Year 46 No. 6

Year 46, No. 6

Crusader www.crusadernews.com

February 5 2015

Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114

Liberal, Kansas

Professional soccer player now a professor Efren Rivero Crusader staff Myron Perry is currently in his second year as a teacher at Seward, but his background is different than the normal path of a college professor.

Perry was born and raised in San Diego, Calif. While he was in California, he developed an interest for soccer. Then he decided to pursue a career playing his favorite sport.

“I played at a collegiate level at San Diego for a college,” Perry said. “Then, after playing for clubs here and there I ended up signing with the San Diego Sockers as the third-string goalkeeper.”

The San Diego Sockers are an American professional indoor soccer team that played from 1978-1996, but recently came back in 2009. Perry played for the Sockers during 1996 before moving on to other teams.

“Professionally, I played soc-

cer for two years,” Perry said. where he decided to go back to “First at the San Diego Sockers school. and then at Monterey and then He received his bachelor’s defor a team in Phoenix.” gree in biology and his master’s While at Phoenix, Perry played in cellular molecular biology. for an outdoor league, which was Soon after he was offered a job at different from his goalkeeping Seward. While living in Liberal, days at an indoor soccer team. he has not played much soccer There, Perry recently. served as the first “I have been string goalkeeper. playing with “I left Phoenix my kids, but to go play for the that’s about it,” Jaguars in San Perry said. “I Jose. Then they broke my wrist signed a goal(last year) when keeper from PorI played in the tugal, which left league here in me out,” Perry Liberal. Third Myron Perry, at left, in a said. game of the photo from when he played After leaving season I broke goalkeeper for the San San Jose, Perry Diego Sockers, a professional my wrist and went back to San that was it.” indoor soccer team.

Diego but didn’t Perry is marplay. He coached at a university ried and his two children are 11 there for a year before leaving. and 6 years old.

That brought him to Kansas. In Soccer is his favorite, but Perry 2005, Perry moved to Pittsburg, also enjoys playing other sports.

“I have been trying to play tennis with Hiran (Gunasekara), and I watch the NFL.” Perry also has an interest in music. He plays the trumpet in the swing band and the French horn in the symphony band.

Perry said he would like to see a soccer team at Seward.

“I think we should get a soccer team here,” Perry said. “But right now there is no money for it. We would need to have more housing, but as soon as they get those things resolved, and if we were to have a soccer team, then, yeah, I would even coach.”

While Perry enjoyed his professional career as an indoor soccer player, he now feels happy being an instructor.

“I really enjoy it here at Seward,” he said. “This is the best job I have had, ever. I love teaching and I get to teach microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and nutrition.”

Crusader photo/Efren Rivero

Myron Perry holds up a Major League Soccer ball. Perry played professionally as a goalkeeper for two years before teaching at Seward.

Green House hosts homecoming candidates Grant Glaze: - Representing Crusader - Sophomore - Involved in baseball - Hero is “Dad aka Pops”

Magaly Guerrero Crusader staff Homecoming 2015 will be Feb. 14, and voting for homecoming king and queen from the top 10 candidates will be next week.

Queen candidates and the clubs they represent are Marcala Pewthers, SGA; Rachael Cano, HALO; Jackie Arnold, Phi Theta Kappa; Thayna Silva, International Student Organization; and Kate Mulligan, Student Nurses Association.

Candidates for king are Grant Glaze, Crusader; Alex Burciaga, Enactus; Ricardo Nava, HALO; Sal Valdez, Pathways; and Tony Dorado, ISO. Homecoming week festivities will start with wax hands from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Monday in the student union.

On Tuesday, the Saints Bookstore will provide free donuts and coffee starting at 7:45 a.m.

Hypnotist Dan James will be on campus to entertain starting at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Showcase Theater.

Friday the 13th, the annual Texas Hold ’em Tournament will start at 7 p.m. in the Student Union. Students are encouraged to bring school IDs. Rounding out homecoming week will be the basketball game vs. Dodge City on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14.

The homecoming ceremony will be in the Green House between the Lady Saints game, which starts at 6 p.m., and the Saints game, which starts at 8.

Alex Burciaga: - Representing Enactus - Freshman - Hero is his mom.

Marcala Pewthers: - Representing SGA - Freshman - Involved in SPEC - Hero is her dad Rachael Cano: - Representing HALO - Sophomore - Involved in Phi Theta Kappa Public Relations chair, Bridges Program, Secretary of Pathways and member of Trio - Her parents are her heroes, “They are over-the-top supportive.”

Jackie Arnold: - Representing Phi Theta Kappa - Sophomore - Involved in women’s tennis and a member of Trio - Heroes are her parents.

Crusader photo/Maria Lara

2015 homecoming candidates include, bottom row, from left, Marcala Pewthers, Rachael Cano, Jackie Arnold, Thayna Silva. Back row, Grant Glaze and Alex Burciaga. See candidate information at right. Candidates not pictured: Kate Mulligan, Ricardo Nava, Sal Valdez and Tony Dorado.

Thayna Silva: - Representing International Student Organization - Third-year sophomore - Involved in volleyball - Heroes are her parents.

Candidates interviewed for dean’s open position Tania Valenzuela Crusader staff

Crusader photo/Kim Nguyen

Todd Carter answered questions and visited during the reception portion of his Jan. 22 interview for the dean of academic affairs position.

Carter, the current director of research and assessment at SCCC, is one of three candidates interviewed. A decision is expected this month.

As of June 30, 2015, Cynthia Rapp will be officially retired from her position as Dean of Academic Affairs. After spending 21 years working at SCCC and 15 of those years in her position as dean of academic affairs Rapp has had a bit of mixed emotions regarding her retirement.

“I am excited about being able to spend more time with my family, especially my five grandchildren. However, you don’t spend over 20 years of your life working somewhere without feeling like you are leaving a big part of your life behind,” she said.

“I will be sad to leave my big SCCC/ATS family but really glad to have more time to spend with my grandchildren and be more involved in their lives as they grow up.”

The review committee of the deans, college president Dr. Duane Dunn, and the academic affairs committee have been on the search for someone to take the position.

According to Dunn, several applications were submitted. Of those they narrowed the search down to five of the top candidates based on experience, understanding of community colleges, education, and their previ-

ous work history.

From that group of candidates, the deans and Dunn selected three of them for campus interviews.

“We interviewed three good candidates for my position and I feel they all have strengths, leadership, and background experience that will serve them well in my position,” Rapp said.

The three interviewees are W.C Sanders from North Mankato, Minnesota; Dr. Heidi Hoskinson from Wichita; and Todd Carter of Forgan, Okla.Carter is currently the director of research and assessment at Seward.

The campus interviews were

concluded Jan. 23 and the following week was used for Dr. Dunn to gather feedback from different interview committee members and do reference checks. He hopes to have everything wrapped up early in February.

“My advice to the one chosen to take my position would be to spend some time to get to know everyone and build a level of trust and respect with employees,” Rapp said. “Be a good listener and develop a good understanding of the campus culture and how we all play a role together to provide a great place for our students to succeed.”

INSIDE

Nigerian students find friendship at SCCC. – Page 8 Souper Bowl Fundraiser – Page 6

Kyndal fires up Lady Saints.

– Page 2B

Saints vs. McCook – Page 4B American Sniper review – Page 5

2 CRUSADER

CRUSADER CrusaderNews.com

Thursday, February 5, 2015

NEWS

Enactus helps entrepreneurs

PHONE:

620.417.1459

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KCM ALL-KANSAS AWARD2014, 2013, 2001 ACP BEST OF SHOW PLACED NATIONALLY2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003, 2001, 2000 ACP PACEMAKER FINALIST Newspaper: 2011, 2003-2004 Online: 2008, 2004, 2002 ACP ONLINE PACEMAKER AWARD2004, 2002

Upcoming TRiO Events Crusader photo/Maria Lara

Speaker Devin Lars spoke to Liberal High School students from Youth Entrepreneurs at the Event Center.

EDITORMaria Lara PHOTO EDITORXochitl Gonzalez

SPORTS EDITORDiana Chavira NEW MEDIADaisy Torres

REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

Crusader photo/Maria Lara

Board of Trustees Contributed to Crusader

Issuu.com/ CrusaderNews Twitter @CrusaderNews

KCM

KANSAS COLLEGIATE MEDIA

The official student newspaper of Seward County Community College/Area Technical School is published bimonthly and as special editions by journalism students during the regular college year, except on school holidays and during examination periods.

One copy of each issue is distributed free to each student, faculty and staff member, with subsequent copies available for purchase in the Crusader office at 50 cents each.

Letters to the editor will be considered for publication if they are signed and the authenticity of the writer’s signature is verified. The staff reserves the right to edit for length. Opinions voiced in letters and editorials are not necessarily those of Seward County Community College/Area Technical School or the Crusader.

Advertising is accepted. Rates are $5 per column inch or $5.25 pci for color ads. Insert rates are $50 per thousand.

The Crusader staff reserves the right to refuse advertising.

Mail to: Crusader, Box 1137, Liberal, KS 67905, or email editors@crusadernews.com.

TRiO will be hosting a Lunch & Learn Wednesday, Feb. 11 from noon - 12:50 p.m. for all TRiO members. This is an opportunity for students to know their instructers on a new level. Sign up in front of the TRiO office.

A Test - Taking/Study Skills Workshop is open to all students on Thursday, Feb. 19 from 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. in the TRiO Work Center (A128). Sign up in front of TRiO office.

TRiO will be celebrating National TRiO Day Feb. 7 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Join them with a community service project to help out the organization Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Volunteer work includes moving stuff into storage. Volunteers will be treated to cookies and lemonade. Sign up in the TRiO office.

A Resume Workshop will be open to all students Wednesday, March, 11 from 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Sign up in front of TRiO office.

– Tania Valenzuela

College Goal Sunday coming up in February

Enactus club organization from Seward County Community College help with the event hosted in Liberal, Kansas, at the Event Center, in conjunction to the Youth Entrepreneurs from Liberal High School.

Facebook.com/ CrusaderNews

Scholarship opportunity given to children of Marine and Navy Corpsmen The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is now open for children of Marine and Navy Corpsmen who are pursuing a postsecondary education at any accredited school - whether that be a technical school, community college, or four-year university. The scholarships are not competitive, they are awarded to any eligible applicant. For more information you can visit www.mcsf.org. If there are any specific questions about this program you can contact Steven Peterson, Chief Operating Officer & Director of Scholarship Programs at 571-384-790 or via email: steven.peterson@mcsf.org.

– Maria Lara

620.417.1169

Felipe Chacon Grant Glaze Xochitl Gonzalez Magaly Guerrero Lanre Hassan Nacole Miller Kim Nguyen Efren Rivero Sachie Shiba Tania Valenzuela Jevyn Voss

News Briefs

During the regular February board meeting Monday, trustees accepted retirements from nursing instructor Nancy Bansemer, art instructor Susan Copas, and journalism instructor Anita Reed.

Administration recommended approval for the early retirement requests, with appreciation “for the many years of service they provided to our college, students and the public.”

College president, Dr. Duane Dunn, also reported to the board that the search for a new Dean of Academic Affairs should finish shortly.

David Coltrain has begun work as the Sustainable Agricultural Resources instructor, and already scheduled a High Value Crops workshop.

The STEM program hopes to add a third high-school academy to its summer line-up this year, with an engineering camp.

The board reviewed new bids for the lab addition, slated to be built as an addition on the west side of the Hobble Academic Building. Despite attempts to restructure and reduce the expense of the project, the cost of $442,946 still exceeded the original estimate in the budget. “I don’t like it, but I don’t think we’ve got a choice,” said trustee Dustin Ormiston.

As part of its efforts to increase student recruiting the Admis-

sions office requested board approval for the creation of a virtual college tour that will allow potential students and their families to experience the feeling of being on campus.

January: At the January meeting, the board of trustees approved the early retirement requests from Mark Merrihew, Director of Information Technology; Richard Miller, Maintenance; George McNitt, Auto Mechanics instructor; and Veda King, Allied Health Division Chair/ Director of Nursing.

Dunn expects the number of retirements to accelerate in coming years.

The board welcomed two new instructors to campus: David Coltrain, sustainable Agriculture Resources, and Amanda Schwab, Cosmetology.

The B&I Kids College event will try a new approach this summer. "It's very popular, and we're expanding it this year to include children in the upper elementary and intermediate grades," Director of business and Industry Norma Jean Dodge said. Under the direction of Education Program Designer and Manager Alaina Sill, Kids College will also move to an earlier slot in the summer.

"We'll offer it in June, which overlaps with teachers who are still in town the summer," Dodge said.

Other B&I projects include the NACE corrosion rectifier school, which brings more than 300 industry people to town for continuing education.

The B&I office also provides contract training for companies and local groups and professional and community enrichment.

Director of Development Tammy Doll’s new office has been relocated to the Student Union building.

Dean of Academic Affairs Cynthia Rapp reported on activities scheduled for the beginning of the spring semester and progress on the college's accreditation process with the Higher Learning Commission, called AQIP (Academic Quality Improvement Program). A group of eight college representatives, including board member Rick Brenneman, will attend a training and work event Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, designed to determine the college's next improvement projects toward continued accreditation.

Dean of Career and Technical Education Dr. Janese Thatcher has plans to work with Garden City Community College and possibly Colby Community College to expand SCCC/ATS's programs in Medical Laboratory Technology, Surgical Technology, and Medical Coding.

World's Best Mango Smoothie

Workers remove gravel last week to prepare the south parking lot for the repainting of stripes to correct problems with spacing.

Security Report Jan. 14 — Security reports theft of SCCC/ATS property in techschool truck driving location. Investigation remains open.

Jan. 17 — After midnight, four possession of alcohol incidents were reported in the east parking lot of the Student Living Center.

Those involved were fined and referred to counseling and coaches.

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The spring 2015 semester is in full swing, and students have plenty of work to do and material to learn. Even so, it is not too early to start making plans for next year — and if college is part of any family’s plan, the preparations should include completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA. Based on tax return and income information, the FAFSA provides financial aid offices at all accredited colleges in the United States with the basic information needed to determine what college will actually cost — how much federal financial aid is available, and what scholarships a student might be eligible to receive.

Filling out the FAFSA can be a little intimidating, and that’s why SCCC/ATS and Liberal High School have teamed up once again for College Goal Sunday.

The event, set for 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, will provide onthe-spot help for students and families. The Liberal event will occur in the LHS library. It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s important.

Plan now to attend, and bring completed tax returns from 2014, if they are ready, along with W2 forms, even if the tax returns are not complete. If those items are not available, bring 2013 tax returns and the last paycheck you received in December 2014.

More information is available at the website, www.CollegeGoal.org, or by calling the SCCC/ATS financial aid office at 620-417-1112.

College Goal Sunday, a national project, will be Feb. 22, so mark the calendar.

– Rachel Coleman

S

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Thursday, February 5, 2015

CRUSADER 3

NEWS

The history of MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: –His Story– uJanuary 15, 1929_ Matin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. uSeptember 20, 1944_ was admitted to Morehouse College in Atlanta. u1948_entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. uMay, 1951_graduated from Crozer with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. uSeptember, 1951_ enrolled in a graduate program in systematic theology at Boston University. u1953_was married to Coretta Scott and lived in Montgomery, Alabama, and became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. uNovember 17, 1955_ Yolanda Denise King was born uDecember 1, 1955_Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. uJanuary 10-11, 1957_named chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. uOctober 23, 1957_Luther King III was born. uFebruary 3, 1960_moved from Montgomery to Atlanta and became assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. u1961_Dexter Scott King was born. uMarch 28, 1963_Bernice Albertine King was born. uAugust 28, 1963_delivered his “I have a dream” speech. u1964_received the Nobel Pease Prize in Oslo, Norway. uApril 4, 1968_was shot and killed on the 2nd floor in a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. uApril 9, 1968_was buried in Atlanta.

“Come Together” 3pm Feb. 1 Bibleway Church 410 E. 8th Street Churches got together to perform songs and skits.

“Taste Festival” 3pm Feb. 8 The Ag Building - across from event center Families bring variety of foods and dishes. Booths will be available for Civil Rights Leaders.

Black Historyevents

“Rosa Parks Scholarship Banquet” 6pm Feb. 21 SCCC/ATS Scholarships are awarded to high school and college students.

Month

The Martin Luther King, Jr. March and Celebration began the sequence of multiple events that are scheduled for Black History month in February. Martin Luther King, Jr. day was created to bring recognition and honor to the pastor, activist and humanitarian for his life of achievements and leadership.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

was celebrated at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 19.

The march was open to the community, as all were welcomed to come and participate in the event. The march began at Liberal Memorial Library ended at Mahuron Park, where refreshments were served and information booths were available.

Diana Chavira

“Fashion & Talent Show” 3pm Feb. 15 SCCC/ATS Includes performances and styling and modeling of clothing.

“B.H. Community Choir Gospel Concert” 3pm Feb. 22 Bibleway Church 410 E. 8th Street.

Crusader photo/Diana Chavira

Following the Martin Luther King Jr. march, supporters were welcomed to have refreshments and a small snack at Mahuron Park.

Crusader photo/Diana Chavira

Members of the Liberal community joined the Martin Luther King Jr. march on Jan. 19 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Marchers carried signs that read some of King Jr.’s most famous words such as “Let freedom ring” and “I have a dream.”

For all SCCC Up-to-date coverage on News, Sports, & Events

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4 CRUSADER

Thursday, February 5, 2015

OPINION

Are you

?

Valentine

material

Joshua Juma Crusader staff juma@crusadernews.com

Valentine’s Day, a day that your wallet experiences rapid weight loss and it does this without even going to the wellness center.

Until money grows on trees, men will always take Valentine ’s Day seriously because the stakes are high. The best tactic is to plan a trip in advance so that one can keep a partner’s expectations extremely low. Women have a need to always get showered with gifts and in failure to do so, will result to a ‘we need to talk’ conversation and that is not as exciting as an instructor canceling a class.

She asked me, ‘‘So what are you doing on the 14th,’’ and I replied, ‘’Saturday is chest and leg day.’’

Women need to understand that Valentine’s Day is just a normal day to men. We do not find spending money on women a fun task. It’s like food. You know she’s going to get hungry tomor-

row and men are expected to deliver, like Caesar’s pizza. But if you’re a man and your wallet weighs more than your ego then you can read this newspaper article and ignore this and you can keep throwing her paper like ‘extra extra’. Just remember she won’t be your first neither will she be your last. So instead of spending money on her, you can donate it to starving children in Africa.

Fine. Maybe I have been too hard on the women. I will be soft, sweet and sensitive because I hear girls like sweet and nice guys, but me being all that means I am applying for a sex change.

I believe that in a relationship it’s the man that keeps things anchored because if he lets the woman dictate, he too turns into a woman.

I have come up with ideas of what types of girls do deserve Valentine’s gifts.

1. If she has never bought you anything you can keep it the same, don’t buy her anything.

Food does not count. If it did, than you are welcome to buy her tissue as a thank you.

2. If she has dated more guys

than the number of free throws the basketball boys miss in a single game, than don’t buy her anything. Because you’re just a guy on her list and of course she told you different. Told that to my exes, it works.

3. If she’s cheated before, buy her a gift. Who am I kidding?

4. If you were her first boyfriend buy her a Lamborghini. A toy one though. Buy her something nice, that will overdraft your bankcard if you can.

5. If she doesn’t message other guys, buy her a new blinder and put it on her, she deserves your undivided attention and definitely a gift.

If your woman does not fit any of the above criteria than I am sure you now understand why divorce rates are high in America.

Some people can’t be trusted.

1. If she buys you a gift buy her a gift too and think of marrying her. But if she does not strike you as wife material take the present and run. Run to your friends and show them how much game you got.

2. If you are married, spoil her rotten. Being with you is already punishment enough.

Medical Billing and Coding students doubting the government’s deadlines

“

Due to the government-created mess that is related to ICD-10, three of my coding classes were pushed back to the next semester, twice .

Kim Nguyen Crusader staff nguyen@crusadernews.com

First, what is ICD-10?

Physicians, billers, coders, and other providers use International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to code diagnoses, symptoms, and procedures recorded in hospitals and doctors’ offices. ICD-10 with 68,000 diagnostic codes is the revision of ICD-9 with only 13,000 codes.

What is the problem here?

ICD-10 was supposed to go into effect by Oct 1, 2013, but it was delayed and was promised with the deadline

by Oct 1, 2014.

As if one delay was not enough, the Senate voted in the bill, H.R. 4302, Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, that states that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot apply the ICD-10 system as the standard until at least Oct. 1, 2015.

What does this mean?

It is not an easy thing for those who work in the U.S. health care to change from ICD-9 to ICD-10, especially when ICD-9 has been in effect since the 1970s. Now that we are ready to adopt the “new” change – ICD-10 was developed in the 1990s, why do we keep having problems of putting it into effect?

The ICD-10 has already been use widely in many

countries around the world, but not in the U.S. The next thing we know, ICD-11 is waiting on us.

What’s the national effect?

Journal.ahima.org says Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has estimated that another one-year delay of ICD-10 would likely cost the industry an additional $1 billion to $6.6 billion on top of the costs already incurred from the previous one-year delay. This does not include the lost opportunity costs of failing to move to a more effective code set, American Health Information Management Association officials said.

More importantly, many coding education programs has switched to teaching only ICD-10 to students, hospitals and physician offices had begun moving into the final stages of costly and comprehensive transitions to the new code set. The delay directly impacts at least 25,000 students who have learned to code exclusively in ICD-10 in health information management (HIM), AHIMA said in a statement.

What is the individual effect?

I’m a Medical Billing and Coding student. I joined the program that is expected to be done in one year and a half with only 45 credit hours.

Due to the governmentcreated mess that is related to ICD-10, three of my coding classes were pushed back to

”

the next semester twice, which means I will be spending two and a half years for what should have been a one and a half year coding program.

I am walking for graduation in May 2015 but I still have to come back and take the last three classes next fall.

A Health Information Technician student commented on journal.ahima .org: “Being two months away from graduation, I just wonder how this will affect the RHIT certification exam for this year. It’s very disappointing and discouraging to learn of this news.”

A man on another comment board wrote this: “This is very bad for students and staff that have been learning and teaching ICD-10 exclusively. What a mess. Congress is so broken and beholden to big money.”

And yet another commenter said, “It is extremely unfortunate for the thousands and thousands of students who could be entering the health information field but now cannot because we are “too advanced” for so many physicians.

“One of the largest growing career field is being brought to a screeching halt because a few complaining providers can’t handle change, even when the change is obviously for the good of their patients.”

Free college raises questions Magaly Guerrero Crusader staff guerrero@crusadernews.com

Many of us are seeking to graduate and get a college degree, whether it be an associates, bachelor’s, or master’s. But how great does having free community college sound? Or does it even sound that great to taxpayers at all?

Barack Obama's free community college proposal mentions that students who want to be eligible for this program must be at least a part-time student and maintain a 2.5 GPA. But even though students are getting this money, are they willing to work towards it? The U.S. Department of Education calculates that only 18 percent of students who go to a two-year college graduate after three years, and that high rated

community colleges are only at 30 to 40 percent, which doesn’t make it that much better.

Maybe school is not what students expect and it is just too much for them. Which students actually want it and which really need it?

Seward’s Director of Financial Aid Donna Fisher made a point about the difference between a want and a need. If students are given this money, are they still going to want more? When do we put a stop to it or do we continue to just give students more and more? Pell grants and state aid pay for a major parts of students’ finances at a community college. They are already being used to buy text books and help with dorm expenses.

Fisher said it all depended on the quality of life the student wanted.

Do we want to save our money or spend it eating out and going to the movies?

In my opinion, I feel like a lot of students struggle with budgeting. When do we know when to stop spending and when to save?

Fisher mentioned that Seward does offer several courses that can help students in order to help them improve, such as first year seminar and personal finance.

Fisher did make a statement that these classes cannot hold a student accountable, though. It does all rely back on the person.

Fisher also talked a lot about how the money will come about to help these 9 million students.

Fisher mentions that she has no idea where the money would come from besides the taxpayer’s pockets, and that she does not even know if there would be jobs after students graduate from college. No one is guaranteed a job after college. whether it be graduating from a university, or a community college.

Former Crusader editor finds true calling in teaching Alfredo Anaya Guest columnist jaanaya@mail.fhsu.edu

“You’re not making any money, you know?” “You’re going to be broke all the time.”

“You could make more money working at National Beef.”

Yeah, at this point I’m used to hearing all these things from various people in my life.

I’m currently student teaching 8th grade English at West Middle School, and I will be graduating from Fort Hays State University in May. My decision to become a teacher started after a few failed

attempts at finding what I wanted to do. In the end, I chose teaching because I wanted to be an influential role in the life of a student, much like many of my teachers had done for me.

Unfortunately, many of my peers did not receive the same kind of positive support that I did while growing up. I even questioned my opportunity to continue my education after high school and after finishing at Seward. Like many teenagers in Liberal, the only idea that was ever presented to me was that I could go work at National Beef or another feedlot once I finished high school.

Surprisingly, my father supported my choice to finish col-

lege after I told him I wanted to transfer and receive a bachelor’s after finishing my associate degree at Seward. With the help and support of my family and one influential instructor in my life, I was able to transfer to FHSU and continue my education.

My first semester was rough because I was continuing the career path I followed while at Seward. I still wanted to get a journalism degree, but I saw no real options once I finished school.

This was a terrifying realization for me because for two years I had dedicated my life to something I loved, but now I no longer seemed to find a way to continue pursuing this degree.

The moment I decided to be a teacher was when I realized what I really loved about being on staff at the Crusader: being a leader.

I was not without faults, and the newspaper issues my staff put out were not perfect, but we were dedicated to our product. So, I isolated the one benefit that always made me feel proud about being on staff –– the chance to motivate others and push them, even when they did not believe they were able to complete a task. Nothing made me happier than knowing that one of my staff members was passionate about an article they were writing or that they had received an award for their work.

So how does this relate to me

becoming a teacher? Well, I thought long and hard and realized that I wanted to motivate others to push themselves. I enjoy watching others succeed. I enjoy seeing people overcome obstacles they set for themselves.

Why? Because I’ve been there.

I’m still there.

Every once in a while someone still tries to tell me that my career choice is dumb or that I won’t be making very much money. I politely shake my head and let it roll off.

People will always focus on the most obvious aspect of a job: money. However, the experiences that a teacher lives, and the lives that a teacher influences are truly priceless. I think back to all

the teachers who pushed me to believe I could be more than a National Beef employee or that I could truly work any job I wanted if I worked hard enough.

Again, I expect to hear endless comments about how my career choice is dumb or how I won’t be making much money, but people will never understand how important it is to motivate the youth of today, especially when we are living in a world that tends to become so judgmental and pessimistic.

Take a moment to think about one teacher that influenced your life. We all have one. Let’s not stop advocating for these educators because their No. 1 priority was definitely not money.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

CRUSADER 5

ENTERTAINMENT

Spring musical joins Shakespeare and ‘Star Trek’ Daisy Torres Crusader staff Award winning musical “Return to the Forbidden Planet,” which organizers say will include an “8 foot octopus and a robot on rollerskates,” will be presented by the Seward County Community College theatre department.

The musical will be directed by drama instructor Gloria Goodwin and will be performed in SCCC Showcase Theatre.

This musical is loosely based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and the ’60s movie “The Forbidden Planet.”

The musical was described by Goodwin as “Star Trek meets Shakespeare.”

Sindy Humaran, one of the cast members, said the play is “really cool because it’s mixed with different styles, it has Shakespeare and it’s pretty funny” According to Goodwin, the musical will feature classic rock music from artists such as The Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Who, and will include songs like “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

Goodwin would like people to not be discouraged by Shakespeare. “Don’t let your fear of Shakespeare stop you,” Goodwin said.

“Return From the Forbidden Planet is a great intro to Shakespeare,” Goodwin said. The musical will not only include scenes inspired by “The Tempest” but also from all 16 of Shakespeare's plays.

The musical will open April 23 and be performed until April 25.

5 p To e’s Day

SCC C Favorites

n i t n e l Va n e v i g s t n e s e r p

We asked 10 students what gift they would prefer to receive.

These were the results...

1 Cards 2 Candy 3 Dining Out 4 Flowers 5 Jewelry

1. Dining out 2. Jewelry 3. Cards 4. Candy 5. Flowers

“Dining out, but no dollar menu!”

- Jennifer Morales

4 votes 3 votes 1 vote 1 vote 1 vote

“Jewelry because you finish your food and the flowers die.”

- Tare Mariga

Source: statisticbrain.com

‘American Sniper’: Story not history Daisy Torres Crusader staff I watched “American Sniper” with my brother, neither of us knowing it was based on a true story.

American Sniper is the story of Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in the history of the U.S. military, and is played by Bradley Cooper.

I think Cooper did a fantastic job, not just physically, changing his lean actor build to a noticeably thicker bulk, but also portraying the emotions of a man troubled by war.

Cooper not only showed those emotions on screen but also through it. I am certain I heard people gasp on different occasions. Honestly, I mostly remember his time on the screen, his portrayal was so good that, in my opinion, he eclipsed the rest of the cast.

The movie focuses on Kyle’s life as a Navy SEAL, from being enlisted after the bombing of the American embassy in 1998 and being sent to Iraq after the attack of the World Trade Center in 2001 and following his four tours to Iraq.

The movie shows the hardships of war and what Kyle had to face, not only to survive but to save his colleagues as well.

Throughout the movie I could not stop myself from grabbing my brother’s hand in different scenes like Kyle’s first kill, a kid and his mother as they try to attack U.S. Marines with a grenade, and was kept on edge as the movie followed him and his team on door-to-door missions in search of al-Qaeda leaders.

This movie shows the different struggles Kyle had faced, balancing his life as a war hero and his life as a husband and parent of two.

The war changes Kyle. During his visits home he becomes dis-

tant as he tries to hide his troubling thoughts from his wife, all the while she also struggles with the war, Kyle goes back home and is haunted by his war experience.

Kyle tells a Veterans Affair psychiatrist what it is exactly that is troubling him, not the death of his targets but the death of the soldiers he could not save, which I thought was a very powerful thing to say. The psychiatrist tells him he can still continue saving lives from home helping injured veterans.

The last scene shows Kyle being playful with his family as he says goodbye ready to go with a troubled veteran to the shooting range. The scene fades to black as Kyle’s wife closes the door revealing white subtitles saying the troubled veteran killed Chris Kyle that day.

The end of the movie was a shock to me; it was such a huge reveal to me that this movie was based on true events, and I decided to look more into it and was slapped in the face with reactions of movie goers, full of racist and hate-filled tweets where users expressed their want to kill, Arabs and Muslims.

Aside from people’s ignorant opinions and blatant racism, there’s another bothering thing to the movie, and that is the plastic doll the movie producers tried to pass as a baby, it is a disappointment that such a well crafted movie made this type of mistake.

A plastic doll with odd arm movements does not seem realistic at all.

I would recommend people to watch this movie with an open mind. Although the movie is based on Kyle’s autobiography, we should remember that it is one man’s experience and not take the movie as history but as a movie for entertainment.

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6 CRUSADER

ENTERTAINMENT

Podcast generation

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Podcast: (noun) - a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.

Serial is a podcast series that premiered in October 2014. The series follows the story of a true crime story centered around the murder of 18-year-old Baltimore student Hae Min Lee. Serial explores the suspect charged with the murder, Lee’s ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. Serial is in production for season two. It is produced by Sarah Koenig.

This American Life is an hour long weekly radio show producted by WBEZ Chicago and hosted by news personality Ira Glass. The show began in 1995 and is still producing weekly episodes. The show follows memoirs of different themes involving real issues that audiences can relate to.

New episodes are released Sunday.

Crusader photo/Maria Lara

Souper Bowl for Scholarships at Seward County Community College helps raise money for scholarships through SCCC/ATS Foundation on Thursday, Jan. 29. Three deans, Celeste Donovan, Cynthia Rapp and Janese Thatcher dressed in Superman attire to try the entries.

Alires wins cash and bowl

Maria Lara Crusader editor

Seward County Community College hosted their first Souper Bowl for Scholarships fundraising event in the student union main floor area on Thursday, Jan. 29.

Theresa Alires, from Food and Beverage, took first place with her potato soup and won the traveling trophy and a $50 gift card to Dillon’s.

The traveling trophy that was made and donated by Dustin Farmer, 3-D art instructor, and mounted on a wooden pedestal, made and donated by Steve Merz, drafting and design technology instructor at SCCC/ATS. The trophy is displayed in the cafeteria, and each year, the winner’s name will be added on a plaque on the trophy’s base.

Crusader photo/Maria Lara The soups, stews and chilis were Volunteer at the Souper Bowl hands out cinna- judged based on appearance, aroma and mon rolls to go along with the soup and beverage.

taste, with a scale of zero to five, five being outstanding. The judges were Jerry Odle, from food services, Galen McSpadden, athletic director and head baseball coach, Duane Bozarth, SCCC/ATS Foundation board president and Bella Martinez, SCCC/ATS student.

Taking second place was Teresa Wehmeier, from Office of Assessment and Research, with her Santa Fe Stew and won a $20 gift card to the Saints Bookstore.

Third place was given to Alaina Sill, from Industrial Technology team, and her Chicken Enchilada Soup. Sill won $10 gift card to the Saints Bookstore.

Proceeds benefit SCCC scholarship fund and this event will be an annual event at the end of January.

Dr. Sweet visits SCCC for training event

Tania Valenzuela Crusader staff

Dr. Donna Sweet, speaker and health pioneer, continued an education training event called "HIV & Hepatitis C - What Every Health Professional Should Know" on Wednesday in the Shank Humanities Building theater.

Several years ago when HIV first became an issue, Dr. Sweet was one of the first to educate

and provide care in Kansas for is currently the national vice those with the disease. She con- chair of the Health HI Board, a tinues to care for about group that addresses 1,200 patients with the shortage of medHIV from her Wichita ical workers in conclinic and other clinics nection with HIV. in rural Kansas.

During the seminar, Dr. Sweet is a proDr. Sweet provided fessor of Internal Medinformation that can icine at the University be useful to all health of Kansas School of care workers. The Medicine, Wichita. seminar met profesDonna Sweet She also serves on many sional development renational boards and councils and quirements for continuing educa-

tion hours for the Kansas Society for Clinical Laboratory Science the Kansas Board of Pharmacy, the Kansas Board of Nursing. All others received a certificate.

The topics presented included information on both HIV and Hepatitis C, current treatments and therapy results, and situations that could challenge caregivers when they are faced with patients infected with both diseases.

Another for radio produced podcast. The series centers around the fictional town of Night Vale. The show involves quirky reports about strange happenings around the town of Night Vale. The news reports include UFO abductions, strange clouds that rain dead animals, and other spooky happenings in town. Episodes are 20-30 minutes on average.

Genre: True Crime

Genre: Memoirs

Genre: Parody

National Public Radio’s TED (Talk, Entertainment, Design) Radio Hour focuses on different speakers on a week to week basis. They’re usually featured speakers from TED talks in front of a live audience. The show is hosted by radio personality Guy Raz and features speakers in fields of education, technology, and finances.

Genre: Informative

Tongue-in-Cheek, corny, and hilarious. These words perfectly summarize The Thrilling Adventure Hour.

This show is produced on stage and is actually a stage production in the style of old time radio. The show features three segments and fake comical ads that relate to the content. The show has been running since 2005.

Genre: Comedy

Freakonomics Radio is related to the popular books and magazines that center around money saving strategies. The show focuses on different financial topics to saving a few dollars. Some interesting episodes include topics such as why we’re drawn to fast food and how being attractive can make you richer.

—Alfredo Anaya

Genre: Finance

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“Coldest Beer in Town”

Thursday, February 5, 2015

INFOPAGE

CRUSADER 7

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While this year’s Feb. 17 race will be the 66th competition between the two towns, in Olney, the race dates back to 1445. According to tradition, a woman engrossed in using up cooking fats (forbidden during Lent) was making pancakes when she heard the church bells ring for the shriving service. The woman grabbed her headscarf and raced to the church, skillet and pancake in hand, still apron-clad, and, the race was born.

]

Community offered a fresh approach P

Schedule of Events Feb.14 9 a.m. - noon - Merchandise Sale @ Girl Scout Building (Light Park) 10 a.m. - Eating/ Flipping Contests (register 9 a.m.-10 a.m.) @ Girl Scout Building (Light Park) 1 p.m. - Pancake Chase (register 12:30 p.m.) @ Pancake Day Hall of Fame 3 p.m. - Parade, 11th and Kansas Avenue to Trial Street 7:30 p.m. - Talent Show @ Liberal High School

Feb.17 No School @ SCCC/ATS

Feb.15 2 p.m. - Miss Liberal Scholarship Pageant @ Liberal High School Auditorium

6 a.m. - 10 a.m. - Pancake Breakfast @ Seward County Activity Center 7:30 a.m. - Breakfast Program @ Seward County Activity Center 10:30 a.m. - Youth Races @ 4th and Lincoln 11:40 a.m. - Men’s Pacer Race @ 6th and Kansas 11:55 a.m. - INTERNATIONAL RACE @ 6th and Kansas 12:15 p.m. - Shriving Service and Live Video Conference @ First United Methodist Church

‘Get Your Flips’ T-shirt Get Your Flips at Pancake Day 66 with this year’s t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan on the front commemorating the 66th Pancake Day race. The back of the shirt features a very special list: the names, times, and years of all International Race recordholders from 1950 through last year.

In addition to a t-shirt, Pancake Day fans will want a commemorative button to add to their collection. The button also serves as admission to the Pancake Breakfast on Feb. 17.

Pancake Day merchandise for sale also includes tote bags, aprons, bandanas, postcards, sno-globes and a variety of other items.

Merchandise and event tickets can be purchased now at the Hall of Fame, 318 N. Lincoln, between 10 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. and also on the Pancake Day website at www.pancakeday.net. On the web site, click on shop to view and purchase merchandise. Check out the web site for a special discounted ticket package. Pancake Day shirts and other items will also Courtesy photo be for sale at Pancake Day Pancake Day Merchandise Chairman Gary Classen displays this events Feb. 14-17. year’s t-shirt. Visit the Pancake Day website at www.pancakeday.net or stop by the Hall of Fame to get merchandise and event tickets.

ancake Day parade set for Saturday Feb. 14, entries now being accepted.

Liberal, Kansas— The 66th Pancake Day celebration, planned for Feb. 1417, features some schedule changes to make it easier for everyone to participate. The parade, which traditionally has been the final event, has been moved to Saturday afternoon to help kick off four days of fun.

Parade entries are now being accepted and cash prizes will be awarded in several categories. To commemorate the 66th Pancake Day, this year’s theme is “Get Your Flips at Pancake Day 66!”, a spin on the old Route 66 slogan.

There is no entry fee, and any group or individual is invited to enter a float in one of the following divisions: commercial, non-profit, schools, antique automobiles, and antique equipment. Cash prizes of $150 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place will be awarded in each division. Local and area marching bands are also invited to participate.

Entrants do not have to live in Liberal, and organizers are hoping for increased participation from out-of-town organizations and schools since the parade will be on a Saturday.

The parade, sponsored each year by the Liberal Rotary Club, is set to begin at 3 p.m., Sat., Feb. 14.

According to Pancake Day General Chairman Jack Jacob, the board has also made several other changes they hope will draw more people.

“The new schedule reflects a fresh approach to a vital and community-identifying event that is a staple of life in Liberal,” he said. “The parade and talent show have been moved to Saturday, which will provide opportunities for the surrounding areas to be involved with aspects of Pancake Day as well. The flipping and eating contests have a new venue. Miss Liberal Scholarship Pageant is being updated. I am excited to see the whole area get behind and enjoy a great tradition in Liberal. We hope everyone will set aside February 14-17 as 2015 Pancake Days in Liberal. Get your flips at Pancake Day 66!”

Parade entry forms may be mailed to Janet Willimon at 1811 N. Calhoun, Liberal, KS 67901 or faxed to (620) 626-7887. Entry forms may also be emailed to brack.mike@gmail.com. For more information on the parade, call Janet Willimon at (620) 655-2642 or Mike Brack at (620) 482-0466.

For more information on Pancake Day, call 620-624-6423, visit the website at www.pancakeday.net <http://www.pancakeday.net> , or find us on Facebook at International Pancake Day.

Are you eligible?

The International Race is the main event, and this will be 65th match-up between the women of Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England. This race is limited to women age 18 or older with a Liberal address who have “domestic duties.” (High school students who are 18 should enter the youth division.) Women who sign up for the International Race should bring a photo of themselves when they sign up, if possible.

Men’s Pacer Race The Men’s Pacer Race is open to all men ages 18 and older (except those still enrolled in high school, who will run in the youth division).

Youth Races This category is for teens ages 14-18 who live in Liberal. The youth division will feature at least two races, one for men and one for women. The number of racers who

sign up will determine how many age categories the racers will be grouped into. The youth division race is a 75-yard dash and will be held immediately after the children’s races conclude. Pancake Day organizers would like to encourage high school students to enter, since USD 480 is closed in honor of Pancake Day. Winners will receive medals only and no monetary prizes, so high school athletes can enter without losing eligibility.

Any entrant under 18 must have a parent or guardian present to sign the entry form.

Children’s Races Children ages 3-13 who live in Liberal are eligible, and

each age and gender competes in a separate category, offering lots of room for Liberal’s youngest Pancake Day Racers.

The Pancake Day Talent Show is in the James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School and will spotlight these acts as they compete for trophies and prize money in four divisions. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Tourist Information Center, One Yellow Brick Road; the Pancake Day Hall of Fame; or First National Bank in Liberal.

Record-breaking British racer to visit Liberal

Courtesty photo/Larry Phillips

Reigning International Pancake Day Race winner, Devon Byrne, left, and her mother, Lesley Byrne, will be in Liberal, Kansas, for Pancake Day events Feb. 14-17. Devon, 21, currently holds the International Race title, having won the race the last three years in a row. She set a new record time last year of 55.6 seconds on the 415-yard course, breaking her own 2013 record time of 56 seconds.

What does it take to win a Pancake Day race? Whatever it is, the Byrnes of Olney, England have it. Last year’s winner of the International Race, Devon Byrne, and her mother, Lesley Byrne, can claim six race titles between them. The motherdaughter duo will be in Liberal this year from Feb. 14-17 to find out what Pancake Day is all about on this side of the ocean.

Devon Byrne, 21, currently holds the International Race title, having won the race the last three years in a row. She set a new record time last year of 55.6 seconds on the 415-yard course, breaking her own 2013 record time of 56 seconds.

Devon’s mother, Lesley, won the Olney race in 1988, 1989, and 1993. In 1988 and 1989, she also beat Liberal’s winners to earn the International title.

The women of Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England, have been racing each other on Pancake Day since 1950 in a match-up that is unique. Pancake races are common in England, but Liberal is the only U.S. town to race against Olney. The 66th International Pancake Day Race will get under way at 11:55 a.m. on Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 17, when women run a 415-yard

course through the streets of town while wearing traditional “housewife” garb of headscarf and apron. Each racer must carry a skillet and pancake and flip that pancake at the beginning and end of the race. Olney and Liberal compare race times during a live video chat after Liberal’s race and an International winner is declared.

Why isn’t Devon staying home to race again and defend her title? According to the official race rules of both cities, after winning three races, a racer must retire, so the Byrnes are doing the next best thing and visiting their Pancake Day race partners in Liberal.

Devon, who is studying math and sports science at Loughborough University, will be visiting America for the first time.

“It will be a once in a lifetime trip and to be going with my mum will make it that bit more special and memorable,” Devon said.

She is also looking forward to checking out American culture and meeting all the people of Liberal.

Lesley, who teaches physical education in a special needs school, says, “I am looking forward to being in Wizard of Oz

country, which will really impress some of the children I teach.”

She is also excited to see Pancake Day, Kansas-style, as the Liberal celebration stretches over four days, while in Olney everything takes place on Pancake Day. In that case, the Byrnes may need to cook up a batch of porridge when they arrive since at last check, porridge is not a common item in Liberal pantries.

With such a winning family tradition, one might wonder if any siblings are in line to take Devon’s place back home, but the answer is no. Devon has two brothers, Cameron, 23, and Hayden, 19, but men are not eligible for the International Race.

Lesley still has vivid memories of her race victories, though they occurred more than 20 years ago.

“The first year I won I was on the local TV and in the newspapers and became a celebrity at the school I was teaching at,” she said. “Ex-students I meet, who may be as old as 40 now, always remember me winning the pancake races and ask me if I am still doing it.”

Lesley also revealed what may be the secret to producing not just a race-winner, but a record-

setter: “The third time I won was the day I found out I was pregnant with Devon,” she said.

That means Devon has been racing since before she was born.

With Devon retired, perhaps this will be Liberal’s year to reclaim the title. Who that woman might is up for grabs, as the winner of last year’s Liberal leg of the race, Summer Parsons, is pregnant and will not race.

According to race rules, International contestants must be 18 or over and have “domestic” duties. Parsons joked that she is fulfilling that rule description.

“In true ‘domestic’ fashion, we’re expanding our family!

However, next year I will be ready to take on Olney,” Parsons said.

The current overall score between the two towns stands at 36 wins for Liberal and 28 for Olney. The 1980 score did not count because a media truck blocked the Olney finish line.

Pancake Day is Feb. 17, but in Liberal the celebration will get under way the Saturday before with a full day of activities including flipping and eating contests, a parade, and a talent show.

Stories on this page Contributed to Crusader

Page By: Maria Lara

8 CRUSADER

Thursday, February 5, 2015

INFOPAGE

Extending a Helping Hand Olatunde Olasunkanmi, a man with a loving heart, shares the Nigerian experience with friends and students in the United States of America.

“

He is always ready to help, even when it is not too convenient for him.

” “

I respect Olatunde a lot because I was amazed how accommodating he and his wife were to me and my friend during our stay in his house.

“

From Nigeria to Liberal: one student’s journey

”

Lanre Hassan Crusader staff hassan@crusadernews.com

Olasunkanmi Olatunde is a very hard working man... He is friendly, open minded and a motivator. He will bring himself up or down to any level to understand one's view and try to help. To sum it up, he has the potential and skills of a leader.

”

Olasunkanmi’s family brings Nigeria to America Lanre Hassan Crusader staff Olatunde Olasunkanmi is from the western part of Nigeria, Osun state, in faraway Africa. He later moved to the commercial city of Nigeria, Lagos state, where he got his high school degree.

Olatunde is a loving, humble, and a church-going individual.

He is from a loving and respectable family, which is a true reflection of the man he has become.

After his high school degree, Olatunde decided to work to relieve his parents of the burden of finances. He got a job with a fencing company, which took him all over Nigeria for work.

After few years of working, he decided it was the right time to further his academic goals by pursuing a business administration/accounting degree in the United States.

Unfortunately for him, getting a visa into the United States wasn't as easy as he thought. He was denied a visa twice by the United States of America’s embassy in Lagos state. But Olatunde was determined, and he wasn’t a quitter. He went back the third time and he got a visa to come study in the United States.

He got an F-1 (student visa) to go study at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. According to Olatunde “I decided to contact some of the friends I have in the States to seek advice and make enquiry about college life in the U.S.” He spoke with Kingsley Emuedue who was attending Seward County Community College/Area Technical School then and Kingsley advised him about starting from a community college to save on expenses for two years, and later transferring to a four-year university.

Olatunde enrolled in SCCC/ATS during the fall semester of 2012, and since then his academic record speaks for him. He consistently got the college’s academic scholarship; he’s been on the dean’s list, and he has also been initiated into the Kappa Beta Delta business club.

Courtesy photo/Olatunde Olasunkanmi

“I decided to contact some of the friends I have in the States to seek advice, and make enquiry about college life in the US,” said Olatunde Olasunkanmi, pictured here with his wife Kylan and son Kyson.

Olatunde came into the United States with the assurance from his parents that they would sponsor his academic goals.

A few months into Olatunde’s stay in the U.S., a fire engulfed his family’s properties in Nigeria, and they lost virtually everything.

“I was devastated when I heard about the fire disaster, but I was determined to stick to my plan of getting a business degree in the states,” Olatunde said.

He decided to work to fund his studies, at one point he was working three jobs. He worked at a night club as a security guard, he worked at the cafeteria as a dish washer, and he worked at Mosaic nursing home as a direct support assistant.

Olatunde got married to Kylan

from Las Vegas, Nevada, and together they have a son Kyson, and they are known as the Olasunkanmis.

Despite the many hours he works to take care of his family, he’s still able to pull off an impressive academic GPA of nothing less than 3.5.

“Ola,” as he’s fondly called at the college and in Liberal as a whole, is also a hospitable young man. During the fall break he housed and fed Olakanmi Olowookere and Olayinka Lafiaji, two Nigerian fellows that just got into the U.S. to study. Unfortunately, they came in while the campus was closed for Christmas break.

Olakanmi and Olayinka are two who say they will always be grateful to Olatunde for being

such a wonderful compatriot.

According to Olakanmi, “He is always ready to help even when it is not too convenient for him.”

Ola often gathers most of the Nigerians in Liberal to his house and he cooks some Nigerian local dishes like rice and stew, eba and efo elegusi, beans and plantain etal.

Students, faculty, and staff who know Ola seems to love him.

He’s someone who can be described as a gentleman.

According to Rachel Taylor, former assistant registrar and current STEM transfer coordinator, “Olatunde is a motivated, humble, interesting and brilliant young man. I know what it’s like to work and go to college full time, and still manage to take care of the family. I’ve seen him around his fellow students, he’s usually seen wearing a smile on his face. I’m impressed with the type of man he is.”

There’s always something good to be said about Ola from his compatriots.

Juwon Togbeola, a Nigerian who also got a degree at SCCC/ATS and still lives in Liberal, said, “Olasunkanmi Olatunde is a very hard working man, and he is dedicated to his work, both in school and his job as well as his family. I know this because I have done a couple of projects with him and the way he handled them was just incredible.

He is friendly, open minded and a motivator. He will bring himself up or down to any level to understand one's view and try to help. To sum it up, he has the potential and skills of a leader.”

Olawale Olaoye is also someone who has some good words to say about Olatunde. “My friends in Oklahoma City referred me to Olatunde, ‘Olatunde is the guy to talk to if you need anything’ and I have been impressed with him as a person.”

Olayinka one of the guys he housed doing Christmas break said, “I respect Olatunde a lot because I was amazed how accommodating he and his wife were to me and my friend during our stay in his house.”

I have known Olatunde Olasunkanmi for several years. We lived in the same local government (County) Amuwo Odofin. Olatunde and I were not close friends, but I have always admired him as a person. He has an awesome personality, which is why I respect him a lot.

His choices of friends are always the responsible, the intellectual, and the focused.

A year after Olatunde came to the States, I got an F-1 to study at Minnesota State University. My dad contacted his friend in Chicago and told him I got a visa to study at MNSTATE, and he assured my dad he has a friend in Minneapolis I could live with and go to school from his house everyday.

I left Nigeria on the 16th of July 2013, and landed in Chicago the next day. After spending a few days in Chicago, my dad’s friend realized that the distance between where his friend in Minneapolis lives and MNSTATE is three hours away.

So I figured I needed to act on my own.

I was speaking with a friend on Facebook and I told him about my situation, and he suggested I contact Olatunde.

I went on Facebook and search for Olatunde Olasunkanmi, and fortunately he was online. I immediately sent him a message asking if he knew me, and he replied, “Why would I not?” I told him about how I was going to be stranded in Chicago because of the distance between the college I was meant to go to and my dad’s friend’s house.

He told me how flexible and affordable it is to attend Seward County Community College, and how nice the people of Liberal are. He told me how to get to Liberal from Chicago, and he picked me up from the train station at Garden City. He helped me with my registration, introduced me to his friends, and he also helped me with my accounting assignments.

Olatunde is someone I hold in high esteem for letting me and some other Nigerians gather in his house to have some Nigerian time.

And the fact that I’m still able to eat some Nigerian foods such as pounded yam and egusi soup away from home makes me very appreciative of his generosity.

Egusi soup is a unique type of soup that can be eaten with several other meals such as Amala, pounded yam, eba, and fufu. According to Derric Moore, math teacher and head of the math lab center at SCCC, “I met a Nigerian engineering graduate student called Femi when I was an engineering undergraduate student at Praire View A&M University, Texas.

He helped me with my engineering assignments, and I helped him with his projects because he was going to miss the deadline to turn his project in. Femi invited me to his house for a show of appreciation for helping him type his projects, and he gave me eba and egusi soup, and I have been in love with the food ever since.”

Egusi Soup Egusi (Melon) seeds - 3 cups, 600g Red Palm Oil – 2 cooking spoons Beef – Best cut and Shaki (cow tripe) Fish – Dry fish and stock fish, crayfish Vegetable – Pumpkin leaves or bitter leaf Seasoning – 3 Knorr cubes, pepper and salt Traditional Seasoning – 1 Okpei (optional) Page By: Maria Lara

Crusader

Section B • Page 1

SPORTS February 5, 2015

Saints cause racket in Africa Two Saints players, Ronzai Saurombe and Tare Mariga, medal for Zimbabwe in African Youth Games.

Crusader photo/ Xochitl Gonzalez

Assistant tennis coach Nadine Mein out at the courts for practice.

Nadine Mein named Seward County’s assistant tennis coach Nacole Miller Crusader staff Nadine Mein is the newly hired assistant tennis coach, but this is not Mein’s first time at Seward County Community College.

Coach Mein attended Seward County from 1994-1996, and not only that, she also played on the women’s tennis team.

When Mein played tennis at Seward, she played under Coach Joe Anderson. It was when Mein was leaving Seward that current head tennis coach Darin Workman was stepping into the program.

After her time in Liberal she continued her schooling at PIMA Medical Institute in her home state, New Mexico. At PIMA she no longer played tennis and was focused on X-ray school and getting her degree.

From there, Mein moved back to Liberal in 1999 and worked at Southwest Medical Center in the X-ray department, the job she held until accepting the assistant coaching position, which is now Mein’s full-time job.

Mein, on top of taking care of and coaching the Saints and Lady Saints tennis teams, has children of her own at home to take care of.

Mein has a 9-year-old son Ryan, a 12-year- old daughter Sarah, and a 14-year-old daughter Corey. Mein is married to Casey, a Liberal area financial adviser. Because of Mein’s daughters, she has coached before for her daughter’s recreation volleyball team, but never competitively and never tennis.

Mein says that she is very excited to coach a competitive sport and to get back into tennis again.

When Athletic Director Galen McSpadden called Mein and told her about the position, she was intrigued.

“Galen called me in December and told me about the team’s situation and asked me to help out,” Mein said. “I knew that they are such a good team and

have high hopes for this team, and I just didn’t want to see their program dissipate, so I decided to help out.”

Now being with the team for just a few weeks, Mein is getting to know the players more and is very eager for the games.

Sophomore Saint Ronzai Saurombe had only positive words about Coach Mein.

“She played here before, so I think she will be useful to the team and can contribute a lot with her experience since she has been through this. She is willing to help in each and every way to make the team the best it can be.

I have had a positive experience so far with her coaching on and off the court,” Saurombe shared.

Mein is excited to see what the guys can bring to the court.

Sophomore Lady Saint Paula Lopez said, “We are having a really good time with her coaching us and also helping us off of the courts. Having two coaches with experience is really helpful and the team is really motivated and willing to give everything at matches and tournaments. I am really enjoying this semester with both of our new coaches.”

Lopez refers to the other coaching change for the tennis team, which was the return of Darin Workman to the interim head coach position. Workman had been a head coach for 17 years prior to 2012 at Seward, but had given up that position and focused on his other college jobs as music instructor and band director.

The head coach from 20122014, Jerry Thor, parted ways with the college in November.

Coaching duties for assistant coach Molly Lentini also ended in November.

Coach Mein says that she is a highly motivated individual and loves to coach. She shared that when she is with the team she feels “like the mom of the team”, which she enjoys. Overall, while she is in the assistant coaching position Mein wants to make a positive impact.

Courtesy Photo

Ronzai Saurombe and Chisomo Lumeta placed third and fourth in singles during the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games. Saints tennis player Tare Mariga, not pictured, also won a medal.

Saints tennis players earn gold at African games Snow and ice covered the Seward County tennis courts during the month of December, while halfway across the world, a pair of Saints picked up their rackets and hit the tennis court to play in the sunshine at the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games.

Ronzai Saurombe and Tare Mariga brought home gold and silver medals for their home country, Zimbabwe. Saurombe, who had not been able to travel home for more than two years, said the experience moved him deeply on many levels. A different country hosts Youth Games every two years, and it just happened to be located in Zimbabwe in 2014.

“It was because of this tournament that I could go home,” he said. “Had it not been for the invitation to be part of my national team, I would not have been able to travel back.”

Youth Games, which ran through the first two weeks of December, is similar to Junior Olympics competitions in the United States.

Athletes from Zimbabwe took part in tennis, judo, swimming, soccer, boxing, basketball and more, and compiled a team score in

competition with 10 other southern African countries.

Mariga, too, earned an invitation to be part of the Zimbabwe national team for Youth Games. He said the experience was unique because of the location.

“We have attended many tournaments, large ones, but that has always been in other places in Africa, not our own country,” he said. “We participated in the Junior Davis Cup when it took place in Egypt, and we attended Africa Junior Championships in Morocco, Botswana and South Africa.

This was the first time for us to take part in this event, in this location.”

Both players met with significant success, earning a gold medal in men's doubles and, in Saurombe's case, a gold medal in mixed doubles and a bronze medal in men's singles. They also picked up a silver medal in a team event competition.

Overall, Zimbabwe placed second in the Youth Games with a total of 93 medals, after first-place South Africa's 121 medals.

Angola, slated to host the 2016 Youth Games, came in third with 20 medals.

Both Mariga and

Saurombe came to Seward County after years of playing at Mantas Tennis Academy in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

“My uncle introduced me to tennis when I was four years old,” Mariga said. “He would take me to play on weekends, and at age six, he handed me to the Academy Club to train further.”

Saurombe picked up the game at age eight, thanks to a family friend.

“My father likes to say he used to play tennis, but I think that was mainly a social thing,” Saurombe said.

“I actually began after my mother encouraged me to join a friend's son. She thought it was something I should do instead of watching so much TV.” Tennis was once a worldclass sport in Zimbabwe, the former British colony of Rhodesia, Saurombe said.

“It was really big, and then it got to the point where we were not producing so many players,” he said. That lull in the sport's trajectory prompted Saurombe to search for opportunities in the U.S. “I applied to a lot of schools, all of them in the U.S.,” he said. “Seward was the one where I was accept-

ed, and even though I didn't know where Kansas was, I chose to come.”

Mariga, in turn, embarked on an international career, accepting an offer to play at Seward as well. Both athletes hope to transfer to fouryear college in the U.S. to complete their bachelor's degrees after they finish at Seward County.

The Youth Games reassured Saurombe that his beloved sport may be on the rise once again in Zimbabwe. For now, however, even as the sport he loves slowly regains momentum at home, Saurombe said, “tennis is better here in the U.S.” That suits Saints tennis coach Darin Workman just fine.

“They're great kids, and really good tennis players,” he said. “It's a pleasure to have them here.”

If only the weather would clear up, Workman added, “we could get out onto the court to practice.” For now, the team continues daily workouts at the SCCC/ATS Wellness Center.

— Contributed by Rachel Coleman

Nebraska dual matches start the spring season Xochitl Gonzalez Crusader staff

Courtesy photo

After a match in Nebraska, head coach Darin Workman joined Saints tennis players Dominique Apsley, Christian Kurz, and Ramsey Mason to cheer on teammates.

Workman expects top notch tennis season The Saints and Lady Saints tennis teams traveled to Nebraska last weekend for a dual match.

It was the first match of the season coached by interim head coach Darin Workman.

“I am really impressed with

both teams, not only by their play on the court but the amount of character each member of the team shows,” Workman said. “I expect a great season from both teams. To expect less, I wouldn’t be doing my job.”

The first two matches of the spring season has the Seward County tennis teams off to a good start.

The teams attended a dual match hosted in Fremont, Nebraska.

The men won 6-3 against Doane College and 6-3 against Midland University.

The women lost 3-6 against Doane College and won 7-2 against Midland University.

The next match is scheduled for March 7 in Odessa, Texas.

Courtesy photo

Saints tennis players Paula Lopez, Felipe Casares, Vitor Galvao, Naomie Bukassa, Des’mne Curtis and Dominique Apsley sat down to recover after their matches this weekend in Nebraska..

2B CRUSADER

Thursday, February 5, 2015

SPORTS

Lady Saints fall to No. 1 Hutch in a heartbreaker

Kyndal fires up Lady Saints

Grant Glaze Crusader staff

Kyndal Davis is midway through her sophomore season as a Lady Saint basketball player at Seward.

Since she stepped on campus last year she has been a key factor in a highly competitive team. Last year it came as the team’s sixth man. She thrived in this role as if she had done it her whole career.

This might have come from her first time playing varsity basketball for Canyon High School. As a sophomore midseason call up for Canyon High School, Davis scored seven points in the final quarter of the state championship, including the clinching lay-up with only 11 seconds remaining.

Davis would go on from there to be the Lady Eagles leader on the court in her next two seasons of basketball before she made her decision to play for the Lady Saints.

She also shared that, “The game is so much faster and the players are way more athletic than in high school.”

Davis made the transition seem almost effortless.

She started her Seward career with a bang, scoring in double figures in six of the first eight Lady Saints games of the 2013-2014 season. She scored a career high 24 points against Oklahoma Baptist in mid-November and had 20 point performances later in the year against McLennan and MiraCosta.

She finished the year averaging around 10 points a game with five rebounds, but her game didn’t stop there; she was also a difference maker on the defensive end.

She ranked third on the team with 22 blocks and second on the team with 60 steals.

Her game isn’t the only thing she has going in her favor. She has been on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every semester at Seward, and was named to the

Kyndal Davis KJCCC All-Academic team in 2014. This makes it no surprise that one of her favorite hobbies outside of basketball is to read. She plans on continuing her education after Seward to become a physical therapist.

Davis’s career at Seward is far from over. With this season at its halfway mark, the Lady Saints can’t complain too much with where they sit.

They are ranked No. 7 in the nation by the NJCAA, and stand second in the Jayhawk West conference.

Davis attributes much of this to her team’s ability to come together and play as a unit.

“Chemistry is a key aspect to our team. Being able to count on one another is a great thing when it comes to game situations. Knowing each other helps us know what each other wants and needs to be successful.”

While Davis is quick to point out the team aspect of winning, it is no secret that she is a key part of the winning formula. She is no longer in her sixth man role. She now is a starter and a leader for the Lady Saints. She has started all twenty games that she has been able to play in and is second on the team in minutes played per game.

With the recent unfortunate injury to Tamara Seda, Davis is now the leading active scorer for the Lady Saints, averaging 12.2 a night. Out of the Lady Saints backcourt she is the leading rebounder, averaging 6.7 boards a game.

Davis doesn’t just play a factor on the offensive end. Her extreme hustle, that is impossible to ignore while watching the Lady Saint’s play, puts her at the Lady Saints leader in steals, averaging 2.2 a game.

Her key role in the team isn’t just recognized by outsiders, but also by her teammates. Brooklyn Artis, a sophomore guard, speaks highly of Davis. “She means a lot to our team, offering a lot with her height and speed.

She is a taller guard that is extremely good at rebounding and also has a great personality that we all love.”

As the Lady Saints finish off what looks like a tremendous year, one thing is without doubt. Kyndal Davis will be at the center of the team’s winning. Whether it’s scoring, on defense, or just extreme hustle plays like rebounding, Davis will be making a difference, and Davis and the Lady Saints hope that (her factor) can bring the same result that it did her sophomore year of high school, a championship.

Jevyn Voss Crusader staff What seemed to be a great start for the Lady Saints Wednesday night turned into an up-anddown performance against the National Junior College Athletics Association’s top ranked team.

The No. 6 Lady Saints lost to the No. 1 Hutchinson Blue Dragons 61-62 after a thrilling second half comeback.

The Hutchinson Blue Dragons drew first blood and Lady Saint Axelle Bernard, freshman forward, answered right back by recording nine of the first 11 points in the first five minutes for the Saints.

Bernard’s stretch of points started a neck-to-neck race until the 10:45 mark when the Lady Saints trailed by six. This six point deficit ignited a three minute scoring drought until Rebekah Hatchard, sophomore guard, ended it by giving the Lady Saints a spark they needed.

The Lady Saints finished the half with an impressive nine point run and brought the game to a score of 26-35 at halftime.

Following halftime, the Lady Saints started back up right where they had left off. Within the first five minutes they were back in the game and trailed by a mere four points but quickly fell behind again.

The ebbs and flows of the offensive performances of both teams were evident as both teams struggled to provide efficient scoring, and neither team finished the game with a field goal percentage higher than 40 percent.

The scoring struggle for the Lady Saints was inside the paint.

“We’ve got to be more physical. Hutchinson’s a very physical and very disciplined team,” women’s basketball assistant coach Kelli Willingham said.

“You know they push, they play hard. We have to make sure to be more physical and be more aggressive and play with the strength and aggressiveness we need inside.”

The Blue Dragons defense took advantage of the Lady Saints missed shots and registered 34 defensive rebounds while keeping Seward to a mere

eight offensive rebounds.

To improve upon this, Bernard said, “we need to be stronger inside for the rebound.”

Seward did fight back once again just past the halfway point of the second half when the Lady Saints leading scorer, sophomore guard Kyndal Davis, drained a 3pointer with 8:25 left. From there the Lady Saints registered a 10 point run and tied the game.

There were four lead changes and much anxiety in the Green House.

Daniela Galindo, the freshman guard from Shattuck, Okla. came off the bench and played a key role late in the second half. She registered 11 points, with nine of those being three pointers.

Willingham expressed high hopes for the freshman. “D (Daniela) stepped up. She got some big shots for us…She’ll be able to score more and do more for us later in the season.”

After all was said and done, Willingham was proud to see the effort.

“I think we played really hard, and we never gave up.”

Lady Busters escape injury but not defeat Grant Glaze Crusader staff

Crusader photo/Maria Lara

A Garden City bus carrying the Lady Busters was on its way to Seward for a basketball game Jan. 21 when it was hit by an oncoming semi on Highway 83 outside of Liberal. The game was cancelled and replayed Feb. 2. The occupants of the bus escaped with minor cuts and bruises.

For Lady Saints game photos, see Facebook.com/CrusaderNews

The Lady Saints and the Lady Busters were originally scheduled to play January 21st, but the game was cancelled a couple of hours before the teams were supposed to take the court, when a semi hit the Garden city bus bringing the Lady Busters to their game.

No injuries were reported from either, and the Lady Busters showed no signs of a prior incident as they took the court Monday night.

Winning has been a constant for this season’s Lady Saints basketball team. Monday night against Garden City would be nothing different for the Lady Saints, as they won their 20th game for a 23rd straight season, 71-57.

Seward finished the first half outscoring the Lady Busters 6-1 in the final 2:55 of the half, giving them a 37-29 lead.

The Busters made a feeble attempt at a comeback, and in the end Seward County continued their winning ways with a 71-57 win. For full story, see Facebook.com/ CrusaderNews.

Lady Saints embrace new game plan with loss of Seda Jevyn Voss Crusader Staff Rebounding was the No. 1 priority for the No. 6 Seward County Lady Saints with a 78-48 victory over the Barton County Lady Cougars Saturday night.

Not only did they have an allaround team effort in rebounding the ball, but they rebounded from their tough one-point loss to the No. 1 Hutchinson Blue Dragons Wednesday.

With redshirt freshman forward Tamara Seda out for an uncertain amount of time with a knee injury, there was a new key for the game against Barton.

Rebounding became a necessity for Seward to focus on.

Women’s basketball coach Toby Wynn said, “We tried to make it a point of emphasis in the last two or three days of practice.”

The Lady Saints had 33 rebounds, 24 of those on defense and nine on offense. That’s only

Green House The

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six more rebounds total from their performance against Hutchinson. The numbers don’t show a great difference but the spread of rebounds between team members certainly does. Six different players had four or more rebounds apiece Saturday night compared to the previous game where only two players had that kind of success.

Not only did rebounding become a new focus, but the team had to learn a new game plan as

well. The new game plan brought success in the entire defense as well as scoring.

The Lady Cougars committed a total of 39 turnovers with 19 of them happening in the first half alone. “I thought we did a good job defensively. We had a good defensive game plan. We put in a new defensive concept and had the past two days to get our personnel to buy into it,” said Wynn.

The offense had success tonight and sophomore guard

Rebekah Hatchard attributed it to the new game plan. She said, “We found more opportunities and coach had great plays to make that happen.”

The Lady Saints drained 40 percent of their shots and had three players scoring in the double digits. Half of the shots came from beyond the arch with more than fifty percent of them accounting for points on the board.

The new scheme has its downfalls, but it also has an intriguing

Rest of Season

Women’s Basketball Conference Play Colby Pratt Cloud Barton Dodge City

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Butler Hutchinson Barton Garden City Colby

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future in store for the Lady Saints. Freshman forward Axelle Bernard feels that it brings new responsibility and said, “It’s hard for all of us but we’ll figure it out. It gives us more shooting opportunities” Despite losing a key player and implementing a new game plan, the Lady Saints came out with an impressive in over the Barton County Lady Cougars and improve their record to 19-2 with a 7-1 conference record.

“I believe we had a really rough start at the beginning of the game...we managed to get ourselves together, run the ball hard and play well as a team” - Rebekah Hatchard

Pratt Cloud Dodge City Garden City Butler Hutchinson

Feb. 7 Feb. 9 Feb. 14 Feb. 18 Feb. 21 Feb. 25

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Thursday, February 5, 2015

CRUSADER 3B

SPORTS

Green House The

effect

Men’s Basketball Conference Play Colby Pratt Cloud Barton Dodge City

Crusader photo/Xochitl Gonzalez

Zig Ziglar motivational speaker, Mike Rodriguez is talking ot the participants of the Commit to be Fit challenge on Jan. 26 at the Seward County event center.

Commit to be Fit seeks participants to join effort Nacole Miller Crusader staff The Commit to be Fit program has begun at Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School. The starting date for this challenge was Jan. 26 at the Seward County Event Center where participants not only started on their path to wellness but were joined by Zig Ziglar motivational speaker, Mike Rodriguez. The participants then filled out screening forms to help them set their goals.

Though this event has already started, it is never too late to join and commit to be fit. This program will go until Nov. 16, but attendance at any of the motivational meetings offered is optional and you can join any time during the year.

Andy Highfill, the director of wellness at SCCC/ATS, explained what Commit to be Fit is.

“Commit to be Fit was developed to not only include the physical components of wellness, but also the financial and emotional components,” Highfill said. “The Wellness Center has joined forces with Liberal’s KState research and education office. We have also teamed up with a number of local organizations to create the wellness challenge, Commit to Be Fit.” The agencies involved in this noteworthy challenge are KState Research and Extension, Liberal Recreational Depart-

ment, Southwest Medical Center, Liberal Area Coalition for Families, Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School, Seward County Health Department, Seward County admin., and Southwest Guidance Center.

With the knowledge of what Commit to be Fit is, people realize joining is simple. Form a team of four members who will help motivate and keep each other on track to wellness, or jump in solo.

Then fill out the registration form that can be found at commitfitliberal.weebly.com, or forms can be found at Seward County extension office or the Liberal Recreation Center. With that comes a fee of $10 per person or $15per family and scholarships are available.

The Commit to be Fit program is designed to help the participants reach better physical wellness and also financial and emotional wellness.

Throughout the year, the program will be focusing on the three different areas with meetings that are designed to motivate and help reach the goals set for the individual by the individual. These meeting are optional.

More information about this challenge can be found at the website, the Commit to be Fit Facebook page at www.facebook.com/commitfitliberal or by calling Kathy Bloom at the extension office, 620-624-5604.

physical financial emotional Stepping towards fitness • Form a team of four members who will help motivate and keep each other on track to wellness, or jump in solo.

•Fill out the registration form at commitfitliberal.weebly.com • Pay a fee of $10 per person or $15per family or ask about scholarships.

Crusader photo/Diana Chavira

Kevin Sims goes up for one of his 26 points scored for the night against Barton County. Sims reached a new career high that included shooting 17 times from the free throw line and helping put Seward in the lead.

Saints make a turnaround with Barton County win Diana Chavira

Sports editor Saturday night in the Green House was a turnaround for the Saints as they defeated Barton County after taking a loss to Cougars just weeks prior.

The Saints have so far had an even number of wins and losses and their standing is at 1111. Improvment in teamwork was evident in the performance the team exhibited. Barton took the first lead of the game at 7-0, but Seward quickly picked up the momentum when they closed in on Barton 12-10 and finally tied the game at 15.

Nick Singleton gave the crowd an incentive for cheering

when he went up for a dunk and was later followed with a three from Kevin Sims. Tyreke Sharp also threw yet another three for the Saints to finish off the first half of the game with a six point lead, 40-32.

The Saints did not hold anything back in the second half of the game as they steadily kept their lead against the Cougars.

Only a couple of minutes into the second half the Saints pushed their lead into double digits and left Barton trailing with a 24 point difference.

The Cougars tried to come back from their plummeting score but were unable to catch up to Sewards solid play. Saints took the match 89-76 and also

gained their first win over a ranked team this season.

Through their win over the Barton County Cougars, the Saints were also able to bring out the best in some of their players.

Sims scored a career high of 26 points and also shot from the free throw line 17 times.

Singleton as well had seven rebounds and Evan Allen helped with eight assists.

The last time the Saints went up against the Cougars they did not have such a fortunate turnout. Seward was defeated with a 24 point lead by Barton, and it was also the Saints worst Jayhawk West conference loss in 7 years.

Seward suffers double loss against Hutch Diana Chavira sports editor

Crusader photo/Diana Chavira

Tyreke Sharp makes an attempt to go up at the net but passes the ball back out to his teammates. Sharp has continued to be one of the Saints best three point shots for the season.

The Saints also came up short in their Jayhawk West Conference game against the Hutchinson Blue Dragons. The Lady Saints lost their game to the Lady Blue Dragons by a mere point, but the Saints fell further behind on the court.

Early in the game, the Blue Dragons took the lead 15-4 before the Saints caught up to speed with a three from Darius Polley to bring the game to 15-14, followed by another triple from Mitchell Packard to finally tie the game at 17.

The Saints went

back and forth with the Blue Dragons and tied the game 30-30 at the buzzard for the first half, but the second half didn’t prove any better for Seward.

Hutchinson maintained a 14-16 point lead for most of the second half and never let up. Seward lost the game 75-65 and also a 20 game Jayhawk West, Green House winning streak.

Hutchinson’s 57 percent of shooting made the biggest difference in scores.

Out of 29 attempted free throws, Hutchinson scored an average 22.9 points, while Seward only scored 12 points out of 21 attempted free throws.

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“We believe we can win these last six conference games and plan on doing so” - Mitchell Packard Garden City Butler Hutchinson Barton Colby

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Remaining Conference Play Pratt Cloud Dodge City Garden City Butler Hutchinson

Feb. 7 Feb. 9 Feb. 14 Feb. 18 Feb. 21 Feb. 25

Total Wins Loses

12

11

On the Lookout:

Lady Saints Fri. Feb. 6 Seminole State College Fort Worth, Texas

Saints Fri. Feb. 6 Galveston College Dallas, Texas

Saints take control from the start Diana Chavira Sports editor It was evident that the Saints were ready to bring home a win Wednesday night. It was no problem for Seward to jump ahead with the lead against Colby 11-1.

Seward had some foul trou-

ble momentarily, but regained composure and advanced ahead of the Trojans.

The Saints have been doing “great in terms of sharing the ball and getting easy baskets,” freshman Mitchell Packard said about the team. “And we forced them into quite a few turnovers by being active in

our press.”

The Saints came home with a win over Colby, 85-62, and a new record of 12-11.

Packard also shared that the team firmly believes they can win the last six conference games and plan on doing just that.

Season opener this weekend for softball Efren Rivero Crusader staff

Crusader photo/Xochitl Gonzalez

Participants of the Commit to be Fit challenge getting ready to start on their paths to wellness while listening to Mike Rodriguez on Jan. 26 at the Seward County event center.

The Lady Saints softball team will begin its 2015 season Friday, facing a weekend full with games.

On Friday, they will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to play against Seminole State College, Ranger College, and Midland College.

On Saturday, the Lady Saints will play Galveston College and Hill College.

Assistant coach Abby Bolton said, “We are really looking forward to actually playing someone besides ourselves. I think the girls are getting tired of just scrimmaging each other and are just looking forward to playing some different teams and getting out

there and see how we stack up against competition.”

While they have not practiced much against other teams, Coach Bolton still sees great strength in how the Lady Saints have been hitting in the past few practices.

Along with this strength is some weaknesses that they still need to work on.

“Defensively we have been inside quite a bit so it takes a while to get back into the rhythm and getting out there in the dirt and grass and just being able to make plays,” Bolton said. “I think that will come along with playing more games and we will get stronger in those areas.”

This weekend is just the start of 14 straight away games before finally playing home on

Feb. 24 against Clarendon College.

“We actually play better on the road,” Bolton said. “They don’t worry about who is sitting in the stands and don’t have to worry about the music, so we play better on the road.”

Some players to look out for during the season will be sophomores Vanessa Oakden, Jaclyn Wagner, Tiffanie Bolanos, and JoeAnn Rapoza.

“We are excited for the season to open up,” Bolton said. “We have been working hard all year and I am hoping the girls have a good season.”

The game versus Seminole State College this weekend will start on Friday at 9 a.m.

4B CRUSADER

Thursday, February 5, 2015

SPORTS

Seward looks forward after dropping season opener Efren Rivero Crusader staff

Crusader photo/Efren Rivero

Logan Nethercot runs to first base this past Friday against McCook Community College. The Saints lost the season opener 4-3 but hope to bounce back this weekend against Galveston at Fort Worth, Texas.

The 2015 season opener for the Saints baseball team was one game that did not turn out the way they hoped. Seward fell to McCook Community College in a close game, 4-3, bringing the first loss of the season.

“It may have been one of the most disappointing games that I have ever been involved with to start the season.” said Head coach Galen McSpadden. “I felt that we made a lot of mistakes and that we weren’t ready to play. I don’t know what attributes that. We had been outside quite a few times. We have had several inter-squad games and we had looked pretty good up until then.

But the bell rang Friday and we didn’t really answer it.”

While McCook took the early lead and went up 3-0 by the top of the third, Seward scored once in the third, fourth and the sixth

to make it even. The game stayed even until the top of the ninth.

That is when McCook scored a run that led them to their first victory of the season.

It was the little mistakes here and there that added to the first loss for the Saints.

McSpadden said, “I felt that we didn’t compete defensively.

We made some errors and mistakes that should not have happened.”

McSpadden mentioned that the Saints did a poor job of base running along with bad blundering mistakes on the bases.

On every run that McCook scored, the Saints had two outs and two strikes on the hitter. Yet the necessary pitches were not made when they were needed.

Coach McSpadden also felt that they didn’t compete at the plate. I didn’t feel that we competed at the plate.

Before the season opener, the Saints were named the favorite to

College playoff proves successful Grant Glaze Crusader staff glaze@crusadernews.com

The first college football playoff was a major success. So much so, that many are already looking forward to what lies ahead. Sure, it may be too early in this system to make our conclusion about the playoffs, however, if ratings are any indication, then the playoff system may just be here to stay.

According to ESPN, the Ohio State win over Oregon in the championship brought in an overnight rating of 18.5. This is the highest rating in the history of ESPN, and a 21 percent increase from last season’s championship game.

The new playoff system brought the spark of energy that college football has needed for some time. Not just that, but it also brought into light how boring and limited our 16 years of systematic computer chosen championships have been. Although some may disagree with the final spot of the four, the selection committee was a bigtime leap from the computer era.

The human element found a way to include Ohio State. They found a way to figure that one 14-point loss should not define a team. They recognized just how much the team had shown growth. They saw how they had overcome adversity by losing their first and second string quarterbacks. This committee gave Ohio State a chance that they wouldn’t have gotten in previous seasons, and Ohio State proved that they belonged.

Let’s look at it this way.

Without the new system, guess

who the computers would have picked: Alabama and Florida State.

Neither of those two teams even made it to the final game of this year’s playoffs because Ohio State and Oregon both proved they were better.

How good is the playoff system? The BCS was so terrible that when compared with the four team playoff it just looks laughable while elevating the new system to revered status.

However, it may not be just perfect yet.

Competitive teams like TCU and Baylor don’t necessarily feel like this system was “perfect.”

While the conversation will always be to add more to the playoffs, which we obviously can’t continue to do, we must add two to four more spots. This would eliminate the major conference one-loss snubs. The teams on the verge would now be two-loss teams. Two-loss teams don’t have a right to make an argument for why they should be in.

They deserve to be out of the playoffs.

However, getting all major conference one-loss teams in would make the system perfect.

The first argument is that college athletes’ bodies can’t go through that long of a season. That is not legitimate due to the fact that Division II football has a 16 team playoff.

Finally, the playoff system did what every college football fan wanted.

It gave a larger variety of teams a chance to compete.

This is what we all wanted.

While some revisions could definitely do more for the sport, we all should step back and realize the era we are moving into: out of the flawed computer system, and into a glorious era of competitive playoffs.

win the Jayhawk West conference. This season’s team includes 11 sophomores along with six starters returning from last year.

“We got picked earlier to win the conference in the West, and I can tell you that the way we played opening day was not indicative of a team deserving of that choice,” McSpadden said.

But that also says a lot, because that was picked by the coaches we play against in the conference. They have seen us play, they have seen who we have personnel wise, and so they are expecting us to do that. Well, we are going to expect that, too.”

Seward will now look to the weekend where they will play four games against the Galveston Whitecaps.

“The good side is as poorly as we played, it was still a one run game,” McSpadden said. “And it’s the first game of the year so the only way that I could see it is

that it’s going up. Hopefully that won’t be the indication of more to come. But we look forward to what we are going to have this weekend. We travel to Dallas and we play Galveston four tough ball games. One Friday night, Saturday double header, and Sunday a single game. They have played two games… so we are going to be two teams right out of the chute.”

Going into games, McSpadden looks to eliminate mistakes in every aspect. He wants the team to keep the errors to a minimum, make less base run mistakes and be more aggressive at the plate in order to square up on more balls.

“We are expecting far more than what we showed out of the first game, far more,” McSpadden said.

The next home game for the Saints will be Feb. 14 against Northeastern Junior College from Sterling, Colo.

Super Bowl Sunday Legendary sports event makes TV entertaining on several levels Jevyn Voss Crusader staff The first Sunday of the month of February once again featured legends and legends in the making on prime time television.

The New England Patriots, the franchise of old, faced off against what could one day be the National Football League's new franchise on the block, the Seattle Seahawks.

Sunday was not the day that the Seahawks claimed their spot on the top block. The three-time World Champion New England Patriots defeated the reigning champ Seattle Seahawks in what was an emotional roller coaster of a game.

New England took home the Lombardi Trophy for the fourth time since 2001 after a 28-24 victory.

Future Hall of Fame candidate Tom Brady proved in the first quarter why the New England offense is so scary. Although there was not a score to be seen, he efficiently lead the Patriots down the field twice in the first quarter. The Legion of Boom, however, came determined to prove their worth and kept them scoreless through the first mostly due to an interception in the end zone thanks to Seattle cornerback Jeremy Lane.

The second quarter offered all of the action that the hype of the game promised. Brady led the offense to 14 points

in the second quarter with touchdown passes to receiver Brandon LaFelle and tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Seattle's offense proved non-existent in the first but answered New England’s touchdowns with a couple of their own.

Running back Marshawn Lynch answered first with a three-yard touchdown run and the second Seattle touchdown came from the undrafted rookie receiver Chris Matthews on his 11-yard reception.

Going into halftime, the teams were tied at 14-14.

From one show to another, the halftime show was on par for the best performance since Beyonce hosted and reunited Destiny's Child for another heart throbbing concert.

From the first song to the last, Katy Perry entranced audiences around the world with more color combinations than we normally see in an entire day, all of her songs that people secretly sing to themselves when nobody else is in the car, as well as the complex special effects that left everybody more than awestruck throughout the concert.

The Seahawks owned the third quarter as the legion held off the New England Patriots for another quarter. Seattle scored 10 points off of a Steven Hauschka field goal and a Doug Baldwin threeyard reception.

The New England Patriots came into the fourth quarter down 10 points and ended up taking the record for biggest

fourth quarter comeback in a Super Bowl.

The game went down to the wire.

Russell Wilson had 2:02 on the clock to lead his team to their second consecutive world championship title. Despite a clutch, 33-yard juggling catch of a lifetime by receiver Jermaine Kearse, the dream ended when Wilson threw the game ending interception to rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler from one yard out of the end zone on a second down.

The entertainment value certainly didn’t diminish through the evening. The tightly contested game had sports fans on the edges of their seats, Katy Perry hosted a half time show for the world to remember and rave over, and the broadcast offered the most emotional collection of commercials to memory.

The commercials had viewers crying one second from the empowering ads provided by Microsoft, and the next second laughing as Pete Rose was kicked out of his own hall of fame. Viewers had the tears and the laughs, as well as guilt when Weight Watchers jumped in and made Super Bowl partiers feel bad for eating all of the traditional junk food consumed on the day of the big game.

The game ended with the Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady leading his team to a fourth title after a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Until Super Bowl 50, it's unlikely a source of entertainment will come close to the value that Super Bowl XLIX did.