Eccentricity meets Wall Street Northside from an Outsider`s

Vol. 8 No. 4
Northside College Preparatory High School
December 2006
HoofBeat
The
News
pages 1-4
•Prospective students visit
Northside’ Open House
•Alumni return December 21
A&E
pages 6-7
• “Casino Royale” tromps in
theaters
Centerfold pages 8-9
• New Myspace legislation
• Protecting your privacy
online
Features pages 10-11
• New method for “Carousel”
auditions a success
Editorial pages 12-14
•Beres: Monetary incentives
for acadmeic success
•Markowski: Are your
friends’ facebooks putting
you at risk?
Sports
pages 15-16
Pages 8-9
Pages 8-9
Gamers excited
over PS3 and
Wii launches
Facebook
and Myspace:
battle of
the online
networks
Eccentricity meets Wall Street
“You Can’t Take It With You” brings opposites together
by Kana Yoo
This fall, Northside
brought George S. Kaufman
and Moss Hart’s Pulitzer Prize
winning play, “You Can’t Take
It With You” to the stage.
The play tells the comedic
story of a wedding engagement that brings together two
completely different families,
the quirky Sycamores and the
rich Kirbys.
“It’s like a sitcom about
a dysfunctional family,” said
Mike Jao, Adv. 805, who
played Mr. DePinna.
When the Kirbys come for
dinner a night early, catching
the Sycamores completely offguard, chaos and humor ensue.
Unprepared, the Sycamores
show their true selves, and
the Kirbys are able to learn
a lesson about what is truly
important.
“Live life in the moment
is perhaps the most important
thematic statement coming
from ‘You Can’t Take It With
You,’” said Mr. Randy Snow
of the English Department.
“In the end, what matters is
friendship, family, and love.” Mr. Snow, who directed
the 2005 production “Our
Town,” directed the play again
this year.
“‘Our Town’ was a very
different directing experience
than ‘You Can’t Take It With
You,’” Mr. Snow said. “‘Our
Town’ was a very serious and
sentimental play. The message
of ‘You Can’t Take It With
You’ was simple and fun.”
The play opened Thursday, November 16th at 5:30
pm. Admission
was free for all
attendees.
“The first night
I was extremely
nervous—we all
were—but it was a
good kind of nervousness. We felt
very energetic,”
said Amy Perez,
Adv. 708, who
played Alice Sycamore. “Because it
was the first night,
we didn’t know
how the crowd
would react or
anything. Before
we went out, we
were just trying
to remember all
our lines and the
blocking. But once
we were out there
on stage, we felt
comfortable being
our characters.”
The cast also
performed on
The marital problems of Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, played by Ben Garcia, Adv. 909, and Michelle
Friday, November Zacarias, Adv. 704, become apparent as an amused Grandpa Vanderhof, played by Geoff
17th at 6:30 pm
Edwards, Adv. 707, looks on.
and Saturday,
Photo by Kana Yoo
November 18th at
“Usually performances
audience.
3:00 pm
don’t go as well the first night
“The play was really well acted out and it was a
“Friday night’s show was
because you already know that
nice contrast from last year’s play, which was heavithe standout performance
everything will be all right, so
er,” said Adrian Bonifacio, Adv. 907, an audience
of the run,” Mr. Snow said.
you don’t try as hard,” Perez
member of Saturday’s performance. “It was nice to
“The house was packed for
said. “Backstage, we tried mak- see familiar faces and some new faces as well.”
Friday night’s performance,
ing each other energetic and a
“I thought it was well-done on the whole,”
the audience was engaged
little nervous so we could try
audience member Caitlin Cronin, Adv. 709, said.
and respectful, and the actors
that much more when we were “I was impressed most by some of the actors. The
delivered a show they should
performing.”
kid who played the grandfather was a class act.”
be proud of.”
The actors’ pre-show efGrandpa Martin Vanderhof of the Sycamore
One of the challenges for
forts paid off as they received
the actors was maintaining the
Continued as “Can’t Take it With You”
positive feedback from the
same energy as the first night.
on pg. 3
Northside from
an Outsider’s
Perspective
Principals for a Day
by Natalia Emanuel
For many Northside students it is
not rare to find Dr. James Lalley and
Ms. Lisa Moreno, Northside’s principal and vice principal, walking down
the hallways or peeking into classes
with a guest or two. On Thursday,
November 2, these guests were two
“Principals for a Day,” Mr. Dominic Belmonte and Judge Thaddeus
Machnik.
Mr. Belmonte is the current
President and CEO of the Golden
Apple Foundation. He is also the cocreator of the Golden Apple Teacher
Education (GATE) program, which is a
program that allows adults to transition
into the teaching profession through
an alternative certification method. A
number of Northside teachers, including
Mr. Nathan Harada and Mr. Jeff Solin,
utilized the GATE program. In addition,
Northside’s Mr. Tim Devine, a social
science teacher, was presented with the
Golden Apple award in 2004.
Judge Machnik, a graduate of Lane
Technical High School, is a judge in the
Circuit Court of Cook Country, serving
Continued as “Principal for a Day”
on pg. 4
• Men’s Bowling on the rise
Ms, Lisa Moreno, Judge Thaddeus Machnik, Mr. Dominic Belmonte
and Dr. James Lalley discuss Northside with students and teachers. “It
seems to me that teaching and education is a calling for them,”Judge
Machnik said of Northside’s teachers.
Photo by Ashraf Abbas
Students take the
reigns in planning
courses
Northsiders to design
class schedules
by Aliy Markowski
For the first time, coming this April, Northside students will design their own schedules for the upcoming school year, selecting both
which courses to take and during which block periods to take them.
In the past, students have submitted first and second choice classes in
December to Northside’s, Mr. Leon Lim, Northside’s programmer.
This year, students will follow a course selection model similar to
that used at the collegiate level, choosing courses in the blocks they
are offered by teachers.
“It is what students will do in college, and similar to what
students already use to choose a colloquium,” said Mr. Tim Devine,
Social Science Department, who has helped plan the new system.
Lim will distribute a survey of student interest in available courses in February. Student response will determine how many blocks of
each course should be offered. Teachers will decide when they would
like to teach each course, and Lim will create a schedule of courses
offered accordingly. In April, two to three weeks after the schedule
of all classes is published for student viewing, students will design
their own schedules online. Like colloquium selection, current
juniors will enroll first, followed by sophomores and then freshmen.
Among each class, enrollment will be on a first come first served
basis. Incoming freshmen, with a variety of unknown variables such
as proficiency tests and elementary school credits, will continue to
utilize the old method to select courses.
“The new system will create a win-win situation,” Lim said. “It
will benefit both students and teachers if students take it seriously.”
Administrators intend to give students more control of their
educational experience at Northside by allowing them to design their
own schedules.
“It puts students in the driving seat in terms of what classes they
want and when,” Devine said. “Students at the end of the process
are the ones who selected 100 percent of their classes.”
Many students seem to like the idea of more control over their
Continued as “Programming” on pg. 3
Page 2 News Our doors are open
The Hoof Beat
Northside College
Prep High School
Open House 2006
by Ahmed Imtiaz
Long lines, fainting eighth graders,
and eager parents
can only mean one
thing: another Open
House at Northside
College Prep. Northside hosted its 8th
annual Open House
on Sunday, November 4th.
Over 2,500
people entered the
doors on Sunday. It
was an opportunity
for prospective students and their parents to get a feel for
Northside’s environment, where current
eighth-graders may
spend the next four
years. Upon entering
the building, parents
and their children
were directed into
Douglas Bright, Adv. 908. leads a group of interested parents and students in a discussion about
either the auditorium or gym. There, Northside and what it has to offer.
Photo by Ahmed Imtiaz
they were met by
a student greeter,
Language Department,” Kelly in the Chicago Public Schools
of closure and knowledge
who welcomed the visitors to
Varney, Adv. 810, said. “It
system, mainly because of its
about the school.
Northside and also outlined
was important to inform them curriculum. Among the most
“I think this is a great
the purpose of the tour. Soon
about the procedure of taking
interesting topics for many of
school with a great learning
after, the guests split into
languages here at Northside.”
the visitors were colloquium,
environment,” Sami Stewart,
groups of 10 to 13 people
Presentations like these
the block schedule, and the
a parent of a prospective
and were matched with a
went on in other wings of the
amount of homework NorthNorthside student, said. “I
student or parent tour guide.
school, as well.
siders are assigned on a daily
think the volunteers were very
Tour guides took their groups
“The Social Science Debasis.
helpful in addressing quesaround to all of Northside’s
partment wanted to educate
“A lot of parents were
tions and giving us an overall
departments and answered
the parents about our specific
intrigued by the block
view of the school.”
many questions.
methods,” John Belcaster, Soschedule and colloquium,”
“I think we’re perfecting a
“Open House is a great
cial Science Department, said. Obinna Osuji, Adv. 810, said.
science,” Moreno said. “Every
opportunity for prospective
“We tend to do things differ“They thought that we were
year after Open House, we
students,” Ms. Lisa Moreno,
ently than other public high
onto something, and that’s
take the time to debrief and
Assistant Principal, said. “It’s
schools—more interactive
why other schools couldn’t
look at what went well and
special so they leave with an
learning coupled with handscompete.”
look at the things we could
accurate assessment of the
on activities. It’s important
The Northside Parent
possibly do better in compeople, the parents we have,
for parents to know how we
Network assisted to make this
ing years. This year we had
the dedicated students, and
function as a community.”
Open House a success. Many
a much stronger parental
excited expert teachers.”
Rather than letting the
parent volunteers offered
presence which was very, very
Visitors were led around
parents explore on their own,
their time and services to help
good.”
to the different departments
Open House provides the
future parents and students.
With each successive
of the school where students
unique opportunity to interact The student volunteers offered Open House, Northside hopes
and teachers gave presentawith a guide and ask questheir tips and ideas about the
to attract the finest students
tions.
tions. Northside is known as
school. Those who attended
from Chicago to remain the
“I presented for the
a unique school among others
Open House left with a sense
top school in Illinois.
Alumni to share perspective
Annual “Northside Alumni Speak” approaches
by Muamera Hadzic
College Fairs, counselors, brochures
and piles of promotional mail are all
standard parts of the college application
process. However, these statistic-filled
advertisements for various schools leave
out the more personal aspects of the
college experience. Upon realizing this,
the Northside Class of 2005 decided to
contact Northside’s Parent Network and
introduce the idea of an Alumni Night,
adding another resource to the college
search frenzy. The effort, primarily
led by Mrs. Lynda Brodsky, mother of
Northside Alum Michael Pomeranz,
’05, has now become an annual event at
Northside and is set for December 21st
this year.
“It was a wonderful learning experience and the interaction between the
panelist alumni as well as the alumni in
the audience did well to show us how
Northsiders are adapting to various types
of institutions,” Patrick O’Connor, Adv.
708, said of last year’s event.
The night provides an interactive
panel discussion where the parent and
student audience can gain a more personal idea of the college application process as well as college life itself. Students
and parents are given the opportunity to
pose a variety of questions, ranging from
teacher recommendations to parental problems and college roommates.
Alumni are also present in the audience
and are encouraged to participate in addition to the featured panel.
Organization is very important with
the Alumni Speak Night due to the
differing schedules of the alumni. Colleges and universities offer their students
breaks starting at different times, so a
date that fits all is preferred. However,
there are other, less technical aspects to
organizing the panel of alumni.
“The first year the Alumni Night
took place there were some glaring flaws,
mainly in terms of the schools represented on the panel,” Lynda Brodsky said.
All but two of the eight to ten
alumni present were freshman who had
only been able to spend three months as
college students.
“Although they had very valuable
things to say, three months is a pretty
short time to gather all aspects of a collegiate atmosphere,” Brodsky said.
Since the first year, these problems
have been addressed and Brodsky
has aimed for a varied student panel.
Additionally, the first panel primarily
represented ‘elite,’ Ivy League schools.
Because Northside students apply to
various types of schools, the issue of representation has been corrected. Alumni
are sought to represent large and small
schools, liberal arts colleges, universities,
state schools, private institutions and
more.
This year’s panel will be unique in
two ways. A Northside alum will be
present from a service academy. Students
can learn about serving the nation and
education from a US Air Force representative. Also, a panelist from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign,
who took a year long break between
graduation and entering college, will be
speaking.
“I am really excited for these new additions as they can provide very different
information than the standard college
and university representatives because
service academies are very different, and
we can also hear from someone who
chose not to attend college right away,”
Mrs. Pomeranz said.
The prospect of posing informal
questions to the recent graduates attracts
many students. The night has evolved
into a heavily student-attended night
where parents are welcome to attend but
generally are not as numerous. Last year
the total alumni count came to 60, with
50 in the audience and ten in the panel.
This year, Brodsky says she expects similar numbers, with students representing
schools like the University of Michigan,
Harvard and the University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana.
“It should be a lot of fun, each one
is, because these students come back so
different, so mature and it’s wonderful to
see them and talk to them again,” Mrs.
Brodsky said.
“At Northside, like many high
schools, we have this closed environment
where we don’t fully grasp the outside
world. Having alumni come back and
share experiences is going to be very
beneficial in helping us get ready for college,” Jai Garg, Adv. 703, said.
“This sounds like something great
for both juniors and seniors and I’m
excited to see all of the people that used
to go to Northside and how they are doing at their respective schools,” Maggie
O’Connell, Adv. 807, said.
The event is scheduled for 4:00 pm,
but the panel discussion will not begin
until 4:30 pm. A half hour for catching
up, causal introductions and socializing
is allotted at the beginning.
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: Damon Beres,
Aliy Markowski
Copy Editors: Maxwell Brown,
Natalia Emanuel
Managing Editor: Kana Yoo
Assistant Managing Editor: Rachel
Hautzinger
Chief Layout Editor: Geethi Abraham
News Editor: Ashraf Abbas
Features Editor: Elizabeth Jose
Centerfold Editor: Abir Usman
Editorial Editor: Muamera Hadzic
Arts and Entertainment Editor:
Patricia Radkowski
Sports Editor: Geethi Abraham
Photo Editors: Neha Alam,
Zenobia Gonsalves
Art Editor: Vasiliki Mitrakos
Editorial Art Editor: Liz Born
Polling Managers: Shoaib Ali, Mohammad Kahleelullah
Reporters: Muhammad Actar,
Zainab Bilfaqi, Liz Born, Sejla
Dizdarevc, Sonya Dekhtyar, Ahmed
Imtiaz, Mohammad Khaleelulah,
Karolina Maslanka, Farrukh
Mukhtar, Nadir Rashid, Michelle
Zacarias
Junior Reporters: Zlatana Alibegovic, Jordan Garcia, Bridget Illing,
Sarah Jose, Helen Liutongco, 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].
December 2006
News
Page 3
Touching hearts with touchdowns “You Can’t Take
NHS and Student Council collect canned goods it With You”
by Zainab Bilfaqi
A few months prior to the event, students began planning
With Thanksgiving blowing in at the end of November,
and many hoped their preparations would pay off.
Northside’s food drive and Turkey bowl collected canned
“I am looking forward to a very competitive food drive
foods to donate to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
and I hope that all advisories collect a lot of canned food,”
From November 20th to November 22nd, National Honor
Harold Jaffe, Adv. 802, said.
Society (NHS) collected cans in all advisories as part of the
“I hope that all the preparation we put into the Food Drive
Food Drive. On November 29th, students
who signed up were able to participate
in the annual Turkey Bowl, an event
hosted by Northside’s Student Council,
for an entrance fee of three cans of nonperishable items.
Both organizations, which require
great student initiative, were able to work
out the necessary preparations for the
Food Drive and the Turkey Bowl.
“The Food Drive is an entirely student-led activity,” Lidia Ortiz, co-sponsor of NHS, said. “In an effort to serve
the larger Northside community, former
NHS students envisioned the Food Drive,
planned it, and carried it out. NHS carries on this tradition.”
“Members of Student Council felt it
important to inspire Northside to look
beyond the four walls of the school for
ways that students could help others,”
John Belcaster, Student Council sponsor, said. “Many students felt there are
other students that don’t have the same
advantages as students here. The students
thought they should share some of our
National Honor Society members Michelle High, Adv. 708, and Paula
privileges with those in need.”
This was year two of the partnership Daniliuc, Adv. 701, prepare collection boxes for the annual canned food
drive.
between NHS and Student Council. In
Photo by Kana Yoo
the past, they have come together during the Thanksgiving season to collect
canned foods for the underprivileged.
will benefit the Greater Food Depository,” Patricia Mazur,
Although the two organizations work together, each organizaAdv. 701, said. “I also hope Thanksgiving Day will be a joytion ran their activity independently and in the end, the two
ous occasion for all those who don’t have as many advantages
groups pooled the collected goods together and donated to
as us.”
the Greater Food Depository, which would later distribute the
The Turkey Bowl, hosted by Northside’s Student Council,
food across the city to various soup kitchens.
took place on Wednesday, November 29. The highlight of the
The members of Northside’s National Honor Society
event was the flag football tournament, but those who came
were split up into three groups: the public relations group,
also enjoyed a pie eating contest among other things. Many
the service group, and the school group. Each contributed
competitors were riled up before the event and expected to do
to a certain part of the Food Drive. NHS started a donation
well.
competition between advisories in an effort to increase the
“I am pretty optimistic…you know win the pie eating
amount of canned donations. The advisory with the most
contest, win the Turkey Bowl and overall I hope to contribute
cans received a free breakfast.
to the giving spirit,” John Ko, Adv. 909, said.
Continued from front page
family, played by Geoff Edwards, Adv. 707, delivers the
key line of the play: “you can’t take it with you.” The line
signifies a crucial moment in the play when Grandpa tells
Mr. Kirby that Mr. Kirby’s wealth and job mean nothing for
his happiness or fulfillment in life.
“I was really surprised and honored that I got to say that
line,” Edwards said. “The role of Grandpa was definitely a
big responsibility and I’m glad Mr. Snow chose me to play
it!”
Auditions for the play were held in late September.
“The auditions for the play were quite surprising,” Mr.
Snow said. “It was wonderful to have upperclassmen who
had never acted before auditioning for the school play. I
think some of them were pleasantly surprised when they
found their name on the callback list. I hope that students
will come to understand that the drama program has room
for everyone, regardless of experience level, physical type or
level of interest.”
Rehearsals for the play began soon after the cast list was
decided in early October. Those involved in the production
had a little over a month to prepare.
“Being a part of ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ was
extremely gratifying,” said Dimitra Bounas, Adv. 707, who
played Mrs. Sycamore. “No matter how hard of a day I was
having, knowing that I had rehearsal at the end of the day
somehow made everything okay.”
The actors rehearsed three times a week for about two
hours each day. As the performance dates neared, however,
the amount of rehearsals and hours increased. The actors
and directors met every day after school as well as on several
Saturdays.
“We could see through the last couple of rehearsals that
it would just be a great end result because the actors were all
really committed to putting on a great production,” Assistant Student Director Meghan Doherty, Adv. 702, said.
“I wish that my contribution to this greater good makes
a little difference in the lives of the underprivileged and it’s
a plus that I get to have a little fun along the way,” Benjamin
Garcia, Adv. 909, said.
Through the efforts of Northside’s NHS and Student
Council, Northside spreads its generosity throughout the
Chicagoland area. Students and teachers had fun as they tried
to surpass last year’s record of 1790 pounds of food.
“Donating food is a great way to give back to the community,” Katherine Keenan, Adv. 707, said. “I am proud to be a
part of it through NHS.”
“Programming”
continued from front page
classes.
“Using the old method, a lot
of students wound up taking their
second and even third choice classes
when they could have changed their
schedules in ways they would have
preferred if given the opportunity,”
Jenna Witkowski, Adv. 705, said.
“This way, students will know that
the schedule they will follow is
exactly what they created.”
Lim says students will be able
to better balance their schedules if
they choose when they would like
to take each course.
“It’s hard when students are
taking challenging classes and they
all wind up on the same day,” Lim
said.
Maggie O’Connell, Adv. 804,
suffers this year with an imbalanced
schedule.
“I have a whole day with all AP
classes, so Mondays and Thursdays
are really tough for me,” O’Connell
said. “The new system seems like
it will give students a lot of needed
freedom and a way to organize their
schedules so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else, because trust
me a whole day of AP classes is no
fun.”
Lim says departments will be
able to determine which electives
to offer in advance. In the past,
teachers have been forced to close
classes after students have signed
up because of inadequate student
interest.
“Students should really take the
survey in February seriously,” Lim
said. “Students should make sure to
list classes that they really want to
take so the whole system can be effective in offering the right number
of blocks for each course.”
Teachers will also benefit by
selecting which blocks to teach
classes.
“It’s going to allow us to create
schedules for teachers that are more
thoughtful,” Devine said.
Despite the benefits, many students are concerned with the social
incentives of the new procedure.
Some worry that students may
select courses to be in classes with
their friends.
“People are already starting to
talk about ways to get into classes
with their best friends,” O’Connell
said. “While it is fun to have a
friend in every class, I would dread
sitting next to a whole clique.”
“I’d still take the classes I wanted to take,” Witkowski said. “But
I’m sure in the back of my mind I’d
be thinking about what classes my
friends were taking.”
Devine and Lim agree, however,
that students taking classes with
their friends may not be a negative
consequence of allowing students to
choose when they take each class.
“If it means students are taking
more classes with their friends, I
don’t see anything so terrible about
that,” Devine said. “Students are
more comfortable with and motivated by their friends.”
Students, however, seem less
convinced that classes with friends
will not create a problem.
Annie Tran, Adv. 810, says the
new system will work for seniors,
but may be problematic for underclassmen.
“I think it’s stupid for freshmen
and sophomores,” Tran said. “They
won’t make friends and we’re just
going to goof off in all our classes.
I do like that I will get to pick my
lunch and have classes with my
friends, but I know I’ll get distracted
in some classes.”
Since most classes have multiple
sections, Devine says students may
not be able to guarantee they will
be in classes with their friends even
if they sign up for the same course
during the same block.
“It may be the perception by
students that they’ll be able to enroll in every class with their friends
if they want to,” Devine said. “But
in reality, it’s not going to work
out that way every time even if
students try to enroll in the same
courses.”
Liza Tullis, Adv. 704, says she
worries that students will encounter
problems trying to design their own
schedules as classes fill up quickly.
“It seems like it will be a huge
disaster,” Tullis said. “It’ll be like
colloquium where you only get
good ones if you are the first to
sign up, and even if you are prepared, only so many people can be
the very first ones.”
Devine says students will be encouraged to create first, second, and Ms. Susan Spillane reviews a list of courses that Northside plans
even third and fourth choice sched- to offer next year as part of the new programming policy.
ules to prepare for this problem of Photo by Liz Born
classes filling up in advance.
are still not programmed by August, conflict,” Devine said.
“When you get to college,
making it very difficult for students
Lim says teachers will also have
you’re going to try to sign up for
to prepare for classes that have sum- more time to begin with to deterclasses and find that they are filled
mer assignments.
mine whether or not to approve
up,” Devine said. “It will be the
“I had to read two books in
students for AP courses.
same thing here. If a student doesn’t
a week when my schedule got
“It’s difficult for teachers to
get into a course, there are plenty of
changed at the end of the summer,”
know after just a couple of months
other options.”
John Holler, Adv. 705, said.
whether or not a student is ready to
Ana Haggerty, Adv. 708, agrees
Late scheduling also presents
take an AP course the next year,”
that students should learn to create
problems for Department Chairs,
Lim said. “There are always cases
their own programs since it is a
Devine says. Last summer, Devine
when the student’s performance
task they will soon be faced with in
received calls in mid-July about
changes one way or other throughcollege.
which students should and should
out the school year. By choosing
“If you’re going to make a
not be approved to take AP courses
approving students after the first
mistake about which classes to take,
when their first choice classes were
semester, teachers will have better
when to take them, and who to take
unavailable. Devine was forced to
information about students’ abilithem with, I think it’s better that
make the decision with little knowlties.”
students make those mistakes now
edge of the individual students and
Devine says that despite the
in high school and learn from them
minimal input from the students
concern over the change, he is conbefore college,” Haggerty said.
themselves.
fident that the new system will be a
Lim says he hopes the new
“It’s impossible for me to
positive progression for Northside.
selection process will cut down the
know what class a student should
“We’ve put quite a bit of
number of schedule conflicts. On
be approved to take based on the
thought into how to execute it,”
average about 20 percent of stustudent’s name on a sheet of paper
Devine said. “We’re not creating it
dents have schedule problems each
when I get that call in the middle of
out of the clear blue sky.”
year, Lim says. Around 5 perecent
the summer because of a scheduling
Page 4 News On a mission to save the
environment
“Principal for a Day”
Continued from front page
Northside’s Recycling Club and their
efforts
by Mohammad Rahman
The recycling club is not just
for gaining service hours, but also
for socializing and discussing issues that affect recycling.
The club meets two Tuesdays
every month in Dr. Anna Marie
a common problem would be
whether or not recyclers are doing
their duties properly. Other topics
of the meetings include whether
or not every classroom has a
blue recycling bin and also if any
rooms need posters to promote
Amanda Kell, Adv. 710, and Anna Deneui, Adv. 707, help preserve
Northside’s environment by recycling paper products.
Photo by Neha Alam
Vites’ room, Rm. 304. An average
meeting lasts about thirty minutes
and consists of lunch leaders
explaining to Recycling Club
officers like Sarah Sharief, Adv.
706, Club President, any problems they might be encountering.
Lunch leaders are members of the
Recycling Club who have the job
to leach recycler the nuts and bolts
of the recycling and have to attend all club meetings; other than
that the leaders do not recycle
themselves, but train students
to recycle. The list of problems
is unique to each situation, but
recycling.
Many people join for their
love of the environment.
“I joined recycling because I
like to help the environment,” Jeff
Kowar, Adv. 802, said. “Other
than this, I also want to preserve
what we have on Earth… and
also, service hours are a big plus.”
The members of Recycling
Club are always active. Their duty
is to take the paper materials out
of the blue recycling bins that are
located in all classrooms and put
them in a larger bin to be later
put into in the school dumpsters
The Hoof Beat
in front of the school. From the
larger dumpsters, the materials
– which include paper and cardboard – are collected for recycling
to the waste disposal company’s
recycling facility.
“Recycling saves limited
resources and keeps
harmful chemicals from
getting into the environment,” Dr. Vites said.
“It is also the key to
creating a sustainable
society in the future.”
One problem that
makes a recycler’s job
harder is that many
people disregard the
fact that the blue bins
are only for clean paper
(such as printer paper
or loose leaf paper) and
not for glossy paper,
plastics or wrappers.
Each lunch period
has its own group of
recyclers that set out to
recycle specific parts of
the school. The lunch
period with the most recyclers is 3a. With more
volunteers, this recycling
group must recycle
all of the third floor’s
paper products. The
recyclers of the 7a lunch
period must recycle the
first floor’s paper. This
includes the office, the
counseling department,
and the Fine Arts Department.
Recyclers are able to complete
almost their entire job in the first
few minutes of their respective
lunch period. Each lunch group is
assigned a different section of the
school to recycle so it does not put
a lot of pressure to a single lunch
group.
“The school is a perfect place
to do recycling because we use so
much paper here,” Dr. Vites said.
“I also feel that through recycling
we can teach the next generation
to be responsible consumers.”
in the Second Municipal District in Skokie.
According to Dr. Lalley, the Principal for a Day is an important event with
two main purposes.
“With all the bad press out there about schools,” Dr. Lalley said, “it is good
for a person who is, say, the head of Swedish Covenant Hospital, to walk into a
school and say, ‘Wow, looks pretty nice. Kids are doing what they’re supposed
to be doing; teachers are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. My tax dollars are at work. This is good.’”
Such good publicity is especially important to CPS, which is, in the words of
Dr. Lalley, “still smarting from the comment from the US Secretary of Education, William Bennett, who said we have the worst school system in the nation”
in 1988.
And Mr. Belmonte noted another, similar focus of the Principal for a Day
program.
“Principal for a Day brings adults to actually see the life of a school,” said
Mr. Belmonte. “And the energy of the place and the concern of its staff and
students bring to clear focus the heroic effort being done in Chicago to educate
its children. In our state, with widely disproportionate levels of school support
based on an inequitable property tax reliance on funding schools, it makes the
case for a more fair system of school funding ever so clearer.”
Due in part to the funding issues Mr. Belmonte mentioned, the other purpose of the program Dr. Lalley mentioned is, plainly put, money.
“The other thing is, and CPS makes no bones about it, they use it as a fundraiser,” Dr. Lalley said. “They put the touch on these people later and ask for
cold cash. They want money for computers, for technology, for programs.”
Despite this, however, Judge Machnik said he had “wanted to participate
in the Principal for a Day program, but work commitments in the past made it
difficult.”
When visiting, Mr. Belmonte and Judge Machnik had a rather packed
morning. The two heard a presentation about the Writing Center by Mr.
Giovanni Benincasa, an English teacher, and another about the Future Leaders’
curriculum teaching about genocide. Subsequently they met with a number of
students and teachers.
“It appears to me that many of the students work hard, but have also managed to realize and appreciate the satisfaction that comes from that effort,” said
Judge Machnik. “I also feel that the students understand the adage “(t)o whom
much is given, much is expected.”
“I found my teaching colleagues passionate and positive, obviously basking in the advantage strong leadership provides to the school,” commented Mr.
Belmonte.
Finally, the Principals for a Day were able to see, first hand, the most prominent purpose of the school – the learning.
“We never plan where we are going,” commented Dr. Lalley. “We just wander the hallways and encounter wonderful things.”
“I get the impression that your teachers, faculty, and staff are very committed and professional: this is not just a job for them. It seems to me that teaching
and education is a calling for them,” Judge Machnik noted. “They appear to
feed off of the students’ enthusiasm, much in the same way that a judge enjoys
watching two skilled attorneys argue a case well.”
“What surprised and delighted me,” commented Mr. Belmonte, “was the
strong special education component within your school. I hold high regard for
teachers who work with differently able students.”
But not all of Northside took Mr. Belmonte by surprise.
“It did not surprise me that talent exudes from your school, from both sides
of the big desk[s] in the rooms.”
The Principals for a Day finished their day talking to Dr. Lalley about the
Northside as a whole.
“[I gained] a greater appreciation for those who have made Northside Prep
what it is,” reflected Judge Machnik. “It begins with those who came up with
the concept, with those who implemented it, and for those – faculty, teachers,
and staff – who are now working to maintain this high level of excellence.”
Korea at Northside
Korean Exchange students
by Elizabeth Jose
Several fellow passengers turned amused
and surprised faces to see a group of teenagers playing the “Frying Pan” game as they
rode the train downtown. These teenagers
were the Korean exchange students and their
hosts.
Five students and one teacher came to
Northside. All but one of the students spent
half their time with one host and the other
half with another host during their three
weeks in Chicago. Jae Hyun Nam spent his
first half with Ms. Jeung-Hee Park, a Korean
teacher, and the second half with Jacqueline
McDermott, Adv. 702. Sue Yeon Choi’s hosts
were Jessica Park, Adv. 705, and Mary Koh,
Adv. 705. Chul Hee Yoon was hosted by the
Rey family, and Sunho Lee, Adv. 014. Rae
Won Jung’s hosts were Tina Suh, Adv. 704,
and Helen Hapner, Adv. 703. Ko San Roh
stayed with the same host, Kana Yoo, Adv.
707, throughout his visit. Lastly the teacher,
Ms. Hye Jin Lee, was hosted by Mr. Steve
Arnam, science teacher for one week.
“The Global Initiative Program began
communications with the Korean Science
Academy in Busan in January 2006,” Senor
Blease, a Spanish language teacher, said.
This is the first year that Northside has
participated in an exchange program with
Korea. This was the result of a year’s worth
of work done by Senor Robert Blease and
other faculty members. The Global Initiative program, organized by Senor Blease, has
been working on these endeavors for some
time, starting with China and now moving
on to Korea. Emails were sent out earlier in
the year alerting students and teachers to the
need for host families. According to Senor
Blease, finding willing Northside families was
the one obstacle that arose when pursuing the
exchange program opportunity.
All students could be hosts because the
Korean Exchange students spoke English
quite fluently though they would occasionally have trouble putting their thoughts into
words. As such, the hosts and other Norhtside
students will be able to go to Korea though
they may not be able to speak Korean because
the trip is mainly “just for the experience” as
Senor Blease said.
Host family and exchange student interactions were greatly encouraged. Though the
students had to attend school and had to
adhere to specific schedules, they were given
the freedom to do whatever they wanted after
school and at night as long as it was legal.
The hosts were provided with an itinerary
that boasted a long list of activities for them
to do with their exchange student, and they
were also given the numbers and addresses
of many Korean restaurants. Some of the
suggestions were going to the various sites
Chicago has to offer—Sears Tower, the John
Hancock, Lincoln and Brookfield Zoo, and
all the museums. There were also a few more
ambiguous suggestions such as going to a
Karaoke Bar, which they did do. School activities, such as the school play, were strongly
suggested.
“I knew Chicago was the third largest
city,” Sue Yeon Choi said. “I thought it would
just have big buildings, but when I came here
I saw it was only like that in downtown.”
“In Korea, in big cities it is really crowded,” Rae Won Jung said. “I thought it would
be the same here, but it really wasn’t.”
Many of the exchange students had to as-
similate all their findings in Chicago into their
schemas of big cities in other parts of the
world. Foreigners usually get their picture of
American cities on postcards and other such
materials which often portray cities as a mass
of extremely large, tall buildings. Another
thing they found quite surprising was the
school system. It was not merely the policies,
but the social interaction, even between the
students that showed them that the American
school system is a far cry from their own
schools in Korea.
“There is more freedom here,”
Rae Won Jung said. “Here there are
many more extra activities. If someone
wants to play soccer, they would become professional players [in Korea], but we don’t have
so many teams to play for fun. We don’t have
time; we just study, study, study. Also in Korea, we have to respect the older classes. The
relationship is different. We have to speak to
them in a formal language. In high school we
have only one test to see where we are going
to go to college. It is in senior year.”
The Korean Exchange Students left at
11:40 a.m. on November 18 from O’Hare airport. They took memories with them and left
many with their hosts and all the other people
they met on the trip.
Jung Rae-won, Korean exchange student, sings passionately along to a
Korean song.
Photo by Kana Yoo
December 2006
October
Editorial
Page 6 2006
Arts & Entertainment
The Page
Hoof7Beat
The next generation arrives
The releases of the PlayStation 3 and the Wii
by Helen Liutongco
Onlookers watched with amusement and
surprise as thousands flocked to game stores
all over the nation. After years of speculation
and hype, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii were released to the masses. Now
it is up to the consumer to decide which
console was worth the wait - and the money.
The Wii was released on November 19
and despite block-long lines at every Best
Buy, Gamestop, and Toys R’ Us in the country, the day passed with very few notable
incidents. On the other hand, the PS3 release
that took place two days prior made headlines for the chaos that occurred. The most
shocking event involved a drive-by shooting
with a BB gun at four customers as well as
a reporter outside of a Best Buy retailer in
Lexington, Kentucky. Many stores across
the country only received a fraction of their
expected PS3 shipments and were forced to
raffle off the consoles to random members of
the crowd. A few stores even made customers win their PS3s through games such as
musical chairs, during which one customer
got injured during the rush towards the seats,
or forcing customers to race from one side
of a wall to another. Some customers also
reported being robbed while waiting in line.
In the end, the PS3 was completely sold
out in both the United States and Canada
within the first day of release. While a
reported 425,000 Wiis were shipped out to
North America for its release, only 150,000
PS3s were sent out, many not even arriving
on the first day.
Many customers who bought a PS3 or
Wii upon release resold it on Ebay shortly
after. PS3s were resold for as much as $3000
on release day, though the number dropped
closer to $1000 a few days later. Wiis were
resold on Ebay for $700-900, a price that was
still about three times the retail price.
Since release, PS3 owners have reported
having problems playing games in high
definition, as well as having problems playing several PS2 and PSX games. Some PS3
owners in Taiwan reported having issues
with their consoles overheating or having
defective memory cards. As for the Wii, the
biggest complaint stems from the wrist strap
that comes with the Wii controller. The strap
is meant to keep the controller latched onto
the player’s hand, though some straps have
easily broken off, sending the controller flying towards the wall.
So after all the chaos of release dies
down, which game system is the better buy?
Taking all factors into consideration, it is
currently the Wii. It’s the more affordable
console, and it is also easier to get a
hold of. The faulty equipment of the
Wii, namely the weak wrist strap, is
not as big of a defect as the problems
PS3 owners are facing. Perhaps most
important, the Wii has a couple bigname release games, such as “The
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,”
whereas the PS3 has no must-buy titles
presently on the market.
At the same time, the PS3 looks
to be the better choice in the long run.
The price will eventually go down,
though it might take a year or two.
In a few months, most of the defects
will be worked out, and the chances
of buying a faulty console will shrink.
The PS3 is known to be more powerful
of a console than the Wii, which will
start to show once game developers
begin using the PS3 to its full capabilities. As for games, the PS2 was credited as
having the most variety in game selection,
a trend that will probably continue with the
PS3.
For gamers who are on the fence on
whether to buy a PS3 or a Wii, there are PS3
and Wii kiosks appearing in game stores
across the country where potential buyers
can try out the game systems for free.
Sony’s $600
riot starter: the Playstation 3.
Courtesy of www.amazon.com.
“Stranger Than Fiction” not so odd after all
by Damon Beres
“Stranger Than Fiction” promotional
poster.
Courtesy of www.amazon.com.
It’s a fitting title to be sure: “Stranger Than Fiction” tells the
story of an offbeat, quirky, and wholly fantastical scenario in which
a man named Harold Crick has been given a death sentence by a
frustrated author. The twist, of course, is that he’s merely a character
to her, but, no, he is a living, breathing tax collector who falls in love
with a living breathing anarchist baker, and, of course, he doesn’t
want to die.
The premise was made all too clear by TV spots and trailers that
gave away just a bit too much. In large part, the film seems to rely
on its cute and original premise to satisfy audiences, but the plot was
already ruined for anyone who saw any of the previews. As such, the
majority of the film feels a bit stale and familiar, ironic given that it’s
really quite the novel concept (pun fully intended), and audiences are
pretty much asking themselves “Is she going to do it? Is Harold Crick
going to die?” for nearly two hours. Ho-hum.
Thankfully, Marc Forster, of “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball” fame, is a talented director, and Zach Helm a competent
screenwriter. For discerning viewers who have paid the price of
admission for more than just the truthfully underwhelming mystery,
“Stranger Than Fiction” offers a ton of charm. It’s evident in the
camera work, the delivery from the actors, the way in which the
shots are arranged and presented, the editing, and in the dialogue
and narration. Audiences will be able to get quite a bit out of the
film if they’re willing to look for it, even if Crick’s dilemma comes
off as disappointing.
Why, you ask? Because for all of its marketing bluster about
Harold being put to death by the nasty (though oddly likable) writer,
“Stranger Than Fiction” is a love story. A large deal of this comes
from the unlikely, entertaining, but slightly unconvincing romance
between Will Ferrel and Maggie Gyllenhal (that more than anything
is “Stranger Than Fiction” to be sure). Besides that, however, are
the warm and important messages that the film bears about the love
for your fellow man, which, while far more subtle, were also more
intriguing than the other stuff.
Perhaps it was all a bit too subtle, however, and it seems probable
that the average viewer may not buy fully into these intricacies, or
perhaps they will pass them over altogether. In any case, they’re not
too deep to begin with, which is problematic because the same could
be said of the whimsical plot. Forster may have a flair for bringing
out the magic in any story, but the well is simply a bit too shallow
in this case. “Stranger Than Fiction” often straddles on the brink of
greatness, but it never quite gets there.
But it is good, to be sure, even if it falls just short of “excellent.”
The acting is all phenomenal; Will Ferrel, ever the fan favorite, is
able to handle the more serious moments, and he of course excels
when the tone is comedic. Emma Thompson is quite good as the
struggling author who plans to put Crick on ice, and Maggie Gyllenhal does well as his rambunctious girl of interest. Dustin Hoffman
has a relatively minor role as a professor that advises Ferrel’s character, and, as expected, he is fantastic. Queen Latifah, functions well in
her role as Thompson’s assistant.
And, as mentioned, Forster is an immensely talented director,
though it seems that he just doesn’t have enough to work with here.
The plot is charming but overexposed, and the themes are promising
though a bit too shallow. After masterpieces like “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball,” “Stranger Than Fiction” is a bit too
fluffy for Forster. It’s a cute and enjoyable experience, but given all
that it had going for it, it’s also something of a letdown.
A Royale Flush
by Rachel Hautzinger
Sexy girls, 00-status, vodka martinis shaken not stirred, amazing gadgets – throw everything known about
James Bond out the window. To do
all this and still satisfy James Bond
die-hard fanatics, a movie would have
to be excellent…and “Casino Royale”
is. The newest James Bond flick is
an impressive film with edge of your
seat action sequences, an excellent
cast, and a plot that stays true to the
saying, ‘expect the unexpected.’
“Casino Royale” shocks Bond
fans when it begins with Bond
earning his 00-status, meaning he is
licensed to kill. The story continues
with a fast paced, incredible heights
chase that gets Bond (Daniel Craig)
shipped out to the Bahamas. There
he stops a terrorist plot to blow up
an airplane and by doing so, ends
up in a high stakes poker game that
determines terrorist funding. The action never stops. However, this movie
also catered to the more romantic
side of Bond, who becomes seriously
involved with the stunning Vesper
Lynd (Eva Green.)
The story lacks some usual Bond
aspects. Both the lovable characters
of Q, who supplied Bond with his
gadgets, and Money Penny, M’s
secretary who is deeply in love with
James, are missing. The dancing girls
that appear at the title sequence of
every movie are also absent, and even
James Bond does not have the usual
brunette suave look to him. The loss
of those aspects is sad, but is nothing
compared to the fact that the movie
tries to go back to the very beginning,
despite taking place in modern times.
Even Bond’s traditional shaken-notstirred vodka martini drink choice
is initially ignored and mocked. If
one is a Bond fan, be prepared to be
disappointed over the fact that moviemakers decided to throw everything
out the window. Well, almost everything. M, the head of Her Majesty’s
Secret Service, is still played by
Judi Dench and still has a difficult
relationship with the disrespectful
Bond. Felix Leiter, Bond’s best friend
and an agent on the American Secret
Service who has helped on many
missions, is introduced to Bond for
the “first time.” Still, filmmakers attempt to reinvent and analyze Bond,
which may initially come as a shock
and disappointment for fans of the
Bond classics.
As the movies progresses, the
loss of all of the traditional elements
seems to become less terrible than
it initially seems. The action scenes
are still amazing and edgy without
the use of gadgets. The wit carried
by Money Penny and Q is given to
Bond and even a little to the coldhearted M. The cars in the movie are
as mouth-watering as they always
have been. So even though the main
elements are missing, the movie
is still 100 percent Bond and 100
percent good. After all, it is the final
of the Ian Fleming novels, the origins
of James Bond, to be made into a
movie.
The villain, Le Chiffre (Mads
Mikkelsen), is also completely Bondesque and incredibly sinister. With
curled red lips and a scar above his
left eye, he weeps blood and thoroughly enjoys torture. The card game
is quite edgy and even teaches viewers a bit about poker. Daniel Craig,
the first blonde Bond who has a more
rugged look then the character is typically allowed, is extremely talented.
As the new and successful James
Bond, Craig is likely to go onto to do
big things.
The moviemakers also always
make audiences want to keep guessing, but in “Casino Royale” predictions are to no avail. Everything one
guesses will be wrong; a move by
filmmakers that keeps moviegoers’
jaws dropped. But predict away: that
makes it more fun and more shocking
when the unpredictable happens.
Although “Casino Royale” tries
to create a whole new look for Bond,
the filmmakers definitely shot down a
lot of complaints over the loss of typical Bond elements with an astounding movie. As one who has seen all
the Bond movies, it definitely stands
high up there among the classics.
“Casino Royale” promotional poster.
Courtesy of www.amazon.com.
December 2006
“The Dutchess” wins over
loyal subjects
by Patricia Radkowski
Just like Beyoncé Knowles
left Destiny’s Child to create a
career of her own, Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson has split from the
Black Eyed Peas to pursue her
solo dreams. Never fear though,
as Fergie is not leaving the BEP
brothers that helped her rise to
the top; she is merely developing
her own sound on the side. Her
first experiment, “The Dutchess,”
becomes music royalty overnight.
The album starts out strong
with “Fergalicious,” the up-beat,
colorful second single of Fergie’s
solo career that will certainly get
ladies to shake their behinds in
unison. Friend Will.I.Am assists
Fergie with his famous BEP
rapping skills to give the song
even more “oomph,” not that it
needed any. The playful heavy
bass provides the perfect base for
Fergie’s voice to explore various
venues. Fergie proves that she
can easily fool around with her
lyrics. Her emphasis and pronunciation of words blend into the
music as if the two were destined
for each other. In today’s world
where strange noises combine to
make “music,” finding quality sounds like those of Fergie
makes the heart flutter. “Fergalicious” serves as a brilliant
introduction to the album.
“Clumsy,” the next track,
upholds the precedent set by
“Fergalicious.” Although much
slower in pace, “Clumsy” transforms the chorus of Little Richard’s “The Girl Can’t Help It”
into a fluid love song. The idyllic
high notes in the background are
the perfect setting for Fergie’s
breathless voice to describe how
she is clumsy because she is falling in love, a feeling many teens
will be able to relate to. “You’ve
got me trippin’, stumbling, flippin’, fumbling.” The lyrics are
sweet and the song lingers in the
listener’s mind, very much like
the song’s subject.
Although artfully done, “All
That I Got” is insipid and will
not bring Fergie much fame. The
lyrics may be honest, but they
are not song-worthy. “Would you
love me if I didn’t work out or I
“The Dutchess” CD cover.
Courtesy of www.gomoxie.org.
didn’t change my natural hair”
is far from being an award-winning chorus. “Velvet” is also a
vapid song, that may be “smooth
as wine,” but fails to grab the
audience in a new way. Expensive fabrics have been abused as
a symbol of wealth, like in Gwen
Stefani’s reference to cashmere in
“Luxurious.”
Fergie’s first single, “London
Bridge,” made history when it
shot “its way up the Billboard
Hot 100, reaching the #1 spot
in three short weeks, the second
highest jump ever recorded by
Billboard,” according to www.
gomoxie.com. Catchy and racy,
“London Bridge” hooked listeners to Fergie’s eclectic sounds.
Coming from the BEP, Fergie
knows how to rap. She proves
this in “Pedestal” and “Here I
Come.” Fergie starts “Pedestal”
in a childish pitch, singing “your
pedestal is falling down” to the
tune of “London Bridge is falling
down.” The song breaks into rap
verses; its chorus a breathless,
Marilyn Monroe style whisper.
“Here I Come” is of the same
caliber. Rap verses join a 1980s
strong voice chorus finished by
a techno-feel, sexy voiced “here
I come,” resounding highly of
Britney Spear’s bridge in “Toxic.”
Will.I.Am spices up “Here I
Come” with a beguiling fragment of rap. Fergie may be better
known for her fast paced singles,
but she can sing lovely ballads
as well. “Finally,” accompanied
by poetic piano notes, comes off
as a gentle inspiration. Fergie
reveals a more romantic side.
With lyrics about holding hands
in a school yard and taking baby
steps until she is full grown,
“Big Girls Don’t Cry” marks the
sweetest song on Fergie’s CD.
Experimenting with all sorts
of styles, Fergie produced “Mary
Jane Shoes” with Rita Marley
and the I-Three’s. With a relaxed
beat of Caribbean reggae, “Mary
Jane Shoes” is as smooth as the
tide rolling in and out on the
beach. However, it ends with
an unexpected bang that is yet
another style change in “The
Dutchess.”
Fergie’s talent is a cross
between three accomplished
singers: Christina Aguilera, Pink
and Gwen Stefani. Fergie’s voice
comes out crisp and strong, like
the voices of both Aguilera and
Pink. Christina Aguilera’s “Keep
On Singing My Song” has the
same message as “Big Girls
Don’t Cry.” Both inspire listeners to rise above hardships, like
many songs of Pink. All three
songstresses have had rough
lives, which they sing about.
Aguilera had a broken family,
as did Pink. Fergie, formerly addicted to crystal meth, explains
her inner struggle in “Voodoo
Doll” and “Losing My Ground.”
Neither song calls that much
attention to itself. Fergie’s challenging past slides by without so
much as a touch of the “repeat”
button. Whether that is for the
better or for the worse, it’s hard
to decide.
The background vocals of
Fergie’s music are similar to
Stefani’s album “Love.Angle.
Music.Baby.”; the song “Harajuku Girls” in particular. Repetitions, side beats, and other such
musical tricks compliment both
the lyrics and the overall sound.
Fergie’s “Glamorous” could be
attributed to Stefani as it is a
song in her style. Despite Fergie
sliding around in her notes with
the ease of Stefani, the voice
itself is unmistakably Fergie’s.
“Glamorous” flaunts lyrics like
Stefani’s “Luxurious” but in a
voice more like Pink’s. Ludacris collaborated with Fergie to
produce a silky single whose
soft tone is appealingly pleasant.
Destined to become another one
of Fergie’s hits, “Glamorous” is
fabulous.
The ingeniously coordinated
music makes Fergie’s words slide
out and grab listeners by the ears.
The songs are all worked into
perfection, every beat accounted
for. The Backstreet Boy’s, by
far the most finely tuned band
of the 1990s with their coordinated dancing and meticulously
recorded songs, might have met
their match in “The Dutchess.”
Arts & Entertainment
Page 7
Radtrocity
Photography or
pornography?
by Patricia Radkowski
Pictures are worth a thousand
words. Facebook allows users to post
an infinite number of pictures. That
translates into a lot of words; infinity
times one thousand words, to be exact. And those words have a proclivity
for inappropriateness, to say the least.
A fine line exists between having
fun and crying out for help. Taking
photos of your friends is just peachy.
Posing in front of a mirror in clothes
your parents don’t know you have, or
worse, with barely any clothes at all,
is a picture you shouldn’t post online.
Photographs used to have a
purpose. Families would bust out
their cameras and capture precious
moments. They would take the prints
down to Walgreens and gather in the
living room to see them. Picture-taking was a whole family affair. Digital
cameras have changed all of that. We
snap pictures like crazy and not always because we have a good reason.
It’s not like we have to pay for film
or prints to see our beloved photos.
There is no financial or social motive
to take pictures with thought.
Proving to the world how pretty
you are does not suffice as a motive for an entire album. Too often a
person’s hand branches out of the side
of the photo. Vanity is not a virtue. If
you were as hot as you think you are,
you would be a model. You would get
paid for pictures and a professional
photographer would take them, so
that your hand wouldn’t come out of
the side.
Pictures of friends making faces
to the camera may not result in the
most flattering shot or the wisest
choice for a profile picture, but at least
it’s not scandalous. Too often pictures
star teenage girls, yes girls, as vamps
and vixens in the most bizarre places.
The authors of such albums wish to
surprise viewers… “what will they
do next?” Posting idiotic pictures on
Facebook will not make you cool.
Boys like to show their bodies in
Facebook pictures. Nudity appeals
to them like nothing else. Aside from
making strange faces and, on occasion, exposing a rear end, boys also
like to pose while doing illegal things.
You may be able to drink in France,
but this is America. You’re too young
to be holding a beer can while you
smooch the far-from-sober girl on top
of you.
Girls tend to don outfits they
would never dare to walk on the street
in. They push out their chests, tuck
in their tummies and smile for every
single shot. Your mom would be
proud. Girls pile themselves on top
of each other like pancakes at IHOP,
kiss each other out of friendship, and
snuggle in adoration. We’re all such
good friends.
Most people breathe through
their noses. Yet most photos have
girls with gaping mouths, open wide
in an orgasmic fashion. Meg Ryan’s
restaurant orgasm scene in the movie
“When Harry Met Sally” was entertaining, but teenage girls should not
follow suit. Opening your mouth as
if you were at the dentist’s office does
not make you pretty. Nor do you need
to show that when it’s cold outside,
your breath comes out in little wisps
of smoke.
The recurring lollipop, ice cream,
and whip cream motif is also very
disturbing. We are not call girls or
pole dancers: we are Northsiders. If
you feel that such a career is your
calling, why are you in the Northside
network? Preparing for a future job on
Facebook is unnecessary.
By far the most abused look is
the “oh my God” face of scandal and
gossip. It takes the general form of a
mouth in an “o” shape, one or both
hands in the vicinity of that particular mouth, and eyes open very wide.
Playing on the blonde bimbo theme,
the look subtracts thirty points from
your IQ. Its popularity remains a
mystery.
Fingers do not belong in your
mouth and they definitely do not
belong in another person’s mouth.
Even if you consider a mouth an appropriate place for a finger or fingers,
I suggest that you don’t share such
moments with other people. The need
to boast such stupidity is probably the
underlying motive of the culprits.
Self-esteem issues most likely
plague the insecure souls who feel the
need to advertise their bodies online.
There really is more to life than
convincing the people around you
that you are the coolest thing that ever
walked a Northside hallway.
Comments to all of these photos
tend to run along the lines of “wow,
you’re so hot,” “we’re so cute,” “oh,
you girls are so pretty,” and “we’re all
sooooo gorgeous.” True beauty seems
to have lost itself. Sex appeal used to
mean something. Now, every other
girl is sexy. Those that aren’t sexy, are
pretty. Those that aren’t pretty, are
cute. In the end, we’re all so special.
Our friends agree with our moms.
Girls more often than guys are
guilty of inappropriate pictures. There
seems to be a general need for all girls
to tap into their sexy side, which can
sometimes turn very ugly, very fast.
By posting such trash you are demeaning the entire female population.
If guys see you like that over and over
again, they are going to think that
girls should be like that. It’s like calling your friends sluts and whores. It
may seem comical, but the next time
that person receives a label for real,
their reaction will not be as dramatic.
“I hear that all the time, so it doesn’t
really matter.” It’s habituation.
Some may argue that if such pictures are regarded as inappropriate by
some, those people should not view
them. But they are everywhere. It is
impossible to avoid them. One cannot
know if a picture is appropriate without viewing the picture first. Also,
there are two types of bad people:
people who do bad things and people
who see bad things being done and
don’t do anything about it. So as not
to be classified with the second sort,
the author of this column couldn’t
hold her tongue.
Pictures of a bunch of friends
hanging out at a park make a fine
album. Pictures of a bunch of friends
drinking at a park make fine evidence.
We are Northsiders. We are the future
leaders of the world. Most of us will
become accomplished, successful
people. With that success will come
publicity. Are we ready to let the general public see our Facebook photos?
Famous people always have dirt dug
up when they reach stardom. What
kind of material are you providing for
the paparazzi?
“Tonight, Judge Smith’s youth is
revealed. Stay tuned for pictures of
the teenage Smith drinking at wild
parties and posing for the camera
in ways that suggest that Smith was
drunk at the time. Interviews with
Smith prove that Smith was actually
quite sober, but just decided to act
like a fool for fun, mainly because the
other kids were doing it, too.”
Even if you delete your accounts
when you become “somebody,”
someone may have backups of those
pictures. Maybe one of your secret
enemies, a.k.a. your best friend, saved
all the horrid online pictures of you
and is waiting for the right time to sell
them to “Us Weekly” for millions of
dollars. It may be only hypothetical,
but it can also be possible.
Teenage years are difficult. Within
a tornado of peer pressure, hormones,
and identity crises, it’s hard to resist
the mainstream. But as Northside students, we must. We can’t afford not to
and we know better than to follow the
masses. Karl Marx said that “religion
is the opium of the people.” Personally, I think Facebook plays that role
in today’s society.
Page 8
Centerfold The Hoof Beat
Myspace vs. Facebook: Two
Capitol Hill takes on Myspace.com
Cost and benefit of legislative interference
by Muamera Hadzic
The House of Representatives has expressed growing concern for online safety. It comes
in the form of legislation aimed
at limiting the freedom of social
networking sites, primarily for
the youth. This includes measures from blocking access to
websites at certain locations to
making it increasingly difficult
to set up networking accounts.
The laws, although seemingly beneficial, come with their
share of problems. According
to large websites deemed ‘social
networking’ pages, like eBay.
com, ‘social networking’ spans
too broad of a category and has
become an umbrella term for
various types of websites. The
legislation seeking to secure
online usage has infringed upon
the rights of adults accessing
such websites since most set
general barriers and are not, in
practice, youth specific. Social
networking sites have therefore
deemed the legislation highly
impractical. In addition, the
legislative efforts have sparked
increased party controversy as
they have generally become a
Republican driven effort.
The “Suburban Caucus”
has been most notably active
with online security. Illinois
State Representative and Caucus
leader Mark Kirk defines the
Caucus in his May news release
as a Republican group of house
members that aim to gather and
voice the opinions of suburban
voters. The Caucus announced
in May legislation that they
hoped would stir increased
Republican support and thus
prevent the Democrats from
taking the House in the November elections. This legislation, House Resolution 5319, is
known as the Deleting Online
Predators Act (DOPA) and was
authored by Pennsylvania State
Representative Mike Fitzpatrick.
This act essentially extends
the regulations set out in the
Children’s Internet Protection
Act, passed in 2000, which
requires that federally funded
schools and libraries block access to inappropriate content by
minors. The DOPA, however,
is specifically targeted toward
social networking websites and
involves the Federal Trade Commission. According to the full
text from the Library of Congress, H.R. 5319 requires federally funded schools and libraries
to prevent access from social
networking sites, including chat
rooms, discussion boards, etc.
It also requires that the Federal
Trade commission launch a
website to issue alerts of dangers
on the internet, with emphasis
on online sexual predators gaining contact with minors through
social networking websites.
The above legislation highlights and addresses the issue
of simple usage of these social
networking websites, leaving out
several other aspects. Access at
designated locations is restricted
but children’s access to such
websites at primary locations,
like their homes, are ignored.
A second concern comes from
educators and librarians. State
Representative Bart Stupak
(D-MI) voices the concerns
of many teachers as he evaluates the affect above legislation would have on legitimate
educational websites utilized by
professionals and teachers. The
state of Michigan attempts to
correct these concerns by taking
steps to ensure that usage of
these sites is safe regardless of
location, and many states are
following suit.
According to Michigan’s
Governor’s August press release,
House Bill 6430 was introduced
to prevent sexual predators from
creating accounts on social
networking sites and provide
penalties for any detected
participation. Michigan’s law
enforcement officers, especially
parole officers, are being trained
on detecting and tracking registered sex offenders using social
networking sites. Along with
tracking the predators, Michigan
will be putting out a list of ‘top
ten’ predators both online as
well as through printed means.
California, Ohio, Florida, Texas
have taken similar steps.
Although the idea of such
legislation may leave some at
ease, the side effects of implementing the various restrictions
could be costly. Major social
networking sites have expressed
great concern for the implementation of this legislation and the
potential background checks
they would have to administer
for each participant. According
to the Internet Dating Executive
Alliance/Online Association
for Social Industry Standards
(IDEA OASIS), such legislation would put a dent in large
online businesses like eBay.com.
They claim that online social
networking is a broad term that
by definition encompasses all
websites that allow for some sort
of feedback or exchange. This
includes Amazon.com, eBay.
com as well as various other
sites that serve very different
purposes than Myspace.com
and the like. These websites
would, under such legislation,
have to implement regulatory
background checks, thereby
driving them out of business
as many people would not feel
comfortable providing necessary
information (i.e. Social Security numbers and credit card
numbers). This governmental
inference in businesses could be
extremely costly.
When the IDEA OASIS
announced its opposition to any
such legislation earlier this year
they addressed the idea of the
false security the government
would propose. They claim
that background checks are not
only impractical but unrealistic. When meeting in real life,
large corporations would not
be investing time and money
to run background checks on a
given person. Meeting online,
for whatever reason, is therefore safer, without any security
changes. They provide time for
people to speak to each other,
view their profiles and exchange
emails, video conversations and
utilize such tools.
The IDEA OASIS firmly
argues that forcing various
companies to run background
checks, especially since the reliability of many are not ensured,
is more dangerous than online
interaction itself. Background
checks would be performed by
designated websites capable of
such activity (i.e. businesses)
which would create an unfair
advantage. Since larger websites would be forced to run
background checks, these few
background checking businesses
would gather a disproportional
amount of money, driving these
bigger sites out of business.
Government imposed regulations would then serve to greatly
interfere in private businesses.
Protecting children from
predators, the main intention,
comes with larger side effects.
Not only are users limited from
potentially abusing minors,
but adult to adult relations are
infringed upon as well. Also,
according to the IDEA OASIS,
the point of these websites, to
introduce couples and friends is
diminished as requesting social
security and credit card numbers
for background checks discourages participation.
Deleting online predators
therefore becomes a tough
problem as general solutions are
impractical and not supported
by individual businesses. The
legislation noted above, primarily the DOPA, is in effect, even
in Chicago schools and libraries.
Opposition, however, continues,
amongst politicians and online
businesses, as the potential benefit of such regulations does not,
according to the IDEA OASIS,
outweigh the costs that have
been and will be incurred.
I [♥] Facebook and Myspace!
by Rachel Hautzinger
If one were to ask a random student at Northside
if he or she had a Myspace
and/or Facebook, the
answer would generally be
“yes.” These two networking websites have whipped
the teenage population of
America into a frenzy.
Facebook provides users
with various features
such as groups, photos,
pokes, friends, posts, etc.
Myspace is essentially the
same thing, but one can
“decorate” the page more
with backgrounds, music,
etc.
“Both Myspace and
Facebook are a good way
to keep in touch with
friends, so you don’t
have to worry about
calling people,” Katy
Ceisel, Adv. 909, said.
“You can just leave a post or
a comment. They also keep
you updated.”
The owners of Myspace
say that there are currently
50 to 60 million users on
their site. According to ABC
News investigation on the
matter, however, many of
those users do
not use the
site consistently, or even ever
again after making a profile.
Recently, due to negative
news coverage of Myspace’s
pri-
va-
cy issues and the emergence
of Facebook, its popularity
has largely declined.
“Facebook is a lot better
of a way to interact with
your friends than Myspace,”
Andrew Wrobel,
Adv. 802,
said. “You
get to join
cool groups
that make
absolutely no
sense.”
“I don’t
really like
Myspace,”
Jordan Garcia,
Adv. 800, said.
“With Facebook, it’s a
lot easier to
communicate,
and there’s
no html’s
involved.”
Facebook
has many similar networking
features to
Myspace, but
is based more on
school, and allows
students to see what classes
the student has with other
Facebook members and use
groups that gather people
based on shared interests.
Another favored feature,
‘Events,’ allows parties and
get-togethers to be organized
over the Internet.
“Facebook is a good way
to keep in contact with your
friends, especially for school
issues,” Ceisel said.
“I really like the Maroon
Madness group,” Jesse
Speth, Adv. 906, said. “Now
I don’t even have to pay
attention to my e-mail. You
can also get invitations,
which is nice.”
For some, because
Facebook is categorized
by “networks,” which tend
to be based on schools for
safety issues, users cannot
be friends with whomsoever
they choose.
“Myspace tends to
be better for connections
with people
from all over, because with
Facebook, you can’t see
people who don’t go to your
school,” Genevieve BeckRoe, Adv. 011, said.
Many find Facebook
and Myspace features both
positive and negative, but
still very enticing.
“They allow people
to interact who may not
(talk) on a normal basis,”
Benjamin Ortiz, Adv. 702,
said. “They also allow you
to paste slutty photos of
yourself on the Internet for
thousands of people and
show how popular you are
by how many friends you
have.”
For others, the mere
question of the popularity
of Myspace and Facebook is
a mystery.
“I don’t know why I like
Facebook,” Angel Simonetti, Adv. 802, said.
“Chicks dig it,” Elmor
Pineda, Adv. 803, said.
December 2006
Centerfold
Page 9
o doses of the same poison?
Facebook turning into Myspace
A growing obsession with blogs
by Farrukh Mukhtar
Myspace and Facebook are two
social networks connecting millions of
people across the United States and the
world. The two websites have grown
immensely over a small period
of time. Statistics show that in
November 2004, Myspace had only
2,874 unique users per month, and
Facebook had only 932 unique visitors
per month. In November 2005, Myspace
had 24,495 unique visitors per month,
a 752% increase from the last year, and
Facebook had 5,869 unique visitors per
month, a 530% increase according to
Neilson Net Ratings in 2005. The two
websites continue to grow and have estimated daily registration rates at 230,000
and 20,000 people per day, respectively.
The similarities between the two are
highly noticeable. Both websites create
a type of virtual hangout where people
can communicate with each other. On
both sites, people can view other users’
photos and comment on them. Every
user has their own profile page and other
users can become their friends. This
enables them to view the user’s photos
or write comments on their pages and
read their weblogs. This is a measure
that both sites implemented in order to
protect their users’ privacy and if users
choose, they can have their profile
viewable to only friends and also
block certain users.
Along with user profiles, photos, and
weblogs, the sites offer groups and have
a search system so that users can find
people from their community or their
school. Many students at Northside use
both Myspace and Facebook to stay connected with their friends.
Facebook has a majority of college
users, with over 7.5 million registered
in the United States. In early September
2005, Facebook integrated high school
students into the site by creating a separate version. During the first few weeks
of the high school version’s existence,
people could only join by an invitation but that soon changed because on
September 17th, 2005, the site no longer
required invitations for most schools. Because of various requests from Facebook
users, college students could add high
school students as friends, making the
two versions interact. The high school
version, however, still seems to be less
popular than the college version of
Facebook.
There are some differences between
the two sites. Myspace offers celebrity
profiles and allows users to communicate with the celebrities like with any
other user’s profile. Myspace also offers
a way to personalize users’ profile page
where they can change the background
image or background color as well as
add music to their page.
Facebook seems to be following in
the footsteps of Myspace because of
recent modifications, however. Facebook
added Facebook Notes to their system
on August 22,
“It’s unusual that Facebook is turning into Myspace,” says Facebook and
Myspace user
Michelle Perez, Adv. 806. “I don’t
like the fact that you can add videos.
First there was Xanga and then there
was Myspace. I don’t want Facebook
to turn into just another damn blogger
site. I think Facebook Notes are just like
Myspace bulletins, where users can post
things. People are opening too much to
strangers on the Internet through these
notes and I think it poses a threat to the
people’s privacy.”
Facebook Notes is a blogging
feature that allows users to import their
blogs from other blogging services and
allows users to create their own notes,
similar to blogs on Myspace. The only
thing that is left distinguishing the two
sites is the aspect of personalizing user
pages. These new changes take away
from the uniqueness of the site because
it is slowly turning into one of many
blogger sites like Xanga and Blogspot
because of the similarities. From the
way things are going on Facebook, it
seems that those differences will become
even narrower as time goes on.
I don’t want you to see that!
Privacy settings of MySpace and Facebook
by Patricia Radkowski
Almost every American
high school student is a
competent Internet user.
Many of those students
join Internet communities
that allow them to keep
in touch with their peers,
no matter where they go.
Two such popular networks
are MySpace and Facebook. On sites like these,
members can message
each other, share photos,
locate people who share
their interests, create notes
about their lives, and use
all sorts of other features to
keep their friends updated
about what is going on in
their lives. But with these
privileges come responsibilities and privacy issues.
For the most part, users
control who sees what, but
MySpace and Facebook
have different elements
that are subject to different
privacy controls.
MySpace allows users
to share photos, journals,
and interests with a network of mutual friends.
Users can disclose as much
or as little information
about themselves as they
wish. MySpace guarantees
that they keep personal
information confidential.
The only things that will be
posted on a user’s MySpace
are what the user chooses
to share.
The full privacy policy
of MySpace is twenty
paragraphs long, covering
everything that anyone
would need to know about
privacy. MySpace asserts
that users are in control of
what they share with others. User Profile information, like members' pictures
and first names, are shown
to all members so that
users can find each other
and interact in the social
networking community.
MySpace allows users to
search for other members
using first and last name,
email address, and schools
and/or companies where
users may have attended
or worked. Profile data,
such as personal interests,
gender, age, education and
occupation, can be hidden
from others.
“I feel pretty safe,”
My-Phuong Ly, Adv. 702,
said, “as long as you don’t
put up stupid pictures. I
don’t put my address up or
my phone number. That’s a
norm.”
The information
that MySpace gathers by
default, such as name,
e-mail address, and age, is
used “to authenticate users
and to send notifications
to those users relating to
the MySpace.com service,” according to their
website, MySpace.com.
Non-personally-identifiable information of both
MySpace users and visitors,
such as “IP addresses, profile information, aggregate
user data, and browser
type,” is also logged by
MySpace. Such data is used
to manage and improve the
website, and to track usage. User IP addresses are
recorded for security and
monitoring purposes.
Information given to
MySpace is sometimes
shared with third-parties,
mainly as required by
law, and to provide more
relevant services and advertisements to its members.
Email addresses are used
to invite new friends to join
MySpace, to add users to
friends’ networks, and to
send notifications related
to the service. “With the
exception of inviting
friends, adding friends,
and notifications, a user’s
email address is not shared
or displayed to people
within a user’s personal
network. Users within a
personal network communicate on MySpace.com
with each other through
the MySpace.com service,
without disclosing their
email addresses. Users’ full
names are never directly revealed to other members.”
MySpace “may also
use a user’s email address
to send updates, a newsletter or news regarding the
service. Users may choose
not to receive email of
this type by changing their
‘notification’ setting to ‘Do
not send me notification
emails’ in the user ‘Account
Settings.’”
Although MySpace has
been around for longer, lots
of teens flock to Facebook,
another social network
that connects users with
the people around them.
Like MySpace, Facebook
consists of many separate
networks, such as schools,
companies, and regions.
By creating profiles, users
share information with people they know, get updated
on the lives of their friends,
get back in touch with
old friends, and meet new
people. Users find friends
who also have Facebook
accounts by searching different networks or searching all of Facebook for a
specific name. Users can
post messages, and create
photo albums with captions
and tags to photographed
people, allowing other
users to post comments.
All of these features can
be hidden from whomever
the user wishes. Facebook
has very detailed privacy
setting that enable users to
control exactly what each
friend sees.
“With Facebook, you
have to approve people,”
Elisabeth Graham, Adv.
704, said. “That makes me
feel safe.”
The addition of the
“News Feed” feature to
Facebook has raised moans
of protest from users.
The feed brings users to a
homepage right after they
sign into their accounts.
On this page, Facebook
displays all recent activity
of other member friends if
they choose to have their
activities displayed. The
page shows who added
new photos, who posted
comments where, whose relationship status went from
“dating” to “single,” and
other such updates. Forming multiple groups against
the feed, users united to
get Facebook to eliminate
this “tracking device.”
Facebook responded by
providing more security settings for the feeds instead
of entirely eliminating the
new feature.
Most users feel secure
on Internet communities
like MySpace and Facebook. As long as users do
not commit crimes that
require these Internet network to provide evidence
for authorities, MySpace
and Facebook seem to
adhere to their privacy
policies.
Page 10 Features
The Hoof Beat
Round and round it goes
Auditions for the spring musical, “Carousel”
suggestions about what additional
aspects should be observed during
This year’s spring musithe auditions.
cal will be Rodgers and
“From the way I saw it, everyHammerstein’s “Carousel,”
thing was very well put together,”
which illustrates how love
Isaac Sherman, Adv. 909, said.
takes many turns, sometimes
“The only thing I would say is
for the worst. The vocal audithat I wish there was an acting
tions for the musical were
audition.”
th
th
held on October 24 , 25 , and
The fact that some students
th
26 in the choral room, while
were unfamiliar with the synopthe dance auditions were held
sis of the musical did not hinder
on Friday, October 26th in the
them from auditioning and trying
auditorium. A professional
their best.
dance teacher, Daniel Ruiz,
“I have never seen this play
will be the choreographer
before, but I have heard that it was
for the musical. Ruiz joined
a good play,” Jaffe said. “Whether
students for the dance audior not I am going to be in it, I’m
tions. Students were required
looking forward to it.”
to attend both the dance and
Although the audition process
vocal auditions in order to
may not have satisfied everyone’s
achieve the maximum talent
expectations, it ran smoothly
exposure, and partially to try
overall and callbacks excited
something new.
many performers.
“The most important
“I really don’t know what to
thing is that everyone tried,
expect from the musical, but I’m
and a lot of students tried
very excited and I hope I get in,”
something out of the box,”
Sherman said.
Ms. Nythia Rivera, choral
“I see immense potential for
teacher, said.
a show filled with talented, enThough this was the main
thusiastic and energetic students,”
point in having everyone tryMs. Rivera said. “I am grateful
out for both auditions, some
that I have a pool of talented
students thought this may not
students that I can choose from,
have been the most efficient
and it makes the process difficult
method.
because there are so many.”
“I thought it may have
Many students want to
Ms. Nythia Rivera guides Theresa Banaszkiewicz, Adv. 700, through the vocal auditions for the musical,
been off target to make every- “Carousel.”
audition and perform in school
one try out for both dance and Photo by Vasiliki Mitrakos
musicals because of the opporvocal parts,” Harold Jaffe, Adv.
tunities that come with such a
no ballet experience, but it was fun and I hope Adv. 811, said.
802, said.
commitment.
we all did well.”
Despite the level of difficulty, after getting
Students had varying views on the vocal
“[I audition] because I live off the spot
Some students experienced difficulties
a taste of what the choreography will be like
auditions and the dancing auditions, which
light,” Sherman said.
during the dance auditions and enjoyed the
in the musical, many students maintained a
were new this year.
About 70 students auditioned for about
vocal auditions instead.
positive view on the musical as a whole.
“The singing auditions are normal and
30 to 40 roles, many of which require
“The singing tryouts were fun, but the
“The dances were definitely different but
Ms. Rivera is really nice about it, so it’s pretty
dance skills.
dance tryouts were kind of frustrating because they were also fun, so I’m looking forward to
easy,” Annie Mitran, Adv. 909, said. “The
“It is going to be an inevitably fantastic
I did not know what I was doing and it was
the musical,” Emilie Franka, Adv. 903, said.
dancing was different from what I expected
production,” Ms. Rivera said.
hard to see dance instructions,” Ona Wang,
Some students had different thoughts and
it to be, and it was really hard for people with
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
Northside’s AP Government students become
Supreme Court attorneys
The American Constitutional Law Program
by Aliy Markowski
For the fifth year in a row,
Northside’s AP U.S. Government
and Politics classes, clad in business attire, traveled downtown on
November 15 to the law offices of
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw to
launch the American Constitutional
Law Program. In the four-month
program, students join with lawyers
from Mayer Brown and other firms
to tackle two cases that are being heard this session by the U.S.
Supreme Court. Students act as
attorneys representing one side of
each case. With the guidance of
their partner attorneys, students
read precedent cases and write
briefs, compose an appellate brief
formally presenting their arguments
to the court, and stand before three
grilling justices in a downtown
courtroom for oral arguments.
“Students learn by doing in the
con law program,” said Mr. Devine,
Northside’s AP U.S. Government
teacher who runs the program
each year. “They learn about the
Supreme Court and the structure
of the judiciary, essentially learning
the content of a rigorous AP course
through a very hands-on method.”
Devine says students learn to
read very complex material, write
persuasively, and make verbal arguments.
“Most importantly, students
are enhancing time-honored skills,”
Devine said. “These three skill sets
are crucially important at the collegiate level and beyond.”
This year every student will be
assigned to either Parents Involved in
Community Schools (PICS) v. Seattle
Public Schools or Scott v. Harris. PICS
presents the question of what
degree race can be used as a deter-
mining factor in entrance to high
schools. Ana Haggerty, Adv. 708,
says she looks forward to working
on the case because of the real impact it may have on Northside and
other schools across the country.
“The verdict will certainly have
ramifications beyond the Seattle
district,” Haggerty said. “Achiev-
determine entrance to academic
institutions from elementary to postcollegiate levels.
“A case like PICS could help
re-define how schools use race in
admissions and boundaries,” Devine
said. “Students, like the attorneys
before the Supreme Court, will argue
whether or not the government has
interesting to see how this case plays
out and the consequences it has on
schools across the country.”
Scott v. Harris is a case at the
other end of the spectrum. The case
involved deadly police force during a high speed car chase. Harris
was left paralyzed after his car was
knocked off the road by Officer
Harris.
The case
begs the
question
of whether
a law enforcement
officer’s
conduct
is “objectively reasonable”
when
making
a splitsecond
decision to
use potentially-fatal
force to
terminate
a high
speed
chase once
the driver
has indicated that
Andrew Foertsch-Jans, Adv. 707, works on his project for his A.P. Government class in the he has no
library.
intention of
Photo by Liz Born
otherwise
stopping his
ing racial diversity is definitely a
a compelling interest in balancing
reckless driving.
goal of many schools systems, CPS
schools racially.”
“This case is really exciting,”
included. At schools like Northside,
“Of course everyone says racial
I think the dynamic would change
diversity is a worthy goal,” Haggerty Devine said. “The scenario is
significantly if racial consideration
said. “But when it comes down to it, like something you would see on
was pulled entirely from the admisI don’t think any individual wants to ‘COPS,’ but it’s a very real and imsions process.”
potentially sacrifice their “spot” for portant question to be answered.”
Students will meet with attorDevine says this case may
a lesser qualified candidate. It will be
neys a minimum of three times before the oral arguments in February:
once after reading the precedent
cases, again midway through the appellate brief, and finally to prepare
for oral arguments. Most groups
meet at least one or two more times
beyond this requirement, and every
group stays in correspondence with
their lawyers regularly via e-mail,
Devine says.
Trevor Woodland, Adv. 709,
says he looks forward to being able
to work with successful attorneys in
the field of law. Woodland is paired
with Tom Panoff and James Gignac, associates at Mayer Brown.
“They’re both pretty excited
about the case we’re running,”
Woodland said. “I want to go to law
school and become a litigator, so it
is pretty cool to be able to prepare
for that kind of thing already with
real professionals who definitely
know what they’re doing.”
When the program began five
years ago, the attorneys involved
came entirely from Mayer Brown.
In the past couple of years, the
program has expanded to use
Northside parents from other firms.
This year, half of the lawyers work
outside of Mayer, Brown, Rowe &
Maw.
“We’ve been tapping into the
NCP parent pool,” Devine said.
“It’s a decidedly important way
parents can help the school by getting involved in a very interactive
program.”
Students will carefully craft
their arguments both in and outside
of class over the next few months.
Shortly after winter break, they
will finish their appellate briefs and
begin to prepare for the oral arguments in mid-February.
December 2006
Features
Page 11
Get the score
ACT and SAT preparation
by Ashraf Abbas
Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m., in an
Northside for both the ACT and the
As summer comes to an end,
effort to fit Northside’s schedule.
SAT. Individually, the courses cost
many high school juniors and seThe PSAE prep course starts on
$599.00, which includes the 20%
niors across the nation look towards Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at
discount available to every Northtwo of the most grueling tests of
12:30 p.m. and leads up to the April side student. The ACT prep sestheir high school career. The ACT,
25th tests date. Like the SAT prep
sions start on Thursday, January 18,
the American College Test, and the
course, the PSAE course meets on
2007 at 3:15 p.m. and continue on
SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test,
Mondays at 3:30 p.m. and Wednesfor every Thursday until the April
achievement and aptitude tests redays at 12:30 p.m. to fit Northside’s
test date. This course covers all secspectively, are of utmost concern to
schedule. Students are encouraged
tions of the ACT in full depth and
those applying to college. It is true
to visit Test Watch/Test Prep’s
offers four practice exams as well
that the more competitive the colwebsite, www.twtp.com, for more
as a full set of study materials. The
lege, the higher the base score neces- information.
SAT prep sessions start on Tuesday,
sary to be considered a competitive
Kaplan, a premier test prep
January 30, 2007 at 3:15 p.m. and
candidate. Knowing this, Northside
company, offers prep courses at
go on meeting every Tuesday until
continues to offer its
students many opportunities by which to
prepare for both exams,
some more appealing to
students than others.
Northside offers
prep courses by Test
Watch/Test Prep,
Kaplan, and CPS. Most
students find these prep
courses very effective
because they help to
make time to study.
“The CPS prep
course let me take off a
couple of hours a week
to study that I probably
wouldn’t have taken
otherwise,” Syeda Asad,
Adv. 710, said.
Test Watch/Test
Prep, in cooperation
with Northside, offers
prep courses for the
ACT, the SAT, and the
PSAE. The prep courses
cost $149.00 each. The
ACT Prep course starts
on Tuesday May 1, 2007
at 3:30 p.m. and meets
every Tuesday and
Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
until the June 9th test
date. The SAT course
starts on Monday,
March 12, 2007 at 3:30
p.m. and leads up to
the May 5th test date.
The SAT course meets on Malikat Rufai, Adv. 705, speaks to Ms. Erin Kato about the upcoming ACT test.
Mondays at 3:30 p.m. and Photo by Ashraf Abbas
the March test date. Both courses
make good on their hefty costs by
covering each section of the SAT
fully and offering practice exams
and study materials. Many students
usually look away from Kaplan
because of its cost and opt to either
Test Watch/Test Prep or the least
expensive CPS test prep course.
Along with this, CPS offers its
own ACT Prep Course. The classes
cost a small fee of $25 and meet
every Tuesday from February 27,
2006 to April 17, 2006. The class
size, however, is limited to sixty
Got a problem? Take it to the debate room
Speech & Debate competitions
by Nadir Rashid
When it comes to tackling political
topics, Northside’s Speech and Debate class
has moved to the top of the heap in competition. The class prepares for tournaments in
an orderly manner with the assistance of their
teacher, Mr. Robert Berry.
Speech and debate is an elective
intended to help students build their public
speaking skills, research skills, and to prepare
them for debate competitions.
‘Policy debate’ is stressed above other
forms of debate. This form of debate involves
two-pair teams that argue about U.S government policies. Students argue over the
plausibility of various plans being used as a
resolution. Opposite sides, either affirmative
or negative, have to defend the resolution they
are assigned.
It is Mr. Berry’s role to choose the types
of speeches that students use, to familiarize students with the speechwriting process,
and to teach them the necessary skills for
debating. He walks them through the policy
debates and provides information about
their topics. The students are then allowed
to debate each other by using their own constructed arguments.
“Policy and debate is very fluid, and
even the rules of the game can be argued,”
Berry said. “As a result, rather than turn my
students into robots who can only respond
to specific situations, I want to teach them
theory and format, so they can respond effectively to anything the opponents may throw
at them.”
Northside’s Debate Team swept all of the
top four spots in the team competition at
Tournament One in early October. Another
tournament took place on November 3rd and
4th at Hancock High School. In the team
competition, Elizabeth Granato, Adv. 706,
and Trevor Woodland, Adv. 706, won 1st
place, followed by Jennifer Friedmann, Adv.
904, and Zlatana Alibegovic, Adv. 909, in
2nd place. Muamera Hadzic, Adv. 702, and
Patrycja Mazur, Adv. 701, finished 3rd, while
Ryan Jansen, Adv. 707, and Tanny Huynh,
Adv. 708, took 8th place.
Several speakers received individual
awards. Trevor Woodland was ranked as the
top individual speaker. Elizabeth Granato
was 3rd, Muamera Hadzic 4th, and Zlatana
Alibegovic 5th.
The topic of debate this year was about
the U.S government increasing the number
of volunteers in a political program. The
affirmative side made a plan that would help
accomplish the resolution, while the negative
side worked to show that the affirmative
side’s plan is no better than what is being
done now.
After the immediate success of Northside’s Debate Team in competition this year,
Berry is already thinking about how the
program may expand next year.
“There are several ideas being kicked
around for next year in terms of requirements for participation, but there will be a
colloquium during the spring semester for
those interested in finding out what policy
debate is about,” Berry said.
Northside will participate in the next
debate competition on December 8th and 9th.
students maximum. Juniors are
encouraged to sign up early during
the week of January 15, 2007 in the
counseling office. If there is space
available, sophomores will be allowed to sign up during the week of
January 22, 2007. Unlike other prep
courses, this CPS prep course will
return the $25 fee for those students
that attend all sessions.
“The math sessions were helpful
because it was not IMP. The English
sessions weren’t as helpful though,”
Chynna Moerlien, Adv. 702, said.
“I guess it would be good overall for
[anyone] looking to study.”
Of course, if the aforementioned opportunities are simply
too expensive, students have the
option of studying on their own
or with friends. Many have found
this very effective, especially
because they can have their own
times of study to fit their schedule.
Better yet, this provides a time for
each individual student to find
a skill that he/she is lacking in
and work consistently to better
it—something that most prep
courses do not offer.
“I did all of my studying on
my own or with small groups of
people,” Michael Florian, Adv.
708, said. “I’ve also found that the
Princeton Review books are by
far the best study guides for ACT,
SAT, and AP exams.”
As far as tips go, it is always best to try as hard as possible
to get a full night’s sleep—with
at least eight full hours being the
goal. A good breakfast is helpful
because it gets the brain working
and the body metabolizing before
the test even starts. Many students
have also found it very helpful to
quickly review all of the terms and
formulas, especially those relating
to the Math and English portions,
the night before either exam. Of
course, this method does not work
for everyone, and it would be best
for each student to develop his or
her own study schedule and then
stick to it.
Page 12 Editorial
The Hoof Beat
The Hoof Beat Student Newspaper
The wrong kind of student control:
Student-designed course schedules are a step in the
wrong direction
This year the administration is placing
Northsiders in the driver’s seat, giving students the ability to choose not only which
classes they will take next year, but also
during which blocks they will take them.
The idea of giving students greater control
over their educational experience by allowing them to design their own schedules may
be desirable in theory, but in practice it is
not only likely to become too complicated
for students in a first come first served time
crunch, but it will also create social incentives that may steer students away from
educational priorities and change the social
atmosphere at Northside.
Although students will be separated by
class when selecting courses—rising seniors
first, followed by juniors and then sophomores – amongst each year the students
who are able to race through the process
the fastest may be the ones who end up in
the courses they really want. The administration says students will be encouraged to
map out their first, second, third, and even
fourth choice schedules weeks in advance to
prepare for the possibility that classes may
be filled. Yet the problem is that there will
be no way of knowing beforehand which
variables in the schedule a student will have
to change. Whether it is a certain block of
IMP 4 or British Literature that fills will
make a big difference, because from each
of those changes will extend a long path of
other potential conflicts and filled classes.
It will be impossible to predict in advance
which classes will fill and it will therefore
be unfeasible for students to craft every possible schedule ahead of time without knowing what obstacles they will encounter. As a
result, students will be left in a time crunch
as classes fill up, making hasty decisions to
choose new courses to fit their schedules.
Beyond the potentially flawed logistics
of the new process, the administration
may be giving too much credit to students
by saying that allowing students to choose
classes with their friends will not be problematic. Not only will a large proportion of
students most likely be less productive in
the classroom, but the desire to be in classes
with friends may influence students to take
classes they are less interested in. It is far too
idealistic to believe that these social incentives would not factor into a student’s course
decision, and at the high school level that
social interference should not play a role
in a student’s education. There is a reason
students are given less control in high school
than in college; a 15 year-old is much more
likely to choose ‘Lifetime Activities’ just
because his friends are in it than a 19 year-old
pursuing an undergraduate degree.
Apart from students potentially changing course selections, letting students choose
to be with their friends in every course will
change the social atmosphere at Northside.
The process will encourage students to
primarily remain friends only with those
students they met freshman year. A part of
Northside and any other high school’s experience is meeting new students throughout
the four years and building friendships when
thrown into settings with brand new people.
It would be unfortunate to see a cliquedominated Northside with students attached
closely to groups from freshman year without
encouragement to branch out to the rest of
the student population.
This year will serve as a trial-run for the
new course selection process, and to best
serve students academically while preserving
the social atmosphere of Northside, it may be
wise for the school to leave it at that.
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
[email protected].
Homosexuals in the army
Evaluating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy
by Muhammad Akhtar
The United States has one of the largest openly homosexual populations in the
world. Unfortunately, it also has a remarkably
high proportion of homophobic legislatures
(Representative Mark Foley being the clear
exception here). Therefore, it is easy to understand why countless new anti-gay measures
have been introduced in Congress over recent
years. However, one seemingly pro-homosexual policy has managed to remain intact, even
in the midst of this conservative presidency.
This is the little known “don’t ask, don’t tell”
rule, which governs the role of sexual orientation in the military.
Implemented by President Bill Clinton in
1993, “don’t ask, don’t tell” (officially known
as Pub.L. 103-160) prohibits homosexuals
from disclosing their sexual orientation in the
army, and military officials from questioning
others about their sexual preferences. At the
same time, the act bars homosexual practices
on military premises. Those who fail to comply by these terms risk immediate expulsion
from the army.
At a cursory glance, “don’t ask, don’t tell”
may seem like step back in the fight for civil
rights. In fact, many gay groups have actively
opposed this policy, claiming it a sick infringement on basic human liberties. However, if
this policy is evaluated further through an
historical lens, these statements could not be
further from the truth.
Like African Americans and Indians in
other times and places, gays have been the
victim of public disapproval for many years,
particularly in the military sector. Discrimination against gays in the army dates as far back
as the American Revolutionary War. These
beliefs intensified during WWII, resulting
in the adoption of a policy that allowed for
homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals
to be pre-screened out of the armed forces.
These measures stayed unchecked until the
1980s, when they were openly challenged by
many democratic presidential candidates.
Still, it was not until the Clinton presidency
that concrete actions were taken to reform
these regulations. Clinton wished to completely eliminate the barriers that prevented
homosexuals from joining the army. Instead,
a compromise was reached, resulting in the
implementation of the “don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy. After centuries of ruthless discrimination, this was nothing short of a triumph in
the field of gay rights.
Recently, however, there has been an antigay trend in American politics. With pressing
issues like gay marriage being challenged,
it is a surprise this policy has remained
untouched. Perhaps this is due to the fact that
right now the United States Army is in dire
need of any and all who are willing to serve.
Even so, something still seems very wrong
with this picture. For example, the United
States is currently facing an economic deficit.
Coupled with this crisis is the aforementioned lack of manpower in the American
armed forces (in fact, it is predicted that if
North Korea were to invade South Korea, the
United States would scarcely have enough
troops to defend their long-time allies). Allowing homosexuals to openly join the army
would work towards eradicating both of these
problems.
The Human Rights Campaign reports
that, “[The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy] has
resulted in a substantial increase in the number of discharges based on sexual orientation
as well as high costs related to the discharges.
According to the Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network, more than 9,000 service
members have been discharged… at a cost
of more than a quarter billion dollars to U.S.
taxpayers.” Clearly, eliminating this policy
would give the United States economy a
much needed boost.
At the same time, the number of
soldiers in the army may increase substantially if homosexuals were openly allowed
to join. Ironically, most of the nation
approves of lifting this ban.
A Pew Research Center poll conducted in March of this year showed that 60
percent of Americans favor allowing gays
and lesbians to serve openly in the military,
while only 32 percent opposed. A poll at
Northside indicated that an overwhelming
86 percent of students support lifting the ban
on open homosexual service in the army. If
the nation is largely against the “don’t ask,
don’t tell” policy and it is highlyficient and
costly, why do politicians continue
to uphold it? First, it would
be sheer political suicide
for the Republican
Party to make any
pro-homosexual
moves right now. A
large percentage
of the Republican
constituency is
staunchly opposed to any
advancement
in gay rights; in
addition, with
their current
bad press, the
Republicans
cannot afford
to lose any
more votes.
Secondly,
the political
norm nowadays seems to
avoid issues like
homosexuality and focus on
more
“imporant” topics, like installing milelong fences between the United States and
Mexico. If the democrats, however, adopt a
bolder political agenda, they could
easily drop this policy for the
greater good of the nation.
Perhaps this problem is not
a political one, but rather
more rooted in the social
fabric of our nation. Despite
what the polls indicate,
maybe this country is not
yet ready to accept that
all men and women are
created equal. In that case,
I would give this policy
five more years; at that
point, perhaps the natural
progression of the human
race will change the
anti-homosexual opinions of today. Perhaps
one day we will realize
that discrimination based
on sexual orientation is
like dicrimination based on
color: inherently flawed in
its logic.
December 2006
Editorial
Page 13
Mark My Words
What if I’m not the one posting?
by Aliy Markowski
The explosion of social networking
websites like Myspace and Facebook brings
to light the implications of posting personal
information on a public domain for the world
to see. Stories of high schools and colleges
taking disciplinary action against students for
content posted on these websites and colleges
and employers using these sites in recruitment
and admissions have flooded the media in the
last year. Students beg the question of whether colleges really do look at your Facebook or
Myspace and if it is even legal for these agencies to use this information against you.
These questions have simple answers. Yes,
it is legal for educational institutions and recruitment agencies to look at these online social networks and yes, the news stories of students punished for internet content indicate
that at least some institutions and employers
are looking at these sites. By posting pictures
and information online, you are providing
consent for the information to enter a domain
open to public access. A school can hold you
as accountable for this information as they
could if you were painting the information on
a billboard along the expressway. You have
your First Amendment right of freedom of
speech, but just as you could be disciplined
for making an announcement violating school
rules in the student parking lot, you can be
held responsible for what you choose to publicly display online. You waive your right to
privacy when posting information on a public
domain. Therefore, the question of whether
you are liable for the information you post on
Facebook and Myspace is the wrong question
to be asking.
A better question is what happens if you
are not the one choosing to post the potentially incriminating or unfavorable content? Is it
still legitimate for this information, unauthorized without your consent, to be used against
you? The answer to this question is not black
and white. On Facebook, Mypsace, and most
other social networking sites, users are able
and encouraged to upload photos of both
themselves and others without formal consent
of other people pictured in the photos. The
words, “I certify that I have the
right to distribute these photos and that
they are not pornography” lie above the photo
uploading page on Facebook, yet users are
not even required to check a box indicating
that they agree to this condition. The vast
majority of Facebook and Myspace users are
not obtaining consent before posting their
photos. With the tagging mechanism used on
Facebook, even a person without a Facebook
of their own, who may not even have access
to the photo and may be completely unaware
that it has been posted online, could be identified by name in a picture. What happens
when recruiters happen to stumble upon these
images that you never even knew existed?
If you do have a Facebook, you certainly
have the option of untagging your photos so
the pictures are not linked directly to your
name. Yet I have a sneaking suspicion that
when a school or employer cracks down
on Facebook content, if you can be easily
identified in incriminating photos you are
just as likely to be disciplined or rejected as
your friend with the white tag box around his
head. Therefore, this question, too, may have
an easy answer. If employers are looking to
evaluate your character and are making the
effort to search these sites, they are unlikely
to dismiss information they find just because
it was posted by a different user. Similarly for
high schools, if there is evidence that you’re
are violating school policy, the source of this
evidence is most likely of minimal concern to
school officials.
Yet even if it is very possible for one to
be potentially indicted for the content posted
by others, it seems unethical on the part of
schools and employers to use this information. You do not waive your privacy rights by
simply being photographed, especially when
a picture is taken without your knowledge,
which is frequently the case in candid Facebook photos. Therefore, you should not be
held accountable for someone else’s exposure
of your personal life on a public domain. In
all other media outlets – newspapers, movies, and television – your written consent
is required for your identifiable face to be
shown. The internet falls short in this aspect
of privacy control, since it would be impos-
sible to regulate each and every photo posted
online and verify that approval for every
picture and piece of personal information has
been obtained.
Therefore, without the same privacy
regulations as other branches of the media, perhaps schools and employers should
consider that the information posted on the
Internet should not be free game like pictures on the news or that billboard along the
highway. Those public outlets of information
require consent, Facebook and Myspace do
not. Maybe the answer is to impose a system
of regulating consent on these social networking sites, requiring approval from every party
before a picture can be posted online, yet this
solution seems unlikely to happen in the near
future if at all. Instead, photos will continue
to be posted without authorization until
U.S. courts establishes precedents or Congress passes legislation regulating the use of
Internet content. Until then, beware of being
photographed because what your friend posts
may come back to haunt you.
Fruitcake: a necessary evil Bad cake baddest cake?
by Liz Born
During the winter holidays, we take time
out of our busy schedules to be with friends
and family, reflect on the events of the past
year, and relax a little bit before we are
brutally thrown into the tumult of the new
year. During this time of rest, we let ourselves
slow down enough to enjoy the simple things.
We savor the smell of freshly cut pine or the
clean, snowy light that pours into one’s room
upon waking late in the morning. And then
there is grandma’s fruitcake. She sends it in a
brown paper package before Christmas, and
it sits in the kitchen, waiting, until early January, when some brave soul disposes of it.
Though we may despise its crude texture
and garish flavors, the fruitcake is an
integral part of the Christmas season. It,
in itself, is an enigma: good things go
in—nuts, fruit, spices, and sugar—but
what comes out of the oven is a brick of
pastry that is rarely edible. The product is
far worse than the sum of its parts. Perhaps
someone will hack a slice off the end and take
a few bites, or attempt to soften the snack by
microwaving it for ten seconds. If grandma
herself comes over, one might be obligated to
try it, before spitting the wretched mouthful
into a napkin. Families come together and
bond over a common enemy—fruitcake.
Those who enjoy fruitcake are few. For the
rest of us, it is a necessary evil that we must
face.
But herein lays the beauty of the fruitcake.
In its predictability, we, as humans, find
comfort. Our society, built on routine, tradition, and reliability, revels in the fruitcake.
We anticipate its cold, foil-wrapped form in
the cupboard, or on the counter by the sink.
It watches us as we make our morning coffee,
waiting quietly as family members filter in
and out of the kitchen. Every year we put
up a tree. We eat candy canes or gingerbread
cookies. Christmas colors are red and green.
And they will be for years and years to come.
The holidays are not spontaneous. They are a
cherished part of our culture not because of
the gifts or the food or the family. They are
cherished because of the build-up. The anticipation. The fact that one knows exactly what
will happen allows one to eagerly anticipate
the event. And so, when that brown paper
package comes in the mail, one knows that
they are home. The same fruitcake we all love
to hate is also the cause of that warm, fuzzy
sentiment that envelops us sometime between
Thanksgiving and Winter Break.
United as we are in our disdain for fruitcake, it has remained a classic. While other
holiday sweets come and go, the fruitcake has
proved, time and again, that it is the rock to
which all other holiday sweet-breads cling.
by Damon Beres
Let’s take a closer look at what goes into
As the holidays roll around, so shall the
these demonic pastries. I went to the Food
inevitable surge of fruit cakes. Why do people
Network’s official website and looked up a
insist upon giving these atrocities year after year? recipe for Sue’s Fruit Cake. I trust Sue; she’s
Perhaps they hate all of their friends and family a good gal and loves her children very much.
members and think, “Hey, I’ll give them the gift But she wants me to put three ounces of
of a heaping pile of baked turd!” No one loves a orange and lemon peel in a cake? Everyone
fruit cake, after all.
knows that peels are the one part of the fruit
That, faithful readers, is what is so disturbing that can kill you. Beyond that, they taste like
about the fruit cake phenomenon. No one likes
dirt and are far bitterer to boot. Cake is supfruit cake. No one. People that do like fruit cakes posed to be sweet. Fruit cake is tart. Someare fruit cakes, such that their adoration is some thing is clearly wrong with this equation.
sort of twisted, cakey incest. How do businesses
She also insists upon four tablespoons of
like Claxton Fruit Cake stay in business year
brandy.
after year? Obese people have better things to eat
Slow down there, Sue, we’ll be at the AA
instead of fruit cake, like lard-encased, chocolate- meeting soon enough. Oh, and we mustn’t
dipped turducken. Skinny health freaks have
forget the pound of currants and eight ounces
better things to not eat, like oxygen enriched of sultanas. I don’t know what those are,
celery.
and truthfully, I don’t want to; they don’t
sound American, and the holidays are about
America.
I also find that “cake” is a bit of a misnomer in this case. Fruit cake is really more
like fruit bread, since it sort of comes in a
loaf and people cut it into rectangular slices.
Now, banana bread is awesome. Pumpkin
bread is awesome. But when there’s a loaf of
bread that contains every last fruit under the
sun, not to mention currants and sultanas,
it’s just a bit too much.
This holiday season, be kind and refrain
from buying even your most hated of enemies
a fruit cake. They’re so terrible that even the
homeless man sifting through the garbage on
a cold Christmas morn will turn up his nose
in favor of good old fashioned pigeon wafers.
If you’re really at odds for a terrible gift to
purchase for the little jerk in your life, why
not buy some small pox or a g ant rod of plutonium? It’s far more thoughtful that way, and
the death will still be slow and agonizing.
Happy holidays!
Page 14 Editorial
The Hoof Beat
Beresoufflé
Should we get paid to go to school?
by Damon Beres
It’s a fair question. We’re full-time
workers: our hours are 7:55 in the morning ‘till 3:15 in the afternoon (4:50 for
those of us in Journalism), and that’s
not even factoring in our “overtime”
hours spent doing homework. And we
pay for this privilege?
But perhaps it’s not a question of
whether “we” as Northside students
should get paid, but rather, “we” as
subjects to the Chicago Public Schools
system. Every year, we’re assaulted
by the “Just Go!” campaign because
apparently citywide attendance is in
dire condition. I’m sure many students,
especially those in bad neighborhoods,
simply don’t see theincentive in “just
going,” when they could be pulling in
some much needed money instead.
Where’s this money coming from?
High school students have only a couple
sources for potential income: entry-level,
cheap labor type jobs, and drug dealing.
Don’t be so quick to scoff at this simply
because Northside is so far removed.
Even elementary school children are
subject to the allure of gang work, and
little kids have been caught delivering
narcotics by bicycle on the city’s south
side. It happens, particularly when 86%
of all CPS students come from low-income families, as reported by the CPS
website.
Surely students who feel that they
don’t even have a shot at college are
going to feel that high school is a waste
of time, and for good reason. If they’re
living in the projects in a single-parent
household that’s on welfare, a steady
paycheck is going to be more appealing
than a trigonometry textbook. Where
is their incentive to “just go” to school?
Education and the American dream?
Welcome to the 21st century; most kids
don’t see things that way.
So, the Chicago Public Schools
system must provide different incentives for students. Those baseball hats
we get once a year are nice, but I’m
thinking it’ll take something more to
make students care about school. Find
some way to get kids some money as
a result of them going to school, and
I promise you that drop-out rates will
fall and graduation rates will rise,
which means that more and more
students will leave the CPS system
with high school diplomas, which
will aid them long term.
But can CPS afford to essentially
pay all of its 106,000 high school
students what is effectively a salary? Obviously not; many schools
can barely afford books, and CPS’
budget peril is notorious. The simple
solution, then, is not for students
to get paid by CPS directly, but for
the government to offer benefits or
kickbacks
to employers that hire
Chicago Public Schools students.
Students would then have incentive
to stay in school until graduation,
especially if they were making
more money than they would be
from peddling drugs.
Chuck E. Cheese was on the
right track when they offered
bonuses for kids who brought in
good report cards. It’s time for the
Chicago Public Schools system to
learn from them.
Aliy’s Sudoku
Muamera’s Crossword
by Aliy Markowski
Social Networking:
Facebook & MySpace
by Muamera Hadzic
Fill in the above grid so that every
column, row and 3 x 3 box contain the
digits one through nine.
DOWN
ACCROSS
2. On Facebook.com, you can write on ________.
7. ________ back!
9. On Facebook.com, you are part of a ________.
13. Party most active with legislation
14. On Myspace.com you can post a ________.
16. Photo feature MySpace.com does not offer
1. OASIS advocating for networking sites
3. Maximum number of images on MySpace.com
4. ________ Caucus introduced new legislation
5. Limit of images on Facebook.com
6. Social networking is this type of term
8. All updates can be found on the ________ feed.
10. Next to each post is a picture of the user’s ________.
11. ________ Online Predators Act
12. Legislation intends to
protect ________.
15. IL Rep. and Caucus leader
16. Everyone’s MySpace.com friend
December 2006
A sensational head start
Page 15
Men’s Bowling poses
a triple theat
Women’s basketball season begins
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
As the winter dawned,
preparation for the women’s
basketball season began.
Tryouts for women’s basketball
took place in November, and
the teams began competing
early. Joining the team has
many advantages, not only
physical but social as well. With
over a dozen girls on the team,
it is hard not to connect with
teammates while focusing on
the game.
“I feel that through all the
practices, we have bonded as a
team. We always support each
other” Alex Prusko, Adv. 903,
said.
There are multiple characteristics that come with the
commitment and participation
in any sport. “We work on our sportsmanship, and we do not let
other teams disrespect us,”
Photo by Geethi Abraham
Prusko said. “We always try to Northside’s Varsity Women’s Basketball Team runs a defensive drill during
remain confident and posipractice.
tive.” The girls always strive to
“Sometimes the practice is
games, and the sophomores have
be better and truly understand
hard, but it pays off in the game,”
done a great job helping the freshthe meaning of the phrase practice
Bianca Valdez, Adv. 908, said.
men become comfortable.
makes perfect.
Although the girls value hard
“We’ve developed great team
“We always try our hardest
work above all, there is no doubt
chemistry off the court, but we're
and come up strong in the end,”
that they save some time for fun.
still working on reading each other
Stephanie Sotomayor, Adv. 904,
“I joined basketball team beon the court, and that is actually
said. The team members display
cause there’s no other rush like the
one of our goals for this season,”
a good measure of sportsmanship
kind you get when you step on the
Mikell said.
and acknowledge other teams’ accourt, and the girls are amazing,”
The coaches for JV have
complishments as well.
Sotomayor said.
introduced new techniques for the
“So far the competition has
As Coach Whalen would say
girls and are hoping to improve the
matched up well, but we know
“Get your heads out of a dark
girl’s skills.
that we will see great teams this
“We have a new warm-up that
season,” Brittney Mikell, Adv. 904, place, ladies!” For many girls basketball is a competitive yet exciting
is supposed to reduce injuries, and
said.
sport.
we do our best to complete it,”
Of the multiple goals for the
“My team is like a family; we
Mikell said.
JV and Varsity teams this season,
As for the Varsity girls, they
the main goal is to win conference. all talk about our problems, and
we become so close. I see my team
ranked third place in the U-High
“We would like to win our
and coaches more than my own
Thanksgiving Tournament, and
Regional and State competitions,
are working on improving their
and beat New Trier in conference,” family some weeks,” Sotomayor
said.
game. However, they find the lack
Mary Shelus, Adv. 703, said.
The JV team had a good start
of audience slightly disappointing.
Being a team member requires
in the Mather Tournament, but
“We are amazing and everyone
commitment and obligation. The
lost in the last two games. Still, the
should come and watch us,” Mary
girls practice six days a week for
girls did not let disappointment get
Shelus said, Adv. 703.
two hours, and sometimes even
in the way of another chance to
Responsibility and dedication
practice early in the morning as
improve.
comes with the feeling of accomwell.
“So far we have mastered
plishment and unforgettable fun.
“We are really dedicated and
our offenses and are currently
“Our goals are to win, win,
work really hard, and we also do
3-2 in the season,” Mikell said.
win! However we also just want
not waste time during practices,”
“Although we are currently on a
to have fun, and get better at the
Prusko said.
two game losing streak, we are
game while getting to know each
The teams are very focused on
pulling together as a team to bring
other,” Sotomayor said.
making the most of all the pracit back.”
tices, so that they can perform well
The freshmen on the team play
during games.
with the JV girls in all the minor
Men’s Basketball
Sports
by Mohammad Rahman
On November 6th, the Men’s
Bowling Team met at Waveland
Bowling Center after school to compete against one of their biggest CPS
rivals, Amundsen High School. The
players present were Jai Garg, Adv.
703, Rob Kennedy, Adv. 903, and
Steve So, Adv. 705, who are also the
team’s experienced returning players. The Mustangs swept all three
games and gained a total of seven
points: six for defeating Amundsen
and one extra for having the highest
overall score. The team bowled a total of 1394 series, of which Kennedy
had the highest with 597 series, Garg
with 400 and So with 397.
“Rob Kennedy is by far the most
valuable player as he bowls the highest scores,” Garg said. “The new
players will make the most difference, because if they can step up and
deliver, we will be a lot better than
most teams expect us to be.”
The team, divided into junior
varsity and varsity, consists of nine
members. There are five starters per
game, and the team with the highest
combined score wins.
“We are a strong team,” Garg
said. “Even though we were
separated between varsity and junior
varsity, we are basically one single
team.”
The Men’s Bowling Team has
matches at 3:20 pm on Mondays.
The team plays every week for the
conference; the tournaments will be
on December 27th, and the sectionals will be held in Vernon Hills,
which lies about an hour away from
Chicago.
In the 2005 - 2006 school year,
the team defeated New Trier to win
the sectionals, and the bowling team
made its first appearance in the state
playoffs. The team landed five pins
short of making it to finals.
“Last year, a lot of us just
competed for fun,” alumnus Ryan
Keleher said. “However, this year we
got pretty serious about competition
towards the end.”
The team last year included five
‘06 graduates out a total of eight
players. They were Michael Kennedy, Joe Rodriguez, Keleher, Jason
Tran and David Perez.
“I miss bowling because I
haven’t bowled in a good four
months here,” Keleher said.
The members of the current
team all have different levels of
experience with bowling.
“I have been bowling since I was
about five with my dad,” Kennedy
said. “Then I started to bowl every
weekend when I was nine.”
Unlike other sports where
participation all season is required,
bowling allows its members to start
in the middle of the season as a new
team member.
“This year we will do even better because three strong players are
returning,” Garg said. “There will be
a lot of freshmen and new members
too who I think will be dedicated.”
Every Saturday the team meets
at Waveland Bowling Center. The
fee for every practice session is two
dollars. On Mondays the team has
their matches at Waveland, but this
time the entrance fee is free. The
team members work on various
moves such as getting a tighter rotation on the ball and throwing the
ball at different angles for different
lane conditions. Other than that,
the team also works on stance, approach, ball positioning, release and
how to hit the pocket.
“I work on putting more curve
on my ball,” Kennedy said. “If I do
this, there is a greater chance that I
will strike more often.”
The school generally competes
against CPS schools such as Lane,
Payton, Clemente, Mather, and Von
Steuben, but Von and Lane stand
as Northside’s biggest rivals. This
year the team hopes to qualify for
the state competition again and
also to be ranked individually. The
suburban schools remain a challenge
to Northside, but the team hopes to
improve by practicing more.
“We did play in a suburban
tournament,” Tran said. “There we
placed relatively well knowing we
were playing suburban schools with
kids that bowled like professionals.”
“People should know that bowling is very competitive,” Kennedy
said. “It is more than just throwing
a ball at some pins. It takes talent to
throw a curve and an accurate shot.”
The men’s bowling team wants
more spectators to come to support
them as they win victories over their
rivals.
“Come support the Mustangs
bowling team,” Garg said. “Just
drive over to Waveland on Mondays
after school. It is a lot more entertaining than you might think.”
Continued from back page.
practical.
“I was the one who made the
call on eliminating the JV team,”
Horn said. “Before making the
decision I consulted the athletic
director, Ms. Daisy Simbulan,
as well as the administration. I
presented my reasons and they
had no objections. In fact they
supported me completely.”
Northside’s Athletic Director Ms. Daisy Simbulan clarified
what influenced her reasons.
“As an Athletic Director
I have to look at the situation
through both the team and players’ perspectives,” Simbulan said.
“There were two main problems
with the JV team. Firstly, the team
played very few games and spent
most of their time practicing.
Players began to drop out because
the point of practicing was
Caption by Riaz Shaikh
defeated with the rarity of games.
Varsity players, John Kinsler, Adv. 907, Danny
Secondly, with the JV team in exisPriemer, Adv. 807, Salman Karim, Adv. 811, Conor
tence it was very hard to organize
Camp, Adv. 800, and Obina Osuji, Adv. 810, play
time in the school gym.”
a game of 21.
Simbulan says organizing six
teams between boys’ and girls’
basketball was already difficult on
a JV team, but I don’t see any good
top of Northside’s wrestling teams.
reason. The players will barely get any time
“Although the absence of a JV team
to play and instead all they would do is run
may have upset a few students who had high
plays and practices.”
hopes the decision was made for the good
Other coaches and the administration
of the players,” Simbulan said. “So far I do
seem to fully agree and trust Coach Horn’s
not think that the freshman and sophomore
decision and have faith that the removal is
players are completely affected. The lack of a
ing season.
JV team may influence some players who feel
“I’m really excited that I’m on the team
that the JV team is their spring board if they
and can’t wait for the season to start,” freshdon’t make varsity, but it won’t concern many man player Kevin Jaburek, Adv. 018, said.
players who wish to pursue basketball in the
“Thus far, the team looks pretty defuture,” Ms. Simbulan said.
cent,” Coach Yeh said. “They have a lot of
Many of the underclassmen are indifferpotential and my main goal as their coach is
ent to the fact that there is no JV team. On
to help them through this season and build
the sophomore team, all but one player made
their skill and knowledge so that they may be
the team from last year.
ready for next year.”
“Mainly this year
I want to help the
Jose Berrios Adv. 902
VARSITY PLAYERS
team win conferShaheed Ghogha Adv. 902
Munir
Ahmed
Adv.
709
ence,” sophomore
Hammad Farooq Adv. 905
Conor
Camp
Adv.
800
player Craig MelEric P. Nelson Adv. 905
Robert
Garcia
Adv.
706
huse, Adv. 908, said.
Albert Lin Adv. 902
James
Smith
Grattan
Adv.
706
“Almost everybody
Nathan A. Raichel Adv. 909
Oritseweyinmi
Jemine
Adv.
903
from last year’s freshDavid W. Haffey Adv. 904
Robert
Kennedy
Adv.
903
man team is on the
Craig Melhuse Adv. 908
Salman
Karim
Adv.
811
sophomore team this
John
Kinsler
Adv.
907
year and so there is
FRESHMAN PLAYERS
Arpit Kuvadia Adv. 701
a good relationship
Adam J. Azzaro Adv. 010
Obinna
Osuji
Adv.
810
and understanding
Neal Capapas Adv. 010
Danny
Priemer
Adv.
807
between the players.
Joseph M. Flaherty Adv. 016
Saif
Rahman
Adv.
803
I look forward to this
Jared Goldstien Adv. 010
Mackenzie
Rivers
Adv.
807
year’s season and I
Spheese J Hunter Adv. 015
Geoff
Wand
Adv.
700
bet that we will have
Kevin Jaburek 018
Trevor
Woodland
Adv.
706
satisfying results.”
Jae P. Lee Adv. 017
Ryan
Zotti
Adv.
802
The freshman
Josh Nichols Adv. 012
team also showed few
James Rey Adv. 014
SOPHMORE
PLAYERS
signs of opposition
Mathew Rickard Adv. 017
Spencer
Rosenfeld
Adv.
909
towards the idea.
Nicholas Ruff Adv. 012
Yonas
Zewdie
Adv.
901
Both players
Magullan P. Yadao Adv. 016
Dilraj
Sekhon
Adv.
907
and Coach Bill Yeh
Matt Zmuda Adv. 015
Eli
Tullis
Adv.
907
have positive views
Benjamin
R
Garcia
Adv.
909
towards their upcom-
Page 16
Sports
No Mo’, Ali
or Nothing
Silver and Maroon
Mohammad Khaleelullah: Salaam. A few weeks ago I made a trip
to Lane Tech High School. I walked down the halls during the end of
their regular class day sporting a “Property of Northside College Prep
Basketball” hooded sweatshirt. Within minutes I received a myriad of dirty
and confused looks and a hefty amount of wicked comments referring to
either the sweater or me as ugly and retarded (who can blame them). But
the most enlightening comment was from a disgruntled freshman who
without any euphemism said a few things I cannot mention.
The thing that stood out the most ended in words pretty close to “what
the hell kind of school pride you got?” He went on to ridicule our basketball program as well. I couldn’t help but inform him that I actually did not
attend even Lane Tech for my education and instead attend Northside.
Upon hearing this, the same person responded with a few more unmentionables before catching me with the words “we protect this house.” Let
me remind you, this was iterated by a freshman.
I had to try the same out on my peers here at Northside. A few weeks
ago I rolled up to school in a “Lane Tech Tennis” hooded sweatshirt. I
got more comments about why my sweater was rather fitting than usual
over comments on why I was sporting a Lane Tech sweater in Northside’s
“house.” Not only that, the majority of the comments I received were
actually from teachers rather than my fellow peers. A female student went
so far as to comment, “Hey cool, I play tennis too.” Yes, she plays tennis
too, for Northside, but had she no words about Lane Tech tennis? I ask
where is our school pride? Where is the notion in our heads to “protect this
house,” the same notion iterated by only a freshman at Lane Tech. Where
is our sprit in the Mustangs?
Shoaib Ali: It is rather intriguing to learn that a freshman would be
so enthusiastic about representing his school. It is also rather intriguing
to see 99.9% of Northside freshmen take control over the Open House
last month. Notice our freshmen are just as excited as being in Northside.
Attending the open house, I was particularly astounded by the majority
of volunteers being members of the Class of 2010. How excited they must
have been to promote their school after attending for a couple of months.
Not only the freshmen, in fact, the entire school has Mustang pride. Guess
what the biggest club of the school is. Go ahead, guess. Nah man, it’s the
Pep Club. We all know what the Pep Club is all about, nothing other than
representing Northside to the fullest.
You ask how we “protect this house?” With over 40 cameras on
campus, we do “protect this house.” But that’s beside the point. The point
is there are vehicles parked in the student parking lot painted white and
maroon with all sorts of Northside-supporting phrases (i.e. “Go Mustangs!”). They didn’t have to place an exclamation point, but it’s there
nonetheless. That’s pride right there. I bet you Lane Tech doesn’t have a
kid whose bedroom’s carpet color is the same as their school color. Yes,
a few students sleep in a maroon-carpeted room. Moreover, some sleep
with the colors maroon and silver painted on their bedroom walls. There’s
even more pride for you. Tell me why the school store has plans to be
open many more times this year than before. I think it’s because things are
selling, like the sweatshirts, which are the hottest items to date. The school
store’s success proves students are purchasing student gear left and right.
M.K.:Kids sleeping on maroon carpets? Maroon and silver painted
bedroom walls? I won’t even ask how or why you know this. And even so
that is probably 1 in 500 students in our school and ultimately irrelevant.
I am only asking that we as a student body have some more pride in being
Mustangs. Yes, we have a really strong Pep Club that fills up one-fourth of
the stands on big games. But why are the other three-fourths of the stands
relatively empty on most game days? The only time where we might actually fill the bleachers is homecoming game for Pack the Gym Night; even
then there are many scattered seats. Do we need an event like Pack the
Gym Night just to fill up our seats? And whatever happened to Slam the
Gym Night?
I propose something really small to start tackling the problem. Incoming freshman every year should have a new mandatory purchase on their
list of supplies or fees. Northside gear. We should make it mandatory that
these kids purchase a couple sweatshirts, t-shirt, cap and shorts and then
maybe wear the gear to school or to games. I don’t think this is asking
for much. The school store has many different styles of gear for students
to purchase. And while the store has been more successful this year than
years previous, it’s still simply not enough. Did you even know students
could buy Northside fitted caps? There isn’t enough pride in our students
and maybe having them purchase this gear will spark something. Another
idea: every Friday, arrange a Show your Sprit Friday. Other schools have
had successful ideas like that. The point is we need to be more engaged in
and proud of the maroon and silver.
S.A.: Don’t worry about it, I just know these things. It’s absolutely
relevant because we voluntary put ourselves in a maroon and silver environment. Elaborate more upon your “Slam the Gym Night.” There are
only a few sports games that Northside hosts in the gym. It’s very much
important for students to demonstrate their support while attending away
games where the Mustangs are visitors, taking over our opponents’ houses;
adding to the collection? Even so, how many games take place in the gym
to begin with? Many are outdoor sports, and the gym just isn’t the place
for them. Basketball games, volleyball games, and wrestling practices are
all I’ve seen taken place inside the Mustang gymnasium. That’s merely 3
out of the several sports offered every season that one can attend to in the
gym. Does the Northside wrestling team have conference championship
banners posted in the gym? “Northside Wrestling? Ugh” was one remark
I heard after a mere mention of the team. Maybe attendance of the gym’s
activities isn’t a true symbol of school pride in the Northside Mustangs.
Never will mandatory purchases of student gear encourage more
student pride in the school’s sponsored extra-curricular activities. That is
simply irrelevant to the matter. It would be an obvious attempt to implement uniforms in the public school system that does not have a uniform
policy. What if I don’t buy anything? Will the administration reject me if
I earned a score of 986/1000 after the admissions process, but refused to
purchase a maroon t-shirt? There is no link between academic performance
and possessing student gear. As a result, there wouldn’t be justification for
your proposed policy. In addition, it’s absolutely absurd to be forced to buy
tops and bottoms of particular maroon and silver hue. I don’t have to wear
school sweatshirts at Northside to prove my school pride. Sure, we can set
a day, or even a week, where we all show off our Northside gear. But is it
healthy to have a closet with maroon this and silver that? Wasalaam.
The Hoof Beat
Men’s Basketball shoots off
new season without JV
by Riaz Shaikh
Northside Men’s Basketball
Team has come a long way since
last year. With the dissolution of
the junior varsity team, the men’s
basketball tryouts became increasingly ruthless in competition.
Junior and senior players fought to
make one of the 16 positions available on the varsity team.
In light of the dissolved JV
team, the varsity team consists of
two more players this year than
last.
Head Coach Thomas Horn
expects great results from this
year’s teams. Although the men’s
basketball teams have moved down
in their conference level from red
to blue, they have plenty of challenging teams to play.
“Because of last season all
three teams have entered the Blue
Conference,” Horn said. “They’ll
still be playing some really tough
teams on the northside in this
level.”
It seems that many players also
reflect Coach Horn’s views and
expect a successful season. Experienced players like Munir Ahmed,
Adv. 709, and John Kinsler, Adv.
907, say that this year’s team has a
very bright season ahead.
“By the looks of the varsity
team we seem to have a pretty
good chance this year,” Kinsler
said. “Being an experienced
member of the varsity team, my
main goals for this year are to help
the team win conference and work
myself towards becoming a better
player.”
Rookie players on Varsity also
have optimistic views towards the
future of the team.
“From last year we dropped
down to the Blue Division so my
biggest goal is to help my team
win and move up,” Salman Karim,
Adv. 811, said.
“Even though majority of the team,
including myself,
is new on varsity, I
trust that with hard
work and dedication, we can achieve
our goals both as a
team and as individual players.”
Players express
mixed feelings about
the elimination of
the JV Team. Some
found the decision
reasonable. Others
discouraged the idea
and hope that a JV
team will be existent
next year.
“For players
who did not make
the varsity team, it
is a disadvantage
that the JV team
was cut because it
was their only other
option to play organized basketball,”
varsity player Saif
Rahman, Adv. 803,
said. “However, I
could see why the
Photo by Riaz Shaikh
coaches eliminated
Varsity player, Oritseweyinmi Jemine, Adv.
the JV team as it was 903, goes in for the dunk.
unsuccessful in past
years.”
According to him the JV team was
“I think that getting rid of
unnecessary.
the JV team this year is not a
“Last year the team played a
good idea,” varsity player Danny
mere seven to eight games, simply
Priemer, Adv. 807, said. “I myself
because there weren’t enough
am looking at varsity this year, but
opponents,” Horn said. “Many
a lot of people who were hoping to
high schools including Lane Tech
make the team were let down, and
dropped their JV teams and therefor some of them this was their
fore the boys had basically nobody
only chance.”
to play. Selfishly, I could reinstate
Coach Horn says, however,
that the elimination of a JV team
Continued on page 15
is in the best interest of the players.
Volleyball sweeps
championship titles
Photo by Elizabeth Cairns
Janet Morioka, Adv. 013, and Elizabeth
Cairns, Adv. 904, prepare for a save at the
Championship Game. game.
by Zlatana Alibegovic
After facing more
than their share of difficulty, all levels of the
Women’s Volleyball Team
managed to come out
on top as they swept the
city champion titles. The
season didn’t start promising, as the freshman,
junior varsity, and varsity
levels encountered their
share of disappointments.
The most difficult parts
of the season came with
losses to schools that the
teams felt they should
have been beaten.
“We were playing
Whitney Young for 3rd
place, and we creamed
them the first game,
then lost the second and
third,” JV team captain
Alison Kennedy, Adv.
902, said. “That was
awful!”
Not all loses were
as frustrating, however.
The varsity sectional
semifinals against Niles
West was the best game
of the season, despite the
devastating loss.
“We totally put our
whole hearts into it and
pushed back to win the
second game after a loss
and kept the 3rd game
really close. We just kept
fighting,” varsity team
member Elizabeth Kivel,
Adv. 706, said.
The teams credit
much of their success to
the coaches, especially the
intensity that the coaches
put into the sport. The
coaches were attuned
to the players’ needs;
they knew the time to be
coaches and the time to
be pals.
“Last year, on the
freshman team, we
were coached by Coach
[Wendy] Lambi, and
didn’t really learn a lot,
we just ran. This year,
coach [Nicole] Hebson
knew that she was going
to have some work just
getting everyone to understand the basics before
we would be able to win,”
Kennedy said of the new
JV coach.
“[Coach Nicole
Flores] was defintily hard
on us in the beginning
of the season when we
needed her; she helped us
keep our focus. She kept
pushing us and supporting us all the way until
the end,” Kivel said.
However, it was not
all work and no play for
the girls who found that
they enjoyed volleyball
because it was fun.
“I just love to play
[volleyball], and playing
with friends makes it so
much more fun,” Janette
Szestowicki, Adv. 909,
said.
“[Coach Flores] is
just a generally fun person
to be around. We could
always crack jokes during
practice, but we could
always get back to work
in the end,” Kivel said.
As the season neared
its end, the losses from
the start of the season
were distant, and the
teams managed to focus
on the prize: the city title.
The varsity team defeated
Von Steuben High School
for the title after winning
the first game by a small
margin (25-22) and picking up the pace for the
second to win by a significantly larger margin (2515). The JV team secured
its title against Brooks
High School after losing
the first game and winning the second two. The
scores were 25-22, 12-25,
and 22-25 respectively
for Brooks v. Northside.
The freshman team, also
meeting success, defeated
Washington High School
for their title.
“We were all really
close, and we’re all really
sad it’s over,” Kivel said.
“After that final game we
were all sobbing because
we knew were going to
miss it so much.”