Sterling Cub Reporter: April 2019

CUB REPORTER April 2019

VOL. 5 ISS. 7

STERLING HIGH SCHOOL

The bee’s knees +pg 5

Sterling High School | April 2019 1

+ 02 EDITORIAL

CUB REPORTER WWW.STERLINGPSTUDENTPUBLICATIONS.COM

308 E. Washington, Sterling, KS 675779 Phone: 620-278-2171 Fax: 620-278-3237

+STAFF

editors +MCKIAH San Miguel +grace rowland REPORTERS +andy norez +lucas gilmore +christina voth +Riley Richter +megan roelfs ADVISER +TODD VOGTS

+POLICIES

The Sterling High School Cub Reporter and all subsidiary publications are designated forums of free speech. The print edition is published October through May of each school year by the journalism class at Sterling High School. It is distributed for no charge throughout Unified School District 376 buildings and the Sterling community. The first copy is free.

Subsequent copies will cost $1 per copy. For information about being added to the subscription list, contact Todd Vogts at 620-278-2171. Letters to the editor are welcome. Email them to journalism@usd376.com. All letters must be signed.

Anonymous letters will not be printed. All letters subject to editing for legal, grammatical and factual reasons.

+ABOUT THE Cover Reporter Christina Voth and graphic artist Andy Norez explore a students bee keeping hobby.

Read more about this on pg. 05. www.sterlingcubreporter.com

Teenagers Smartphone Use Data from statista.com

Spend to much time Have tried to cut back

60 50

54%

58%

57% 52% 41%

40 30

26%

20 10 0

On their cellphone

On social media

Playing video games

Smartphone use in teens and kids has severe affects Smartphones are more popular than ever among teens and kids. The age a child receives a smartphone has decreased drastically, with many concerning health problems.

In 2012 a study conducted by Influence Central found that the average age for a child to get a smartphone was 12 years old. In 2018 Influence Central found that the average age had dropped down to 10 years old.

With the average age a child receives a smartphone decreasing, the risks are becoming more and more severe. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, to much screen time can affect the health of kids’ eyes. Children’s eyes can become fatigued and cause strain from looking at screens up close.

Screens can also cause irritation and dryness of the eyes. In a National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) study, they found that during the use of screens, our eye blink rate actually decreases. This makes our eyes irritated and more strained. For a child, looking up at a screen positioned for an adult can make their eyes irritated and strain them much more.

Another effect on children is the impact it has on their sleep schedule. NCBI also found that the blue light from screens can disrupt the brain to make it think it is

daytime. This can cause the brain to stay awake longer, making it harder for the child to fall asleep.

As children become older and move into their teen years they are more responsible with their time. They are able to keep up with their homework and also able to have a social life.

According to Fox News, Teens are becoming more and more addicted to smartphones, and in a tech savvy world it can be hard not to. There are possible solutions to this growing problem.

There are dozens of apps for parents who want to monitor what their kids are doing. One of those apps is created by google called Google Family Link. This app has many features such as limits on their screen time. Parents can pick how many hours a day their teen will be allowed screen time.

Parents can also get notifications when their teen wants to download an app, they can approve or deny them access to that app. There are many more features to this app that allow parents to keep tabs on their kids.

Teens are much more mature and can make smart decisions about how much screen time is too much.

— For the Editorial Board

+ 03 Briefs

BRIEFLY STATED +SHS

+LOCAL

+NATIONAL

Farney wins full-ride Scholarship

Weiner named National Merit Scholar Finalist

Judge Rules Military Draft Unconstitutional

Senior Gage Farney was awarded a full-ride scholarship to Fort Hays State University on March 19.

The scholarship is offered through the Rudd Foundation, which awards 25 students scholarships in the state of Kansas who are attending Emporia State University, Fort Hays St, or Wichita State University.

Students must be Pell Grant Eligible to apply.

“This scholarship helps me financially a ton,” Farney said. “It takes all the weight off of my shoulders. I don’t have to worry so much about trying to work all the way through college, find scholarships, and worry about long-term debt.”

To apply students had to write essays, answer questions about themselves, and take part in an interview to be selected for the scholarship.

To keep the scholarship for four years, Farney must apply for FAFSA to make sure he is still Pell Eligible and send his information back into the Rudd Foundation. Farney must also maintain a 3.0 GPA and live on campus all four years.

Senior William Weiner was announced a National Merit Scholar finalist for the 2018-2019 school year.

Weiner is one of 15,000 students across the United States notified of being selected as a finalist.

Weiner will receive $2,500 to use toward college.

The National Merit Scholarship starts with approximately 50,000 high school students taking the PSAT the year before they graduate.

In early September 2018, 16,000 students were notified as qualifying to be a semifinalist. Semifinalists are chosen by being the highest scoring applicant in each state.

Finalist are then choses based on scores, academic and extracurricular records, recommendations, and essays.

“It is really exciting because it is a cool honor because I have put effort into my classes,” Weiner said. “All throughout my childhood I have tried to learn everything that I could, whether it be reading or going to museums, and it was really cool just to see all of that pay off.”

A federal judge in Texas ruled that an all male military draft is unconstitutional, declaring that excluding women is no longer justification because they may now serve alongside men in combat.

According to the New York Times, Judge Gray H. Miller of the Federal District Court in the Southern District of Texas argued that “while historical restrictions on women in the military may have justified past discrimination, men and women are now ‘similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft,” Miller wrote in his ruling. “If there ever was a time to discuss the place of women in the Armed Services, that time has passed.”

The case was brought to attention by a men’s rights group, the National Coalition For Men. Two men argued that an allmale draft was unfair.

Although no action has taken place, the Military Selective Service Act still requires all American males at the age of 18 to register for the draft.

Men who don’t register can be fined or imprisoned.

www.sterlingbulletin.com A proud supporter of

USD 376

Academics, Activities and

the Cub Reporter

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107 N. Broadway, Sterling Sterling High School | April 2019 3

+ 04 News

Norez soars with ‘Eagles’ +by McKiah San Miguel

Senior Andy Norez has been apart of Boy Scouts for seven years. He recently achieved the final ranking as an Eagle Scout, but he found himself in a time crunch when trying to complete it.

Norez had several bumps on his path to completion.

“When my last troop leader passed away he kept all of his records on paper for the longest time,” Norez said. “He transferred the documents to a laptop and so when he passed away it went to his grandson, who lived in Tennessee.”

Norez had to reach out to his old troop leader in order to finish his paperwork for the Eagle Scout in time.

“My mom and I found him and we reached out to him so we could get all my paperwork back so I could finish the requirements,” Norez said.

Norez lost a lot of time he could’ve used to work on his Eagle ranking.

“I lost about a year of time that I could

have used to try and finish up, so I was on a time crunch,” Norez said.

After Norez retrieved all of his paperwork to prove his eligibility for the Eagle ranking he had to transfer to a different troop.

“I had to transfer over to the Lyons troop where I worked to get my last few merit badges and rank up to Life, from there was just the final requirements for Eagle,” Norez said.

One of the requirements that Norez ran into that would put him into a rush is the paperwork must be filled out and turned in before the scout turns 18. Norez was announced eligible by his troop a week before his 18 birthday. Another part of becoming an Eagle Scout is producing a project in which betters the community and gives back.

“For my project I decided to replace the worst benches at Sterling Lake,” Norez said. “Originally I was going to replace all

Andy Norez the benches, but I ran into some issues with the lumber.”

Finally, Norez had to give a presentation to his Scout Board to prove he did the work to receive his Eagle Scout ranking.

Senior Grace Rowland named 1A/2A Journalist of the Year +by McKiah San Miguel Senior Grace Rowland was named Kansas Scholastic Press Association 1A/2A Kansas Journalist of the Year.

Rowland would be recognized at the Regional Journalism Contest at Wichita State University.

“I decided to apply for the KSPA Journalist of the Year because I remember getting to watch Veronica Norez my freshman year receive the award. It was so amazing to watch her use everything she had worked for in her time with journalism, and to be able to showcase that with a portfolio,” Rowland said.

Rowland put her best work into her portfolio to try and win over the judges with her design and writing skills, everything that makes a journalist.

“When I entered the competition I knew I had a chance at winning but I knew that my chances were slim. I knew that I had put everything into my portwww.sterlingcubreporter.com

folio that showed me as a journalist and if that wasn’t enough to win, it was going to be ok because it was my best work,” Rowland said.

Rowland put a lot of her time and effort into her portfolio in hopes of winning J.O.Y. “It took me almost the entire Christmas break to complete the basic formatting of the website and then the rest of January to perfect it and add more details.

I wanted to make sure that my portfolio had my best work incorporated in it so I spent a lot of time searching for my best images, designs, and stories.”

On Feb., 13, Rowland would receive a phone call from her advisor, Todd Vogts, about her accomplishment.

“When I got the call that I had won, I was very shocked. I was completely expecting to not be picked at all and when I figured out I had won I was speechless. It

is truly a amazing award and I am so honored that my work had been chosen to represent students in the 1A/2A category.”

Along with Rowland’s success comes the success of the journalists that competed at regionals. Ranging from Honorable Mention to First Place.

All 11 members of the Sterling Student Publications staff qualified for state in at least one event: Freshman Riley Richter, 3 events; freshman Megan Roelfs, 2 events; sophomore Lucas Gilmore, 3 events; sophomore Kayley Clark, 1 event; sophomore Shawna Britton, 2 events; sophomore Courtney Ball, 1 event; junior Abbigail Riffel, 3 events; senior Grace Rowland, 3 events; senior McKiah San Miguel, 3 events; senior Morgan Anderson, 3 events; senior Andy Norez, 1 event.

+ 05 Feature

thE BEE’S KNEES Freshman Carter Crank gives insight to the beekeeper lifestyle and the inner workings of a hive +story by MCKIAH SAN MIGUEL & christina voth +Graphics by Andy Norez

I

magine bees humming in their hives producing sweet, sweet honey. Flying around as their honey is being harvested. The smoke filling the air to calm down the aggravated bees. This has been a normal day for freshman Carter Crank for the last four years.

Crank’s beekeeping hobby began when his grandfather introduced him to beekeeping when he also picked up the hobby during his retirement. Since then Crank has worked alongside, tending to his hives at his grandfather’s house.

“When my grandpa retired he picked up beekeeping and I decided I wanted to do it too,” Crank said.

Bees are extremely important to the ecosystem because they are one of the top pollinators in the world, especially to food crops.

“Pollination helps wildflowers and other native plants to grow, and it also really helpful to help farmers crops and gardens grow,” Crank said.

Bees have several different uses in the world, but Crank uses them for their honey production. He also uses them to help surrounding farmers with their crops and produce.

“I mostly use the bees for their honey, but I also like to have them to help other farmers,” Crank said. “The farmers like us having the bees around to help pollinate their variety of crops.”

Not all honey is the same. There are several different types of honey that are based on the bees diet. An example would be whether their diet mostly consists of soybeans or flowers, which would change the color of the honey.

“Usually light colored honey comes from a soybean diet, an amber tone honey would be a mix between soybean and wildflower diet, and there is a dark honey which is a wildflower based diet,” Crank

“When my grandpa retired he picked up beekeeping and I decided I wanted to do it too.”

-Carter Crank

Sterling High School | April 2019 5

+ 06 Feature

BEE COLONY MEMBERS The queen bee is the mother of all bees in the hive. She produces over 1,500 eggs a day and lives from one to three years.

queen bee The worker bees build and maintain the nest and care for the brood. A colony contains about 80,000 worker bees.

worker bee

drone bee www.sterlingcubreporter.com

The drone bees is a male honey bee whose job is to mate with new queens.

Immediately after mating the drone bee dies.

said.

The busy bees work to produce the honey that Crank eventually harvests. Crank collects and sells his honey locally, one of his top customers being Jayco, a family run business.

“We sell to multiple people for the bear jars of honey, but we sell in bulk to Jayco,” Crank said.

Before trying to raise bees there is a lot that people must be educated on to be successful in their endeavor.

“Make sure to do your research and actually know what you are doing,” Crank said. “ If the hive becomes aggravated you must know how to calm them down to avoid being stung.”

Beekeeping involves a lot of work and is not as easy as it may actually seem to be. Every keeper should know the different types of bees that are in the hives, and be able to see the differences in each bee.

“They all look different, the workers are a lot smaller, the drones are nearly the same length but they are much wider, and the queen is much longer than the rest of the hive,” Crank said.

The bees can easily get aggravated and each beekeeper should be prepared to get stung.

“You need to have all the right equipment and be prepared to get stung,” Crank said. “Be prepared to put in a lot of work because it is not as easy as some might thing it is.”

Crank advises to have and wear the proper equipment necessary to get the job done safely. An example would be the bee suit, which protects beekeepers getting stung while handling the bees.

“What is needed is in the bottom, so it would be beneficial to have a queen excluder,” Crank said. “It is a metal grate that goes over the bottom to keep the queen from going up into the honey.”

That is not all though.

“You also need two supers, which are big boxes where

+ 07 Feature

inside a bee box Outside cover iNNER cOVER hONEY SUPER QUEEN EXCLUDER Honey Frame

bROOD SUPER bottom board Hive stand Sterling High School | April 2019 7

+ 08 Feature

“My favorite part is spending time with my grandpa and eating the honey straight out of the hive. I like knowing that I have a part in helping nature and agriculture.”

-Carter Crank the honey frames are stored,” Crank said. “ You’ll then want a hive tool which is like a mini crow bar, and last a smoker to calm down the aggravated bees.”

Harvesting the honey Cranks bees produce is quite a process.

“First we put on boxes called supers, these are specific for the bees to store honey. The queen excluder is used to keep the queen from laying her eggs in the area where we want the bees to produce honey,” Crank said. “When it is time to harvest we remove the boxes filled with honey in the hive and shake out the bees, usually with a brush. We then uncap with is a special tool used to remove the wax cap from each cell, the frames are then put into an extractor that spins the honey out of the frame.”

Maintaining bees is not always so sweet, there are a lot of challenges and things the beekeeper must keep a close eye on. Often beekeepers have an issue with overpopulation.

“If your workers start to get overpopulated an immediate split would need to be done, otherwise they will begin to swarm,” Crank said. “When swarming happens the swarm can take the queen away and then there is no longer a hive.”

Another issue beekeepers struggle with is maintaining the hive, because they lose so many bees to mites.

“The hives require a lot of maintenance which means treating it for mites,” Crank said. “You must monitor the hive to make sure it has a healthy queen. I usually lose about 15 percent of my hive each year due to mites and poor quality queens.”

Despite the hives being a lot of maintenance, Crank enjoys many aspects of beekeeping.

“My favorite part is spending time with my grandpa and eating the honey straight out of the hive,” Crank said. “I like knowing that I have a part in helping nature and agriculture.” www.sterlingcubreporter.com

+ 09 Sports

Together

Lady Bears battle, place second at state tournament +by lucas Gilmore

T

he Sterling High School girls basketball team placed second at the KSHSAA 2A State Tournament in Hays, Kan. last month. The team was defeated in the championship game by Garden Plain by a score of 40-47. They advanced in the first two rounds with a win against Jackson Heights 66-58 in the quarterfinal and a win against Trego Community, 6749, in the semifinal.

The tournament proved to be a great experience for the girls on the team.

“I enjoyed the atmosphere, our crowd and band are the best,” freshman Kali Briar said. “It’s fun to play big games knowing you have many people there cheering you on.”

The team had many underclassmen, this trip to state could prove valuable later in their basketball careers.

“Getting the feel of state games will help me as an individual and also my team, we know what we have to do to get there again,” Briar said. “It takes a lot of work, but it’s all worth it and now we know what to expect.”

This trip to state was coach Jill Rowland’s 3rd appearance in her 11 years as Sterling’s head coach and her first appearance in three years. This is the best finish at state of her coaching

career.

“I am super proud of the young ladies and their willingness to buyin and play together,” Rowland said.

“This was truly one of the most selfless teams I have ever coached and their willingness to do whatever it takes for the team is so appreciated by myself, as well as coach Lewis and coach Crandall.”

In Jan., the Lady Bears won the Sterling Invitational tournament. That victory seemed to show that the team had what it took to make a postseason

run.

“I definitely think winning the Sterling Invitational gave us more confidence in ourselves, knowing that we could accomplish big goals we had set for ourselves throughout the season,” junior Kinzie Comley said.

Making it all the way to state seems to take a lot of work and effort. The team worked at practice all season to get the opportunity to play at state.

“Basketball practice always brought a new challenge, whether it was going up in down for 20 minutes or playing the hardest defense we possibly could for 30 seconds,” Comley said.

“Preparing for state didn’t just happen in the week before, it started in the beginning of the season when things weren’t going our way and we learned from our losses.”

Though practice was tough, members of the team built bonds with each other through the season. The back of the girls’ shirts read “TOGETHER” to show their focus on being one unit and a family.

“I will miss practicing everyday and making relationships with my team,” senior Debi Schmidt said. “We are a family and I will miss spending that much time with them.”

Sterling High School | April 2019 9

THE SHS

The Cub Reporter strives to cover everything we can, but with so many things going on in fall it can be difficult.

And so: The SHS Extra Inning was born. Here we cover everything we can fit in this space.

Q&A

EXTRA INNING Grace Rowland

Kayla Morris Track Athlete

CUB REPORTER: What are you looking forward to this season?

Kayla: Getting to know the freshmen class and their abilities and what they can contribute to the team.

CR: Is track your favorite sport? Why? K: Yes, I just like how it is a individual sport but also a team sport.

It doesn’t just depend on the team because you have responsibility in every event that you do.

CR: Do you have any goals for this season?

K: I want to beat my personal record in high jump and start three stepping in the 100 hurdles and also make it to state.

CR: What are you not looking forward to about track?

K: I am not looking forward to the mental aspect of different events.

CR: What is your favorite event? Why? K: My favorite event is definitely high jump because I’ve been doing it for a while and it is something I have grown to love.

Seniors vs Faculty

Senior Debi Schmidt dribbles the ball down the court as Nancy Weiner chases after her during the senior vs faculty game. www.sterlingcubreporter.com

(Photo by Riley Richter)

Editor

@grace.rowland54

Who stays ac tive?

+ 10 Sports

The Cub Reporter takes a look at staying active in the spring.

62% 13% 4% 21% Spring sports

Walking/jogging

Riding a bike

Nothing

(Poll taken by 57 students)

Senior McKiah San Miguel

Freshman Wyatt Beltz

Junior Tucker Robson

Sophomore Esmeralda Castillo

Spring into softball

As winter sports come to a close, spring sports start as soon as they end. Different from any other spring sport, softball begins their season as early as Feb. 18.

“We start in February because we have a month before our first game,” senior Isabelle Christensen said. “It’s nice to get practices in so we can get the feel for one another.”

Despite the early start, Christensen is already looking forward

to the season ahead.

“We have a really good group of girls and a lot of talent, I think we can go really far,” Christensen said. “We have already created a great bond and I just can’t wait to get closer as the season goes on.”

The Lady Bears have 19 girls out this season including three seniors Christensen, Sydnee Carder, and McKiah San Miguel.

The team is lead by head coach Dean Mantz and Dan Dowell.

+ 11 Opinions

POINT / COUNTERPOINT

Canine Conundrum Pitbulls make great pets, provide companionship +by Megan Roelfs A common misconception in the dog world is that pitbulls are an angry and vicious dog breed. There have been accounts of these dogs biting and attacking humans, but by nature, they love people quite a lot. A pitbull will do almost anything to please their human, just to hear praise.

Like humans, they crave attention, approval, and are social animals.

Since they want to please people so much, their devotion can be contributed to the bad reputation that they get. According to petfinder. com, the devotion to people has contributed heavily to the bad reputation of pitbulls. A bad person can use a pitbull’s eagerness to please to train the dog for nefarious or criminal purposes.

Once you adopt a pitbull you have a friend for life, as they are super loyal. Pitbulls are often thought of as not good guard dogs since they just love people so much. They might however, intercede if they see one of their owners being attacked. One other plus, is they are great with children of all ages. They are affectionate to both children and adults.

They aren’t a “bad breed” necessarily, they just get a bad rep and suffer the consequences of what their owner does. They make great pets

for homes that are responsible, caring, and have active owners. Although they don’t make great pets for owners that have no prior experience with animals or enough room for them to exercise.

They are just like most other dogs. Most dogs are playful and have some sense of humor and pit bulls are no exception.

Residents living in Sterling aren’t allowed to in anyway possess a pitbull. But why? Pitbulls are like any other dogs.

This breed of dog is wonderful to have if you are willing to put forth the time and effort it requires in order to maintain its health and keep it happy.

Dangerous breeds are not family friendly animals +by Andy Norez Man’s best friend. This phrase is often used to describe man’s close relation with dogs. Dogs have played a key role in the evolution of man in many forms, each breed of dog evolving to better suit the role asked by man.

Then there was blood sports which includes bear-baiting, bull-baiting, and dog fights.

These were illegal sports that pits animals, most often dogs, against other animals in a fight to the death, this is where pitbulls originated. They were bred to be agile enough to avoid being hit but strong enough to inflict serious damage to whatever they were fighting.

Pitbulls were bred to be able to compete in blood sports, they are the offspring of terriers and bulldogs. This is where I have an issue, while not all dogs are the same and upbringing is just as important as genetics, they are not family-friendly dogs. While there are always exceptions they are bred to fight, because they are strong and powerful animals. This means if they are to attack someone they have a higher damage potential compared to another dog.

This translates to pitbulls are able to inflict more damage to a person in a shorter amount of time.

One argument that I often hear from the other side is that it’s how you raise the dog. The stories in which pitbulls attack people are the result of their bad owners. This thinking has true parts and false parts, while it is true that they may have a worse reputation due to some bad owners, not every owner who has had their dog attack someone is a bad person. There are countless stories of people who’ve had a friendly pitbull and never barked at anyone or anything suddenly attacking out of nowhere for no reason. Dogs can’t all be lumped together do to the differences they all have and all species can attack people. Pitbulls are just able to inflict more damage.

Sterling High School | April11 2019

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