2014 Senior Destinations

Cole Barr

Online Editor

Allmon MariahHCC

 

Almquist Andrew NCK

 

Amezcua Benjamin Army

 

Anderson Kelsey WSU

 

Armstrong Cody Salina Area Technical

 

Axelson Marissa KSU

 

Barnes Janae JCCC

 

Barr Cole Columbia College Chicago

 

Bate Brooke HCC

 

Becker Alisa Baker

 

Berens Nicholas Undecided

 

Berger Cole workforce

 

Birzer Gabrielle Kansas Wesleyan

 

Black Micah Sterling

 

Blosser Dylan Friends/Sterling

 

Bowers Adam Friends University

 

Brewer MikaylaKU

 

Brown Jayme Stephens College

 

Bruner Sierra McPherson/ESU

 

Bruton Jennifer McPherson College

 

Bryant Jermyn Marines

 

Burghart Anne Benedictine

 

Burney Brooke WSU

 

Buster SueAnn Colby Community

 

Campbell Kadin NWKT

 

Cheek Nicole McPherson

 

Craver Cody Workforce

 

Crosby Austin McPherson

 

Crown Tyler Liberty

 

Cruzen Mercedes Hays Academy

 

Davis Brittney Browns Shoe Mgmt

 

Davis Katlyn KSU

Denshaw Hannah ESU

 

Dick Daniel workforce

 

Donham Andrew workforce

 

Dreiling Nichole HCC

 

Erickson Alexis cosmetology

 

Ferguson Ian KSU

 

Fulcher Rebecca WSU

 

Garcia Frank workforce

 

Geist Katherine KSU

 

Gieselman Danielle KSU

 

Gloria Jose HCC

 

Godwin Ashley workforce

 

Goering Cassidy Colby CC

 

Goertzen John HCC

 

Gollihar Jordan Undecided

 

Gonzales Ciara HCC

 

Goodson James

 

Goss Brittany

 

Graber Todd KSU

 

Gumm Sydni

 

Hanschu Janaye KSU

 

Hansen Maren KU

 

Hartzell Brett Kansas City Art Institute

 

Harvey Isabella ESU

 

Harvey Collin KU

 

Hein Gunnar KU

 

Heizelman Corynn

 

Helmer Jacob NCKT

 

Higgins Casey FHSU

 

Hinderliter Shayla Colby Community College

 

Horn Carolyn Cloud County CC

 

Horn Mariah HCC

 

Horton PeterKSU

 

Horton Ryan KSU

 

Huerta Steven Paul Mitchell

 

Hultberg Taylor WSU

 

Hunt Nathan

 

Jackson Berkeley HCC

 

Janssen BlaneHCC

 

Jarvis Anthony NCKT

 

Johnson Holder Jaquilyn Butler

 

Jost Kyler KSU

 

Kasting Hannah HCC

 

Kerr Kiley Central Christian

 

Krehbiel RaeLyn KSU

 

Krehbiel Jacob Workforce

 

Krell Jordan Undecided

 

Lanning Addaline Ottawa

 

Larson Garrett Pitt State

 

Lindholm Anna Friends University

Malm Megan KSU

 

Matthews Sherry HCC

 

Mayhall Lacee Independence CC

 

McBeath Brandon Army

 

Mellinger Doralynn Washburn

 

Miller Echo McPherson College

 

Mitchell Austin NCK

 

Morehead Dallas

 

Moreno Natalie Butler

 

Morey Joel Sterling

 

Morris Paige McPherson

 

Moyer Ivanna McPherson

 

Nadeau Ethan KSU

 

Nichols Jonathan

 

Nichols Michael

 

Nightingale Mayce Tabor

 

Nordstrom Camen HCC

 

Nutter Crystal Newman Univ

 

O’Reilly Eric KSU

 

Oakes Chantel Workforce

 

Peck Isaac KSU

 

Pedersen Abby Tabor

 

Plenert Ashley FHSU

 

Popp Jakob Army

 

Porter Wyatt HCC

 

Puentes Eduardo HCC

 

Pyle Moira CollegeUndecided

 

Quastad Dara Sterling

 

Radke Taylor Cloud Co. Comm. College

 

Range Austin Navy

 

Ratzlaff Yander HCC

 

Regnier Paige Washburn

 

Reiss Courtney HCC

 

Rettig Caleb WSU

 

Rhea Joshua Undecided

 

Richter Zane HCC

 

Robbins Nicholas Undecided

 

Rodriguez Sandra HCC

 

Rogers Jonathan OU

 

Ronsse Devon KSU

 

Rork Hailey

 

Rose Jenessa HCC

 

Rueger Garret Eagle Plumbing

 

Ruxlow Alexander McPherson

 

Schmalzried Nathaniel HCC

 

Schmidt Alexandria KU

 

Schra John Military

 

Schrag Logan McPherson

 

Sewell Keshawn Fort Hays

 

Shadday Brianna HCC

 

Shook Payton ESU

 

Silva Angel Undecided

 

Skinner Erin HCC

 

Slayton Kelly HCC

 

Spencer Austin HCC

 

Spooner Kelsi HCC

 

Stites Troy Ottawa

 

Stos Dylan KSU

 

Stucky Kelsey HCC

 

Swaim Shalei Washburn

 

Swartzendruber Taylor Baker

 

Thompson Meranda Sidney’s Hair College

 

Trost Ryen Johnson Co. CC

 

Unruh Ashley HCC

 

van Asselt Kerrick College Undecided

 

Vetter Nelson

 

Walker Justin workforce

 

Wankum Lauren McPherson

 

Weinbrenner Jacee HCC

 

Whaley Madison McPherson College

 

White Shaelah McPherson College

 

Wiens Daniel KSU

 

Willems Hannah Tabor

 

Wurm Laura KSU

 

Yowell Paige workforce

 

Zeitlow Andrew Baker

*This list was accurate as of 5/8/14

 

The Inspiring Life of Walter Mitty

Cole Barr

Online Editor

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a remake of the 1947 film, which was based on the short story of the same name written by James Thurber.

Walter ( Ben Stiller) works for Life magazine keeping track of the thousands of photo negatives that have been submitted to the publication over the course of its existence. He frequently spaces out and daydreams about all kinds of things from grand adventures, to professing his love to a co-worker named Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), and standing up to his jerk of a boss, Ted (Adam Scott). When a photo negative submitted for the final cover of Life goes missing, and all signs point toward it being in Greenland, Walter must decide between becoming a man of action or remaining a dreamer.

I absolutely loved this movie. Ben Stiller does an excellent job portraying a likeable and relatable space-cadet. The characters Walter encounters, namely an intoxicated helicopter pilot and a pop culture obsessed sailor, are extremely colorful. While the number of viewers who have ventured far and wide in search of a lost picture is probably hovering around zero, we have all been afraid for what the future may hold (graduating seniors, you know what I mean). The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, while a bit far fetched, is an inspiring, thought-provoking depiction of what can be if we have the courage to pursue it.

Journalism State Qualifiers

All of the following journalists have qualified for state competition in May. Next to their names is their placing at Regionals! Congrats to everyone on their hard work! This could very well be a banner year for MHS journalism…

Megan Malm – Editorial Writing (Honorable Mention)

Gunnar Hein- Feature Writing (Honorable Mention)/ Editing (3rd Place)

Kyler Jost- Infographics (Honorable Mention)/ Yearbook Sports Writing (Honorable Mention)/ Yearbook Copy Writing (2nd Place)

Jonathan Rogers- Newspaper Sports Writing (Honorable Mention)

Gallagher Martin-Chavez- Newspaper Sports Writing (Honorable Mention)

Hannah Stecklein- Theme Development and Graphics (Honorable Mention)

Abby Jantz- Yearbook Sports Writing (3rd Place)

Grace Colaw- Editing (Honorable Mention)

Nichole Dreiling- Editorial Cartoon (Honorable Mention)

Maren Hansen- News Writing (2nd Place)

Olivia Hansen- News Writing (Honorable Mention)

 

 

Congrats to “The High Life” and “The Bullpup” staffs! Let’s take state!

March 8-9 Sports Recap

Cole Barr

Online Editor

The bowling and basketball teams were very successful this weekend. In bowling, the boys took third overall and Joel Morey, senior, placed third individually. The ladies placed first as a team in State Bowling competition. On Saturday, March 8, both the boys and girls basketball teams became Sub State Champions. Way to go.

 

State 4A Powerlifting Championships

    Congrats to the success of the McPherson boys who placed in the State 4A Powerlifting Championships. Competitors Garrett Larson, senior, 2nd at clean, Austin Mitchell, senior, 2nd at bench, and Ty Hart, junior, 2nd at squat were the top placers from McPherson High.

The Perfect Country For Old Men

Cole Barr

Online Editor

According to information released by the Congressional Research Service on 6 December, 2013, the makeup of the 113th congress, in terms of age, race, and gender, is as follows:

• The average age of a current representative is 57 years. The average senator 62.

• Newly elected representatives in the house average 49 years old and newly elected senators 53 years of age.

• 438 (81.8%) are white*

• 45 (8.3%) are African American

• 37 (6.9%) are Hispanic/Latino American

• 13 (2%) are Asian/Pacific Islanders

• 2 (.37%) are American Indian

• 101 (18.7%) are women of any race

 

* This is a ballpark figure as it was not specified in the data released. There are usually a few vacancies in the House and Senate, so this figure could be off by two or three.

 

The question many of you are probably asking is, “Why in the heck do I care?” Allow me to explain. In America we have a representative democracy. Everyone registered to vote has the ability to cast a ballot for the person they want to represent their congressional district in the House of Representatives and the two people who represent their state in the Senate. I realize that not everyone is registered to vote and that not everyone who is registered actually does vote. I also realize that not every person who is white will vote for a white candidate and that not all women will necessarily vote for women. All of that being said, most of these numbers are still much higher or lower than they would be if our system were truly representative.

If our system worked like textbooks tell you it does, the numbers would theoretically look something like this.

• 361 members of Congress (down 77) would be white

• 70 (up 25) would be African-American

• 71 (up 34) would be Hispanic/Latino American*

• 27 (up 14) would be Asian/Pacific Islanders

• 6 (up 4) would be American Indian

• 272 (up 171) would be women of any race

 

*This number takes into account that there were roughly 11.7 million illegal immigrants in America as of 2012. Only legal citizens of Hispanic /Latino descent were used to calculate proportional representation.

 

As you can see from these two sets of data, white males are currently way over-represented.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is how wealthy a large chunk of congress is and how much it costs to effectively make a run for a seat in the Senate or House of Representatives. According to an article released on January 9, 2014 by the New York Times, 268 of the 534 representatives and senators currently serving have a net worth that averaged over the $1,000,000 mark in 2012. That means exactly 50% of the members of Congress are millionaires. In contrast, only 4.5% of the American population possesses assets equal to or exceeding that value.

Campaigning and advertising are massively expensive and extremely important to a successful attempt at running for office. In 2012, the average Senate seat winner spent roughly $10.5 million on their campaign. The average winner in the House of Representatives shelled out something in the range of $1.7 million. Money like that is difficult to come by. You either have to have it already, like 4.5% of Americans and 50% of congress, or you have to get it from somebody who does.  If you don’t have that kind of money and can’t find somebody who is willing to be generous, you have almost no chance of winning.

Only a select few are able to realistically consider running for higher political office. One has to wonder, given the extreme financial demands of winning and keeping a seat, whom do those representing us actually try to represent? People do what they have to do to get what they need. In the case of a congressman or woman, that means securing financial backers for the next election cycle. The best way to do this is to promote legislation that benefits potential donors. If you aren’t giving them monetary support, little thought will be given to you.

So what does all this data mean? Putting it all together, it means that old, wealthy, white men make-up a large chunk of our elected representatives, despite not being a sizeable portion of our population. This is largely due to a system that is built upon the almighty dollar. As a result, everybody who isn’t old, rich, white, and a man lacks proper representation.

Town Driven Tradition Destroys Education

Spencer Steinert
Online Writer  

If you attend McPherson High School chances are you may have noticed the great deal of attention basketball is given. Why is this? Is it because it’s a sport enjoyed nationally by millions of people? Or maybe it’s something a little more in depth. Could it be that basketball is emphasized so much in this school because of the town and the people within it? Do people in this community care a little too much for high school basketball? Healthy competition is important in any high school students’ life, but could the pressure of knowing that so many people in this town are watching you and counting on you to win be too much?

    McPherson was bursting with excitement in 1936 when six of McPherson’s very own Globe Refiners went on to form the core of the US Olympic basketball team. The US came home from Berlin with the gold, after the very first Olympic basketball tournament. Could it be that this is what drives the town to be so focused on the basketball program? The website getruralkansas.org posted an article reviewing the McPherson Globe Refiners and their Olympic adventure. The article talks about the McPherson Globe Refiners and their achievement at the Olympics “It continues to be a source of pride for McPherson County residents, whose early introduction to basketball is said to be the cause of the strong community support for the local high school basketball programs.” This suggests that the basis of support to the McPherson team is due to the accomplishment a group of talented gentlemen over 68 years ago. Support is good and always encouraged, but what about when it interferes with the student and their ability to learn?

    At McPherson High we refer to students who are involved in athletics as ‘student athletes’ not ‘athletic students’. However, it seems as though we have more ‘athletic students’ as opposed to our pledged ‘student athletes’. It also affects those not partaking in the sport. Just recently the schools entire schedule was changed two weeks in a row due to a tournament hosted at the MHS. An hour and fifteen minutes were cut out both days. Why should one sport affect the ability for all students to learn? Places all over the world have sports and in some places, such as Germany, you don’t join sports with the school. You join with a club that meets after school to prevent interference with a student’s learning. Students in sports often have to leave school for their activity during the day, sometimes missing at least half the school day. This is a problem we face, not only with basketball, but with all sports. We are released from school and regularly miss the same class period multiple times a week. You can pick up homework, but you miss the lecture and then teachers wonder why we don’t understand the content.

    Funding is another issue that is faced in the MHS sports department. Basketball gets roughly $1,000 dollars per team, per year. Not that big of a deal, except for the fact that smaller sports such as swimming are no longer receiving funds from MHS. Twelve new basketballs are purchased each year costing anywhere from 20 to 50 dollars each. That adds up. Every four years they also purchase new uniforms and warm ups. They say this is the standard rotation for all sports. In cross country, however, the uniforms are the old track and field uniforms. Scorebooks, balls, and other miscellaneous items for training are purchased yearly adding to the already ridiculous amount of money basketball requires.

    Basketball is a great sport that receives an abundance of attention at McPherson High. But given its cost and emphasis it is possibly given a little more attention than needed. It is important to support all the pups regardless of sport, club, or activity so continue to show support for all the pups.

March for Life 2014

Spencer Steinert
Online Writer

This year marks the 41st annual March for Life. In 2013, roughly 650,000 people marched for pro life beliefs. Abortion was legalized on January 22, 1973, and has been a controversial topic ever since. People from all over the nation attend this event. This year many people from McPherson including seniors Lauren Wankum and Anne Burghart, and sophomore Christina Wankum, will be attending. For those who don’t know, March for Life is when pro life believers go to Washington D.C. and march to protest abortion. Protesting outside abortion clinics to change the minds of those considering abortion is something they feel is an effective form of persuasion. People doing this for the first time are excited to make an impact like others have in the past. The ultimate goal is to see the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade overturned, which would make abortion illegal. Pro life believers are getting ready for the march this week as veterans prepare for another good year and newcomers anticipate an exciting week.

MHS Theater Department Takes “Noises Off” to State Competition

Cole Barr & Spencer Steinert
Online Writers

You may have heard something about the play “Noises Off” during morning announcements. We were able to speak briefly with the MHS theater instructor, Mr. Greg McGlynn, as he and the Technical Theater class were frantically preparing the set for the cast’s upcoming performance at the Kansas State Thespians Conference.

McGlynn said that having the opportunity to perform at the state level is an honor. He elaborated by explaining that McPherson High School is one of only four schools in 4A through 6A that was chosen to present for judges in Wichita this week. This is only the second time in the history of McPherson’s theatre program that a show has been selected. There is also a chance that the cast could take the production to nationals should the judges deem their performance worthy. McGlynn and the cast, including senior Anna Lindholm, are extremely excited and honored they were chosen to go to the conference once again.

“Yes,” Anna Lindholm stated. “I believe if we stay concentrated, excited, and energized we will be ready to show the judges what we’ve got.”

Senior Kerrick van Asselt also showed his excitement for the upcoming show.

“I think that there’s a good possibility that we can be picked to go. We have a very good show and a very capable and talented cast and crew.” Students have a chance to see the performance on a bus that will be taking them the day of the performance to support the theater department,” van Asselt said.

The conference will be Thursday the 9 through Saturday the 11 of January. All Bullpups should come and support if they can!

MHS Attends National FFA Convention

Janae McKinney
Guest Writer

The 2013 National FFA Convention and Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, was held October 30 to November 2 for FFA members nationwide to spark passion and ignite leadership by showcasing motivational speakers and leadership workshops. FFA stands for Future Farmers of America and has over five hundred thousand members nation-wide and twelve thousand advisors/teachers. This year’s officers in attendance were president Mariah Horn, secretary Janae McKinney, treasurer Jake Helmer, reporter Makaela Hedberg, sentinel Tucker Vickrey, advisor Dean Brown, and FFA member Jordan Babcock.

On October 29, FFA members traveled to Olathe, KS, where they visited Olathe North High School. Here they explored and toured the advanced science, geoscience department, and culinary arts program with Newton FFA. They experimented with DNA and learned about “Kyle,” a Triceratops skeleton in the advanced science department. While touring the geoscience classrooms, FFA members were able to hold live starfish and watch them move. The most intriguing part of the tour was the culinary arts program where Olathe has won world and national food competitions.

 “Their high school is very involved with their community and has a very highly ranked culinary program,” stated junior Makaela Hedberg.

 On October 30, FFA members from McPherson, Newton, and Marion left Olathe and headed to Louisville. They stopped in Owensboro, Kentucky to tour the Kentucky Bio-product Greenhouse and Plant in a 2.1 million dollar facility. KBP is run by the government and grows tobacco plants in the greenhouse for new drug research.

 Brown stated, “It was interesting and educational to see alternative uses of a tradition crop, in this case tobacco, used for drug development.”

“We do not promote smoking,” stated Suzanne Cecil-White, daughter of Cecil farm operations.

After visiting KBP FFA members traveled to Cecil Farms, where tobacco, watermelons and tomatoes are grown on a family farm.

 Hedberg stated, “In my opinion, the farm was very driven to produce the best product possible.”

 Suzanne also operates a home-delivery farmer’s market service to surrounding customers. Suzanne, a previous high school teacher, travels to schools and educates students about where their food comes from.

 Hedberg continues by saying, “I thought her methods of educating people with non-agricultural backgrounds were awesome.”

 On October 31, the convention opened to 56,000 FFA members and guests. Rick Pitino, the first motivational speaker, the current Louisville college basketball head coach. His focus points were about not using a cell phone while in another person’s company, a person has to fail in order to succeed, and to always have passion.

 During the second session, Kansas, as a state, received an award for leadership growth within chapters.

 At the evening session, motivational speaker Katie Pratt, representative for U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, told the story of today’s farmer and emphasized that FFA members are today’s “sparks” and we need to be filling in current “bleeps” or false information with facts about agriculture.

 Friday’s morning session, the third motivational speaker was Joe Torrillo, a New York Fire Department member. Torrillo told his story about 9-11 where he survived getting buried twice by both towers’ debris while trying to rescue citizens. He stressed that we need to honor heroes and dream big.  

 Before making the trip home, McPherson FFA stopped at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Members visited the Kentucky Derby Museum and toured the track and stands of the legendary race.

“On the day of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs becomes the third largest city in Kentucky,” stated a Churchill Downs tour guide.