North Pointe Vol. 48, Issue 3- Oct. 23, 2015

SPORTS PAGE 10 LEFT: Sophomore Britany Howard is the only girl on the varsity wrestling team.

NORTH

LOUIS HAPPY

GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

POINTE FRIDAY, OCT. 23, 2015

SINCE 1968

Students with disabilities partake in charity to learn life skills GPSCHOOLS.SCHOOLWIRES.NET

By Anna Post STAFF REPORTER

Originally a resale shop called One Thousand Fancy Dresses, the Full Circle Foundation has expanded into a charitable organization that teaches work skills and independence to students with disabilities through the retail industry.

Full Circle is located in Grosse Pointe Park and is a facility open to Grosse Pointe students ages 18-26. The program consists of 37 student employees—25 current students and 12 graduates who help manage the store.

“The whole idea is to transition them into adulthood and job training,” Full Circle instructor Annemarie Bokatzian said. “We are hoping that they gain skills that can stay with them after they leave school to maybe get jobs in retail or other related fields.”

Student employees take on leadership roles like being in charge of the cash register, collecting store donations, selling clothing off of the store’s eBay account and even managing some of their own businesses.

“We have a laundry program, and we have one student who has clients who goes and picks up aprons from the Chocolate Bar Cafe then does their laundry and brings them back and gets paid for it,” Full Circle administrative coordinator Sue Banner said.“That is a part of our goal. It is to help them develop their own little business so they can make money.”

Students are taught a variety of other skills, including cooking, restaurant and office skills to help train them for potential jobs.

“We have a kitchen that we can hopefully turn into like a job training site. They are learning—we are at ground level right now with a vending business, so we will develop that,” Banner said. “Students are learning office skills because that would be another potential microbusiness. They are also always working on things like housekeeping and maintenance because that would be another type of business students would start.”

During the spring and summer, Full Circle also provides a garden program and community service program.

The garden is run by summer program students and summer school program students who help with the maintenance and harvest of the products.

“They offer a CSA, which is community supported agriculture, and what that is is that we sell subscriptions,” Bokatzian said. “So for a set amount for the whole season, depending on the season, anywhere from $260-$350 for 16 weeks, (clients) would get a bag of groceries, herbs, fresh cut flowers delivered to their home.”

Doss has seen her students change from their time at Full Circle.

“We have students that work at North. Some might work at the cafeteria. They might work at our school store here, but it’s a bigger thing when you go over to Full Circle,” Doss said. “You’re working with clothing and working with a whole other set of materials, so I think that it opens their eyes to the community and gets them out in their community.”

Bokatzian also sees improvements in students’ behavior, communication and social interaction from working at Full Circle.

“One thing we see for sure is that students, when they start spending more time at Full Circle and on our community campus, they are spending more time in this more grown-up type of vocational setting because it’s more like a workplace than a classroom. They own up to the maturity,” Bokatzian said. “I think that because the expectations are much greater for them, and they’re not in the same familiar school setting with seven- period days, a bell ringing then the classes changing, we see a lot of maturity.”

Full Circle has tried to create a learning environment for their students. To continue providing the services they do, they frequently have fundraisers. The next fundraiser is Oct. 29 at the Roostertail.

“We raise the majority of our funds through fundraising, but because we have GPPS students, we have two classrooms at our facility, so the district pays us rent for those two classrooms,” Banner said. “So for the kids, instead of having a classroom at North or South, they come to Full Circle. That’s their classroom.”

IDEAS - PAGE 7

COURTESY OF ANNEMARIE BOKATZIAN

COURTESY OF SUE BANNER

ABOVE: Full Circle Foundation offers a community supported agriculture (CSA) program that delivers groceries, herbs and flowers that they’ve grown for participating homes.

LIFE - PAGE 4 Left: AcaFella performed “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child” at the Fall Choir Concert on Saturday, Oct. 17.

“By eliminating Planned Parenthood, you put the sexual health of millions of women at risk.”

SARAH WIETECHA

@thenorthpointe www.northpointenow.org

VOLUME 48 | ISSUE 3

Calendar | 2 News | 3

On Campus | 4 Life | 5-6

NEWS - PAGE 3

See which different classroom elements affect a student’s ability to learn.

DARCY GRAHAM

On Pointe | 7 Reviews | 8

Editorial | 9 Sports | 10-11

Popping the Bubble | 12

NEWS

2 – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – North Pointe

ACT TESTING

Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 a.m.

NORSEMEN OLYMPICS

Thursday, Oct. 29 from 4-6 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m.

FINAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET Friday Oct. 30 at Metro Beach

NO CLASSES Tuesday, Nov. 3 (Election Day)

BOOSTER MEETING for Band and Orchestra. Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in C-101.

END OF QUARTER

College Board implements SAT changes for PSAT

By Lindsey Ramsdell & Katelynn Mulder ASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

Students nationwide got a preview of the redesigned SAT on Wednesday, Oct. 14 through the PSAT model. The new official SAT will be launched in March 2016.

According to College Board CEO David Coleman, the old SAT was “far too disconnected from the work of our high schools.” The updated version of the test features questions that are more likely to test “real world” skills, like application of knowledge and analysis. “(SAT) is working with the College Board to make this test more emblematic of the skills that you really need in college and to get to college,” English teacher Kristen Alles said.

The new SAT measures these skills through questions that not only ask for a right answer, but also justification for that answer. These questions take form as: “Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?” and “grid” questions on the math section.

The redesigned SAT without writing is three hours long—45 minutes shorter than the old test—a change students may be grateful for. The writing portion, however, adds an additional 50 minutes to the test time.

Another addition to the new test is that infamous “SAT words” will no longer be included.

With the old SAT, one-fourth of a point would be deducted for wrong answers in order to discourage guessing. This would mean that for every four questions wrong, a tester would lose a point. However, on the new test, there’s no penalty for picking a wrong answer.

Students will also have to infer more information from graphs or diagrams on the new math portion, which includes a section where there are no calculators allowed. “(The no calculator section) was more time consuming than it was hard because I had to write everything out,” sophomore Kylee Banaszewski said.

The essay portion has undergone a noticable change. On the old test, students had no choice but to write an essay, which was included in their composite score. On the redesigned test, it is optional and scored separately.

The redesigned SAT is also scored differently. Instead of students being

able to earn up to 2400 points, it is now scored on a 1600-point scale (the scale used prior to 2005).

The alterations to the test will be implemented for the state mandated SAT in March, which the Class of 2017 will take. The last version of the old SAT will be administered in January.

“It starts with the juniors this year. I think they are really affected because they had a year ... that they didn’t know. They had a full year of ACT prep,” Alles said. “But really everyone (is affected) because we’re all, even teachers and students, we’re all figuring it out with what we have.”

For students feeling blindsided by these changes, the College Board is now collaborating with Khan Academy to offer free, online test prep for the SAT. As well as using Khan Academy, Alles recommends students increase their amount of reading, as the new test emphasizes nonfiction text.

“There’s a lot of focus on reading, so the more reading you do, the better,” she said. “More analysis of the reading ... really helps on this test because not only do you need to know the answer, but you need to know why you got that answer.”

Banaszewski plans to further prepare for the SAT this year by looking at her PSAT scores and studying accordingly. “(I’m) probably going to look at my scores from the PSAT and find out what my strong points were and what my weak points were, then focus on those,” Banaszewski said.

For sophomore Samantha Lopiccolo, taking the PSAT multiple times also proved beneficial.

“I think it was easier the second time around because I wasn’t a freshman anymore, and I felt stronger,” Lopiccolo said. “I just felt more comfortable.”

While there may be many new changes, it’s still a very similar test. Covering the same subjects, both the old and new tests can be studied for in the same ways. Both tests still require students to read and interpret information in passages along with knowing how to solve geometry and algebra problems.

“Although it could possibly be a more challenging test,” Alles said, “I think that it does test you on very appropriate skills and skills that you will need in the future.”

Friday, Nov. 6

IN THE PAPER

WWW.ZOMBIEPAINTBALLTRUCK.COM COURTESY OF EVE FELDMAN

POPPING THE BUBBLE - PAGE 12

Junior creates geocaching club

Want to be spooked? Check out this issue’s Popping the Bubble.

WWW.IMBD.COM

REVIEWS - PAGE 8

Read our review on The Walk, a film about high-wire artist Philippe Petit.

COURTESY OF EVE FELDMAN

Club founder Eve Feldman geocaching in Clinton River Park.

“Geocaching has enhanced my want to explore and find amazing things outdoors,” Feldman said.

Junior Eve Feldman has started a Geocaching Club with library media specialist Amanda Pata as the adviser. The club’s informational meeting was held on Oct. 15 and any students are allowed to join.

“I hope that the club draws in members with lots of different interests — geocaching could be a great social equalizer,” Pata said via email.

According to www.geocaching.com, geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game in which users use GPS-enabled devices to find geocaches hidden at specific coordinates. Once an individual discovers a geocache, they can write their name in the geochache’s logbook and leave an item for the next geocacher to find. There is a now an app in which users can log their finds and search for others.

Pata has been geocaching since 2008 and has found over 1000 caches in 12 different states and one other country. Feldman, who has been

Class of 2017 sponsors Norsemen Olympics For the first time, the Class of 2017 will be hosting a Norsemen Olympics night dedicated to elementary students in the Grosse Pointe school district and kids from St. Joan and Our Lady Star of the Sea. The event will take place on Oct. 29 from 4-6 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Norsemen Olympics will be held instead of Little Girls’ Night Out, which has been sponsored by the junior class for the past two years during the winter.

“We want to mix things up a little bit so we don’t do the same fundraiser every year,” Class of 2017 treasurer Lindsay Lesha said. “Little Girls’ Night Out is just for girls, so we figured we’d do something for boys and girls, and everybody loves sports.”

Participants will report to the gym for either the first or second session.

Instant Norseman Instant Norseman Updates Updates

BELLA DESANDY

SPORTS - PAGE 10 The varsity soccer team played to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project on Friday, Oct. 16

IDEAS - PAGE 7

“When I disregard the mispronunciation of my own name, I disregard that culture and my parents.” Instant Norseman Updates

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text “follow mygpn” to

geocaching for several years, approached Pata about being the adviser for the club so she could geocache with other interested students.

Feldman has noticed students become more motivated to explore when they are geocaching.

“I really think teens, especially now since a lot of them are stuck indoors and they don’t really have an opportunity or a drive to go outside … could benefit from this ‘cause this gives them a reason to go outside and it’s really just fun, you just have adventures and (can) find cool places,” Feldman said.

Geocaching has opened many doors for Feldman and she hopes this club can provide similar opportunity for others.

“A lot of different types of people would like this and they would be able to bond between this, especially when I’m connecting with different groups of people in the community,” Feldman said. “I have done a bunch of stuff just because geocaching led me there.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CLUB, GO TO GPNGEOCACHING.BLOGSPOT.COM

By Michal Ruprecht

They will be able to try their hand at 12 sports selected from those offered at North.

The participating sports will have their own station where players from the varsity teams will mentor a group of students on their area of expertise. “(The mentors) will play games with (the kids), and they’ll do drills. Just the basic stuff,” senator Carmen Castronero said.

The council will charge $20 per student and $5 per adult. Each child is required to have a supervisor. The charge also includes a meal for the kids.

Not only does the event support the junior class, it also supports all North sports. “(Our goal is to) just expose the kids to sports and let them have a fun time with their peers,” Lesha said. “We want the kids to have a good time, to get some background on our sports. Say there’s new sports they’ve never tried before. They can try them at the Norsemen Olympics before they enter high school.”

By Lindsey Ramsdell

Scan this text You can follow QR code to us on Twitter “follow order mygpn” your on your phone to without setting up 2015-2016 an account.

40404 edition of Valhalla!

NEWS

classroom environments affect learning OF

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One element of an effective classroom is decorations that attract the eye (but aren’t too distracting).

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3 – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – North Pointe

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A sense of ownership of the learning space benefits the learner

SYDNEY BENSON

Providing a range of color in a room increases visual stimulation for the occupants

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Natural light, and plenty of it, keeps classrooms working right.

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The physical environment of a classroom, sometimes called “naturalness”, is the most important aspect of classroom design in terms of its effect on the students’ learning while in the room.

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SYDNEY BENSON

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By Audrey Kam, Josie Bennett & Nathan Lonczynski EDITOR-AT-LARGE & STAFF REPORTERS

Classrooms. The average student will walk into seven each day and is expected to remain inside of each one for the entire 43-minute period. For students, traveling between environments is a part of daily life, regulated by a bell system.

But this fall, two teachers took “switching classes” to a new level, Freaky Friday style. “(Geoffrey) Young and I volunteered to go first … on homecoming Friday,” mathematics department co-chair Katy Vernier said.

Vernier along with English department chair Geoffrey Young, student center instructor Karin Eberhard, math teacher Marti Steiner and media specialist Amanda Pata make up a Professional Learning Community (PLC) group focusing on the classroom environment’s impact on students’ learning.

“One of the things we wanted to make sure of was that we had lots of different types of classrooms and lots of different subject areas covered in the group,” Pata said.

The group’s first experiment was to have two classes, accustomed to vastly different spaces, switch rooms for a day.

“It was kind of a different experience, just being in a different room,” junior Andrew Kane said. “(Vernier’s room) was more awakening than the normal, comfortable room.

Like, it felt stricter.”

During the feedback session, Vernier said that several other students remarked that Young’s room felt more “calming” to them than hers did.

“It’s not so much white, like white ceilings, white floors, white walls, white boards,” Vernier said.

Vernier agreed with students that her room may feel more “sterile” than Young’s (which Kane described as a “writing-home”). But she stressed that students’ comfort, while important, is not the end-all-be-all of classroom design.

“Our goal in our PLC is what improves learning. So you think this room is calming, but is that calm improving learning?” Vernier said. “We don’t know. We’re still having to figure that out.”

In a 2015 study conducted in the United Kingdom and published in Building and Environment examined “the impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning.” Researchers concluded that light, temperature, air quality, ownership, flexibility, complexity and color of a room were key design features affecting students’ performance. However, elements of the physical environment, such as light, sound, temperature and air quality of any given room first accounted for roughly 50% of the room’s impact.

Another factor is individualism, or how well the room caters to the needs of an individual student. In this case, the students’ needs vary based on not only personal differences in learning style but on the intended format of the class itself, which varies based on subject.

Chemistry teacher Christine Lee often tweaks her own classroom environment to optimize learning.

“As a teacher, you’re constantly reflecting and making little notes,” Lee said. “I didn’t look at any studies. It’s just talking to other teachers that work here or other teachers that I’ve met at conferences, things like that.”

Kane noticed that the two rooms he got to experience with Young’s class seemed to be arranged to emphasize different aspects of classroom learning. Vernier’s room seemed to be focused around the board and Young’s around creating a friendly environment for candid discussion.

Vernier explained that the seating configuration in both classes was purposefully arranged to make the emphasis of the classroom the focal point. In her classroom, where the focus is often the day’s notes, encouraging conversation may not be in the best interest of students’ learning. Young’s class, by contrast, requires students to be comfortable enough to engage in healthy debate.

In terms of meeting students’ needs, Kane felt that both Young’s and Vernier’s rooms hit the mark. “(In Young’s room), you definitely feel free to share your opinions because you know if it’s wrong, you’re still gonna learn something,” Kane said. “And (in) a math class, everyone needs to be directed at the same point at the same time so that they’re all getting the same effect.”

In terms of finding a silver bullet to optimize learning, the PLC is far from finished with its search. The group plans to observe students in various environments to find out how they change students’ experiences and how that affects learning. The teachers aren’t looking for a cure-all, but want insight into how the education process can be tailored to provide maximum benefit to students.

“I always believe that too much of anything is not a very good thing, so that’s why I’m always about a variety,” Lee said. “I think it’s finding a balance between using a bunch of different strategies.”

ON CAMPUS

4 – North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015

SINGING AS ONE The choir program staged its “Ties That Bond” concert on Saturday, Oct. 17

By Sarah Wietecha ASSITANT EDITOR

ABOVE: The Choraliers performing. “The most fun part of the concert was after we performed and everyone just felt a sigh of relief and we all went out, had fun, and reflected on (the performance),” sophomore Emily Cherry said.

FACES IN THE CROWD

Illeana Barragan

Sophomore Illeana Barragan is a musician through and through. Between listening to Twenty One Pilots and practicing her own musical skills, Barragan is a more than capable drummer.

“I’ve been playing (drums) since I was 5, so for about 10 years.” Barragan said.

Barragan is a member of the North symphony band, pep band and drumline. She says that meeting new people is one of the perks of being in the program.

“I’ve met a lot of my friends (through band),” Barragan said. “It’s a big social aspect.”

Barragan tends to listen to rock and is a fan of the Foo Fighters.

Not only is Barragan’s focus on music right now, but she also hopes to pursue it in college.

“I want to major in music tech,” Barragan said.“I want to go to Boston Tech.”

Camille Burke

Junior Camille Burke has already applied to schools such as Central Michigan University, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Western Michigan University and University of Southern California—and she’s only sixteen.

Burke was able to complete all her credits, and will be graduating in the spring, a year earlier than most students in her class. Though she’s applied to many schools, she hasn’t chosen which school she wants to attend.

“I’d like to go into electrical engineering or something to do with engineering,” Burke said.

The road to engineering school has been a long one for Burke. She began earning credits towards graduation in middle school.

“I’ve been taking high school and college credit classes since middle school,” Burke says, “My junior year I was able to get in all my requirements and then some.”

Burke currently takes several Advanced Placement classes, including AP Language and Composition, AP Spanish V and AP Macroeconomics. These credits will help her get a head start on her collegiate career.

ABOVE LEFT: Junior David Hardy sings a solo during a Norsemen number. “A lot of people commented on the Norsemen song about the Civil War and Pointe Chorale’s song ‘Praise His Holy Name.’ Choraliers, the ‘Mother To Son’ and then I had a lot of people comment on the words and the text of (Treble choir) ‘A Song To End All War.’ Every ensemble brought a great level of energy and high caliber music making,” choir director Ben Henri said about the concert.

ABOVE RIGHT: Junior Will Fishwick plays cello during the Counterpointe performance of“Schlaf Mein Kind.”

LEFT: A cappella choir Counterpointe takes the stage. “Whenever you get closer to a performance and whenever you put on the uniform, your level of focus just rises a little bit, so every group performed even better than they had in rehersa;, which tends to be the case,” Henri said. “There was lots of wonderful energy, and I got a ton of feedback abou the way the concert connected to people in the audience, the way the music affected them, and the text and the melodies touched them.”

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Ambereen Ameenuddin

By Radiance Cooper ASSISTANT EDITOR

“I love learning new things in general. Teaching world history for the first time, I’m learning so much while I’m doing it which it excites me to do that all over again,” Ameenuddin said.

Social studies teacher Ambereen Ameenuddin feels that discovering education was the best accident that has happened in her life.

While majoring in political science at the University of Southern Florida, Ameenuddin never thought she would want to be a high school teacher. Originally, her plan was to attend law school after college. She even spent three years working at a law firm. Despite how much she loved the field, she ultimately decided that it was not the right path for her.

“I think I just have too much energy for sitting in one place at the same time and so I had some scholarship money left over, and I took random classes, and I met an education professor,” Ameenuddin said. “She kind of opened the doors for education for me and then I went and stayed in the program. I got my masters (degree) in education and haven’t looked back since.”

After stumbling upon education, Ameenuddin taught in Florida for several years and recently moved to Michigan. She saw the change as a good move for her because she al-

ready had family living here.

While originally born in West Bloomfield, Ameenuddin spent seventeen years under the sunny skies of Florida. Despite her Detroit roots, Ameenuddin is still worried about the midwestern experience.

“I’ve never been so scared of snow to come in my life. What is snow and how do I drive in it? That is the question,” Ameenuddin said. “I have a pretty long commute and so I’m really nervous about when the weather’s gonna change.”

Despite the concern, Ameenuddin is glad she made the decision to move to Michigan and teach. One of Ameenuddin’s favorite parts of working at North is the overall atmosphere of the school.

“I love the kids. Everyone’s been really great, the administration is just hands down the best administration I have ever worked with in all the schools that I’ve been (teaching at),” Ameenuddin said. “I love the … school spirit. I saw the pep rally and the games and everything.

I loved it, my high school wasn’t like that and I love that I can be a part of a school like that.”

Partick Henry

The language of html may seem foreign to some, but is familiar to sophomore Patrick Henry. Henry spends his spare time programming computers.

Henry uses a special program called C Plus Plus to develop his codes.

“It’s a special kind of program that Microsoft uses to edit their stuff. It’s pretty easy to use — it comes with directions,” Henry said. “A lot of it is automated, you just have to type in what you want to do.”

In the future, Henry plans on majoring in computer programming. But for now, he wants to continue developing more codes.

“It’s being able to make something, just by adding a few lines of code,” Henry said. “It’s really interesting because it all comes together in the end when it’s really basic in the beginning.”

By Erin Kaled & Gowri Yerramalli If you could solve one major problem in the word, what would it be and why?

I would solve cancer. I would find the cure for cancer because it’s just hit close to home for so many people and how do you protect yourself? How do you stop it? That’s what I would do.

What’s your dream vacation?

Spain. I’m a history nerd. It’s like my Disney. I would do all the research in the world before I got there so I can appreciate the history and the culture of Spain because there’s a lot there. I have had friends that went there and seeing their pictures and comments makes me want to go there really badly.

What are the top five things on your bucket list?

That’s tough. Travel. In addition to Spain, travel to India, because that’s where my family’s from and I have never been there.

I can speak the language, but I’ve never been to India. I want to learn another language and I would love (to) maybe get my PhD someday … run as many marathons as I can. Lastly, I guess maybe have kids someday.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

I’d still be a teacher for sure. I don’t know, invest it? Take some really kick butt trips, stay in awesome hotels … Shoe shopping it is.

LIFE

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23 2015 – 5

LIFE

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – 6

Hillary Clinton (DEM)

Bernie Sanders (DEM)

Age: 67 Residence: Chappaqua, NY Alma Mater: Wellesley College Yale Law School Previous Career: First Lady (1993-2001) Senator of New York (2001-2009) Secretary of State (2009-2013) Net Worth: about $30 million (www.cbsnews.com)

Age: 74 Residence: Burlington, VT Alma Mater: Brooklyn College University of Chicago Previous Career: Mayor of Burlington (1981-1989) House of Representatives (1991-2007) U.S. Senator (2007 and 2012) Net Worth: $528,014 (www.cbsnews.com

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

WWW.BIOGRAPHY.COM

Political Platform: Education- Teach Bible as history & literature; not science or religion.

(Apr 2015). Vouchers aren’t constitutional; charter schools are ok. (Apr 2015).

Family & children- Our generation is blessed by extra years with aging parents. (May 2014).

Political Platform: Education- Quality affordable education, from child care to higher ed.

(Mar 2015). Make college affordable for everyone. (Jan 2015) Family & children- Ban high lead levels in children’s toys. (Nov 2005).

www.ontheissues.org

www.ontheissues.org

Ben Carson (REP)

CPAC.CONSERVATIVE.ORG

Joe Biden (DEM)

Age: 64 Residence: West Palm Beach, CA Alma Mater: Yale University University of Michigan Previous Career: Neurosurgeon Director of pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins University Specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurolog cal and congenital disorders, etc.

Net worth: 8.9-27 million (www.cbsnews.com)

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Age: 72 Residence: One Observatory Circle, WA Alma Mater: University of Delaware Syracuse University Previous Career: Delaware Senator (1973-2009) Vice President (2008 and 2016) Chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (2007-2009) Net Worth: $947,987 (www.cbsnews.org)

Political Platform: Education- $500M for businesses partnerships at community colleges (Feb 2012). No Child Left Behind was left behind. (Oct 2008) Family & children- I’ve been a single parent; I know the difficulties.

(Oct 2008).

Political Platform: Education- Our public education system has become a propaganda system. (May 2015).

Family & children- I’m a pediatrician and concerned about children’s future. (Sep 2015)

www.ontheissues.org

www.ontheissues.org

Marco Rubio (REP)

Age: 44 Residence: Miami, FL Alma Mater: Tarkio College, Santa Fe College, University of Florida, University of Miami Previous Career: United States senator for Florida since 2011 Speaker of Florida House of Representatives (2006-2008) Member of Florida House of Representatives (2006-2008) Net worth: $443,000 (www.cbsnews.com)

VOTING 101 Basic information about the election and leading candidates

By Anu Subramaniam & Gowri Yerramalli EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & BUSINESS MANAGER

Political Platform: Education- Common Core is a disaster. (Jun 2015). Cut the Depart ment of Education way, way down. (Jun 2015).

Family & Children- Stress importance of a strong family, & a culture of Life. (Jun 2015).

Traditionally, specific ages are marked by milestones that become a rite of passage. Turning 13 means officially becoming a teenager. Turning 16 means legally being allowed to be behind the wheel. And turning 18 means becoming an adult.

However, according to Linda McCulloch, Montana’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction, turning 18 is only the first step in becoming a legal adult. One of the new responsibilities some students are faced w ith when they become of legal age is registering to vote and participating on election days.

Class of 2014 alum and former Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) president Grant Strobl promptly registered to vote when he turned 18 and has participated in ever y election since.

“I think that if students (are) excited and passionate about a candidate or cause, they should register to vote,” Strobl said.

Primar y elections in Michigan take place Nov. 3. This election is an off-year election, meaning the President w ill not face election. Special elections to the United States Congress w ill be held, including an election for Speaker of the House. Others at the state-level w ill be held, including gubernatorial (governor) and state legislative elections.

Senior Troy Williams feels that teens should take more interest in politics, but they don’t have much impact. He hasn’t paid much attention to this election, but plans on registering to vote. “(Teens) can’t even become president or run for office until they are 30, so I mean, young people don’t really inf luence (politics) too much,” Williams said. “(But) I’m 18, so that’s what ever yone who is eligible should do.”

Senior Tristin Richardson, who is 18 and also plans on registering soon, feels that voting should not be taken for granted. He finds the competition among candidates interesting.

“I just want to see which candidates w ill rise up or the ones that w ill lose and why they lose and the reason why they w in,” Richardson said.

“Being able to vote is nice. Not many people can vote. In other countries, they don’t have the freedom to do that, so it’s cool to vote.”

www.ontheissues.org

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Political Platform: Education- Turn over Head Start to states. (Jan 2014). Silent on voluntary school prayer. (Jun 2012) Family & children- The “success sequence”— education and kids after marriage.

(Jan 2015). Answers lie with family and our faith, not politicians. (Feb 2013). www.ontheissues.org

Donald Trump (REP)

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Age: 69 Residence: Manhattan, NY Alma Mater: University of Pennsylvania Previous Career: Chairman and president of Trump Organization Chairman of Trump Plaza Associates, LLC Chairman of Trump Atlantic City Associates, LLC Host of The Apprentice Net worth: $4.5 billion (www.cbsnews.com)

How to register to vote To register to vote in the Michigan election on Nov. 3 you must be:

-A U.S. citizen

-At least 18 years old by Election Day

-A resident of Michigan

-A resident of the city or township you are applying

to to register to vote in You must be registered 30 days prior to the election to be able to vote in the election.

Applications can be obtained from:

-Secretary of State

-Local clerk’s office

-State agency offices

-Military recruitment centers

-Voter registration drives Voters who register online have to fulfill the identification requirement.

Once everything is complete, you get a voter registration card which you must bring, along with valid identification, when you go to vote.

ON POINTE 1

IDEAS

The top 10 things this week that we can’t live without

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – 7

If I die young

10.

By Mora Downs

By Allison Lackner and Katelynn Mulder

EDITOR

ASSISTANT-EDITOR AND STAFF REPORTER

1.

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9.

Movie

PAR ANORMAL AC TIVIT Y: THE GHOST DIMENSION

If you’re a fan of Paranormal Activity, then this movie is for you. The series’ sixth and final installment will hit theaters Oct. 23 to conclude the story of Katie and Kirsti.

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WWW.AMAZON.COM COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

Game

ASSASIN’S CREED SYNDICATE

The latest installment introduces twins Jacob and Evie Frye who attempt to take back Victorian London from the Templar’s control by uniting the criminal underworld. Featuring notable historical figures, this game comes out Oct. 23 for Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

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8.

2.

YENA BERHANE

3..

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7.

Movie

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

Breck Eisner’s newest creation, The Last Witch Hunter, is due to hit the theaters Oct. 23. Set in New York, the witch hunter must stop the covens from destroying humanity.

WWW.5SOS.COM

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6.

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Album

STORYTELLER

Including lead single “Storm Break,” Carrie Underwood’s fifth album is something to look forward to. To celebrate the release, Underwood will perform on NBC’S Today Show on its drop date, Oct. 23.

5

SUPERGIRL

Premiering Oct. 26, this highly anticipated CBS series comes straight from the comics. It introduces Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) as she struggles to manage her normal life while becoming a hero.

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STEVE JOBS

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SOUNDS GOOD FEELS GOOD

GIRL ONLINE: ON TOUR

ILLUMINAE

JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS

Discover the revolution of the iMac and how legendary inventor Steve Jobs balanced his professional and family life. RottenTomatoes.com gives the movie a 85 percent fresh rating.

It hits theaters Oct. 23.

Let the inner fan girl out because 5 Seconds of Summer is releasing Sounds Good Feels Good, including the hit song “She’s Kinda Hot.” The Exclusive Target Album comes with two additional songs and four CD covers for $13.99.

Girl Online: On Tour is the sequel to Zoella Sugg’s New York Times bestseller Girl Online. FollowPennyasshefollowsherrockstar boyfriend on road., all seems to be going well until she begins missing her family, friends and her blog, “Girl Online.”

Faced with a deadly plague and a troubling war, Kady and her exboyfriend Ezra must work together to survive. Illuminae is the first in the new sci-fi trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Based on the popular 80s animated TV series, Jem and the Holograms is about a small town girl whose music video goes viral, leading her to become a global superstar. True Jem fans should head to Sephora for the limited edition eyeshadow, lip colors and compact.

TV Show

Movie

The conservative catch-22 Jennifer Kusch MANAGING EDITOR

A room, overwhelmingly full of men, sat and debated a topic unique to my gender. They were not empowering us, debating the wage gap, or advocating stricter punishment for rapes on college campuses.

They were deciding whether or not I should have access to affordable reproductive services and contraception.

In other words, a room almost entirely full of upper-class, middle-aged white men was

WWW.CMT.COM

Album

trying to insert itself into my doctor’s office and my life.

Following the wake of “sting” videos made inside Planned Parenthood, conservatives pushed for eradication of all federal funding for the program. The government currently does not contribute any federal funds towards subsidizing abortions under the Affordable Care Act besides those resulting from rape, incest or pregnancies that otherwise put the mother’s life in danger.

While I myself do not morally support abortions, the right wing is advocating a dangerous catch-22.

By eliminating Planned Parenthood, you put the sexual health of millions of women at risk. Contraceptives and STD screenings are important services offered by the organization, and they ensure the health and happiness of millions of people every year.

Only three percent of the organization’s services are comprised of abortions. The rest of the program strives for lower pregnancy rates, preventing the conception of children who would otherwise be raised in lower-income

8

I’ve never really thought about how I’m going to die.

If I had to picture it, I’d be old, frail and surrounded by those who loved me, looking back on the wonderful adventure I’d just completed—cliche right?

In theory, I still have a long way to go.

The life expectancy for the average American woman is about 81 years. I’m only 16.

Being 16 means that I’m supposed to have my entire life ahead of me. Being 16 means that I don’t think about my own mortality. My inevitable death doesn’t really cross my mind, since I can’t even drive a car without my mom in the passenger seat.

I’m a teenager. I think I know what’s best for me. I’m sassy and cause my parents’ blood pressure to skyrocket. My biggest concern is where my homecoming group is taking pictures. I’m invincible.

At least, I think I am.

Evan Murray was a teenager, too. Murray was the star quarterback of his high school’s football team. While we were wishing our boys would beat South, Murray was playing for his team in Washington, New Jersey. He was hit while he was on the field but managed to give the crowd a thumbs up as he was carried away. Later that night, he died in the hospital from a ruptured spleen.

Murray’s story instantly stunned me.

News stations reporting his death interviewed his friends and his peers. That could’ve been any one of us on camera had Evan Murray been a student at North.

Murray was 17. He never had a chance to go to college, get married or have kids. He never even got to graduate high school.

Murray proves that we are not invincible.

We are young but, as morbid as it sounds, that doesn’t always matter.

Reflecting on my mortality has made me afraid of death. Not afraid of any pain, not afraid of whatever happens to me after I die, but rather that I won’t get my full 81 years. I’ve spent my whole life waiting to leave Grosse Pointe and travel the world. I want to graduate high school. I want to get married. I want to have kids.

However, I will take whatever I’m given, whether it’s 81 years or not.

My mom frequently tells me that anyone’s life can change in an instant. After spending years working at a hospital, she has seen it all from kids doing a flip off a trampoline and paralyzing themselves to teens looking down at their phones for one second and losing their lives in a car crash.

We never know how much we are going to get, but we should strive to maximize whatever it is. Being injured should sideline us, even if mean sitting out the big game.

Responding to a group chat isn’t worth getting into a car accident. Homecoming night we should make the right decisions. Moms, we’ll listen to you, even if it feels like you might be smothering us.

I urge you, my fellow teens, to remember that you are not indestructible. Everything we do will have a consequence, for us or someone else.

Book

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Book

houses with overwhelmingly unprepared parents, parents who would have to choose between their child and their own futures.

The child’s quality of life would be lower, and teen pregnancy’s vicious cycle would once again continue.

Planned Parenthood screens for a myriad of diseases, including breast, ovarian and cervical cancers. So while the program may be flawed, it saves lives.

In a conservative’s ideal world, abortions would be illegal, yet we wouldn’t have access to contraceptives needed to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It’s an unrealistic reality. We have to be able to make reproductive decisions without government interference.

Before safer routes like Planned Parenthood came to be, back-door abortions put too many lives at risk. No politician can logically argue to limit access to contraceptives as well as abortions but then also limit access for same-sex adopting couples.

What do you do when kids are having kids?

If this catch-22 was a reality—which it is often argued for on Capitol hill—we would be facing

10 Movie

this dilemma and the millions of children who would be flooding our foster care systems, born to parents who are still children themselves.

Thanks to Planned Parenthood’s existence, millions of girls my age will never have to face a decision of whether or not to have an abortion, and whether they should raise a child when they aren’t even old enough to vote.

We are growing up in a changing world.

Our society has made incredible strides in health services and social equality. Our teen pregnancy rate has dropped significantly.

STDs are caught and treated, and millions of people, gay and straight, married and single, are adopting children and raising them in loving, capable families.

It’s 2015. We are in an age of self-determination, an age of free will and manageable consequences. Planned Parenthood has flaws, but defunding it would tip the scale against young people everywhere. So conservatives, listen to me when I say: stay out of our bedrooms, and stay away from Planned Parenthood.

REVIEWS

8 – Friday, Oct 23. 2015 – North Pointe

2016 Presidential candidate Donald Trump makes his NBC comeback, hosting SNL for the first time since his contract was cancelled in 2004. However, the show is not to the same as it was back then

By Lauren Sexton ASSISTANT EDITOR

NERDIST.COM

Live from New York, it’s just another Saturday. After four long decades, over 140 cast members and 21 Emmy awards, the New York institution has finally taken a serious turn for the worse Lorne Michaels has lost his touch. He has worked with SNL since its beginnings in 1975, and it seemed that Michaels would always make SNL better each season. However, that upward trend has come to an end. It seems Michaels doesn’t even care anymore. Michaels only has one job —making the tough decisions. He does that 24/7. (But that’s 24 hours a week, 7 months a year.)

It’s not entirely Michaels’ fault, though. In past years, he has found rare, exceptionally talented actors and writers. It is hard to top comedic legends like Tina Fey, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy. Michaels has struggled to find similar talent, and now the bar has been dropped so low that even a middle school drama class would be funnier to watch.

SNL has always been synonymous with good comedy, but somehow this comparison doesn’t ring true anymore. This show has been on the air for over 41 years and has always known how

to stay relevant to its time period, but recently, they have been highly inaccurate. The writers think inappropriate humor and teasing the millennial generation will keep bringing back viewers and increase ratings, but it’s highly unlikely. The man to blame for destroying all that’s funny is actually head writer and Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost. He’s a square.

In recent years, there have been good and bad head writers on SNL. Some of them have led SNL to success, and others have let it crash into a fiery death that barely survives to air another season.

Jost is sending the show in the wrong direction. He isn’t following his long line of successful predecessors and is simply butchering the script.

SNL has always been biased, but it has gotten to a point where Jost is over stereotyping the entire cast. The facial expressions of each cast member are miserable, especially Michael Che, Jost’s Weekend Update co-host. Che clearly does not care for a single word spoken on their segment, and the show feels forced.

It seems like everyone associated with the show is responsible for its decline. A majority of the sketches aren’t funny and a lot of

them are overused. And the greatest crime? The actors all look directly at the cue cards. It isn’t that difficult to remember lines, and the show lacks any improvisation. What happened to the magic of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players?

Most unsettling is how cast members like Kenan Thompson, Michael Che, Kate McKinnon and other talented comedians are being overlooked and aren’t in sketches. Seeing the same cast members do the same thing sketch after sketch gets boring.

SNL has hit some low points in the past, but they were always able to rebound by going back to what worked best. However, this time, they’ve gone too far off course. The heart of Saturday Night Live has always been its sketches. John Belushi’s samurai delicatessen, Eddie Murphy’s Gumbi, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake’s everything—these sketches are the best remembered, funniest and truest to SNL’s roots. That is what makes it live TV, isn’t it? How can it be called Saturday Night Live if 75 percent of the show is pretaped clips? They are more rehearsed, prerecorded and well edited, but they aren’t funny. It just takes the live out of Saturday night.

Saturday Night Live 1975-2015 TV-14 NBC MOVIEPILOT.COM

TV SHOW

RESTAURANT

MOVIE

ALBUM

QUANTICO

GARRIDO’S BISTRO AND PASTRY

THE WALK

HALLUCINOGEN

This is not your average crime drama.

Quantico, ABC’s newest thriller series, recently premiered in a prime Sunday evening time slot.

Priyanka Chopra, a well-known Bollywood actress, plays WWW.IMDB.COM Alex Parrish, an audacious and talented FBI recruit who has a troubled and mysterious past. She joins Quantico, an FBI training camp, and befriends a diverse group of fellow recruits.

For the pilot, the writers made the most of the 43 minutes to leave a lasting impression. There’s everything from awkward first encounters to an explosion that changed history. Quantico takes an entertaining spin on the somewhat taboo but socially relevant issue of terrorism.

The opening scene shows Alex Parrish in a pile of rubble, bruised and bloody in the aftermath of the explosion in Grand Central Station, one of the biggest homeland terrorist attacks since 9/11. Consequently, she is picked up by the FBI and is taken in for questioning and is ultimately accused of causing the explosion. Now on the run as a wanted terrorist, Parrish must find out who the person behind the explosion was. The pilot switches to present day as it presents the characters and their backstories. There is still a fair amount of mystery surrounding the main cast, as there is just enough information revealed to keep the viewer intrigued.

Quantico includes familiar faces such as Aunjanue Ellis (The Help) and Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town). It also introduces a few newcomers.

There was so much to the plot’s introduction it was almost overwhelming, with twists hitting one after another. The writers just seemed pressed for time. Perhaps too much was revealed in the pilot and some of the content should have been saved for upcoming episodes.

With Quantico, ABC is again breaking typecast as they did with Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal, one of their flagship dramas. They’ve cast an Indian actress as the lead. It was a precarious move on the creator’s part, but after watching the pilot and the forthcoming episodes, it becomes obvious that Chopra was the right choice. She brings an exotic flavor to the show, and it’s nice to see that the perception of the quintessential TV actress has changed with the times to encompass women of all races.

With fivestar restaurant food presentation and affordable prices, Garrido’s Bistro and Pastry WWW.PLUS.GOOGLE.COM creates an atmosphere of both bliss and comfort.

The moment customers walk through the doors of this small restaurant on Mack Avenue, they’re met with mouth-watering scents. Garrido’s serves up everything from arepas to crepes, so it’s the perfect pre-or postmovie stop on a date.

Arepas are the specialty of the house.

These round corn f latbreads from Venezuela are stuffed with savory fillings and start at $4.50. The menu ranges from appetizers to salads and entrees, with paella being the most expensive at $17.50. Dessert lovers will find a variety of sweets including crepes, f lan and even deep-fried cheesecake.

W hile pricier than a coney, the food is worth the price. With ever y bite it is apparent that the customer’s money and time are well spent on this restaurant.

Another interesting aspect of this restaurant is its artwork. Every piece of art on the walls is from a local artist.

Garrido’s includes prices and artist information. Want to take a piece home?

They’ll add it to the bill.

Servers are very attentive to their customers. The limited number of tables in this small space allow two employees to take care all of the customers at once. They consistently check on every table to make sure it is clean and that the customers are cared.

The feeling of warmth and satisfaction customers will get in their stomachs after a meal won’t be enough for them to walk away with. A piece of artwork and one last slice of the deepfried cheesecake should suffice for the moment, but they’ll be back for more sometime soon.

The new blockbuster film, The Walk, tells the story of a Frenchman, Philippe Petit played by Joseph G ordon-L e v it t, who walked across the Twin Towers WWW.GEEKSOFDOOM.COM with a cable wire.

The Walk portrayed his awe-inspiring feat with an amazing depiction of the 1,362 foot structures he walked across. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis, whose work includes popular films such as the Polar Express, Cast Away, Back to the Future, and Forrest Gump.

The movie opens with a background of Petit’s life. He is an entertainer on the streets of Paris and learns the art of wirewalking. He starts off his career walking across Notre Dame, but wants to further challenge himself. He reads about the construction of the World Trade Center and is enamored with the idea of walking across them.

After months of planning, Petit and his companions begin the adventure. On August 6, 1974 Petit and his buddies dodge security, trespass onto the restricted roof, and set up the wire from the North Tower to the South Tower. Although he was above one thousand feet in the air and police were swarming below, Petit exhibited nothing but composure and calmness.

Throughout the film, there were many emotional ups and downs. Zemeckis intensifies Petit’s accomplishment by using audible and visual effects to show how truly unimaginable his achievement was. The audience is kept on the edge of their seats wondering whether Petit is going to survive, fall, or get caught pulling off the stunt.

Gordon-Levitt matched Petit’s characteristics and energetic sensations. He artfully portrayed the life of Petit, as he managed to pull off the charisma and energy of Petit. Unfortunately, the French accent failed him. Watching Gordon-Levitt struggle to perfect a true French accent killed the realistic feel of the film.

The Walk does not hold the same stature as Zemeckis’s past films. Although the story is captivating and the theatrical effects are thrilling, there was an overall phony quality that took away from the film’s appeal.

With 2,487 subscribers on YouTube, Wash i ng ton, D.C. born musician Kelela Mi za nek r istos came out w ith a new EP that spices up the WWW.CONSEQUENCEOFSOUND.NET music industr y and is one of the best for new music.

Follow ing her first album cut 4 me, Mizanekristos came out w ith her new EP titled “Hallucinogen” this October. Her EP includes six hip-hop based tunes like “A Message”, which was co-w ritten w ith musician Arca, “The High” and “Rew ind.”

The Los Angeles-based singer was supposedly going to drop her EP on May 5, but decided against it. “Hallucinogen” is know n for one of the best new releases along w ith cheerleader singer Omi w ith “Me and u” and Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller w ith “GO:OD A.M.” This EP includes songs that leave the listener feeling dizzy and emotional about undiscovered feelings.

Listening to this EP was interesting. Getting a feel of what Mizanekristos was tr ying to portray in her songs was something different, including the rush of a little R&B and a pinch of hip-hop. With just six tracks on the album, the sounds in the background complemented her voice in a way that can’t be heard on the radio.

Mizanekristos’ EP is one music filled surprise that should be hitting the charts soon.

For anyone looking to find new music and artists to listen to ever y single day or even prefer electronic style music w ith a taste of a few different genres, this is a must-tr y and is something that deser ves to be heard.

This EP is available on Itunes, can be streamed from Spotif y, or found on Soundcloud or Youtube.

Quantico; 2015; TV-14; ABC

Garrido’s Bistro and Pastry; 19605 Mack Ave.; MondaySaturday 10:30 a.m.- 9 p.m. and Sunday 10:30 a.m.- 2 p.m.

The Walk; 2015; Robert Zemeckis; PG; 123 minutes

Hallucinogen; Cherry Coffee Music; 2015

By Ritika Sanikommu

By Montana Paton

By Tommy Teftsis

By Asia Simmons

IDEAS

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – 9

“Grosse Pointe Public School administrators and teachers are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of the press for all students, regardless of whether the ideas expressed may be considered unpopular, critical, controversial, tasteless or offensive.”

Tomato or tomato?

BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY Anu Subramaniam EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Olivia Asimakis MANAGING EDITOR

Katelyn Carney SPORTS EDITOR

Billy Moin NEWS EDITOR

Mora Downs LIFE EDITOR

Gowri Yerramalli BUSINESS MANAGER

Emma Puglia WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ritika Sanikommu IDEAS EDITOR Katelynn Mulder STAFF REPORTER

Yena Berhane WEB MANAGING EDITOR

Radiance Cooper ASSISTANT EDITOR

By Anu Subramaniam EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Graduation supplies a false sense of independence

YENA BERHANE

Our editorial represents the opinion of the North Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the editors above. Members who have a conflict of interest with an editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anu Subramaniam MANAGING EDITOR: Olivia Asimakis MANAGING EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Jennifer Kusch SECTION EDITORS: Katelyn Carney, Mora Downs, Audrey Kam, Billy Moin, Ritika Sanikommu WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Emma Puglia WEB MANAGING EDITOR: Yena Berhane BUSINESS MANAGERS: Jillian Berndtson, Gowri Yerramalli PHOTO EDITOR: Sydney Benson ASSISTANT EDITORS: Emma Brock, Caitlin Bush, Abbey Cadieux ,Radiance Cooper, Allison Lackner, Lindsey Ramsdell, Anna Post ,Lauren Sexton, Sarah Wietechta STAFF REPORTERS: Josie Bennett, , Alex Harring, Nathan Lonczynski, Katelynn Mulder, Addison Toutant INTERNS: Darcy Graham, Erin Kaled, Bella Lawson, Trevor Mieczkowski, Sonny Mulpuri, Joey Parison, Montana Paton, Olivia Robinson, Michal Ruprecht, Asia Simmons, Billy Steigelman, Tommy Teftsis The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review.

Comments should be directed to the student editors, who make all final content decisions. The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the student editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe Public School System.

After senior year, we emerge from the “Grosse Pointe bubble” with glowing smiles, a diploma in our hands and a feeling that our whole lives are ahead of us. This naïve sense of security is soon bursted. Four years later, we return to our safe haven with our smiles dimmer. We clutch a meaningless degree, barely into adulthood but already drowning in debt. College gives us a false sense of independence, and we have little to no preparation for the financial burden about to be placed on our shoulders as soon as we exit these halls.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, 50-60% of 25-year-olds in Michigan lived with their parents in 2012. This number is steadily increasing.

This is partially due to the amount of debt owed by college students who are struggling to pay the price of their college educations. According to CNBC, both public and private four-year schools had tuitions of under $2,000 in 1971, but now public schools cost an average of $9,139, and private ones cost $31,231, and this doesn’t factor in the costs of room, board or books.

The competitive economy has left many college grads unemployed or stuck in jobs with no relation to their degree. They have virtually no way to repay loans and own property simultaneously, and interest is left to compound on their aging debts.

Because of this lack of means, more and more young adults have been turning to their parents as a solution. They often depend on parents’ steady incomes and rent-free housing. This, in turn, stunts any real chance at independence and leaves us wondering: if we had learned basic finance lessons before it was too late, would young adults across the United States be in this situation?

A popular Internet meme refers to high schoolers knowing more about useless cell functions and math theorems than balancing budgets and filing taxes. Frankly, too many students don’t even know what those words mean. They are so preoccupied with fulfilling graduation requirements and constructing the perfect college transcript that they often exclude important classes that are non-

APs or not required.

North offers a class called Living On Your Own. In addition to career exploration, the curriculum includes employment income and budgeting, saving and investing, acquiring transportation, renting and furnishing a first apartment or moving into a college dorm. In short, this is the knowledge students so often complain they lack as they pursue over-priced universities in a stagnant job market.

A mix of pride and procrastination could explain why students don’t enroll in the class. We assume it’s unnecessary, that we’ll learn through trial and error, or we assume Ted from How I Met Your Mother or Rachel from Friends could instill into us any useful life skills—in a easy 28-minute episode with a happy ending.

If classes like Accounting or Living On Your Own were required by the district, students would have less of a reason to blame their ignorance on an incomplete high school education. Even this basic preparation would benefit our lives after college. Instead of going into battle with just a spear, we could have a helmet and a shield protects us from an overwhelming army of bank tellers and the IRS. We don’t understand the world of finance and responsibility around us. So, like a kindergartener struggling to learn how to read, we tend to latch on to the comfortable embrace of our parents.

Adulthood officially begins at age 18. Our first experiences with its realities shouldn’t be declaring bankruptcy at age 25 just to find out that student loan debt isn’t dischargeable, and credit scores are actually important when you need to move from Uber to a notso-affordable used car.

There is a solution. We can learn what we need to know before we must face the harsh realities of the real world. Ask your parents questions. Opt to take Living On Your Own instead of taking a class that won’t help you when you face your first tax return or mortgage payment. It won’t ruin your chances of getting into your top-choice school, and the benefits will last the when your high school transcript is long since filed away.

We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Student Press Law Center.

We subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.

One copy is available free to all community members. Additional copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at northpointenow.org.

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CONTACT US 707 Vernier Road Grosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236 Phone: 313.432.3248 Email: northpointe@gpschools.org Twitter: @thenorthpointe Website: NorthPointeNow.org

“Yeah, I think they can if they dress up and are nice to the kids.”

FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, MJE

Evie Mourtos FRESHMAN

“I think it’s still fun to go trick-or-treating, but when you go trickor-treating people are really stingy and don’t give you candy. I think we should still go trickor-treating.”

Collen Corbet SOPHOMORE

“Yeah, because you still have to have fun as an adult because when you stop having fun, that’s basically when you stop living life. “ Ishmael Mustafaa JUNIOR

YOUR TURN: Are Instant Norseman highschoolers too old to Instant Norseman Updates Updates go trick-or-treating?

When someone is giving my eulogy 70+ years from now (I hope), I would hate for my name to be said incorrectly.

Anu. Three letters. A-N-U. UHnew. It’s that simple. Or at least it should be.

I’ve had to sound out my first name for people. (Only when they ask, of course. I don’t want to be rude.) Let’s not even talk about my last name. It’s not like a substitute even attempts to pronounce it anyways.

Over the years, I’ve just become accustomed to it. When people start to say it, I jump in and finish the word for them. They ask, “Is that right?” and I simply nod my head and smile in compliance. It’s become somewhat routine.

And I’ve contributed to my own problem.

I’ve let people think it’s okay not to learn to pronounce my name correctly. It’s gotten to the point where my best friends think my name is pronounced ah-NEW, and my mom has had to correct me when I introduce myself.

You may be wondering why I’m even raising the issue. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just the emphasis of one syllable over another.

But really, it’s not about that singular syllable. It’s about the principle behind it.

I find it a little sad that people don’t take the time to learn how to pronounce my name. I’ve gone to school with the same kids for a dozen years, and they have been pronouncing it incorrectly for that long. I find it even sadder that I’m so embarrassed, after my fruitless efforts of correcting, that I no longer say anything.

Unusual names are no longer unusual. There are foreign names, traditional names, new names and even 50 different ways to spell the name Katelyn/Caitlin/Kaitlynn. But we, as a society, don’t take the time to learn how to pronounce all of them.

You could totally blame our parents. I sometimes do. I mean, why are the first four letters of my name A-N-U-S? That was just bad planning. It would be easy to place blame and move on.

Or you could take the extra 30 seconds out of your day and repeat someone’s name a few times. People don’t mind when you ask. They really don’t. But when that person keeps trying to slip the right way into conversation to no avail, the eye rolls begin. My parents gave up the battle against the slaughter of my full name, Anushri, by the time I hit pre-K. We’re a multicultural society.

It’s time we adapt. It’s almost disrespectful to just look at a name and say, “I’m not going to get this right, but...” and then try to pronounce it. Suggestion — ask, “How do I pronounce this name?” Listen carefully to the answer. Or another option, “I’ve never seen this name before. Could you teach me how to say it properly?” Easy-peasy.

Our parents didn’t want us to get beat up on the playground.

They wanted our cultural heritage to show through in our identity—our names. When I disregard the mispronunciation of my own name, I disregard that culture and my parents. They spent so much time searching for the perfect moniker, only for me to walk around saying it wrong.

Sure, my name is not common.

I’m not expecting to find it on ready-made keychains or souvenirs anytime soon. It goes against basic English rules, too. But some effort would be nice. That’s what really counts.

All I have left to say is I pity my sister. Eight letters, no nickname, foreign. It’s brutal.

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“Yeah, if they want to, as long as they aren’t treating the younger kids bad or anything, but if they want to dress up and go get candy, I guess they should be able to.”

“I absolutely think high schoolers are too old to go trick-or-treating. When they get in costumes, they act in ways that they shouldn’t and they knock over my fouryear-old son when he is on his way to get some candy.”

Alex Hugenin SENIOR

Jonathan Byrne ENGLISH TEACHER

“If they are in an appropriate costume, and are actually celebrating the holiday the way that it should be celebrated, then I think it’s fine for high schoolers to go out trick or treating.”

Debbie Figurski SECRETARY

SPORTS

10– North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015

NORTH SURRENDERS TO SOUTH DURING WOUNDED WARRIOR GAME The boys varsity soccer team competed against South on Friday, Oct. 16 in the annual Wounded Warrior game, honoring war veterans. They lost to South 2 - 1

By Bella Desunday & Lauren Sexton PHOTO EDITOR AND MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

BELLA DESANDY

ABOVE: Senior Jack Kennedy looks for the pass down the field from junior Jack Kohler.

LEFT: Kohler dribbles the ball around a South defender.

BELOW LEFT: Sophomore Alex Siluk punts the ball after making a save.

BELOW: Junior Tom Fitzgerald and sophomore Tommy Kohler run for the ball.

Swim team dives into new season after the passing of longtime coach

PATRICE ASIMAKIS

ABOVE: “(Mike) had a hard exterior to him, but once you got to know him, he was one of the most honest and genuine and most dedicated human beings to the sport of swimming that I knew,” head varsity coach Alison Scarfone said.

By Emma Puglia WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

After the death of swim coach Mike O’Connor last May, the entire Grosse Pointe swim community expected a difficult transition to a new leader. The members of the North team have found a way to balance the fond memories of O’Connor with future experiences and opportunities.

“A lot of people thought (O’Connor) was quiet, and he always seemed to have a grumpy face … but once you were on the team and got to know him, you realized he was the sweetest guy,” captain Stephanie Shea said. “He was like a big teddy bear. He was very committed and liked his job.”

Former assistant coach Alison Scarfone, who has been swimming since she was 8 and working with O’Connor since 2005, recently accepted the role as head varsity coach.

“Piecing together Mike’s role and not being able to ask (him) has been the most difficult challenge,” Scarfone said.

“But the transition has been very easy, and that is due to the awesome volunteer coaches. Nick (assistant coach), the kids themselves and the parents have been tremendous.”

O’Connor did more than coach girls and boys varsity swimming. He also in-

ABOVE: “I’ve been swimming since I was 8, and I’m 32, so do the math on that. I’ve been coaching CYNTHIA LONG high school swimming for 10 years and I’ve swam since I was 8 competitively through high school,” Scarfone said, “total, I’ve been coaching for 15 years.”

teracted with athletes throughout the community as the head of local swimming club Pointe Aquatics.

Fred Michalik, a volunteer assistant coach, worked with O’Connor at various clubs like the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. For 21 years, Michalik coached Grosse Pointe South’s swim team, which brought about playful competition between the two. Now he volunteers as an assistant coach for North’s varsity swim team. Michalik views the transition as easier because of Scarfone’s years of experience with the volunteer coach and her dedication towards the team.

“Mike and I go way back. I’ve known Mike O’Connor (since) he was 9 years old, and I used to chase him around the pool with a kickboard to get him in the water. He’s actually a very good friend of mine,” Michalik said. “I was glad (Alison) got the job as head coach, and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here because I’ve worked with her for the last couple years with Mike O’Connor, and she’s doing a super job. She’s involved with all the kids and really works with them from the fastest to the slowest.”

With an increase in the number of freshmen joining, the team’s size has only positively affected overall morale.

“It’s much bigger, I feel. I feel like our team is a lot better. We all work together.

We’re a good team,” sophomore

Samantha Villani said.

A large team leads to larger goals for the season. Through fundraising events, music at practice and song-filled bus rides, Scarfone has been working to unite the team and instill an eagerness to swim.

“I hope that the girls and boys have that consistency of the real team closeness and bond that they have had in past years, and that the freshmen come in and feel that sense of closeness and team unity and sportsmanship that we’ve always had,” Scarfone said. “It’s really kind of my biggest desire is to instill that feeling of togetherness for the kids and that team cohesiveness that I think I can bring.”

O’Connor’s lessons stuck with team members and further encouraged their goals of commitment and unified hard work leading to a swimmer’s success.

“He taught me that even though the swimming set is hard, it will improve your swimming so much,” Villani said.

Over the course of the season, team members developed hopeful expectations for the new coaches.

“It’s a lot better than it’s ever been, which was a surprise because we thought without Mike, we would kind of go downhill,” Shea said. “We’re all working hard, and we’re all trying to make Mike proud.”

CYNTHIA LONG

ABOVE: Scarfone talks to freshman Erynn Long during a swim meet.

SPORTS

PIN-UP FOR WRESTLING

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – 11

Sophomore Britany Howard takes on the challenge of being the lone female on the wrestling team

LOUIS HAPPY

By Yena Berhane

WEB MANAGING EDITOR

There’s one basic rule to be followed when preparing for the upcoming w restling season: pin your opponent dow n, regardless of gender. Sophomore Britany Howard is the first girl to join the w restling team in over ten years.

Starting her second year, Howard is beginning to understand more about the ins and outs of the team.

“A guy is naturally stronger than a girl, so when I’m actually out there I have to think faster than them and really tr y,” Howard said. “You would think that the guys would take it easy on me but they don’t.”

Even though wrestling is a no-cut coed sport, Howard joining the wrestling team was a surprise to her mother.

“That was me, like ‘you don’t want to be a cheerleader, you don’t want to play basketball? ’ I’m like ‘why w restling? ’ I said it’s not too many girls that I know that w restle,” Charlena Howard said. “So she was just like ‘Mom it’s something different, I don’t want to be like ever ybody else.’ That’s her, that’s Britany’s whole mentality. She wants to be the one that stands out and be different from ever yone.”

Wrestling coach Eric Julien instills that ever yone must be treated equally and taking it easy is not helpful to anyone on the team.

“I don’t take it easy on them, so I think they learned that no one’s going to take it easy on them.

W hy should they take it easy on somebody else? ” Julien said. “That’s not going to help anyone in the room get better if people are being nice to each other. The more competitive you are, the better off you are in w restling.”

Wrestling matches are dependent on what weight class you’re put in. Howard, who was 112 lbs throughout last season, was consistently in the lower weight class. Usually taking a void at most matches, because there wasn’t another opponent for her to w restle, gave the team an automatic six points as the only w restler in that weight class.

Equality on the mat stands true, but off the mat Howard recognizes that despite being a part of the team, she can’t do ever y thing w ith the guys.

“Sometimes I didn’t feel welcomed into the team, that’s how I felt like at first, but as time went on, the team loves me and the coaches too,” Howard said.

“Sometimes I feel left out for certain things. W hen we go to other schools and I’m in the locker room, I have to go to the girls locker room and I’m always in there by myself.”

A long w ith being placed in a separate changing room, Howard is weighed in apart from the boys. On certain occasions she’s joined by other girls in the process at w restling tournaments. “(Another girl at the w restling tournament and I) talked about ever y thing and we said we liked how the guys don’t take it easy on us and how they accept us,” Howard said. “That’s one thing I was worried about — the guys not accepting me because I’m a girl, but I was completely w rong.”

A girl joining a male-dominated sport was a surprise to senior teammate Joey Law nicki.

“We were a little hesitant at first because we bet she wouldn’t stay on the team, like that she would keep going for the rest of the season, but turned out that she’s a tough person and she was going to stay,” Law nicki said.

Staying committed allowed Howard and the team to bond.

“I just kinda fit right in. I never really looked at them differently because they were boys or any thing.

It’s easy to talk to them all the time and me becoming closer w ith them made me feel really comfortable,” Howard said. “It’s different, but I’m so used to guys now that I don’t even realize that yeah I’m the only girl.”

Stereoty pes don’t apply to the jocks on the team.

Julien knows that Howard’s acceptance w ith the boys was a smooth transition.

“It wasn’t a huge adjustment period. It’s not like they sat there and were in complete shock that there was a girl,” Julien said. “Some of them might have been more shocked that there was a girl hanging out w ith them than any thing else.”

Senior teammate Ardie Milw rik knows that gender does not define how strong of a w restler you can be, helping Howard fit into the team.

“Her being a girl doesn’t have so much to do w ith it, it’s about how much training we give her. The more training we get to put in, then the better she w ill be as a competitor,” Milw rik said. “Being a girl has absolutely nothing to do w ith how good you can be as a w restler.”

Charlena Howard feels that Britany’s strength is both physical and mental.

“It’s made her stronger definitely, and that’s something I’m happy about because I’m always telling her to stand up for herself,” Charlena said. “Don’t let nobody run over you or whatever, and I love the fact that she has that now. You can see her strength.”

ABOVE: Coach Brian Stackpoole walks with senior captain Caelin Micks.

RIGHT: Stackpoole, Micks, sophomore Sammy Karwowicz, Benoit, freshman Meghan Gallagher, Liz Gallagher and coach Brian Degnore at states.

GIRLS GOLF TAKES ON STATES

By Billy Moin EDITOR

After tying with South Lyon East High School for eleventh place in the state tournament, captain Liz Gallagher and the girls golf team have officially wrapped up the season.

“We did really good this season,” Gallagher said.

“We played hard teams, and we finished 8-0, undefeated on the season, and that’s a big deal for us.”

At the regional tournament, Gallagher hit the lowest score of anyone competing and led the team to a second-place finish. According to coach Brian Stackpoole, this is the best the team has done since 2003.

The state tournament, which was held at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek on Friday Oct. 16 and Saturday Oct. 17, had players shooting 18 holes each day. While every team had five girls compete, only the four lowest scores contributed to their total score.

However, according to Gallagher, the best part of the season wasn’t competing in states. It was getting there.

“My favorite moment would have to have been our regional day,” Gallagher said. “I think we had the most fun that day, and everyone played well, and it was gorgeous out, and we placed better than we thought we were going to place.”

In the week before the competition, Stackpoole brought in 2002 alumnus Ryan Lenahan to speak to the girls. Lenahan played for Nebraska’s golf team and now competes professionally.

“He said you really just have to believe in yourself. I mean golf’s definitely a sport where you can have one great day, and the next can be terrible,” Gallagher said.

“He just really concentrated on us focusing and being smart about the plays we make.”

In addition to speaking with Lenahan, the team took several other steps to prepare for states. According to captain Olivia Benoit, throughout the previous week, they played nine holes every day. The team

traveled to Bedford Valley the day before the tournament to practice there. They also kept an upbeat attitude and discussed the steps they would take to reach their goal: placing within the top 10 at the state tournament.

At the tournament, the team had a total score of 750, earning them eleventh place. Portage Northern, who took tenth, had a score of 749. Despite missing their objective by all of one stroke, Gallagher is still proud of the way the team played.

“I think we battled through it,” she said. “There’s definitely a lot of teams that have a lot more girls than we do, so competing against these teams that are bringing in like 30 girls at tryouts was hard, but we really battled through it.”

In Stackpoole’s mind, this team stood out from those past in one key area.

“I really think that this is by far the most competitive team that I’ve had,” he said. “They really thrived under pressure and really wanted to play the best teams at all times and wanted the challenge.”

These obstacles came in multiple forms, relating to golf as well as school.

“There are a lot of challenges with golf. One, it’s just difficult for us to play, to get tee times, to play as much as we would want,” Stackpoole said. “Also, it’s difficult because you miss a lot of school, so it’s a lot of pressure on the girls that they have to keep up the academic side as well as keep playing.”

When it came time for the state tournament, the team faced yet another issue—the weather. According to Stackpoole, the temperature was in the 30s and 40s both days, with windchills making it feel even colder.

Even though the season just ended, some players are already looking towards next fall.

“Next year, we’re not going to have as many seniors,” sophomore Sammy Karwowicz said. “Our main goal will probably be to try our best as underclassmen and an overall team to make it far into the season.”

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRIAN STACKPOOLE

ABOVE: Senior captains Olivia Benoit, Liz Gallagher and Caelin Micks pose for a picture.

12 – Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 – North Pointe

IDEAS

POPPING THE BUBBLE

WWW.TWITTER.COM

By Katelyn Carney EDITOR

This time of year The Walking Dead’s new episodes give rise to the belief that one could outwit and outlast Rick and his crew in a zombie apocalypse. Blake’s Zombie Paintball Safari allows you to test that theory while you partake in Halloween hysteria without getting the pants scared of you.

Located at 71485 North Avenue, Armada, Blake’s is home to the traditional family-friendly cider mill that we all know and love. But at dusk, the gun toting tractor engines roar as hundreds of would-be zombie slayers shell out $20 to take a 20 minute tour through the orchard. Participants get the chance to fire missile-like paintballs, splattering zombies with a little more pep in their step than those on AMC at 9 P.M. It truly is appropriate for all ages as riders’ biggest fear is running out of ammunition, which is unlikely when your guide offers refills at $10 a pop throughout the course.

Despite frigid temperatures that al-

Slaughtered at Sundown

most froze your finger to the metal trigger, not a complaint was heard. Most of the marksmen wandered over to enjoy a warm apple cider and cinnamon sugar donut while regaling stories of their killshots or near misses.

Two words of warning to those who plan to visit: one, the wait on Friday and Saturday nights can get lengthy (up to three hours) but Sunday nights are much quicker. Two, going to the final scene of Zombie Mayhem where you unload the last of your bullets, don’t waste them early on the fake zombies because the live ones approach the ride once most of the ammo is spent. Hold back until you see the reds of their eyes, then light them up.

In addition to their paintball attraction, Blake’s also offers a haunted hayride, three-story haunted house and their signature Spooky Land 3-D Maze.

This apple orchard is worth the drive as it has much to offer and appeals to many different tastes. Blakes Zombie Paintball Safari is the perfect way to celebrate this Halloween season.

Each week we bring you some fresh activities and places to try outside of the Grosse Pointe community

WWW.HAUNTWORLD.COM

By Katelynn Mulder & Darcy Graham STAFF REPORTER & INTERN

With a creepy backstor y and eerie atmosphere, the Realm of Darkness Haunted House in Pontiac is a spook y place to v isit.

The tour is set so that each party is sent through the haunted house on its ow n. Throughout the attraction, there are different themes such as a old manor, an ev il scientist’s lab and a butcher shop.

Tickets cost $23, giv ing access to 45 unique rooms. There’s also a $33 ticket that adds an additional 18 rooms to the haunt. W hile this may make it sound like the haunted attraction is huge, it only takes roughly 10 minutes to complete, making it difficult to truly become scared.

Loud noises, animatronics and actors are used often to create only a few jump scares. However, after the initial shock wears off, there was no real reason to feel afraid, as no one ever gets chased and dragged away from their group.

Realm of Darkness had beautiful decorations, sound effects and acting. The actors wore realistic makeup that varied from person to person, and they get close and personal w ith v isitors running their hands through v isitor’s hair, touching their faces and talking to them.

Many characters look like props, adding to the scare and prove their haunting abilities.

Liv ing up to its name, the Realm of Darkness is extremely dark. The use of lighting in different areas helps to conceal actors and make v isitors ner vous. Still, the ner vousness never turns into real fear.

W hile it makes for a pretty good time, this haunted house fails to truly scare, so those looking for the fear factor may want to look elsewhere.

Realm of Darkness is open Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m.-1 a.m. and Sundays 8 p.m.-11 p.m. now through Nov. 1.

By Trevor Mieczkowski & Abbey Cadieux INTERN & STAFF REPORTER

Walking up a moonlit dirt road to Slaughtered at Sundow n’s eerie red barn captures the creepy, rural feel of the Armada attraction. The line to get in w raps outside the haunted barn and is full of people waiting for their turn to get spooked. W hile waiting, v isitors meet a w ide variety of costumed characters and hear bloodcurdling screams from inside the barn.

Once finally at the front of the usually long—but well worth the wait — line, v isitors are greeted by someone who lends them 3D glasses. Slaughtered at Sundow n goes beyond traditional costume scares and stimulates each v isitor’s senses. Visitors say their final goodbyes to those still in line before disappearing into the action.

W hile in the barn, v ictims are faced w ith many challenges and frightening encounters. The first room has psychedelic neon paint splattered on the walls which really brings out the 3D aspect of the adventure. Just past that room is where the real fun begins. First, v isitors are sent off into narrow, pitch-black halls that lead them from one chamber to another, screaming in one and laughing in the next. At the end of the trip, they are brought back to the line and are met w ith funny looks and laughter from spectators in line.

After the haunted barn, there is an option to go on a haunted hayride on a long path through a corn field and deep into the woods. On the ride, actors in gruesome costumes jump out from the shadows, and v isitors are exposed to countless other frightening scenes. After the hayride, they can enjoy free cider and donuts. The generally friendly staff makes up for the absolute horror going on inside.

With excellent actors and unorthodox scare tactics, this is a great place to spend a chilly October night.

Slaughtered at Sundow n is located in Armada and is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights through Oct. 31.

WWW.CLKER.COM WWW.6SQUAREDSTUDIOS.CA

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