The mentor Vol. 102 Issue 9 | Manhattan High School | Nov. 4, 2014
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Spanish Club sells Day of the Dead candygrams Spanish Club co-president Matt Turnley and member Kirkland Lambert, juniors, deliver Day of the Dead candygrams to students in class. Spanish Club sold Day of the Dead candygrams for $1 each in the cafeteria during the week of Halloween. On Friday, Turnley and Lambert delivered candygrams sent to students by students. “It’s just a fun thing for the students to do, and it helps them learn a little bit about día de los muertos,” Turnley said. Spanish Club co-president Matty Mahan, senior, said though selling candygrams doesn’t earn the club much money, it’s a fun way to celebrate the Day of the Dead. “Candygrams honestly don’t benefit Spanish Club a whole lot, money-wise, because we only make like 25 cents off of each we sell,” Mahan said. “So, mainly we mainly do it because it seems to be an enjoyable thing for kids that participate. But from the little money we do make, it helps fund other activities such as having chips and salsa one day at a meeting, or something like that.” PHOTO BY DANIELLE COOK
Science teachers creating Biology Olympiad team, motivating students Tracy Le Trending Editor When Manhattan High science teacher Pat Lamb looked at the Biology Olympiad test last year, he said, “Dang, this is a test.” “It was so rigorous. It’s harder than your master’s test. Some of the stuff they ask...I was pretty impressed,” Lamb said. “It’s a test for me and I’ve been in science forever and when I was looking through the test I was having to eliminate and guess between two on quite a few so this was impressive so I thought, ‘we need to do this’. It gives you another
thing to shoot for, here’s another level.” Biology Olympiad is a national competition and each year, out of 20 finalists, four will be chosen to represent the U.S. internationally. “I’m taking a test for it but other than that, I don’t know anything about it. I think this is our first year doing it,” senior Isaac Blankenau said. “I think it’s a lot like Science Olympiad. It’s my first year [in Science Olympiad], I really like it.” Lamb is hoping all the Science Olympiad members and his students from his AP Biology class will participate and is beginning to gather a group of
people. “Some of our students are alternates for the Science Olympiad team and I wanted something for them to do, to focus on. They do get to go to practice, competitions... but there’s more of a reward for this. This year in Science Olympiad, we have 28 people -- that’s almost enough to make a second team. That second team could have won Regionals. They’re really sharp people. I wanted to give them something to work towards for this first year,” Lamb said. “The chances of us being one of 20 kids in the nation is probably really low. Especially since
bers brought some extras. “We carved pumpkins and had fun,” Clauss said. “And luckily there was an extra pumpkin for me.” Clauss and other members of the club used pumpkin carving as an opportunity to express their originality with creative carving designs. “I made an ‘18’ pumpkin that was pretty cute for my 18th birthday,” GSA president Beckie Carter said. “Jenny [Rodrigues, sophomore] and Emily [Lamkin, sophomore] made generic happy face pumpkins that were really cute. Mrs. Rempel and our sponsor Tracy [Weston] didn’t participate because they’re adults and don’t feel like pumpkin carving, but they should have because Mrs. Rempel would have made an awesome one. Allison [Clauss, sophomore] helped me design
mine, so I was trying to make it cooler than just an 18.” This meeting not only let students express their creativity, but also allowed members to carve pumpkins that may have not been able to do otherwise. “It was just a lot of fun hanging out and seeing everyone,” senior Mary Romig said. “It’s not often I get to do this because I come from a low-income family, so I actually don’t get to carve pumpkins every year. So this was a good change of pace and I was really happy we got to do it.” Despite lower attendance than usual, this meeting was an overall success. “The atmosphere was festive,” Carter said. “No one threw their pumpkin on the ground, so it was a successful pumpkin carving.”
Boko Haram responsible for marrying off abducted girls, injures dozens at bus station
The group is also responsible for multiple bombings at a bus station in Nigeria that killed at least eight people and injured dozens more. The bombings took place during rush hour.
we’re not studying specifically for that test, we’re just going to take it. But I think it will give them an idea of how much their hard work has done for them.” As a teacher and coach and a part of many peoples’ lives, Lamb is proud of his students. “Everything from football to music to drama to science -- our students, they’re tough. Tough is a mental thing. It can come out as a physical thing but it’s a mental thing. Will you fold under pressure? When you walk on stage, will you know your parts? Will you know the piece of music you’ve practiced over and over again?
Our students refuse to not excel. That’s a double negative but that’s the way they do things. They won’t give up. I love that about our students. You don’t have to be the very best to win, you just have to refuse to give up. If you keep fighting for whatever you want, you’ll get there. If you work hard enough and sacrifice enough you can do anything -- I believe that. And I have a little saying, ‘pain is temporary, pride is forever’ and it goes for everything. Studying is a pain. The grades and the accomplishments that come afterwards stay forever. Tough people handle those temporary pains. And that’s
the way the kids are here. This is a generalization, but overall, Manhattan kids are tough kids. I don’t think we’re smarter than everybody, I don’t think we’re more physically blessed than everybody but we fight hard,” Lamb said. “I have great students everyday. You want to work hard for them because they work so hard for you. So you look for the little things, like Biology Olympiad. You want all your students motivated. Not just the guys that made the team, everybody. You want everybody to reach their goals.”
Gay-Straight Alliance carves pumpkins Marisa Lang Graphic Designer As the sound of spooky music and the smell of fresh pumpkins drifted out of the ceramics room last Wednesday, members of the GayStraight Alliance were hard at work carving pumpkins in honor of Halloween. “Beckie Carter, the president, thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins,” GSA sponsor Sara Rempel said. “She sent out a Facebook message -- ‘everyone bring a pumpkin’ -- and so everyone met [on Wednesday] and they had fun talking and carving pumpkins.” Sophomore Allison Clauss said she doesn’t have a Facebook so she didn’t get the message about bringing your own pumpkin. Luckily, other mem-
Global News Miranda Hairgrove Copy 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.
The Nigerian Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has claimed that the 200 girls kidnapped earlier this year have been converted to Islam and married off. The news came in a video released Saturday by the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau. In the video, Shekau also denied claims of a deal by the Nigerian government. The deal was supposedly a ceasefire and, according to CNN, “included the release of more than 200 girls whose kidnapping at a boarding school in the nation’s north stunned the world.”
Mass protests stop Hungary internet tax A proposed internet tax has been stopped on Friday when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said “This tax in its current form cannot be introduced.” According to NPR, “Days after some 100,000 people took to the streets in protest, Hungary’s government has given up on plans to tax Internet usage.” The tax would have charged every gigabyte of data transferred.
Senior Mary Romig plans what she will carve into her pumpkin. PHOTO BY MARISA LANG
Eruption in Rica causes evacuations
Costa streaming away from a flag- UK exit of the EU ceremony that takes worry, lowering places at dusk each day at the possible
The Turrialba volcano started spewing ash on Wednesday. According to the BBC, “The volcano has not spewed lava since the 1800s but there are concerns that this eruption could be a precursor to larger eruptions.” Authorities have evacuated the nearby area.
Bombing leaves dozens dead in India
A bombing on the border of Pakistan and India has killed over 45 people and injured dozens more. The bombing, according to The Guardian, “occurred as spectators were
Wagah border post, an immensely symbolic and sensitive area 15 miles from Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province.” The attack has been confirmed to be the result of a suicide bomber. “The suicide bomber failed to cross the security barrier and blew himself up outside when people were coming out,” Punjab Rangers chief Tahir Javed Khan said. So far two Islamic terrorist groups have taken credit for the attack. According to the BBC “the Pakistani Taliban told the BBC that it had carried out the attack, although another militant group, Jundullah, also said it was responsible.”
After disputes over interunion migration, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear that she would rather have the United Kingdom leave the European Union than reform the migrant system. According to the BBC British Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed an interest in “a plan to … ban migrants who do not have a job, and to deport those who are unable to support themselves after three months.” Cameron will attempt renegotiation with the EU before holding an in-out referendum for EU membership.