Volume 102 Edition 8

The mentor Vol. 102 Issue 6 | Manhattan High School | Oct. 28, 2014

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Ultimate Frisbee team works to become official Preston Harrison 21st Century Journalism Student For the past month, the Manhattan High Ultimate Frisbee team has been trying to be recognized by the school. Many of the players have been putting a lot of effort into becoming an actual competing team for MHS including sophomore Trey Hafen.

“I believe that it would provide new opportunities for other students to get involved in an athletic activity,” Hafen said.

However, the team would not have many teams to compete against. Like MHS, Ultimate has not become an official sport in most high schools across the state, and with the majority of large high school sports taking place in the fall, the teams could run into some potential attendance problems. But this problem is not at all stopping the team from trying.

“I think it should be a team because there are a lot of people interested in it and it is a sport,” freshman Luke Benfer said. Benfer is focused on becoming the best possible team and interesting fellow Indians to support and join the team.

According to Hafen, about 90 different people showed up for Ultimate at club sign up.

However, most of the school is unaware of the current situation. Some just see it as an extra unneeded sport that would be added to Manhattan’s professional roster. Now with more and more conflicts arising, the club hopes to have an official competing team by the fall of 2015.

Freshman Logan Logback participates in a game of ultimate against Lawrence Free State. The MHS Ultimate Frisbee played Free State in a tournament on October 13. After a nail-biting game MHS came out on top, winning 10-9 against Free State. The team went 2-2 in the whole tournament, beating Arkansas State and losing to Benedictine and McPherson Colleges.

COURTESY PHOTO

Science Olympiad begins year with high hopes Tracy Le Trending Editor Last year, Manhattan High's Science Olympiad team strived to a first place win at the regional competition and took second place at State.

“We were so close, we were really, really close to winning.

I think [a win] is achievable,” senior Danny Aramouni said.

Aramouni has been a part of the team since his sophomore year. His junior year he and the team had high hopes for the state competition but, this year, there are high expectations and even higher hopes.

“I would really like to see the team win first place at the state competition,” coach

Richard Nelson said. “I think it’s very achievable. Of course that’s the goal of most teams in the states, but the fact that the past few years our team has been really strong so we have a good chance.”

This year is also the start of a new class, Honors Science Investigations.

“The class, in one sense, has really improved our ability to communicate with the students and work through this process. We’re further along in this process than we’ve ever been in previous years. The hard part is incorporating the students who aren’t in the class with the students who are in the class,” Nelson said. “The students that aren’t in the class,

I think, are finding it a little more challenging to figure out when to practice and when to get with their partners. I think we’ll eventually work that out but right now I think some of those students may struggle for a little bit until they can figure out a schedule.”

Junior Rebekah Hennesey is one of the students in the class and on the team.

“We’ve figured out what all

our events are and so we’re using our class time to specialize and get an idea of what we’re going to plan and when we’re going to study what,” Hennesey said.

“It’s really helpful if you have your partner in the class because you get to see them on a regular basis and you’re able to spend more time with the people you don’t have [as partners] in the class. We still meet on Satur-

“I would really like to see the team win first place at the state competition. I think it’s very achievable.”

-Richard Nelson

days once a month and sometimes after school...it makes it a lot easier. It’s working really well I think.”

Though his schedule didn’t allow him to take the class, Aramouni agrees.

“I feel like the class should definitely help us a lot. I actually feel like I’m missing quite a bit not being on the class. I’m coming in once or twice a week and it’s working pretty well. I think we have a pretty solid team this year too…” Aramouni said. “One of the downsides of having a class is that we don’t meet as a whole group every Saturday anymore, we just meet once a month and the last team meeting, the only one so far, I was

taking the SAT so I don’t really know what everyone else is doing.”

Despite the conflicts, the class has brought new opportunities for the team.

“I think we are suffering a bit from the first year of working the kinks out - typical of any new course, but it’s going pretty well I think,” Nelson said.

Students have already reviewed foundational material such as significant digits, scientific notation and metrics and are even looking to do more competitions this year to give students who are in the class but not on the team a

See SCIENCE on page 5

SADD kicks off Red Ribbon Week Debate successful in tournaments Angie Moss Business Manager Red Ribbon Week kicked off last week and Student Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) is providing several activities at Manhattan High to get student more involved.

Some of these activities include donuts being passed out and a Klondike Bar challenge.

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated nation-wide to honor a police officer who was murdered during an undercover drug bust as well as promote drug and alcohol prevention.

Red Ribbon Week also strives to prevent texting while driving and drinking while driving.

“Well we're trying to reach out to all these kids because

you know in elementary schools they used to give out ribbons and stuff and as kids, you'll keep that,” senior Vice President Katie Dixon said.

"But now in high school, they just throw it away because it's just another thing they don't care about so we're trying to do it in a way that people will really want to get involved, have fun, and learn things while getting involved so we're just trying to spread the word in a way that high schoolers can receive it better.”

Last Friday, SADD went to Anthony Middle School for the kickoff of Red Ribbon Week and did several prevention activities with all of the students.

“Fourteen SADD members went to Anthony Middle

School and we did presentations through health and P.E. classes and presented to all of their students,” SADD sponsor Kari Humes said. “We did a pledge while we were there, we did a couple of activities that talked about drugs and alcohol, the dangers, the health consequences. Most of them were pretty fun and involved some interaction and some movement so there was physical activity involved. We used the fatal vision goggles and we did an activity with those so students could see how their perception is changes if they are under the influence of alcohol.”

So far this week, donuts have been have been handed

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its nonmilitary exploration and/or development of the Earth’s oceans.

That’s the statement that the Manhattan High School debate teams had to either affirm or negate at the Garden City and Topeka West tournaments this weekend and will continue to debate over in future tournaments.

The school team was split into two -- one going to Garden City and one going to Topeka West. The group at Topeka West took second place as a school, while the group at Garden City did not place due

to not enough participants despite success on the duo team level.

“My partner [senior Peter Sang] and I got to quarter finals,” junior Nathan McClendon said. “We finished 5-0 and were in the top seed.”

Sang placed as third speaker at the competition.

Debate, like most tournaments, works in a bracket system. Other aspects of it, however, are a bit unique.

At the beginning of the season a topic of debate, called the resolution, is decided upon for all schools. This year’s resolution, as stated above, deals with government funded ocean exploration and/or development.

Each team is responsible for researching and finding facts that would support either an

affirmative or negative argument about the resolution.

Once assigned a position on the topic, one member of the affirmative team gives an eight-minute speech followed by a three minute cross examination by the opposing team and the affirmative teammate gives a final rebuttal saying why he/she won that round.

This is done four times, one time for each of the participants.

“It all takes about an hour and a half [for each round],” senior David Hazelwood said.

The arguments are composed of facts researched by the team in advance.

“We’re good at team research,” junior Arnav Das said.

“But we can always research more and do better.”

cast as a kid, and anime was mostly a kind of escape for me and for a lot of people who are here,” Anime Club President Erin Heller said.

Heller said she joined the club last year because she enjoyed having friends who shared her love of anime.

“It was really more of the sense of having more friends and not really feeling like you’re kind of alone with your weird interests,” Heller said.

Freshman Chloe Dukes also shares Heller’s enjoyment of Japanese-style animation.

“I’ve actually been a really big anime fan since I was little, starting off as ‘Sailor Moon’ as my first anime, leading on to ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’, to ‘Naruto,’ to ‘Dragon Ball Z’, and then to ‘Attack on Titan’,” said Dukes.

The club, which meets on Thursdays every week, expresses their enthusiasm for

art and anime in a variety of ways, including playing anime inspired card games, drawing manga and watching different anime episodes and videos.

However, the club’s biggest plan is to attend Naka-Kon again this year, an anime convention held in Kansas City in the spring. To raise money, the club plans to do various fundraisers throughout the school year.

“We were thinking of do-

ing a car wash but I think we’ll probably just stick to the basic bake sale,” Heller said. “And we’ll try to do more school oriented things because it’s just going to be one big mess if we try to do it all outside.”

Anime Club sponsor Shawn Dolan says she enjoys being the club’s sponsor, but mostly stays behind the scenes and lets the students take charge.

“I’m able to be here to provide the space and time and

maybe sometimes a redirection,” Dolan said. “But more than anything I want them to feel like this is their program.”

Dolan also said she enjoys being the sponsor of a club with such a diverse group of students.

“They’re a fun group, and they’re very unique, and they’re all individuals,” said Dolan. “They’re a very accepting group. I think that’s great.”

Shooter in Canadian Parliament

parliament building after sending politicians and other citizens running to find shelter.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was hidden in a cupboard while other politicians stood ready to attack the shooter if he entered the meeting room where they were taking shelter.

budget. According to the BBC, “the payment follows new calculations by the EU that determine how much each member state should contribute.” The UK’s economy has done better than expected and is now being expected to pay their fee by Dec. 1.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said “it is not going to happen.” Cameron further insisted that “it is an unacceptable way to treat a country which is one of the biggest contributors to the EU.” The UK isn’t the only country to be hit with an additional

fine. According to a leaked EU commission document, Italy, Greece and Cyprus are also being expected to pay. On the other side of those having to pay, France, Germany and Denmark are seeing a reduction of their fees.

Guinea. A doctor in New York has tested positive after he was participating with Médecins Sans Frontières, a group that administers medical aid to people in third world countries.

The World Health Organisation has said that millions of Ebola vaccines will be produced in 2015. However, the vaccine is only experimental. There is no proven vaccine for Ebola.

See SADD on page 5

Miranda Hairgrove Copy Editor

Anime club brings students together through like interests Marisa Lang Graphic Design

When many people think of the word “anime,” the first thing that usually comes to mind are characters with spiky hair, crazy fashions and big eyes. However, to members of Manhattan High School Anime Club, this Japanese animation style means so much more.

“I was really mostly an out-

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.

A shooter was active in the Canadian Parliament on Ottawa on Wednesday after killing a Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial. The soldier, Nathan Cirillo, was unarmed when he was shot from behind. He was the only casualty.

Despite many allegations, there is no definite proof that the shooter is connected to the jihadist Islamic State. The shooter was shot dead in the

UK won’t pay £1.7bn ($2.73bn) to EU The European Union has added an extra £1.7bn ($2.73bn) to the United Kingdom’s contributions to the EU

Ebola spreads, vaccine distribution announced The death toll of Ebola has risen to over 4,800 cases. Mali has seen its first confirmed case after a two year old girl tested positive after she visited

Opinions

The Mentor • Oct. 28, 2014

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Stop hiding homeless End judgment of families receiving financial aid for sake of profit 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 In Fort Lauderdale, Fla. laws have recently been passed limiting the number of “feeding sites” that can exist for local homeless people. The regulations include rules requiring each site to be at least 500 feet away from residential neighborhoods -- as well as any other site -- and also prohibits homeless from sleeping and/ or storing their belongings on public property.

Fort Lauderdale isn’t the first city to establish laws of this nature; in fact it’s one of over 30 to take similar action recently. The Mentor editorial board, after reading on these laws, sat down to discuss the pros and cons and the general ethics behind it.

The main reason given by

officials for the establishment of these policies is to promote tourism. When the streets are filled with homeless and struggling people it becomes a far less appealing vacation destination and people are quick to tuck away their cameras and -- more importantly -- wallets.

One of the many concepts the editorial board found disturbing, and frankly inhumane, was the idea of hiding poverty as a means to make money. Stashing away these homeless and moving them to the other side of town where they can continue living a life on the streets, no longer an eyesore on the town, rather than attempting to address, or even resolve, the problem it is merely swept under the rug.

Officials, when speaking on the number of homeless individuals living in the area, blame it on the good weather.

They’re talked about like animals and an inconvenience rather than people with a story and struggles that no one cares to learn of or understand. This

is the type of issue that we should focus on stopping before it happens, because prevention is much easier than getting people off of the streets once they’ve been pushed there and sucked into the cycle of poverty.

What it all comes down to is opportunities. Everyone should be given an equal chance to make a life for themselves that is better than the previous generations. Granted that there are some people living on the streets who are there strictly as a result of their own actions and choices, but many are there because they didn’t know how to do better.

When you grow up in a world of crime, substance abuse, gang affiliation and poverty, it’s incredibly difficult to break away from, especially with nobody on your side.

We need to give the resources to avoid or escape these situations rather than blaming or hiding homeless.

They’re victims, not an annoyance.

Increase national security

The White House has been attacked.

Recently a man jumped the White House fence. The perpetrator sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Two secret service dogs were taken to a veterinary clinic for treatment for injuries from the jumper’s resistance.

This is the second incident in the past month in which a person has hopped over the fence of the residence of the president.

What does this say to organizations that wish to harm the

president or United States?

The defense of the most important man in Washington, D.C. is weak. If you want to attack the president you simply have to hop a fence and attack.

If two unarmed, likely untrained, civilians can jump the fence, what prevents trained terrorists?

Nothing.

The two White House fence jumpers were both apprehended but have yet to face charges. In addition to the White House fence jumpers, bullet holes were found in the front window of the building.

It is necessary that two things happen in the infrastructure of the government to prevent further incidents.

They need to punish the jumpers with the crime of threatening national security and the president. The punishment

for the crime is currently at max five years in prison. This should be set higher to either life in prison or death.

In the case of an immediate threat to national security, such as jumping the White House fence, the perpetrator should be immediately disabled via a taser or gun shot if obviously armed.

After this change in policy is set into place by the government, the next step is to enforce them. The start is by locking away the two White House fence jumpers. So if another person jumps the White House fence, they get shot or tased.

This sends out a message to those who wish to attack us. A message saying hey get close to the most powerful man in the country and we will not take it.

We will hold up our security.

Follow The Mentor @mhsmentoronline on Twitter

Question of the Week: What are you going to be for Halloween?

“Alternative Tinkerbell,” junior Olivia Groninger

“Disillusioned high school student,” senior Connor Bliss @connorblissful

“I’m going to be crying at a debate tournament,” Trevor Bashaw, senior @flirtydad

“BookFace: the “dead” social network,” Israel Wheatley, junior @a_nu_matt

“Eating watermelon,” senior Matthew Ball

w

Who are/would you vote for? Tweet your answer @mhsmentoronline or answer at our website, mhsmentor.com for a chance to be featured in the next edition.

Kids are told that asking for help is okay, that even when we admit defeat that we can still go on.

But sometimes those who ask for help are judged anyway.

We still believe that out of all the people who ask for help there will always be someone who takes advantage of assistance -- there will always be a boy who cries ‘wolf.’

Imagine this: a happy family portrait -- mom, dad, two kids and probably a dog somewhere in there. But the glass is dusty and the frame is old. It’s no longer hanging, but simply sitting on the hallway bookshelf to be seen by the family that now consist of three: Mommy and her two children.

The dog went missing years ago, and Dad is gone without leaving a dime. He could be dead, and the people he once stood next to don’t even know it.

Mom might be the prettiest, the smartest and maybe even has impeccable professional potential, but her life now is for her kids, and they need food, money and education. That’s more important to her than getting her dream career. So she works crappy jobs for crappy pay, sometimes

in unsafe environments. Now imagine her on normal day at work alone -- suddenly a blow to the head by a stranger -glass is everywhere, her vision is blurred and the man moved too fast for her to keep up.

This was not in her job description.

The next thing she sees are white walls, a faint beeping in her ear. Her youngest daughter’s eyes wet with tears while whispering, “Mommy, please wake up.”

Her first thoughts are: the rent is due, the car was stolen, the gas bill is already late, and now on top of all this, she cannot even comprehend how much a hospital bill would be.

She isn’t even worried about herself, but her children and how to provide for them. How could she give them a proper Christmas when the money she saved up was in the glovebox in the car that was stolen?

She tries to get up, but her body is too weak. Then she looks around at herself. Bruises everywhere, her thighs and arms are covered in shades of black and blue. She sobs.

There is no preparation course for this. Nobody ever plans on being left behind or beaten down while working hard to barely skate by. Some people need help.

And that is why I am here to tell you “Housing Assistance” and “Food Stamps” aren’t just for the weak and uneducated.

They are for the single moms and dads who don’t have the money to provide for

their families, the ones who got hurt and can no longer work due to a disability, or the people who are simply so lost in their own lives that they cannot keep up. They aren’t here to tie your shoes or make your bed; these programs exist to help you learn how to tie your shoes and to prepare for the process of making your bed so that down the road you will know how without them, figuratively speaking.

Why is it that our society makes people feel like they’re selling their soul when they’re simply asking for help? The people who take advantage will always exist, there is no stopping them. But instead of hating each individual in the room, try taking a closer look, opening up your ears and listening to what they have to say.

Trying to judge all the colors of the rainbow at once makes an ugly mess -- you need to look at each individual section of the rainbow to really grasp the color and what it consists of.

Not everyone takes advantage. I am the proud daughter of a woman who works hard and still finds time to love her kids, the humble big sister of a little girl who gives the money in her piggy bank and her favorite toy to homeless people.

I am also the girl who comes from these programs, they are here to help my family, and sure it’s embarrassing-- but why? People need help sometimes, and it’s OK to ask. Stop the judgement.

Stop thinking of ourselves Studies have shown that our generation, Millennials, has a higher levels of selfimportance and narcissism than any other living generation. We have been nicknamed “Generation Me” due to our alleged lazy, self-absorbed, and lackadaisical attitudes.

Today, people born in the years 1980 to 2000 are less likely to donate money to charities, volunteer, or even care about political and environmental issues. Millennials are 55 percent more likely to participate in the “selfie” trend than in the GenX and baby boomers generations. They also spend more time tweeting, posting and taking selfies than any previous generation.

According to Entrepreneur. com, individuals ranging from the age of 18 to 36 spend an average of 17.8 hours a day on some form of media -- this includes texting, watching television and using social media websites -- and 71 percent admit to participating in media on a daily bases. I’d like to point out that there are only 24

hours in a day. This only leaves 6.2 hours left to do non-media related activities.

It seems that “Generation Me” may be a suiting nickname for Millennials.

But what has driven us to these habits? Why do more 18- to 30-year-old’s focus on themselves, their lives, their appearance and their status posts and tweets? Why is narcissism and self-absorption increasing with each generation?

Society makes it difficult to think of things outside of ourselves.

The rise of social media enabled us to share more personal information and even motivated a feeling self-importance, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We can get our opinions out in a faster and more efficient way. We feel like we have some sort of voice in the world.

However, many young adults have misused the “blessing” that is social media.

We spend hours upon hours tweeting and posting things that are irrelevant to the progression of our society. No one needs to take a picture of them self every hour to feed their narcissistic appetite.

Why does our generation spend so much time on Twitter when we could be doing things to better our commu-

nities? Why do we post about things that are, in reality, of little importance?

We, as a society, have become so self absorbed that all we think of is ourselves.

When I think of the future, I am extremely concerned.

Looking at the shape of the economy, the state of the environment, the functionality of our government, I wonder exactly what things will be like in just a few decades. Previous generations have put Millennials in a challenging position. We hear about recessions, government shut downs, wars, and nation security problems, and ask: what are the people currently running the world really doing?

We see these terrible things happening, yet, we rarely think that any current event will potentially effect us in the future or even now. We don’t realize that there is life outside of “selfies.” There are things happening in the world that we will have to face eventually.

We have the power to change society. When we stop focusing on “me, me, me” and focus on what is happening now, we can figure out a way to solve the problems of society afflicting us. We have to stop obsessing over our self-image and think about the realities of life.

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 Marisa Lang -- Graphic Designer Miranda Hairgrove -- Copy Editor Senior Staff Writers/Photographers -- Madison Newman, John Rockey Staff Writers/Photographers -- Cora Astin, Rick Brown, Elassia Cunningham-Younger, Darian Foga-Frehn, Preston Harrison, Jennie Jordan 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) 5872114. 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 • Oct. 28, 2014

Features

Trick or treat Earth Club members carve pumpkins in celebration of Halloween

With Halloween festivities underway, seniors Isaiah Koppes, Cole Dillion and Kaitelin Hoefler carve pumpkins to decorate the Manhattan High secretaries’ desks. Earth Club held a meeting last night that included Halloween themed activities and snacks.

PHOTO BY KRISTEN BATSON

Freshman spends thousands of hours playing piano Madeline Marshall News Editor Imagine playing the piano for 1,170 hours.

Over the course of a year that’s the average amount of time freshman Barry Zhang practices piano.

He has been playing for nine years.

“I do about two and a half hours on school days and on weekends I do between four and five hours a day,” Zhang said.

Zhang also drives to Lawrence every week to take lessons from a professor at the University of Kansas.

“There’s a really good teacher in Lawrence that I work with once a week and he really helps a lot with helping me,” Zhang said. “I usually go on Tuesdays and they are anywhere from an hour to maybe even two hours long.”

Zhang’s practice routine is focused mainly on repertoire.

He plays extremely high-level pieces.

“When I practice I try to split my time between different pieces I’m doing and just make them better,” Zhang said.

With most of his time being focused on practicing, Zhang has a busy schedule.

“My schedule revolves around it and its definitely

something I really like,” Zhang said. “It takes up a lot of time so I can’t do as many things and I have a lot less free time and everything is a little bit more busy and I have to stay up a little bit later but I think it helps. Any day when I’m not practicing I just feel like I’m sitting around and not doing anything with my-

self. Occasionally I get to hang out with friends, but not a lot any more, because I’m busy on weekends and there’s still a lot of classwork so I’m usually staying up kind of late.”

T h i s massive time devotion, along with natural talent, has led Zhang to win local, state and regional competitions.

“Any day when I’m not practicing I just feel like I’m sitting around and not doing anything with myself.”

-Barry Zhang

“Usually I do well,” Zhang said. “It’s all up to the judges and whether they like you or not. So I just always think they can like you they can make you win and if they don’t like you just move on to another competition and someone might like you there. I usually try to warm up before and when I play I just sort of play and hope it goes well.”

Zhang feels at his best when playing, as it comes naturally to him. He hopes have a career in music.

“It means a lot,” Zhang said.

“I think its something that I want to do later on in my life because it’s something that comes easier to me than other

things. I want it to be my career. I’d probably choose to split my time between teaching students and performing.”

With thousands of hours of playing experience, and far more to come, Zhang’s potential seems limitless.

“Music for me just comes fairly quickly,” Zhang said.

“I can learn things faster in music than I can learn other stuff and I think if I work hard at it I can do pretty well.”

AFS attends annual conference Exchange students share Danielle Cook Entertainment Editor On Saturday, Oct.17, members of Manhattan High’s American Field Service were joined by exchange students from all over the state of Kansas for an annual AFS conference. The conference, called AFS Fall Festival, was held in the fall this year, instead of in the spring as usual.

Exchange students from other Kansas cities traveled to Manhattan Friday night, their modes of transportation arranged by their local AFS coordinators, in time to have dinner with their designated Manhattan host families.

According to Manhattan High AFS adviser Tony Wichmann, a main goal of the AFS Fall Festival was to help exchange students get to know

Kansas, their temporary home, better by taking them to do local activities.

“After eating dinner, I took the student staying with us to the MHS football game,” Wichmann said. “The conference is just about that -- host families and exchange students doing activities to get the students connected and to help them know Kansas better.”

Manhattan High AFS president senior Megan Weathers, who hosted two exchange students, one from Topeka and one from Derby, over the conference weekend, explained that interacting with exchange students both from Manhattan and other Kansas cities was fun and partaking in local activities kept things interesting.

“I took my [AFS] sisters to the Varsity food truck. They were so excited, so that was

fun,” Weathers said. “I think it’s good that they got to see and experience bit of Manhattan.”

After Friday night’s freetime activities together, host families and exchange students visited Kansas State University’s Student Union on Saturday for lunch, bowling and a K-State challenge course.

While at the Union, exchange students also mingled with each other, making connections through shared cultures and experiences.

“It’s always neat to see the connections that happen when exchange students interact,” Wichmann said. “Even though they might not live in the same town while they’re here, they may have the same home country, so they’re able to connect through their culture.”

Do you or your friends do anything that sets you apart from the crowd that could be featured in The Mentor? Let us know at mhsmentor.com for a chance to be featured in the paper.

Halloween traditions Madison Newman Senior Photographer

Halloween has been around since many Americans can remember. Halloween is celebrated in many ways by many people, known for it’s “spooky vibes’ and fun traditions one might wonder how traditions are held around the world.

Surprisingly to some, a lot of places to not celebrate Halloween -- American Foreign Exchange student Ida Emilie Laugesen from Denmark finds the whole concept of Halloween somewhat childish, but is excited to give it a shot. In Denmark, the Danes hold the Fastelavn, or the Shrovetide; the festival is based on the story of cats being a witches and demon’s pet of choice, naturally they would be charged with evil powers; so they would put a cat in a barrel and

hit the barrel so when it was cracked open the cat would run away, taking it’s negative energy along with it. But considering there are standards and animal cruelty laws now, the more popular tradition (for young children) is to take a barrel filled with candy and beaten until cracked open-like a piñata, and the lucky two winners are crowned King and Queen (being the first ones to crack open the barrel). “It is more of a children’s holiday, but as an adult we really don’t celebrate it like Americans do,” Laugesen said, “Actually there is always that one kid who goes out trick or treating. But that’s not a thing.”

In Germany, where Americanization has really taken off, the stories of origin are quite similar with the exception of Halloween being circled around the stories of the

Headless Huntsman, according to AFS student Johannes Huy, “We pretty much copy you guys, for children we dress up [scary costumes] and trick or treat,” Huy said, recalling his own childhood Halloween party. “As adults, it’s basically an excuse to go out and party.”

Somewhat like Denmark, Sweden does not celebrate Halloween as the festive fun Americans do, but more as a day to respect the dead. “You basically go to a cemetery, light candles and it flowers down on the graves.” Hedlof reports that there are some who choose to put up Halloween decorations and celebrate it as a bigger deal, “I feel like it should be more about meaning and traditions rather than silly stuff."

Hedlof said.

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Sports

The Mentor • Oct. 28, 2014

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Cross country sweeps Manhattan Regionals John Rockey Senior Staff Writer Closing in behind senior Michael Melgares’ first-place finish and sophomore Jackson Schroeder’s second-place finish at the Regional meet last Saturday, Manhattan High cross country senior Isaiah Koppes came in behind them to take fourth place at Warner Park for the second and last time this season.

“It was really surreal because I’ve always thought that this is such a tough course and even though this is our home course, I kind of dread running it,” Koppes said. “But I was still really glad that I got to run it one more time as a senior. I felt like I redeemed myself after my first race here this season.”

The last home meet of the season ended with Manhattan High’s boys team securing first with 35 points after the girls team took second with 52 points.

“I was super happy that it was over,” Melgares said. “I was just super happy it was over because it hurt a lot and it’s a really hot day. It’s always such a relief to cross the finish line.”

The team’s plan while hosting the meet was to use their knowledge of the course and how they will run it to their advantage.

“We know it’s always a tough course,” Melgares said.

“We basically just want to run fast enough to advance and no faster. So we knew it’d be pretty tough. We weren’t expecting it to be such a hard effort. But it was great in the end.”

Throughout the week leading up to the home meet, the sentiment of the last home meet of the season -- and last ever for seniors -- followed them throughout their preparation for Regionals.

“Before [the race] I completely forgot that I was a senior,” Megan Ochoa said.

“And as I was running, I heard someone yell ‘this is your last race, make it count,’ and that’s when that really clicked [that] this is my last race, you need to give it your all.”

During the race, the team focused on each part of the course and how they would run the different hills, dips and curves throughout the course.

From the gradual hill after the first mile to the winding path marred by three dips that lies before the last downhill be-

fore the finish line, the runners were telling themselves to push hard and finish off the race.

“As soon as I pass that turn going up that hill, I just say to myself ‘there’s no more hills.

You should let it all go,’” freshman Cristina Martinez said.

“This is the end and you give it all you got because you better be exhausted at the end and if you’re not, you didn’t do good enough.”

The girls top five included Ochoa (16:01.7) taking fourth, sophomore Cara Melgares (16:11.4) and Martinez (16:11.8) taking sixth and seventh, senior Taylor Efurd (16:41.3) taking 16th and sophomore Leah Selman (17:11.6) rounding out the scoring at 19th place.

The ensuing boys race had

Michael Melgares (15:56.8) and Schroeder (15:57.1) taking first and second, Koppes (16:44.1) following with a fourth place finish, freshman Cooper Schroeder (17:09.8) taking eighth and junior Alejandro Martinez (17:45.7) finishing off the team scoring at 20th place.

The finish of the race had seniors, like Efurd, reflecting on running the last home meet of their high school career.

“With Warner, it’s like a love-hate relationship,” Efurd said. “I’m going to actually miss running on it. But it feels good to have a last good race on it and be done.”

The finish of the next to last race signals how soon the seniors will no longer be racing with the rest of the team after the upcoming State meet.

“It was pretty sad. [Michael Melgares and Isaiah Koppes] are great guys to run with and just great guys in general,” Jackson said. “It was a real pleasure to run with them and I’ll be excited to run this last one with them.”

The team’s plan for State won’t be much different from any other week of practice.

They plan on carrying out business just as before to defend their title from last year.

“It’s definitely not going to be as easy this year as it was last year to get a victory there,” Koppes said. “We’re going to have to fight for it a lot more.

But in the end, I almost feel like that can make it a sweeter win because it isn’t being handed to us on a silver platter. We’re going to have to get down and bleed for it.”

Football falls to Free State, out of playoff picture Greg Woods Sports Editor

Whatever playoff hopes Manhattan High football had after its Oct. 17 loss to Topeka High were dashed Friday night. The Indians fell to Lawrence Free State on senior night, 35-14, and out of playoff contention for the first time since 2007.

“We talk about this all the time,” head coach Joe Schartz said. “How to handle disappointment, how to play like a Manhattan Indian. There’s a lot of times in life when you don’t get what you want. Tonight’s one of those nights for our seniors.”

Free State drew first blood with junior Bryce Tornaden’s three-yard touchdown pass to Tye Carter, putting the Firebirds up 7-0 at the end of the first frame.

Manhattan punted on its first drive of the game and set up Free State with an opportunity to stretch its lead.

The Firebirds did just that.

Tornaden connected with Joel Spain for 55 yards and a touchdown and led 14-0 early in the second quarter.

“We had a hard time getting [Free State] off the field,” Schartz said. “The kids fought hard, but we couldn’t get them off the field on third and fourth down. They kept moving the chains. When that happens, it becomes a long night.”

The Firebirds extended their lead to 21-0 before fumbling in their own territory.

Manhattan capitalized on the turnover as senior Eric Prockish completed a 16yard touchdown pass to Keadrian McDonald, trimming the Free State lead to 21-7 before intermission. “[The touchdown] kept us alive,” Schartz said. “If we would have went in 21-0 at half it would have been very

difficult to get anybody motivated. But at halftime we were still motivated and realized that we had a chance to come out and score on the first drive of the second half.”

After a play in which senior Chris Martin threw a fourthdown interception that was returned for a touchdown only to be called back on a penalty, the Indians found life. Prockish hit senior Jake Olson on a 46-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Firebirds’ lead to 2114 midway through the third quarter.

Free State responded emphatically, converting on a fourth and one and later scoring on a 19-yard touchdown run from Tornaden. The Firebirds led 28-14 after three quarters.

“They just had a good game, and obviously we were struggling with some penalties and stuff,” Martin said. “It kind of got to our heads a little bit.”

Prockish threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter and Free State scored on a nine-yard touchdown run from Carter.

Manhattan will travel to Topeka to take on Washburn Rural on Friday for its final game of the 2014 campaign. “[The Washburn Rural game] is going to be tough,” Schartz said. “It’s a test of character and we’ll see how much pride we have. I know there’s a lot in that locker room and I know that they’re going to give a good effort next week.”

For coverage of

MANHATTAN FOOTBALL’S

last game of 2014, follow @MHSMentorOnline on Twitter!

Senior Chris Martin runs the ball Friday night against Lawrence Free State. The Indians’ loss eliminated them from the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and for the first time under Schartz.

Above left: Senior Chris Martin blocks for fellow senior Eric Prockish as he looks down field to pass Friday night.

Above right: Prockish finds a target in Free State territory against Lawrence Free State.

PHOTOS BY CORA ASTIN

Boys soccer blanks rival Junction City at home, earns 11th win of 2014 campaign Rick Brown 21st Century Journalism Student Four goals. Two teams. One scoring team.

The Manhattan High soccer team shut out Junction City, 4-0, on Thursday. The Indians were able to keep the ball on Junction City’s side of the field

for the majority of the game and scored all four goals in the first half of the game.

During the second half of the game, Junction City was able to direct the ball onto Manhattan’s side of the field and nearly scored a goal. However, a strong Manhattan defense protected the ball.

Head coach Frank Alonso

was happy but not impressed with their win.

“It was more of a training exercise than a game,” Alonso said. “[JC scared us] at the end a bit, but not much during the rest of the game. It was a typical game experience.”

Players thought they performed well.

“We kept up the intensity

Volleyball falls to Washburn at Sub-State Angie Moss Business Manager Manhattan High’s volleyball team’s goal of making it to State this year was put to an end last Saturday at Sub-State.

The Indians’ first match of the day was against Junction City, downing the Blue Jays with scores of 25-13 and 2520.

“We came out and played well. We were able to take care of business there,” head coach Lisa Kinderknecht said. “They played well, we passed well, we hit well, served well, so they were ready to go. It was a hot gym. They didn’t have air-conditioning and who knew it’d be 90 degrees on an October day. I was really pleased with the way we played. We actually played very well across the front row and had some good passing. Madi Fief always does a nice job of getting our hitters the ball as the setter.”

When it came time to play Washburn Rural, MHS started out strong but began to fall behind later in the game. The

Indians lost the game 25-22, 25-14, finishing their chance of getting to State.

“We started off strong in the first game and had a lead and then they got the momentum on their side and we got down and couldn’t get back up,” junior setter Madi Fief said. “I have to give them credit. Their defense was awesome and they dug up so many of our hits.”

Many things went wrong during the Washburn game that prevented the Indians from getting their victory, but Washburn had it out for the Indians.

“They simply wanted to win more than us. They were out for blood. Last year we ended their 19-year streak of going to State so this time they weren’t going to let that happen twice,” senior middle blocker Kelsey Schroll said. “We just weren’t ready for their intensity level yesterday.”

Junior outside hitter Maddie Mittie led the team with 15 kills, a 0.371 hitting percentage and 18 digs. Fief had a total of 39 assists and 13 digs, while

sophomore setter Gigi McAtee had three aces. Senior libero Matty Mahan contributed 13 digs.

MHS ended the season 2712. Mahan led the team in digs at 330. Schroll finished with 320 kills and 102.5 blocks, while Mittie had 30 aces, 240 kills and 329 digs.

Schroll was pleased with the season’s outcome.

“Overall I’m proud of what we accomplished this season.

Not all of us have played together so it was a new experience and instead of just staying to ourselves we became one big family,” Schroll said.

of the game,” right midfielder Ben Turnley said. “It was a good practice match.”

With its defeat of Junction City, Manhattan played at Regionals on Monday against Junction City again. This time, players expected a more intense match.

“It’s hard to tell how Junction City performed [on

Thursday],” forward captain Kirk Lambert said. “They sat out a lot of starters.”

Alonso agreed. “[On Thursday, Junction City] had few starters,” Alonso said. “The real game is on Monday. If we win then we have a chance to go forward.”

Alonso noted that Junction City had improved.

“Drew [Proctor, Junction City’s] coach, has made them a much more organized team,” Alonso said. “This is one of their better seasons.”

The Indians will continue at Regionals again Thursday, and the quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK SENIOR MICHAEL MELGARES

SEASON NUMBERS OPPONENTS 39 MATCH RECORD

27-12

SET RECORD 59-26

Melgares, a senior, topped all Manhattan runners at Saturday’s Regionals meet at Warner Park in Manhattan and helped the Indians to a sweep of the meet.

“I was just super happy it was over because it hurt a lot and it’s a really hot day.

It’s always such a relief to cross the finish line,” Melgares said on Saturday.

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Features The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com The Mentor • Oct. 28, 2014

Taylor Swift introduces interesting new sound in “1989” Taylor Swift has defied boundaries in her new album 1989.

While making the transition from her country roots to her new ‘80s pop era, Swift drops her good-girl persona and steps into a new and bold age. The album is named after her birth year, and has 13 tracks, all of which have a different tone.

Swift starts off the album with “Welcome To New York,” a song that tells the tale of her new city. While it’s not the best song on the album, it sets the scene for her new way of life.

In WTNY, Swift states “everyone here was someone else before.” Not only is Swift describing her change of scenery, she’s also describing herself.

Except for the few exceptions, like “Shake It Off,” the rest of the album is focused on the usual: boys and breakups.

Not too long ago, Swift had a meltdown over the fact

PHOTO COURTSEY OF TAYLORSWIFT.COM that people make fun of her music constantly bring about relationships. That no longer seems to be a concern in the second track of the album, “Blank Space.” In this song, Swift has embraced her “long list of ex-lovers,” and continues to sing about adding another guy to a “blank space.”

Swift also seems to have adopted the music style of a couple other famous pop stars like Charlie XCX in “Bad Blood” and Lana Del Rey in

“Wildest Dreams.” While both of these stars are very talented, their sound is unique to them and Swift should have come up with her own unique sound.

Swift ends the album on a mellow note with “Clean,” a song about recovering from a devastating break up. It starts off as a montage of an upbeat drum and saddening bass in the background. Soon enough, the lyrics begin to brighten and the song then blossoms into this confessional about

her feelings for whatever guy this song is about and how she’s “finally clean,” hence the track title.

Swift’s new album is a perfect storm of music compelled by various stages of a relationship. Everything is so different and yet it all fits together perfectly. Swift has flawlessly transitioned into pop music and has set the bar for herself even higher.

Entertainment

KMEA students prepare for district auditions Madeline Marshall News Editor This upcoming weekend choir, band, and jazz band students will travel to Junction City to audition for a chance to be in one of the KMEA North Central District honor groups.

Orchestra students must submit a recorded audition by this day to audition for the district honor orchestra. Students have been preparing for these auditions for months.

“I’ve been looking at the music since May,” senior flautist April Ascher said. “But I really worked on it starting at the beginning of the school year.”

Junior Emma Brase began looking at the audition materials at the beginning of the school year.

“I got the music for auditions towards the beginning of the school year and worked on it a little then, and I’ve started practicing it more recently to prepare to record my audition,” Brase said.

Some students feel nervous, despite their practice regimen. However, experience has greatly lessened this feeling.

“I’m nervous because I’ve never auditioned for jazz KMEA but I have better expe-

rience than last year so I’m not terrified,” junior Lilly Marshall said. “Compared to last year I think I have a better chance just because naturally I have more experience for what it’s like auditioning.”

At the audition students must perform pieces given to them far in advance, scales, and sight read music they’ve not seen before.

“I actually don’t just play what’s written because for the most part the audition music isn’t as musically challenging, what matters is your sound, and how you play it and that goes for the sight reading too,” Marshall said.

Overall, the musicians’ hopes are high.

“Obviously my hopes are to get as high as I can which is only 2nd chair since I did a recorded audition but I am fine with most anything,” Ascher said.

Those students who make it into their district honor groups become eligible to audition for the state honor groups.

“I’m not really that nervous because I was able to get into district orchestra last year but hopefully I can audition and get into state orchestra after that,” Brase said. “I probably won’t get into state, but I’d like to audition anyways.”

Big Blue marching band visits FHSU for annual State competition

LEFT: Band Director Justin Gittle gives students instruction upon returning from Fort Hays State University for the State competition.

RIGHT: Members of the Big Blue marching band properly care for and store equiptment.

PHOTOS BY JENNIE JORDAN

Elassia Cunningham Staff Writer The Manhattan High School marching band returned to Fort Hays State University to compete in the annual State competition.

Marching band made the two-hour drive to Hays yesterday to perform “Blue Tunes” in front of six judges and 15 competing Kansas marching bands.

The band began preparing

See SCIENCE on page 5 chance to compete.

“Since we’re ahead of the game overall and the quality of our student members is great, I feel really good about our opportunities to do well [in competitions],” Nelson said. “Last year’s team did extremely well so to do better than that would be a challenge, but I feel good about our chances because of the quality of the students that we have and the opportunities the class has given us this year.

Because of still trying to figure out the students who aren’t in the class and how they’re going to have to dovetail in with the students in the class... I

See SADD on page 5 out at both campuses to remind students about Red Ribbon Week and to make students think about their decisions. With three days left in the week, there are more activities to come.

for the competition immediately following band camp in July, practicing daily for the competition. In September, the band would meet every morning to practice. Rainy weather altered some of the band rehearsals and created some stress.

“Every week gets more and more stressful as we go,” Marching band director Joel Gittle said. “We’ve been outside about 50 percent of the time we could be outside. still feel a little anxious with that regard but I think overall, we’re further ahead than previous years.”

With the addition of the class and the 15 students beginning to work out their events, the year has officially begun for Science Olympiad.

“It seems like it’s going to be a really good year. We have a great group of people,” Hennesey said.

And for students, it’s another opportunity to take State. “I want to go to Nationals. I really want to go to Nationals.

It’s a long way to go but I really want to go to Nationals,” Aramouni said.

“We're doing a Klondike bar challenge like we did last year here on Wednesday, Thursday at east campus and then Friday we're doing another thing with food,” senior president Alyssa Frey said. “We just give food out and that makes people interested.”

We’ve had half as many rehearsals outside as we’ve had in our normal years, because of the rain.”

However, the band was able to have successful rehearsals two weeks prior to the competition.

The band performed their festival music on Friday during the home football game in Bishop Stadium.

“We don’t necessarily do traditional contest shows,” Gittle said. “We do more stuff

that’s really geared towards crowd participation. We want the crowd to get involved in the show.”

The music consists of theme songs from famous cartoons like “Looney Tunes,” “The Jetsons,” “The Simpson’s,” “The Flintstones” and “Family Guy.” “At the end of our performance, we play the ‘Looney Tunes’ song and we have somebody that holds up a sign that says ‘that’s all folks,’ and as soon as we’re done play-

ing that, the band bolts off the field,” junior Sara Nelson said.

“It’s supposed to be a joke. It’s going to be really funny to see.”

The competition is not ranked on a first-to-last-place scale. Each band is graded not their own techniques rather than being compared to each other’s performance.

“You aren’t judged against the other bands as much as you’re graded on your own performance, “ senior Jay Garber said. “We’ve been pretty

successful. We’ve gotten superior ratings so far.”

“Instead of ‘who’s better than who,’ it’s more like ‘how good are you,’” senior Justin Gittle said.

After the competition was over, the band celebrated by going to “Western Sizzlin.” “[I’m looking forward to] going to Western Sizzlin. It’s a restaurant in Salina we go to every year on the way back just to celebrate the end of our season,” Justin said.

Straight No Chaser wows crowd Marisa Lang Graphic Designer

An energetic crowd talked excitedly inside McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University last Thursday night as they waited for the sold out show to begin.

Suddenly, the lights went dim and a pre-recorded video began, showing members of the professional a capella group Straight No Chaser gathered around a bar, sharing funny stories about themselves and the group.

In no time at all, the ensemble was live in front of a hyped Manhattan audi-

ence. Straight No Chaser got the crowd clapping right off the bat with a peppy rendition of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, followed closely by what could be considered a Straight No Chaser “classic” -- a “mashup” of the songs “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as made famous by Hawaiian folk singer Israel Iz Kamakawiwo’ole.

A capella music -- where singers’ only instruments are their voices -- has lately been increasing in popularity, thanks in part to movies like “Pitch Perfect.” Straight No Chaser, formed in 1996 at Indiana University, is an allmale a capella group that was discovered when their video of them singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” went viral on YouTube. The group has toured

all over the world and came to Manhattan as part of their “Happy Hour” Tour, promoting their latest album “Under the Influence.”

The group continued to show their musical prowess throughout the evening, singing songs with styles ranging from “Let It Go” from Frozen to “Rolling on the River”

by Tina Turner. Straight No Chaser kept the audience engaged with their light-hearted and sometimes complex arrangements of songs, as well as their amazing vocal abilities.

While most songs stayed more or less true to the original versions, other songs were humorously changed in classic Straight No Chaser style.

The popular song “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor gave the long-suffering basses

a chance at a solo as the group sang that they were “all about that bass (no tenors).” Another song teased popular musicals, blending the melodies of these wellknown theatrical productions together to make fun of “Cats,” “Rent,” “Grease” and others.

Straight No Chaser closed their show with an upbeat mashup of pop songs that included “Pompeii,” “Dark Horse,” “Fancy,” “Turn Down For What,” “Shake it Off ” and “Hey Mickey.”

After a thunderous applause, Straight No Chaser performed their original hit, “The 12 Days of Christmas,” as an encore number.

HallO ween

Trending

The Mentor • Oct. 28, 2014

Page 6

These days Halloween can be equated to people seeking out candy and dressing up as their favorite characters, random inanimate objects and more. But there is much more to the “spookiest holiday of the year”. Here are just a few facts to get you in the mood for the upcoming holiday:

HALLOWEEN IS THOUGHT TO HAVE ORIGINATED ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO WITH THE CELTIC FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN, MEANING “SUMMER’S END” (THE HOLIDAY AS IT IS TODAY ALSO HAS SOME INCORPORATED TRADITIONS OF ALL SAINTS’ DAY ON NOV. 1).

It w a s b eli ev ed th at o n Oct. 31, th e b o u n d a r i es b etw een th e w o r ld s o f th e li v i n g a n d th e d ea d w er e th e th i n n est, th u s th e d ea d w er e a b le to w a lk to ea rth .

IMMIGRANTS FROM IRELAND AND SCOTLAND BROUGHT HALLOWEEN TO THE U.S. IN THE 1800S.

THE TERM “JACK-O’-LANTERN” COMES FROM AN ANCIENT IRISH FOLK TALE ABOUT A FARMER NAMED JACK WHO TRAPPED THE DEVIL AND AS PUNISHMENT, COULD NEITHER GO TO HEAVEN NOR HELL.

IN 1964, HELEN PFEIL, OF GREENLAWN, NEW YORK, WAS ARRESTED FOR HANDING OUT ARSENIC-LACED TREATS.

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THE LAST FULL MOON ON HALLOWEEN WAS IN 2001. THE NEXT ONE WILL BE IN 2020.

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NUMBERS TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO

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dollars will be spent on costumes and candy

Graphics by Marisa Lang and Tracy Le