Gather `round for some holiday cheer It`s the blood that counts

Vol. 7 No. 5
The
Northside College Preparatory High School
January 2006
HoofBeat
Page 11
News
pages 1-5
• Hillary Clinton kicks off
youth initiative in Chicago
• Johnson presents to
BOMA/Chicago
• Poetry slam at Northside
Editorial
page 6
• Markowski: Off-campus
lunch
Centerfold
pages 8-9
• Alumni Mustangs charge
back
Features
pages 10-11
• Earthquake relief
fundraising
• Test your skills with sudoku
and crossword puzzles
Arts & Entertainment
pages 13-14
• Album review: What the
Game’s Been Missing
Sports
pages 15-16
• Men’s Sophomore
Basketball coverage
• Poms Team shoots for the
stars
Geek Club
Profile
Page 14
Northside’s
Bands
Perform
It’s the blood that counts
Northside’s annual Blood Drive
by Ashraf Abbas
they weren’t solicited, they just said ‘by the way
refreshments station to make sure they were not
As part of Northside’s annual Blood Drive
do you have the red blood cell harvester? Can I
feeling dizzy or at a loss of balance after donatin coalition with LifeSource, at approximately
do that?’”
ing blood.
7:30 am on December 20th, students, parents,
There were a few specifications, however, for
The Blood Drive seemed a complete success
and faculty sat down and donated about 500
cubic centimeters of blood.
Mr. John Belcaster acted as
moderator for this event as part
of his newly appointed duty in
place of Ms. Carolyn Rownd
as Northside Student Council
Supervisor. Every member of the
student council played a vital role
in advertising the Blood Drive,
which made for a better turn-out.
To donate, students had to be
at least seventeen years of age,
weigh at least 110 pounds, and
have valid identification (driver’s
license, state ID, or school ID).
Students that were sixteen years
of age could participate with
parental consent.
LifeSource supervisor Brandy
Weddington came ready for
this year’s blood drive, using
the same set-up that LifeSource
used last year (same chair and
table arrangements). Apparently, it helped the event run very
smoothly.
By far, the most interesting
device at the Blood Drive was a
new centrifuge machine called
“ALYX.”
“Basically it’s a one-needle
procedure,” said Luis Zavala, the Micheal Kharouta, Adv. 605, prepares both his body and mind to give about 500 cubic centimeters of
ALYX technician. “The machine blood.
takes your blood, runs it through Photo by Ashraf Abbas
the centrifuge department that
those who wanted to use ALYX. Males had to be
and everyone left with a smile on their face,
separates the red blood cells and it returns your
at least 5’ 1’’ and 130 lbs. Females have to be at
knowing that they had just done a very good
plasma platelets back to your body.”
least 5’5’’ and weigh 150 lbs. Both genders had
thing. As for the future, Northside plans to have
The procedure takes a total of thirty minto have a hemoglobin level of 13.5. Those that fit
another blood drive sometime during second
utes, twice the time it takes to donate blood the
the requirements seemed to enjoy the experience.
semester, and the hope is that everyone will show
“normal” way. Of the five donors who tried
“When they reinserted the blood into my
up again to give blood, considering how one only
the machine, four were adults. The general
arm,” said Andrew Mayer, one of Northside’s
needs to wait forty-five days between blood donaconsensus was that ALYX was an interesting
security guards, “it was a real cold sensation and
tions. But considering how much of a success
experience, in fact, many people actually asked
it hurt a lot…I mean it hurt a little.”
this Blood Drive was, their next one is sure to
for the machine right out.
As part of the procedure, students were asked
build on this one’s success.
“From what I saw,” said Mr. Belcaster, “the
to stay for a total of at least fifteen minutes at the
adults that used the machine knew about it, so
Gather ‘round for some holiday cheer
NHS sponsors “Winter Wonderland”
by Kana Yoo
not occupied by “The Pig in the
Leadership Team. “It kind of fuses
After visiting all the club stations
The second floor atrium bustled
Sidewalk Café.” In the center of the
everyone into one spot.”
and getting their tickets signed,
with activity on Wednesday, Deatrium, NHS set up a main booth
Clubs set up their booths in
students were able to enter a raffle
cember 14, during National Honor
where students picked up tickets.
the half of the second floor atrium
with three possible prizes. The first
Society’s (NHS) Winter Wonderplace prize was a $25 gift
land.
certificate to The CheeseStarting immediately after colcake Factory and the second
loquium, the club fair continued for
place prizes were two $10
about an hour. During this time, an
gift certificates to Borders.
assortment of Northside’s many
The fair provided an
different clubs set up booths to
opportunity for clubs to
promote themselves or, in the case
publicize and recruit new
of ethnic clubs, to share informamembers. Some, however,
tion about their culture. Almost all
felt that the timing could
the clubs offered food ranging from
have been better.
barbecue chicken wings to tradi“I think Winter Wontional Polish desserts.
derland did a great job,” said
“I wanted to let people know
Mike Kharouta, Adv. 605,
that Polish Club started this year,”
who represented C.A.S.E.
said Piotr Maniak, Adv. 701, foundClub. “But, for the sake of
er and president of Northside’s new
better promotion of school
Polish Club. “I wanted to share the
clubs, it should probably
diverse culture of Poles.”
occur earlier in the year.
The idea for the club fair
Having the event so late
originated two years ago with the
might make some freshman
first Winter Wonderland, when the
and sophomores feel like it’s
Class of 2004 led NHS. Current
too late to join up. Since this
NHS members tried to retain some
is the key demographic for
of the tradition of years past by dumost clubs, it would be more
plicating the snowman decoration
beneficial to have an event
lining the library’s glass wall. Other
like this earlier.”
decorations that provided adverOthers felt that Winter
tising and spirit were a variety of
Wonderland was not sucsnowflakes and large blue banners
cessful in its objective.
reading “Winter Wonderland.”
“It just wasn’t impressive
“We think that it gives the
in any way,” said Caitlin
student body more of a chance to
Cronin, Adv. 709, an atinteract with each other instead
of being around their usual group Szymon Sambor, Adv. 602, and William T. Hagen, Adv. 604, encourage others tendee.
“It’s a high school club
of friends,” said Nancy Cheng,
to join C.A.S.E.’s efforts at Winter Wonderland.
Continued on Page 5
Adv. 601, an officer of the NHS
Photo by Kana Yoo
Page 2
News
The Hoof Beat
Antuan Johnson presents to
BOMA/Chicago
by Natalia Emanuel
On Thursday, November
17th, Antuan Johnson, Adv.
710, presented at BOMA/
Chicago on behalf of After
School Matters (ASM).
BOMA, the Building Owners
and Managers Association, is
an international association
that provides information
about building development, leasing, operating
costs, energy consumption,
building codes, pertinent
legislation, etc. At the
BOMA/Chicago Annual
Meeting, the keynote speaker
was Peter C. Lemon. Lemon
was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor,
the United State’s highest
military award. He received
this honor for helping to
save the lives of his team
while serving in Vietnam.
Subsequently, Lemon wrote
a book about his experience
entitled, Beyond the Medal,
A Journey from their Hearts to
Yours. He decided to donate
the revenue from the sale
of 50 signed copies of his
book to ASM. In addition,
BOMA, through its Office
Building of the Year Awards
Evening Gala, an event that
is intended to celebrate the
highest standards of commercial real estate management,
raised $10,000 to contribute
to ASM as well.
“[BOMA/Chicago]
wanted to partner up with
community based programs
and not-for-profits that are
helping children or teenagers
hone their gifts and use their
creative skills,” said Johnson. “They wanted to fund
that. [So BOMA/Chicago
gave] $10,000 to form a great
partnership with After School
Matters.”
ASM is a not-for-profit
organization that facilitates
teen job training. It allows
Chicago teenagers to become
paid apprentices thereby
becoming more skilled in
the arts, sports, technology,
and/or communication.
of two summers, Johnson
participated in making
mosaics. Johnson, along with
other Chicago teens, worked
on “Change Makers” and
“Canvas and Corn.” Despite
this visual art, Johnson
usually considers himself a
literary person.
“I never really liked art or
Antuan Johnson presented to BOMA/Chicago on behalf
of After School Matters.
Photo by Natalia Emanuel
ASM partners with the
City of Chicago, Chicago
Public Schools, Chicago
Park District, Chicago Public
Libraries, Chicago Department of Children and Youth
Services, as well as community organizations in attempts
to facilitate out of school
opportunities for Chicago’s
youth.
Antuan Johnson, who
presented at BOMA/
Chicago’s two events, represented ASM. Johnson had
worked two summers with
After School Matters. In each
anything like that,” he said,
“but when I did the mosaics
I found it helped me appreciate art. And it actually
helped me with my writing.
They help me because when
I see art around anywhere I
appreciate it and that it has
a story behind it and I can
write a story about it. Even
though the artist portrayed
it with paints and markers,
I can portray it with my
words.”
When Johnson spoke to
BOMA/Chicago on behalf
of ASM, he mentioned this,
and continued on to speak
about how the programs had
facilitated his learning to appreciate visual art. Johnson
concluded by saying how
much BOMA/Chicago’s
donation meant.
“By giving to ASM, you
are not just giving money for
the sake of giving money,”
Johnson told them. “You
are giving young adults my
age the chance to enhance
their creativity, to have fun
working with great people,
but most of all, to learn
from these amazing programs. By doing this, more
people who have imaginative minds see potential in
something they love, and
that it can send them off not
only to a higher education,
but also allows them to have
something very meaningful
in their lives.”
“He is very poised,
articulate, polite and
respectful. His speech was
an impassioned one. He
articulated how important After School Matters
was to him and what he
had planned for his future.
Antoine received a wonderful
ovation from the audience,”
said Lawrence Cohn, Vice
President of Lurie Management and BOMA’s liaison
with Chicago’s non profit
sector. Cohn escorted Johnson to BOMA/Chicago’s
Annual Luncheon. He wrote
to Northside complimenting
Johnson, even referring to
him as an “honest communicator.” Cohn closed his letter
saying “I am glad to have
met Antuan and am proud of
his accomplishments.”
Masterclasses greeted with mixed
emotions
Prominent local musicians assist students
by Max Brown
During the month of December, Northside was presented with two “masterclasses”
by the classical music community. Terree
Shofner-Emrich on the piano and Paul Zafer
on the violin, gave a class to all Northside
students interested. They are both highly
qualified individuals: Shofner-Emrich has
been the Director of the School of Music at
North Park University since 1999, with degrees in Piano from Louisiana State and the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. Zafer has
a Master of Music from Northern Illinois and
has performed with the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra,
Terree Shofner-Emrich teaches a masterclass to Northside students.
Photo by Shoaib Ali
Northside College
Prep High School
5501 N. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60625
Tel: (773) 534-3954
Fax: (773) 534-3964
Principal: Dr. James Lalley
Assistant Principal: Ms. Lisa Moreno
Advisor: Mr. Chester Tylinski
Editors-In-Chief: Ilya Chalik, Anisa Isap,
Asrar Khan, Monica Wojcik
Copy Editors: Maxwell Brown, Natalia
Emanuel
Managing Editors: Priyanka Bhagat, Ajla
Sunje, Kana Yoo
News Editors: Ashraf Abbas, Natalia
Emanuel, Rachel Ramir
Features Editors: Zainab Sozzer, Aisha
Wahid, Kana Yoo
Centerfold Editors: Sanja Bajgoric, Muamera Hadzic, Anthe Mitrakos
Editorial Editor: Aliy Markowski
Polls: Syyeda Ali
Arts and Entertainment Editors: Damon
Beres, Micah Tepora
Sports Editors: Geethi Abraham, Idrees
Mohiuddin
Image Editors: Neha Alam, Zenobia Gonsalves, Shoaib Khan
Business Manager: Syyeda Ali
Satire: Ashraf Abbas, Damon Beres
Art Editor: Anthe Mitrakos
Junior Art Editor: Vasiliki Mitrakos
Reporters: Shoaib Ali, Zainab Bilfaqi, Sejla
Dizdarevic, Rachel Hautzinger, Elizabeth
Jose, Mohammad Khaleelulah, Salim Patel,
Amanda Perez, Nadir Rashid, Elizabeth Sobenes, Abir Usman, Michelle Zacarias.
Junior Reporters: Zlatana Alibegovic, Tyler
Andre Segovia Chamber Orchestra, Sante Fe Opera, and the Johnson, Rhiannon Koehle, Andrea Ljevar,
National Ballet of Canada. The Karolina Maslanka, Martyna Michalak, Moevents were organized mainly
hammad Rahman
by Mr. Leo Park, Northside’s
Orchestra teacher.
The Hoof Beat is a monthly publication pro“Those who are very serious
duced
by the Northside Prep Journalism Class. As
about playing may have
walked away with some
a student-run newspaper, your opinions are imporvaluable insight,” said
tant to us. If you have any comments, corrections,
Park.
critiques, or questions, please e-mail Mr. Chester
Any student who
played the instruments of- Tylinski at [email protected].
fered was invited to attend,
more or less regardless of
skill level.
audience.”
“These classes are much more about
The music department is looking to get
progression than ability. The objective is
more of the student body interested in the
to impart knowledge upon the student,”
programs; the auditorium was not quite as
said Park.
populated as it could have been for the two
The music department hopes to
classes.
continue to have the classes in the
“The event should have been publicized
future as long as they can find similar
more vigorously, as larger audiences are
persons to teach them.
always appreciated, both by performers and
Students had mixed emotions about
our visitors,” said Nagatani. “Non-performthe class as well.
ing piano students in the audience could have
“I think we need more exposure
drawn from the potentially valuable tips given
to the masterclass format of learnto performing students.”
ing,” said Jonathon Nagatani, Adv.
Northside students are reminded that
605. “The small turnout, especially in
there are many nearby opportunities for them
regards to the dismal amount of audiand the school in the field of music.
ence members, may have been due to
“We have two universities within a halfan apprehensiveness concerning what
mile radius with solid music programs,” said
really happens in a masterclass,” added
Park. “The more we collaborate and network,
Nagatani.
the more our programs will mature.”
“Masterclasses, in my opinion, can
The department is looking to make a congo very well or not so well,” added Mr.
sistent effort to branch out in the near future.
Park. “All of this is contingent upon
“There is already talk of a side-by-side
who is leading the class and how he or
performance with the North Park University
she engages the audience. It is one thing
Symphony Orchestra next year,” said Mr.
to be imparting knowledge upon the
Park. “With such resources, there is no doubt
on-stage performer but another to deliver
Northside’s music program will continue to
it in a manner that is also useful for the
grow and flourish.”
January 2006
News
Page 3
Hillary Clinton kicks off youth initiative in Chicago
The American Democracy Institute’s Midwest Regional Summit
by Aliy Markowski
On Saturday, December 3rd, over four thousand students from across the Midwest filled
Roosevelt University’s Auditorium Theatre for
the American Democracy Institute’s (ADI) 2005
Midwest Regional Summit. The summit kicked
off ADI’s tour of regional summits across the
nation, with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
serving as the Honorary Chair of the National
Youth Initiative.
“We want to understand what is important
to you and what fuels the dreams you have for
you and our country,” said John Hart, President
and CEO of ADI, during his welcoming address.
“America’s youth should be able to learn about
today’s issues, offer opinions, ask questions, and
get involved.”
The ADI is a nonpartisan organization working to improve American democracy through
increased participation, understanding, civility,
and discourse. Students from all over the Midwest were invited to attend the Midwest Summit
free of charge as a part of the ADI’s National
Youth Initiative. The Initiative includes regional
summits across the nation encouraging America’s
youth to become politically active.
Seven political and corporate leaders addressed the audience, including New York
Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton, Governor Rod
Blagojevich, and William McNary, President of
USAction and Co-Executive Director of Citizen
Action/Illinois.
Soon after the crowd rose to welcome Clinton Hilary Clinton expalins her plans for the Strategic Energy Fund to an excited audience.
to deliver the Keynote Address, a group of anti- Photo by Zainab Bilfaqi
war protestors began jeering from the balcony.
Condemning Clinton’s approval of the 2002 Iraq
alternative forms of energy in America and eliminating the
“When young people get involved in the political process,
invasion, the protestors opened umbrellas that read “Out of
nation’s foreign oil dependency, which has created severe
they make real, tangible, substantial change,” said Blagojevich
Iraq” while others began waiving signs chanting “troops out
tension with the Middle East. Her plans involve profitable oil
delivering the opening remarks. “Your generation will make
now” and throwing leaflets throughout the theater.
companies financially contributing to the Strategic Energy
the world a better place.”
“Let’s make sure people have a chance to hold an open
Fund.
Featured Speaker William McNary raised the energy level
dialogue,” said Senator Clinton addressing the protestors.
“Oil companies have made more profit in the last six
up a notch.
“And I believe they do not want to hear from you at this
months than any company in the history of the world,” said
“If you don’t do politics, politics will do you,” said Mcmoment.”
Clinton. “While gas prices for the average American have
Nary, slamming the podium before a cheering crowd. “We
Although the first protestors were physically removed
dramatically increased.”
need to level the playing field so your viability for winning
from the auditorium, minutes later a smaller group of antiSenator Clinton emphasized the importance of youth in
public office is based on your ideals and what you represent.”
war students began chanting the same condemnations before
democracy.
McNary’s energetic demands for equality and youth inbeing escorted out by security.
“We need a new generation of activists who will both lead
volvement received a standing ovation from the audience.
Following the interruptions, Clinton addressed her
and listen as we try to chart a new progressive course,” said
“I’m sick of progressives who don’t care if they win or
position on the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq,
Clinton. “Young people are the ones who are really going
lose as long as they fight the good and noble fight,” said Mcexplaining that America can neither pull out right away nor
to have to live with the decisions made. Be a part of making
Nary. “We’re in it to win it.”
stay without end.
absolutely sure that America is what you want it to be.”
The ADI will host regional summits across the nation
“It would be wonderful if we could turn the clock
Clinton discussed unprecedented political activism that is
throughout the winter and early spring. ADI will return to
back, but we cannot,” said Clinton. “We are in a long term
already apparent in America’s youth.
Chicago in February.
struggle against nihilists. We can win this struggle by stand“This generation is the greatest volunteering generation
“We want you to have resources and tools to put your
ing up for our best values and representing the America we
ever,” said Clinton. “Even on MTV, no one can turn away
ideas and ideals into action,” said Hart. “We’ll be back in the
know and love.”
from the issues. MTV News coverage of the genocide in Suspring to see how you are doing in taking an active role in
The Senator also discussed energy policy and youth
dan has put the major news networks to shame.”
your communities.”
involvement in policy making. Clinton focused on finding
Governor Rod Blagojevich also spoke at the conference.
Have a ball!
Asian Club sponsors the winter formal dance
by Kana Yoo
Northside students and guests dressed up
in either black or white for Asian Club’s Winter Snowball on Saturday, December 17.
After paying an entrance fee of ten dollars per couple, or seven dollars per person,
students climbed up Northside’s main
stairway in heels or dress shoes to the third
floor. Streamers hanging from the dance’s
entranceway divided the completely different
atmospheres of the bright and banal stairwell,
and the dark and decorated atrium. Within
the atrium, black or white columns of bal-
Northsiders dance the night away under a large arch of black and white balloons.
Photo by Kana Yoo
loons complimented a large arch of balloons
towering over the dance floor.
“I really liked the black and white theme,”
said Malikat Rufai, Adv. 705. “I think it’s
classy, and I really loved picking out a dress.
And, the decorations were awesome.”
Members of Asian Club helped enhance
the dance’s coinciding winter theme by selling
hot chocolate at a concession stand on the
second floor atrium. The unique “Hot Chocolate Bar” was decorated with bright Christmas
lights, cotton fluff, and sparkly, silver-coated
flowers.
“I thought it was a good idea,” said Tess
Banaszkiewicz, Adv. 700, “especially since
it went with the whole theme. It was a really
cute idea—a nice way to warm up.”
Towards the later part of the evening,
Poms treated dancers to a special performance that combined new choreography with
an older routine.
“It was nice having a guest performance,”
said Lizelle Marcial, Adv. 807. “The dance
got more exciting; everyone wanted to see
them perform.”
To top off the evening, a dance competition was held to crown Winter Snowball’s
King and Queen. Nominees showed their
moves in a dance off, and the volume of the
screams determined the winner.
After several rounds, Jordan Stacey, Adv.
600, and Chelsea Ringquist, Adv. 904, came
out on top as the victorious King and Queen
of the formal.
Other highlights of the evening included
the DJ playing songs such as “Laffy Taffy”
and the chaperones hitting the dance floor.
“I got to dance with Ms. Park!” exclaimed
Jordan Stacey, after the event.
“As snowball chaperon, I think it was
good time for the many students who participated,” said Ms. Jeung-Hee Park of the
World Language Department. “I was asked
by students to supervise the event, but while
I was there, I wanted students to enjoy the
dance and to expand their social horizons
within school boundaries.”
Page 4
News
The Hoof Beat
Aid for the unpaid
Northside hosts financial aids night
by Zlatana Alibegovic
On December 6, Northside hosted its annual Financial Aids Night with Eric Weems,
the Financial Aid Director at Loyola University. He stopped by to share some information with juniors and seemingly eager seniors
ready to apply for federal aid. The auditorium was quickly filled with students, parents,
and their questions.
Financial Aid Night was put together to
give juniors and seniors a basic understanding of what was expected of their Financial
Aids application process, a process that Ms.
Marina Medina, head of the Counseling Department, believes will be important to a vast
majority of Northside’s student population.
Mr. Weems went over the application process
bit by bit and brought up some general rules
for the procedure.
Men applying for federal aid must first be
registered with the Selective Service System
to be eligible. This can be done with a simple
checking of a box on the application.
Applying online with FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the first
step, available after January 1, 2006. This is
a program used for federal financial aid. In
addition, most states and individual schools
acquire information through this form for
non-federal aid. However, be aware that some
states and schools may not use this procedure;
they may require additional applications, with
separate deadline dates, and some may come
attached with their own charges.
When applying online, it is recommended
to apply for a U.S. Department of Education
PIN number, which serves as your electronic
signature and provides access to personal
records.
Eric Weems, Financial Aids Director at Loyola University, answers student’s questions after his explanation of the Financial Aids
The Parent Information section asks for
process.
information about both the mother and the fa- Photo by Shoaib Khan
ther. If the student’s parents are divorced, they
are filling out information about the parent that
Social Security Administration checks all of the submitted
“If you don’t know what it means, it probably doesn’t
they reside with for the majority of the year. If
information.
apply to you,” said Eric Weems about FAFSA’s worksheets on
that parent is remarried, then information about the parents
“When you finally get to college, it still won’t be over,”
annual earnings and losses.
spouse goes on the application.
said Mr. Weems.
“Tonight raised my awareness,” said Johanna Flores, Adv.
Tax information occupies a majority of one’s application,
Weems stressed the need for students to understand what
604.
but what happens if parents will not file in the 2005 year or
She was one of many students and parents who walked
don’t receive an exemption by the application due date? If put is involved with the aid they receive. It may be a one-year
grant, and students may need to find different grants for the
out looking enlightened. She, and most students and parents,
in that situation, the best move is to apply with the previous
following year. Students need to understand what applies to
found the night very succesful.
year’s tax return, or estimate as close as possible. If they are
them and what doesn’t, and the exceptions on their applicaApplications and more information can be found at
planning on filing, then don’t miss the deadline date!
tion.
www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Submitted information needs to be truthful, because the
Giving to the needy
Northside’s canned food drive for Thanksgiving 2005
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
Every year, many food donations are
made by the school to local charities to help
those in need. Students were encouraged to
donate imperishable foods, preferably canned,
to be given to the needy during the Thanksgiving season.
This year, in an attempt to persuade more
students to donate, National Honor Society
hosted the Battle of the Advisories, in which
students competed by donating cans to see
which advisory could collect the most canned
foods. Large brown paper bags were placed in
each advisory, where students could donate.
didn’t win the contest, some students were
The contest was held for three days.
glad to have donated to those in need.
The canned food drive was sponsored
"We didn’t really care about winning, it
by Ms. Anna Searcy and was carried out by
was just to help out," said Christine Rus, Adv.
NHS along with the Student Council. The
902.
canned food was donated to the Greater
Even with catchy phrases like "feed to get
Chicago Food Deposifed" on the brown bags for collection, some
tory. Together, both
students unintentionally forgot to bring food
fundraisers collected
to donate.
over 1,200
cans.
Ms.
Tamara
"We didn’t really care about winDriver’s
ning, it was just to help out," said
advisory,
Advisory
Christine Rus, Adv. 902.
708, won
first place
in the
Battle
"I would have liked to donate, but it
of the Advisories,
completely slipped my mind," said Madi Holcollecting 166 cans
land, Adv. 908. "I never really thought about
total. The students in
writing it down to remember."
Advisory 708 enjoyed a
Student Council also put together another
breakfast from Panera
creative fundraiser to collect more canned
Bread during extended
foods. They decided to host a Turkey Bowl
advisory as their prize
after colloquium that Wednesday to support
for donating the most
the cause.
cans. Admirable menStudents had to donate three cans as
tions include Ms. Lisa
admission to take part in the games, which
Price's advisory, Adv.
included football, three legged races, and pie
902, for collecting 133
contests. Students also enjoyed the fact that
cans, and Mr. John
they were helping out as well as having a
Belcaster's advisory,
good time with their friends.
Adv. 908, for collecting
"It was fun while helping out the needy,
95 cans.
so it was beneficial and successful," said Karla
"As freshmen they
Ortez, Adv. 902.
came up with a plan
Others suggested that having a Turkey
and were dedicated to
Bowl was a great idea and it should be done
following through. As
more often.
a group they decided to
"The Turkey Bowl was awesome, and
each bring five cans,"
there was a lot of school spirit. We should do
said Ms. Lisa Price.
stuff like this more often," said Ben Garcia,
Even though they
Adv. 909.
January 2006
News
Page 5
Poetry that’s sure to slam
Northside’s Poetry slam a success
by Rachel Hautzinger
Poetry cracked and sizzled in Mr. Barry
McRaith’s room on December 13, 2005, as
try-outs were held for Northside’s slam poetry
team. The panel of judges, consisting of
both students and teachers, decided the final
members of the team to be Natalia Emanuel,
Adv. 808, Adam Gottlieb, Adv. 807, Annie
Lesser, Adv. 709, and Alexia Willis, Adv. 606,
with Jesse Welch, Adv. 810, and Minhal Baig,
Adv. 807, as the team’s alternates. The team
is preparing for their first climactic event,
Louder Than a Bomb, which takes place from
March 3 to March 6, 2006.
“The fundamentals of slam poetry
are language and performance,” said Mr.
McRaith. “I looked for two things in the
applicants: a respect for words and fire in the
belly.”
Slam poetry was originally a Chicago
based Olympic-style poetry contest predating
to 1985, but is now an international sensation.
In an actual competition, each team has up to
six members and four of these members compete individually in two preliminary rounds.
The top four ranking teams will compete
in finals, and the top six ranking poets will
compete in a different final. Each team
must have at least two poems for
each person. In addition, each team
prepares a group poem in which four
members participate. The teams’ poems, both
individual and team performed, are judged
by a
group of
mixed judges
who give out
scores on a
0 to 10 point
scale.
“What’s really exciting
about
slam to
me is
not the
genre, it’s the
event,” said
Mr. McRaith.
“You will see hundreds and
hundreds of young people coming together for words and performance.”
A slam poem is quite difficult to
describe; upon watching it performed, one
could call it a way of expressing their feelings through actions and poetry.
“When people hear the words ‘poetry’
they think of authors such as Edgar Allen
Poe and the likes,” said Emanuel.
“What they miss by thinking of
such authors is the word ‘performance.’ There is a massive difference between
a written poem and a performance poem. A
performance poem goes straight to their heart,
only briefly stopping at the brain, whereas a
written poem goes go the brain stopping on
the way at the heart.”
For the try-outs the 18 contestants had
to write a poem and express the emotions
through actions and expressions in front of
the judges.
“I was a little nervous about the try-outs,”
said Harold Jaffe, Adv. 802, a contestant.
“But everyone was really encouraging. It’s
such a great feeling to be up there performing
a poem.”
Only four to five, possibly even six, spots
were available on the team. After the 17
poems were performed, the judges spent time
to collaboratively decide who was to receive
those spots based on the comments and opinions they had written about each. The names
of the team members and alternates were
posted the next day, Wednesday the 14th.
“Everyone did a great job, it made the decision difficult for the judges,” said Ms. Lisa
Price, who judged the audition and will be
helping Mr. McRaith set up a piece. “There
was a definite deliberating process.”
“I was worried at first that there wouldn’t
be quality judging because it was such a
mixed group of students and teachers,” said
Gottlieb. “But it wasn’t a tense competition; it
was straight-forward and really turned out to
be a good method of judging.”
The poets chosen for the team performed
a wide range of poetry— Emanuel’s about
bigotry, Gottlieb’s about children and love,
Willis’s of modern culture and sexuality,
and Lesser’s poem about the joy of popping
pimples.
“The selected team is a good group of
poets who are willing to work together,” said
Gottlieb. “I hope for the best.”
“I don’t have any expectations,” said Mr.
McRaith. “Which is not to say I don’t expect
anything from them. I just hope we have fun.”
Beyond test scores- Northside is still number one
by Aliy Markowski
As of December 2nd, the Chicago Public Schools method
of evaluating schools has been revamped and Northside is
still at the top. New “scorecards” measure schools beyond the
number of students meeting the Prairie State Achievement
Exam (PSAE) standard. These new evaluations assess schools
based on nineteen criteria in four categories: Student Outcomes, Academic Progress, Student Connection, and School
Characteristics. CPS’ seven Selective Enrollment High Schools
are grouped and ranked in a separate category; in seven of the
ten metrics ranked this year, Northside comes in first: average
ACT score, percentage of students enrolled in AP classes,
meeting the PSAE standard, making expected gains, freshmen
on track to graduate, graduates enrolled in college or post-secondary education, and average days absent per student.
“It’s a move in the right direction beyond just the PSAE,”
said Tim Devine, Head of Northside’s Social Science Department. “There is a lot more to any school than just test scores.”
The new scorecards are the first step in CPS’ High School
Transformation Project, an extensive effort to reform Chicago high schools. CPS decided to re-evaluate its method of
measuring schools in an effort to provide greater transparency
for prospective students and parents. When considering a CPS
high school, eighth graders now have access to a better window into the school’s students, teachers, and programs.
“The scorecard includes some interesting categories
beyond just academics,” said Tim Putten, CPS Department of
Communications. “The Student Connection and the School
Characteristics areas provide a sense of the school’s atmosphere.”
The Student Connection and School Characteristics
categories include metrics such as student participation in
extracurricular activities, school climate, high expectations
and support, highly qualified teachers, and student and
teacher absences. However, out of seven measures under these
two categories, the only metrics scored this year were average
student absences and highly qualified teachers. CPS says the
other measures should be available by the start of next school
year, but the subjective nature of these metrics is under debate.
“How do you measure some of these categories like high
expectations and support or school climate?” said Devine.
“We’re getting there but there are still flaws and a great deal of
room for improvement with these scorecards.”
Northside landed first in many of the scorecard categories,
but the measurement of some metrics inaccurately assessed
the school’s condition, hurting Northside’s numbers.
Northside has recently greatly increased the number of
students in the profoundly disabled special education program
led by Chris Pellikan. Rather than graduating, these students
age out of the school at twenty years. Profoundly disabled students were inappropriately included in the metrics of freshmen
graduating in five years and graduates enrolled in post-secondary education, significantly lowering the school’s statistics.
“The profoundly disabled program is a great program that
we’re all happy to have here,” said Devine. “But to include
the program in Northside’s graduation and college statistics is
not a good indication for prospective students and parents of
where we actually stand in those respects.”
Another concern this year was the numerous empty
categories, including most of the categories beyond test scores
developed to provide a complete look at each school.
“We’ve heard complaints that several of the categories
are empty or not applicable,” said Putten. “Some people have
said we need to fill those out, and we will. We figured let’s just
move ahead and get started with this.”
By fall this year, CPS expects all nineteen scorecard categories will be available to the public.
Northside Scorecard courtesy of CPS:
http://www.cps.k12.il.us/Schools/scorecard/SchoolScorecard_PDF/SchoolScorecard1740.pdf
Page 6 Editorials
Mark My Words
Colloquium: Northside’s
Saving Grace
by Aliy Markowski
Standardized test scores raise
Northside to the top of the charts, but
what makes our school unique goes far
beyond how well students do on the
PSAE. Not only do students meet and
exceed test standards, but most Northsiders also take Advanced Placement
classes in their junior and senior years.
These courses are supposed to be at a
college-level, requiring students
to devote a large number
of time and energy
to prepare for
each class
period,
meaning
lots of
homework.
So how, then,
are Northsiders,
on top of so much
school work, able to be
well-rounded individuals, participating
in clubs, sports, and other activities
after school? The answer is the block
schedule with colloquium, Northside’s
saving grace.
The school’s schedule is set up so
that each class meets twice a week,
for one hundred minutes every time,
with the exception of one half-block
of fifty minutes four days a week.
Colloquium comes every Wednesday,
unless it is a four day week when the
day is eliminated to compensate for the
day off. Every colloquium day students
come to school to spend two and a half
hours learning about a unique topic
of their choice- classes that would not
be included in the core curriculum of
any high school. From the mechanics of motorcycles to gardening to
film to food, there is a vast array of
interesting choices for colloquium.
At 11:10 on colloquium days, we are
dismissed from school. This half day
in the middle of the week, without the
stress of normal classes, allows us to
recuperate. Whether students catch
up on homework or sleep, go out with
friends, or participate in some activity
in or outside of school, colloquium
within the block schedule allows
students to take time for themselves
every Wednesday. This recuperation
in the middle of the week is crucial for
students who manage the demanding
responsibilities of difficult courses.
We come back to regular classes on
Thursday, rejuvenated from the change
of pace of colloquium the day before.
Not only does colloquium allow
us to restore our energy levels to finish
the week strongly, but it also fits into
the block schedule to give students
three nights between each class session. Having three nights to complete
assignments is extremely helpful for
students in Northside’s toughest
classes. While we still receive
a large amount of homework, the schedule
allows us to discipline
ourselves to handle assignments over the three-day
span. This, in and of itself, requires
Northsiders to be mature in handling
the responsibility of having a longer
period of time to complete coursework. Learning to manage this responsibility is critical at a college prep
school. The block schedule is much
more similar to a college class schedule
than the high school standard of eight
daily classes. Northsiders build longer
attention spans, attending classes that
are twice as long, and also become
skilled in time management, teaching
themselves to get work done even if the
class is not meeting every day.
The block schedule and colloquium are essential components of
Northside. Without classes meeting
only twice a week and the break of
colloquium every Wednesday, it is
unlikely students would be able to take
as many demanding classes without
becoming overly stressed by the rigors
of school work. Furthermore, we
would miss out on the opportunity to
study an offbeat yet appealing topic
in colloquium. Across the city, state,
and country, Northside is viewed as an
exemplary school, with intelligent yet
well-rounded students. High schools
nationwide should begin looking beyond the academic rigors of Northside
to what really makes Northside unique,
the block schedule with colloquium.
By following our example, schools
elsewhere could reap the same benefits
and enhance student academic performance by creating their very own block
schedule with colloquium.
Be a man: carry your
pack
by Damon Beris
Backpacks with wheels (sometimes
referred to as “wheelie backpacks” or “rollie
bopkins”) are without question the bane of
our collective existence. Students deal with
their treachery on a daily basis as the rollie
bopkin overlords traipse throughout the halls
with reckless abandon. Toes are severed with
startling frequency by their demon wheels of
fury. We cannot allow their evil to proliferate.
It all seems so innocent at first. Our
textbooks are heavy and have a tendency to
cause spinal damage. Naturally, the obvious
solution is to cease carrying them on our
backs and instead cast them to the ground
where we can pull them. And yet, the obvious question must be asked: are we willing
to sacrifice certain amounts of safety so that
certain members of our society can benefit
from the stilted convenience of a rollie bopkin? No, my friends. The answer is no.
Yes, these backpacks on wheels do present real safety issues, however acute they
may be. First of all, they clearly take up
more room than the average backpack. My
scientific measurements have concluded that
each wheel fills up roughly the same amount
of space as a medium slab of ham, and when
you multiply that number by two, we’re
talking space of prime rib proportions. Not
to mention the extendable handle that one
uses to pull the bag: those are easily as large
as a decent sized menorah. In other words,
each wheelie backpack is easily the size of a
small moon, and in the event of emergency,
their sheer size would undoubtedly clog the
hallways and cause the intense crisping of
countless Northside students.
Beyond the undisputable size issues,
The Hoof Beat
The Hoof Beat
Student Newspaper
Let us eat out
Years ago, as the groundwork
for the new school was laid,
Northside made a promise to the
surrounding community that the
school would not allow students
to venture off-campus for lunch.
At that time the neighborhood
was worried that a new Chicago
Public High School would bring
unruly teenagers to the area. This
concern was not unwarranted;
many CPS High Schools do deal
with serious disciplinary issues,
and the misbehavior is likely
to continue off-campus when
students are given free roam during lunch. However, seven years
after its conception, it is evident
that Northside is not your average
CPS school.
Northside, arguably
the top CPS high school,
shines as a gem in the
community. Northside
stands alone not only in
high academic performance, but is also set
apart by the unique environment of the school’s
community defined by
the students. An undeniable characteristic of this
environment is the good
behavior of students and
the lack of disciplinary
issues. At Northside
we simply do not face
the kind of discipline
problems that many other
CPS schools encounter.
There are no fights in the
halls, and Northside’s attendance
record is better than all of the
other selective enrollment schools.
Clearly, Northside students are
not the kind of trouble-causing
adolescents the community was
worried about when the no-offcampus-lunch-promise was made.
In fact, an off-campus lunch
policy would support the community by patronizing local restaurants that keep the neighborhood
businesses alive.
So if Northsiders eating
in nearby restaurants poses no
potential threat to the community,
why then are we forced to eat
lunch on campus choosing from
the barely edible and extremely
unhealthy offerings of the CPS
lunch program? Perhaps the
school is worried that Northside
may begin to face attendance
problems if we are allowed to
go off-campus. The possibility
of students returning late or not
returning to classes at all would
be a serious consideration at any
school. However, in the past seven
years Northsiders have demonstrated a sense of responsibility
that is evident from the freedomfilled, unproblematic atmosphere
that defines the school. Students
have yet to disappoint in disciplinary matters. Therefore, it is unfair
to restrict us from venturing off-
campus for lunch based solely on
the potential for a problem, when
time and time again Northsiders
have proven to handle freedom
and responsibility. We should be
given the chance to demonstrate
that we are capable of responsibly
managing our freedom, rather
than being restricted without
reasonable cause.
Not only would an off-campus lunch policy please Northside
students, since we would eagerly
accept a change of scenery in the
otherwise monotonous school
day, but it would also serve the
practical purpose of improving
Northside’s lunch schedule. Because Northside has a very small
cafeteria, the school is forced to
have four lunch periods to accommodate students, the earliest
beginning at 9:50 a.m. Students
appropriately refer to the 2A
lunch block as “breakfast.” Eating
lunch before 10:00 in the morning
is simply ridiculous. Most students eat breakfast only a couple
of hours earlier and are not hungry for lunch before 10 a.m. But
if they choose not to eat, students
are forced to struggle through at
least five more hours until they
have another opportunity to eat
a meal. A quarter of Northsiders
are stuck with such an early lunch
block, and the next one beginning
at 10:40 is hardly
any better. An
off-campus
lunch policy
could eliminate
the need for
all four lunch
periods. Instead,
the school could
potentially manage with only
the later two
lunch periods,
scheduled at appropriate lunch
hours between
11:40 and 1:25,
because a large
number of students would eat
off-campus.
As Northside students, we
deserve the opportunity to be able
to eat lunch off-campus. Nearby
schools including Lane, Mather,
and Von Steuben all have offcampus lunch policies, and there
is little reason to believe Northside should be the exception.
Northsiders have demonstrated
responsibility over the years that
have earned us the trust of teachers, administrators, and the surrounding community. Such good
behavior should be rewarded with
privileges of freedom, including
an off-campus lunch policy.
Keep the pack off your
back
by Ashraf Abbas
Almost everywhere you go nowadays
there comes the aforementioned wheel
you see people trekking around with no pack
concern. It’s impossible for a rollie bopkiner
on their back. Instead, they are pulling their
to constantly monitor the status of their bag’s
school bag along like a piece of luggage. Not
wheels, which in turn leads to unfortunate
only is this amazingly stylish, but it’s also
destruction. Students agree that “it smarts
one of the smartest choices you can make to
like heck” when a wheelie backpack runs
protect your physical health.
over their toes. Feet are only the beginning.
Research has
Imagine that there’s a
shown that convenbook or stray animal
tional backpacks
lying dormant in the
are constantly
hallway, totally unpushed to their
suspecting. A rollie
limits when it
bopkin could easily
comes to the sheer
slam into the object,
poundage they can
fly into the air, and
carry. High school
sever an innocent bytends to send kids
stander at the neck.
home with at least
It would be
one project, two
unwise to deny these
essays, and three
certain facts. We
chapters to read
must take action now
daily, meaning
to prevent the spread
heavy backpacks,
of backpacks with
leading to shoulder
wheels. Already
and back problems.
they conspire in their
This is obviously
nefarious rolly bopbad for every single
kin lairs to destroy
person who walks
civilization as we
this Earth. Spines
know it, all under the
everywhere are
guise of making it
taking tremendous
easier on our backs.
beatings, straining
Easier on our backs,
at critical levels just
but not so easy on
to hold the weight,
mankind’s existence:
and all because
this much is fact.
their careless ownCall your local politiMany students are seen rolling the wheeled ers don’t take them
cians and ask them
into consideration.
to outlaw rollie bopkins. backpack down the school.
Photo by Kana Yoo
To put it simply:
heavy weight on your backside makes you
the Hunchback of Northside.
The problem is simple, and the solution
is even simpler. All you have to do is buy a
wheelie backpack, fill it with your books and
supplies, and then glide along effortlessly.
Many of these wheelie backpacks come
equipped with carrying straps that make
them just like the conventional backpacks, in
case you need to walk up a staircase or circumnavigate puddles. Notice: this is only for
a brief time. And if you don’t really want to
go up the stairs, use the elevator. When you
get off the staircase, you can just take it off
and start dragging it again. No pain on your
back means you’re on the right track.
Some people, too caught up in their
conventional backpack world, are ignorant
and can’t really see the advantage of having
a wheelie backpack. For them, it is actually
cooler to walk around complaining about
their shoulder pains and refuse treatment,
showing their toughness. Collision course
guys: it’s not toughness. It’s pure hurt and
could bruise you for the rest of your life if
you keep going. ‘Well then, I’ll get gel pads
for my shoulder blades.’ Give it a shot. But
it’s really stupid to attempt to prolong the
inevitable.
The smarter of your two choices is to
go for the wheelie backpack. That way, your
back will be safe, and if you feel like changing back to the conventional backpack later,
it will still be a viable option. All in all, the
criterion on which you base your decision
should be the health of your spine. Wheelie
backpacks provide a simple way to keep the
pack off your back.
Page 8
Centerfold
The Hoof Beat
Alumni
Charg
College admissions through the
eyes of those who have done it
by Natalia Emanuel
Throughout high school an ever-recurring topic is college.
From the time students enter Northside’s hallways to the time
they leave, college is somewhere on their radar. Starting in
freshman year with career path planning, the college process
continues into sophomore and junior years with class selections and forms, along with advertisement mail from all sorts
of colleges.
The whole process culminates early senior year when
students finally have to make the final decisions as to where
views about the department were vastly different.
“I got pretty regular notifications through my advisers,
through my counselor about all the minutia about the application process,” said Wellington Dasilva, a Northside graduate now attending Northeastern University. “While I did not
feel as though the counseling department knew about where
I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, I did feel that whatever
my choices were, they were helping me go where I wanted to
go, do what I needed to do.”
at all, at least from a college admissions stand point,” Yang said.
Other students were less than
impressed even with the College
Counseling Department’s handling of matters that were related
to college admissions. Zak Estrada,
a freshman at the Illinois Institute of
Technology (IIT), noted that though the
Counseling Department
requested all forms be
turned in one month before
the deadline for submission
to a given school, the
department always
seemed to be in a
rush when the
deadlines rolled
around.
“They always
rushed us to do
things,” Estrada
said, “but [they]
took their time
with everything.
There was a lack
of urgency.”
A major factor
that played a role
in many people’s
final decisions as
to where to attend
college was the feel
on campus.
“The hardest
part of the process
for me was choosing which school to
attend,” said Estrada.
(from left to right) Michael Good, Randy Yang, Mark Spreitzer, and Jacqueline Lewandowski, listen to (not pictured) moderators “I chose my schools
Polina Dekhtyar and Sonam Velani describe the housing policies at Harvard College.
based on what I liked
Photo by Anisa Isap
from talking to current
students and what I saw
Randy Yang recognized that while the Counseling
they want to apply, how they want to advertise themselves to
in visits. Definitely get a feel for the
Department did as well as they were able, there was only
colleges, who they want to write their teacher recommendaschool before you decide to go there.”
so much they could do. Yang described some of his college
tions, etc. During Northside’s Alumni Night, a few alumni
Polina Dekhtyar’s visit to Harvard
friends’ experiences with admissions:
touched on the topic which is ever present for juniors: the
also
made a significant impact on her.
“Their counselors were on first name bases with admiscollege admissions process.
“I had loved Harvard when I had
sions officer at Harvard, Yale, Princeton or wherever. They
Alumni stressed that some colleges’ financial aid is
visited it because the location seemed
could pull a lot of weight. One of my friends actually was
significant enough to make attending a possibility—no matter
wonderful and the school had everydeferred early from Harvard and her counselor called in a
familial wealth.
thing I wanted and hoped for, as well
rage. And when she got in regular, the admissions officer
“I think that a lot of kids at Northside don’t understand
as an academic setup that I liked. So I
personally called her to say ‘I’m sorry for deferring you.’ [The
that... the financial aid is amazing,” said Randy Yang, a freshapplied to Harvard early,” she said.
admissions officer did this] because her counselor had such a
man at Stanford. “A lot of kids think ‘It is 45,000 a year, there
“I would definitely suggest visiting a
large impact.”
is no way I can go.’ But places like these top tier schools have
school
if you can,” she recommended,
Yang stressed that this benefit that other students was
a whole lot of money to give. And the counseling office needs
“because you can get a very personal
unfair and also given Northside’s youth, as a school, it was
to emphasize that.”
feeling from a school which could never
understandable that the Northside Counseling Department
Polina Dekhtyar, a freshman at Harvard, noted that this
be conveyed on paper. If a school just
could not do that.
was not the case at all colleges. She added that this issue
doesn’t feel right, don’t force it just be“But they definitely do the best they can with the replayed a big roll in her choice of college.
cause it may be a ‘brand name’ school.
sources they have,” said Yang.
“Harvard has lots of money and is very generous with
Go for what will make you happy and
However Yang also mentioned that some of the activities
it,” she said. “Penn, not so much. And since financial aid was
will give you the best opportunities to
that the department requested students do were superfluous.
huge for me, the decision was essentially made for me.”
do everything you want to do in college
The one he brought up was the Career Building set of activiOne group of people who assist throughout the entire
– this means not only academics, but
ties. These activities students begin as freshmen, pinpointing
admissions process is Northside’s College Counseling Dealso extracurriculars and other outside
what types of professions they might be interested in.
partment. This department is responsible for getting a good
projects or activities.”
“I think all the career counseling stuff did not really help
number of things in order such as transcripts. The alumni’s
The art of evading panic
New lives of Northside Alumni
by Rhiannon Koehler
For those without someone to
turn to for intimate advice about
college, a whisper of an individual
experience can mean more than any
and all of the “free publications”
issued by anonymous institutions
across the country. Boundless opportunities await seniors regarding
choosing a college, picking a major,
outlining a schedule, and selecting
professors. As college freshmen,
they will also face such dilemmas
as where to live, who to room with,
and how to manage their time.
While many people selected
colleges based on cost, parental influence, and location, others chose
their colleges based on different
factors.
“I chose Harvard because of
the people,” said Andrew Miller,
a Northside alumnus. “They
were unbelievably passionate and
interesting, and far exceeded my
expectations.”
Atmosphere also played a big
part in how alumni selected their
schools.
“Everyone at Yale likes Yale
— they are very into [the activities
that] people are doing,” said alumnus Michael Pomeranz.
Northsiders need not wonder if
college is anything like the classes
that they are presently enrolled in.
“Harvard is a lot like Northside
Northside squared,” said Miller.
“It’s much more intense. A very intellectual high-powered place while
still being laid back.” However, not
all schools are the same.
“Yale is really really hard…there
is so much to do all of the time,”
said Pomeranz.
Balance seems to be the key to
sustaining a healthy lifestyle
while in college.
“You have a lot of downtime
that helps you meet friends…balancing [this] with academics is
very hard,” said Michael Good,
Northside alumnus and student at
the University of Illinois.
Exceptional friends, mentors,
and professors have helped Northside alumni obtain this goal, while
enjoying their college experience.
The most challenging thing regarding the transition to college for
Northside alumni seems to revolve
around adjusting to the new agendas they must create from scratch.
“The most difficult thing
[about starting college] was learning how to schedule yourself…in
college there is no standardization…you have to make sure that
there are no time conflicts and that
you still have time to sleep and
have fun,” said Miller.
Other small details of life in
college grewlarger for Northside
alumni once the issue of facing
them alone became a reality. Magdalena Casper-Shipp, a student
at UIC, reminds students of the
necessity of going to bed on time,
finding places to eat and places to
do your laundry. The tasks of living alone add up for alumni, and
college is more than just another
school for them.
Student-teacher relationships arextremely important at
the college level, and maintaining
relationships with teachers helps
to foster a rewarding educational
experience.
“Teachers are easy to relate
Jonathan Miller, a sophomore at
Stanford University, encouraged
students to not be intimidated
about applying to Ivy League
schools.
Photo by Anisa Isap
to…they’ve given out their
phone numbers [in case a
student needs guidance],” said
alumni Rebecca Welch.
“I’ve eaten meals with professors…I’ve walked into office
hours of professors who aren’t
mine,” said Michael Pomeranz.
The ability to communicate
with professors opens doorways
for students, allowing them
to obtain the education they
strive for. The most valuable gift
alumni can leave high-school
students is advice for their last
years at Northside.
“Find something you’re passionate about and throw yourself into that rather than spreading yourself too thin based on
what other people want you to
take,” advises Welch.
“Take classes you want to
take.Don’t get sucked into the
AP credit. Do extra-curricular
activities you want to do,” said
Miller. “Realize how amazing
high school is while it lasts, but
still keep in mind that hard work
pays off.
January 2006
i Mustangs
ge Back!
Centerfold
To work or not to work…that is
the Question:
Do AP classes really count in college?
by Michelle Zacarias
It’s nice to watch the returning alumni reunite at Northside; it gives hope to students of
someday leaving for college— independent, free, away
from parents, and above all
away from sleep-depriving,
homework loading Advance
Placement classes. Of
course all the hard work
that one accomplishes
in high school AP
classes will
pay off in
college…
or will it?
‘Alumni Speak’:
rating Northside’s
performance in college
preparation
by Zainab Bilfaqi
Northside is known and commended for preparing students for college, which is evident in the college preparatory
label of the school, yet does it prepare enough? Northside
sends about 99 percent of their graduates to four-year colleges,
including some the best-known schools in the country— Harvard, Yale and Stanford— and often the transition is seamless.
In fact, when questioned about the topic, many alumni could
not think of any aspect that Northside did not prepare them
for, but some had a few suggestions.
Most students at Northside agree that the atmosphere
strays from the guiding principle at most schools that students
will usually be told what to do and corrected if their behavior
is out of line, and this is also the case at most colleges. Michael Keenan, class of 2008, explained the policy of the honor
system at Washington and Lee where students are expected to
take responsibility for what they do and don’t do, as well as for
the consequences of their decisions. However, some students,
such as Aric Zonta, class of 2007 at DePaul University in
Chicago, found that college is more strict than the laid back
atmosphere at Northside and thus it was difficult to get used
to the college atmosphere.
Although Northside is known for its rigorous AP program
and college-level work that gives students a taste of what lies
ahead, many alumni commented that they would have found
more training in writing invaluable in college.
“Northside could have prepared me better with research
writing,” said Jennifer Jensen, college class 2009 at Gordon
College in Wendham, MA, echoing Magda Casper-Shipp
class of 2008 at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who also
thinks that more research writing at Northside is necessary.
Despite consistent results from studies that show that IMP
students are not being harmed by using a non-traditional curriculum, some alumni think otherwise of IMP’s approach to
mathematics education.
“IMP is not at all like college math,” said Magda. “[I
would have preferred] more algebra incorporated within
higher levels of math and maybe a class about proofs.”
The college application process is inherently stressful and,
as most students, Northside alumni were not able to avoid
the chaos, but some expressed that more events when they
were attending Northside, such as Alumni Night, would have
helped the process run smoother.
“Having a mini-course that informs you of the application process and helps you decide” could have prepared David
Peterson, class of 2007 at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor, MI, better.
Going to a new school with a new environment may be
challenging and in many ways Northside tries to prepare its
students for all the necessary aspects of college, yet some vital
resources, according to some alumni, are those that students
have to search for and take advantage of for themselves. For
example, many found that non-obligatory classes and opportunities in the foreign language would have helped them after
high school if they had been involved in them.
“Definitely take advantage of the study abroad programs
and language skills in high school,” said Mary Gallery, class
of 2007 at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.
The goal of Northside teachers is to prepare the students
for college, but sometimes little objectives get left out unintentionally, leaving students a bit bewildered once they reach
college. Various obstacles may occur in different colleges and
although Northside as a whole tries to prepare its students,
teachers cannot prepare its students for every little problem
that may arise.
Page 9
It’s one of
the biggest
questions
buzzing in
the minds of
many Northsiders;
will
one really receive credit in college for AP
classes? It seems that every year students go through so much
trouble, paying for a chance to take an AP exam, studying for
the actual test, and then going through the stressful process
of waiting months to see if they passed. However, the chaos
isn’t just in the few months leading up to and after the AP
test. From the start of the course, there is a lot of demanding homework to complete and many endless nights of test
reviewing. Still students seem to be satisfied with the thought
that colleges will choose them over other applicants because of
the extra points that AP classes add to their GPA. This, however, may not be the case, according to some of Northside’s
graduates. AP classes really had no affect on their acceptance
towards specific colleges. Adam Bain from the graduating
class of 2004 is one among many students who found that the
AP classes he took had no effect on his college acceptance.
“AP doesn’t count, all the classes you take during high
school, well at least AP, they don’t count at all,” said Bain,
who is currently attending Northwestern University where he
is intending to major in Performing Arts.
However, for those struggling over-achievers who, after
reading the previous paragraph, have burst into tears while
thinking about all the traumatic experiences in studying for
AP tests: wipe those eyes, there is good news to come. According to the other half of Northside’s alumni, AP classes
do count. It appears as though the graduates are on opposites
sides of the scale, some saying that AP classes aren’t worth the
energy while others like Kimberly Vu, from the class of 2005
think otherwise.
“I don’t know about everyone else, but my AP classes
helped out a lot, not only with colleges, but I gained a lot
through the actual class as well,” said Vu, who is currently
attending Loyola University Chicago.
One explanation for the lack of agreement between
alumni that don’t think AP classes are worth the trouble and
those that do is that the significance of AP classes depends on
the college one is attending. Matthew Melinkoff, of the 2005
graduating class, is currently attending University of Illinois at
Chicago. He is another student who believes that AP classes
count in the college acceptation process.
“I never took any AP classes, but I know that UIC does
give credit to students who took advance placement classes,”
said Melinkoff.
In most cases, especially when one is intending to apply to
highly selective schools, it is common to take AP classes
due to the intense
competition for admission.
However, there
may be other ways of
allowing more
opportunity
to enter good
colleges, for
example, extra
curricular
activities. This
is a very
popular
way
of building
up a resume and
impressing
schools.
Kevin
Moss,
also a 2005
senior, agreed with
the prospect
of
using other
sources to
help you get in
college.
“I didn’t take
any AP
classes, but I did
participate in
a lot of plays and
school performances, they really
helped me with
my college choices,”
said Moss.
One of the most important factors, for students taking AP
classes, is to make sure to research the college before applying for it, that way one can guarantee that they got credit for
all the work that they did. Nevertheless, one thing that most
alumni are in agreement with is that AP classes should at least
deal with subjects that the student enjoys even if it is taken just
to raise one’s GPA.
Even with so much stress within the Northside community
to get into a good school many students choose not to take
AP classes. Those that do, end up taking the chance of risking
no credit from the schools they apply to; however, in the end
it may be worth the time and energy because as time passes
Northside’s reputation grows and colleges will soon learn
about the overachieving standards of NCPHS. So whether or
not AP classes count now, there is much to prepare for in college, and advanced placement will prepare any hardworking
student for the challenges to come.
Alumni Night invokes mixed reactions
by Elizabeth Jose
the lack of representation from less
their time to experience it. According to
Alumni Night was, in the opinion
prominent schools, the alumni were
of the coordinators, a success, especially Michael Keenan, the plan for this year
was to give students the chance to ask the able to talk about the different types of
when compared to previous events.
colleges and universities, and the posiquestions that interested them by having
According to some students and even
tivesand negatives for each of them.
the alumni give short 3-minute talks folsome parents, however, it was not as
There were some alumni who were
useful or informative as they had hoped. lowed by a question-and-answersession.
not pleased with their choice of colThis worked fairly well and gave
Michael Keenan, currently in his
lege or university and gave their
second year at
opinions of what to do in such a
Washington and
situation and how to prevent this
Lee, made Alumfrom happening.The alumni’s
ni Night hapmost frequent advice was to visit
pen by working
as many campuses as possible.
with the Alumni
The alumni had an ongoing
Association and
argument about the best school.
the Parent NetIt went so far as to involve the
work to gather
number of fruit trees or excitalumni together.
ing snowball fights on campus.
Although they
Although this was amusing to
endeavored to
many people, it went far enough
recruit students
to annoy some people and
from a variety
exposed the bias opinions of the
of colleges, the
alumni.
alumnus’ avail“I think they [Alumni] took
ability insures
their argument a little too far
whether or not
and that time could have been
they can particiused for other things,” said Mrs.
pate in the event.
Kowar, a parent who attended
The turnout for
Alumni Night.
Alumni Night
Although the event was
was very pleasing
Moderators Polina Dekhtyar and Sonam Velani introduce the
meant to begin at 4:00 p.m., the
to the coordinadiverse panel of alumni for the night.
first hour was spent outside the
tors who hoped
Photo by Anisa Isap
auditorium, entering a raffle and
that the changes
talking. The presentation itself
some people the opportunity to ask questhey made from last year’s program
began with Dr. James Lalley welcomtions, but the lengthy responses to each
would be useful for those attending the
ing the alumni back to Northside with
question did not allow for many quesevent.
the words of T. S. Elliot, and then a
“Northside was an amazing experi- tions. Fortunately, those who were not
welcome from Ana Kaufman, Presigiven the chance to ask questions during
ence for me,” said Michael Keenan,
dent of the Northside Parent Network.
the actual program were able to speak
president of the Northside Alumni
“I wish I had the chance to ask a
with many of the Alumni individually afAssociation. “This [Alumni Night] is a
few more questions,” said Mrs. Kowar.
terwards while enjoying plenty of pizza.
way for me to give back to Northside.”
“There was useful information such
“It is the first time we had such a
Alumni Night was created in order
as being rejected from colleges and
massive group,” said Michael Keenan.
to give students the opportunity to find
universities, but I think they could have
The majority of schools represented
out more about life after high school
told us much more. I still want them to
and to begin preparations for it as soon at Alumni Night were either Ivy League
have one again next year though.”
or known for their excellence. Despite
as possible and hopefully before it is
Page
Page 10
10 Features
Features
The Hoof
The Hoof
Beat Beat
We can’t all be A quaking tragedy
NPR afcionados Relief for the South Asian Pakistani earthquake
by Zainab Sozzer and Aisha Wahid
by Rachel Ramir
I am an NPR abuser.
That is, I love to listen, but when they’re asking for
money I calmly turn out my pockets and confess my
minority.
Being able to turn on the radio and listen to some
well-researched, well-written, well-established programs
is something I’ve come to appreciate each and every
morning. “National Public Radio” really brings it home
in all those respects at all times of the day, whether it
is in the evenings for the news or afternoons for “The
World.” Even “Car Talk” has its merits. That NPR is the
greatest radio station in all of existence seems obvious
to me; however, I realize that a significant majority of
Chicagoans (Northsiders included) opt for a less serious
brand of radio. That all said, I’ll introduce the topic:
Chicago’s morning talk shows. For a week in December,
I gave up my beloved NPR to listen in on a more typical
radio show. The results were frightening.
I began my tour on Monday in the lower frequencies.
Where better but B96? That B96’s morning show, featuring Eddie and Jobo, is produced for a younger audience
is no secret, nor was it very unapparent when I listened
in. Those two deserve an amount of credit for keeping
up their morning show for as long as they have. You can
hardly tell that they’re way over that proverbial hill of
age. On the particular morning I chose to listen in, they
were discussing the Sox’s victory, the joy it sewed in Chicago hearts. A bit behind in their news? I couldn’t shake
the feeling that I was listening to a dated 90s record – one
that has been played about 5,000 times before. The entire
half-hour I listened heard consisted of their Sox segment
and a phone call from a fan, professing her love for two
men who are probably now old enough to be her grandfather. It was also during this half-hour that I realized
what NPR listeners don’t have to put up with: redundant,
insipid, and near-insulting commercials.
The next morning was Q101, located on the other
end of the music genre spectrum. This frequency houses
“Mancow” Muller and his morning show, Mancow’s
Morning Madhouse. This guy yells, makes obscene
jokes at innocent callers’ expense, demands to know why
everyone around him is an idiot, and turns the news into
a wad of unusable junk. At least he touches on the news.
I understand this is all meant to be funny…it may be that
I’m just not a part of the audience they’re looking for.
This show is definitely geared towards young men with
anger issues and late generation x-ers who really, really
don’t want to grow up. Granted, there is something to
be said for low-brow humor and making light of things.
“Mancow” takes this to a whole new extreme, painting
every topic in a negative light. The worst part may be
that he thinks he is being clever in all of this. Another
contender would be the dozen commercials for adult
entertainment clubs and genitalia enlargements heard in
that short morning span.
Wednesday, and a few clicks upwards from the cow,
was the realm of the loveable, huggable pair: Eric and
Kathy. It may be surprising to some that they’ve been on
the air for nearly ten years now, surviving well beyond
the adult-alternative fad of the 90s (“Barenaked Ladies,”
“Goo Goo Dolls,” “Alanis Morisette), though failing to
change with the times. The show itself is boring in its
lack of risk and experimentation, and obviously follows
a well-worn path; this coming from a person who finds
news radio to be entertaining. Their formula consists of
a series of listener polls followed by polite laughter and
clean jokes. Rinse and Repeat. They claim to be a “family show,” and they do a great job of keeping it G-Rated.
I just can’t see typical teenagers appreciating it.
“Kiss FM” – 103.5 – played the most music of
all the other stations, possibly to allow listeners to cool
down before hitting them again with “Drex in the Morning.” “Drex,” is, coincidentally, a show about “sex.”
Pumping the morning waves full of nighttime and somewhat taboo topics is an interesting idea, though not necessarily what I’m looking for first thing in the morning.
Basically, callers phone the station to relate their strange
sexual encounters to Drex and company, who offer their
advice. Aside from the timing, the most unsettling part
of the show is the seriousness of the advice doled out.
Boyfriend attracted to your older cousin? Call Drex. Having problems finding a mate who loves Star Trek reruns
as much as you? Call Drex. Call Drex, because he’ll tell
you exactly what to do, in all seriousness. Half of these
stories have to be made up, because I really can’t believe
that Chicago is one big sexual circus.
I’ll stick to the Public Radio for now.
The occurrence of natural disasters has increased in the
past two years, causing devastation for the world’s population.
No matter how frequently these disasters occur, people can
never become fully accustomed to them. When an earthquake
with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan on
October 8th, 2005, it affected people across the world, and
Northside, once again, attempted to lend a helping hand.
According to the USGS site, the earthquake occurred
around 8:50 a.m. and it took at least 86,000 lives, injured more
than 69,000 and left the northern chunk of Pakistan with
extensive damage.
“I feel like it was very vivid,” said Margaret Jadlowski,
Adv.800. “The damage was so extensive, but I feel it got
eclipsed by the hurricane because our
government didn’t do much for it.”
“I followed the news over the next
couple of days and was disappointed by the aid response of
the western world,” said Imran
Ghaffar, a Pakistani tourist
from Melbourne, Australia.
“Human loss is a human
loss and one shall not draw
comparisons, but international response to
the tsunami was more
prompt and generous
compared to the earthquake appeal in Pakistan.”
The damage was
quite extensive and the
majority of it was done
to Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, where an entire village was destroyed, and
Uri, where 80 percent of
the town was destroyed.
About 32,335 buildings
collapsed and the tremors
of the earthquake reached
India, where at least 1,350
people were killed and 6,255
were injured. In Pakistan, alone,
the official death toll was above
87,300.
Wikipedia estimated that the death toll
could reach
over 100, 000.
“Seeing such grief cloud an innocent region of Pakistan
made me want to do more than just sit and sympathize,” said
Muhammad Akhtar, Adv. 806. “I wanted to take action.”
In a UNICEF article, Kun Li Omar Abdi, a representative in Pakistan, said, “The emotional stress and trauma that
children have to go through is unimaginable. I can give you
an example of my own two daughters. They didn’t eat or
drink for the whole day. They didn’t want to go to sleep and
are afraid of staying inside the house. For children who have
a roof and have parents around, they still suffer like that, you
can image what’s like for children who lost everything.”
Earlier in the year Northside Jama’ah Club held their annual Ramadan dinner during which they asked their guests to
donate as much as they could to aid those in Pakistan. About
$150 were collected in donations, which were given to Makki
Masjid. The mosque sent the money with a Pakistani man volunteering in the devastated areas to provide aid to the victims
of the earthquake.
“It was such a devastating event that it would be difficult
for us not to help,” said Hamida Patel, Adv. 708, co-president
of the Jama’ah Club.
Recently, Muhammad Akhtar sold taffy apples to send
more
money overseas. He began by proposing the
idea to Ms. Martha Mulligan, sponsor
of Key Club. Next, he gained support by holding a meeting at Key
Club where he asked for suggestions and ideas.
“I was motivated to start
this fundraiser to aid those who
are in desperate need”, said
Akhtar. “Seeing an entire region of Pakistan destroyed due
to an earthquake, harming
innocent individuals, was
horrible. In my eyes,
helping them is almost
mandatory, not for
every Pakistani, but
every human being
in general.”
By the end of
the fundraiser, on
December 22nd,
Key Club was able
to collect about
$115 through the
Affy Taple sales.
The Desi Club
also planned to
fundraise.
“When we [Desi
Club] first found out about
the earthquake, we knew we had to do something,” said Aisha
Sozzer, Adv. 603, the co-founder and president of the club,
“because our club is made up of Pakistani-Indian students
we thought it was our responsibility to help out in any way
possible.”
The details of the fundraiser are still unconfirmed, but the
club has decided that it will be held either at the end of January or the beginning of February.
“I thought that Northside’s Clubs tried to contribute to
providing relief, but I’m sure they could do better in the future.
I felt sympathy for all the victims and hope they’ll be aided in
rebuilding their lives again,” said Elizabeth Lewis, Adv. 909.
Northside’s ambassador for change
by Anisa Isap
Many communities already dealing with the daily struggle
of survival in extreme poverty were met with even more challenges; the Asian tsunami, the Southeast Asian earthquake,
and Hurricane Stan in Guatemala are only a few in a long list
of natural disasters within the past two years.
This has led to many well-publicized events, such as the
Live 8 concerts, led by celebrities who wish to inspire government officials to provide more aid and relieve the debts of
poverty-stricken nations.
“I think any kind of shout-out makes a difference,” said Nathaniel Viets-VanLear, Adv. 705,
in response to skepticism of the benefit that expensive events such as Live 8 actually provide.
“Those with bigger voices [celebrities] raising
awareness and attempting to influence others
can never be a bad thing.”
However, Viets-VanLear and others like
him have proven that one does not have to
be famous in order to help change the world.
From providing immediate relief to areas
struck by natural disasters to the less publicized
daily struggles of extreme poverty, NetAid, a nonprofit organization, plays a critical role in lobbying
for improvement in the lives of citizens in some of the
most impoverished regions in the world.
Viets-VanLear is a member of NetAid’s Global Citizen Corps (GCC), a group of 100 high school students with various backgrounds that work together
to educate their peers about global poverty through
a series of four Global Action Days, the latest of
which was World AIDS Day on December 1, 2005.
(December 1 was taken up by governments, organizations, and charities as the international day of action
on HIV and AIDS because the first case of AIDS was
diagnosed on this day in 1981.) In a press release disclosed on
World AIDS Day, NetAid acknowledged that GCC reached
over 150,000 students in schools across the United States with
awareness-raising activities, such as school-wide assemblies
and charity sporting events.
At Northside, many students and faculty wore red as a
sign of support for people living with HIV and as a symbol of
hope for the future.
“Many individuals wrongly believe that youth can’t be
made interested,” said Viets-VanLear. “However, we too can
make a profound impact and it is our responsibility to do so.”
World AIDS Day was the second Global Action Day that
Viets-VanLear organized. The first, focused on world hunger,
was in September. Near the lunchroom, Viets-VanLear prepared a roulette wheel transcribed with poverty statistics. The
idea behind the wheel was that Northside students would win
a piece of candy if they spun the wheel and landed on one of
the small pie pieces, which indicated that they were one of the
few billionaires in the world. Most, however, landed
on one of the larger pie pieces which indicated
that they were one of the many individuals living on less than a dollar a day.
Viets-VanLear was initially introduced
to NetAid and GCC by the founder of an
organization called the Awassa Children’s
Project, where Viets-VanLear is presently
a junior board member. In the future,
Viets-VanLear hopes to follow up on an
invitation to give direct aid at Awassa
Children’s Center, an orphanage and community center in Ethiopia. Seven years ago
the Awassa Children’s Center began caring for
Ethiopian orphans, the vast majority of whom have
lost their families due to AIDS, and currently cares
for about 50 children between the ages of 5 and
12. Helping to operate the Center would allow him
to cut out the middleman and much of the red tape
that is associated with larger organizations.
Presently for Viets-VanLear and other GCC
leaders, the World AIDS and Hunger Days are just
the beginning of a year of activism. Upcoming
events include campaigning for universal primary
education in April. He currently has a handful of
students at Northside to help him “take some of the
first steps to reducing extreme poverty by 2015.”
“[These pandemics are] not something we can ignore,”
said Viets-VanLear. “And I would definitely encourage everyone to become involved in any manner. Anyone wishing
to help coordinate an effort is welcome to contact me or Ms.
[Christine] Olsen.”
With such a monumental goal, the more students involved
the more realistic the objective becomes. GCC will soon
begin accepting applications <www.netaid.org/global_citizen_corps/student-registration> for student leaders for the
next school year.
January 2006
2006
January
Features
The Hoof Beat
Page Page
11 11
Skills…strategy…synchronization The past, the
present, and
the future:
Colloquium
by Nadir Rashid
“Relaaaaaxed,” said Faraz Khan,
Adv. 810, describing the atmosphere
of a new and very popular addition to
Northside’s many clubs, G.E.E.K.
This unusual name stands for
General Electronic Entertainment
Klub, which is, to put it simple, a video
gaming club. G.E.E.K is sponsored by
Mr. Nathan Harada and is the creation
of Sean Kung, Adv. 807, who is, as
proclaimed by NongTipa Limson, Adv.
802, the “official dictator of the club.”
G.E.E.K meets every Monday after
school, on the second floor near the end
of the English Department hallway, or
mainly in Mr. Harada’s science class,
room 303.
Playing games and relaxing is the
main purpose of the club. After a hard
day’s work and cramming for tests, it’s
a great feeling for people to come to
G.E.E.K and enjoy an hour of video
games and conversation with other gaming fanatics.
To set up, all the club does is grab a
few TVs, cables, gaming systems, and
controllers, plug it all in, and let the
good times roll. People bring gaming
systems such as the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, and Microsoft
Corporation’s Xbox. Some of the biggest gaming titles that the members play
include Dance Dance Revolution, Super
Smash Bros. Melee, and Halo 2. However, the most renowned game in this
club is Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it
is also one of the more addicting titles.
This game is primarily about mashing
buttons to beat up opponents. This game
includes a large variety of characters to
select, including Pikachu, Link, Bowser,
and Samus. These characters specified
are from other famous Nintendo titles
and include a large variety of player
types.
When people hear “G.E.E.K”,
what pops into their minds is something
unusual; however, G.E.E.K. entails a
very competitive virtual sport. Some-
by Karolina Maslanka
and Martyna Michalak
Members of G.E.E.K. stomp their way through a round of DDR.
Photo by Nadir Rashid
times, they even hold tournaments
important in some games since it’s all
for players of all gaming skills, and
about timing and knowing when to tap
although they are mostly held just for
a button or in which combination to
fun, on some occasions cash prizes are
press buttons. Doing well in this area
awarded to the winner.
can turn the tides drastically in a game;
Playing video games is a big interest
it can lead a person who is just about to
among many students, and this club
lose to become victorious.
was established for them, but it is also
Video games are just one of the
open to beginners in the pastime. The
many methods that allow a person to
best advice one of the more experienced
relax or have a fun time with his/her
gamers can give to newcomers is how to
friends. G.E.E.K is open to anyone,
play, because it’s all about having skills,
with skills of the members ranging
strategy, and synchronization while
from having never played a video
playing. Skills of course are developed
game to experienced gamers battling
through experience and practice. Then
in a tournament. G.E.E.K members
there is the idea of having a strategy
encourage anyone and everyone to at
to set up a plan to take down your opthe least come by and check it out.
ponent. Synchronization is extremely
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Recycling Club continues to benefit Northside
environmentally
by Riaz Shaikh
Reduce, reuse, and recycle are the magic words that have
been with Northside for almost four years, but most students
are oblivious to this simple yet effective program. The club
was founded by science teachers Dr. Anna Marie Vites and
Mr. Johan Tabora. Students from all grades volunteer every
day during their lunch periods to collect recycling bins from
classrooms.
There are three different types of members in the club:
Recyclers, Back-ups, and Leaders. The Recyclers usually
work either individually or in pairs, collecting bins from various assigned areas in the school. The Back-ups are students
who have volunteered to uphold the responsibility of certain
Recyclers when they are absent or unable to fulfill their duties.
In a few cases some students play the double-role of Recyclers
Coleman Gailloreto, Adv. 906, deposits paper in a bin
that will later be emptied by Recycling Club.
Photo by Shoaib Khan
and Back-ups. The club also includes Leaders, also known
as Representatives. These are the more experienced members who have either been involved with the club for a long
time or have had personal experience with recycling programs. The task of this group is to supervise and manage the
recycling schedule, train new members, report to Dr. Vites,
and sometimes even help out with collecting bins. There are
approximately two to four Leaders for every lunch period.
Club meetings are held every two weeks. During meetings members come together to collaborate information,
discuss problems, bring forth suggestions, and contribute
towards future plans and decisions. Some future plans are
to begin recycling batteries and cell phones as well as paper.
Every quarter new members are invited and previous members who would like to discharge from the club may leave at
this point. In most cases previous members are prominent in
the club. Juniors are the most likely members to retire as they
have other programs and extra curricular activities to participate in during their senior year. In fact, Dr. Vites encourages
seniors not to take part in the Recycling Club. She states that
seniors are too preoccupied with other activities and college
applications, and it will just add on to their responsibilities
and already hectic schedules. Nevertheless, a few dedicated
seniors are still active in the club.
The Recycling Club also offers to give members service
learning hours for volunteering during lunch periods. Service
learning hours work in quarter (10 weeks) terms. Students
who have already worked one quarter may not gain any more
service learning hours until the next year. Dr. Vites states
that the majority, if not all the current members are working
with the club even after their service hours have surpassed the
required amount.
Northside’s recycling club is one of the very few recycling
clubs in the CPS system that is student-driven. Dr. Vites was
proud to say that even though she helps out and is the sponsor of the club, the student members should be praised for all
their hard work and dedication.
“They put in a considerable amount of work and personal time,” said Dr. Vites.
It is estimated that within one school year the recycling
club collects between 7,000 to 12,000 cubic yards of paper
and sends it to the City of Chicago to be recycled. Northside
hires two trucks a week to come and collect the paper. The
truck expenditures are paid for through grants received from
the city and personal companies, and not through fundraisers. At the end of each quarter and year Dr. Vites treats the
club to a nice meal of pizza and cola. Dr. Vites concludes
each year with a video, fieldtrip, or guest speaker.
Motorcycles, knitting, kites… the selection
is enormous for Northsiders to choose from.
With second semester
right around the corner,
it’s time to choose a
new colloquium again.
Mrs. Elizabeth Wiener,
colloquium coordinator, worked very hard in
order to get the new colloquium program ready
before the winter-spring
session that begins on
February 1st, 2006
“This semester’s
theme is “A Feast for
Your Senses.” It has the largest number of new colloquia
ever,” said Mrs. Weiner. “The creativity and diversity will
create for a fantastic semester.”
There were over 40 colloquiums to choose from for the
second semester. With this variety there is something for
everyone’s taste and style.
Due to popular demand in the previous years some colloquia returned, including The History of Court Sports, The
History of Film, Magical Women, and Chicago as a Tourist.
Many of these colloquia are seen again because the intriguing topics that they covered have caught the eye of many
students.
Some colloquia that continue to run in the second
semester are Asian Calligraphy, an entrance into the world
of Asian culture, Write Your Pants Off, where students write
reflections about field trips and adventures, Get Rich Quick,
where students can invest money and see it grow, Knit Wit,
where students learn the art of knitting, and the Life Aquatic, where students will take their exploration of marine life
during the first semester into action by scuba diving. These
four colloquia and many others that were very successful in
the first semester returned and will provide other students
the opportunity to join them.
Even though many older hits are coming back better
than ever, there are also many new never-before-offered colloquia next semester. One of these new colloquia are Will
Power: A Performance Piece/ Educational Tool, which will
be funded to make plays and perform them at “at risk” high
schools thereby educating the students about controversial
topics. Into The Wind is a new colloquium where students
will design fun 3-D kites and fly them. Be a Pioneer of the
Global Initiative is a colloquium working with other high
schools around the world and offers the students service
hours for their work.. Lengthen. Strengthen. Move. Breathe
is a colloquium in which students will be able to relax their
bodies by spending Wednesday morning doing yoga and
other exercises. Another colloquium is Flying Doughnuts
and Airborne Eggs. For those who enjoyed Freshmen
Freakout, this colloquium is perfect; students will conduct
physics-based activities.
“I expect a lot of fun. I expect people making stuff,
breaking stuff, crushing stuff, and splats,” said Mr. Nathan
Harada, a science teacher who will be teaching the colloquium. “It’s a lot of work for the students but the students that
did it last year and put in the effort enjoyed it. The students
have to be willing to participate.”
Colloquium on Wednesdays provides students the opportunity to learn new skills, which can be applied to the
real world, that are not incorporated in a normal classroom.
On colloquium days, Northsiders are able to not only learn
new skills, but also have the chance to explore their own
interests by picking the colloquium that they find most interesting. It is also a break from the busy schedule.
“You want to mix both fun and interactive learning,”
said Leonel Zuniga, Adv.710, when talking about what a
colloquium should provide.
“It let’s me have more balance because not only is it a
class that I enjoy learning about, but on that day I have more
time for activities outside of school,” said Cristina Herren,
Adv. 811.
With the diverse offerings, students should be able to
find a suitable colloquium that will let them enjoy their
Wednesday mornings. Hopefully it will provide everyone
with a balance of education and relaxation.
Page 12
Features
Homecoming not just about the money
by Monica Wojcik
Barely four years old, Northside’s traditional winter
Homecoming Dance, combined with the activities of Spirit
Week and the basketball game, has grown to be one of Northside’s most well-attended dances. Being more formal, the
dance is concurrently notorious for its elevated ticket prices.
Dances can be sponsored by any Northside student organization, but school tradition held that Student Council organizes three dances during the year: the Back to School Dance,
the Halloween Dance, and Homecoming. Tradition also
dictated where the profits from those dances were designated;
profits from the Back to School Dance went to general school
funding, profits from the Halloween Dance went to fundraising for the Junior Prom, and Homecoming profits went to support Senior Prom fundraising.
A recent surprising detail concerning this “tradition,”
however, brought up the question: how far does tradition go?
Officially, these three dances are not magically apportioned to
Student Council. All organizations, prior to hosting a dance,
must approach the administration for formal permission. Prior
to this year, Student Council was not aware of this regulation,
and was somehow automatically signed up for these dances.
“Traditionally Student Council has the three dances,” said
Aileen Cordero, Adv. 604, Student Council President. “We
didn’t know we had the obligation [to sign up at the end of the
year].”
AKA, a student hip-hop and service club, on the other
hand, was aware of the regulations and received administrative permission to host the Halloween Dance. Shortly after,
they were asked to switch the dance they were organizing
from Halloween to Homecoming, and the club agreed. At
that point, Homecoming was not assigned to any host on the
administrative master calendar of school events.
“AKA got permission to host one of the dances, but lost
that,” said Ms. Beth Runkel, faculty sponsor of AKA. “Thus,
they agreed to do Homecoming instead.”
This came as a surprise to Student Council, who was looking forward to hosting Homecoming, and to the Senior Class,
who was to use Homecoming profits to offset Senior Prom
costs.
“It seemed weird that a club would do it, but they did go
through the right process,” said Cordero, stressing that Student
Aliy’s Sudoku
and Crossword
Can
you beat
Aliy’s
Sudoku
time of
8:02?
Instructions: Fill in the puzzle so that every
row, column, and 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by
9 square includes all digits from 1 through 9 in
any order.
Council is a student organization voted on by all the classes.
They were not ready to give up sponsorship of the dance,
however.
“It’s not just about the profits, it’s about Homecoming
- school pride and unity,” said Liz O’Meara, Adv. 601, Senior
Class President. “We really wanted to [host Homecoming]
and we have the resources. Student Council wanted to be part
of it.”
Student Council was thus willing to compromise with
AKA, but a key element of the conflict regarded sharing the
Student Council and AKA put up posters
around the school, like the one above, to
advertise for this year’s Homecoming.
Photo by Shoaib Khan
The Hoof Beat
profits. The group in charge of the dance designates where the
profits are to go, and AKA wanted to donate the Homecoming profits to charity. In true Northside spirit, Student Council
and AKA decided to organize Homecoming together and
donate profits to charity in accordance with original AKA
wishes.
“I was really impressed with the whole compromise,” said
Ms. Runkel. “It wasn’t what everyone wanted, since everything expected didn’t happen, [but] they still all got something
out of it.”
The minor conflict, however, brings up the question of
profits from dances in general. Prom cost is determined by the
cost of the dinner, DJ, decorations, security, and chaperone
dinners. The ticket price is never less than the cost of dinner,
but there is about fifteen dollars worth of room to maneuver
the price, and fundraising money comes into play here. According to Student Council and the Senior Prom Leadership,
the funds from Homecoming could have potentially been used
to cover a major expense such as the DJ, therefore knocking
off a few dollars from everyone’s ticket price. Yet students and
administration nonetheless question the idea of dance profits
designated to pay for other dances.
“Most [dances] are not looked at as fundraisers,” said Dr.
James Lalley. “They are social events for the benefits of the
students. There is no need to increase price [of admission
tickets].”
Administration is potentially considering a change within
the procedure of assigning dances from simply first-come-firstserve to perhaps lotteries or organizing Student Council dance
subcommittees. They did not have a formal comment on
whether the system will change and what it will become.
Meanwhile, Student Council and AKA are working to
successfully organize Homecoming.
“At first it seemed like it was going to be an issue, but it’s
better now,” said Cordero and O’Meara. “We worked through
it, so someone who really needs it [the profits] will get it.
It helped us realize that it [Homecoming] should bring our
school together. It’s always hard when two people want the
same thing; we’re going to together make Homecoming even
bigger.”
Page 13
Arts and Entertainment
Beresilicious
Northside’s
musical beauty
taken for granted?
by Damon Beres
Our hallway passing period
music is truly a blessing to everyone
in this school. We owe a great deal
to Mr. Leo Park and, before him,
Mr. Cedric Hampton, as well as the
administration, for allowing our
hallways to be graced with such a
significantly diverse selection of
music everyday. Of course, our music is culled from the submissions of
our students, but Mr. Park is the one
that throws them on our PA system.
Despite the glorious privilege
we’re treated to on a daily basis at
Northside, it seems as though we
rarely take the time to actually stop
and listen to the music. Truth be
told, it seems as though many of
our students would be just as well to
have a typical bell system like every
other high school. This is wrong.
This is heinous. This is criminal.
The true beauty of this system
isn’t its ability to present us with
enjoyable, familiar music; it is its
tendency to bestow upon us the
gift of variety and diversity. We
don’t need our PA system to be akin
to Kiss FM or the oft-lambasted
B96. Truth be told, I cannot find a
suitable radio station comparison
for our passing period music, as we
have something so truly unique and
glorious that stale AM, FM, or even
XM could never hope to compare.
This something is completely
user-controlled content, a veritable
harmonic democracy, a completely
liberal system with the exception
of a completely fair moderation
process. Sure, radio stations allow
for caller requests, but it’s not like
they’ll play anything that isn’t on
their top-rated lists anyway.
Through the Northside
passing period music system, we
are treated to the tastes of our
peers, allowing us to truly bask
in the glory of musical subjectivity, and yet many of us tend
to amble down the hallways
with headphones firmly draped
over our ears (to set the record
straight, I myself tend to carry
headphones around on my neck,
though I generally do not listen
to them during school hours).
It’s mind-boggling at best: people
do realize that there’s music flowing out of our PA speakers, don’t
they? Forgive me for making
assumptions, but I would guess
that whatever it is that’s coming
out of one’s MP3 or CD player
is something that one has heard
several times over. Generally
speaking, our PA music is likely
to be something new, and one
can always return to a musical comfort zone at a later time
anyway.
In other words, I’m imploring
the student body at Northside to
take some time to actually appreciate our variety of hallway passing period music. After all, it’s a
tremendously innovative feature
of our school that we would be
wise to appreciate. Northside
clearly stands out because of its
academics, but there are so many
other features of our school that
distinguish us. Passing period
music obviously won’t get us
any higher in the rankings, but it
certainly does add to our identity,
both as a communal unit and as
individuals at this school.
The Hoof Beat
Is Santana really ‘What The
Game’s Been Missing?’
by Shoaib Ali
Juelz Santana, in association
Santana contributed several verses
with Diplomats/Def Jam Records,
to other MCs’ tracks and made his
released his new album What the
full-length debut with his 2003
Game’s Been Missing on November
release of “From Me to U.” “Dip22, 2005. His sophomoric effort
set (Santana’s Town),” by far the
continues to satisfy current fans, yet
best track from the release, hardly
new listeners are hesitant to accept.
blew up the charts. However, it
While some suggest that his music
deserved much more appreciation
falls into a genre of its own, others
than it received. To assure publicbelieve that he is a “poser” – that
ity, he remained active with the
he poses as an artist, but actually
possesses very
little creativity.
The success of
his first major release, “From Me
to U,” might have
set standards
and expectations
for Santana and
his later music,
which would
have been difficult to exceed. It
is imperative that
he proves himself
in the music industry, for there
is little tolerance
for albums that
do not present
the artist’s full
potential. Due
to the impulsive
behaviors of conPhoto courtesy of www.amazon.com
sumers and the
inconsistency of
disliking and liking artists, Santana
Diplomats’ popular mixtapes.
will have to make up for the medio“Dipset” addicts, admirers of
cre quality of What the Game’s Been
the Harlem crew, would probably
Missing to keep his fans.
become the only buyers of the What
Born as LaRon James in
the Game’s Been Missing album. In
Harlem, New York, the ambiaddition, the 22-track CD undoubttious Juelz Santana was not
edly contradicts with the title of
noticed until 2000. Recording
his album for it scarcely offers
artist Cam’ron, former Roc-Aanything revolutionary. In his lead
Fella Records, artist granted him
single, “There It Go (The Whistle
a guest spot on a track called,
Song),” one would have reason to
“Double Up.” Afterwards, he
question his lyrical skills, as hardly
joined Cam’ron’s “Diplomats,”
any unique and impressive lines of
also known as the “Dipset” crew.
rhyme are present. It is the cadence
Boston Pops pop into Northside
by Salim Patel
of the song that makes the single
at least a bit captivating. The beat
and tempo is what actually carries
the song, while the lyrics can easily
be disregarded and have little to no
effect upon the listener. Other songs
that feature his simple lyrics are
“Clockwork” and “Freaky.”
Despite questionable concerns
on his originality, no other member
of the music industry, however, is
able to produce Santana’s signature
poppy hymns as in “Oh Yes.” In
addition, there are some tracks that
actually reflect Santana, instead of
the Diplomats. In “Rumble Young
Man Rumble” and “This Is Me” he
offers himself by defying the usual
style of the Diplomats and gives the
listener his voice, resulting in his
demonstration of some originality.
Since exposure of Santana varies
so much, it is most likely Diplomat
devotees who would be jumping on
the band wagon. Many are fans of
Dipset team primarily because of
the street credit that accompanies
the click. This is a possible hindrance of Diplomats artists from
continuing on to the next level
escaping the field of inconsistent
album releasing. Their label appears
to be unstable as the Dipset artists’
albums are not in line with other
recording artists of the same label.
However, all in all, there is no doubt
that Juelz Santana could prove himself as a more powerful lyricist and
influence in later releases. Credit is
unquestionably due to Santana, for
he established a concrete fan base.
His fans are also Diplomats fans,
even not necessarily solely Santana’s. His effort to gain the respect
similar to many legendary artists
must be recognized. Santana may
not be on the radio every hour, but
you do know who he is, compared
to the numerous artists who are
eager to get their music onto the
shelves of Best Buy.
On Monday, December 5, during the
session was pretty cool because we were
spur-of-the moment, she eloquently played
people, and so important,” said Abelson.
2A and 6A lunch periods, Northside was
able to ask the musicians about their lives
an exquisite piece that wowed the audience.
“Well, I was a little disappointed because
honored to host members of the Boston Pops
and got an understanding of what they went
When she completed her piece, the members
they only told me what I did good, and said
Orchestra. These world famous musicians
through,” said Ikram Khan, Adv. 800.
of the Boston Pops Orchestra commented
I didn’t have anything to fix. I wish they had
came and spoke to students and the teachers
After the question and answer session, the that her intonation was good and that overall
told me some tips about technique.”
of the Music Department. They discussed
members of the Boston Pops Orchestra had
she did a great job.
Cellist Lucy Holland, Adv. 900, and
their experiences as members of the Boston
the opportunity to listen to one of Northside’s
“I was very excited, because they were
violinist Richard Paulius, Adv. 705, also
Pop Orchestra and how they came to be such
own advanced violinists, Carmen Abelson,
so famous, but also kind of scared, because
played with the members of the Boston Pops
great musicians.
Adv. 900. Even though she was chosen
I always get scared when I have to play for
Orchestra. This session between the Boston
“I thought this would be a
Pops Orchestra members and
great opportunity for students
the Northside musicians was
to meet people who do this for
very similar to a masterclass.
a living,” said Mr. Leo Park,
Robert Solomon, father of
Northside’s orchestra conductor.
Steve Soloman, director of the
“They could gain insight into
presentation and creator of the
what being a professional musiMusic Advocacy and Awards
cian entails.”
Committee (MAAAD), wanted
The Boston Pops Orchestra
the Boston Pops Orchestra
is one of the most renowned
members to visit students of
orchestras in the world. They
the Music Department because
were performing at the UIC pahe felt that it would motivate
vilion, and they decided to visit
the students to pursue careers
Northside. The members of the
in music. Also, the Music DeBoston Pops Orchestra hoped
partment at Northside is young
their presentation would touch
and can become even better.
the hearts of students so that
He believes that the students of
they would consider furthering
music should be more of a part
their experiences in music and
of the school’s culture.
making it a profession.
“The Music Depart“I was inspired by the visiment and the musical groups,
tors and hope to someday be a
especially the top performance
good musician like them,” said
groups, are not as interwoven
Mohammed Ahmed, Adv. 907.
into the culture of our school
Gerald Mordis, a violinist,
as they are at most other
began the presentation with a
schools,” said Robert Solomon.
beautiful number that entranced
To finish off the Boston
the entire audience. The audiPops Orchestra visit, Steve
ence was then introduced to
Solomon, performed Autumn
the other three members of the
Leaves on the piano, a piece
Boston Pops Orchestra: Kristine
that mesmerized the audience.
Nilsson, violinist and cousin of
“It was a great presentaSteve Solomon, Adv. 810, Jim
tion, and I really enjoyed
Orent, violinist and Cover Conplaying for my cousin and
ductor, and Eugene Kim, cellist.
her colleagues,” said Steve
Following this the students and
Solomon Adv. 810. “I really
teachers were allowed to ask the (From left to right) Cong Nyguyen, Adv. 805, Asma Ahmed, Adv. 601, and Mohammed Ahmed, Adv. 907 of
hope that we have other such
musicians some questions.
performances just like this in
the Northside College Prep Beginning Orchestra practice their cellos so that they can someday play like the
“The [question and answer] members of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
coming years.”
Photo by Salim Patel
Page 14
Arts and Entertainment
The Hoof Beat
Chilling out on a Friday night
All three of Northside’s bands perform
by Mohammad Rahman
On Friday, December 16th, the
school auditorium was completely
packed with people. The audience
had one objective, and that was to
watch Northside’s bands in concert.
The bands that played on that day
were the Beginning, Jazz, and Concert bands.
The concert started with the
Jazz Ensemble whose first piece
was “A Quick Aside.” After the
piece was finished, the audience’s
cheers were deafening.
“I love the Jazz Band; I have
been in it for three years now,” said
saxophone player Alex Makkawy,
Adv. 700. “The best part is that
everybody gets to play together and
you learn how to cooperate with
other people using only music.”
They also played the pieces “Let
it Snow,” “Straight No Chaser,” and
“Oye Como Va.” All the Jazz Ensemble pieces had a lot of rhythm
and even included solo parts for the
drums.
“My favorite piece was Oye
Como Va,” said Alexandra Prusko,
Adv. 903, who plays the trumpet in
the Jazz Ensemble. “The reason I
like it so much is because it is lively,
and also because it is just plain
good to listen to. The other jazz
band pieces that we played were
superb too.”
The Jazz Ensemble is comprised mostly of the brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments.
The three pianists in the Jazz Ensemble share the grand piano and
most members also play more than
one instrument. This is because
most of the time there are so few
parts for some instruments, such as
the flute, that it is better to play two
instruments instead of one. Other
than this, many instruments also
share the same fingerings, such as
the flute and the saxophone.
After ending their part of the
Band Concert with “Groovin’
Hard,” the Jazz Ensemble handed
over the torch to the Northside Beginning Band. Most members of the
Northside Beginning Band have
been playing their instruments for
only about two months and many
had no prior experience.
“The 2005-2006 Beginning
Band has a larger number of drummers compared with past years,”
said Mr. Michael Lill, Northside’s
band conductor. “This is because
most people want to play it, and
their second choice is usually to
play the saxophone. Since I cannot
always fulfill everyone’s wishes, I
have to then pick names out of a
drum!”
Northside’s Beginning Band
played “Jingle Bells,” “Sawmill
Creek,” “Montego Bay,” and “Regal
March” from their Beginning Band
Method book, and ended their part
by playing the band arrangement
“Simple Gifts.”
“The Beginning Band was really good considering the fact that
they have been only playing for
two months,” said Sherin Nasreen,
a parent who came to watch the
band concert. “The Beginning Band
drummers did a great job by keeping the beat, but other instruments
did a really good job too.”
After the Beginning Band, the
Concert Band took over the stage. It
included more than seventy members and nearly all types of musical
instruments, except for strings.
They played the pieces “The Blue
and the Gray” and “Hollywood
Milestones.”
“I thought I was going to be
nervous on stage,” said flutist Madeline Holland, Adv. 908, “but once I
got on it, I felt very confident.”
The bands in concert finished
with the Concert Band playing
“Christmas Festival,” a band arrangement that accumulated all the
familiar Christmas tunes.
“We worked very hard for this
concert,” said Alexandra Prusko.
“Our hard work paid off because
this concert was a success!”
Cassandra Boykin, Adv. 603, Andy Hastings, Adv. 708, and Liz Kivel, Adv. 706 (left to right) make up
the French horn section while showing holiday spirit.
Photo by Kana Yoo
A “new Southern classic” “So sick of love songs”
Ludacris nods to the confederacy
and sick of this song
by Rachel Ramir
On December 13, 2005,
ronment. “Bunch of hustlas
“Next to Bama,/ Under the
Ludacris and his hip-hop
run on every corner…” is
Carolinas and Tennessee.”
group released their second
an especially potent line in
There is one extremely
album as a follow-up to
its delivery and imagery. He
unsettling lyric, and it is
their very successful debut
moves on to reminisce about
difficult to understand why
album, Golden Grain. Ludacris
living in a black household in Ludacris would want to slip
Presents… Disturbing tha
Georgia, especially praising
this in, what he was going
Peace features Ludacris and
the cuisine: “candy yams and
for, or how he thought it
his “posse” of recording
would be appropriate:
artists, most of whom
“Scope your pumpkin
are lesser-known rappers
and smash ya/ We’ll come
signed to Ludacris’s record
through your hood worse
label, “Disturbing tha
than a tsunami disaster.”
Peace.”
That is very much like
“Georgia,” the
someone from outside of
album’s single, is a fairly
the United States making
catchy, memorable song
a joke at the expense of
that covers every known
the World Trade Center
topic, including “crap
in the months followshooting,” and unknown
ing September 11. He
topic, as in “jocking the
cannot possibly undergrammar.” All are derived
stand what the people
from Ludacris’s childhood
of Eastern Asia went
in the Sunbelt and his
through and continue
life in Albany, Georgia.
to cope with in light of
Jamie Foxx supplies the
last summer’s tsunami.
supporting vocals on this
Apparently he doesn’t
track, interrupting rap
care. The lyric is neither
sequences with a melodic Photo courtesy of www.gomoxie.org clever nor funny, and
and passionate chorus
one would think that for
of, “Georgia… Georchitlings/ Gram’s homemade all of the preaching he does
gia!” Foxx also intertwines
baked biscuits.” However,
about ‘living the rough life’
simple piano work with the
the topic inevitably switches
he would be more sensitive to
usual backing track of mixer,
back to women with curves
the poor conditions of other
drums, and bass. Unfortuprancing around in thongs
people.
nately, the backing music is
– unfortunate, but expected
Ludacris Presents…
the most successful part of
in light of the present state of
Disturbing the Peace, if
the song.
the music scene.
“Georgia” is any indication,
To begin with, the lyrics
Ludacris uses examples
has shaped up to be a fairly
are a bit confusing. There are
like “I got a Chevrolet on
typical hip-hop album, one
times when Ludacris seems
26s,” and, “I got five homes
worthy of today’s charts. As
to be getting back to the
where I rest my Georgia
far as the inspiration for this
core of hip-hop. The genre
bones,” to contrast with the
single is concerned, Ludacris
was meant to be an outlet
images of a harsh, run-down
describes Albany as a place
for frustrations associated
city, as well as to point out
where “choppas will tomawith living in a rough, urban
how far he has come. These
hawk your top” constantly,
dwelling, which he touches
ideas are positive in a bizarre
and “wet paint drip jelly on
upon often. He speaks of
way, but they come at ranPirellis and the chrome on
high crime rates, gangs, and
dom intervals and between
the Chevy,” at every corner.
“robbas,” as well as what it
lines that describe Georgia’s
What that means, exactly, is
takes to live in such an envirelative geographic location:
up for interpretation.
Ne-Yo’s album “In
My Own Words”
by Abir Usman
“I’m so sorry, seeing you mad is so sexy.”
That should explain everything. Reality
check: if a woman is mad at a man, it isn’t a
good thing. It is far from it, and if that is the
case, how did Ne-Yo come to the conclusion
that seeing a woman mad is sexy? Is it the
way her eyes give hard glances, or the way she
throws things around? “When You’re Mad” is
the song to listen to if listeners would like to
further understand Ne-Yo’s theory.
Ne-Yo’s most popular song would have to
be “So Sick.” It has gotten its share of hype,
but for good reason. It is probably one of the
best after-break-up songs available. The steady
beat and the light harp accompaniment adds
to the ambiance of the song, creating a calm
“groove” for the listeners. The interesting part
about this song is, again, the lyrics that Ne-Yo
provides. It tells a provocative story of how
his girlfriend left him and how he is tired of
reminiscing. He listens to love songs to help
ease his pain only to become sick of them,
and even when he figures that much out, he
still can’t turn the radio off.
Another interesting song that Ne-Yo has
on this album is “Let Me Get This Right.”
The music that Ne-Yo chooses to accompany
his lyrics is very soulful and relaxed. All of
the songs give off this gospel type of old
school feel to them. And “Let Me Get This
Right” is a song that really stands out both
musically and lyrically. Ne-Yo speaks of two
friends that realize that there is something
more to their relationship than just friendship.
The music is playful yet has those hard hitting
beats that give off the vibe that the mood
should be light but there are some things that
need to be cleared up.
“Stay,” featuring Peedi Crack, is another
song found on the new album and plays a
little off of the song “So Sick” as shown in its
music video, where Ne- Yo sings “So Sick” to
himself before the actual song, “Stay,” begins
to play. It is more upbeat than “So Sick” but
has the same lyrical effect that “So Sick” possesses. It sounds more like a prologue to “So
Ne-Yo’s Debut album “In My Own
Words” is set to release on February
28, 2006.
Courtesy of Moxie
Sick” because Ne-Yo sings about how spectacular this one girl is in this song whereas in
“So Sick” he sings about how he wants to get
over this one girl. The songs go hand in hand.
One of Ne-Yo’s most recognized lyrical
works is “Let Me Love You,” which was performed by R&B artist Mario. The song was
on Billboards #1 R&B chart for several weeks
in 2004. He has also written songs for artists
such as Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans, and
Musiq.
Addressing the song, “Let Me Love You”
Ne-Yo states “It’s a great song, and I’m really
happy to have wrote it, but if you can only
write one really great song, then you shouldn’t
be in this business, and I know I should be
here.”
That is good advice, and maybe Ne-Yo
should take it. Ne-Yo is still an amateur artist
in the industry and has accomplished two
major hits in his time. If Ne-Yo can write and
record more songs like “Let Me Love You”
and “So Sick,” he just might make it in the
business.
January 2006
Sports
Page 15
JV Women’s Basketball off to a fast start
by Michael Wojcik
As a cold wind slips in through the doors, so do the winter
sports, bringing with them new teams and new hopes. The
Northside Women’s Junior Varsity Basketball Team has done
just that. Several new faces have been introduced to the team
this year, bringing more game to the table. The team consists
of seven freshmen and seven sophomores aspiring to learn,
have fun, and, of course, play basketball.
The returning players in the group see a lot of potential
in the new faces and hope to explore that potential during the
upcoming season. The freshmen have been picking up quickly
and adjusting well to the high school life of Northside, working hard and pushing themselves to achieve their best scores.
“The freshmen are trying to work hard because they have
big shoes to fill in,” said Cathy Malewicz, Adv. 900.
The sophomore players help the younger members,
acknowledging their mistakes and encouraging them in the
games. The top scorer is Liliana Leon, Adv. 804, though newcomer Aral Johnson, Adv 904, is also learning well. The team
is very encouraging to one another and often hypes each other
up to do their best. When not in the game, the rest of the team
is supportive by cheering on their teammates.
“We just have good chemistry together,” said JV captain,
Kerri Sheehy, Adv. 803.
As the season continues, through intense practices, the
team gains much more experience. Practices generally last two
hours a day and consist of running drills. Each player usually
shoots about 40 to 50 free throws and 60 to 75 three-pointer
shots during practice, and also works on any other necessary
elements of the game. In addition to that, the team also visits
the weight room twice a week and spends time reviewing their
plays.
The coach, Dave Whalen, identified the defense as the
strongest aspect of the team at this point in the season, specifically the team’s lane defense.
“We need to work on our stamina and top speed,” said
Johnson.
Coach Whalen wants to ensure that every player on the
team is familiar with the fundamentals, including dribbling,
shooting, and blocking,
as well as making sure
she understands the position she plays and her
significance to the team.
He wants to improve
the team’s shooting in
the red zone as well as
getting faster breaks in
games.
The coach, however,
understands that the
players are still learning,
still young, and doing
their best with the tools
they have. A priority is
still to make sure the
athletes are enjoying
themselves.
“If they are not having fun, then I’m not doing my job,” said Coach
Whalen.
Coach Whalen is
also equally concerned
that every member of the
team pays a great deal of
attention to her studies.
“If you want to be
good and stay in the
Aral Johnson, Adv. 904, attempts a free throw as her teammates Cathy Malewicz (11), Adv.
game, you have to pound 900, and Amanda Radcliffe (24), Adv. 806, box-out for the rebound.
the books,” said Coach Photo by Michael Wojcik
Whalen.
said JV player Hannah Basil, Adv. 907. “The audience really
So far in the season, the women’s record in conference is
does motivate you.”
11-6 overall, demonstrating the success of their work.
Games for the 2006 season will continue through January
However, the team still hopes to improve one more feaand
into February, and thus far the team has been showing
ture, acknowledging that they play better when motivated.
teamwork and rising scores.
“We would appreciate more support from the audience,”
Men’s sophomore basketball shoots off
a new season
by Sejla Dizdarevic
As most Northsiders were getting ready
for winter break, the Men's Sophomore
Basketball Team was getting ready for the
upcoming tournament at Notre Dame,
where they played three games.
The first game on December 26th was
unsuccessful against Notre Dame, in which
Northside lost 47 to 27. Although Northside
played a great game, Notre Dame played a
far superior game. The next day, the sophomore team defeated Ridgewood 58 to 47.
The success gave the players hope of winning the next day’s game against Lane Tech.
However, they eventually lost the game with
an end score of 53 to 37.
Going into the tournament, Coach Dave
Ruehl, along with the rest of the team, had
many expectations.
"I was expecting to win at least two of
the games, but we were unsuccessful," said
Coach Ruehl. "Instead, we won one game
due to the fact that we had trouble handling
the pressure, and we didn't shoot the ball
well. It is the first half of the season, and
we are doing very well, though. We won 11
games, lost 3, and have a long way to go."
Coah Ruehl also mentioned that they
were disadvantaged because one of the team’s
star players, Conor Camp, Adv. 800, was
away on vacation and wasn't able to make it
to the games.
"If we had Conor, it would have made
a substantial difference," said Coach Ruehl,
"Also, I am very happy to say that Mackenzie
Rivers, (Adv. 807) was moved up to varsity.
This says a lot about him."
The Mustangs played Lane on Wednesday that week, but lost. They beat Lane just a
couple of days before, but this time, they were
unsuccessful. Lane Tech got a high head start
in the first quarter, making it difficult for the
Mustangs to come back.
"I thought we'd do better than we did,”
said Coach Ruehl. “We were defeated in the
game against Lane Tech because we had a
terrible first quarter. We also had many games
in those nine days and hardly any practice.
With the upcoming games, we will get more
practice time, and it's all about to change. We
were also missing three very good players."
The players also had expectations that
weren’t fulfilled.
“I expected us to do better than we did,”
said Kevin Menczynski, Adv. 810. “We have
a lot to work to do in order to beat Von [Steuben] and other red north teams."
"I had expected to play better, but we
didn't play up to full potential,” said Saif
Rahman, Adv. 803. “On the other hand, we
had eight games in eleven days; therefore,
everything came out pretty good."
"I was looking forward to seeing how we'd
play against non-CPS schools and wanted to
develop team play,” said Jorge Saldarriaga,
Adv. 811. “Overall, I am disappointed in the
team."
The tournament gave the players an opportunity to play against the suburban schools
that are often hard to beat.
"I was looking forward to dominating the
tournament with ease and beating the suburban kids senseless," said Mackenzie Rivers,
Adv. 807.
The Men's Sophomore Basketball Team
was not as successful as they had expected
to be, but the tournament did give them the
opportunity to practice playing as a team and
develop strategies for the future.
Dancing into the new year
by Elizabeth Sobenes
Northside’s Poms dancers have
been laboriously practicing for
various future performances that
will take place later in January.
Jeannette Santos, Adv. 600, and
Stephanie Arias, Adv.703, cocaptains of Poms, led the group
by choreographing the dances.
The team has received words
of encouragement with visits
from former Poms members,
including alumnus Kim Le.
Poms’ first performance took place on November 26, 2005, and the
Poms team members were
also the guest performers
at the Winter Snow Ball
and performed on December
12th and on December 21st, at the
men’s varsity
basketball games to
show their support
for the team. Poms mostly perform for the home games. However,
sometimes they attend away games.
There
are
eighteen
dancers
in total
that practice
twice a week
on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
“It can get
pretty stressful and
confusing; but when
it comes together, you
feel proud of the girls
and the time and effort
they have all put in,”
said Santos.
“The best
part of Poms
is definitely
all the fun we
have with the
girls,” said
Arias.
Poms are
performing
to various modern songs that one
would hear on the radio. Some of
the artists whose music they dance
to are Fantasia, Ying Yang Twins,
and Missy Elliot.
“The music has a good beat
that’s good to dance to,” said Kristine Pol, Adv. 804.
Not only is Poms practicing for
their performances at Northside, but
they are also beginning to practice for a larger Universal Dance
Association Competition (UDAC)
on January 29th, along with the
city competition. The competitions
involve dance teams from different
high schools coming together and
competing in different categories,
such as Poms. This competition
will be the first for Poms this school
year. The UDAC will be a bit different for the team this year. It will
involve almost all suburban schools,
as opposed to just Chicago Public
Schools.
“We’ve never done this before
and are expecting some fierce competition,” said Santos.
The
forgotten warriors
Continued from page 16
a ready pin. Also the “cradle”
is a body twisting technique that
leaves the wrestler immobile due to
the inability to pull out of a knot.
One can also “ride” his or her
opponent to get them back on the
floor when they are attempting to
get up. It is also possible to “drive”
a challenger, which is a move that
is used when the opponent is on
his or her stomach and the goal is
to try to get him on his back. The
only way of actually pinning the
opponent is by getting them on
their back and having both their
shoulders touch the mat for at least
to seconds.
“Wrestling is definitely a tough
sport,” said Gustavo Pacheco, Adv.
707. “Our goal as a team is to better our techniques this year and pin
more people.”
Improvement is undeniably
showing as the team has learned
from its mistakes and continues to
improve at wrestling.
Coach George is one of the
main contributors to the team’s
success. He puts in a lot of
time to train the team and has a
well-known history of training
Olympic wrestlers and top notch
wrestling teams.
“I used to wrestle for Oklahoma State,” said Coach George.
“It’s one of the best schools for
wrestling in the country.”
Each wrestling match is full
of tension, suspense, and at times
disappointment. However, each
time the team manages to pull
its strengths together to try and
achieve victory, the team learns
from its experience. Although
wrestling may be a “man-sport,”
it is open to anybody who is interested. The team is currently trying
to recruit those willing to devote
long hours training. Nevertheless
wrestling is an intense sport for
those strong enough to make it
through. As an unknown proverb
once said, “If someone has to
remind you that there’s no crying
in baseball, then don’t even bother
joining wrestling.”
Page 16
Sports
Khan-Ya Hear
Me?
Da Bears will be back
by Asrar Khan
As I angrily switched off the television in
light of the 29-21 demolition of my beloved
Bears, I sat there wondering about how we
blew it. This was the year the Bears could
have won it all. Beating the Panthers would
have sent us to face Seattle- a far from perfect team (though
they did, to my delight, destroy the Panthers). In the Super
Bowl, there would have been no Manning or Brady, and
though Pittsburgh did hand our butts to us in December, the
Bears could have learned from their mistakes and prepared
more adequately. Instead, we blew it. But not to worry - here
is a plan that will, barring injuries or unforeseen disaster, put
the Bears in the Super Bowl next year.
Perhaps the utmost respect for the Bears can be seen in
this quote by a rival NFC north coach.
“In this division,” new Vikings coach Brad Childress
said shortly after being hired, “it’s all about Chicago right
now.”
Indeed it is, but why? It’s no secret that defense has
carried the Bears all season long; however, I regret to say
that defense was the sole reason we lost to Delhomme. Our
first order of business will be to sign a potential shutdown
corner. The term shutdown doesn’t really apply anymore, in
this era, (maybe with the exception of Champ Bailey), but it
has become increasingly clear that the Bears possess none.
Tillman is a great corner who has repeatedly been burned
by smaller, quicker receivers, and Vasher, a human ball
magnet, is not really capable of going head to head with a
larger, more physical receiver. Logic would indicate you put
Tillman on the larger, more physical receiver, and Vasher on
the quicker, fleet-footed one, but the Bears Cover 2 system is
a concrete scheme that requires one corner to always cover
one side of the field. The Bears must draft a highly regarded
corner, capable of starting at least in nickel (3rd corner)
duty right away. Or they can go spend some money this
off-season to get the oft injured but highly talented Charles
Woodson. That would certainly shore up the corners.
The next order of business defensively will be to find
viable backup for Mike Brown. In the games Mike Brown
didn’t play this year, the defense was a shell of itself; teams
ran all over the Bears, as Carolina did when Brown left due
to an injured calf. Sign Adam Archuleta or Lance Schulters,
two Mike Brown type players—hard hitting and intense.
Two more pressing items defensively. Although we had
a spectacular pass rush this season, we never really had a
speed pass rusher, built for obvious passing downs that will
give Adewale Ogunleye or Alex Brown a breather. Trade
Michael Haynes, who is in Lovie Smith’s doghouse for
his lack of speed and motor, for a draft pick, and use that
pick for a pure speed rusher that relentlessly goes after the
quarterback.. The last order of business defensively will be
to sign or draft a strong side linebacker that can challenge
Hunter Hillenmeyer, Chicago’s only weak link defensively.
We’ll probably address this through the draft, but imagine
Cato June in a Bears uniform.
Offensively, the Bears took some positive steps at the
end of the season. Rex Grossman played well 2nd quarter on,
and besides his late game interception, continually moved
the ball against a feared defense. It’s obvious Grossman is
the starter going into next year, but Kyle Orton has proven
that he can lead the Bears to victory and will be waiting
in the wings if Grossman fails or, more likely, tears any
muscles or breaks another bone. Our running game looks
spectacular, with Thomas Jones posting a 1,300 yard season
and talented Benson, who will have a full training camp to
prepare, in the mix. Adrian Peterson averaged five yards a
pop last year and looks like a viable running back.
The offensive line played great last year. The signing of
Roberto Garza at the start of the season was the most underrated signing of the year, as he filled in seamlessly when
Ruben Brown and Terrance Metcalf were hurt. But the
offensive line is aging and injuries do occur, which is why
the Bears will be smart if they somehow manage to keep
Metcalf, a free agent, for next season. Drafting an interior
lineman wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
At the wide receiver position, Muhsin Muhammad certainly did not earn his part of the $30 million contract and
looks like he was a poor investment. He will be thiry-three
next season and looks to have lost a step. Mark Bradley and
especially Bernard Berrian seem to have great potential for a
more vertical attack. In all honesty, however, the Bears need
another receiver, one that has the experience to make life
easier for Grossman. Now, there were rumors that Terrell
Owens had dinner with Bears GM Jerry Angelo this week,
and he might seriously be considered an option as scary
as it sounds. If they do not make a push for TO, which
would probably be the smart thing to do, they could go after
Antwaan Randle El, a quicker receiver who would not only
start right away, but would also fill the Bears pressing need
for a punt returner.
Finally, the last order of business is the tight end position, where Desmond Clark did not show up at all this
season. The Bears could easily draft a tight end, maybe even
in the first or second round, to fill this spot, but the premiere
prospect at this position, Vernon Davis, is predicted to be
long gone by the time the Bears pick. Signing the proven
Chad Lewis might not be a bad idea since he is a viable red
zone target and blocks well.
Whatever direction the Bears choose to go next season
with free agency or the draft will certainly be important, as
it seems the division has been substantially weakened and
the NFC is there for the taking. Just how much money Angelo wants to spend, and how well he scouts, is the question.
The Hoof Beat
Mustangs route in semi-finals
Men’s Varsity falls short in championships
by Idrees Mohiuddin
utes remaining in the quarter, committing turnovers that led fortable nine point lead with
Following Christmas
Mackenzie Rivers, Adv. 807,
to six fast break points. The
a score of 44-35. Then they
weekend, the Fifth Anentered the game in his first
Eagles cut the lead to five
took a commanding lead
nual Northside College Prep
appearance for the varsity
points once again when they
of 48-36 with two minutes
Holiday Tournament was
went on a 7-3 run to bring
and change remaining in the
held from Monday December team this season after being
promoted from the sophothe score to 28-23 Mustangs.
quarter to seal the game for
26th to Wednesday the 28th.
good. The final
There were a total
score was 52-44
of 14 teams from
Mustangs.
CPS high schools
The top two
competing in the
players for the
tournament.
Mustangs were
The Mustangs
Michael Burke
advanced to the
and Christos
final four of the
Kolovos, Adv. 606.
tournament where
Michael Burke
they took on the
was the team’s
Dyett Eagles on
leading scorer with
December 26th.
15 points in the
From the begingame and Christos
ning of the game,
Kolovos chipped in
the Mustangs came
nine points and 16
out with much
rebounds.
more intensity than
“This really
their counterparts.
was a break-out
Fueled by the
game for Chris,”
support from the
said Coach Horn.
impressively large
“He’s capable of
number of fans, the
such performances
Mustangs got off to
like this on a given
a quick start in the
night. If he can
first quarter by takdevelop some
ing a 10 point lead.
consistency he’d be
Looking undersized
and careless, the
Jake Baskin, Adv. 601, prepares to shoot a free throw in the final minutes of a great asset to our
Eagles were able
the third quarter in the semi-finals. The Mustangs were able to hold off an 8-3 team. He’s capable
of contributing in
to muster up all
run by the Dyett Eagles in the quarter to win comfortably.
so many ways that
of three points to
Photo by Idrees Mohiuddin
he’s pretty imporbegin the game
more team. He provided an
As the quarter went on, the
tant to out team.”
against the alert and active
instant boost to the team by
Eagles remained in the game
“I was just doing what I
Mustang defenders, and
blocking a shot which led
through their defensive effort
do best,” said Christos Kotrailed 13-3 at the end of the
to a breakaway lay-up for
as both the Mustang and
lovos. “My game is all about
first quarter.
Michael Burke, Adv. 601,
Eagle offenses struggled to
hustle and I made sure that I
“We only gave up three
putting the Mustangs up 17score. With two minutes to
pounded the boards and got
points in the first quarter,”
10. The Mustangs continued
go in the third quarter, the
to every rebound that came
said Coach Horn. “That was
to surge at both ends of the
Eagles brought the score to
my way.”
by-far the best defensive perfloor as they blocked four
within three points at 32-29
As the Mustangs continformance we have had for an
shots and scored 10 points
after pulling off an 8-3 run.
ued on in their quest to win
entire quarter in five years.”
in the final two minutes of
But once again, the Mustangs the tournament championAs the second quarter
the half. The first half ended
were able to regain their
ship, they hit a road block
ensued, the Eagles were
with the Mustangs up 25-16.
composure as they had done
against Dunbar High School.
consistently being beaten on
“The other team came
so in the final minutes of
In the championship game
the boards as Mustang after
out strong in the second
the second quarter and were
held on the 28th, the MusMustang was able to gather
quarter,”
said
Coach
Horn.
able
to
end
the
third
quarter
tangs fell to Dunbar. In the
missed shots on both ends
“They were much faster and
on 4-0 run capped off with
end, what the Mustangs were
of the floor. But to make
their quickness caught up to
a buzzer-beating lay-up by
able to cope with and adjust
up for their lack of size and
Michael Burke.
to in the semi-finals was their
strength, the Eagles pressured us on offense early on when
they pressured us defensively.
At the onset of the fourth
downfall in the championthe Mustangs defensively
But I was happy by the way
quarter, the offensive play
ship game.
and offensively with their
picked up at both ends of the
“We struggled with the
speed and quickness. Midway we performed and closed out
the quarter.”
floor as both teams traded
speed and quickness of their
into the second quarter, the
Early on in the third
baskets. Midway through the
team,” said Michael Burke.
Eagles were able to decrease
quarter, the Eagles came
quarter, the Mustangs were
“We weren’t able to adjust
the scoring deficit to 15-10
out with aggressive play and
able to continue pouring in
and that caught up to us the
after going on a 7-2 run.
forced the Mustangs into
offensively and had a comentire game.”
With less than two min-
Northside’s forgotten warriors:
Mustang wrestlers struggle to gain respect
by Michelle Zacarias
It is six thirty in the afternoon, the
sun has already set, and the halls are
quiet and empty. Of course there is
hardly anyone left at school; the only
inhabitants are the janitors, the security
guards and…the wrestlers?
Although it may be hard to believe,
due to the lack of knowledge about the
team, the Mustang Wrestling Team
is one of the hardest working sports
teams that Northside has. From the
very moment that school gets out until
six o’clock, wrestling practice continues
nonstop. The drill consists of running
laps, carrying teammates on each others
backs while sprinting, weight lifting,
jogging up and down the stairwell, leg
throws, and even practicing the actual
wrestling moves. To ensure that the
team gets its full, exhausting workout,
Coach Elliot George is there to watch
over the wrestlers’ improvements.
The wrestling season started in the
fall with conditioning to guarantee that
only the toughest athletes joined the
team. The plan was simple: those who
could make it through conditioning
could make the team. Unfortunately, the
work was too intense for many people
and only a small number of new comers made it on the team. The rest were
veterans from the previous season.
Melissa Jordan, Adv. 902, is one
of the few incoming
freshman that made it
through conditioning.
“Wrestling is actually a lot more fun than
I thought it would be,”
said Melissa, as she
hurried off to join the
rest of the team while
they jogged around the
gymnasium.
The new captain
for this year is senior
Christopher Zysko,
Adv. 604, and the cocaptain is Ryne Tobin,
Adv. 704. Both young
men are star wrestlers
on the team, and Tobin
even made the Sectional Championships last John Ko, Adv. 909, prepares himself as his opponent
year. He hopes that his gets into starting position.
accomplishments from Photo by Michelle Zacarias
the previous season will
inspire the team.
ments when both wrestlers are deciding
“Once everyone gains confidence,
what move to make, and as soon as one
we will be unstoppable,” said Tobin.
shoots, the match is on. One of the most
The actual sport of wrestling is
common and efficient defense mechaabout survival. As difficult as the worknisms for wrestling is tripping your opout may be, the actual matches take a
ponent. This usually gets them on their
lot more out of the body than anything
during practice. Right after the referee
Continued on page 15 as
blows the whistle, there are a few mo“The forgotten warriors”