Volume 101 Edition 21

M

The

ENTOR

Manhattan High School Volume 101 Issue 21 April 8, 2014

page 3

page 4

page 5

MHS blood drive collects more than JC Sarah Shi Opinions Editor

Junior Payton Gehrt donates blood during the blood drive sponsored by student council and the Red Cross. The blood drive collected a total of 67 pints of blood defeating Junction City ROTC who totaled 59 pints. This year marked the first that such a competition was held between the two schools.

Liz Logback,photographer

The Manhattan High blood drive received 67 pints of blood last Thursday, winning the first-ever competition against junior ROTC Junction City, which totaled 59 pints in an official count from the Red Cross.

Student Council, which partnered with the Red Cross to make the drive possible, aimed for 70 pints of donated blood on Thursday.

This year marked the first time that MHS has competed against Junction City in the blood drive.

For the past three years the blood drive has been coordinated mainly by senior Hannah Nelson.

“The hardest part about doing the blood drive is the publicity and making sure the work shifts are organized,” Nelson said. She also mentioned that the sign-up process to donate and the task of keeping track of the donors proved to be a difficult job. “It’s also difficult to make sure that we hit the quotas so we’re not over or understaffed.”

Next year, the blood drive will be lead by current juniors Megan Ochoa and Dheepthi Perumal.

“Dheepthi and I both wanted to do it. For me, I want to be a pediatrician so I thought that working at a blood drive would help me in my future job,” Ochoa said.

The blood, once taken by the Red Cross, is split into three parts: platelets, plasma and red blood cells. Each pint is divided into these three sections and therefore by donatSee Blood Drive page 5

Cheerleaders try out for 2014-2015 season SADD prepares for annual Spring Fling Retta Lazaris Staff Writer

With the ending of another school year, clubs, teams and councils are rallying up on new members and leaders who will guide their groups into the next school year. Manhattan High students grouped together for a five-day-long tryout for the cheerleading Varsity and Junior Varsity spots.

Kyla Caricato, junior, qualified for the varsity cheer squad for the 20142015 school year. She will be cheering during both football and basketball seasons.

“I think that tryouts went well,” Caricato said. “They kind of amped up more on jumps and made it a little bit more difficult for everybody, but it went well.”

Caricato has gone out for cheer ever since freshman

year.

“The coaches really inspired me this year, because

years cheer squad, “I’m really optimistic, because its going to be my

Grapic by Maddie Ross they were a lot more passionate this year,” Caricato said.

“Our double jump was a lot harder this year, and they really made sure that we did better technique.

Caricato has high hopes and determination for next

senior year, and I just hope that the team in general can perform as well as we did this past year,” Caricato said.

Lauren Carlson, junior, is going to be cheerleading for varsity next year as well.

“I’m really excited to cheer

next year,” Carlson said.

“I was in a group with two freshmen, and we worked very well together.”

The girls practiced Tuesday through Friday, with their final dances, jumps and chants scheduled to occur on Saturday.

“I think that the mix [of grades that tried out] is going to be good, because I did cheer with some of them in the past years, and I’ve seen some of them cheer on the JV team or on the freshman team,” Caricato said.

“I think that cheerleading is really overlooked, but I don’t think we are the best,” Caricato said. “I think that it’s harder than it looks. To go out there, do a great performance and still look good doing it is challenging.”

MHS will welcome 55 cheerleaders next year.

Connor Bliss Features Editor It’s spring again, which means flowers are blooming, grass is sprouting and for Students Against Destructive Decisions, it means time for Spring Fling. Spring Fling is SADD’s big event of the year, which they start planning for at the beginning of the semester. The event has been going on for nine years and SADD sees no end to it as long as attendance stays up.

“People love laser tag,” club sponsor Kari Quinton said. Laser tag is back after last years popularity but will appear in a slightly different form. This time around a computer program will be used to track the game.

“Last year was successful

and we had really good attendance and I’m hoping for the same this year,” Quinton said.

The dance is being moved into the commons and the carnival will be by the concession stand. The gyms will be used for laser tag and open gym. The concession stand will be offering free pizza and drinks. The MHS Film Festival is also back, which will be hosted in Rezac auditorium at 7.

“The goal is to get as many people as we can into our building to have some safe fun so they’re not out drinking or making any poor choices. So, we just want students to come to the building and have fun on a Friday night,” Quinton said.

This years Spring Fling is on Friday from 6 to 9.

Science Olympiad earns second place at State Tracy Le Graphics Editor Though the Manhattan High School’s Science Olympiad team was aiming for first, they left the State competition in Wichita last Saturday proudly with second place.

“As a team, this was the closest to winning State we have ever come,” junior Danny Aramouni said. “We were only 19 points away from winning, 18 points away from tying the first place team.”

Along with scoring the highest they have ever scored, all

members medaled in at least one of their events, which is another first.

“I do think we could have been first place, but that doesn’t minimize the fact that they did a great job and had the best finish we’ve ever had,” coach and sponsor Richard Nelson said. “I think the kids worked really hard and their success is well deserved. I’m very pleased that everyone got a medal.”

The first competition began at 9 in the morning and by 4:30 p.m. the results were in and awards were ready to be announced.

“We thought that we were going to either place third or not place at all so when they called third and it wasn’t us, but then they called us for second and we were all in shock,” sophomore Morgan Martin said. “We were kind of confused because we didn’t know if we should be really happy or kind of like ‘oh, dang’ because we were only 19 points away form nationals, but it’s still the best we’ve every done. I feel really good about it.”

Second place was somewhat of a disappointment for the team, but they are still

Brownbag explores hospitality industry Retta Lazaris Staff Writer Lorena Ingmire, the Culinary Arts teacher at Manhattan High School, hosted this month’s Brown Bag Lunch last Tuesday.

Students were given an inside peek at the Hospitality courses offered at Kansas State University by Colton Rohr, alumna at MHS and currently a junior at K-State specializing in Hospitality and Management .

While dinning on the freshly baked pizza made by Ingmire’s culinary classes, students enjoyed an array of topics from internships to scholarships to secret society symbols hidden in the crest of a $1 bill.

“I think that the Brown

Bag Lunch is pretty cool,” Rohr said. “I wish they had had it when I was here. Because honestly, if someone had came up to me and spoken about hospitality in high school, it probably would’ve changed my whole career path and I would probably already be graduated.”

Rohr also thought students should take advantage of the opportunity while it’s here.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students,” he said. “It would be nice to see more show up.”

The culinary program at MHS aligns with the postsecondary program students will eventually be able to do in college, Rohr said.

“Something that K-State is looking into is trying to put

together an actual culinary program,” he said. “We have a couple ‘labs’ where you can bake and cook, that is required to take if you’re going into Food and Beverage.

I wish that we had more of a culinary side.”

However, the professional experience students get at KSU makes up for that.

“They do a good job of incorporating the necessary tools if you wanted to go out after graduation and start your own restaurant,” Rohr said. “I think that if you work hard enough at getting your degree at KSU, you could be successful as a chief, though you may be at a disadvantage going up against others who have a culinary art school in their background.”

happy with how they did.

“They [the seniors] were so stoked to winning State and go to nationals and we just didn’t quite make it,” Aramouni said. “But it is the best we’ve ever done, and we keep improving. We were really surprised and very happy this year.”

Throughout the day, team members also went through some ups and downs. However, though they thought they were doing terribly, it turned out to be the best they’ve ever done.

“Some events didn’t go as well as we hoped, so there’s

some discouragement,” Nelson said. “Initially we were thinking ‘uh oh, we’re not doing very well here. We’re not doing very well there. Maybe it’s just not our day.’ We also had hope. We knew that we had some strong events coming up.”

The team left for Friday morning to get to Wichita University campus, where the competition was held, to have a tour of the campus, relax and have some fun, and study a bit more.

“That time we have there to do that, where we have everybody together, is extreme-

ly valuable to us,” Nelson said. “On Saturdays when we practice, sometimes we have most of the students but there’ll be someone who has some sort of a conflict and can’t come in.”

Team members enjoyed getting there a day before the competition and the time spent with each other.

“The car ride was a good time to bond with the rest of the team,” Aramouni said.

“Even though we’ve been doing things with each other for the whole year, a lot of it is See Science Olympiad page 5

Chess club becoming active Louis Melgarejo Staff Writer Chess club is in it to win it -- attempting to become an official Manhattan High School club, that is.

The club is having a fundraiser on April 18 during first and second lunch.

“We feel that in order to expand our chess club we need to buy more materials like boards and we also wish to support the community by teaching the youth how to play chess,” Chess club president Ben Stonebreaker said.

Currently the group is not an actual club but is classified as an interest group. In order to meet the requirements to become a club at MHS, the interest group needs to ful-

fill certain aspects of what a club does. One requirement

Graphic by Tracey Lei

is community service. Chess Club is currently eight members strong and welcomes anyone to join.

“When I’m playing chess it feels like I’m playing a soccer game against Washburn but not really. All I’m thinking is that I gotta get my pawns back,” sophomore Muhammid Cifti said.

Chess Club is also joining a citywide chess tournament May 3 at the Manhattan Public Library.

Opinions The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com Page 2

There are far greater things than senior superlatives The editorial is a compilation from a discussion held by the Editorial board.

Torn between decades of tradition and what’s turned into a popularity contest, the editorial board is split this week when facing the everimportant topic of whether the Blue M yearbook should print senior superlatives, and what they should include.

In our own little world of high school, superlatives -- “most likely to” or “best” statements about seniors -seem to be one of the most important (and looked forward to) things about being a senior. However, our sister publication, the Blue M, is faced with the reality that senior superlatives cause more drama than good as they make the decision whether or not to continue on with the tradition. Our editorial

board has one Blue M staff member as well as representation from under- and upperclassmen. And when discussing the issue, we had editors on both sides of the fence.

From one vantage point, superlatives are a fun tradition. They shouldn’t be taken too seriously and people should have a good time when voting for their classmates. There’s no reason to be offended over an award won (or not won) and the tradition can continue to be something fun as long as students are light hearted about it.

But from the other vantage point, we can see superlatives as something hurtful to the student body. Why would we continue a tradition that promotes popularity contests? Superlatives seem like another petty way

to give the top 20 kids in the senior class some more face time.

We are torn, but there is one thing we can agree on: in the grand scheme of things, senior superlatives really don’t matter that much. We can get all up in arms in defending our position, but at the end of the day, being voted “Best eyes” or “Most likely to become an MHS teacher” doesn’t matter all that much.

Senior superlatives may be a fun tradition, but they can also be hurtful. It’s a sticky decision for the Blue M staff to decide if they want to continue on with them or not, but the advice from The Mentor editorial board is this: remember that there are far greater things and accomplishments in this life than senior superlatives.

MHK airport has chance to impact community’s economy Alan Brown

Prepare for takeoff.

At Manhattan Regional Airport, this is not always be the case. While many in the community are encouraging each other to “fly MHK”, there are many issues with this airport that I have experienced. Until these problems are solved, it is simply not worth flying from our local airport.

Flying local is a very important if we plan to build our economy. The more people that fly MHK, especially those from other communities, the more money that the city will receive from taxes. More importantly, increased traffic to the airport will increase the need for businesses to move into the west of Manhattan. The region is our little wild west: it’s currently only contains scattered businesses, and it

is unclear to them whether or not they should consider themselves as an official portion of the city. Increased airport traffic, together with soldiers at Fort Riley passing through the region to get to work should attract more convenient businesses. If enough build locations here, it may become worthy of being an official part of our city.

It’s important to note that the airport has come a long way from its days of strictly flying to Kansas City. It replaced the slothful US Airways with American Airlines, adding Dallas, and Chicago as flight destinations. These connections allow convenient access to nearly every location in the country, resulting in an enormous upgrade. The airport is also currently expecting to expand from 12,500 square feet to 42,000 square feet.

This is more than three times the original footage. There have been talk of having restaurant and other facilities.

While these are all positives, the airport still needs to improve in consistency and travel friendly facilities.

MHK recently attempted to add flights from Phoenix, which resulted in a complete

failure. I experienced the effects of this first hand. Just in the previous month, my family gambled with MHK and booked a flight to Phoenix for my grandmother. Allegiant Air, the airline supported by the airport for these flights, went bankrupt and the ticket was returned. We ended up booking a flight from Kansas City.

There is also a risk of being trapped in Dallas between flights. About a year ago, my father embraced the convenience of a local airport and took a flight to Houston.

Even after switching planes from Dallas, all went smoothly. The flight back, however, took a turn for the worst.

When a thunderstorm canceled a flight from Dallas to Manhattan, my dad was left with the option to rent a car and drive back home or wait one to two days for a flight back home. My dad drove back eight hours.

If the airport expects to spark interest, problems like these needs to be addressed.

By pushing for improvement and gaining the trust of passengers, the airport can make an enormous impact on the community’s economy.

Embrace all people, change your mindset Liz Logback

“You can’t fight fire with fire.” It’s one of the oldest sayings in the book, yet we still can’t quite grasp it. And whether we’re fighting the flames of hell Phelps claimed we would all likely burn in, or just fighting the pure wrath that came from him and his followers, protesting the “angry bigot that thrives on conflict” is perhaps bringing us closer to our own fire.

And there’s the eye roll.

Before you throw the paper down, stick with me here.

I haven’t talked this issue (or how it should be affecting your moral judgement) to death just quite yet.

My message is always love. Those of you who have been kind (and patient) enough to follow my columns this year know that I always root for the underdog and this case is no different. Fred Phelps was pretty infamous, but still the little guy.

I have the most compassion on those who are never able to experience real love in this lifetime. The greatest joy and insight comes from being loved and then sharing that love. It is truly saddening to think Phelps may have died without ever tapping into that cycle.

So when I am faced with article after article, Facebook

status after status, celebrating the death of Phelps and wishing the possible worst for him, I am hurt. When did it ever become acceptable to celebrate the death of another human being? (A human being with feelings, with a family, with a story.)

I’ll be the first to agree that Phelps did some terrible things. I hated what he stood for and the image he gave Christians, but here’s the thing; I’m choosing the higher road. I’m choosing to embrace all people, wherever they are at. It’s easy to care for the poor or the weird kid, it’s not so easy to care for the public enemy.

I truly believe that the world can be changed through the mindset that all people are to be cared for and loved deeply.

Question of the Week: What are yo u plans p ost high s cho ol?

Halsey Camera, cartoonist

Next edition’s Question of the Week:

“LA and New York for sure.”

- Kayla Marienau, sophomore

What sho uld n ex t year ’s pro m the m e b e? Submit

Focus more on countries with limited medical attention Allison Olsen

When I think of third world countries, I immediately think of things like their lack of fresh water or food.

But the more I read into the problems of poverty stricken countries, the more I realize that at this point medical attention is what they need most.

The most current medical scare in the world is taking place in Western Africa right now with an outrageous Ebola epidemic. Ebola is one of the world’s most deadly viral diseases and there have been numerous cases confirmed in Guinea, Africa.

The problem with Ebola is that 90 percent of people who contract the virus die. These people are getting Ebola from handling infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats,

monkeys, forest antelopes and porcupines found ill or dead in the rainforest. The virus is then passed through close contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva and sweat of an infected person or animal.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 by two outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan, and Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, no known cure has been found for the virus, which is why this is creating such a panic.

Symptoms of Ebola consist of sudden fevers, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches, and sore throats.

Intense symptoms like bleeding from the ears, and the popping of blood vessels are recorded to be some of the most horrific symptoms.

West Africa is having troubles keeping the virus under control without having a cure. Ebola has started spreading from remote villages in Guinea’s rain forests to the more bustling African capital of Liberia. At this point, 90 deaths in Liberia have been recorded and the number is still climbing.

As much as the government and health centers are

doing their best to keep the civilians from panicking, angry southern Guinean citizens recently attacked a health center where patients were being treated. An unavoidable panic has started rising. Senegal has closed its border to Guinea. Morocco has increased their border control and neighboring countries are being asked to keep watch for more spreading of the virus.

Of course, we can assume that these African countries are working to find a cure for this virus, but I can’t help but think if there is any more that people can do. If they haven’t found a cure in 30plus years, how do we know that there is even hope of one? With America’s many organizations that do things like build wells, send supplies, or care for orphans, we should also focus on helping countries with a lack of water and food. In order to stop something that could eventually be threatening to the entire world, we should be adamant about helping countries with limited medical attention.

answers to mhsmentor.com or tweet us at @mhsmentoronline

The Mentor EDITORS:

Liz Logback, Editor-in-Chief/Trending Maddie Ross, News Editor Sarah Shi, Opinions/Content Editor Jared Gebhardt, Entertainment Editor Greg Woods, Sports Editor Connor Bliss, Features Editor Kennedy Felice; Danielle Cook, Copy Editors Alan Brown, Multimedia Editor Tracy Le, Graphic Designer Allison Olsen, Photo Editor

CIRCULATION: Kristyn Baker David Clinkinbeard Karl Drown Patrick Falcone Karl Harmon Jordan Hatley Colten Kirk

Josh Kohls Kasey Morris Mallory Morris Megan Ritthisorn Jeremy Romig Zane Smith Austin Tatum

OTHER: Gage Benne, Business Manager Kristy Nyp, Adviser

STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS: Kristen Batson Gage Benne Retta Lazaris Louis Melgarejo Madeline Marshall Madison Newman John Rockey Joseph Sell

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

More than 1,500 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contributions from the public. E-mail us at mhsmentor@gmail.com.

Entertainment The Mentor

www.mhsmentor.com Page 3

MHS shows off talent at Music Festival Madeline Marshall Staff Writer This past Saturday, more than 1,600 participants, directors and judges took over Manhattan High School for the regional Solo and Small Ensemble Music Festival.

This music festival was a competition in which band, orchestra and choir students could perform solo or in a small ensemble in front of a panel of judges. Judges filled out rubrics and based on the compiled score from the judges students received rankings on a scale of one (outstanding) to five (ineffective), with one being the highest level achievable. Those who received a one at regionals will have the chance to perform at the state level in three weeks.

Overall, Manhattan High did very well, receiving many division one and two rankings.

“I feel ecstatic. I really look forward to performing at State,” sophomore Evan Heger said after receiving a one rating on his alto saxophone solo.

“It’s very satisfying to be rewarded after putting in a lot of work to prepare,” senior Alex Brase said. Brase received a one rating on his

violin solo piece.

Freshman Chloe Dorst, cellist, got two one ratings yesterday. “I’m very excited,” Dorst said. “My goal was to have both my solo and ensemble get ones.”

“I’m so so happy with both of my scores, actually,” sophomore Emma Galitzer said. Galitzer received a one for her vocal ensemble’s performance and a two for her solo. “Even though I got a two (excellent) on my solo, which doesn’t allow me to advance to state, I know I did the best I could and I honestly I was expecting it. I was a little nervous and I started getting a cold, so I think I did the best I could under those circumstances.”

Students have been preparing endlessly for this competition and will continue to do so, especially if moving on to State. While their practice methods differed, their hard work paid off this past Saturday.

“My accompanist (Kelly Smith) and I each practiced our parts separately and we would meet together occasionally to put our parts together,” Heger said. “The same will go with preparing for state except with more strict expectations for my rehearsals. I also had a band

director (Nancy Monical) listen to my solo to get further critique. The thing I need to work on most is exaggerating the dynamics and using and practicing vibrato.”

“I picked my solo piece about two months in advance and I’ve been practicing it daily ever since,” Dorst said. “My ensemble has been playing the piece we played today for a few months now, so we just used these last few weeks to polish it and get some coaching from my cello teacher.”

“I started preparing for my K-State Orchestra audition in August, and this helped me also prepare for the regional festival,” Brase said. “I’ll continue practicing and try to keep my focus.”

“Manhattan High Orchestra did really well today,” Dorst said. “State should be a great experience for all of us.”

The students have yet to see the judges’ rubrics and anxiously await their arrival as they are one of the best sources of critique they can gain.

“I would recommend anyone in the music programs to participate in this event because it really helps your performance abilities,” Heger said.

Members of MHS choir preferom in an ensemble group during the music festival on Saturday.

Maddie Ross, photographer

‘Winter Soldier’ impresses Bad Suns on the horizon Connor Bliss

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is the best Marvel sequel yet. Well, that’s not saying much considering what it’s competing against, it still is truly a fun movie to watch.

The first “Captain America” was a direct synonym of the word awful. It was a truly stupid movie filled with boring origins. Luckily, “The Winter Soldier” leaps beyond its boring roots and backstory and rushes forward to tell a somewhat meaningful story. In fact, one of the few places this movie struggles is when it makes callbacks to its predecessor.

Sadly, this happens to be one of the emotional backbones of the movie.

The plot isn’t out of this world but it tells a solid story -- if you know going in that you’re watching a superhero film.

“Captain America” is back after saving the world, and is tipped off that Shield has been infiltrated by Hydra.

At this point, the entirety of Shield turns on him, as he flees with Black Widow.

I could see a twist coming in the second act, but didn’t expect what it actually turned out to be. The plot does its job and does have some meat to it, even if it is just a vehicle between epic action scenes.

The action scenes are incredibly exciting to watch and are beautifully shot, drawing the audience in even more.

The “Winter Soldier” is the big villain in this movie, who is actually one of the more interesting ones compared to the rest, but pales in comparison in to Loki. There is also a major death in the movie, which was a little emotional, but what Marvel has taught me is that death doesn’t matter. While this is

a staple of comics, it’s a big turn-off to any emotions I will ever have during any superhero movie in the future.

One of the themes the plot does bring up is the timely theme of a surveillance state and what that does to society.

Its interesting and the movie does a good job of getting its point across, although it might be a little overbearing, as it shows the far extremes.

It also deals with Steve Rodgers’ struggles, as everything he knew was gone. One problem with Steve is that he doesn’t appeal to me. This isn’t a problem with the writing (which has its great witty moments), it’s a problem with me, who just doesn’t dig the whole American exceptionalism, big, bold, brash, those-damn-commies image.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” while it has its stumbling blocks, is a fun ride of action with great witty moments. It is one of the few superhero movies that tries to present a theme, and the fact that it does successfully is even more impressive.

Alan Brown

The Bad Suns are rising.

In their debut EP, “Transpose”, Bad Suns break through the clouds and begin paving their path to relevance. Widely viewed as one of the up and coming bands in the indie scene, the band shines in large part to exceptional vocals, instrumental diversity, and production.

Formed in 2012, the California based group is relatively young, composed of members in their late teens and early 20’s. The group began their careers touring behind the likes of The 1975 and The Vaccines, and have only just recently found themselves rising to prominence. When the Bad Suns

Gittle nominated for GRAMMY award Madeline Marshall Staff Writer Joel Gittle, current band director at Manhattan High School and winner of the 2012 Bob Srack Excellence in Teaching award, is now one of the more than 30,000 who has been nominated for the 2014 GRAMMY Music Educator Award.

This award was established to recognize current educators who have made a

significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. One winner will be selected from 10 finalists to be recognized for their noteworthy impact on their students’ lives. The second annual award will be presented during GRAMMY Week in 2015, and the winner will be flown to Los Angeles to ac-

cept the award and attend the 57th GRAMMY Awards, as well as receiving a $10,000 honorarium.

All current educators in the U.S., who teach music in public or private schools --kindergarten through college -- are eligible to be nominated. Music Educator applicants will be evaluated based on the demonstrated evidence that they have made a measurable difference in the lives of students, made a sig-

nificant and lasting contribution to the field of music education, are exemplars of the best in the field, have shown a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in our schools and have made a significant impact on their school and community.

Quarter-finalists will be notified by email no later than May 1.

‘Aftermath’ shows different side of school life Maddie Ross News Editor

Junior Thom Billam acts out on stage during ‘Salute to Boradway’ Maddie Ross, Photographer

+PJO VT

Manhattan High School’s Drama two classes performed their play “Aftermath” last week. The play took place in the Black Box theater and served as a learning experience for students.

It was directed by Tatyana Turner and Summer Nolden and featured the students of Drama 2. The course allows students the opportunity to experience playwriting, directing and stage-managing, and emphasizes the application of these skills.

“I loved it. They did a wonderful job,” Drama teacher Linda Uthoff said.

The play also served a more important purpose.

The 30-minute play dealt with issues of the person who

is commonly overlooked at school.

“They did such a great job, so much that some teachers and faculty members want us to perform it again, and an alternative activity during Tribe Time,” Uthoff said.

“It just speaks to a different kind of aspect, the forgotten kid,” Uthoff said.

The drama department is busy with more than just classroom performances.

The Thespians are gearing up to host the MHS Thespian Film Festival during the annual spring fling this Friday.

Entries vary in genre but all must be under 30 minutes.

In addition the drama department is also preparing for the spring play “Bus Stop,” that will take place at 7 p.m. on April 17-19 in Rezac Auditorium.

release their first album album, many expect them to have a surge in popularity similar to what Bastille experienced two years ago.

In the meantime, the band incorporates an impressive amount of unique sounds into their debut EP. Lead singer Christo Bowman admits to being heavily influenced by rock bands of the 70’s and 80’s, and it shows. On title track “Transpose”, the band supplies a healthy dose of traditional guitar and mixes it into the modern popular indie style. This type of melting pot innovation is comparable to that of The Cars in the late 70’s. The Clash and Cure are also noted as major inspirations.

Bowman’s smooth vocals are an ideal fit for the group’s wavy, dreamlike melodies.

This complementary duo is especially successful in the track, “Salt”. The lyrics on the CD are also quite impressive for his experience level.

While most novice songwriters lean on clichés or simple

rhyme scheme, Bowman’s work is in a world of its own.

This creative leap brings substance to Bad Suns’ music, which is rare to find today.

Speaking in terms of individual tracks, “Cardiac Arrest” separates itself as dominant. Led by midnight guitars, a forceful beat, and a chorus bursting with sound, the song seems destined to make a strong presence on alternative radio. The other three songs could also make the case to be quality singles, forming valuable consistency.

“Transpose” is one of the most spectacular releases of early 2014. While the band does not severely challenge the status quo of today’s indie, it manages to find creativity within the given bounds and excels in all musical categories. If the band is able to continue creating such quality work, do not expect the Bad Suns to be setting anytime soon.

Virtual reality moves into real conversation Jared Gebhardt

Social media makes a statement as technology takes a leap into a new world of virtual reality.

A recent $2 billion purchase by Facebook snagged them the company Oculus VR, makers of the upcoming Oculus Rift headset. With the prospect of an interactive, digital world at our doorsteps, it isn’t that surprising to see companies like Facebook jumping onto the VR bandwagon. However, this purchase has stirred up the waters considerably.

Developers have been joining the Oculus team since its initial kick-starter campaign left the ground, but one of its most supportive benefactors has recently parted ways with the group.

Markus Persson, known as Notch, creator of the popular sandbox game Minecraft, has made the choice to cancel a set of plans he had in store to include a virtual real-

ity version of his game when the headset released. His reason, according to a blog post he made, is his dislike of the social media giant Facebook’s new ownership of the hardware.

Notch’s skepticism rings true in more than one way, Facebook has been known to make changes to its own site that users find less than satisfactory, so what’s in store for the Rift? With technology as new as the virtual reality headsets just coming into the limelight, any sort of messup this early in the lifespan could mark an untimely end for further development of the tech.

Where it is now, most companies have their primary focus on the games industry, where the player fan base has been hoping and asking for virtual reality for years, and while a social aspect may be something implemented into the future, it should be done delicately.

With Facebook’s current track record not being one of the best, perhaps it’s better if another company leads the charge in the virtual industry, someone who can bring forward this innovative piece of technology in a way that is less scrutinized.

&EJUPST Ű%FTJHOFST Ű8SJUFST Ű1IPUPHSBQIFST Ű"E 4BMFT 3FQT Ű#VTJOFTT .BOBHFS Ű .VMUJNFEJB Apply now for 2014-2015 staff of The Mentor and Blue M. Details available from Mrs. Nyp in C107

Sports The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com Page 4

Baseball completes sweep of Topeka Greg Woods Sports Editor Perfection.

That’s what senior pitcher Jesse Steinbring achieved Friday night in Topeka, throwing a perfect game against Topeka High.

Steinbring struck out nine with just 73 pitches over the course of seven innings. “I honestly wasn’t even thinking about it till the sixth [inning],� Steinbring said. “I had a song stuck in my head till then.�

The Indians played two games while in Topeka on Friday, both against Topeka High in a doubleheader.

Steinbring’s perfect game came in the second game, a 2-0 victory over the Trojans.

Manhattan defeated THS 7-0 in the first of the duo. “[Pitching a perfect

game] takes a great team behind me,� Steinbring said. “I credit my nine [strikeouts] to Tyler Wohler behind the plate; he had to pick up my slider constantly and the other 12 to my infield and outfield behind me.� “[The perfect game] was kind of fast and surprising because first thing you know, the game’s over and everybody’s jumping on Jesse [Steinbring],� senior Bret Fehr said. “Some people were asking, ‘what just happened?’�

While the Indians managed just two runs of support in Steingbring’s performance, MHS was able to plate seven in the first game, shutting out the Trojans. “I would definitely say [the 7-0 win was because of] the pitching performance,� senior Jacob Biller said.

“Ethan Fabrizius in the first game, I think, threw a twohit shutout, and followed up

by Jesse [Steinbring]’s perfect game, which is hard to go up against. They both, as pitchers, pitched an amazing game.�

Senior Ethan Fabrizius was on the mound in the first game and set the tone for Steinbring’s perfect game.

Fabrizius threw a two-hit shutout and received plenty of run support in comparison to the second contest against the Trojans. “I tried to fill up the zone, and if they’re going to hit it, just let them hit it,� Fabrizius said. “The first game we hit the ball a lot better than we had been.�

Manhattan’s next game will be Friday at home versus Hayden.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK JUNIOR JESSE STEINBRING

Q: What’s it like to pitch a perfect game?

A:It’s more of a team effort because [the position players] had to make plays.

Q: How long have you been playing baseball?

A: I’ve been playing baseball since I could walk.

Steinbring fanned nine en route to a perfect game Friday against Topeka.

Q: What do you enjoy most about it?

A: I like striking people out. It’s fun.

Swimming takes second at home tournament Joseph Sell Staff Writer

Junior Katie Bussman competes in the Indians’ tournament last Wednesday.

Tomas Nocetti, photographer

The girls swim and dive team managed to get second place at the home tournament they hosted last Wednesday. The girls scored a 366, finishing behind Lawrence Free State, who scored a 465.

Top finishers for the team were senior Amanda Buckwalter, who took first in the 200 Free and second in the 100 free, freshman Kelly Wichmann, who took second in both the 200 IM and 500 free, senior Alana Bucholtz, who took third in the 100 back and fourth in the 100 free, junior Tara Schroller, who took second in diving, and junior Lauren Carlson, who took third in diving. The

200 free and 400 free relay teams also took second. “It’s a good way to start the season, just to have some confidence to get me fired up for later,� Buckwalter said.

Buckwalter, along with Wichmann and Bucholtz, has already received State cut. In order to get state cuts, a swimmer has to swim under a certain set time for that particular event. “I would look at the paper like last year and see how I placed last year, and I was kind of expecting to do pretty good,� Wichmann said. “We’ve got a really good group of girls, and a pretty good number of girls, around 50 there abouts, and they’re working hard and we’ve had a good start to the year,� head coach Jerry Carpenter said.

“We’re starting our training to start to intensify, starting to get harder and when you start training harder, the kids tend to be a little more tired because of the workouts we’ve been doing. So our more experienced kids are swimming a bit tired now and the kids that are newer are starting their strokes are getting better and they’re starting to get into better shape so they’re starting to swim a lot faster.�

The rest of the season ahead looks bright with the number of good swimmers and divers. The next meet will be today at Emporia for the diving team and then Thursday at Salina south for both the swimmers and divers.

Softball splits doubleheader with Topeka Track brings home 10 gold medalists Chris Klug Staff Writer You never know what to expect in the season opener with a young team. The Indians softball team split the first double header of the season with Topeka High, Friday night at Anneberg Park, with very different results. The Indians came out hot and beat the Trojans 8-7, but did not play well in the second game, falling 3-9. “The first game Aubrey [Jung] did a really good job at shutting their offense down, so they didn’t get very many hits and we didn’t have many fielding errors,� junior Sydney Bannister said. “We all were hitting well in the first game.�

The Indians were able to stay ahead for most of the game after giving up a fourrun inning that the Trojans

put together early in the game. “I struggled a little bit early and it was difficult to come back and keep throwing hard and keep getting people out,�

Jung said.

Giving up a few runs early did not hurt the team in game one, because the offense was able to give the team a spark. “I was really impressed with our offense in the first game,� Jung said. “We really hit well as a team.�

The second game was a different story, however. The Indians offense struggled to hit the way they did in game one and the defense did not play as well. “The second game we didn’t hit as well and I think we had four errors on defense and that’s never good,�

Bannister said.

Although the Indians

dropped the second game of the double header, they have a lot to look forward to.

The Indians are set to face Hayden this Friday for the team’s first true road test, and are working hard to get them prepared for the doubleheader. “We just need to keep working and be more consistent at the plate,� Bannister said.

UPCOMING GAMES t"QSJM !

Hayden t"QSJM !

Rossville t"QSJM 4IBXnee Heights

Kennedy Felice Copy Editor Despite less than ideal conditions and various cancellations, the Manhattan High track team opened their season strong last Thursday as they traveled to compete at the Washburn Rural Invite. “We had some really outstanding marks considering it was the beginning of the year and I was really pleased with everybody, from top to bottom,� head track coach Jesse Woodard said.

The Indians brought home 10 gold medals and were able to boast multiple top-three finishes. “This meet was there to just kind of get everybody marks.

They had unlimited entries, so we took a few extra people that maybe wouldn’t normally run on varsity,� Woodard

said. “But I think if they had done team scores we would have done quite well.�

Manhattan swept the 3200m, with junior Michael Melgares placing first with a time of 10:11, followed by senior Jack Keeley, junior Isaiah Koppes, and senior Nick Bandy. “We didn’t really expect that we would run very fast just because of the weather,� senior Chris Melgares said. “We just went out there and tried to compete, against other schools and the team did really well.�

Chris Melgares took first in the 1600m with a time of 4:32 and also placed first in the 4x400 alongside sophomore Brandon Religa, junior Josue Alvarado and junior Chris Martin with a time of 3:35.67. Martin also placed first in the 400m.

“This is a really exciting year.

I think we have the chance to break some school records and do some things that have not been done before,� distance coach Susan Melgares said.

Continuing the running tribe’s dominance, senior Alaina Schroeder ran a 4:32 1600m, earning her a first place finish, followed by junior Megan Ochoa in third. “Every kid sets their own individual expectations, but track isn’t only an individual sport, it is definitely a team sport as well,� Woodard said. “As a team, we expect to win League, we expect to win Regionals and of course we are looking for a top three finish at State. That’s our goal anyway.�

The Indians will travel to compete at the Topeka High Invitational April 11.

Tennis takes third in Salina

Soccer falls at Trinity Golf swings into second

“Tennis is a physical and mental game and that’s why I like it, especially when you Friday’s tennis meet in are playing singles and it’s Abilene was canceled due to just you against your opporain but the sun did shine on nent,� sophomore Varsity the tennis meet on Saturday tennis player Kirkland Lamat Salina with Manhattan bert said.

Boys tennis has currently High School boys tennis takcompleted ing third overtwo meets all. this sea“Right now son with we need to the first improve on April 8: Varsity/JV -meet being our serves.

Double faultWashburn Rural Quad hosted by Washburn ing is an issue April 10: JV -- Topeka Rural in with some of Topeka. our newer High “ W e players. The April 15: Varsity/JV just took problem is -- Junction City/Highthird and we haven’t I feel like had much land Park/Marysville it’s a pretty practice.

April 18: JV -- Emporia good start Last week to the seaQuad we played on son and Tuesday, then more wins We d n e s d a y are yet and Thursday it rained and then Friday we to come,� sophomore Ben had to focus on the doubles Turnley said.

Boys tennis is having tournament for Saturday,� head coach Joyce Allen said. another meet on April 8 The top performers of the at Washburn Rural. The most recent meet at Salina Abilene meet that was canwere Bryce Easton and soph- celed on Friday has been omore Bryan Armbrust, go- moved to April 29. ing 4-1 and taking silver.

John Rockey Staff Writer

Louis Melgarejo Staff Writer

UPCOMING MATCHES

The past week marks the Lady Indians’ first win of the season and the first time they competed against Trinity Academy out of Wichita last Friday.

Last Tuesday’s home game against Topeka West was the first win of the season with both the Junior Varsity and Varsity soccer squads winning their games.

The JV squad pulled off a 3-0 win having just comeback from the tough mercy-ruling against Blue Valley West the Saturday before. Varsity came out and finished the game with an 8-0 win after making a total of 31 kicks total to Topeka West’s two kicks.

Last Saturday, the team travelled out to Wichita to face Trinity Academy, a 4A school that made it to the State semifinals the previous year. For the past two seasons, inclement weather has prevented the teams from competing against each other. “I thought we were capable of beating them, but we didn’t play to our full poten-

tial,� junior Molly Fiser said.

The JV was unable to score and they ended up finishing 5-0 at the end of the game. Varsity faced an aggressive Trinity Academy as they would lose the game 4-2, despite having come back from Trinity’s 3-0 lead going into the 2nd half. “There were very aggressive and they were good at getting up the field in their counterattack,� junior Kelli Stockton said. “[Sanchez] was telling us to stay tucked in more because they were going man [to man] on us in the final third and he told us to just connect our passes.�

This week, the team has its second home game of the season on Thursday against Washburn Rural and go to Blue Valley-Stilwell this Saturday. With three total days of practice this week, the team is looking for every opportunity to come back and compete in their games for the rest of the season. “We just need to come out strong right off the bat, not just part way through,� junior Kelsey Schroll said.

“It was a good way to start if off. A couple of these guys hadn’t played in a high school Golf started the season tournament before, and the swinging for success. Last- other three were returning Tuesday, the Junior Varsity sophomores. But any time boys golf team opened up the you can get first or second season with a second place in an opening tournament at the Shawnee Heights tour- is a good way to start off the nament with a team score of year,� J.V. coach Craig Ackerman 380. said.

T o p T h e finishJ.V. boys ers were freshman Any time you can get first also comp e t e d Tommy or second in an opening Thursday Ekart and Cypress sophotournament is a good way at Hill. Sophmore Trevomore to start off the year. er Dillon, Gritwith soph-Craig Ackerman Cole ton was o m o r e the top F r a n k finisher Felber for the and sophIndians, o m o r e coming in J a d e n second.

Cady finW h e n i s h i n g questioned about the tourstrongly also. “I personally did good. I nament however none of could have done better than the athletes wished to comment.

I did,� Felber said.

Varsity competed yesterIn general the team seemed to agree with what day at Salina Central and Felber said, consenting that the next tournament for golf they could have done better will be on Thursday at the and weren’t shooting their Wamego country club. personal bests.

Joseph Sell Staff Writer

“

Features The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com Page 5

Janicki, Lanceta make top drama schools Maddie Ross News Editor

Seniors Faith Janicki and Macy Lanceta will be entering into some of the most prestigious theater programs in the country. Janicki will attend Ole Miss University in the fall, and Lanceta is almost positive on her choice of Florida State.

The two have been very active in theater here at Manhattan High School, Lanceta the president of Thespians.

They have made their marks here at MHS and are ready to make their marks at their respective universities.

“I am so ready for the intensive programs,” Lanceta said. “I’m ready to be challenged from a different angle.”

The process to receive admission into these programs is different than that of the standard college application.

“You prepare two monologues at least,” Lanceta said.

“And if you are doing musical theater you do a song as well.

The monologues usually add up to about a minute or so.”

“It’s very similar to the musical auditions at the school, but a little more intense,” Janicki said. “If you are doing musical theater there is sometimes a dance section as well.”

These auditions are intimidating to even the most experienced actors and actresses, but in the spirit of acting improvisation has its place.

“The weirdest thing that happened to me while I was on an audition was I was done doing my two monologues,” Lanceta said. “They asked me for my third one, and I didn’t prepare a third one. So I was like sure, I had one but hadn’t practiced it in like three months. That was definitely a curve ball for

me.”

With the process of applications and auditions over, the girls are excited to pursue their passions for theater and musical theater.

“One of my favorite quotes that sums up my love for acting is along the lines of ‘theater is beautiful because it is immediate, it is live, there is no such thing as doing it over and over again, and it touches the soul,’” Janicki said.

“I have always loved it, and I really can’t imagine myself not doing it,” Lanceta said. “I know that it is an unrealistic goal for some people, but I believe if you have passion for it you can do it. It’s not like it won’t get you anywhere. A degree is a degree, theater can open a lot of doors for other things as well.”

“I am most looking forward to getting to see outside of what I see here,” Janicki said.

Seniors Faith Janicki and Dan Schneiders perform in the Thespian’s annual Salute to Broadway. Janicki plans to pursue a career in musical theatre at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.

John Rockey, Photographer

‘Cupcake Wars’ proves to be educational experience Danielle Cook Copy Editor Inspired by Food Network’s popular “Cupcake Wars,” Manhattan High School’s culinary teacher Lorena Ingmire organized an “end-of-cake-unit” project for her Baking and Pastry classes. This project, also called “Cupcake Wars,” was oriented much like the TV show it was modeled after, meant to be an outlet for students’ presentation, financial, baking, decorating and creative skills and abilities.

“I thought it would be a fun way to wrap up our cake unit, which was mainly lessons over cake-baking and

Blood Drive from page 1 ing a pint of blood, a person can save three lives.

Ochoa believes that StuCo will continue to run the blood drive similar to how

cake-decorating with frostings and fondants,” Ingmire said. “I just hoped it would be a chance to let them [the students] use their creativity and oral presentation skills.”

Using their new knowledge about all things cake, Ingmire’s fifth and seventh hour students broken into groups and began their planning and inspirationseeking on last Friday, working to produce original theme ideas and to find recipes that could be used in their baking to help portray their themes. Monday, after all their ideas and ingre-

dients were gathered, the teams were ready to bake their cup-

cakes, and by Tuesday were ready to begin decorating.

ishing touches on their cupcakes before facing the judg-

it has been running the past couple of years. Like Nelson, Ochoa thinks the hardest thing about blood drives are the organization with the Red Cross and the workers needed to run them. How-

ever, Ochoa thinks the blood drives are still fun.

“I like the blood drive. It think it’s fun just knowing that the blood you’re donating can help people around the world,” Ochoa said.

Science Olympiad from page 1

Restaurant

When they arrived to class on Wednesday, teams were instructed to put any fin-

Graphic by Tracy Le

studying. And the few hours to talk and play, it was really nice for bonding.”

Martin agrees.

“We had all this time to study and you really bond as a team and I think that makes you feel more confident,” Martin said.

Already, there is excitement about the next school year.

“I’m excited for the class [Honors Science Investigations] next year and also, Anthony Middle School had

es, MHS staff members Joan Hetterbach, Mark Aherns and Trista Farley and MHS junior Krystyn Winiecki.

After tasting and evaluating the presentation of each team’s cupcakes, the judges chose winners from both hours.

In fifth hour, first place went to a team consisting of juniors Rose Gruenbacher and Kayla Wowakowski, and senior Megan Knudsen, who’s cupcakes had a “lemonade at the beach” theme.

“It was fun and I really liked being able to come up with our own theme ideas,” Gruenbacher said.

First place in Ingmire’s

seventh hour class went to senior Bryce Rincon and junior Jacob Denney for a set of fruity, strawberry-topped cupcakes.

“My partner and I were on the same page, so it was good for us as far as working together. It was a good experience. The judges gave some good constructive criticism,” Rincon said.

Ingmire feels that students that participated in the “Cupcake Wars” gained extra experience in decorating and presentation and hopes that they felt it was a good fun use of the skills they’ve acquired in her class so far.

a team this year and they came to State also,” Aramouni said. “So I’m excited for next year with all the freshman.”

“The coaches helped us so much,” Martin said. “I think all our coaches are really amazing and they really helped us get there and we really couldn’t have done this without them.”

“I’m very excited for next year,” Nelson said. “Of course, with the new class… that should help us improve even more.”

Apply now for 20142015 staff of The Mentor and Blue M. Details in C107

Trending The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com

Autism Awareness Month shines light on special needs at MHS Madison Newman Staff Writer It’s that time of year again to spread the word around the globe and try to make a difference. It is National Autism Awareness Month when people take time to recognize those with special needs. National Autism Awareness Month has been around as late as the 1970s.

Senior Adelle Sloan is very open about her autism. “Some people don’t understand, but it’s very important for people to be aware,�

Sloan said.

Sloan feels that people don’t really treat her negatively at Manhattan High School. “Autism is everywhere. It happens all over the world. If people think it is a silly thing then they are wrong. It’s a serious thing,� Sloan said. “Everyone should have a friend with autism.�

Junior Kurtis Rich is a part of the growing percentage of those who care and gladly shows his support to those who have special needs. “They’re humans, you know? They can’t always help what they do and depending upon the severity

of their problem, they are really just like us. They need love, too,� Rich said.

When talking about a sensitive issue that allows for negativity, “the best you can do is just ignore them. Personally, it changes my outlook on a person who says that stuff, and I don’t have the time or patience to waste with that kind of negativity,�

Rich said.

Junior Kendrick Rivera smiles at the thought of his autistic little cousin, Justin. “He’s about 12. Whenever we go out shopping or whatever we take him along, people aren’t really rude but sometimes they stare,� Rivera said. “I wish I had the time to participate more, but I’m busy and I can’t do a whole lot. I do wear the blue and my family always does their best to spread the word.�

Para-educator Jamie Schnee has been working with students with special needs program for a time now and also participates in Autism Awareness month. “It’s good to shed light on autism. It is a worldwide thing. It’s becoming more common so people are beginning to accept it more.

It’s almost like when they

hear the word ‘autism’ they get scared, but really, there is nothing to be afraid of.

These kids are just as loving as any others,� Schnee said. “It’s like when people think of autism they think of one specific person they have in mind.� “They think of ‘Rainman,’ which isn’t even accurate,� para-educator Chris Blanton said. “Autism is on a spectrum,�

Schnee said. “The way that I would define it is as people using their brains differently. There are certain senses that are just heightened. It’s all about how you process information.� “It’s like an umbrella.

Everybody’s got some little mannerism that would classify them as on the spectrum.

It’s just to what degree and if it interferes with the learning process,� Blanton said. “Like I said, it’s all about how you process things. It is just that some things are more sensitive. It’s not a matter of being slow. There are so many variations and that is what people don’t understand,�

Schnee said.

Autism Awareness Month

Approximately

4,000 children with down syndrome are born in the U.S. every year

.

13% of K-12 students receive special education services.

Autism now affects 1 in every 68 children 1/68

As many as 5 out of every 100 children in school may have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Boys are three times more likely than girls to have AD/HD.

50% About two million Americans have epilepsy; of the 125,000 new cases that develop each year, up to 50% are in children and adolescents.

and 1 in every 42 boys 1/42

About 500,000 people in America have some form of Cerebral Palsy. Each year 8,000 infants and nearly 1,500 preschool-age children are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.