Volume 81: Issue 7

S t u de n t P r i n t s Sylvania Northview High School

The

April 2, 2007

Issue #7

NEWS Pages 1,2 & 3

EDITORIALS Pages 4, 5 & 6

voting online, wave of the future page 2

Volume 81

FEATURES SPORTS Pages 7, 8 & 9 Pages 10, 11 &12 Sweet times at Turnabout page 9

holidays - just getting out of hand! page 4

Spring sports get underway pages 10-12

Fall play Robotics goes into overdrive takes full show to states Wil l C ousino

Sta ff Wri te r

Jackie Zureich C o-E di tor-In- Chie f On the weekend of March 30 through April 1, Northview’s fall play, The Diviners, took their show to Northmont High School near Dayton for the 2007 Ohio EdTA State Thespian Conference.

The Diviners show was the fourth time a NV Theatre has performed at the State conference under the direction of Mr. Don Wachowiak.

Previous shows include The Crucible (2000), Rumors (2001), and Moon Over Buffalo (2005), according to a NV Theatre press release.

When a play or musical is invited to the state conference it is very different from when athletes, sport teams, or speech and debate go to states. Instead of going to compete against other shows for the best overall show, the honor is the invitation. The director must request for a show to be screened by judges from the conference in order to even be invited. A show can then receive a 60-minute, a 45-minute or a full-length invitation, according to the Ohio Educational Theater Association.

Receiving a full-length invitation is like winning first place because the judges feel that the show was good enough to be performed all the way through in front of thespians from all over the state, according to Mr. Wachowiak.

The Diviners cast and crew were invited to perform their show full-length and they rehearsed every week since February 8 for the Conference, according to Mr. Wachowiak.

Each show invited then performed over the course of three days. Parents and students are not allowed to simply travel to the conference to cheer on the shows, unlike athletic state competitions. They must be registered in order to attend, according to the Ohio Educational Theater Association.

Over 1500 theatre students, teachers and chaperones attend the conference every year. The Diviners was on stage along with 11 other shows that were invited to perform full-length. Six 60minute performances, and twenty 45-minute performances also performed, according to the Ohio Educational Association.

“Having the opportunity to perform for such a large group of theatre students and teachers is a fantastic experience for our students,” said Mr. Wachowiak.

The conference didn’t only consist of performances either. There were also several workshops that cast, crew, and chaperones could attend, including performance workshops, directing workshops, and technical workshops.

There was also a dance that participants could attend Saturday night, according to Mr. Wachowiak.

“Going to States was one of the best experiences. It was great to interact with other theatre students from around the state and watch the best shows perform,” said junior Lauren Owens, who plays Jenny Mae Laymen in The Diviners.

“It’s as if all my greatest aspirations, dreams and desires have manifested into one thing and one thing only- State thespian Conference,” said senior Isaac Cohen explaining his excitement for the Conference.

The Diviners cast and crew performed an encore performance on March 28 for students and community members who missed it the first time around.

The Sylvania Cat Attack Robotics team is seeking an addition to their collection of laurels this season as they charge into competition behind their automated steed, πR8.

An aggressive and successful financial campaign drew in the funds that fuel the appetite of the sophisticated cyborg’s budget.

The annual winterization of lawn mowers drew in record numbers of customers and funds, according to team member junior Kacey Kinsel.

Meetings have been held at the DANA building since late fall and currently the team consists of 25 students and approximately 20 advisors, including parents and DANA employees.

The squad was faced with a daunting challenge for tournament competition this season. The season’s game dictates the design of a mobile robot that can collect inflatable pool rings with a hydraulic arm and a pneumatic claw, according to coach Mr. Andy Roth. Once the ring is retrieved it must be placed on pegs jutting out from a tall, jungle-gym styled cage in the center of the arena. Teams operate under an intense two and a half minute time constraint each round. Adding to the difficulty of the task is the fact that opponent robots may block or intercept a robot in its effort to score. Cat Attack’s strategy and subsequent robot design has been offensive,

Photo courtsey of Mr. Roth PERFORMING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ON THE GRIPPER is DANA advisor Tom O’Neil and senior officer Jared Allen. The gripper picks up pool inter tubes during the games. according to Mr. Roth.

“The last two or three weeks before President’s Day weekend we met nearly every night as the February 20 deadline to ship our completed robot approached,” said Kinsel.

Continuing the Cat Attack tradition of success is a direct result of the innumerable hours poured into the metal and wires of yet another robot. The final long weekend before shipping πR8 after President’s Day was spent adding the final man-hours to the robot. The team usually cuts it close when it comes to meeting the deadline and this year several members stayed at the DANA Corporation labs

past midnight on February 19 to ensure the robot’s fine-tuned readiness, according to Kinsel.

The interim between shipping πR8 and the first tournament was used for contingency preparation by the team. As the majority of teams do, Cat Attack constructs spare parts for their machine in the event of a break down or collision at the match. To hone and sharpen the ‘bot’s drivers into well-trained fanatics, a practice robot is used. This robot is not shipped, but remains instead with the team for preparation, according to Kinsel.

The team’s first tournament was March 7-8 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Last year Cat Attack

finished second, narrowly losing the final round. Due to mechanical difficulties with the shifting mechanism and a faulty arm, the team made a disappointing finish in Ypsilanti.

“The mishaps we met at Ypsilanti have been repaired, so hopefully we won’t have trouble with the arm coming loose or the robot making circles in Cleveland,” said Mr. Roth.

Next on the team’s schedule is a competition in Cleveland on March 22-24. “We’re anxious to take our game to the east side of the state,” said Kinsel, “It will be an interesting challenge—no northwest Ohio team has ever taken first place in Cleveland.”

Orchestra superior in all respects Ta r a Pate l Sta ff Wri te r Northview Orchestras took their musical talents to the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) State Orchestra Contest March 2 and 3 in Sandusky and received the highest rating.

OMEA State Orchestra Contest is an annual event designed to critique and comment on the playing skills of school orchestras.

Groups compete in one of three classes; A, B or C, A being the highest level of difficulty. Three official OMEA adjudicators judge the floor performances and reward the orchestra with a rating ranging from Superior (I) to Very Poor (V).

The group then heads to a separate room for sight-reading. Eight minutes are given to the players to look at the assigned piece and scrutinize it for key changes, dynamic contrasts, accidentals, and difficult rhythms. After the few minutes of intense concentration, the orchestra plays the piece as well as they can and the judge proceeds to give them one of the five ratings.

“This sight reading was the hardest we’ve ever had, but Mrs. Thiel prepared us really well and we stayed together,” said junior violinist Michael Deng.

Chamber Orchestra competed in Class A, while Concert Orchestra performed in Class C. Both received a superior rating.

Members were happy their hard work and dedication paid off despite the six snow days.

“With all the missing school I thought we were in a lot of trouble.

I’m glad we pulled it off,” said junior violinist Michelle Reardon.

Each group brought three pieces to the contest to be judged.

Chamber Orchestra left early from school to perform March 2.

They started off with a fast paced Bach composition entitled Sinfonia in D Major. The moving and dynamic oriented Ase’s Death from the Peer Gynt Suite followed and the performance ended with the complex and fast Suite for Strings by John Rutter.

“The John Rutter piece was really challenging, but we ended up pulling it off really well,” said Deng.

Concert Orchestra departed NV at 6 am the following morning for an early performance.

Saison de Cordes by Francis Frese was first on the list, followed

by All the Pretty Little Horses featuring freshman violin soloists Haley Armstrong and Alex Gibson.

Concert Orchestra finished the concert with the rhythmic Cakewalk from Serenade for String Orchestra

by Norman Leyden.

After the weeks of intense practice, the Orchestra relaxed for a while before starting to prepare for the May POPs Concert.

Angela Strock PlAYING THE BASS FOR CONCERT ORCHESTRA is junior Nicole Drotar.

2Students mentor STAMP A pril 2, 2007

N EWS

Tay lor He lbe rg Sta f f Wri te r

Stay Tobacco-Free Athlete Mentor Program is a prevention program for youth tobacco use of the American Cancer Society, Ohio Division.

Tobacco-free high school students from Northview are trained to present four curriculum-based classroom sessions to eighth grade students at Arbor Hills Junior High. Cheryl Horn is the STAMP advisor for NV students.

Recent surveys by the Ohio Department of Health and the U.S. Center for Disease Control show that tobacco use among Ohioans is above the national average. This is the reason the STAMP program is necessary for junior high students, according to the American Cancer Society website.

“I enjoy working with the eighth graders because they cooperate and want to learn. By the end of the fourth session I can see the positive outcome of our mentoring,” said senior STAMP mentor Spencer Berman.

The programs include informational activities and games.

Mentors give handouts and sometimes assign homework.

Mentors are chosen through an application process. Once chosen, they are excused from class periods 4 through 7 for a

Prep for Prom underway Tay lor He lberg Sta f f Wri te r

Meredith Lodge

LEADING ARBOR HILLS STUDENTS in a STAMP session is junior Angela Strock with Mrs. Reed’s 8th grade class. training day in NV’s library. Horn explains what STAMP is and how to present the activities.

The STAMP mentors are then assigned times to go to Arbor Hills

according to their preference. A bus travels back and forth picking up and dropping off the mentors between NV and Arbor Hills.

“As a mentor, I get a lot out of this

program along with the students. It is a great experience and we are able to get great letters of recommendation,” said senior STAMP mentor Katelyn Straube.

SV honors student caught hacking Wang Pan C o-E di tor-In- Chie f On March 1, the Sylvania School Board held a meeting regarding the expulsion of a Southview sophomore from Sylvania Schools.

This student, with a 4.615 GPA, was at the top of his class at SV and had a record of achievement.

However, in the month of February, he was caught infiltrating the entire Sylvania Schools district computer networks gaining complete access to all the computers and servers in the district by using tools on a USB flash drive, according to the student.

On February 16, during his second period Chemistry Commons, the student logged in with a district administrator account. During this time a routine check of the computer systems by the district was underway and noticing the adminis-

trator login from SV, Technical Director Sheryl O’Shea went to investigate. O’Shea and SV Assistant Principal Larry Duwve were able to catch the student in the act on computer number 28 and questioned him.

“The student should be punished and disciplined for getting into the system, he could have changed any grades and seen any personal information without the district knowing he did so,” said senior Patrick McEwen.

The student then received a 10-day out-ofschool suspension and later learned from Student Services at the Burnham Building that he would be expelled from Sylvania Schools until September 21. After the hearing on March 1, it was decided that the student would only be expelled until June 6, 2007, according to the SV sophomore.

“This just proves how vulnerable our district system is. No one should be punished for pointing out this weakness; you wouldn’t put a man who

owns a gun into jail for murder just because he has the potential of killing someone,” said freshman Katherine Chang.

By having access to all the servers and networks in the district, the student had access to all the grades, exams, and texts from teachers as well as confidential information like bank account numbers that they may have stored there. Although the student claims that he did not plan to do anything on February 16, some teachers’ tests and other work was found on his flash drive.

“I don’t think the student should be expelled.

I mean the person is an amazing student and didn’t do anything to the grades or the school system when he could have, so no harm, no foul,” said SV senior Brandon Girard.

According to the student, he does not plan to return to Sylvania Schools but is rather looking at possibilities of either going to a school in Michigan or a private school.

Underclassmen Local Jazz groups endure OGTs provide cheap E li z abeth Strick Sta f f Wri te r Northview sophomores endured a week of tests to assess their academic skills from March 12-16 while taking the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGTs). The OGTs are “assessments aligned to Ohio’s Academic Content Standards in reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing that students in high school must take to demonstrate proficiency before graduation from high school,” according to the Ohio Department of Education’s website. The purpose of the OGTs are to ensure that students who receive a high school diploma demonstrate at least high school levels of achievement, measure the level of reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies skills expected of students at the end of the 10th grade, and to meet federal requirement for high school testing, according to the Ohio Department of Education’s website.

Freshman and sophomores reported to school at the normal time while upperclassmen had a late start. Freshmen took a practice OGT test while sophomores took the actual test.

“The OGTs are tedious to take but since they are necessary for graduation I don’t really mind taking them,” said sophomore Sweta Rao. The OGTs are taken in a specific order: reading, math, writing, science, and social studies. Each test was composed of multiple choice, extended response, and sometimes an essay question.

The scores of the OGTs for freshman will be distributed and discussed by individual teachers about a month after the test was taken. Sophomore’s scores will be mailed to them during the summer, according to Assistant Principal Julie Sanford.

Northview Cheerleading Tryouts What: Football and Basketball Cheerleading Who: All grades When: April 2 - 4 Time: 3 - 6pm Where: Northview Auxiliary Gym

entertainment Greg Adkins News E di tor

The annual Jazz Fest, hosted by Northview, took place on February 28. Every year jazz ensembles meet at NV to participate in a day-long extravaganza of music from various schools including NV, Southview, and Whitmer.

A professional jazz band also attends the festival every year and wraps up the night with its music for anyone who wants to hear. The entire concert costs only $2 providing a good bang for the buck.

This year the Bowling Green State University Faculty Jazz Band traveled to NV to perform as the featured group. Their band consisted of trumpets, guitar, piano, drums, and bass. They played the final numbers and wowed the audience with great sounds and outstanding solos from many of its members.

“The BGSU bass player was fantastic. His solos were amazing and he was very animated while he played,” said senior trombone player Patrick McEwen.

NV sports two jazz groups, the upper one being Jazz Band and the younger group, Jazz Cats. Jazz Cats was the very first band to kick off the night at 4:20 pm while Jazz Band wrapped up the high school program starting at 7 pm. The songs played by NV’s Jazz Band included “Four,” “Liza Jane,” “C-Jam Blues,” and “Summerset.”

The song “Summerset” was composed by NV’s own Brad Kahn, a senior baritone saxophone player in the Jazz Band. He had a solo in the song and won a best solo award for it from the competition.

“I’ve written and arranged songs before but I’ve never had them performed. It was a thrill to hear one of my ideas actually played on stage in front of a crowd,” said senior baritone sax player Brad Kahn.

Class Government has been preparing for prom on May 12 for about a month.

The dance and dinner will take place at The Wyndham Hotel in downtown Toledo. The dinner courses were selected by CG at a food tasting.

The centerpieces were chosen with a vase and rose petals. The theme colors for the dance are red, black, and white, according to Senior Class Treasurer, Katherine Kim. Everyone at prom will receive a souvenir to take home. “We tried to pick out the most elegant and useful souvenir for both boys and girls,’ said Kim. Promenade will take place before the dinner at 6:15pm. This is when parents can come and take pictures in the lobby while the couples and friends walk down an isle in a fashion show manner.

Then, students are directed towards the hall for appetizers and a photo opportunity by a professional photographer. Students will then sit down at their assigned tables to start the dinner.

Students will be able to choose their main entrée ahead of time at school.

Music will be playing while students eat and at any time they are allowed to dance.

Once the dance ends at 11:30pm students will change into more comfortable attire and head over to NV for After Prom.

Senior parents sponsor and decorate for After Prom. There are many fun activities such as gambling with fake money, blow up games, and food.

After Prom goes into the late hours of the night and ends with a raffle for prizes.

Officer shot while on duty K atie Wambold Sta f f Wri te r Toledo Detective Keith Dressel was shot and killed by a 15-year-old on February 21.

Detective Dressel, accompanied by another officer, confronted two kids walking down the street around 2AM for a curfew check, according to WTOL.com. They walked near the two boys, 15-year old Robert Jobe and 19-year old Sherman Powell, who were doing a potential drug deal.

The two boys could not identify the officers until they came near them because it was a night of dense fog. Once they knew it was two officers they ran away.

Officer Dressel, doing his job, ran after Jobe when Jobe pulled a gun on him and shot him once in the chest. They caught Powell instantly but Jobe ran from the scene, later turning himself in. The two are currently in jail awaiting trial.

The Dressel family received a phone call later that morning and got together to help console one another, according to WTOL.com Officer Dressel’s funeral was the following Monday at 11 a.m. Sylvania Township officers and State Troopers patrolled the Toledo area allowing the Toledo Police to attend the funeral. Thousands of people attended and it was also broadcast on three major television networks according to Channel 11 News.

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre gave a eulogy during the mass. He said, “Everyone he (Officer Dressel) came in contact with could tell by that big smile that he enjoyed his job.” People that also spoke included Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Lt. Governor Lee Fisher, Attorney General Mark Dann, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, and Officer Dressel’s uncle Ken Dressel, who spoke directly to his nephew about what a great father he had.

Many businesses collected donations for the family. Many people gave money, even a homeless man who only had a few dollars to give, according to Channel 11 News. People gave anywhere from $1 to $5,000.

Keith was hired as a Toledo Police Officer in 1993. He is survived by his wife, Danielle Dressel, and his two children ages six and four.

N EWS

3 Challenge Day successful Snow days A pril 2, 2007

exceed limit

Li z z y Breie r Sta f f Wri te r Challenge Day, this year named “It,” was again a huge success with the freshmen class.

Last Monday, club advisor Ms. Katie Mattimoe, senior officers Chase Banochowski, Cameron Brown, and Candiss Schneider, and the rest of the club members worked hard to pull off the rewarding day.

“There were definitely high points of the day, and overall I think it was a success, but it really highlighted that there is a lot more work to be done”, said Ms. Mattimoe. The day was broken up into two segments splitting the freshmen in half. In the morning session, students were treated to bagels and juice, while the afternoon students received pizza and water.

Aside from the food, many activities took place all pertaining to the different things a high school student can go through.

These topics ranged from family life, pressures in school, and the social aspects of a students life, according to Mattimoe.

Once all of the students were in the gym, they were broken up

Ye lena Zhernovski y Sta f f Wri te r

Meredith Lodge HAVING A DISCUSSION IN THEIR SMALL GROUPS are Challenge Cats leaders Kristin Winters and Adam Goldberg. The freshmen broke into groups to discuss so they could talk on a more personal level. randomly into small groups to talk about more personal topics.

This gave the students a chance to open up in an environment where they would not have to wor ry about keeping things confidential. Each group was led by two or three Challenge Cats members, who were relied on to

SPADE competes at State

keep the conversation flowing.

“It was awesome to get to talk to the kids on a more personal level,” said Challenge Cats President Chase Banochowski.

By the end of each session, students left with a sense of welcoming in a school that can seem very big and intimidat-

ing, according to Banachowski.

Each session ended with a large group circle with an overview of everything that was discussed during the day.

Freshmen Paul Wright said, “I thought the day was a lot of fun and that there were good activities and food.”

School Choirs take switches to superiors online voting

at Districts

Je ssica Be sset te

Ta r a Pate l

Sta ff Wri te r

Sta f f Wri te r After months of tournaments, prepping and hard work, eight Northview Speech and Debater (SPADE) members qualified and attended the State Championship Tournament on March 1, 2, and 3.

This year the tournament was held at Boardman High School in Youngstown. To qualify, SPADE members had to do well at the State Qualifying Tournament at Southview. Policy teams could also qualify at previous tournaments.

All three areas of Debate, Policy, Public Forum, and Lincoln Douglass, were represented. Original Oratory, one of the many areas of Speech, was also represented.

Policy teams seniors Olivia Lui and Patrick McEwen, and senior Alison Malik and sophomore John Boudouris attended. Lui and McEwen succeeded in making it to the octafinals and ended up placing tenth overall, according to SPADE advisor Mr. Droulliard.

According to Lui, debates over increasing U.S. enrollment in armed and coast guard services were handled by Policy teams.

“I’m really glad we got further in rankings than last year’s tournament, but I still wish we moved past octafinals,” said Lui. Senior Griffin Browning placed sixth overall in Original Oratory with a speech about “Heroes.” Original Oratory participants must perform a ten minute speech they write.

“Being in the final round was a lot of fun. The room was packed, I’ve never performed in front of so many people,” said Browning.

Public Forum team junior Rolf Ritchie and sophomore Sam Gross and Lincoln Douglass competitor junior Sophia Lui qualified but did not make it past preliminaries. Junior Harsha Patel also attended as a first Lincoln Douglass alternate, but did not have the chance to compete.

Forum teams scrutinized the topic about the amount of credits that should be available to U.S. citizens, while Lincoln Douglass participants debated over whether the United Nations should place a higher emphasis on human rights or national sovereignty, according to Patel.

Lui and McEwen will continue on to Nationals in Wichita, Kansas in June. Browning will also attend as a first alternate.

“Nationals are going to be great and I think Patrick and I are going to do really well,” said Lui.

The unexpected snow days of the winter season have exceeded the mandated five days for Lucas County Schools. This means that students will have to make up two school days at the end of the year.

Seniors with be exempt from the extra days because graduation activities limit flexibility, according to an E-site put out by the Superintendent’s office. Graduation, which is on June 10, can not be changed due to prior arrangements. The seniors that must take exams may only walk after all grades are in so seniors will be taking exams on June 4, 5, and 6 depending on the total number of exams needed to be taken not in order of their classes.

Two hour delays do not count towards this policy but any subsequently cancelled school day will have to be made up by all schools.

The level three emergency that closed school for two days and the fact that a Sylvania school day is longer than the required amount does no affect this policy.

The policy authorized by the state government requires Lucas County to make up the snow days unless the county files a petition, according to Principal Mr. Steward Jesse.

“The senior exams will now be two days earlier than the rest of the other student exams which are the 6, 7, and 8 due to the two day shift. This is so the seniors may finish their exams prior to their commencement,” said Mr. Jesse.

The school board has the authority to send a petition but currently there are no plans to take any action, according to Jesse.

The current schedule for the extra days would result in school on June 4 and 5 and followed by exams. The teacher work day will then be moved to June 11.

A new, and modern system of practicing democracy has been established at Northview. Instead of walking through homeroom and getting ballots to vote for turnabout king, students will vote online.

“Having a walkthrough homeroom interrupts class time and is unnecessary,” said Student Governor Advisor Mrs. Jenn Owens.

Using the online voting system makes it easier for students to vote on their own time, according to principal Mr. Stewart Jesse.

The online voting compiles all the statistics, does all of the work of tallying up the votes to make a legitimate count, decreases the chance of human errors, and students won’t have to worry about voting at a specific time. They will be able to vote when they get a

“On line voting is ve ry simple.

We wan t to h ave on line voting for a l l pol l s including studen t gove rnmen t, e lections, and homecoming.”

- Mr. Je sse chance or if they miss a day of school they can go online and vote, said Mr. Jesse.

Statistics from the online voting show that only 20% of the student body voted for practice. The voting for the top five people for king show that 30% of each class voted except for the sophomore class only 13% voted. Even though the statistics are low the people who care will vote, according to Mrs. Owens.

To vote online all the students have to go to the website www. quia.com/pages/nvsg.html and enter their first and last name followed by 769 in the user name, type in their student ID for the password, and click on their class to vote.

“Online voting is very simple. We want to have online voting for all polls including student government, elections, and homecoming,” said Mr. Jesse. “Voting online does not take away from the process of campaigns and speeches it just makes the process easier.”

Je ssica Be sset te Sta f f Wri te r On March 10 the Northview choirs competed in the 2007 OMEA district choir contest that was held at Northview High school.

All five choirs have been practicing their music every opportunity they had because members lost a lot of rehearsal time due to school delays and closings.

District contest consists of each choir performing three pieces of music according to which class they compete in. Their performances are rated by three judges.

The classes range from AA to C. The women’s chorus usually performs class C music, symphonic does A or B, and A Cappella mixed, women, and men sing class AA music, which is the most difficult, according to senior Courtney Magers.

They are judged on tone quality, intonation, note accuracy and other musical techniques.

Once their performance is over, choirs have to go into a room with another judge and get a piece of music that they never have seen before.

Four minutes is given to the choir to look at it and then sing it by sight reading. The judge decides whether they were able to stay on beat and sing the right notes.

When all the judges turn in their scoring sheets they combine ratings into one overall score. The scoring ranges from one to five, one being the best.

The only way the choirs move on to states is if they get an overall score of one. All NV choirs received a composite score of one, which means that all are going to states.

“I was very nervous at first before we performed because we were all trying to cram in extra practices and rehearsing as much as possible,” said junior Danielle Rogers. “After our performance I thought we did very well and I was relieved to know that we are going to states and I’m very excited.”

States will be held on April 27 in Maumee.

Students to participate American Idol gives back to community in ‘Day of Silence’ Ste ph anie Sa l l ah Sta f f Wri te r

A select group of Northview students have been chosen to join thousands of other high school students around the country to participate in a “Day of Silence.” Protecting Every Abused Child Everywhere is the promoting organization of this event. PEACE is bringing national attention to domestic violence, educating both children and adults about the dangers of abuse.

Mr. Bill Geha, Sylvania’s drug counselor, randomly identified sophomore and junior students to be a part of the “Day of Silence” event. On this day, students will have the ability to stand up for victims’ rights by expressing themselves in various ways. Participants will be permitted to tape their mouths and wear T-shirts showing support

for abused victims.

The t-shirts are for sale and the money collected will be sent to the Oprah Winfrey show.

Winfrey is bringing recognition to the “Day of Silence” on her television show.

The NV students and Mr. Geha are also writing to Winfrey and others, including the Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks shows, informing them of their involvement in the “Day of Silence.”

The students are also planning to organize an assembly for the school to explain the purpose of this day and to educate students on domestic violence.

The “Day of Silence” is May 18th with expressions of support from 8am to 6pm.

“It is going to be hard not to talk, but I am passionate about the fight against child abuse and that will get me through the day,” said junior participant Susan Sediqe.

Kimm y Ya r k Sta ff Wri te r Fox, American Idol, and the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund have partnered up to create a very memorable television event called Idol Gives Back. Idol Gives Back is a two night special to benefit children and young people in need in America and Africa by raising awareness and funds for organizations that provide relief programs.

“For the past five seasons, viewers have fulfilled the dreams of the contestants. Now they have the chance to help us change the lives of children and young people in need and at risk, here in the U.S. as well as in Africa,” said co-founder of UK’s Red Nose Day charity, Richard Curtis.

On April 24 at 8pm the top six finalists will sing songs that are considered “life anthems” to keep with the Idol Gives Back theme. All songs

performed will be about compassion or hope. After the performance show, viewers will be able to place their vote, like usual, except this night viewers will change the lives of truly needed children in America and Africa.

For every vote cast, many of the American Idol sponsors, including Coca-Cola and AT&T will donate money. “I think it is really good that American Idol is using its votes to benefit charities,” said junior Mike Moyer.

The following night, a two hour results show will air, this will be a star-studded evening featuring artists and celebrities including Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Pink, Michael Buble, and Kazakhastan journalist Borat Sagdiyev, along with many others. Adding to the corporate contributions viewers will be able to make their own donations by calling a toll-free number or on the Internet.

The money raised will be equally distributed to both countries.

4State

A pril 2, 2007

Mindless holidays driving me CRAZY!

individual athletes ignored Qualifying to States is a huge accomplishment whether it is for a team or individually; I would go even further and say that qualifying individually is even more of an accomplishment than qualifying on a team because the honor is achieved by one person and not shared by teammates. So why is it that many individuals who have qualified to States do not receive the same recognition as team based sports like Hockey and Basketball in the previous years?

In this winter season, countless individuals have qualified to States. Seniors Derek Balogh, Matt Pierzchala, and Michael Pelechaty, sophomore Michael Ward, and freshman Laura Guinness all qualified for the State Swim Meet. Seniors Bill Pinnow and Stephanie Sallah both qualified for the States in diving.

In policy debate, seniors Patrick McEwen, Olivia Lui and Allison Malik and sophomore John Boudouris all qualified to the State Speech and Debate Tournament. Moreover, McEwen and Lui qualified for the National Speech and Debate Tournament. All these individual accomplishments have been recognized by the school, for I saw their names on the sign in front of the school, but is this enough, especially compared to some of the things the school has done for state qualifying teams.

This, however, is not limited to individuals alone. A good example is senior Kevin Okapal, who was named All-American for soccer among 78 players throughout the nation this past fall and All-Ohio Division I first team. These are honors that carry much more weight than qualifying to State, so why wasn’t there an assembly for Okapal’s achievements?

His fall senior Chase Yacko qualified to States in golf, freshmen Meredith Wagner and Nicole Mangas qualified to States in Girls Cross Country, and many, including senior Austin Hendrix and junior Nick Espin, qualified to States in Boys Cross Country. Moreover, the entire Boys Water Polo team qualified to States for the first time since 1978. With all these achievements all occurring in one season, it is a wonder that not one of them generated the recognition that they deserve.

Last year the hockey team going to States was a huge deal; shirts were sold in the cafeteria and there was an assembly congratulating the team.

Likewise, Girl’s Basketball had the same type of recognition in years before. This year, Boys Basketball had a great season making it to Districts; Principal Mr. Stewart Jesse even said in a special ninth period announcements that shame on anyone who isn’t planning to go to their game. This is fine and all, but where was this support when the swimmers or the debaters went to States? The fact that the school makes an announcement for a District game when it doesn’t for States is unfair and biased. Therefore, either every team should get a special ninth period assembly or no team should receive it. Although it is very impressive to be runner-up in the state or in the final four, it is extraordinary when individuals accomplish the same goals because they don’t have a team to rely on. But even when a team does qualify, an entire assembly is not dedicated to them.

There should be an assembly after every season dedicated to all the sports and club teams of that season. In this way, all accomplishments can be recognized even when the sport is not the most popular.

2

- my cents -

“If I could go anywhere for Spring Break, I’d go to Preston, Idaho because that’s where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed.”

-Freshman Michael Stebing

OPINIONS

On Saturday night, countless beer cans were smashed, loaded into garbage bags, and thrown out. Roads were anything but safe, and people of all ages, clad in green, were destined to celebrate Saint Patrick. The Saint Patrick! I mean, you know him, the saint of green and drinking? Right?

Saint Patrick and his cronies, like Saint Valentine, have taken the calendar by storm, giving Americans excuses to spend money and act like idiots. Card companies have saved these obscure saints from being buried deep in history, and they’re finally getting the attention they deserve!

Instead of focusing on stupid, hippie holidays like Arbor Day (the environment can kiss my grits!), Saint Hallmark has put the hip in holiday and even stopped inviting Jesus to his own birthday party.

While all of this sounds like fun and games, because it totally is, all of a sudden some unpatriotic, fun-haters have started complaining about the wild n’ crazy American way of celebrating.

They’re saying that we should pay a little more attention to “environmentally beneficial” holidays like Arbor Day, Turn Off the TV Day (bologna!), and No Car Day. While this ridiculous idea is hardly gaining many supporters, I say we put on a Red Scare and stamp out these hippies like the commies they are!

I don’t think any of us have any time to listen to some old guy with a beard, a tie-dyed shirt, and a joint talk about how we have to love Mother Nature.

Sorry, pal, but it’s not the 60’s anymore!

The only thing I have time for is dying eggs for Easter, because if Saint Easter Bunny is coming to my house, he better have something good to hide for me! ~ Megan Firestone

Julianne Judge CELEBRATING ST PATRICK’S DAY, and his birthday, is senior Eric Graber. Eric enjoyed taking every holiday to the extreme, including this one with his official kilt.

With the importance that our society places on university education a person would think that the government would have formulated a better option of relief than simply filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Even though it is fairly complicated and seems in depth, this option is virtually useless in helping students afford college.

The FAFSA asks that the student include information that is simply irrelevant to how they’re going to pay for college. They ask you about the income of parents, even when a person’s parents are divorced. Thus, if a student’s father left her when she was ten years old, and contributes nothing to her life, he is still expected to help her pay for school if his adjusted gross income is high enough.

Along with including those parents, they also ask for a student to include the adjusted gross income of their stepparents. This is also ridiculous.

Stepparents can be a nice addition to a blended family, however they are not financially responsible for a student, especially if the stepparent is a recent addition to the family. It is likely they feel no need to contribute to the student’s education at all. But,

the FAFSA thinks that they should.

The government then combines all of a student’s parent’s incomes into one large adjusted gross income. Then the government will decide what the parents can contribute to the education.

But thinking about this for a second, it is obvious that when a possible four incomes are combined they could add up to an amount that would make it seem like the cost of a college education is easy to pay.

Therefore, the government sees the incomes of a student’s parents (even divorced) and their stepparents and says how much they should be able to pay, which is almost all of it because of the skewed system, and then gives the student nothing.

After all, some parents may not be as responsible as others with their money. These parents may have a large income, but also a great amount of debt to go along with it.

Some families may also have medical bills to pay or other things that they are spending their money on besides college for their children. A person’s parents may also be making them pay for their education on their own in order to teach

FAFSA unfair to many students

responsibility, independence, and self-supporting habits.

These are all cases that are out of the control of the student and if a student is in any of these situations they end up having no money for school and no help from the government. It is not the student’s fault that their family has been unlucky with their money, irresponsible with it, or that their family doesn’t care to send them to school.

However, the government has no way to help these students out.

The government should reevaluate the way they give educational assistance to students. A new form should be created; one that looks at all aspects of the student’s financial situation. The government knows how important a college education is to Americans, therefore they should figure out some way to give assistance to people who really need it.

Whether it is through an interview, a more specific form, or even both, they need to do something to help students more because it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain a higher education in America, and that is just wrong. There needs to be an equal opportunity for everyone.

Teachers need to lighten workload As the end of the third quarter quickly approaches, homework assignments are appearing rapidly before our eyes, as are quizzes, tests, and other work deemed “point-worthy.”

However, and this is mostly due to the large number of school closings and such, class work and new material has been thrust towards students in a most unbearable manner.

It seems as though teachers are in a panicked rush to get lessons taught; yet in their hurried efforts, these lessons are not being learned. Students should be expected to keep up the pace, but it is unfair to expect them to pick up on every detail immediately.

It takes time to learn and to grasp new ideas and information. Yet, as soon as a subject is mentioned, there is a quiz that is undoubtedly followed by a test, over the newly introduced but yet to be understood material.

Not that new information should not be introduced or that students are not to be tested on said material, but students need to be cut some slack.

Teachers are forgetting that they’re not the only class each student is in and are not the only ones assigning work. One can only do so much before sheer exhaustion sets in.

If something doesn’t change, grades and students will only continue to suffer. A harmful cycle will be created in which homework is assigned, the student cannot or does not know how to complete it, grades drop and the student becomes worn out, and so on until ultimately some students might just give up.

The only foreseeable solution is to lighten the workload. If it is at all possible for teachers to eliminate the unnecessary and teach what is absolutely needed, everyone will be more successful and hopefully, a lot happier.

If you could go anywhere for Spring Break where would you go?

“I’d go to Paris, because it’s the fashion capital of the world.”

-Junior Carleigh Pase

“I would go to Australia to see the Great Barrier reef.”

-Senior Gabby Pardee

“I’d go to Mexico, because it’s a spring break hot spot.”

-Sophomore Angie Remley

OPINIONS

A pril 2, 2007

Electronic voting a favorite The poll results are in—the new online voting system for Turnabout class representatives is a time saving breakthrough. However, for any stalwart Luddites opposed to change, allow me to shed the light of reason on the system’s logic.

Since I was a freshman, and many moons before that time, Northview Student Government members and advisors have been tasked with polling duties fit to exhaust the most penetrating eyes and give carpal tunnel to the most dexterous hands.

First, members were faced with manually compiling all of the guys’ names on a master sheet. Next, the ballots needed to be printed on an entire forest of trees. Once they were used for the first round of voting, unfortunate NVSG study hall assistants and advisors poured over the ballots to TALLY VOTES BY HAND. Imagine the precious hours wasted hunting for five small checks or x’s on a list with over 150 names upon it. Well over a thousand ballots were counted each year, not once but twice! After the list is narrowed, students take to the polls once more to determine the most suave guy in their class.

The old setting of homeroom voting afforded little privacy to students’ decision-making. I am optimistic the new method will have a positive effect on realizing the ideal of a closed ballot so that students will not feel great pressure to vote for the guy(s) everyone else wishes them to select.

Many students were frustrated with the new system because they felt fewer students voted online since there was not a designated voting period in school. Some were surprised by the results for the Seniors’ top five representatives and felt other worthy candidates might have been chosen if the old polling hadn’t been reformed. The new closed ballot method doesn’t force students to vote and requires them make time in their schedule to vote for their candidate. Perhaps a lesson on exercising one’s right to vote and the importance of activism over apathy may be drawn from the experience.

Any skepticism I fostered about the feasibility of online voting was silenced following my personal experience voting with the new system.

With a standard Internet connection found on any school, home or library computer one may log

A

5

UT SHOout

by Kat ie Litzer

How to have fun without any sun

Meredith Lodge VOTING FOR TURNABOUT KING is senior Meghan Benson. There were three rounds of voting done over the course of three weeks and students could log on and vote at any time for their favorite candidate. onto www.quia.com/pages/nvsg.html and within seconds click on his selections for Turnabout court.

Honestly, the longest part of the process was choosing five candidates, which according to the timer on the web page took me slightly less than three minutes. After closing the website I reminisced of days when I would have voted by paper ballot, during school. I never minded holding a short homeroom to vote. After all, who can argue against shortened classes no matter how minutely so? Yet, I personally detested the adjustment to a ridiculous schedule for the rest of the day and never being

certain exactly when the next bell would release me from class.

The added brilliance of an electronic tally system is the extremely low margin of error. Ballots will never be lost, recounted or misread. This ensures that the students’ true choice will win; the process shall be unimpeded by malign intervention or unintentional human error.

One may hope that this revolutionary yet simple system will be utilized for NVSG elections in the spring and Homecoming ballots this fall. ~ Will Cousino

Choirs get lucky at competition The Northview Choral department hosted and competed in the Ohio Music Education Association’s (OMEA) District competition on March 10. Listening to choirs beforehand, it was noticeable that some choirs were destined for success, while others still needed to get some work done.

Each of the five NV choirs performed pieces of music from classes AA, B and C, class AA being the most difficult. Each choir was judged by an official OMEA adjudicator, and was given a rating between one and five, one being the highest rating.

When entering a competition such as this it is necessary that each choir is proficient and dedicated. Even more important it is necessary that each choir member be completely dedicated, because what one member does affects the choir as a whole.

The Women’s Chorus, which is comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores girls showed dedication and good work ethic in rehearsals prior to competition. In spite of its younger members, the members Women’s Chorus was out to prove their dedication and hard work by giving and outstanding performance earning a rating of straight ones.

This expected rating was earned solely by the dedication of the chorus’s members.

When the dedicated sound of the Women’s Chorus is combined with pieces of music it makes for a sweet choral magic.

This chorus’s determination for greatness is easily seen through each girl’s facial expressions and movements to every song’s rhythm during rehearsals and performances. Although the Women’s Chorus performs songs in class C, often looked upon as less difficult, they have truly exceeded the choir’s expectations, congratulations girls!

But does the dedication of the Women’s Chorus carry through each of the other four choirs that competed? The NV Symphonic Choir consists of young men and women from all grades, and usually performs music in class B. The members of this choir seemed to have some trouble when combining their choral sound with music during rehearsals.

This small lack of achievement however proved to be of no problem when the choir performed at the District competition. Members of the Symphonic Choir proved that they are as dedicated and hard working as the Women’s Chorus, by also earning straight ones at competition.

But was this fortunate outcome pure luck, or not? Only future rehearsals and performances will show if the choir has what it takes to earn a superior rating (a one) at the State Competition.

“It makes me mad,” said sophomore Noelle Romberger, “that some people really put their heart into their performances, while others don’t at all.”

Could this lack of dedication be what is causing the Symphonic Choir to struggle a little when it comes to combing it’s sound with pieces of music?

Only time and official adjudication will tell, but in spite of this unfortunate problem the Symphonic Choir is nonetheless a successful choir and will continue to be one.

The most prestigious and honorable choirs at NV are given the title A Cappella. Three A Cappella choirs exist at NV including the A Cappella Men’s Chorus, A Cappella Women’s chorus, and the A Cappella choir, which consists of the members of both the A Cappella Men and Women’s choruses.

Each of the A Cappella choirs performs in class AA. The NV A Cappella Choir is capable of creating a miraculous choral sound, comparable to the magical sounds of the NV Women’s Chorus, if not larger and more powerful.

Surprisingly students were still using sheet music during their March 2 morning rehearsal, just one week before the district competition. This is due to each choir member having to memorize a total of six songs, and more if a member is involved in another choir.

Could this mean future trouble for the A Cappella Choir? Surely it is not considered prepared to still be using sheet music one week before a live performance doubling as a competition.

In spite of this tiny lack of preparation, the members of the A Cappella

choir pulled of a performance worthy of straight ones at competition. The dedication of most members was clearly evident through their movements and expressions throughout rehearsals and performances.

The A Cappella Men’s Chorus also gave an outstanding performance at competition earning straight ones. This group of young men showed great dedication and attention during performance, which earned them their unexpected superior rating.

The A Cappella Women’s Chorus was unable to capture straight ones with a somewhat lackluster performance, but only received a single two for two for their performance. The chorus’s members may have received this two do to some confusion of when to clap during a performance of a song.

A pattern of dedication is detectable throughout the choirs at NV. The choir consisting of younger members seems to have the best choral quality and dedication this year.

Is it possible that younger students at NV have greater aspirations for choral greatness? This may be the case, but certainly there are outstanding upperclassmen in the NV choirs, which break this possible pattern of dedication.

The future of the NV choirs solely rests on the dedication of its members. I strongly urge its members to continue their dedication, which has set the high expectations of today’s NV choirs.

People who do not exhibit this dedication to the musical arts such as choir do not belong within the NV choral program. These types of members as previously explained, cause setbacks and struggles for greatness with the choirs at NV. All the choirs gave their best effort at districts. Congratulations to each choir for a fantastic job well done at the district contest and good luck to choirs competing at the state competition on April 27.

The fu ture of the N V choir s sole ly re sts on the dedication of i ts membe r s. I strongly urge i ts membe r s to con tinue their dedication, which h a s set the high e x pectations of today’s N V choir s.

Every year countless students travel somewhere spectacular on spring break. As the date of their departure draws closer they begin to feel the tropical winds blowing through their hair, the hot sun warming their pale winter stricken bodies, and the luscious warm nights of their vacation drawing near.

They constantly brag to their friends about where they are going and how great it is going to be. They also may throw in a, “Well I was going to invite you, but I figured you already had plans.” This stinks. They never planned to invite you, and they probably won’t even think about what you are doing while they are gone.

You would think that being a senior entitles you to a tropical getaway with your friends. I have envisioned this getaway for years, and now here we are two weeks before spring break and I have no plans. Unless you count going to visit my grandparents (which I don’t really count as a vacation.) It’s my senior year and I am taking a lovely trip to wonderful nowhere, with no one. I can tell that it is going to be a great spring break.

For those who are less fortunate (like me) and aren’t going anywhere for Spring Break, don’t fret! For I have devised a plan to make your spring break fabulous, without leaving the comforts of your own state. #1: Build a tent in your living room. This may seem trivial and childish, but it can be very entertaining, and it will allow you to imagine you are on a safari in Africa. This is a tropical getaway that you can enjoy in your own home. Make sure that you go animal watching (ie. Watch episodes of Man vs. Wild on the Discovery channel.) Also don’t forget to put on your handy dandy bug spray in order to evade those pesky life size insects (or your younger siblings.) #2: Go horseback riding. I hear that the horses at the Meijer’s on Central are a good ride.

So head on over there, select yourself a noble steed, and imagine yourself riding through the hills of Montana. I also have heard that the cost is extremely low this year, only 1¢ per adventure. #3: Go to culinary school. This means perfecting your pizza making skills, making the perfect lemonade, and slicing watermelon. This is something that chefs all over the world learn everyday. Also, if you watch episodes of Iron Chef America you will definitely learn to become a skilled cook. #4: Get a bangin’ tan. Depending on the weather you may be able to achieve this without paying a cent. The weather in Ohio is weird so if you can’t lay out, go to the local tanning booth.

Tan at least five times a day, so that by the time your friends get back from their tropical vacations you too can pretend you went somewhere fabulous. #5: Take an art class. The art museum offers several different classes that range from glassblowing to sculpture. After you pay about $200 for a three week class, you will be a skilled artist. Once you have acquired those sweet skills, you can sit on the corner and paint overpriced pictures. #6:Become a Jedi. This means rent all six Star Wars movies and watch them at least 10 times. Then you will begin to master the force, and will be on your way to becoming a trained Jedi. This also means that you will be needing some sweet Jedi gear. Go to your local costume shop, pick up some stylin Jedi robes and a light saber, and you will be ready to fight in the Great Hyperspace War. No matter what you do on spring break it won’t compare to going somewhere fabulous. But it’s OK, because now you have these tips to make your spring break as great as everyone else’s.

Sylvania Northview High School 5403 Silica Drive Sylvania, Ohio 43560 2006-07 C o-Edi tor s-In- Chie f: Wang Pan & Jackie

Advisor: Sa r ah Flynn News Edi tor: Greg Adkins Fe ature s Edi tor: K ame l Ansa r a & K ristin Win te r s Photo Edi tor: Me redi th L odge Sports Edi tor: Ryan Stansley Edi tori a l Edi tor: K atie Li tze r Busine ss Edi tor: Neno Aou thm an y Sta ff Wri ter s: Me lissa Ben ton, Je ssica Be sset te, Li z z y Breie r, Wil l C ousino, M a x Filby, Meg an Fire stone, Jamie H amilton, Tay lor He lberg, A shley McNair, Emily Nava r re, Ta r a Pate l, Ty le r Puh l, E amonn R eynolds, Ste ph anie Sa l l ah, E li z abeth Strick, M at t Wade, K atie Wambold, Kimm y Ya r k, Ye lena Zhe rnovski y

The Studen t Prin ts is the offici a l studen t-produced newspa per of Sy lvani a North view High S chool. It is distribu ted mon thly at no ch a rge to serve the pur pose of in forming studen ts, facult y, sta ff, administr ation and the Sy lvani a communi t y of curren t issue s.

The m ain goa l of The Prin ts is to pre sen t cover age of even ts in an unbi a sed and accur ate m anner. The pa per a lso re spects the opinions and ide a s of the en tire N V communi t y. Signed let ter s to the edi tor s a re encour aged and should be no longer th an 300 words.

A l l let ter s can be turned in to the publications room, E-6. The Prin ts re serve s the righ t to edi t let ter s th at con tain gr amm atica l error s, accur ac y and profane or libe lous commen ts.

The newspa per sta ff is en tire ly re sponsible for the con ten t of the pa per and supports the Fir st Amendmen t to the C onsti tu tion.

Unsigned edi tori a ls published in The Prin ts a re wri t ten by sta ff member s, and agreed upon by a m ajori t y vote of the edi tori a l boa rd.

The Prin ts is ca re ful ly e x amined by i ts sta ff and adviser prior to publication to preven t incorrect or libe lous in form ation.

The newspa per sta ff doe s not endor se advertisemen ts published in The Prin ts. Advertising specifications m ay be obtained by ca l ling (419) 824 -8708.

The newspa per fol lows the A sso ci ated Pre ss (A P) St y lebook guide line s for punctuation and gr amm a r. The Prin ts is a member of the Nationa l S chol a stic Pre ss A sso ci ation, the C olumbi a S chol a stic Pre ss A sso ci ation, Quil l and S crol l and the Gre at L a k e s

6Commons policy shouldOPINIONS be rethought A pril 2, 2007

Commons is a free period in school for upperclassmen so that they may complete their homework while being able to talk to friends and eat a snack; as of now, it has been taken for granted, but in the coming years, it might become a privilege.

Seniors and juniors for the past few years have automatically been assigned a commons period if they did not fill up their day with classes; however, it is possible in the coming years that upperclassmen have to meet certain requirements to be given a commons period. According to Principal Stewart Jesse, a minimum GPA might be required to be assigned a commons, but as of now, it is all conjecture. This seems to be reasonable because it gives students a goal to strive for (higher GPA) while also ensuring that commons provides a better study environment; however, the definition of commons should be clarified.

Commons should represent a break in the school day where there is no teacher droning on about math formulas or intimidating six page tests; it is a time to unwind and talk to friends. Therefore, people should not be barred from commons and forced into a study hall where they have to relive their classes in the form of homework. Commons is essential for students to maintain their sanity and recharge throughout the long school day. It should even be available to underclassmen, but regardless, it should never be inaccessible to the upperclassmen.

The possible GPA restriction seems like a convenient way to restrict commons to a certain group of people, but it doesn’t mean all the people in commons would utilize their time effectively.

Although there might be a correlation between GPA and the utilization of time, a high GPA does not ensure that a person will use their time effectively in commons. I know I for one never do homework in commons and look forward to it as a way to talk to friends I might not see the rest of the day. In the scenario where dividing students according to GPA actually leads to all people in commons using their time wisely (doing homework or studying), the pur-

pose of commons is lost; commons then becomes a silent study hall thereby negating the difference between commons and study hall. Therefore, the worst scenario occurs if this precedent is set: two names for silent study hall (study hall and commons) where the privileges we enjoy in commons will be revoked.

And so, a possible solution to this would be to not restrict commons to a certain group of people, but rather to give students the option of study hall or commons. This allows those who want to study and utilize their time to have the option of study hall and it gives others the opportunity to have commons.

Another possible plan is to have students choose which one they would rather be in every day depending on their situation. For example, if they have to study for a test or have to finish homework for the next period, they can go to study hall, but if they don’t have homework and want to talk and escape from the “learning”, they can choose to go to commons that day.

Another idea that has been floating around is the possibility of “late -in” and “early-out”; when students have six classes, they may schedule two commons the first two or last two periods of school, which allows them to either not come in until third period or leave school after seventh period.

This is a great idea because students have the potential of being much more productive outside of school than being in commons. Because students don’t always have homework to do in commons, they end up wasting their time; however, if they are allowed to come to school later or leave school earlier, they can find a job, volunteer, or do other community activities. Also, because many students can only study and do homework at home, it gives them the extra time to finish their homework.

Furthermore, if students are given until 9:07 to get to school, they will be more refreshed and likely to perform better in class. Therefore, this is an all around good plan.

Commons should be an escape from class,

Meredith Lodge SOCIALIZING DURING THEIR COMMONS are seniors James Anderson, Chase Banachowski, Scott Babcock, and Dustin Stevens. whether it is talking to friends or experiencing the real world by working due to early-out. It should not be limited to certain students and should be used

Student section cheers getting out of hand If you look at high school and college sporting events all across the country, you will most likely notice one major aspect: the student section. The main job of the student section is to lead cheers, support their team, and get under the other team’s skin. It makes for a wild and electric atmosphere that is perfect for the games.

Over the years, this has been the case with sporting events at Northview. Whether it be at football, basketball, or hockey games, there is always a good chance you will see a crazy student section decked out in black and gold spirit wear.

Students love going to games and being a part of the great atmosphere. Many of the athletes also love to look into the home crowd and see hundreds of their classmates cheering and supporting them.

“I love being a part of the student section,” said junior Rob Neary.

“It’s so fun to be with all my friends and just go nuts.”

Along with the excitement and energy, there is also conflict.

There has always been, and forever will be, a debate regarding what the students can chant and say at sporting events. Sometimes the chants and cheers are considered inappropriate or offensive to the other team. This has been the case especially at this year’s NV

sporting events. Many students have been either kicked out of games or issued a Saturday school for their behavior at games. When an inappropriate chant is started, most of the time it is quickly stopped by administrators and certain people are blamed for starting it.

This raises the question among the students, “What are we allowed to chant?” At many sporting events this year, the student section’s excitement has decreased as the games go on due to this conflict. Students are constantly afraid of getting in trouble because of something they say. This creates a negative atmosphere and takes away from the whole point of a student section.

“A student section needs to be rowdy the entire game,” said junior Ryan Young. “When people start getting in trouble for chants, other people get scared and stop cheering completely.”

Two things can happen to correct this negative atmosphere amongst the student section. Either the students need to come up with more chants that are appropriate or the administrators need to be less strict about it. This conflict takes away from the fun of going to games and being a part of the student section. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with before it gets out of hand.

“When people sta rt get ting in trouble for ch an ts, othe r people get sca red and stop chee ring complete ly.”

- junior Ryan Young

instead to balance out the seven hours we spend being bombarded by education. ~ Wang Pan

Britney, Anna news coverage pointless Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears have been all over the news the past few weeks.

Smith died at age 39 leaving behind her boyfriend Howard K. Stern and baby Danielynn Hope Smith. Her son also died last fall due to a drug related problem.

Britney Spears recently shaved her head due to postpartum depression, according to People Magazine. She also reentered herself into rehab for the third time.

“I think that there are more important issues that should be covered on the news such as the War in Iraq.” said senior Ashley Morris.

It is not right that these two women are on the news on a daily basis. There are other issues that are way more important, like the war in Iraq. Smith and Spears even received more publicity than the recent death of President Ford did.

Local events and events happening around the world should be broadcast on the news, not when and where Anna Nicole Smith will be buried and also whether Britney Spears is in or out of the Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, California.

Peer grading unfair, should be stopped

Meredith Lodge GRADING PAPERS OUTSIDE OF CLASS IS Mrs. Paula Werner. Other teachers have student aids that do grading and other work for them.

A teacher needs to take the grading of every single assignment seriously because it could end up affecting a student’s life significantly. Which is why a teacher should never have another student grade assignments.

Grading is something that needs to be taken very seriously no matter what type of education a person is receiving. Grades can make or break a semester grade point average and can then affect a cumulative grade point average. This cumulative is very important in high school because many colleges take it into serious consideration when looking at acceptance or rejection of a student. College cumulative is then equally important because many employers look at it when deciding whether or not to hire a person.

It’s permissible to say that most students don’t care about other classmates grading ten point quizzes and the like, but some student graders aren’t just grading multiple-choice work. They’re looking at subjective assignments and putting grades on it. For one or two students to grade entire assignments worth a significant amount of points is just wrong. These students, no matter how honest or admirable they seem, could slant or skew assignments. Students are always more likely to grade their friends better than other students and it is just not worth it to take the chance that they won’t.

Besides that, they don’t have the same expertise that the teacher would have on the subject, no matter how well that student grader did in the class. They might not know the material as well as the teacher thinks that they do.

Sometimes the teacher will have a student grade the work and then say that they check it over. This is also wrong because it is easy for the teacher to just glance at the grades and approve of them simply because they don’t feel like checking them properly.

Along with that point, why would a teacher have a student grade something if they were just going to look over it anyways? That process makes the student involvement unnecessary. Unless… they were using it as an excuse to have someone else grade the work.

It is not right that a student’s peer should be able to grade their work. In fact, it’s illegal. High school or college students are not to grade another peers work under any circumstances because not only is it morally wrong, it is against the law. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act states that students cannot grade other students work unless it is a trade and grade situation where every student is grading something and the teacher is supervising, according to The Student Press Law Center. Thus, if a peer is grading multiple student’s work like a teacher would they have an unfair advantage over others.

Teachers need to be aware of these facts and actually grade their student’s assignments, instead of simply “checking over” them. The policy needs to stop if teachers care to measure a students actual academic ability. Their college success or even career success depends on it and it’s important that the teacher remembers that.

F E AT U R E S

7

A pril 2, 2007

Living healthy

Ways to change your life in 2007

There are many things you can do to better you life. To maintain a healthy lifestyle you must exercise, eat healthy, and have less stress. We know what it’s like to be a high school student, and we also know that not everyone has the time, or energy to be healthy all the time. But we comprised a few easy tips for you to become healthy and happy in 2007. ~ Megan Firestone & Katie Litzer

Happy = Healthy

Happiness has been said to be the true key to a healthy body and thus a lifestyle. If a person is truly happy their body won’t be as susceptible to sickness and it will be easier to lose weight. Learn to de-stress your body with these simple methods: 1. Meditation can help you feel calm anytime, anywhere. All you have to do is inhale slowly for about five seconds, tune out all distractions, close your eyes and visualize something peaceful and positive, and if you’re really desperate then try saying “I am peaceful” over and over again. All of these steps will work together to slow heart rate and production of adrenaline, along with lowering blood pressure and production of stress hormones, and last but not least it puts positive vibes into your mind!

2. Eat right! Focus on getting nutrients from all of your food groups; especially fruits and vegetables. The vitamins that are put into our bodies from the food helps allow you to keep your bodies at a homeostasis and keeps you healthy and focused.

3. Say goodbye to all that drama. If you find that you are surrounding yourself with friends or situations that are continuously filling your life with drama then you need to relocate your energy. Unneeded drama, especially in the school environment, can be really distracting and unhealthy for your bodies!

4. Pick up a hobby! Learn to knit, paint, blow glass, cook, volunteer, do anything that will get you away from your school environment and get you some time to yourself or something you enjoy.

5. Exercise! When you get your body up and moving it becomes easier to focus on things and allows your brain to release endorphins that will make you feel happy.

Organic Foods: Fact or Fiction?

Eating organic is a fad that has been erupting through the nation at rapid speeds. But is eating organic really healthier for you? Organic farming produces the highest quality food without any genetic modifications or chemicals. Additives such as artificial sweeteners and preservatives contributed to many allergic reactions such as, headaches, hyperactivity, asthma, and heart disease.

Why eat organic: Wouldn’t you feel better about putting something that hasn’t been genetically modified or enhanced with pesticides? The benefits of eating organic foods are great. Not only are you helping reduce the impact on the environment, but also Organic farmers’ products are free of pesticides and toxins. They do not clutter up the landfills with toxic waste or subject their bodies to unhealthy foods. It is a conscious choice. One made in order to survive right along with the planet that sustains them. Organic foods also save energy, as opposed to what conventional farming uses.

Common Misconceptions: The cost for organic foods is much higher than regular foods: This is sometimes true, because the organic price tag more closely reflects the true cost of growing the food.

You are at more risk of contracting E. coli: This misconception is due to the use of raw manure on the food. However, conventional farmers commonly apply tons of raw manure on their foods with no regulation. So the risks are basically the same, only you have a greater risk of contracting E Coli by eating commercial foods because they do not regulate how much raw materials are used.

“All natural” foods are the same as organic: This is not entirely true. All natural means the product does not contain artificial ingredients, not that it is organic. Always check labels to make sure your food is 100% organic, meaning that all components are grown or produced organically and certified by an organic producer.

Catch some zzzz’s...

It IS possible to get a good nights sleep, every night. With minor adjustments in your schedule, you can get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Some tips to a good nights sleep are: Keep a schedule: by allowing yourself to schedule time for extra sleep, your body will feel rejuvenated and well rested. Also, always fall asleep in your bedroom. No more sleeping on the couch!

Put on comfortable pajamas: This will allow your body to become prepared for sleep. Your body temperature drops when you sleep, so make sure to put on layers in the winter.

Move your T.V. and digital clock: Its a proven fact the lighting from your digital alarm clock may keep you awake at night. Research also shows that kids who have televisions in their room, and use them to fall asleep, do not get the rest that they need.

Avoid caffeine before bed: Research shows that caffeine stimulates the brain which will keep you awake. Avoid drinking anything with caffeine after 2 pm.

Get Active!

Exercise is a very important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. It allows a person to work their heart, makes them stronger, and therefore healthier.

We’ll just focus on the healthy body aspect. First thing is to eat healthy.

This means a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water. Your body needs to be fueled and hydrated so it can perform it’s best. You can still cut calories and eat healthy, energy boosting foods. A combination of this will help you to lose weight and become healthier.

Start by doing cardio exercises to get that heart rate up and boost your metabolism. A good fast-paced walk or jog three times per week is a great way to accomplish this. Anything to boost your heart rate and work your muscles is a good work out. It is also a good idea to do at least a half an hour of cardio three times a week. Remember, that is the least amount you should do. To do more, switch up the cardio routine every other day. Run for the first day, then swim or do pilates a second day. Then return to running. Switching up the routine can help a person to not get bored and to enjoy exercising a little bit more.

If you plan on doing muscle toning exercises along with your cardio here are some other tips: Twenty-five good, quality crunches are much better than 250 half-done crunches. Many people just want to get it over with so they lie down and do as many fast crunches as they can while lacking in quality.

The best thing to do is perform four sets of 20-25 solid crunches while resting 90 seconds in between each set. That is a much more effective way of training your abs than 250 lackluster crunches in a row.

Ab crunches are good exercises for toning the abs and stomach when combined with a low fat diet. Nevertheless, many people think they can continue to eat what they want and end their day with a couple hundred crunches to “work off” all the fatty foods they ate throughout the day.

If you’re not lowering your fat intake, it doesn’t matter how many exercises and crunches you perform. Not only will you see zero results but your stomach may actually increase in size.

A Quick Metabolism Exercise Below is a sample workout that can be done to help give your metabolism a quick boost so you can burn calories.

1) Perform 30 seconds of hard exercise (i.e. run in place as fast as you can) 2) Perform 60 seconds of moderate exercise (i.e. a casual jog or brisk walk).

3) Repeat this process 5-10 times.

4) Cool down for 3-5 minutes

PAPPOULIS PIZZA 5127 S Main St Sylvania 419 882 6979 Open 6 days a week Closed on Mondays Pizza Gyro Pasta Chicken Wings

Beer Wine

8

A pril 2, 2007

F E AT U R E S

Student Spotlight

Student wins trip to Washington DC E li z abeth Strick Sta f f Wri te r Northview junior Andrew Darmahkasih recently embarked on a free, five day trip to Washington D.C. by achieving one of the top 18 scores in the state on a test about patriotism and government offered to high school students by the American Legion.

Approximately 75000 students across Ohio took the test and the 18 top scores went on the trip, according to Mr. Perry Lefevre who gives the test at NV. The test was offered to all students at NV and had 50 multiple choice questions and an essay. There were two winners of the test, one winner of the essay portion and one winner of the multiple choice questions. Darmahkasih was the winner of both portions in Sylvania, by only missing two questions on the entire test, according to Mr. Lefevre.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Mr. Lefevre. “He took the test last year and was the winner of the essay portion but he told me he wanted to win the entire test. Andrew is a very bright student

and has a great memory.”

Darmahkasih, and the other 17 students, drove to Washington D.C. in a bus with six adult chaperones, including the director of the program. While traveling, they stopped in Gettysburg and toured the battlefield and cemetery.

“Gettysburg was really unique because everything in the town has an historical base. There are a lot of pre-civil war houses there that still have bullet holes in them from the war,” said Darmahkasih.

Once they arrived in Washington, the touring Ohio teens had a busy schedule. They visited the cathedral in Washington and took a night tour of the city. They also visited the Arlington National Cemetery.

“It was only about 25 degrees out and we spent hours walking around the cemetery. Two people actually got lost in Arlington because they were stopping to take too many pictures. It was cold, but I had a lot of fun,” said Darmahkasih.

Darmahkasih also visited the Smithsonian Museum, Holocaust Museum, and many war monuments such as the World War II Monument, Vietnam War Monument, and the Korean War Monument .

“The Holocaust Memorial was interesting because as soon as you entered the museum and saw the pictures a solemn hush came over everyone in our group. There was not one dry eye when we left the museum,” said Darmahkasih.

They also visited the Marine Corps Base Quantico outside of Washington, D.C. where the President’s planes are kept.

A pproxim ate ly 75000 studen ts acros s Ohio to ok the te st and the 18 top score s wen t on the trip.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Darmahkasih DARMAHKASIH AND THE OTHER OHIO TEENS pose in front of the White House. They were one of a few select groups that were allowed to tour the White House.

“I was disappointed because President Bush was in South America at the time so his planes were not there and neither were his pilots, but it was fun meeting some of the marines and talking to them,” said Darmahkasih.

Darmahkasih and his fellow winners were also able to tour the White House, which is an honor because it is very difficult to get a tour of the White House in recent years since September 11th.

“The White House was very simply decorated. It looked like it could have been any ordinary house,” said Darmahkasih.

Darmahkasih is already making plans to take the test again next year. Next time he wants to have a perfect score .

Experimenting with over the counter drugs Neno Aou thm an y Busine s s E di tor Kids in Sylvania have taken a dangerous route in experimenting with over the counter drugs, ones that are easy to get a hold of. According to Sylvania Schools drug counselor, Bill Geha, there has been a number of increasing statistics in the past year. Teens in Sylvania have been experimenting with cough medication, or the recently popular Coricidin. Students have been found taking other’s medicine, such as Adderall and Ritalin.

However, the most used illegal drug continues to be marijuana according to CNN.com. The government study, conducted by the University of Michigan, found many teens are getting high by the use of over the counter drugs. The study measured the use for the first time and it said the use is widespread.

The National Institute backed the study on Drug Abuse, which shows; 21 percent of eighth-graders, 36 percent of 10thgraders and 48 percent of 12th-graders, at some point tried at least one illegal drug. Those percents have decreases of 0.5 percent, 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent from the preceding year.

The study said that underage drinking has been declining as well, down significantly from a decade ago. Approximately six percent of eighth-graders, 19 percent of 10th-graders and 30 percent of 12th-graders said they had been drunk at least once in the past 30 days. Slightly fewer have been abusing illegal drugs and alcohol, however more teens have been turning to prescriptions and narcotics, according to CNN.com.

“Adderall is an Amphetamine therefore it doesn’t always work for everyone who takes it, every individual’s brain chemistry differs,” said Mr. Geha.

Using a drug one time will produce a high unlike when someone with a prescription takes it on a regular basis According to Mr. Geha.

Taking another student’s medication can interfere with sleep patterns and can give the person taking it the false belief that the drug is working when it really is not. The adolescent brain is developing so rapidly that interfering with it can cause permanent brain damage. Mr. Geha also added that some kids

could get addicted while others will need to take it many times until they even feel the effects.

For example, Vicodin is a lower type of painkiller that can be prescribed, however people must watch how much they take because there is a risk of becoming addicted. Sleeping pills are drugs used by many adults that actually result in addiction as well, according to Mr. Geha.

Northview has various programs to prevent drug abuse.

“I run a support group which is completely confidential and helps drug users to become drug free,” Said Mr. Geha. He is the drug counselor for Sylvania Schools and runs America Pride, which trains drug free students to help reach out and inform others about drug abuse.

Helping kids is one priority that S.T.A.M.P (Stay Tobacco?

Athletic Mentor Program) has. It is a group that speaks out to younger kids in Sylvania about issues on drugs.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Darmahkasih DARMAHKASIH POSES in front of the Korean War Memorial in Washington DC. DARMAHKASIH VISITED THE WORLD WAR II Memorial.

It was one of many war memorials the group visited while on their trip to Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Andrew Darmahkasih

F E AT U R E S J u n io r R o b H a d le y w aro u n d t h e d a n c e a lk s f lo w it h h is c and ycan or e p ro p.

A pril 2, 2007

T he Sweet Escape

9

Sophomore Mitch C a f f e rty and junior Ke lse y Wa mbo e njo y a slow d ance togethe r.

Fre shman Ke ith Von Ste in and Nichole White ta ke time from the ir da ncing to pose for a picture .

J unior Emi ly Hage and se niors Ai le e n N ew me y e r, Brad Kahn, Rache l Abra mson and Ca me ron Se idl get togethe r d uring a song to pose for the ca me ra.

J un ior Tara Pate l and se nior Matt C olv i lle are caught dancing to the be at.

Se nior E ric Grabe r joins the tra i n d uring one of the dance s.

rg a n N o rt o n , M o m a C rs io n e p ic t u re A li S a y re , s k p o s e fo r aGood friends, seniors Erica Zeigler and Chelsea y z rc S o p h o m o re la t o K La u re n O we n s, a n d Miller, stop dancing to smile together.

S e n io rs S te p ha

n ie S a lla h a n d D e re k A n d rz ej b u s t a m o ve o cz a k n th e d a n c e f lo o r.

Good Luck Spring Sports ~ Your Fans at The Student Prints

10

Softball releases into full swing

A pril 2, 2007

SP ORTS

Track expects big victories Ty ler Puhl Sta f f Wri te r

Emily Nava r re Sta f f Wri te r It is softball season again and six seniors are back along with four other returning varsity players. Seniors Annie Durkin, Katelyn Heath, Kali Heidtman, Mimi Sayre, Kristen Shock and Karissa Steele will all be this year’s captains.

“It is great having all six seniors as captains this year, it is our last year and we are all happy to have the responsibility of being a captain,” said Heidtman.

On March 26 the Ladykat Softball Team began full swing and started their season off against Central Catholic. Their first game ended in a victory over the Irish, 4-0.

Tuesday the team played Waite and this game fell into a mercy with the Kats on top. The LadyKats met the Eagles of Notre Dame on Wednesday and will be batting up against Whitmer tonight at home.

Over spring break the team will be playing top rival Perrysburg and Springfield and they will be shorthanded due to some players going on trips.

The strengths of the softball team this year are their speed and batting line up. These two things will help them during their season, especially against their two biggest rivals, Southview and Perrysburg. Both are strong pitching teams and are favored to be in the top of the NLL standings, according to Heidtman.

“I am looking forward to this season, the team is working hard and this year we have veteran leadership that will lead us to victories,” said Coach Rick Schneider.

Last year the LadyKats had a very strong infield but with two of those infielders graduating, the team has to fill those positions wisely, according to Durkin.

Rugby scrums into action with new season E amonn R eynolds Sta f f Wri te r The Sylvania Cats Rugby team has officially started their inaugural season.

The team is similar to the Sylvania Lacrosse team in that it combines students from both Northview and Southview. This is the team’s first year and both coaches and players are planning on it being a successful one.

The team is coached by Mr. Jerry Brown, who played rugby for the Toledo Celtics and earned many honors and victories with the club. Jeremy Mantai, Rich Schurfeld, and Tony Smith also coach the team. Each of them has been involved in the sport of rugby and look forward to working with the Cats.

Rugby is a sport of physical toughness, speed, and determination. It combines the skills of many popular sports such as football, soccer, and hockey.

Many NV and SV athletes have been contacted to join the team. The team’s goal is to make rugby well known in Sylvania in the hopes of making it a club sport for the two Sylvania schools.

“Rugby is generally popular in Europe and not so much in the U.S,” said Brown. “Our goal is to get kids involved in rugby so that other people will hear about it and potentially become interested as well.”

The team practices Sunday nights from 4pm to 6pm and Monday through Wednesday nights from 5pm to 7pm at Timberstone junior high.

Once the team’s league schedule is released, home matches will be held on Wednesday nights at Pacesetter Park. The Cats will be competing against other teams from Toledo, Bedford, and Perrysburg.

“I can’t wait for our games to begin,” said senior Cliff Lemke. “Rugby is one of the most exciting sports to play and I hope other students will hear about it so it becomes more popular in Sylvania.”

The team’s games are set to begin this April.

Noel Luther WARMING UP ON THE POLE VAULT with Coach Engel’s help is sophomore Libby Kalanquin. Libby is practicing at the 8 foot line.

Track looks to come out strong and continue the traditions that past years have already set.

The teams of the past have been known for NLL championships and state qualifiers. With a young team, runners hope to lay a foundation for the future classes as well.

Junior Oliver Cooper is very hopeful for this upcoming season. “Our boys team will be very good this year, especially distance. We are young, but most of us have a lot of experience from last year and cross country,” he said.

The boys distance team is made up of senior Austin Hendrix, juniors Nick Esbin, Cooper, and freshman Jacob Barnes. With a successful crosscountry season already under their belt, the runners are primed to have a successful season on the asphalt as well. Cooper said, “We feel like we can win this year and with the group we have, there’s no reason for us to do bad.”

The girls team will be lead by their sprinters.

Senior Nikki Klahn is known as one of the fastest runners in the state. She qualified for the 200-meter dash and the finished fifth in the 400. She will also anchor the 4x100 meter dash. Joining Klahn on the 4x100 will be sophomores Nöel Luther and Martha Fitzgerald and freshman Kate Schmidt.

“We should be really good this year. The four of us are all really fast and we hope to do well in the NLL, Districts, and hopefully States,” said Luther.

Freshmen Nicole Mangas and Meredith Wagner are on pace to continue a good cross-country season with a very successful season for track and are the leaders for the girl’s long distance team.

The field events hope to be a help to the runners in order to win a league championship. The girl pole-vaulters are to be led by junior Sarah Mignin and sophomore Libby Kalanquin. For the boys, senior Kevin Okapal hopes to do well, even though this is his first season. “We are very doing very well and hope to win an NLL championship,” said Okapal.

SP ORTS

11 Boys tennis hits the court March A pril 2, 2007

Ye lena Z ernovski y Sta ff Wri te r

Grace Ramsdell RETURNING A SERVE is senior Jack Piazza. Jack is a captain this year and plays first doubles with senior Matt Garone.

The Boy’s Tennis team began their season on March 4 kicking off tryouts and preparing for the full season ahead of them.

Tryouts included a partner warm-up and one on one point play where players had the opportunity to progress up with each interval of playing time.

Practices also consist of drilling and more match play, with doubles focusing on closing off the net.

Even with the loss of four seniors last year there are 18 skillful players. The team has a full line up of seniors which include Cameron Smith, Chase Yacko, Gordie Howe, Kevin Li, Jack Piazza, Matt Garone, and Mike Judge.

On March 26 the boys jump started their season with a match against Central Catholic. With freshman Adam Jurski playing first singles, Smith playing second, and Judge playing third singles. Starring at first doubles were seniors Piazza and Garone and Yacko and Li at second doubles.

Losses include Jurski verses Tim Dever 0-6, 1-6, Judge verse Scott Taylor 1-6, 4-6, Piazza and Garone verse Nick Oblizajek and Ryan Brickner 0-6, 1-6, and Yacko and Li with a close first set tie breaker against Todd Brown and Dave Fernandez with the score ending up 6-7, 0-6.

The real thriller was Smith playing Scott Taylor in a three set match with Smith coming out victorious, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

“It was a tough match mentally but I enjoyed it. It is a great way to start off a season with an invigorating match and will hopefully set the tone for the rest of the season,” said Smith.

“I really enjoy getting to coach the boys and we have a full season of practices and matches ahead. I’m really going to work on drilling the boys and seeing them progress and improve,” said veteran Coach Susie Miller. Miller coaches both the girls and boy tennis teams at Northview.

The boys are working towards preparing for the Northern Lakes League tournament and Sectionals later on in the season. Their next game with be at Archbold High School tonight and the next home match with be tomorrow against Springfield.

Duke LAX comes back strong Ryan Stansley Sports E di tor For the past year the Duke Blue Devils have been the most talked about sports team in the nation, from the cancellation of their season and resignation of their long term Coach Mike Presslor to the three players who were indicted for the alleged raping of a professional dancer.

After a one year hiatus from the lacrosse world, the Blue Devils are back in action this season. They currently have a record of 5-2 and are ranked fifth in the nation with losses to number one ranked Cornell and 11th ranked Loyola.

Duke came in this year prepared, hiring a new coaching staff. Former Hofsta University head coach, John Dinowski, is now the Blue Dev-

il’s head coach. Also on the coaching staff is former Duke All-American, Kevin Cassese, who is the Blue Devil assistant coach.

Duke also has the number one prolific active goal-scoring tandem in the nation with senior attack man Matt Dinowski, who is the son of head coach Dinowski, and junior attack man Zach Greer combining for 59 total points already this season. Both players were preseason All-Americans and Dinowski is the top favorite to win the Tewaaraton Trophy and favorite to be the National Player of the Year.

This year the Devil’s started their season with a win over Dartmouth in front of 6,485 people at Duke’s Koskinen Stadium.

“Its great to see them back in action and back at the top,” said junior lacrosse player and fan, Tom Barber. “I knew they never did anything and it was about time for everyone else to realize it.”

madless M at t Wade

Sta f f Wri te r In a tournament nicknamed for its madness, this year’s theme seems to be “madless.”

Going into the sweet 16, seven of the top eight teams are still remaining. The lone one out being the Wisconsin Badgers. Thirteen out of 16 teams have an RPI in the top 20 and no team beyond the 50 th in RPI. Plus there are zero double digit seeded teams left in the tournament.

The upsets that have happened have been dismal. Virginia Commonwealth beat Duke in first round, not an upset to many, but regardless it was still an 11 seed over a six and was probably the biggest upset thus far in the tournament.

Another 11 seed over six was Winthrop defeating Notre Dame, which was a coin flip in deciding the winner. Even in the coveted 15 versus five match ups, that brought us so many upsets in the past, the 12 seeds were shut out.

The second round games were really the same story, different chapter. The five seeds did get the best of the four seeds winning three out of the four games, but again those are hardly upsets. Washington State was the only three seed to lose in the second round. While Wisconsin was the only two seed to lose, but they fell to a very good UNLV team which won 30 plus games this year.

Playing the conservative role in filling out a bracket this year probably has paid off for you. But for risk takers like myself you have probably already thrown yours out.

Maybe we were expecting a tournament like last year, where the Cinderella George Mason team shocked the world, and even the champion Florida Gators were a long shot to win it at the beginning of the tournament.

To be fair, the outcomes so far may not have turned out the way we hoped but the quality of the games have been phenomenal. The same 11th seeded Virginia Commonwealth team that upset Duke in the first round gave the number three seeded Pitt Panthers all they could handle but came up short losing in overtime. The number one seeded Ohio State Buckeyes survived a scare edging out ninth seeded Xavier on a last second three pointer to put the game in overtime.

The games continued to be entertaining during the third round of games with third seeded Texas A&M losing a slobber knocker to second seeded Memphis. Kansas would be the first number one seed to advance to the elite eight squeaking out a three point win against the Southern Illinois Salukis. The Ohio State Buckeyes again gave many a near heart-attack coming back from a 17-point halftime deficit to beat the Tennessee “Rocky Topers” by one point.

In other close “Sweet 16” games the Georgetown Hoyas relied on a last second Jeff Green runner to defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores. After upsetting Wisconsin, UNLV nearly took down the third seeded Oregon Ducks.

In the elite eight OSU handled Memphis, UCLA outmuscled Kansas, Florida bit Oregon, and Georgetown came back to beat North Carolina in overtime.

PUHL ELECTRIC CO. Serving Ohio & Michigan

Residential • Commercial • Industrial

CHUCK PUHL Phone: 849-8830 Mobile: 466-0558

4828 Cascades Court Sylvania, OH 43560

12

SP ORTS

A pril 2, 2007

Sylvania Lax gets through preseason Ryan Stansley Sports E di tor The Sylvania Lacrosse team began their preseason this year with six scrimmages, three of which happened at St. Ignatius High School. The Leafs played St. Ignatius, Hoover, Brother Rice, Pioneer, and a team from western Pennsylvania.

On March 10 the Maple Leafs’ participated in a three - scrimmage tournament at St. Ignatius.

The boys finished the tournament with 1-2, the two losses against St. Ignatius and Hoover while the one win came against the team from western PA. In the win, the Leafs’ leading scorer was senior captain Chase Banachowski with five goals and one assist.

“It was a great experience to play against those teams that were there,” said junior Dan Bryan. “It was disappointing losing to Hoover again, but overall I think it was a great time.”

The next scrimmage was against the Brother Rice Warriors who came down from Birmingham, Michigan. Brother Rice is ranked 38th in the nation and is currently the best team in MI, according to a ranking system used by Lax Power.

The scrimmage consisted of four 20-minute running quarters, which provided for more practice and game experience. Both teams played strong despite the harsh playing conditions and numb body parts caused by the cold weather. The Warriors came out victorious with an 11-6 win.

Sylvania was lead by junior captain Ryan Stansley with three goals and one assist and freshman midfielder Brandon Yoshino with two goals.

After the loss to the Warriors the Leafs traveled to Ann Arbor, MI to play against another tough team, Pioneer.

For the past two years Sylvania has lost to Pioneer in the regular season and this year the preseason game would end up the same. Pioneer came out ready to play as they scored seven goals in the first half compared to Sylvania’s one. In the second half Sylvania came out fired up and out

Abby Liebenthal FIGHTING FOR THE BALL is junior Christian Simon for the Sylvania Maple Leafs. Simon was a big asset for the Leafs in the win over the Bedford Kicking Mules. Sylvania beat Bedford 14-1. scored Ann Arbor 6-4, but it was not enough for the victory. Stansley (3), Banachowski (1), Southview senior Max Lee (2), and SV junior Griff Whalen (1) all contributed to the scoring for Sylvania.

The final score of the game was 11-7 and ended in another preseason loss for the Leafs.

“We came out flat and didn’t move at all in the first half, but the second half was much better and

we proved that we could play with them,” said Banachowski. “Once we start playing the entire game we will be able to compete with anyone we play.”

Sylvania’s first regular season game was on March 22 against the Bedford Kicking Mules at Timberstone Junior High. Last year the Leafs demolished the Kicking Mules 20-0 and the game turned out the same way. This year the Leafs de-

feated Bedford with a final score of 14-1.

After the great start to the regular season the Leafs were back in action against Lakewood Saint Eds which was also a convincing win for Sylvania.

They won 11-6 and improved their record to 2-0.

Banachowski lead all scoring with four goals.

The Leafs will travel to University of Notre Dame tomorrow and play South Bend St. Joseph.

M at t Wade

where he finished 21st. Senior Derek Balogh competed in the 200 freestyle where he placed 14th and the 500 freestyle where he placed 12th. Pelechaty and Balogh were also part of a relay team with senior Matt Pierzchala and sophomore Michael Ward that competed, they placed 14th in the 400 freestyle and 21st for the 200 freestyle.

For the girls swim team freshman Laura Guinness was the lone competitor who placed 21st for the 100 freestyle.

The Hockey team put together another solid year this winter finishing with a 24-10-1 record, losing in a heartbreaker to the Findlay Trogans in the District Semi-finals. The team faired well in league play, finishing second with a 7- 3 record.

The Boys Basketball team had big expectations going into the year and lived up to them, especially

in the tournament. NV finished with a 14-9 record and made it to University of Toledo’s District final for the first time since 1988. The Cats lost to City League power St. Johns.

“It was a great experience to play at UT, it will be something I will remember for the rest of my life,” said junior Michael Schaffer.

Jerry Sigler’s Ladykat Basketball team continued the dynasty it has formed in Northwest Ohio.

Finishing with a record of 14-8 and advancing to the Sectional championship where they were defeated by the Start Spartans.

The wrestling team also put forward a productive season producing three league champions including seniors Matt Urban, Travis Zipfel, and Scott Boileau. Urban also exceeded the 100 win plateau for his career.

Baseball Winter sports wraps up looks for NLL title Sta ff Wri te r

Ty ler Puh l Sta f f Wri te r

Baseball has started up with much anticipation and high hopes for a Northern Lakes League Championship.

The Varsity squad is returning a talented group of seniors. Derek Andrzejczak, Matt Coville, Cam Ely, Jeff Hension, Wes Jones, Brian Koehl and Zach Strauss all hope to lead the Cats to a successful season.

Also, senior Danny Jaques, is coming out of retirement this year to join the seniors who will lead the team this year.

Joining the varsity team are a talented group of juniors and a sophomore. Brent Bain, Eddie Bellanca, Matt Bodie, Mike (Slinky) Moyer, Matt Rudder, and Mike Schaffer. The lone sophomore is outfielder David Navarre.

“I hope to help the team and contribute, even though I’m the youngest one.”

With scrimmages already underway, the regular season is just around the corner. The season kicked off with games against Bowsher and West Bloomfield on March 28 and 30 respectively.

In the first game of the season against Bowsher, the Cats gave an uninspired performance in a 3-2 loss. Strauss was a lone bright spot going 3-4. The loss was out of conference, so it will not affect their league standings.

A highlight of the season will be the Spring Break trip to Orlando. The teams at the tournament are expected to be among the best in the country. “I highly doubt we will lose a game, but if I get hurt or something, this would be the only way we could be beaten,” said senior captain Brian Koehl. “But don’t worry, never does #12 too sweet get hurt.”

Some more big games on the year include a game against the Springfield Blue Devils on April 13, which is the home opener. Another big game is a tilt with Anthony Wayne, a perennial league power that NV beat with help from Strauss’ walkoff home run.

With the amount of experience and talent NV possesses this year, it is bound to be a special season. “We all just want to make this year count and win,” said Strauss.

Next the Cats will take on the team who ended their season last year, the St. Francis Knights.

As the snow has finally melted away we take this time to ref lect on how the winter treated Northview athletics.

After a successful fall season NV had huge expectations to live up to. Even though no team made it to the State Championship, many individuals did and other teams had great seasons.

Swimming and Diving proved again to be a cornerstone of NV athletics as they sent numerous athletes to States including senior divers Stephanie Sallah and Bill Pinnow.

The boys swim team also did well sending to States seniors Michael Pelechaty for the 100 freestyle where he finished 18th and for the 50 freestyle

Congratulations Yearbook Staff 2006 Cover made the Jostens Look Book

OCEAN RAY Tannin g 8257 Mayberry Sq Sylvania OH 43560 419-885-3151

A Novel Idea Bookstore Starlite Plaza, 5700 Monroe St. Sylvania, Ohio 43560 Monday- Saturday 10-6 Thursdays 10-8 Sundays 12-4 419-882-3939

Buy a book, get a book free