MHS Crier | 3.8.19 | Issue 8

[CRIER Munster High School

[

Issue 8 Volume 53 March 8, 2019

8808 Columbia Ave. Munster IN 46321

Dual credit to be discontinued starting in 2022, students discuss impacts

Done with

dual credit

[photo by Robert Young]

LASER FOCUS Studying in his room, Sami Muhrez, junior, feels the pressure of taking multiple AP and dual-credit classes. “(I feel) Stressed. (I feel) Overwhelmed,” Sami said. story by

college credit for coursework, the person instructing that course has to have the same certifications and qualificaEditor-in-Chief and Alt-copy Manager tions as someone who would be inollege is expensive. As tuition structing it on a college campus,” Mr. costs continue to rise, students Robert Snyder, Assistant Principal, rely on programs such as dual said. “So basically, that means that all credit and AP to knock out introducto- teachers in high school settings would ry level college courses at just a frac- have to have a master’s degree in the tion of the cost. subject area that they are currently Despite these benefits, the Higher teaching a dual credit class, or they Learning Commission’s new teach- have to have a master’s degree in eduer certification policies have made it cation, and 18 additional credits in the unfeasible for the school to contin- area that they are teaching. ” ue offering dual credit. The program Currently, the school partners with will begin to phase out at the end of Ivy Tech, Purdue Northwest and Vinthe ‘21- ‘22 school year, the graduating cennes University to offer 29 different year of current freshman. classes for dual credit. Most recent“In order for a student to be issued ly, the partnership with Ivy Tech has

[Mimi Brody and Mercedez Williams]

C

2.7 million students, like Sami, took a AP class nationwide, up from 645,000 who took at least one AP class in 2006.

made dual credit free and more accessible to students, with more 1,777 enrollments. Students like Sara Wenzel, senior, have relied on dual credit to cut the future cost of college tuition.

“Going into college now, I am going in with almost 30 college credits and usually for each year of your college career you take 30 credits, so I have a huge chunk of college already shaved off,” Sara said. “Saving money was definitely a really good thing about taking dual credit classes because a dual credit class may be $75, but in college it would be way more than that.”

Even without dual-credit, students can still take AP classes to cut the cost of college. Former MHS student, Matt Szala, ‘14, is an example of such. Matt BUSY AT WORK Standing at the front of the room, Eddie DeMars, junior, examines a map of Europe in his AP U.S. History class.

“I take AP classes if I am genuinely interested in the subject, or I take it to boost my GPA,” Eddie said.

“My experience in APUSH has been rather positive.

Mr. Lopez (social studies teacher) is a great teacher and the class has been easier than expected.”

saved about $7,000 by taking 10 AP courses while he was in high school.

He also reflects upon the differences between AP Composition and the equivalent English introductory course in college.

“I was definitely more stressed during AP Composition by a significant margin because in high school versus college, there is a lot more time in college to do work and a lot more downtime,” Matt said. “ In high school, you have class from 7 a.m until 3 p.m, then you might have extracurriculars until six at night. And then you go home and do all sorts of homework. And this is five days a week.”

[Continued on Pg 3]

By the numbers

20 29 1,136 1,777

AP classes offered dual credit classes is the total enrollment in AP classes

is the total enrollment in dual-credit classes

[Source: Robert Snyder, Assistant Principal]

[photo by Lilia Brunetti]

[Upcoming]

[Inside look] pg. 6 Crier staffers review local coffee and tea

pg. 8 President Trump’s National Emergency explained

Boys’ Basketball Regional game tomorrow at 12 p.m. in Michigan City

Bell schedule modified next week for ISTEP testing Even periods 70 minutes on Tuesday & Thursday Odd periods 70 minutes on Wednesday & Friday

[photo by Todd McKechnie]

2 [NEWS]

Munster High School Crier

March 8, 2019

Sidenote Vans Contest

The 2019 Vans Custom Culture is a national high school customization competition using blank Vans shoes to be customized around specific themes that the advanced art classes get to create. The contest was open to all high schools across the nation, and around 2000 applied, according to Matt Cortez, junior. MHS has made it into the top 500 schools selected, the winning school gets $75,000 towards the Art Department. The advanced art classes voted on designs, the winning themes were ‘Off the wall’ and ‘Local flavor.’

In April 22- May 3 the public is open to vote for their favorite shoe, the top five schools are announced May 6-10.

In May 13-17, the winning school will be announced.

ASL Pen Pals

Students in ASL II have just started their Pen Pal program in Ms. Fus’s class. Her students are reading the book “Belonging” by Virginia Scott, and every week, they record themselves discussing the it. Ms. Fus’s class teamed up with Serrano High School in California, who’s ASL classes are also reading the same novel. Ms. Fus and Serrano’s ASL teacher, who Ms. Fus calls a “good friend,” came up with the idea together. They thought this system would be an effective new way for students to practice and strengthen their Sign Language skills.

“It’s one thing to sign in front of me, or to sign with each other, because... many of them have had each other and other classes, there’s definitely that comfort level there,” Ms. Fus said.

[photo by Melanie Powers]

PREPPY PEN PALS In ASL class, Maddie Kozy, junior, and Bailey Broman, senior, communicate with their pen pal partners at Serrano High School.

Corrections

In issue 7 of Crier, on the front page the picture of Amir Henderson, junior, was taken by Lilia Brunetti. On page 2, on “eLearning.not yet.doc,” Charlie Hofferth was missing an illustration byline. Also on page 2, in “Painting the way,” we incorrectly said the primer is red when it is white, the charity was named Chairish the Children, not Chairs for Charity. Chairish the Children worked on rebuilding domestic abuse victims, not those who have been through a disaster. Additionally in “Painting the way,” Rachel Lyons, senior, was misquoted, it should read, “We’re very excited about the project and we’re looking forward to it. I’m personally looking forward to it as well.” On page 2, in the caption “Preparing for battle,” Ava Quasney, sophomore, was spelled incorrectly.

On page 5, in “Battle royale,” Ava Lukacsek, sophomore, was spelled in incorrectly. Also on page 5, we said Battle of the Bands started at 5:30 p.m., instead of 6 p.m. Crier regrets these errors.

[photo by Lana Salahieh]

IN THE LAB During practice for State, Raymond Li, sophomore, and Adit Patel, senior, work on a vehicle mouse trap for a build event. Build events require competitors to improve and adjust their vehicle. “For build events it’s all about testing so it requires us to conduct a decent amount of testing,” Raymond said.

Eyes on the prize story by

[Atarah Israel] Page Editor

Cornering around State competition, Science Olympiad members are tirelessly preparing in hopes of taking home the title.

Despite past losses at State to both Carmel and Lake Central, Science Olympiad has high hopes of a successful competition.

“Not only losing to Carmel, but losing to Lake Central, kind of put a fire under everybody,” Anya Fitzpatrick, junior, said. “In the past couple years, state has always been a race between us and Carmel.

Everybody kind of came back with a vengeance and wanted to take back the title.”

Eager to win back their title, Science Olympiad members are in constant preparation, with practice everyday after school and on

Science Olympiad goes to State next week

weekends. Members are expected to be committed, especially with State around the corner.

“We want at least 10 hours of practice each week,” Anya said. “We just have our two and a half hours (of practice) after school and longer practice on Saturday, which sounds weird, but it’s fun.”

Looking back on their past losses to Carmel and Lake Central, Science Olympiad competitors have seen noticeable improvements and strengthening.

“We did really well at our University of Michigan tournament, actually, a lot better than we did last year,” Anya said.

“There’s certain events that are stronger than others, but I feel really good about us. As long as we keep the work that we we’ve been doing up and keep using our time to learn as much as we can. I think we’ll do pretty well.”

Due to their noteworthy advancement at their Michigan competition members

are excited to exhibit their revamped skills and redeem themselves.

“We’re just trying to learn as much as we can and prepare before we go (to State),” Akansha Chauhan, freshman, said. “It’s a pretty strong team. We have lots of different skills and work well together.”

Beyond the competition and practice, Science Olympiad has bonded members together, and allows for new bonds to be formed. “(I joined because) I have friends who joined earlier than I did and they said it was a lot of fun,” Akansha said.

“Having friends involved in Science Olympiad is fun because it’s really nice learning with them.”

These bonds formed through teamwork and comradery make the prospect of winning State much more heartening, and is the ribbon that ties them all together, according to Anya.

“I think it (our tradition) started a couple years ago, where we would have the girls wear red lipstick the day of competition and captains bring red ribbon for everybody,” Anya said.

“That’s just kind of our fun away to keep some team spirit even though competitions are pretty stressful.”

The project to end all projects AP Comp discusses Capstone Project

reporting by

[Adam Klaich] Social Media Manager

Known among AP Composition students as “the project where nobody sleeps,” Capstone is both dreaded and revered. Students dread meeting the hefty 7,500 to 10,000 word count, while simultaneously admire the opportunity the project gives them to research important topics.

Students assemble into groups of five or six, and pick topics that usually have strong local or national relevance.

The process of choosing a topic alone could take up to a week. Once a topic of interest is identified, it must be approved by the teacher Mr. Steve Stepnoski, English teacher.

Along with the daunting word count,

the paper follows a specific organiza- tive for Indiana’s first congressional tional structure. district) and maybe a couple others in “You need to write 40 pages about this area and the Chicago area to get it (your topic), but first you intro- their take on it,” Will said. duce your topic, then you explain the Once the paper is finally submitted, students problem, then you are required to describe why it’s a present their problem, then you Checklist to findings in a pose solutions for the formal presenproblem, and then Student’s list to avoiding stressful tation. Students you pick a solution,” situations with a healthy mindset are required to Anastasia CipowskiLook at it as a way to better yourself dress in formal Smith, senior, said.

Research can come Allow your passion to drive you attire and answer questions from online sourcabout their es, books and arti- Do not let getting an ‘A’ be your project. cles. However, many sole desire To diminish groups choose to [source: Nick Dorai, senior] conduct their own research as well. the stress and work that comes along Will McComis, senior, and his group with the project, Will and Anastasia are doing their project on campaign both think the best strategy is to plan.

“It’s just a lot of planning,” Will said. finance reforms, and plan on collect“We spend a lot of time planning and ing original research.

“We plan on interviewing congress- organizing what we want to do and man Pete Visclosky (U.S. Representa- finding resources online.”

de-stress

Munster High School Crier

Done with dual [Continued from front]

The problem with AP classes being the only avenue for students to get college credit is that colleges credit AP classes differently. While AP scores of 3, 4 or 5 are accepted by a lot of colleges, frequently, they are accepted as elective credits. This would mean students could not actually bypass taking required core classes. Despite this, guidance counselor Mrs. Chrisanne Terry still said that she believes these classes make a difference.

“When you look at your overall college degree, you need around 140 total credits,” Ms. Terry said. “So, when you take 15 credit hours a semester to be full time, you’re going to need some of those electives, it’s not going to be all required classes and they (electives) will absolutely help.”

AP tests have another drawback: students have to pass a test. Instead of passing a test, dual credit is rewarded on a pass/fail basis, making it easier for those who may not be great test takers to reap the benefits of concurrent enrollment.

“I think AP classes are a lot harder than some dual credit classes because dual credit classes are already the basic class, usually with the same curriculum,”

Figuring it out

credit

Sara said. “Getting an A in a class is easier than getting a 5 on an AP exam.”

As dual-credit becomes obsolete, students should also expect to see changes to diploma requirements.

Currently, any student planning to graduate with Core 40 with Academic Honors have the option to complete six dual credit classes to fulfill the additional require. With no dual credit, students aiming to graduate with a Core 40 Honors diploma will have to meet one of the three other additional requirements that do not involve dual credit.

With the taking of AP classes, added stress and time commitment is inevitable for many students who take such classes.

“I do think it’s a lot more stressful because it’s a big time commitment.” Maureen Van Matre, sophomore, said. “The amount of work that you have to put in to do well in the class is a lot more in comparison to my regular classes. But in the end, I think it has definitely paid off and it hasn’t, which improves my work ethic.”

Even years after graduation, Matt remembers the level of stress of the AP classes he took. As they are

Different aspects of dual credit and AP explained

69%

March 8, 2019

meant to represent entry-level college courses while in a high school setting, larger works loads are fitting.

“AP Psychology wasn’t all that stressful,” Matt said.

“Neither was AP Calculus or AP Physics because I like science and math, but AP US History and AP Composition were very stressful. Those two were probably my most stressful classes, AP Government also.

Once I was in government it was stressful because the workload was really heavy, and it was pretty intense. And then AP Comp was more just because there was that huge Bulkmatic project that was like 50 percent of our quarter grade. I think the third quarter was this enormous project that was really stressful, and on top of that I’m not an English person to begin with.”

In a future without dual credit, Sara believes students will have a disadvantage going into college.

“I think future kids are going to miss out on the opportunity of learning what a college class would be,” Sara said. “They are going to have a financial burden of taking more classes and graduating with more money to pay off.”

Munster’s dualcredit classes are offered by...

Based on last year’s AP scores

of students would be eligible to get college credit by earning a score of ’3’ or higher

[NEWS] 3

3.5%

10.3%

Purdue Northwest

86.2%

Vincennes Ivy-tech

Higher Learning Commission requirements START HERE

yes

This instructor is eligible to teach dual-credit

no

Does instructor have a Master’s degree in their subject?

Has this instructor completed 18 credit hours in their subject?

Building

the Dream

Machine

Robotics has first district competition tonight story by

[Mercedez Williams] Alt-copy Manager

[photo by Lana Salahieh]

DREAM MACHINE Working on the robot, Serena Alvarez is featured in a photo “(The) robot this year is pretty complex to match the game,” Serena said. “There are a lot of functions take into consideration while driving it at competition. We’re pretty happy with the design thought, it’s been working well throughout all of the times we tested it on the field upstairs.”

ics coach, said. “We did have a few hiccups because with any team, there’s going to be disagreements and not everyone’s on the same page. But we were able to resolve all of our problems with that.”

Even with the minor tweaks or ma-

This instructor is ineligible to teach dual-credit

no

[photo by Lana Salahieh]

Create a design for the robot. Build the robot. Program the robot. Test the robot. Find and fix bugs in the programming.

This is just a summary of the many steps that go into creating a Robot for the Robotics team. This also does not take into account the effort and commitment that goes into making this robot, nor the extensive amounts of mistakes needed to be fixed.

“The team has been performing fairly well,” Mr. Peter Frystak, Robot-

yes

jor disagreements, Robotics has come together to create their product.

“The robot is functional. The only thing is left is some bugs to be worked out with the code that is on and we’re able to actually fix that today,” Mr. Frystak said. “That’s what they’ll be

working on out in the shop. Otherwise, mechanically, the team was able to agree upon a design, prototype parts, fabricate them, put them all together and test them all within a six week period, which is a huge accomplishment for us. Because having done this for 10 years, there’s always a lot of disagreements with mechanical design and then to throw programming on top of it. There’s a lot of conflict usually, but this year has been a very progressive year. We’ve made a lot of accomplishments as well as some milestones, as far as a team development goes.”

Once the bot is created, the team goes to competition, where, according to Mr. Frystak, the first competition is a test round, where robots malfunction and break, and teams see what they need to fix. But there are also events needed to be completed by the team and the robot.

“You have 15 to 30 seconds, for the first phase of the competition where the robot has to run by itself only using code and then the second phase and competition is like two or three minutes long and it’s where the driver controls the robot using an Xbox controller,” Hamzah Anan, junior, said.

4[OPINION]

Munster High School Crier

March 8, 2019

Opinion

Historical Fiction

story by

[Lilia Brunetti]

Web Editor

Editorial

[cartoon by Charlie Hofferth]

Abused Act Swine Flu epidemic. 9/11 attacks. Serbian civil war. The lowest level of illegal immigration in 20 years. These are all events that triggered calling a National Emergency Act. Created by Congress in the 1970s, the National Emergency Act gives the President 136 different powers, ranging from building military projects to ordering sanctions. The Act was created to make it easier for the president to take action in protecting our country in the event of an emergency. Since the Act was signed, there have Calling national been 59 called naemergencies tional emergencies, to further and every president political gain is has declared multiple emergencies. Howa slippery slope ever, the breakdown of why these emergencies were called is staggering. Forty-four were called to employ sanctions. Seven were called to create trade regulations. Three were declared to restrict weaponry. Two were declared to invoke military action—including President Trump’s. The other one? Safety precautions following 9/11.

Regardless of your views on President Trump, this recent declaration should be concerning to you. Not only is it a gross exam-

[Our take]

[CRIER]

Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached via mail at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321; via phone at 219-836-3200, ext. 3443; or via fax at 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 either emailed to the editor (miryambrody@yahoo.com), given 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

ple of an executive abuse of power, but it weaponizes our Constitution and turns it into a political grenade. Even if you buy that there is a national emergency at our border—despite illegal immigration being on a steady decline for the past two decades and President Trump himself saying, “I did not have to do this” while referring to his declaration— the President’s actions set a terrible precedent.

This precedent would allow any president to utilize the National Emergency Act as a political tool to bypass congress, all to fulfill campaign promises.

This is an issue on both sides of the aisle.

House Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, has already suggested if President Trump’s emergency passes through the courts, the next Democratic president should declare a national emergency regarding gun control or climate change. Either party showing this precedent would be a decisive blow to the checks and balances set by our Constitution.

For many of us, President Trump is the first President that we are old enough to engage with politically. As a generation, it is important we understand that this is not normal, nor is it acceptable. If we reject these efforts to abuse our governmental system, we can prevent this precedent from ingraining itself in our politics.

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. Crier’s website is http:// mhscrier.com/ Digital issues can be found on issuu.com. Crier is published 12 times a school year.

[Our Staff] Editor-in-Chief Mimi Brody Copy Editor Alyssa Bass Design Editor Megan Szymanski Graphics Editor Robert Young Web Editor Lilia Brunetti

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but he also raped, pillaged, and mutilated the bodies of Native Americans if they did not give in to what he forced them to do.

It wasn’t until my seventh grade year that this “reality” was shattered, and I learned that parading around with an Italian flag on Columbus Day was, in fact, praising insatiable greed. The truth of the matter greatly contrasts from what any historical textbook had taught me, and what it is simultaneously teaching 35 million elementary school students. Slowly as the idyllic facade of American history faded away in my mind, you can only imagine my shock upon learning about Jim Crow Laws, Native American Removal Acts and Japanese internment camps.

Compulsory education in America made its debut at the turn of the 20th century, coincidentally during one of the greatest influxes of immigration to America.

Although educating the American posterity was important, legislatures figured that by creating an America-first based curriculum, they could hurry the forced assimilation of immigrants. With this, they Americanized education, inherently condemning the cultures of marginalized groups.

The emphasis on America’s glory has bled into the historical textbooks of American students, portraying white, male figures as heroes, and framing minorities as anything but the victims they are. The disconnect between America’s veracity and the fabricated lies found in our mandatory textbooks have deeply misguided the American youth. In fact, multiple history books in Texas have been recalled, and a 2017 survey conducted by Teaching Tolerance found that fewer than half of high school seniors identified the Middle Passage as a route of enslaved Africans.

Advocates of these textbooks typically argue that we should not spoil the minds of young children with the horrors of their ancestors. However, who are we to say that these children will ever be exposed to the truth? By glorifying both an American and Western Hemispheric view of history, we defy the true philosophy of America as a melting pot.

Social Media Manager Adam Klaich Alt-Copy Manager Mercedez Williams Page Editors: Atarah Israel, Alexis Lindenmayer, Ava Lukacsek, Finn Manion, Zoe O’Shaughnessy, Nadia Perdue Business Manager Kammy Moore Head Photographer Elizabeth Fonseca Chief Photographer Melanie Powers Chief Social Media Photographer Lauren Kozy Photographers: Charlie Hofferth, Lana Salahieh, Lauren Morris Adviser Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman

Munster High School Crier

[REVIEW] 5 March 8, 2019

Bears, beets,

battlestar galactica

A matrix of “The Office” episodes for the pilot’s ninth anniversary story by [Alexis Lindenmayer] Page Editor

GENIUS “Niagara” Seasons and seasons of hesitant pining and playful banter come to a point as the couple( Jim and Pam) give their vows and get married. Michael was his cringy, selfish self during the rehearsal dinner, but even his insanity could not turn the attention away from the lovely wedding of one of TV’s most popular couples.

Season 6 episode 4-5

“Halloween” Who doesn’t love a good old

office Halloween party? The main hilarity comes in watching all the characters tackle the boring routine of a desk job while dressed up in costumes ranging from Dwight’s the Sith Lord to Jim’s classic “three hole punch.”

Season 9 episode 17

“Sexual Harassment” Michael’s character is centered around the hilarity of his obliviousness, but in this case is just becomes frustrating and uncomfortable to watch as he doesn’t consider the gravity of the idea. In the #MeToo era where issues like these are being taken more seriously, this episode has aged poorly.

Season 2 episode 2

Season 5 episode 14-15

Season 2 episode 1

“The Farm” Introducing so many new, never

heard of characters in the ninth season for a single episode should never be allowed, especially when the characters are odd and bland.

second season with a classic. kick off the show’s second season. This episode creates a silly parody on award shows and highlights all the great components of the show.

The characters are much more dynamic and interesting than they were before in all previous episodes and urges viewers to keep watching for the new season.

for dry humor, this episode manages to gain genuine laughs from viewers. From breaking vending machines and tossing up cats to the Bee Gees and Hannibal references, no other episode has touched this level of outstanding comedy and plot.

HILARIOUS

BORING

Season 9 episode 25

“The Dundies” The new season kicks off the

“Stress Relief” For a show normally known

“Christmas Party” Nothing screams Michael “Pilot” The show’s pilot manages

to encompass all the terrible aspects of the first season, and then crams it into 23 minutes of super painful exposition and forgettable plot. Watching the stale characters, forced humor and Michael’s god-awful hairdo will leave viewers with an unsettling feeling deep in their soul. It’s shocking to see the show’s lackluster roots, knowing what a phenomenon it would turn out to be.

Season 1 episode 1

Scott like setting a price range for a gift exchange, dramatically exceeding that range, getting upset that no one else exceeded the price range and then turning the predetermined gift exchange into a white elephant.

Season 2 episode 10

“Finale” With such a huge legacy, “the

Office” would be expected to have a jaw-dropping ending, but in reality, it lacks iconic moments that would have left a final memorable impression on the

“Dinner Party” Michael and Jan’s relationship gets put on blast to the audience. The dinner and the entire experience is tense and awkward, but in a way where it is still laughable. Their whole dynamic was awful and toxic, but at least it was entertaining.

Season 4 episode 13

Season 9 episode 25

DUMB [photos by Lauren Morris]

Good luck to all the Munster Mustangs on a successful 2018-2019 from

Dixon’s Florist (219) 836-1668 919 Ridge Road, Unit B-C Munster, Indiana 46321 This is a paid advertisement

6[REVIEW]

Munster High School Crier

March 8, 2019

Honorable Mentions Starbucks Chai Tea Latte

Nadia

$3.65

I had heard a lot about this latte for a while, and finally understood the hype once I tried it. It was cinnamony, sweet, and very flavorful. It was autumn in a cup. The drink bursted with autumn spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The only thing I did not like was how sugary it was. As an individual who usually just drinks leaf tea plain without any sweetener, this beverage really displeased me, as I did not taste a single hint of tea. It tasted more like a spicy ice cream, rather than a tea drink.

Starbucks

Lauren

Double Chocolate Chip Frappé $5.30 This drink gives me major nostalgia. I can not remember a day that went by where I did not have a frappé in my hand my 8th grade year. If you are not really a coffee person, this one is definitely for you.

The Double Chocolate Chip Frappé tastes more like a milkshake than anything. It is very icy, which I do not mind, and there are plenty of chocolate chips, but that’s almost never an issue. This is also one of my go-to drinks for the summertime.

story by

[Nadia Perdue] Page Editor

story by

[Lauren Kozy]

Photographer

Top picks Drinks Ranked (in stars) bad mediocre

Grindhouse

Vanilla Caramel Frappé

Lauren

$5.35

By far one of my ultimate favorite drinks for the summer. This frappé has the perfect blend of both vanilla and caramel syrup, making the taste very rich. I am typically am not too interested in dense and extremely caffeinated drinks; however, the vanilla caramel frappé leaves little coffee aftertaste with a light touch. You can never go wrong with vanilla caramel, and this drink definitely did not disappoint.

Dunkin’

Hibiscus Tea

Nadia

$1.99

In my opinion, this beverage was pretty average.

It was good for a hibiscus tea—it had its signature ruby red color, with a sweet and tangy flavor—but there was nothing that made this drink stand out.

This was simply boiled water with a tea packet put inside, which is something that I could have done at home. To me, it was the only thing that outweighed the other tea options, such as the iced green tea or hot chamomile tea. If I were looking for a nice and cheap warm tea on the go, I would go to Dunkin’.

Nonetheless, I feel like Dunkin’ seems to cater its fancier drinks to its coffee drinking consumers.

Sip Coffeehouse

Lauren

Chunky Monkey Cold Brew Coffee $4.07

Chocolate and banana flavors have always been my favorite combination. But what would it taste like in coffee? The Chunky Monkey Cold Brew, one of Sip’s signature latte’s, was not my absolute favorite.

This latte was mostly banana, which blocked out the chocolate aspect of the drink. Likewise, this drink left a very distinct coffee aftertaste. I quite honestly would rather drink straight black coffee than a chunky monkey. However, next time I would be willing to try something else.

Sip Coffeehouse

Wintermint tea latte with Vanilla syrup

Nadia

$4.50

When I first took a sip of this drink, I was reminded of the fluoride that dentists give their patients.

Initially, it had this exact same taste: It was foamy, extremely minty, and had more of a toothpaste flavor to it. It took awhile for the drink to grow on me more. I finally tasted the vanilla, although it was still very faint. To me, overall, the drink was very overpowered by the minty aspect. However, I don’t think that the drink was completely terrible.

average good exceptional

Crier staffers review coffee and tea for Caffeine Awareness Month

Grindhouse Vanilla Blue

$4.44

Grindhouse describes Vanilla Blue as a “Blueberry rooibos tea latte with house-made vanilla syrup.”

Rooibos tea comes from the leaves of the African redbush plant, and prior to trying this drink, I had only had this tea once. Before this experience, I had never even known Teas that tea lattes existed. However, I was very pleased with this brand new Ranked (in stars) combination. At my first sip, the top Chai Tea Latte of the drink had a nice, foamy texture to it that bubbled on the lips. It was warm, sweet, and I could really taste Wintermint tea latte with the vanilla, but not in an overpowering way. The slight blueberry flavor added Vanilla syrup the perfect balance to it. Overall, I really enjoyed this drink, and would Hibiscus Tea definitely come back for another sip.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Vanilla Bean Iced Coffee $2.61 “Vanilla Bean only cream with extra ice, please!” has to be the most popular phrase the Dunkin’ employees have heard every morning at 7:30 a.m. This is hands-down, my go-to everyday drink. I don’t get sugar added because the vanilla bean syrup itself is sweet enough. I also get extra ice because it keeps it cold longer and doesn’t melt quick!

Every morning, it is crucial for me to have a coffee. Normally, if I do not have time to stop in the drive-thru, I have to stick with a homemade coffee. However, it is not always a bad thing for me.

Yesterday was the first day of the week I did not have my Dunkin’ coffee or anything homemade.

Immediately, I noticed a significant change in my mood. I was much more tired and I found every little thing annoying. I guess it is safe to say, coffee-less mornings are not my thing.

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[photo by Lauren Kozy]

Munster High School Crier

Oddly successful

[INFOCUS]7 March 8, 2019

Students discuss recent trends of satisfying videos surfacing on social media story by

[Alyssa Bass] Copy Editor

Physical sensation of tingling that usually begins in the scalp and moves down through the spine and sometimes to the limbs. Or the reaction to being oddly satisfaction.

“The reason I like making slime is because I’ve been doing it since sixth grade, before it was a trend,” Alisha Evans, junior, said. “It’s calming and is just a go to when I’m bored or doing homework.”

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response), soap cutting and slime, all parts of the growing internet trend called “oddly satisfying” that can be seen as addicting, sometimes.

“I find oddly satisfying things really interesting,” Adamari Yepez, junior, said. “Once I start a video of one I can’t stop watching until the end — it’s impossible to stop.”

ASMR, soap cutting and slime are not the only examples of oddly satisfying videos. Slime itself can breakdown into different subcategories: iceberg, foam, clay, glowing, basic and so many more. ASMR can be sectioned into whispering, tapping, role play, mukbang (people eating), blowing and others.

“I hate the noises (slime makes) so I mute (the videos),” Adamari said. “But I like to watch how squishy the slime is. It’s cool.”

Most recently, Snapchat has a public story that anyone can submit their satisfying snapchats to.

“My favorite (videos) are where they have the clay,” Alisha Evans, junior, said. “They put the slime on top of the clay, then they press it down with their hands and then the slime makes a squeezing and popping noise.”

Although people post videos and can amass thousands of views and followers by having oddly satisfying things, some students, like Matt Cortez, junior, doesn’t find any of these videos entertaining .

“I hate (oddly satisfying videos),” Matt said. “When I watch them I just want to turn them off right away. One of the most popular satisfying video “genre,” per se, are slime videos and the amplified sound of the slime is just annoying to me and is irritating.”

Some things that commonly happens within a video is something is starts within a short amount of time, according to Adamari. “(Satisfying videos) really capture your attention fast,” Adamari said.

“Fast is the key point though, people these days have very short attention spans.”

Even though students like Matt don’t particularly like the sound or visual appeal of the satisfying videos, he can still understand how people might enjoy them.

“I think (people liking oddly satisfying videos) probably has to do with the noise and visuals providing some sort of pleaser or fascination,” Matt said. “But the one reason I find myself disliking the slime videos is because of the similarity to the noise that chewing with your mouth open makes.”

[photo by Charlie Hofferth]

GLOSS OVER Talking to friends, Alisha Evans, junior, plays with her glossy slime. “I watched a lot of YouTube about (slime) and finally decided to try it,” Alisha said. ”When I did (play with slime), it was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done.”

Step by step Alisha Evans, junior, explains steps to recreate her favorite slime to watch and play with, iceberg

. 1/2 cup of glue . 2 cups of shaving cream .. Borax (or Sta Flo) Ingredients:

Food coloring (optional)

Instructions:

1) Pour glue into a bowl 2) Add shaving cream and mix

3) Add corn starch and mix 4) Add food coloring 5) Add activator. If using borax: add 1 teaspoon of borax powder to 1 cup of warm water 6) When slime begins to form, take slime out of bowl and knead with hands 7) Put slime back in bowl, leave uncovered for three days, or until a hard surface forms 8) Play and squish [Source: Alisha Evans, junior]

Pewdiepie vs. T-Series live sub count

Battle of the Giants story by

[Finn Manion]

Page Editor

Some people call him the king of YouTube, but his throne is being challenged. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, also known as Pewdiepie, is the most subscribed YouTube channel on the platform. On July 11, 1983 a company called T-Series, primarily known for Bollywood music soundtracks and Indi-pop music, started. The channel resides in New Delhi and was founded by Gulshan Kumar.

“YouTube has become more like a corporate where companies are tak-

[illustration by Charlie Hofferth]

ing up the trending page and taking ads off videos because of their agendas,” Ethan Korwick, sophomore, said.

A bit more than a year after the YouTube domain was created, T-Series created their Youtube channel. Pewdiepie became the most subscribed in 2013, but he wasn’t the only one. YouTube channels, like Smosh, held this goal as well, but they did not hold it for very long. Last year, people started realizing a fast growth of the T-Series channel. People bought

billboards and ads to subscribe to Pewdipie, many labeled it “the one true calling.” “(Pewdiepie) is definitely one of the bigger icons in YouTube because he shows that we as people can team up together and do unthinkable things, for example, how his subscribers versus T-Series, it just shows how we as people can be,” Ilija Manojlovic, junior, said.

“I mean, the fact that Pewdiepie climbed up past it again just shows that he’s probably going to be in the lead for another few months.”

Run Down Quick facts on both Pewdiepie and T-Series

Pewdiepie vs T-Series Total Views: 20,651,731,512

Total Views: 63,860,845,100

Created on: April 29, 2010

Created on: March 13, 2006

First video posted: Oct. 2, 2010 Minecraft Multiplayer Fun

First video posted: Dec. 23, 2010 “Patiala House” Official Trailer 2

Most viewed video: Most viewed video: 145,145,995 views 687,023,873 views b***h lasagna Guru Randhawa: Lahoe (official video)

[Source: https://www.youtube.com/tseries] [Source: https://www.youtube.com/PewDiePie]

8[INFOCUS]

Munster High School Crier

In case of emergency March 8, 2019

The ins and outs of President Trump’s declaration

story by

story by

[Charlie Hofferth] [Mimi Brody] Photographer

Background

I

n 1976, a congressional body still reeling from the Watergate Scandal enacted the National Emergencies Act. The act was drawn up as a reform of previously unchecked presidential powers, and gave the president 136 powers in the event of an emergency. It also gave Congress the ability to challenge a president’s emergency declaration.

What is a national emergency?

While 59 national emergencies have A national emergency is a national crisis or a situation where circumstances been called since the creation of the threaten the country and call for an act, only President Trump’s has been immediate response. challenged by Congress.

How often are national National Emergencies emergencies Since 1976 called?

Sanctions

Weapons Restrictions

$3.6 billion

in military construction funds [source: CBS News]

A definitive timeline Jan. 6

President Trump threatens invoking emergency powers if money for wall is not included in congressional budget.

Other

Prevailing Opinions

One of the largest concerns about the declaration was its necessity. Many are skeptical as to whether or not immigration constitutes an emergency, especially since the total number of illegal crossings on the southern border to be on a decline since 2007 (Pew Research).

“

“

We are talking about an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez democrat

President Donald Trump republican

Public opinion

President Trump called a National Emergency at our Southern border to fund a border wall.

Feb. 16

Advocacy group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in Washington U.S. District Court on behalf of three Texas landowners and an environmental group.

Feb. 18

16 states file a lawsuit in a Northern California federal court against President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency

Feb. 22

House Democrats introduce a resolution to block President Trump’s declaration invoking emergency powers.

Feb. 26

Resolution passes the House

March 3

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded the resolution will pass in the Senate. [sources: New York Times, POLITICO, The Guardian, NPR, CBS News]

Support for the national emergency varies by party. Democrats disapprove of it, while republicans tend to accept it. Independents side with Democrats on this issue.

Approve

Disapprove

Unsure

National Adults

36%

61%

3%

Democrats

6%

94%

0%

Republicans

85%

12%

3%

Independents

33%

63%

4%

Legal and Political Challenges - Seen as “unconstitutional” because it bypasses Congress’ constitutional control over the budget - It is seen as an abuse of an executive power for political gains - There are doubts as to whether current immigration patterns constitute a national emergency

[source: PBS News]

[your take]

“

on emergencies

The President trying to bypass congress is an abuse of his power.

The President signed legislation without a border wall. He made that choice, he can’t suddenly demand it is built.

“

Feb. 15

‘I didn’t need to do this’ is admitting this isn’t an emergency at all.

‘I didn’t need to do this’ means he’s faking a crisis.

“

Eli Nirenburg senior

It’s stretching the meaning of ‘national emergency,’ which concerns me as that will allow for further abuses and arbitrary use of it. I fear for the day when a president uses a national emergency to rule tyrannically.

“

from drug seizures

total national emergencies declared since the creation of the National Emergency Act

[source: New York Times]

“

$2.5 billion

Military Action

“

from a Treasury Department’s seized and forfeited assets

2 59

call for military construction

Trade Regulations

Border funds

Under the Emergency Declaration, Trump is allowed to order and control military construction. However, not all the money he is using is related to the emergency. While still condemned by opponents, only the $ 3.6 billion sum is a result of the national emergency. $600 million

Editor-in-Chief

Michael Parobek senior

Munster High School Crier

[INFOCUS]9 March 8, 2019

From

school

to

scrubs

Students discuss their daily routine as interns story by

[Atarah Israel] Page Editor

From hospital scrubs to state-of-the-art equipment, the Career and Technical Education Program offers a wide variety of internship opportunities. Additionally, new internships are becoming more accessible each year, a prime example being the anticipated business internship program. [photo by Megan Szymanski] “The internship program is a chance to get kids out IN UNIFORM Suited up and giggling in the hallway (from left), Alyssa Strege, Sage Sweeney, and Alexandra Vjestica, seinto the real world to see different positions, to see niors, chat as they get ready to leave for their internship. “My favorite part (of the program) is being able to learn about if they like it, or if they don’t like it,” Mr. Brad Docter, all the different careers that I could have in the healthcare field,” Sage said.

Career and Technical Education Coordinator, said.

“It also helps them look at the workforce and see if to do. That way we can figure it out early instead of, they’re able to do those things, like show up on time, you know, down the line when it’s harder to change Alyssa Strege, senior, describes intern schedule do what they’re told, dress the way they’re supposed our minds.”

Taking part in the health care internship to, things like that.”

Go to the These interactions with the workplace give program, Sage says she feels much more prepared bathroom to get and educated for work in a real world setting. students chances to learn about their field of choice ready “I didn’t even know that half the jobs there, that “hands on,” with genuine environment scenarios, I’m observing, were jobs,” Sage said.

“I didn’t really according to Mr. Doctor.

Walk to Community know what was out there so it’s really “When they have procedures going Hospital and split up cool to just be able to experience on we can observe,” Sage Sweeney, I think it’s to different floors some of that firsthand instead of senior, said. “I was in (the) mother-baby reading about it in a textbook.” probably the (department). (I was in) that department Shadow, learn and Along with gaining career based my first two weeks as part of my greatest thing experience, participating in the practice different nursing rotation. I actually was able to internship program also gives hospital procedures I’ve had the watch a delivery, and I was up in the students opportunities to refine ‘incub’ observing them run tests on the opportunity to their life skills. newborn babies, take their weight and Meet up again and “It helps a lot with my everything.” do here. leave hospital communication skills Taking part and exploring the Sage Sweeney because, being in a senior internship program also provides hospital setting, advantages to students interested obviously I have to in their field, as they are immersed in real-life Arrive back at communicate with those around scenarios. school “I think that it’s probably the greatest thing that me,” Sage said. “Especially being I’ve had the opportunity to do here,” Sage said. “It’s around patients helps me learn real world experience and everyone that I talk to with how to be respectful of other’s [photo by Megan Szymanski] the hospital is really excited for me and all the other space, and observing the SUITED UP Dressing in her uniform, Alexandra Vjestica, senior, prepares to leave girls because they say that they wish they had the nurses and how they interact with them. for the hospital. “I love (the hospital). You see a lot opportunity to see what was out there and explore It’s just really helpful for me, I think, in of cool things, and you meet a lot of nice people. before they had to waste so much time and money day to day life, even how to communicate I would highly recommend it to anyone who is to invest in something that they didn’t actually want with people with respect.”

Timing it out 1:10 p.m.

1:25 p.m.

“

1:30 p.m.

”

2:40 p.m.

2:50 p.m.

thinking about doing it,” Alexandra said.

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10 [SPORTS]

Munster High School Crier

March 8, 2019

Playoff

pressure

Boys’ Basketball wins Sectionals, advances to Regionals tomorrow in Michigan City at 12 p.m.

story by

[Adam Klaich] Social Media Manager

Last week, Boys’ Basketball won Sectionals at Crown Point High School, beating Lake Central (57-44), Crown Point (50-45), and Lowell (56-33) to secure their spot in the Regional tournament.

Along with the outcome of Sectionals, the team has only lost four games and the team is confident with their playing style and results.

“We finished the season second in the region and during the year we got a couple votes for top 10 (teams) in the state, but it’s kind of changed throughout the season,” Eric Jerge, senior, said.

Jerge said he thinks one of the reasons the team performed so well this season is because of the amount of seniors and experience that returned for another season.

“Our senior class was really good with leading the team and stuff like that and everyone on the team was pretty close and our team chemistry was pretty good,” Jerge said.

The team hasn’t won the Sectional

Round two The team will continue onto the Regional round and face off against other schools. The winner of the Penn and Chesterton game will play the winner of the Northridge and Munster game later in the day.

[photo by Todd McKechnie]

SMART PASSES After Lowell defender, Ethan Igras (34), senior, blocks Eric Jerge (3), senior, from driving to the basket, he passes the ball away to a teammate during the thrid and final Sectional game in Crown Point’s gym. Munster eventually won the game with a final score of 56 to 33. They previously beat Lake Central last Wednesday, and they beat Crown Point on Saturday. “I just try to focus on winning the game and producing for my team and helping out my teammates like Nick Fies and making sure my family

Recapping the cold story by

[Adam Klaich] Social Media Manager

Wrestling Boys’ Wrestling officially wrapped up their season after Jonah Clark, senior, made it to Semi-State. The sectional meet was on Jan. 26th, a week later was Regionals, and Semi-State and State within the two weeks after that.

Every wrestler participated in the Sectional, and six wrestlers made it to Regionals. Clark made it out of Regionals to semi-state. He is proud of the teams work ethic.

“It was a good atmosphere in the room, we worked really hard and we had a lot of motivated guys,” Jonah said. “It helped everyone work hard and improve.”

The team is mostly made up of young people and Clark thinks it’s best for them to work on their skills and form.

Throughout the year in order to be ready for next year.

“Work hard in every practice and just come out of the room with no energy left,” Clark said.

Girls’ Swim & Dive Girl’s Swim finished their season 7-2 and 12 swimmers went to the state competition in Indianapolis.

“I think the team performed pretty well especially given that some of the better seniors from last year graduated,” Lindsy Vanek, senior, said.

Vanek is proud of how the team came together, despite the loss of swimmers.

This past season was Vanek’s last and she is one of the team captains. Her advice for the younger swimmers is to set goals for themselves.

“I would say they need to work hard at every practice and never give up and to set the goal of winning at Sectionals,” Vanek said.

Vanek believes that the lack of upperclassmen did affect the seasons outcome, but she has faith in the new team members and believes they can carry the team to success.

“I think it really affected the team because this year we got second at Sectionals and we have won every other year so it definitely impacted us,” Vanek said.

tournament since 2014, and they said they are proud of themselves because of their effort and the results.

“Our first two games were very tough games against Lake Central and Crown Point,” Coach Mike Hackett, P.E. teacher, said. “Both schools are bigger than us, the Lake Central game’s a rivalry so we handled that really well, and Crown Point had beaten us earlier in the season and we came back and beat them.”

Sectionals is considered a tough week for the team because they play three games in four days. Coach Hackett said he thinks his team handled the amount of games well.

For Regionals, the team will play Northridge high school, a school from Middlebury, Indiana who finished the season with a record of 18-8.

Northridge has won twelve games in a row, but the MHS team is spending everyday preparing for the game.

“We’re just going through our normal preparations,” Coach Hackett said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re taking care of us and make sure we’re ready to go and we’re watching film and studying the other team.”

Penn [22-3] 10:00 Saturday

Chesterton [19-6] MICHIGAN CITY 7:00 Saturday

Northridge [18-8] 12:00 Saturday

Munster [22-4]

[Source: MHS Athletic Department]

Winter sports come to an end, athletes reflect on past seasons

Boys’ Swim & Dive

Girls’ Basketball

Boys’ Swim season has officially ended after the team went to State and finished fifth.

Holden Raffin, junior, finished third in both of his individual events and Kyle Adams, junior, won the 100m breaststroke event. Any swimmer who finishes top four in his event is recognized as an All State swimmer.

Raffin thinks the team’s chemistry and work ethic is what lead them to success and a better season.

“The team was a lot closer this year and the freshman were hard workers, so I think we just pushed each other more and we had more focus,” Raffin said.

With his experience, Raffin has noticed how far hard work goes.

“What you put in is what you get out, so the harder you work, the more results you could get out,” Raffin said.

To be successful next season, Raffin believes the team should increase their team chemistry to perform well.

“We just need to keep doing what we are doing and work hard,” Raffin said.

Girls’ Basketball finished their season with a record of 15-9 and made it to the semi-finals in the Sectional rounds.

“I think we performed very well, we had a lot of obstacles to overcome this season,” Delaney McGinty, junior, said.

McGinty said she is happy with how the team performed, but thinks the team needs to improve on their competitive spirit.

A trend throughout the season was injuries that affected the teams daily line up and playing style.

“The injuries made things unpredictable,” McGinty said. “It was a different lineup every night depending on who was hurt.”

The injuries forced the players to adapt and helped them to become a better team.

“I think it definitely challenged us to adapt to different situations,” McGinty said. “It held every player accountable for knowing the plays in pretty much any position.”

Munster High School Crier

Strut your stuff

March 8, 2019

Sidenote

Dance competes at State Competition tomorrow

Girls’ Tennis

Last year, Girls’ Tennis ended their season with a single loss on their record. That loss came at the Semi-state tournament, to the top ranked team in the State, Carmel.

This year, Karolina Sroka, senior, and the rest of the Mustangs hope to finally defeat Carmel. Sroka believes this goal is attainable, especially with the addition of Sanjana Tallamurju, freshman, who ranked as one of the top 50 players nationally.

“We are one of the underrated teams here at Munster, but hopefully a lot of people come and support this season because it’ll be worth it,” Sroka said.

“We are going to have a really strong team this year. My goal is just to make the best of it. It’s my last season so I want to kind of enjoy it and you know, make more memories with the girls.”

story by

[Alexis Lindenmayer] Page Editor

After an exciting run at Nationals and placing third place, Dance prepares for State tomorrow.

State will be held at Lafayette Jefferson High School and is Dance’s last competition.

With an intention to place top three in Jazz and keep their title in Pom, the team continues to put in the hours.

“We just got back from Nationals last week and during that time we competed twice a day and practice five to six hours each day while we were there,” Ms. Cynthia Banas, WWMS teacher, said. “This week we will be running the dances, drilling the turns, and cleaning up the little details.”

With it being her second year on Varsity, Stephanie Niemiec, junior, believes there are various factors that led to having a solid team “Compared to last year, we are a closer team, have a harder work ethic, and are more overall motivated,” Niemiec said.

Newer members like Taylor Graham, sophomore, are enjoying their first year on Varsity.

“Being on JV last year helped because you get used to the way competitions are set up and it’s a lot harder than middle school.” Graham said. “So that just really helps to prepare us.”

Niemiec shares that her favorite moment of the season was winning State Ensemble three weeks ago.

“I just felt very accomplished because we worked really hard on it and all of our work paid off,” Niemiec said. “We get to do it again at State to showcase it, so that is really cool too.”

Ms. Banas said she is content with how this season has gone and how the girls have performed.

“Overall, this season has been very successful,” Ms. Banas said. “The team works well together and pushes each other. Every time they go out to compete, the dance is better than the time before.”

Winter Guard

[photo by Ms. Jennifer Khrum]

TWINKLE TOES Performing their Jazz performance, Halle Asplund, sophomore, and Jill Cuvala, senior, dance while Alyssa Strege, senior, is lifted in the air by Abbey Ruckert, junior, Kailyn Oganovich and Taylor Graham, sophomores. This is their final round performed at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando.

Past performances

State placings for previous years

2016

2017

2018

Pom: 1st Jazz: 4th

Pom: 1st Jazz: 2nd

Pom: 1st Jazz: 2nd

Batting a thousand Students, staff discuss upstairs batting cage story by

[Nadia Perdue] Page Editor

Students staying after school in the Foreign Language hall might have noticed a little more noise above them in this past month. Two new batting cages have been added directly upstairs from this area.

Previously, the baseball and softball players shared their space with the Wrestling team in the wrestling room.

The space was smaller and they only had one cage instead of two. The new cages are “a time saver” for the team, according to Ms. Beth Raspopovich, math teacher and softball coach.

“In the Wrestling room, we (the team) could never use it (the cages) until Wrestling was done,” Ms. Raspopovich said. “So what (the new

[SPORTS] 11

cages) allows us to do is it gives us our own space that we can use in the fall, (or) in the winter. Plus, there being a second batting cage, it just gives us a chance to get more reps without having to spend three hours there.”

Will Melby, junior and baseball player, enjoys the new space, but he says that both the old and new cages had their advantages and their limits.

“It’s definitely harder to do a lot of things, knowing that there’s other valuable stuff in the room,” Melby said.

“In the wrestling room, we were kind of able to do whatever we wanted.”

Besides the batting cages, the space holds various other uses for the school.

The Robotics team uses the area as a track, Theater uses it to store props, and the room is also used for different storage purposes.

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Bring in Ad Get One Free Game

[photo by Megan Szymanski]

HIT OR MISS During an open gym session, Holly Kaim, sophomore, and Viviana Gonzales, senior, hit off of a tee in the new upstairs batting cages. “(Practicing) is a little different because now we have two cages so there is a lot more room,” Viviana Gonzales, senior, said.

Winter Guard is preparing for their upcoming competition this weekend at Lake Park High School. With it being the middle of their season, they have already gone to plenty of competitions.

“I feel like it’s going well, we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from the judges and we are continuing to make changes to the show,” Ms. Stephanie Peterson, French teacher, said.

Color Guard’s final competition will be during spring break in Laporte.

Girls’ Lacrosse

A new year brings a new season for Club Girls’ Lacrosse. They have gone through extensive practice to prepare themselves for the new season.

“Lacrosse is just starting out.”

Brooke Gardiner, junior, said “We have a new coach this year so we’re still getting used to her and trying to help out some of the new players. So far, we’ve had a lot of practices and only one scrimmage against Crown Point. We won that scrimmage, but the scrimmage was more so a teaching moment for both Munster and Crown Point directed towards the newer players.”

Gardiner is confident in the team, especially with the new additions to the team and looks forward to the season.

“I think with some new players this year and our new coach, it may take a game or two to get back into groove ,but I am really excited and I think we have a good chance of doing as good as we did last year,” Gardiner said. “We have been having a few scrimmages and practices 2-3 times a week, usually one we are working on conditioning and getting our endurance back up.”

12[STUDENT LIFE]

Munster High School Crier

[BACKTALK]

March 8, 2019

March 3-9 is National No More Week. What is one thing you want to get rid of forever?

IN NAME ONLY Marcus Sotak, senior; Hope Meierkort, junior; Luke Davidson, senior; Izzy Bednarowski, senior; and Kathir Venkat, junior, pose for a “Breakfast Club” inspired photo during 4th hour lunch. Each of them represent a different clique.

A look

into the

You’re the judge

Tweleve current students identify past graduates’ cliques using pictures from the 2012 yearbook Students mostly identified this individual as a Jock

This took on average 1.3 seconds Students mostly identified this individual as a Nerd

This took on average 1.8 seconds Students mostly identified this individual as an Emo kid

This took on average 2.2 seconds Students mostly identified this individual as a Fine Arts kid

This took on average 1.4 seconds

crowd story by

[Zoe O’Shaughnessy] Page Editor

Everyone belongs to one clique or another, but a new study from The University of Illinois at Chicago shows while the idea of cliques has stayed constant over time, there has been a new adjustment in social groups and perception among students. Twelve distinct cliques are emerging: populars, jock, floaters, good-ats, fine-arts, brains, normals, ethnic groups, stoners, goths, Anime and loners.

Melinda Michalski, junior, said that she doesn’t have a clique because she is friends with different groups of people. Coming from a small school, Melinda didn’t notice cliques until she was a freshman.

“I had to move through the different cliques trying to find friends and some were not a go but some were a go. As the years move on, the cliques start to mesh together,” Melinda said.

Ms. Leigh Ann Westland, English teacher, notices her daughter and the cliques that are apparent in her life.

“I think it’s human nature to need to identify with someone or something,” Ms. Westland said. “If people can have something that visibly identifies them, like a letterman jacket or a club T-shirt or a certain brand of clothing, I think it just gives them (students) an instant sense of security.”

Khusi Jhaveri, freshman, who said she is apart of the brains clique, noticed cliques when she took a class at MHS last year when she was an 8th grader at WWMS. She said she wishes that cliques wouldn’t even exist to help change the class disparity that is formed because of them.

“I think we form them because we want to fit in with a community and there’s this whole idea of conformity and trying to fit in,” Khushi said. “Everyone has some sort of social anxiety or some sort of pressure to fit in because if you stand out, it’s still considered weird.”

[photo by Megan Szymanski]

“I would get rid of bullying and racism and things that are all full of evil and shouldn’t be in school. It just makes things way harder.”

Paris Marshall, freshman

“(The rule of) not allowing us to have our phones out in the hallways.”

“There’s this big fireplace in my basement that doesn’t match anything else. I’d get rid of it.

“Homework with a back side because there is extra work.”

Mihail Babus, sophomore

Chris Iatrides, freshman

Rachel Dawson, sophomore

Students discuss clique culture Ms. Westland said that there has been an overall acceptance of kids who dare to put themselves out there.

“I just think there’s this whole push in society from the last 20 years to be accepting of others. There have always been gay students, but now students can be gay and a little bit more out there,” Ms. Westland said. “There has always been students from different cultures and ethnicities, now it’s just the more acceptance. ” Peer pressure can affect the way cliques act, according to Emma Higgason, junior, who considers herself a good-at. Her friend group pressures her to do well in school, says Emma.

“I think when you have your identity in another group of people, sometimes the decisions that they make can influence the decisions you make,” Emma said.

Casey Wallace, junior, who said she is part of the Anime clique, said that she feels that cliques will become more inviting in the future.

“I think they would become more accepting because I feel like, unintentionally, cliques have their own wall and people think they aren’t allowed in because they don’t fit in with those kinds of people. If those walls were broken down, if they were more open, then they can accept more people into their group and they would understand different types of people,” Casey said.

Ms. Westland wants students to know that they are not the same person that they are when they walk in as a freshman. She wants students to know that cliques are okay, but cliques do change.

“If kids can be just be comfortable with themselves, be comfortable with their clique,” Ms. Westland said,,“ Then they can say ‘okay clique, it’s time to move onto another cliques,’ whether it be a clique of two or a clique of 15.”

“Long fingernails.”

Jamie DeJoan, junior

“People who scream when the lights go out.”

Nicole Lu, senior

“Asparagus, I just can’t do asparagus.”

Mr. Michael Coil, science teacher

“I’d really like to get rid of expensive concert tickets. I wish they were all cheap.”

Mira Fefferman, junior

“I would have them get rid of finals, because there’s no point of them to be honest.”

Ali Soto, senior

“No more ignorant people on social media”

Mrs. Amanda Holloway, English teacher