long Opinions Editor
Members of both the adult and student chapter of AFS had the opportunity to interact Sunday during the semi-annual potluck dinner. It was a chance for foreign exchange students’ host families to meet and for Manhattan High students to learn more about the exchange students’ cultures. “Picking up little bits and pieces of knowledge and trying to make connections with [the exchange students was the most goal of the potluck],” AFS sponsor Tony Wishmann said. “As well as understanding… different cultures.” Members ate dinner together after the exchange students gave informal presentations about their countries in the form of a gallery walk through the MHS commons. The AFS adult chapter organized the event by cooking the food and helping the exchange student’s organize their presentations. “I think it was really nice for [the exchange students] to be able to talk about where they’re from and have people who are interested and [listen],” AFS vice president Alison Payne said. “[It’s] good for their public speaking skills and… good for students at MHS to learn more about where they’re
from and who they are.” Originally, short-term stay students from India, who usually stay with MHS families for a few days while traveling around the U.S., were going to be hosted during the event. However the exchange never happened due to lack of participation. AFS still wanted to host a dinner and changed the event to have presentations from Manhattan exchange students. AFS has hosted similar activities in past years and earlier in the school year. In August they organized the reverse of the exchange students’ presentation -- with American students presenting about their culture -- in order to introduce foreign students to Manhattan. “We do these types of activities… every year,” Wishmann said. “It’s important to try to get the exchange students exposed early on to the ropes [of American culture].” It was the hope of AFS students and parents to better connect the host families and help the AFS students share their culture through this event. “[I liked] getting to know other people and from other countries,” junior foreign exchange student Hannah Schiefke said. “And also to meeting the other host parents.”
Question of the week Who is your favorite artist and why? • NBA YoungBoy or DaBaby,” freshman A.J. Gallager. Find our Questions of the Week on our Instagram @MHSMentor From “Juul” on Page 1
While the litigation would involve the entire school district, it would also involve data from Manhattan High. Kari Humes, the drug and alcohol prevention coordinator for MHS, keeps track of how many students admit to using things like Juul, which is now at 18% of sophomores and seniors who responded to the Communities That Care survey last year. “It’s something we seriously need to think about,” Darell Edie, newly re-elected board member said. “I think it takes strong consideration.” Members of the board such as Edie took notice of the fact that From “Mascot” on Page 1
Come this January, the wolf mascot, which will be performed by a cheer team member -they have yet to hold auditions -- due to Kansas State High School Activities Association rules, will make its first debut in Varsity basketball games and will have a presence at Varsity football games as of the next school year. According to senior Hannah Higgins, student body president, it is important to understand that the intention
• “I don’t know if you mean musical or visual, so I’m just going to say Picasso,” sophomore Emmett Spaw.
Juul intentionally used platforms like social media to attract attention from minors. The proposal highlighted how they even mimicked discontinued ads from the tobacco industry, which is restricted from marketing to people under 18. Juul, however, is not. “There is no way to target a product like this to a 19 year old without targeting a 17 year old,” Barton said. “They’ve taken advantage of the new resources and avenues to reach young people.” Among the board’s concern for its students, they’re also concerned about the effects a lawsuit would have on its staff. Although it will be
at no cost to the board, things like testimony and compiling evidence would take excessive amounts of time. There’s also no guarantee that the lawsuit would be viewed as a class action suit by a judge, meaning that the school board would have to go through an even longer and drawn out legal process should they be viewed as a sole plaintiff. “I’m convinced there needs to be a lawsuit,” Curt Hermann, board president, said. “I’m just worried about… the school finance policy.” By the end of the proposal, all five present board members unanimously voted for the litigation to be a future agenda item. They
agreed that no decisions would be made in terms of joining it or not until all questions and concerns had been addressed. They also made sure that the new board members elected on Nov. 6 — Bandy Santos and Kristine Brighton — were involved as well, unofficially taking their vote into account. Both agreed with the majority. “I don’t know that I would agree with the lawsuit, but I don’t have all the information,” Santos said. “I think it’s something to move forward with.” The board will readdress the litigation in their next meeting on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
of adopting a secondary mascot is not to replace the current mascot, but to acquire a physical mascot to hype up the crowd at home games without unintentionally crossing boundaries. “It’s a rally[ing] image and the goal [is to] have an image that can be down on the courtside and on the field that can pump up the audience,” Higgins said. “A lot of 6A schools in our area already have physical mascots, so us joining that bandwagon makes sense because we are a big school.” According to senior
Madeline Crocker , Tribe co-president, by securing a secondary mascot, the hope is to respect those with Native American heritage and lessen the controversy over having an ethnic minority for a main mascot. “Having an ethnic minority for a mascot would potentially raise a lot of issues ... with the people of a Native American background or heritage because to them, it’s like we’re just dressing someone up like an Indian and saying that it is representing their culture,” Crocker said. “I think the wolf is a good way to
… honor their culture, but also not make fun of them [or] be too derogatory towards people of Native American heritage or descent.” Currently, the design of the wolf is still in the planning phase, but the general consensus is to have a wolf head with a jersey sporting the power Indian to compliment the look. “I think most people like the idea of having a rally image that kind of looks like Willie the Wildcat,” Higgins said.
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Scholars Bowl begins season with three successful meets Story by Brianna Carmack Entertainment Editor
Scholars Bowl began their new season for the 2019-2020 school year last week by participating in a total of three meets Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. MHS ended up placing first in their latest meet, making this their first win for this season. “We should have a good chance of winning most every tournament we go to provided we have a full team going,” sponsor Ted Dawdy said. The first meet was a Junior Varsity invite only, in which Manhattan High placed in second with a 10-1 record. Only five students attended the meet, sophomores Ezster Chikan, Luke Liu, Vinny Sun and Grace Higgins and freshman Thom Loub. The Wednesday m e e t , which occurred at Washburn Rural High, was the first of many Varsity meets soon to come. As a result of MHS winning every round in pool play, they were undefeated and made it onto the championship bracket. The way that the championship bracket was played out was different than usual this year. Unlike past years where the championship bracket was played by placing the top two teams in a bracket, MHS was placed in a pool with three matches. During the championship bracket, MHS lost to Blue Valley North and St. James Academy, but managed to defeat Lawrence. Blue Valley North ended up placing in first, while St. James Academy, MHS and Lawrence tied with 1-2 records in the championship bracket. The tie breaker then put St. James Academy in second, MHS in third and Lawrence in fourth. The Washburn Rural meet introduced a
few new students to Varsity action in which that meet was their first. “We had some kids get exposed to varsity action which is a pretty big step up from J.V.,” Dawdy said. Those students include senior Ethan Meyer, junior Sam Erker and sophomore Shahzaib Asif. The third meet of the week took place in Marysville on Thursday. Dawdy was unable to attend the meet, leaving assistant coach Timothy Ekart in charge of the students during the Marysville meet. It was a Varsity meet in which seniors Owen Stuchwisch, Josh Brandt and Bakthi Nilaweera made their first appearance in a Scholars Bowl meet this season. Since the season has just begun, there is definitely room for improvement for the future meets that Scholars Bowl will have. “ W e have a lot of experience coming back,” D a w d y said. “We are very m a t h / science/ s o c i a l science heavy, so finding a strong Literature person would be nice.” Like every year, there are goals that the team would like to accomplish during the season. “Placing at State like we have for the past five years is the main goal,” Dawdy said. “First has consistently eluded us, so getting that first place finish would be nice. Winning the league tournament would also be a team goal.” The new season has a lot in store this year. With new players and experienced players, it’s safe to say that Scholars Bowl will have a satisfying season. “It will be a fun season,” Dawdy said.
“First has consistently eluded us, so getting that first place finish would be nice.” -- Ted Dawdy
Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
ENTERTAINMENT
Volume 107 Issue 8
Page 5
Come see the Blue Notes Jazz Band Tonight @ 7 Graphic by Hannah Heger
ARTIST of the week
Photo by Andrew Davis
Annika Shankwitz Junior; Music
• Has been playing the trumpet since the age of 7 Q: What’s your favorite part about playing the trumpet? A: It’s just fun, you [get] to meet so many good people and you’re just in this environment making music. Q: What would you say you have learned from playing trumpet? A: You learn how to control your nerves, when you’re going up and performing you can’t be all shaky and whatnot, so you kind of regulate that. Q: What motivates you to continue doing your music? A: Ultimately, what I want to do for a living is be in a major symphonic orchestra. It’s a lot of work to get there so you’ve got to keep going. Q: What piece of advice would you give to someone who’s just starting off playing the trumpet? A: Don’t give up, it takes a while for everything to click but once it does, it’s so much fun. Q: What do you want other people to know about your music? A: It’s the most fun, it’s [an] amazing thing to do. Everybody should play an instrument. Q: Is there anything else that you would like to say that you think is important? A: I think more people should explore classical music or whatnot because it gets labeled as kind of this old person thing. It’s not. It’s an amazing time. You get to express yourself.
Immunization Update 1. Immunizations are required for school attendance by the state of Kansas and USD 383. 2. Multiple notices have been sent to students during advisory and one mailing via US postal service. 3. If you have not received one of these notices, your child is fully immunized currently. 4. If your child has gotten their immunization(s), please contact the school nurse, Robin Mall at robinm@usd383.org or 785-587-2100 ext. 8036. 5. Riley County Health Department will see immunization patients without an appointment Nov. 25-27 at 8:00 am-4:15 pm. Patients who schedule an immunization appointment will avoid wait times and receive an incentive. 6. Providers will bill insurance companies. If there are financial concerns, Riley County Health Department has a sliding scale for fees and an additional program called Vaccinations for Children. 7. Other locations for obtaining immunizations are the local pharmacies. They will bill insurance companies. 8. The date for completion of immunizations is Dec. 2, 2019. After this date, if your child is not fully immunized they will be excluded from school until completed. -- school nurse Robin Mall
Choir festival success Chamber Choir unites with sixth graders to sing a song Story by Anika Nyp Blue M Editor-in-Chief
J
ust as the choir performs for their concert they turned around and performed at the sixth grade Choir Festival. It’s the first time all sixth graders from USD 383 are put together to sing multiple songs while their parents get to take photos and videos. But the deeper controlled voices of the Manhattan High School Chamber Choir came into the blend of voices. The Choir sang one song with sixth graders and three of their concert songs. “I remember doing this when I was in sixth grade so that was kind of cool being on both sides,” senior Avery Smith said. Almost all of the high school kids have gone through the choral festival but that’s not always the case. “It was really fun since I went to the Catholic school we I never did choral festival or anything so it was a completely new experience for me,” Sophomore Rachel Corn said. The prep time for choir was only a day but they mastered it in only a small amount of time. “I was kind of surprised because it was an easier song for us, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be, which was cool,” Corn said. The rest of their songs were rehearsed, perfected and performed at the festival.
“The week before we’ve already had our concert, and most of the songs we sang were from our concert,” Corn said. “We were just kind of running through our songs, making sure everything was good and then learning the song that we did with the sixth graders.” “It’s kind of weird because it’s like we have our mature voices like us and there’s like a bunch of like high pitched kids,” Smith said. “It’s fun singing with them because you can kind of show them like how it’s done.” The choir got to watch the sixth graders perform their show and then helped work with them to make the festival sound stronger. “We just rehearsed a little bit in the morning,” Corn said. “We just prepared it the day before ran through it a couple times and then the sixth graders had a little part, we had a little part and there was a part where we all sing together and I thought it was really cool how we mixed.” After the performance, it seemed the choir had a great time getting to perform with the younger kids and showing off their skills to the sixth graders to show them what they can do. “[It] was a really cool experience for both [sides],” Corn said.
“I remember doing this when I was in sixth grade so that was kind of cool being on both sides. ” -- Avery Smith
Review
‘Last Christmas’ worth seeing Story by Madison Ritz Blue M Student Life Editor
Last Christmas was an outstanding movie that brought tears to my eyes at the end of the movie. It’s a movie I would suggest you see anytime this holiday season, but be prepared for some unexpected crying -- if you’re into that jazz. The film showcases some incredible performances from Kate (Emilia Clark), Tom (Henry Golding) and Santa (Michelle Yeoh). At the beginning of the movie, I was kind of surprised there weren’t too many Christmasy things in the film, including Christmas trees, lights or a possible chance of snow. But at the end, there was a small appearance of snow falling and minimal lights while they were in the ice skating rink, but that was about all that I noticed. Kate deals with finding a place to stay during the duration of the movie, but gets kicked out a numerous of times. The plot of the movie, which deals with being able to see Tom while nobody else can actually was the part that made me tear up. It was super heart spoken to me, and touching at another level only because she just realized that nobody else could see him. He was constantly telling her
to “look up,” and to realize what’s above her. She then realized that there were many signs that he wasn’t really real. She was constantly a person who always was on their phone while walking around town, tripping over trash bags and always staring where she walked. Tom thought it would be a good idea to teach her to look at her surroundings and see what she’s missing. To me, that felt more of a supportive message to not just Kate herself, but to everyone else watching the movie. I am certain that why it hit me harder, was because I didn’t understand the whole movie until finding out the whole plot was a twist. I was super glad I got to see this movie a little early. At first, I was in the mood for some holiday festive vibes. Since it released Nov. 8, I knew for sure that wouldn’t be too many people seeing it this early in the Christmas season, but since it doesn’t scream “Christmas” all too much, I’d say go see it early. It was a wonderful and unexpected movie to be seen. It had just the right amount of comedy, sexual jokes — it’s rated PG-13, so if you’re mature, it should be ok — , holiday festivities and the right amount of casual romance.
Best of fall entertainment
Top Left: Thespians perform in their One-Act plays. Auditions occurred prior to the performance, which lasted for a total of three days. The actual performances were hosted last Thursday in Rezac auditorium. Bottom Left: Varsity Choir sings during their concert on Oct. 9. This was the first concert that all of choir participated in for the 2019-2020 school year. Photos by Madison Ritz Top Right: Director Nate McCelndon raises his hands over the freshmen orchestra as they perform in their first concert on Oct. 27. The night also featured performces from Symphonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, making their beginning concert a success. Photo by Aspen Tallent Bottom Right: Seniors Ivy Auletti and Brandon Luck play some of the lead roles in the fall play “She Kills Monsters.” The play was a recreation of the original play titled with the same name by Qui Nguyen. “She Kills Monsters” was performed on Oct. 17, 19 and 20. Photo by Joshua Flickinger
TRENDING Art in Manhattan Volume 107 Issue 7
Nov. 12, 2019 Visit MHSMentor.com
Page 6
Equivocal Exhibits
Beach Museum introduces new brain exercises Story by Hannah Heger Trending Editor
With its staple bright orange, blown glass Chihuly chandelier hanging from the ceiling, The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art has been an important part of the local community, providing individual experiences for anyone who walks in the front doors. “The collecting focus of the museum is regional,” Linda Duke, Director of the Beach Museum said. So that means we’re not going to go out and try to get a Rembrandt or Michelangelo, we’re always looking for art that’s about this region, or was made by people who have some connection. Maybe they weren’t born here, or maybe they only visited but if they did something significant about this area.” Providing opportunities for Manhattan residents to visit and learn about the artists who have some form of a connection to Kansas, the museum gathers many works with the hope of expanding the local culture. “Even though our focus for building the culture is regional, our exhibitions or public programs can be anything,” Duke said. “So we really think a lot about bringing the world to enhance and giving people opportunities to see things that, you know, otherwise they’d have to drive to Kansas City,
Chicago or St. Louis.” With the opportunities to educate locals, the Beach Museum challenges their visitors with a new way to think about something should be. “This is the one that’s maybe more surprising to people… because we do a lot with the idea that when you look at a work of art and wonder about it, like even if you know nothing and you’re just like ‘what the heck is that?’ You are exercising your brain in a way that’s kind of important,” Duke said. Being able to understand and figure out a personal meaning behind artwork is an important part to the art experience. “The important thing about art is that it’s almost always complicated and ambiguous, you wonder about it,” Duke said. “And that’s what it’s like on the edges of science or complex social questions or history or anything, so I feel like art museums are really, I sometimes call them mental gymnasiums, because I think you can do a mental workout. And it’s actually fun just walking around looking at stuff talking about it if you come with a friend.” To provide the challenge needed, the Beach Museum is working in collaboration to provide an exhibit called Four Worlds, which will provide a new technological exhibit for next year.
“The important thing about art is that it’s almost always complicated and ambiguous, you wonder about it.” -- Linda Duke
Dale Chihuly’s Chandelier made from blown glass hanging in the Beach Museum of Art Photo courtesy of Beach Museum of Art
Demonstrating the best of Paleolithic technology, a video will be played edited to show countless high resolution photos of technology used over the ages. “In our world that technology is creating we are learning more things visually. You know, we can see microscopic things that we didn’t use to be able to see. We can see deep space that we didn’t used to be able to see we can see data represented visually,” Duke said. “I see that as part of the museum’s work as we were talking about the thinking and looking skills ...We need to have confidence in dealing with technology. “
MAC provides opportunities for MHS students
The entrance to Charles Lindsay’s “Field Station 4” stands at the end of the hallway of the Beach Museum. The exhibit opened on Tuesday of last week. Photo by Meredith Comas
Story by Rachel Edie Blue M Business Manager
‘Field Station 4’ an intellectual thrill Story by Meredith Comas Editor in-Chief
“Field Station 4” by Charles Lindsay -- a new exhibit at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art -- really started in the room beside it, when the abstract sounds of space trembled alongside the painted landscapes. As I approached the entrance to the exhibit, the white walls of the museum, filled with Kansas-themed art, drifted into an antithetical sort of aesthetic. The previously calm feeling of the surrounding art was drowned in the decommissioned NASA transfer units spilling into the hallway. Lindsay’s piece, “Field Station 4,” opened to the public last Tuesday. According to Beach Museum director Linda Duke, the piece is meant to combine science with realism, so as to “celebrate the absurd.” “The way to understand Charles Lindsay
is, he’s an artist who actually creates, you could call it, science fiction,” Duke said. Before moving into modern art, Lindsay trained and worked as a geologist, working in scientific field stations, which -- according to Duke -- inspired “Field Station 4.” I must admit, upon first glance, it looked nothing short of a blackened storage room with a NASA aesthetic that was reminiscent of a “Doctor Who” prop closet. However, as I travelled around the exhibit, taking in the metallic foils and geological artifacts, the piece took on a new meaning that, at times, was more humorous to me than “deep.” The images of monkeys on the side of white transfer containers surrounded by wire cords, juxtaposed with Lindsay’s geological artifacts, actually did make me giggle at the pure oddness of the set up. It seems necessary for me to mention here that I have never had exposure to this form of art, yet now I would
After helping the Manhattan community expand the local art scene and the knowledge needed to understand, at the end of the day the Beach Museum is a fun place to offer a unique experience to every visitor. “You can just walk around and look at the stuff you’re interested in. I mean, it’s just a place for what I would call lifelong learning, and pleasure your time learning,” Duke said. ”It’s kind of a place for learning. As really, I mean, I know sometimes when you’re in school you think of learning is work. But I think as you get older you realize that earning new stuff is actually one of the funnest things in life.”
suggest it to everyone. Sure, I’ve seen pieces made of trash and Starbucks cups; in the room adjacent to “Field Station,” I saw a Chinese take-out bag made of paper and porcelain. However, Lindsay’s exhibit was the one that had me questioning my capabilities to truly understand the piece as more than just “funny,” but according to Duke, that’s exactly the point of “Field Station 4.” “[Lindsay] wanted to give people a sense that they were going into a field station, but a really, really weird one,” Duke said. Lindsay unequivocally destroys the idea of “mainstream” in “Field Station 4.” In a time where art is often only
seen for its “aesthetic” purposes, his piece summarizes the rawness of human discovery by way of humor and sophistication of realism art. I would fully recommend this exhibit to any lover of art or science. Walking around the exhibit mimics an explorative adventure all its own -- the entire purpose of Lindsay’s art. The work was an exhilarating break from reality and, while it takes a minute to truly understand “Field Station,” when you do, the piece comes alive. I fully expect to be raving about this for days and look forward to making many a humorfilled trip to “Field Station 4” before it closes in October of next year.
A visitor views Lindsay’s piece inside the blackened exhibit. The walls are lined in unused NASA transfer units and cords. Photo by Meredith Comas
From its beginning with the conversion of three different arts groups back in the late 1990s, the Manhattan Arts Center has flourished as a company that welcome all, including Manhattan High Students. Originally there were three organizations, Manhattan Civic Theater, Manhattan Arts Council and the Manhattan Arts Center. When they merged, the team bought a facility on Poyntz Avenue. and after months of renovations made with a grant by the City of Manhattan, it was ready to be opened to the public. Since its humble beginnings, it has expanded to a performance hall, a clay and art studio, two galleries, a set design studio, dressing rooms and multiple offices. They have multiple shows, exhibits and classes every month. Their self-proclaimed mission is “Arts for All.” It was started as a way to increase inclusion in the area. Their mission has certainly increased high school involvement. Students both involved in Manhattan High theater, and not involved, find some opportunity for themselves there. With their wide array of classes, it attracts younger, and older, students. “[The theater program there is] not that much different except for some musicals or plays call for only adults to tryout or just kids or adults and kids to tryout,” sophomore Sophia Evangelidis said. “Our stages are different. But for the most part the energy and atmosphere is the same.” Evangelidis has been part of the plays since 2015 and auditions for the bigger plays, which come around once or twice a year. They accept all ages there, due to their mission. Some plays or acts call for specific age groups, but there is always something going on. “They have poetry, violin, [and] some kids camp things for young actors,” senior Maddy Wolfe said. Along with Evangelidis, Wolfe has been a part of the scene around there for plenty of time now. She started as a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz around seven years ago after her mom asked her to try it out. Since then, Wolfe has taken part in multiple other roles both there and at MHS. “I love acting so any chance I can get to do it I will,” Wolfe said. “The cast becomes a family.” Their very inclusive atmosphere brings Wolfe’s comment to a front, especially considering their mission, which for Wolfe rings true, “Arts for All”.