March 12
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2015 Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114
Lady Saints invited to the big dance. See page 6 Year 46, No. 8
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Liberal, Kansas
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Museum exhibits sharks Grant Glaze Crusader staff Megalodon is a traveling exhibit that is currently on display at the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal until May 3. The exhibit goes along with the museum’s efforts to make Liberal the education tourist-attracting hub of southwest Kansas. Megalodon was created by the Florida Museum of Natural History and has already been viewed in major metropolitan museums. The Megalodon exhibit weaves the facts of the shark into short stories. There are text reader boards, models, specimens and supporting educational materials tied to sci-
ence, technology, engineering and math. The exhibit is structured as a replica of the 60 foot shark. Attendees can tour to see the shark and also see special facts and artifacts. Real teeth and life-sized scale exhibits of the shark’s jaw, and baby sharks are among the things to be viewed at the museum. While the exhibit has much to show about a number of sharks, it is built around facts about the great, prehistoric megalodon: • Megalodon grew up to 60 feet. • Megalodon had teeth up to seven inches long. •Megalodon was the largest predatory marine creature.
Megalodon Exhibit:
2000 W. 2nd St. • Open through May 3 • Monday - Friday 8-5 • Saturday 10-5 • Sunday 1-5 • Adult admission $10, grades 1-12 are $6.
Crusader photo/Maria Lara
David Coltrain, Sustainable Agriculture Resources Program Specialist, works on Seward County’s tractor yesterday afternoon, attaching the chisel plow, in preparation to start plowing rows. Students and Coltrain will start planting cool season produce in the next couple of weeks.
Coltrain plows into sustainable ag program Maria Lara Editor In the next couple of weeks, David Coltrain, sustainable agriculture resources program specialist, will begin to plant vegetables on the four acres of ground that Seward County Community College has for the sustainable agriculture program. Coltrain accepted his position in December. “I have a lot of experience in this, I grew vegetables like this for 20 some years.” According to the program specialist, Kansas only grows 4 percent of fruits and vegetables that residents eat. It wouldn’t surprise him if Kansas is one of the lowest producers of vegetables in the nation. Coltrain received his master of science from Kansas State University, and his master’s thesis title is, “Why Don’t We Grow More Vegetables in Kansas?” In his mind, it’s a lack of knowledge on how to do it. It’s not the actual growing part, but the marketing aspect that is hard. “Before you plant the first seed, you need to know where you’re going to market,” Coltrain said. Though the marketing may be an impediment to Kansas residents to grow vegetables in this region, there are students from SCCC/ATS who don’t agree with the new changes. Mitchell Shelton has taken all of the sustainable classes and is currently taking the integrated pest management class. He said, “I am not particularly fond of the idea, however. We are going to plant crops that don't necessarily pertain to
this region... I would like to see the acres used to grow crops pertaining to this area such as grain sorghum, corn, or wheat and experiment with them.” Logan Hernandez, sophomore and ag student at SCCC/ATS, agrees with Shelton. “We’ve had a successful crop consultant that came and talked to one of our classes and said that vegetables aren’t successful around here, so I’m not really sure what to think or vision for any of it at this point,” he said. Because of the multiple ag instructors that the students have gone through, they don’t know what to expect. Hernandez states that there have been different ideas in the past, “and none of them have actually been followed through.” Coltrain is not shifting, he is set on making this successful. As soon as the ground dries up, Coltrain will commence to plant vegetables such as peas, potatoes, and onions. He esti-
mates to have up to 5,000 pounds in one row of tomatoes and there will be 80 rows of other produce. Coltrain chooses special seeds that he orders, ones that he knows will do well and prefers. “We’re also gaining pretty quick on new equipment,” Coltrain said. In two weeks, they will have most of the equipment that the agriculture program will need. “There was hardly anything here when I got here,” he said. Because of the STEM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) grant, Coltrain will not be able to sell the produce, so weekly educational sessions will be offered where anyone in the community will be able to “come out and learn something about growing and then getting to pick your own,” he said. The slogan that National Farmers use, “either sell it or smell it,” and Coltrain states that since they won’t be able to
Planting ideas at SCCC/ATS
David Coltrain
• 2 Greenhouses - 5 hydroponic and aeroponic systems • 4 High Tunnels (unheated Greenhouses) • 4 acre plot on campus - irrigation system - electric fence - special equipment • 4 acre plot off campus
sell it, they will just give it away. “Seriously, it’ll get smelly around here if we don’t get those tomatoes, watermelons and cabbage out of here,” Coltrain said. On top of that, Coltrain, along with others will have to control the rabbits that will roam the area. There are plans on putting up an electric fence, and Coltrain hopes that it will suffice. It’s only for two more years that SCCC/ATS will be giving the vegetables away for free. The SAP will be out from under the STEM grant and will be self-supporting, that is what Coltrain is planning on after the two years. Students will be able to help, during lab, with the planting. The classes for students are regular college hours, there are eight specific classes that are in the sustainable agriculture program. Right now, the students are helping with the lettuce family in the greenhouses. Coltrain is the only instructor currently teaching the classes for students. “We will also have a technician to help do stuff, a fulltime position,” Coltrain said. The program also does things, like the summer academy, June 1-4, where high school students live on campus and dine in the cafeteria at SCCC/ATS for four days to learn basics of agriculture that will thrive in the future. That is to promote the program and for recruitment purposes. Coltrain likes growing things, and he’s trying to get things done. He likes to see results when he plants things. “I’m going to try really hard to make this successful.”
Crusader photo/Maria Lara
Noel Grajeda, Rachael Cano, Jake Jimenez and Leslie Prieto discuss plans for this Friday’s event for Pi Day in the Math Resource Lab.
Pi Day to be celebrated Friday Kim Nguyen Crusader staff The nationwide celebration of Pi Day is special because it is the first time in years that the date 3/14/15 corresponds to the 3.14159265358979323846…actual pi number. However, by the time the calendar rolls to what is being referred to as an Epic Pi Day on Saturday, Seward students will be gone from campus for the first weekend of spring break. So, the local celebration in the Seward County Community College Math Resource Lab will be Friday, March 13, which by coincidence is Albert Einstein’s birthday.
On Friday, in recognition of Pi Day, the SCCC Math Resource Lab will have free pizzas and pies for all students. Because of the unique 3.1415 of this year’s Pi Day, some are calling it an Epic Pi Day, but at Seward the Math Resource Lab organizers are referring to it as a Monster Pi Day. “This year Pi Day falls on a Saturday but we will celebrate it Friday at 12:30 p.m. March 13, 2015,” Derric Moore, Mathematic Resource Center facilitator, said. There will be free pi-zza and pi-es served with refreshments for all students in the Math Resource Lab inside of the library.