The mentor Vol. 102 Issue 20 | Manhattan High School | March 31, 2015
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NHS struts their stuff at fashion show
Right: Sophomore Angie Moss and junior Meghan Doll show off 2015 Prom styles. Top left: Seniors Kendrick Rivera and Abigail Githens show off Prom couple attire. Bottom Left: Seniors Michael Melgares and Dheepthi Perumal sport spring styles. PHOTOS BY JOHN ROCKEY Tracy Le Trending Editor Over 20 models lingered behind lush, velvety curtains at 7 p.m. Saturday. They had arrived at Manhattan High School six hours earlier to practice. As music blasted through speakers and lights illuminated the stage, the MCs took the stage and the models were in position to plunge into the second annual National Honor Society
Fashion Show. “[The fashion show] went so smoothly,” senior and NHS president Katie Bussmann said. “I was really proud of everybody who had a hand in it. Not only the models, but also everybody backstage, the techies, everybody who goes unseen...they really are the backbone of the show.” NHS held its first fashion show last year and since then, the club has become known for this event.
“Munisa [Khuramova], who was a foreign exchange student last year, came into National Honor Society and did a fashion show and it made a lot of money. So we were like ‘hey, we want to get in on the money too,’” Bussmann said. “The fashion show is [also] a great way to reach out to the community and showcase what they have.” The club worked to organize the show the past few months, working with businesses from
Dillard’s to Walmart. “It was a lot of preparation with the businesses that provided the clothing, in constant communication with them, and talking and making committees inside of our group and making sure everyone was doing their part,” Bussmann said. “The communities that provided the clothing for us were very kind and generous and really helped us. The week before was really stressful. This year, we had spring break the
Student shares State Assessment question, school faces consequences A quick picture can do a lot of damage. Recently, a Manhattan High student took it upon themself to take a picture of a State Assessment Writing prompt and share it through the popular app Snapchat. One of the viewers of the Snap soon recognized the prompt during their own assessment. “A teacher brought it to my attention that a student who had taken their test said that they had seen the question that was on the screen earlier in the day,” Assistant principal Angie Messer said. “The teacher sent the stu-
dent to me and I talked to the student and found out that we had another student who had taken a screenshot of a question he had on his assessment and snapchatted it out during the day.” The district has specific actions that they follow in instances such as these. “When a teacher learns about an irregularity around testing protocol, the infraction is treated as a disciplinary matter for the students involved as well as a situation requiring measures to re-establish the testing environment validity,” superintendent Bob Shannon said. The action was reported to the state. “I had to self report us for
breaking testing protocol to our district test coordinator and then she had to report that to the state of Kansas and we also notified Dr. Shannon so in case information comes down from the state he’s aware of it and obviously I had to notify Mr. Hoyt,” Messer said. The student who took the picture’s test has been nullified and will count against the school. “So the state is aware of it and what will happen is the student who took the picture, that student’s test will be invalidated and it will count against our participation rate for our high school,” Messer said. “The other student who saw the question earlier in the day, so benefitted from seeing
and I’m going to do it next year,” Diller said. “I think it’s cool that they do it so they can show what dresses you can buy and also the donations are nice.” The money earned from ticket sales and donations will go towards scholarships for students and other charities. “I think it’s a really good way to raise money, a really fun way,” junior and model Ethan Levin said.
SADD plans annual Spring Fling
Snapchat gone wrong:
Madeline Marshall News Editor
week before so a lot of people were gone so we weren’t able to fully put everything together.” Despite the stress, Bussmann had a lot of fun coordinating the fashion show and believes it is a great fundraiser. Sophomore Isabelle Diller, model of dresses from Weisners, Dillard’s and Walmart, agrees. “I thought it would be really fun to do it and they asked me to sign up so I was like ‘sure, why not’. It was really fun
it, that student has had their test reset and will retest with a different writing prompt.” Due to state participation requirements and the funding that comes with meeting them, the student’s nullified score harshens the burden of state assessments. High schools are required to have around a 95 percent participation rate. “I was very very disappointed because this is my second year here at Manhattan High, but in my previous job for five years I coordinated the state testing and I know how important it is and how difficult it is sometimes to reach your participation level that you have to See Snapchat page 5
Angie Moss Business Manager Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) will host the annual Spring Fling at 7 p.m. on April 10. There will be several activities for students to do including laser tag, dancing, carnival games set up by other clubs and a raffle for gift cards.
SADD has had to raise money by selling popcorn at all of the home basketball games to cover the cost of Spring Fling so it can be free for everyone. “It’s just to have a fun safe night for kids at school and a way for SADD to have some fun planning it too,” president Alyssa Frey said.
SkillsUSA prepares for car show Darian Foga-Frehn Staff Writer The SkillsUSA club has started to prepare for their spring car show. “This is going to be our second annual Steve Barnes memorial car show,” senior Tristen Kleinbeck said. “What we do is raise as much money as we can for the Skills program, and use half of it for our schol-
arship.” The scholarship goes toward a SkillsUSA student that wishes to continue their education in the automotive field. “What we do [with the scholarship] is send one of the tech people so they can get an education and learn about auto, diesel, whatever they want to further their educaSee Skills page 5
Brownback’s actions on education invoke student response AP Bio class tours Wichita Zoo Madeline Marshall News Editor Governor Sam Brownback, recently took further action against public education funding by signing Senate Bill 7 into law. The law repealed the current school finance formula and has replaced it with a block grant system. The block grant system is meant to be a temporary funding measure while Kansas legislature deter-
Global News Madeline Marshall News Editor 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.
mines a new funding formula. “Together we will build on our past success and not jeopardize funding because of flaws in the previous formula,” Brownback said in a statement regarding SB7. Many MHS students see the bill as a way to compensate for Brownback’s earlier tax cuts. “It’s a farce of an attempt to fix Kansas’ budget. Brownback dug us into this hole by making major tax cuts and now
is doing more damage by undermining the schools that are preparing the future members of the workforce,” senior Miranda Hairgrove said. “He’s not doing his part to ensure Kansas has a bright future. He just seems to care about making Kansas be an experiment for Republican ideology in the present.” Other students feel similarly about SB7 and other education budget cuts.
“I am in disbelief on his school finance policies,” junior Krista Burton said. “There are hundreds of different ways to eradicate a deficit and cutting social services is definitely the worst way. I have heard rumors of how class sizes will rise at MHS, and that certain electives will disappear, but that is all just speculation. We will just have to wait to see
Tunisians march against terrorism
said in response to the Tunisian’s defiance. Only hours before the march, Tunisian authorities announced that they had killed one of the three prime suspects in the attack.
First Officer Andreas Lubitz, intentionally brought the plane down while his captain was locked out of the cockpit and banging to be let back in. All 150 people who were aboard the plane were killed. Mass murderer Lubitz is said to have been depressed at the time of his action and had been declared “unfit to work” by a doctor. The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a recommendation that cockpits always be staffed by at least two crew members and further safety precautions are being considered by major airlines within, and outside of, Germany.
In response to gunmen storming the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18 and killing 22 people, 21 of which were tourists, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tunis for an anti-terrorist march this past Sunday. “The Tunisian people proved today that they do not bow to terrorism, and that as one man and one woman, they defend the nation. When Tunisia is targeted, the whole nation stands as one,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi
Germanwings plane crashed intentionally, killed 150 Passenger plane Airbus A320, Germanwings Flight 9525, was crashed in a remote part of the French Alps last Tuesday. The copilot of the crashed Germanwings plane,
See Brownback page 5
Angie Moss Business Manager Last Tuesday, 15 AP Biology students traveled to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita with teacher Pat Lamb to finish off their zoology unit. “We got a special tour by a friend of [Lamb’s] and we got to feed several of the animals and also hold several animals that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do and
then later on we filled out a worksheet,” junior Mackenzie Gwinner said. “We chose a reptile, a bird, an amphibian and a mammal and we wrote about its habitat and special adaptations about it.” The AP Biology class has gone on several field trips this year to learn about other units. Students have gone to Konza Prairie for the ecology unit as See Bio page 5
New Indiana law sparks ry. The argument is one that has been fought for years: at controversy what point is religious freeLast Thursday, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a new “religious freedom” law into action. The law, which allows businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers if serving them contravenes with the business owner’s religious beliefs, has rallied up a massive social media storm. Supporters of the bill say it protects their right to believe as they choose, while its opponents argue the bill is nothing more than thinly veiled bigot-
dom no longer that? The tone of this law directly opposes the LGBTQIA+ acceptance that has been gaining support in many states across the country, and the social media outbreak of “#BoycottIndiana” and its opposers have led to many questions about the direction in which the US is headed.
Opinions
The Mentor • March 31, 2015
Proposed French law regarding models misguided 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
France is currently proposing a new law that would require models to have a minimum BMI of 18. The goal is for the new law to promote healthy body images and discourage eating disorders among the models. However, in discussing the new law the Mentor Editorial board found several flaws. One initial concern raised
was that for a model to have a BMI of 18 she would still be incredibly thin, another was that BMI’s aren’t actually an accurate measure of a person’s health since all they take into account is height and weight. While the law may have good intent, it doesn’t seem passing it would actually be that beneficial. Another problem with this law is that it could also be skinny-shaming and making naturally thin girls self conscious about their body is no better than shaming those on the other end of the spectrum. Instead of trying to eliminate models that are considered too thin, why not promote diver-
sity among models instead of selecting only one type of girl to model the clothes that are going to be worn by women of all sizes. If the goal is promoting body acceptance they need to be accepting of all body types, not just the ones they consider desirable. Also, if eating disorders are something they’re trying to eliminate, BMI’s don’t determine whether or not someone has an ED. There are actual medical tests that can be done and those are what should be relied on, not an inaccurate test.
ated an entirely new double standard. Men are encouraged to play a more active role in their childrens’ lives, but how can they when from the beginning they’re given no role in the initial decision making? A baby, or fetus, or clump of cells or whatever you prefer to call it, is made up of two sets of DNA, even if only one body is hosting it. I’m not proposing men be given the right to force women into abortions, simply that they should be given the same opportunity to reject becoming a parent that is given to women. Allow them the same window of time placed on abortions to decide if they want the child. If they decide they don’t, but the mother does, allow them to sign away all rights and legal responsibilities for the child. If a woman can decide she doesn’t want to be a mother, or financially responsible to a child for the next 18 years, men should be able to make the same choice. Being pro-choice should apply to anyone involved in the parenting process. Women are no more entitled to these rights than men are and until we recognize this we’ll continue creating a gap -- leaving
the two parents to become less and less equal. If we as a society are truly trying to do away with gender roles we need to make the effort in every aspect -- not just the ones that benefit women. There’s a way for this all to be avoided though. Part of becoming a responsible, educated adult is understanding the risks that come with sex. It’s become so casual that two people are more comfortable having intercourse than discussing the possible outcomes. Before having sex people should talk about things such as what they’d do in the case of an unplanned pregnancy -and what measures they’re going to take to prevent it. Even though these situations are avoidable I understand there will never stop being unplanned pregnancies. But take the time to talk through what you’d do in such a case before jumping into bed with someone. Actions have consequences and giving men the same rights women have in decision making during pregnancy would just be a safety net and another step towards actual gender equality.
Give fathers equal rights Kristen Batson Print Editor-in-Chief
In 2015 there are still individuals having their rights wrongfully denied. It’s not happening in some far away developing country Americans only hear of on the news. It’s much closer than that -- in our country, our states, our towns. Despite all of the efforts and movements for equality there remains a group of people unable to decide if they want to be a parent. Try as they may they’re still forced to have children they never intended to conceive and didn’t want. If this parent doesn’t want the baby they get no say in whether or not it’s aborted. How could this be? Abortion is legal and nobody can force a woman into terminating a pregnancy -- they’ve been given the right to chose. However, somewhere in the process men lost the right to do the same. In the name of equality we have stripped one group of their rights and cre-
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#DROPTHEPLUS
Throughout history, women have been faced with the challenge of fitting into a certain mold or ideal in order to be considered beautiful -- to be considered worth something to society. Today, however, it’s important that women take a stand against the idea of that single-fit mold. It’s critical that women stand up for each other and defend one another’s right to feel beautiful and valued. Recently, female models and many other women from all over the world have joined voices like Australian model Stefania Ferrario, who is a size eight and considered a plus size model, in speaking out on social media against fashion’s labeling of women by size, diffusing the phrase “We are all women,” and the hashtag “#droptheplus” across the Internet. This was after Ferrario posted a photo of herself on Instagram, nearly nude, the words “I am a model,” written on her skin and released several Tweets about her displeasure of the term “plus size” as used in both the fashion in-
dustry and outside of it. In fashion, labels like “plus sized” are capable of deteriorating a woman’s self-esteem, as in today’s society, lean seems to be more “the look.” It could be argued that using the term plus size is no different than using the term petite in fashion, but let’s be real: petite is a pretty French word; “plus sized” literally implies “over the normal size” (how is it that plus sizes generally begin at size 14 when today’s average woman is a size 14?). It may also be argued that it’s ok to use the term “plus-sized” because some plus size models have expressed that they are proud of the term, not offended by it, but to regular women, who don’t constantly hear how beautiful they are like models do, the term can be mentally and emotionally troubling. Everyone wants to “fit in,” but hardly anyone actually can. And in saying this, I’m not saying only women who are considered “plus-sized” struggle with positive body image (in fact, many probably don’t, and that’s amazing!); most women of whatever shape or size have their body insecurities. So, in order to put an end to this negativity, the labels need to end. Women of every shape and size should be able to buy/ wear the exact same clothes as
one another made in their own size. Women shouldn’t have to be a certain shape and/or size to buy or wear the clothes that they want, and they especially shouldn’t have to face harsh labels to get the clothes that are made in the sizes that they need. Women need the support of each other and the fashion industry to overcome body labeling (and it wouldn’t hurt to have your support, as well, fellas). If we drop the body-labeling, it could help women of all shapes and sizes see and feel how beautiful they really are, which could create a happier, healthier, more positive society as a whole. And if it starts now, with us, the rightful confidence of future generations of women could be ensured. It is not ok that the fashion industry is trying to influence what is considered “normal” by trying to slap generic labels on something that comes in infinite numbers of forms. What is ok is being able to feel comfortable and proud of who and what you are, whether that’s big or small or short or tall or somewhere in between it all. Because if we work together now, someday not “fitting the mold” will actually feel like it’s ok, just as it has been all along.
Would you like to see your words in print? Share them with The Mentor for a chance to have your story in the publication. The Mentor is an open forum and accepts signed letters and guest columns from students, faculty members and parents. Letters and columns are distinct from each other. • Letters are in response to content in this publication and are recommended to be no longer than 350 words. • Columns are a new topic, a call to action or a clear statement of an opinion regarding a school or national issue and are required to be within 300-600 words in length. Anyone interested in contributing a guest column is advised to clear the topic with the editorial staff prior to writing it in order to save time and effort. The editorial staff reserved the right to edit for length, grammar and clarity while preserving the original intent. All letters, columns and other guest content must be signed and must be free of copyright violations. E-mail ideas and submissions to Editor-in-Chief Kristen Batson at mhsmentor@gmail.com. Staff meetings take place every five-day school week on Tuesdays during fifth hour and editorial discussions are Wednesdays during second lunch. Anyone is invited to come pitch ideas.
Question of the Week:
What do you think would be the best April Fool’s Day prank?
“People pretend to be my friend hahaha,” senior Willie Michaels, @william_NOT
“Put pepper in the salt shaker and salt in the pepper shaker,” senior Trevor Bashaw, @flirtydad
“Brownback has a press release saying that he’s actually going to provide adequate funding to education, jk he’s a dictator,” junior Peter Gruenbacher, @Peter_Grue_
“Equality. Lol. Impossible,” junior Krista Burton, @itskristaanne
“Zayn didn’t actually break my heart. He is just joking with us,” junior Robyn Burton, @redrobyn_yuum
If you could invent a Spring Fling game what would it be? Tweet your answer @mhsmentoronline or answer at our website, mhsmentor.com for a chance to be featured in the next edition.
Fight terrorism stereotypes The Daily Beast recently published an opinion column, written by Dean Obeidallah, discussing an attack on TSA agents on March 20. Richard White, a 63-year-old, devout Jehovah’s Witness, reportedly attacked TSA agents in a Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans, La., with a machete. The article was titled “Surprise! Another Christian Terrorist attack” and focused on the fact that if the terrorist had been a Muslim man, the incident would have received more media coverage. Obeidallah states that both media and law enforcement must recognize that other religious fanatics are as likely to become terrorist as a Muslims. While Obeidallah does make relevant points, he ignores many key points in the incident and inaccurately describes media’s coverage on the incident.
Obeidallah disregards the fact that media outlets, ultimately, do not influences how much attention an event or story will receive. It is true that broadcasting stations and newspapers decide what is newsworthy; yet, how the public perceives what has already been reported is what draws more attention to an event. Mass media’s primary job is to inform the public on what has happened based on what the public will pay attention to. If the public pays more attention to a subject, then there will be excessive coverage on that subject because the mass media caters to what the public will pay attention to. The writer stated in his article that his opinion column maybe the first time readers are seeing any form of media coverage on the attack. However, USA Today, NBC news, ABC news and other news sources reported the incident two days before the Daily Beast writer published his column. Therefore, the “smattering” of news coverage was not as trivial as the writer depicted. Though Obeidallah makes an overall relevant point, it’s
obvious that the incident in New Orleans is not a relevant argument to prove that devout religious members outside of Islam are just as likely to perform terrorism acts. There is no clear reason why Richard White, the attacker, targeted TSA agents at the Louis Armstrong Airport; however, it is not believed by police officials that he had any religious motivation behind his assault. Officials believe that mental illness may have been part of the reason White attacked the TSA workers. Therefore, White’s religion is not an essential detail in the incident. He did not enter the airport with the intent to perform “Christian terrorism,” which drastically sets the incident apart from any religious terrorist. In the opinion column the writer states that he does not disregard the fact that White may have had a mental illness; yet, he also insists that the attack in New Orleans was a terrorist attack and states that White’s neighbors described Whites as “meek” and “kind.” It’s questionable whether White’s neighbors would
have the best knowledge of his mental state, considering that neighbors probably do not really know what happens behind closed doors. Is it possible for someone to be described as “meek” and “kind” and still have a serious mental disorder? Can the assault really be described as a “Christian terrorist attack” when the attacker was not performing the acts with a sane mind, had no religious intent behind his assault, and only attacks specific victims when most terrorist attacks are characterized as an attack on a broader group of people? Obeidallah pointed out some true and unfair stereotypes and assumptions that media and law enforcement do make when it come to terrorism and religion. It is pure stupidity to profile one specific religious group of people as being capable of performing terrorism. Terrorism does not solely fall into one specific religion, and media and law enforcement should be aware of that. However, this particular incident is not a good example of religious terrorism.
EDITORS: Kristen Batson -- Print Editor-In-Chief/Opinions Joseph Sell -- Online Editor -In-Chief Danielle Cook -- Entertainment/Content Editor Madeline Marshall -- News Editor Alan Brown -- Features Editor Greg Woods -- Sports Editor Tracy Le -- Trending Editor Anna Hupp -- Photo Editor Senior Staff Writers/Photographers -- Madison Newman, John Rockey Staff Writers/Photographers -- Elassia Cunningham, Darian Foga-Frehn, Erick Echegaray, Ale Flores, Brent Morrill OTHER: Angie Moss -- Business Manager Kristy Nyp -- Adviser Circulation -- Kristyn Baker, David Clinkinbeard, Charlie Dickey, Karl Drown, Rachel Efken, Jordan Hatley, Colten Kirk, Joshua Kohls, Kendall Oatney, Megan Ritthisorn, Zane Smith, Darnel Stewart, 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 1,500 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contributions from the public. E-mail us at mhsmentor@ gmail.com.
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The Mentor • March 31, 2015
Features
Ultimate Club prepares for upcoming season
Right: Junior John Benfer looks to complete a pass as junior Louis Melgarejo films them. After sporadic practices throughout the offseason, the MHS Ultimate team made plans to get back into thick of things. They regrouped officially last week at City Park. Top right: Junior John Benfer finds a gap in the defense as he is guarded by junior Peter Gruenbacher. Ultimate Club has reached new heights since transition from an interest group. It has become one of the school’s most popular clubs, particularly appealing to the junior class boys. PHOTOS BY GREG WOODS Bottom right: Juniors John Benfer and Dustin Meier spraypaint their design in Benfer’s garage. The club learned the technique from the K-State men’s Ultimate team. COURTESY PHOTO Alan Brown Features Editor This spring, Manhattan’s Ultimate Team returns for its second season as an official club at MHS. Since being promoted from an interest group, the club has quickly found a position of prominence at the school. The club is particularly popular with the junior boys. To club founder and current president, junior John Benfer, the growth of club is
quite an achievement. “It was really amazing to see it take off like that. It took a lot of initiative from us guys to get together, work as a team through all of this and build the best club that we can,” Benfer said. “We want to make sure to keep our legacy alive and hopefully set the stage for the next group coming on.” As the Ultimate Team continues to develop, club leaders are planning new improve-
ments. The team has decided to take full advantage of their club funds and resources. So far, they have ordered 105 custom made frisbees, worth a whopping 750 dollars in total. They are also working on T-shirt projects, inspired by the designs made by the KState ultimate team. Thus far, members have been happy with the results. “We’ve been working on making T-shirts for everyone, just using stencils and spray
Katie’s Way seeks to help those with mental illness Angie Moss Business Manager
People go through crises almost every day but not everyone knows how to deal with them or who to talk to. A new mental health service center called Katie’s Way has opened in Manhattan and is available for people ages 2-26 and seeking help for any mental illness. Katie’s Way offers several services including diagnostic assessments, individual therapy, family or group therapy, parent or school consultation psychological testing -- including autistic testing -and medication consultations, assessments and treatments. “I think it’s a great thing for our community, our community is totally in short supply of mental health services because I know that at the beginning of the year I was talking to some of the therapists in town and
they had waitlists,” counselor Erin Speer said. “They weren’t even able to take any new patients or clients and that’s not a good thing because people go through crises all the time. The more services we get like this I think is better so I’m excited about it.” Katie’s Way is set up as a non-institutional setting to reduce the stigma that is generally involved with therapy and other institutions. The staff of psychiatrists and psychologists work together to provide an innovative way of caring for patients. Katie’s Way was established by the Mathis Family after their 21-year-old daughter Katie committed suicide. It was established in cooperation with The No Stone Unturned Foundation to promote children’s social-emotional development, address socialemotional problems and pre-
vent mental health challenges from developing. Katie’s Way’s mission is to change and improve the lives of young people affected with mental health challenges. Katie’s Way accepts all insurances and is open to a referral from any source, including self referral. They are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and closed on weekends. They also have a Facebook page, a Twitter and a website (katieswaymanhattan. com). Katie’s Way is located at 720 Poyntz Avenue. “I think we have a lot of really good counselors and therapists in town so I think it never hurts to call multiple places and see what kind of therapy lines up with a person’s needs,” Spreer said. “So I think Katie’s way will be very beneficial for many people and there’s other places in town that will help other people in different ways.”
paint,” Benfer said. “The KState guys actually spray paint and stencils for their shirts and coach Koch recommended it to us. I made the design on the computer, sent it to him, and he cut out the stencil design. Then, we got together a few times to [complete the project]. It turned out really well.” The thought of new frisbees also excites to the team. “We wanted something to symbolize our club, and to
represent ultimate and MHS at the same time,” Benfer said. “The frisbees were expensive, but we should have them by early April. We’ll have them just in time for season.” Ultimate Club has already lined up plans for competitive events. The first practice was held last week. To start off the year, the group is expected to take part in friendly scrimmages against Flint Hills Christian School players. They also hope to compete
against the K-State women’s Ultimate Team and the KState rookie men’s team. In May, they will travel to Topeka to play Lawrence Free State. The game will be a rematch of the 10-9 MHS victory last fall. “[The first match] was really fun. It was a pretty intense game,” Benfer said. “We are looking forward to playing them, and possibly inviting some other high school teams to play us there too.”
Veterinary Explorer’s Post teaches vet skills to MHS students The Veterinary Medicine Explorer’s Post 61, held at the Kansas State University Veterinary Hospital, has been reaching out to students in order to teach them about how to be a veterinarian. “It’s [held by] a group of doctors who work at K-State that do a bunch of demonstrators and teach us about Veterinary work.” junior Kylee Gullion said. The Post meets the third Thursday evening of each month. “We have meetings with big groups of people who are interested in Veterinary Medicine,” senior and Vice President of Programs Essence Rush said. “We have a board of advisors who are veterinary doctors themselves. We invite other vets to come in and give us a presentation. Sometimes it’s a PowerPoint, like a PowerPoint
of a surgery.” Some of the meetings bring more of a hands-on theme. “One of the doctors did a demonstration in horse dentistry and showed us how he sawed down the horse’s teeth,” Gullion said. Rush also appreciates the opportunity to do this type of activity as well. “We went out and we watched one of the advisors do horse dentistry,” Rush said. “We got to feel in the horse’s mouth, which was really neat. Then there was one which we did orthopedics, where we got to fix a cardboard bone. It was ‘broken’ and we got to do the platelet on it. There’s a lot of interesting things we do.” There are many more different opportunities for members to participate in after joining the Post. “You get to see all of the different sides of veterinary work,” Rush said. “It’s not just working in a clinic, there’s a
whole lot of different sides. You get to see what you’re interested in. You can see actual [veterinary work]. One of the advisors was doing a small animal exam and we got to help out with that.” For those who want to become veterinarians in the future, the Post advisors are a resource for help in getting into the field. “You get to participate in it and see what interests you, and you have people there who are in the field themselves who can help you and give you advice and let you know all about Veterinary medicine work,” Rush said. “They work at the college so they can help and advise you with how to become a veterinarian.” Members are welcome to join at any time. Interested members just have to come to one of the meetings and the officers and advisors will help them.
to a time conflict with its previous coach. “Our previous coach was really good for the team, and almost everyone got past their personal records with his help,” junior Charlie Harris, rowing team co-captain, said. “We will get along pretty well with our assistant coaches in the mean time, but it seems pretty unanimous among the team that we are waiting eagerly to have a head coach again.” Despite the lack of its own head coach, Harris explained that training with K-State’s coach was a good experience and that the team was able to work hard under the tempo-
rary source of guidance, despite some tough weather conditions. “The experience as a whole was fantastic. There were parts -- the torrential rain, mostly -- that could’ve gone better,” Harris said. With three new editions to the team, who hadn’t practiced rowing on the water before Waco, the experience was especially helpful in helping the team form stronger bonds in both in teamwork and friendship. “Going down there, we had three new members of the team that had never been on the water before, so just getting
them in the boats bettered the team quite a bit. In all, though, we bettered our form and our timing by a lot,” Harris said. “Those of us that went also bonded a lot, and that’s very important to the team aspect.” Harris explained that she’s excited for rowing to get rolling for spring again after a long winter. “I want people to know that rowing is year-round, and we’d love to have more people on the team, even if it’s just a filler between seasons. We’re always looking for people to join,” Harris said.
Darian Foga-Frehn Staff Writer
MHS rowing team takes tour of Waco Danielle Cook Entertainment Editor While many Manhattan High students used Spring Break 2015 as a time to relax and rejuvenate, MHS students involved in rowing used Spring Break as a time to sharpen their rowing skills, taking a team trip to Waco, Texas, for some practice time spent in the water, as opposed to their winter practice time spent on stationary rowing machines. The rowing team joined Kansas State University’s club rowing team, and was coached by the college coach, as it is currently between coaches due
LOOK ON MHSMENTOR.COM FOR COVERAGE OF THE SYMPHONIC AND CHAMBER ORCHERASTRAS’ TRIP TO CHICAGO.
Sports
The Mentor • March 31, 2015
Page 4
Golfers prepare for new season with larger Varsity squad Joseph Sell Online Editor-in-Chief With next Monday marking the start of the Manhattan High Varsity boys golf season, the team is beginning to prepare for the new season. This year also marks a stark contrast with previous years because the golf team will have eight golfers competing for Varsity slots at tournaments. “That eight on Varsity is more than we’ve had in a
while,” Varsity coach Brad Ficke said. “Since I’ve coached I think that’s the most kids I’ve kept to practice with me on Varsity. That’s a good sign it means there’s competition for spots within Varsity.” This team will consist of seniors Tyler Brennan, Drew Casper, Cole Dillon, Dylan Gros and Pierson McAtee, juniors Trever Dillon and Cole Gritton and freshman Chase Dillon. “I’m really excited especial-
ly to play with my brother because only being a freshman, it’s really cool to play with your brother and he’s a senior,” Chase said. “There’s a lot of us trying to qualify for just two spots so I’m just trying to qualify for as many tournaments possible and just do the best I can at every tournament.” Three of the seniors on the team will also be competing in their fourth year on Varsity, along with a fourth person who competed in State.
“Well three of my guys, this is their fourth year playing Varsity, so this will be their fourth time playing the courses that are on our schedule, our schedule hasn’t changed. I’m super confident in those three seniors who have lettered all three years,” Ficke said. “There’s not going to be anything that’s a surprise to them and they were also part of the State team last year, and then Cole Gritton kind of made the Varsity team at the end of the
year and competed at Regionals and State.” Chase agreed with Ficke about the competition on State. “I feel pretty good but we’re all pretty solid so it’ll be really interesting how it goes,” Chase said. The team began practice last week leading into its first tournament. “We do a lot of work on putting and chipping and ball striking, driving accuracy, ba-
sically whatever transfers over to a round to make us successful,” Ficke said. “We try to focus a lot on accuracy especially in short game so lots and lots of putting.” The J.V. team will compete this afternoon at the Western Hills golf course at Shawnee Heights. The Varsity team will compete at Salina Municipal at the Salina Central Invitation on Monday.
Baseball readies for 2015 campaign after losing 2014 senior experience Greg Woods Sports Editor Ten months removed from a third-place finish at last year’s State tournament, the Manhattan High baseball team is ready to take another crack at it. Headlining this year’s campaign is the loss of seniors: 10 position players and three pitchers. Head coach Don Hess said that the loss is something he is accustomed to. “We’re used to losing seniors,” Hess said. “Every year we feel like we have a great senior class. We feel like this senior class a chance to be great as well. We’re sorry to see [last year’s seniors] gone, but at the same time that just means opportunity for this year’s group, and I hope they’re excited and ready to go for that.” Last March, the program took a team trip to Arizona to bond and prepare for the season. Without the trip this year, Hess explained that the team held optional practices over spring break. “We had pretty good turnout,” Hess said. “Unfortunately, about half of the varsity was gone for the entire spring break, so in some aspects taking spring break off will not help us, but hopefully we can make up for that with a couple weeks of good practices.” The four juniors on last year’s varsity squad are returning this year, including senior pitcher Jesse Steinbring. Steinbring was the only junior among the three primary
pitchers last season, but feels that the pitching can be successful this year as well. “I feel like we’ve got some guys that can pick up the slack,” Steinbring said. “They can throw strikes and keep us in the ballgame.” With the exit of the seniors, several of last year’s J.V. players have moved up to the varsity level, including junior Josh Chapman. Chapman said that the opposition will be a difference in the jump to varsity. “Definitely the level of competition that we’re going to be playing [will be different],” Chapman said. “There’s going to be a whole lot more guys that are going to be throwing the ball harder; guys are going to be hitting the ball a lot harder. Stuff like that.” Hess said that the transition for new varsity players remains a question mark. “That remains to be seen,” Hess said. “Until we get in game action, we’re not going to know how everybody’s going to react. They were successful as J.V. ballplayers; now we need them to take that next step onto the varsity field.” In terms of pitching, Hess explained that this year’s pitchers will be challenged with playing a position in addition to pitching. “We have some guys that we think are capable,” Hess said. “Some of them play another position. We’re going to have to gauge whether their arms can handle playing a position and pitching during the same season.”
Senior Jesse Steinbring delivers a pitch last season at the Eisenhower Baseball Complex in Manhattan. PHOTO BY 2013-14 MHS MEDIA STAFF As for expectations, Hess said they remain the same as in years past. “Our expectations are always going to be the same,” Hess said. “We want to be able to host a Regional, qualify for State and push to win a State championship. That’s what we’re working for every day, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Our expectations are the same, but obviously we
don’t have the same experience coming back. We’re going to have to be creative and play with a whole lot more energy since we don’t have a lot of varsity experience coming back.” Manhattan hosts Topeka High on Friday to begin its 2015 campaign.
Q U I C K FA C T
There are just four of last year’s juniors on last year’s Varsity squad returning for 2015.
Swimming checks in at fourth at weekend meet, opens season with back-to-back contests John Rockey Senior Staff Writer
A Manhattan swimmer competes on Friday at one of the Indians’ two meets. PHOTO BY JOHN ROCKEY
Soccer opens season with win and loss at home Erick Echegaray Staff Writer Greg Woods Sports Editor The Manhattan High girls soccer team opened its season with a win and a loss in its first two games. The Lady Indians shut out Topeka High on Thursday, 7-0, and were edged in double overtime by Blue Valley West on Saturday, 3-2. Saturday’s game saw West take an early 1-0 lead with a goal at the 22-minute mark of
the first half. However, freshman Cailey Perkins netted a goal later to send the game into a tie at the break. The second half opened with several shots on goal from West, all saved by senior keeper Molly Fiser to keep the score knotted at one. The Jaguars responded, though, by scoring with time running low in the game and gave the Lady Indians a deficit to make up. Junior Tessa Irvine then found the back of the net at the fourminute mark of the game, tying the game at two apiece.
Neither team scored in the first overtime period, but West found success in the second. The Jaguars netted the gamewinning goal with under 120 ticks on the game clock, handing Manhattan its first loss of the year. “The girls played hard for 95 minutes,” head coach Mike Sanchez said. Manhattan returns to action today in a road clash with Topeka West.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday Trinity Academy Thursday Washburn Rural Tuesday, April 14 Emporia Friday, April 17 Seaman
Junior Maddie Taylor fights for a ball on Tuesday in Manhattan. PHOTO BY BRENT MORRILL
*Home games in bold
Starting off Manhattan High’s season with back-toback meets pushed the swim team to see how real the season gets. “I think for a lot of people, they’re just realizing how they need to go about racing,” senior Katie Bussmann said. “And we had a meet [Thursday]. So I think it’s that they’re super tired. A lot of them, that was their first swim meet. So I think now, with that experience on their back, they’re more prepared and they have the right mindset going in to everything.” Bussmann, who placed eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke and placed ninth in the 200-yard medley relay with three others on Friday, noted improvement in technique from the sixth at Emporia last Thursday and several girls making best times at home.
“For them, it’s fun for our new kids the amount of improvement they make even within the first week, they learn a lot of technique,” coach Jerry Carpenter said. “Several of them went to Emporia and we saw tremendous time drops from a lot of the girls and a little bit more tonight.” With 278 points scored for a fourth place finish overall, the team had placements in the top 16 across all 12 events including a ninth place finish in the 200 yard medley relay, fourth and ninth place finishes in the 400 yard freestyle race and first and 10th place finishes in the 200 yard freestyle relay. In the diving event, senior Lauren Carlson earned fourth place and sophomore Elizabeth Underwood followed with eighth place. Seniors Mariah Scipio and Justice Bishop took second and 10th respectively in the 50 yard freestyle. Scipio also got fifth in the
500 yard freestyle and Bishop took 11th in the 100 yard freestyle with sophomores Leilani Kreck and Lauren Casper finishing eighth and ninth in the 100 yard freestyle. “Swimming two nights in a row and getting back pretty late, it was kind of difficult,” junior Robyn Burton said. “I could’ve swam better. But I swam a new event today. So counting that in, I felt it wasn’t that bad of a meet.” With the immediate competition starting off their season, the team looks at tomorrow’s meet at home understanding what to expect from all levels of competition. “I think the beauty of competing early is that allows the kids to really understand what they need to work on,” coach Carpenter said. “It puts it in much better perspective. We can tell them in practice. But until they actually do it in a meet, they’re like ‘I get it.’”
Softball preps for season with new-look personnel John Rockey Senior Staff Writer After a season cut short by a Regional loss to end the season below .500, the Manhattan High softball team now turns to new goals one practice at a time. “Our first attempt is to try and become a better team and players every day,” coach Monty Enright said. “But we really are working hard on fundamentals of defense and offense to help give better chances to be in ballgames to win.” The first thing Enright said he and the coaches were stressing is to be an athlete. This culminated in a large show of players that prepared for the spring season. “We’ve been doing conditioning, which we’ve never done before,” senior Sydney Bannister said. “So we’ve been doing a lot of core and strength building and we have a lot of young girls who are working on fundamentals right now.” With the smaller group of juniors and sophomores, a large number of freshman now
join the team to fill out the ranks. “It’s really cool because they’re really good,” Bannister said. “It’s nice to see that people from Parks and Recreation are doing a good job of coaching the girls because they can do everything that we can.” For its first game against Topeka High this Friday, the team worked various drills with the coaches split up to cover defensive positions and give the girls one-on-one hitting time. They stressed communication between the infield and outfield and faced having a limited number of pitchers at the start. “We had a lot of errors last year and [we’re] keeping a positive mind though that,” senior Katelin Hoefler said. With the new organization of coaching and conditioning the players, Enright sees the coaches able to give players more instruction on how to play defense and take different responsibilities. “[The] first game brings its own set of fears and scares to a coach,” Enright said. “So
I think that one concept has me the most concern[ed]. ‘Have we covered enough of the things that we wanted to be ready for game one?’ I don’t know if you can ever be ready for game one. But what keeps me awake at night is ‘Did I miss something that can happen during the ball game where we didn’t give any instruction?’”
opening schedule Friday Topeka High Friday, April 10 Shawnee Heights Tuesday, April 14 Rossville Friday, April 17 Washburn Rural *Home games in bold
Features The Mentor The www.mhsmentor.com Mentor • March 31, 2015
Page 5
Entertainment
MHS Students prepare for, perform in Salute to Broadway On Friday Manhattan High School’s Advanced Repertory Theatre class and MHS Thespian Troupe #941 presented “Salute to Broadway,” a revue containing different musical and non-musical Broadway pieces performed by Manhattan High students. Donations were accepted at the door to benefit the MHS Drama program, but another purpose of this event was for every student involved in drama to be able to expand knowledge and experiences in drama. The audience was to be entertained by experiencing a salad of emotions while watching the show. “To prepare myself, I had to memorize and rehearse my monologue, and I learn a lot from this kind of experience, such as how to prepare for things in a short amount of time and to know all the different talents that students have, and to see how they get to excel on them,” senior Alyssa Frey, who performed a monologue from “The Diary of Anne Frank” in the show, said. Salute to Broadway includ-
ed not only acting and music acts, but acts involving other fine arts, like dance, as well. “The most difficult part is to dance with less people. We need to fill out more space, but we love that we get to have our own moments to showcase and have our moment to shine,” senior Samantha Adams, who performed with some fellow dancers in Salute to Broadway, said. Whether or not a piece was from a famous or nonfamous Broadway show, drama students were able to choose what they wanted to perform, and prepare themselves to do it, though most chose wellknown Broadway pieces. Freshmen Emma Lansdowne and Ashlyn Gillespie, who performed a scene as sisters from “White Christmas” in Salute to Broadway, found that doing the show was a good experience and helped them exercise their drama skills. “I really like performing on stage. I’ve learned that you just need to be confident, loud and portray your characters. I thought we did really good,” Lansdowne said. Gillespie explained that though performing in Salute to Broadway is similar in as-
pect to many other dramatic experiences, it was exciting and enjoyable. “I feel excited about it. Is not different from performing any other kind of piece, but I enjoyed it a lot,” Gillespie said. Junior Savannah Smith felt the process of preparing for the show was a beneficial learning experience for aspiring dramatic performers. “We learned a lot about how to prepare for auditions and I think tonight went wonderfully,” said junior Savannah Smith, who performed a monologue from “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.” The show was a success, according to drama teacher Linda Uthoff, thanks to all the drama staff working as backstage management, projections, set design, lighting, sound, costumes and all the actors/actresses that participated on the show.
Skills from page 1
Brownback from page 1
tion,” Kleinbeck said. Last year’s show was smaller than expected, so the club is looking forward to a larger turnout this year. “Last year, we had about 100 cars, which wasn’t what we wanted for a turnout,” Kleinbeck said. “This year, we’re expecting about 150 to 200 cars.” The show is still in the early stages, as members are beginning to look for sponsors. “Right now we’re going around and trying to get sponsors for things like prizes for our giveaways,” Kleinbeck said. “We’re doing raffles. This year we’re debating about a silent auction. IPS is going to help us. We’re going to have a pancake feed.” People who want to participate can register cars the morning before the show on May 23. The Skills USA advisor and other members refrained from commenting any further about the show.
how the education block grant bill affects our senior year.” As such, worries about the quality of public education in the future and the effects of such have made appearances among students. “He is destroying an education system that was already not the best,” junior Peter Gruenbacher said. “We will become brainwashed to the wills of tyrants like him if we are not properly educated. The quality of education will descend not because of the teacher but because of the resources that they will have to cut back on. Several classes are potentially being cut, those of which greatly impact the lives of the students that they facili-
tate. Along with affecting the lives of students, their intellect will be affected as a transition from being well rounded to only having select classes to provide knowledge allowed. Without public education our whole society would fall behind or even apart. In private education there is not equal opportunity, specifically to those that don't fit the requirements of the school, financially and otherwise. Public schooling gives that opportunity for everyone. As children and young adults we are told that we are the future; we should not advocate to jeopardize such by tearing the education system. Public education helps develop minds, young and old, to better the world.” In fact, to many it seems
Alejandra Flores Staff Writer
Snapchat from page 1 at a high school,” Messer said. “Every student is important to test and what happens with that data is very important and it’s just very disappointing to me that a student didn’t think it would be a big deal to not follow the directions they were given.” State Assessments, though at times a hassle, are one of the many ways in which teaching and learning can be evaluated. “We use that information to look back and reflect upon our teaching and see how we’re doing at teaching towards the standards we’re supposed to be teaching in our classes and how the students are retaining that information and showing that they have learned it,” Messer said. “Unfortunately, it’s a very high stakes piece of data that the state uses for your funding and things like that.” Shannon agrees on the importance of State Assessments. “State assessments are useful to provide information to the teacher about a student’s achievement on the standards being assessed and as a general overview of the extent to which groups of students have learned the intended standards,” Shannon said. Correspondingly, new precautions have been implemented to avoid further breaks in protocol. “In the state testing rooms now there are boxes for students to put their electronics in the room when they enter as an added measure because the teacher had asked students not to have their phones out in the same room that the student took a screenshot and, clearly, that didn’t work,” Messer said. JOIN AN MHS PUBLICATION STAFF FOR THE 2015-2016 SCHOOL YEAR TO BUILD FRIENDSHIPS AND IMPROVE TEAMWORK, TIME MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS.
Junior Savannah Smith performs during the dress rehearsal of Manhattan High’s Salute to Broadway show in Rezac Auditorium on Friday. Photo by Ale Flores
Bio from page 1 well as the Flint Hills Discovery Center and the Sternberg Museum in Hays. “We’ve been doing a zoology unit and learning about animals so this just kind of tied everything we’ve been learning together,” Gwinner said. The experience gave the students an opportunity to learn hands-on with the animals. “It was really fun, we got to learn a lot. Academic-wise, we got to focus on the different adaptations of phylums and classes,” senior Lisa Zhu said. The field trip provided the students with a few unique experiences including holding snakes and feeding rare animals. “[My favorite part was] feeding the Okapi -- it’s really rare,” junior Maddie Taylor said. “They’re going extinct so it’s something once in your lifetime you can do.”
the entire future of Kansas is at risk due to Brownback’s actions against public education. “Kansas needs schools to prepare its children for a future in the global economy. With budget cuts, our students may not get the edge that’s needed to compete with other students who attended wellfunded school for future jobs,” Hairgrove said. “If Kansas falls behind in education, which is very possible, it may prevent business expansion in the state, cause outsourcing and be an ultimate detriment to the state economy. Because realistically, no business will want to be located in a state where the possible employees are undereducated compared to the next state over.” State university funding
cuts may also have immediate effects on students and the state. “Cutting education funding – including for state universities – means that good students will often elect to leave Kansas, thus bringing their skills and paying their taxes elsewhere,” senior Danny Aramouni said. Junior Israel Wheatley is leaving Kansas for college specifically for that reason. “Because of his plans to cut budgets for public universities, I’m already planning on attending out of state,” Wheatley said. “I find it [the situation] very disappointing.” With fears about nearly every aspect of their education, Gruenbacher and Burton, among others, have taken ac-
tion and encourage others to do the same. “I have written to my representative and I urge other students to do the same,” Gruenbacher said. Burton’s sentiments are similar. “I personally have written a variety of Kansas politicians, and I'm aware many of my fellow students also have,” Burton said. “I think public education is crucial. It is the key to having an educated society. I believe all Kansas students should educate themselves on Brownback's current education policies. Be vocal to your local politicians and, if you can, vote.”
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The Mentor • March 31, 2015
Page 6
Story by Greg Woods, Sports Editor
MARCH
MADNESS It’s March again. Somehow. That means the NCAA tournament is back, and this year’s installment has not disappointed.
F
rom 14-seeds upsetting threeseeds to in-state powerhouses clashing for the first time ever, the 2015 tournament has been nothing less than thrilling. Though upsets haven’t plagued this year’s field of 64 to the extent they have in years past, the no-namers have toppled big-name squads just the same. As the anticipation of the Final Four lingers in the wake of another two weeks of excitement, let’s take a look back at how we got here. All one-seeds won their first games, forcing the 16-seeds to wait another year to try to unseat a mighty top seed. Notable upsets in the round of 64 included 14-seed Georgia State over three-seed Baylor, 11-seed Dayton over six-seed Providence, 11-seed UCLA over sixseed SMU and 14-seed UAB over three-seed Iowa State. Aside from those contests, the round of
64 went relatively as expected. The round of 32 featured a long-awaited game: Wichita State against Kansas. The Shockers held off KU for a 78-65 win in the teams’ first meeting since 1993 and settled (for now) the debate of the best team in Kansas. Notre Dame edged Butler, NC State upended oneseed Villanova, Oklahoma crushed Dayton’s dreams of a second straight Elite Eight appearance, Duke obliterated San Diego State 68-49 and UCLA ended UAB’s improbable run with a 17-point victory in another exhilarating round of play. In the Sweet 16, overall top-seeded Kentucky demolished West Virginia and trash-talking Daxter Miles, Jr. who guaranteed the Wildcats would lose the matchup with his Mountaineers. Notre Dame ended the Shockers’ run, Wisconsin escaped with a narrow 79-72 win over North Carolina, Michigan
Louisville Michigan state
Kentucky Notre Dame
Kentucky Wisconsin Wisconsin Arizona
State eliminated the Big 12’s last team in the tournament in Oklahoma and Louisville closed the door on NC State’s attempt at another upset. The Elite Eight would feature three one-seeds. The undefeated Kentucky Wildcats were pushed to the brink of elimination by Notre Dame in the Elite Eight, but made their final nine shots of the game to win the Midwest region. Wisconsin held Arizona at arm’s length in a thrilling 85-78 win, Michigan State edged Louisville 76-70, and Duke took care of Gonzaga, 66-52, to earn its 16th Final Four berth. We’re now left with the final four teams of the 2015 NCAA tournament: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Duke. Who will walk away with the hardware, and who will leave Indianapolis disappointed? We’ll have to find out just what magic the tournament has in the cards this time around.
Michigan state Duke Champion:
Duke Gonzaga
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