F LY I N G B E A R S
AP Statistics students captapult gummy bears in experiment
Juniors Chance Andrade and Bhawantha Nilaweera get ready to launch a gummy bear for their AP Statistics class. The students designed the catapult in the experimental design unit. PHOTO BY DYLAN THOMAS
Volume 103 // Issue 7 // Nov. 3, 2015
ANNA HUPP
Staff Writer
The victim rested stiffly on its back in the catapult bucket, eyes staring blankly ahead. The scientist laid out the measuring tape. He signaled to his partner, and the victim was released into the air. It was just another day in AP Statistics last Wednesday as students catapulted gummy bears. “The students have been learning about experimental design in class, so now they’re actually applying it,” AP Statistics teacher Laura Sapp said. “They’re using their knowledge of experimental design to actually create and conduct an experiment where they’re testing whether the angle at which a gummy bear is launched affects how far the gummy bear travels.” The gummy bear lab was worth a test grade. Students weren’t the only ones whose estimations about
the mentor
SEE STATS PAGE 3
FFA attends national convention in Kentucky ANDREA LU
Graphics Editor FFA headed to a four-day convention in Kentucky last week to experience a variety of new things and to meet new people from other FFA chapters. Only senior FFA member Brooke Bliss, her sister Faith, and FFA sponsor Rachel Green attended the convention. “At the convention we went to an opening session, concert, the expo/career fair, FFA mall, a general session, rodeo, Kentucky horse park, and Churchill Downs,” Bliss said. Bliss greatly enjoyed the trip and felt she learned a lot about FFA. “I’ve learned a deeper knowledge of what FFA really is, some additional background on the FFA history and what different careers, colleges, and the current jobs/studies out there today,” Bliss said. “I also learned more information on the background of the Kentucky Derby and their race horses.” Bliss could not choose just one thing about the trip that she liked the most.
SEE FFA PAGE 3
Scholars Bowl places second at Emporia meet ANDREA LU
Graphics Editor Gearing up for their second meet of the season, the Manhattan High Scholars Bowl team headed to Emporia for the Emporia Invitational. The competition consisted of some larger schools and stronger teams than the meet in Salina. “It was a little bit different in the fact that we see different schools down there because they drew from Wichita,” Scholars Bowl coach Ted Dawdy said. “There were some Wichita schools that came up to Emporia and Lawrence Free State and some Topeka schools, they came down so we got to see some Wichita competition that we don’t usually see because that’s a long way to travel. And there was lot more [schools including]
Wichita Independent which is a very high functioning team, Wichita East, you know, [and] Lawrence Free State so we saw some competition we don’t usually see around the area.” The competition was set up in a round robin play with the MHS team ultimately placing second overall. “There were two different pools, 20 teams and [half the teams] were in a pool of 10,” Tim Ekart, Assistant Scholars Bowl Coach, said. “And so we played every team at least once and out of that they took the two best teams from each pool into a semifinal and then a final.” Ekart explained how the MHS Scholars Bowl team did at Emporia. “At Emporia, we went eight and one in pool play. We played some larger school districts, Independent school and Wichita East and St. James Academy
and we lost to Independent School in pool play.” The MHS Scholars Bowl team
“There was one math question we had to do three times over because they kept giving the wrong solutions on the answer key,”
--Owen Li
made it through the semifinals beating both Wichita East schools and then proceeded to the finals where they lost to Hayden. Two team players, senior Sterling Edgar and junior Owen Li, both felt the team could have done better but weren’t necessarily disappointed with
the results. “So what we’ve been doing is we’ve been practicing on Mondays and Tuesdays [and] this tournament was a Monday so we could’ve been out of practice too because it’s been almost a whole week since then,” Edgar said. As for highlights in the competition, Edgar and Li both had noteworthy things to say. “There was one math question we had to do three times over because they kept giving the wrong solutions on the answer key,” Li said. For Edgar, missing a question on Ray Bradbury wasn’t the brightest moment of the team’s performance. “Our team has a tradition where we take Ray Bradbury as our patron author for Scholars Bowl and we make
SEE SCHOLARS PAGE 3
Key Club’s Autozone car wash canceled due to weather, members trick-or-treat for UNICEF MAYA MINOCHA
Staff Writer
This past weekend, Key Club was scheduled to have a car
wash at the Autozone for a fundraiser. The event was cancelled due to inclimate weather conditions. “It had rained the night be-
fore and the day of was super cold,” Key Club president Rachel Chang said. “We figured it was the best option to cancel.” With the temperature being
around 50 degrees, they decided it was best to not do the car wash.
SEE KEY PAGE 3
Debate hosts home tournament to Kansas high schools ELIZABETH UNDERWOOD
Features Editor
Seniors Sterling Edgar, Nathan McClendon and assistant debate coach Kristal Kleiner manage judge registration during the tournament the school hosted. PHOTO BY ANGIE MOSS
GLOBAL NEWS MADELINE MARSHALL Print Editor-in-Chief
Global news is a vital part of news today and can directly affect MHS students. In order to inform our readers, The Mentor has compiled small summaries describing some of the largest happenings in the world today. We encourage the reader to read about these topics, and others, in greater depth.
GOP candidates demand greater control over debates Republican presidential campaigns gathered outside of Washington, D.C. on Sunday night to discuss potential changes to the GOP debates format, a
move that comes amid widespread frustration with the Republican National Committee’s handling of the nomination process. The Republican presidential campaigns that spent days advocating for an overhaul of the debates emerged from the meeting with only modest proposals for change -- and a great deal of disagreement. The campaigns’ requests -- a two-hour time limit, 30 seconds for opening and closing statements, equal speaking time for each candidate -- were remarkably limited in scope when compared to the ambitious proposals put forth in the days leading up the meeting. But the campaigns failed to agree on key proposals, including bringing the so-called undercard candidates onto the main stage. “The last debate was kind of ridiculous,” GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush sadi according to The Washington Post. “I say this
Almost every student’s nightmare is having to spend 11 to 12 extra hours working at school on a Saturday. All over the country, high school debate programs usually have to do that once a season, and Manhattan High’s turn was last weekend. “[MHS students] got to the school...at 6:35, and then all the competitors got there around 7:30, in the morning,” sophomore Lily Colburn said. Setting up and running the somewhat in jest: At least there was someone who fared worse in the last debate than me — CNBC.”
tournaments hosted a new challenge for students as they had to make sure everything was timely and get both judges and debaters to their designated areas. “It’s a different kind of stress because instead of focusing on doing well at the tournament you, you’re focusing on having a well-run tournament,” senior Cathy Lei said. Taking charge and controlling how a tournament plays out is a complex process for students, but also allows them to have hands-on experiences with leading and controlling
the outcome of hosted events. “It could have gone better because there were a lot of issues going around the tournament, especially the fact that it was disorganized,” junior Robin Joung said. “A lot of issues were, basically, a lot of people didn’t know where rooms they were going to be in because a lot of things were mixed up and everything came out late and such.” Members in the Debate program also spent time both setting up and cleaning the school
The incident has brought the discussion of the unfair treatment and abuse of black girls and women to the forefront of the nation’s reignited race discussion.
shooting at the officers, several of whom returned fire, according to the police account. The authorities said the assailant’s motive was unclear. Officials have not released any information about the suspect or those killed.
SEE DEBATE PAGE 3
South Carolina SRO throws black girl, is fired, Shooting leaves four dead reignites racial debates in Colorado Springs Plane crashes over SiThe South Carolina high school Law enforcement authorities nai, kills all on board resource officer at a who was filmed tossing a black teen from her desk and dragging her was fired, officials announced on Wednesday. That officer, Ben Fields, was initially put on unpaid leave after the video surfaced last week. In the original confrontation on Monday, Fields can be heard telling the student to get up. He then grabbed the student as she was in her seat, which caused the girl and the chair to flip over onto the floor. Fields was then seen dragging the girl for several feet and restraining her on the ground. The female student’s attorney told the New York Times that she suffered injuries to her head, arm, neck and back during the incident.
in Colorado investigated a shooting over the weekend that left four people dead, including the suspect, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police officers in Colorado Springs. Police officials said Sunday that the officers involved in the shooting on Saturday had been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to The Denver Post. The Colorado Springs Police Department said officers encountered a person with a gun just over a halfmile away from a residential area at an intersection with fast-food restaurants, businesses and a high school campus. The person began
A Russian airliner crashed in Egypt above the Sinai peninsula killing all 224 people onboard on Saturday. According to Russia’s top aviation official, it broke apart in mid-air. The Airbus A321-200, bound for St. Petersburg, Russia from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh dropped “abruptly from 31,000 feet just 23 minutes” after it took off, according to the Associated Press. Aviation experts and search teams are surveying an area of about six square miles looking for bodies and strewn parts of the plane.
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Opinions
The Mentor // NOV. 3, 2015 // MHSMentor.com Page 2
Student drug culture harmful to teens Just keep digging THIS EDITORIAL IS A COMPILATION FROM A DISCUSSION HELD BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD. TO LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION THAT LED TO THIS PIECE, VISIT WWW.MHSMENTOR. COM.
Last week a car crash at Oklahoma State University led to the death of four and the injury of dozens more. The driver, Adacia Chambers, was reportedly under the influence of drugs. The Mentor editorial board feels now is a good time to discuss substance abuse at our own school. It’s not a secret to Manhattan High students that drugs and alcohol have a large presence at Manhattan High. Probably the most prevalent substance at our school is marijuana. The “weed culture” at MHS, the pride and incessant bragging revolving around smoking weed and wearing weed-decorated couture, is, frankly, ridiculous. No matter how “cool” it may be, the bragging just isn’t smart. Why would you openly talk about illegal
substance abuse? One of the arguments often made is that these substances are “actually harmless.” But that simply isn’t true. While the war on drugs itself may be rooted in racism and furthering a power regime, the science showing the harms of drugs is not just government propaganda. Weed is extremely detrimental to the frontal cortex of still-developing individuals and the brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 26 at the earliest. So, yeah, high schoolers and college-goers you actually ARE hurting your thought and reasoning capabilities when you get high. Also, the reasons behind your drug use (whether it be for “transcendental” purposes, as a coping mechanism for bad life circumstances or just because you’re into that stuff) aren’t logical. As cliche as it may sound, you can achieve all of the things drugs supposedly give you without getting high. Drugs do not bring you to a higher plane of exis-
tence -- you can find Nirvana another way (And no, we’re not talking about the band). If you’re dealing with bad life circumstances, we’re very sincerely sorry. You are fantastic. You don’t deserve to be in a bad situation and we promise you can get through this without drugs. There a ton of people who care about you and will gladly do everything in their ability to help you. Don’t be afraid to approach them. And if you just like it a lot (Really?), find something else to do, man. Seriously. But, considering that you probably think this editorial is lame (maybe because of the current state of your frontal cortex?), we’re going to assume you won’t actually take this advice so, please, at least pay attention to the next bit. If you are going to do these things, do it in a safe environment. If you “need” to smoke weed or drink or do anything else, make sure you have someone staying sober to
help you stay safe. Don’t drink and drive or anything else like that. Because these substances can, as depicted by the incident at OSU, lead to the death of yourself or other people and that’s not cool. At all. Now, for the administration and faculty of MHS, we encourage you to have a firmer stance on drugs. Yes, we know you “say no to drugs,” but there’s not a lot of bite to go along with the bark. Punish people. Just do it. They might not like it, and you might think they’re just being dumb, experimenting teens, but in the end if you nip the bud early (no pun intended, we swear) you could very well save lives. So that’s it for now folks. Just to reiterate what you’ve heard in legitimately every health class for the past at least nine years: Don’t do drugs. Don’t Drink. And above all, be safe because we don’t want you or anyone else to die.
ANNA HUPP
Staff Writer
Can we publish an article of questions? That would be great. I have a lot. Is it a big world or a small world? How much should you rely on others? How do you change? How do you build relationships? How much should you expose yourself? Living with questions is weird. You’re stuck in suspense, because don’t know who you are and where you stand. You’re kind of paused, unsure of where you are going. Because you don’t know anything your only option is to hunt for solutions. This is not glamourous. It basically means sifting on
your hands and knees for a pearl that you know is somewhere in this dirt patch. It takes a long time. I think searching for answers is important, though. It’s better to live your life in agonizing search and find the truth than to wallow in safe, familiar lies. Lies are like that one TV show you know isn’t very good but that is easier to watch than to do anything else. I also think that there is something about the truth we crave instinctively. Truth resonates somewhere deep, and when we are desperate, with nothing to else to pad heartbreak, we cling to the truth like a lifeline. Truth saves us. So if your fingers are grimy with dirt because you’re scrounging around on your knees, don’t give up. The truth is worth the toil. And anyone who really looks will find it.
Letter to the Editor:
A parent response to Principal Hoyt’s Letter Principal Hoyt, I read, with as much objectivity as I could, your article in the opinions section of your school paper. I in fact read it twice because I was struck by several issues you bring up but don’t seem to understand. You mention with great vigor how you love the school, and speak of your investment in teaching and coaching there. This is the first part that puzzles me. You seem to be very disappointed that your sports teams captains did not garner the same reaction that the “entertainment” section of your pep rally did. It seems to really aggravate you. I understand your long history with MHS athletics, I understand you are also the parent of a former MHS athlete and in these
capacities I understand your (well earned) bias towards MHS athletics and MHS athletes. What I do not understand is how, as the school’s principal, you seem to be oblivious to the fact that the majority of your students are not involved nor have an interest in athletics. It would be akin to someone taking offence that you were not as enthralled with the musings of a KSU anthropology professor as you are with Bill Snyder’s. It is a real shame that you don’t seem to consider the majority of your students. Homecoming is the ONE event that can encompass the entirety of your student body, and include the less athletically gifted, and raise the morale of EVERY student, not just your athletes. The second issue I can’t
Question of the
week:
“spookiest part of Halloween? The speed at which the department stores have switched to Christmas” -- Emma Lansdowne, sophomore (@epicemma55)
grasp is how you mention, repeatedly, that 98 percent is great, yet you choose to focus three quarters of your opinion on the 2 percent you cannot tolerate. You had the opportunity to express
“Your puritan attitude to what amounted to 3 seconds of their performance ... is at best, ridiculously hypocritical! ” -- William Gold your thoughts on what is good and right yet chose to focus primarily on what some have done (in your eyes) wrong. And it is that 2 percent that brings me to my next, most troubling issue: You say the powderpuff cheerleaders were basically so vulgar that you will ban the practice
Next edition’s question:
Thoughts on the upcoming election? STAFF MEMBERS: Madeline Marshall -- Print EditorIn-Chief/Opinions Greg Woods -- Online Editor -InChief Tracy Le -- News Editor Savannah Cherms -- Entertainment Editor Erick Echegaray -- Sport Editor Elizabeth Underwood -- Features Editor Angie Moss -- Trending Editor Cora Astin -- Photo Editor Andrea Lu -- Graphics Designer/ Copy Editor Alan Brown -- Copy Editor Staff Writers -- Anna Alanazi, David
Fliter, Ale Flores, Anna Hupp, Megan Klug, Gavin Larios, Jordan Lutz, Tara Magaña, Maya Minocha, Dakota Santiago Staff Photographers -- McKenna Eilert, Logan Logback, Moriah Presley, Lauren Race, Dylan Thomas Kristy Nyp -- Adviser Circulation -- Kim Schnee’s fifth hour class: Kristyn Baker, Caleb Barnes, Dalton Blake, Wesley Cattanach, Charlie Dickey, Karl Drown, Rachel Efken, Logan Jones, Lynne Jones, Colten Kirk, Josh Kohls, Douglas McCaskill, Faith A. Parker, Alesha Pearl, Megan Ritthisorn, Bradley Rollins, Mythias Sat-
at) is at best, ridiculously hypocritical. How is what you refer to as “butt rubbing” any more offensive than the music that plays for a half hour during pregame football warm ups EVERY HOME GAME? This music is one long profanity laced, misogynistic, violence-glorifying rap concert. I am there
every game and it is a bit of a running joke among parents and even the visiting journalists how you and Mr. [Mike] Marsh are completely oblivious to the F-bombs, B-Words, N-Words, and drug references. This tends to make your “offense” at a three second dance performance comical and capricious. Third, I’m not sure you really pay much attention to the student section at your sporting events. If you did you could not possibly be so “deflated.” This student body does turn out in force for sporting events. They travel well; in fact, I guarantee there were more MHS students at several away football games than there were home team fans. This student body gets behind the teams, but your comments, so carelessly
thrown into the school paper, will undoubtedly lead many to question why they bother. That is sad; it’s a shame and it is an unfortunate choice of words and attitude on your part. Hopefully you will consider not reacting so harshly in the future, and have some consideration for the larger portion of your student body that also “loves” their school but are not as personally invested in athletics as you are. I also hope, for the future students and families of MHS, that you make a concerted effort to understand your student body demographics and act in their best interest rather than the knee jerk reaction you seemed to take.
Proud MHS Parent, William J. Gold
Sex Offenders punished weakly for crimes What the jurisdiction they are 13 or kidnapped a minor was the within and classifying without parental accomthem into three different paniment, their punish“tiers.” The first tier ap- ment is listed as at least #spookiest plies to the assault of any one year in prison and a person over 18, conspir- lifetime place on the regacy ideas to commit the istry. part Within this act there crime or specified crimes against children, military are many problems that officials or people in a the government should of ELIZABETH federal office. Rarely ever identify. The first is dividUNDERWOOD resulting in jail time for ing sexual offenses into Entertainment Editor halloween? the offenders, this tier is categories of how “bad”
“I looked in the mirror once... long story short, I cried.” -- Kevin Harper, senior (@KevinKah214)
“college apps” -- Krista Burton, senior (@itskristaanne)
forever. Number one, that is, of course, your prerogative, but secondly your puritan attitude to what amounted to three seconds of their performance (which they worked incredibly hard
“scholarships” -- John Benfer, senior (@FourDoodsJohn)
“I saw a child dressed up as donald trump, and that was pretty terrifying.” --Justin Wickham, senior (@JustinWickham) terfield, Amissa Self, Tedi Stein, Hannah Sullivan and Austin Tatum. The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,000 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contributions from the public. E-mail us at mhsmentor@gmail.com.
There are 843,260 known convicted sex offenders walking around in the U.S., and even more have been able to get off of the list. The country is still not doing enough to keep these offenders away from their choice of victim. Lately it is being discovered that some teachers have either been classified as a sex offender in the past, or have been molesting and raping their students. In addition to that, the policies on these offenders in the U.S. have become exceedingly lax. Although the U.S. Department of Justice has a sex offender search program for anyone in the public with access to the internet, most offenders get their crimes wiped clean after ten years. This presents a growing problem. Starting in 2006, the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act” was passed, forcing offenders to register with
the kindest of the punish-
“People who have done such acts should not be allowed to get out of their crime with a slap on the wrist. ” ments. Adding to the lack of time in prison, the offenders also receive a 10-year sentence of being listed on the Sex Offender Registry before having that part of their record wiped clean. Tier two is the middle ground of punishment for offenders. These are people who have taken part in sex trafficking, coercion and enticement, abusive sexual behavior, prostituting minors or child pornography. Punishments for a tier two offender are at least one year in prison and a place on the registry for 25 years. The third tier is considered the worst of the three. Offenders having sexually abused children under
they are. When a person is sexually assaulted by someone, there should not be a classification system for it. There is no one deed of rape or molestation that dominates others. Another problem is that these offenders are able to walk freely among people that could easily become their next victim, some being known as offenders, some not. People who have done these such acts should not be allowed to get out of their crime with a slap on the wrist. The government seems to have no acknowledgement of the seriousness of these crimes and the effect it has on both family and the person who was attacked. The laws and acts addressing these people need to be of equal punishment and with more severity than what is being allowed. Sex offenders should not be allowed a chance to hurt more people either physically or psychologically.
Page 3
The Mentor // NOV. 3, 2015 // MHSMentor.com Entertainment
Harper immerses himself, others in guitar music
Playing for keeps
East Campus gym teacher Robert Harper strums a few chords while members of his third hour class get changed. Harper’s mindless strumming has become a staple in the East Campus gym. PHOTOS BY CHANDLER MIXON
ANNA ALANAZI
Staff Writer
As you walk into the east campus gymnasium, you might hear P.E. teacher Robert Harper playing his guitar as if he was playing for an audience, where, in fact, it’s for his own entertainment. While students continue to run laps around the gym, Harper continues to strum his guitar. Many students know Harper, even if they’ve never had his class, from the minor fame he has gained playing guitar during P.E. To him, if a day goes by without playing the guitar, it’s as if that day has gone to waste.
ARTIST OF THE WEEK Sophomore Mady Trujillo First chair violin What’s it like being concert master? -“I try to be as humble about it as possible, but it is something I take a lot of pride in and I had to work for it.” Why violin? -“Around christmas time about six years before my great grandfather died they had all gotten violins. He kind of played around with it but never really learned how to play it, and so once I had learned that the violin was his I knew I had to play it, I didn’t want to play a band instrument. I wanted to play it for my grandpa, it was really special to me.” Were you and your great grandfather close? -“Me and my great grandpa had so much fun together, he lived on a farm and he would always be the one to put chickens on my head.” Do you plan on playing in college?-“I think it would be really cool to play violin in college, if my schooling will let me. I want to be a doctor, and that’s a big commitment. If I had the time and the opportunity and it sticks with me I would love to.”
MADY TRUJILLO
“I play something everyday,” Harper said. “I don’t practice; I just play. I love to play.” Harper grew up with music; his family loved it and it was his entertainment. Whether he was listening to it at church or house parties, it was always there with him. “I played violin in elementary school,” Harper said. “So one day I picked it up and had it holding like [a guitar] and my music teacher got mad, so I kept doing it.” It was obvious he had more interest in the guitar than in other instruments. He worked in a music store in high school, and watch people taking guitar lessons in the studio. He then
taught himself. “You got chord charts all over the place and so you’d learn the chords from there,” Harper said. “So I can kind of piece them together.” In his life, Harper has played in front of a crowd twice: at his father’s funeral and for a talent night when he worked for the National Cheerleading Association. Despite his lack of audience. Though Harper’s skill is advanced, he wishes his experience were different. “I wish I could go backwards, way back to the beginning and start over with the basics like you’re supposed to do; but everytime I try to do that I get bored and say ‘well forget that, I’m going to do this [my way].’”
Viola Choir works to prepare for April festival SAVANNAH CHERMS
Entertainment Editor
Not many people can say that they spend four to five months to prepare for an event. Spending hours upon hours practicing and rehearsing just for that one moment of glory isn’t something everyone does. This isn’t an uncommon situation in a high school. And it isn’t uncommon among members of Manhattan High’s Viola Choir. The Viola Choir is almost exactly what it
sounds like: an ensemble of viola players, coming from both the Chamber Orchestra and Symphonic Orchestra who spend their Tuesday nights practicing for the solo and ensemble festival in April. “It’s fun; we’re just one really big viola section,” senior Emma Brase said. “There are a couple of us from the chamber orchestra and others in the symphonic but we’re all really friendly and it’s cool.” The group has spent
the last few months diligently practicing and preparing for the Solo and Ensemble Festival taking place in April. Even with this far away performance, the group is still dedicated to their art. “The competition is our main thing, but we have been looking for other pieces to perform,” Brase said. “It’s hard to find pieces for three to four violas, that’s not really a common thing out there so the selection of music is really limited.” Another struggle that
that group faces is the differing strengths of each member. Because the group is open to any viola player, members have to work through their varying skill level. “You’ll have some pieces that are too difficult for the group to play, knowing the range of skills, then there are others that are too easy or that we’ve already played before so it’s kind of hard to come up with a piece to fit us this year.” Brase said.
Drama students gain experience with working under time crunch ALE FLORES
Staff Writer
From the story of a guy that divided himself into two different personalities to a guy that brings her dead wife to a ship in an oblong box, “Jeckyll and Hyde,” Oblong Box and Sleepy Hollow were the three different spooky
FROM STATS PAGE 1 the gummy bear experiment were imperfect. “I way over-predicted how many gummy bears I thought I would need so I let them [the students] consume some of the subjects after they were done,” Sapp said. As one would expect, students did not pass up the opportunity to eat
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tales that the second and and sixth hour of drama one classes portrayed last week. “I learned that trying to get something done in a certain amount of time can be a little frustrating,” freshman Talitha Peverill said. This was an assignment given to students
to learn a little bit more about how to prepare in a short amount of time and how to loosen up about talking in front of people. “I think Mrs. [Linda] Uthoff wanted us to learn how with experience you can always do better,“ freshman Rebekah Efken said. “It was a good experience.”
Any student that had permission to go to the drama room was welcome to come and watch the shows. “I like that you get to interact with new people and learn new things,” senior Jose Banuelos said. “I learned that to make something right you have to spend time doing it.”
candy in class. “Yeah, I ate gummy bears,” Tammie Melton, senior, said. “Mrs. Sapp said they were the cheap kind but they were really good.” “Justin [Wickham] and I had, like, a contest to see who could catch the most [gummy bears] in our mouths,” Emma Devane, senior, said. The catapults were
constructed on Tuesday, Oct. 27. “We spent about the last 10, 15 minutes of class building our catapult,” Devane said. “We filled out our pre-lab stuff about how many different trials we would have and what angles we would shoot the catapult at. We wrote about lurking variables and other stats things too.”
Students enjoyed the lab. “It was really fun to see how our catapult worked because we built it,” Devane said. “It was fun to see how far they [the gummy bears] would go.” “It was pretty different than what you would do in the average math class,” senior Nate MacCharles said.
FROM SCHOLARS PAGE 1
FROM KEY PAGE 1
constant jokes about Ray Bradbury so it was a really low point in the tournament when we missed a Ray Bradbury question,” Edgar said. Next Tuesday, the team will be heading to Chapman for their next meet.
“We just didn’t want to be wet in the cold,” Chang said. Although the car wash was cancelled, Key Club had a service project planned that night. “We still went out and
did trick-or-treat for UNICEF that night,” Chang said. The money they raised from trick-or-treating went to the Eliminate project geared toward eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus.
FROM FFA PAGE 1
FROM DEBATE PAGE 1
“There wasn’t just one thing that I enjoyed the most about the trip,” Bliss said. “It was more like little bits and pieces of the trip such as the concert, rodeo, meeting new people, seeing what different things there are out there today, going to Churchill Downs.”
afterwards to leave as little of a mess for the custodial staff as possible. “We had to clean up, give stuff back [to school officials], like walkie-talkies, and yeah just clean up after other people who came here and fix up rooms,” Lei said. The home tournament was also a great way for
the Manhattan community to take another step in supporting the school and all the programs it hosts by volunteering to judge the different debates. “We definitely want to thank all the judges that showed up,” Colburn said. “It definitely meant a lot to us that we got so many judges because it shows that everyone wants to support Manhattan High’s Debate Team.”
Sports The Mentor // NOV. 3, 2015 // MHSMENTOR.COM Page 4
Girls Cross Country takes State title MEGAN KLUG
Staff Writer
As the gun shot for the final race of the season, the hearts of the runners pounded. They prepared to put every ounce of energy they had into their performance. When the Manhattan High girls Varsity team was named State champion, excitement filled the air.
“Both me, Cara (Melgares) and Clara (Mayfield) had pretty rough races individually, so right after we didn’t really think we had pulled it off,” junior Anna Keeley said. “When Kory Cool told us we were officially state champions everyone was crying and super excited; it was a special moment for us all together.”
The team traveled to Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence in hopes to succeed. The girls’ side finished on top with a nail biting tie. The tie breaker was later determined by the sixth runner of both teams. For MHS, that runner was sophomore Cristina Martinez. “Honestly I just thought my race wasn’t a big deal because I was the
especially the fourteen seniors who waved goodbye to Bishop Stadium as the Indians will not play at home for the rest of the playoffs. “It’s a crazy experience, we’ve all been together since we were about ten and to go through everything together was great” senior goalkeeper Wes Whitney said. The Indians will now play rivals Washburn for the second time this season in the round of SubState. “It happens every year. It’s always a good game and we’re ready to bring it,” junior defender Conall Root said. In the past two years, both MHS and Washburn have knocked themselves out of the playoffs. “It’s a huge game every year. We knocked them out in 2013 and they knocked us out last year so, we’re up again in
2015,” Coach Frank Alonso said. Manhattan’s only home loss of the season came at the hands of Washburn in a 4-2 loss earlier this season. “Every time when we come out [against Washburn], we always come out overhyped and we don’t play our game so we just need to get out there and bully them,” Root said. “We need to relax. We’re freaking out everytime we get on the field, we’re not playing composed, we’re not playing they way we’re supposed to play. We’re lucky we even got the first goal, but we got the win and that’s all that matters,” The Indians will travel to play Washburn today to decide which team will move on to State.
sixth runner, but I was getting yelled at to pass a couple specific people so I figured those people were important,” Martinez said. “When I heard that we won it didn’t matter to me that I had been the tie breaker, it was just an amazing feeling to be a part of the team that got to see the outcome of our hard work.” The boys team just
missed finishing in the top three, but placed highly as fourth in the state. Throughout the year the team has struggled with injuries that have made things more difficult as well. Junior Jackson Schroeder and sophomore Cooper Schroeder made great contributions to the team, finishing second and 19th in the state, respectively.
“Our team wasn’t upset how we finished because we also beat a lot of really good teams,” Schroeder said. “Working hard in the season with all the team and racing with these guys has been awesome.”
Soccer takes Regionals, moves on to Sub-State ERICK ECHEGARAY
Sports Editor
In what was their last home game of the season last thursday, the Manhattan High soccer team came out to win. They defeated Hutchinson High to once again become champions of the region in a 1-0 victory that took place in Bishop Stadium. Senior Ben Turnley scored the winning, and only, goal of the game after a ball that was crossed from a free kick was lost in the opponent’s box. “It kind of just happened. Whatever the team needed, I was going to be there,” Turnley said. After the goal, the match would go scoreless for the remaining 70 minutes of the game leaving the Indians as Regional champions. After the game, the team would celebrate ecstatically on the pitch,
All-time leading scorer Austin French, senior, jumps to block a Hutchinson player from scoring. PHOTO BY ANNA ALANAZI
Volleyball loses at State
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK GREG WOODS
Online Editor-in-Chief Anna Keeley wasn’t on her feet when she finished Saturday’s race. Instead, she collapsed onto the earth just in front of the finish line. Opponents flew by. Her efforts had earned her an 11thplace finish at the 6A State cross country meet in Lawrence. A senior, she also helped her team claim its first State championship since 1979. “It was definitely intimidating knowing how much rested on that one race,” she said. “I just tried to do what I did every other race.” As for when she felt her legs give way to the strain she had forced them under for the last five kilometers, she said the moment re-
mains vague. “It was a weird race. I’m not really sure what happened,” Keeley said. “I think I might have gone a little too hard on some of the hills.” She finishes her short one-year high school cross country career with a State title to her name, and said that the experience was unlike any other. “It’s been amazing,” Keely said. “I love my team. It’s been a great season. We’ve had so much fun. I’ve never been on a team like this.” She is undecided as to whether she will compete at the college level, but said the bond she made on this year’s team was intimate. “They’re all like my sisters,” Keely said of her teammates. “I love them all.”
ANNA KEELEY
JORDAN LUTZ
Staff Writer
Traveling to the Topeka Expocentre on Friday, Varsity volleyball competed for a chance to win the State Championship. The team ended up last in the tournament. The girls played against Washburn Rural, Blue Valley West and Blue Valley Northwest. “I thought we played really well as a team and Travelling to the Topeka Expocentre on Friday, Varsity volleyball competed for a chance to win the State Championship. The team ended up last in the tournament. The girls played against Washburn Rural, Blue Valley West and Blue Valley Northwest. “I thought we played really well as a team and we never did give,” sophomore middle blocker Kenzie Pease said. The team lost their matches and was ineligible to move on to the championship match. “Two of the three
matches we went to three sets and came up short, which is always hard and disappointing knowing we were right there and just couldn’t finish,” Pease said. “On the other hand, knowing we were capable of hanging in with the other teams was also a boost to know we did deserve to be at that state tournament.” This was the Varsity seniors’ last chance to play for the season. Ending on a loss has left some of them feeling disappointed. “It was kind of disappointing because this was probably my last day I’ll ever play volleyball,” senior Sarah Middendorf said. “It’s kind of a bummer to end on a loss but we all played well so I felt good about it.” Despite the sadness from ending on a loss, there are still some positive feelings from the seniors. “I’m just glad I got to finish it off with the people that I finished with,” Middendorf said. “It was a good season.”
Football finishes out season on positive note with Senior Night victory GREG WOODS
Online Editor-in-Chief Under Friday night’s cold, night sky and a thick layer of clouds that continued to shed a relentless downpour huddled a gathering of small children, teenagers and adults just outside the Bishop Stadium locker room. They all waited for the same thing: the Manhattan High football team. It was a team that was minutes removed from a 28-8 Senior Night win over Washburn Rural, a team that had just finished its season at 5-4 and a team whose stadium serves as the final resting place of many of its members’ football careers. The team began to emerge: the underclassmen, the injured players, the coaches and the managers, but no senior had shown his face yet. They lingered in the hallowed building they would never enter for the same reason again. They finally began to surface, some quicker than others and some
with drier faces than others. They greeted their friends and family and embraced their loved ones. Senior Jemell Richardson, who finished the game with four rushing touchdowns, said it was a struggle leaving the locker room. “It was really hard,” Richardson said. “The feeling can’t explain it. You just don’t want to. I just wanted to sit down and never leave.” Two and a half hours earlier, however, the team left it for the newlydedicated Lew Lane Field for its last game of the season, a district contest against Washburn Rural. The first quarter was a stalemate. The Indians got as far as the Junior Blues’ 15-yard line on their first drive and the 16 on their second drive, but the series stalled. On one play in particular early in the second frame, junior Keadrain McDonald caught a pitch in the backfield from junior quarterback Ian Trapp and lofted a long touchdown pass to junior Tariq
Gerald, but the score was called back when the referees ruled Manhattan had 12 men on the field. Head coach Joe Schartz said it wasn’t his players’ fault they weren’t able to score. “The officials [were the difference],” Schartz said. “We threw the pass, nobody held, nobody did anything, we caught a touchdown, and they took it away from us.” The drive ended with a turnover on downs, but the Indians forced Rural into a three-and-out on its ensuing possession. Richardson’s memorable night began when Manhattan got the ball back. A drive that began on the Indians’ 31-yard line finished in the endzone, when Richardson found daylight and sprinted 67 yards for a score, handing his team the lead. A two-point conversion gave MHS an 8-0 lead. “I bounced outside, and then there was a hole,” Richardson said. “I saw Eldon’s [Davis-Picou, junior] big butt, so I went right behind it and just took off.”
The senior did it again on his team’s next series. Trapp hooked up with McDonald on a 53-yard completion, advancing Manhattan to the Junior Blue eight-yard line. One plunge later from Richardson, the Indians pushed their lead to 16-0 at halftime. The third frame saw Rural gain some momentum. Matthew Williams scored from 30 yards out on his team’s first drive of the second half, trimming the MHS lead to 16-8. Senior defensive lineman Juan Carlos Izquierdo said the touchdown came as a result of a lapse on the defense’s part. “He was obviously pretty good; he’s a good running back,” Izquierdo said. “We didn’t rally. That’s all we had to do, was rally on him. We had a couple people -- we had two or three, I think it was -- he just got out of the way and ran for a touchdown.” It wasn’t until early in the fourth frame, but Richardson added to his night with a 12-yard score, ballooning the In-
dians’ lead to 22-8. That’s when Washburn Rural threatened. The Junior Blues drove all the way down to Manhattan’s 31, but junior Tanner Mann picked off a pass over the middle and thwarted Rural’s comeback attempt. Schartz said the turnover was a big moment. “They were moving it again down here, but we were fortunate enough to get the interception and seal the deal,” Schartz said. “That was a huge turnover.” Manhattan turned the interception into seven points when Richardson capped off the game with a short three-yard dive. Schartz said Richardon’s performance was part of a larger picture. “Jemell and his effort represents the entire senior class,” Schartz said. “He kept overcoming and persevering in the hard times. It’s special for him and the seniors to go out on a high note.” Senior defensive lineman Grant Parker, who finishes his career with four years of MHS foot-
ball under his belt, said the adverse weather wasn’t a problem for his team. “We want to play in this type of weather,” Parker said. “We’re kind of meant for it because we love it. It gets us going.” Fellow senior A.J. Pablo said playing under Schartz made an impact on him, as well as the team as a whole, in a number of ways. “[He’s] an unbelievable mentor to me, and I know to all seniors,” Pablo said. “His philosophy isn’t just making you a better football player. It’s making you a better person in life as an adult, for your family; any kind of family you have.” Schartz said he is proud of the 2015 senior class. “As they’ve progressed along here in our football program, they’ve always had to scratch and claw to get everything they’ve got,” Schartz said. “For them to come out and be successful as seniors, it’s a credit to who they are as people.”
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The Mentor // Nov. 3, 2015 // MHSMentor.com
Features
Knudsen gives up modeling to study in U.S.
LEFT: Molding clay for her ceramics class, sophomore Catharina Knudsen came to Manhattan High at the beginning of this year as a foreign exchange student from Denmark. But ceramics and other visual arts aren’t the only pastime that Knudsen takes part in. For the past year she has been modeling for a local agency in Denmark. PHOTO BY ANGIE MOSS RIGHT: Knudsen poses in one of the many professionally taken head shots by her modeling agency, Le Management Agency. PHOTO COURTESY OF lemanagement.dk
ANGIE MOSS
Trending Editor If you had to give up your modeling career for a year to be able to study in America, would you? Sophomore Catharina Knudsen was scouted on the street about two and a half years ago in Denmark, her home country, by Le Management agency. After refusing to work for them for a year and a half, her mom finally con-
vinced her to at least talk to the agency. A year ago, Knudsen signed on with Le Management agency and began her modeling career. “They were just like the sweetest people and so nice,” Knudsen said. “They are just really, really nice people -- they are like a family to me now. It’s really nice and it’s not like how you hear about it and it’s not like ‘oh you have to lose weight and
eat this and do this,’ not at all. It’s up to you. It’s your life.” Despite numerous calls from her agency asking her to do different jobs, Knudsen has had to refuse several times due to guidelines set by American Field Service. “I’m not allowed to [model here] because AFS won’t allow me,” Knudsen said. “My agency has called me a couple times and they’re like ‘can you
take this job in Argentina’ and I’m like ‘no I can’t, I’m sorry but they won’t allow me.’ It would be so cool to do it here too but I can’t.” Knudsen chose to come to America because of what previous foreign exchange have said about studying in the U.S. as well as what various movies and television shows have portrayed America as. “I decided to choose
America because you have always seen movies and heard about America and I’ve never been to America before,” Knudsen said. “I wanted to get the experience and see how it is in real life and not the ‘Mean Girls’ version you see in TV and all the cliques and how it is, so I wanted to see what it is like in real life.” America has surpassed Knudsen’s expectations. “I think people are
much nicer than I thought,” Knudsen said. “I was kind of afraid that people would be really unfriendly and wouldn’t want to talk with you or like anything but everybody is so friendly and just like really nice people.” Who would have thought a Scandinavian model would find a home right here in Manhattan, Kansas?
Engaging students: Juniors participate in mock protests Tara magaña
Blue M Assistant Editor For Verbal Content Persuasive essays. Been there, done that, right? Well, English teacher Tammy Sheffield took that concept to a new level when she told her juniors to hold a mock protest. “I was just trying to think of something that was just different than what we had done before,” Sheffield said. “With all the different violent protests that have been on TV, I felt it was important that students should see that there is an alternative to violence.” After looking at rhetorical devices and how
Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi practiced civil disobedience, groups of students chose topics ranging from ending animal abuse and school lunch programs to legalizing marijuana and psychedelics. With their topics in mind, they chose protest methods that included creating an online presence or video, going outside to march with posters and putting together the standard power point. “It was fun,” junior Savannah Woodbury said. “Out of all the projects that I’ve been assigned at school, I think this is one of my favorites since we got to pick what we got to do and express what we feel about it in your own
Art Club cleans classroom dakota santiago
most all of the school day. On top of that we’ve been very busy finishing up Coated in a layer of projects this week so and unique ceramic pots, our custodian has also statues and yellow-gray been gone a few days. It’s dust, Art Club members been pretty hard to keep filled ceramics teacher it clean recently,” Rempel Sara Rempel’s spacious said. “I think it’s very imart room. Quickly armed with buckets of water, portant to support our squeegees, sponges and school’s internal commua shop vacuum, mem- nity so I always want to bers started cleaning the try to keep out volunteerbroad room. Rachel Fon- ing projects inside the tenot, Art Club sponsor, building,” Fontenot said. Rempel appreciated reached out to Rempel the club’s and offered to have “I think it’s very im- service. “ I ’ m the Art glad Club clean portant to support so that they the room as part of our school’s internal thought of my room. their com- community. It’s so helpmunity service hours. -- Fontenot ful,” Rempel said. “I “It’s natmean it’s urally a difficult room to clean not every teacher’s dream to only because of the ma- have little fairies come in terials we work with, but and clean their room for also I have more than 100 them, and this isn’t fairies students enrolled in total but it really is so helpful. and they’re in here al- It’s awesome.”
Staff Writer
way.” While engaging the students, there were some difficulties when dealing with the assignment’s opposition requirement. “Trying to find downfalls [for legalizing medical marijuana was difficult],” junior Jordan Myers said. “You have all these opinion based downfalls like how it affects their judgement and does all this stuff, but that’s opinion based; that hasn’t been scientifically proved.” Overall, the project was a success. “Students have been really engaged in the project,” Sheffield said. “I’m hoping I get to do it again next year.”
Fighting to persuade her class to realize the truths of sexism, junior Victoria Bastos leads her group in their presentation to the mock protests. This lesson allows students to elaborate on their personal ideals and morals as well as learn how to successfully take a stand in society. Among the other protests students talked about racism and gun laws. Photos by Moriah presley
Spanish Club plants daffodils Gavin larios
Staff Writer
The Spanish Club dug, fertilized and planted daffodils in the north courtyard last Wednesday as a service project, with the hope the flower’s growth would represent the club and what they stand for. Lindsy Clark, co-sponsor for the club, enjoys gardening and working with flowers. She said the students chose the on-going project so they can see progress in the future. “We are wanting to do it each year and over the years and kind of see how the flowers are growing and it’s also a visual representation of our
club and so we thought it would be a neat way to leave our mark on the school,” she said. Ten members of the club planted about 50 daffodils in 45 minutes after school. For the students, the service project was a way for them to do something together and get to know each other better. “It was a good way to bond,” club member Brooke Henry, senior, said. “The kids were really enthusiastic about digging the holes, putting the bulbs in, and they were really good about doing it,” co-sponsor Olivia Leon-Toomajian said. “We look forward to see them in the spring.”
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The application deadline for most colleges was a few days ago. Do you really know w h a t you’re doing with your life? If not, we have some answers for what you can do if you conveniently forgot when the deadline was. If you’re curious about where the rest of your class has applied to or have been accepted to, we have that too. Still need to take the ACT or the SAT? We have your back there, as well.
grad uati on and get into both schools. Also both schools usually have grace periods for this deadline so if you submit scholarship applications within this week there is a chance of them being accepted,” senior academic counselor Dustin Duntz said. “Most November priority deadlines are for scholarship consideration or Early Action/ Early Decision.” Call your college’s admissions office or get
in contact with a representative for more information. In the case that you do miss your deadline, however, what would you do? First of all, don’t panic. There are lots of reasons applicants miss deadlines. Maybe you had a personal emergency, maybe there was some sort of disaster in your area, or maybe
Butler County Community College Iowa State University University of Texas, Austin Duke University Princeton University Rice University Vanderbilt University
John Hopkins University University of Michigan New York University Yale University
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Emporia State Cloud County Community College Hutchinson Community College Purdue University Columbia University
Nov. 5 and 12
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Graduation Order Day
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2
Benedictine College University of Southern California Harvard University University of Pennsylvania
April 20
Barton County Community College University of Chicago
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may 20
6
Senior Brunch
Dec. 14
Washburn University of Topeka
306
9
may 22
GRADUATION YO
Graduation Speaker Mar. 21
19 20 88
Highland Community College
Last day of school
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17
Manhattan Technical College
May 19
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Stanford University
Sr. Picture Deadline
10 13
Washington University in St. Louis
Senior graduation meeting and graduation speaker note
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University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of California, Berkeley Brown University Cornell University Dartmouth Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Wichita State University
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May 20
Mar. 22
Jostens Deliver Day
Graduation Practice
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Each year students sit down to take the ACT/SAT tests in order to help get into their choice college. Here’s what has changed with the SAT: >> All new essay that is completely optional >> No penalty for guessing answers >> Vocab that you will actually use outside of the test And with the ACT: >> STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) will now have an added scoring that is based on the science reasoning and math sections >> The writing section is still optional but would be helpful if the test taker wants to get into a competitive college >> Scoring for language arts The next ACT dates are Nov. 7 and then a date on Dec. 5. The deadline for the November date was Oct. 27 but you can still sign up for the December date until Nov. 5. Deadlines expire at midnight.
david fliter Staff Writer
upcoming act/sat info
you just found out about a great college too late. We all know that things come up and life can get in the way sometimes. Although most application deadlines are final, if you think you missed the deadline for a good reason, many schools will be willing to speak with you.
The Mentor // nov. 3, 2015 // MHSMentor.com
graphics by tracy le and anna alanazi
time line
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University of Kansas
According to Naviance, this is where all of our students have applied to.
where have our students applied to?
Nov. 1 may have passed but you can still apply to both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. “The Nov. 1 deadline for applications to K-State and KU is the deadline to be eligible for their scholarships. You can still apply
dakota santiago Staff Writer
What to do if you missed the application deadline
Kansas State University
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