National recognition for the nation`s best

Vol. 9 No. 7
Northside College Preparatory High School March 2008
HoofBeat
The
Page 6
Page 19
Latin at the
state level
Wrestling team
at cities
National recognition for the nation’s best
Northsiders named National Merit Finalists
by Matt Glodz
Semifinalist status gives students
which is fabulous, let me tell you,”
This year, nine Northside
recognition in the college applicaBrecklin said.
seniors were named National Merit tion process and often allows them
The finalists were then chosen
Finalists, bringing them one step
to be considered for various outside based on several factors including
closer to receiving the $2,500 Naawards and benefits.
their academic records, a personal
tional Merit Scholarship as well as
“Being a Semifinalist qualified
essay, and counselor recommendaother corporate- and college-sponme to be in the honors colleges
tions.
sored Merit Scholarship Awards.
at some of the schools I applied
“When I found out I was a
Northside’s National Merit
to and sometimes got me in-state
finalist, I was really surprised,”
Finalists for this year are Caittuition at out-of-state schools,
Brecklin said. “I never expected to
lin Brecklin, Adv. 810; Natalia
Emanuel, Adv. 808; Hannah
Furlong, Adv. 810; Harold Jaffe,
Adv. 802; John Mussman, Adv.
806; Mackenzie Rivers, Adv. 807;
Adam Swiatlowski, Adv. 809;
Robin Tholin, Adv. 801; and
Joseph Welch, Adv. 810.
The selection process to
be considered for a National
Merit Award consists of taking
the Preliminary SAT/National
Merit Scholarship Qualifying
Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which is
administered at Northside in October of junior year. About 34,000
of the nation’s highest-scoring students receive Letters of Commendation based on their selection
index, which is composed of their
scores on the test’s mathematics, critical reading, and writing
sections. Of those students, about
16,000 are named National Merit
Semifinalists, enabling them to
Robin Tholin, Adv. 806, among others, wrote an essay to achieve
apply for Finalist standing in the
National Merit Finalist status.
scholarship process. Receiving
Photo by Tyler Johnson
만나서 반가워요
News
pages 1-6
• Debate team promoted to
Regional Circuit.
• Ms. Volesky receives a grant
Features pages 7-9
• A la Mode opens its arms to
Northside fashionistas
• The price of junior prom
Centerfold pages 10-11
• Culturing polyglots
• Northside languages
Diversions pages 12-13
• Entertainment and dining
deals around Chicago
Arts & Entertainment pages 14-16
• “Drillbit Taylor” and your
younger siblings
• Amy Winehouse at the
Grammys
Editorials page 17
• Extreme Makeover, the
Akhtarian way
• No homework, please
Sports
pages 18-20
• Basketball Senior Night pays
tribute to Senior Mustangs
• The athletic diet
Korean exchange students
visit Northside
by Melissa Jordan
Korean and English welcomes
were exchanged in February when
six Northside students hosted exchange students from the Korean
Science Academy in Busan, South
Korea. As part of Northside’s exchange program, this is the second
year Korean students have visited
Northside and were met with a
warm welcome from the Northside community.
The exchange program emulates the goal of the Northside
community to become global
citizens and aware of the world
around them. However, the
exchange program was initially
difficult to organize.
“Finding host families for
the exchange program was the
most challenging task,” Ms. Stella
Hahn, Foreign Language Department, said. “However, we were
very fortunate to find six host
families who volunteered [to care]
for two weeks for Korean students’
staying in Chicago this year.”
Once the exchange was organized, both the students and Ms.
Hahn had other concerns.
“The most nerve-wracking
thing about the program was the
language barrier,” Courtney Quigley, Adv. 010, said. “Over time,
though, it got easier. Sometimes,
we shared some laughs over mistranslated things each of us would
say.”
“The unpredictable Chicago
weather [was a concern]” Ms.
Hahn said. “We faced very treacherous and slippery roads while
driving to the Science Museum,
the University of Chicago, Navy
Pier, the Art Institute, the Shedd
Aquarium, the Field Museum,
and Chinatown, among the many
interesting places we visited.”
“My exchange student told
me that he really enjoyed the field
trips around the city,” said Quigley. “They visited all the museums,
Navy Pier, some universities, and
many other attractions downtown.”
Most of the Korean students
had spent the past summer at
study programs at Northwestern,
Purdue, and the University of
Michigan, so there were fewer
cultural obstacles.
However, language nuances
caught the host families and students off-guard.
“Sometimes my friends and
family and I phrase questions in a
way that would not make sense to
someone whose first language is
not English,” Quigley said. “The
language barrier was the most
difficult part of this stay. We overcame these obstacles, though, by
playing games together that didn’t
really require perfect English.”
“[My exchange student] liked
watching television,” Quinn Quintanar, Adv. 103, said.
During spring break, six
Korean language students from
Northside will be staying with
host families at the Korea Science
Academy. The Northside exchange
programs actualize the theme of
this year’s colloquium, “A World
of Possibilities,” and give students
a broader vision of the world they
live in.
“[The exchange program] was
an amazing experience,” Quigley said. “It’s something I think
everyone should take the opportunity to do. I made a friend who
basically lives halfway around the
world and not many people can
say that.”
make it this far, especially considering how many amazing students
there are out there.”
Being chosen as a National
Merit Finalist is an accomplishment many colleges look highly
upon, but students agreed that the
honor does not reflect their overall
academic achievements.
“It really is just a standardized
test, nothing new or exciting,”
Brecklin said. “I didn’t do any outside prep. Honestly, I had forgotten
we were taking the test until the
morning of.”
“It was just one score on one
test, and one essay,” Rivers said.
“It was really easy and not my best
work. I think much more people
would get the scholarship if they
prepared and understood that they
could get money for it.”
Rivers and Obinna Osuji, Adv.
810, were named Finalists in the
National Achievement Scholarship
Program. This program recognizes
high-achieving African American
students and is very similar to the
National Merit Program both in
its awards and selection process.
Students, like Rivers, may be recognized as both a National Merit
Finalist and National Achievement Finalist, but can only accept
scholarship awards from one of the
organizations.
Why can’t we be
eco-friendly?
Governor Whitman
discusses environmental
issues while visiting
Northside
by Olutoye Adegboro
Dozens of Northside students,
consisting of members from The
Community for Alternative Sources
of Energy (CASE) and Mr. Timothy Devine’s Advanced Placement
Government and Politics’ class,
gathered in the Instrumental Music
Room along with Northside faculty
to hear former-Governor Christine Todd Whitman discuss issues
regarding the environment and
energy consumption on February
11th, 2008.
Governor Whitman became the
fiftieth governor of New Jersey in
November of 1993 and went on to
become an Administrator for the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) in 2001 (www.whitehouse.
org). Prior to doing so, Governor
Whitman worked in county office
and ran for the senate.
As the governor of New Jersey,
Governor Whitman made energy
consumption and environmental
protection her top priority. She
proposed and supported plans that
involved the preservation of land
and the cleaning of numerous
cities. It is estimated by the year
2010, two-fifths of the state’s land
will have been preserved, and that
over one-fifth of that land would
have been preserved while Governor Whitman held office (www.
whitehouse.org).
Governor Whitman’s experience in the protection of the
environment and the utilization of
energy served as the basis of discussion during the meeting. She also
commended Northside students
and faculty on their efforts to make
Northside more eco-friendly.
“You truly are making a difference,” Governor Whitman said to
the audience, moments after being
introduced by Mr. Barry Rodgers,
Northside’s principal.
The former governor continued
by sharing her experience in politics
with the audience. Students and
staff listened intently as she discussed potential usages of nuclear
energy, the energy crisis that is beginning to engulf the United States
and products that have had a less of
an impact on the environment.
“It’s not everyday that you can
actually talk to someone who’s
been working with the president…
been a governor of a state, and
…heading ... major environmental
initiatives,” Mr. Barry Rodgers,
Northside principal, said.
Many shared Mr. Rodgers’
view.
“I thought it was wonderful,”
Mr. Michael Coy, the chair of the
Science Department as well as the
teacher sponsor of CASE, said.
“I thought it was a very valuable
experience.”
CASE, a colloquium dedicated
to the protection of the environment, has been working on several
environmentally-friendly projects to
Continued as “Striving to be eco-friendly?” on page 4
Page News
The Hoof Beat
The Hoofbeat recieves recognition Northside College
Prep High School
for its achievements
by Zlatana Alibegovic
While much of the Northside student body was busy
at school, the Hoofbeat staff
was at the Scholastic Press
Association of Chicago’s
(SPAC) annual conference
for young journalists, hosted
by the McCormick Tribune
Foundation. This conference
offered workshops to journalists, followed by an awards
ceremony that recognized select staff members and entire
newspapers for “excellent”
and “superior” achievement
throughout the school year.
The workshops were led
by some of Chicago’s top
journalists. Roseanne Tellez,
CBS 2 news anchor, led a
session for future broadcast
journalists. Rex Huppke, a
Tribune free-lance reporter,
led a session to teach students
his best interview tips.
“It was such a fun day,”
Molly McAndrew, Adv. 904,
said. “We had a great time
in workshops that were led
by some influential journalists and we learned a lot that
we then took back with us to
improve our paper.”
“Getting recognition for
the paper and our effort is
really rewarding,” McAndrew
said. “I think we have a lot
of work ahead of us to keep
up Northside’s past reputation in terms of how we do at
SPAC.”
Awards were given to
the best newspapers based
on content and appearance.
Additionally, good articles
were recognized in specific
categories, such as news,
features, sports, and editorials. Each category had two
prizes—“superior” and “excellent”—and occasionally
awards were entirely withheld
when no nominated articles
deserved recognition.
This year Northside made
excellent strides. Northside’s
web publication was rated
superior for both content
and design, with nobody
else taking the “excellent”
category. Natalia Emanuel,
Adv. 808, was recognized for
Hoofbeat journalists getting ready for a workshop with TV
excellent writing in the news anchor Roseanne Tellez, CBS news.
section. Excellent writing
Photo by Tyler Johnson
for a feature story when to
ment of the newspaper, Leo
category for excellent writing
Zosia Holden, Adv. 106, and
Lee, Adv. 808, was recogof an editorial.
Melissa Espana, Adv. 107,
nized for excellent achieveEven though Northside
was recognized for excellent
ment in a non-sports photo,
took home the most raw
writing in a personality proand Vasilliki Mitrakos, Adv.
awards, Lane Tech took
file. Riaz Shaikh, Adv. 908,
908, was recognized for excel- home most of the “superior”
was recognized for excellent
lent achievement in original
category awards, includachievement in the sports
drawing. Emanuel achieved
ing the title for best overall
category, while Matt Glodz,
superior recognition in comnewspaper.
Adv. 018, was recognized for
puter graphics.
Regardless, Emanuel stole
excellent achievement in his
Each school was given
the afternoon when she was
entertainment review.
recognized as Journalist of
In addition, Zahra Lalani, the opportunity to compete
in write-offs, where students
the Year.
Adv. 905, was awarded
spent a 45 minute session
“[Journalist of the Year]
$1,500 by the McCormick
writing stories based off of
was a great honor,” Emanuel
Tribune foundation and the
quotes and information they
said. “But, I don’t think it
Scholastic Press Associaare given. The categories
is easy to choose just one
tion of Chicago to atttend
were sports, editorial, news,
journalist when there are so
any journalism workshop of
and feature story. Emanuel
many great young journaltheir choice. This is a coveted
was recognized for excellent
ists in Chicago. Everyone
scholarship that is awarded to
writing in the news category,
who puts effort and time into
only one student.
and Muhammad Akhtar, Adv a newspaper deserves to be
For the artistic develop806, received an award in the
recognized.”
A chance at stardom
Northside’s literature classes compete in the
Pegasus Young Playwrights’ Contest
ined world to contain this constructed
reality.”
The festival is a 22 year old schooloriented program that was developed to
help incorporate the arts into the core
literacy curriculum. It involves educating
teachers on how to use play-writing techniques as a continuing educational tool.
“The process of play writing in the
classroom brings into play all of the
natural curiosity, creativity, energy and
initiative of young people. This process
encourages self-esteem, personal and
social well being and a deepened understanding of our multicultural world,” the
Pegasus Player’s Website states (www.
pegasusplayers.org).
YPF
provides students with
performances, workshops, basic
instructions
in play writing and an
incentive to
create a play
with a contest. Every
year, 4 teenagers who
have created
outstanding plays
are mentored and
paired with
professional
playwrights
Lisa Dillman, Aaron
Carter,
Tanya
Saracho A.,
and Marisa
Wegrzyn to
guide them
After undergoing several edits, each winner’s play is
as they proprofeesional produced in the Annual Young Playwrights
fessionally
Festival.
produce their
Photo Courtesy of Pegasus Players.
by Tyler Johnson
For over 12 years, Mr. John Hahm,
English Department, has been incorporating the Pegasus Young Playwright’s
Festival into the curriculum of his literature classes. He believes it is a friendly
way for students to experience literature
from the inside-out.
“They’re not just passively reading
a literary work; they’re creating one,”
Mr. Hahm said. “They come face to
face with the concepts of theme, human
condition, and fictive reality, when they
engage in the whole process of creating
characters, plot situations, and an imag-
plays for the Annual Young Playwrights
Festival.
Students in Mr. Berry McGraith’s, Ms. Rachel Nielson’s, and Mr.
Hahm’s literature classes have been finalists in the contest almost every year of
Northside’s existence. In the 2007 YPF
contest, 3 of Mr. Hahm’s students, Molly
McAndrew, Adv. 904, Sarah Winter,
Adv. 905, and Coleman Gailloreto, Adv.
906, were finalists, and Nathan Michaelson, Adv. 903, won Honorable Mention.
Both Molly and Sara continued on to
win two of the grand prizes and get their
plays, “A Rose in a Royal Court” and
“Daydream Nation,” produced. Claire
Rychlewski, a student from Von Steuben
Metropolitan High School, and Laura
Fernandez, a student from Lane Technical High School, also won the grand
prize with their plays “Coffee Girl” and
“Blooming Flowers in Weeds.”
It was a lengthy process to narrow it
down to these four plays from over 1,000
plays that were submitted. The ten finalists were notified in May, and then the
finalists and honorable mentions winners
met in June to hear a dramatic reading
of the final ten plays. Four of these plays
were then picked as winners, and in August and September, each playwright was
paired with a mentor and began working
with their directors. They then made edits to their plays and attended workshops
until rehearsals started in December.
“Both Sarah and Molly were very
actively engaged in all of the phases of
the playwriting process,” Mr. Hahm said.
“From my reading of their scripts and
viewing of their impromptu performances, I had a strong feeling their plays,
as well as Nathan’s and Coleman’s, and
those of several other students, were
winners.”
Mr. Hahm will continue to incorporate playwriting into his curriculum, but
he’d like to look into similar competitive
venues for poetry and short story writing.
“Chicago is rich in opportunities for
students to experience the creation of
literature in very personal ways,” Mr.
Hahm said.
5501 N. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60625
Tel: (773) 534-3954
Fax: (773) 534-3964
Principal: Mr. Barry Rodgers
Assistant Principal:
Dr. Margaret Murphy
Advisor: Mr. Chester Tylinski
Editors-In-Chief: Natalia
Emanuel, Patricia Radkowski
Web Editor: Abir Usman
News Editor: Elizabeth Jose
Features Editor: Andrea Ljevar
Centerfold Editor: Zlatana
Alibegovic
Editorial Editor: Muhammad
Akthar
Arts and Entertainment Editor:
Molly McAndrew
Sports Editor: Zahra Lalani
Diversions Editor: Sonya
Dekhytar, Vasiliki Mitrakos
Photo/Art Editor: Ursula MorenoVanderLaan, Vasiliki Mitrakos,
Alejandro Vadivieso
Reporters: Olutoye Adegboro,
Subhan Ali, Lyanne Alfaro,
Mariam Bawany, Derika Benton,
Brittany Brown, Sonya Dekhytar,
Melissa Espana, Zosia Holden,
Kent Fremon, Matt Glodz, Sarish
Hassan, Alice Henry, Tyler
Johnson, Melissa Jordan, Sarah
Jose, Sony Kassam, Farrukh
Mukhtar, Bhumi Patel, Evan
Rogers, Riaz Shaikh, Dilraj
Shekhon, Sarah Schoonhoven,
Elizabeth Sobenes, Caitlin Swieca,
Thuy Tran, Sika Yeboah-Sampong,
Yonas Zewdie.
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 ctylinski@northsideprep.org or the editors
in chief at thehoofbeatstaff@gmail.com.
March 2008
Mussman
represents
Northside
nationally
by Natalia Emanuel
John Mussman, Adv. 806, competed
against 50 other finalists at the National
Vocabulary Championship Finals on March
10 in Los Angeles. There, in a competition
sponsored by the Game Show Network and
Princeton Review, students were quizzed on
their knowledge of vocabulary. According
to the National Vocabulary Championship
website, winwithwords.com, the goal of the
competition is to “inspire students to expand
their vocabularies and know the achievement gap.”
In the first round of the final competition, the fifty contestants were divided into
ten sets of five people. The students were
asked ten multiple choice questions and
given about six seconds to answer each question. The questions ranged from determining synonyms and antonyms to ‘find the
bogus word’ questions. Whomever answered
the most questions correctly won the heat.
Mussman was eliminated in the first round.
“I was actually in a very strong heat, my
first round,” Mussman said. “After the 9th
round of questions, I was tied with the person who ultimately won, getting 9 out of 9
right. I missed the last question. As soon as I
heard it, I knew I wasn't going to get it. The
question was ‘Which one of these words is
not an edible fruit? Here are four fruits.’”
After Mussman was eliminated, the 10
winners of each heat were pitted against
one another. They were each shown three
words. As soon as a contestant had buzzed
in and was recognized, the contestant had to
say which word was most unlike the other
two in meaning. If the contestant answered
correctly, one point was awarded. If not, the
contestant was barred from answering the
following question. The first three people to
win three points advanced. Mussman said he
enjoyed being able to answer the questions
he heard asked.
“After being eliminated, I able to watch
the heats after me,” Mussman said. “In the
entire competition, the only questions I
didn't know the answer to were questions
about food, including the one that eliminated me and two others. And I didn't know a
couple of ‘find the bogus word’ questions.”
Mussman said the competition was
very good. In order to become a finalist,
Mussman, along with 41 other finalists, had
to take two exams. The first exam was an
online qualifying multiple choice exam. The
second qualifying exam was a regional exam
with both a multiple choice portion and an
essay component, the latter to serve as a
tie-breaker if need be. The remaining eight
finalists qualified by participating in a citywide verbal competition.
The fifty finalists were not selected on
the best-from-each-state basis. Rather some
states had more than one finalist, based on
who surpassed a specified cut-off at the
regional level. According to Mussman, some
states had three or four students participating.
Mussman said that there were some
striking similarities between all the contestants.
“There were some overwhelming trends
in the people I talked to,” Mussman said.
“First of all, people talk about test scores
a lot, but the people there all had perfect
or near perfect test scores. Everyone took
a large number of AP classes. They took
foreign languages – a lot took Latin. A lot of
the people coming in had been Spelling Bee
contestants, so they had studied categories
and that sort of thing when they were in
elementary school.”
Mussman said that what was more striking was the break-down of contestants based
on school.
“But most of the contestants were from
the best high schools in the country,” Mussman said. “It was very clear that the more
prestigious schools were better represented.
For instance, one notable school from New
York, Stuyvesant, had three people there.”
In part for this reason, Mussman says he
hopes Northside will continue to be represented at the competition.
“But, honestly, I also hope Northside’s
students will continue to participate because
it was more than just a competition,” Mussman said. “Just being one of the fifty finalists was an honor I am grateful for.”
News Page Sound Programming finally sound?
Course Registration a little better this year
by Subhan Ali
Course registration at Northside involves an online program
called Sound Programming, a
password protected system of
registering for classes by creating
both first and second choices.
In order to log in to the system,
students needed to enter their
first name initial and last name
as their username, and their ID
number along with two extra
digits as their password. Students
find out whether their selected
schedules came out the way
they liked during the next school
year’s orientation, which takes
place in August during summer
vacation. Course Registration for
the 2008-2009 school year was
due on February 16, however
several students registered late.
“For some reason the register
button wasn’t working for me,”
Alan Lazzar, Adv. 904, said.
With help from an up-
perclassman, it turns out that
Lazzar’s register button “refused
to work” because he did not
place enough classes into both
his first and second choice selections. To register for classes there
must be a minimum of seven
courses, which has been a burden
for some students.
“I am still speculating as to
whether I chose the right class to
fill my last block. My schedule
would be perfect if we only had
to choose six classes,” Christopher Lam, Adv. 907, said.
Advisory teachers stressed
students that they rationally
choose second choice course options, as these classes may in fact
appear on their schedule for the
upcoming school year.
“I remember when I was a
freshman, people said the juniors
got first picks for classes for their
senior year,” Jose Cordero, Adv.
908, said. “Now I’m hearing
stuff about me not getting all my
first choices, and it disappoints
me because I am a junior now.”
Mr. Leon Lim, the Programming Coordinator, has tried to
make sure that every student gets
the classes they desire. During
the summer prior to the start
of the 2007-2008 school year,
several students were called in to
correct their schedules, primarily because they did not submit
it with accurate first and second
choices. The end goal of Sound
Programming has been to create
a more college-like atmosphere
at Northside, as classes are chosen online in many colleges and
universities.
This year there have been
several changes made to the
Sound Programming System including the addition of two extra
digits to the ID number, making
it less probable for a student
to hack into another student’s
account and register them for
classes. However, more than a
Students programming next years classes in the school library.
Photo by Tyler Johnson
few reported students forgot their
extra two digits, and then tried
all one hundred two-digit combinations in order to log into the
sound programming website.
“I actually forgot my digits,”
Lazzar said. “So, I had to try
different number combinations. I
guess I should have e-mailed Mr.
Lim and conferred with him, but
it didn’t occur to me at the time.
It also seems like a long process.”
Advisory teachers were
asked to tell their students that
those who tried to “play games”
with course registration, such
as placing classes as both first
and second choices, would have
their schedules handled last. This
would make it less probable for
those students to get their first
choices.
“There must be second
choices for all elective subjects.
Please give serious consideration
to these, since you may end up
with a second choice because of
a conflict,” Ms. Medina stated in
her address to the school. An email sent by Ms. Medina detailed
the specific classes that could be
placed as both first and second
choice, as these were required
classes.
Complaints resonated among
a segment of the Northside
population when students were
told that their devious tactics
would be no longer tolerated.
Additional complaints were
made by upperclassmen who
wanted further clarification on
the specific classes that could be
placed as both first and second
choices.
Overall, the course registration process this year, although
fundamentally the same as previous years, has proved to be both
more secure and time-conserving, as wanted courses do not
have to be turned in via paper.
Restated, the end goal was
to attain a more college-like
registration process without having students sacrifice the ultimate
creation of their Magnum Opus
at Northside.
Northside’s MAVEN takes a step
forward
Ms. Volesky receives a grant from Field Foundation
by Sarish Hassan
This past month, Ms. Lisa Volesky, Science Department, and the Science Department received a grant from the Field Foundation for Illinois for Northside’s environmental
initiative, MAVEN.
“It is an education grant,” Ms. Volesky
said. “It will enable Northside to direct,
implement, and expand the curriculum and
community network established by the MAVEN Urban Naturalists Program.”
MAVEN was named after the original
five founding schools and currently consists
of Stephan Tyng Mather High School, Von
Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, and
Northside College Prep. Together they examine the stabilization of Chicago’s natural environment and human habitats. The participating schools have combined environmental
and biological science, field research, service
learning, and plant and animal restoration
into this program. MAVEN has also partnered up with the North River Commission,
North Park Village Nature Center, Prairie
Legacy Center, the Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore, the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum where the Junior Prom will be held,
and Friends of the Chicago River.
MAVEN’s educational goal is to meet
and exceed the Illinois state education goals
for biological and natural sciences. It will
provide schools the training and materials
to help their students learn science above
the state level. The program also plans to
use cross cultural communications and new
teaching strategies to communicate scientific
topics to students in grades seven through
twelve. MAVEN believes in “learning by doing” and offers out of classroom experiences
for 500 students. These students will be given
the opportunity to conduct field research and
participate in service projects.
“The grant will be used for field trips,
guest speakers, professional development and
various learning opportunities,” Ms. Volesky
said. “This will impact learning for students
and teachers at Northside and neighboring
schools.”
The organization will provide students
with hands-on experience on how to identify
plant and animal diversity in their communities. While working with this project,
students will build upon their scientific skills
and aptitude outside of the classroom.
“MAVEN engages students in ecological and environmental issues of worldwide
importance, while giving young people a
sense of place and a working knowledge of
the natural environment in an urban setting,”
Ms. Volesky said. “Hopefully it will literally
bring the concepts to life.”
This program is not only going to benefit
the participating schools, but it will also
benefit many other schools because MAVEN
aims to provide 20 to 25 public schools with
the opportunity to increase their ability to
teach environmental and biological science in
the classroom. In the classroom students will
learn about plants, and to supplement their
learning MAVEN will be able to provide
students the opportunity to enhance their
learning by participating in activities such as
park preservation and habitat preservation.
MAVEN is a beneficial program not only for
students and teachers, but the entire community. The program strives to gives students
a better understanding of the ecological and
environmental issues around them. The grant
will allow MAVEN to achieve its goals at
the community level and make a difference
in the education and environment of young
students all over Chicago.
“I am very excited to be involved with
MAVEN and thankful for the grant from
the Field Foundation,” Ms. Volesky said. “It
will provide the opportunity to strengthen a
network of teachers, resources, and community organizers to offer unique and meaningful learning opportunities for students to
learn about science, the environment, and the
world around them.”
Ms. Volesky reviews the grant that
MAVEN recieved from the Field
Foundation of Illinois.
Photo by Tyler Johnson
Page News
The Hoof Beat
Two years was more than enough
Northside’s Debate Team is promoted to the Regional Circuit
by Zlatana Alibegovic
Northside College Prep has
been a member of the Chicago
Debate League (CDL) “A-Conference” for two years now, and
after the 5th tournament of the
2007-2008 debate season, held on
February 15 and 16 at Al Raby
High school on Chicago’s West
Side, Northside has been promoted.
After winning all but two tournaments, one of the losses having
been a result of a forfeit in the final
round, in two years, the league
voted to move Northside to the
Regional Circuit Conference (RCC)
in the following season.
At the Raby tournament,
popularly referred to as “T5,”
Northside faced some tremendous
upsets. After placing 5th of the
top 8 teams into quarter finals in
the novice division, Northside
was preparing to call it an early
day. League rules indicate that
two teams from the same school
cannot compete against each other
and the higher team, if chosen by
the coach, moves on into the next
bracket. Andrea Ljevar, Adv. 904,
and Sam Ocampo, Adv. 909, were
in first place, and they advanced
over Derkia Benton, Adv. 901, and
Mohammed Khaleelullah, Adv.
904. Alma Aguila, Adv. 808, and
Karolina Leja, Adv.013, were the
third team who advanced over Larry Trice, Adv. 811, and Omandra
Zamora, Adv. 800, the sixth team.
Caitlin Brecklin, Adv. 801, and
James Casper-Shipp, Adv. 811, the
seventh team, defeated a Lincoln
Park team who was ranked second
after preliminary rounds.
In semi-finals, a Lincoln Park
team defeated Ljevar and Ocampo
with a unanimous decision. Aguila
and Leja advanced over Brecklin
and Casper-Shipp, who were paired
against each other. In the final
round, Aguila and Leja defeated
Lincoln Park with a unanimous
decision.
“It was upsetting that we lost in
semi-finals,” Ocampo said, “but we
are glad that someone beat Lincoln
Park for us.”
Additionally, Ocampo was
named top speaker, Aguila second,
Brecklin fourth, Zamora sixth, Ljevar seventh, and Benjamin Garcia,
Adv. 909, eighth.
The competition in the varsity
division was more heated than ever,
as teams competed for a chance to
qualify for a Round Robin Tournament, which would take Chicago’s
top 6 teams and the top two teams
there would move on to the Urban
Debate League Nationals. Northside sent 4 teams to compete in
that division, two of which moved
on to the elimination
rounds. Jennifer Friedmann, Adv. 904, and
Kevin Steele, Adv. 018,
were ranked second, and
Rory Coursey, Adv. 902,
and Robin Tholin, Adv.
801, were ranked ninth
but pushed into eliminations because a team had
forfeited, and they were
the next highest ranked
team.
The two teams were
matched together in
quarter finals, which
meant that Friedmann
and Steele advanced.
They moved on to defeat
two King College Prep
teams and then win the
tournament.
Steele was also
named third speaker,
Kevin Steele, Adv. 018, spent plenty of time after school in preparation for
Friedmann fifth, and
the tournament.
Tholin sixth.
Photo by Patricia Radkowski
On March 1, Steele
ney Young by one judge ballot and
on March 28 and 29, especially
and Friedman debated at
Prosser High School by 6 ballots.
after a surprising finish in semi-fithe Latham and Watkins law firm
As the debate season draws to a nals last year.
where they saw each of the top
near end, only one tournament left,
“So much work, so little time,”
Chicago teams. The top two teams
city championships, the debaters
Danielle Fiumefreddo, Adv. 807,
moved on to the Urban Debate
are not prepared the dwindle down, said. “We really want to do well,
League Nationals. Northside was
instead they are working as, if not
so we are going to keep working
ranked fourth, behind Morgan
more, fiercely as ever to ensure
to make sure that we maintain
Park, Lane Tech, and Walter Paygood results at city championships
Northside’s reputation.”
ton, respectively. They beat Whit-
Which colloquium are you in?
New semester means new colloquia
I get to go to many places in the city
that I have not seen before,” Sabah Memon,
Adv. 809, said.
Mr. Tim Devine, Social Science Department, and Ms. Joanne Minyo, Fine Arts
Department, are continuing the Northside
tradition with their colloquium about celestial art. The students in this colloquium are
planning on going on a camping trip to look
at the stars in the spring.
The “Scrabble Tournament” colloquium, run my Mr. Micheal Sliwicki, Foreign
Language Department, lets the enrolled
students make use of their Scrabble skills to
see who is the best.
One of the various new colloquia this
semester is called “Platform 9 3/4, Kings
Cross Station.” This colloquium is based off
of the Harry Potter series, imitating the idea
of Hogwarts by allowing 15 students from
each grade level to join. This is similar to
the way the book had four groups of classes
in the school Hogwarts.
Ms. Lisa Volesky’s, Science Department, colloquium “Operation” allows
students to gain knowledge about human
anatomy and physiology.
“It is a really fun and exciting colloquium,” Robby Loanzon, Adv. 905, said. “It
makes up for the anatomy class that was
supposed to be offered last year.”
Despite the variety of new colloquia,
many of the juniors were forced into
taking consumer education, if they did
not take it previously or if they were not
enrolled in A.P. Microeconomics. Consumer education is a requirement for a
student to graduate. These students felt it
was unfair that they didn’t get to choose
whether or not they wanted to enroll
into the class this year or save it for next
year. Others looked at the bright side
and believed that as long as they finished
the requirement this year, they would be
able to enroll into something they would
enjoy more when they became seniors.
“I was happy that I got enrolled
into consumer education because now
I will be able to chose a more exciting
colloquium for my senior year,” Thao
Nguyen, Adv. 908, said.
There was also a large number of
freshmen that decided to take consumer
education. Freshmen end up registering
last, which means that many times they
probably ended up choosing something
that wasn’t their first choice.
Colloquium has always been an
important part of Northside and many
In anticipation of their trip to England students in Mr. Hahm’s class watched several
of the students are happy to have a small
films.
break in the middle of week to be a part
Photo by Ursula Moreno-VanderLaan
of something they truly enjoy.
by Bhumi Patel
As many students wake up late on
Wednesday, they realize that it is a colloquium day. Whether they signed up for a
colloquium that means working with a motorcycle or knitting, they are happy that it is
not a regular school day but a class which
can be enjoyed with their friends. Colloquium is the only class that Northsiders can
register for based on their own decisions
while knowing that they will definitely get
their first choices.
“Colloquium is a way for the students to
take a break, but [it] still can be a worthwhile experience,” Geetha Bijjam, Adv. 903,
said.
There are a variety of colloquia every
semester, and many Northside students are
pleased with their colloquia.
“I really enjoy sewing in my colloquium, “art of quilting,” and I am glad that I
registered for it,” Bijjam said.
While a variety of colloquia are offered
this semester, some colloquia remained the
same as last semester. Ms. Diane Maleug,
English Department, has continued her
colloquium “Embrace Your Inner Julia,”
which involves learning cooking skills and
trying a variety of food.
“The History of Court Games” instructed by Mr. Christopher Pagani, Physical
Education Department, involves studying
the history of games such as badminton
while improving students’ skills at playing
various sports and doing service projects.
Another physically-challenging colloquium is “Latin Fitness” run by Ms.Wanda
Villodas, Foreign Language Department.
This colloquium involves a combination
of dances and other aerobic exercises for
fitness.
Mr. Randy Snow, English Department,
has led his students into various interesting
discussions in his colloquium, “delirium,
deranged, and desire.”
“We went into detail about Sigmund
Freud and his teachings about the psychological mind,” Alan Lazzar, Adv. 901, said.
“Even if I don’t agree with most of Freud’s
theories, it still seemed very interesting.”
To bring out the creativity in students,
Ms. Jeung-Hee Park’s, Foreign Language
Department, colloquium teaches students
Asian calligraphy. The students practice
writing characters and learn about the history of calligraphy in different countries.
Ms.Virginia Apel’s, Foreign Language
Department, colloquium allows students
to understand how to use the “L” and the
subway systems by taking the students on
weekly trips on the brown, blue, red, and orange lines. They travel throughout Chicago
and get a better understanding of the city.
“I really enjoy this colloquium because
Striving
to be ecofriendly
Continued from page 1
help make Northside a green establishment. One of their most current projects has
been the sale of Sigg Water Bottles, which
help to save resources by replacing plastic
water bottles that have a one thousand year
decomposition period. Other projects that
CASE has worked on in the past include the
distribution of fluorescent lightbulbs and
plans for the installation of solar panels on
the roof that would heat the school pool, saving sizeable amounts of energy and money
according to the June 2005 Solar Energy
Audit Report (www.caseproject.org).
While CASE members did make up a
large percentage of the audience present at
Governor Whitman’s session, other students,
notably from Mr. Devine’s AP Government
and Politics class, were in attendance at the
session also, learning how politics and environmental protection are tied together.
“One of the overarching goals of the AP
Gov course is to help students better appreciate and understand the multiple issues
that our policy makers must deal with when
they’re making important policy decisions
whether it be environmental policy, health
care policy, foreign policy, [or] education…,”
Mr. Timothy Devine, Social Science Department, said.
Students from CASE and other academic
functions had the opportunity to ask Governor Whitman questions that involved the role
that politics play in environmental protection
and the possible effects of extreme energy
usage.
Once the questions ceased, Governor
Whitman was given a round of applause.
After the session with Governor Whitman
ended, several students stayed behind to have
more extended one-on-one discussions with
her. Governor Whitman’s visit to Northside
will not be Northside’s only effort to make
people aware of environmental issues and
methods of protecting the environment. This
coming spring, CASE will be holding Green
Scene, in honor of Earth Day (www.greenscene.caseproject.org).
“Green scene is …a[n] event [that] we’re
hosting in late April,” Alexandra Rojek, Adv.
102, said, “… [it] inform[s] the public of ways
to become more green.”
Green Scene will be held on April 19,
2008 and is open to students and faculty from
Northside and the surrounding Northside
community.
Page News The Hoof Beat
Qui summus? NCP!
Northside students compete in IJCL North
by Evan Rogers
Latin oratory. Northside was successful in all areas entered, despite
heightened difficulty.
“The tests this year were more
difficult than last year,” third-year
participant Jennifer Friedman, Adv.
904, said. “Northside had a bit
more trouble placing first against
our competition in everything, but
we did well.”
Northside competed against
such schools as Barrington High
and Middle Schools, Elgin Academy, Loyola Academy, and St. Ignatius College Prep. For the Latin
I Certamen team, Barrington High
and Middle Schools were singled
out as Northside’s top competition.
“Barrington was definitely our
biggest
rival as they
were the
only school
that were
really close
to our level
of spirit,”
Mary
Mussman,
Adv. 109,
said.
The
Latin 1
Certamen
team began
the Certamen match
against
Barrington
Middle
School
slowly. Despite their
lack-luster
beginning,
team members Jeffrey
Joseph,
Adv. 108;
Elizabeth Jay, Adv. 014, sits at the awards ceremony in her spirit costume with her
Anne Lakaynumerous awards displayed in front of her.
il, Adv.
Photo Courtesy of Mary Mussman.
Ecce, equi! Look, mustangs!
Over a stretch of three days,
hundreds of Latin students from
northern Illinois gathered at Tinley
Park Holiday Inn to participate in
the Illinois Junior Classical League
(IJCL) North Conference. Students
participated in the talent show;
creative art competitions; a dance;
presentations, such as Latin and
English oratories; testing; and Certamen, the quiz bowl competition.
Northside dominated in almost all
areas of competition, sending all
three levels of Latin students to the
final round of Certamen, placing
first overall in sweepstake points for
the sixth year in a row.
IJCL began on Thursday,
February 21, with a frenzy of
paperwork as students registered
for competitions and submitted
their artwork. Students were able to
register for up to eight tests, ranging
from Latin vocabulary to Roman
history. Other testing categories
included mythology, derivatives,
Roman life, grammar, reading
comprehension, and omnibus, a
survey of all topics covered in other
tests. A maximum of three pieces
for each artwork category were
accepted from each school, with
Northside participating in all areas.
Other competitions included Latin
oratory, English oratory, poetry,
dramatic interpretation, and site
101; Michael
Loftus, Adv.
102; Christian Souder,
Adv. 107;
and Mussman managed
to perform
strongly
enough in
the second
round of the
competition
to qualify for
the Latin 1
Certamen
finals, which
began with
Northside students entered projects such as this
a zero-point
painting for the various art competitions.
start. The team Photo Courtesy of Mary Mussman
redeemed
individual feat was that of Jay, who
itself at the
finals, winning by a landslide: NCP placed first in all academic tests at
her level, an event that had never
finished with twice as many points
occurred before in IJCL history.
as any other school.
At the awards ceremony on
The Latin 2 team fared similarthe third day of the competition,
ly, as Latin II team members ElizaNorthside’s 58 students won nearly
beth Jay, Adv. 014; Erin McManhalf of all awards, similar to previnon, Adv. 013; Alexandra Rojek,
Adv. 102; Rae Spaulding, Adv. 108; ous years. The most prominent difand Heta Panchal, Adv. 906, placed ference in comparison to previous
years was the lack of a skit. IJCL
first after weeks of practice.
decided to remove the skit compe“For Certamen, we basically
tition due to previous difficulties
practice just by doing drills and
enforcing the ban of all references
studying past Certamen rounds,”
to sex and drugs.
Rojek said. “We practice after
Despite the damper of lacking a
school about three times a week.
skit
segment, IJCL was an enjoyFor individual competitions, we baable experience for participating
sically just study by ourselves and
students.
go over it a bit in class. Studying
“IJCL was amazing,” Mussand practicing definitely paid off.”
man
said. “It was the time of my
Rojek placed seventh overall.
Advanced Latin Team members life. I can’t wait for next year.”
“IJCL was great this year,”
Aisha Ahmad, Adv. 904; Jacob
Friedman said. “The food was a lot
Gruber, Adv. 908; Harold Jaffe,
Adv. 802; Alexander Poniecki, Adv. better and the dance was actually
fun this year. It was much more
804; and Adam Swiatlowski, Adv.
organized.”
809, placed second in the compeNorthside will continue to
tition. Poniecki later went on to
participate
at the national level of
be selected as the top student in
Creative Arts. The most astounding the competition in late July.
Black history month at Northside
A school-wide celebration
by Brittany Brown
For the past couple of weeks the
members of African American Club have
been using the hallways as center stage in
preparation for a showcase that they performed on February 27, 2008 in honor of
Black History Month.
“There has been weekly preparation
organizing the showcase,” Zowyi Molokwu,
Adv. 800, African American Club Vice President, said. “The hardest part was arranging
meetings convenient for everyone and making sure everyone’s ideas were included in the
final routine.”
Celebrated during the month of February, Black History Month helps to educate
different cultures about the accomplishments
of Black Americans through singing, dancing, acting, and, of course, ethnical music.
“Educating people about the history of African Americans will be the major
goal [of the celebration],” Elizabeth Lawal,
The colorful fashion show had the audience cheering enthusiastically.
Photo by Leo Lee
Adv. 808, African American Club President,
said. “There isn’t a great representation at
Northside and as a club we need to present a
well-organized showcase of African American accomplishments.”
“I want everyone to enjoy what
they see because although the entire event
took hard work and commitment,” Amanda
Perez, Adv. 801, said. “We take pride in providing an understanding of the theme behind
our performance.”
The showcase
portrayed black history in
a variety of ways including a fashion show, an
African and Early HipHop dance, and a poem
recital “I, Too, Sing
America” by Langston
Hughes. After a small
list of famous jazz singers such as Eartha Kitt
and Duke Ellington, the
Moulin Rouge inspired
dance was integrated as a
part of African American
influence in the Jazz
era. The dancers dressed
in corsets and leggings
along with heels. While
the African dancers wore
the kente cloth sashes.
The backdrop for the
entire showcase was a
skit performed by Jennifer Oseitutu, Adv. 800,
Grace Allawardi, Adv.
803, and Janet Yarboi,
Adv. 803. The performance narrated each
performance by introducing a corresponding
topic. The three women
represented three generations of an African
American family sharing their own experiences and traditions with one another.
“It’s not just for entertainment; this is our
way of conveying a very important topic to
our community and preventing stereotypes
and ignorance throughout the Northside
community,” Lawal said. “We want to convey black culture positively.”
African American Club has been involved in planning a celebration for the past
five years.
“Last year we made sure that a date
was set aside for the ’07-’08 school year and
the administration grants permission,” Ms.
Smith, the club’s sponsor, said.
The focal point of music is just one of the
many themes that African American Club
brings to the attention of Northsiders’ during
the showcase. In past years, ‘identity’ was the
heart of the showcase. African Americans’
origin was highlighted in dramatized skits
and music. Last year’s showcase portrayed
‘Pan Africanism’ which portrayed African
influence on other countries such as Jamaica,
The Caribbean, and the United States.
“There is a major emphasis on music,”
Jennifer Mensah, Adv. 901. “African Americans have made major contributions to the
development of music. The past couple of
years have had different themes and this year
the focus is primarily on music and dance.
You can expect variety and most importantly,
originality.”
The student body experienced a variety
of selections of music and dance in African
American culture in the assembly.
“The crowd seemed pumped
especially when the dance performances and
fashion show were performed,” Doug Bright,
Adv. 908, said. “The dances and music were
interesting and the story telling part was
clever. I liked it.”
March 2008
Features
Shadow Day, only the start
Students accompany professionals for a
day
by Sarah Jose
pletely finished their education, on ize that a certain job would never
Choosing a career is a hard
account of their changing majors
work out for them.
thing to do for some as there are
or completing several. She has
This year Shadow Day had
always doubts and indecision. This also seen several alumni who have
many different volunteers from a
year, a program called Shadow
changed career paths and struggled variety of jobs. There were people
Day, also known as Groundhog
to decide what to become. Even
in the medical field as well as
Shadow Day, was designed to
she had doubts about the profesparticipants in more artistic profeshelp students see how it would be
sion she chose. She originally went sions, such as a theatrical agents
like to work in a particular field.
to college to study aquatic science
and interior designers. Students
They could “shadow,” or observe
and work with animals, but then
were matched up with a subject
a professional at work in order
changed her mind. Only later did
from their career of interest or
to help them
with someone from
decide whether
a similar profession.
they want to
One student was able
pursue a career
to shadow a keeper
in that field in
at the Lincoln Park
the future.
Zoo. They even got
Dr. Cody
to go behind the
Sweet became
scenes at the zoo and
part of the
pet the animals. The
board of
subject shadowed in
Northwestern
this case is headUniversity’s
ing to Australia to
Club of
work in the Steve
Chicago three
Irwin Zoo. Another
years ago. She
student observed an
started doing
interior designer.
Shadow Day
“My NU host
at Lincoln
took me on a tour
Park High
of the Merchandise
School where
Mart!” Joanna ChroNorthwestern Eridia Pacheco, Adv. 904 participated at Lincoln Park Zoo for
mik, Adv. 903 said.
alumni would Shadow Day.
”I got to see a different
pair up with
side to interior design
Photo courtesy of Eridia Pacheco
high school
with Ms. Rotondo at
students so the
VOA.”
she learn that a Psychology major
students could observe different
There were some communicacould work with dolphins, councareers. Ever since she has worked
tion problems between Northside
sel, and be part of many jobs.
with several other schools in the
and Dr. Sweet. Infact, for some
“Nobody told me that,” Ms.
Chicago vicinity to conduct varitime the two parties’s had no conTorres said. “If I had known that
ous other career-related projects in
information I would probably have tact and Dr. Sweet could not conaddition to Shadow Day.
tact students herself because of the
taken a different route.”
“Job shadowing provides
lack of phone numbers. Dr. Sweet
It was because these instances
an extensive experience for the
of missed opportunities and career only received word that Mrs. Torstudents designed to give students
changes that inspired Mr. Torres to res had been put in charge ten days
a unique opportunity to look at
before the event. Everything did go
come with her externship idea.
the world of work and provide
through eventually.
“We could get companies to
the answer to the frequently asked
“She[Mrs. Torres] and I got
train students and students could
question, why do I have to learn
along a hundred percent,” Dr.
shadow at least two or three prothis,” Dr. Sweet said.
Sweet said. “Janet, darling, stayed
fessionals,” Ms. Torres said.
This year she met a Northside
after school day after day after
Ms. Torres believes that it is
student, Steve Solomon, Adv. 810,
day.”
beneficial when parents become
and along with several parents,
Shadow Day enabled students
involved in the externship proincluding Bob Soloman and
to explore different areas to get a
gram. That way they can ensure
Toba Marks, and Susan Spillane
better understanding of what their
that the companies’ are safe for
planned on bringing Shadow Day
ideal careers are like, and postheir children to go to. She thinks
to Northside. Ms. Spillane passed
sibly shape their future. Maybe if
that students should shadow
the job of organizing such an
Northside develops a career club
people in various different profesevent on to Mrs. Torres, a Northor an externship program more
sions – even shadow in a few ones
side Spanish teacher because Mrs.
students will be able to take advanthat they had not been considerTorres already had several ideas
tage of it.
ing going into. According to Ms.
involving externships.
“The best part was being
Torres, it could be an “eye-opener”
Mrs. Torres has several friends
able to give these kids a chance
for many students who are unsure
who were classmates of hers in
to expose themselves to different
of what to do. They could either
college and still have not comcareers,” Ms. Torres.
find something they enjoy or real-
Freshmen no longer
fresh meat
The freshman class adjusts
to Northside
by Matt Glodz
The freshmen are not fresh
meat anymore. Now that they
have reached the second half of
freshmen year, a majority of the
freshmen have adjusted to the
Northside atmosphere.
Most freshmen were given
their first taste of the Northside experience during their excursion to
the Snake Road Adventure Center
over the summer. Over the two-day
trip, they participated in a variety
of team building activities that
allowed them to make new friends
and begin to build a sense of trust
and community within their class
before the school year even began.
“I thought [Snake Road] was
good because you didn’t know a
lot of people going in there,” Molly Sullivan, Adv. 107, said. “You
kind of just talked to everyone.
Then on the first day of school you
weren’t completely lost and you
knew people.”
Some freshmen also mention that their initial impressions
of Northside led them to believe
that it was full of “nerds.” They
found this to be no more than a
stereotype, however, once they arrived. Many credit the welcoming
and close-knit atmosphere of the
school with helping them make the
adjustment.
“You feel comfortable with the
people around you,” Leigh Durudogan, Adv. 107, said. “There
are different groups of people but
we’re all nice to each other. We’re
not separating from each other and
refusing to talk to one another.”
“Northside inspires people to
show their inner weirdness,” Sullivan said. “People are not really
judgmental. A lot of people act
more unique and open [here] than
they would at other schools. Whoever you are, you can fit in.”
As far as how Northside stacks
up compared to their elementary
schools, the freshmen found that it
is much more laid-back.
“I really like how they let us
hang out around the school after
school hours,” Durudogan said. “I
feel that they really trust us, unlike
my old school where they just told
us to leave right away.”
So easy, a caveman could do it
Northside’s very own gecko
by Dilraj Sekhon
Northside has always been in the limelight in some
way or another. Its opening was a controversial issue, since
the 52.5 million dollar budget that CPS (Chicago Public
Schools) used to open this school could have relieved below
par schools, some argue. Northside is not a stranger to local
media, as it is ranked the number one high school in the
state according to the Chicago Tribune. Nor is it a stranger
to national media- it is the 24th best high school in the nation
according to U.S. News & World Report.
One of the many students that attend this “number
one” institution is not a stranger to media either. Edward
Heffernan, Adv. 105, appeared in a television-aired Geico
Insurance commercial. Geico is a national insurance
company and is represented by the little gecko that speaks
with a British accent. In this Barbara Walter-style interview,
Heffernan talks about his experiences with Geico, Northside,
and everything in between.
Heffernan was 14 when he first worked with Geico. It is
not safe to assume that he was a Geico admirer. In fact, he’s
quite indifferent to the company as a whole.
“Actually, I didn’t like Geico,” Heffernan said.
Heffernan saw an opportunity and just went for it.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Heffernan said. “They called and
asked if I wanted to audition for it, so I just auditioned for
it.”
Although Heffernan may not have seemed as excited, he
does recollect the minutest details about that day.
“It was a blue sky, flowers,” Heffernan said. “My mom
had groceries with her that day. The sun was out, yeah, it
was just a good day.”
Although Heffernan maybe a successful actor, he is not
considering it to be his first career option.
Page “I want to be either a cleaning lady or a bonnet maker,”
Heffernan said. “But the professional bonnet maker could
change.”
Heffernan has been living in Chicago all his life and was
raised on the north side, close to Niles and Skokie.
“I was born in Alaska, uh no Chicago,” Heffernan said.
“My childhood was pretty good, I was raised by wolves.”
Aside from the fact that he is working with Geico at such
a young age, Heffernan has many interesting experiences, as
he recalls a distinct family trip.
“About two years ago, I read this book about an old guy
who said he knew about a buried treasure [and] ever since
I’ve been searching for it,” Heffernan said. “I remember I
was kayaking. And as we were kayaking, I saw this island
in the middle right. True story. It was just a happy-go-lucky
day. So as we got close to this island, all of a sudden everything got dark. Everyone started screaming and pushing.
And then I heard a voice say ‘Go away and never come
back’ and I swear till this day it was Black Beard’s ghost.”
Heffernan is quite the athlete. He likes to play a wide
variety of sports in his freetime.
“Mostly I play the sports I make up in the crib,” Heffernan said. “They’re pretty dumb, like really dumb. We had
pogo sticks and nets on our heads; we were throwing foam
things at our heads. It was fun.”
“Shoot for the stars,” Heffernan said.
He’s a big dreamer and hopes to make those dreams a
reality one day.
“And if it’s a cloudy night sky, go right through that
cloudy night sky,” Heffernan said.
So if you’re feeling down, just think about all the money
you’ll save if you switch to Geico and remember what Heffernan said, “shoot for the stars.”
“There’s a lot of freedom,”
Andrew Sonta, Adv. 106, said.
“Everything was really strict [at
my old school]. There was even a
rule that said our socks had to be
a certain length, so I like it better
here.”
Freshmen are also finding
that the coursework is much less
grueling than they expected and
said that most of the teachers at
Northside help the hundred-minute periods fly by. They also tend
to like the midweek break that Colloquium provides and think of the
half-day as an opportunity to catch
up on work.
“I expected a lot of impossible work, but the teachers help
you learn and they offer tutoring,”
Ashley Kossakowski, Adv. 100,
said.
“She [a teacher] said that
she considers us equals,” Nico
Salzetta, Adv. 105, said. “The
teachers actually get you into the
subject. They don’t just give you
long lectures.”
Although the freshmen class
seems to have acclimated fairly
well, they still faced some animosity from the upperclassmen during
the first few weeks of school.
A Facebook group entitled “I
REALLY Don’t Like This Year’s
Freshmen” was created claiming
that “the class of 2011 has got to
be the most boring group of freshmen yet.” A minor hazing incident
also took place, and upperclassmen
regularly comment on the large
size of the freshmen class and
its contribution to “traffic jams”
which are especially prevalent on
the far side of the Science Department hallway.
“This year's freshmen are
okay,” Raymond Duong, Adv.
014, said. “But there's too many of
them. They basically crowd up the
whole place and everywhere you
look there's a freshmen.”
Despite some teasing from the
upperclassmen, the freshmen seem
to be acclimated pretty well.
“The grades have been good
and the people have been great,”
Neel Patel, Adv. 103, said.
“Northside is an experience like no
other.”
Page Features
The Hoof Beat
You can only make me run under one condition…
It has to be indoors
by Molly McAndrew
With spring comes spring sports, and
with spring sports comes indoor conditioning. Indoor conditioning has always taken
place at the beginning of the spring season,
but this year has been slightly different. This
year many students have been arguing that
the hallways are a lot more crowded after
school thanks to the various sports that are
training indoors.
“It has been much more crowded,” Megan Cleary, Adv. 905, said. “This year teams
have to stake out spaces ahead of time if they
want to practice.”
One possible reason for the lack of space
is that each year the incoming freshman class
size has been increasing. More students,
in some cases, mean more people getting
involved in NCP’s athletic program, which
this year has contributed to less space for
practices.
It’s not just the athletes taking up space
either, many students who chose to hang out
after school in the atrium or hallways are also
being affected by the lack of space. For some,
the mere task of getting to a locker seems
quite an impossible feat.
“Compared to last year, there is a lot less
room,” Jenny Kane, Adv. 901, said. “There
are a lot of people who stand in the hallways
while track is running. We have to ask them
to move or else we may hit them.”
Innocent bystanders find themselves in
danger when they stand in the middle of
hallway during a team’s exercises. To some it
feels like a stampede as the many mustangs
Northside’s track team is forced to condition instead the school along with various other spring sports.
Photo by Alejandro Valdivieso
pass in a sweaty, breathless rush. The teams
training indoors this season include track,
women’s soccer, men’s baseball, women’s
lacrosse and men’s lacrosse.
“I was walking in the hallway with my
friend after school when we heard a stampede of feet from the girl’s soccer team,”
Bianca Valdez, Adv. 908, said. “They didn’t
even say anything. I had to dive into my
locker to get out of the way so that I didn’t
get trampled on.”
The solution to the situation is extremely
delicate. In order to create more space,
Northside would literally have to expand,
which seems highly unlikely and very
expensive. The solution should not be more
space, but rather less people. In order to limit
the number of students, there has to be a
decrease in the number of students accepted
each year. If the enrollment number does not
cease to increase, the only solution to lack of
space in the future will be an expansion of
the school. If the school chooses to expand,
the first thing to go will be the field behind
Northside, and that will result in more teams
conditioning indoors.
Another solution would be to kick out
students that are not staying for academic or
athletic purposes. The problem with that is
that one of Northside’s missions would be
taken away - the opportunity for students to
come and go freely, the same as on a college
campus. This temporary solution would also
upset the students who have no other way of
spending time with friends unless they are in
school.
But ultimately all parties involved—both
the teams and the rest of the Northside
community—should brace themselves until
warmer weather brings the mustangs outdoors to the fields.
“I view it as a temporary condition,”
Karla Ortiz, Adv. 902, said. “When the
weather gets warmer we’ll be able to go play
soccer outside. Then the rest of the students
can enjoy their time without having to worry
about being run over. It’s just for the time being. We all have to make some sacrifices.”
Students fight back
A petition created to raise the ticket price of Junior Prom
by Tyler Johnson
The members of the 2008 Junior Prom Committee
created a budget that was based on a $70 ticket price, which
accounted for food, the venue, music, decorations, and
marketing. However, the budget was rejected by the administration because they did not want the ticket price to exceed
$50. In response to the administration’s decision, a petition
was created and circulated around the school to keep the
ticket price at $70, but the administration refused to budge.
Hannah Basil, Adv. 907, chair of venue committee, was
informed of the administration’s decision by Ms. Laura
Barfield, English Department, Junior Prom sponsor, during
her 3A lunch. It was during that same period that she would
create and distribute the petition.
“After finding out about our budget being rejected, I became quite frustrated with the decision,” Basil said. “I knew
that the Junior Prom ticket was $70 last year, and that’s
what the original ticket price was going to be this year. I
wanted to demonstrate that the junior class would be willing to pay the same amount for a ticket as last year’s Prom.”
The petition informed the junior class that the committee had planned for Junior Prom to be catered by Ann
Sather’s and to be held at the Peggy Notebaert Museum.
Since the budget was not approved, the committee would
not be able to sign the contract to reserve the museum. The
petition asked the junior class for their signatures to consent
to a $70 prom ticket.
The response was overwhelming.
“I typed the petition during 3A lunch and distributed
about 30 sheets at 12:35,” Basil said. “By 3:30 we received
240 signatures, and to put that into perspective there are 256
juniors in our class.”
Basil noted that students in other grades signed the
petition, but many students also signed because of peer
pressure.
“I signed because of peer pressure,” Jerry Wang, Adv.
901, said. “I don’t even think I knew what I was signing at
the time. I just saw a bunch of names and I signed, too.”
Other students agreed heavily with Basil on the issue.
“It seems unfair for the administration to change the
budget after most of the things were planned,” Frank Ngo,
Adv. 906, said. “It doesn’t make sense why they caused
such a big uproar when $70 is the same as last year’s ticket
price.”
“I feel that it’s a bit unfair that the school administration forced us down to $50,” Richard Tovar, Adv. 903, said.
“If it stayed at $70 like they had planned, then it would be
better for the juniors. Its Junior Prom. It was planned by the
juniors, its for the juniors, and the juniors are the student’s
who pay, and where do the administration come in? They
don’t.”
Dr. Margaret Murphy, Assistant
Principal, said the budget was rejected
because the committee had previously
decided to keep the prices low.
“The decision at the very first
meeting was to keep the price low,” Dr.
Murphy said. “They decided that that
they would keep the price at $50 and
we were under the impression that that
was the amount the group was going to
work with.”
The petition never reached the administration because Basil did not think
that the administration would respond
kindly to the petition.
“I decided to not present the
signatures to Dr. Murphy because I
was informed that the administration’s
decision was final and that they would
not welcome the petition warmly,” Basil
said. “Sometimes you have to accept
that you cannot change decisions, you
just have to stop, breathe and brainstorm new ideas.”
This is where Basil believes the
discrepancy arose.
“There was a major miscommunication between the administration and the
faculty advisors in terms of the expectations in ticket price.” Basil said. “Dr.
Murphy suggested at the first meeting
that it would be nice to have a $50
ticket. We all agreed that it would be a
nice goal, but it was presented in a way
that did not seem like a strict mandate.”
However, Chelsea Rinquist, Adv.
904, student-leader of the committee,
agreed with Dr. Murphy.
“At the first meeting we decided
Jerry Wang, Adv.. 901, felt pressured by fellow classmates to sign the
that the ticket price would not go
Junior Prom petition.
above $60,” Rinquist, said. “We realPhoto by Tyler Johnson
ized that this was a public school and
that Cubbie Walk was also around the
on Tuesday, March 25, to maximize the dining experience.
same time as Prom, so we thought a reasonable price would
“After seeing the huge response from the petition, I am
be around 50 to 60 dollars.”
hopeful that the junior class will come together and make
Despite this setback, the committee has surged forward
our fundraising week extremely successful,” Basil said. “I
by redistributing their budget. Junior Prom is still going to
am keeping spirits positive and working towards making
take place at the Peggy Notebaert Museum and although
this prom better than ever.”
Ann Sather’s is still going to cater, the meal options have
Both teacher sponsors, Ms. Barfield and Ms. Veronica
been modified to fit their budget. The Committee still needs
Hetler, Social Science Department, would not comment on
to raise at least $2,000 through their fundraiser Game Night the petition and the state of the committee.
March 2008
Features
Page Fashion club a la Mode breaks onto the Northside
scene
by Zosia Holden
Among societies brimming with artists and worldly thinkers, Northside’s new
fashion club, A La Mode, is coming in with
a uniquely cultured approach to it’s subject.
A La Mode made it debut this Valentine’s
Day after school at 3:20 p.m., under the support of Mr. Alexander Hughes, a Northside
counselor.
“Fashion is one of my hobbies,” Rebekah Ward, Adv. 903, the club’s co-founder,
said. “I knew that there were clubs for all
kinds of things here, so I thought it would
be fun to meet all different kinds of people
in the school who have this hobby, especially
ones I don’t really talk to.”
Unlike the clichéd fashion circles that focus solely on momentarily popular styles, A
La Mode has a more open aim. As noted by
Ward, A La Mode’s focus is not merely on
what’s stylish and what isn’t, but on debating
and discussing the full fashion spectrum. In
hopes of attracting students that have their
own personal ideas on style, the group
promotes an expression of what
people like themselves in. Most
strong perhaps is the notion from
co-founders Ward and Rhianna
Jones, Adv. 810, that it reaches
out to all kinds of students,
regardless of whether their
ways of dressing are as different as a fox and hound.
Though only one boy
showed up at the first meeting, Ward said that she would
certainly encourage boys
to come. She felt that they
shouldn’t be any more afraid
to express themselves or
discuss their appearance
than girls, and assured
Northside boys that here
they would be welcomed to talk
about their appearance.
When the perspective mem-
bers of A La Mode arrived, they were
greeted by a spread of home-baked cookies
and neat arrays of fashion magazines,
including Vogue, Teen Vogue, Elle, etc. As
the crowd soon saw, these were laid out
not simply as reading material, but
as part of a motion to welcome the
newcomers. People were encouraged to make a collage defining
themselves through clothes, reflecting back onto the club’s message of
personal image. Moreover, it gave
everyone an opportunity to loosen up
over talk of favorite designers and the
future they hoped to see both for the
club and the fashion world.
“Our goal is a fashion show for the
end of the year,” Jones related, though the
idea is apparently still in development. She
hinted that the show would be expected
some time in late spring or early summer,
an outdoor event welcoming the attention
of a wide student audience.
The seemingly casual atmosphere that
greeted new club members was motivated
by a broader vision: A La Mode’s founders hope in their group’s time at the school
to make a move towards humanitarianism.
Conversation turned bitter on the laboring of
children in underprivileged nations over so
much admired clothing and the amount of
costly designs that end up being stolen and
copied. There was talk of trying to promote
local eco-friendly boutiques, which are often
downtrodden by more popular mainstream
retailers. Firmer still was the hope of Ward
and Jones that the end-of-year fashion show
could be used as a charity event, possibly
putting out a theme of something such
as HIV/AIDS and donating their funds.
Seeing that so many of Northside’s clubs
have likewise turned their faces towards the
outlook of the modern world, the literal
French meaning of A La Mode’s name, “In
the Fashion,” will clearly not be far from the
truth.
Preparing for the ACT test: what you need to know
by Bhumi Patel
Northside offers a class that helps students prepare for the
ACT test and allows them to review concepts on math, reading, writing, and science twice a week. Many colleges use the
ACT to determine whether or not to accept a student.
Ms. Marina Medina, Director of the Counseling Services,
helped to organize the class. Northside teachers run the class
and they each teach one of the four subjects.
Mr. Giovanni Bennicasa, an English teacher, he prepares
students for both the reading and writing portion of the test.
He helps students understand how to improve their essays
and score higher on the writing portion of the test. Students
review grammar rules, sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, and other concepts that are commonly tested.
Ms. Martha Mulligan, the Math Department Chair,
helps to review the math portion of the test with the students.
Similar to the writing portion, this part of the class involves
reviewing concepts that many students may have forgotten and doing many practice problems so students become
more efficient at taking the test. Students feel that math is the
subject that they review the most because there are so many
topics that need to be covered, and it is easy to forget the
information that they learned in the first couple of years at
Northside.
Mr. Daniel Caldwell, a science teacher, helps the students
understand questions in the science section and review the
charts and other graphic organizers that are presented on the
ACT test.
“I often struggle through the science portion of the ACT
practice test because sometimes I do not understand the how
to interpret the data and graphs,” Geetha Bijjam, Adv. 903,
said.
The classes meets twice a week, and the students start out
by taking a practice ACT for the first half of the class. Then
they review that portion of the test for the second half of the
class. Students focus on the areas that they did not do well,
based on the results from the practice test work on reviewing
those concepts. Many students will take the test in April, and
the students in the classes plan to take the ACT again in June
to improve their scores.
“The classes have been helpful,” Fabian Flexas, Adv. 900,
said. “There are certain subjects that are covered a lot better
than others; but, overall, it helps to go over concepts that we
may have forgotten.”
Classes are helpful for students who want to review the
concepts that they may have forgotten, and it also provides
many students an opportunity to set a certain amount of time
each week to prep for the ACT.
“If you would like to learn strategies that will allow you
to move easily through the test and review concepts that may
be on it, then take the class,” Flexas said.
Students who take part in the class, will be more prepared
to take the ACT. Teachers think the class will be effective.
“I do believe that the classes will help the students improve their ACT scores because they are reviewing topics that
they might have forgotten and learning strategies that will be
effective on the test,” Ms. Mulligan said.
Page 10
Centerfold
The Hoof Beat
Speak now, or forever hold your peace
Northside’s Language Department prepares students
for the future
by Mariam Bawany
The typical recipe for a successful future
calls for a drive to learn, dedication to one’s
work, motivation to continue to improve, and
perhaps now the ability to speak a foreign
language. With the world heading in a direction that entails well-rounded and knowledgeable people, it has become necessary for future
generations to be prepared to communicate
with people of all parts of the world. Does
Northside’s language department fulfill these
requirements?
Northside’s language department is comprised of seven languages: Spanish, German,
Latin, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Korean.
“An affective language program has qualified teachers, a variety of languages, and a variety of real life experiences using that language,”
Ms. Tamara Driver, head of the language
department, said.
Northside’s Language Department’s website
claims to prepare its student body for “a new
millennium, a shift in world power and a fastgrowing global economy, which all demand new
thinking and focus on education. The World
Language Department creates a curriculum that
helps to prepare students for this call for new
learning: learning with new perspective, new
priority and new means.” To achieve their goal,
incorporating promising languages is key.
Researchers from University College London conducted a study in which the brains of
105 people were examined. Of those people, 80
were bilingual. The researchers found that in
those 80 people, the grey matter in their brains,
which is the part of the brain which is able to
sort out information, was distinctly greater relative to the amount of grey matter in the remaining 25 people.
“People who learned a second language at a
younger age were also more likely to have more
advanced grey matter than those who learned
later,” according to a BBC report on the issue.
This research informs us that learning a language is important, but does the actual language
that is studied matter?
“We want to give Northside students opportunities - above average opportunities,” Driver
said. “We are a selective enrollment school
and to my knowledge we are the only school in
the state with seven languages. Our school is
located in an Asian neighborhood, so we have
chosen to teach Korean. We also teach more
traditional languages such as Spanish, Latin,
and French.”
According to the international listing of jobs
distributed by the US State Department, 125 of
177 jobs preferred tentative workers to be fluent
in French while 31 preferred Spanish, versus
10 who preferred Portuguese, 7 Arabic, and 4
Russian. Many people responded to this type
information with enthusiasm.
“I am definitely excited to know that I will
be able to use my Spanish speaking skills later
on in life,” Sadia Sozzer, Adv. 905, said. “I feel
that we have a great language program because
we not only learn how to speak it, but also a
little about the culture behind the language.”
Other believe our program to be successful
as well.
“Besides the fact that students who speak
two or more languages succeed better on academic exams, learning another language allows
that person to experience a more compassionate
view of the world in which they live,” Mr. Robert Blease, said. “This has been my observation,
confirmed by studies done by experts around
the world.” Furthermore, German is the most widely
spoken language in Europe. Although only 3
jobs listed in the international listing of jobs preferred their workers to speak German fluently, it
is the official language of Austria, Switzerland,
Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. This means
that students learning German have more mobility if they ever visit Europe.
“I think that it is important to learn the key languages but to also have
a fun time while we
are learning them,”
Jonathon Ko, Adv.
909, said. “I
think that
by learning
French now, I will
be able to pursue it
in college and use it
later on in life.”
Others agree.
“All of the
language teachers
that I’ve had try to
incorporate games,
group activities, and
other things that allow us to interact with
each other,” Jennifer
Mensah, Adv. 905,
said. “It makes learning
another language a lot
easier.”
Speaking [of] Speaking [of]
Japanese
German
by Zainab Bilfaqi
“Deutsch ist sehr toll. Ich Libe Deutsch,”
Isabel Yanes, Adv. 804, said. “German is a fun
language. Frau (Teacher)Apel teaches us in a very
interactive manner that helps us learn and have
fun as well.” The first part means “German is
great. I love German.”
German, the West Germanic language, is one
of the most widely spoken languages in the world
with over 98 billion people world wide speaking
it. It is spoken across many continents; and, in
European countries, it is at times the first language
taught in schools, according to ALS International.
“I think it is a fundamental language,” Ms.
Virginia Apel, Foreign Language Department,
said. “Worldwide people study German. In many
countries it is the first language that they learn.
And as far as a language, it is very exact and it follows a pattern so once you learn the language, it is
easier to pick up other languages.”
Along with being a fundamental language,
German contributes its own cultural activities.
“The cultural aspect of German makes it more
valuable for the student,” Ms. Apel said. “Sure
you have to learn about the vocabulary and the
grammar, but it’s nice to know about the people’s
lives and what is important to the people.”
One of the predominant German celebrations,
that is even celebrated right here in Chicago, is
Ocktoberfest. According to “infoplease.com,”
Oktoberfest began in 1810 in the Bavarian capital
of Munich. It began as King Ludwig’s public marriage celebration to Princess Therese of SaxonyHildburghausen. It has now evolved into an event
widely-known across nations for its costumed
performers, traditional dances, and mass-consumption of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer
for minors.
Besides the culture, Germany is known for
their role in a variety of subjects ranging from
the medicine to music. German scientists played
a significant role in the studies of radiology,
oncology, neurology, psychology, and an array of
other medical related subjects. Composers such as
Beethoven and Mozart, who revolutionized classical music, were of German descent according to
ALS International.
The contributions that the German language,
people, and culture have made prove to have a
significant impact on not only America, but the
entire world.
by Melissa España
“When students come here and learn their new
languages, it’s not all learning grammar or vocabulary. I want students to venture out and explore a new
world, and learn a different culture.”
These are the words of Jeung-Hee Park, more
commonly known as “Park Sensei” to her students.
Northside has included Japanese in its World
Language program for all eight years of its existence,
with Park Sensei teaching Japanese I through IV and
Advance Placement throughout.
Her students come into Japanese I with no prior
knowledge of the language. Her goal is to teach her
students basic greetings, vocabulary, and culture
that all Japanese-speakers should know. When the
students are just barely starting to learn the language,
Park starts off by teaching them basic characters.
Simple greetings such as “hello,” “good morning,”
and “good bye” are among the first things to be
taught as well.
As the students go on to take more advanced
Japanese classes, the work becomes far more difficult, and the way she teaches her students to write
becomes more structured.
Year three mainly involves the students preparing for the AP test. By then, the students are doing
projects, writing long essays, and other exercises to
help them further advance their knowledge of the
language.
Each year, students in Japanese III are given the
opportunity to participate in the Japanese Speech
Contest. This year, six students have applied.
“We have a pretty good record,” Park said. “One
year, a student went to the nation wide competition.
And every year, [the students] win at least second or
third place for each category.”
Aside from just the language, Park always emphasizes culture. Park makes it clear that learning the culture behind the language ensures that you gain more
than just how to communicate with different people.
Much as some of the other language classes, a
trip to the country of the language’s origin is set up.
This year, Park Sensei is taking twenty-three students
to Japan during spring break.
“I would definitely recommend [Japanese]
to [people such as] incoming freshmen,” said Rosa
Pacheco, Adv. 107. “Park Sensei is a very good
teacher. She always finds fun and creative ways for
the class to learn the lessons. You would be surprised
at how much you can learn in a very short period of
time.”
Speaking
[of] Chinese
by Melissa L. España
“My goal is to help my students to express themselves [in the Chinese language], and to make their learning process easier,” Ms. Haiyan-Fu, Foreign Language
Department, said.
Ms. Haiyan-Fu, also known as Fu Laoshi, has been
the only Chinese teacher Northside has ever had. She
teaches all Chinese classes.
A typical Chinese I class requires students to learn
basic grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure
as part of the basics. The higher levels focus on more
advanced aspects, like reading and writing. One of the
activities Fu Laoshi makes the more advanced students
do is watch movies in Chinese and then describe the
characters as well as they can.
Students in Chinese, in addition to doing work from
their textbook, also complete various projects. For example, students in Chinese III were assigned a project in
which they were to describe their ideal spouse.
Culture also plays a major role in Ms. Fu’s classes.
There are many units in which mostly culture is taught.
Since Fu puts such an emphasis on teaching culture, food
plays a large role as well.
Her students were assigned to bring in a recipe, prepare the food, and bring it in to class. Along with doing
so, the students described to the class how they made
it and would also share about their dining experiences.
With all this in mind, the students, along with Ms. Fu,
created a cookbook with all of their recipes.
“[We] had our very own Taste of Chicago in the
class,” Ms. Fu said.
Schoolwork is not the only thing that Fu Laoshi
offers her students. Unlike some of the language groups
that take trips to different countries as a sort of “vacation,” students in Chinese have the opportunity to study
in Chinese-speaking cities like Beijing.
“I’d recommend [Chinese] only to people who really
want to take it,” Robin Xu, Adv. 104 said. “It’s hard in
the sense that it’s nothing like English or other European
languages. It’s really different from what [us students are]
used to, so unless you actually want to spend time on it
and get good at it, I don’t think it’s worth it.”
Speakin
French
by Zainab Bilfaqi
“Français est Fantastiqu
Adv. 904, said. “Français es
monde.”
This translates to “Frenc
one of the best languages in
French, the native langu
is a Romance language that
and 16 century. With over 3
world speaking French as na
French is seen as an importa
United States bordering cou
those countries with French
French has a variety of t
ranging from the cultural att
edge enriching literature.
“
French has helped me i
said. “I’ve come across a lot
people taking other languag
example, in AP Literature th
book that has many French
are missing out on a lot of t
standing what each of the p
French also contributes
growing culturally diverse w
and economically, the Frenc
States. The United States ha
relationship with France, an
language for key financial co
necessity.
“I believe that being flue
important based on the fact
more diverse and culturally
of each other so the only wa
to communicate in any sort
languages,” Ringquist said.
March 2008
ng [of]
ue,” Chelsea Ringquist
st le plus belle language du
ch is fantastic. French is
n the world.”
uage of over 30 countries,
t originated between the 14
350 million people in the
ative or learned language,
ant language to learn. The
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Centerfold
Page 11
Wow, you speak two languages?
The benefits of being bilingual in the United
States today
by Derika Benton
According to the United States Census, more than
7.5 million children between the ages of five and
17 speak a language other than English at home.
That number is expected to increase in the coming
years, as people increasingly want to learn
more and more languages. It seems that
people are realizing that the benefits being
bilingual in today’s society are multifascitied.
What does it mean to be bilingual? According to Northside it
is not only the ability to speak
multiple languages with the facility
of a native speaker, but it means
also to know and be comfortable with the culture associated with that language.
Being bilingual heightens
a person’s chance of getting
a really well paying job. According to the University
of Florida news, Hispanics who are fluent in both
English and Spanish see it
reflected in their higher incomes, as compared to those
individuals who speak only English. Consequentally, they are significantly less likely
to live in poverty because of the demand for
bilingual persons in the workforce.
According to the “Spanish Center,” not
only do languages contribute to higher pay,
but to more job opportunities as well because
it shows a greater sensitivity to language and
a better ear for listening. A person who is
capable of mastering the grammar, vocabulary, and intricacies of an additional language
will be more capable of learning other jargon,
be it language that is relevant in a hospital
setting or when learning computer programming.
Learning another language helps people
to be more social and appreciative of foreign cultures. According to “The Spanish Center,” being bilingual opens the door to
other cultures and helps to understand and appreciate people
from other countries.
Jennifer Mensah, Adv. 901, a junior at Northside, said,
“Before I started taking Spanish, I did not know too much
about the Spanish culture. Now I am really interested in the
Spanish culture; it is really fascinating. I am looking forward to
going on the trip to Spain”
Knowing how to speak more than one language fluently
also has positive effects on a person’s brain. Researchers from
York University in Canada suggest that being bilingual sharpens the brain. A report released by York cited that multilingual
persons have sharper brains; and when tested, showed a slower
mental declining rate as they aged.
A different study by Peal and Lambert found that
bilinguals have higher IQ’s than monolinguals. Their study
found that bilinguals actually have a greater mental flexibility,
greater abstract thinking, greater lexical independence, superior
concept formulation and higher verbal IQ than monolinguals. Bilinguals are more creative, better at solving complex
problems, and they outperform monolinguals on verbal and
nonverbal intelligence tests. They also communicate more with
people, read more literature, and travel more. They are able to
speak more than one language, which gives them the ability to
communicate with more than just one group of people. Bilingual people are able to speak to a broader range of people, and
they travel a lot more, unlike people who are stuck speaking
their own language. Bilingual people are able to communicate
with people in a foreign country, which makes them a lot more
comfortable traveling to different countries. If a person is able
to read in another language, it allows him to read the literature
of that language in its original form, without having to use a
translator; and thus one reads more literature.
Learning a second language also benefits a child’s
cognitive development. Bilingual children tend to perform
better in other subjects like mathematics and science. Children
who are bilingual have an increased capacity for learning languages as adults, when most others don’t. As the demand for
bilingual employees increases and as people age better, there is
only one word of advice: go out and learn a language, perhaps
one of Northside’s many enriching courses.
Speaking [of] Speaking [of]
Spanish
Latin
by Zainab Bilfaqi
Speaking
[of] Korean
by Zainab Bilfaqi
With over 100,000 Korean speaking people in Chicago
and over 100 million Korean speaking people in the world,
according to “blurtit.com,” the Korean language may be
seen as a “must” language at Northside. From the Korean
makeup stores down Bryn Mawr to the Java and Mug café
which is Korean-owned, Northside
“The language is easy to learn and very practical to use
in daily life, like tuning into Channel 41 Korean T.V. and
AM 1330 Korea Radio as well as ordering a meal at Korean
restaurants along Lincoln and Peterson Avenues in Chicago,” Stella Hahn, Foreign Language Department, said.
Korean, the native language of North Korea and
South Korea, is an Altaic language (a language of Central
Asia and Northeast Asia) spoken by people all over the
world. Korea also has an alliance with the United States of
America.
“It seems natural to learn Korean as a foreign language
since the U.S. has [a] strategic alliance with Korea through
our military presence as well as economic partnership since
the Korean War in 1950,” Ms. Hahn said.
Northside also has a unique association to Korea, not
just because of the language but because of the special tie to
its sister school. The Northside Korean Language Program
has a sister school exchange program that began in 2006.
“This year, the Korean Science Academy [KSA]
students visited Northside in January and continue to have
relationship among students through the Facebook social
networking system or email,” Ms. Hahn said. “In return,
six Korean language students with two teachers [Ms. Stella
Hahn and Mr. Robert Blease] will be traveling to Busan, Korea to visit KSA, the elite science school, during the spring
break in March of this year.”
Northside proves to have a significant bond to Korea
not only because of the Korean community that surrounds
Northside, but because of the special tie to a sister school
as well. As the years continue, the bond is expected to only
strengthen.
“¿Què no es bueno de espanol?” Biana Cuyun,
Adv. 804, said. “Nada. Todo lo del español es
bueno.”
This translates to “What isn’t good about Spanish? Nothing. Everything about Spanish is good.”
Spanish, also known as Castilian, originated
in the northern area of Spain and is the most
widely used of the romance languages, according
to “Trustedtranslations.com.” Approximately 332
billion people around the world speak Spanish. After
English, it is currently the most spoken language in
America.
“Spanish is a widespread language and with all
the Spanish-speaking communities in the United
States today, it is beneficial to have some speaking
skills to use for communication,” Jasmine Lukose,
Adv. 804, said.
Northside’s Spanish courses not only teach a
widely-spoken language in the United States, but also
offer a wealth of information about topics that aren’t
directly related to the language, for instance, culture.
“What fascinated me the most about Spanish was
the cultural aspect,” Liliana Leon, Adv. 805, said. “I
remember first learning about a celebration, called a
quinceañera, which celebrates a girl’s entrance into
womanhood. Besides that I learned about different country-specific celebrations, for instance the
celebration of San Fermin. This is actually a religious
celebration, where the saint of Pamplona, Spain
is recognized. This is also when the widely-known
‘run of the torros’ occurs. Overall, taking Spanish
enriched my knowledge of culture.”
The cross-over of American and Hispanic culture
contribute to the success of many Hispanic Americans and this success serves as a role model for the
younger generations to follow.
“Our culture and intellect has crossed over finally,
and we are being embraced for our ideas and power,”
Mrs. Janet Torres-Pagani, Foreign Language Department, said. “If you look at the elections in Illinois,
you will see that the majority of the people who won
positions were Hispanic. I am hoping that someday
we could use our language and culture to identify
our strengths, rather than use it against us. When
we work together, no matter what country you come
from, we prove to be a more dynamic community
and role model for our young people.”
The growing Hispanic population in America
has contributed to the diversity that is seen in current society, and ultimately this diversity promotes
knowledge.
By Melissa L. España
“There have been a number of tests that have
indicated that students who take Latin, that their
scores in all fields tend to go up,” Chester Tylinski of
the Foreign Language Department said. “If you look
at SAT scores each year, students who take [Latin]
have a higher average than students who take any
other language.”
Ever since Northside Prep opened its doors eight
years ago, Chester Tylinski has been teaching Latin
I-IV and an Advanced Placement Latin class.
Unlike most languages that are taught in high
schools, such as Spanish and French, Latin isn’t
spoken. Latin is often considered a dead language, as
no major countries have Latin as their national language. Despite this fact, Latin is beneficial to those
who take it.
Tylinski uses a method of teaching called the
Socratic Method, a process in which the students are
more involved in the class. Students are encouraged
to explore the Latin language through investigation
as teachers often respond to students’ inquiries with
questions, compelling the students to take a more
investigative approach to learning the language.
In Latin I and II, students learn vocabulary
and grammar through translation while also learning about the culture, traditions, and mythology of
ancient Greece and Rome.
In Latin III, IV and AP there is no longer a
textbook. Instead, students translate classical authors
such as Cicero, Catullus and Virgil. By then, the class
begins to feel and be taught more like a literature
class.
Aside from just schoolwork, students on the
Latin team have been recognized nationally. They
participate in a number of Latin competitions. This
year, the Latin team competed in the 2008 Illinois
Junior Classical League Convention, which is a
competition that encourages the knowledge of classical languages. The team won a great deal of awards.
They placed first in many events, such as mythology, and Roman life. They have been the State Latin
Champions for the past six years. During the summer
the team competes at the National Latin Competition for a week of academic and fun activities at a
different college each year. This summer it will take
place at Miami of Ohio University. Next summer it
will take place in California.
Although Latin may be “dead” to those that don’t
know it, it becomes alive to those who take it and try
to benefit from it.
Page 12
Diversions
What about us?
Events around Northside: March Madness
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
Spring Break may be over but there is still
a lot of time to enjoy the weather, have fun
with your friends and support Northside. The
rest of the year is full exciting school wide
events that everyone should participate in. So,
have fun but don’t forget to keep on track with
school and finish the year with success.
March 25 – Junior Prom Game Night.
This is a first-time event to raise money for
Junior Prom and everyone is welcome to
participate. The Junior Prom Committee
will provide board and video games such as
DDR, Guitar Hero, and Taboo. Students will
pay two dollars a game. They can also buy a
frequent player’s card for ten dollars which
will allow them to play ten games during the
course of the evening. The game playing will
take place in rooms 224, 225, 227, and the
event will begin at 4:00 p.m. and last until
7:00 p.m. on the second floor. Everyone is
encouraged to join in on the fun and help
juniors meet prom budget needs. Junior Prom
tickets will also go on sale the same day, and
will be available during the night as well. In
addition, a free prom ticket will be given away
during the game night. Pizza will also be for
sale during the night. Junior Prom Game
Night is a great way to ease back into school
after break while supporting the junior class.
March 25 - Junior Prom ticket sale.
Tickets may be purchased on Tuesday and
Thursday until 4:00 p.m. in room 227 from
Ms. Hetler. Tickets are 50 dollars and may
be purchased with cash or check. In order to
purchase tickets students must have their ID
present. Junior advisories will also be visited
beginning the week of March 31 for more
ticket sales.
March 25 – Copala Submissions. Students
wishing to participate in the annual Copala
must submit a complete one act play written
before the deadline. The plays will be directed
and performed by students at the Northside
Copala Awards Ceremony in the auditorium.
Two plays will be chosen to perform and are
expected to be about 20 to 40 minutes long.
Playwrights must submit their work through
email, to rsnow@nrothsideprep.org, and as a
hard copy in room 208 no later than 3:15 on
Tuesday. The plays will be judged by three
senior students and two teachers. Copala
will take place some time in May as one of
the last school performances. Students can
participate in Copala either as playwrights,
performers or directors. This is a great opportunity to become involved in Northside’s
activities towards the end of the year.
March 26 - National Honor Society
sponsored 3-on-3 basketball tournament. The
annual 3-on-3 will take place in the gym after
Colloquium. Pre-registered teams will play
against each other and participants will re-
ceive free t-shirts from NHS. The profits
will go towards NHS and a non-profit
organization of their choice. Students
are encouraged to come and support the
teams while watching the competition.
March 28 – Key Club Talent Show.
It will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium and end at 10:00 p.m. Students
will showcase their talents ranging from
singing to mini skits. Monetary prizes
will be awarded for the winners. The
audience’s vote will count for fifty percent
of the total winning vote. First place
winner will receive 100 dollars, second
place will receive 75 dollars, and third
place will receive 50 dollars. The profits
will go towards Key Club and a portion
will be donated to an organization of
their choice. Everyone is welcomed and
encouraged to come and support Key
Club and the hard working performing
students. In comparison to last year’s
great outcome, this year will have a larger
variety of performances from individuals
as well as groups, and a special mystery
performance. Admission will be five dollars for students and parents.
March 29 – Varsity Volleyball game.
It will take place in the gym at 8 a.m.
March 30 – Community Lakeshore
Symphony Orchestra. The performance
will begin at 3:00 p.m. in the auditorium
and admission is free for students.
March 31 - Copala play announcements.
The winning plays will be announced. Performances will take place in May and the plays
will also be published in Verve.
Looking ahead into the rest of the school
year, there are many major events to know
about in advance. The following will occur in
the month of April. Given a glimpse of what
the future holds, it is easier to plan out what
events to attend as we count down the days
until summer vacation. Enjoy the following
and participate whenever possible.
April 4 - I-Nite. Sponsored by Asian
Club, International Night will begin at 7:00
p.m. in the auditorium. The annual showcase of international dances and songs will
include elaborate traditional performances
from European to Asian countries. I-Nite is
full of wonderful performances that reflect
Northside’s own diversity through the variety
of colorful and entertaining dances and songs.
April 4 - The Phreshmen Physics
Phreakout. The series of fun physics events
will be held after school. The event is meant
to demonstrate the use of physics in practical mechanisms and have fun while learning about science. Students must register by
Wednesday March 26 to participate. Teams
of three freshmen may register by submitting
The Hoof Beat
Try your hand at Sudoku
the registration form with 30 dollars per team
in denominations of 1 dollar bills. Students
do not have to be in the same physics class to
be on a team, and are not required to be even
taking physics in order to participate. There
will be prizes, T-Shirts, and pizza included.
For more information go to: “http://www.
nscollegeprep.cps.k12.il.us/ncphs/depts/science/nharada/Phreakout/Info.htm”.
April 8 - Cubby Walk Packets. Cubby
Walk donations are due along with a parent
or guardian signed permission slip. If students
do not turn in their forms by Tuesday they
will not be able to participate in the Cubby
Walk and must stay in school for the entire
day.
April 18 - Cubby Walk. Students will
be walking five miles from Northside to
Wrigley Field at 10:30 a.m. The game will
begin at 1:20 and after the game students
are dismissed for the day. This is Northside’s
9th annual Cubby Walk, and this year the
Chicago Cubs will play against the Pittsburgh
Pirates. Unlike the previous years, Cubby
Walk will not take place on a Colloquium
day. As one of the most anticipated events of
the year Cubby Walk combines fun, school
spirit and fundraising for our school in one
day. Cubby Walk is one of Northside’s most
unique aspects and helps raise funds to pay
for computers, science equipment, art sup-
plies, library books, colloquium, and athletic
equipment. Students who raise 50 dollars of
more will receive a complementary ticket to
the Cubs game. Students may receive a ticket
if they raise at least 30 dollars. Prizes will
also be awarded for students from each class
year who raise the largest pledge money. The
donations will be handed in to the main office
by April 8 in the yellow envelopes.
April 23- 3-on-3 Faculty dodge ball
tournament. Sponsored by Shazam, this is a
first-time event taking place in the gym from
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. As a precursor to the
Shazam sponsored 3-on-3 student dodge
ball tournament the faculty 3-on-3 will give
students an opportunity to become familiar
with the new game rules they will use for the
second tournament. The faculty tournament
will be open to all faculty members.
April 30 - 3-on-3 Student dodge ball tournament. Sponsored by Shazam, it will take
place in the gym from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The goal of this event is to collect food for a
food drive for an organization of Shazam’s
choice. In addition, a minimum donation will
be required for participants. The student tournament will be 6-on-6 instead of the faculty
tournament’s 3-on-3. Each student team is
required to have an equal guy-girl ratio. All
students are welcome to participate in this
event while raising money for a good cause.
Around town
Cheap Chicago
by Sonya Dekhtyar
Enjoy an inexpensive night out in our city.
Photo by Sonya Dekhtyar
It’s March. Eventually. Well, as any other thing,
this has its good sides and its bad sides. The sun is
shining, the snow will melt soon; in any case, even if
it doesn’t melt completely, there hopefully won’t be
any new snow – a reason to be happy. Waking up to
the song of morning birds – beautiful music to those
who consider waking up at six every morning the
worst torment on earth – becomes a joy. The thought
that there are only three months left until school lets
out gives us revived energy and strength, and our
favorite activity becomes daydreaming about summer
vacations and fun. But here, into this wonderful depiction of March and the blossoming of spring, step
the thoughts of harsh realities.
It’s March. Already. As any other thing, this has
its good sides and its bad sides. I’ve already mentioned some fascinating, touching features, but can
we be truly excited and happy if school ends in three
months, meaning that AP exams and finals are just
around the corner? Wouldn’t we love to just pull
out a couple of dollars and enjoy a steaming cup of
hot chocolate or a lovely evening at a show? But our
hand goes into our pockets and finds no dollars. The
money given to us by our parents at the beginning of
the week has ended and we dare not ask for more: in
the month of March we often hear the solemn scary
word ‘taxes’. There is no other source of replenishment; the money we had earned by babysitting over
the summer has surely run out, and there’s no one to
borrow from, since almost everyone is in the same
position… Why is it that at the time when nature
blooms and the weather becomes nicer and we espe-
cially want to enjoy our days, that we find it hard to enjoy
our time?
Relax, guys. Luckily, we live in an amazing city, where
you can find cheap entertainment and hot chocolate and
a solution for your problems – for free…well…for almost
free…
TRANSPORTATION
We all use public transportation. How much money you
spend to get around the city depends largely on your own
needs and resourcefulness. Considering current gas prices,
not to mention the annual rate of maintaining a car (nearly
$8,000, according to the American Automobile Association) it can be said that relying mostly on public transportation – the CTA, Metra, and even taxis (if worst comes to
worst and all else breaks down) – is an economic deal.
As students, we pay, on average, 85 cents for each ride
with the CTA. This ride can take you from one end of the
city to another – yes, the trip might be a long one, but you
can always catch up on homework or satisfy your yearning for photography – where you can experience refreshing
food and entertainment for a small sum. If you’re planning
a trip to the suburbs or a more distant location – perhaps to
visit a fascinating museum exhibit – hop on the Metra for as
little as $2.15, or buy a $5 weekend pass for unlimited rides
on Saturday and Sunday. And, if you’d like to combine
fun with efficiency, take a Chicago River boat tour, which
will not only offer you an exquisite view of the shore and
skyline of our city, but will also get you from one place
to another. Tickets to these tours cost as little as $12, and
while this may seem a bit expensive, the impression from
these tours will stay with you for a long time. Better yet,
hop on and off Chicago’s free trolleys when their service
March 2008
Diversions resumes at the end of May. These little cars will get you
anywhere throughout the Loop. Finally, as a sure-fire option
for getting somewhere, get a bike (or borrow it from someone)
and go visit your favorite place in the city.
Pearson (just east of Michigan Avenue), Water Works
Visitor Center (Tues-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat. 10am6pm, Sun 11am-4pm).
TICKETS
We all know that we need a break. Yes, there’s winter
break, and spring break, and then the summer, but sometimes
we just need to stop, take a breath, close our textbooks, and
go someplace fun. There are always cases when you may not
have enough money, but don’t worry! – you don’t have to give
up your allowance to, say, see a good show…
Chicago Public Library Museum Passes
We have all used the city’s public libraries. At
some point, we may have checked out books for summer reading assignments, rented movies in our spare
time, and used its historical databases for projects. But the
next time you’re in a library and are tempted to take out one
extra film to watch with your sibling, stop and think. Instead
of watching a movie, you can go to one of the amazing
museums Chicago has to offer. Now, while many of you have
visited a multitude of these museums before, wouldn’t it be
nice to revive that sentimental, nostalgic feeling for youth and
fun? So check out one of the yellow “Great Kids Museum
Passports” and spend some time out with friends and family.
Needless to say, all of these museums have exceptional exhibits throughout the year, so there will always be something to
your taste. For a full list of participating museums, visit www.
chipublib.org/003cpl/partners/gkids/gkids.html.
Hot-Tix
This not-for-profit service comes from the League of Chicago Theaters, offering a half-price discount on theater tickets
to shows at participating Chicago theaters and venues. While
tickets are usually obtainable, it might be hard to guess which
shows are available or sold out. This system is best suited
for those who would like to see any show, not necessarily a
specific one. For those of you out there who have finished
their homework and have a bit of extra time on your hands,
visit www.hottix.org/buyonline.aspx (where limited amounts
of tickets are listed) close your eyes, and point your finger at a
random venue – chances are, you’re going to end up enjoying
it. If there is a specific show you’d like to see, visit the website
or the following locations for more information and to buy the
Hot-Tix:
72 E. Randolph (between Michigan and Wabash), The
Chicago Tourism Center Site of the Stitching Salon (Tues-Fri
10am-6pm, Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm) …or… 163 E.
Goldstar Events
Once you sign up for Goldstar, you will never regret it.
Almost every day, you will receive e-mail updates about some
of Chicago’s hottest and most exciting entertainment spots.
You will have access to first-rate tickets at half-price or even
better! With Goldstar, you can purchase tickets to popular
venues that you might never have dreamed of going to for
fear of going completely bankrupt. All you have to do is go to
www.goldstar.com and register to
become a member. It takes about
five minutes and will be totally
worth the while
THEATER AND CINEMA
Most of us probably find ourselves often complaining that we
get overloaded with homework
and that we don’t have any time
for ourselves and that we never
ever get to go out into the city to
enjoy its lovely array of cultural delights and…waah, waah,
waah… And once we’re done
complaining that we done have
time, we start complaining that
we don’t have money. But guess
what? Chicago was made for
different kinds of people and is
suited to different kinds of needs.
While you can go spend an
evening with relatives at the most
expensive restaurant in the city,
you may also find that it doesn’t
take much to enjoy a wonderful show or go see a movie with
friends.
Landmark Century Theaters
2828 N. Clark St.
www.landmarktheatres.
com/Index.htm
Facets Cinematheque
1517 W. Fullerton Ave.
www.facets.org
Movies in the Park
www.chicagobean.com
House Theater Company
www.thehousetheatre.com
The Hypocrites Theater
Company at the Chopin
Theater
1543 W. Division St.
www.the-hypocrites.com
Hop on the train for a quick trip around Chicago.
Photo by Sonya Dekhtyar
Here’s a tip, by the way. Kill
two birds with one stone: find
work as an usher – so desperately
needed and easily found – and
you’ll be able to not only earn
Page 13
some
money but also,
most likely, see the show.
FOOD
Who doesn’t love
to eat a tasty, hearty
meal? We’d love for
these types of meals to
come from our caring
mothers or fathers. But
sometimes, we get too
lazy to wait around for a
good dinner or to whip up
a decent lunch. So when
your stomach is grumbling
but there’s no food ready to
eat, hope on over to these cheap, cozy,
and yummy places.
Pompei
1531 W. Taylor St.
This bistro specializes in traditional Italian cuisine. Drop
in for a bite of gnocchi in marinara sauce, chopped chicken
salad, handmade ravioli, pizza, hand-cut pasta, and calzones.
If you’re in a hurry, call ahead at (312) 421-5179, and your
food will be ready for take-out in ten minutes. Or, come in and
enjoy the gentle setting of a typical Italian bistro with hot food
ready to be served. The cheapest appetizer or pizza slice costs
roughly $3 and an entrée $7.
Mac Arthur’s Restaurant
5412 W. Madison St.
Drop in to this lovely Southern cafeteria-style eatery and
enjoy a hearty meal – dinners cost as little as $5.99 – consisting of a main entrée and two side dishes. Notable are beef
spare ribs, fried catfish, and smoked turkey wings as main
entrees; and macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and greens
as appetizers. Finish the meal off with a freshly-made dessert,
including seemingly-limitless varieties of cakes, pies, cobblers,
and pudding.
Sultan’s Market
2057 W. North Ave.
This restaurant is almost like a museum – with wooden
booths, Lebanese background music, and the blue-and-terracotta hand-painted floor, this Middle Eastern “market” offers
inexpensive and bountiful falafels, hummus, tabbouleh,
Jerusalem salad, kafta kabobs, Moroccan sardines, chicken
shawarmas, and much more, all made from original recipes
brought by the owner to the United States from Jordan. A full
meal costs, on average, $10.
Riques Regional Mexican Food
5004 N. Sheridan Rd.
In this cozy Mexican eatery, you’ll find plenty of cheap,
tasty, filling food, such as torta ahogado (a sandwich layered
with marinated, grilled chicken, lettuce, refried beans, sour
cream and soaked in a chile sauce), chicken Tinga, achiote
marinated whitefish with in a chipotle-tomato sauce, and
a chicken breast in a tomatillo-pumpkin seed sauce, or, for
vegetarians, there is, for example, a dish called Rajas con
Hongos y queso. On Sundays there is an alternative to the
usual brunch, with such tasty choices as the eggs chorizo,
chilaquiles with grilled chicken, stuffed brunch burritos (with
eggs, cheese and meat), and fresh papaya and warm Mexican
cookies. For roughly $14, you can indulge in a delightful and
filling meal.
It’s March. It’s the month of spring. It’s the month when
the seasons change for the better. And yes, it is the month
when we realize that the school year is rapidly approaching
its end with AP tests, senior graduation and summer vacation
ahead… but hey – it’s also the month when we ought to take
life easy and cheap. Stop working, give yourself a break, and
go explore the city on a minimum.
Page 14
Arts and Entertainment
State Radio gives their two
cents about government
by Andrea Ljevar
“Year of the Crow” is
State Radio’s second studio
album. It is a mixture of
rock and reggae creating
a unique sound that takes
more than one listen to
fully appreciate. State Radio
was formed in 2002 by
Chad Urmston, according
to Moxie, the former band
member of another obscure
band named Dispatch.
The only truly sweet part
of “Year of the Crow” is
not the polished chords or
the large variety of songs,
both of which it lacks, but
more so the creativity that
the band experiments with.
“Year of the Crow” is for
those individuals who enjoy
listening to politically-active
bands that sing only about
one subject.
The album opens with
offbeat cords and strong
drums on the song “Guantanamo.” Urmston’s voice
is a blend of Serj Tankian
from System of a Down and
Zach de la Rocha from Rage
Against the Machine and
occupies the unusual melody
fairly well. The lyrics can
be best understood by those
with a broad vocabulary. For
people less accustomed to
these words, lyrics like “The
weathervanes are charging down the hill/In some
quixotic Calvary/And the
war machine is shaking in
its sleep” may leave some
confused. “Guantanamo”
is an odd way to start off
the album, creating a sort of
metallic and chaotic sound.
It takes more than one listen
to fully understand what
State Radio is doing.
Unfortunately, “Guantanamo” isn’t the best
representation of the rest of
the album. “The Story of
Benjamin Darling, Part 1”
and “CIA” showcase the reggae component of the band.
“CIA” reminds listeners
of “Santeria” by Sublime.
Obviously, it is not as good
as the Sublime classic, yet it
contains similar reggae beats
giving the album a relaxed
vibe. State Radio uses the
guitar riffs and heavy bass
chords associated with
grunge rock as well as the
drum beats and the horns
associated with reggae to
create an unique fusion of
the two.
State Radio is a band
that uses their music to
spread political and social
commentary, as is evident by
song’s title “Guantanamo.”
In “Omar Bay,” Urmston
sings “Do you well remember Vietnam/When you
had a mother who loved her
son/Did you have to leave
us all and go away” making
obvious implications to the
Vietnam War. The song
creates an eerie depiction of
life after the Vietnam
War as Urmston
sings with passion,
“Won’t you help a
good man get up and
back on his feet.”
Urmston captures
the shock and the rejection that Vietnam
War veterans must
have felt when they
returned to the US.
“Year of the
Crow” is for the
politically-involved
or the interested,
Album cover for “State Radio,”
but it is especially
a politically active band.
for those who are
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
currently displeased
with the government.
restricted.
The problem with the album
State Radio does a deis that it becomes a social
cent job of coming up with
and political commentary.
a unique sound, but nothing
It raises many questions
in particular stands out.
opposed to being a relaxing
Once the listener gets used
listening experience. “Year
to it, they won’t notice any
of the Crow” becomes too
difference in one song from
heavy at some points and in- the other. Only occasionstead of showing their firm
ally do the songs vary in
stance on the government,
tempo. While State Radio
they start becoming annoycan be commended for their
ing. Towards the middle of
political activism, they are
the album, listeners may
kidding themselves. With
ask, “I’ve heard this before.
no major notoriety, not a
Don’t you have anything
particularly distinct sound,
else to say?” The answer is
and with enough celebrino. “The Year of the Crow”
ties and musicians giving
is a political album, allowing their opinions about the
the band to give their two
American government, State
cents about world issues.
Radio doesn’t stand out and
There isn’t anything in the
“Year of the Crow” won’t
album besides political
help them make 2008 the
commentary. the variety is
year of State Radio.
“Jumper” doesn’t leap as far as
expected
by Lyanne Alfaro
have sworn to put an end to jumpers
like Rice.
According to Yahoo! Movies, it
turns out that the film gathered $27.2
million in the North American box office by the Sunday of its release.
The plot, which initially seemed
vast and gave audiences many possibilities to ponder about the future of teleporting, seemed less significant upon
release. Since the film focused on the
“Paladins” in pursuit of the jumpers,
like Rice and Griffin (Jamie Bell), most
of the plot was not actually about teleporting. The story centered on Rice deciding whom to give
priority: the existence
of his kind or his high
school crush, Millie
(Rachel Bilson).
With that conflict,
there was hardly any
time for the audience
to understand the
concept of teleporting
itself. Either the trailer
portrayal of the movie
was poor, or the
screenwriters decided
to go average and imitate the storyline of a
romance-superheroaction-film. Either
way, there were many
unanswered questions
in the movie which
ended up with an
uncertain audience.
Rice’s mother
abandons her son
when he is only 5
years old, and when
the screenwriters try
to explain why she
did this, the explanation is somewhat
flawed. There are gaps
that can leave any
audience confused.
Rice comes across a
jumper named GrifThe movie poster for “Jumper,” a thriller based
fin, and just when the
around time travel.
viewers think there is
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
The first impression of “Jumper” is
the typical superhero movie, in which
a kid suddenly discovers his super
powers. “Jumper” is the story of David
Rice (Hayden Christensen), a15-yearold boy who discovers that he is able to
transport to places all over the world,
which he has previously seen or visited.
However, when the screenwriters put
a unique twist on the movie, it is no
longer about an ordinary superhero.
In fact, after Rice first discovers his
powers, he robs a bank. Meanwhile, a
group of “Paladins” are forming, who
a bond between them, the situation
suddenly turns its tables around for
no specific reason. Griffin is obsessed
with killing the “Paladins,” while Rice
is obsessed with his girlfriend, Millie,
and since they can’t find a way to work
it out, they are jumping from place
to place all over the world, trying to
strangle each other… some heroes. The
role of the characters is not clear to the
audience.
It’s not just the facts that are
missing, but it’s also the passion in the
acting. The use of the dramatic pause
was abused by Christensen. The actors
could have put more emphasis and feeling into their scenes.
The not-so-great job of the actors
was in part a fault of the writers. The
characters were unrealistic. At the
beginning of the movie, when Rice
finds out he is a jumper, he acts as if
it is an every-day thing. Oh, surely
anybody can teleport from one moment
to another, Rice. However, if there had
been better effort from the actors, to
make their feelings seem more realistic,
then the audience would have been able
to connect more to the movie.
Although the end of the film is
supposed to give the audience a conclusive feeling, it just leaves the viewers
hanging there with no true conclusion
at all. Even movies that do not have
happily-ever-after endings have a sense
of finish to them. However, this movie
ends with what seems like a transition
to a “Jumper 2.”
“Jumper” had plenty of beneficial
promotions and could have leapt pretty
far, but the film does not need a sequel,
as the end foreshadowed the continuance of Rice’s story poorly. There is not
much more to tell about Rice’s adventures as a jumper; it would be unrealistic to say that one man would finish off
the “Paladins” that have been around
for decades, as the plot points out. This
film needs a plot that actually focuses
on the portrayed theme that doesn’t
make you think that the only reason
you came to the theatre was for the five
dollar buttered popcorn you bought.
The Hoof Beat
Winehouses’
satellite
performances:
a “no, no, no”
by Alice Henry
Entertainment is on the rocks when headlining
performers like Amy Winehouse begin to quake on stage.
On Sunday, February 10, the 50th Annual Grammy Music
Awards show premiered on the CBS network at 8 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time. Winehouse performed two songs
via satellite from London because she was in rehab, where
she said she would never “go, go, go.”
Making her imprint in American pop culture with her
iconic beehive hairdo, dramatic winged eyeliner, tattoocovered body, and soulful voice, the British-born vocalist’s
name was soon accompanied with the picture of a skinny
drug addict, too. After being photographed on different
occasions without a shirt, publicized marriage troubles,
and gained popularity with her song “Rehab,” the word
“notorious” was soon linked to the R&B star.
Live from London, Winehouse sang two of her songs:
“You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab.” Performing
a spastic dance with her legs bouncing at odd points
in time, paired with incessant pulling at her skirt hem,
Winehouse performed vocals that, although full of power,
seemed distracted, and, at points, showy and amateur.
In comparison with her dramatic facial expressions, her
singing was the best part of the performance. After learning she had won the coveted Record of the Year Award,
Winehouse seemed silenced by either credulity or distraction. After an awkward pause, the star stumbled backward
in shock, and hugged her fellow musicians. She then gave
thanks to many including her husband, Blake FielderCivil, who is currently jailed engaging in a pub fight.
The Grammys are meant to showcase good music,
and Winehouse earned five awards, proving her ablility to sing a song. Perhaps the pressure of making Top
40 hits caused her to sway in camera lights and satellite
performances. It could have also been her over-publicized
romance and drug issues.
Winehouse, like many other humans, has problems.
She is struggling with her marriage, as she is letting anyone who goes to her website www.amywinehouse.co.uk
know in her music video for “Love is a Losing Game,”
which has clips of her and her husband sharing tender
moments together. The vocalist was recently admitted
to drug rehab, reneging on her own songs, but has been
trying to pull through with support from her family and
friends. Winehouse’s buckling knees showed her struggle.
Pop culture has deteriorated to a business where finding dirt on celebrities with the new hit songs and movies
will sell big. For years paparazzi have exposed druggies
among pop icons, but have not gone as far as publicizing
celebrity marriage troubles and rehab details once a day,
every week. It is time to refocus society’s values to the
artists who are beginning to change the world, or at least
change themselves.
Music icons have greatly changed throughout the ages
of American history; The Beatles went from straight cuts
and suits to shaggy dos and baggy clothes in a decade.
However, when a pop star becomes an idol with her refusal to go to drug rehab, something has gone awry.
Although many categorized Winehouse’s satellitestreamed melodies as obvious under-the-influence performances, it could have been the pressure of the media, her
fans, and maybe even that heavy beehive that was hanging
off the top of her head. People topple under pressure,
and unlike many star-crazed fans think, celebrities are not
gods. Winehouse, prepackaged with issues, unfortunately
fits into our culture perfectly.
Amy Winehouse’s questionable performance, at
the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Show, was one
of her many recent scandalous stunts.
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
March 2008
Arts and Entertainmnet
“Will there eva’ be another
MC as nice?”
JHollow: Northside’s musical discovery
by Matt Glodz
Not to brag, but Northside
has a tendency to attract some of
Chicago’s most talented staff. Mr.
Mike Coy, Science Department, for
example, has rocked out at the 2006
Lollapalooza stage with his band,
the Bon Mots. Ms. Nythia Rivera,
Music Department, has recently
released an album. But the musically inclined staff at Northside
does not only consists of teachers.
Perhaps one of the lesser-known
gifts belongs to Northside’s very
own custodian Jermaine Holloway, or JHollow, who has recently
gained popularity among students
for releasing a hip-hop album titled
“God Given.”
Many students first became
aware of JHollow’s love for hiphop when they heard him rapping
on their way down the stairs after
school. JHollow then decided to get
his name out there by handing out
free CDs to several Northside students. Favorable reactions followed
and over one hundred students
joined the “J Hollow is raw as
hell” Facebook group to show their
support.
“I Am” is just one of the
surprises that was revealed when
students popped the CDs into their
stereos. The song opens up with
the sensual and seductive voice of
Heaven Branch, another aspiring
Chicago artist, singing JHollow’s
name. Such an opening makes him
seem as if he has been in the game
for years and is enough to show
that he is not messing around when
it comes to his ego. In this song
JHollow raps about who he is as
a person. “I got on my knees to be
the up-lifter / respect my brothers
and sisters,” he raps. His rapping is
accompanied by a unique toe-tapping beat, but Branch’s repetition
of “JHollow” just seems to be
constantly reminding the listener
who the song is about.
In “God Given,” JHollow raps
about a woman whom he appreciates for she is simply “God Given,”
and he does so with some rather
interesting lyrics and metaphors.
“Plenty of fish in the sea but I’m
not fishin’… she’s the perfect verse
to the perfect beat,” he raps. In
between his verses, Branch sings,
“You don’t know what you’ve
been missin’, on this life that we’ve
been livin’, real lovin’ huggin’ and
kissin’… this is God given.” The
song embodies two great voices
and another catchy beat to create a
track that would make one heck of
a nice ringtone.
JHollow goes solo on “God
MC,” in which he shows his ability
to flow, yo.
“God man, I love God. That's
what I'm into,” JHollow said. “I get
my ideas to write my music from
God and life, the struggle.”
In this song he is able to prove
just that. It’s intriguing and mysterious beat also makes it one of the
most likeable songs on the album.
Through it, JHollow sets himself
apart from other artists by sharing
his beliefs and telling of the influence God plays in his life.
“Will there eva [sic] be anotha
[sic] MC as nice?” JHollow asks
in “Will There Eva?” Too bad
Kanye West already stole that title
for the Chi, but at least he raps it
with some straight up confidence
that helps make up for the slight
cockiness.
As an up-and-coming artist,
JHollow undeniably deserves some
respect. Still, his album has some
minor issues such as redundancy
in lyrics that seem to be prevalent
throughout every song. It also
contains seemingly amateur beats
that could be recreated on any
keyboard, despite the fact that they
are catchy.
“My goals for the future as far
as music goes is just to continue to
grow as an artist,” JHollow said.
JHollow’s music can be heard
on his MySpace page, www.
myspace.com/jhollow5000. His
album, “God Given,” can be
obtained directly from him until he
strikes a record deal.
“Just listen to my music with
your hearts; I'm a monster with
these bars,” JHollow said.
The ride of a lifetime
Haiti’s Wyclef Jean delivers in “Carnival”
by Sika Yeboah-Sampong
Haitian native and activist, Wyclef Jean, opens
his album with the ominous tones of the guitar and
the line, “The whole world’s in panic mode.” Often
viewed as a social activist as well as a versatile artist,
Jean spices his music with not-so-subtle political and
social overtones. Taking note of the current oil crisis
and increase in youth crime, Jean pleads with President
George W. Bush to stop lying while, in the same breath,
telling the youth to put down their guns. Mixing genres
such as alternative, reggae, hip-hop, soul, and rap,
Jean’s album, “Carnival: Memoirs of an Immigrant,
Vol.2,”speaks of his various musical abilities as well as
his political and social stance.
Collaborating with Jamaica’s Sizzla and Serj Tankian, Jean introduces his customary social commentary
on his first track, “Riot.” Warning everyone that “if
things don’t change, we headed [sic] for the Armageddon” Jean manages to mix the tones of hip-hop, reggae,
and rock and roll to create a pulsating mix of genres.
Jean’s single “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)” is a
genius collaboration with Akon, Lil Wayne, and Niia.
His lyrics speak to the consumers of society through
the story of a prostitute and her pimp. Though the
beat is danceable, listeners will do better to just listen
to the words against female exploitation. Jean opens
with, “Some live for the bill/ Some kill for the bill,”
and continues with the refrain “Cash rules everything
around me.” Jean details the lengths that many young
women are forced to go to in order to make a living in
a world that is ready and willing to exploit them. The
lyrics are deep and meaningful while the guitar chords
keep it light.
Sizzla accompanies Jean in “Welcome to the East,”
another track that details the evils that plague people
around the world. With the lines, “Welcome to the
devil’s
house,
lookin’
out over
hell’s
view,”
Jean calls
for an
end to the
violence
in Sudan,
Palestine, and
Queens,
New
York.
TradiWyclef Jean’s album’s cover art for
tional
“Carnival.”
classical
Courtesy of Amazon.com
instru-
ments such as violins and guitars work to make this
another brilliant piece of music by Jean.
Working with T.I., a popular figure in the rap and
hip-hop arena, Jean encourages “youngbloods” to slow
down. Nuclear testing and stem cell research are just
some of the political topics Jean tackles in this track.
With T.I. rapping and Jean questioning, “Where’d the
hope go?” while lamenting the fact that he “see[s] the
whole world turn into a war zone.” The dynamic duo
and Jean’s electric guitar make an amazing team.
Unfortunately for Jean, this masterpiece is followed
by the awful track “King and Queen,” in which he and
Shakira talk about “one king, one queen.” The beat is
danceable but the lyrics become repetitive after what
seems like a million repetitions of the chorus, “Many
girls want the title but there’s only one king.” Another
disappointing track is “Any Other Day” in which Jean
collaborates with Norah Jones. The slow tempo and
commentary lyrics seem to clash rather than meld together making it dangerously easy to tune the song out.
Jean successfully mixes West with East in “Hollywood Meet Bollywood (Immigration).” Rapping with
Chamillionaire and singing over traditional Bollywood
tunes and Punjabi lyrics, Jean talks about outrunning
immigration officials. He discusses the plight of the immigrant in the Spanish lines “Mucho trabajo, poquito
dinero/ I can’t take this no more.” Jean yells, “Caribbean stand up” to all his Caribbean immigrants and
follows this with a call and response in Punjabi.
Jean gets more personal than we’ve ever seen him
in his collaboration with Mary J. Blige in “What About
the Baby?” Expressing the three-way heartbreak between separated parents and their daughter, Blige and
Jean carry out a compelling dialogue talking about the
consequences of a father’s unfaithfulness and absence.
Jean makes an amazing exit in his over-ten-minute
track “Touch Your Button Carnival Jam.” Starting
with a dancehall-like beat, the listeners find themselves
at carnivals in Trinidad and Brazil. “West Indies in
the house,” shouts Jean, before entering the mournful
section of the track entitled “Rouge et Bleu,” a track
which makes frequent references to leaders of the
Haitain Revolution.
Wyclef Jean calls out to Haiti, the Caribbean, Latin
America, and the whole world to stop the violence and
the war. He calls out to his immigrants and refugees,
his “real guerillas thuggin,” his Haitians, and his
people. “Carnival: Memoirs of an Immigrant, Vol. II”
speaks to the struggle of immigrants around the world
through the music and Jean’s lyrical prowess. In true
Caribbean fashion, Jean invites listeners, especially immigrants, to use his music as a way to speak out against
the social and political injustice. Jean serves up his own
advice proclaiming, “If you got a problem with the immigration, please report to the dance floor!”
Page 15
Welcome to
Mollywood
The last of the
Sanjayas
by Molly McAndrew One of the many controversies
surrounding “American Idol” last
season was Sanjaya Malakar and
the accompanying vote-for-theworst website. As it happened,
by week five everyone had realized Malakar could not sing and
wouldn’t be able to win based on
his own voice. So a group, creating
the website votefortheworst.com,
began voting for him to see if the
“American Idol” producers would
allow someone with so little talent
to win. In a competition where
the object is to find a winner from
a group of nobodies who have no
experience in the music business, it
seems plausible that a person like
Malakar could slip through the
cracks of the first audition weeks.
At least, that’s what “American
Idol” producers want people to
believe.
It seems as though every contestant shown on “American Idol”
during the audition round lives on
a farm. Or if not, they are working
two jobs to support their children.
Either way, the contestants sure
aren’t off signing record labels. It
also seems as though those people
never make it into the “Top 24,”
which mostly consists of people
whom viewers meet in the following week. The question now is if
viewers are the only ones meeting
the contestants for the first time
during the auditions, or whether
producers are lying and certain
contestants are “planted” to give
the show more talent.
What exactly do Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, Kristy Lee
Cook, Robbie Carrico, Syesha
Mercado, David Archuleta, and Alexandrea Lushington have in common besides being in “American
Idol Season seven Top 24?” They
have all had previous music careers.
Smithson is probably the best
example of this as her record, “Ultimate High,” cost MCA Records
millions of dollars in 2001. Both
Johns and Cook had been signed
to record companies as well; Johns
was linked to Maverick Records
and Cook recently signed with
Ren-Hen Records before leaving to
join the “American Idol” cast. Carrico was in the former band “Boyz
and Girlz United” which opened
for pop stars Brittany Spears and
LFO. Archuleta and Lushington
were both on the American Idol-
like show “Star Search” in 2003.
Whereas Mercado performed on
ABC’s “The One: Making the
Band.” In all seven cases, it could
be just sloppy background checking on the producer’s part, but that
seems highly unlikely.
Smithson’s record label, MCA,
should be very near and dear to
one of the show’s judges, Randy
Jackson. According to Radaronline.com, Randy Jackson worked
at MCA as Senior V.P. from 1998
to 2002. Smithson, at the time
operating under the last name of
Hennessy, coincidently, was signed
on to the label in 1999. Unfortunately Smithson’s album only sold
300 copies and she was quickly
dropped. Archuleta also had a previous run-in with “American Idol”
producers. After winning the Junior
Category of “Star Search” in 2003,
the young singer met with the
“Idol” finalists of “Season One”
and was allowed to sing for them.
The third strong connection to the
show belongs to Mercado. According to mjsbigblog.com, Mercado
recently appeared in a commercial
for the Ford Sync. Ford, as any
good “Idol” fan would know, is a
major sponsor of the contest.
Any one of the contestants
listed above could have easily been
placed on the show to ensure that
the finalists are talented enough
not to make a fool of the show. The
same could be said about previous
winner Jordan Sparks. Sparks, before “Idol,” won Coca-cola’s Rising
Star in 2004 and the FOX-sponsored Arizona Idol, which awarded
her a Ford Fusion and a trip to
Seattle to audition.
“Idol” is definitely not what it
appears to be in finding amateur
singers and making them stars. I
think that if they are going to lie
and say that the winner is chosen
by America, and not placed by the
producers, there is something definitely wrong with America for supporting the show. The show should,
instead, advertise that they’ve
planted the best of the unsigned
musicians they could find and have
viewers watch whom the producers chose to win. After all, if they
go through the process of picking
people who have had careers before
to compete, what is stopping them
from picking the winner? I can
probably guess who the final seven,
or at least most of them, will be.
It’s hard to say “American Idol” is responsible for turning people
into superstars when some of the contestants have had previous
recording contracts.
Page 16
Arts and Entertainment
The Hoof Beat
A twist on the classic
Horton Foote’s
pizzeria
“Talking Pictures”
opens at the Goodman Gulliver’s Restaurant and Pizzeria
by Zahra Lalani
The 1920s small town women Myra
“Talking Pictures,” written by Horton and Mrs. Jackson reflect the restrictions
Foote, showed the struggle of three famiof their own time while exuding strength
lies and the impact that the recent shift
and confidence familiar to contemporary
in the film industry from silent to talking
audiences. Confident and unbiased in
pictures had on their lives. Many people
face of trials and on the subject of race
that played the piano or in an orchestra
and religion, they counter the judgments
in accompaniment to the silent pictures
of the audience on the role of women
lost their jobs.
during the Great DeFoote, in his play,
pression.
continuously points
“Talking Pictures,”
out the differences
written by Texan native
in religion and race
Horton Foote, takes
and the importance
place in the Ark-La-Tex
of employment
region of Texas (“Talkand reflection on
ing Pictures” playbill)
the Stock Market
when much of the world
Crash that took
was engulfed in the
place in late 1929.
Great Depression. In his
In “Talking
play, Foote shows the
Pictures,” this shift
transition of a religious
in the film industry
society, which closely realso affects Myra
sembles his hometown,
Tolliver (Jenny
into unprecedented ways
McKnight), a
of thinking and socializpianist and a single
ing. Through differences
mother living with
in language, race and reher landlords, the
ligion, Foote effectively
Jacksons (Jason
presents changes taking
Wells and Judy
place during this time.
Blue), and their
Walking
two daughters,
into the Owen, one of
Vesta (Kathleen
the Goodman’s two
A picture of Horton Foote, the
Romond) and Katie
auditoriums, attendees
writer of “Talking Picture.”
Bell (Lee Stark).
were allowed to choose
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
While Myra struggles
their own seats in the
to imagine her future
round, surrounding the
supporting a rebellious son without a job, stage, contrary to conventional assigned
the Jacksons are finding it hard to leave
seating. This setup will be the same
their town due to their father’s demotion
throughout the run of the play, providing
in the railroad industry. While the adults
a unique and memorable experience for
Myra, Mr. Jackson, and Mrs. Jackson
all in attendance. Unlike the usual setup,
sort out their financial distress, the chilthis unique change in configuration of
dren, Vesta, Katie Bell, and Myra’s son,
the stage seems to subtly compliment the
Pete (Bubba Weiler) struggle in search of
changes in society indicated by Foote
their identity. Katie Bell naively questions in his play. After the intermission many
her sister’s strong feelings against Mexiattendees switched seats, to see if a differcans, particularly Estaquio (Gabriel Noent location provided the same experitarangelo), an aspiring Baptist preacher
ence. To my surprise, although each seat
who comically says, in a conversation on
allowed for an unobstructed view, each
religion, to Methodist Katie Bell, “Jesus
had a different angle to the play. From all
was Baptist, you know.”
angles, this is a play to be seen.
by Vasiliki Mitrakos
Gulliver’s Pizzeria and
Restaurant is the ideal place
for a Friday night date or for a
simple gathering of friends with
its delicious menu and relaxed
atmosphere. Located on 2727
West Howard Street, between
Albany and California Avenue,
Gulliver’s may not be walking
distance from Northside, but
it is definitely worth visiting.
Their stuffed pizza gives a new
meaning to a classic Chicagoan
favorite, and their thin crust
would fare pretty well even
among New Yorkers. Gulliver’s
casual atmosphere and welcoming service adds to its attraction.
Their prices are moderate and
appropriate for a high-school
student’s budget. Other than the
signature pizzas, their expansive menu includes dishes from
Italian and Mexican cuisine.
Established in 1965, Gulliver’s
has provided exceptional homemade food made from fresh
ingredients and offers a greater
quality of food compared to
larger chain pizzerias.
From the extensive list of delicious appetizers and entrees, it
is absolutely necessary to order
a deep dish pizza with a little
bit of everything on top when
visiting Gulliver’s. For under 20
dollars Gulliver’s serves one of
Chicago’ s finest stuffed pizzas
made from fresh ingredients including homemade pasta sauce
and bread crust. The pizza’s
buttery crust and chunky tomato
sauce covered in two layers of
cheese surpasses the stuffed pizzas at other restaurants. Gulliver’s serves the classic thin crust
pizza and their stomach filling
deep dish. Guests can choose
from over 30 different toppings
in addition to side orders; if the
pizza is too much for the night,
it still makes a good lunch for
that also extend into the large
the following day.
outdoor dining area and garden.
Other noteworthy dishes
Inside, guests can slip into a
include the famous half pound
dark wooden booth and admire
“Gulliburgers” and the juicy githe extraordinary interior while
ant stuffed steak burgers. Guests
waiting for their meal.
can enjoy a mouthwatering
The atmosphere is relaxburger without regret, knowing
ing, the service is exceptional,
that their wallet will not suffer
the food is scrumptious. This is
either. With over one hundred
an ideal restaurant. Gulliver’s
items to choose ranging from
conveniently delivers their
chicken piccata to club sandentire menu from 12:00 p.m. to
wiches, at Gulliver’s the menu
11:00 p.m. on Sunday through
never becomes repetitive and
Thursday and from 11:00 a.m.
guests can always try something
to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and
new.
Saturday. With these hours,
For all the health conscious
students can enjoy a perfect
eaters Gulliver’s also provides
Wednesday afternoon eating
alternatives to the high calorie
Italian cuisine, or order out a
dishes with a large selection of
delicious deep dish for a Friday
fresh salads served with low-calnight gathering.
orie salad dressings. In addition,
various vegetarian dishes
are provided, including
vegetarian stir fry, club
sandwiches, and lasagna.
Gulliver’s also provides
fresh toppings for all
kinds of pizzas including
zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts.
All thin crust pizzas are
baked on the oven hearth,
and their creative topping
selection creates a unique
taste in comparison to
other generic pizzerias.
A walk through
Gulliver’s doors will prove
that good pizzerias do
not have to conform to
the classic setting. The
restaurant consists of
three dining rooms filled
with turn-of-the-century
antiques and an amazing display of hundreds
of lavish mosaic lamps. The scenery of Gulliver’s
Restaurant and Pizzeria is
The owner has created
unique compared to other pizza
a maze of positioned
marble statues through- restaurants in the Chicago area.
Photo of Vasiliki Mitrakos
out the restaurant
“Drillbit Taylor” tailored to younger siblings
by Patricia Radkowski
Owen Wilson, always the master of
comedy, stars in “Drillbit Taylor,” a light
flick detailing the lives of three freshmen
high school students and their battle against
a bully. Although the movie is geared toward
a younger audience and the plot is neither
believable nor very deep, the movie provides
a few laughs and is the prefect solution for a
younger sibling.
As any student in high school can confirm, the transition from junior high to high
school is not always an easy one—and things
are only made worse when freshmen are bullied. Ryan (Troy Gentile), Wade (Nate Hartley) and Emmit (David Dorfman) more than
anyone else can agree with that statement.
Rather than watching Filkins (Alex Frost)
lock Emmit, the little creepy boy from “The
Ring,” into a locker, Wade decides to stick
up for him—forever making himself, his best
friend Ryan, and little Emmit the targets of
Filkins’s pranks. Filkins and his accomplice
Ronnie (Josh Peck) stuff Wade and Ryan into
the same shirt, make them pee all over each
other, post pictures of boys in Ryan’s locker,
hang Emmit by the backpack on a door, and
chase all three of them through the neighborhood in Filkins’s car, among other things.
Finally fed up with the torture, Wade gets
the brilliant idea of hiring a bodyguard. After
placing an ad in “Soldier of Fortune” magazine, the boys interview bodyguards in a café
and finally settle on Drillbit Taylor (Wilson)
who, unlike the others, only charges a bit over
$300 for his services. What the boys don’t
know is that Drillbit is a homeless bum: he
sleeps in a shack, washes himself at a water
spigot on the beach, and begs for money at an
intersection. He needs the $300-some dollars
to fly to Canada to start a new life. Drillbit does have some background in fighting
though, as he used to be in the army but got
kicked out for “hero[in]-ism.”
bullies either beat you to a pulp or concoct
Drillbit teaches the boys a few moves and
wickedly clever plans to turn your friends
strategies that he pulls right out of his behind
against you—and at Northside most bullying
just to make the impression that he is helping
is a more brilliant and evil form of the former.
them out. In reality, he and his bum friends
Although the average Northside students
plan on “milking” the situation and stealing
might laugh at some of the dialogue and
and reselling the stuff in Wade’s house. As
enjoy the pranks, the rest of the plot is meant
the bond between the three boys and Drillfor a younger audience.
bit tightens, Drillbit begins to have second
The plot is also flawed in another importhoughts but his bum
tant way. It does not
friend, Don (Danny R.
actually show a clear
McBride), convinces
solution to the bullyhim to play along for a
ing problem. Impreswhile as, he correctly
sionable youngsters
points out, the boys are
leaving the film
suburban children with
might believe that the
cash to burn and “two
only solution to the
of everything.”
bully in their life is
The movie spins
hiring a bodyguard
out of control as
to beat him up for
Drillbit passes himself
you. “Drillbit Taylor”
off as a teacher at their
extracts a few laughs
high school, gets it on
from viewers but is simultiple times with a
lent when it comes to
fellow (real) teacher
actually dealing with
(Leslie Mann), picks
the issue.
on Filkins and Ronnie,
The acting,
and is finally proven
however, is flawless.
a fraud. No worries
Wilson does not fail
though: the ending is a
to bring out the usual
happy one.
charm and natural
The plot is unrecomedy from his
alistic, like most of
character and he
the storylines Hollypulls off the roughwood produces today.
and-rugged look of
Younger siblings might
Drillbit with ease.
appreciate “Drillbit
The younger actors
Taylor” anyway but
also give stunning
most high school
performances.
students, especially
Dorfman is
Northsiders, will find it “Drillbit” is a humorous film geared to
incredibly convincdifficult to relate to the children of younger ages.
ing as the scrawny,
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
plot. Real high school
nerdy Emmit, and
his strange eyes are an asset. This movie is a
testament to his versatility as an actor as Emmit does not have too much in common with
his character in “The Ring.”
Playing the young Jack Black twice, in
“Nacho Libre” and “Tenacious D in The Pick
of Destiny,” Gentile has a decent background
in comedy. Though only 15 years old, he is
a spunky, likeable actor that makes Ryan
earn the audience’s sympathy early on in the
movie.
Another actor with a background in
comedy for the younger generation is Peck
from “Drake and Josh” of Nickelodeon. The
sidekick Ronnie blossoms in his hands, in the
brief moments that he is on the screen.
Filkins is a masterpiece, the embodiment
of the worst bullies known to any little kid. It
is interesting to note that Frost has a tendency
of landing roles of disturbed, angry young
men; such as his lead role as the troubled
teen-killer Alex in “Elephant.” Frost’s eyes
and toned body match his steely and violent
character well.
Most impressive is the work of Hartley, a
new face to the big screen. A tall, excessivelyskinny, though oddly-attractive boy of 16,
Hartley and his character Wade are a match
made in heaven. Wade is the anchor of the
plot and the lead between the younger actors;
he is the only character other than Drillbit
that has a love interest, Brooke (Valerie Tian,
of “Juno”), indeed a sign of distinction.
Overall, it is the perfect delivery of an
alright film.
“Drillbit Taylor” came out March 21 and
is rated PG-13 for some sexual and drug references, language, partial nudity, and “strong
bullying.” So if your parents want you to
spend some time with your younger—though
not too young, this is PG-13 after all—siblings, take them to this movie. They will probably enjoy it; you will laugh a few times.
March 2008 Editorials
Page 17
Editorial
Break: getting your students to dance
In dance, some of the most
beautiful moments are the moments where the dancers are still.
The ballerina holds her arabesque.
Two tango dancers tense, extended. Fred Astaire and Ginger
Rogers paused in synchrony.
These are the moments that allow
the audience to fully appreciate
the beauty of the rest of the dance.
In music, it is similarly true
that the musicless moments
complete the piece. The Beatles
maintain complete silence before
they continue their entrancing
rifts. Bach rarely inserts a rest note
in his Cello Suits; but when he
does, the pause is as full as a note.
These are the moments that keep
the listener engaged, anticipating
the drop of the next note, listening
for it, lusting after it.
So too the case of homework.
The times without homework can
often be the most productive moments, the moments that keep the
student engaged, eager to learn.
Breaks ought to be these sacred
times.
No one doubts the validity or
usefulness of homework. Quite
the contrary. Students understand
that homework is a tool to allow
us to fully master the concept and
to allow us to make sure we are
proficient at the task. Though we
may not be familiar with the most
up-to-date studies and statistics,
the vast majority of us know intuitively what Harris Cooper and Jeff
Valentine found in the meta-analysis they published in the Summer
2001 edition of “Educational Psychologist,” that there is a strong
relationship between homework
and achievement. We know this,
which is the precise reason why
most of us do our homework.
It is merely the timing of
homework that can sometimes be
an issue.
Breaks simply are not the time
to be assigning DBQs to synthesize, not the time to be assigning
essays to write, not the time to be
assigning POWs to untangle, not
the time to be assigning group
projects to coordinate, not the
time to be assigning CRJs to log,
not the time for other assignments
to wade through.
Some teachers rationalize
that “I’m just assigning one small
project.” But with five, six, seven
teachers doing such, break suddenly begins to resemble a slightly
hellish weekend: a homework
packed series of hours that need to
be scheduled appropriately so as
to fit in all the assignments.
Giving homework during
break is, in fact, counterproductive. With too much work,
students never fully relax. Instead
of coming back from break rested,
rejuvenated, ready for more learning, students have two options.
Either they come back with their
work done, feeling as though they
have just continued running on the
treadmill of homework. Or they
come back without their work
done, already behind and drowning in the schoolwork they were
supposed to have done over break.
Either way, the end result is stress
where the goal was relaxation.
And this is a sure-fire way
to lead to burnout, the bane of a
scholar’s existence.
[Just as worrisome, though, is
that with too much homework for
too long, students begin to loose
interest. A proper break allows
us to not only reflect on what we
have learned, but also allows us
to learn on our own. Break gives
us the opportunity to settle down
with that book we had been meaning to read, to watch that film with
our friends, to catch up on current
events. All those embedded in the
educational process understand
that this, ultimately, is the goal
of formal education: to awaken
within us the life-long learner.
But homework means that we
don’t have time to do this independent homework. When we don’t
have time to learn on our own, we
begin to conclude that teachers
either don’t believe we can learn
on our own or they don’t value
independent learning. Neither
message is positive. And neither
encourages that idyllic activity.
Additionally, at some point,
we find that we simply do not
have the energy or interest in
learning. If we constantly have
assigned work on our plates and
we are not getting fully rested during break, it is ridiculous to think
that we will somehow, magically
have the energy to learn on our
own. If we just finished analyzing
an article for school, we do not
feel interested in reading another
article.
Unfortunately, taking up time
during break with homework also
takes away from other, incredibly
important activities. Many families, especially those at Northside,
are working families. This means
that often breaks are some of the
only times when the whole family
has time to connect. Involvement
with one’s family is absolutely integral, not only to the nurturing of
a well grounded person, but also
to the foundations of a scholar.
Anita Woolfolk’s textbook, “Educational Psychology,” spends more
than three pages emphasizing the
importance of family within the
educational sphere. Intruding on
family-time seems to be too costly
an experiment for it to be worth it
to assign that extra project.
Many teachers already do
understand the value to a homework-free break. These teachers
arrange their course plans around
holidays. The only homework
these teachers assign is to “relax
with your friends, connect with
your families, cut down on that
sleep debt, re-center yourselves.”
These are the teachers who
understand that with a proper,
relaxing break we come back to
school more appreciative of the
learning process and, most importantly, ready to learn again. Just
like dance or music, the pauses
from the regular are the factors
that allow the over-all piece to be
effective, beautiful.
The Akhtarian Way
Extreme Makeover: The crowning achievement of capitalism
by Muhammad Akhtar
How many Sunday evenings have you
spent cuddled up on your couch, reading a
good book while occasionally glancing at
the reality television emanating from across
the living room? At the Akhtar household,
this has become somewhat of a ritual—at
least for this particular Akhtar. However,
a few Sundays ago, the usual calm of this
holy rite was cruelly disturbed by a pseudoepiphany. It went as follows: that reality
television shows, like “Extreme Makeover,”
and certain talk shows, like “Oprah,” serve
as powerful testaments to the positive powers
of capitalism (count the number of p’s in
that one—shout-out to Ms. Dianne Malueg,
English Department, for teaching me alliteration).
For some of you, it may be difficult to
understand how something as inherently
evil as reality television, itself a spawn of
programming degeneracy, could have any
positive impacts on society. Thus let us begin
from the very bottom, by considering the
defining characteristics of shows like “Extreme Makeover” and “Oprah.” The former
types usually begin with an individual or
group of individuals in some sort of plight.
This may include damaged property, a lack
of resources, or an unattractive face/body.
In ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” we are given a family in need of a
better home; in NBC’s “The Biggest Loser”
we start off with a group of pudgy folk; in
“Nanny 911”, restless little semi-children,
semi-demon spawns, are cured by provocatively dressed British nannies. Then, through
some grand and expensive means, people
find their way out of said situation and into
a beautiful, new life. In the case of “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition,” the family gets
a new home; in “The Biggest Loser,” the
formerly fat contestants become moderately
overweight; in “Nanny 911”, temporary
behavioral improvements civilize the savages
for a few weeks.
In talk shows like Oprah, many of the
same elements are visible. This time, not
only participants, but entire audiences get all
sorts of gifts: food, clothes, even cars.
But where does that sort of money come
from? In a word: sponsors. Corporations
pump millions and millions of dollars each
year into all sorts of “charity shows” that directly benefit hundreds of people. This turns
out to be a remarkably profitable action on
their end. For example, hearing the folks
at “Extreme Makeover” chant the name of
the Sears Corporation in melodic, almost
religious tones,
forces the average
viewer to think two
things, in usually the
same order: a) wow,
the guys/gals at Sears
are some good people,
and b) I should
really buy that
Hello Kitty
toilet seat
for my
daughter. In
the end, these
corporations
generate millions
more in profit
than they spend on
giving the Fergusons
a living room set.
The invisible hand Adam Smith wrote
years ago is still pushing things into place.
So to all the communist cats out there (I’m
looking at you, Farrukh Mukhtar, Adv. 801),
reconsider. Free-market capitalism is the way
to go.
Op-Ed
Four years of blood, sweat, and tears
by Saif Rahman
In 2004, the second or third time I walked into this
fine institution of learning, it was for a sports day. Several
tables were set up, each representing a certain sport, all
in an attempt to persuade freshman to join. Coming off a
successful eighth grade basketball season at Dewitt Clinton
Elementary School (7-1), I thought I was more than capable
of playing on the high school level. I quickly jotted down
my name, email, and phone number on the list that Coach
Heidkamp had at the table. Probably not knowing it then,
by writing ‘Saif Rahman’ on that paper, I signed myself into
four seasons of summer league and four regular seasons of
basketball.
With freshman year began a great chemistry, one that
was built over the years, between players from the class of
’08. For some reason, our coach from summer league wasn’t
our coach. He sort of disappeared, and we gave him fifty
dollars a person for what seemed to be a blue t-shirt. It was
kind of odd. Nonetheless, we had a winning record and a
successful season, but it ended on a sour note as we lost to
Lane Tech in closing seconds. It was only the beginning. I
remember being asked to reflect upon our season at the end
of the year and comment on our future by a “Hoof Beat”
reporter. I believe I said something along the lines of “look
out for us in a couple of years.”
Sophomore year wasn’t an easy season with a police
officer of a coach, but the memories lasted forever. I thought
of myself as a young Ben Gordon that year because basically
I sat in the corner and chucked three’s. The most memorable
game was beating Lane Tech at home by two points. That
game was like no other.
Making a transition from year to year and having new
coaches isn’t easy. The most common path for a four-year
athlete is playing two years of underclass and then
moving up to varsity junior and senior year. In
basketball, if you go through that, you would most
likely have three different coaches, three different sets
of plays to know, and three different times to prove
that you are a capable participant of the sport.
This happens in most sports, except for
cheerleading and poms, but we’ll categorize those as competitive dancing.
Junior and senior
years on a varsity team, a lot of
things changed.
Practices increased
to nearly six days
a week, and the night
practices were ridiculous.
People that lived far
away from school had
no chance of going home
and coming back for a 7:30 p.m. practice; thus, waiting
at school for four hours, practicing until 9 p.m., and then
going home, you would end up being done at around 10
p.m. You definitely had to be committed to basketball
for about four months. The most memorable game
was the game at Schurz where we came back and
won with late game heroics from DP.
Word of advice to underclassmen: If you
already are heavily involved in sports, make sure
you have no regrets. Whether you are good or bad
is determined in the off season. It is pretty hard to
just pick up a sport after six months of sitting on your
butt. If you can, get in a gym and work out, practice your
sport, and, as cliché as this might read, be the best you
can be. But most importantly, contribute to the team in
the best way possible.
As I played my last high school basketball game
on February 27, I began to reflect on my illustrious four year basketball career. I came to the
conclusion that it was the great experience.
All the hours spent, all the times that
seemed like a waste of time, they were
all good times. My advice to you
padawans is to find a sport or an
activity and stick with it for all
four years. If I had a chance to
redo high school, I’d play basketball four more years, hence the title.
The times you spend with other people that share the
same interest as you are good, complaining to your
teammates when you have to go through tedious
drills is great, but making fun of your teammates who
are big, tall and funny looking is priceless. Referencing Mo K’s column from last issue, even if you don’t
think you have a significant role on the team, it is still
a great experience. Think about it, Adrian Griffin was
sitting on the bench all season and called players’ practices,
what’s better than that? Yet even the Adrian Griffin type of
players get into a competitive mode with teammates when
they are all reaching for the same goal. Achievements seem
more possible to complete. If I can’t remember anything
about my hundreds of hours I committed into this program,
it will be remembered by the grey letters that read “2008”
under “Men’s Basketball Conference Champions.”
Page 18
Sports The Hoof Beat
Northside’s chess team checks out
A successful close to the season
by Sonya Dekhtyar
Having advanced from a successful city tournament, the school
chess team competed in the annual
Illinois High School Association
(IHSA) chess tournament in Peoria, Illinois, from February 7-10.
The team won second place in
the city tournament – an amazing
feat, according to John Mussman,
Adv.806, Board 7 player.
“We only had six players present out of eight, putting us at a
considerable disadvantage, since we
had to forfeit two boards in every
round,” Mussman said.
This shortage of people served
as a handicap for the team at the
IHSA tournament as well. Nonetheless, the team, full of energy,
spirit, and hope, traveled to the
Peoria Civic Center to face their
opponents in the two-day competition.
The state tournament consisted
of seven rounds over the twoday period, unlike the usual four
rounds.
“Playing seven rounds was
almost painful, but we all hung in
there and played our best to the
end,” Matthew Ramir, Adv.900,
said. “We would get food or some
drink with a lot of sugar between
each round. That helped us keep
sane.”
At the end of the competition,
Northside’s chess team placed 45th
out of 115 competing teams, scoring a total of 264 individual points
with four wins and three losses.
“The losses occurred in the
first three games the team played
last game being played, particularly chess is over, but we are still going
that are not currently seniors are
against those schools that ended up
if that game will decide the winner
to practice to stay sharp for next
juniors, meaning that more than
getting the top places,” Ramir said.
of the round.”
year,” Ramir said.
half the team is graduating and that
“After that, we proceeded to win
Overall, the team felt like
The chess team will be losing
none of the currently active players
the four remaining rounds.”
they had learned much from the
several valuable players at the
will be on the team after next year,”
Individually, the team felt
competition while having fun. But
end of this year because they are
Mussman said.
they did quite well. James Gomez
the season is over, and the team is
seniors.
“But I will be taking over as the
was one of two players throughthinking of next year.
“Five of our eight players are
Capitan and I will definitely make
out the entire competition who
“Now that state is over, I think
seniors, and the four ‘core’ players
sure it all goes well,” Ramir said.
remained undefeated in all seven
rounds. James Gomez, Adv. 903,
won 2nd place on Board 3; Matt
Ramir came in 31st on Board 1;
James Casper-Shipp, Adv. 811,
was in 37th place on Board 6; John
Mussman was 40th on Board 7;
Ray Berkman, Adv. 811, took 53rd
place on Board 8; Faraz Khan,
Adv. 810, won 75th place on Board
5; Austine Lakayil, Adv. 904, took
80th on Board 4; and Jonathan
Rios, Adv. 810, was 98th on Board
2;
The team was successful largely
because of the constant support
that the team members offered each
other.
“The team is remarkably good
at helping each other out,” Ms.
Magdalena Casper-Shipp, the chess
team coach, said. “While each
game is played individually, players
go over their games afterwards and
discuss tactics and what they could
have done in particular situations.
Everyone gets along really well,
which I think helps make us seem
like a unified team during competitions. Also, when someone finishes
early, they usually watch their
Chess Team members ponder their next moves in a round again st Thornton Fractl High School from
teammates continue to play. This is Calumet City.
especially vital to morale during the Photo courtesy of Magdalena Casper-Shipp
Victory for the Mustangs
Northside’s Women’s Basketball team defeats Roosevelt
by Sony Kassam
Northside’s Women’s Varsity Basketball
Team defeated Roosevelt with a final score
of 63-48 on Monday night, February 11 on
the Mustang court. This was the first game
in the subsequent series of the Illinois High
School Association (IHSA) Regional games,
which was being hosted by Northside.
Entrance for the game cost four dollars
per person. Some thought that having any
overhead price was unacceptable.
“I don’t think that [the price] was outrageous at all,” Tess Given, Adv. 104, said. “I
mean we have to pay the referees and there’s
other stuff that goes into the four dollar price.
Of course, I’d like to walk in and see it. But I
think it’s fine.”
After a slow start in the first quarter, the Lady Mustangs held a three point
lead, 14-11, outscoring the Rough Riders,
Roosevelt’s Women’s Basketball Team. By
the end of the half the Lady Mustangs had a
15 point lead, 33-18.
Leading the second quarter surge, Aral
Johnson, Adv. 904, scored 12 of 19 points
before the end of the half. Johnson and Rhianna Rey, Adv. 809, scored 7 points a piece
in the third quarter, extending Northside’s
lead to 55-32. Lizette Leon, Adv. 805, also
reached double digits like her teammates
Johnson and Rey, by scoring ten points.
“[Team work is] our focus on the
women’s basketball team,” Leon said. “Just
play together. Instead of letting one person
run the show, we all work as a team.” “Our team plays very hard,” Coach
Michael Heavey, also Physical Education
teacher at Northside, said. “They take pride
in doing things like getting on the floor after
loose balls. They realize that every possession is precious. Playing hard all the time is
what is expected. When a team plays hard all
the time it makes up for some mistakes made
throughout the game.”
Given, an audience member, responded
to Northside’s victory with enthusiasm.
“It’s just a really cool thing,” Given said.
Even with the victory, the Lady Mustangs feel that there is always room for
improvement. “Overall we played fairly well,” Coach
Heavey said. “We had some lapses defensively and had too many turnovers on the
offensive end. We played well enough to win
but are not satisfied with just winning. We
need to be more consistent at both ends of
the floor.”
With any luck, next season the Lady
Mustangs will be even better.
Competition of the Poms
Poms Squad defends their City Champs title
by Elizabeth Sobenes
squad competed in the Varsity Small Division which usually
consists of ten to twelve Chicago Public Schools.
“We thought it would be better to compete in the small
division because this division, with smaller teams, gets to
compete against
more schools,”
Kristine Pol, Adv.
804, co-captain of
Poms, said. “Competing against a
couple of schools
in a large division
wouldn’t really
feel like we were
competing.”
In order to participate in this division the team had
to hold tryouts to
select a maximum
of twelve girls to
compete.
“Not everyone
[on our team] is at
the same level, so
we have to choose
who is the best to
compete so we can
have the best team
possible,” Breana
Winters, Adv. 010,
For two years in a row, now, Northside’s Poms Squad are City Champions.
co-captain said.
Photo by Zahra Lalani
Northside’s returning City Champion Poms Squad
successfully defended their title in the annual city-wide
competition held at the UIC Pavillion on March 29. The
“We would have been in a different division and we
would only be facing two other teams if we kept our competing squad so big,” Daphne Erpelo, Adv. 901, said. “It wasn’t
that the whole team isn’t great, it’s just that some girls need
to work on some technique more than others.”
In preparation for the city-wide competition, the squad
had two hour long practices three times a week to perfect
their production for this year.
“This year we are going to have more technical moves,
consisting of more toe touches and Poms-like moves, instead
of mainly dance choreography like last year,” Liza Soriano,
Adv. 903, said.
“I think we will be a lot more prepared this year,” Winters said. “Even though we won last year, we were rushing
toward the end.”
The strategy seemed to have worked out because Northside still took first. Harlan Academy was awarded second
place.
To celebrate their victory, the team went to Baker Square
for dinner. There, in anticipation of continuing excellence,
the squad named next year’s capitans. They will be Sam
Ocampo, Adv. 909; Anna Stochmalski, Adv. 101; Erpelo,
and Winters.
“We went with the drive and the mindset that we would
win,“ Pol said. “And we were successful.”
The squad’s coach, Ms. Martha Mulligan was confident
they would do well even before the competition.
“It will be tough, they will be defending their crown,
other teams will be out to get them,” Ms. Mulligan said.
“But, I know they will be on their game and that they will
do well.”
March 2008
Sports Page 19
The legacy of the ‘08 Mustangs
Stampeding to Success on Senior Night
by Yonas Zewdie
Imagine sharing four of your most
impressionable years with several of your
peers on a unique battlefield: the basketball
court. The type of bond that is formed during this time—of the two-a-day practices, of
the crushing defeats, and of the hard-fought
wins—is nothing short of unbreakable.
For the class of ‘08 Mustangs that will be
graduating this year, their Senior Night was
the last time that they would get to play in
the presence of their home crowd. Preceded
by their recently won conference championship, which now moves them up to the Red
Division (the highest division in CPS), and a
previous victory over their Senior Night opponents, the Mustangs entered Senior Night
with smiles.
Coach Tom Horn opened Senior Night
ceremonies by giving a short speech, in
which he noted that the season had been
great and that he was very proud of the
seniors and their accomplishments during
the season, including their 19 wins and their
conference title. The ceremony continued
with the presentation of flowers to all the
seniors on the team by the coaching staff,
and the players then gave the flowers to their
parents in the audience. Soon after followed
the recitation of the national anthem by Una
Lim, Adv. 013, and then the game began.
From the opening tip-off, which Jack
Moore, Adv. 801, starting center, won,
the game against Big Picture remained in
Northside’s favor. Danny Premier, Adv. 807,
starting guard, scored the first points of the
game. Soon after Kevin Mencyznski, Adv.
810, also starting guard, followed suit with a
steal, leading to converted points by Mackenzie Rivers, Adv. 807, starting power forward,
in transition. Throughout the game, the Mustangs were leading in points, and boasted a
lead of up to 40 or so points. However, in the
third quarter, Big Picture went four for five
from beyond the arc. Despite Big Picture’s
best efforts though, the game concluded
with a victory for Northside and with almost
every player scoring at least once. Many of
the starting five players even reached double
digits before the final score of 69-28.
“It was a blowout, no question about
it,” Rivers said.
“We were in
great shape
coming into this
game, and none
of us wanted to
lose our Senior
Night game, so
there was no
doubt ever in
my mind that
we would win.
There could
have been no
better ending
to our Senior
Night than what
we had.”
“I had
mixed feelings
about the whole
thing,” Obinna
Osuji, Adv.810,
said. “On the
one hand, I
was happy we
won, and I was
so glad that I
got to play one
last home game
with the guys
I’ve played with
since freshmen
year, but at the
same time, I
was sad to think
that this was
the end; that
there wouldn’t Men’s Varsity Basketball seniors celebrating their last home game with favors.
Photo courtesy of Amanda Perez
be anymore
games. But I’m
“Our future is bright, because we’ve got
during Senior Night, and of representing the
proud of what we have accomplished and
a big starting line-up next year,” Oriseweygood ol’ maroon and silver the Mustang way.
now that we’re in a better conference, it’ll
inmi Jemine, Adv. 903, a junior on varsity,
“We probably could have done even
be a challenge for the juniors of the team to
said. “Not only that, but we’ve worked really
better this season, but this was hands down
keep our success alive.”
hard this season and learned a lot from the
one of the best teams in Northside history,”
With the loss of so many seniors, and
seniors.”
Jemine said. “The seniors have been underesincidentally pivotal players, some may be
And with the win over Big Picture, the
timated for a long time, but they really are as
questioning the future of Northside’s Varsity
‘08 Mustangs put the finishing touches of
good as the other players in the Red DiviBasketball Team, especially now considering
their legacy at NCP; a legacy of close to 20
sion, so they really got the recognition they
the fact that they are in the highest division
wins in a season, of a conference title, of
deserved with the conference championship
in CPS basketball, the Red Division.
moving up a division, of a clear-cut victory
and with the blowout win on senior night.”
“Kind of like the Energizer bunny”
Northside’s wrestling team gets new faces and new energy
by Melissa Jordan
celled,” DuPont said. “Even more disheartening was the day of the senior day match against
Brennan Depriest’s rank as 3rd wrestler in the city, as well as Cole Frankel and Juan
Taft, the Taft wrestlers never showed up.”
Rodriguez’s placement in regionals this past season has placed the spotlight on an otherwise
The season has ended for this year, but the wrestlers who are not graduating plan to conignored Northside team.
tinue next year.
The Northside wrestling team won 9 matches and lost 9 matches during this school year’s
“Of course, I’ll do wrestling next year,” said Garcia. “It has become my calling.”
winter sports season.
“This season was great,” Benjamin Garcia, Adv. 909, said.
“The wrestling team has never gotten much attention,
but this season was alright,” John Ko, Adv. 909, said. “It met
my expectations, and overall it was one of the most successful
to date because we had a more complete team with the new
freshmen.”
“This year, the wrestling team had a lot of new freshmen and grew a lot in size,” Coach Chris DuPont, said. “The
varsity seniors were not only excellent wrestlers, but they were
also great team captains and role models.”
Each week the athletes spent approximately twenty hours
practicing. Due to the hours of brutal conditioning before the
winter season even started, Northside wrestlers maintained
stamina throughout their matches.
“When wrestlers from other teams were struggling to stand
up after several minutes of wrestling, our wrestlers would still
keep going and going and going, kind of like the Energizer
bunny,” DuPont said.
When the season started, wrestlers began to learn basic
moves such as “takedowns” and “breakdowns,” as well as
the “headlock,” “half nelson,” and “pin.” Then, the athletes
moved on to more advanced moves, such as the “guillotine,”
an uncomfortable move used to pin opponents. All the while,
conditioning continued.
In addition to keeping the wrestlers in shape, the conditioning had additional perks.
“The team spirit and commitment was always present,”
said DuPont. “The tough practices brought us closer to each
other to form a strong team. I always tried to include a little
fun during hard practices, and I think that it made working out
more enjoyable.”
“The conditioning really prepared me for the matches,” Ko
said. However, referees at away matches could sometimes be
misinformed about the rules. On the other hand, the referee for
Northside’s home matches was exceptionally good.
“At the end of each match he would explain what they did
wrong, if there was a new rule he would go over it, he was very
professional,” said DuPont.
The single largest disappointment for the wrestling team
Cole Frankel, Adv. 808, wrestles opponent from Shurz High School.
this year was canceled matches.
Photo by Tyler Johnson
“The day before they would tell us the match was can-
Page 20
20 Page
A bonus
with
Yonas
Dawn of a new era
by Yonas Zewdie
The days of boxing, March Madness and Monday
Night Football are numbered. The reason? Just the
biggest thing to ever hit professional sports: Mixed
Martial Arts (MMA). Some of you may not be
familiar with MMA, and if so, you best jump on the
bandwagon because this sport is becoming huge, not
only in America, but all over the world as well. It is a
sport unlike any other, one that seldom leaves its fans
disappointed, and one that is sure to keep you up out
of your seat. But first, some of you may be wondering
what exactly MMA is.
MMA is a sport that encompasses the raw athleticism required by many extreme sports such as football
or basketball, the punching combinations of boxing,
the brutal knees and elbows of Muay Thai, a Philippino martial art, the explosive takedowns of GrecoRoman, and free style wrestling, and the joint locks
of ju jitsu, a grappling martial art, just to name a few.
It is a sport that requires its athletes to maintain an
unparalleled level of physical fitness, mental prowess,
and emotional stability. Those who step into the ringor more commonly, the cage-are the gladiators of the
21st century. These are gladiators that come from all
walks of life, from nerds to jocks, from poor to rich,
and all disciplines of martial arts: from those as exotic
as the break dancing martial art Capoiera, to the
far more traditional Karate. What’s more, the sport
is getting bigger and bigger, from its fan base, to its
practitioners, to its recognition in mainstream sports
and pop-culture.
The most recent Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC), event, UFC 82: Pride of a Champion. The
event sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale,
and in the main card of the evening, reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva put on a memorable
ju-jitsu clinic on opponent, former Pride Middleweight
Champion, Dan Henderson, that left all in attendance
at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on the
edge of their seats.
In further testament to MMA’s growing influence
over popular culture is the scheduled release of the
new movie Never Back Down, which depicts the story
of an underground mixed martial arts fight club. In
addition, the emergence of numerous MMA organizations, such as the International Fight League (IFL),
World Extreme Cage-fighting (WEC), and MMA reality television shows such as The Ultimate Fighter, are
leading to the rise of MMA in mainstream America.
The growth of MMA presents exciting new
possibilities for young athletes from all different
disciplines of sports. For many high school athletes,
and specific-discipline trained martial artists, such
as boxers, wrestlers, judoka, etc, MMA presents an
outlet to pit their unique style against others, challenging these athletes to apply their acquired skills
to a far more multifaceted and combative sport. For
instance, Northside has a large population of martial
artists, and combative-sport trained individuals such
as the members of martial arts club, and the wrestling
team. If these groups were to get together and train
together after school or in the off-season they would
get a nice little sneak peak into the world of MMA.
Furthermore if they enjoy it and truly want to take it
to the next level, there are plenty of mixed martial art
schools and training centers in the Chicago-land area
for them to continue honing their skills. And that is
the beauty of the sport; the combination of so many
elements into one cohesive art form..
Imagine watching a fight, where the underdog
drops the heavily favored champion to the canvas
with a single right hook, or when the concussive
striker, decides to take down his grappling adversary
to engage in a ground war. That’s the true beauty of
MMA. You never know what to expect, and literally
anything can happen. Unlike in basketball or football,
where there are occasional upsets, and you can predict
the outcome after the first quarter or so, MMA is unpredictable because everyone has a puncher’s chance
of winning. There are numerous possibilities, and the
direction of the fight can switch at any given moment.
That’s what makes it so exciting.
From the lightening quick knock outs, to the hard
fought decisions, to the slick submissions, MMA is a
sport that will take center stage in a matter of years.
I’m calling it now, it is the dawn of a new era in sports
history; the era of MMA.
Sports
Sports The
The Hoof Beat
Are Northside athletes consuming
healthier food?
April showers bring May devourers
by Zahra Lalani
In late February, in
the midst of pre-season
baseball conditioning,
Richard Inman, Adv.
901, starting catcher on
Varsity Baseball, starts
his morning with a
breakfast that consist of
an orange or an apple
and a bowl of cereal.
This habit prepares him
not only for a long day
at school, but also for
practices and games.
“Although season
hasn’t started, I’m eating healthy so I don’t
have to work twice
as hard when season
starts. Eating a healthy
breakfast makes me
more energetic during
practices,” Inman said.
Other athletes agree
with Inman, that their
healthy eating patterns
increase with the start
of the season.
“During season I
tend to eat more frequently, and this shows
on the field because I
am more energized,”
Fanny Lau, Adv. 014,
who plays soccer and
is also on the Poms
Squad, said.
“After a long day
of hard practice or an
intense game I feel so
exhausted that I eat almost twice as much because I know I’ll work it
off,” Kelly Varney, Adv.
810, who plays lacrosse
and runs track, said.
The study from
Project Eating Among
Teens (EAT) says that
82 percent of middle
and high school adolescents engage in some
sort of active physical
activity. The study
compared the effects
of food choices, weight
and overall health to
how athletes performed.
The study concluded
that youth who were
involved in sports ate
breakfast more frequently and had a higher
average protein intake
as compared to those
individuals who were
not involved in sportsrelated activities.
“I think it’s impor-
tant to participate in
sports because it keeps
you healthy and you
meet new people, and
it keeps you from being
a couch potato,”
Karolina Wadolowska,
Adv.106,
said.
Their
study also reports
that involvement in
sports directly correlates
with higher amounts
of nutrient intake.
The report also notes
that students who are
physically engaged have
more nutritious eating
patterns.
“I think that some
sort of physical involvement is essential because the need for such
involvement is becoming more and more apparent,” Adam
Swiatlowski,
Adv.
809,
said,
referring
to the obesity
problem increasingly
evident in American
society.
At Northside, 86
percent of the students
surveyed said they
participated in some
sort of sports activity,
matching quite closely
with the 82 percent in
EAT’s research. And
of those 86 percent at
Northside, 50 percent
said that they increased
the amount of healthy
food they ate with the
start of the season.
“Playing basketball
and keeping myself
involved with sports
helps me to keep my
time and my social life
organized, so I have a
little bit of everything.
I eat healthier during
season because I have to
stay in shape, but I go
back to my regular diet
after the season is over,”
Rhianna Rey, Adv. 809,
said.
There was also
a unanimous agreement that engaging
in a physical activity
is crucial to having a
healthy life, but 15
percent of Northside
students do not engage
in any. While students
are in agreement on the
importance of physical activity and eating
healthy several students
claim that they do not
have time for sports.
Can ya holla “Seastangs”?
Men’s swimming at Sectionals
by Thuy Tran high and we went out with our heads
those swimmers who could beat the state’s
Within the last few months, Northheld high. I am very proud of the team’s
record, but it was also about awarding
side’s Men Swimming Team felt that
performance as well as their individual
coaches of the swimming teams. At this
they demonstrated their best this season.
achievements,” Flexas said.
year’s sectionals, Coach Ceja received the
Although they struggled to get all their
“After this meet, I felt like all this
Sectional Coach of the Year Award, havteam players to swimming practice, they
work has paid off. The countless hours
ing received nominations from his fellow
made this season one of the most memoin the pool, the long hours in the mornswimming coaches.
rable ones. On February 16, the Men’s
ing,” Figura said. “Just wait for next year.
“It was nice that Coach Ceja won
Swim Team made their way to New Trier
Cheers!”
the Sectional Coach of the Year Award,”
Township High School for the swimming
Despite the sectionals meet, NorthKowar said. “He puts up with all of our
sectionals to round out the season.
side’s Men Swimming Team had a sucantics for the whole season, and that alone
Swimming for Northside were, in
cessful season. They lost two meets and
makes him deserving of the award.”
alphabetical order, Edward Chiem, Adv.
won eleven meets. They beat University
“I thought he was a good coach,
810, Sam Corfman, Adv. 900, Julian
High and Niles North, both of whom
always tried to get the maximum potential
Dale, Adv. 804, Billy Figueroa, Adv. 908,
they lost to in previous years. At the City
out of us during practice, but at the same
Michael Figura, Adv. 909, Fabian Flexas,
Championships, Northside’s swim team
time he was always reasonable about our
Adv. 900, Max Kakacek, Adv. 803, Jeff
finished in 3rd place. Additionally, Flexas
limits,” Wojcik said.
Kowar, Adv. 802, , Konrad Kubicki, Adv.
broke the Varsity IM record that he was
“Everyone worked really hard for this
106, Kenji Tran, Adv. 904, Joe Wat, Adv.
hundredths of a second away from breakmeet and a lot of people got their best
904, and Michael Wojcik, Adv. 904.
ing last year.
times. It was a great way to finish off the
The sectional meet included schools
Sectional was not just about awarding
season,” Chiem said.
such as New Trier and
Loyola Academy, which,
historically, have proved
themselves to have highly
skilled swimmers. Northside swimmers knew that
the competition was going
to be tough when they
stepped foot into sectionals. Although nobody
from Northside placed at
sectionals, many Northside
swimmers were able to beat
their personal records. Additionally, Dale was the top-6
individual finisher in the
100 freestyle. And though
Kakacek, Flexas, Dale, and
Kowar swam their Varsity
Medley Relay well, they
missed breaking the record
that they set last year by 0.8
seconds, which was a disappointment to the team.
Before the sectionals
meet, Coach Ceja gave a pep
talk encouraging the swim
team to go out there "with
guns blazing" and give it
their all, especially seniors,
since it was their last meet.
“It is always nice to
have that motivation before
a nerve-racking meet like
Sectionals,” Kowar said.
“The meet went
smoothly. We competed to
Sam Corfman, Adv. 900, swimming the 100 yard butterfly.
the best of our ability. We
came in with our heads held Photo by Thuy Tran