They came, they saw, they conquered Agenda design turned down

Vol. 7 No. 7
The
Northside College Preparatory High School
March 2006
HoofBeat
Page 2
News
pages 1-5
• Northside wins big in
SPAC
• Northside students protest
Iraq War
Features
pages 6-8
• Over 100 Northsiders
abroad
• Democrats take backseat,
as usual
Centerfold
pages 10-11
• Prom fever hits Northside
Editorial
pages 12-13
• Should Northside have a
uniform grading policy?
Arts & Entertainment
pages 14-17
• Cast of She’s the Man
visits Chicago
• Punk conformity
Sports
pages 18-20
• Women’s varsity soccer
kick starts season
• Tracking to victory
Acadec
competes
at State
Page 19
Lacrosse
for lady
Mustangs
They came, they saw, they conquered
Northside students win at IJCL Convention
by Natalia Emanuel
Through sore throats, tickle-me-pink t-shirts, sweepstakes points were Northsiders. Kelsey
oral questions concerning Latin grammar, volittle sleep, and brain twisting Latin questions,
Koon, Adv. 602, took first place; Adam Swiatcabulary, Roman history, Roman literature, and
Northside’s delegation of students emerged
lowski, Adv. 809, took second; Kavinda WeweRoman life and Mythology in a jeopardy-style
victorious on the 25th of February. Northside
gama, Adv. 707, took third; Andrew Foertschgame. At the Latin 1 level, Northside’s team,
dominated the 2006 Illinois Junior Classical
Jans, Adv. 707, won fourth; Jennifer Friedman,
consisting of Monica Laytham, Adv. 901, Aisha
League (IJCL)
Ahmad, Jennifer
Convention in
Friedmann, AuTinley Park.
gustine Lakayil,
Despite having
Adv. 904, Liza
the largest
Soriano, Adv.
delegation,
903, and Placonsisting of
mena Daskalo68 students,
va, Adv. 904,
Northside
took first place.
placed 1st in
The last three
the overall
participants
sweepstakes
rotated in their
points and 2nd
participation.
in the perAt the Latin 3,
capita sweep4, and AP level,
stakes points
Northside took
competitions.
1st place with
Northside won
the team of
approximately
Kelsey Koon,
half the awards
Kavinda Wewegiven out at
gama, Andrew
the convenFoertsch-Jans,
tion, taking
and Max Swi238 individual
atlowski, Adv.
awards, 53 of
603, sealing a
which were
four year streak.
blue ribbons.
At the Latin 2
“Northside
level, Northside
doesn’t win
took 3rd place
at Latin – it
with Adam
sweeps,” com- Northside’s Upper Certamen team, comprised of Kavinda Wewegama, Adv. 707, Andrew Foertsch-Jans, Swiatlowski,
Adv. 707, Max Swiatlowski, Adv. 603, and Kelsey Koon, Adv. 602, sealed their four year streak of first
mented Ryan
Harold Jaffe,
O’Connor, Adv. places.
Alex Poniecki,
Photo by Natalia Emanuel
810, a Latin 2
and Spencer
participant.
Rosenfeld, Adv.
Adv. 904, took fifth; Kevin Kilgallon, Adv.
Mr. Tylinski, Northside’s Latin teacher, was
909.
606, took sixth; Aisha Ahmad, Adv. 904, won
particularly pleased with the student turnout.
“Our Certamen teams are very strong,” said
seventh; Alex Poniecki, Adv. 804, took eighth;
“Each year our number of students interestMr. Tylinski. “Even though Latin 2 ended up in
Harold Jaffe, Adv. 802, took ninth; and David
ed in going increases,” he said. “And I think that
third place, they are a very, very strong team and
Velasco, Adv. 700, won tenth place.
has a lot to do with how great of an activity it
they will get better once they get back in the habit
Northside also excelled in one of the central
is. Once students goes they just want to go again
of preparing.”
competitions, Certamen. Certamen is a competiand again and again.”
Aside from academic competitions, Northtion in which four people on a given team comTen of the eleven students with the highest
Continued as “Latin Competition” on pg. 3
pete against two other teams, trying to answer
Agenda design turned down for lack of
ethnic diversity
by Damon Beres and Rachel Ramir
Controversy struck Northside’s
art world when Adrian Marshall’s,
Adv. 600, entry for a contest involving the design of a new assignment notebook cover was turned
down by the administration. This
decision was ethnically motivated,
as the administration cited an
obvious lack of diversity in the
piece as its reason for turning it
away. The contest was held by the
administration to come up with
a fresh cover for the 2006-2007
school year, though the art department teachers were designated as
judges.
“One of the things we talk
about in our vision statement is
that we’re a diverse community
of learners – the picture was not
diverse at all,” said Ms. Lisa Moreno. “Asking students to carry
around this agenda book that has
no one on there that reflects their
diversity… Are we saying that
they’re not important?”
The cover, a playful design
involving the integration of cartoon animals into a 1960s-esque
classroom, may have been denied
by the administration, but it found
favor from Northside’s art head,
Ms. Joanne Minyo.
“It made me laugh. I just
thought it was really clever; it
seemed like a lot of thought went
into it,” said Ms. Minyo. While
the students in the image are all
Caucasian, Ms. Minyo is quick
to point out that “It doesn’t re-
ally reflect what any of the kids at
it with a public relations point of
Northside look like... It’s obviously view. [My piece] was more about
a dated photograph.”
the aesthetic quality as a whole, and
Adrian Marshall’s piece was
the idea of the feeling of school, not
chosen through a unanimous vote
the kids in school.”
by the art department, including
Marshall felt that there was no
Mr. Jorge Lucero and Mr. Chris
need to redesign her cover accordSantiago. Only
three designs
were submitted,
however, which
put strain on the
administration and
art department
when Marshall’s
design was put out
of the running.
“Compared to
the other pieces,
it was the most
inventive,” said Ms.
Minyo.
While Marshall was offered
the chance to redo
her cover to fit the
administration’s
criteria, she chose
not to, in favor
of upholding her
artistic integrity.
“The more I
thought about, it
the angrier I got,”
said Marshall. “It
was so out of the
blue…. They might Adrian Marshall’s, Adv. 600, assignment
as well have kept
notebook design was shot down by
Northside’s administration.
the piece from last
Image courtesy of Adrian Marshall
year; they came to
ing to the guidelines of the competition, in which there was no specific,
outward stipulation requiring the
integration of ethnic diversity.
“We asked for it to capture the
essence of Northside,” said Ms.
Moreno in regards to the contest
rules. Yet Ms. Minyo felt this
guideline was vague.
“What is the essence of Northside?” she asked. “I think it is easier
to say what Northside is not.”
While there was much buzz
about whether or not the design
captured the “essence of Northside,” an important determining factor was left out of the competition
altogether: the input of the student
body.
“I think it is important that the
students have a say in how we are
represented,” said Elizabeth Born,
Adv. 710, a student also involved in
Northside’s Art Department.
Such a say was missing in this
contest for a new student planner
cover, as the administration and art
department held all deciding power.
Ms. Minyo feared that allowing
the student body to vote on such a
matter could turn it into a “popularity contest.”
Because of the controversy,
students can look forward to having the same assignment notebook
cover next year. There is hope,
however, for 2007-2008, as the
administration may attempt another
contest, this time with student input
and clearer guidelines.
Page News
Continuing the flow of concern
Chicago River Student Congress
by Michalak Martyna
The Friends of the Chicago River’s
9th annual Chicago River Student
Congress took place on Saturday, February 4th from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
at Amundsen High School. Students
worked together on projects and shared
ideas about the Chicago River.
“[The idea] is to raise awareness for
all the student participants in the beauty
of the Chicago River, a wonderful place
that should be kept clean. People should
respect and love the Chicago River,”
said Mr. Steve Arnam, who supervised
the Northside students taking part in
the event. Mr. Arnam has participated
in all nine of the Chicago Student River
Congresses.
During the past few years, the Chicago River Student Congress has grown
to include 26 schools and 277 students.
“Quality [of the presentations and
exhibits] has increased,” said Mr. Arnam. “A lot of people are involved
in presenting, but overall the
number of presenters from
Northside has surprisingly
decreased this year from
last year.”
Northside students
presented “Just Add
Water,” which was
a project explaining how to prepare
aquariums for
classroom use.
Besides schools
and students presenting, presenters came from
places including the Grove
Nature Center and the Army
Core of Engineers. Just like
the students, these environmental professionals organized
exhibits.
The Grove Nature Center
brought in reptiles and amphibians,
which were a big hit. The Army Core
of Engineers talked about their involvement in policing the wetlands in an
attempt to protect them.
Younger kids were able to have fun
as well at a fish coloring booth, run by
Mr. Arnam.
“For the younger children it is definitely a learning experience,” said Cong
Nguyen, Adv. 805, one of the Northside
students presenting at the event. “It is
important to learn the greatness of our
river.”
The day at the Chicago River Student Congress began with an environmental game.
The organizers of the Student
Congress asked students, “How has the
Chicago River survived in the past?”
The answer was perseverance.
“I thought this question was hard,
but I guess not hard enough so next year
we’ll try to make it harder,” said Ms.
Joni Marin, the education coordinator
of the event.
After the students presented and
workshops were over, students from
Gage Park performed a rap related to
the river.
In addition to this entertainment, a live band composed
of students from Amundsen
High School performed.
At the end, each participant received a green-blue,
silicone bracelet that
said, “Our River Rocks
- Friends of the Chicago River.”
“It was cool
seeing all the people
there interested in
the Chicago River
and trying to get
extra credit at the same
time,” said Vinh Nguyen, Adv.
802.
“I think we want to
celebrate work students have
done,” said Ms. Marin. “[The
Congress] is intended to make
students feel like they are part of
something big. It is a big learning
celebration of students’ work.”
Acadec competes at State
by Kana Yoo
Despite Academic Decathlon’s desire to shed its geeky
The day to come consisted of seven half-hour multiple choice
persona, the team’s intellectual vigor and competitive spirit
tests, competitions in speech, essay and interview, and an
are undeniable; on Saturday, March 11, Northside took third
interactive super quiz relay.
place at the State Championship, which was held at Malcolm
During the super quiz relay, each student took turns
X College.
answering five questions. This year’s topic was social science,
The road to State Championships was not always smooth,
specifically the detailed history of the Renaissance.
as Acadec struggled to have a full team. At the Regional com“It’s not nerve-wracking for me because I’ve done it and
petition in January, the team had five people competing out of
I’m used to it,” said Rebekah Kim, Adv. 600. “But for people
the nine needed,
and only four and
a half of the scores
were counted out
of the six possible.
“I thought it
was impressive
considering that
we had four people
and we were able
to beat 20 or 30
other teams,” said
Mr. Johan Tabora,
Acadec Coach
along with Ms.
Martha Mulligan.
The team then
moved onto the
citywide tournament, which took
place on February
22. Once again,
Northside overcame its disadvantage of having
an incomplete
group. With seven
members compet- The Acadec team, accompanied by Mr. Johan Tabora and Ms. Martha Mulligan, smiles brilliantly
ing and five scores as they show off their hard-won awards.
counting, North- Photo by Kana Yoo
side was still able
who are doing it for the first time it can be.”
to place fourth out of 31 other schools.
After the super quiz relay, the awards ceremony took
“We’ve been doing really well considering our plight,” said
place. Whitney Young won first, Stevenson High School
Mr. Tabora.
came in second and Northside placed third with about 35,000
The day before the State Championship, ACADEC met
points, points out of the 60,000 possible.
after school as a final time to review. Members prepared for
“Like every competition, you feel like you could’ve done
interview questions and set goal scores for themselves.
better after it’s over,” said Cassandra Boykin, Adv. 603. “I am
“I feel nervous but excited,” said Jerry Wang, Adv. 901,
glad we got as far as we did.”
who is on Acadec’s Honors team. “We’ve put in a lot of work
The team is keeping a bright outlook for the future and
throughout the year, and we’re hoping that it’ll pay off. But
looking for new members. Next year’s topic theme is China.
it’ll be fun no matter what.”
“We’re looking for students who would want to be part of
As the meeting began to wind down, members reminded
a team, an academic team,” said Mr. Tabora. “We’re looking
each other to sleep and study. Being ACADEC, this then led
for good men and women who love to learn and thrive on a
to a discussion about adrenaline and norepinephrine.
team with camaraderie and purpose.”
The next morning, students met at the school at 6:45 AM.
The Hoof Beat
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,
Maxwell Brown, Ajla Sunje,
Kana Yoo
News Editors: Ashraf Abbas,
Natalia Emanuel, Rachel Ramir
Features Editors: Aisha Wahid,
Kana Yoo
Centerfold Editors: Sanja Bajgoric,
Muamera Hadzic, Anthe Mitrakos
Editorial Editor: Aliy Markowski
Satire: Ashraf Abbas, Damon Beres
Arts and Entertainment Editor:
Damon Beres
Sports Editors: Geethi Abraham,
Idrees Mohiuddin
Polls: Syyeda Afreen Ali
Photo Editors: Neha Alam,
Zenobia Gonsalves, Shoaib Khan
Art Editor: Anthe Mitrakos
Junior Art Editor: Vasiliki Mitrakos
Contributing Writer: Harris Grigoropoulos
Reporters: Shoaib Ali, Zainab Bilfaqi,
Sejla Dizdarevc, Puja Gopal, Rachel
Hautzinger, Elizabeth Jose,
Mohammad Khaleelulah,
Karolina Maslanka, Martyna Michalak,
April Nwatah, Salim Patel, Patricia
Radkowski, Nadir Rashid, Elizabeth
Sobenes, Abir Usman, Michelle
Zacarias
Junior Reporters: Adaora Achufusi,
Zlatana Alibegovic, Tyler Johnson,
Rhiannon Koehler, Andrea Ljevar,
Mohammad Rahman, Riaz Shaikh
The Hoof Beat is a monthly publication produced by the Northside Prep Journalism Class. As
a student-run newspaper, your opinions are important to us. If you have any comments, corrections,
critiques, or questions, please e-mail Mr. Chester
Tylinski at [email protected].
March 2006 “Latin
Competition”
Continued from page 1
side also did well in creative contests.
Northside took 17 awards for Art Projects
and also placed in Latin Sight Reading,
Costume Contests, Latin Oratory, Dramatic Latin Interpretation, English Oratory,
and Modern Myth Writing.
“I definitely tried a lot more things this
year,” said Robin Tholin, Adv. 810. “Last
year I was a little wary of attempting too
many competitions I wasn’t sure I could
place in. This year I just tried a lot of them,
the way Mr. Tylinski always suggests. And
I was really glad I did it. Even though I
didn’t win in all of them I had a lot of fun
that way.”
In IJCL‘s competition for skits, Northside entered a skit written by Chris Field,
Adv. 606. With a comic plot line, the skit
tells the story of Prometheus after he was
freed from being bound to a boulder and
steals the Olympian gods’ drug-like food,
ambrosia, giving it to humans. The play
placed fifth.
“[It didn’t just cross the line,] it catapulted itself over the line and then blew
it up,” said Robin Tholin. “And that was
what made it so good.”
The skit placed fifth because it went
over the time limit and because it did not
incorporate the theme of the convention,
friendship.
“That’s fair,” commented Tholin, “but
none of the other skits were nearly as
good.”
Northside also took first place in IJCL’s
Spirit contest. This is the first year Northside has ever won this competition. Aileen
Cordero, Adv. 604, Tess Banaszkiewicz,
Adv. 700, and Jane Bialek, Adv. 808, as
the appointed spirit leaders, organized the
delegation’s costumes and cheers and lead
the delegation in showing its spirit.
“We definitely deserved winning the
spirit competition,” said Mr. Tylinski. “The
students who were in charge did an incredible job of organizing and they deserve a
great deal of credit.”
“The Northside enthusiasm and spirit
was infectious,” said Bialek. “After three
crazy days of pink bandanas, boxes on
our heads, and green face paint, Northside
walked away with a 1st place ribbon and
with huge grins on the faces of us spirit
leaders. I’m so proud of the NCP delegation for losing their voices for the cause.”
IJCL also hosts elections for state offices. Tess Banaszkiewicz and Katherine
Nunes, Adv. 704, for 2nd Vice President
and Parliamentarian, respectively. Banaszkiewicz, who ran unopposed, was successful.
“It is good that we do have someone
elected to the board of IJCL this year,”
said Mr. Tylinski. “I was disappointed
in Katherine’s loss. I felt she ran a good
campaign. She has worked very, very hard
to get elected. However, rarely does one
school get two officers elected. So we did
get one and it would have been hard to have
expected her to get elected.”
“Tess and Katherine were both incredibly qualified candidates for their positions,” said Jane Bialek. “And regardless of
whether they won or lost, they both deserve
high praise for their exceptional efforts.”
Northside also had two people elected
to ISCL board. Illinois Senior Classical
League is an organization of IJCL alumni
who help plan conventions. Mark Spreitzer,
a Northside alumnus, and senior Max Swialowski were both elected. Mark was the
ISCL Parliamentarian last year and became
the President this year. Max was elected to
the position of Secretary.
“This year, I was the only [SCL] officer
at convention,” said Speitzer. “I felt like I
was the person most likely to continue to be
committed to SCL in the coming year and
to put forth ideas and really try to breathe
life into the ISCL, so I ran for President.”
“I wanted to give back something to
IJCL after years of having so much fun,”
said Max Swiatlowski, “and this seemed
like a place where I could devote myself
to helping IJCL. I really just have a soft
spot in my heart for hordes of kids getting
together to celebrate Latin.”
Overall, it appeared as though everyone
at the convention had a blast.
“It was so fun!” gushed Alicia Gresla,
Adv. 907. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
And for those students who cannot wait
an entire year to do it again, Nationals will
be held July 31st through August 5th at
Indiana University in Bloomington.
News
Rebuilding stations, reputations
Page CTA Brown Line closings
by Max Brown
The temporary closures of
both the Kedzie and Rockwell
Brown line CTA stations recently
occurred on February 20, raising the question of whether or
not they are necessary with the
trouble they may be to hundreds
of CTA travelers. The $530
million project is said by CTA
officials to be an investment in
the stations and the communities around them. The stations
have been virtually demolished
and the trains no longer stop at
them. The CTA has set into place
precautions so that its passengers
Brown line trains pass by the closed Kedzie station.
Photo by Max Brown
are not entirely inconvenienced:
only stations a half mile from
others will be closed, and no two
stations next to each other will be
closed at the same time, with few
exceptions such as weekends.
The proposed improvements
on the stations include extending
platforms and improving station
accessibility. The plans for this
project aim to complete work on
a total of eighteen Brown line
stations.
“It seems to me that the train
actually runs faster and more
efficient,” said Ryan Jansen, Adv.
707. “Since the closings, it’s been
more on time.”
In particular, he refers to
how the train actually goes faster
because of less stops, but not for
those riders who need to get on at
the closed stations.
“Whenever I have to get to
school on the weekend, it is really
a hassle because instead of taking
the train there, I have to get a ride
or take a much longer bus,” said
Jansen.
Volunteers aid runners
While the CTA feels they’re
improving the local commerce
of the area, a downside of the
improvements is that many local
businesses around the closed
stations may do poorly with minimal influx of customers.
The CTA cannot be blamed
fully for the hassle as they have
held many community meetings
to discuss the issue and are giving
free advertising to support the local businesses. Their effort is noticed by some and unnoticed by
others, mainly because it is hard
to turn a blind eye to the inability
to use and lack of transportation
in the surrounding areas.
With the Kedzie station being
closed, the nearest one to school,
even the infrequent rider seems to
be inconvenienced.
“Even though I don’t ride
the Brown line that much,”
said Anne Celestino, Adv. 806.
“Whenever I go downtown, I
have to think about the closings
and what station I can get on the
train at.”
NHS takes part in Hustle up the Hancock
by Ilya Chalik
Instead of a Sunday morning stroll,
Northside National Honor Society members
recently flocked to a prominent local fundraiser at the John Hancock Center. On February
26, they attended the ninth annual OfficeMax
Hustle up the Hancock for the American
Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago.
Although, they did not run up the 94 stories
of the John Hancock, they did help make this
large event possible by being part of a 400
people volunteer group, serving on various
crews designed to facilitate the event for the
more than 4,000 runners.
“It’s a traditional NHS activity,” said
Nancy Cheng, Adv. 601. “We’ve done it since
2003.”
The goal of the event this year was to
fundraise over $850,000 for lung research,
advocacy and education. NHS members had
the option of raising money in addition to
volunteering, but most opted for only working
on Stairwell, Observatory, Gear Check and
other crews at the event. On the Gear Check
Crew, volunteers received the runners’ unessential belongings and stored them.
After the runners completed the race and
descended to the bottom floor, it was the task
of these volunteers to find and return the runners’ belongings.
“I worked on Gear Check, where the
runners leave their personal belongings before
they run up the Hancock, and pick it up after
they’re done running,” said Cheng. “It was
difficult because we were located in the elevator foyer, this little narrow aisle, and we had
to throw all their bags there.”
Because of the sheer number of people
and objects concentrated on a few floors of
the tower, the NHS volunteers had to cope
with large crowds.
The volunteers on the Stairwell Crew,
who were positioned at key intervals adjoining the two stairwells used, helped keep
the athletes going by cheering them on and
distributing essential items like free water for
all the runners.
“Working on the Stairwell Crew was really fun because I like encouraging people,”
said Monica Sirichotiratana, Adv. 602. “[The
runners] came in groups; the parents and kids
waited up for each other.”
The groups of runners, often with captivating team names such as “C U Upstairs”
and “Flyin’ Hawaians” were often families
of lung disease patients, or groups of friends
or coworkers that collectively supported the
cause.
The runners had the option of ascending 1,632 steps for the full climb, or half that
amount. They had special tracking chips
attached to their shoes to record their time,
which were detached by several volunteers at
Reporters stampede SPAC
by April Nwatah
On Friday March 3, 23
Northside Journalism students
attended the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago Conference
(SPAC) and awards ceremony at
Roosevelt University.
The journalists, for the fifth
year in a row, attained more
awards than any other school,
more than doubling the amount
of awards they received last
year. In addition, The Hoofbeat
received Superior or Excellent
awards in 14 of the 16 categories
entered.
At the conference, Aliy
Markowski, Adv. 700, the editorial editor for the Hoofbeat, and
Rachel Ramir, a news editor for
the Hoofbeat, Adv. 701 participated in the features and news
story write-offs.
Markowski took 1st Place
in the News Story write-off and
Ramir won 2nd Place in the Features Story write-off. To participate in the write off, the journalists were required to attend an art
gallery opening on the morning
of the conference at Roosevelt
University. At the opening, they
listened to a lecture by the president of the African American
Association of Photographers.
the finish line on the observatory deck of the
94th level of John Hancock. Other members
of the Observatory Crew distributed medals
and compliments.
“We set up a banana pile; we clipped
chips,” said Paul Balik, Adv. 604. “We were
supporting a very good cause, the American
Lung Association.”
The fastest runner turned out to be Terry
Purcell, who won his fifth Hustle up the Hancock in a row in 9 minutes and 39 seconds.
However, every runner was celebrated at
this event, as people participated to support
the fight against lung disease more than to
compete.
“It was fun – I was on the stairwell crew,”
said Kevin Kilgallon, Adv. 606. “They gave
me a noisemaker to spin; I clapped for a while
and cheered people on. Afterwards I went to
the Observation Deck. Only the volunteers
could go up there and there was a line. It was
nice because all the binoculars were turned
on.”
All the runners and volunteers were invited to the Michigan Avenue Chicago Westin
for lunch, entertainment, free lung exams and
other attractions. Among the many booths,
Jamba Juice offered free samples of their latest creations, and there were complimentary
massages, water and even photographs for the
participants in the event.
After the presentation, they were
what works and what doesn’t in
versus our 7 awards last year,”
given 45 minutes to write a news
a newspaper,” said Abir Usman.
said Abir Usman, Adv. 808.
or features article about what
“It was helpful if you are really
At the conference, the jourthey had just learned.
serious about journalism. It’s
nalists attended three informaIn addition, Kana Yoo,
good to have because you are
tional seminars of their choice.
Adv. 707, Rachel Ramir, Anthe
getting info and tips from profes“[The seminars] I went to
Mitrakos, Adv. 602, and Dasionals.”
were [about] getting ideas for
mon Beres, Adv. 706, received
Max Brown, Ilya Chalik, and
articles, cool layout designs, and
Superior awards for their various
Monika Wojcik presented a semiarticles, photos, or
nar titled “Newspaper on the
drawings. ExcelWeb.” Chalik and Wojcik are
lent Achievement
co-editors-in-chief of The
Awards were
Hoofbeat, while Max Brown
received by Natalia
is in charge of setting up The
Emmanuel, Adv.
Hoofbeat on the Internet.
808, Max Brown,
“We did a presentation
Adv. 706, Aliy
about how we set up our paMarkowski, Geethi
per online and how other city
Abraham, Adv.
schools may go about doing
700, Shoaib Khan,
the same thing,” said Brown.
Adv. 600, Asar
“The Scholastic Press
Khan, Adv. 603,
Association is something
Syedda Ali, Adv.
that I think all journalism
600, Anthe Mitrastudents look forward to. It is
kos, and Zainab
definitely a valuable learning
Sozzer, Adv. 710.
experience that all journalists
The Hoofbeat won
can benefit from,” said Ajla
excellent awards for
Sunje, Adv. 702.
Overall Newspaper
“The conference was
and the Overall
an enjoyable experience.
Layout.
It was an excellent way to
“Northside did Monica Wojcik, Adv. 604, and Asrar Khan, Adv.
bond with my journalism
very well, we won 603, meet Joyce Spight, President of SPAC.
friends,” said Mohammad
16 awards this year Photo by Kana Yoo
Khaleelullah, Adv. 804.
Page News
The Hoof Beat
Telemarketers invade cell phones
Fact or fiction?
by Sanja Bajgoric
“JUST A REMINDER… 31 days from today, cell
phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start receiving sales calls. YOU WILL BE
CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS…”
Seem familiar? Indeed it is, at least to the many people
across the nation who have been bombarded by such e-mails.
The e-mail warns people of telemarketers who would leave
voicemails if the call was not answered, and thus people will
be charged for the incoming minutes.
Fortunately the e-mail also included the national DO
NOT CALL list number: 888-382-1222, and a website,
www.donotcall.gov. These allow for a person who calls from
their cell phone or visits the website to block most telemarketers for five years by having their name and number added to
the list.
Such e-mails have been of interest as early as January
2004. However, this tale has proven to be nothing more than
a myth. According to FCC regulations, telemarketers are
prohibited from calling cell phone numbers using automated
dialers, the standard in the telemarketing industry. To those
not convinced, the Federal Trade Commission allows cell
phone users to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call
Registry.
“Just the idea of telemarketers now getting a hold of our
cell phones gets me angry, as if them calling our home phones
is not annoying enough,” said Jennifer Gonzalez Adv. 705.
“We deserve to have privacy when it comes to our cell phones
as well as the ability to somewhat control who can or cannot
contact us.”
Throughout the past couple of years, cell phones have
grown in popularity. At Northside, 687 students out of about
a 1000 have completed their cell phone waivers, not counting
more students who own cell phones but have not registered
them.
It is because of this phone mania that some wireless
companies (including Nextel, T-Mobile, Sprint PSC, AT&T,
Cingular) have come together in hopes of producing a “Wireless 411” service.
This service would maintain a listing of cell phone customer names and numbers that would be available to directory
assistance providers.
The possible “Wireless 411” service has sparked much
controversy from people who disapprove of telemarketers
invading their privacy. For the most part, people enjoy cell
phones because their number is not available to everyone.
The fact that cell phone customers are charged for incoming
calls might better support the idea that the whole wireless 411
service is a bad idea.
However, the Wireless 411 would save money for those
customers who pay to have their cell phone numbers listed in
March on Michigan
Northside students walk nine miles
for peaceful protest
by Rachel Ramir
On March 18, the third anniversary of the
U.S. bombing of Iraq, seven thousand people
closed off Chicago’s main artery in a march
against the War. Included in the crowd was
a contingent of Northside students that met
with members of the Albany Park, North
Park, and Mayfair Neighbors for Peace and
Justice for the evening. As the time for the
rally came around, the group had already
walked nearly ten miles from Northside to
Union Park, carrying signs, leaflets, and a
large white coffin.
“Nine miles is the most I’ve ever walked!”
said Jeremy Sorkin, Adv. 602.
Sorkin and Evan Burrows, Adv. 605, were
largely responsible for carrying the 15-pound
cardboard coffin that bore the numbers of
dead Americans and Iraqi soldiers.
“The coffin got a lot of attention,” said
Burrows. “At the big march people were reading it out loud and lots of people took pictures
of it. It was an effective tool.”
The rest of the students made their own
signs in front of the school, where they met
early in the afternoon. The group size peaked
at about 30 people, though estimates from
Neil Resnikoff, active member of the Neighbors and adult sponsor of the Northside contingent, rounded the figures out to about 45.
The walk went from Northside to Kimball,
back east to Lincoln and then to Ashland,
which led all the way to Lake Street.
“It was cool – even through we didn’t have
a lot of people, it still made an impact,” said
participant Hannah Geil-Neufeld, Adv. 901.
“When we were walking, a lot of [observers]
seemed really happy about what we were
doing.”
Indeed, along the way walkers were met
with many car-horns and peace signs in support of their cause. Of course, these gestures
were sometimes changed to obscenities, as
drivers honked instead in opposition and gave
different hand gestures. A police car followed
the contingent the entire way, ensuring the
walkers a safe journey. The officers also offered a ride to any who might have needed
a rest, though no one took advantage of this
courtesy.
The walk from Northside culminated at
Union Park, at the corner of Lake and Ashland, and the rally preceding the main event.
Speakers continually kept the podium busy,
touching on topics as taboo as a socialist solu-
tion to the nation’s problems and as typical
as the reasoning behind ending the Iraq war.
The Park became an arena for an exchange of
information: political action groups dispersed
leaflets throughout the crowd, gaining support
and sparking political conversations left and
right (mostly left).
Later that evening the rally moved to the
Walton and State intersection, where smaller
groups organized themselves with large banners, flags, and in one special case, marchingband instruments. This was where the evening
began to heat up. Northside students unfurled
two large banners, one reading “Troops Out
Now!” a slogan popular throughout the
night’s activities, and prepared to file into the
streets with the rest of the party.
“I thought it was perhaps one of the most
successful demonstrations that I’ve been
to,” said Burrows of the march. “There was
a lot of visibility…. It was on such a major
downtown thoroughfare with large pedestrian
traffic.”
The march extended for nearly a mile and
a half, blocking off all cross-streets along the
way and narrowing Michigan Avenue to two
lanes. Protesters were well-organized, with a
collective beat supplied by the marching band
and coordinated flag troop.
Louder participants with megaphones led
the chants: “Hey, Bush, we know you – your
daddy was a killer too!” and “One! We are the
people! Two! A little bit louder! Three! We’re
gonna end this racist war in...” were those
carried throughout the event. Supporters of
the continued Iraq War followed the march
on the sidewalks, with counter-slogans and
their own posters.
Northside students who participated feel
that the effort was successful. Jane Fidman,
Adv. 705, had never participated in a demonstration and was moved by the events of the
night.
“I want people to know that it was mostly
a celebration of freedom of speech,” Fidman
said.
“It’s a good way to participate in politics
in the bigger world,” said Sarah Winters, Adv.
905, another participant in the day’s activities.
“It was good to see Northside students
active and unified,” said Burrows later. “Since
the walkout three years ago, I’ve never seen
Northside students get together on something
like that, even in small groups.”
directories. One thing a cell phone holder should know is that
whether they find this idea to be good or not, their cell phone
numbers will only be included in the directory if they specifically request the number to be added.
No one seems to know what could have possibly sparked
this worry of telemarketers calling cell phones, but contrary
to those e-mails there will be no telemarketers calling your cell
phones anytime soon.
No need to worry, Northsiders: the rumor has been put to
bed.
March 2006
News
Page Mustangs distinguished as National Merit Finalists
by Puja Gopal
This year eight students from
Northside College Prep became Finalists for the National Merit Scholarship
Program. For many of the country’s
high school students the PSAT/
NMSQT is considered to be just one
more step in the college application
process.
However, for several selected
students this test has become a source
of honor, recognition and scholarships. Northside’s Finalists include
Ilya Chalik, Adv. 603, Mitchell Isoda,
Adv. 607, Michael Kennedy, Adv.
600, Rebekah Kim, Adv. 600, Simon
Swartzman, Adv. 605, Maximilian
Swiatlowski, Adv. 603, Joseph Terdik,
Adv. 603 and Monica Wojcik, Adv.
604.
The National Merit process is
quite competitive and involves PSAT
scores in addition to essay writing,
recommendations, academic performance, personal achievements, leadership abilities, extracurricular activities,
and SAT scores.
“It is a process similar to a college
application,” said Monica Wojcik.
The National Merit search begins
when students across the nation take
the PSAT/NMSQT test, which acts
as an initial screening, picking 50,000
students for further selection. These
students are chosen based on their
scores in the sections of the PSAT test
in critical reading, math, and writing
skills, all of which aggregate in the
selection index score.
The students are narrowed down
further into the category of Commended Students, which involves
From left to right: top row - Ilya Chalik, Adv. 603, Simon Swartzman, Adv. 605; bottom row34,000 students nationwide. From
this group, Semifinalists, about 16,000 Monica Wojcik, Adv. 604, Maximilian Swiatlowski, Adv. 603, Joseph Terdik, Adv. 603, and
Michael Kennedy, Adv. 600, relish their success as National Merit Finalists.
students, are selected based on their
Photo by Puja Gopal
academic performance in high school.
Moreno, Assistant Principal at Northside.
gram, the Finalists dined at Charlie Trotter’s,
Finalists, about 15,000 students, are
Though there were more National Merit
along with other students recognized for
notified in early February of their selection
Finalists last year, the school has seen fluctuatheir accomplishments. Charlie Trotter’s,
and then they await the Winner Selection
tions in the number each year depending on
considered one of the finest restaurants in
in which the students can receive various
the class, and Ms. Moreno feels that students
Chicago, hosts weekly dinners for high school
scholarships.
have the potential to do better.
students. The students selected for the dinner
“National Merit Finalists show that the
In addition to the recognition and scholardemonstrate excellence in various areas of
school has provided a solid education, and
ships associated with the National Merit Proeducation, from sports to music to academics;
are a validation for teachers,” said Ms. Lisa
this year, the second year of the dinner, the
selected students also included the National
Merit Finalists.
“The dinner was the biggest perk,”
exclaimed Rebekah Kim.
“It made me think of food in a different
way,” said Simon Swartzman.
In preparing for the PSAT and SAT a
majority of the Finalists said they did not do
any extra preparation, although a few said
they had taken an expensive prep course that
did not yield incredible results.
“The most important thing to remember
is not to worry too much and relax. Just
work steadily throughout the test,” advised
Wojcik.
Becoming a Finalist has many different
meanings for the different students selected.
“It just meant that I did well on a few
tests,” said Kim.
“The selection meant improvement upon
my former self and others, gloating rights
and a rhetorical atomic bomb,” commented
Simon Swartzman. “For many of the Finalists, the selection was just one more item
on the college application. For a few such
as Swiatlowski, however, who applied early
decision, it was not especially helpful.”
“It was more helpful and important
to be a Semifinalist because that actually
went to the college,” explained Swiatlowski.
National Merit does provide scholarships,
but it is not the only criterion of excellence
or achievement.
Winners receive one of three types of
scholarships: National Merit Scholarships
for $2,500, Corporate-sponsored Merit
Scholarships, or College-sponsored Merit
Scholarships.
The National Achievement Scholarship
Program provides recognition to distinguished African American high school
students. It uses similar standards as the
National Merit Program.
However, African American students
can only accept scholarships from one of
the agencies, either National Achievement or
National Merit Program.
“This [accomplishment] shows that I
have skills to excel in the future,” said Kennedy, “but even if I wouldn’t have gotten it,
it wouldn’t mean I didn’t have the skills and
wouldn’t have been a big deal.”
Northside juniors work to understand the future
College Planning Night
by Zenobia Gonsalves
As seniors scramble to turn in their final college applications and eagerly await college responses, juniors begin their
journey into the college process. To guide juniors and their
families through the process, the Counseling Department
hosted College Planning Night on February 28th at 7 p.m.
“I thought [College Planning Night] was a useful experience for those people and their parents who don’t know much
about the college process, but I already had previous knowledge,” said Malikat Rufai, Adv. 705.
Northside’s guidance counselors covered many informational topics about college planning ranging from criteria for
college selection to the application process and procedures
to financial options and concerns. Counselors also answered
many questions juniors and their parents had about the college
process, especially about the appropriate times and procedures
for the SATs and ACTs.
“I found the information concerning deadlines for counselor recommendation letter requests to be most useful,” said
Kavinda Wewegama, Adv. 707.
Each family received The College Planning Handbook, a
booklet put together by the counseling department to guide
students through the application process. The handbook
contained more detailed versions of the topics that were
covered by the counselors during the sessions. It also included
other useful tools, such as junior and senior year calendars
for college planning, a college planning checklist, a college
comparison worksheet, and a few articles related to the college
application process.
“I wish I went to College Planning Night because people
told me the information they received was helpful,” said Syeda
Haider, Adv. 707. “I also could have gotten the College Planning Handbook, which looked very useful.”
Each family reported to one of the four different college
planning sessions based on their advisory number. The sessions lasted anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half and
covered similar topics.
“College Planning Night was really informative and is
helping me keep on task when it comes to college planning,”
said Micah Tepora, Adv. 704.
The counseling department encourages juniors to begin
exploring their college options now and plan ahead to meet
the counselor recommendation and application deadlines in
the fall.
Northside counselor, Ms. Angela Lekkas, elucidates the college application process to juniors and their parents.
Photo by Kana Yoo
March 2006
The stinking
onion:
Over 100,000.
When was the last time
downtown Chicago has seen that
many Latinos?
On Friday, March 10, the
Loop was flooded with immigrants, students, and citizens
concerned about the possibly
devastating effects of H.R.4437,
a bill sent to the Senate by House
Republicans, for which 85% of
Democrats voted “nay”. Virtually
every Central and South American country, as well as Mexico,
Ireland, Poland, and China, was
represented by way of flag and
banner at the rally, which closed
off portions of Adams and Dearborn leading into Federal Plaza.
Only 5,000 people were expected
to attend according to the March
9th Chicago police records.
Why all the fuss? Put into
effect as is, this bill would make it
a felony for any immigrant to be
in the United States without legal
documentation and make compulsory the detainment of these
immigrants by local law enforcement. It would also criminalize
mere association with undocumented immigrants, meaning
that any person – clergy member,
medical staff, social worker,
teacher, or you – found aiding,
assisting, or otherwise coming
into contact with these people
would be subject to punishment
by law.
The only typical sight at
Federal Plaza that afternoon was
Calder’s red flamingo sculpture.
It rose out of an attentive crowd
that frequently broke into chants
of “si, se puede!” (yes, you can!)
and “…el pueblo está presente!”
(the town is here!), slogans
underscored by far-away marching-drums. All faces were turned
toward a center stage, from which
politicians, religious leaders, and
social figureheads in the Latino
community delivered messages in
Spanish and English via loudspeaker. The afternoon’s activities
began with a prayer, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
by a group of schoolchildren, and
a moment of silence for those
who have lost their lives attempt-
The chemistry of art
Features
Page 7
Theresa Iacullo experiments with the
science of ceramics
Ethnic
communities
raise their voices
by Rachel Ramir
by Michelle Zacarias
ing to cross the Mexico/America
border and also for those in Iraq.
This last event was especially
breathtaking; the sound of 100,000
silent people, broken only by a
passing Brown Line train, is one not
heard often.
Raphael “Pistolero” Pulido,
a popular Latino radio personality, made an especially compelling
speech, part of which was aimed
at the Congressman responsible for
the promotion of the bill:
“Mr. Sensenbrenner: You’re
messing with the wrong race,” he
declared, “the human race.”
Pulido had a point. What
person can honestly claim that they
have not known an immigrant,
undocumented or otherwise? This
is especially true for a city like
Chicago, where communities live
in extremely close proximity to one
another. The “Clear Act” affects
every person here and across the
nation.
“We are not the criminals; We
are not the terrorists; We are not the
enemy. Say no to discrimination!”
read one sign held up in the crowd.
Thousands of businesses across
the city found vacancies left by
rally participants to be disabling
(“All the dry-wallers left!” said my
father, Dan Ramir, of the construction site that day). Half of one
south side high school walked out
to join the march. Mayor Daley,
Rod Blagojevich, Dick Durbin,
and a dozen aldermen stood up to
support the cause (a publicity stunt,
no doubt, but who’s complaining?).
The larger issue here is not immigrant rights, but human dignity.
Be proud, whether you support the
rally’s ideals or not, that you live in
a city where an entire race of people
much maligned for being “lazy,”
or otherwise ineffective can pull
together peacefully for a common
cause. According to the Chicago
Tribune on March 11, the rally was
“one of the biggest pro-immigrant
rallies in U.S. history, according to
national advocates.”
The Mexican, Guatemalan,
Ecuadorian, Colombian, and other
flags in the crowd that day were in
the minority. Most flags held by
participants were American.
Northside tends to be divided
into two groups: those who can
work the math and science, and
those who use their intellect on
more liberal arts areas such as English and social science. However,
there are also students at Northside,
such as Theresa Iacullo, Adv. 600,
who are bright and highly intelligent
individuals able to break barriers
in this subject segregation, just as
Iacullo has done with her senior
project this year.
Iacullo is currently taking part in a senior project
dealing with the idea of how
ceramics work chemically. Iacullo says that this senior project
will allow her to acquire certain
techniques that will improve
her ceramic skills.
“A lot of ceramists like
to throw their art together
then hope and pray to the science gods that their work won’t
explode in the process,” said Iacullo. “I wanted to experiment and
figure out what chemicals go best
with other chemicals in order to
create the best pottery; that way I’m
not just hoping for the randomness
of life to fix my project for me.”
Her project specifically deals
with the mixing of different chemicals. According to Iacullo there are
many different reactions that help
clay figures come out better shaped
and more pieced together. She also
works with different glazes and
colors that can be improved through
experimentation. Most of her work,
augmented by her investigation
of chemical mixing, comes out
perfectly shaped and beautifully
colored.
The idea began with Iacullo’s
love for ceramics - a love that has
proven to be a consistent pattern in
human history. Ceramics have been
around for ages, as many Pueblo
Native Americans used ceramic
art as a form of architecture when
building their housing, and ancient
artifacts also show the common use
of clay in every day materials such
as pots and tools. Even in modern
times ceramics products are used for
car linings and NASA space shuttles
because of their resistance to heat.
Discoveries about the useful properties of ceramics are made by people
like Iacullo, who are interested in
ceramic engineering.
For Iacullo, figuring out the
chemistry in ceramics is not only
efficient but also therapeutic.
“Ceramic art is definitely very
relaxing,” said Iacullo. “It’s been
my best year ever. While all my
other friends are worried about
their AP Biology and AP Calculus
classes, I just get to spend time
doing something that I really, really
love and I really care about.”
Although Iacullo makes ceramic
pottery seem simple, she is not a
newcomer, having had previous
experience with ceramic work.
She started off as an apprentice for
Mudd Puppy’s Clay Studio, which
she was a part of for a year and a
half. The owner of the studio, Mike
Polkinghorn, and his wife, Amy
Hanks, have both given Iacullo a
lot of help and guidance as far as
ceramic efficiency, which she finds
is very helpful in her research.
“The senior project is great because you can seek mentors outside
of school,” said Iacullo. “I was able
to get much help from the owner of
the art studio that I worked for.”
During the time Iacullo
worked at the studio she also took
ceramics at Northside, something
she has stuck with for two and a
half years. All her experience paid
off when the senior committee
approved her project during her
junior year.
Ceramics has served mul-
tiple purposes
in Iacullo’s life. Her
biggest reason for pursuing ceramic chemistry as a
senior project is because she
plans to incorporate it into
her future career.
“I want to be a professional potter when I
grow-up,” said Iacullo. “I
want to have my own studio
and sell my own stuff, but
I’m also interested in college, so I don’t know.”
Iacullo is ambitious about
opening a small pottery business, but she is also very excited
about experiencing college life,
something that conflicts with
her plans on entering the ceramics industry, at least right away.
Nevertheless, whether she pursues
college or not, she plans on having
ceramics be a big part of her life.
Theresa Iacullo is one of the
students at Northside who can
say “I love my schedule” with
complete honesty. She has the
freedom to leave the campus for
educational field trips and is much
more relaxed than a majority of
Northsiders. Ceramics seem to
have provided her with not only a
learning opportunity but also an
opportunity to pursue something
she loves.
“I’m still like all the seniors
taking three AP classes. I’m just as
passionate about my work as they
are and I probably do as much,”
said Iacullo. “The only difference
is that I’m actually doing something that I love and enjoy.”
A passion for guidance
Northside welcomes new counselor— Ms. Susan Spillane
by Monica Wojcik
Second semester welcomed fresh beginnings and
fresh faces, as Northside’s
Guidance Office greeted
new counselor Ms. Susan
Spillane. Ms. Spillane is
excited to join the Northside
community, hoping to add
her experience to improving
the educational experience of
Northside’s students.
Originally attracted to
Northside’s reputation of
motivated students and excellent faculty and staff, Ms.
Spillane hopes to add to this
overall feeling with her own
enthusiasm.
“I hope to bring professionalism and care for the
students,” said Ms. Spillane.
“[To] find out what students
need, help in academic pursuits, and support students in
all aspects of their life. I hope
to walk with them on their
path and encourage them.”
Ms. Spillane did not be-
gin her career in counseling.
With a Bachelor’s Degree
in Biology and Minors in
Chemistry and Education
from Mundelein University,
Ms. Spillane was originally a
science teacher at Roosevelt
High School in Chicago.
Eventually, her passion towards working with students
on a more personal level led
Ms. Spillane to pursue her
Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Loyola
University. After receiving
her Master’s Degree she
worked with Loyola Academy as a counselor. Her
most recent position was as
a counselor at Sullivan High
School in Chicago.
Now at Northside, Ms.
Spillane is looking forward
to a long-term commitment
with CPS.
“Northside has the positives from Sullivan and positives from Loyola,” said Ms.
Spillane. “It’s a nice mixture.
I like the diversity and urban
environment, where academics are valued. It’s an honor
to work with the students.”
As a guidance counselor,
Ms. Spillane stresses personal
interaction. She hopes to
become a better counselor by
getting to know the students.
She believes that this interaction and questioning should
begin with the commencement of high school for each
student.
“Freshmen and sophomores don’t always see
the big picture,” said Ms.
Spillane. “It is important to
remember you’re creating a
record for yourself. Sometimes students don’t understand why it’s so important to
do well from the start.”
Ms. Spillane also encourages students to ask for
guidance.
“Ask for help,” said Ms.
Spillane. “If students know
how to ask for help, you’re
ahead of the game. People
in my department are great
and helpful.”
Herself an avid SCUBA
diver and fan of watching live Latin dance, Ms.
Spillane understands the
need for students to find
diversions from academics
as well.
“It is important to work
hard and play hard,” said
Ms. Spillane. “Do well in
classes and find outside activities. Go for success and
enjoy life.”
Ms. Spillane is currently
the guidance counselor for
Ms. Susan Spillane wastes no time attempting to improve
freshman advisories 902,
the educational experience of Northside students.
903, and 904; sophomore
Photo by Monica Wojcik
advisories 809, 810, and
811; junior advisories 703,
deprep.org, or at the phone
from 7 a.m., and late on
704, and 705; and senior
number (773) 534-3954 ext.
Friday afternoons until 4
advisories 600 and 601. She
121. She reminds all the
p.m., as well as at any time
can be reached at her email
students that she is available
throughout the day during
address: sspillane@northsi
early on Tuesday mornings
the week.
Page Features
The points are not the point
Poetry Slam Team impresses at “Louder
than a Bomb”
by Max Brown
March 3rd to 12th held the sixth annual “Louder
and anger at society that were common at the bouts,
than a Bomb” Chicago Teen Poetry Festival sponbringing more thought to the pieces.
sored by Young Chicago Authors, with Northside’s
“The group piece was by far the funniest one
Poetry Slam Team well prepared for the event. The
because the team was mocking stereotypes and all
team’s coach, Mr. Barry McRaith, has been involved
the other stereotypical poetry pieces,” said Max Swiwith Young Chicago Authors since an earlier job
atlowski, Adv. 603, an audience member at “Louder
with them and has had Northside involved since the
than a Bomb.”
very beginning of the competition six years ago.
Different than any sport, the slammers all come
“This year was the largest, with more teams
into the room with one thing.
than ever before. In the beginning there were twelve
“Poetry Slam is a great equalizer,” said McRaith.
teams, but this year we had forty-four,” said Mr.
“You walk into this room, and everyone has only
McRaith.
language. And through the extraordinary silliness, it
Anyone can sign up to slam, but Northsiders
catalyzes amazing energy from the different schools
have to pass through competitive tryouts to be on the
and teams.”
school team.
Judging the poetry becomes a problem left undis“They had to sign up to tryout, and they
cussed. Even following the “Louder than a Bomb”
slammed in the literature room for one adult and
motto of ‘the points are not the point,’ it is difficult
four student
to not want acknowlanonymous judgedgement for hard
es who decided
work and intense
the team.” said
effort. The decision
Mr. McRaith.
is made on a one to
The team
ten point scale, but
chosen was difpotential scores are
ferent than years
not seen lower than
past. They are
the top quarter. Also,
anchored with
there seems to be a
lower classmen
lot of room for error,
but are just as, if
as most of what one
not more, motihears at the bouts is
vated as teams in
“listen to the poet!”
previous years.
a phrase meaning
Its four members
essentially that the
consisted of
audience is dissatisAdam Gottlieb,
fied with the score.
Adv. 807, Alexia
“It’s judged
Willis, Adv. 606,
like figure skating,”
Natalia Emanuel, Image courtesy of Young Chicago Authors
said Mr. McRaith,
Adv. 808, and
referring to the fact
Anne Lesser, Adv. 709, with two alternates of Jessie
that there really is no defining qualities of a poem to
Welch, Adv. 810, and Minhal Baig, Adv. 807.
receive a certain score; the end result can be perfectly
“The team was really such a brilliant example
fair or entirely biased.
of what a group of people can become when there
“The nature of slam is that it is inherently rather
is devotion and investment,” said Natalia Emanuel.
unfair,” said Emanuel. “But, hey, that is the way
“I would say that most notable were our alternates,
slam works. The points are the most ridiculous part
Jesse and Minhal. They really took up the reins and
of it.”
allowed the position of ‘alternate’ to grow. Instead
After the regular bouts and the finals, the results
of deciding to be bitter, Jesse and Minhal really
came in. Of the forty-four schools, the competithrew their efforts into the group and made us better
tion narrowed down to eight finalists, of which the
individually and as a team.”
Northside team was one of them. The decided
According to Emanuel, the four teammates, coin- winner of this year’s Poetry Festival was Thorton
cidentally or not, complemented each other.
Fractional North High School, a team from Calumet
“The team was very good in terms of figuring
City, IL.
out where everyone needed to be,” she said. “Annie
“I believe they’re the reigning champions the last
provided a lot of the funk, Adam, a lot of the motifew years,” said Mr. McRaith. “They’ve done really
vation, Alexia, the theatre aspect, and I, a bit more
well.”
of a literary view point.”
“I think everyone on the team was disappointed
In each bout, or performance section, there are
by the scoring at our second bout and at finals,” said
five rounds. The four beginning rounds are for indiGottlieb. “Angst seems to sell better than art, but we
vidual poems from each team’s four main members,
came into the competition knowing that.”
and the final round is for the group piece. With so
The team was very happy with the commendamany poems to create and perform, the team put in a tion that they did receive, as they were recognized
considerable amount of work.
for the extraordinary work they put in. The team
“This year we met once a week for about 5
members indicated they plan on trying out again
months or so, and then more often once the event
next year, not for the points, but for the amazing
drew closer,” said Gottlieb. “The last week, we met
work that they have an opportunity to create.
every day.”
The summation of Northside’s affinity to Poetry
During the two regular bouts and the finals that
Slam and the competition is made clear by Adam
the team participated in, they had nothing but great
Gottlieb: “A poetry slam may be the only place on
responses to their poems, from the judges and the
earth where you can scream, cheer and act like a
audience. Their poems were original, different than
maniac and feel like an intellectual because, after all,
the stereotypical Poetry Slam poems of angst, death,
it’s still poetry.”
The Hoof Beat
Supreme
accomplishment
by Anisa Isap
Northside has
always prided itself in
creating an environment where students
are encouraged to
actively participate in
the learning process.
This includes applying what they studied
beyond textbooks
inside and outside of
the classroom. The
implementation of
the Constitutional
Law Program in Mr.
Timothy Devine’s AP
Government and Politics course is known as
a forerunner of these
efforts. Instead of
taking complex notes
of lectures, students in
this program experienced actual immersion into constitutional
law through a partnership with Mayer,
Brown, Rowe, & Maw
law firm.
Originally as a concept for a colloquium
titled “Chicago Law,”
Mr. Devine adapted
the idea of giving students firsthand experiences of what it is like
to plead a case before
the U.S. Supreme
Court to his much
larger AP Government
and Politics classes.
He floated the idea
to friends at Mayer,
Brown, Rowe, & Maw
law firm in the Spring
of 2001, and over the
course of the next six
months he developed
the specifics of the
project with the help
of Mrs. Pat Sharkey, a
parent of two Northside students. With
more than 1,400 lawyers in seven U.S. and
six European cities,
Mayer, Brown, Rowe
& Maw is one of the
largest law practices in
the world. Its attorneys are required to
do pro-bono work like
mentoring students, so
there was no shortage
of finding lawyers willing to take time out of
their busy schedules to
coach Northsiders.
Attempting to
develop a program that
is as true-to-life as possible, Mr. Devine and
co-director Mrs. Sharkey decided that teams
of six to eight students
(three to four as Petitioners and three to four as
Respondents) would
argue an assigned case
that is currently pending
before the Supreme Court.
After a kick-off lunch at
the law firm, the students
began the three and a half
months of work needed
to effectively write an appellate brief and build an
oral argument in front of
a panel of justices.
“It’s unfortunate that
people view this as a
preparation-to-become-alawyer class. It’s not,” said
Mr. Devine.
Rather, the program
incorporates universal
skills that are helpful
to those in any and all
professions. Reading
and analyzing complex
materials, and developing an oral argument are
pertinent to all students,
no matter whether they
intend to pursue a career
in law or not.
“We did a lot of
preparation for our oral
arguments, so that should
definitely help us not only
on the AP test, but also
later on in our education,”
said Corey Kasten, Adv.
708. “It helped us with
public speaking, writing
solid arguments, and how
to think on a higher level.
You don’t have to want to
be a lawyer to gain benefits from the program,
there are many skills you
can pick up.”
This year the cases
that the students argued
included Rumsfeld v.
Forum for Academic and
Institutional Rights Fair
(FAIR). FAIR contended
that the Solomon Amendment, which denies
federal funding to any
schools that do not allow
military recruiters onto
their campuses, violates
the First Amendment
rights of its members
due to the military’s
“Don’t Ask, Don't Tell”
policy which discriminates against openly
gay, lesbian and bisexual
individuals. The other
case the students argued
was Ayotte v. Planned
Parenthood of Northern
New England. This case
began as a challenge to a
New Hampshire law that
prevents doctors from
performing an abortion
for a teenager under
the age of 18 until 48
hours after a parent has
been notified. Contrary
to 30 years of Supreme
Court precedent, the law
contained no medical
emergency exception to
protect a pregnant teenager's health. To read
more about these two
cases and the arguments
of both the Petitioners
and Respondents please
turn to page 12 of this
Hoof Beat issue. The
reason for arguing pending cases as opposed to
those where a decision
has already been made
by the Supreme Court
keeps a level of mystery
around the case.
“My fear with
rearguing cases like Roe
v. Wade, is that those
opposing Roe would
have a defeatist attitude,” said Mr. Devine.
“However, with cases
where a decision hasn’t
yet been made there are
no biases.”
As the fourth year of
the Constitutional Law
Program comes to a
close, Mr. Devine is busy
climbing toward new
goals. With Harvard and
Yale University having
modeled programs after
Mr. Devine’s curriculum
at Cambridge and New
Haven high schools, respectively, Mr. Devine is
aspiring to partner with
the American Bar Association in an attempt
to develop the design
into a national program.
However, due to the vast
amounts of money and
resources needed to accomplish this task, it will
not be conceptualized in
the immediate future.
Few things can cap
a lawyer’s career like
arguing a case before
the U.S. Supreme Court;
AP Government and
Politics’ students have
already had an opportunity to do what
most general counsel
will never get to do.
The Constitutional Law
Program is an experience that most students
contend will help them
hone their skills whether
they are 18 or 81.
Equal access: Counter-recruitment tables visit
by Rachel Ramir
Information-laden tables are a
common sight outside of Northside’s
lunchroom, where students pause to
glance through college brochures and
speak with school representatives.
Most conspicuous are those manned
by clean-cut military personnel touting free “Army of One” pencils and
“Accelerate Your Life” goodie-bags.
Early March brought a table not seen
as commonly: a counter-recruitment
table, run by Albany Park, North
Park, and Mayfair Neighbors for
Peace and Justice.
Neal Resnikoff, active member
of the Neighbors, was responsible for
organizing this trip to Northside. He
considers the visit a success.
“At Northside College Prep, we
did talk to some students who had
talked with the military recruiters
and who do seem to be interested in
weighing the possibility [of] joining
the armed forces,” Resnikoff said.
“They also came over to our table to
listen to what the arguments are on
the other side.”
Resnikoff ’s student contacts at
Northside were members of No More
Silence, the school’s student political
action group. Evan Burrows, Adv.
605, also thought the table to be a
success.
“It was a positive activity
overall,” Burrows said. “Military
recruiters have a fixed agenda…it’s
always good to have both sides of the
picture, multiple outlooks.”
According to Resnikoff and the
literature present on his group’s table,
the largest arguments against military
recruitment includes the idea that the
current war in Iraq was begun unjustly and illegally, and that military
recruiters use empty promises to lure
venerable students into believing that
the military is the best route for them.
These students are usually ethnic
minorities who live in low-income
households.
“The financial aid for college
that the military promises is in fact
only available to a small percentage
of the enlistees who are interested in
going to college,” Resnikoff said of
the hefty monetary aid promised by
many recruiters. “You have to have
very high scores and be willing to go
into the most dangerous situations
and emerge unscathed.”
Part of the reason countermilitary efforts are just beginning
at Northside was the apparent lack
of information. Resnikoff and
the Neighbors did not know that
schools are required by law to grant
equal access to counter-recruitment
organizations. Indeed, the members
of Northside’s administration who
spoke with him prior to the visit
were not even aware of this right,
granted by U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois in the
1980s. According to this ruling, each
time a school grants access to military
recruiters, they must grant the same
to counter-military recruiters.
Military recruitment has also
been of issue this March on a national level. In its decision on March
6, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially
upheld the equal-access maxim for
military recruiters. That is, military
recruiters must be allowed the same
access to certain campuses as professional recruiters.
Among Northside’s own student
body, reactions to the tables were
mixed.
Karl Nerger, Adv. 806, is interested in joining the armed forces after
high school. He thinks the counterrecruitment tables would have been
more necessary if the military personnel were recruiting more actively
within Northside.
“I think that [the counter-recruiters] have the right to do that, to voice
their opinion,” Karl Nerger, Adv.
806, said. “It would be different if the
people who were recruiting [for the
military] weren’t just sitting there at
the table answering people’s questions.”
Kaytlin Hack, Adv. 703, thought
similarly.
“I don’t think [the military
recruiters’] presence is a problem,”
said Hack. “It gives people the option to go out and join the military
if they want to. You have the option
to walk past them, like I did.”
Elizabeth Granato, Adv. 706,
believes that the counter-recruitment table had its place within
Northside.
“I think it’s probably pretty appropriate for a school like Northside
where most of the students are
pretty left-leaning,” said Granato.
“If [recruiters] were trying to approach a group of students that
would care, I would definitely come
to Northside. You could make an
impact here.”
March 2006
Party of disunity
Features
Page Democrats fail to take advantage of Bush shortcomings
by Asrar Khan
His approval rating is at an all time low
at 36%. The Iraq War has been labeled as “A
War of Lies and Misinformation” by not only
the American people, but also many prominent American politicians. His own party has
largely denounced his reckless spending, as
the nation has watched the national debt rise
from $6 trillion to $9 trillion under his presidency. He has taken heat for supporting a deal
to hand over American ports to an Arab company, drawing nationwide bipartisan scrutiny.
He has illegally wiretapped
American homes without
warrants. He lied about his
security knowledge of Hurricane Katrina (according to
a published AP video), leading to the deaths of nearly
1500 Americans that could
have been easily saved. He
still does not know how to
say “nuclear,” though he has
given India, who illegally
developed nuclear weapons
in 1974, the legal right to
use nuclear fuel— sending
messages to Iran that the
United States plays double
standards for the nuclear
proliferation policy.
Yes, Mr. George Walker
Bush is feeling the wrath
from just about everyone
these days, from both the
opposing Democrats and
his own Republicans. Logic
would indicate the Democrats will seize Congress
in 2006, right? This should
especially hold true after
the latest CNN poll which
showed that 54% of Americans indicated that they would support any
Congressional candidate that opposes President Bush. But this will not be the case; the
Democrats continue to leer behind in a time
ripe for them to become a force in Congress.
The Democrats, who have been falsely labeled
by the Republicans as “weak” on homeland
security and protecting America, have not
stood up for their party’s core values for fear
of being portrayed as unpatriotic.
The issue of the Iraq war in particular has
been detrimental to the Democrats because
though most Democrats are against the war,
they have been afraid to take a hard stance
about troop withdrawal and political timetables for fear of being portrayed around
the nation as “weak” regarding America’s
homeland security. Because of the Democrats’ ambivalence about the occupation,
the electorate remains wary of the Party.
The public seems to understand what the
Republicans stand for— strong defense,
which will dominate election headlines this
year. In particular, the Democrats need to
end this nonsense about not being strong for
America’s defense compared to the Republicans. This is simply ridiculous.
One way the Democrats can finally get
their voices heard across the nation would be
to accept Democratic Senator Russ Feingold’s
Censure Bill. This bill wishes to censure President Bush for his illegal domestic surveillance
program, which the President has falsely justi-
free markets, lower taxes, and family values— but are justifiably confused about the
core principles of the Democrats. In the 2004
Presidential election, the electorate didn’t see
much difference between the Iraq policy of
George W. Bush and that of John Kerry. As
a result, Bush was reelected, though many of
his voters today are regretting their decision.
The Democrats, if they hope to strike a major
victory at the polls in November 2006, must
adopt an unwavering policy on the Iraq issue,
fied with misleading remarks. Feingold’s bill
alleges that by engaging in illegal wiretapping,
as reported in the New York Times, the President did not follow the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). FISA makes
it a crime to wiretap Americans on U.S. soil
without the requisite warrants. The President
has broken that law and must be punished
for his actions. The President, who argues
that Congress gave him authority to wiretap
Americans on U.S. soil without a warrant
Over one hundred Northsiders abroad
by Patricia Radkowski
Over one hundred Northside
students will visit a foreign country
through a school-organized program this school year. To encourage
and enhance the learning of foreign
languages and cultures, trips have
been organized to Germany, China,
France, Mexico, and Japan, their
travel dates ranging from June 2005
to July 2006.
Last summer, twenty-four
students from Northside, Lane
Technical, Lincoln Park, Mather,
Amundsen, and St. Patrick high
schools joined Ms. Virginia Apel,
the German teacher of the Foreign
Language Department at Northside,
for a tour of northern Germany.
Hamburg and Bremen served as the
sites of their touring and cultureimmersion. Each student picked
their own weeks of travel within
the allotted time period, between
June 14th and July 28th of 2005.
During their stays of two to four
weeks, the exchange students were
housed by host families, usually
those of German exchange students
that visited Chicago in September
and October. As they experienced
German culture firsthand, these adventurous high-schoolers expanded
their knowledge of the German
language.
“Most of the students that go
on this trip take German,” Ms. Apel
explained, “but not all of them do.
The ones that don’t [take German]
have housed exchange students.
Others just show a lot of interest in
the trip.”
The first trip to Germany took
place last summer while the next
trip is scheduled between June 16th
and July 1st of 2006. The trip costs
about $1,600 per student.
Two trips to China are also
options for students this year.
Organized by Dr. Fu Haiyan, the
Chinese teacher of the Foreign
Language Department, the students
going to China only have to pay
for the flight. Their host families
cover all of the other expenses, so
the total cost comes out to be
about $1,100.
This benefit is a
result of the sister
city school relationship forged between Beijing N. 57
Schools and Northside about six years ago.
The two groups going
this school year have
had the choice of
going over Winter
Break or Spring
Break. Only six Northsiders, all of them seniors
and Chinese students,
went to Beijing over
Winter Break. Touring China as a group
from December 21st
through January
16th, they visited
most of the main
tourist attractions
around Beijing.
“We saw the
Temple of Heaven,
the Great Wall, the
Forbidden City, the Winter Palace,
the Summer Palace, a Buddhist
temple, a Taoist temple, and we had
tea at the teahouse of the Beijing
Opera,” recollected Simon Swartzman, Adv. 605. “China is great, and
I am not talking about the plates.”
The students not only had a
lot of fun speaking Chinese, but
also enjoyed immersing themselves
into Chinese culture. This positive
input undoubtedly persuaded the
next batch of students that will
travel to China with Dr. Fu. Seven
Northsiders and one student from
Walter Payton will be exploring
the wonders of China this Spring
Break. Most of them take a Chinese
class, but not all of them do.
“I don’t speak Chinese,” said
Redmond McGrath, Adv. 906, “but
I still think that I will have fun in
China over Spring Break.”
Mexico is the location of
another one of the exciting Foreign
Language trips available this year.
The Get to Know Mexico colloquium will be visiting Mexico
as a group during Spring Break,
from April 6th until April 16th. Mr.
when it passed the Authorization for Use of
Military Force after September 11, 2001, is
false in this notion, as members of Congress
have said this act does not give President Bush
the right to wiretap American homes.
So this is the perfect shot for the Democrats, right? Censure Bush for only the 2nd
time in American history (who can forget the
personal battles between Andrew Jackson and
Henry Clay?) at a time when many Republican politicians also support the measure.
Though it sounds
good to me, it
probably will not
happen, as Feingold has conceded.
Democrats fear
that humiliating the President
could make the
Democrats look
irresponsible to the
average American,
since the nation is
in the middle of an
international crisis.
Predictably, some
Democrats have
supported the censure, while others
have empathized
but not supported
it. Only Senator
Tom Harkin of
Iowa has formally
supported it, while
other high profile
Democrats such
as Senator Hillary
Clinton of New
York and Senator
Barack Obama of
Illinois disagree with the idea.
What better chance do you want, Democrats? Censure President Bush, hold him
accountable for his illegal program which he
has hidden from the American people. All the
proof is there, and if anyone deserves it, it’s
him. The last president to illegally authorize
wiretapping was Richard Nixon, and he resigned. Letting President Bush off free would
be a disastrous signal to Americans over the
wretched state of the Democrats.
Humberto Gutierrez, Attendance
Clerk, organized the trip, but will
not be attending. Mr. Jesse Santiago, Special Education Teacher,
Ms. Maha Shahwan, Attendance
Clerk, and Mr. David Diaz, Aide,
will be taking a total of nineteen
students to visit the
main tourist attractions that
Mexico offers.
Among the
places they will
tour are Mexico
City, Basilica
Guadalupe, and
Puerto Vallarta.
The group was
also invited by
the governor of
Guanajuato to
visit the University
of Guanajuato.
Students will be
staying at hotels
while learning
about the rich
history and culture of Mexico.
Another trip
is planned for
Spring Break:
Mrs. Tamara
Driver, the
French teacher
of the Foreign
Language Department, is taking twentyfour Northside students and twelve
Senn High students to Paris, France.
The trip costs around $1,350. A total of six teachers will be escorting
the French students from the hotel
around Paris as they explore the
language and culture of this famous
city. The group will visit most of the
tourist sites around Paris, including
the Eiffel Tower, Montemarte, the
Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the
Louvre. The students are going to
practice their French and experience
the culture.
“I am really looking forward to
working on my French in France,”
admitted Danielle Fiumefreddo,
Adv. 807. “All of the sites sound
really interesting and I’m excited
about feeling the culture I would
otherwise only meet through the
textbook.”
“Culture is a big part of why
I am going,” agreed Margot
Dimuzio, Adv. 807, “but practicing
the language is also important. The
sites are a major bonus.”
Japan is the final Spring Break
destination of Northsiders. Seventeen students, all of them juniors
and seniors who take Japanese,
will be joining their host families in
Oizumi-machi, a town near Tokyo.
From April 7th to the 16th, this
Japanese metropolis will serve as
the main site of their tours. The
students will see most of the main
attractions, including the Tokyo
Imperial Place, Tokyo Tower,
Yokohama, the Anime Museum,
and various temples and shrines.
Also on the trip agenda is a visit to
a Tokyo high school, where the students will meet their Japanese pen
pals. The trip costs $1,850 and was
organized by Mrs. Jeung-Hee Park,
Japanese/Korean teacher.
Northsiders have had great trip
options this year. Students will continue to visit foreign nations with
the school. There are many countries where Northsiders have not yet
left their mark. Whether Germany,
China, Mexico, or France, Northsiders are exploring new opportunities around the globe.
Page 10
Centerfold
Fashion over function?
Girls’ preparation and trends for prom 2006
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
Every year, as prom season rolls around, girls begin
preparing for the special night. Other than finding the
perfect date, many girls stress over their appearance for
prom night. Usually the most important factor, and
often the most deliberated over, is the dress. However,
girls also have to consider what kind of hairstyle to
choose, the makeup they should wear, and the accessories accompanying the dress.
“Your dress, the limo, the date and your accessories are all important,” said Delilah Santiago, Adv.
704.
While some girls stress over their look, others
feel that appearance is not everything.
“Having fun and enjoying prom is more
important than the dress,” said Helen Hapner,
Adv. 703.
This year, flowery patterns, lacy fabrics, and
beading, along with rhinestones and embroidery, are fashionable. The trendy colors for
2006 include bright sea tones, as well as lighter
colors like coal pink. With the wide array of
styles, however, the challenge becomes how to
combine fashion with a good fit. The details
on the dress and the accessories thus make the
difference, reconciling form with function.
“You should wear a comfortable dress
and shoes and be prepared to dance,” said
Jessamine Fitzpatrick, Adv. 603.
Although fashion trends are continuously changing, some girls decide
on what to wear based on their own
desires, not the latest fashion. Personal taste
and comfort are important criteria for finding
the ideal dress.
“[Wear] anything you feel confident in,” said
Megan Doherty, Adv. 702.
In response to last year’s
over-popular updo, many girls
are choosing a more natural
and free look, with hair let
down and loose soft curls. The
level of attention given to
hair and make up depends on the individual girl’s
choice. Some consider these details to be as
important as the dress, while others focus on the
entire outfit.
“If your hair and makeup look bad, so will you, no matter
what you wear,” said Jasmine Anza, Adv. 609.
“Your hair and make up isn’t everything, your dress has to
look good too,” said Kathy Gorecki, Adv. 706.
Nonetheless, several flexible options for styling hair and
make up exist. Some girls may choose to style their own
hair, while others prefer to try to go to a professional to
achieve their desired hairstyle.
“I like to try different styles to see which is the best,”
said Vanessa Gutierrez, Adv. 704.
Other sources to find a range of beauty ideas include
magazines like Your Prom, Teen Prom, and Seventeen
Prom.
“[I choose the hairstyle], depending on the dress,
and looking in magazines for different ideas,” said
Valerie Pisowicz, Adv. 606
With the change in style, having accessories
to match your dress is another important matter to consider when preparing an outfit for
prom.
“The dress has to have matching shoes,”
said Jasmine Anza, Adv. 609.
This is especially true for those who choose to
wear a shorter dress showing off pretty legs and
matching shoes.
The Prom theme may affect the choice
of dress for some, but for others prom
simply warrants a formal look without a
particular costume theme.
“I wouldn’t change the way I dress
just for the theme of prom,” said MaryClaire Schmidt, Adv. 703.
“[I prefer] long dresses [for prom], because
it is formal,” said Jillian Bertagna, Adv. 604.
Although the customary style for prom is
a long formal dress, shorter dresses are becoming much more acceptable and popular.
As the hemlines continue to rise, flowery
patters and elegant beading add to the vintage
look of shorter dresses. Long form fitting dresses
made of satin fabrics are ideal for displaying shapely
figures, with their plunging necklines, low backs, and
halter straps. New prom designs also include the Mermaid
design, displaying a slim waist and flare at the knees.
Although there is not as much focus on ball gown dresses
this year, the classic Cinderella look will also never go out
of style for prom.
Nonetheless, despite the plethora of styles and preparations, when prom night arrives, the greatest priority for all
attendees is to have fun.
“It’s about having a good time with your friends,
because (Senior Prom) is the last important occasion for
seniors, other than graduation,” said Patricia Nguyen,
Adv. 606. “But looking good is important too.
The Hoof Beat
Prom
is in
the
air!
Getting ready and all that jazz
What guys should do to prepare for prom
by Michelle Zacarias
“Asking the girl is just half the battle” said Jordan Stacey, popular trends nowadays for men’s tuxes include “pimp”
suits, which create a humorous but classy wardrobe that
Adv. 600. “The other half is getting ready [for prom] once
most males feel comfortable with. This type of wear, usually
you’ve asked her, which means making sure that everything
made of silk or velvety materials, can be completed with a
goes well for her, and just being committed to having a good
fashionable vest or colorful stripes. One could also choose a
time.”
more traditional elite suit.
Although some may
Guys are not the only
consider prom preparaones who have opinions about
tion a battlefield, it does
how they should prepare
not have to be as difficult
for prom. Girls also worry
as it seems, especially for
about how early guys start to
guys. From picking out a
organize themselves, because
stylish tuxedo to making
it affects how early the girls
a grand entrance, there
can start making their own
are many quick and easy
arrangements.
ways to help prom work
“Guys should definitely
out smoothly.
try to get out there early and
Fortunately for both
ask girls to the prom to give
junior and senior guys,
them time to prepare, because
there are plenty of girls at
it takes girls at least a month
Northside who are willto figure at least what dress
ing to help them get ready
they’re going to wear,” said
for the big day.
Denasia Hawkins, Adv. 708.
“My friend Kristen
However, if one does
Fischer [Adv. 605] helped
wait until the last minute, the
me through the entire
next most important rule to
thing,” said Adolfo Luna,
remember is to be clean.
Adv. 603. “It was re“Guys have it pretty easy,
ally last minute; she conall they really have to do for
vinced me to go like the
Van Le, Adv. 706, helps Ryne Tobin, Adv. 704, decide on his prom is make sure that they’re
day before prom and then tuxedo for junior prom.
clean,” said Malikat Rufai,
we went together to get a Photo by Michelle Zacarias
Adv. 705. “But one thing you
tux and get it tailored.”
don’t want to do is shower
Female friends and prom dates can help guys prepare
yourself in cologne.”
for the evening. Planning together with a date will not only
While it is necessary that guys show up clean for prom,
permit the couple to bond, but will also give them a chance
there is no need to overdo it: something as simple as showto exchange information such as limo pricing and dress/suit
color correlation. When it comes to prom, these small details ering or getting a nice haircut can making the difference
between just formal and fabulous. Even just a little shot of
can be as important as the big things.
cologne can give the guy a sweet smell just nice enough to
“You have to make sure that the girl’s dress matches with
impress the ladies, but not enough to drown them with odor.
your suit; that’s really important,” said Joel Perez, Adv. 604.
Prom can either be a long and detailed process or a
“Not only does your suit have to match your date’s but it
quick and simple sweep, but either way there is no avoiding
should be stylish as well. Pimps’ suits are raw, they’re even
it. In the end, whatever road is taken for prom preparation,
better if they have stripes.”
and however one chooses to show up, the obligation is to
Tuxedos, although not as complicated to search for as
prom dresses, come in many different styles. One of the more have a great time and dance the night away.
Prom Nightmar
All the Things That C
by Neha Alam
One of the most important events in the high school ex
rience is the oft glorified and hyped-up prom. For Northsid
juniors, prom will take place on April 28th, while senior pr
will take place on June 1st. As the night draws closer, it als
brings with it endless worries. In the anticipation of the ev
ning, the classes of 2006 and 2007 voice their worst fears a
nightmares about the prom.
“There are many things that could go wrong,” said Ma
kat Rafai, Adv. 705. “Your limo might break down on the
You could spill something on your dress just before you lea
for the prom. If you are a girl, your heels can break. You c
also magically gain 10 pounds and not fit into your dress. Y
can be allergic to something you eat there.”
“There might not be any good music at the prom to wh
you can dance to,” said Jessica Morales, Adv. 704. “Your d
might get sick or your date ditches you. And, of course, th
is the classic dress problem, what if someone steps on you
dress and it rips. And your limo might not show up. Hopef
the night will be worth the money and time.”
March 2006
Centerfold
Student body’s prominent decision
by Elizabeth Sobenes
important elements. In addition to their ticket, students
often spend money on limousines, dresses, tuxedos, and
various accessories in preparation for the prom.
“I have had to pay for my tuxedo, tickets, a corsage,
and flowers,” said Joel Perez, Adv. 604. “I spent over
two hundred dollars. It was very costly, but it was worth
it. I would have really appreciated more fund raising in
an effort to reduce the initial cost of the ticket.”
Having the two proms together would allow the students to pay less for their ticket and lower their overall
expenses. However, some students feel very strongly
about having the two proms separately.
“We’d rather have the proms separate so the seniors
have their own gathering,” said Glenna Reyes, Adv.
602. “Having juniors might take away from the bonding
experience.”
Junior student council members also objected to the
idea.
“It is nice that juniors will be able to make memories
free of seniors,” said Tom Dyke, Adv. 705.
Decisions over junior and senior proms sparked
significant debate among the student body. Students met
the idea of a combined junior- senior prom with great
disapproval.
“It was an idea that we were going to ask the student
body about in order to help them pay less for the tickets,” said Mrs. Tamara Driver, French teacher and coordinator of the junior prom. “When I have chaperoned,
I have seen both juniors at senior prom, and seniors at
junior prom.”
Despite the decrease in price that would result, some
students did not like the idea.
“It was reasonable for the seniors to want their own
prom because it’s their last year, and it’s one of the
most memorable moments of high school,” said Aileen
Cordero, Adv. 604.
Holding the two proms together was mainly an
effort to reduce the costs of the prom for the students.
Each student’s seventy-dollar ticket goes toward paying
for the ballroom, security, food, decoration, and other
As a result of the many objections by students, the
student council has not made plans to hold the two
proms together. The junior prom, coordinated by Mrs.
Driver will be held on April 28 at the Allegro Hotel. The
cost is $70 dollars per person.
Senior prom, coordinated by Ms. Nicole Flores, will
be held at the Palmer House on June 1, 2006 and will
cost $80 per person.
“It would be nice if the two proms were together,
but the occasion is more special for seniors to celebrate
their last big event before graduation together,” said Ms.
Nicole Flores.
Even though the junior and senior proms shall
remain separate, attendance and a good time are still
encouraged.
“I think that prom is part of the high school experience,” said Ms. Lisa Moreno, vice principal at Northside. “It’s a time to have fun with friends within reason.
One would hope kids don’t put their parents in the
poorhouse over it.”
Will you go to prom with me?
Ways of transport to prom
by Aisha Wahid
Riding a bike, catching the bus, or going on foot may be
regular ways of getting to school for Northsiders, but these
methods will certainly not cut it for junior and senior proms.
While students may still have time to ask the special someone
to escort them to prom and decide on how to afford the financial costs, they must begin planning for their way of getting
there. Junior Formal is not so far away, being held on April
18, 2006 at the Hotel Allegro at 171 W. Randolph, downtown
Chicago.
For those who prefer taking a limo on the night of the
event, special packages are provided for prom by services like
Four Season Limo Inc. Reservations can be made beforehand
and rates are more affordable if students choose to go with a
group of friends and meet up at a particular place for pickup.
“I’m still working it out with friends, but we’re planning
for a limo,” said Katherine Nunes, Adv. 704. “If it is ridiculously expensive to go from one of our houses to prom and
back, then it’s not worth it.”
Some limousine services such as Pearl Limousine Chicago charge rates per hour, ranging from $45 to $85 based on
the number of passengers. There is also 20% gratuity necessary, a basic tip to the chauffer. This may raise the price
depending on hours spent getting to prom and driving
around town for enjoyment.
“We haven’t decided yet, but we’re going as a group
of friends, probably in a limo or party bus,” said Jackie McDermott, Adv. 702.
Renting a car can be made easy via reservations made on
the internet.
Students and parents can check out rates depending on
the length of time needed. Coupons are also available online,
lessening the financial burden.
For a more elaborate or romantic night one may want to
rent a car or even host their date in a horse carriage. Usually
a luxury car or a convertible are the popular hits. If students
already have a nice car available at home, paying a sibling or
friend to chauffer for the night may create a better impression
on one’s date. For those who have their own cars or are taking
the back seat of a friend’s there are parking garages at the
Hotel Allegro available.
Driving as a couple to prom may be more romantic and
can provide more freedom, but it depends on availability of a
car and license. A limousine is a less expensive idea if going
as a big group. Reservations should be made early because
services are busy and limited during the season.
“My dress and shoes were already so expensive, so why
pay so much for transport,” said Jennifer Gonzelez, Adv. 705.
“I’m getting a ride from my parents; it seems like the most cost
effective way.”
Northsiders who are in the search for the most exclusive
evening at prom will try to find a superb way of getting there,
others who enjoy the partying can find a fun way to join in
with friends, and students who want a cost effective choice can
find cheap rates and fares conveniently.
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Page 11
“We had issues getting there,” said Jacqueline Pfeil, Adv.
607, about last year’s junior prom. “We had such a big group
and taking pictures took a long time, so we arrived late. I
would advise the juniors to pick a date they’ll have fun with.
Also rent a party bus like we did, it has comfortable seating
and more room to move around. Prom was definitely worth
the time, money and excitement.”
All around Northside, people are looking at magazines
with calculators in hand trying to figure out the expenses of
prom. The flowers, manicures, pedicures, haircuts, dresses,
tuxedos, limos and much more can add up to a lot. The
expenses also add up to worries for Northsiders who hope that
this night will be worth all they paid for.
“I didn’t like my dress because my mom wouldn’t let me
spend money on it,” said Monica Guerrero, Adv. 606. “I
would advise the class of 2007 to go with someone they will
have fun with. And once at prom, sit with the people you want
to sit with.”
Although the expenses can add up, the underlying worry
for many students is not being asked to prom.
“The worst that could happen would be that you just stand in
the corner the whole time because you’re afraid to ask anyone to
dance with you,” said Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson, Adv. 704.
“Something tragic can happen on the way and you might
have to show up not looking your best, or you might not go at
all, or they could just be really bad food or music. But the worst
is not being asked to dance,” Rodje Estrada, Adv. 702.
“My boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend showed up at prom with her
boyfriend,” said Megan Marquez, Adv. 605. “Nothing bad
happened, I didn’t feel awkward, but my boyfriend did. And my
boyfriend doesn’t like dancing, so I was mad about that. One
[piece of] advice is don’t let your boyfriend order your food.
And don’t worry about prom; it’s not a big deal, just make
sure to have fun.”
With everything that could go wrong, Northside juniors and
seniors begin their planning and prepare their to-do-lists, hoping
that at that special night they won’t be the ones saying ‘Why
me?’
Page 12
Editorial
Minors Endangered
The Hoof Beat
Ayotte has it right
Abortion Statute Places Undue Burden NH Law Constitutional
by Aly Markowski
In June 2003, the New Hampshire legislature passed a statute requiring minors seeking an
abortion to notify their parents by certified mail
forty-eight hours before the procedure. The only
exception where parental notification could be
avoided was when an abortion was necessary to
protect the minor’s life from immediate danger.
A judicial bypass alternative was also created, in
which the minor could go to court to prove to a
judge that she was either mature enough to make
the abortion decision on her own, or that even if
she could not prove her maturity, that receiving an
abortion would serve her best interests. The statute
did not, however, provide a health exception: a
clause within the law that would allow notification
to be bypassed when necessary to protect the health
of the minor.
In 1973, the case of Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, radically changing abortion law in the United
States. Roe established a powerful restriction on the
powers of the government by protecting a woman’s
privacy when making decisions in the realm of her
own body. The Supreme Court of the United States
determined that the right to make the decision to
have an abortion stems from the fundamental rights
granted to all citizens in the Bill of Rights. These
rights, including the right to privacy, protection
from unreasonable search and seizure, and due
process of the law, are guaranteed to all citizens
even before they turn eighteen and reach the age
of majority. Thus, a minor guaranteed protection
by the Bill of Rights has the same inherent right to
make an abortion decision as an adult.
However, parental notification is not a violation
of the constitution in and of itself. The state has
a legitimate interest in ensuring that a minor’s decision to make an abortion is well-informed. Parental
notification encourages discussion within the family
unit and allows the parents, who often know their
daughter best, to help inform the minor of all of
the options and potential consequences of either
route taken in making such an important decision.
However, the parental notification requirements
in the New Hampshire law are unconstitutional
because the act does not include a health exception,
endangering the minor’s health. Although the state
may be legislating to promote the legitimate interest
of ensuring that a minor is informed in making
her free abortion decision, this legislation without
a health exception imposes an undue burden on
the pre-eminent interest, the health of the woman.
In an unbroken line of decisions in the past forty
years since Roe, the Supreme Court of the United
States has expressed its concern for the health of the
woman and the Court’s precedent abortion legislation cases have explicitly required a health exception.
Opponents argue that there are very few circumstances that would necessitate a health exception to
allow for an abortion to protect a woman’s health
if it was only her health, and not her life, that was
in danger. However, although the need for a health
exception may be extremely rare, it may arise in
some extreme circumstances, such as preeclampsia,
eclampsia, premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the fetus, spontaneous chorioamnionitis,
and heavy bleeding during pregnancy, that have been
recognized by the medical community. The law, as
it stands, would tie the hands of a physician, who
would be prosecutable under the New Hampshire
statute for performing an abortion without parental
notification to protect the minor’s health, until the
point of imminent death is reached or the parents
are notified. In these extreme cases, the law is placing an unacceptable risk on the health of the minor.
According to abortion law precedent, when legislation is injurious to only a very small percentage of
women, the health and lives of these endangered
women take precedence over any other state interest.
Thus, the state is not qualified in jeopardizing the
health of minor’s for the sole purpose of ensuring
that minors are more-informed in making the decision to have an abortion.
The state of New Hampshire argues that the judicial bypass serves as an adequate health exception
because a minor whose health is at risk may go to
court to seek exemption from the parental notification requirement. However, the judicial bypass procedure could take up to fourteen days. In this two-week
period, severe complications could arise damaging
the physical health of the minor. Therefore the judicial bypass procedure does not adequately protect the
health of the minor in circumstances when a prompt
or even immediate abortion is necessary.
Therefore, the New
Hampshire statute
unconstitutionally serves
the lesser state interest
of promoting a minor’s
well-informed abortion
decision by failing to
protect the superlative
interest in the woman’s
life and health. Without
an adequate health exception, this statute may not
stand.
It’s time
to be FAIR
New Hampshire’s recently enacted Parental Notification Prior to
Abortion Act is not unconstitutional.
The statute, which stipulates that minor women under the age of 18 must
notify their parent or guardian at least
48 hours before obtaining an abortion,
is designed to protect the best interests
of the minor.
The act does provide a death
exception, which would allow for an
immediate abortion to be performed
to save a minor’s life.
In cases where notifying the parent would not be in the minor’s best
interests, the act allows for the judicial
bypass mechanism to kick in, where
the minor could go before a court to
prove to a judge that she is either mature enough to make the decision to
have an abortion or that an abortion
without parental notification is in her
best interests.
The complaint with this statute
is its lack of a “health exception” to
allow minors to obtain immediate
abortions without parental notification in cases where their health, but
not necessarily their life, is threatened. However, the death exception
can be interpreted as such a medical
emergency exception, as any health
threat that cannot wait to get through
the judicial bypass procedure is surely
considered dangerous enough to enable the death exception.
This is compatible with precedent
case law. Planned Parenthood of
Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
required only
a medical
emergency
exception
as well as a
judicial bypass
mechanism,
and this statute
has made
every effort to
conform to this
constitutional
precedent.
Furthermore, a broad “health
exception” such as the one Planned
Parenthood is asking for would
provide a loophole for removing the
parents from the minor’s abortion
decision altogether. Any small health
question could then be considered
as grounds for immediate abortion,
even pregnancy itself, which could
constitute a health threat. Minors,
however, are not capable of making
that decision themselves, and the
Courts have generally found minors to
be “immature.”
If minors cannot consent to routine surgeries by themselves, can they
decide without any guidance to have
an abortion, which is a potentially
life-changing decision? Parents know
their child’s medical history best, and
they can also aid in the search for a
qualified physician for their daughter. If minors are left on their own,
unscrupulous medical practitioners,
for whom abortion is a business like
any other, can easily take advantage
of them.
This law does not impede the
constitutionally protected rights of
women to have an abortion as established in Roe v. Wade. Minors do not
have to obtain parental consent for
the abortion; they are merely required
to notify their parents who can best
support their daughter throughout this
time.
Minors who do not wish to
inform their parents have a venue for
expressing their maturity or unique
circumstances through the judicial
bypass procedure, and minors whose
lives are threatened can receive immediate abortions under the New
Hampshire Law.
This statute, by requiring parental
notification, protects the health of
the minor while staying within its
constitutional bounds, and as such the
law should be upheld by the Supreme
Court of the United States.
National
Security
by Geethi Abraham
by Harris Grigoropoulos
The FAIR law schools have historically held
non-discrimination policies based on religion,
race, and gender. These policies prohibited any
career placement to potential employers who
exclude applicants based on these qualities. In
the 1970s the law schools began to add sexual
orientation to the non-discrimination clause.
In the 1980s some law schools began to
refuse to allow U.S. military recruiters onto their
campus because they did not accept “service
members based on evidence of homosexual
conduct.” The Solomon Amendment was first
enacted in 1994, when it denied Department
of Defense (DOD) funding from any schools
that did not allow military recruiters onto their
campuses.
The Amendment was revised in 2004 to deny
all federal funding from the whole university unless the law schools allowed military recruiters’
access equal to that of the other recruiters on the
school campus.
The application of the Solomon Amendment violates the First Amendment rights of the
FAIR law schools. The FAIR law schools are an
expressive association, which means that they
are an association with a message, and their message is significant, entitled to First Amendment
rights. Although the military does not force the
law schools to speak against their policy, they are
forced to act against it, and actions speak louder
than words. By allowing the military recruiters equal access to the facilities, the FAIR law
schools have to notify students of the military
recruiters on campus, publicize their presence,
and provide them with materials and resources,
just like they would with other recruiters.
The students of the law schools see the equal
treatment of the military recruiters and see an
exception made to the stated policy of the FAIR
law schools. The law schools would not make
an exception to their policy for any other recruiters with a message clearly violating their own, so
why make an exception for the military? Just by
associating themselves with the military, the law
by Monica Wojcik
schools are being forces to
sacrifice their own ideals
and integrity by subsidizing a message against their
own.
The Solomon Amendment is unconstitutional because it does not
have the right to withdraw funding from a cause
not ‘reasonably related to the purpose of the
expenditure.’ How is federal money granted to
the engineering department to build a satellite
to revolve around the moon related to military
recruitment on the law schools?
The only way that the government would be
able to overrule the First Amendment Right’s of
the law schools is if they had a ‘compelling state
interest’. The argument is not against the need
for the military to raise an army, because that
need is recognized especially in the current time
of war, but there are other ways to do so. Recruiting on the campus of the FAIR law schools
is not the only way that the DOD could go about
raising an army.
There are numerous other law schools
throughout the country that do not have anti-discriminatory laws, and the military could recruit
there without having to worry about violating
the First Amendment.
The DOD can even recruit FAIR law school
students, just not on the FAIR law school campus. The military recruiters can recruit on the
sidewalk, go door-to-door, call people and make
private interviews; they simply cannot use school
resources and be associated with the schools in
any way.
The Solomon Amendment is unconstitutional, as applied to FAIR, because it infringes
on their First Amendment rights, misuses grant
money, and fails to provide a ‘compelling state
interest’. As an expressive association, the FAIR
law schools should be exempt from the Soloman Amendment because it infringes on their
First Amendment rights, and thus do not have to
abide by it.
In order
to provide
for the common defense
and general
welfare of the
nation, Congress was constitutionally
empowered to raise and support an
army. Since the 1970s, enlistment into
the nation’s armed forces has been
strictly volunteer-based. Even after the
declaration of war preceding the 2001
terrorist attacks, no draft was enacted
and the military maintained its volunteer enlistment policy. Recruitment is
the primary method through which
the armed forces gains new membership, and thus is essential in providing
for the compelling interest of national
security.
An association of law schools
represented as the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR)
imposed a policy of prohibiting
military recruitment on their campuses
in order to voice their disproval of
the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Policy,” which disallows the enlistment
of admitted homosexuals. The law
schools claimed that the policy went
against the universities’ belief of nondiscriminatory employment.
On that ground, the Solomon
Amendment was passed withholding
Department of Defense (DOD) funding from any educational institution
with a policy of denying or effectively
preventing the military from obtaining entry to campuses for recruiting
purposes. The Amendment states that
schools must provide military recruiters with treatment and facilities "equal
to in scope" to those of other employment recruiters.
FAIR filed a lawsuit against the
DOD claiming that the Solomon
Amendment impedes and intrudes
on their First Amendment rights of
freedom of expressive association and
unconstitutionally compels them to
disseminate a message which they do
not support.
However Congress has a compelling interest to provide for the welfare
of the United States, and the Solomon
Amendment is the least intrusive method of achieving this goal. According
to the decision in Roberts v. Jaycees,
expressive association rights may
be minimally infringed upon by the
government when a compelling state
of interest is at stake. The compelling
national interest involved in the case is
the maintenance of the armed forces
and the continual need to provide for
the common defense of the United
States of America.
The Solomon Amendment does
not significantly affect the law school’s
ability to express their viewpoint.
In fact, the Solomon Amendment is
carefully tailored to suit the military’s
needs of effectively recruiting lawyers
and other well-educated individuals.
In Boy Scouts of America v. Dale the
court ruled against granting permanent
membership to openly homosexual
James Dale as an assistant scoutsman.
However, this case is distinguishable from Dale by the overwhelming
fact that military recruiters are just a
temporary presence on campus that
does not intrude into the internal structure of the school. Furthermore, the
law schools can easily renounce any
anti-discriminatory message purported
by the recruiters’ presence on campus
through the use of disclaimers.
March 2006
Mark My Words
What’s your magnum opus?
by Aliy Markowski
In the beginning of December, as all of Northside’s freshmen, sophomores,
and juniors prepared to choose classes for the upcoming school year, Mr. Devine sent out an e-mail to all
discussing the expectation of each student to create his
or her “magnum opus,” or distinguishing great work,
while at Northside. The importance of finding some
way to make myself stand out at Northside was not
a new concept to me when I received the e-mail. I’ve
been one of Mr. Devine’s advisees for three years now,
and since the summer before freshman year, he has
told us time and time again how crucial it is to seize
every opportunity to use our four years at Northside to
make our own unique mark.
Mr. Devine has emphasized using our high
school years and the open and engaging atmosphere at
Northside to move towards living a great and fulfilling
life, one in which we “consistently contribute to the
betterment of the human condition.” However, as we
approach the time for applying to colleges, it becomes
impossible to ignore that there are significant external
motivations to do something unique and noteworthy
during high school as well. Many Northsiders apply
to the most selective colleges and universities in the
country. These schools aren’t just looking for the
average Joe; they are looking for well-rounded students
with high grades, test scores, and a varied array of
extra-curricular activities. Northside has plenty of
students who meet these qualifications - students taking tough AP classes, scoring highly on the ACT and
SAT, and participating in clubs and sports. Yet still,
not all Northsiders are getting into these top schools.
Even some of Northside’s best students, those with
nearly perfect grades, the best athletes, and those who
put in countless hours to a wide-range of extracurricular activities, have been rejected from highly-selective
colleges.
So why are some of Northside’s seemingly most
qualified-applicants not making the cut to get into
these schools? The answer to this question is certainly
multi-faceted, but a large part of the problem is that
some Northsiders’ applications aren’t standing out on
the desks of college admissions officers. Northside is
home of the over-achiever, the night-owl who stays
up until the early morning hours to finish homework
for multiple college-level classes. But at the end of
the day, this in itself doesn’t lead to creating a life of
fulfillment or a magnum opus, nor does it create a
stunning college application. For every valedictorian
who graduates from Northside, there are thousands of
other valedictorians from schools across the country
applying to the same schools and noting the same feat.
Therefore, academics alone are not necessarily the
principle way in which a Northsider can make himself
stand out.
Instead, many Northside students should focus
more on finding that magnum opus, or great distinguishing work, that will set them apart from the
crowd. This would be something unique - the pursuance of some valuable interest that would lead to
greater good and self-fulfillment. Take the founders
of the Case Club, for example. Their goal, to find an
alternative source of energy, is innovative and original
and serves a purpose greater than self-improvement
and personal accomplishment. These students are
working on a unique project to contribute to ameliorating the school and ultimately society as a whole.
This most certainly falls under Mr. Devine’s criterion
of “consistently contributing to the human condition.”
Simultaneously, this is the kind of work that will make
a student stand out to college admissions officers. The
message I send is not that Northside students should
look for activities that will best build their resume for
college admissions. Instead, Northsiders should seek
out opportunities to pursue their interests and work to
make a difference in their communities, whether the
scale is their school community, their neighborhood,
the city, or even the nation. This will lead to a rewarding experience at Northside, and at the end of the
day these students will be recognized for their honest
and selfless efforts to make a difference when they are
admitted into top colleges across the country, places
where their creativity and innovation will continue to
flow. So this is a reminder to all Northside students,
just as Mr. Devine’s e-mail was four months ago: what
will be your magnum opus?
Chalik on the Sidewalk
AP Courses: not an advanced
panacea for college admission
by Ilya Chalik
As you may know, a panacea
is a substance perceived to cure
a variety of problems. Still, these
remedies always turn out to be
illusions, as people like to think
that if something works well in one
situation, it will act as a solution to
all related cases. If one person gets
into college X, having taken 10 Advanced Placement classes, then by
taking 10 AP classes in high school
anyone can get into college X, right?
The answer is unfortunately no, and
sometimes a student must find this
out the hard way.
The AP Program, no matter
how much it is hyped up, was never
designed as the golden road for getting into the top colleges. The program, presently in its fiftieth year,
was set up to simulate introductory
level college courses in high schools
throughout the United States for
bright students. Yet academically
conscious high school students are
now continually piling on the APs
in hopes of getting into the elite colleges of America.
Students are truthfully told that
the best schools evaluate transcripts
for evidence of rigorous course
material; the College Board cites
a 2003 survey of college admissions officers, showing that student
performance on AP type collegepreparatory courses is now the most
important factor in college admissions. In the ever more competitive
quest for acceptance to the leading universities, taking advanced
classes becomes not an option but a
requirement.
The most convenient option
for a student at Northside to prove
having taken this “rigorous” course
material is by taking AP courses,
which are so widely recognized
for their supposed difficulty. Then
students begin to believe that a stellar academic record, littered with
the shiny black letters “AP,” is the
key to getting into the top notch
institution of their choice. This
supposition may be true in a school
where fewer students participate in
AP courses, but at Northside, taking
multiple AP classes is the norm,
not the exception. Therefore, it is
imperative to fully consider how an
AP class will further one’s goals in
education when deciding to take
on the challenge of AP classes at
Northside.
The College Board, which
oversees the AP curriculum and
assessment, encourages students to
invest their time and money into AP
courses. In its annual Bulletin for
AP Students and Parents, it continually touts that taking AP courses
“can help you stand out in the
college admissions process” because
taking AP classes “demonstrates
your maturity, willingness to push
yourself intellectually, and commitment to academic excellence.”
But in the context of high schools
where the AP program is especially
popular, AP classes become less
of a distinguishing factor among
academic competitive students.
The real truth hits you, when
you see that taking AP courses is
not that special anymore, at least
not enough to gain acceptance into
the top caliber colleges in nation.
For the very selective colleges,
a student has to truly stand out
from the rest of the applicant pool.
Although it shows academic rigor,
taking AP classes does not make
an individual shine brightly above
the most competitive students. In
terms of academic merit, to get
into the prestigious schools it helps
to be well-recognized for other
unique accomplishments and to be
able to write well about them. That
means that burdening oneself with
umpteen AP classes will never be a
panacea for getting into colleges like
Yale, Stanford, MIT or Harvard, because these colleges have long been
looking for more than just academic
stamina in students.
That is not to say that students
should not take AP classes; it is
practically necessary to take a fair
number during junior and senior
years to be on par with other college
applicants around the country. They
can help earn credit for college
and do indeed show to colleges a
student’s ability to handle rigorous
academic work. Be aware, however,
that taking a handful of simultaneous AP classes tends to accumulate
stress and deduct precious time
from the valuable extracurricular activities that the colleges prize more
than a threadbare record of AP
classes. A student must recognize
the potential sacrifices in signing
up for a heavy load of AP courses,
studying for which requires a fair
amount of organization and dedication. Also, AP classes are not guaranteed to be enjoyable – a teacher
does not always motivate students,
so oftentimes pushing oneself to
remain interested in the subject
material is the key to success.
At the end of the day it is
important to carefully weigh the
merits of each AP class before
going ahead with it. This might
require some research from multiple
sources such as counselors, teachers, and students who have already
taken the class. However, every
student’s experience in an AP class
is different, and students should be
prepared to handle the feeling of
multiple concurrent
AP
courses before
jumping the gun
and signing up
for as many as
possible. And in
terms of tactics
for getting
into the finest
colleges, just
stacking up
AP classes is
not a panacea.
Editorial
Page 13
The Hoof Beat
Student
Newspaper
Our Grading Scale:
A Varying Standard
Our Scale:
A Varying
According to the Northside College Prep Student Handbook, “a grade is a means of communicating to students, parents, the school and other institutions and agencies the student’s
level of learning in a particular course.” The Handbook also
states that “the audiences for the grade should be confident that
grades are consistent within the school, the department, and
different sections of the same course.” This promise of consistency, however, does not ring true at Northside.
The percent-based grading scale used to determine a
student’s letter grade varies greatly from department to department, class to class, and even teacher to teacher. While
an 80% average earns a student a ‘B’ in Advanced Placement
U.S. Government and Politics, the same percentage yields a
‘D’ in an Honors French class. Even within the Social Science
Department, that 80% would be a low ‘C’ in AP Psychology
compared to the ‘B’ in
Government. The Math
Department’s grading
scale particularly stands
out. While the scale
is uniform throughout
most of the Math
Department itself,
the scale is drastically different from
all of the other
departments. In an
average Northside
math class, an
average of 2.8 on
the 4.0 scale earns a
student a ‘B,’ even
though it amounts
to a 70%. In many
Northside classes, a
student would
not pass the course
with that average.
The purpose of grades is
to have a standard to evaluate
students,
as a system of
evaluation is
necessary for college admissions,
scholarships,
and
academic
awards. In a
perfect
world,
the very unique
academic achievements of every student would not be
labeled by one of
five predefined
letter grades.
Yet there are
no practical
alternatives
to America’s
imperfect
letter-grading
system;
it’s
our best bet if
we wish to have
some measure to
attempt to compare
very different students across the country. Therefore,
we must accept that
letter grades are
standards, which by
nature are flawed
yet efficient. These
standards must be
uniform to effectively
serve their purpose
of putting all students
on the same playing field. They must
provide an objective
view of each and every
individual through
a single series of letters
on a report card.
If different courses
or teachers reward
students with different
letter grades for similar
efforts and achievement, letter grades may
paint a very misleading
portrait of a student’s
success. The fundamental principle behind using letter grades,
to objectively evaluate students, is distorted when subjective
disparities exist between grading scales in different courses.
Discrepancies in class grading scales often leave students in
the position of working to different levels of their ability to meet
the grading standards that differ in each class. Because of the
variances in grading scales, students do not necessarily work to
meet the unique academic standards of each course, but instead
constantly focus on their classes’ divergent percentages and corresponding letter grades. Student academic performance should
ideally come from intrinsic rather than external motivations
for learning – students should want to learn for learning’s sake
instead of for a letter grade.
Yet it is not petty for high school students to concern themselves with grades, since these measurements hold great weight
in college admissions and open and close the doors to many
other academic opportunities. High-achieving students tend to
focus on maintaining their grades, to demonstrate to colleges
their dedication to schoolwork. Therefore, students frequently
consider their letter grades to determine their performance in
each class to ensure that, at the end of the semester, they will be
happy with the letter grades shown to colleges.
Student concern with letter grades will inevitably exist. But
when students also must deal with the anxiety of each class
using different percentages to correspond to each letter grade,
the preoccupation with grades becomes too much. Grades are a
necessary evil, but the system for grading should be kept simple
to allow grades to exist without being the fixation of students.
The grading scale at Northside should be kept uniform, with
identical percentages for every course, to most accurately represent every student in all academic fields.
The previous article is an editorial written by a member
of the Hoof Beat staff. Letters to the editor are welcome.
Please e-mail questions or comments to Ctylinski@norths
ideprep.org.
Page 14
Arts and Entertainment
The Hoof Beat
V for Vendetta: grand treason to dull comic films
by Damon Beres
The year 2006 is a scant three months old, but
already it has what will undoubtedly be one of its
best films. It isn’t an introspective Ang Lee movie
or a Spielberg masterwork, but rather a paranoid
science-fiction piece from the Wachowski brothers, the team behind The Matrix trilogy.
The film is based upon Alan Moore’s graphic
novel of the same name, though his name has
been completely removed from anything to do
with the film, reportedly by his request.
Moore’s loss, as V for Vendetta is an excellent
film that is certainly worthy of its namesake.
While the previews tout the feature as a cutand-dry action flick, likely to garner sales from
audiences outside of the intellectual elite, the Wachowski brothers have graciously left most of the
original story’s ferocious political criticism intact.
Of course, it would be unlike the Wachowskis
to create a film without any sort of violence after
revolutionizing the action genre with The Matrix.
V for Vendetta has frequent interludes with much
"V for Vendetta is an excellent
film that is certainly worthy of its
namesake. "
Publicity movie poster for V for Vendetta
Image courtesy of www.amazon.com
slicing and dicing of human flesh. These scenes
spice the film up in obvious ways and certainly
amp up its pacing. Thankfully, the Wachowski
brothers were able to exercise self-restraint and
use their own “bullet time” technique (think slow
motion with pizzazz, made famous by the bullet-dodging sequence in The Matrix) responsibly,
which keeps the action fast-paced and exciting.
Truthfully, the Wachowskis have perhaps invested
too much into the action side of V for Vendetta,
which makes much of the movie seem overly
simple and desperate for the audience’s approval.
This tarnishes the original, more serious tone
of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, and while the
sequences are undeniably entertaining, they are at
times superfluous.
Speaking of tarnishing Moore’s original work
to appease a stereotypically idiotic audience, V
for Vendetta’s story is noticeably watered down
from the original graphic novel. The plot revolves
around Britain in an alternate future where a
militant, tyrannical regime has taken control of
The Chronicles of Narnia: truly
enchanting
To be released on DVD
by Joanna Chromik
The Chronicles of Narina: The
the hundred year winter.
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was
English actors Georgie Henley
a box-office smash. Opening the
(Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund),
ninth of December, the movie made Anna Popplewell (Susan), and
a weekend gross of $65,556,312 (according to the New York
Times on the Web).
Produced by Walt
Disney Pictures and
directed by Andrew Adamson, the film is an adaptation of C. S. Lewis’
children’s novel. The
movie’s plot, apart from
some minor changes, accurately follows the story.
The story is based
around a group of
English children who
discover they have been
transported into a magical world called Narnia.
The four children, Lucy,
Edmund, Susan and
Peter Pevensie, flee their
London home from the
dangers of World War II.
They come to live with
an elderly Professor in a
sprawling country home.
It is during a game of
hide and seek that Lucy,
the youngest Pevensie,
discovers the magical
world of Narnia through
the portals of a massive antique wardrobe.
Narnia is a mysterious
Narnia promotional poster
world filled with magiImage courtesy of www.amazon.com
cal creatures and events,
where time does not pass
William Moseley (Peter) excelordinarily. Soon, all the Pevensie
lently match the characters they
children are transported to Narnia,
portray; as an ensemble they act
where they find that, according to
believably as real siblings, caring
Narnian prophecy, they must help
the lion Aslan, true ruler of Narnia, for one another, bickering, and
joking. Georgie Henley even won
free the Narnian population from
recognition in the award for “Best
Performance by a Child Actress”
from the 2005 Phoenix Film Critics
Awards. The child actors performed
exceptionally, managing to
convey genuine emotion as well
as affection for the other worldly
creatures, which, seeing that the
animals were created digitally, is
impressive.
The Chronicles of Narina: The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
runs a total of 140 minutes,
which may make it seem a bit
long. Quite the contrary, as the
plot of the movie itself is upbeat
and easy to follow. There is not
a single point in the story when
viewers will not be hooked. If
audiences do not enjoy the story
line, the captivating sights and
special effects are sure to attract
enough attention to affect an
enjoyable experience for all
ages. Moviegoers will enjoy
the enchanting animals. If they
do not find the creatures of
Narnia captivating, the digitally
mastered battle scenes, which at
some points look very believable, are sure to capture their
attention.
Unfortunately, Narnia
opened on December 9, 2005
and with new releases The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe has left
the big screen.
Those who were not able to
see the production in theaters
will soon be able to experience
the “beloved masterpiece” at home.
According to AOL entertainment
news, two DVD versions of the
movie will be released on April 4th,
2006. The movie will certainly be
worth the wait.
the country. The film explains this by vaguely alluding to what seems to be a failed War on Terror,
but provides very little explanation for the regime
taking power. The film instead portrays the regime
and its leaders to be rather typical, one-sided
forces of evil. Alan Moore’s graphic novel, on
the other hand, explains the rise of the totalitarian government which enhances the story by vast
amounts, polarizes good and evil a bit less, and
still has the readers cheering for the protagonists.
Beyond the mistake of dulling the story, the
Wachowski brothers have added some unnecessary and exaggerated satire which proves a rather
large blow to the film as a whole. Several blatant
messages that directly reference the government’s
hatred of Muslims and the Quran are strewn
about the film, which is problematic for a number
of reasons.
Principally, none of these references are
subtle, which makes much of the dialogue in these
instances forced and somewhat hokey. Homosexuality is handled similarly, though a particularly
poignant sequence towards the film’s climax manages to salvage the issue so that it is presented in a
meaningful light.
Yet, a film should never have to be 100%
faithful to the source material, and regardless
of the numerous changes that the Wachowski
Brothers have made to V for Vendetta, it is still a
magnificent piece of work. Despite the story being
watered down, the film’s narrative is thoughtful
and will challenge audiences. In fact, perhaps the
Wachowskis didn’t make things simple enough, as
the story moves quickly to the point that audiences may find themselves confused. Apart from
that, the main characters are wonderfully written
and deep, the acting is fantastic, the storyline is
entrancing and moving, and the directing is truly
beautiful.
V for Vendetta is topical, and while its challenges and paranoia are exaggerated, it is no stretch at
all to consider how its messages pertain to current
political affairs. Thus the film is, above all, meaningful, even if much of its subtext paradoxically
favors the frightening opposite of totalitarianism
– anarchy. While audiences might come for the
action and explosions, hopefully they will stay
for the delicious brain candy that is the true V for
Vendetta.
On fragile wings all
the way
Black Buddafly mediocre
at best
by Anthe Mitrakos
Black Buddafly is a trio of sisters:
the new songs have smooth and
Sophie, Amina, and Jazz. The
soulful harmonies. The girls have
group began in Hamburg, Gervery lightly pitched voices, which
many, where they were born to a
give the songs a dreamy feeling and
German mother and a Senegalese
make all the songs sound similar.
father. The girls grew up with muAlthough the CD might sound borsic: their father was a jazz musician
ing at first, it deserves a chance to
and their mother a singer, so natube heard a few times over. The tone
rally they took on a similar path.
of the songs is calm and relaxing,
Like many professional singers,
yet they still maintain a pleasurable
the girls began their careers singing
beat, even if it is pretty slow. If you
in church and school musicals at
like slow and soothing tunes, then
the young ages of six and eight.
Black Buddafly’s new CD is a good
When the girls were in junior high,
mix of this type of music.
they did sessions at local studios
If you are looking for upand toured with gospel ensembles.
beat club music, don’t buy Black
They did not want to continue on
Buddafly’s new CD. It will literally
church-affiliated tours, so they later
put you to sleep.
moved on to form the group Choyce
in 1998. With
much of their
new music
influenced
by Mariah
Carey and
Janet Jackson,
the trio came
to America as
Black Buddafly.
Their selftitled album
Black Buddafly
includes the six
songs: “RockA-Bye,” “Sheets
and Pillows,”
“Sugar Buddy,”
“Anything At
All,” “Make a
Change,” and
“If I Ever.”
Though not
Black Buddafly album cover
very up beat,
Image courtesy of www.defjam.com
Month
Year
March 2006
Five dollars well spent
Category Page
Page15
15
Arts and Entertainment
Beresilicious
St. Patty’s Day orchestra concert
Punk
conformity
by Damon Beres
From left to right: Cellists Lucy Honold Adv. 900, Thomas Dyke Adv. And 705 Joseph Buchheit knock the
socks off of the audience with their mesmerizing performance.
Photo by Salim Patel
by Salim Patel
On Friday, March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, the Northside
Orchestra Ensemble had its annual Spring Concert. All three
levels of Mr. Leo Park’s orchestra classes shared their musical
talents with family and friends. The Northside Youth Symphony Orchestra, members of the Northside Concert Band,
and guest performers also took part in the evening.
The beginning ensemble started the evening with five
pieces, mainly consisting of Mark Williams’ works. Performing the vibrant piece, “Celtic Dance”, by Mark Williams, the
beginners started off the evening with a bang. To finish off
their performance the beginners, wearing straw hats, performed “Fiddles Out West.”
“The beginning ensemble started the night off on the right
foot,” said Mr. Park, Northside’s orchestra teacher and director.
After a brief stage change, it was time to see the intermediate orchestra present their musical numbers. The assortment of pieces included “An Irish Air” (keeping with the St.
Patrick’s Day theme) as well as “American Gaelic,” “Hopak,”
and “Geminus Sonus.” However, it was “Toccatina” that
stole the show with its edgy, slightly spooky sound.
“While backstage, a lot of us were nervous and apprehensive about performing our part,” said Hamida Patel, violinist,
Adv. 708. “After the applause, however, we all felt that we had
done a good job.”
After some stage adjustment, it was time for the two
quartet performances. The two quartets consisted of violinists
Elisabeth Graham, Adv. 704, Margot DiMuzio, Adv. 807, Carmen Abelson, Adv. 900, Richard Paulius, Adv. 705, Jeanette
Santos, Adv. 600, Stephanie Yang, Adv. 700, and cellists Lucy
Honold, Adv. 900, and Thomas Dyke, Adv. 705. The audience
was mesmerized by the performances.
“Even though there were only four people on the stage,
it sounded so great,” said Michael Orosa Adv. 800. “I really
liked it, good job guys.”
The evening progressed once the Chamber Orchestra hit
the stage. Playing “Danny Boy” and “Reverie the Chamber,”
the orchestra enchanted everyone in the theater.
“It was a phenomenal performance and I was glad I flew
in from Boston to see them,” said Sana Khan, Northside
alumni and former violinist. “Actually, I’m on Spring break
and I decided to stop by. It was really good and I loved it.”
Youth performers, with musicians ranging from the forth
grade to eighth, took the stage and moved the audience with
two pieces, “Serenade” and “Allegro in D.”
“It was thrilling performing here at Northside in front of
so many people for a second year in a row,” explained Geri
McInerney, an eighth grader in the youth orchestra, after her
performance.
To cap off the evening, the Youth Symphony, the Northside Concert Orchestra, and Northside Concert Band teamed
up to stun their listeners with their stirring renditions of
“Overture to Nabucco” and “Rites of Tamburo”.
“The collaboration was a wonderful example of how
music can touch all levels of our Northside community,” said
Deborah Grimes, director of the Youth Orchestra. “It was a
joy working with Mr. Park for the forth year in a row.”
“The percussion and the strings pairing up was crazy,”
said Mohammed Ahmed, Adv. 907. “It was really entertaining because the performers were having a lot of fun, especially
Willie T. Hagen on the xylophone.”
The evening ended with Mr. Park thanking everyone for
coming out to the performance and announcing the upcoming
events for the Music Department.
“I am very much looking forward to our finale performance of the school year on Friday, May 26th. Good stuff to
come,” explained Mr. Park.
The parents were also excited, “I am looking forward to
May 26th, the grand finale, because it will be a culmination,”
said Ms. Shameem, mother of Mohammed Ahmed, Adv. 907.
“I was at the first concert and I saw a subsequent improvement
and I know that better is to come.”
The Geography of Girlhood:
A new way to grow up
by Elizabeth Jose
The Geography of Girlhood, by
Kirsten Smith, is very much like
other “ordeals of growing up” type
of stories. Like many other books
of this genre, a great amount of
time is spent deliberating on the
various trials of being a teenage
girl— first kisses, crushes, etc.
Also, like many other books of this
genre, other trials such as actual
work done in school do not figure
into the story for the most part.
Nevertheless, one aspect of Smith’s
writing makes her work stand out in
the sea of similar books: she creates
the story through the use of vivid
poetry.
Poetry is not commonly used
in a novel, and Smith has proved
that it is an excellent tool to portray
emotions. These emotions in turn
enrich ordeals of the actual story.
The result is a poignant tale of a
young girl struggling to make sense
of her life, who learns that running away doesn’t solve anything.
Though the idea seems a bit cliché,
and most of the poems seem to be
either sappy dreams or written out
of anger and annoyance, through
this imperfect poetry, the reader understands the girl. It is this unique
method of characterization which
makes the book engaging.
The Geography of Girlhood is
about a girl named Penny who was
given a globe on her fourth birthday
as a gift from her mother. Little did
Penny know that just two weeks
after telling her “If you ever need
me just remember I'll always be
somewhere on here,” her mother
would leave her forever. This was
the first of many difficult times for
Penny, who has to deal with family
and other relationships, one of
which is a crush on a teacher (odd,
somewhat gross, and perhaps an
unnecessary addition to the story).
Engaging as the story may be, the
plot is trite and Penny seems to be
thrown into excessively dramatic
situations that rarely happen to a
person in real life. The emotions
that are invoked in the reader as the
situations are conveyed, however,
are strong and it is easy to relate
some aspect of her life to any other
teenage girl. Thus the lyrical style,
with poems supposedly written by
Penny, gives the feeling of a very
tangible and realistic person despite
the somewhat hyperbolic situations
she finds herself in.
Basically, The Geography of
Girlhood is a teenage girl’s attempt
at relating to us the turmoil of her
high school years that changed her
from a girl into a woman. Throughout the book the metaphor concerning geography and the globe her
mother gave her are used to show
the difficulty that arose from that
one point and the complications in
life and the world.
This story will most likely be
more interesting for girls from the
age of about twelve and up. The
story itself is more easily relative to
girls than boys. Kirsten Smith has
written many novels and screenplays, most of them having to do
with the adventures of young girls.
Some of the things that she has had
a hand in are the films Ella Enchanted and She’s the Man. The Geography
of Girlhood has its shining moments,
but for the most part also adheres to
her usual form of writing.
“Punk” music is a filthy slave to the media machine.
Honestly, Blink 182 might as well be Britney Spears (“Blitney One Speighty Two”, if you will), much as any other
popular “punk” band might as well re-label themselves as
“popular trite.” Of course, when I refer to popular “punk,”
I mean just that: the bands in question are not producing
their own label from the depths of their basement, but have
thrown themselves out there only to be defined as “punk”
or “alternative.”
Alternative to what, exactly? The term was originally
coined in order to describe music that didn’t fall into
the mainstream, but these days it is used to describe an
entire genre of music that is very much mainstream itself.
Sugarcult? “Alternative rock.” Yellowcard? Also “Alternative rock.” Green Day? You guessed it. What do all of these
bands have in common besides their genre label? They all
sound the same.
Dictionary.com defines “punk” as “Dry decayed wood,
used as tinder,” but also gives an alternate definition of
“A young person, especially a member of a rebellious
counterculture group.” Interestingly enough, there isn’t a
whole lot of rebellion when it comes to conformity. And
Sugarcult, Yellowcard, and Green Day are conformist to
Nazi extremes. They aim for particular demographics to
maximize their profits, thus proving that no matter how
much they might sing about “American Idiots” (an idea
already heinously conformist in its own proliferation),
they’re doing so only to appease the teenage crowd and
thus maximize their profits. Does Green Day really walk a
“lonely road” as sung in “Boulevard of Broken Dreams?”
No, they walk with all of their fellow “punk” musicians on
a street paved with gold and screeching teenage girls.
“Punk” can be a true identity, but it must exist as an
idea, not as a music label. The key word in the above definition is not “rebel,” but rather “counterculture.” While
I shudder to use a word with such atrocious connotations
in regards to my all-time favorite band, Radiohead is, by
appropriate consideration of the definition, “punk.” Their
lyrics are thoughtful and sharply critical of the world as
it exists today, their music atypical and experimental,
and they certainly do anything but play into the public’s
hand (in fact, despite their intense popularity and critical
acclaim, it seems as though they’re practically in hiding
in between tours and albums). In a word, Radiohead is
“counterculture.”
The label shouldn’t even matter, yet so many bands
base their music upon it instead of the other way around.
That isn’t counterculture or rebellious so much as it is ignorant and deaf. Why should a band exist if it doesn’t bring
a unique form of introspective expression to the table? In
producing for a label in order to cash in, a band is creating
for nothing. Music is one of several universal languages,
and yet it should never be a bedmate with something as
crass and sterile as the universal language of money. And
yet, the manufactured “punk” scene of our era does this
perhaps more than any other brand of music. “Green” Day,
indeed.
“Yo”! This boy can
“Run It”
by Sejla Dizdarevic
Sixteen-year-old Chris Brown
released his first R&B CD, self-titled
as "Chris Brown," in February. In
this CD, Chris Brown represents
his peers by proving that youngsters
can love too. Chris Brown’s voice
has been compared to Michael
Jackson's, Usher's, and Tevin
Campbell's.
Brown chose to be an R&B singer as opposed to a rapper because,
according to him, R&B “attracts
the ladies.” Rap music can degrade
women and Chris Brown does not
want to do that. “Run It” and “Yo” are two of
Brown’s songs that are at the top of
many charts today. Chris Brown has
songs that young adults can relate
to due to his similarity in age. At
this point in life, he is confused like
most teenagers (some of his songs
talk about love, while others talk
about how he can have any girl he
likes), yet he often sings about love
like an experienced veteran.
Other songs, including “Your
Man Ain’t Me” and “Is This Love”
are also songs that attract the female
audience. “Is This Love” goes to
show that sixteen year olds are
sometimes capable of falling in love
just like adults are. In the majority
of his other songs, Chris portrays
himself as a "Winner" (another
track), which shows how proud he
is of himself. Chris Brown’s choice
to sing R&B over rap is a well made
decision because he has the voice
to do it.
As the females find themselves
enchanted by Chris Brown’s voice
and his songs, the males, especially
in high school, find themselves
relating to Brown. The songs on his
CD have a catchy, uplifting rhythm.
Brown, hailing from a small
town in Virginia, is just a typical
boy who sings for the ladies. As a
young vocalist with a great voice,
who can dance, write his own
songs, and appeal to broad audiences, Chris has brought a lot to the
music industry. And he’s just getting
started; this upcoming September,
Brown will release a new album.
Page 16 Arts
Category
and Entertainment
Cast of She’s the Man visits Chicago
by Monica Wojcik
She’s the Man, starring Amanda Bynes, is a modern take
said Bynes. “But I still don’t get them. When they do those
on Shakespeare’s famous gender-bender comedy Twelfth Night. guyish things, I’m just like ‘ok, that’s great’. But that’s the
Granted, the setting, an East Coast Prep School, is hardly
beauty of guys and girls, they’re so different but yet everybody
Renaissance Europe, and soccer games are not exactly court
is the same in the end.”
intrigue, but the heart is still there.
Becoming a boy is not as easy as one might suppose,
In the movie, star soccer player Viola Hastings (Bynes), is
however. Bynes’ “guy training” was almost more difficult than
devastated when her school cuts the women’s soccer team due
the physically demanding soccer training the entire cast went
to a lack of interest. Furious at her backstabbing boyfriend
through.
(Robert Hoffman), Viola sets out to prove she can play soccer
“One of the hardest parts of playing a guy was the
just as well as the boys can. Her stylist friend, Paul (Jonathan
extensive amounts of padding and binding and glue needed
Sadowski) helps transform the tomboyish Viola into a boy,
to make me look manly,” said Bynes. “In addition to the sideher twin brother Sebastian in fact, as she enrolls in Illyria
burns and eyebrows - which were very uncomfortable because
Prep. Meanwhile, the real Sebastian is on a two week tour in
they were glued onto my bare skin - I was bound up in like an
London with his band. Complications arise when Viola, as
Ace bandage.”
a boy, starts falling for her brooding roommate Duke Orsino
In addition to the muscle padding to bulk up her tiny
(Channing Tatum), who in turn crushes on sweet and popular
physique, to learn about being a boy, she went straight to the
Olivia (Laura Ramsey). Olivia, meanwhile, has fallen for
experts - boys themselves - to observe the way they walk and
Sebastian, who is really Viola, thinking she has found the ideal act to weave this knowledge into her character.
sensitive guy. The drama of this triangle is interrupted by the
“Playing a girl pretending to be a boy, I started to see
sometimes strange comic relief of Viola’s mother, Daphne
that when I was a guy, I somehow felt more confident,” said
(Julie Hagerty), an overbearing former debutante and society
Bynes. “As a girl, you’re worried about if you look bad or if
lady, as well as Illyria’s Principal Gold (David Cross), a man
your hair isn’t right…. It made me realize that you don’t need
who hasn’t quite gotten over his high school transfer student
any of that exterior stuff. Everybody just wants to be accepted
issues. With an impending debutante ball, the biggest soccer
and treated equally. It’s one of those things I feel lucky to have
game of the season, and the return of the
real Sebastian, things heat up, but not before the characters learn some important
things about guy-girl dynamics.
The movie’s tagline, “Everybody has
a secret…,” hints at hilarious mix-ups.
Eventually, however, all secrets must
be revealed, and on March 2nd, in a
luxurious suite at Downtown’s Peninsula
Hotel, cast members Amanda Bynes,
Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, and
Robert Hoffman, revealed some of those
very secrets, giving The Hoof Beat the
behind the scenes story of the making of
She’s the Man.
Hoffman was born and raised in
Florida. A professional dancer, he began
taking lessons in kindergarten, attending
a fine arts high school and later joining
the Ballet South Dance Company. He
shared an American Choreographer
Award for his work on You Got Served,
which he both choreographed and
starred in. Recently he has been moving
more into acting, and in She’s the Man,
Hoffman plays Justin, Viola’s ex-boyfriend and star goalie of the Cornwall
soccer team, Illyria’s biggest rival.
“Certainly everywhere you play
you want to bring something new to the
table,” said Hoffman on how playing
Justin was different from other roles.
“Every role I get, I get to have a really
good time. Thank goodness in my career
I’ve been lucky enough to play characters
that I love, and this was no exception - it
was a really fun character to play because
he’s so wacky. The big difference was
having to learn a whole new skill - which The stars of She’s the Man strike a pose in the Peninsula Hotel.
is goaltending and playing soccer.”
Photo by Monica Wojcik
Hoffman is no stranger to wacky characters, as he stars on MTV’s improv show
had the opportunity to experience on this film. I think I’ll
Wild ’N Out. The unscripted show, however, is vastly different
forever be better for it.”
from a feature movie.
Thus far, Bynes has been known for her comedic perfor“It’s two different worlds, it’s two different universes,” said
mances. Dramatic performances, however, are not off the
Hoffman. “In Wild ’N Out it’s just about being quick, stepping
radar for the young actress, but they are also not in the near
off punch lines, going crazy, and going off your instincts. In
future.
a scripted role, you take the script and you go back and you
“I would like to do something dramatic,” said Bynes,
do lots of work to come to be where you want to be with your
“[but] it’s nice to make comedies, make people laugh and
character. It’s all the background work and when you come to
smile. It’s really fun.”
the set it’s the end product.”
“I’ve been begging her to do something that’s really
Laura Ramsey, debuting in Lords of Dogtown grew up in
serious,” chimed in Tatum. “She is an incredible dramatic
Rosendale, Wisconsin. Hers is a true Hollywood story. Soon
actress.”
after finishing high school in a town of 800 people, she moved
Bynes is also different from her peers in her attitude towest to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She was waitwards Hollywood.
ing tables in Los Angeles when she was discovered and sent
“I never felt like I grew up in Hollywood,” said Bynes.
on her first audition. Now 24, Ramsey quietly reflects on what While growing up and working, she lived with her family
drove her to risk everything for a passion.
in a suburb of Los Angeles, away from the dazzle of Hol“I don’t know what was going on in my head,” said
lywood. Neither of her parents are “in the business” as her
Ramsey. “Really, my whole life I wanted to act. I was working
dad is a dentist and her mom works in the office, and this has
in a nursing home and caring for the elderly, and I remember
allowed Bynes to lead a more normal life. Additionally, she
talking to them and saying I want to be an actress so bad. I
emphasized her professional approach to acting, as well as her
have a supportive family now, but they weren’t supportive of
passion for it.
me back then, so I remember thinking if I don’t go and try to
“It’s a lucky thing, a fate thing, it’s part of who I am,” said
do this, I’m going to be an elderly person in a nursing home
Bynes.
wondering ‘what if.’ So, I had an opportunity with a friend to
Channing Tatum, born in Cullman, Alabama, grew up
go there, so I did, and I tried. If I didn‘t make it, I could go
on a bayou in Mississippi. Beginning his career as a model
back.”
in campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, Dolce and GabRamsey did make it, and in She’s the Man she plays the
bana, and Aéropostale, Tatum has recently been moving
beautiful but elusive Olivia, and the object of a significant por- more towards movies. Debuting in Coach Carter, Tatum has
tion of Illyria’s male population’s affections.
been praised for his work in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,
“For me it was a challenge to play Olivia,” said Ramsey.
which won several awards at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
“It was different because she’s so feminine and dainty, and all
In She’s the Man Tatum plays the buff soccer captain and
the boys liked her, and she was the hot girl at school, and play- heartthrob Duke Orsino, who is really a girl-shy softie inside.
ing Olivia as part of a Shakespeare story was kind of cool.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the film for Tatum was
Amanda Bynes has been acting since age ten, starring in
the athletic aspect.
Nickelodeon’s All That. At age twelve she became one of the
“I love physical roles because it allows you to bring someyoungest stars to host their own variety show, The Amanda
thing else to your character besides what’s written in your
Show. Since then, she has continued to work with television on lines. It helps put you into character,” said Tatum. “Playing a
What I Like About You, but making a few successful appearjock, you get to be really physical, but playing Duke I also got
ances on the big screen as well, in Big Fat Liar and What a Girl
to be the exact opposite of a jock.”
Wants. In She’s the Man, Bynes plays Viola, where for a majorBeing loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the
ity of the movie she is dressed as a boy.
movie was in a unique position of revamping the classic mes“I feel like I got to look into the guy world, just a little bit,” sage for a younger and more modern audience. The cast thus
The
TheHoof
Hoof Beat
Beat
made sure to get a sense of the original to retain a sense of its
spirit within She’s the Man.
“Before we started shooting the movie, we all got there
and as a cast we would have these rehearsals,” said Ramsey.
“We watched Twelfth Night the movie and discussed how it
related to our movie, so we had a big study discussion group
on it. Then, as a gift from the studio we got the book, but we
figured if we were going to watch the movie and discuss it - so
we kind of put off the book [laughs], because you know it’s
hard to read sometimes. So we watched the movie and did it
that way.”
Tatum denied that modernizing Shakespeare was daunting
for the cast, citing the writer and director as the ones dealing
with the challenge.
“We took our characters [from the original story], but
we’re really not trying to be Shakespeare,” said Tatum.
The other challenge of the movie was its soccer angle.
The cast members attended a “soccer boot camp” prior to
beginning filming, to learn the rudimentary moves and lend
the movie a greater degree of realism. Additionally British
“football” great and veteran actor Vinnie Jones joined the cast
as Illyria’s Coach Dinklage, which solidified the soccer scenes.
Hoffman credited his dance experience as beneficial to this
training.
“It was a huge help,” he said. “The
choice was made that I was going to
be the goalie. That was a great thing
because being a goalie it was easy for me
to go back and watch these tapes of all
these legendary goalies and just absorb
their posture, movement, techniques,
and how to dive, and how to protect
yourself when you dive, which as a
dancer is second nature for me, to absorb
someone’s movements and stance.”
Tatum was described as having a
“natural ability” for the sport, but the
actor protests his struggles as well.
“I had played soccer before but nowhere near this level. In the beginning,
I thought I was pretty physically fit, but
on the first day of soccer training, I was
dead,” he laughed. “We never stopped
running. I learned a few tricks, though,
like the bicycle kick, so it was cool.”
As the only girl playing with the
boys, Bynes was faced with the greatest
challenge. Claiming she had never been
athletic and certainly never played soccer
before, she worked hard for two months
prior to the start of filming to get her
skills up to par. Learning to play as a
guy, with a slightly heavier and different
running style added to the difficulty.
On the set, the actors had a blast, describing how much fun they had laughing and joking around. Cast members
would even show up on days they were
not scheduled to film simply to hang out,
and this contributed to the lighthearted,
but dedicated atmosphere. They were
all, however, very professional about the
filming, not going out to party during
the week, as Tatum even did his own
groceries to avoid eating out.
Getting to know each other on and
off the set, the actors had their own tastes and quirks. Hoffman, entertained the whole cast with his series of Johnny
Knoxville-like stunt videos.
“They’re so funny, it’s like Candid Camera,” said Ramsey.
“Robert makes me laugh, those videos are funny.”
The cast of She’s the Man, besides Bynes, is mostly headed
by new actors. This did not affect the easygoing chemistry
between the actors.
“I think that’s why there was such good chemistry, because
we’re all so new and so stoked to be there, and we were all so
happy about the characters that we were getting to play,” said
Hoffman.
With such roles in a movie geared towards younger and
mostly female audiences, it is inevitable that Hoffman and
Tatum will soon be known as teenage heartthrobs. They, however, are not letting the attention go to their heads.
“It’s flattering, but it’s not a love connection,” said Hoffman. “It’s someone who watches a character and just enjoys
our work, and Channing’s incredible good looks. I’ve just got
to take it for what it is and move on, you know what I mean?
It’s not based on reality. So it’s really flattering, I can’t tell you
it’s not flattering.”
With such a young cast it is also inevitable for sparks to
fly on set, but all four cast members laughingly denied any
romantic attachments, at least during filming.
“There was flirting, I’m sure,” said Ramsey, “but a lot of
us had our boyfriends [off the set] too.”
“There was definitely the heat, but for most of us this is
our first big part, and you always know that if you cross that
line it’s probably going to end up in disaster, because young
hearts are wild, and when things go wrong, then all of a sudden you got a really difficult set to be on,” said Tatum.
“The good thing about this movie was that everybody
had such a good vibe that it comes off on screen, without the
drama. As much as some of us would have liked to indulge
our attractions, we…” he trailed off.
“We liked each other, and I’m sure we had feelings, but it’s
really risky to do that on the set,” added Tatum.
The future also looks bright for the young stars, all of
which have new and upcoming projects.
“This is surreal to us too,” said Ramsey. “We’re all so
proud and happy about our movie.”
March 2006
Arts and Entertainment
Page 17
Ultraviolet, plain as a ray
by Karolina Maslanka
“I was born into a world that
you might not understand,” states
Violet (Milla Jovovich) in a fierce
yet calm voice, introducing the
audience to the futuristic and quite
complicated late 21st century world
the movie takes place in. Besides
the post-modern architecture and
technology, a new type of race has
emerged in the world of Ultraviolet.
Once a person is infected with a
virus called “Hemophagia,” their
genetics are altered in such a way
that they mutate into vampirelike creatures with super-human
abilities. Since the government fears
these Hemophages, they strive to
destroy them. It is up to Violet to
use her hatred towards the humans
who killed her child, as well as her
super abilities, to fight back against
the government and stop them from
destroying the Hemophages.
Directed by Kurt Wimmer, this
futuristic action thriller grossed $9
million its first weekend at the box
office (www.movieweb.com).
Ultraviolet contains an enormous
amount of attention-grabbing fighting between Violet and the human
men. It is hardly believable, even
by science fiction standards, that
one woman can win a fight against
twenty men with guns. But the pow-
erful Violet merely needs to twirl
around and the next thing shown is
a dozen heads on the ground.
Besides the fighting, the movie
is not very interesting. With its monotonous acting and typical plotline
after a while there is nothing left to
keep the audience’s attention. There
are few moments in the movie in
which the characters express any
emotions, which does not allow the
viewer to get involved. Due to the
fact that the plot only contains a
single central conflict, there is not
much that the viewer has to worry
or wonder about.
Unlike Violet’s fighting abilities, Jovovich’s acting skills are not
as outstanding. She doesn’t show
many emotions. The one point in
the movie she does express some
emotion towards Six, a young boy
played by Cameron Bright, her
motherly instincts take over and
cause her to risk her life to save his,
resorting back to the fighting.
The scenery remains quite plain
throughout most of the movie;
besides the modern skyscrapers,
and the futuristic rooms inside
them, there are not many details.
However, some parts of Ultraviolet are memorable or even a little
humorous, but only thanks to the
futuristic props used in the movie.
For example, in the Ultraviolet world
there are vending machines from
which people can purchase disposable cell phones.
On the other hand, the “futuristic” costumes in Ultraviolet are quite
unoriginal. Similar costumes can be
found in many other movies. But
one thing does set Violet’s costume
apart from the others. Her clothing
is like camouflage, it changes colors
according to the surroundings.
Ultraviolet contains many scenes
in which computer technology
is used to make things look real.
However, the quality of the special
effects is not as great as expected.At
one point in the movie, Violet rides
her motorcycle on the walls of a
skyscraper, and then she gets onto
a roof from which she jumps right
into a helicopter and flies out the
other side and through the window
of another skyscraper. Not only is
this a very unrealistic scene, but it
also looks very fake due to the lowquality of the special effects.
The monotonous plotline, lack
of conflict and emotion, and bad
special effects of this movie defeat
the good qualities of Ultraviolet
such as the action, and ultramodern
creations.
Don’t bring a “date” to
this movie
Top box office film a disaster
by Michelle Zacarias
geek in American Pie, and a side kick in Buffy
Although many excited Scary Movie fans
the Vampire Slayer) plays Julia, whom the
held high hopes for the newly released Date
audience pitied more than sympathized
Movie, it seems that their expectations were
with; she was played off as a desperate,
flushed down the toilet after watching this
overweight, young lady looking for true
pathetically desperate film. The movie shows
love. Hannigar did a good job with the charneither signs of originality nor a correlation
acterization of Julia, or at least as well as
between jokes, and writers Aaron Seltzer and
she could do with the script she was given.
Jason Friedberg were not successful in orgaGrant, played by Adam Campbell, was one
nizing the plot, making it one of the worst
of the funnier characters. His role was a
movies this year.
little over exaggerated and his character was
Many jokes and spoofs in the movie are
annoying and scary from time to time, but
obviously thrown in an attempt to make the
generally he was the one making the audiaudience laugh. The film is targeted towards
ence laugh.
teenage viewers, but even adolescents might
The best performer in the movie is Soquestion why Napoleon Dynamite randomly
phie Monk, and not so much for her acting
appears at the beginning of the movie, only
but more so for her eye-catching beauty. She
to say a few famous lines, and not show up
plays Andy, the evil gorgeous woman trying
again for the remainder of the feature. The
to break her best friends’ marriage apart.
humor in each scene had no real connection
The climax of the Date Movie, if there is one at
to each other and was too random.
all, involves Sophie Monk hilariously diving
The plot is creative, yet it lacks new style.
into a pool in a near-nothing swim suit,
The jokes are so over-played that one might
washing a car with a soaking in a sponge,
wonder why such old topics are added to a
and biting on a hamburger in a very Paris
brand new movie. Most modern day teenagHilton-like manner all without breaking the
ers, or at least those willing to watch such a
high heels she’s wearing.
dumb movie, might not understand the excess
Date Movie
of old jokes. Few
was good for a
people laughed
quick three-cent
at the table scene
laugh, but that’s
spoofed off of
about it. FriedWhen Harry Met
berg and Seltzer
Sally, and most
need to stop
people sighed
making fun of
in exasperation
other date movies
when Michael
and take a look
Jackson made an
at their own,
unscheduled apbecause mindpearance in an allessly throwing
ley when the two
jokes together
main characters,
like a salad will
Julia and Grant,
not make their
were declaring
movie funny. It’s
their love for each
sad that the movie
other. Sudden huwas so terrible
mor cracks, such
because it truly
as those in the
let some talented
movie, throw off
actors go to waste.
viewers as they
Hopefully, even
try to connect
after the pathetic
the pieces of an
film, Hollywood
unfitting puzzle
will give them
together.
another chance.
As terrible as
Regardless of the
the movie was,
occasional funny
the acting was
moment, this
a complete
film is not good
disaster. Alyson
enough, and is
Hannigar (also
Date Movie promotional poster
definitely not getknown for her
Image courtesy of www.amazon.com
ting a second date.
roles as a band
Ultraviolet promotional poster
Image courtesy of www.defjam.com
New Community
Concert Band seeks
creative participants
by Shoaib Ali
The Northside Community Concert
Band is a group designed for not only
students, but also others in the community to play their desired instruments for
leisure. The band emphasizes community participation, encouraging anyone
with a proficiency at in instrument to
join.
Mr. Mike Lill, Northside music
teacher and band instructor, organized
the new Community Concert Band
in February 2006. The band includes
several students and alumni, but is not
limited to these individuals either. It
welcomes teachers, principals, and community residents, as basically anyone
with a desire to play music can join.
“[The assembly] is just for experts
who would like to challenge themselves,” said Mr. Lill.
Subsequently, there are no class
prerequisites in order to participate. Although the band meets every Thursday
from 7:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., no attendance policy is implemented, ensuring
that the program is simple and leisurely.
“[It is] an outlet for the community
and for those musicians to have more
practice,” said Mr. Lill.
The Community Concert
Band provides the opportunities a
professional band has, but without
much of the pressure and stress that
usually accompany professional
musicians.
“I always wanted to play in the
school with my clarinet, but I just
don’t,” said Ahmed Imtiaz, Adv.
809. “There has to be more advertising so everyone knows about it [the
Community Band], and can make a
decision from there.”
This cost-free program requires
only the dedication of the musicians
and Mr. Lill’s volunteer efforts, as
he hosts the band himself. The Band
is performing together for the first
time towards the end of the year.
Although some expect the concert
to be relatively small, due to the novelty of the band, others have high
hopes for the program.
“The concert is going to explode
into something serious…something
really serious,” said Conor Camp,
Adv. 800.
Page 18
Sports
The Hoof Beat
Gotta kick it ip
Women’s varsity team begins the season
by Sanja Bajgoric
“Everyone who came to tryouts had a lot of heart,” said midfielder, Stephanie Couchman Adv.
600. “Even though it was snowing
that Monday, tryouts were not cancelled and surprisingly there was a
good show of girls.”
Eighteen girls made the 2006
girls varsity soccer team: five
juniors, five seniors, five sophomores, and three freshmen.
The new team is starting out
with Robert Albritton, a teacher
from the math department who is
taking over the head coach position. Andrew Mayer, the former
girl’s soccer coach, was unable to
coach this year due to the fact he
will be leaving the country for a
month to watch the World Cup in
Germany. Nevertheless, Andrew
is still rooting for the girl’s soccer
team and has no doubt that they
will do well. Along with Coach
Albritton the team has also had the
pleasure of being guided by the assistant coach, Valerie Goldstein.
Swish
“I believe that this year will be
exciting,” said Coach Albritton. “The
team will be focusing on tactical stuff,
controlling the play, and being aggressive.”
The team devotes at least two
hours a day to practices. Practices are
held at various locations, sometimes
on the Northside College Prep field
but most of the time at Labeau Park, a
field which unfortunately doesn’t have
any goals and makes practice a little
more difficult for this determined team.
The team goalies this year are Patty
Duffy, Adv. 601, Bonnie Marks, Adv.
804, and Mary Ellen Matthews, Adv.
805.
“I usually play defense, but since
I also play basketball I have good
eye-ball coordination and was asked to
be the goalie,” said Patty Duffy. “The
group of girls this year is awesome. I
know the team will do well.”
On Tuesday, March 21st the
Women’s Varsity Soccer Team started
off their season with their first game
against Loyola Academy.
It’s going to be a difficult game
because not only has the team not
had enough time to practice and
prepare, but Loyola Academy also
has a very good team, said Coach
Albritton, “However, I do believe
that this upcoming game will be a
good measuring stick to see where
our team stands.”
On Thursday March 23rd the
team also played against Kelly, in
their second game of the season.
“I think that the team has a lot of
potential,” said the team’s manager,
Kenny Stalkfleet, Adv. 605. “If they
just have confidence, they could win
the city competition.”
It is the city competition that
the Mustangs are preparing for. Last
year the Women’s Varsity Soccer
Team won first place and this year
the new team will try towards the
same victory.
“I am looking forward to carrying on a legend and aiming for city,”
said defenseman, Corey Greg, Adv.
606.
Ashley Rivera, Adv. 811 plays defense agaiant Kelly High
School.
Photo by Sanja Bajgonic
Women’s JV basketball team roars to great season
by Riaz Shaikh
"Swish" is the sound
that rang through the
ears of spectators witnessing the Northside
Women’s Junior Varsity
Basketball Team. Coach
Dave Whalen said the
team’s season has been
satisfying with a record
of 14 wins and eight
losses.
After beating Mather
in the Regional Tournament, the team was
admitted into the City
Playoffs over Payton and
Steinmentz. In the first
round of the playoffs,
they mercilessly beat
Prosser, a team that
seemed to constantly
resort to aggressiveness
in an attempt to score
points.
From there, things
were running smoothly
until the second round
of the playoffs, which
began with a game
against Marshall. The
teams were equally matched, but
in the end, Marshall won by a
mere 7 points. This loss placed
the Mustangs into the 11th
bracket in the city. Many of the
girls were disappointed yet positive, as they understood that the
only reason they lost was because
of a few mistakes.
The girls played vigorously
this season and put up a good
game against all of their opponents. They dominated their
conference, which is annually
changed by the CPS. Northside's
conference included three other
teams: Lane, Lincoln, and Payton.
They played a number of
games with each school, winning
a majority of the games against
these opponents. However, the
team lost the last few vital ones
that influenced their placement in
the conference. Northside played
four games against Lincoln and
Payton and won all of them but
one. The team swept Lane this
season.
The team enjoyed the season
, as the players acknowledged, that
playing on the team was a memorable experience.
"The team had great chemistry,” said Brittney Mikell, Adv. 904.
“It was really fun and the coach
was great. I loved the season, and
there was a lot of support from the
teammates. It really helps inspire
you and raises your spirit."
Brittney Mikell wasn't the only
one who praised the efforts of
Coach Dave Whalen. Many other
players agreed that Coach Whalen
was a supportive figure who
helped prepare them mentally and
physically for each game. The girls
stated that along with time on the
court Coach Whalen would start
practices with a lot of conditioning.
The team also paid frequent visits
to the weight room to build up their
stamina and strength so that they
may truly shine in the games.
“He’s a really good coach and
I loved playing on the team,” said
team captain Liliana Leon, Adv.
804. “I’m crazy about basketball
and there isn’t anything else I
would rather do in my free time.
Kelvyn Park.
“In our win against Kelvyn Park,
I hit four 3-point shots in a row in
the first quarter,” said Kinsler. “It
was a big thing for me because we
ultimately had to go to overtime to
win the game.”
Northside’s run in the State Playoffs was unfortunately short. A first
round win against Chicago International Charter School Northtown
Academy was hardly celebrated
because the team needed to prepare
for its second game against Foreman.
After being down early, the team
made a late charge but fell short in
the final quarter, losing by 7 points
and officially ending the season.
“It was probably the strongest
showing all season,” said Rivers.
“We went out strong.”
The student body had mixed
emotions about the team’s overall
performance.
“This season was pretty disappointing,” said Ikram Khan, Adv.
800. “They dropped off from last
year. They went 0-10 in conference,
finished last in conference, and
dropped from the red division to the
blue division. It was just disappointing after a great season last year.”
Others felt optimistic and predicted good things to come.
“I am very confident in our
chances for the coming years,”
said Hammad Farooq, Adv. 905.
“[The team] under performed but
the underclassmen have something to look forward to and be
motivated by.”
While others didn’t care for
the record of the team, they certainly enjoyed the entertainment
that the team and the environment provided for them at the
games.
“I hadn’t really attended
games before this,” said Celene
Hernandez, Adv. 808. “I went to
a couple this year and enjoyed
both. It’s fun seeing your fellow
students full of spirit!”
Kolovos has fond memories
of the season.
“The
best memories came
at 6 a.m.
practices,”
said Christos Kolovos,
an exiting
senior.
“Seeing
your teammates that
early built
chemistry
for us.”
Kolovos, who played four years
of basketball at Northside, offered
a few words of advice for hopefuls
and team members who will be
playing next year.
“Enjoy every moment of it,
because most of us will not be playing organized basketball anymore,”
said Kolovos. “Make Northside
proud and let’s get back into the
Red Division!”
While some of the returnees
and hopefuls will play in other
summer league teams, others will
be in the gym working out or just
at the gym shooting around with
nothing but next November on
their minds.
Arial Johnson, Adv. 904, practices her offensive moves on her fellow player,
Stephanie Sotomayor, Adv. 904.
Photo by Salim Patel
Men’s varsity basketball
continued from back page
one freshman. They were led
by coaches Tom Horn and Manny
Weincord. The starting lineup
featured Michael Burke, Adv. 601,
John Continued from back page
Kinsler, Adv. 907, Michael
Kennedy, Adv. 600, James SmithGrattan, Adv. 706, and Christos
Kolovos. Nine seniors will be
leaving and the team will have an
entirely new look next year.
Already looking ahead to next
season Kinsler, the lone freshman
on the squad, believes next year’s
team will be very talented.
“Because the sophomores had
a good season we’ll do very well
next year,” said Kinsler.This same
idea is echoed by Ahamed.
“[The] sophomores have a lot
of talent, plus we have a few guys
coming back with exp
erience,” said Ahamed. “We’ll
fair pretty well in conference next
year.”
Indeed, the Mustangs as a
team have set both team goals and
individual goals, but two young
Mustangs in particular have set
high but similar goals for themselves.
“[I hope to] to transform into a
more versatile player,” said Mackenzie Rivers, Adv. 807.
Kinsler, who played a key role
as the leading scorer for the Mustangs
this season, also has a similar goal for
his next three years as a Mustang, as he
wants “to become a more team player.”
The two underclassmen of the
team will be counted on to lead the
varsity team for the upcoming season.
The bigger transition was for Kinsler,
who was “grateful” for the opportunity to play varsity basketball at the
high school stage. He attributes this
easy transition to how well the team
was able to bond and create chemistry
together.
After the team’s strong start of 7-2,
they hit a hard slump that stuck with
them throughout the rest of the season
as they finished up with a miserable
run of 5-15. At the same time, the team
did have their share of successes. In
the winter holiday tournament held at
Northside, the Mustangs went all the
way to the final round before losing in
the championship game.
In the consolation bracket tournament featuring CPS’s bottom 32 teams,
Northside had first, second, and third
round victories against Kelly High
School, Kelvyn Park High School, and
Englewood High School, respectively,
before finally falling in the fourth
round to Austin High School.
Kinsler’s fondest memory came in
the consolation bracket tournament.
In round two, Northside was facing
March 2006 Sports
Page 19
Ladies lacrosse launches into season
by Muamera Hadzic
The Women’s Lacrosse Team started the
season off with a bleak
atmosphere due to the
loss of the junior varsity
coach and loss of two
hardworking offensive
seniors. However, shortly
after tryouts the situation
looked brighter for the
team due to the addition of two new coaches
and great commitment
from the team, and more
importantly, the prospect
of using Northside’s field
instead as a location for
home games instead of
the CPS Hanson Field.
Alum Daniel Pelikan
and University of Chicago
law student Kim Rogers
joined returning coach of
five years, Devin McCue,
to train the two teams.
Rogers, although only
available part-time, has
been a significant addition due to her extensive
experience with collegiate
lacrosse and the chemistry with Coach McCue,
having played in a club
league with her before.
Full time coach Pelikan
has transferred his experience with men’s lacrosse
to his new team, where he
applies similar defensive
strategies. He is also able
to help train goalie Natalie Ana Haggerty, Adv. 708 practices her basic catching and throwing skiils during practice.
Bennett, Adv. 702, by
Photo by Muamera Hadzic
accustoming her to more
aggressive play.
rule changes. Previously, the
hard boundaries were set and
out of bounds is a turnover for us.”
Along with the new
field did not have set boundarcompeting for a ball that rolled
After two weeks of practice the
coaching staff, a different routine is folies. Rather, if players got too
away was no longer possible, so
varsity team played their first game
lowed during daily practices that now
new defensive strategies needed
against Naperville North High School
run half an hour later. Most notably the far away from the sidelines or
if the ball rolled out far from
to be employed.
on March 21st, 2006 at Northside
team is being put through significantly
the players and the referee, the
“We can use this to our
College Prep. While initially taking
more running drills during practice.
referee would blow the whistle
advantage as we play defensivea 2-1 lead, Naperville shortly caught
Many times we faced teams that
and facilitate a movement back
ly.” said Coach McCue during
up and brought the game to a 3-3 tie.
were at the same skill level as we were,
practice. “If we push our girl
In the last two minutes they managed
but they managed to gain leads because onto the field or would grant
the ball to the player closest to
out toward the boundary - the
to score a fourth goal and defeated
the players had more endurance,” said
the ball when the whistle was
chances of her dropping the ball
Northside with a final score of 4-3.
Lizzie O’Meara, Adv. 601.
blown. This season, however,
are greater and the ball dropping
“It was a disappointing loss just
The team also had to adjust to new
because we were leading
and we let our guard down
toward the end of the game,”
said Patricia Mazur, Adv.
701. “I guess we got a bit
over-confident and then with
less than two minutes left it
was hard to recover.”
On March 24th, 2006
the team made a great
recovery during their home
game against St. Ignatius
High School. Throughout
the game, Northside continuously had the lead with
a display of strong offensive
players and leading scorers:
Sarah Shier, Adv. 600, Asma
Ahmed, Adv. 601, and Lizzie
O’Meara, Adv. 601. They
did so in front of a crowd of
supporters - a great change
from last season’s games
that were simply attended by
parents, due to the location.
However, the game was cut
short during the second half
due to nightfall because of a
late referee arrival.
“It was an amazing game
because we played a cleaner
game, compared to them [Ignatius],” said Asma Ahmed,
Adv. 601, “and our communication skills greatly improved
during the game.”
This leaves the team at a
1-1-0 standing with a game
coming up on March 28th
against Mather High School.
Mather, along with Lane Technical High School, is one of
the few inner city schools that
compete in the Illinois High
School Women’s Lacrosse League.
“We are really excited for our
game on Tuesday,” said Camilla
Youniss, Adv. 700, “Since it is our
first away game and there are so
many things we learned from our
last game and this boundary thing
we are getting used to, so it should
be another addition to our great
opening season.”
Going the distance
Track and field teams are racing to the top
by Abir Usman
“Lane Tech used to be competition for us,
but I think we can take state championships,”
says Humberto Guttierrez, coach of Women’s
Track and Field Team.
On March 11th the Men and Women’s
Track and Field Team traveled the distance to
Proviso West High School for the 2006 CPS
Freshman-Sophomore Indoor City Championships. It was here where Northside was
ranked second place overall with 29 points in
seven events. Lane Tech took first place with
32 points, and Mather came in third place
with 28 points. The scoreboard was led by
freshman Eric Nelson, Adv. 905, who won
the 2006 Freshman-Sophomore High Jump
Championships with a personal best jump of
5’10”.
“Eric Nelson has the potential to be a
state champion in multiple events someday,”
stated Coach Jon Gordon.
Rachel Kittaka, Adv. 810, won the Mile
run with a personal best time of 5:49 while
Jennifer Kane, Adv. 901, Maria Torres,
Adv. 902, Adaora Achufusi, Adv. 902,
and Kelly Varney, Adv. 810, were placed
3rd overall in Chicago in the 4 x 200 m
Relay.
On March 19, 2006, the Men’s Varsity
Track and Field Team went to Bensenville,
Illinois to take on Conant High School and
Fenton High School at Bison Stadium. The
Freshman-Sophomore 4x135 Yard Relay
Team including Jose Choto, Adv. 804, Kyle
Diep, Adv. 806, and Hiro Joho, Adv. 800,
Jerry Tran, Adv. 801, beat out the legendary Fenton High School 4x135 Yard Relay
Team by 0.6 of a second.
The Mustangs scored 30 points in
the Fenton Classic with Daniel Kittaka,
Adv. 603, having gained the most points
with 6.25.
Northside in the past year has expanded their track and field department
from a mere one coach for the two squads
for 16 events to six coaches training
two squads. This has brought the
Mustangs to the first State Track and
Field Championship in Northside
athletic history.
The new head coach for men’s
track and field is Jon Gordon.
Coach Gordon has coached the
NCAA Division III All-Americans as well as middle distance
Sprints Coach David Diaz explains the rules of freeze tag to a portion of the team for the
runners from the University of
day’s warm-up activity.
Chicago.
Photo by Abir Usman
Another new addition to the track and
field team is Coach Adrian Hunter who
coaches the jumpers and hurdlers. Coach
Hunter has competed for the NCAA Division
I Arkansas and was coached in college by the
1984 U.S. Olympic team field events coach.
Coach Anthony Jamison coached at St.
Patrick High School but came over to Northside to coach the shot put and discus events
for the Mustangs. The head coach of women’s track and
field is Humberto Guiterrez and has been for
six years. Coach Guiterrez was and still is a
runner himself. He began with a team of two
runners and has expanded the team to well
over 100 runners.
David Diaz and Aleisha Latimer-Morgan
are the sprints coaches for the Mustangs, with
Coach Morgan as a three time NCAA Division I All-American.
It isn’t hard to believe how far the track
and field team has come along with all of
the great help they have received from the
coaches and fellow Mustangs giving their
support. For updates and schedules visit track
website which is linked to the school website.
Page 20
Sports
The Hoof Beat
Khan-Ya Hear Practice, practice, practice!
Northside’s improving water polo team
Me?
Not the
American way
by Asrar Khan
The United States, recently ousted from the World Baseball Classic (WBC) by Mexico, is experiencing a crisis like no
other in its history. Sports which we have always dominated
since their introduction to the world have become increasingly difficult for us to master. Though America did lose the
WBC, we have an excuse: our players were simply not ready
- they were only in spring training form. All this while other
teams, such as the communist Cubans who had to appeal to
the United States government to play in this event, dominate
with gritty performances.
Basketball, on the other hand, is a sport which America
should be monopolizing because a) the NBA is the prime
basketball league in the world, where most Americans play,
and b) international players around the world model their
teams and strategies around NBA proven theories, such as a
2-3 zone defense. So, to me and most other Americans, it’s
hard to fathom why our supposed “best basketball players in
the world” can finish 3rd to a group of Europeans. Why did
America lose by 19 points to Puerto Rico? Why did we lose
to Emanuel Ginobili’s team, especially when we play against
the guy, or in the case of Tim Duncan, with the guy for 82
games in a regular season?
The biggest idea is that NBA players no longer stack up
on fundamentals. The international teams cannot compete
on athleticism, so they focus on the fundamentals that win
them the games. By examining the career shooting percentages of the teams on the 2004 USA Basketball team, we
see that it’s significantly lower than 50%. When Team USA
fielded the dream team in ‘92, it was filled with people like
Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Malone who shot 50% or over most
of their careers. The 2004 team was led by guards and small
forwards who shoot horrifically in the NBA and are slashers.
Nevertheless, I think the Team USA did a fabulous job
this year selecting its 2008 basketball team. Players with
grit, players that can shoot, and players that play defense are
the main focus of the team. The ability to shoot from both
the 3-point line and long jumpers was a key component of
this year’s selection committee, as the inability of players
to do so spelled doom for the US team in Athens in 2004.
Though far from the dream team of 1992, which featured
Jordan, Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing,
and Charles Barkley—the 2008 US team in Beijing should
capture the gold.
The smartest thing the selection committee did this
year—as they did in 1992—was make the arguably best and
most clutch player in the NBA the centerpiece of the team.
Regardless of how you feel about Kobe “Consensual” Bryant, you do know he’s a hell of a player and can dominate a
game with his scoring and defending abilities. He is as complete a player as they come and can take over games at will.
Team USA got this concept right this time, as previous players such as Allen Iverson and Stephen “Starbury” Marbury
were too streaky. Kobe is the perfect man to lead this team,
just as Jordan was in 1992.
Team USA also gave Bryant a perfect sidekick in Lebron
James, who actually might be a (dare I say it) better player
than Bryant in 2008. Lebron will attack the basket with such
fury that the Europeans will be left helpless with their zoned
defense. Plus, Lebron is a complete player, with the ability
to rebound and dish out assists to open teammates. Indeed,
Lebron and Bryant have the potential to dominate Beijing all
by themselves.
The rest of the team selections are also good ones, keeping in mind such players like Tim Duncan, Shaq, and KG
refused to commit three years to Team USA. With Carmelo
Anthony, you have a scorer who can complement Bryant
during crunch time (Carmelo is statistically the best clutch
player in the league, going 8-14 in potential game winning
shots). Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire
and Dwyane Wade— members of the 2004 Athens team
— also were selected to the roster. They’ll be joined by Gilbert Arenas, Shane Battier, Brad Miller, Chauncey Billups,
Chris Bosh, Bruce Bowen and Elton Brand. Odom is a big
man who will have gained valuable experience having played
with Kobe for a couple of years as a sidekick, while Marion,
Miller, Stoudemire, Bosh, and Brand all are consistent scorers and rebounders that provide size. Billups will not play the
2006 World Championship in Japan but might still play in
the 2008 Olympic Games.
That team looks good to me. In particular, the selection
of Bowen gives a clear indication that the committee wants
to win the championship badly. Why select Bowen? Because
he guards Ginobili everyday during Spurs practice, and can
basically shut him down with his ferocious style of defense.
Stick Bowen on the opposing team’s best shooter every night
and the results will be favorable for USA basketball. The
rest of those guys, such as Paul Pierce, Marion, Billups, and
Battier, and Arenas can all shoot well from the perimeter, the
antidote to the zone defense.
To me, though, it is still disheartening how major
NBA stars such as Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, Vince
Carter, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Richard
Hamilton, Tim Duncan, Rashard Lewis, and Tayshaun
Prince.refuse to join. But at least we know that these players
will definitely not play, unlike in years past when players expressed their commitment but dropped out at the last minute.
Team USA basketball has the balanced make-up
to potentially dominate the 2008 Olympic Games. Make
America proud, guys.
Michael Burt, Adv. 700, (right) prepares to take a shot while swimming through three defenders during practice.
The Men’s Waterpolo team has had a decent year thus far.
Photo by Mohammad Rahman
by Mohammad Rahman
While most students are
still engaged in deep slumber,
all members of the Northside
Varsity Men’s Water Polo
team are in the pool practicing for upcoming games. Beginning in March, the team
has arrived at school at six
a.m. everyday before school
and practiced for about an
hour.
“For practice, I make
them [water polo players]
practice the basics first, such
as passing, shooting and
treading water until they
are all extremely tired,” said
Mr. Tim Daniel, Coach of
the Northside Varsity Men’s
Water Polo Team. “Sometimes, I also even stand on
their shoulders to test their
endurance.”
Immediately after
school, the team gets back
into the pool and practices
for another two hours.Such
practice time is necessary
because the team has to
compete in many games
throughout their two and a
half month season.
“Three hours of practice
is not too bad,” said Jeff
Kowar, Adv. 802. “Sometimes it is hard, but it always
pays off at the end.”
Out of the ten games
the team has played thus far,
there were four victories and
six losses. The Mustangs
won over Roosevelt, Lincoln
Park, Morton and Deerfield
high schools and lost to St.
Ignatius, Hoffman Estates,
Vernon Hills, Lane Tech,
Mt. Carmel and Conant high
schools. They anticipate that
the toughest games will be
against St. Patrick, Fenwick
and Brother Rice in the far
future.
“Suburban schools are
pretty good because the
team members learn to swim
before they can even walk,”
said Max Swiatlowski, Adv.
603. “They were made for
this sport; we at Northside
only take it as an extracurricular.”
The team’s strongest assets include teamwork, high
spirits, and the versatility of
the players.
“The members of the
water polo team are all utility players,” said Mr. Brian
Riordan, also a coach of the
water polo team. “Everyone
plays every position; there
is no defined position for a
single member.”
The team membership is
diverse in terms of age and
ability. The team includes
freshmen Charles Guo, Adv.
901, and Mike Figura, Adv.
909; sophomores Julian Dale,
Adv. 804, Max Kakacek,
Adv. 803, Edward Chiem,
Adv. 810, and Jeff Kowar,
Adv. 802; juniors Mike Burt,
Adv. 700, and Ryan Jansen,
Adv. 707, seniors Swiatlowski, Jake Baskin, Adv. 601,
Steve Jerome, Adv. 607, and
Thor Kahn, Adv. 602.
“We have a great team,
with great people and we
have lots of fun,” said Swiatlowski. “I think that the most
important thing you need on
a team is to have lots of fun.”
A typical water polo
game is divided into four
quarters, each lasting approximately eight minutes.
However, an average game
lasts for about an hour
because there are many fouls,
time-outs and long passing
time.
There are six players and
a goalie, and the rules are
similar to soccer. It is also
one of the most physically
demanding sports, where
injuries, broken bones and
separation of shoulders are
relatively common.
“Our players are strong
and they do not easily get
tired,” said Coach Riordan.
“These are some of the
toughest men in the school.”
The team is expecting
to improve their ratings this
year, even though they were
challenged by the loss of
alumni Dan Wesley, Tom
O’Connor and Tom Rodrigas. Current team members
hope that their intense practice will show some results.
“I am looking into this
season,” said Coach Tim
Daniel. “[We’re] always
looking for spectators, and
also new members to join the
team.”
“I am always pleased to
come in after school everyday,” said Figura. “There are
cool guys [on the team] and
great coaches!”
Varsity Seeing Blue (Division)
Team ends season strong but falls short
by Mohammad Khaleelullah
their poor record.
For both Munir Ahamed, Adv. 709, and Christos KoloThe Varsity Team consisted of 15one sophomore and
vos, Adv. 606, the 2005-2006 Varsity Men’s Basketball Team’s
season has been nothing short of a “roller
coaster.”
“There were so many ups and downs
this season,” said Ahamed. “Either we
were riding on great momentum, or trying to break out of a slump. We started
strong but hit a bad slump [from] midseason on. But at the end of the season we
came together and played a strong game
against Foreman. When we realized it
was our last game of the year, we bonded
together. That was easily my favorite moment of the year.”
As the team played their last game of
the season this past month, it was again
time to reflect upon their playing this
season and prepare for next year. Ending
with an overall record of 12 wins and 17
losses, the team went through many high
and low moments, one of which includes
going 0-10 in their conference. Playing in
the CPS red division, the harder of the
two red and blue divisions, Northside was Jake Baskin, Adv. 601, shoots for two points while Chritos Kolovos, Adv.
simply overmatched by their rival teams in 606, clears for a rebound against Kelvyn Park defenders.
their conference. Next year, the team will Photo by Mohammad Khaleelullah
Continued as “Men’s Varsity
be competing in the Blue division due to
Basketball” on page 19