www.crusadernews.com 2013 April 1 Liberal, Kansas rusader Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114 C Year 44, No. 9 Student finds passion in skateboarding Giseelle Arredondo Crusader s taff He yells. He grinds on rails. He fixes. Adrian Amado, a 19- year-old freshman attending Se- ward County Community Col- lege/Area Technical School, is a dedicated skateboarder, enthusi- astic yell leader, and passionate auto technician. Amado has been skating since he was 6 years old. It all started with rollerblading in Hugoton and when he moved to Liberal he bought himself a skateboard. His passion with skateboarding started there. “The first time I skated, I was going down the ramps sitting on the skateboard. After a while, I built the courage to stand on the board and go down a ramp,” re- calls Amado, “I kept trying though ’cause you can’t get bet- ter at something without getting back up and trying again.” Amado found skating was a great way to meet people. “Heck yeah, that’s where I met most of my friends, and we would call each other up to go skating around town or at the park,” Amado said. At 8 years of age, Amado had the chance of participating in a skating competition. “The skate competition was pretty small and was only known by those who skated everyday. It was held at the Mary Frame skate park. I did let someone win,” said Amado. “Why? Shoot, I don't even know. Maybe because he was my best friend and he said we would split the money, so I let him win and guess what? I never got my split of the money.” As a kid, Amado would skate any chance he had. Amado would “skate until it got dark. Every hour. All day. Every day in the summer.” In high school, however, he had to put off skateboarding. “It got kind of hard to fit skate- boarding into my schedule when I had sports, a job, and of course, maintaining my grades,” Amado said, “Now that I’m in college it’s fun getting back into it.” Amado enjoys doing tricks, such as front side 180, popshove it, and kick flip. “I don’t even know what the tricks are called,” he said. He also prefers to do ramps rather than street tricks. “I just feel like I can do more on ramps than I can on the ground. It doesn’t help that the cops are always after you if they find you street skating.” Amado skates “any warm day now because work and school get in the way.” Amado has not had any injuries with skateboard- ing yet. He once cracked an ankle during football season his freshman year in high school. “I see skateboarding as an ac- tivity that kept me out of trouble and occupied,”Amado said, “I like skateboarding because it re- laxes me but stresses me when I’m trying to learn a new trick. Sad to say, but skateboarding isn’t for everyone. If you are co- ordinated with your feet then I say, ‘Hey, give it a shot’.” As busy as Amado is, he still finds time to fit in being on the squad for yell leading. He was drawn into yell leading by his cousin, Jake Flores. “There’s nothing wrong with touching girls and getting free books out of it,” Amado said with a chuckle. Amado decided to attend SCCC/ATS because not only does it have a good auto mechan- ics program, but its also a cheap- er alternative compared to $30,000 schools. “It’s really good. I like it,” Amado said. He will be attend- ing another year so he can get his associates degree in applied sci- ence, and he will be looking into yell leading again. Amado likes yell leading enough that he is considering continuing it. “I wouldn't mind doing yell leading at another school,” Amado said. Besides skateboarding and yell leading, Amado also spends some of his free time playing Xbox, preferably Call of Duty or Halo, going outside and playing tennis, going bowling, and prac- ticing jui-jitsu, which is Brazil- ian martial arts. “I wanted to do this P90X workout and my mom said she knew a guy from work that had it. I was told to go to his house at 8 and I did. Next thing you know I enter a shed in the back yard with a few guys in GIs. I thought I was at the wrong house for a bit. Talk about awkward. So I tried it out and it turns out that I liked it a lot.” Amado proudly said he will be playing for the Saints tennis team next semester. Amado wants to work for a year after graduation and then move to Tennessee and go to school in Lincoln Technical Col- lege, which is for high cus- tomized, high performance en- gines and transmissions that vary from turbos to superchargers, dyno testing. He then wants to move to either Texas or Califor- nia and open his own shop. Tuition rates increase Jose Medrano Editor Tuition and fee rates will in- crease next semester at Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School. The Board of Trustees approved the new rates March 4 that effect tu- ition, fees and student housing on campus. Tuition rates per credit hour for in-state residents have in- creased from $44 to $46, border state residents $60 to $65 and in- ternational and out-of-state resi- dents $75 to $80. Seward Coun- ty residents will not see an in- crease in their tuition per credit hour. Online credit hours have also increased for the upcoming se- mester from $80 to $90 per hour. The funds from tuition support the college’s facilities, instruc- tors, staff, administration, re- sources and other services. The total tuition and fees for students will be as follows: Se- ward County residents $74, in- state residents $78, border state residents $97 and for interna- tional and out-of-state residents $112 for the 2013-2014 academ- ic year. The fee increase will go to- wards technology and expansion of the college, according to Board of Trustees report. Student housing rates also in- creased. Double occupancy dorms in the Student Living Center increased from $2,160 to $2,240 per semester, singles in- creased from $4,820 to $5,020 for the full academic year. Hale Court will see in an increase from $2,060 to $2,140 for dou- ble occupancy, singles will in- crease from $4,620 to $4,820 for the full academic year. “The two main factors behind the increase in housing cost are food services and utilities,” said Dean of Student Services Ce- leste Donovan. A 4 percent in- crease on food services and food is one of the factors. “It is hard to see an increase on our students, but we have pride in being one of the most afford- able schools in Kansas. Even with the slight increase we are still a very affordable college,” Donovan said. The increase in tuition and fees will be implemented in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Crusader photo/ Giseelle Arredondo Adrian Amado performs an ollie over stacked skateboards on a ramp at Mary Frame skate park. Amado has been skating since he was 6. Crusader photo/ Giseelle Arredondo Adrian Amado is a freshman at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School. He is a yell leader, skateboarder and auto technician. News Briefs Enrollment for the summer and fall semesters of 2013 is currently under way. Students are recommended to meet with their advisers in order to select their classes. Enroll- ment slips and course lists can be picked up in the regis- trar’s office. APRIL 3 — NASA astro- naut Jeffrey Williams will be visiting and touring Liberal. At 5:30 p.m. he will be speak- ing at a free public session in the Green House. APRIL 6 — The first All Saints Day of the year will take place on the campus for students who are enrolling or interested in attending the col- lege. Pre-register at allsaints- days.com For more informa- tion call 620-417-1100. APRIL 6 — Kylix will be hosting its Children’s Art Day. Children in between the grades of first through sixth can register. The fee for regis- tration is $15. Parents can reg- ister children by calling Susan Copas at 620-417-1453. Spring enrollment Astronaut visit All Saints Days Children’s Art Day Easter Egg Hunt — Page 1B Grinding the rails Air Amado Style Poetry Reading Contest — Page 5 Xtreme Challenge — Pages 2B-3B ‘Assassins’ Play and Cast — Page 4B Saints Basketball Recap — Page 6
Transcript
www.crusadernews.com
2013
April 1
Liberal, Kansas
rusader Presorted Standard
US Postage
PAID
Liberal, KS
Permit NO.114
CYear 44, No. 9
Student finds passion in skateboardingGiseelle Arredondo
Crusader staff
He yells. He grinds on rails.He fixes. Adrian Amado, a 19-year-old freshman attending Se-ward County Community Col-lege/Area Technical School, is adedicated skateboarder, enthusi-astic yell leader, and passionateauto technician.
Amado has been skating sincehe was 6 years old. It all startedwith rollerblading in Hugotonand when he moved to Liberalhe bought himself a skateboard.His passion with skateboardingstarted there.
“The first time I skated, I wasgoing down the ramps sitting onthe skateboard. After a while, Ibuilt the courage to stand on theboard and go down a ramp,” re-calls Amado, “I kept tryingthough ’cause you can’t get bet-ter at something without gettingback up and trying again.”
Amado found skating was agreat way to meet people. “Heckyeah, that’s where I met most ofmy friends, and we would calleach other up to go skatingaround town or at the park,”Amado said.
At 8 years of age, Amado hadthe chance of participating in askating competition.
“The skate competition waspretty small and was only knownby those who skated everyday. Itwas held at the Mary Frameskate park. I did let someonewin,” said Amado. “Why?Shoot, I don't even know. Maybebecause he was my best friendand he said we would split themoney, so I let him win andguess what? I never got my splitof the money.”
As a kid, Amado would skateany chance he had. Amadowould “skate until it got dark.Every hour. All day. Every day inthe summer.”
In high school, however, hehad to put off skateboarding. “Itgot kind of hard to fit skate-boarding into my schedule whenI had sports, a job, and of course,maintaining my grades,” Amadosaid, “Now that I’m in collegeit’s fun getting back into it.”
Amado enjoys doing tricks,such as front side 180, popshoveit, and kick flip.
“I don’t even know what thetricks are called,” he said.
He also prefers to do rampsrather than street tricks.
“I just feel like I can do moreon ramps than I can on theground. It doesn’t help that thecops are always after you if theyfind you street skating.”
Amado skates “any warm daynow because work and school
get in the way.” Amado has nothad any injuries with skateboard-ing yet. He once cracked anankle during football season hisfreshman year in high school.
“I see skateboarding as an ac-tivity that kept me out of troubleand occupied,”Amado said, “Ilike skateboarding because it re-laxes me but stresses me whenI’m trying to learn a new trick.Sad to say, but skateboardingisn’t for everyone. If you are co-ordinated with your feet then Isay, ‘Hey, give it a shot’.”
As busy as Amado is, he stillfinds time to fit in being on thesquad for yell leading. He wasdrawn into yell leading by hiscousin, Jake Flores.
“There’s nothing wrong withtouching girls and getting freebooks out of it,” Amado saidwith a chuckle.
Amado decided to attendSCCC/ATS because not onlydoes it have a good auto mechan-ics program, but its also a cheap-er alternative compared to$30,000 schools.
“It’s really good. I like it,”Amado said. He will be attend-ing another year so he can get hisassociates degree in applied sci-ence, and he will be looking intoyell leading again.
Amado likes yell leadingenough that he is consideringcontinuing it.
“I wouldn't mind doing yellleading at another school,”Amado said.
Besides skateboarding and yellleading, Amado also spendssome of his free time playingXbox, preferably Call of Duty orHalo, going outside and playingtennis, going bowling, and prac-ticing jui-jitsu, which is Brazil-ian martial arts.
“I wanted to do this P90Xworkout and my mom said sheknew a guy from work that hadit. I was told to go to his house at8 and I did. Next thing youknow I enter a shed in the backyard with a few guys in GIs. Ithought I was at the wrong housefor a bit. Talk about awkward. SoI tried it out and it turns out thatI liked it a lot.”
Amado proudly said he willbe playing for the Saints tennisteam next semester.
Amado wants to work for ayear after graduation and thenmove to Tennessee and go toschool in Lincoln Technical Col-lege, which is for high cus-tomized, high performance en-gines and transmissions that varyfrom turbos to superchargers,dyno testing. He then wants tomove to either Texas or Califor-nia and open his own shop.
Tuitionrates increaseJose Medrano
Editor
Tuition and fee rates will in-crease next semester at SewardCounty Community College/Area Technical School. TheBoard of Trustees approved thenew rates March 4 that effect tu-ition, fees and student housingon campus.
Tuition rates per credit hourfor in-state residents have in-creased from $44 to $46, borderstate residents $60 to $65 and in-ternational and out-of-state resi-dents $75 to $80. Seward Coun-ty residents will not see an in-crease in their tuition per credithour.
Online credit hours have alsoincreased for the upcoming se-mester from $80 to $90 per hour.
The funds from tuition supportthe college’s facilities, instruc-tors, staff, administration, re-sources and other services.
The total tuition and fees forstudents will be as follows: Se-ward County residents $74, in-state residents $78, border stateresidents $97 and for interna-tional and out-of-state residents$112 for the 2013-2014 academ-ic year.
The fee increase will go to-wards technology and expansionof the college, according toBoard of Trustees report.
Student housing rates also in-creased. Double occupancydorms in the Student LivingCenter increased from $2,160 to$2,240 per semester, singles in-creased from $4,820 to $5,020for the full academic year. HaleCourt will see in an increasefrom $2,060 to $2,140 for dou-ble occupancy, singles will in-crease from $4,620 to $4,820 forthe full academic year.
“The two main factors behindthe increase in housing cost arefood services and utilities,” saidDean of Student Services Ce-leste Donovan. A 4 percent in-crease on food services and foodis one of the factors.
“It is hard to see an increase onour students, but we have pridein being one of the most afford-able schools in Kansas. Evenwith the slight increase we arestill a very affordable college,”Donovan said.
The increase in tuition andfees will be implemented in the2013-2014 fiscal year.
Crusader photo/ Giseelle Arredondo
Adrian Amado performs an ollie over stacked skateboards on a rampat Mary Frame skate park. Amado has been skating since he was 6.
Crusader photo/ Giseelle Arredondo
Adrian Amado is a freshman at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School. He is a yell leader, skateboarder and auto technician.
News Briefs
Enrollment for the summerand fall semesters of 2013 iscurrently under way. Studentsare recommended to meetwith their advisers in order toselect their classes. Enroll-ment slips and course listscan be picked up in the regis-trar’s office.
APRIL 3 — NASA astro-naut Jeffrey Williams will bevisiting and touring Liberal.At 5:30 p.m. he will be speak-ing at a free public session inthe Green House.
APRIL 6 — The first AllSaints Day of the year willtake place on the campus forstudents who are enrolling orinterested in attending the col-lege. Pre-register at allsaints-days.com For more informa-tion call 620-417-1100.
APRIL 6 — Kylix will behosting its Children’s Art Day.Children in between thegrades of first through sixthcan register. The fee for regis-tration is $15. Parents can reg-ister children by calling SusanCopas at 620-417-1453.
Spring enrollment
Astronaut visit
All Saints Days
Children’s Art Day
Easter EggHunt— Page 1B
Grinding the railsAir Amado Style
PoetryReadingContest— Page 5
Xtreme Challenge— Pages 2B-3B
‘Assassins’Play and Cast— Page 4B
Saints BasketballRecap— Page 6
Farm Day
2 Monday, April 1, 2013CRUSADER NEWS
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With the beginning of spring, itis also time for the annual col-lege Phonathon.
This year’s goal has been set at$35,000 and the March 24 open-ing night was off to a good start.The SCCC baseball team hasraised $8,440 to start out thisyear’s Phonathon. That amountbeats last year’s amount by $165.And they are not finished raisingfunds.
“We still have a few alumnithat have told us that they aremaking a donation but we willnot have their commitment untila later date,” said head baseballcoach Galen McSpadden.
The baseball team raised itsdonation amount in just over two
and a half hours and a few of theplayers were still trying to con-tact people at the closing of theopening night time slot.
The participant that receivedthe largest amounts of donationslast year was trying to meet orbeat his amount from last year.Jonathan Griffith did not reachthat goal on the opening night ofthe Phonathon. With donationsof about $1,700, which is onlyabout $150 short of last year’samount, Griffith said, “It wasn’tbecause I didn’t try. But, I dohave a few donors that havecommitted to donate but didn’tgive an amount.”
Participants are given a list ofalumni and the baseball teamwas no exception. Most of thealumni that they were trying to
contact were former baseballplayers for SCCC/ATS.
The alumni are told that thepurpose of the Phonathon is toraise funds for scholarships thatwill assist students at SCCC/ATSso they can receive the educationthat the donors once receivedthemselves.
Participants are awardedstrands of beads, funny glasses,hats, candy, glow in the darkcups and a few other items forreaching different amounts.
Along with the fun items theparticipants can win during theirshifts, participants also have theopportunity to win a Wii as wellas gift cards and other items.
Dean of Student Services, Ce-leste Donovan, has tried to getgroups to commit to a time to do
the Phonathon.The groups and organizations
that have made commitments sofar are the volleyball team, Stu-dent Government Association,Cheer and Dance, Sports Medi-cine, Hispanic American Leader-ship Organization, Pathway, PhiTheta Kappa, Presidential Schol-ars, the RAs and the women’sbasketball team.
“We are still waiting to hearfrom some of the other groupsand organizations around cam-pus,” Donovan said.
For the opening night of thisyear’s Phonathon, the phoneswere only manned from 4:30-6:30 p.m., but phones will bemanned until 8:30 p.m. week-nights until the closing night ofApril 11.
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Members of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization participate in the Phonathon Wednesday to help raise money for scholarships.Clubs, organizations and sports teams have signed up to participate this year. Times slots are still available for groups looking to get involved.
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Lady Saints basketball players Sheree Ryan and Fabiana Monte makephone calls to alumni and possible donors during Phonathon.
Phonathon swinging off to a strong start
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Lady Saints basketball players Kelsey Blair and Anete Kirsteine posefor a shot during the Lady Saints Phonathon time slot Wednesday.
Farm DayMembers of Southwestern Heights' FFA chapter,
SCCC/ATS instructors and students hosted Farm Ed-ucation Day March 19 in the ag building. The eventwas planned and hosted by the Seward County Com-munity College/ Area Technical School’s ag depart-ment. Children from local elementary schools attended
the event. The children toured the building, pettedfarm animals such as chickens and horses, climbedinto the cab of a tractor and learned about nutritionand different soil types. More pictures of the event can be found at Face-book.com/CrusaderNews.
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Children pet a chicken while attending Farm Education Day. Chickens were not the only animals that the children could pet. Horses, geese, goatsand even a llama were present. Classes from local elementary schools attended the event hosted March 19 in the ag building.
NEWS CRUSADER 3Monday, April 1, 2013
Former Seward instructor loses battle with cancerCourtesy photo
Flowers in memory of Lori Geis line the sanctuary of Okeene United Methodist Church at Geis’ funeral March 18. Several former students and co-workers from Seward County Community College attended the services.
Courtesy photo
Former Seward County instructor Lori Geis with her close friend AmyBridenstine, who is currently the accounts payable clerk at Seward.Geis died of cancer on March 11.
Courtesy photo
Lori Geis’ former SCCC students attended to sing at her funeral March 18. Front, Tammy Wardlaw, Norma Farrar, Christina Chavez, Kristina Fer-guson, Jennifer Malin. Second row, Alison Campbell, Melissa Abla, Machelle Zook, Amy Bridenstine, Lindsey Carter, Becky Robison, JimmyOrtiz, Brett Bontke, Monica Kerbow, Drew Pierce, and Lori’s mother, Betty Geis. Back, Murray Dean, Johnny Mills, Craig Ferguson, Derek Grant,Kathy Elder, Aldo Beltrani, Rene Hurd, Kim Pierce. Others who sang with the group but are not picture were Rosendo Armendariz, Hillary Ander-son, Derek Bridenstine, Kristen Martinez, Ashley Fellows, Marilyn Svaty and Justin Novinger.
The Lori Geis Memorial Scholarship has been establishedas an endowment fund with the SCCC/ATS Foundationfrom funds given in Lori’s memory. The scholarship willbe for a student participating in the vocal music program.Memorials may be sent to the SCCC/ATS Foundation at
Box 1137, Liberal, KS 67905.
Cinthia Serna
Online editor
Lori Geis’ former music stu-dents gathered once again topractice for a singing perfor-mance. Only this time, Geis was-n’t there to direct them. Hervocal students had come togeth-er to honor Geis’ memory bysinging at her funeral.
Geis, 41, died March 11 inOkeene, Okla., after battling cer-vical cancer.
She had been the vocal musicinstructor at Seward CountyCommunity College from 1996to 2009.
“She was a great teacher, butshe was even a better friend. She
touched a lot of people’s hearts,”said Jennifer Malin, former stu-dent and friend of Geis.
Another extremely close friendwas Amy Bridenstine, also a for-mer music student atSCCC/ATS. Bridenstine was atGeis’ side often in the final daysfollowing a diagnosis of cervicalcancer in the summer of 2012. Atthe start of 2013, family andfriends received the news thatGeis had only a short time tolive.
Many people showed up at herfuneral March 18 to say theirfinal goodbyes to their belovedfriend.
“There wasn’t a dry eye at the
funeral, because she meant somuch to us,” Bridenstine said.
Twenty-four of Geis’ formermusic students from Sewardsang in the choir that day, bid-ding farewell to their instructorand friend.
Geis was born on Aug. 1,1971, in Okeene to parents Billand Betty Geis. Her father pre-ceded her in death. She is sur-vived by her mother, Betty, whohas been an adjunct instructor atSeward. Other survivors includeher brother, Lynn E. Geis.
Geis graduated from OkeeneHigh School in 1989 and decid-ed to pursue her dream of goinginto music.
To continue her education inmusic, Geis enrolled at Okla-homa City University. In 1993,she earned her bachelor’s degreein music performance, and thenin 1996, she earned her master’sdegree.
She was offered the vocalmusic position at Seward Coun-ty Community College, whereshe spent the next 13 years di-recting choirs.
“Lori always made class a funtime, but don’t get me wrong, wealso practiced, but we didn’thave a boring day,” Malin said.
During her time in Liberal,Geis also was choir director atthe First Christian Church and
spent much of her free timeteaching private voice lessons.
She traveled with her collegechoir groups for performances atCarnegie Hall in New York City,to Salt Lake City and the Mor-mon Tabernacle and to VictoriaIsland, British Columbia.
“We got to experience manythings that other people havenever experienced before, thanksto Lori,” Bridenstine said.
Her Sound Express ShowChoir traveled to Branson, Mo.for performances. She also di-rected spring and winter concertsat the college and participated inschool musicals.
Geis moved back to Okla-
homa to pursue her doctorate andwas hired at Marlow PublicSchools to teach high school andjunior high music programs.
She wanted to earn her doctor-ate degree in music performancewhen she moved back to the Ok-lahoma City area.
Geis had been diagnosed withCrohn’s disease and ongoinghealth problems prevented herfrom continuing her education.
That did not destroy Lori’sspirit though. She still keptteaching her students.
“Lori was very devoted to herstudents. She never had any kidsof her own so her students wereher kids,” Bridenstine said.
Lori Geis Memorial Scholarship established
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College is all about trying newthings, and stepping out of one’scomfort zone, so why not pick achallenging course and actuallyget something out of college?That’s right, put your money togood use. The Introduction toLiterature with English instruc-tor Bill McGlothing is as chal-lenging as it is fun.
The careful reading, analyzingand dissecting of fiction stories,such as “Soldier’s Home” byErnest Hemingway, “Fingers”by Gary Gildner, “A Good ManIs Hard to Find,” by FlanneryO’Connor, “Young GoodmanBrown” by NathanielHawthorne, help readers unlockthe works’ hidden mysteries bygiving them the tools necessaryto understand literature. Readerswill learn how to view life fromdifferent perspectives and actu-ally understand the real meaningin the text. For example, in “Sol-dier’s Home,” students can learnabout the struggle that veteransexperience in trying to comehome after being involved inwar.
Any student who has the op-portunity to take his class shouldtotally go for it and check it out.He or she has nothing to lose andeverything to gain. I understand,essays are almost always foundto be painful to write and poetryis somewhat intimidating andhard to understand, but thestruggle is all worth it in the endbecause it all contributes to onebecoming a more intense criticalreader and thinker. It’s OK tostruggle with English. Just knowthat there is help available ifneeded. McGlothing is willingto do everything a teacher can tohelp his students become betterreaders. He’ll even get down onthe ground into a fetal positionor put on a clown nose if need-ed.
And if all else fails, there’s al-ways Smarthinking supplementon the college campus portal oreven better, resort to one of thetutors in the Student SuccessCenter.
I don’t know if a portal to an-other world will open up forevery student, but I do know thatif he or she truly applies himselfor herself, it will be a very satis-fying and pleasant experience.Hard work will pay off.
There are exactly 30 schooldays left until the end of the se-mester. Although the cold weath-er may say otherwise, summer isonly two months away, three ifyou’re a summer solstice nerd.
For some graduating sopho-mores, this is the time when anew foe appears in their lives,sophomoritis.
After spring break, everythingjust seems to fall apart. Thespring semester is the season offailing grades, missing home-work, faulty attendance and de-motivation. College sophomori-tis is very different from seniori-tis that is experienced in highschool. But what can be doneabout it?
First of all, remember thatthere are only 30 days left in thesemester. Don’t give up now. Forfour semesters, or more, youhave battled everything that acollege curriculum has been ableto throw at you.
Projects, homework, lab re-ports, finals, essays, researchprojects, group presentations andspeeches have not broken youdown yet.
Stop skipping, I know that isvery tempting to just forget aboutclass for a couple of days but un-less you want to see your A’s, B’sor floating C’s turn into failinggrades, stop skipping.
Getting into finals mode earlydoes help. The sooner you startreviewing stuff the sooner the se-mester will be over. Grades arenot yet set in stone for the semes-ter. There is enough time to fin-
ish strong. If you’re not doingwell in a class, either stop pro-crastinating or ask for help.
If you’re failing a class andyou have talked to both your in-structor and adviser about thegrade and there is nothing thatcan be done then drop now.
There is no point in attemptingto rebound in a class where allhope has been lost, but like I saidtalk to both your advisor and theinstructor before dropping.
Staying well rested is impor-tant especially if you’re trying tofinish strong. Sleep as much aspossible, but not through class.
Having those full seven hours of
sleep is crucial in motivation and
in schoolwork.
Regaining motivation is prob-
ably the hardest thing to do. Do
anything that is possible to gain
bursts of motivation; try some-
thing new, talk to a counselor,
watch motivational YouTube
videos, make new friends, make
your family and close friends
cheer you on.
Don’t give in and let the col-
lege sophomoritis take hold of
you. End this semester with a
bang.
Going to school is like cake--in an alternate meaning. Whilethe term "it's cake" or "it's pie"refer to something easily accom-plished, I take a contradictoryand literal spin to the terms.
It involves Commitment.It involves ingredients.It involves mixing.It involves time.
It involves enjoying your pieceof cake.
First and foremost, you have tomake a commitment to making acake in the first place. Highschool diploma? Done. Path toan associates degree? Done. Planfor bachelor's? Done. It's impor-tant to get work done, have arecipe/plan laid out, and stay fo-cused on maintaining grades. Tu-ition, books, and other fees arepricey–get your money's worth.
Secondly, are your ingredientson hand? Like in a recipe, havinga successful semester consists ofseveral elements that when com-bined make for a good dessert.
Five generous helpings of nog-gin, and two cups of commonsense can get you a long way.Keep it sweet and simple, avoidsour ingredients that can hinderrather than help your recipe's de-liciousness.
Next, we mix! Most collegestudents have jobs–be it part-time or full time. Juggling time atschool, time at work and time athome is difficult.
Oftentimes it can seem likethere are simply not enoughhours in the day, these are simi-lar to lumps in batter.
Stir it as best as you can, noteveryone will be happy with you
100 percent of the time. Heck, maybe not even 80 per-
cent of the time, but what youcan do is be consistent in yourstrokes and try to blend as best asyou can.
After the mixture has beensuccessfully mixed, it is time tobake. Much like in baking, timeis an element that is tricky. Somedays can feel like an eternity,other days can fly by in whatseems like few hours.
The mind is powerful and soit's important to be knowledge-able but also let time take a tollon how things will play out.
Lastly, it is important to ice
and enjoy that cake. The icing
would definitely be the sweetest
element, seeing who was there
for you throughout this strenuous
time in life.
The people with the best
recipes: your mom, dad, grand-
ma, adviser, best friends, instruc-
tors, coaches... you get the point.
It's a difficult time in our lives
and there is much indecision, lit-
tle lumps mixed throughout, and
a lot of heat in the kitchen. Be
cautious, consistent, and cre-
ative. You could end up with
some delicious cake.
Nearly every adult has an opin-ion on gay marriage in Americaand, whether they’re for oragainst it, they want some sort oflegislation passed that favor theirviews.
People who are against gaymarriage reason that is immoral,the Bible forbids it or it’s againsttheir religion, that it’s unnaturaland that it defiles the nature ofnormal marriages.
Whether or not these beliefs
are founded on truth or logic re-ally isn’t relevant however, as itis extremely unlikely that anyonewill change a deeply held belief.
While I am more than okaywith people who have beliefsagainst same sex marriages, Idon’t think that is at all proper,fair or reasonable to pass legisla-tion that would essentially at-tempt to turn, what can be objec-tively be construed as opinioninto fact.
That is to say a law that makessame sex marriage illegal orwould define marriage as onlyoccurring between a man andwoman would not do anything toimprove a country or state’s per-sonal needs unless there is a needto oppress homosexual people.
I’m certainly not saying thatpeople shouldn’t fight for whatthey believe in, but when doingso would be forcing personalideals onto another person or aspecific group of people, it be-comes an issue of equality.
The United States was found-ed on the principles of freedomand equality, and forcing peopleto conform to a single ideal thatis almost entirely based on per-sonal opinion and belief is notequality. I n fact it begins to ap-proach fascism.
Even though homosexuals area minority, their opinions and be-liefs are equally valid and shouldnot be immediately discredited. - The main difference between thestances on same sex marriage is
that one stance, those against it,actively oppresses a group ofpeople, and the other stance,those for it, only asks that otherstolerate its existence.
As a Christian, I was never toldthat people who don’t share mybeliefs should be shunned or thatI should keep anyone from be-lieving what they want.
Aside from personal opinion,there are little to no legitimatescientific studies that would sup-port the opposition to same sexmarriage in any way aside fromthe inability to reproduce.
But since it’s not technicallyrequired for a married couple tohave children, the idea that theinability to reproduce is relevantto the concept of marriage is
purely subjective. Because of the lack of sturdy
factual support of either side ofthe debate, it would actually bemore reasonable and fair to makesame sex marriage legal.
Then again, to make same sexmarriage “legal” would implythat homosexual relationshipsare naturally ostracized by themajority of society.
So this means that same sexmarriage is illegal by default, andthe only reason to make a lawthat explicitly makes it illegalonly serves to legally oppress apeople.
Maybe the real debate iswhether it’s right to turn the ma-jority opinion into a law withoutany legal proceedings.
—OUR VIEW
Physical Education students lose time
Litigation should work to improve a society rather than exclude
College ‘sophomoritis’ breaks grades and wastes time
Seward County CommunityCollege/ Area TechnicalSchool offers many physicaleducation classes. FromAquarobics to Zumba, studentscan take a variety of classes toearn their P.E. credit hours.One of the classes that studentscan take is Individual Healthand Conditioning, which re-quires students to workout ontheir own time at the WellnessCenter. Students sign in andclock hours throughout the se-mester for their credit hours.
The system was set up tohelp students achieve a fast andeasy way to check in, but ithasn’t been easy for everyone.At the end of every semester itis not hard to find students whoare having to workout extrahours because of mismanage-ment.
The majority of the clock-
ing-in problems is caused bymismanagement of the log-insystem at the Wellness Center.Students are required to havean hour per week of the se-mester for the class.
It is not only current studentswho have had this problem.Former students who havetaken the class have experi-enced issues as well. Horrorstories of working out five ormore hours in the last few daysof a semester have not onlybeen experienced and told byCrusader staff members, but byother students as well.
Working out eight hoursstraight to catch up on hoursthat were already completed,but lost because of misman-agement of the log-in systemthat was caused by either thestaff or digital system at theWellness Center is something
that no student should have toexperience.
“The student workers aresupposed to clock you in whenyou go to the gym; however, attimes they would tell you theyclocked you in and later youwould end up discovering theyhad not,” said Raul Lemus, aformer student at SewardCounty. Lemus was in the Indi-vidual Health and Condition-ing class and struggled at theend of semester when helearned that he was missinghours.
For some students it has onlygotten more hectic due to theall-digital change. The physicallogbook that students relied onwas replaced by a log-in sys-tem that requires the person’sname and a photo for clarifica-tion. Although the systemstreamlines the process, it can
also cause problems. “If someone has a problem
they can come to me. The ear-lier they come to me the moretime we have to help them,”said Director of Aquatics andWellness, Andy Highfill. Justlike any other classes, studentshave to take Individual Healthand Conditioning seriously.Even if it is only one credithour, students must take part ofthe responsibility if somethingoccurs with their hours.
A way the Wellness Centercould help prevent this issue isby having a scanner similar tothe one that the cafeteria uses.Students could scan their stu-dent ID to clock in and clockout of the wellness center. Itwould eliminate the problemof searching for difficult lastnames to clock in.
Also students could
help alleviate the problem bykeeping a log of all their hoursthat they have worked out.Simply relying on a computersystem that may falter is reasonenough for a student to recordhis or her own hours.
Talking to the staff of theWellness Center is also impor-tant. Making sure that you areclocked in and out every timecan stop you from experienc-ing what others do at the end ofthe semester.
There is a problem, and ifyou have had a similar experi-ence we would like to know.This is a problem that can besolved. Contact us at [email protected] orstop by our office,room AA131.
illustrations: Jose Medrano
NEWS CRUSADER 5Monday, April 1, 2013
Cinthia Serna
Online editor
Donetta Dreitz, the registrar atSeward County Community Col-lege/Area Technical School hasannounced that she will retire atthe end of this semester.
“I want to enjoy my retirementwhile my health is still good,”Dreitz explained. She has beenworking at the college for 15years and is ready to take abreak.
Sometimes working at a jobfor many years can lead to plen-ty of memories. One of her fa-vorite times of the year is gradu-ation.
“It’s so much fun to watch stu-dents accomplish one of theirfirst and only degree,” said Dre-
itz about commencement. Dreitz went to college at Fort
Hays State University for threeyears. However, Dreitz did notfinish college.
“I was silly, and thought I did-n’t need college so I didn’t earna degree,” said Dreitz about leav-ing FHSU.
“I thought I wanted to be a‘Nurse Nancy’ at first, but I waslike a lot of students today. I did-n’t know what I wanted to do. Ithink that’s probably one of thebiggest reason I quit going toschool at Fort Hays after threeyears. I just didn’t know where Iwas headed at the time,” saidDreitz.
Although she didn’t earn herdegree at FHSU she decided to
go back to school at the age of50. She earned her bachelor’s de-gree in organizational manage-ment at Friends University.
Dreitz and her husband JoeDreitz will be leaving Liberaland moving to Arkansas.
Once they sell their house andmake arrangements to moveaway, they will head to Rogers,Ark. “My husband went fishingwith my niece’s husband downthere several years ago and fell inlove with it,” Dreitz said.
“My husband loves to fish, soI expect to spend a lot of time ona boat,” said Dreitz about howshe would spend her retirement.
When she was asked if she willever come back to visit she said,“Oh yeah, this is my home.”
Dreitz retires to Arkansas
Jose Medrano
Editor
The annual Poetry CoffeeHouse will be hosted April 18 inthe Humanities building by theSeward County CommunityCollege /Area Technical Englishdepartment.
This year the contest will beopen to college students and fac-ulty from Seward County. In theprevious years it had been limit-ed to junior and senior studentsfrom area high schools, sincescholarships are awarded at thepoetry reading to the winners.
“Students should take a chanceand enter. Even if they think theywon’t win. There are a lot of se-cret poets out there who canwrite,” said English instructorJanice Northerns, who is co-co-ordinating the contest. The poet-ry reading contest is split intotwo categories: the open andscholarship.
Students and faculty are en-couraged to enter in the open cat-egory. The prizes for the opencategory include a $25 prize forfirst place, $15 for second, $10for third and honorable mentioncertificates. Other prizes will beincluded along with the cash
prizesThe scholarship category is
only open to high school juniorsand seniors. The prizes in thescholarship category are a $100scholarship and $25 in cash forfirst place, $100 scholarship and$15 in cash for second place and$15 in cash for third place. Therewill also be honorable mentionsin the scholarship category.Other prizes will be includedalong with the cash prizes.
According to Northerns thenumber of entries submitted willdetermine how many people willreceive honorable mentions andbe allowed to read during the Po-etry Coffee House. An outsidejudge will be judging the poetrycontest and the winners will beselected to read their poems.
There are general rules andguidelines to submitting a poemare as follows:
•The open category is open toanyone ages 14 or older living inSeward County or a borderingcounty.
•The scholarship category isopen to any junior or senior cur-rently enrolled in a public or pri-vate high school in Kansas orstates that border Kansas.
•Poems must be of the author’soriginal work and have never be-fore been published.
•All entries must be typed orword processed on white, blank,standard paper (8 ½ x 11) nohandwritten poems will be ac-cepted.
•Poems have to be submittedwith an entry form
•Poetry will be judged on orig-inality, quality, skillful use oflanguage and poetic devices.
•Contestants who win first,second and third place MUST at-tend the Poetry Coffee Houseand read their winning poem.Honorable mentions will be in-vited to attend but do not have toread their poems if they choosenot to.
•Winners will be notified on orbefore April 15.
•Plagiarism will result in a dis-qualification from the contest.
•Up to three poems may besubmitted by a contestant.
•Contestants should submittwo copies of each poem.
For the full rules and guide-lines, and an entry sheet, peoplecan contact Northerns in the hu-manities department.
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Poetry contest opens doorsfor wider range of participants
Crusader photo
Donetta Dreitz will retire at the end of the spring 2013 semester after working atSCCC/ATS for 15 years. After finishing the year, Dreitz plans to move to Arkansas withher husband and expects to spend a lot of time on a boat while her husband fishes.
PoetryContest
Cash & other
prizes
April 18
Courtesy photo
New members were inducted in Kappa Beta Delta March 24. Pictured on the right are honorary inducteesNick and Lisa Hatcher. Inductees are as follows in alphabetical order: Katiuska Adarmes Arias, AlejandroAyala, Larissa Batterton, Beth Beard, Genesis Enriques, Gloria Fisher, Mayra Gonzalez-Barrientos, AuthorHight, Laura Michel, Leonardo Morales, Wanda Ray, Hector Reyes, Sherelle Shuck, Jacqueline Wheat, Pre-ston Whisenant and Allee Young.
6 Monday, April 1, 2013CRUSADER SPORTS
After a conference win over the Hutchinson Blue Dragons theSaints faced the Colby Trojans to tip off the Region VI tournamentMarch 2. The Saints defeated Colby 88-70. After a slow start theSaints were able to sweep the Trojans with a lead of 58-34 at the half.
The second half was not a problem for the Saints as the Trojanstried to cut the Saints’ lead, but were unable to. The closest Colby gotto the Saints was an 11 point deficit.
The Saints were led by Kaheem Ransom with 27 points, Ransomalso scored his 1000th career point during the match. He is only oneof 10 players in Seward County history to have reached that mile-stone.
The Saints then went on to face Independence in the second roundof the Region VI Tournament.
Crusader photo/Jakub Stepanovic
Kaheem Ransom drives for a layup against the Barton Cougars dur-ing Region VI Tournament semifinals on March 8. Ransom finishedhis Seward career with 6 KJCCA Player of the Week awards.
Crusader Photo/Jakub Stepanovic
Edson Avila goes up against Barton defenders during the Region VImatch up. Saints finished their season at the semifinals, losing 70-64 against Barton’s Cougars.
The last match the Saints played in the Green House for their2012-2013 season was against Independence College as part of thesecond round of the Region VI Tournament. The Saints defeatedthe Pirates 84-66.
After falling back six points at the beginning of the match theSaints were able to rebound and pull ahead. The Saints lead at thehalf 42-27. The Saints held a strong lead over the Pirates and fin-ished strong by shooting 58 percent from the field.
The Saints also had a big night around the arch. Shooting 47 per-cent of their shoots from three-point range.
The Saints would go to face Barton in the semifinals of the Re-gion VI tournament in the Hartman Arena in Park City.
The Saints saw their post-season hopes dashed against Barton’sCougars in the Hartman Arena March 8. The Saints lost 70-64 afterholding a five-point lead in the last five minutes. The Saints strug-gled in the first half and Barton held a lead of two at the half, 36-34.
The Saints started off the second half with some momentum, andgained their first lead of the match within three minutes of the start.Strong runs by the Cougars caused the Saints to lose their lead. Withfive minutes left the Saints had a five-point lead of 60-55, but a 11point run by Barton crippled the Saints’ hope.
The Saints ended their season with 25 wins and 8 loses.
16 S. Kansas • Liberal
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Celestina PadillaCrusader staff
The Lady Saints have had a lotof games in the past month, in-cluding a trip to Phoenix, Arz.during Spring Break. Their latestmatch was against Colby wherethey ended in a two game split.
Colby won the first game 10-0and the Lady Saints took the sec-ond 17-0. Both game were blowouts due to weak pitching fromboth teams.
Some of Seward County’sLady Saints have caught recog-nition for their accomplishmentsrecently by the Kansas JayhawkWest Conference. Pitcher Brit-
tney Sharkey recieved her thirdPitcher of the Week, and firstbaseman Stephanie Mark wasnamed Co-Player of the Week.Both Lady Saints have recievedconference honors before.
Over Spring Break the teamdid a lot of traveling and playing.
March 12 they faced Glendaleand split. The following day theyfaced South Mountain to whomthey lost, but the Lady Saintswon their next game againstOdessa. The Lady Saints wonagain against Chandler-GilbertCoyotes in Coolidge on theirfinal day in Arizona. Overall the3-3 put the Lady Saints at 17-11.
The Lady Saints then faced the
Lady Bulldogs at Clarendon, TX
to which they lost both games,
making the Saints 17-13.
The following game was at
home and the ladies faced Gar-
den City. Though there was some
struggle with offense in the first
game, the Lady Saints came
back for the win and split mak-
ing the results 18-14 overall.
March 22 the Lady Saints
faced Barton in a home game
and had a back-to-back win with
assistance from pitcher Brittney
Sharkey. This was the team’s
first double header sweep since
March 3. The Lady Saints are
now 21-17.
Lady Saints split two against Colby
Crusader photo/Jose Medrano
Lady Saint Sierra Tadiarca waits for hit during the Lady Saints second game against Colby. The Lady Saintssplit the two games, Colby won the first 10-0 and the Lady Saints won the second 17-0.
Crusader photo/Jose Medrano
Lady Saint Marissa Chavez, No. 15 hits during the Lady Saints double header against Colby March 27.
Julia FreyCrusader staff
Most people who attend class-es at Seward County Communi-ty College/ Area TechnicalSchool know him as RichardMiller the bus driver. He drivesfor most of the athletic teamsand other groups from the col-lege.
Miller was born in Liberal, butgrew up in Plains. His wife’sname is Viktoria Miller. Theyhave together three children: twosons and one daughter. Before hecame to Seward he managed agas station in Plains. He madehis way to Seward through Jerry
Hedrick, whom he golfed withand who worked as counselor atSCCC/ATS. Miller has workedat SCCC/ATS for 17 years now.He has now driven to about 100different places.
Overall Miller has driven morethan 600 thousand miles for Se-ward. Out of the many placesMiller has visited he has a fewlocations that are his favorites:Chicago, Phoenix, Sheridan,Denver, Kansas City andNashville.
He also would love to visitsome places in Europe like Ger-many or Switzerland. The reasonwhy he wants to visit Europe isbecause he has relatives there.
His mother’s family has originsin Belgium and he also has a fewrelatives from Switzerland.
If he didn’t enjoy travelling,his job wouldn’t be the right fitfor him. Miller likes the interac-tion with the students.
Miller enjoys spending timewith the different athletic teamsand group organizations. To himall the groups are like family.Bert Luallen, who knowsRichard Miller since 8 years, de-scribes him as a “very helpfulcharacter that really likes the stu-dents and supports them.”
To Miller the sense of respon-sibility that he has over his pas-sengers makes him feel that they
trust him and he appreciates that. Besides his job Miller has
some interesting hobbies. He isan artist. He uses his talent in dif-ferent areas of the arts. He is agood drawer and also makessculptures out of stone and clay.
His favorite material to workwith is lumber. He has construct-ed different kinds of furniturelike tables, picture frames andclocks.
Miller is also a fan of music.He has his own library of albumsat home. Classic rock, blues,southern rock, instrumental, andold country are his favoritemusic genres.
Crusader photos/ Jakub Stepanovic
Richard Miller has been working at SCCC/ATS for 17 yeaers. Miller hasdriven more than 600 thousand miles as a bus driver for the college.Miller enjoys traveling and has been to more than 100 diferent places.
Miller dedicates 17 years of service to Seward County
Richard’sRoutes
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8 Monday, April 1, 2013CRUSADER FEATURE
Dawn Shouse
Crusader staff
The natural gas compression technology studentsat Seward County Community College/ Area Tech-nical School who will be receiving their certificatesin December are part of the third class of gradu-ates since the program’s conception seven yearsago.
Dave Miller, salesman at Great Plains NaturalGas Compression out of Hugoton, is on the advi-sory committee for the program.
“My boss, Jim Wilson, and I had a meeting withDr. (Duane) Dunn, here at Seward County Com-munity College, and asked that this course of studybe established. They moved pretty quickly on it be-cause the vocational school was then included intothe college to become the Area Technical School,”Miller said.
The program, one of only three in the nation, wasdesigned to match similar programs that are beingtaught in Oklahoma and New Mexico. The result,Miller hopes, will be an influx of new blood intothe industry.
“The industry is mature. I am a representative ofmore than 50 percent of employees in the industryand we are getting ready to retire,” Miller said.“The level of sophistication in employees in the gasgathering companies is fairly low once we moveout. We have a definite need for young employeesto be trained in the aspects of gas compression.”
Miller hopes that by establishing the class, em-ployers would have more candidates with rudimen-tary capabilities to step into the positions that thebaby-boomers are vacating.
According to Ron Garber, SCCC/ATS NaturalGas Compression Technology instructor, the natur-al gas industry is the second largest industry in theSouthwest Kansas area after agriculture.
“I teach the full spectrum of natural gas produc-tion equipment. We go over compressors, the re-lated systems and subsystems, as well as skid op-eration theory,” Garber said, “Basically, I teacheverything that has to do with pulling gas out of theground.”
Garber has been a technician and developed theprogram from the ground up. “The need is there, Iwrote the program from a technician’s standpointwith guidance from many of the regional gas pro-ducers. I have many of the hiring bosses and fieldsupervisors on my committee, and they have com-municated to me exactly what they expect to seefrom an entry level technician so the course hasbeen designed to meet that need.”
Garber added, “If you are good with your handsand you are looking for a career with a minimumamount of initial training, It takes a year to getthrough this program, and once you successfullycomplete your certification, you can go to work.
There are companies out there right now that arehiring.”
The course is unique in the fact that it starts inJanuary and a student can receive his or her certifi-cation in December. All of the students have an op-portunity to go on a paid internship over the sum-mer then return to class in the fall to complete theircertification.
Jim Plummer, area supervisor J-W Power Com-pany, also serves on the advisory committee, andhis company hires directly from the program. “It isa very delicate process, but there are very good re-sults and workers coming out of this class,” Plum-mer said, “Ron (Garber) has done an excellent jobwith the students, and the industry has done a goodjob of providing Ron with the necessary equipmentand money to train the students effectively.”
Jeremy Olson, sophomore SCCC/ATS, is one ofthe students who will be receiving his certificate inDecember. “We are learning to weld and torch.Soon, we will be learning how to work on the mo-tors; aligning, precision measuring, how to teardown a motor and how to rebuild it,” Olson said.
Olson has just returned from serving overseas inthe armed forces in Iraq. “I was in the Army Na-tional Guard. I decided, after the military, that Ineeded more career skills to provide for my familyand me. I chose this area because it is a career thathas been around for a long time. I have a realchance to be able to advance in it and this careershould be around for many more years to come.”
Erick Ruiz, freshman SCCC/ATS, found outabout the course from a friend.
“It sounded real interesting so I gave the instruc-tor a call and really got into it.” Ruiz said. “RonGarber is a good teacher. He is real cool. He makesit easy to learn. I like hands-on. It’s better andquicker to learn. It makes it easier to learn. Sciencewasn’t really my thing in high school. I really did-n’t care for it. But now I like it. Ron makes it realeasy to learn. There are a lot of jobs in this field; Ihave a real good chance of getting one after I getmy certification in December.”
Joseph DeSantos, sophomore SCCC/ATS willalso be receiving his certificate in December.
“I like everything about this course,” DeSantossaid, “Working with the engines, and learning howthey run, even down to the little details. The littlemeasurements — if you are off by just a little bityou could ruin it forever. That’s exciting to me.”DeSantos added, “ if you like working outside andbeing hands-on with things, then definitely lookinto this course.”
Garber and the students are preparing for themuch anticipated 61st Annual Liberal Gas Com-pressor Institute on April 16-17.
More information about it is available at gascom-pressor.info for registration or sponsorship.
Compressed for Progress
Natural Gas containers are located at Seaboard Farmsfacility. Many natural gas compression technologystudents will be working for facilities such asSeaboard Farms once they receive their certifications.
Natural Gas dryers are located at Seaboard Farms fa-cility; students in Seward’s natural gas compressiontechnology program learn how to work on this typeof high tech equipment.
DAVE MILLER of Great Plains Natural GasCompression helped start the program.“Seven years ago my boss, Jim Wilson, andI had a meeting with Dr. (Duane) Dunn hereat Seward County Community College, andasked that this course of study be estab-lished.”
JIM PLUMMER, area supervisor of J-WPower Company, is on the advisory com-mittee for the program. “Ron (Garber)hasdone an excellent job with the students, andthe industry has done a good job of provid-ing Ron with the necessary equipment andmoney to train the students effectively.”
RON GARBER “I have many of the hiringbosses and field supervisors on my com-mittee, and they have communicated to meexactly what they expect to see from anentry level technician, so the course hasbeen designed to meet that need.”
ERICK RUIZ “A friend of mine told me about the class and it soundedreal interesting, so I gave the instructor a call and really got into it.”
JEREMY OLSON “I decided after the military that I needed more ca-reer skills to provide for my family and me.”
JOSEPH DeSANTOS “I decided that I needed to do something elseother than education. I decided to get into this because it is grow-ing around the country.”
This new compressor unit at Seaboard Farms is the type of equipment Seward students in the natural gas compression technology program arelearning to work with as part of their training in aspects of gas compression.
Crusader photos by Dawn Shouse
NGCT course gears up
Section B • Page 1
Monday, April 1, 2013
Entertainment
Seward art instructor entertains students at Liberal Senior CenterSeward art instructor at the Liberal Senior Center, Phyllis Finnen, helps a student by painting over an empty spot in the wa-tercolor painting. Finnen helps each student and shows them how to improve their pieces through different techniques.
SCCC/ATS art instructor Phyllis Finnen, center, helps students ConnieSwinney, left, and Marilyn Marchel, right, during the oil painting classat the Liberal Senior Center on March 21.
Students Felice Calhoon, left, and Joy Elmore, right, work on their wa-tercolor and oil paintings during class on March 21.
Phyllis Finnen poses in front of some paintings in her art room at theLiberal Senior Center. The paintings are created both by Finnen andher students for classes.
Mason Marshall, left, and Bladimir Guevara, right, check in their eggnumbers for prizes.
Lady Saintssoftball playerStephanie Markposes with herprizes from theegg hunt. Participantscould winprizes such ascandy bars andwater bottles to printers andmore.
Seward student Mason Jones shows his excitement ashe collects his prize from the egg hunt.
An original painting by Phyllis Finnen.
Finnen completed this painting of the
ocean a few weeks ago.
Speech Instructor and HumanitiesDivision Chair Dale Doll receivedthis original painting as a gift fromFinnen in January 2013. Doll feelsthat the painting is special and ishonored to own it. The painting isdisplayed in Doll’s office in the humanities building.
rusader
Crusader photos by Tonya Loewen
C
Students quickly look through the backpacks in the Saints Book-store to hopefully find eggs during the egg hunt.
Crusader photos/Giseelle Arredondo
Crusader illustration/Tonya Loewen
Tonya LoewenEditor
For Phyllis Finnen, painting and teaching others to paint is sec-ond nature. She started painting when she was 9 years old, a mere80 years ago.
Finnen has been a Seward County Community College/ AreaTechnical School art instructor at the Liberal Senior Citizen Centerfor 15 years. She teaches watercolor and oil painting classes onMonday, Tuesday, and Thursday at the Senior Center, though thestudents feel the time is much more than a class.
Finnen has been painting for 80 years and teaching for 55 years.Her love for painting began when she was 9 years old and won ascholarship for painting. Her mother “thought she would be aMichelangelo,” according to Finnen, and made her paint for an houreach day. Since then, Finnen hasn’t been able to put down the paint-brush.
While living in Denver, Colo., Finnen began teaching art andpainting classes. Forty years later, she continued that passion forthe people of Liberal at the Senior Center, where she still is after 15years.
“When you’re the teacher, you’re the boss,” said Finnen with amischievous grin on her face. Finnen says the reason why she teach-es is because she “loves to see a student progress and improve.”
Finnen’s students unanimously agree that Finnen is a greatteacher. “She knows how to deal with all kinds of people; she’s verypatient for anyone,” said student Felice Calhoon.
“I live for Thursdays. If I could come more, I would,” said JoyElmore, a student that has attended all day painting on Thursday fortwo years. “I can’t wait for Thursdays to paint with Phyllis,” saidPeggy Bell, who has attended classes for 14 years.
While teaching the classes, the students make the most of theirtime together. “We settle all of the world’s problems during class,”Finnen said. “If there’s anything you would like to know, we’llsolve it all.”
Talking isn’t the only thing they do while painting; they also sing.“Phyllis can sing about every song ever written,” said Calhoon.
Finnen has 24 students throughout the week, and also teacheschildren during the summer. “The classes are non-formal. Every-one paints what they want, and I help them,” Finnen said. She cur-rently teaches watercolor and oil painting, and has previously taughtceramics.
“Phyllis can take someone that can’t do anything and make theman artist,” said Michelle Stoddard, activity director at the LiberalSenior Center.
“The program is excellent. I love to help them out in any way,but I stay out of Phyllis’ way and let her do her own thing,” saidSpeech Instructor and Humanities Division Chair Dale Doll. Dollhas known Finnen for five years and almost immediately realizedshe was entertaining. “She’s hilarious,” Doll said.
Since Finnen is 89 years old, she may have to retire soon fromteaching at the Senior Center, though many will protest. “Nobodywants her to retire, she’s such an amazing artist and teacher,” saidStoddard.
“She may be in a wheelchair, but she can still direct, talk andteach,” said Humanities Secretary Terri Barnes. “It’s a great thingfor the students; she keeps them in line and they keep her going andbusy.”
When Finnen’s students found out that she signed to teach anoth-er year, they rejoiced. “I don’t know what we’re going to do whenshe decides to hang up her paintbrushes,” Doll said. “There’s justsomething special about her and her painting.”
Students rushthrough the door
to win prizes inthe Student Life
and Saints Book-store Easter EggHunt on March
21, beginning at11:45 a.m. and
continuing until allof the eggs were
found. Partici-pants checked in
the egg number inorder to see if
they would win aprize.
ENTERTAINMENT 2B CRUSADER CRUSADER 3BMonday, April 1 , 2013
Matthew Adkins
News editor
More than 500 students from area highschools came to the Seward County Communi-ty College/Area Technical School’s campusWednesday to compete in the Xtreme Chal-lenge.
The students competed in a variety of indi-vidual based challenges in 16 different cate-gories for a chance to win prizes, but the ulti-mate goal was winning the new travelling tro-phy that goes to the school that scores the mostpoints at the end of the day .
The overall winners of the Xtreme Challengewere Rolla in third place, Meade in second andElkhart in first place, marking the fourth year ina row that Elkhart has won the Xtreme Chal-lenge. In addition to the winning schools, 10other schools attended including Liberal, Stan-ton County, Hugoton, Garden City, Satanta andSublette from Kansas. Out of state school suchas Booker, Texas; Tyrone, Okla.; Turpin, Okla.;
and Balko, Okla. also attended the event.Students from Elkhart were ecstatic to win the
competition once again. Marissa Wiggins, asenior from Elkhart was especially happy to winsaying, “We won four years in a row, and I’m asenior, so that means all four of my years.”
Although the competition between schoolswas present, the actual challenges are very indi-vidual based.
Prizes were given to the top three contestantsin each of the 16 categories. Each of the cate-gories is based on courses available atSCCC/ATS including math/science, journalism,music, physical education and welding.
Activities began a little later than expected atabout 9:15 a.m. The challenges were held allover the campus according to their respectivecategories.
High school students could be found outsidetaking pictures for the photography challenge,running the obstacle course in the gym, chang-ing tires at the tech school and testing theirgrammar skills in the Hobble Academic Build-
ing. While there were many high school students
walking around campus, there was a distinctlack of actual college students because manyclasses were cancelled because of the day’sevents. However, there was little concernamong students or staff about the cancellation ofclasses because the day was not wasted.
The Xtreme Challenge is hosted bySCCC/ATS every year in order to recruit futurestudents. Dr. Duane Dunn, college president, isvery on board with the event as a recruiting tool.“Such a great deal to get all this exposure,”Dunn said.
This year was the biggest Xtreme Challengeever with nearly 500 high school students at-tending and the addition of several new cate-gories of challenges.
If the numbers are any indication of the suc-cess of Xtreme Challenge then SCCC/ATS willlikely continue to see good enrollment numbersnext year.
Xtreme challenge attracts high school students
For more photos of Xtreme Challenge
and the winners scan this QR code
or find the Crusader’s Facebook
page at:
Facebook.com/CrusaderNews
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
For one of the music challenges SCCC/ATS vocal music instructor Magda Silva would call out different music symbols and students would be required to write them down. This year was the biggest Xtreme challenge since it began withmore than 500 high school students attending and the addition of several new categories of challenges. A new traveling trophy was introduced and was won by Elkhart High School, the trophy will return next year to be awarded again.
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Students who did not have challenges during certain time slots could compete for smaller prizes in the Union. One of the games played was stacking dice.Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Kenzie Thomason of Elkhart writes a news story during the news writing challenge. Thomason placed first in the journalism competition category, secondplace was awarded to Taylor Cameron of Rolla and Efren Rivero of Liberal placed third. Prizes were awarded to the top three places in the challenges.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
Students write during a challenge that was part of the English category of Xtreme Challenge. Each one of the 16 categories is based on courses and pro-grams available at SCCC/ATS. The challenges were held on the main campus, technical school and other buildings according to their respective categories.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
A high school student replaces a tire during one of the transportation challenges. Some of the other categories at Xtreme Challenge that students couldenter included drama, physical education, art, math and science, journalism, agriculture, business, cosmo, English, manufacturing, music and welding.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
An area high school student works with an engine as part of one of the transportation challenges that took place at the technical school. Students compet-ed for individual prizes and points for the overall high school competition. Elkhart won the overall competition this year and took home a traveling trophy.
ENTERTAINMENT 2B CRUSADER CRUSADER 3BMonday, April 1 , 2013
Matthew Adkins
News editor
More than 500 students from area highschools came to the Seward County Communi-ty College/Area Technical School’s campusWednesday to compete in the Xtreme Chal-lenge.
The students competed in a variety of indi-vidual based challenges in 16 different cate-gories for a chance to win prizes, but the ulti-mate goal was winning the new travelling tro-phy that goes to the school that scores the mostpoints at the end of the day .
The overall winners of the Xtreme Challengewere Rolla in third place, Meade in second andElkhart in first place, marking the fourth year ina row that Elkhart has won the Xtreme Chal-lenge. In addition to the winning schools, 10other schools attended including Liberal, Stan-ton County, Hugoton, Garden City, Satanta andSublette from Kansas. Out of state school suchas Booker, Texas; Tyrone, Okla.; Turpin, Okla.;
and Balko, Okla. also attended the event.Students from Elkhart were ecstatic to win the
competition once again. Marissa Wiggins, asenior from Elkhart was especially happy to winsaying, “We won four years in a row, and I’m asenior, so that means all four of my years.”
Although the competition between schoolswas present, the actual challenges are very indi-vidual based.
Prizes were given to the top three contestantsin each of the 16 categories. Each of the cate-gories is based on courses available atSCCC/ATS including math/science, journalism,music, physical education and welding.
Activities began a little later than expected atabout 9:15 a.m. The challenges were held allover the campus according to their respectivecategories.
High school students could be found outsidetaking pictures for the photography challenge,running the obstacle course in the gym, chang-ing tires at the tech school and testing theirgrammar skills in the Hobble Academic Build-
ing. While there were many high school students
walking around campus, there was a distinctlack of actual college students because manyclasses were cancelled because of the day’sevents. However, there was little concernamong students or staff about the cancellation ofclasses because the day was not wasted.
The Xtreme Challenge is hosted bySCCC/ATS every year in order to recruit futurestudents. Dr. Duane Dunn, college president, isvery on board with the event as a recruiting tool.“Such a great deal to get all this exposure,”Dunn said.
This year was the biggest Xtreme Challengeever with nearly 500 high school students at-tending and the addition of several new cate-gories of challenges.
If the numbers are any indication of the suc-cess of Xtreme Challenge then SCCC/ATS willlikely continue to see good enrollment numbersnext year.
Xtreme challenge attracts high school students
For more photos of Xtreme Challenge
and the winners scan this QR code
or find the Crusader’s Facebook
page at:
Facebook.com/CrusaderNews
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
For one of the music challenges SCCC/ATS vocal music instructor Magda Silva would call out different music symbols and students would be required to write them down. This year was the biggest Xtreme challenge since it began withmore than 500 high school students attending and the addition of several new categories of challenges. A new traveling trophy was introduced and was won by Elkhart High School, the trophy will return next year to be awarded again.
Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Students who did not have challenges during certain time slots could compete for smaller prizes in the Union. One of the games played was stacking dice.Crusader photo/ Jose Medrano
Kenzie Thomason of Elkhart writes a news story during the news writing challenge. Thomason placed first in the journalism competition category, secondplace was awarded to Taylor Cameron of Rolla and Efren Rivero of Liberal placed third. Prizes were awarded to the top three places in the challenges.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
Students write during a challenge that was part of the English category of Xtreme Challenge. Each one of the 16 categories is based on courses and pro-grams available at SCCC/ATS. The challenges were held on the main campus, technical school and other buildings according to their respective categories.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
A high school student replaces a tire during one of the transportation challenges. Some of the other categories at Xtreme Challenge that students couldenter included drama, physical education, art, math and science, journalism, agriculture, business, cosmo, English, manufacturing, music and welding.
Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic
An area high school student works with an engine as part of one of the transportation challenges that took place at the technical school. Students compet-ed for individual prizes and points for the overall high school competition. Elkhart won the overall competition this year and took home a traveling trophy.
Lewis D. Mize, playing Leon Czolgosz
4B Monday, April 1, 2013CRUSADER ENTERTAINMENT
Juan Carlos Contreras, playing
John Hinkley
‘Assassins’ prep for showMichael A. Ask, playing
Lee Harvey Oswald / Balladeer /
Proprietor
Julia FreyCrusader staff
Cast members are memorizing lines, costumedesigners are preparing costumes and the directoris directing which means that the Seward CountyCommunity College/Area Technical School pro-duction of “Assassins” is nearing. The musical willbe performed April 11 through April 13 at theShowcase Theater in the Shank Humanities build-ing.
Alison Bridget Chambers, drama and communi-cations instructor and director of “Assassins,” stat-ed that the practices are working out very well.“Everybody is working hard, focusing, and discov-ering their characters. The actors are acting like ateam and everybody is working together and thisis necessary for a successful show. The actors haveto trust each other and particularly themselves,”Chambers said.
Chambers also noticed a lot of improvements inthe way the actors act. They are going forwardwith their work. It is a difficult play for them be-cause the emotions they have to show are not easyto represent.
The content of the play is very mature and edgy.This is a big challenge for the young students. Forsome of them, it is their first time to be in any kindof play or theater production.
The cast members are excited to be a part of theplay and so is the president of Seward CountyCommunity College/ Area Technical School, Dr.Duane Dunn is very excited. He will be playing therole of president Gerald Ford. The last time Dr.Dunn acted in a play was when he was in highschool.
Dr. Dunn described his character as a humbleand quiet leader. Ford was really liked by the peo-ple and he had a big heart and passion for his coun-try. He liked Ford and what he did for his country.Ford was the President of the United States whenthe Vietnam War ended in 1975.
Dr. Dunn enjoys seeing his students doing agreat job, and he is proud of the play production.He saw a lot of talent and he can’t wait until thebeginning of the play in April.
The main characters are the assassins Lee Har-vey Oswald, played by Michael A. Ask, and JohnWilkes Booth, played by Francisco Morales.Seven other assassins in the play are Sarah JaneMoore, Leon Czolgosz, Sam Byck, LynetteFromme, John Hinkley, Guiseppe Zangara andCharles Guiteau.
Chambers also stated that the play should makethe audience “reexamine what it means to be anAmerican and to question their roles in the soci-ety.”
