3.24.17

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MUNSTER HIGH SCHOOL

vol. 51/issue 10/march 24, 2017

page 9

upcoming

inside look Page 4-5: Students discuss bias in media, Crier

Prom is April 29; tickets for sale during lunch April 3-7 $100 per couple, $50 for single

Page 10: Track and Field indoor season ends

Speech is selling suckers Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the café

Softball prepares for first game next Monday against Hanover

Tickets for spring musical “Pirates of Penzance” for sale April 1

8808 Columbia Ave. Munster, IN 46321

In the name of free religion ALL ABOARD At the Hammond Train station, a South Shore line train leaves the heads westbound.

Munster residents could expect to see such a sight as early as 2020.

Keeping on track

As scheduling for NICTD West Lake Corridor project looms closer, residents voice concerns

Ridge Road

1

1

Chloe Wineinger Design Chief

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ny form of change will always be met with some enthusiasm, some acceptance, and some major disapproval. For anyone who has attended a Town Hall meeting or

Blueprint

1 = new train station

NICTD proposed plan spanning 2 = new train station through familiar parts of Munster and other towns. = Ridge Rd The map to the right illustrates the two new train stations = Calumet Ave proposed to extend the South = Aurelio’s Pizza Shore line with surrounding = Calumet Harley Davidson landmarks.

45th Street

West Lakes Subdivision

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Calumet Ave

any other public meeting where the West Lake Corridor Project was discussed, this is highly evident, seeing from the range of reactions from local attendees.

This project, a nine-mile extension of the existing South Shore Line that will also connect to the Metra Electric District’s line, will largely affect the livelihood of some Munster residents, as the line is proposed to pass through the West Lakes subdivision, 45th Street, Fisher Street and Ridge Road, and having two stations.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) had been proposing this plan for a long time, performing studies of the economic and transportation benefits since 1989. It was not until 2014 that the NICTD began the first leg of the process by performing an environmental review. In December of 2016, the NICTD, along with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), released their Environmental Impact Statement, which opens the NICTD to their next step of applying for having federal funds for the project determined. The project is proposed to end in 2022.

“The fact is the first monies for the West Lake Extension were secured in 1991, so this has been a project that has been under discussion for literally more than a generation,” U.S. Representative Pete

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Students discuss House Bill 1024, religious expression in schools Danie Oberman Page Editor Throughout middle school, Zahraa Ouyuon, senior, would pray during school. She would go to the guidance office after lunch, pray, and then go to class. “(If people asked what I was doing), I would just be like ‘We do it (pray) five times a day, and one of them interferes with school,” Zahraa said. “So I don’t let it stop me from praying, I do it during then.”

While Zahraa no longer prays during school hours, at MHS, the media center conference room is currently available for students who pray during the day. To ensure students all throughout Indiana have the right to express their religion in school, House Bill 1024 waits on the Senate floor.

House Bill 1024 proposes to loosen the reigns on religious expression in school, stating schools must allow students to pray during the day, as well as accept religious ideology as they would any secular ideology in clothing, homework, art, and any other form of expression. It also establishes a limited public forum at any school event in which a student may speak, meaning students can include religious content in speeches.

While previsions like these may be well-intentioned, Mrs. Kelly Barnes, English teacher, is wary of the possibility that the bill creates more problems than it solves.

“I’m a religious person, and I’m a Christian, and I feel very strongly about my own beliefs,” Mrs. Barnes said.

“But as a teacher, I am very wary of bills like this because I don’t want my students to ever feel that they are being pressured to do something or to not do something.”

In favor of the bill, David Green, senior, sees an opportunity for religion to be put on an even playing field with all other ideas.

“I write about religion in papers all the time, and I have discussions about religion with people,” David said. “I think, if I had done some certain things, like say I tried to start a school bible study, I think I could have accomplished it, but I would have had to jump through a lot more hoops than normal, and I think this bill would be helpful for people who do want to do something like that.”

When it comes to discussing religion, Paige Mecyssine, senior, finds it can be helpful within boundaries.

“I think it would be good to include it in class discussion, if it’s discussing and encouraging more viewpoints, but if it’s a teacher saying ‘okay, let’s take five minutes to pray,’ I don’t think that would be okay,” Paige said.

The non-coercive moment of silence is the best method to navigate optional prayer in school, according to Mrs. Barnes.

“I think that during MRT when we do the pledge and a moment of silence, I think that’s appropriate because that way people can (pray), or they don’t have to,” Mrs. Barnes said. “I think that’s giving young people a choice.”

Religion does play a part in everyday education, however, according to Mrs. Barnes.

“Especially in literature, as an English teacher, there

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news

march 24, 2017

SIDE NOTE DECA

What: DECA Nationals Where: April 26-29 When: Anaheim, California Twenty students qualified for DECA Nationals at their state competition on March 7. The students who qualified are seniors Maddie Foley, Dylan Harish, Madhuri Kesani, Zahraa Ouyuon Anna Whitney, Alex Yao; juniors, Sofia Balac, Ian Brundige (Publications member), Evan Dong, Gabbie Ingoglia, Vince Ivetich, Tara Layous, Connor Meyer, Kevin Peddi, Hansa Vavilala, Easan Venkat; sophomores Sam Barraza, Sage Sweeny, Jackie Webber, and freshman Kathir Venkat.

“I’m really excited, I didn’t want to get my hopes up about State because I know there are upperclassmen in (my event Business Law and Ethics) and they’ve had a lot more experience.” Sage said. “I’m just really happy with how Jackie and I did and I think (Nationals) will be a great experience that we can build off of in the future to hopefully do even better next year.”

Science Olympiad

What: Science Olympiad State Where: IU Bloomington When: March 18 Science Olympiad finished first place at State. The team finished with a score of 59 points, breaking the previous state record of 61 points, set by MHS two years ago. The point system is determined by what rank they received of the 37 teams at the competition in each of the 22 scored events, with less points being better. The score of 59 means that they averaged somewhere between second and third place in every event, an amazing feat, according to Mr. Keith Koszut, science teacher.

“I think (beating the state record) is something that none of us really expected,” Mr. Koszut said. “We thought we were at least close to being able to win, but we did not think we would win with that kind of score.”

Ping Pong

What: Ping Pong tournament Where: MHS Commons When: April 12 After a year of casual matches played for fun, Ping Pong club prepares for their tournament. The tournament will begin on April 12 and may continue onto the 19, depending on how many people attend. Some students play competitively, so it will be an exciting tournament, according to Mr. Michael Dempsey, study hall supervisor.

“I’m pretty excited to watch it, there is actually quite a few people who are really good,” Mr. Dempsey said. “There are probably about five kids that are really good. A lot of kids that are going are pretty good and they are getting a lot better. I’m pretty excited to see how the tournament goes.”

Corrections In issue nine of Crier, page two should indicate that Color Guard performed in Schaumberg, Illinois, and sophomore Moira Glowacki’s name was misspelled.

Additionally, the first and second photos were taken by Summer Witvoet and Weronika Bilek respectively. On page 6, the photo “Indian twist” was taken by Joseph Bellahcen. In the photo “Turn around” on page 9, the dance team performed their grande sequence. On page 12, Sydney Macek’s name was misspelled. Crier regrets these errors

Stopped in their path Students discuss possibility of new policy on fundraising restrictions Josh Kim Page Editor Many after school activities has trips that students look forward to. But there is a catch: the trip cost can be very high.

As students are unable to pay for the entire cost, they turn to fundraising.

It is a possibility the School Board has considered prohibiting GoFundMe and similiar websites to assist students in paying for school field trips.

Thomas Beckman, senior, taking Project Bio, left Wednesday on the trip with his class. Although he was able to pay for the trip, Thomas expresses how he feels about the crowd fundraising policy.

“I can see where (the school board

is) coming from on it, but I think (crowd fundraising) is a good cause, especially if it’s for educational purposes,” Thomas said. “I think it’s bad if they did approve this rule, I think some students need certain money, obviously GoFundMe makes it easier. I think it’s a good program.”

Last summer, Natalia Salazar, junior, was one of the students who struggled to pay an expensive price for a trip to Spain with the IU Honors program. With GoFundMe, Natalia was able to raise about $3,400 for her trip, making up more than half of the trip cost.

“I don’t like that, I wouldn’t have been able to go if I had not set up the page,” Natalia said. “I don’t get why you can’t make a GoFundMe page if it is for

a school program. I don’t see why you can’t set up a page, they are a good way to spread the word. They are a legitimate site that gets you money.”

Connor Meyer, junior, has been part of various after school activities, and has attended many competitions throughout the year. But when the Harvard National Tournament for Speech and Debate was coming up, he couldn’t afford to go on the costly trip.

“The Speech and Debate team was going to take a trip to Harvard, for the Harvard national tournament, which is one of the biggest tournaments in the country, and I was interested in going with my partner,” Connor said. “But due to financial constraints, because I had to pay for other Speech and Debate tournaments or because I wanted to go pay for a tournament at DECA or Science Olympiad, I couldn’t go to all of them. So I was forced to make a choice and because of this, I couldn’t go to Harvard.”

Alerting the public School board hosted meetings discussing referendum proposals, continues to work for public support

alleviate the money towards basic needs and upgrades and of course to the teachers who deserve it.”

Others like Mrs. Nancy Hamblin, retired teacher, beIt is seven o’clock at night. The School Board is gath- lieve, in order to improve the public school system and ered in the auditorium. Seats scattered with citizens this community in general, this and teachers wanting to be well referendum is necessary.

Worlds colliding informed. Administration in the “It’s not just home values to What will occur if both referendums are back holding note cards containme, it’s the future of all the chiling questions the audience has. passed compared to if they are not dren in our community and evIf it is passed The School Board hosted erything about our community Retain and attract quality teachers two meetings attempting to inhinges on our public schools and Keep extracurricular programs form the public of the details of how successful they are,” Mrs. Upgrade technology the two proposed referendums Hamblin said. “I am involved Make structural, safety and security upgrades March 16 and 22. in school systems throughout Increase in 2017 tax bill “We did an overview of, basithe state, and they’re all going If it is not passed cally, why do we need these two through these same questions.

Induce additional budget cuts referenda to be passed by the Many people I talk to in these Limit extracurricular programs taxpayers, that’s really what the other communities ask ‘Why Capital needs adds to operating fund focus was,” Dr. Jeffrey Hendrix, wouldn’t you (pass these refer2017 tax bill will remain consistent with 2016 superintendent, said. “We also endums)’ and ‘Why wouldn’t a source: Dr. Jeffery Hendrix, superintendent talked about the accomplishwonderful a wonderful commuments of the district, the accomnity like Munster come together plishments made by the students and teachers.” for their schools,’ and I completely agree with that.”

With the voting of the approval of the two referendum on May 2, Dr. Hendrix discusses the possibilities that would be if both referendum were passed.

“Our belief is that the referenda will keep what we have, attract quality teachers and provide competitive wages for those teachers,” Dr. Hendrix said. “That’s the operating side. Then the buildings, there are so many needs we’ve been looking to fix in the schools. But mainly providing a good educational environment for our students and it hasn’t been done in a while and we need to make those upgrades.”

Based on facts and where the school stands financially, School Board Vice President Mrs. Melissa Higgason believes it is important for the referendum to pass.

“I can say, with certainty, that this referendum must pass if we are going to preserve the quality of excellence that the students have come to expect and the community has come to expect,” Mrs. Higgason said Though he is all for improving the schools and paying the teachers what they deserve, Mr. Michael Stewart, long time resident, is concerned with how the School Board is handling the budget and disagrees with “necessary evil” that is another referendum.

“The problem with the referendum is that we have to go this route and the money that is going seems to be paying the administration’s salaries,” Mr. Stewart said. photo by Vrusti Patel “I think the transparency they’ve shown these last few months have been encouraging and I hope they contin- TO THE POINT At the referendum meeting Thursday March 16, Dr. Jeffery Hendrix, superintendent, speaks about the outcome of what will happen if both ue that, but I think the salaries are bloated. If they have are passed and what could happen. “If the public don’t understand why we’re the same passion as they say they do then they would doing it, then they won’t support this, so we want to make sure they know the do the job for a 25 percent decrease. That should help facts behind it and why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Dr. Hendrix said.

Joseph Bermudez Copy Editor

march 24, 2017

Keeping on track continued from page 1 Visclosky said. “And what is the impetus of it? The impetus of it is to grow our economy and create jobs, particularly for young people, so that they stay or return to Northwest Indiana.”

At a public gathering March 12 at Wicker Park about the project, Rep. Visclosky addressed the possible benefits the project could bring to the community, citing a study performed by Indiana University Northwest that over 74,000 teenage children have left the Region in the last 47 years, and stressed the importance of having transportation and job opportunities for Millennials. He also mentioned the area’s decline compared to the parallel area in Illinois that has considerably more tracks.

“I gave a presentation earlier this week in the United States Congress, and said there are two Lake Counties adjacent to the city of Chicago and on Lake Michigan,” Rep. Visclosky said. “One is Lake County, Illinois, and one is Lake County, Indiana. Since 1970, the population of Lake County, Illinois, has increased by 83.9 percent. The population of Lake County, Indiana, has declined by 10 percent. The median household income for Lake County, Illinois, has increased by 17.7 percent. The median household income in Lake County, Indiana, has declined by 12.5 percent.”

During the meeting he also addressed a multitude of concerns, one of the largest expressed being what would happen to the housing around the area the tracks would inhabit. Though he is not a part of the project, Mr. Dustin Anderson, town manager, hears this concern the most from citizens.

“The most common complaint would be a legitimate concern of property owners regarding the most significant asset they have,” Mr. Anderson said. “Certainly the academic research and experiences in other communities who have done this successfully have shown that it is a dramatic financial benefit. However, it’s an understandable concern of homeowners that this project will negatively impact their home values.”

For some town members, the existing train lines in Munster cause numerous problems.

“I lived in West Lakes my entire life and the trains have always been an issue,” Brendan Ristenpart, senior, said. “When I come to school in the morning it’s just trains constantly causing me to be late to

first hour ever since I’ve been driving to high school because of the trains. I live close up to the tracks so when the trains come by, they come by fast enough and loud enough that they knock things off my shelves or wake me up at night. If they built the passenger train station behind West Lakes, the amount of train traffic would increase over there and it would be a lot worse and it wouldn’t be something I would want to put up with.”

Brendan spoke of his concerns in front of a Town Council meeting, also address-

photo by Weronika Bilek

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the corner and be out right where that can be happening.”

Throughout the project, Rep. Visclosky stresses the importance of cooperation and communication between the community and NICTD. “This has been a public process,” Rep. Visclosky said. “No one has been left out of the process. I understand people in Munster have made recommendations to the town board for things that should be taken into consideration now that this process is going to come to fruition.”

photo by Joseph Bellahcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions commonly arise from community members concerning the incoming train lines What is happening to property on the proposed line?

NICTD will have to acquire private property after considering all routes of avoiding and minimizing space acquired. Under multiple levels of legislation that regulate the acquisition process, NICTD may purchase residential and commercial land. Plans to begin negotiations start in 2018.

Will citizens have to pay extra for this?

It is anticipated that the New Starts program will provide approximately 50 percent of the Project’s capital cost. The non-New Starts costs will be covered by a combination of funding sources, including funding from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, the State of Indiana, and local communities.

When would construction happen?

The Engineering and Construction step of the process is proposed to last from 2017 to 2022.

What will be the effects of construction?

Construction may slow traffic, create traffic detours, and access to businesses, as well as creating noise.

Will there be a lot of noise?

Residents may hear train warning horns, squealing from wheels, and cooling fans. Vibrations may also be perceived through the ground.

How can I get involved?

Citizens can use the project website to comment in the comment section, ask question, and view project documents. Public meetings for citizens to make comments and questions have been held since 2014 through earlier this year. source: nictdwestlake.com, mysouthshoreline.com

In the name of free religion continued from page 1

ing possible problems with using Margot Lane as the street to access the station.

“People already complain about the amount of speed down Margot, and they almost put up speed bumps a couple years ago and they never did,” Brendan said. “The speed on Margot is already a big issue, and if now they opened it up to people who don’t even live in West Lakes, it can actually be a dangerous thing to live on Margot. My house is close to Margot, so if someone speeds, my little siblings could be out playing on

news

photo by Weronika Bilek

IN ANTICIPATION At a meeting March 12, community member gather to voice their concerns to U.S. Representative Pete Visclosky at Wicker Park. SIGN OF THE TIMES In yards throughout Munster, signs apposing the new trains can be seen. QUESTION AND ANSWER Rep. Visclosky speaks and answers questions about the proposed railway.

are so many times that we discuss things like (religion),” Mrs. Barnes said. “When we read the play ‘Inherit the Wind,’ we talk about religion a lot. And I think that you can talk about it appropriately, I think you can talk about it indiscriminately, and still have a great conversation without making anyone feel like they’re supposed to be a certain religion or not.”

Allowing students to express their religious ideas within the confines of the bill will prove beneficial, according to David.

“If somebody really believes in their

ideology, then by being so vehemently legalistic about it isn’t going to win any friends or influence any people,” David said. “I don’t believe that by eliminating, annihilating religion in schools, we’re ever going to help anybody. We may in the short term help the feelings of some small minority of people, but if most people are neutral towards something, then in schools and public places, treat them neutrally, then we’re going to have more open discussion about these things, and that’s going to make everyone’s lives better.”

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march 24, 2017

t c e r Di

Crier provides insight on coverage decisions, ultimate goal Letter from the editor Isn’t everyone tired of hearing about news?

The conversation can be draining. It seems like everywhere we look, we find a new story that angers us, discourages us, challenges our beliefs. Often persuading us to turn the channel, log out or close the story that confront us. And to be fair, in between we find small moments of relief. An inspiring story, a moment of prevail, among the seemingly hopeless news. However, it is sometimes not enough to change our minds. Most of us are still tired of the news.

Letter to the Editor Crier is not above this feeling. We too It is a letter a reader grow discouraged when hearing about writes to Crier in rethe lack of trust in the media, and moreso sponse to an article. the disconnect between America’s media We print ALL letters outlets and American viewers. That is so long as they are... why when our staff discovered there was 1. limited to 250 words echoes of similar voices within the school, 2. signed and given to us we wanted to provide an explanation not 3. given in timely manner entirely found in the “real world.”

4. no personal attacks We want our readers to feel their 5. Pertaining to school concerns are heard. We are the school issues newspaper and, with that title, comes a These requirements can responsibility that separates us from regular be found in all published media outlets. We represent a variety of issues below in the masthead people from different backgrounds, races, genders, sexualities, but from a much smaller scope. We are a singular platform that must balance the wants and the needs of a diverse student body that we know on a much more personal level. It can be difficult to convey how mindful we are of our own responsibilities. We discuss topics and propose stories that we find to be relevant, important and impactful. These stories range from a specific student’s accomplishments to town developments. Sometimes we decide against covering a story because we agree

Inside Look Mimi Brody Page Editor Students’ allegations concerning the bias and validity of Crier prompts selfevaluation. As a paper, we have decided to use this format to try to explain to our readership why we print what we do.

According to current adviser, Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman, student media serves multiple purposes, not just entertainment.

“The newspaper is supposed to reflect the opinions on current events, it also has to balance two requirements, the needs and the wants of a community,” Ms. Lanman said. “So the focus of student media is to both let students express

CRI ER

as a staff that beyond informing, there is nothing we can do for the students by covering it.

In the same respect, that is why we chose to cover topics that may seem controversial. Stories about race or eating disorders are chosen because they are important, relevant, and can be most importantly impactful. Not every story on the surface will matter to you; however, our goal is to show that it should matter to you.

Of course, not all of our readers will agree with our coverage.

With each story, we write we attempt to provide a level playing field where we invite each opinion to share. A writer can only go so far as to find these voices because our job is not to shape the issue. We let our sources do that for us by telling their stories, experiences, or thoughts on these issues. Whether we are covering Boys’ Basketball losing Sectionals or an executive order blocking people out of the country, we report and write what the students express. We may not be perfect, but it is our best intention to be an outlet for your ideas and experiences.

By establishing ourselves as this outlet, we encourage you to disagree with us. We value any opinion, experience or insight and we do not affiliate ourselves with any ideals. This is as much of your paper as anyone else’s within the school. So with that being said, if a story angers you or challenges your beliefs, write a letter to the editor. Stop me in the hall. Email me. Stop by N155. Please reach out to us if you feel that you or your experiences are being overlooked.

Because we are just as tired as you of news that doesn’t reach its readers. So, we strive to bring you news that matters. Although sometimes you may not agree with a viewpoint or have the same experiences as others, it does not mean we are not trying to reach you.

Sometimes not all news is about you directly; however, the goal is that the news Crier reports does impact you.

their views on things that are important in culture and to students specifically, but also it is a little bit of public relations.

It lets the community know what is happening.”

Writing any story that may be deemed controversial requires writers to really take a step back and make sure their reporting is as objective and ethical as possible. This involves writers and editors making tough decisions on how they want to go about their writing. Even with an advisor, this can be difficult.

“I know there is so much out there, and that students really do the best to cover as much as they can, but they are students and they are learning,” Ms. Lanman said. “Most of the time they make good decisions on what is happening, but other times they miss stories. The difficulty of covering every view in every story is exacerbated when you take into

Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321, phone 219-836-3200, Ext. 3443; Fax: 219-836-3202. Crier is published through the Honors Newspaper Advanced Writing and Editing classes and extra-curricular involvement.

•The newspaper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for the school and community. •Crier is a source of information, entertainment, advertising and opinion for the student body, faculty, administration and community •Published material will stress objective reporting except on the editorial page where opinion writing will be featured. All published material will stress accuracy, integrity, honesty, responsibility, objectivity, fairness and independence. Corrections, when necessary, will be published on page 2.

Opinions expressed in the newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the School Town of Munster, faculty or administration.

Letters to the editor and reader suggestions are welcomed, but should be limited to 250 words. All letters must be signed and should be given

-Jordan Szymanski, Editor-in-chief account all writers have a life outside of writing, including a full six hours of school each day. I am always thinking, ‘Are we getting every story?’ But I don’t think it is possible to, unless we were able to say ‘All we are doing all day is reporting and you don’t have to go to other classes.”

Most importantly, the staff wants to make sure every voice is heard which is something we prioritize.

“We know we are the only student newspaper so it is especially our job to give a platform to those that don’t always have a voice,”said Jordan Szymanski, Editor-in-chief, senior. ”It doesn’t take the voice away from anyone else, it just helps show that some issues matter to someone that is not always you. Not everyone is going to agree but that doesn’t make either side less valid. And our job is to make Crier the place where those conversations happen.”

directly to any staff member or delivered to the Publications room, N155, one week prior to publication. Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual. Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and grammatical errors. Crier will accept letters from anyone, provided that the content pertains to school or school issues. Feedback may also be submitted on Twitter @munstermedia.

Mailed subscriptions cost $25 per year. Ad rates and policies are available to anyone upon request. Crier is published 13 times a school year.

line Rule of thumb The mnemonic, “etoppic,” can be used to help determine importance of stories to an audience

E motion T IMLINESS O DDITY P ROMINENCE P ROXIMITY I MPACT C ONFLICT

Do our readers want to know this?

Will this still be relevant?

Is this a unique story?

Does it include something important?

Is it something that happened close by?

How does this effect our audience?

Does the story present an issue?

If the story in question fits under one or more of these categories it may be newsworthy.

BUT Sometimes stories might not run for other reasons... for example There was a fight last week We ask: Is this relevant a week later?

We don’t yes no run the story Would Crier be fulfilling the student body’s needs and wants for news?

We don’t yes no run the story Is this story impactful on a deeper level than just knowing what happened?

yes We run the story

no We don’t run the story

and above all, we aim to do no harm.

Copy Editor Joseph Bermudez Graphics Editor Gavin Hamilton Page Editors Mimi Brody, Josh Kim, Danie Oberman, Carey Scott Business Manager Joeseph Bellahcen Head Photographer Weronika Bilek Chief Photographer Danijela Kaurin

The Staff Editor-in-Chief Jordan Szymanski

Photographers Joseph Bellahcen, Lauren Kozy, Vrusti Patel, Melanie Powers, Austin Skeens, Kess Vaitkus, Easan Venkat, Summer Witvoet

Design Chief Chloe Wineinger

Adviser Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman

Managing Editor Ian Brundige

march 24, 2017

speakout

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We have not received a letter to the editor this year; Crier seeks out student responses in order to get more student opinion on past coverage in the paper

of

photo illustrations by Lauren Kozy and Summer Witvoet

miscommunication A Conservative “I think (being conservative) comes with like a no nonsense attitude. Someone who values law and order over feelings and emotions.

In a nutshell it means to me that you don’t put individuals above the country as a whole.”- Chase Miles, junior They tend to think a larger government threatens its citizens freedoms. They support limited government involvement in the economy and social issues.

Moderate “I think it (being moderate) means to not be conservative to a point where you are not willing to accept new ideas, but not liberal to the point where I want to wipe out all past traditions, so basically a happy medium.”

- Nikki Biesteik, sophomore A moderate is someone who is opposed to extreme views and actions on either side.

“I would define liberalism as an ideology stressing individual freedom and collective effort.”- Mike Yoniles, senior They favor political and social reform, usually government driven.

Encourage government involvement in the environment, economy, and social issues.

Liberal

mid allegations that Crier is biased, Crier reaches out to students with different political views, and asks for feedback.

This is what they said...

Mimi Brody Page Editor

What would you consider yourself politically?

Robert Young, freshman: moderate Dylan Harish, senior: none MacKenzie Torphy, senior: liberal Chelsea Okolocha, junior: moderate Do you think that Crier is biased?

Dylan: “Politically Biased? Somewhat.

But I feel Crier does an adequate job in trying to eliminate the bias as much as possible, but it is still pretty evident.”

Chelsea: “Personally, I don’t see any bias in what I read. I don’t see anything leaning one way or the other. I just see you guys finding topics and interviewing students about what they think. I don’t see how someone’s opinion can make you guys biased. Maybe I am not reading closely enough, but I don’t understand what people are complaining about.”

MacKenzie: “I have noticed that the Crier is very liberal in terms of what they cover and their editorials, but if the writer is a liberal, they are writing what they believe in and I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Can you describe how Crier presents bias in it’s articles?

Dylan: “Sometimes it is the selection of the stories that you decide to do.

I can’t fault you for that because you are your own publication and you are not required by the students to publish anything specific, but in terms of stories and the mode you go about your op-ed pieces, which of course are your own opinions, but the mode of which and the consistency of being somewhat biased is alarming in the fact you are publishing it for the entire school. Specifically one of the main issues I talked to my friends about on the back page was the things written in the sidebar. It had quotes like ‘I’m not racist... but,’ ‘Build the wall,’ and ‘All lives matter,’ which are not necessar-

like an anti-Trump publication that just spoke out against the travel ban. You did not give many actual facts about the executive order, and it was more like ‘This is ily racist. three different people’s opinions on the Chelsea: “I heard a lot of people com- ban.’ The sources gave very similar views plaining about the race story. Personally, in what they spoke about. It could have I was really happy when I read the race basically been one interview. I think you story because it is good to shed light on should have given the pros and cons on different people’s stories. Even if it wasn’t both sides so readers could weigh them about something like racism, I think it is as best as they could. In reality this is the good to just have different voices sharing only newspaper we have at school and it what they see or what is happening to is one of the main forms of information them, even if you that comes to don’t see it hapstudents, as a lot Survey Says pening. I don’t see of people read what the big deal Results from Crier survey reveal your Crier. Since student perception of bias in media there are no othwas.” er forms, I can’t Do you think say you allow for Do you get useful news Crier does a good every opinion to from Crier? job representing 45% be heard.”

No the school itself?

Yes MacKenzie: “I What steps feel like our student can Crier take body is more conto eliminate its’ Do you think the servative. The peobias?

29% media is trustworthy? ple that are conserDylan: “I think No vative are probably that because in not as happy with Yes totality, the writCrier as kids who ers and editors aren’t, but for those are consistent who are liberal I am Do you think news in in their political general is biased? If 19% sure they love Crier ideology, so you so, in what way? and what it stands have the same Liberal for. I like what you writers express29% Conservative guys write, even ing their same though some may views which I No bias not.” have found to Dylan: “Looklean left. You Do you think Crier 5% ing at the school can open it up, is biased? If so, in specifically, there not just allowing 38% what way?

Liberal is one newspaper for extra people representing what to come in but No bias the school believes. allowing for difConservative You don’t have an fering opinions influx of different like having consource: Crier survey of 383 students opinions. If there servative people on GoogleForm form March 20-22; was another more come in when conservative Crier, then you would have you have a topic that is controversial. I the opposing opinions that you can have think that the premature nature of that is a real discussion about. Since there is more beneficial than trying to write a letonly one Crier, and only one opinion ter to the editor. The fact is the editor will that you guys continue to cite and print print it after the initial publication. When in your op-ed pieces, I would argue that she prints it, will it correlate? Will people since there is only one paper, you don’t remember what is being said? actually allow for all the opinions. For Robert: “I think writers need to show example, in your article about the travel a little more self-restraint when writing ban. The main problem I have with this is about very non-personal subjects, and there was no Trump side. Pulling it down make sure they aren’t writing and using into what it really looked like, it seemed quotes to show their personal beliefs.”

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march 24, 2017

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Chloe Wineinger Design Chief

N

“

“To be a woman is to be confident and comfortable in your own skin and be fearless. Don’t be afraid to take on any task.”

Elise Garcia, junior

“My mom always taught me that being a woman means that you can be empowered and break whatever stereotypes there are, because there are so many and we don’t have to live by them. (Being ‘girlie to me) is being able to choose.”

Liv Rivich, junior

Breaking the rules

“Everyone feels that guys are better than girls and they have different privileges, and so it gives me the feel that I have to challenge that and work to be the best I can.”

Melody Deering, freshman

HER OWN HISTORY “To be a woman is to be strong enough to take on the disadvantages that the world puts towards you.”

Anna Slosser, senior

“I feel like it’s empowering because of (women’s) influences in the world. There’s been many women in politics and actresses that influence us to do everything that men do.”

Audrey Stooksbury, sophomore

Students, teachers share their thoughts on Women’s History Month “What does being a woman mean to you?”

“It’s empowering because years ago they believed that women aren’t as equal as men are, so it’s empowering to know that we can do just what men do, if not, even better.”

Sophie Sakelaris, junior

From the other perspective The most significant women in my life are my mom and my sister. (They’re important to me because) they shaped the way I am now.”

Luke Hermansen, freshman

It didn’t take me long to just kind of be like, ‘Well, I that one could have given up too soon, one don’t care if you think I should do this or not, I’m going unexpended effort that might have saved to.”

Her childhood influences have affected her apthe world,” Jane Addams once said about a woman’s proach to her typically male-dominated field, which role in shaping history. she is also thankful that she is able to do in today’s This is one of senior Alex Raycroft’s favorite quotes, society. as she considers herself a fan of history, and especially “From a societal end of (being a woman), I enjoy womens’ unique role they played in it. being able to do something that is mostly a male-dom“I love so many things about being a woman,” Alex inated field,” Mrs. Ebert said. “Like I’m in science, for said. “I think the history is my favorite part, because it’s example, and I’m a science teacher. Because I am a bithis history that I could be a part of womankind that ology teacher, it’s pretty much 50-50 men and women. has always just risen above and worked to make the But when I would take physics world a better place. I mean classes and different kinds of obviously not all women, some sciences I would notice the women have been terrible. But proportions would change, the vast majority of women in Alex Raycroft, senior, names her favorite and I like that I could bring history have been really cool, female figures throughout history different ideas to the table. hard-working people, and I’m And I don’t know that typicalso happy that I have that in my 1770’s, American Revolution ly those ideas come from me history, I’m proud of that.”

Mercy Otis Warren being a woman, but I do seem Alex finds it especially into be able to contribute an anMercy Otis Warren was an advocate for spiring that some women have gle that is unique.” women’s rights, an author and a histocontinuously broken out of rian during the early days of America’s the odds pushed against them history. throughout history, such as Although most can having less rights and the pos“Mercy Otis warren wrote a bunch of agree that women’s place sible societal expectations of satire about the British during and before in society has definitely adthem. the revolutionary war, and it was pubvanced, some girls still expe“It makes me feel like I lished in a ton of newspapers, she was rience difficulties in their passhould go out there and repa super influential writer during the time.” sions, such as Annie Phelps, resents women, like I could senior, who feels this way 1830’s, Abolitionist Period go out there and do it,” Alex about being in band. said. “It bothers me, so why “I feel like as a woman I’ve Angelina Grimke wouldn’t I try to go out there always had to prove myself Angelina Grimke grew up on a southern and fix it, like the women that in ways men haven’t,” Anplantation with her family, who owned went out to fix the things that nie said. “I’ve had to prove many slaves. At the age of 18, she left her bothered them in their history, that I was capable of doing family to campaign for the abolishment of about everything they were things, especially in music. slavery, becoming the first female aboliseeing around them. That’s Playing percussion, it’s mosttionist. why I want to go into governly male-oriented, so being ment. I want to go and make a “It was really interesting because before, a woman in percussion has difference when I see there’s a women weren’t supposed to speak in been interesting in that asproblem.” front of men, like at public events, but pect. Because I’m definitely in she was the first lady who went up there the minority, especially when and did it anyways; One time they threw For a woman who has you go up to higher levels.” rocks through a window at her as she was Annie has not been discourgrown through some of speaking.

She just kept going.” aged by these odds, as her the advancements of womfamily life allows her to have a en’s’ place in society, Mrs. Sa1890’s, Progressive Era unique perspective. Her two mantha Ebert, science teacher, moms, who are partners, both sees more and more opportuJane Addams serve as strong female role nities for women to make a difJane Addams began the Hull House, models in her life.

According ference than in the past. which housed poor women and children to Annie, having two female “I’ve noticed a change not and taught them skills and trades to parents has allowed her to be necessarily in my own life, perbring to the workforce. a more compassionate pertaining to me, but I’ve noticed “She fought for women’s rights during a son that in society that there has time where women didn’t have very many “(Women tend to be) combeen a change,” Mrs. Ebert rights; plus she was in Chicago, so I think passionate and society allows said. “Women aren’t growing that it’s kind of cool that we’re connected us to express our emotions up acknowledging barriers to that area.” more,” Annie said. “That that were old-fashioned. Now doesn’t mean I like the fact source: Alex Raycroft, senior that doesn’t mean to say that that men can’t.

I wish they (gender barriers still do not excould have that same freeist), because my grandparents and my aunts and uncles are old enough so that I can dom of expression in that way.”

Although women have more rights and far less exvery much see how those stigmas played out in their pectations than in the past, there is still some work to life and the very gendered roles they have themselves. be done to create a completely even playing field, acBut as far as this generation, I’m seeing a lot of imcording to Sam Barraza, sophomore. provement. It’s really not okay to suggest that people “(Womens’ place in society) has definitely advanced can and can’t do things based on their gender, men more from the past, but I still think there’s a ways to and women alike, and that has really helped this gengo as far as equality, I guess,” Sam said. ”Especially in eration be better.” the workforce and how women are viewed in the meMrs. Ebert remembers a childhood without any dia a lot of times.

Moving away from objectification is enforced gender roles from her parents, helping her more of a priority than it used to be. But as far as equal mom cook and her hunting with her dad. However, rights, we’ve definitely made progress.” it was not until she started being around more of her Overall, Alex and all of the other sources are proud outside family and friends that there are sometimes exto be women, as the world cannot exist without the pectations towards being a female, such as dressing effort of every woman from all parts of the world, acfemininely and being able to do housework. cording to Alex.

“I’ve been fortunate enough that the family I grew “I’m proud of the fact that we keep this planet goup in were very old-fashioned in a lot of ways, but ing, like if there weren’t women, we wouldn’t have bathey weren’t when it came to women,” Mrs. Ebert bies,” Alex said.

“We’re needed, and we’re an importsaid. “When I grew up, men and women were exactly ant part of society that isn’t always recognized as one, equal. It never even occurred to me that there were especially in third world countries where women are things I could and couldn’t do from being a girl until I treated like crap, but they’re necessary parts of society. was in school, until I realized that my friends had differWe’re so important too.” ent expectations for themselves than I had for myself.

othing could be worse than the fear

“Especially today in a male-dominant society, it’s knowing that I’m just as strong, just as capable as any other person.”

Arianna Lagunas, senior

“You’re an embodiment of the earth. Without women, we wouldn’t have the population we have today.

We wouldn’t have a lot of the scientific discoveries, we wouldn’t have people going back and forth from space.”

Kayla Prowell, sophomore photos by Elisa Del Toro and Danijela Kaurin

“Why are women important in your life?”

“Well, I would say women are important in my life because they’re who have always taken care of me. From my mom to my grandma to my sisters, they’ve always had my back.”

“The women in my life mean strength and intelligence.

If I could have half of the fortitude of my grandmothers, mother, wife and daughter—I’d be doing okay.”

Milan Obradovic, senior

Mr. Nicholas Gron, math teacher

photo by Weronika Bilek

CHANGE IN THE AIR The Planned Parenthood in Hammond may be among the hundreds across the country to be federally defunded under Trump’s new policy.

President plans to defund abortion services; students react Chloe Wineinger Design Chief President Donald Trump is currently drafting an executive order to prevent the federal government from funding United Nations organizations that promote abortion. If this order were to be enacted, it would expand the Global Gag Rule first implemented by former President Ronald Reagan and reimplemented by every Republican president afterward; however, this current rule only restricts funding of organizations that do not promote abortion. Trump’s plan would also extend to banning funding for sterilization.

“On a Constitutional level it’s definitely justified; it is an executive power to control budget and I’m not surprised to see Trump bar those funds,” Gabie Ingoglia, junior, said.

“In a lot of cases that go through the courts we see the support of women, for example, in Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade, and their control of their bodies, so this is definitely out of the norm. However, with his reinstating of the Global Gag Rule, I’m not surprised to see this.”

In the case of the United States, this could mean that organizations like Planned Parenthood can no longer receive funding if they continue to provide abortion services.

Planned Parenthood has expressed unwillingness to cooperate with this deal. Though Gabie has supported Trump throughout his election and presidency, she does not agree with this proposed executive order, believing that it is a restriction of fundamental rights.

“On a personal level, I believe that women should be able to explore their options and the barring of funds for these programs will definitely result in a decline of this, which is upsetting to hear. I think it’s wrong to take away this right, as I see it as a fundamental right to be educated.

Our fundamental rights should be protected to us regardless of the president’s viewpoint. Our fundamental rights should be protected to us regardless of the president’s viewpoint. Additionally, the reapportionment of these funds is not in support of areas that I would have guessed best for our country, so it is interesting to see how lowly President Trump views these rights. I just don’t think it’s what his focus should be so steadily set on.”

Others who do support this ban, such as Cody Phillips, junior, do so on the beliefs that it is the morally best option, stressing that these organizations tend to play down how often they actually perform abortions.

“When it comes to the facts, one of the facts is that the biggest abortion providers in the United States is Planned Parenthood,” Cody said. “It’s not necessarily as low-key as they make it out to be. (They perform) hundreds of thousands of abortions per year, which is ridiculous in my opinion.”

Cody also favors the economic benefits banning federal funding can have on abortion services.

“When you talk about the economic side of Planned Parenthood and abortion and actually defunding it, I think that’s a good idea in my opinion because when you require people through federal taxes, people like me that are very pro-life and against a foundation like Planned Parenthood, when you require those people to support that or fund it through taxes, that’s 100 percent undermining their values and their opinions and beliefs.”

8

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march 24, 2017

photo by Easan Venkat

SHOW AND TELL Using her visual aid, Emma Higgason, freshman, showcases her informative speech about the human pheromone, which she will be performing at Nationals. “I’m super excited to go (to nationals),” Emma said. “It’s going to be so fun.

We’re there for a whole week, which is crazy because speech tournaments usually last for just a day or two, and to be there for a whole week; that’s pretty cool

Talk the talk

Speech sends 16 students to national competition in July; multiple underclassmen

Though going to the National competition is exciting for the underclassmen, it also creates an expectation of their performances in future years, which both excites Sixteen. That is the number of spots open for the na- and worries the students, according to Emma. tional competition for students in the Northwest Indi“I hope I will live up to the same expectations next ana district, taking place on June 18 to 23 in Birming- year because I feel like I set the bar so high this year, ham, Alabama. This year, Munster locked down 11 of that if I don’t qualify as a upperclassman I’ll think, ‘Well those spots, which is many more than did I get worse over the years? What the usual amount of students who go to Path to Nationals happened?’,” Emma said. “But it’s defiNationals for speech, according to Coach Qualifiers prepare nitely going to push me really hard in Jordan Mayer, speech teacher. the coming years to work just as hard as for Nationals months “That is a large number when you comI did freshman year to get where I am, before competition pare the number of qualifiers we have had because it takes a lot of time, and dedBreak from since 1968,” Coach Mayer said. “Sure, the ication, and hard work to be successful Speech practices activity has grown and there have been in Speech. I’ve dedicated hours, and additional events added. However when hours, and hours after school, at home, you look back to the number of qualifiand it’s such an amazing feeling to work Preparing backup ers that we have been able to have, it has really hard for something and have it events ranged from one to maybe five or six, on work out for you, so definitely I’m goa good year. To have 11, that’s an extraoring to have to remember this feeling so Practicing main dinary number and we are proud.”

I can push myself next year.” events; Catholic The Speech qualifiers are seniors Alex Although he is an underclassman and Nationals Bleza, Alexandra Raycroft, Mariah Vildoes not have much experience, Noel National showlaroman, juniors Tara Layous, Noah Mofeels that his perseverance makes up for case night June 6; ell, Easan Venkat (Publications member), his lack of experience.

Nationals 17-24 sophomores Shreyas Iyer, Maya Rad“Don’t just think that because you’re jenovich, and freshmen Noel Fary, Emma Sources: Emma Higgason, fresha freshman and because there is like man, Coach Jordan Mayer, speech Higgason, and Hailey Johns. upperclassmen or seniors on the team teacher “I’m not nervous (for Nationals) bethat you can’t do something amazing.” cause I’m going in there as a freshman, Noel said. “I mean it took a lot of work, I I don’t really have high expectations for myself,” Noel didn’t miss a tournament this year, I went to practice evsaid. “Obviously, I’m going to try my best, but even if ery single week and it was a lot of work, but it definitely I don’t make it to the final round, I’m not going to be paid off so hard work beats seniority, that’s the main too upset. It’s not too big of a weight on my back right message and anyone can make it anywhere in speech now.” if you try hard enough”

June

May

April March

Gavin Hamilton Graphics Editor

photo by Joseph Bellahcen

ACTING OUT During a Speech showcase, Noah Moell, junior, performs his humorous piece with his partner, Nathanael Rodenburg, sophomore. “Whenever we have a different character, we make each character like a caricature,” Noah said.

“We take a base character, one of them was Donald Trump, and we took that and we blew everything way out of proportion, and then when we practice, we practice each little scene on its own, so you really just understand the character.”

Helping Hand

Upperclassmen discuss having a young team going to Nationals, consisting of many underclassmen...

“I think a lot of people didn’t have faith in us since we have such a young team. We have a lot of freshmen on the team, but they didn’t get to see how much work all of these freshmen put in, and focused on the fact that they are freshmen. Being a sophomore, I know I was in that exact same position last year and I felt like I had to put in ten times as much work.” - Maya Radjenovich, sophomore

...and how they helped to guide them.

“I gave (the freshmen) positivity, became close friends with them, I watched them, I gave them feedback, and then when it came down to State, I became nit-picky. I think what made them succeed the most was that the upperclassmen became really close with them, and that made them want to strive to do good.” - Ally Shinkan, junior

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march 24, 2017

Achieve as a

sports

9

Team

Tennis prepares to face Lafayette Harrison, Crown Point in first games of season Danie Oberman Page Editor After weeks of practicing, pool playing, and conditioning, Girls’ Tennis prepares to kick off their season.

“I’m really excited for the team this year, actually,” Perima Shah, senior, said. “We do have a bit of a smaller team than normal, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If anything, I think that makes it better because we’re going to be able to focus more on individual play styles and helping coach the younger (players). With that being said, I’m really really excited about the incoming talent. There’s some really awesome freshman coming in.”

As a freshman, Hazel Wolf enjoys working with the team and getting to know the older players.

“They’re so sweet,” Wolf said. “We hadn’t met some of the juniors and seniors because we didn’t get to play with them in middle school, but they’re super open and accepting. They introduced us to everyone right away, and they’re always trying to make sure we’re included in everything thing.

They’re really nice.”

Despite tryouts still happening this week, Sara Ladd, senior, sees strengths in the players and their skills.

“We are really well conditioned. A lot of the time we outlast our opponents in matches, so we’re conditioned well. Also, we’re consistent. We out rally our opponents,” Ladd said.

The team will put these to the test during their first game April 8 against Lafayette Harrison. “(At) Lafayette Harrison, last year I was injured so I actually didn’t play in that match, but they’re very comparable to us,” Ladd said. “It’s going to be a close match. Last year we won 3-2, and this year I expect the score to be 3-2 (either) in favor or not in our favor. It’s going to be a close match,” The team will play Crown Point April 12.

“Crown Point lost a lot of seniors last year. They were mostly senior dominated, so it depends on if they have good freshman, but as of now I think we have Crown Point pretty much under control,” Ladd said. “But we never underestimate our opponents.

Crown Point could come out firing, so we’re just going to come out firing too.”

photo by Easan Venkat

Grounded While practicing catching short hops with her partner, Sarah Mavity (left), junior, Sarah Johnson (right), junior, prepares for the season. “Basically we are trying to simulate a short-hop in a little drill that we can easily do with a partner,” Johnson said. “Here it is super easy, but kind of tricky in the playing field so we try to help each other at practice.”

Start

Fresh

Softball prepares for first games of season, hopes to repeat last year’s success Danie Oberman Page Editor

Ready to play again after making it into Semi-State last year, Mary Ellen Gilhooly, senior, thinks that Softball will begin their new season with high hopes but no unrealistic expectations.

“It’s hard to tell right now (how far we’ll go) because it’s the beginning of the season,” Gihooly said. “If you had asked me at the beginning of the season last year, I would have been unsure as well. The team changes as the season goes on, so it’s up to us to progress as the season goes on, and—hopefully—we’ll do just as well as we did last year.”

One important aspect of the team’s success was their team chemistry, according to Sarah Johnson, junior.

“If you lack team chemistry, your team kind of falls apart,” Johnson said. “You’re not on the same page and you don’t have symmetry between your teammates, because it allows for speed, accuracy, and inefficiency.

Without that, you can’t win.”

After graduating several seniors last year, the team now focuses on building a team with less experienced players.

“I think early on, (the inexperience) will definitely affect us a lot,” Coach Beth Thornburg, math teacher, said. “Last year we had a lot of veterans, so there was a lot of things we didn’t need to work on as much because they knew them from playing for so long. So this year it will take us a while to get a little more seasoned. We have a lot of inexperienced kids at some key positions. Not that they’re not good players, they’re just inexperienced.”

To get ready to compete against Hanover Central on Monday, the team has been working hard in practice, according to Gilhooly.

“I think we’ve been really working hard these last few weeks to pinpoint little things such as plays and everything and get that out of the way so we know when we go into the game on Monday that we kind of have a feel for it already,” Gilhooly said.

Coach Thornburg is works with the team on situational skills to prepare for the game.

“They’re not necessarily lacking in terms of their physical abilities, it’s more the mental part of the game where I expect quite a bit from them mentally,” Coach Thornburg said. “So we’re just practicing that, going through situations, trying to put a little bit more pressure on them in practice, so that once it comes to game time, they feel confident that they can make the right decisions.” additional reporting by Josh Kim

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sports

march 24, 2017

Hit the ground

running

Track, field prepare for indoor State tomorrow Ian Brundige Managing Editor

help underclassmen that are new to the team. With two years of experience runWith nearly a month between their ning high school track, Ziel has found a first look at competition, at the indoor new position on the team as one of those practice meet at Lowell, and their first upperclassmen.

“It’s been fun. A lot of girls, they’ll ask outdoor meet, Track and Field has taking me questions all the time, like how do we advantage of the time to improve.

“So far it’s going really well, everyone do this and that, and I’ll just know what is working really hard, the meet (at Low- to do,” Ziel said. “I just remember being the little freshman, asking ell) was really fun,” Kendal those questions.”

Ziel, junior, said. “(Training) Headed out After not performing as a whole feels really good Indoor meets are as well as he would have and I think we are really exdifferent for a number liked at Lowell, Kendall cited for the season to start of reasons Coleman, junior, is workand to start competing.” p No spikes ing harder to reach his According to Ziel, the meet at Lowell is a good p Boys and girls on a goal of 15 seconds in hursimilar schedule dles. warm-up for the runners “The season’s been gobecause in the indoor atmo- p Different events ■ Shorter sprints ing good, hard but good. sphere they are not allowed ■ 4X2 instead of 4X4 Better than last year.” to wear spikes, which imColeman said. “(I have proves their speed. source: Saveda Majety, been) working harder, After their indoor practice senior practicing more.” meet, at the beginning of Over spring break the teams will be the month, the teams went directly to a number of qualifiers for indoor State, an practicing like normal to prepare for accelerated time line according to Save- meets when they get back. The boys run against Portage on Tuesday and the girls da Majety, senior.

“We jumped straight into our State on Thursday at Lake Central.

“We have definitely had a couple of qualifiers without doing any normal dual meets, it was definitely on a much big- ups and down throughout the indoor ger scale much more quickly,” Majety meets that we’ve had so far but I think said. “We usually go to one or two (qual- its definitely looking positive going into ifiers) depending on our performance the outdoor season because usually we and whether not we want to improve or don’t have this good of competition indoors so racing against people who are change something.”

With a fast-paced indoor season, ju- better than us pushed us to work harder nior and senior runners are working to and do better.”

Behind the team Student manager helps sports teams for upcoming games

Mimi Brody Page Editor You might see them running around, but they are not on the court. Managers like Katie Kordeck, senior, might be found running around filling up water bottles, or closely keeping score, but most importantly cheering for her friends.

“Managing was awesome. We felt like a family almost instantly. The coaches became my mothers, and the girls became my sisters. It was just instant friendship among everyone,” Katie said.

Katie was a Varsity Softball and Volleyball manager for multiple years, even receiving a letter for her hard work.

“I wanted to be involved in a sport but I couldn’t actually play because my vision, so I decided managing would be

photo by Easan Venkat

JUMPING IN At track practice, Michael Jonelis, senior, improves his quickness as he works on speed hurdles for upcoming meets. “We will have the Conference meets which I think we will do alright at, and then we will have some bigger meets where we will have a little better competition,” Jonelis said.

the right path,” Katie said.

According to Katie, managers are responsible for making sure everything behind the scenes runs smoothly, so their players can play smoothly.

“Responsibilities are different for each team,” Katie said. “I get a lot of water and do cleaning. Sometimes I will have to start practices if coaches are busy running late. I will be a scoreboard keeper or the announcer and I do a lot of various things like filing of paperwork, folding uniforms, and cleaning the locker-room, which felt like it never ended. For Softball, I didn’t expect it to be as much work as it is. But, the work is not frustrating work, it feels like you are just having fun with friends.”

Additional reporting by Danie Oberman

photo by Mimi Brody

DIY SUPPORT Katie Kordeck, senior, makes personalized softball nametags for the players’ lockers and hangs them up for players to find.

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march 24, 2017

Open

season

Baseball travels to Terre Haute for first games of season Danie Oberman Page Editor

Sectionals, and Coach Shinkan thinks a repeat is attainable.

“I think this year that we’re going to be pretty good,” Coach Shinkan said.

“We’ll contend for the conference title, and we’ll contend for the sectional title.

It’s a long season, and you never know with injuries, or how guys are going to progress and do or whatever. But right now, just kind of knowing what we’ve got coming back, I know we’re probably going to be one of the top teams in the area.”

To reach their full potential, the players will have to make up for the seniors they lost last year, according to Madura.

“We lost a lot of our power guys (last year) so some of the younger guys are going to have to step up and fill some roles in the hitting lineup,” Madura said.

As the team works to come together, they will return home to play against Hammond Clark April 1.

“Hammond Clark is down a little bit the last couple years on their baseball program, but it’s still a game, it’s still competition, and you’ve got to respect every single opponent, so you play as hard as you can against everybody. But they’re not one of the top tier teams in the area,” Coach Shinkan said.

Weakland looks forward to the kickoff of the season, which he calls “the best part of the year.”

“There’s nothing more fun than the competitiveness of being on the mound and being surrounded by your team,” Weakland said. “It’s just a really good atmosphere.”

Instead of playing their first game close to home, the baseball team will start their season next Friday in Terre Haute, where they will play three games over the weekend against Terre Haute South, Mount Vernon and New Haven. “(The teams at the tournament) have been the same teams since 2004. It’s been the same teams that have been coming back with the same coaches for all these years now, and it’s really good competition,” Coach Robert Shinkan, math teacher, said. “Good coaches, good teams—it’s a good way to start the season.”

The trip allows the team to bond, as well as see their own performance without playing teams closer to home.

“We really get to have a preview of how we will be without having to showcase our skills to teams around here, so they don’t know what to expect but we know what to expect from us,” Alex Weakland, junior, said.

As opening day nears, Mike Madura, senior, looks forward to the season ahead.

“I’m really excited,” Madura said. “It’s senior year, I’m really excited. I think we have a good group of guys to compete real well this year and I think the main goal for this season is to go back to back photo by Austin Skeens winning sectional titles this ON DECK: FRESHMEN TEAM Trying out indoors in the wrestling room due to inclement weather, Ronan Meyer, year, and I think we’re all pret- freshman, practices batting on a tee before moving to the batting cages. Meyer looks forward to beginning ty excited about that.” his high school baseball career. “I feel like we’re going to be good this year, the freshman team,” Meyer said.

Last year, Baseball won “I’m assuming we’re going to do very well this season and win a lot of games.”

In full

swing

Boys’ Golf tryouts begin, team hoping to retain previous success Joseph Bermudez Copy Editor

photo by Easan Venkat

TEE OFF During practice, Merrick Lieser, junior, follows through on his swing. Lieser works to “come back” to last year’s skill level after the offseason. “Everyone just keeps talking about the comeback and like everyone is looking forward to that and coach is really getting us hyped up,” Lieser said.

Tryouts, scheduled to begin last week, were postponed to this past Monday due to the snow and temperature. Coach Bill Smitka, social studies teacher, is confident the team will not be affected by this delay.

“The snow was not a setback at all,” Coach Smitka said. “We’ve covered putting, we’ve been working out.

There’ll be plenty of warm days. Obviously, we’d like for it to have been a little bit nicer (last week during tryouts), but it’s not a major problem. I’d rather have snow on the ground now than rain the entire month of April. Lake Central isn’t playing right now. Neither (is) Crown Point or anyone in the area right now.”

Even though tryouts did not start on time, the team did not miss any critical time preparing for the season.

“Because of the snow we didn’t start tryouts on time, but we didn’t miss many days and it shouldn’t be a big problem,” Tony Daniels, junior, said. “We got in the gym for those days and worked out. I play basketball so I was

sports

11

SIDE NOTE on sports Dance What: Recap of Nationals When: March 9 Dance has had a successful season, according to Emma Harvath, junior. They have received first place for Pom and second for Jazz during State, and made it all the way to nationals this year where they placed third for Pom and sixth for Jazz.

“It was really exciting, we did really well,” Harvath said. “We have never done that well in Nationals before, so that was very exciting. And at State we usually do pretty well but obviously first is as good as it gets. And second was really cool because last year we got fourth so (this year) was a really big step up.”

Basketball

What: Recap of Sectionals When: March 3 Although young and inexperienced, the Boys’ Basketball team was able to make it all the way to the second round of Sectionals and end their season well with a record of 13-12-0.

“The season was pretty good this year,” Tyler Zabrecky, sophomore, said. “We were really young and inexperienced as a team, so there were definitely some ups and downs. The older guys on the team tried to be good examples for us younger guys. In all, it was fun and a good experience for us all.”

Cheer

What: Recap of season When: March 9 Despite the downs of the cheer season, Hannah Zaremba, senior, thinks the highlights were able to make up for it.

“This season was full of energy and I loved spending time with my teammates because they always knew how to make me smile when I did not want to,” Zaremba said. “It was difficult for a while, but we figured it out as a team and made it the best year we could. Despite the hard times, the good times definitely overpowered the bad. We grew as a team and made cheerleading more recognized, and that is all I could’ve wished for leaving this year.”

working out all winter, but they worked out in the winter two or three times a week.”

Even with a slightly more experienced team than last season, Coach Smitka still views the team to be generally young. But with this comes expectations of the team to repeat the same success as last season and then some, according to Coach Smitka.

“We have a young team, but we qualified for Regionals last year, and everyone on that roster last year is back, so we should certainly get back to Regionals,” Coach Smitka said. “We had a share of Conference last year.

We should be thinking of winning that, getting back to Regionals and I’d like to think we have a decent shot to win Sectionals, just because everyone is back this year.”

Though the varsity roster is almost identical as the previous season, Ethan Lieser, freshman, is excited to join the team. “(Making varsity) means a lot to me,” Lieser said. “I’ve been practicing really hard all summer, almost every day.

Also throughout the winter in my basement. It means a lot making varsity my freshman year and having the hard work that I put into this paying off.”

Along with the hard work the younger golfers will put in, the experience that goes with this season will be valuable, according to Daniels.

“I really learned a lot at the varsity level as a freshman,” Daniels said. “The experience I’ve gained was valuable for me to use from freshman to sophomore year. (Us upperclassmen) have been sort of paving the way for these freshmen coming in and hopefully they can retain the valuable experience we did our freshman year.”

12

student life

March 24, 2017

Notification

Generation

Popular app Snapchat debuts on stock market; students discuss willingness to share online Jordan Szymanski Editor-in-Chief

S

Filtered perception

napchat has taken over the world. This app is everywhere.

Watching sports, Snapcodes pop up in the corner of the screen to follow updates from phones.

Supermarkets and celebrities alike have Snapchats. “Add me on snap” is on its way to becoming a mantra for the modern age. Which is quite an accomplishment for an app that originally was considered to be for sharing intimate photos. Now, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, debuts on the stock market worth $28 billion dollars.

This may be shocking to some, but for the people who have been utalizing this interactive app, the sucess is not surprising. But with Snapchat’s new reconigition, students affirm the variety of stipulations they place on sharing.

“Right now, I do value privacy,” Armani Chavola, senior, said. “I always see those articles on Facebook where they look you up for job interviews or college and to me that is scary.”

The threat of less privacy is an interesting topic for the discussion of social media. Bella Buono, sophomore, gives credit to the availability of some personal information on the internet.

“I feel that a lot of people just push privacy aside and think ‘Oh it won’t happen to me,“ Bella said. “But whether the ‘it’ in that sentence is someone finding your house, phone number, credit card, etc, it just isn’t worth the risk. It is kinda traumatizing to not have control over people’s knowledge of simple things like your phone number or your location.”

However, some students are diligent in pro-

Students respond to survey about social media’s privacy

90.3%

of students have a snapchat

61.4%

of students think their generation values privacy

94%

of students value privacy

56.9%

of students consider their social media to be secure

source: Crier survey of 383 results on Google forms March 20-22

tecting their accounts and limiting not only others’ access but their own.

Corina Love, sophomore, placed restrictions on her social media use from a young age. She now has an Instagram; however, she did have a Snapchat which was taken away, by her parents, because she was on her phone during school. While she had an account, she noticed a commonly mentioned flaw in Snapchat users.

“People post everything about themselves completely unfiltered and sometimes use it to make others mad or talk about each other,” Corina said.

David Dafiaghor, sophomore, opens himself up on social media accounts by having all of his accounts public.

“I will post things just so people can see where I’m at or so they can see something I am trying to trend,” David said. “I want people to see what I’m doing everyday. If you’re going to see my social media, you’re going to see me as a person.”

Ryan Sonnenberg, junior, acknowledges users can tend to overshare.

“I go through stages when I’ll delete Snapchat because I think its a huge privacy violation.,” Ryan said. “You go check a story and you can find where somebody is in an instant, or where a group of people are and what they’re doing.

And if I’m there, maybe I didn’t want anyone to know where I am. To me, that’s a violation of my privacy.”

In the sharing age of today, some users abuse the false sense of security, according to Corina.

“I do not think my generation values privacy,” Corina said. “Many people my age post explicit pictures that in the future they may regret posting, but I think some people don’t understand that once something is out there, there is no taking it back.

BACK TALK Today is Harry Houdini’s birthday. What situation do you wish you could magical escape from?

“School because even though we are learning, it takes up a lot of time.”

Emily Malave, freshman

“The snow because it’s March” Alyse Lepir sophomore

“My life.”

Angelo Bruno, junior

Mikey Marich, senior

Snapchat can be debated as an innovative or overly intimate app look into users lives Students offer up their levels of privacy while on other apps Armani Chavolla, senior “Instagram is my most private account because that’s the only (social media account, where) I don’t let just anyone follow me.”

David Dafiaghor, sophomore “My Instagram is public and I’m fine with that because I feel like if you’re going to follow me, then I want some type of relationship with you, I wanna know you.”

Mirela Jeknic, freshman

“Tests because they are hard.”

Brenna DyrhaugBalling, sophomore

“Running sprints in football because I hate running.”

“Responsibility.”

Swipe to chat

“The situation of having a bad grade being put into the grade book.”

Carl Adindu, junior

“Decision making”

Madhuri Kesani, senior

What’s your story?

The creation of Instagram Stories, a feature similar to the 24 hour stories on Snapchat sparks conversation Students chose their prefered social media platform for stories Kristina Pamucar, freshman “I use (Instagram stories) because I like the boomerang effect.”

Audrey Beck, sophomore “I check Snapchat more than Instagram and it’s not blocked on the school’s WiFi.”

“When you’re driving down the highway and then you realize you have to pee right after an exit, and the next one is in 15 miles.”

Mr. Jeff Hamstra, Math teacher

“Grading essays.”

Mrs. Tammy Daughtery, English teacher