North Pointe, Vol. 49, Issue 12 - April 21, 2017

NORTH

GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

POINTE FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017

SINCE 1968

UPCOMING TEACHER DEVELOPMENT No school for students on Thursday, April 27

PARENTS CLUB SPRING FASHION SHOW Thursday, April 27 at 6 p.m. at Yacht Club

RAISING YOUNG MEN & WOMEN IN A CULTURE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Thursday, April 27 at 7 p.m. at Memorial Church

AP EXAMS

May 1-12 at First English Lutheran Church

BAND & ORCHESTRA BOOSTER MEETING Tuesday, May 2 at 7 p.m.

PARENT CLUB MEETING

Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union

"Behind the

striking cobalts

lies a greater issue."

PAGE 7

Saudi Arabian officials visit North classrooms to study American education

LINDSEY RAMSDELL

VISITORS MEET IN INNOVATION LAB | School workers discuss education with visitors from Saudi Arabia. The visitors were sent by the King to study education in different parts of the world.

By Michal Ruprecht & Syeda Rizvi EDITOR & ASSISTANT EDITOR Every now and then, students will see district staff popping in and out of classrooms in order to improve and evaluate teaching styles. However, on Monday, April 17, a new crowd of educators with a different goal roamed the halls.

Administrators and teachers, including Fatima Alamari, were sent by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia as part of a national transformation effort. The plan sets goals for 2030 that will take their oil-dependent country to a higher standard of living by reforming many aspects of their society, including the education system. Educators were sent to schools in the U.S., Finland, Sweden and several other countries to observe and use as models for public education.

“They came to North specifically to learn how our teachers learn and grow together during the school year,” science teacher Elizabeth Michaels said via email. “North is unique as a school because we have systems in place that allow for our teachers to identify and solve problems. This allows us to continually improve our instruction and therefore improve learning for all students.”

According to U.S. News, the three countries are ranked in the top 15 in education, while Saudi Arabia is in 50th place. Each score is based on the country’s public education system and the percentage of students that would consider attending a university there.

The high ranking and innovative teaching styles compelled the king to send representatives to America. Alamari and her colleagues noticed many differences like co-ed classes, mini libraries of books in classes, private classrooms for teachers, desks for each student and facilitated communication between teachers and students “I like (North) very much. It’s very big and organized,” Alamari said.

“This is much more bigger than our (schools). In our country, there is maybe

MARCH 7

MARCH 15

Resolution 34, sponsered by Sen. Jeff Flake, is introduced to the Senate.

a maximum of 500 (students). It’s not as big as this one which is 1,400.

So, it’s almost the same thing, same strategy, same methodology, but there are more extensions here. We have the same basic points, but here there are more extensions.”

Participating teachers and administrators led school tours and seminars to discuss the techniques that the visitors noticed. English teacher Geoffrey Young was among those teachers.

“Our role was to greet and then to sit with them. So we were hosts in the sense that we made them feel comfortable here within our school,” Young said. “It was also our role to explain the key features of what we as a leadership team have done in our school to enhance learning and provide a better education for students.”

Two of the school’s culture goals that were developed earlier this year were to promote connections with classmates and encourage collaboration.

Michaels said student-teacher relationships are essential for a healthy and progressive learning environment.

“At North, we realize that no significant learning can happen without relationships,” Michaels said. “The stronger the student-teacher relationship, the more students are willing to take risks, try difficult tasks and stretch their learning.”

Since North was picked from a handful of schools, Michaels said the visit was an honor. She added that she would be open to another visit and show more features of the school.

“I was so impressed by our visitors. They were excited to be here, eager to learn, curious, thoughtful, friendly and considerate,” Michaels said. “I was so excited to host teachers from across the world. It shows that what we do here is powerful and people outside our community are noticing.”

Contributing: Alex Harring, Lindsey Ramsdell

MARCH 23

A Senate committee votes to present and support the bill in front of full chamber.

MARCH 28

The resolution passes through Senate and proceeds to the House.

The House of Representatives passes the bill.

APRIL 3

President Donald Trump signs the resolution, and it officially becomes law.

Cable companies sell information following new legislation Over the past several months, Democrats and Republicans have battled back and forth over the regulation of Internet Service Providers (ISP).

In October 2016, the Federal Communications Commission passed a new broadband privacy rule regulating what ISPs do with customers’ sensitive information.

“For decades, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, federal rules have protected the privacy of the information in a telephone call,” former commissioner Tom Wheeler wrote in a New York Times column. “In 2016, the FCC, which I led as chairman under President Barack Obama, extended those same protections to the internet.”

Broadband is a term that simply refers to access to high-speed internet. ISPs, such as AT&T and Verizon, provide broadband service to customers. Through this connection, ISPs are able to view everything from users’ browser histories to their locations while online, giving the ISPs access to a myriad of information about

information pertaining to children. their customers.

If a customer did give consent, the company According to The Guardian, companies would have to provide details as to what data it want to take that information and auction was collecting, how and why it was needed and it off to advertising agencies, which to whom it went.

In addition to all of this, the would use it to find potential customers. commission prevented companies from turning Because of this power, the FCC, which is headed away any customers by five commissioners, that refused to give voted 3-2 to pass the 2016 up control of their Privacy Order. In its report, personal information. the commission noted the “The bottom line importance of the right to is that the information privacy and that ISPs have you share with your immense power over one’s broadband provider personal information. is yours,” Wheeler To level the playing said in a blog posted field, the commission to the FCC website. ordered that ISPs get explicit consent from “With the FCC’s new Jeff Flake customers before selling privacy protections, SENATOR any information considered you will have the right sensitive or confidential. This includes one’s to determine how it’s used.” finances, health, geo-location and call detail Wheeler has been outspoken on the subject, information, as well as one’s Social Security writing multiple columns and blogs about it. number, one’s web browsing/app usage history, In his New York Times opinion piece, he also the content of any communications and any took issue with the fact that information from a

EDITORIAL - PAGE 8

“

The FCC's overeach is a dangerous deviation from sucessful regulation and common-sense industry practices.

“

By Billy Moin & Rory Angott SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR & INTERN

ON CAMPUS PAGE 9

"Grosse Pointe Public Schools are very ahead of the game in preparing students."

Students line up outside of a classroom during passing time.

HANNAH SPINDLER

@thenorthpointe www.northpointenow.org

VOLUME 49 | ISSUE 12

News.......... 2-3 In-Depth.... 4-5

Reviews.... 6 On Pointe... 7

phone call would be protected, but that the same information, posted on the internet, would be vulnerable.

However, Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) could not get on board with these regulations, and he introduced a Senate joint resolution that would tear down the FCC’s order. Republicans strongly supported the resolution, while Democrats showed staunch opposition. This polarization became evident in the almost perfect party-line votes in both Congressional houses.

In the end, Republicans won the day, and on Monday, April 3, President Trump signed the bill into law, both reversing the order and preventing future implementations of similar rules.

A few days before Flake introduced his bill, he published a column in the Wall Street Journal.

In the article, he argued that the order was overreaching and overly restrictive.

“Information generated from looking up the latest Cardinals score or checking the weather in Scottsdale is treated the same as personal health and financial data,” Flake wrote.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

IN-DEPTH - PAGE 4 “Their motive may be to amp up their home team, encourage victory or interfere with the visiting team, but those efforts can backfire and hurt the team they are rooting for.

Editorial.... 8 On Campus... 9

Life.................... 10 Sports..........11-12

2 – Friday, April 21, 2017 – North Pointe

Cable companies

NEWS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“The FCC’s overreach is a dangerous deviation from successful regulation and common-sense industry practices. But don’t just take my word for it. The (Federal Trade Commission) concluded that the FCC’s decision to treat ISPs differently from the rest of the internet ecosystem was ‘not optimal.’”

He claimed another problem with the order was that it created inconsistency within internet privacy rules, as ISPs and non-ISPs would have functioned under different requirements. Flake claimed that this broke a long-standing bipartisan agreement on the need to maintain cohesion within internet governance.

While ISPs are subject to FCC rules, non-ISP companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter are regulated by the FTC. Because the FTC’s rules never changed, non-ISPs were operating under more relaxed regulations. This led 22 companies, notably including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, to send

a petition to stay the order to the FCC, arguing that the 2016 Privacy order put them at an unfair disadvantage because non-ISPs were legally allowed to sell customer information.

Now though, with the repeal of the FCC regulation, all companies have the free ability to sell sensitive consumer information without obtaining consent from their consumers.

Although these were big changes, they cancelled each other out. Customers already see ads tailored to their online histories and should not expect to notice any changes in the foreseeable future.

Even though ISPs could capitalize from these new, more lenient rules, some have chosen to continue respecting user privacy. Before Congress passed Flake’s bill, the Electronic Frontier Foundation posted a letter that 25 groups, including a number of smaller ISPs, sent urging Congress to maintain the FCC’s regulations.

In addition, according to Reuters, Comcast stated that it never has and never will sell customer data.

Verizon and AT&T joined Comcast in that pledge even though they fought against the FCC order.

It should be noted that the FCC fined AT&T $25 million in 2015 after some of its Mexican, Colombian and Filipino employees stole and sold parts of over 280,000 Social Security numbers.there are more distractions nowadays with the phones and radios and things like that.”

Michigan festival honors aspiring student filmmakers

By Tarun Sanikommu STAFF REPORTER Although it is not the Sundance Film Festival, the Michigan Student Film Festival still marks an important step for aspiring student filmmakers across the state.

The festival is organized by Digital Arts, Film & Television, a non-profit, Michigan-based organization. The festival and award ceremony will take place April 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“I believe that this date is meant to coincide with the end of the school year, as we are celebrating the best student films of the 2016-17 school year,” DAFT community outreach liaison Ted Houser said via email.

The films played in the festival are only part of the Best in Show, and all of them win trophies, which are presented the festival.

According to Brian Stackpoole, TV Production teacher and vice president of DAFT, only the Best in Show films are presented at the festival, but there are three other categories that entries can be awarded for including: merit, honor and excellence awards.

Among the entrants is senior Alanah Herfi, who is currently in TV Production

and

has been since middle school.

“I like TV because it gives me an outlet to express my creativity and gives me the power to transfer an idea from my head to a screen to share with the world,” Herfi said via email.

Herfi filmed two public service announcement films for the festival. One was shot with her friend, senior Maria Paluzzi, which was about the hazards of smoking. The other, which she did solo, was about reckless driving.

She won two excellence awards for her PSAs, and in previous years she has won a Best in Show award for a PSA about diversity.

Although there are winners, students are not nominated, like in the Oscars. Instead, it follows a traditional film festival format.

“If a student’s film makes it into the festival, then they are eligible for the awards,” Houser said. “Essentially, being in the festival means that you’re ‘nominated.’”

DAFT has been around for 49 years, the same number of years that the film festival has existed for. In fact, the two have been around such a long time that the American Film Institute recognized it as the longest-running student film festival in the country, according to Houser.

“DAFT is a non-profit media-arts educational organization. Our primary mission is to promote

FILM FESTIVAL | The Detriot Institute of Arts participates in the Film Festival each April. media literacy through the creative use of film and video,” Houser said. “DAFT does this by conducting workshops and conferences for teachers, students and media professionals.”

Any student can participate in the film festival, students can even enter films independently without belonging to a film-related class or club. The only requirement is the participant must be a student.

DAFT.ORG

According to the DAFT website, prizes include a digital single-lens reflex camera set and college scholarships.

“With state of the art equipment and an amazing teacher like Stackpoole, TV is really a place where you can express your creativity,” Herfi said. “If you don’t already have an outlet for that, I greatly encourage you to try taking TV.”

Board of Education tech committee adjusts to new demands

By Chloe Ribco & Tommy Teftsis EDITORS

Constant technological advancements and the evergrowing need to keep up has pushed teachers to integrate a slew of alternative teaching strategies.

There has been an overwhelming growth in the use of collaborative technologies such as Google Drive and Dropbox, and presentation tools such as Kahoot and Prezi, among various other programs.

With this high demand comes the question of what the district really needs and how it will be payed for.

Three years ago, the district asked voters for a $50 million bond issue that would raise money to not only put in a strong technological infrastructure, but also pay for devices such as iPads and Chromebooks.

The voters rejected the proposal by 70 percent. It was largely unpopular, and hadn’t been revisited until districts like Troy, Saint Clair Shores and West Bloomfield passed similar bonds of larger dollar amounts and at a much higher scale.

With the increasing demand for a fresh learning environment the School Board has

come up with a collaborative strategy to properly fund the technological needs of the district. There will be a new tech committee, comprised of a diverse group of students, parents, faculty administrators and various other groups of the community.

“There are also restrictions on which funds can be used for which purposes.” Rebecca Fannon, Community Relations Specialist said. “Sinking fund dollars can be used for infrastructure like wiring, but not for devices or software or staffing. The district is very careful to follow all rules and regulations.”

There are three meetings planned so

and high school. The hope is that our high school delegates will provide insight from their time in the district. When combined with that of our parents, staff and community members, the team will have a well-rounded picture of needs at each level,” Fannon said.

The strategy of incorporating a large group of the community is similar to that being used in terms of diversity in the GPSCHOOLS.COM district. The meetings will incorporate district members, realtors, business owners, far that will be facilitated by Mike Wilmot students and more community members. of Michigan Leadership Institute. The Two students from both North and South committee will discuss the technology needs were selected to take part in the meetings. At of the district, how well they are being met, North, juniors Max Rakozy and Justin Schaaf ways in which they can be improved and how were chosen.

Schaaf and Rakozy were picked because of to fund projects to achieve those changes. their aptitude for understanding technology.

These meetings will take place Thursday, Schaaf hopes to impact the community in April 2o and Thursday, April 27 in the Grosse a positive way by getting more reasonable Pointe South Library and Thursday, May 11 technology into the school to enhance in the Grosse Pointe North Library. Each meeting will run from 6-9 p.m. and all are students’ learning. open to the public.

“I think it will be a great opportunity to “The plan for technology will encompass do some good for our district,” Schaaf said. all levels of instruction—elementary, middle

Oakland University to host financial aid night at North

By Katelynn Mulder & Syeda Rizvi EDITOR & ASSISTANT EDITOR Perhaps the most common struggle students can face in their education is paying for college.

This is why North will be hosting a Financial Aid Night April 24. Attendees can learn about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and other financial aid opportunities.

While it’s common practice to wait until junior or senior year to pursue college information and ask questions, counselors Melissa Pierce and Brian White encourage early intervention.

“All students need to start thinking about this their freshmen year out of high school,” Pierce said.“Not just when they become seniors or juniors.”

According to White, students can be stressed about financial aid, even though there are obvious ways to eliminate it.

“People prefer to be like an ostrich about money and hope it goes away,” White said. “Not the money, but hope the worries about it goes away. And the thing is about financial aid, let’s say they’re not eligible for financial aid. You still have to apply.”

The Financial Aid Night will be held at 6 p.m in the Grosse Pointe North Performing Arts Center.

The presentation will be done by the Student Financial Services at Oakland University.

According to Pierce, the evening’s purpose is to help prepare students to understand how to be ready for college. It’s not so much about qualifying for aid as it is about understanding how a student can afford going to school.

She said the stigma around Financial Aid needs to be demolished to help those looking forward to attending college.

“It’s called Financial Aid Night, but we need to think about it as being ‘how to pay for college night,’” Pierce said. “Simply because some people have a connotation that Financial Aid Night is ‘I have to be poor,’ or ‘I have to not have a lot of money,’ or ‘I’m not going to get any money, so why should I come to this night?’”

Senior Sarah Scott said she had been oblivious to the entire Financial Aid program as a whole until

recently, and she said it would have been nice to know about this night because college can be a financial struggle for so many.

She said she’d definitely recommend students attend.

“I would totally say go to it because as the whole college idea gets more and more realistic, prices are scary,” Scott said. “I know a lot of people that aren’t that fortunate, and I think that if they were able to figure out how to pay for college before their senior year came, it would make college a possibility for them.”

Pierce stresses on how it is important for students to keep an open mind when discussing financial aid for college.

“For most students, college is going to cost about $100,000 or more,” Pierce said. “That’s a house. That’s a couple cars. That’s a lot of money.

So just having a perspective on how can I make this work and learning about it before senior year so you can kind of have an understanding and an awareness of what the process is.”

NEWS Parents Club holds annual fashion show, profits fund programs

North Pointe – Friday, April 21, 2017 – 3

FRAN GIACONA

STRIKE A POSE | Group of alumni pose during last year's show.

RACHEL HILU

WALKING THE RUNWAY| Junior Rachel Hilu walked the runway at last year's Parents Club fashion show.

It’s once again time for the annual Parents Club Fashion Show. The Blooming Gold & Green Fashion Show has been a tradition for over 20 years, and will be held at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on Thursday, April 27.

The fashion show is normally considered a “ladies night,” but men and all students are welcome to come. Tickets cost $60, and all guests must purchase a ticket to attend the event.

All of the models for the show are North

students, chosen by junior Emma Tompkins, who is the student coordinator. Tompkins is also in charge of choosing the music for the fashion show, the Emcees and where the models go out to eat after the show.

“I got involved by Diane Peters, who is in charge of it, and she just asked me if I wanted to be the head chairperson for the fashion show,” Tompkins said. “All of the models are students at North, mostly seniors get first pick, then juniors, and I just ask people who I think

would be into it and be good at modeling.”

According to Peters who is one of the cochairs for the fashion show, the clothes this year are from Yoga Shelter, CaBi, Etcetera, LuLaRoe and Avenue Boutique.

Although the fashion show is not as big of a fundraiser as the auction held by the Parents Club earlier in the year, it has still been a huge success in past years. Last year, the show made a profit of around $20,000. Although a portion of the money made at the fashion show is donated, the majority of the funds raised are used to support student scholarships and enrichment programs at North.

“The mission of the Grosse Pointe North Parents Club is to support parents, students and teachers and funds enrichment, scholarship and beautification/preservation at North. It’s essentially a PTO,” said Parents Club President Mary Beth Nicholson via email. “We hold monthly meetings to share information and new ideas, as well as plan upcoming events.

Parents Club also publishes The Northern Lights, the school’s monthly newsletter which is emailed to all North families. It’s a great resource (for) … everything that is going on in the North community gathered together in one place.”

By Zoe Graves

Family Center hosts divorce seminar to promote communication The Family Center nonprofit organization will be hosting an event that is different from their usual gatherings. On April 26, the Family Center will be hosting a divorce rehabilitation seminar.

The program will be held at Christ the King church in Grosse Pointe Farms at 7 p.m.

The idea of the program is to teach about alternatives a person can take in the divorce process in order to have fewer disputes and better communication between parents. They aim to educate people about those options and compare the negative or positive effects each has on the health of people and families going through a divorce. For families post-divorce, it teaches parents ways to work together to co-parent effectively and appropriately in the best interest of the children.

Paige Domzalski, is the Family Center coordinator who has organized professional presenters to help the audience find new strategies about divorce. Domzalski is encouraging anyone that is contemplating a divorce or has been affected by one to attend. She believes that divorces, most strongly impact the children.

“Kids are the most vulnerable to long-term harm caused by divorce,” Domzalski said. “The longterm conflict caused by divorce between parents has been shown to be just behind abject poverty in causing mental health and substance problems for children as they get older.”

The main presenters of the program are Sonya Thompson and Sean Cleland.

Thompson has been working in human services for 13 years.

She is a public information specialist at CARE of

IMPORTANT DATES for SENIORS November 21

Regular deadline for Diapers to Diplomas senior ads

November 30

Last day to order a book before prices go up Extended payment and deposit option available ALL INFORMATION AVAILABLE HERE: goo.gl/4mGv9e

Southeastern Michigan and provides drug and alcohol prevention services to the Wayne County community.

Thompson offers a fresh perspective with two strategies for co-parenting. She first believes that allowing the children to love both parents is key because they can work to identify valuable and positive attributes of the other parent. This instills a loving environment that minimizes stress, especially during transitional times in the child’s life.

The other aspect focuses on helping divorced parents overcome attachment and grief and eventually reach terms of agreement in their roles in their child’s life. Thompson helps parents realize that they are separate but equal partners in their children's lives.

Coming from a traumatic parental divorce, Domzalski was deeply motivated to find ways to change the psychology of how society perceives divorces.

“Helping parents find a way to work together after a divorce is vital to improving the lives of children in our community.”

By Tommy Teftsis

To support North clubs and sports, Tricia’s Foundation is hosting its annual bowling fundraiser on Saturday, April 29.

Over the past six years, the organization has raised thousands of dollars to support the school and provide scholarships to students.

Tricia’s Foundation was founded in 2007 after Tricia Myers, a former student, passed away from a seizure two days before her high school graduation. Her parents, Tim and Marianne Myers, created the foundation to make a difference in the lives of students at North.

“She had an enormous heart and always tried to make the world a more loving place,” Marianne said via email. “We try to honor her by sharing her light and her goals to love yourself, one another and to fight negative attitudes and bullying.”

All proceeds will go to specific events like Challenge Day or organizations like Link Crew and KNOTS. The fundraiser will be held at Shores Lanes Bowling Alley.

For $25, participants get three rounds of bowling, shoes, pizza and pop and sweets. and begins at 11 a.m.

“We collect donations ahead of time from people and local businesses to sponsor a lane for $50, or for our dozens of Tin Can Auction prizes,” Marianne said. “Bring some cash because tickets (for the auction) are $1 a piece or seven for $5. We also give away a 52-inch TV as a door prize and have a 50/50 raffle.”

Freshman Presley Powder said that the bowling fundraiser was a smart choice to raise money.

TRICIA'S FOUNDATION

Tricia Myers Foundation holds bowling night

TRICIA'S FOUNDATION

“I think that it is always a good idea to try and raise money for the extracurricular activities at school,” Powder said.

“People pay to go bowling anyways, so they might as well. It is something that people generally like to do because it’s fun.”

Over the past six years, the Myers family has helped raise over $15,000 for scholarships for North students and programs and sent 2,000 students to Challenge Day. This year’s fundraiser will make three new scholarships possible.

Follow @theNorthPointe on Twitter for North updates

“This foundation was started to honor the life of a loving person that was cut way too short,” Marianne said. “During (Tricia’s) time on earth, she made it a personal goal to help encourage others to love themselves and to strive to reach their full potential. Her love was unconditional and contagious.”

By Lyndsay Kluge

H2O Cleaners

1925 Vernier Rd., Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236 24400 Jefferson Ave. St. Clair Shores, Michigan Ph: 586-778-7600 • JeffersonBeachMarina.com

(313)-640-4426

IN-DEPTH

4 - Friday, April 21, 2017 - North Pointe

Fan force On unfamiliar ice, sophomore Julia McLellan focuses on the game while opposing fans chant discouragingly behind her. Their cheers are amplified by the fact that she is a girl goalie on a boys hockey team. However, she uses their energy to her advantage.

“I personally like playing away games more.

The crowd is rooting against me, and they don’t know me,” McLellan said. “It’s fun to surprise people be it from my play or the ponytail sticking out of the back of my helmet.”

Across the seasons, all athletes are affected by the presence of fans both positively and negatively. In some sports, it has a more noticeable effect than others. Varsity basketball attracts a crowd reaching up to hundreds of people during home games. Themed matches, organized cheers, flashing cameras and taunts from the opposing team work their way into players’ minds.

Varsity basketball coach Ron Kochan sees the benefits of having a student section.

“Having a large student section is a great thing,” Kochan said. “Our players love having the support of their peers and it’s a great feeling to know that people care about all the time and effort that we commit to representing North.”

Junior John Lizza doesn’t find the fans distracting. Like McLellan, even taunts from opposing fans give him motivation.

“Before the game, when the other team’s fans

“

are disrespectful it gets you real fired up,” Lizza said. “There’s nothing more fun in football than showing up on another team’s turf in a hostile environment where the hometown crowd is rowdy and shutting them up the rest of the night.”

In most cases, fans work to an athlete’s advantage, which is why having a homecourt advantage is preferable for many players.

Psychology teacher Jennifer Weisbrodt explains this with an effect known as social facilitation, which is when one’s peers encourage them to perform better because they are comfortable playing in their typical environment and have numerous supporters cheering in the stands.

“What we often call the homecourt advantage or the homefield advantage is actually a well-researched psych term called social facilitation,” Weisbrodt said via email. “The idea is that performance is enhanced, for welllearned tasks, when others are watching.

Assuming the activity or sport is part of your muscle memory, John Lizza the cheering crowd JUNIOR actually enhances your performance.”

Conversely, when trying to perform a task that one considers more difficult or is less skilled in, the presence of an audience tends to hinder their performance. Over the years, many psychologists

Before the game, when the other team’s fans are disrespectful it gets you real fired up.

have studied and tried to explain this effect. They Weisbrodt said. “This is why the opposing team have developed several different hypotheses to makes a lot of noise when a player from the try to analyze what happens in the human mind opposite team is at the line.” when this occurs.

In a study published by the North For difficult American Journal of Psychology in tasks, the fear of 2011, researchers found that the impact embarrassment fans have on players depends on the can either improve sport. They tested basketball players, performance or baseball pitchers and golfers to compare impede it.

Some the impact of cheering, jeering and propose that an silent audiences on their performance. unfamiliar audience They found that basketball players influences athletes to were unaffected in all three situations, be more alert, because baseball pitchers were significantly hurt they are uncertain by jeers and golfers’ accuracy decreased how the observers Eric Vanston when in any noisy conditions. will react. Others say VARSITY SOCCER COACH Senior Steven Levick is captain that performance only of the boys varsity basketball and his improves when athletes feel that the audience is experiences align with the study’s conclusions. evaluating them, not just when in the presence “We’ve had some negative cheering fans of others. but it’s never affected me or my team,” Levick The size and proximity of a crowd also factors said. “I think that when the crowd is into it, it into the effects of social facilitation. can be motivating.”

By far the most popular games for any sport From a coach’s perspective, both Kochan and are the rivalry games against South High School. varsity soccer coach Eric Vanston agree that the Fans go all out with body paint and costumes, players’ mentality controls their performance. posters, horns and a myriad of other distracting Because of this, Kochan stresses that his players spirit wear. Their motive may be to amp up their focus on three factors that they have power over: home team, encourage victory or interfere with attitude, effort and assignment. the visiting team, but those efforts can backfire “You can’t stop the fans from screaming. You and hurt the team they are rooting for. can’t,” Vanston said. “What you can do is control “While playing the championship basketball your own emotions, so we just try to talk about game at home may increase your speed down the staying focused and don’t let the fans take you court, it may also hinder your performance on a out of your game.” more difficult task, like shooting a free throw,”

“

We just try to talk about staying focused and don’t let the fans take you out of your game.

“

By Lindsey Ramsdell, Anna Post & Katie Thomas EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & EDITORS

“

SURVEY OF 55 STUDENTS

LINDSEY RAMSDELL

IN-DEPTH

North Pointe – Friday, April 21, 2017 – 5

KENNEDY WILLIAMS

We asked: what experiences with fans have you had as an athlete?

Sophomore Julia McLellan: varsity ice hockey “I don’t think I played a game with more than 75 people at it during AAA Girls. On the high school boys side, it was a big difference in the number of fans.

There were around 200 people at my first high school game, which was a big jump from AAA Girls. The amount of fans at first made me a bit nervous, but it also made me more excited. But, to me it didn’t really matter if we were home or away, I just wanted to be on the ice. During the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League tournament, I had some fans of Trenton’s hockey team (who we played a few weeks earlier and beat) walk by me and acknowledge that I played great game against them and that they were surprised. Also, during North home games there was always a group of people standing behind the goal at the far end. During the second period they’d yell and root for me and the rest of the team and I could hear them loud and clear. It was fun to have that energy behind me, but it didn’t really affect my play. I always try to ignore what’s happening outside the glass, and focus on what’s happening on the ice.”

JULIA MCLELLAN

Varsity soccer coach Eric Vanston “I remember from when I was in high school, our rivalry game was Canton (High School) vs. Salem (High School), which was a lot like North vs. South.

It was two schools in the same community and the fans were getting a little bit rowdy and the ref had to stop the game. Now I don’t know what was said, but the ref stopped the game and went over and talked to the coach. The coach had to go talk to the fans, so I’m sure something was crossing the line somehow, so there’s times where it gets to be too much when there’s a lot of people. It sort of can snowball into negative but to be honest I don’t think I’ve seen that as a coach here. I remember that as a player, but I don’t think I’ve had a negative experience yet.”

Sophomore Victoria Simmons: varsity track “This actually happened (Friday, April 7). I was the anchor for a 200-meter relay and my other teammates fell behind to last place so I had to catch us up and my team cheered me on and we ended up in fourth out of eight. I’ve never received negative cheering, but I have experienced negative sportsmanship and it affected our performance because we had an argument and caused friction the rest of the meet.”

Senior Sarah Scott: varsity field hockey “Our fans usually consist of parents and a few boyfriends and best friends so we have 15 to 25 fans per game. Our fans are usually pretty calm and supportive of us, which is to be expected of fans, but the part that really encourages us is when they call us out by name.

Because our fans are usually parents or friends, they know our names so they are able to tell us what we are doing well and what we need to improve on in the heat of the game.”

KENNEDY WILLIAMS

SARAH SCOTT

REVIEWS

6 – Friday, April 21, 2017 – North Pointe

Indie underdog develops sound with 'LA Divine'

By Abbey Cadieux EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It’s a rare opportunity for fans to live through the mastery of a favorite band’s sound. Listening to a favorite underdog band fully come into into their own sound is a beautiful thing for fans to witness. Fans of Cold War Kids are cherishing the last moments they have before the band explodes into full-on indie fame.

Ditching the old uneasiness of past albums, indie rock band Cold War Kids is bursting out of a sluggish stretch of whiny, straggly tunes with their sixth clean and resounding album “L.A. Divine.”

“L.A. Divine” is a more palatable album and fans of other mainstream giants like Imagine Dragons, Bishop Briggs and Kongos will enjoy the streamlined sound Cold War Kids has perfected. Lead singer Nathan Willett maintains his distinct croon but ditches the wobbliness that made the band hard to listen to in the past.

Cold War Kids has ironed out any wrinkles and imperfections in songs and put out a shiny, clean alternative album—one worthy of countless commercials and TV show spots.

New lead guitarist David Quon livens every track and is likely the force behind the band’s evolved sound. On tracks like “No Reason to Run” and “Can We Hang On?,” Quon’s skills carry the songs past the typical Cold War Kids-esque vibe.

Matching a new grittier, spooky sound that is gracing almost every alternative radio station, “Open Up the Heavens” is an interesting switch-up offered on the album. While the group tends to stay pretty upbeat, the track shows an unexpected darker side.

Tucked in the solid arrangement of songs are a few experimental tracks that show snippets of intimate trialand-error that is often left to be cut in the studio. “L.A. River” and “Cameras Always On” give listeners a better look into the creative process and a real glimpse at the meaningful moments one has, especially dealing with the distorted sense of self that fame brings. Cold War Kids are owning up to their big status in the industry, and it shows through in these little moments offered on the album.

Blending their typical existentialism with current events, “L.A. Divine” is slightly politicized, marking a bold move for the band. The maturation of sound and content is most evident on tracks “Wilshire Protest” and “Invincible,” where Willett battles with internal struggles that every impassioned bystander in a chaotic political climate feels.

While the album as a whole is impressive in quality and intensity for most tracks, fans may be let down at “So Tied Up” featuring alternative favorite Bishop Briggs. Briggs adds little to the track, leaving fans who are used to her awesome vocal presence feeling cheated. The opportunity for greatness was lost on the track, as the blending of the two voices held immense potential.

Breakout tracks “Love is Mystical” and “Restless” show that Willett can access the same emotional depth that he has for his entire career without the croaky nonsense that grated over earlier albums. With “L.A. Divinel,” Cold War Kids shows that they have the potential to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other alternative giants like The Black Keys and become an even more entrenched household name in indie music.

“L.A. Divine” shows that the band has taken what they do best and built on it to create something that has the strength to last. Their swooping ballads and heavy-hitting songs are reinforced by years of experience that make almost every track golden. For longtime fans, “L.A. Divine” will come as a satisfying addition to a long stretch of monotonous tunes.

“L.A. Divine” iTunes $9.99, Capitol Records

WWW.COLDWARKIDS.COM

GAME

MOVIE

APP

SHOW

YOU HAVE 293 KEYS

GIFTED

MEMOIR

TRIAL & ERROR

You Have 293 Keys is an unconventional interactive installation that requires the player to complete one task: of the 293 keys, find the one that opens ITCH.IO the door.

Trying to find these keys, the gameplay is tedious and dull: pick up a key, try it with the lock, throw it away and repeat the process over. The player is stuck in a constant loop, and the only way to end it is to find the correct key. It could be the first one or the 293rd one, and this prospect, while alluring for some, can ruin the entire game for others.

The only real challenge is keeping inventory of which keys were already used and which were not, and there is little incentive to play.

If the gameplay does not keep the user hooked, then the art design will not either. The aesthetic consists of blocky geometric shapes, pastel colors and little else. It is utilitarian and does the job of translating ones and zeroes into a visual representation a player can interact with, no more.

As opposed to being a game, this title feels more like an interactive installation, as there isn’t much actual gaming going on. The general definition of a game is that there must be a way to win and lose, with a series of challenges to be conquered.

While You Have 293 Keys has a clear success state, finding the right key, there isn’t really a way to fail. One could argue that trying a wrong key is a failure, but that’s a bit of a stretch, as there’s no way to actually lose.

You Have 293 Keys is a perplexing title. It seems to be an experiment more than anything else. It is as if the creators wanted to find how basic a game can truly be. For something to be considered a game, it must be more than just an interactive experience. Still, game or not, You Have 293 Keys serves as an interesting title that many users may find at least worthy of a look.

In

the midst of grandiose productions such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Logan” or “Kong: Skull Island” comes “Gifted”—a small indie film that YOUTUBE.COM stars Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace and was directed by Marc Webb.

“Gifted” follows the story of Frank Adler (Evans) who raises his orphaned niece and child prodigy, Mary Adler (Grace). Frank attempts to provide Mary with a normal childhood. However, once his forbidding mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) comes into the picture, his plans go awry. From there the film turns into a family and courtroom drama.

The film’s subdued ambiance and reliance on emotional scenes make its story easy to follow.

Still, this indie flick is not for mass consumption.

There aren’t any flashy action scenes, it’s not a visual effects spectacular nor does it boast a grand production scale. “Gifted” was made for a certain audience.

Grace’s performance has to be applauded. At only 10 years old, she manages to give a stellar portrayal of a child prodigy and keeps up with her co-stars Octavia Spencer and Evans. She carried the film on her shoulders and stole the show. It was also refreshing to see Evans trading in his Captain America uniform for plaid shirts and jeans.

Webb, who previously directed blockbusters from “The Amazing Spider-Man” series and “500 Days of Summer,” made a commendable attempt with “Gifted.” However, at times it seemed like he was trying too hard to make the movie hard-hitting and gripping with unnecessary camera techniques and an ostentatious screenplay. This took away from the film’s integrity.

While “Gifted” is a definite tear-jerker, it did not live up to its potential. It was highly predictable and formulaic. However, there are certain aspects that will stay with the audience after the movie. “Gifted” makes a bold attempt at opening up discussions about existential questions and the debate of ambition andmorals.

At its core “Gifted” is a simple film— it’s nothing extraordinary but thanks to the serviceable performance of its leads, Evans and Grace turns out to be a compelling narrative.

You Have 293 Keys; 14hourlunchbreak; Windows, Mac OS, Linux; March 22, 2017

“Gifted”; 2017; Directed by Marc Webb; PG-13.

101 minutes

By Giuseppe Parison

By Ritika Sanikommu

Memory apps are in high demand for the millennial generation.

To aid this, there are a multitude of apps that assist in filing old Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts into one menu, APPADVICE.COM allowing the user to look back on old memories. Memoir is a step above the competition, providing the user with a smooth layout, easy to use controls and a plethora of social media connection options.

Memoir is similar to apps like Timehop.

Unlike its competitors, Memoir provides easier access to old posts for the user. It uses smooth controls and easy navigation that allows the user to look through old social media posts in chronological order. The posts are sent to the user’s timeline each day and chronologically ordered. A user could look at tweets from that day from a year ago or four years ago, all on the same screen.

The posts are also ordered so the user can look back on days in the past.

One of the drawbacks to the app is its inability to go in-depth with the posts it pulls up for the user. When daily posts pop up on the timeline, they can be clicked on and opened but are not able to be opened within its corresponding app or show the conversation. For example, one can see a tweet that they sent to reply to another person but can not see the rest of the Twitter conversation in Memoir. This makes the memory a little harder to re-live and takes away from the app’s overall purpose.

Another aspect of the app that takes it a cut above the rest is the variety of social media options to connect to the user’s timeline.

While it offers the basics like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, it also offers out of the box options like Tumblr and Flickr. The user can even connect their camera roll to sort their own photos by date. This makes the app as user-directed as possible and really gives the option to do what they want with their memories.

Memoir is an improvement from other memory apps out there and provides the user with as many options as possible.

Memoir; Veri; Avalible for iPhone andAndroid; Free

By Sarah Wietecha

NBC’s new comedy, “Trial & Error” parodies increasingly popular true crime documentaries such as Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” or HBO’s “The Jinx.”

The series centers NBC.COM around the case against Larry Henderson (John Lithgow) an odd poetry professor from a small South Carolinian town who may or may not have killed his wife.

His lawyer, Josh Segal (Nicholas D’Agosto), is a murder trial rookie from a large firm in New York City. After his boss abandons him, Josh must find a way to exonerate his client, who is already guilty in the eyes of the town, while getting used to life in a small town.

His investigative team is there to assist him, but they aren’t all that helpful. His lead investigator Dwayne Reed (Steven Boyer) and his researcher Anne Flatch (Sherri Shepherd) are hilariously incompetent and even more inexperienced than Josh.

This show may center around a murder case, but that doesn’t mean it takes itself seriously. From an overzealous assistant district attorney who insists on the death penalty to having a character named Jeremiah Jefferson Davis the series is riddled with humor, both overt and inconspicuous, that pokes fun at the American legal system and both northern and southern stereotypes.

While much of the comedy in “Trial & Error” is funny and original, some of the jokes become trite and are less and less funny every time they’re used. For instance, there is a running gag that Anne Flatch has many disorders such as prosopagnosia (face blindness).

These disorders lead to comical situations, like when Flatch put Josh’s picture on the investigation board as the lead suspect. However they are often used haphazardly, like when she returned from the dentist speaking in a bad British accent.

The series also often relies on unrealistic circumstances to move the story along. While these events are part of the satire, they are sometimes so ridiculous that it takes away from the better aspects of the show. However, if viewers can get past the slightly absurd occurrences and occasionally overused gags, “Trial & Error” is a fun and humorous mockumentary that is definitely worth watching.

“Trial & Error,"; 2017; TV-PG; NBC.

By Amber Braker

1

Television

LIFE

The final season of the mystery drama show, “Pretty Little Liars,” aired on Freeform April 18. Part two of the seventh season will consist of the girls trying to bring down “Uber A” once and for all.

North Pointe – Friday, April 21, 2017 – 7

ON POINTE

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

Top 10 things we're talking about this week

2

By Caitlin Bush EDITOR “Motown the Musical” will be showing at Fisher theater April 1830. The production introduces the audience to famous musicians like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross and how they made history. Young Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder even make an appearance. Showtimes vary by day, for ticket information go to http://www.motownthemusical.com/tour.php.

Event

MOWTOWN THE MUSICAL

WWW.FREEFORM.COM

3 4

Movie

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Show

CHRIS ROCK WWW.CHRISROCK.COM

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” comes to theaters Friday, May 5. This sequel includes the original cast and is about the team continuing their adventures as they explore the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of who Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) parents are.

WWW.MOWTOWNMUSICAL.COM

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM

5

Album

ITUNES

7

Movie

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

Game

MARIO KART 8 DELUXE

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch comes out April 28. The version will include new courses, a battles mode and new characters. Preorder at Gamestop for $59.

Photo: use a photo from thier gallery

WWW.NINTENDO.COM

SEASON HIGH

6

“Season High,” Little Dragon’s fifth album comes out April 14.

The Swedish band has been around for over a decade and provides music with an electronic style.

The album includes 10 songs and can be purchased from iTunes for $7.99.

Comedian, actor and director Chris Rock will perform at the Fox Theater April 2830 at 8 p.m. Rock has starred in numerous shows and movies such as, “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Grown Ups,” and “Madagascar.”

For ticket information go to http://www. c h r i s r o ck .c o m / t o u r.

8

The eighth movie from the “Fast and Furious” series is currently showing in theaters. “The Fate of the Furious” is about a mysterious woman persuading Dom (Vin Diesel) to get involved in the world of terrorism and betrayal to the ones closest to him.

Sports

TIGERS GAME The Detroit Tigers (3-1) will be taking on the Seattle Mariners (1-4) at Comerica Park Tuesday, April 25 at 7:10 p.m.

WWW. FACEBOOK.COM

WWW.FXNETWORKS.COM

9

WWW.TWITTER.COM

TV Show FARGO

The third season of the popular FX series, “Fargo,” debuts Wednesday, April 19. The season stars Emmit (Ewan McGregor) a successful self-made man and Ray (Ewan McGregor) a parole officer, who blames Emmit for his misfortunes. Their sibling rivalry leads them into a world of murder and crime.

Autism’s future is bright, not blue MY TURN ANNA POST Students wearing blue apparel storm the hallways, blue merchandise is handed out on the streets— even our nation's monuments are covered with bright blue lights. All you see is blue. But behind the striking cobalts lies a greater issue.

April is Autism Awareness month. The title is self-explanatory. It’s a month where we celebrate those who have the spectrum disorder, cherish one’s differences and teach others about autism.

The idea to promote autism began in the early 1970’s.

10 Show

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

Today, autism is recognized across the nation and has inspired many to speak out about the spectrum disorder. The numerous endorsements are great. Embracing autism is a good thing. However, there’s more to the disorder than just a color and a month on the calendar.

Autism Speaks promotes Autism Awareness as an event that “celebrates the unique talents and skills of persons with autism”. Yes, celebrating our differences is crucial to our basic understanding and appreciation of those who are on the spectrum, but celebrating one’s “unique talents and skills” isn’t enough to send the right message. The tone that is portrayed through the previous statement isn’t an accurate representation of the spectrum disorder itself. People with autism possess more than unique skills. Famous figures and advocates portray the spectrum disorder as an advantageous quality. In an interview last year, Jerry Seinfeld thought he was on the spectrum himself and then classified autism not as a spectrum disorder, but merely an “alternative mindset”. Wrong.

ILEY.COM

WWW.ALVINA

“Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater” will perform at the Detroit Opera House April 21-23 at 7:30 p.m. The group uses the beauty of the African-American heritage and other cultures to unite all people through their dancing. To get tickets go to https://www.alvinailey.org/performances-tickets/tour-schedules.

Autism is inescapable. Not a mindset. Those who have or live with someone who has the spectrum disorder experience the variability of autism on a daily basis. As an editor for the Age of Autism and mother of autistic children, Kim Stagliano raises three daughters who are autistic. From the 24/7 living assistance and treating her daughters’ numerous health issues on top of the spectrum disorder, she believes that Autism Awareness month shouldn’t be a month where people just celebrate the disorder. Instead, she wants the month of April to be a time where people are educated on the “global crisis”. In a column she wrote for the Washington Post earlier this month, Stagliano stresses her hatred for Autism Awareness month and explains how the complexity of the disorder is more profound than what the month of recognition makes it out to be.

Granted, nobody truly understands the impact autism has unless they experience it firsthand.

However, just because we promote autism awareness by lighting up buildings or handing out blue t-shirts doesn’t mean that we are promoting the disorder

the wrong way. But we can do more than just that.

According to a study conducted by MIT scientist Stephanie Seneff, autism is that fastest growing developmental disorder in the world. She predicts that half of children born in 2025 will be autistic. With a staggering increase in numbers and the demand for autism-related services (service dogs or social skills programs), a spectrum disorder like this deserves more than a month of appreciation. It should be celebrated at all times.

The time and energy we spend creating bluethemed events and handing out blue merchandise can be channeled into raising money for critical programs and organizations that benefit the lives of autistic individuals. Instead of just wearing blue, join a peer program that involves helping a person with autism in and out of the classroom. If we take the time to actually to familiarize ourselves with the autism spectrum disorder, we will realize just how important it is for us to be involved in the lives of the people who are impacted by the disorder and help make their lives a safer and happier one to live.

NORTH

POINTE

“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.”

BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY Abbey Cadieux EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lindsey Ramsdell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Caitlin Bush MANAGING EDITOR

Alex Harring MANAGING EDITOR

Anna Post EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Michal Ruprecht EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Allison Lackner BUSINESS MANAGER

Katelynn Mulder LIFE EDITOR

Katie Thomas IDEAS EDITOR

Sonny Mulpuri Amber Braker SPORTS EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR 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.

OUR EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL More to the military

When people hear the words Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, their first thought is war.

This popular misconception immediately shapes people’s thoughts MY VIEW about the I'KEISHA HALL military. In reality, combat is only a fraction of the military experience. Summing an entire organization by an assumption disregards the realities of the its work. This is one of the many stereotypes about the military, and it is essentially wrong, especially when there are so many different reasons for people to join.

The military encourages people to better themselves as United States citizens and keeps them in top physical and mental shape. The thought of potentially being shot, having a limb blown off, or just simply being put onto a battlefield where there's chaos and death everywhere has made people think that’s all that the military has to offer.

That is completely false.

There are many sides one doesn’t see when looking in on the military base life. It doesn't look fun and seems as though you are basically putting yourself in a world of rules and regulations that could cause major damage, mentally and physically. If you were to ask someone who has served and experienced the military, you would be given a different response than someone who only hears shared information without a real source.

Inevitably when discussing the military, the debate about females not being expected to meet the same qualifications of a male in combat will pop up. The general argument is that females are not expected to qualify for a man’s job. With my experience, I have proven to myself that this is false in all cases because there’s just nothing a man can mentally or physically do that a woman couldn’t.

Females are generally assumed to always per-

North Pointe – Friday, April 21, 2017 – 8

form lower than an average male and are looked at as “emotional creatures.” The fact that sexism has placed women into a stereotypical world is unfair, and women should not be looked at as having less worth than a male, especially when they are willing to put their lives on the line for their country.

There are about 1.4 million people serving in the military. Women only make up 14.6 percent of those positions. At this rate, women aren't even making up half of the positions, but we are there.

There is enough information to prove that women are qualified to meet the expectations for a job that is traditionally held by men. Although some qualifications are adjusted for women, such a the training and treatment is exactly the same in the military world. There isn’t any special leniency for females—everyone is treated the same and you will be treated as a team player, not a girl.

Women are no different from males in terms of physical capability, we all deserve the same treatment and a woman’s life and work shouldn't be limited because of her gender.

The military isn't designed for everyone, but depending on your purpose, you have the opportunity to experience the loud, adventurous lifestyle of being a part of the best military in the world.

There are many pros and cons to becoming someone who often receives the highest respect and is given a pat on the back for serving for the country.

Those individuals who say “I don't want to go fight and get shot,” are those who have never served and often are completely oblivious to the actual responsibilities of the military. I say this because a majority of veterans will tell you that it's a civilian world looking in, so people see only the negative events. Unless you have lived the green uniform life in the mud, you couldn't give realistic information, there's just no way.

There are a couple hundred jobs in the military that many people overlook and take for granted.

Before making assumptions about what happens in the military, you should check your resources and personally ask about the experiences of those who served our nation.

ALEX HARRING

Remembering to say 'Thank You'

While walking through the halls, it’s not uncommon to hear students complain about school. Seniors might say they can’t wait to get out of here, freshman worry about how they will make it three more years. But, every now and then we need to stop and appreciate just how lucky we are.

On Monday, April 17, visitors from Saudi Arabia were sent to our school to observe and use it as a model for public education. They are on a mission to reform their own education system and the fact that they chose our own, tiny city showcases how unparalleled our education really is.

The other schools that were chosen were from cities in the United States, as well as several other nations including Finland and Sweden. This makes up a pool of millions of schools and districts that the Saudi Arabian reformation committee could have chosen from. Being one in a million is a pretty amazing honor, and the chance that we ended up in this district is something to be thankful for.

Even if school isn’t the most enjoyable pastime, we can at least appreciate the knowledgeable teachers, modern technology and equipment and updated facilities that are available for our use.

During a debrief discussion, the visitors were asked to share things they noticed in our classrooms that they don’t have at home. One teacher pointed out that there were mini libraries of books in the classes. Another noticed that the classes were co-ed. Someone else pointed out that each teacher had his or her own classroom space.

Another pointed out that each student had their own desk.

These are all things that we take for granted as students. We don’t stop to take account for the walls separating one room for the next or the shelves of untouched books in the back of the classroom. But we should. These things that we see as necessary for education in our own schools are luxuries in other places.

Another aspect that multiple visitors commented on was the collaborative environment in each classroom.

They noticed that teachers facilitated communication between themselves and students, and among classmates.

This is a rewarding observation to hear. Two of the school culture goals that were developed earlier this year were to promote connections with classmates and encourage collaboration.

If these two goals were evident enough in the classrooms that foreign visitors could see them, it upholds what staff has been working on throughout the year.

Those days we spent going over what seemed like common courtesy in the beginning of the year has enhanced our learning environment in a positive way. We must also appreciate the care and effort that our staff puts into giving us the highest quality of learning. Those Professional Development days throughout the year are more than just a free day off. We are lucky to have a team so committed to our success and well-being.

In addition to the classroom tools and school culture, lots of other work by the district and staff goes unnoticed.

College and financial aid nights, top-ranking music programs, a plethora of clubs, sports after-school activities and even Parent Teacher Organizations are all things that we have at North that the Saudi Arabian visitors are looking to bring home with them.

Grosse Pointe Public Schools are very ahead of the game in preparing students for college and life thanks to work by staff, administration, district chairs and even parents. While others looking in can appreciate what we have, sometimes our position blinds us to our privileges.

“I don't really like that. It's my personal information and they shouldn't just be making money off my personal information.”

Adam Naimo FRESHMAN

“I feel like that's a violation of privacy. I feel like that information might be able to be used in wrong ways.”

“It's a little bit creepy. I don't think that they should be able to sell that because if anybody can get a hold of it, then that could lead to a stalker.”

Zoe Witt-Michalski

Angelina Cavaliere

SOPHOMORE

JUNIOR

YOUR TURN: How do you feel about cable companies being able to sell private information? By Dajai Chatman & Gowri Yerramalli

“Personally, I don't have cable at my house, so I don't have a real feeling to that at all, but the government has too much information on the people as it is.”

Donnie Mozdrech SENIOR

NORTH

“It's a really bad idea because if you're tech savvy, then I think that you're actually trying to cut out the cable companies ... whoever is left with them would get out also.”

“I don't like it. I don't like the fact that they can sell my stuff to anyone.”

Peggy Bonbrisco

David Cleveland

STUDENT ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR

POINTE

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Abbey Cadieux, Lindsey Ramsdell MANAGING EDITORS: Caitlin Bush, Alex Harring EDITORS-AT-LARGE: Anna Post, Michal Ruprecht SECTION EDITORS: Katelynn Mulder, Sonny Mulpuri, Katie Thomas BUSINESS MANAGER: Allison Lackner

BAND TEACHER

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.

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. The North Pointe is printed on 100% STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katie Link, Alyssa recycled paper.

McLarty, Lauren Sexton, Kennedy Williams CONTACT US STAFF REPORTERS: Erin Kaled, Lyndsay 707 Vernier Road Grosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236 Kluge, Bella Lawson, Tarun Sanikommu, Phone: 313.432.3248 Billy Steigelman Email: northpointe@gpschools.org Twitter: @TheNorthPointe INTERNS: Rory Angott, Jamie Brewer, Maggie Carron, Maggie Dollar, Nadia Fama, Website: northpointenow.org Colin Haroutunian, Mariah Loper, Brooklyn FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, MJE McWhorter, Adam Schwartz ASSISTANT EDITORS: Elizabeth Ballinger, Amber Braker, Zoe Graves, Sofia Ketels, Syeda Rizvi

The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published

EDITOR'S DESK MORA DOWNS

New series catalyzes conversation about suicide

Netflix’s latest hit, “13 Reasons Why,” has commanded the attention of a generation supposedly lacking just that. School hallways and classrooms have been abuzz with whispers of Hannah and Clay. Twitter and Instagram accounts have posted fan theories about the show. While the show is popular and some people want to watch it because everyone else is watching, it is essential not to forget the importance of this show, and its shortcomings in how it handles such a mature topic.

As teenagers, many of us have no exposure to suicide.

Unless you or a loved one has attempted or committed suicide, your first experience was Hannah’s. Mine wasn’t. It was Dave Karofsky from “Glee.”

Watching suicide on TV or in a movie isn’t easy. It’s heartbreaking to see and these scenes elicit tears from anyone watching. But watching someone’s suicide on TV in no way prepared me for a loved one actually doing it.

It devastated me, and while I’ve moved forward with my life, it’s something I will never get over. No matter if you were close to the person or not, coping with suicide is devastating, and feeling pain from watching Hannah’s cannot compare.

What the show can do, however, is make us more vigilant of those around us and how we treat them. What someone is going through is private and personal. We don’t know about all the struggles that our fellow classmates have. And maybe making one mean joke doesn’t seem like a big deal to us, but for someone else, it’s just adding to the pile of things that hurt them. We all have struggles that we carry, but some of us carry more than others. In the show, Hannah admits that others may see some of her reasons as childish. But we don’t get to decide how our actions and words affect others.

While the show succeeds at not romanticizing suicide, which is often a concern when it comes to depicting it in film or television, “13 Reasons Why” neglects depression. Most people that have suicidal thoughts are fighting depression. It’s alluded to that Hannah is depressed based on her feelings of loneliness and her subsequent suicide.

The 13 reasons why Hannah did it made her depressed and her depression was the reason for her suicide.

Hopefully, “13 Reasons Why” also gives viewers the courage to not be the bystander. People could see that Hannah was bullied, but no one reached out. We might be teenagers but helping someone can be as easy as a conversation. We can’t pretend that bullying doesn’t happen and we can’t excuse it just because it’s something expected of us.

The truth is, the kids at Liberty High represent all of us. We are all just trying to make our way through high school. But some struggle harder than others.

Among us, there is someone who feels like Hannah.

We need to be kind to others and make an effort to help those who need our help to make sure that they don’t end up like Hannah.

No one wants to be a bystander and no one wants to be a reason. And we can make sure we aren’t.

ON CAMPUS

Saved by the bell

By Josie Bennett EDITOR

North Pointe - Friday, April 21, 2017 - 9

Students stick around after 3:05 p.m. for after-school activities

FACES IN THE CROWD Asha Greene

For junior Asha Greene, standing in the iconic Times Square is one her most memorable travel experiences to date. Out of many trips she goes on with her family the trip to New York was her favorite.

“We didn’t do a lot of shopping, but we went sightseeing and the biggest part for me was seeing Times Square,” Greene said.

Greene’s family has a tradition of travelling the U.S. and they have made a habit to go to a different place every year.

The tradition is something she looks forward to every year.

“We go on a trips somewhere every summer,” Greene said. “We went to Pennsylvania before and Virginia Beach.”

This year Greene and her family plan to add to their travel list by going to Georgia this coming summer.

ALL PHOTOS BY HANNAH SPINDLER

JUST HANGING OUT | Freshman Tessa Bessette, Abigail Gretkierewicz, and Rhea Janka all hang out by their lockers before they go to track. “Most days I go to whatever sport I am currently doing which is track at the moment,” Janka said. “We are all going to track.”

DRAMA CLUB GRIND | Junior Andrew Hallam along with Juniors Lee Daniel, Demetri Gritsas and Maria LaRose all join up to start their Drama Club session. “Drama club is essentially an opportunity for those who are interested with acting to exercise their skills and build upon them,” Hallum said. “It also fits pretty well into my after school schedule because of the flexibility of the meetings.”

PRE-TRACK | Seniors Philip Robie and Carter Waldrop walk to the locker rooms to get ready to head down to the track field for practice. “Usually go to my locker, go get ready for track practice and then go to track,” Waldrop said.

WARMING UP | Junior Caitlyn Knorp makes her way to softball game. Her usual after school schedule consisting of softball practice and games. “We usually run and do sprints before (the game), then we play catch and then hit,” Knorp said. “Then the catchers and pitchers go warm up.”

A TYPICAL DAY | Freshman Ariel Soriano, Jordan Craig and Nicholas Tandeo chill in the halls before they split up to do their separate ways.

Tandeo goes to practice while Soriano and Craig go home. “I just go home and do homework,” Soriano said.

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Teaching assistant Wendy Spreder

By Katie Thomas EDITOR

COURTESY OF WENDY SPREDERI

FAMILY FUN | Teaching assistant Wendy Spindler poses with her husband while on vacation at the Grand Canyon.

"I really like traveling together with (my family)," Spreder said. "We do a lot of barbecues and family get-togethers all the time

Just one job description doesn’t seem to be enough for Wendy Spreder.

Along with being a classroom assistant, Spreder works in the Freshman Assist program, the student center, manages the bookstore and is adviser for the Class of 2017.

About 23 years ago, she began working in the Grosse Pointe Public School System and has spent the last 12 years at North. While she offers her assistance to all areas of school, Spreder’s favorite part of her job is working one-on-one with students and being able to help them grow, both academically and socially.

“I think it's really important to show students that you care about them as a whole and not just specifically about achieving at school,” Spreder said. “Students are dealing with a lot today and in today’s society I think it's really difficult for a lot of people and

helping them cope with life skills and just being an all around better student really helps in the long run of their success.”

While helping others is her passion, Spreder also dedicates some of her most precious moments to time spent with family.

“I have three kids,” Spreder said. “My oldest son (age 35) is a Disney supervisor out in Los Angeles and I have a son who is 34 who is an administrator in his insurance business, and then my daughter who is an administrative assistant for a legal firm in Bloomfield Hills and she’s 29.”

Helping others achieve their goals goes beyond school for Spreder. She said shestrives to help people meet their health goals through weight loss and nutrition.

“As I get older I realized how important your overall health is so if I can help people feel better that's my goal,” Spreder said.

“I've helped total strangers get their life back who are now very good friends from all over the country. It's a great feeling.”

Aaron Kinsley

One of senior Aaron Kinsley’s hobbies is playing “Dungeons and Dragons,” a complex role playing board game.

Kinsley found the game through a YouTube channel show called “Critical Role” and it showed him a new way to create stories.

“At first I wanted to be an author, but then I was like ‘ok, being an author is too much.’ Then I started watching this show and I was like, ‘oh crap, I can do this’,” Kinsley said. “It's kinda like being an author but people finish the story ... for you by making up their own parts.”

However the best part about “Dungeons and Dragons” for Kinsley is playing with friends.

“You learn a lot through situations (in game),” Kinsley said. “I want to call it team building because you go through a lot with friends.”

Taylor Burton

Traveling is something that, to senior Taylor Burton, is very near and dear to her. Since her father business travels introduced her to its appeals.

Recently Burton was able to visit Rome and Florence, Italy over midwinter break. Where she enjoyed experiencing different cultures and ways of living.

“It was really cool and I really liked seeing different cultures and seeing how other countries live,” Burton said.

Burton believes that experiencing different culture is important.

“I really hope that I can travel more and see different places and learn about different cultures,” Burton said.

She hopes to further expand her traveling checklist when she goes on Michigan State University freshman seminar to New Zealand.

By Josie Bennett

FAVORITE MOVIE I like all of the animated films my sons done, his last one being "Zootopia" and "Moana," I’m not a huge fan of going to the movies actually so it’s hard to say.

FAVORITE THING ABOUT NORTH I really like the students most and I always really like the support staff and I like the way the teachers in engage in really helping students learn and that they really care about what is taught here at school and they’re proud to be part of the North community.

FAVORITE BOOK A lot of the books I’ve been reading lately are really to do about success and building a business and how to achieve, how to not be afraid as a woman to achieve higher statuses, I’m actually reading a couple right now.

FAVORITE VACATION I really liked Hawaii when I visited, I would really like to go to Bora Bora and stay in a beautiful rental unit above the ocean and have a glass floor to view all the beautiful scenery underneath the reefs.

LIFE

10 - Friday, April 21, 2017 - North Pointe

Building abroad

Junior constructs houses in Jordan through Habitat for Humanity

By Erin Kaled

REPORTER

ALL PHOTOS FROM STEPHANIE KORTE

LAYING THE FOUNDATION | Juniors Stephanie Korte and Elizabeth Rooney work on building a house for a community in Jordan. “The schedule changed depending on the day. On the days that we did the build, we departed our guest house at 8 a.m.and worked until about 10:30 a.m., where we had a short break. After our break, we went back to work until lunch at 1 a.m.. We worked from after lunch until 4:30 p.m. when we went back to the guest house to get ready for dinner. Each night we departed for dinner at 6:30 p.m., and we visited different families in the small village and we dined with them and were able to share stories.”

LASTING IMPACTS | Korte and Rooney pose with partners Fahmi and Yasmeen. Korte said that the best part of thr trip was that they were able to make a difference in peoples lives while making new friends with the community members.

When faced with the opportunity of a lifetime, junior Stephanie Korte took the chance without hesitation. Her reason? Building houses for the families in Jordan. Korte and her mom traveled to Jordan from Wednesday, March 29 to Monday, April 10 through Habitat for Humanity. Having never traveled outside the continent before, Korte didn’t know what to expect.

“This is my first HFH trip and my first international trip that was not to Canada,” Korte said via email. “Our group consisted mainly of people from our church and a few others who were friends of church members. There was one other girl my age that came, but the rest were adults or college students.”

The Christian nonprofit group’s goal is to build sustainable houses and communities, provide disaster support and give financial support classes to the new homeowners. The organization provides relief to 70 countries and has helped over 6.8 million people around the globe.

“The best part was that since we were working in this village, we were able to talk to the people,” South High School junior Elizabeth Rooney said. “Even though there was a language barrier, we could still laugh together and joke and try to communicate.”

If a person is unable to go on a trip, they can donate other things than time including a car, money and materials. Although sightseeing was a big part of the trip, Korte believes that the work the group completed was more satisfying.

“Everything we did was just incredible,” Korte said. “Being able to do something meaningful like helping our partner family build their house was the best part. We got to make a difference in people’s lives, and along the way made new friends and created bridges with the community members. Hearing everybody’s stories and visiting past recipients of a Habitat House made our work even more meaningful.”

This was the second Habitat for Humanity trip Korte’s mom, Heidi, has been on.

“The biggest takeaway of this trip is being able to work side-by-side with many different people, all with different talents, to make the world a better place,” Heidi said via email. “I strive to apply patience, tolerance, compassion and respect for diversity to my daily interactions with people. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s hard, but it’s always worth the effort.”

Throughout the trip, the schedule changed depending on the day. They swapped between building and sightseeing and dined with the villagers most nights.

“I’m already contemplating my next mission trip and this time, share the experience with my husband who has never been on one,” Heidi said.

“Both of my daughters have been on mission trips and are actively involved in service projects.”

Stephanie said her experience has motivated her to participate in more events like it, both at home and abroad, in the future.

“Words cannot express how great this experience was,” Stephanie said. “I can definitely see myself do more things like this in the future.”

BRICK BY BRICK | Juniors Korte and Rooney assmble a brick wall. “My take away was just reinforcing my belief in the fact that despite the fact that these people live all the way across the world and live such different lives than us, different religion from me were all still humans and we shouldn’t make preconceived notions about people because of where their from or what their religion because stereotyping is bad,” Rooney said.

Teachers, coaches promote growth mindsets

By Michal Ruprecht EDITOR

When boys track head coach Sean McCarroll began implicitly referencing growth mindset to his athletes, he saw significant improvements in their work ethic and performance throughout the season.

According to “Mindset,” a book by Carol Dweck, people with growth mindsets believe their skills can be developed through dedication and hard work. As opposed to fixed mindset, this view yields a love of learning and resilience.

“We compete against other teams, but at the same time, we’re competing against ourselves to improve and become the best we can be,” McCarroll said via email. “I typically see more effort during practices, which usually almost always translates into better performances at meets.”

According to Golf Digest, Sergio Garcia said he won the Masters Tournament last week because of this philosophy. Garcia said he accomplished this by accepting bad outcomes and working harder.

Sophomore Morgan Semack experienced similar results as Garcia and McCarroll’s athletes. She said there is a need for the growth mindset while playing golf, which is a sport that requires patience.

She said she isn’t patient, but she’s becoming more calm and focused thanks to her new mentality.

“I don’t have focus, and I don’t have patience for the sport,” Semack said. “I think it’s made me feel like, ‘Oh, I can keep doing it,’ even though I hit not so well.”

For the past two years, science teacher Steven Kosmas has tried to open students up to a different way of thinking by beginning the school year with a video teaching the benefits of such an attitude.

“Growth mindset is very liberating because it believes in everybody’s ability to grow as opposed to having fixed abilities,” Kosmas said. “I think when people truly believe in the growth mindset, they realize that they can get there if they’re stuck or in a sticking point. It just may take longer.”

Semack, said learning about it in Kosmas’s class was beneficial and hopes more teachers will also talk about it in class.

“I hope more teachers kind of encourage it because it’s a good thing, and it encourages you to keep persevering and keep trying,” she said. “Throughout life, it makes (students) keep going and persevering through challenges, even if they’re not even school related.”

To emphasize the mindset at professional development days, staff members are taught how to use and highlight it in their teaching. Although Kosmas said he has seen growth in his students, some shift back to a fixed mindset later in the year. To combat that change, he said it’s important students instill a positive mindset everyday.

“I think growth mindset can impact you anywhere. I think there’s a continuum between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. I think we kind of switch back and forth depending on how tired we might be, what particular area it is,” Kosmas said. “Students that are struggling might see this as an avenue to being more successful, so I think the growth mindset can impact you in all areas of your life, and it’s a very powerful mechanism to be used in terms of growing and becoming more successful.”

Fixed Mindset Does not do well with challenges and works to avoid them Gives up when approaching obstacles

Effort is worthless and doesn’t bother trying.

VS Challenges

Obstacles

Effort

Doesn’t take criticism well

Criticism Others success puts you down and makes you feel as though you aren’t good enough.

Success of Others

Growth Mindset Accepts challenges with determination

Goes headfirst into obstacles and keeps trying

Puts the best foot forward and looks to improve Uses criticism to learn and grow Learn from the success of other people so that you too can achieve that success.

NATHAN LONCZYNSKI

One way Kosmas promotes the view is through “For people who struggle to look at the opportunities reassessments. Tests, essays and participation reflections rather than focusing on their limitations, this can be hard to also contribute to it. do. As teachers and coaches, we often use the word ‘yet’ to “I think reassessments at the high school level can be very positive,” emphasize the fact that while an athlete hasn’t achieved their Kosmas said. “It gives students a chance to relearn the parts of the goal yet, there is still the potential to grow and reach it,” he material they didn’t learn. And of course, a growth mindset said. “Some people are naturally more athletic than others, plays into that because people that have a growth mindset but even they have to put work and effort into improving their WEIGHT want to learn more, so it creates a positive energy.” performance if they want to succeed. I would certainly hope McCarroll said he wants to focus on explicitly mentioning that all coaches at our school realize this and push their student the idea this season. athletes to be the best they can be—both on and off the field.”

SPORTS

North Pointe – Friday, April 21, 2017 – 11

FIELD DAY

BASEBALL TEAM PLAYS CROSSTOWN RIVAL AT COMERICA PARK

By Sofia Ketels

ASSISTANT EDITOR

EYES ON THE PRIZE: Junior Jimmy Mazzola looks on at the pitcher during his at bat. “We’re used to playing at a high school stadium, like, knowing that you’re playing at a major league field, that helps your game” Cross said.

BATTER UP: Senior Alex Vandoorne prepares himself during his pre at bat routine by lining himself up.

Why rest is ruining the NBA SONNY’S SIDE NOTE SONNY MULPURI Any way teams can get an advantage in the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season, they’ll take it. Even that means resting their star players. This move is one that helps playoff contenders more often than non-playoff ones. The basis behind the decision is to minimize the amount of injuries when it comes to the postseason. A team is willing to risk losing a few regular season games in order to keep their most valuable assets healthy. That’s a comprehendible gesture, but the impact comes off the court.

This bold strategy first started with the San Antonio Spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich,

On Friday, April 14, freshman Erin Sperry watched the varsity baseball team play against South under the lights of Comerica Park. Along with around 2,000 other fans, Sperry showed her school spirit and cheered on her team. While North’s team lost the game 5-7, players and students alike said they saw this game as a rare opportunity to compete in a major league stadium.

“We’re used to seeing all these big players, so it’s cool to see people that you know playing on the field famous people play on,” Sperry said.

This is the second time that North has played South in this stadium. In 2015, North beat South under the Comerica Park lights at a score of 6-3. According to coach Frank Sumbera, this game brings in the largest crowds of any baseball game of the season, and also raises a lot of money for the athletic fund.

“It’s our way of fundraising,” Sumbera said. “We get a lot of enjoyment from it as a team.”

Unlike Catholic high school leagues, North and South don’t have their playoffs for the season at Comerica Park. Instead, their playoffs are held at Michigan State University. To Sumbera, this makes this game at Comerica Park more special because it may be the only time North players get the opportunity to play in such a well-known venue.

“It's a one shot deal,” Sumbera said. “We (were) definitely looking forward to it.”

Junior Tyler Hill both pitched and played shortstop at Comerica Park. He said that the stress of this game came from the knowledge that he would be playing North’s biggest rival at such a large venue. According to Hill, this game doesn’t officially make a difference in the league, but it was important because of the longstanding rivalry with South. However, he said he didn’t let his nerves hold him or the team back. Instead, Hill said that he planned to take his nervous energy and use it to help him throughout the game.

“I’ll have nervous energy,” Hill said before the game. “ I’ll just make it so I can get more amped and ready to play.”

For fans such as Sperry, the rivalry made the game more exciting. Watching professional games in a stadium that has become a landmark of Detroit has always been important to her, but something about the North vs. South rivalry made it more special to watch.

“They’ve always been a really big rivalry so it's always really cool no matter what sport it is to go down and watch,” Sperry said.

Senior Sam Cross grew up as a Tigers fan, watching professional players there whenever he had the chance. He has played South at Comerica twice, once his sophomore year. This year, he pitched as well as played shortstop and outfield. To him, both games were extremely memorable because of their similar supportive atmosphere. He said that the atmosphere of Comerica Park on Friday was great, knowing that so many members of the community came to see him play where the greats have played before.

“Growing up watching the Tigers, that's where you wanna play,” Cross said.

“That’s the best place you can play when you grow up as a Tigers fan.”

According to Sumbera, this opportunity can be a learning experience for the players as well. The experience of playing at such a large venue can teach them how big of an honor it is to see their picture on the scoreboard in such a famous park. They play 25-30 games per season, but this is the only game they play in a field with this much personal impact.

“Kids will see what it's like to play on that field,” Sumbera said. “What it's like to bat in that batter's box where all the greats are playing and have in the past.”

Although North fell short of victory, Cross still sees this game as a great opportunity. The experience of playing at a major league park such as this is almost once in a lifetime, according to Sumbera. Because South is such a large rival, he said everyone would’ve liked to win, and tried very hard to do so.

“We rallied when we were down,” Cross said. “We never really gave up.”

who decided to rest Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green at the end of a long road trip in the 2012-2013 season.

However, the team was fined 250,000 dollars because they “did a disservice to the league” as stated by then commissioner David Stern.

When stars sit out, it affects the association as a whole. The viewership of games goes down as fans start to lose interest without the highlight plays being performed by their favorite players.

Games being broadcasted on national television take the biggest hit as they won’t be able to appeal to large audiences all over the world because the household names won’t be playing.

The league has to keep old fans engrossed in the games while drawing in new ones. But this isn’t possible if the most talented players in the world on the bench watching their backups play.

Stars sitting out affect fans as well. Let’s say that I purchase front row tickets to watch the Golden State Warriors play the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills, but I get to the game and see that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and

BRINGING THE HEAT: Senior Sam Cross throws a fastball. In addition to pitching, Cross also played shortstop and outfielder. “The field was the same,”Cross said. “We played the same team and it was a great atmosphere and everything.”

BALANCING ACT: Junior Antonio Moceri looks on as he prepares to pitch. “It’s the chance of a lifetime for these young guys to play at Comerica Park.” said Coach Frank Sumbera.

Draymond Green aren’t in the starting lineup.

Instead they are at the end of the bench hyping up their teammates and getting their rest. I spend close to a thousand dollars on those tickets to see the 2015 champions play against my hometown team, but I won’t even be able to see the players that got the Warriors the championship. My experience of professional basketball games gets tainted and I don’t invest my money in anymore tickets because I would feel as if I’m guessing on whether my favorite players are going to play or not.

Yes, I do understand the fact that players need some games off over the span of an 82 game and six month regular season. All the teams are competing for the championship and with the rigors of the not only in-season training and practice, off-season training and practice starts to take a toll on players too. However, there are some potential solutions for the fans and league seeing the star players play in all games. Instead of having an 82 game season, the NBA could shorten that number down to 66. In terms of numbers and league records, they would take a

KATIE LINK

hit and players’ season stat lines wouldn’t be as historic as they could be with an extra 16 games.

It’s a trade-off that I’d be willing to make if it means seeing the best basketball players in the world clashing with other stars on a nightly basis.

Another potential solution could be is to lengthen the season to seven months, but still playing 82 games. This would allow more off days in between games and essentially get rid of back-to-back games, and letting the players get the rest they would normally take. Even though the season would be extended close to 25 days, it brings in more benefits more the league and fans than the disadvantage of dragging the season out another month.

All basketball fans like watching their favorite players play against the best teams around the NBA. They should be able to watch those players in any game they turn on television or attend.

Whatever measures have to be taken in order for this to happen, I hope the NBA takes the steps in order to create the most memorable experiences.

SPORTS

12 – Friday, April 21, 2017 – North Pointe

INSTAGRAM @PUREBARREGROSSEPOINTE

RAISING THE BARRE | Members of Above the Barre X health club in Grosse Pointe Park strengthen their cores during a class. “I like what things we’re focussing on, because I usually just want to tone my abs and thighs and that’s what they work on most,” junior Melina Doherty said. “Then they put in arms and stuff like that, so that’s good.”

TOMMY KOHLER

NO “I” IN TEAM | The G.P. Kings huddle up during a game. “It’s a high school thing,” junior Billy Hoover said. “So you get in high school and older kids talk about it, and you already know coming in that people do it.”

A new way to play

Students trade varsity jackets for membership passes

By Abbey Cadieux & Alex Harring

practice less and then your per for mance would show how you actually per for m and ever ything, but you have to be selfIn the ‘80s, varsity jackets were a fashion motivated to do an individual spor t.” staple for the most athletic kids in school. A Being independently active does not felt letter was like a golden ticket to the top always require one to venture off on their of the food chain. own, though. When junior Billy Hoover But as the high school and athletic decided not to return to school basketball dynamic changes, some students are opting after playing for two years, he didn’t want out of playing for school teams and looking to stop playing altogether. So, he and a for alternative ways to keep in shape. Varsity few friends formed a Neighborhood Club sports are out, and workout places on Mack basketball team. and Kercheval Avenue are in.

As part of the community league, As seen in the past Hoover’s team played other decade, getting fit does not teams of high schoolers at local always have to require hours courts on the weekends. Teams on the field or miles racked are also given practice time as up on the treadmill. As more well as jerseys and expected to and more people are looking pay a fee at the beginning of to find different avenues the season, which takes place to exercise, alternative in winter, the same time as the workouts such as cycling, school basketball season. barre classes, community “Me and my friends made teams and mixed martial a team and signed up to play,” arts are on the rise.

Hoover said. “I started because Alternative fitness I played North basketball methods have peaked within freshman and sophomore year, the last few years. Branching then I decided not to play. I off from traditional classes decided I still wanted to play and groups and utilizing the on a team.” same basic components of a Junior Maddy Martinbianco workout, students can find Hope Miler dropped club volleyball in the options that can be faster SOPHOMORE off-season, and instead works and less intense that what is out at BarreX, a barre gym in offered at school.

Grosse Pointe Park.

Take yoga for example. Offering a Although she still plays for the school plethora of styles, it has continuously grown varsity team in the fall, she opted for a in popularity. The workout has withstood class-style workout rather than another team the test of time. According to the 2016 Yoga during the winter and spring seasons. in America study, 34 percent of Americans “(BarreX is) fun and it’s upbeat and have already tried it or plan to within the they’ve got music and everything, so it’s a next year. Likewise, over 15 million people fun way to workout,” Martinbianco said. “I began practicing in the U.S. between 2012 really like just the by-myself workout.” and 2016.

With the absence of competition and Like yoga, martial arts is a similar pressure from coaches, junior Melina umbrella of workouts. According to Market Doherty, a barre classmate of Martinbianco’s, Research, approximately 18.1 million said she can enjoy the focussed atmosphere.

Americans practice it. But similar to yoga, Doherty said that the individualistic class there is no school team. Because of this, environment is a plus factor to the workout. sophomore Hope Miller trains at PKSA “I like it better because they push you, Karate in St. Clair Shores. Miller also plays definitely, in a class but not as much as a school lacrosse and is a cheerleader. team, like you don’t have coaches always on “The big difference is, for individual- you and it’s much calmer,” Doherty said. wise, it’s how much time you actually put While some have chosen to pursue their in by yourself, it’s how well you per for m. own fitness journey, many students can enjoy But then in a team you guys depend on both individual and team sports. Finding each other more than anything. It’s not what works for each individual—whether it really about who can do this or that, it’s be on a team or not—takes time and effort. about how you guys work together as a Miller has found both modes enjoyable and team,” Miller said. “Being individual says that there does not always have to be a you can do whatever you want, you can choice between the two.

EDITORS

“The big difference is, individual-wise, it’s how much time you actually put in by yourself ... in a team, you guys depend on each other more than anything.”

HOPE MILLER

GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS | Sophomore Hope Miller performs a traditional fan display.