The Northwood Howler Volume XXIV, Issue III: October 31, 2022

Student activists stand with Iran through protest

By Rhea Gupta and Megha Kishore Staff Writers

Northwood students protested the recent Iranian human rights injus tices on Oct. 17 following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died under po lice custody after being arrested for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Amini’s death has sparked in ternational outrage, with protestors burning headscarves and chanting phrases like “Women, Life, Freedom” or “Down with the Dictator” to revolt against the Iranian government—in cluding the moral police and new leader Ebrahim Raisi—which contin ue to deny that they mistreated Amini in custody.

“Women are being attacked and killed in the streets, and the govern ment is trying to pass it off as acci dents,” sophomore Theor Kamfar said. “People in Iran can’t talk about what’s going on there, so we are try ing to be a voice for them.”

The protest was held after sixth period and went on for two hours in front of the Northwood sign as par ents arrived to pick up their students and students left the campus.

Northwood junior Sam Jalal pour, who organized the protest, as well as other participants, hoped to bring awareness and show solidari ty for people within the Northwood community who have personal ties to the Iranian conflict.

Using various signs and flags to show support for the Iranian people, as well as a megaphone to amplify their voices, students later moved their protest to the intersection of Culver and Portola Parkway.

“News of the events have cir culated a lot on social media, but not many people are seeing it in the real world, so I wanted to make this rele vant for Northwood students,” Jalal

pour said. “The people who are going home should see the people fighting for freedom and be inspired to stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and Afghanistan.”

Incidents of Iranian women be ing harmed, insulted and killed for not abiding by laws have gained attention on social media as a result of Amini’s

death. Recently, more injustices have been brought to light, including the systematic discrimination of Hazaras in Afghanistan, religious intolerance and lack of human rights—especially for women.

“My mom has personally wit nessed people being killed for pro testing,” junior Raha Dayyani said.

“What happened to Mahsa isn’t new. This is decades of frustration and an ger erupting.”

As criticism of the Iranian and Afghan governments has increased, Iran has restricted internet access in an attempt to minimize government rebellion though protests worldwide remain rampant.

Students can continue advo cating for human rights in Iran and Afghanistan by remaining educated, supporting those who are impacted and spreading awareness.

“This is more than a battle for just women,” Jalalpour said. “This is for the LGBTQ+ community, the ethnic groups facing genocide and the Iranians that are facing religious persecution.”

Check out more

content on thehowleronline.org

Reforming the Pack: Northwood’s efforts in WASC visit

By Megha Kishore Staff Writer

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, WASC, visited campus Oct. 16-19 to observe how students, staff and administrators operate during typical school days, which will help determine wheth er Northwood is an accredited high school, meaning colleges will recog nize diplomas from Northwood.

The WASC team visited every classroom to observe the interactions within classrooms and the various methods of teaching in school. Ad ditionally, WASC visitors randomly asked students for their opinion on the school’s strengths and weakness es during class.

Prior to the official visit, North wood identified several areas of ac ademic need, including supporting underrepresented minority students’ academic achievements, keeping par ents more involved and informed and enforcing attendance rules to remind

students of the consequences of un excused absences and tardies. With this information, administrators de vised an action plan to address these concerns throughout this school year, which were presented to WASC.

“The visit went better than I ex pected,” Northwood’s WASC coor dinator Christina Banagas-Engelerdt said. “The visiting team gave feed back that they felt our procedures were effective and their visit was smooth.”

Every six years, WASC-accred ited schools conduct a self-study ac companied by a visit from a panel of educators to renew accreditation. This ensures that schools are meet ing WASC standards of education and are improving the quality of the school education, school culture and extracurricular opportunities.

“It was important for the visit ing team to hear from all stakeholder groups, as well as our focus groups,” Banagas-Engelerdt said. “If we don’t have input from everybody, it’s not an

authentic reflection and self-study.”

Evidence was collected through five focus on learning groups that consisted of representatives from stakeholder groups, parents, staff, administrators and students. These members helped evaluate North wood’s adherence to WASC’s main criterias of Organization and Leader ship, Learning and Teaching, Curric ulum, Assessment and Accountability and School Culture.

The focus groups have been meeting since March 2022 to share their experiences and observations about the school to use as evidence for reforms. Lead teachers of the fo cus groups facilitate discussions and organize the evidence they receive to incorporate in the school’s self-study.

“It’s eye-opening for me be cause there are diverse points of view that students may have never known about,” focus group member junior Hanmo Yang said.

WASC affirmed Northwood’s self study after observation, and ap

proved of the action plan. The WASC visiting team emphasized the impor tance of helping underrepresented students achieve academic success and developing better intervention methods for struggling students. They were impressed with the qual

ity of Standards Based Grading, the collaborative environment between students and staff and the variety of extracurriculars offered.

The final result of Northwood’s accreditation renewal will be re vealed in January 2023.

Aryav Nagar The Northwood Howler

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Sophomore Eleanor Wu calls on President Biden to act on recent Iranian injustices.

My mom has personally witnessed people being killed for protesting. What happened to Mahsa isn’t new. This is decades of frustration and anger erupting.

—junior Raha Dayyani

Neil Godse The Northwood Howler

ENGAGED IN EXPLANATION: Instrumental arts teacher Whitney Tavlarides details Northwood’s extracurriculars to WASC representatives.

Meet The Candidates: 2022 Irvine mayoral elections

By Shreya Aithal Staff Writer

The first city-organized mayoral debate of the 2022 election season took place on Oct. 17 at the UCI Stu dent Center, opening the local cam paign season for the first time since the pandemic.

The candidates for this year are current mayor Farrah Khan, Tom Chomyn, Branda Lin, Simon Moon and Katherine Daigle. Daigle was not present at the debate, but has partici pated in other online candidate forums though Daigle did not respond to The Howler’s requests for comment.

With concerns arising on munic ipal action in Irvine, resident attend ees questioned the management of the Orange County Power Authority, the regulation of emissions of the All American Asphalt Plant along with over-development and lack of retail in the Great Park.

“We want to give an insightful forum for UCI students and commu nity members, giving the audience an opportunity to understand the candi dates’ platforms,” UCI Local Rela tions Coordinator Christina Kollias said.

Candidates were allowed one minute to respond to each question, and 30 seconds of rebuttal after all candidates had responded. During this time, a candidate could address multiple points that different candi dates made. Two sets of questions ad dressed the concerns of UCI students and audience members.

Candidates shared their thoughts regarding student housing, citizen safety, the protection of taxpayer dol lars and more. Chomyn proposed the integration of colleges and Irvine resi dents to provide more housing options to students and Moon suggested pri oritizing safety everywhere in Irvine by increasing funding for the Irvine Police Department.

Taxpayer trust, which was ad dressed in terms of the confusion with the Great Park, was met with encour agement from Chomyn to return to the city’s masterplan and increase citi zen involvement. Lin supported doing away with city council “closed ses sions” and reforming the Great Park Board. Khan was in support of the current framework plan and informed the audience of current Great Park plans for parks, lakes and meadows.

Transparency was encouraged by all of the candidates, with multiple stating that they hoped more resident involvement and resident commmu nication would occur over the next mayoral term. Lin in particular sug gested banning cell phones on the dais and televising commission meetings to keep residents informed.

General elections will take place on Nov. 8, where community mem bers can vote in person or drop off mail-in ballots at any of the voting centers throughout Irvine.

“Please get out and vote,” Lin said. “Spread the word about the can didates you believe in, because at the end of the day, where we can affect the most change is here at home.”

Khan, the current mayor of Irvine, hopes to continue current pro grams to advance progress towards carbon-neutrality, diversity, tack ling food insecurity and more. Khan also strives to advance transpor tation availability in Irvine, improving the microtransit program and reducing traffic congestion.

“We will continue to make sure that Irvine is the best place to live, work and play,” Khan said.

Moon, a current military officer, chaplain and pastor, is running for mayor with focus on fiscal responsibility and prioritizing budget spending for the OCPA. He also seeks to ensure that taxpayer dollars are benefitting the community and are protecting Irvine’s veteran pop ulation.

“Our first duty is to serve and protect Irvine residents,” Moon said.

Chomyn, a technology account executive and Irvine resident for 25 years, prioritized the Veterans’ cemetery and memorial park in the Great Park. Chomyn also advocates for district elections, the disband ment of the OCPA and relocating the asphalt plant.

“There’s no transparency in reporting from the city about OCPA,” Chomyn said. “We put in $7 million of our taxpayers’ money to get this started, and we want to see the books.”

Lin is a paralegal, founder of the Irvine Watchdog and is a former Community Services Commissioner. Lin focuses on transparency in government, management of the OCPA and relocation of the asphalt plant.

“There’s so much good we can do on the local municipal level,” Lin said. “Transparency matters, and I want to ensure that residents know what’s happening within the community.”

New Irvine amphitheater seeks to rival Hollywood Bowl

By Karen Wang News Editor

The Irvine City Council voted 5-1 on Sept. 27 to move forward with the construction of a permanent 14,000-seat outdoor amphitheater as a part of the city’s “Heart of the Park” Great Park Framework Plan.

The new amphitheater will serve as a permanent replacement for the Ir vine Meadows Amphitheatre that was demolished in 2016 after 35 years of operation, following a termination of Live Nation’s lease.

Great Park developer FivePoint and Live Nation, a Los Angeles based concert promoter, subsequently struck an agreement for the temporary Five point Amphitheatre that opened its doors in the summer of 2018, quickly establishing itself as a staple in arts and entertainment among Irvine resi dents.

“I absolutely loved the Pitbull concert I attended at FivePoint recent ly because it felt so authentic and was just around the corner,” senior Kriti Jain said.

Despite FivePoint’s develop ment, talks for a permanent amphithe ater have been ongoing since 2016. Having “Orange County’s equivalent to the Hollywood Bowl” could have significant benefits to the local econ omy, and could generate well over 400 jobs, according to City Manager Oliver Chi.

“We didn’t find any municipally operated facilities with a return rate as high as what we’re contemplating,” Chi said to the Voice of OC.

With a budget of approximately $130 million, the city would fund the amphitheater’s construction while Live Nation would be responsible for day-to-day operations such as pur chasing concert equipment and would owe $4 million in rent annually.

Councilmember Larry Agran, the sole dissenting vote, felt that more due diligence was needed in approv ing the amphitheater.

“There should be major noise and traffic studies, along with envi ronmental reviews, that need to be undertaken,” Agran said. “The public

especially needs to participate in these proceedings. Those are important questions that should be answered before we say yes to moving forward, not after.”

Irvine residents have voiced great concern over potential noise and traffic impacts, along with an overall call for greater transparency among the city council. Homeowners in the Great Park pay a special property tax to aid its development, with tax dis tricts ranging from $2,000 to upwards of $21,000 annually.

Though Chi has pledged that no

resident property tax would be used in funding the amphitheater, many have voiced concern that recent Great Park developments fail to align with local interests as the development of the 2026 FIFA World Cup national train ing center and a new aquatic center for USA Water Polo’s national teams are also underway.

“The community needs to come first, and then we can give consider ation to these corporations, which is the way we built the William Wool lett Aquatic facility in Heritage Park,” Agran said. “To build the new facility

first and foremost for elite water polo usage has our priorities upside down.”

The new amphitheater intends to open its doors for the 2025 concert season. While precise documents into the facility’s financing have yet to be released, city officials have pledged to release them, according to the Voice of OC.

Residents can directly ad dress council members at upcoming City Council and Great Park Board meetings. For more information, visit https://www.cityofirvine.org/citycouncil/city-council-meetings.

Creative Commons

HEART OF THE PARK: The pictured FivePoint Amphitheatre will be replaced with a permanent 14,000-seat venue by 2025.

“Please get out and vote. Spread the word about the candidates you believe in, because at the end of the day, where we can affect the most change is here at home.

—mayoral candidate Branda Lin

Aya Takase-Songui The Northwood Howler

Extra candy can come in handy!

By Lucy Kim

After the thrill of dressing up in fun costumes and walking around the neighborhood with your friends in the dark fades and you finish trading all of your Almond Joys away, you’re left with a bag full of candy—and you know very well you won’t be finishing all of it. As a means of welcom ing the various up coming hol idays with a heart of gold, why not give back to the community?

Here are some ways to donate your leftover candy this Halloween.

Buy-back programs

Trade in your left over Halloween candy for some extra cash, coupons or the most exciting of all–tooth brushes! Buyback programs for Halloween candy lift the burden of excess candy off of fami lies by collecting them at scheduled events, usually held at dental offices.

The businesses work with non-profit organizations such as Move America Forward and Oper ation Shoebox to ship the candy to various recipients, the most common being U.S. troops and veterans. Busi nesses can also promote themselves (and the importance of dental hy giene) while supporting a good cause.

The national Halloween Can dy Buy Back program recommends

a good cause through Operation Shoebox. Founded by military mom Mary Harper in 2003, Operation Shoebox lends a hand to both veterans and soldiers, including those deployed overseas and return ing home. Whether that looks like packing care packages or organizing fundraisers, it opens a way for any civilian to show gratitude to our sol diers, including candy!

Based in Florida, the organiza tion sends 350-400 care packages a week, which amounted to 114 tons of supplies shipped to members of

tists) can participate in two ways— buy-back programs or Sweet Swap events. In Sweet Swap events, kids trade in their Halloween candy for healthy treats and other prizes in stead of money. This is a great way to promote healthy eating habits and dental hygiene—and you don’t even have to be a dentist to participate!

You can organize a candy dona tion event yourself and ship the col lected candy to their address at “Hal loween Candy Buy Back,” 3105 Fite Circle Suite 108, Sacramento, CA 95827. No registration is required,

Operation Shoebox accepts can

Saba Nabaeighahroudi

TheNorthwoodHowler

By Ally Venezia Staff Writer

National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 was a day for people around the world to celebrate coming out as proud members of the LGBTQ+ com munity. For the new IUSD LGBTQ+ liaison Maureen Muir, this meant a lot more students stepped into her of fice and shared their stories.

“Before the pandemic, I only had about six kids that identified as trans or nonbinary,” Muir said. “After the pandemic though, I had over 27 new kids.”

Virtual learning offered a unique opportunity for internal reflection and for kids to figure out who they are and who they wanted to be, so as students returned to their school sites, they be came more confident in their gender identities and sexual orientations, and were proud to present it.

“There’s not a lot of positive things that came out of COVID, but the chance for kids to feel comfort

able enough in their own skin is such an amazing feeling,” Muir said. “I’m just glad that I am able to be such a huge advocate for these kiddos.”

Muir is only four weeks into her new position as the district’s LGBTQ+ Community Support, but she has already been a vital part of the LGBTQ+ support system for years from her old position as a counselor at Portola High School.

Last year, Muir’s position con sisted of the everyday job of a high school counselor but she also held a special place in many students’ hearts, as she was their closest con fidant when it came to seeking guid ance about their mental health and family situations when they decided they wanted to come out to their par ents.

IUSD sanctioned the new LGBTQ+ liaison position this year after Muir had been juggling her work as Portola’s head counselor and LGBTQ+ support. Muir’s duties consist of meeting with kids and the

parents of LGBTQ+ youth, creating plans for schools with transgender students as well as proving mental health counseling.

Currently, IUSD has three high schools with transgender and nonbi nary specific clubs—with Northwood being one of them. Other middle

“I had a student whose parents uprooted their entire family from Texas to California just so that their kid could be who they want ed to be.

— LGBTQ+ liaison Maureen Muir

“The most important job I have is training staff members on gender support plans and making sure that we are supporting our transgender and nonbinary youth,” Muir said. “But my biggest goal is to establish a trans and nonbinary support group network, or at the very least have a gender and sexuality alliance club at each school.”

and high schools across IUSD are working to establish their own GSA groups.

For schools that don’t have their own support groups, the LGBTQ Center Orange County offers support groups for both youth and parents who are learning more about their child, such as Monthly Trans Orien tations and mental and physical help

for youth.

In comparison to other states, California is much more accepting of LGBTQ+ youth. Just this month, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill protecting transgender youth from bans against gender-affirming care in red states.

“I had a student whose parents uprooted their entire family from Texas to California just so that their kid could be who they wanted to be,” Muir said.

Muir’s office is located at the Irvine Unified School District Of fice and she can be reached at her email: maureenmuir@iusd.org. Each school in IUSD has specific mental health specialists on campus to sup port LGBTQ+ youth, but Muir is also available.

Muir is continuing to work with schools around IUSD to offer as much support as she can, and to en sure that every student who steps foot onto campus feels safe being exactly who they want to be.

With sweater weather comes the ill chill

By Elena Higuchi Staff Writer

It’s finally happened. You pulled one too many all-nighters or perhaps your science lab partner sneezed a little close to you, and you’ve caught the mysterious gripe that terrorizes Northwood every fall. Although tra ditional over-the-counter medicine may temporarily halt that rat tling cough, here are some remedies to recover quickly from around the world.

FINLAND:

Black currants were originally used in the U.K. as a source of vitamin C during World War II. They have roughly three times the vi tamin C of an orange and are of ten brewed into a hot juice.

These berries will

soothe a sore throat and reduce in flammation with a sweet tart taste reminiscent of grapes.

RUSSIA:

If you’ve got the chills and can’t seem to warm up, a popular Russian fix is to try steaming your elbows and knees over hot water buckets. Fill a

tub with water at least 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and watch your sinuses gradually clear and those aches sub side. As a bonus, your skin will look revitalized. Just don’t burn yourself!

MEXICO:

For a nutritious, delicious and comforting meal, try Caldo de Pollo, a Mexican chicken soup. While the recipe varies across different households, the broth is usu ally stocked with carrots, cilantro, garlic, green onions and of course, chicken. The antiox idants from the

vegetables combined with protein from the chicken will have you back to school in no time.

JAPAN: Umeboshi, which translates to “preserved plum,” is a common household staple for re ducing cold fatigue. It has a strong salty and sour

flavor, and the high acidity is be lieved to have antibacterial properties as well as stimulate digestion. You can eat them alone, boiled in tea or diced and paired with rice porridge.

INDIA:

Made up of milk, turmeric and other spices like cinnamon and gin ger, turmeric milk is used for the treatment of many respiratory disorders. It is also known as Golden Milk, and drinking a cup regularly in the morning or before bed can boost your im munity and increase mucus production to flush out organisms in your respiratory tract.

ADVOCATING FOR ACCESSIBILITY: Mental Health and LGBTQ+ Community Support Specialist Maureen Muir shares solutions regarding student accessibility to mental health resources.

Aya Takase-Songui and Saba Nabaeighahroudi TheNorthwoodHowler

Abby Warnock

TheNorthwoodHowler

Timby Tober

Northwood’s spin on the “Inktober” Drawing Contest

“Grade A Cake”

“Tricks and Treats”

The Masterminds of October: Recently dropped albums

By Megha Kishore Staff Writer

Music is in all parts of life, and songs from our beloved artists al ways seem to work in improving any mood, whether it’s excitement, com fort or a feeling of support. As Oc tober marks the beginning of a new season, so does a collection of new music from popular artists, each with its own unique vibe to update your fall playlist with.

“Midnights” - Taylor Swift Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” has been one of the most anticipated al bum releases of October. Swift slow ly dropped each song from the track list throughout the month on her so cial media, until the full album was released on Oct. 21.

“It sounded like a mixture of her previous albums like ‘Lover’, ‘Ever more’ and ‘Reputation’,” junior Inaya

Jaffer said. “It felt like she was mix ing the best parts of these albums.”

“Maxident” - Stray Kids

Stray Kids released their seventh extended play, “Maxident,” which expresses the different types of love. Since the release on Oct. 7, the group has continued to promote their new songs through performances, album unboxings and reaction videos.

“Them trying something new and also acknowledging the impact they have had through the song was a very great feeling,” sophomore Ananya Prakash said. “And the song, ‘3ra cha,’ is so good and ear-filling.”

“Charlie” - Charlie Puth

“Charlie” is Charlie Puth’s first album in four years, released on Oct. 7. Puth has teased his album for the past several months on his TikTok by releasing small clips of each song, without revealing that they were part

of his new album, which includes songs such as “Light Switch” and “Left and Right.”

“There’s a lot of autotune so it has an electric dance vibe,” sophomore Anika Bhat said. “It’s easy to listen to and very mainstream pop.”

“The Car” - Arctic Monkeys With their new album, “The Car,” the Arctic Monkeys announced their North American tour in 2023. Even before the album’s drop on Oct. 21, the band released the music video for one of the album’s tracks, “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” and per formed “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am”.

“My favorite songs are Perfect Sense and The Car because I loved the lyrics,” freshmen Isabella Schul tz said. “It definitely had the vibe of their previous album,“Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino” more than any other album.”

Northwood

During the month of October, The Northwood Howler held a drawing contest on Instagram for Northwood students to submit drawings for a chance to be featured in our issue. All drawings below revolve around the prompt of “Treats.”

Jihoo

Ragano

Cozy autumnal movies to manifest the fall vibes

By noelle escalante A&E Editor

Californians across the south are entering the weird inter-season: the colors of the leaves change as we continue to reach 80 degree weather, even as the days are shorter and the nights become colder.

To further emulate the fall weath er all Californians want, here are some movies to set the vibes for the penultimate pumpkin season before the new year.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” - directed by Wes Anderson

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a beauti fully constructed claymation movie, with head voices being George Cloo ney, Bill Murray and Meryl Streep.

The film follows a fox family, with the main character, Mr. Fox, tending to steal at any chance he gets. This film shows the true value of familial relationships and its importance in the home. Anderson’s claymation style

differs from other directors, with the use of textures seen throughout the film, compared to clay. Along with the plot, the fall color palette allows for the movie to radiate fuzzy feel ings, both figuratively and literally.

“Dead Poets Society” - directed by Peter Weir

“Dead Poets Society” is a trag ically beautiful classic. A group of boys attend a preparatory school and encounter an English teacher named

Mr. Keating, who has a unique style of teaching. With the motto of “seiz ing the day,” he teaches his students to not care about the pressures that are placed upon them by their par ents, but rather to find the importance

of living in the moment. The “dark academia” aesthetic of the movie and the colors correlating to fall, further adding to the developing freedom of the main characters.

“It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” - directed by Mari elle Heller

Although a relatively new docu mentary, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” tells of the life of Mr. Rogers, an American Television per sonality, best known for his series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The show differs from traditional children shows, with Mr. Rogers giving via ble life lessons and treating children as adults, rather than in an immature fashion. An investigative reporter interviews Mr. Rogers on his moral compass, which ultimately changes the reporter’s life for the better. The calm nature of the film gives off the coziness and comfort of fall, while also showing the kind nature behind what it means to be a good neighbor.

The Arts in Action: Northwood’s Interdisciplinary Arts Council

By shreya aithal Staff Writer

The Interdisciplinary Arts Coun cil at Northwood has just been chosen for the 2022-23 school year on Oct. 5, marking the start of art-centric events during the school year.

In selecting representatives from the multitude of artists on campus, the fine arts commissioners focused on who had experience with the fine arts at Northwood and why they wanted to represent their disciplines. In addition, the commissioners ex

pressed interest in getting to know the applicants and their unique voices.

IDAC, which is chosen at the be ginning of each school year, aims to utilize artists’ past experiences and passion to publicize the art commu nity at Northwood, introducing oth ers to the art programs on campus by putting in showcases, viewing deco rations and more.

Overseen by Northwood’s Arts Commissioners sophomore Zaira Ul mer and senior Saba Nabaeighahrou di, IDAC focuses on uniting the art community on campus and increas

ing student involvement in events through activities such as Arts Week during spring semester, as well as coordinating and planning all other arts performances and showcases throughout the year.

“We organize decorations for all of the celebrations we have on campus, like national days or school events,” Ulmer said. “We’ve also started the Arts Coalition which lets people volunteer with our activities, which is in the works right now.”

Covering 14 disciplines, IDAC includes members representing 2D

Arts, 3D Arts, Art History, Computer Graphics, Dance, Drama, Instrumen tal Music, Music Theory, Video Pro duction, Vocal Music and Yearbook.

“I applied to help out with the Northwood art community, meet new artists and see different perspectives on all types of art,” freshman Avani Arhin said.

Another main responsibility of IDAC members is “Night of the Arts.” This exhibition of art from el ementary to high school students in Irvine is held to bring viewership to the talent at Northwood and inspire

young artists to stick with the realm of fine arts.

More than anything, IDAC brings artists together to increase appreci ation towards the arts within their communities. These supporting art ists hope to set an example through out the school year for all Northwood students.

“Fine arts is open to everyone,” junior Arya Wategaonkar said. “I want to inspire the next few grades of incoming Northwood students to ap preciate the arts committee here and know that they can do it too.”

tyler truong The Northwood Howler “EARTH” WITHOUT “ART” IS JUST “EH”: Northwood’s Interdisciplinary Arts Council strives to bring an appreciation to the art communities and classes available on campus.

sophia ho The Northwood Howler

SAVE IT FOR THE RAIN: The movie-watching ambience is best paired with trickling rain in the background.

Hidden horrors of the haunting holiday Halloween

By Ally Venezia Staff Writer

‘Twas the night of Oct. 31, and children were out and about, squeal ing with joy as they bounced from house to house tricking in exchange for treats.

Lurking in the bushes, however, were people dressed in black hoods waiting to inflict damage on the un suspecting trick-or-treaters and adults handing out candy at their houses.

The tradition of Oct. 31 began over 2,000 years ago as the Celtic festival of Samhain. It was believed to be a day where the worlds of the living and dead became blurred and Celts would cause chaos: They dam aged buildings, burned crops and sacrificed animals to their deities as a way to satisfy the ghosts that entered the world on All Hallows’ Eve.

This tradition traveled the world, and for centuries, Halloween was a day for causing havoc. But in the late 1800s, there was a social movement to remove grotesque items and celebrations from the holiday and turn it into a safer holiday for young children.

Wearing scary costumes also originates back to the Celts, who be lieved that wearing costumes scared away the demonic presences of Oct. 31. That tradition morphed into what it is today due to major costuming companies, the first being the Col legeville Flag and Manufacturing Company in the 1920s, who saw the

commercial possibilities of encour aging children to ditch the traditional bedsheet-ghost and become their fa vorite fictional characters.

But despite the multitude of princesses and fairies and Avengers lining the streets, Halloween remains one of the deadliest holidays, as crim inals still take advantage of Hallow een to give out more tricks than treats.

The most common crime com mitted on Halloween is property crime. On average, 17% more crimes are reported on Halloween than any other day of the year, according to the Hartman Law Firm in New Jersey.

In recent years, there has also been a sharp increase in the amount of rape cases reported on college campuses on Halloween. In fact, the

Northwest Arkansas Center for Sexu al Assault has created a campaign en titled “My Costume is Not My Con sent” to emphasize that provocative or revealing clothing does not equate to consent.

Additionally, there is an in creased number of car accidents with children making up 18% of fatal car crashes. Pedestrians have a four times

higher chance of being hit by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year, according to the Center for Dis ease Control and Prevention.

Halloween gives people ano nymity and the confidence that they cannot be caught behind their scary ghoul mask and black drape. Coupled with headlines that could accompa ny their stories such as “Candy Man Murderer” or “Halloween Homicide” to make them go down in infamy causes an increase in gang violence, abductions, murder and rape.

Currently, a new type of fen tanyl disguised as candy is circulat ing around social media, designed to attract younger users. It’s rainbow in color and nicknamed “skittles” or “sweet tarts” according to NBC News. On a night where all candies are brightly colored, it is wise to be wary of each piece you place in your candy collection and to inspect for any unusual holes in the bags.

Other ways to stay safe this Hal loween include carrying a glow stick or flashlight so that cars can see you when crossing the street, keeping your head out of your phone and be ing aware of your surroundings and always tell a trusted adult where you are headed.

Halloween may be depicted as a night full of laughter and too-muchsugar, but the shadows behind the laughing Jack-O-Lantern reveal the true dangers of All Hallows’ Eve, dangers that can be traced back to its ancient origins.

Achieving inclusivity by learning American Sign Language

By Kaylie Wang Staff Writer

Imagine a group of friends and family gathered at a dinner table sud denly burst out laughing. When a d/ Deaf person asks what was funny, they are usually told “It’s nothing” or “I’ll tell you later.” But the d/Deaf person* feels excluded at the table and later, the comment is no longer funny.

An inability to hear is not the problem in this situation; d/Deaf peo ple are capable of communication. Therefore, hearing people should put in the effort to learn how to appro priately communicate with the Deaf community in America with basic American Sign Language.

Hearing people often do not un derstand how to appropriately com municate with d/Deaf people and incorrectly assume or expect them to be capable of reading lips. However, only 30-40% of what is spoken can be lipread, even under the best con ditions, and one typically needs more information to understand what is be ing communicated.

Especially when dinner tables are not set up to have optimal con ditions for lipreading, attempting to understand a conversation becomes extremely draining and leads to in formation loss. The problem of a communication barrier goes beyond just the scenario described above, called the Dinner Table Syndrome; d/Deaf people often experience an emotional toll from being unable to communicate, leading them to disen gage which puts them at a higher risk for depression and anxiety.

With 10 million hard of hearing and 1 million d/Deaf people in the United States, the hearing population should be equipped and prepared to communicate with the Deaf com munity properly while also keeping in mind the variety of communica tion methods within this communi ty; Hard of hearing individuals may choose to lip read and listen with

residual hearing, while other d/Deaf individuals may choose to write or sign to communicate with a hearing person.

Learning a new language (even if just for simple conversations) and the basics of how to best interact with d/Deaf people takes time and effort. Fortunately, students don’t have to look any farther: here at North wood, students can enroll in Michele Pierce’s ASL classes for up to three years.

“My number one goal is that my students leave the program as an advocate for the Deaf community,” Pierce said. “I find it important to learn ASL because it gives you the opportunity to communicate with a minority population, bridging the gap between the hearing and Deaf world.”

Northwood’s ASL club is anoth er opportunity students should utilize

to educate themselves, regardless of whether or not they are enrolled in the class. Meetings are held every other Friday in Room 1426 during lunch, and announcements can be found on the club’s Instagram @nhs_aslclub.

spread awareness about current events through presentations, like September’s International Week of the Deaf. Current ASL students can look forward to study sessions for tests or projects.

My number one goal is that my students leave the program as an advocate for the Deaf community. I find it important to learn ASL be cause it gives you the opportunity to communi cate with a minority population, bridging the gap between the hearing and Deaf world.

ASL teacher Michele Pierce

At meetings, board members teach holiday-themed signs and

“Don’t be afraid to join the club if you don’t know ASL,” club pres

ident senior Neela Michelsen said. “We try our best to be very inclusive and teach signs before playing games so that people can participate.”

Ultimately, the hearing popula tion needs to put in the work to im prove accessibility and inclusivity for d/Deaf individuals. Beyond the class room, people can utilize online re sources to learn conversational ASL such as the ASL University’s website lifeprint.com or their YouTube chan nel “Bill Vicars” for many lessons about the language, Deaf history and culture.

*(Lowercase deaf refers to the individuals with the audiological condition of deafness, but are not in volved in the community and cultural practices. Uppercase Deaf refers to the community and the individuals who are associated/identify with the culture).

Isabella Toralles The Northwood Howler

STRANGER DANGER: The trick-or-treating season has more devious tricks than delectable treats.

Ellie Chan The Northwood Howler

A LOVING LANGUAGE: Senior Bruce Duong practices ASL by describing the short film “The Black Hole” to his partner during class.

Taking the breakfast myth with a grain of salt

By Jaycee Hendrickson Staff Writer

Pushing a cart down the break fast aisle at Pavilions, your eyes can’t help but notice the dozens of vibrant cereal boxes: Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Special-K. On the opposite side, Quaker oatmeal and cinna mon-swirl toast fight for attention. The multitude of breakfast options truly makes you wonder: Is breakfast really as vital as society has made it seem?

The value of breakfast is unde niable and well-supported by vari ous research centers. The Cleveland Clinic, an academic medical center based in Ohio, found that starting the day with a hearty meal provides en ergy for your body and allows for the highest level of productivity along with breaking the overnight fast and improving certain health conditions.

However, the implication that breakfast is a must for everybody is where the phrase “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” be comes a myth.

A large percentage of Ameri cans practice “intermittent fasting,” a form of dieting that helps maintain calorie intake and can be used to regulate pre-existing medical condi tions. Extending the overnight fast to lunchtime is a common practice in this style of eating, resulting in the omission of breakfast.

Additionally, and more com monly, many people wake up and simply aren’t hungry. Starting the day at early hours, the thought of stomaching an entire meal can make people feel sick to the stomach. With this, the misconception is that good nutrition comes from the number of meals you eat each day. Three a day is necessary, any less is a controver sy… right?

False. The importance of eating should lie in what works best for an individual, as long as a healthy life style and nutritional values are met

in alternative ways. One method is matching the recommended amount of nutrients and energy supply during lunch and dinner, lessening the need for a large meal in the morning.

The misconception about break fast further stems from the exploita tion of breakfast companies such as Kelloggs, who, for decades, helped the movement gain its traction. Brand names have used the widespread idea to market their products as “healthy” and “vital” components of morning routines, despite contradictory re search. For example, Kellogg’s Froot

Loops claims to be healthy through the inclusion of vitamins, but the true value of these nutrients are far lower in concentration than saturated fat, carbohydrates and sugar.

So the next time you walk around Pavilions and read Kellogg’s “nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive,” there’s no need to fall for it. Eating breakfast isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing but a personal choice that has studies to back both decisions.

But just know, the cereal adver tising market is out to get you.

Classifieds: Northwood High Students and faculty members may place classified ads in The Northwood Howler by contacting the Business Manager at: north woodnewspaper@gmail.com

The Northwood Howler is pub lished by Northwood High School as an open forum for exchange of news and ideas. Views expressed in The Northwood Howler do not necessarily represent opinions of the NHS administration or the Irvine Unified School District.

Signed letters to the Editor are welcomed and encouraged. They can be placed in Adviser Marina Alburger’s mailbox or delivered to Room 1102. The Northwood Howler reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar and clarity. Advertisements do not necessarily represent the opinion of the newspaper.

Mission Statement: To serve as a medium for school news and the expression of student ideas while adhering to the highest standards of journalistic integrity.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kang

MANAGING EDITOR

Chang

ADVISER

Alburger

COPY

NEWS

ACCENT

A&E

By Annie Lee Viewpoint Editor

Creativity is a trait often used to distinguish the human brain from a machine algorithm. However, artifi cial intelligence blurs the boundaries of human and machine characteris tics by mastering complex human skills, including the newest venture of AI into art.

DALL-E, an AI image gener ator, was made available for public use on Sept. 28 after a beta testing period that limited the program to a select group of users. Utilizing ma chine learning of millions of exist ing pictures and captions, DALL-E transforms user text input into digital artworks in specified styles. While this breakthrough in technology is as tounding, AI art generators pose phil osophical and ethical issues that may

First, AI-generated art isn’t nec essarily original. Humans draw on personal experiences and observa tions of the natural world to create art. Machines are fed data scraped from the internet to analyze and learn from so that they can eventually copy human behavior and thoughts. Because machines cannot internally create their own data or patterns, it is impossible for a computer to have original creations, which raises copy right and plagiarism issues.

Although current AI can mimic human emotions, it cannot emit gen uine personal emotions. After all, AI machines consist of electricity and wires while human brains comprise of neurons and synapses. Histori cally, artists use art to express their emotions in an effort to touch their audience. Because AI-generated art doesn’t fall

traditional purpose of art, it is diffi cult to call the AI machine or the user an artist.

AI art was created with a good intention in mind: artistic experi mentation to stimulate a person’s imagination. According to OpenAI, the company that created DALL-E, “more than 1.5 million users are now actively creating over 2 million im ages a day with DALL-E—from art ists and creative directors to authors and architects.” However, users with malicious intentions have a powerful AI art generator to create synthetic media perfect for spreading misin formation like fictitious personas and fabricated content. A study conduct ed on recognition of forged images found that when identifying fake face images, “human accuracy is about 50%, which is essentially ran dom guessing.”

Unfortunately, AI art will also likely harm artists’ ability to earn stable income or excel in competi tions. An AI-generated portrait of Edmond Belamy sold for $432,500 in 2018. A realistic humanoid robot, Sophia, sold her digital artwork for nearly $700,000 in 2021. A man won first place in the digital art category at the 2022 Colorado State Fair’s art competition with an artwork created by the text-to-image AI generator Midjourney. Against a faster, cheaper and maybe even more successful al ternative of AI art, human illustrators might not be wanted by corporations and employers anymore.

AI art can, and has already, paved the way for AI videos and AI music, but we have to be careful that our technological improvements will benefit society. For whatever field it is used for, AI should not replace humans, but rather serve to elevate human intelligence.

CENTERSPREAD

VIEWPOINT

MANAGER

BUSINESS

Kulkarni

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Aya

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

WRITERS

Shreya

Ellie Chan The Northwood Howler

PROMISES AREN’T (CE)REAL: Breakfast foods have nutritional value but are not as essential as portrayed.

Generated By DALL-E

Isabella Torrales The Northwood Howler

Madeleine Pham The Northwood Howler

‘We Want Andy!’: Athletic Trainer Andy Sepulveda

By Jaycee Hendrickson Staff Writer

Andy Sepulveda. If the name rings a bell, it’s likely because almost every athlete at Northwood has either visited her office or knows a team mate that has. Or, they’ve heard the “We want Andy!” chants ring across volleyball games, celebrating Sepul veda’s contributions as Northwood’s sole athletic trainer.

Sepulveda has a packed daily schedule consisting of medical pa perwork and record keeping, restock ing, attending meetings with fellow trainers and checking in with players. Appointed as IUSD’s lead athletic trainer in 2015, she also keeps track of district-wide athletic policies and assists with technicalities at fellow IUSD schools.

Besides the behind-thedesk components of her job, Sepulveda’s office is also swamped with a wave of student athletes after the school day concludes.

“We do eval and treatment on our in jured players and then go to games or practices.”

Sepulveda said.

“Most people don’t know that we actually leave

campus very late.”

As an athletic trainer, having a clear understanding of all procedures is highly demanding. Sepulveda must be able to recall specific protocols for concussions, return to play, basic injuries, lightning during games, heat and air quality issues and more. In high stress scenarios such as impact injuries, Sepulveda must also make fast-paced decisions concerning seri ous medical attention.

At the beginning of her colle giate career at Orange Coast College, Sepulveda was set to take the path towards medicine—not athletic train ing. But one thing that she always knew about herself was that she truly loved to be around athletics. Being involved in three sports throughout high school and collaborating with teams and like-minded athletes was a huge foundation in her life. It was not until her second year of college that she realized her interest in medi cine, passion for sports and desire to help others could be combined into a single profession: athletic training.

“I took some sports medicine classes, interned at some schools and I just absolutely fell in love with it,” Sepulveda said.

She later took that passion to Chapman University and finished her upper-level education with a degree in kinesiology and an emphasis on athletic training. After gradu ation, Sepulveda made her way to Northwood.

Staying at the high school level after college was an unex pected aspect of Sepulveda’s ca reer, but her newfound love for the age group made it hard to imagine being anywhere else. Here at North wood, Sepulveda also trains current college students that are looking to become trainers in the future.

When talking about the experience of taking interns under her wing, a bright smile spread across Sepul veda’s face and only one word came out: “amazing.”

Among her first trainees were students from her alma mater, Chap man University, and now with nearly 15 years of experience in the field, campuses such as Cal State Fullerton also partner with Sepulveda. Having the opportunity to watch her students grow throughout the semester has been one of the most meaningful parts of the job, as many of them con tinue to take on bigger responsibili ties and even become her colleagues within IUSD.

As with any job, athletic train ing also has its downsides. In situa tions where an athlete experiences a season-ending injury, it falls to Sepulveda to tell the athlete. And despite efforts to fight her own tears, she often finds herself emotional as she breaks the news.

“When someone gets

hurt, they’re upset, scared and they don’t know what is going to happen to them,” Sepulveda said. “I like to be that person that can help them and make them feel better.”

For Sepulveda, be ing at Northwood has brought a sense of community and love that she had never imag ined. Above her multitude of responsi bilities, she emphasizes her appre ciation for those that she’s

worked with over the years.

“Being here for 24 years, I love it when the athletes come back and visit me,” Sepulveda said. “It’s so meaningful to me.”

CIF Southern Section opens doors for girls flag football

By Olivia Cai Staff Writer

The CIF Southern Section passed a proposal allowing girls flag football to become a sanctioned sport on Sept. 29. The proposal will be voted for approval at a council meeting in February and if approved, will take effect starting the 2023-24 school year.

“We are excited at the idea of getting a girls flag football team at Northwood,” athletics director Si erra Wang said. “Both Mr. Emery and myself look forward to hearing from those who are interested and continu ing this conversation.”

Friday night football games are an integral part of the American high school experience, but girls often re main sidelined.

Girls are technically allowed to join tackle football teams, and many do, including Laguna Beach High School athlete Bella Rasmussen who became the first female student to score two touchdowns in a high school game in California last week. But being the only girl, or one of few girls, on a male-dominated team pres ents challenges for female prospects in participating in teamwork and camaraderie. According to the CIF proposal, flag football would expand access to the values, teamwork and educational pathways to female play ers.

“I like the idea of strategy and using your IQ to the fullest,” junior

Hanah Khattab said. “Football is such an all-hands on deck game, and that builds a strong connection be tween players.”

Flag football has gained popu larity in IUSD in the past few years, despite not yet being an official CIF sport.

“I’ve been seeing other high schools like University and Wood bridge with flag football teams and always wished Northwood had Elle Kivo said.

“The speed and intelligence of the game is really excit ing and differ ent compared to other sports.”

transportation, uni forms and equipment will be aided by Nike and the NFL, who are donating $100,000 to CIF specifically for girls flag foot ball. Encouraging girls to play flag football not only promotes female athletes, but also grows the NFL’s viewership, meaning more money for the organization.

bility of flag football becoming a CIF sport next year,” junior Singh Saige said. “I’m glad there are beginning to be more options for female athletes.”

REFUSE TO LOSE: Sophomore Keerthana Venkateswaran pass es a football with freshman Yasmine Anan before tennis practice.

Aryav Nagar The Northwood Howler

PREPARATION GOES A LONG WAY: Athletic trainer Andy Sepulveda tapes up a football senior’s ankle for his game against Laguna Hills High School.

Tyler Truong The Northwood Howler

A basic guide to CIF terminology (for dummies)

By Shreya Aithal Staff Writer

The California Interscholastic Federation is an essential part of any high school athlete’s season. While most hear the terms used casually by athletes, CIF terminology can be con fusing to athletes and non-athletes alike. Refer to this guide of the intri cacies of CIF play a s you go through games of the week, tournaments, playoffs and more.

CIF:

CIF is the governing organiza tion for high school sports in Cali fornia. Founded in 1914, CIF origi nally attempted to standardize rules throughout the state, and has been a statewide organization of regulations for all sports since 1917.

Sections:

With many tiers of competition, CIF is first split into ten sections. Northwood falls under the Southern Section, which is the largest section and covers schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino and some schools in San ta Barbara.

Leagues:

Each section is split into indi vidual leagues, which are often de pendent on one’s city. Northwood, all

other IUSD schools, Beckman High School, Laguna Hills High School and Sage Hill High School fall un der the Pacific Coast League, which is one of 90 leagues in the Southern Section. League championships oc cur near the end of each sport’s sea son to determine top schools in the league.

Non-League games:

Before league play begins, teams will play other schools in the area in non-league games, which are not part of the CIF portion of the sea son.

Divisions:

After league play concludes, in dividual teams are split into divisions which vary by sport, and the number of divisions varies depending on the sport. Divisions are decided by the performance of the schools through out various seasons, in both league and CIF tournaments. After league championships, sports advance to CIF playoffs in their respective divi sions.

Section tournaments:

Each division plays a tourna ment from which the top team ad vances to the section tournament, which plays in the same style as league and playoffs. For sports with out a State Championship, their sea

son will end here. For the Southern Section, section tournaments are ab breviated as CIF-SS.

Regional Tournaments:

Regional tournaments take place after section tournaments con clude with top teams from each sec tion, to determine entries for the State Championships. The brackets for regional tournaments may differ for each sport.

State Championships:

This is the final level of CIF play, but only takes place for cer tain sports. For these sports, top teams from each division continue to compete within their division to de termine who will take the CIF State Championship title.

Fall Season Preview: Reminders for spectators this fall season include that cross coun try runners will go through CIF-SS Preliminaries and Finals before po tentially qualifying for the State Meet based on their standing.

In addition, Girls golf will par ticipate in CIF-SS Finals, then go on to Team Divisional Championships and team and individual Southern California Golf Association qualifi ers. Post these tournaments and qual ifiers, SCGA tournaments will take place and serve as the regional tour

naments for CIF. After this, the team may be eligible for the State Champi onships based on team standing.

Boys football will finish their CIF playoff schedules (CIF-SS Pre liminaries and Finals) before po tentially being eligible to compete at the Southern regionals and State Championships based on their stand ing after they finish their CIF playoff schedules.

Girls tennis approach the end of their season with their section tourna ment (CIF-SS preliminaries and fi nals), going on to play at the Southern California Team Regionals, as well as individual sectionals and then cham pionships before their season comes to an end.

Girls volleyball became eligible to compete at CIF State Champion ships based on their rankings after CIF playoff rounds and Southern California Regionals.

Boys water polo has made a recent change into a league carousel format, playing in a single-elimina tion bracket for both league and CIF games. The top two teams after the first round of games will advance in league and qualify for CIF-SS pre liminaries and may advance to CIFSS finals. The remaining teams will compete with one another, with the top four making it to CIF State Pre liminaries as well. All games will be hosted at Sage Hill High School.

SENIOR SPEAK: Girls volleyball on their last season

At Northwood, I’ve played la crosse for three years and I’ve also played soccer, flag football, tennis, basketball, softball and there’s prob ably more that I’m just not thinking of. But I chose to stay with volleyball because I just really like the game. I love the pace of it, and I really enjoy how fast it goes. Volleyball is also one of those sports where you can only get better through practice.

It’s not so much a natural talent thing. Especially for my other sports, I would definitely say that compared to the gener al teams I’ve been on, I’ve always been the best. But at Northwood, our pro grams are pretty good this year. And so, not being the best is also nice because it pushes me to get better.

- Joi Li #2

I’ve been on varsity for four years and watching how the team and I grew from my freshman year to now was really cool. We’ve been through a lot this season and to see our efforts culminate in that one moment when we won League was really nice. I’d encourage anyone to join volleyball because it builds your confidence as a per son, not just as an athlete.

It really shapes your social skills since it’s such a col laborative sport. That team dynamic in volleyball is re ally not like any other sport because you need every single player on the team for every play. There’s no way for one player to completely play for the

- Olivia Cai #6

Being a senior feels weird, like I’m still supposed to be a junior or an underclassman. I’ve been playing volleyball for seven years total and I learned a lot of who I am based off of volleyball. It’s just always been there for me throughout this entire journey

through school. So I’m definitely gonna miss having an outlet of friends and having this sport to rely on. There’s so many exciting mo ments I want to remem ber. Like during this season, I got to play outside twice. That’s not a position I usually play because normally I play back row, but I got a kill, which was so exciting.

that I’ve made have kept me in this sport since middle school. I know that sounds corny, but these girls are really awesome. We’re just like a little family. I’m re ally going to miss things like Lindsey braid ing my hair ev ery game. I call it “Hair by Lindz” because she does it, I swear, every game. She braids my hair and then she braids every one else’s and it’s so cute when we all have match ing hair. And on the bus rides from when we come home from away games, we sing the alma mater. We always start singing at the second stop sign coming in, and by the end we’re cheering white, silver and navy blue.

michael

Saba Nabaeighahroudi The Northwood Howler

Tickle

Northwood’s Campus of Horrors: A Tour that leaves you Howlin’

by rITa laI Accent Editor

Students from all over IUSD flock over the rolling hills and majes tic Oak to see the fiercest haunted house that will make even the bravest souls start howling for their parents.

Venture throughout the school on the bi-annu al dates around Decem ber and March to hear the eerie sobs and hysteri cal cries of Northwood un derclassmen. Yes, the sight of anchor grades inputted in the Aeries gradebook is truly a blood-curdling sight and a rite of pas sage for those who subject themselves to a 2-years long ritual known as Hu

manities Core.

Upon the theater stage, scratches myste riously appear across the wooden shell even though everyone swears they haven’t laid a single

You can observe them on their attempts to cre ate poison through acid/ base manipulation of milk of magnesium (haha ur M.O.M.) and acetic acid, and their rehearsal of tor

middle school lest you meet your demise here” and hurtful truths such

strange arrangement of toilet paper strewn on the brown-streaked tiles and the purposeful splatters of yellow from the sacri fice of students’ life-water. And of course, fi nally, come to the gym where the stench of teenage BO can strike one uncon scious at a single whiff, and sing along to our glorious alma mater.

Northwood High upon the hills

parents.”

Among the science buildings is where mad scientists run rampant.

frightful warnings such as “You better have de veloped a work ethic in

It’s said that the bath rooms are locked at all times in order to keep students from falling into dark rituals situat ed among the porcelain seats. One can spot trac es of these rituals by the

We’re malaised in unity. Your growling hills, abestic oak

Look toward the creeps due glee.

Our forensics and our murderings

Will mold forever, whew. The Pack of Northwood wrong and loud White, Silver, Navy Blue!

by lucy KIm Staff Writer

AITBG for involv ing my friend in my abstract school project?

My (14 Y.O. Male) H9 Capstone project for this year is about Julius Cae sar, the unit we had at the beginning of fall. Because the instructions called for any artwork that could display a theme shown in the literature, I decid ed to do performance art where I betray my friends.

Backstabbing—you know?

Obviously for education al purposes. Like Brutus did to Caesar. It’s rational and totally makes sense, I swear. This includes:

A) Ditching on plans last minute

B) Insulting them in their absence

C) Befriending their mortal enemies

I haven’t even turned in my project yet, but ap

parently a group chat was formed and they com plained. Next thing I know, I end up in the counsel or’s office. It’s ridiculous!

I even got my idea ap proved by my teachers!

I told them that I was a hopeful novice in the per forming arts and that I would demonstrate the thematic topic of betrayal through an elaborate act by me and my friends.

In fact, I’m more hurt by the fact that my friends (out of all people) would team up against me be cause of a school project. So tell me Northwood, am I really the bad guy here?

TOP COMMENT:

u/reallygoodfriend

Yeah no, NTBG, sue the school for defamation. I don’t even need the pre tense of a group project to do all that. None of MY friends have been upset once, you need to get bet ter friends.

AITBG for committing group gas poi soning during science class?

Hello Northwood. IS3 student here. I know the title sounds bad, but hear me out.

A week ago, my (16 Y.O. Female) IS3 class was conducting a lab that in volved Bunsen burners. I’ll be honest here, I was too busy discussing the ethics of Ungrading with my ta blemates to listen to the instructions.

But there was a work sheet with “INSTRUC TIONS” written on top in red, bolded 96pt font— anyone in my place would have assumed that a pa per with that much red was just a reminder about my missing assignments.

We were dismissed to go to our stations to start the experiment. But there was one slight problem: I had accidentally discarded the instructions. But how

was I supposed to know they were instructions?

First reason why this is a NTBG post.

All I had to refer ence was our gas stove at home, and those are pret ty simple—turn the knob, fire. So I turned the knob. And there was no fire, so clearly I wasn’t turning it enough. I turned the knob again. That’s when I no ticed a funny smell coming from the burner.

I didn’t think much of it at first, but other people started complaining about the horrid stench, then the teacher did a double take. He stormed towards our lab station—Harry Pot ter, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire style (dramatic much?)—and yelled at us about not fol lowing instructions. The instructions sheet was not clear that it was actually instructions, and the glar ing red was too much for my eyes. I can’t imagine what one is supposed to assume. Reason number two.

Anyways, the period ended with everyone get ting evacuated while the teacher stopped the gas leak and aired out the classroom. I now have three detentions for “put ting the entire class in dan ger,” which “wouldn’t have happened if you had read the instructions.” Where were these “instructions” that he speaks of?! La razón número tres.

I cannot pinpoint a sin gle speck of fault from my end, and neither can my tablemates. I can’t believe I’m going to have to go to detention. We’re not the bad guys here, right?!

TOP COMMENT:

u/whatsgaslighting

NTBG, you’re being gaslighted (heh). They’re manipulating you into thinking you’re the crazy one for not having seen in structions that were clear ly too easily confusable. Stay strong OP!

Isabella Torrales The Northwood Howler

madele ne Pham The Northwood Howler

Timby’s tips on maintaining a fursuit

by rhea GuPTa

At the end of the day, you’re burning more Hal loween calories off with the gallons of sweat under that faux head.

However, maintaining the quality is key. I have so generously com piled a list of my secret methods for taking care of my fur, so follow these effortless tips to stay looking fresh.

Every two hours, I polish the suit with window cleaner solution mixed with my secret ingredi ent: Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser. The solution must contain a rare ingredient found only at the top of the Himalayas, so I would recommend ordering your product at least 16 months in advance.

washed hair brush used by at least 100 different peo ple. Use the Airwrap and used hairbrush to make sure those curls stay in all night!

3. I end the night with an extensive skincare routine. I start off with double cleansing: first, an oil based cleansing balm to really get that Hallow een grime off the precious suit, then, follow that up with three different se rums (glycolic to exfoliate, niacinamide to maintain that youthful glow and clorox bleach-free wipes to seal in the treatment). I finish off with a mud mask with the preserved mud from the Northwood prac tice field.

Hey! I hear you’re stepping into my world—or rather step ping into a suit of fur like mine. It’s okay… some might judge you for your costume choice, but your noble decision will be no ticed by the superior few.

2. After cleaning the suit, styling the fur is what will really attract the most compliments. The Dyson Airwrap is the most af fordable option for this process Another neces sary product is an un

Follow these simple tips and your costume will be the talk of the night! (Gosh, this routine has made me all itchy with what I think is excitement, to the point that I’m aging and getting all these white chunks in my fur.)

Yours truly, Timby ��

WarnocK

Northwood Howler

soPhIa hoThe Northwood Howler