Prospector Issue #6 2010-11

Volume 50, Issue 6

Thursday, February 17, 2011

TheVoice of Prospect since 1960

ROSPECTOR 801 West Kensington Road, Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards are fast approaching with “The King’s Speech” leading in nominations. For award predictions and opinions on the year in film, see...

Entertainment, pages 12-13

Graphic by Ian Magnuson

Suicide too serious for silence

By Gina O’Neill and Megan Maughan Copy Editor and Executive Features Editor When senior Colleen Melone heard that her brother Michael had gone missing on Sept. 30, she thought he had just taken off to California — something he had always talked about doing.

But when Melone was taken down to the Attendance Office the next day by Student Resource Officer Justin Beach, she thought her brother would be waiting for her there. Then when she saw every school counselor circled in the

office, she thought the worst would be that he had gotten into an accident and was in the hospital.

It wasn’t until Melone saw her mom and uncle that she knew Michael had died.

“I just knew,” Melone said. “I knew he had committed suicide.”

This year, Prospect has felt the impact of two suicides with Michael, who graduated in 2009, and the death of sophomore Steven Taylor, who committed suicide on Jan. 6. This was the first current student death that Assistant Principal for Student Services Lee Stanley has experienced in her four years of

working at Prospect.

Although suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers according to the Center for Disease Control, Stanley said that Prospect has “been so lucky” to not have faced the issue sooner.

She pointed out that when Erika’s Lighthouse, an awareness group that speaks about teen suicide, came to present at Prospect last year, they were “amazed” that we had not yet experienced a suicide.

Now, the school and the community are faced with the question of what to do when a tragedy like this occurs and

how to try to prevent it.

The night of Taylor’s death, Principal Kurt Laakso’s first instinct was to visit the Taylor family, even though it wasn’t standard protocol. “[Alison] Taylor and her son Peter were very gracious in greeting me even though they had just heard the news hours before,” Laakso said.

He talked with the Taylors about how notifying the community would be beneficial in order to dispel rumors and offer support.

Mystery mascot promotes spirit

By Kate Schroeder Editor-in-Chief The girls’ bowling team was pleasantly surprised when Sir Knight, Prospect’s new mascot who made his debut this month, showed up to the conference meet on Jan. 29.

“He came at a perfect time during the meet,” bowler junior Allison Walsh said. “It was so funny that he came for us and gave us this feeling of team spirit.”

Besides the extra motivation, Walsh got a little more love from Sir Knight. As the team was taking pictures with Sir Knight, he unexpectedly leaned over and kissed Walsh on the cheek.

“I was so scared but so honored that this mysteri-

See SILENCE, page 2 Photo courtesy of Lyn Scolaro

ous knight just kissed me,” Walsh said. “[My teammates and I] were all dying of laughter, but they were jealous.”

The team was determined to find out who the mascot was, but because of the mascots’ code of conduct, no student or staff member is allowed to know who is underneath the costume besides Student Council adviser Lynn Scolaro and a few Student Council members.

Walsh and her teammates tried to ask the knight questions, trying to uncover the mascot’s secret identity. They even asked Sir

See SPIRIT, page 3

Around the world

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Getting technical

Prospect is home to a language program with exchange trips overseas, but where else in the world has Prospect been? For more, check out...

This semester’s new tardy policy has made it easier for teachers to record their students’ late arrivals to class, but just how effective or fair is the new system? Turn to...

As the iPad pilot that started this year continues with freshman algebra classes, technology continues to play a role in the classroom. For more on technology in school, see...

In-Depth, pages 8-9

Opinion, page 6

Features, page 7

2 NEWS SILENCE: School reflects on suicide, moves forward

Thursday, February 17, 2011

CONTINUED from front page

everyone else.

“My brother was not a sad person,” Melone said. “My brother was not a decommunity that a student had died pressed person. My brother loved life. “tragically and suddenly.” At the time, He wasn’t bullied. ... He was a really there was no other information on the happy person.” cause of death. The next day, the school Laakso said that in schools, people continued to employ the crisis plan that need to be prepared for the topic of suiit had in place, sending a counselor to cide or depression to come up in class every classroom and having counsel- and be able to recognize if someone ors go to Taylor and his twin brother’s might be struggling with feelings themclasses. The Community Room was selves. also open as a triage room for students According to Laakso, some teachers and counselors to get together and talk might feel more equipped to talk about about the situation. mental health issues with students than “You have to continue to be pres- others but noted that teachers shouldn’t ent [and] continue to be thoughtful,” “draw a line because that puts up a barLaakso said. “Every single man, child rier and might cause a student to shut and woman in the institution has to be down.” thoughtful so that no one is being in“You never want to shut it down,” sensitive or being thoughtless in such a Laakso said, “but that’s so important, crucial moment.” and I think that’s what people do beSchool psychologist Dr. Jay Kyp- cause they get scared. ... You never say Johnson feels that the school handled anything like, ‘Well, you’re not … you’re the tragedy well but acknowledges that not thinking about suicide, are you?’ it’s difficult to know exactly what to do Because that makes it sound taboo and because “you never know how some- terrible — like there’s something wrong thing is going to hit someone.” with them.”

Melone agrees, saying each one of Steven’s mother, Alison Taylor, said her family memthat the best way for bers has a differparents to deal with ent acceptance of children who are Michael’s death. struggling with feelMelone and her ings of suicide is to family go to therdirectly ask them apy at Willow about it.

House, a place for “Don’t be conpeople who have cerned or worried lost others to suithat you’re suggestcide or any other ing an idea, because form of death (see chances are, they’ve – Barrington senior Jake Trotta Willow House). thought about it alThough Melone is ready,” Alison said. able to talk about “Tell them it’s not a good option ... beher brother’s suicide in a comfortable cause I really don’t think that [teenagenvironment at Willow House, she does ers] realize [suicide] is the end.” not feel the same level of openness at Barrington High School has had school. five suspected suicides in the past four Kyp-Johnson recognizes that suicide years, and the editor-in-chief of Barhas been a taboo topic at Prospect be- rington’s newspaper, The Roundup, secause people are too worried about how nior Jake Trotta, feels that peers actuit might affect others if they bring it ally serve as the best support system to up. However, he stresses that someone combat the possibility of suicide. cannot talk someone else into suicide.

“The only [people] who really underHe and Laakso agree that suicide is not stand being a teenager are teenagers something that students or staff should themselves,” Trotta said. be afraid to discuss.

Barrington has two student groups “We can’t afford to treat it as a taboo who fight suicide. Help Encouragetopic — quite the opposite,” Laakso ment Resources Education (HERE) is said. “We need to make it normal and student-created but includes parents comfortable to discuss any kind of men- and administration as well, and they ortal health issue. That’s the only way ganized The Academy Is... and Smashpeople can get help.” mouth concerts to raise community Laakso is calling for teachers to be awareness about suicide. The other, Sovigilant and recognize when a student cio-economic Learning (SEL) was startis in need of support. Although teach- ed by the Barrington administration. ers should not cross over into the roles Although Trotta gives credit to the of therapists, they can help bring issues student groups for how much stronout into the open. ger Barrington has become recently, Friends and peers also have “the re- he feels that it is unrealistic to throw sponsibility to warn” others, according concerts and talks to combat suicide beto Kyp-Johnson, and direct a student cause of the amount of “attention suiwho has expressed strong feelings to cides” that occur. see a school counselor or psychologist.

“There’s nothing any one person or Melone saw hardly any warning any one group can do that will stop anysigns with her brother, which is why one from killing themselves,” Trotta the suicide came as a shock to her and said.

“The only [people] who

really understand being a teenager are teenagers themselves.”

WILLOW HOUSE Senior Colleen Melone knew that after her brother committed suicide, she and her family needed to go to therapy to maintain their relationship. Melone and her family go to the Willow House, a place to go for people who have lost others, and Willow House deems them “survivors of suicide.”

After a suggestion from senior Katie Sullivan, freshman basketball coach Jay Heilman decided that the proceeds from this year’s Staff Showdown basketball game against Rolling Meadows will go toward the Willow House.

In the last two years, the Staff Showdown proceeds went to the

Photo courtesy of Willowhouse.org American Cancer Society and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, but Heilman feels that this year’s cause will be more relatable for the entire student body in light of recent events and because of the prevalence of depression and suicide in teenagers.

“Not a lot of people know what to do or where to go when they’re grieving, so

pIN LOVING MEMORY: Sophomores Steven, front left, and Peter Taylor take a family picture in July 2010. Steven committed suicide on Jan. 6. (Photo courtesy of Alison Taylor)

A THANK-YOU FROM THE TAYLOR FAMILY The Taylor family would like to thank everyone in the Prospect community for their tremendous support and compassion shown to us since the tragic death of our beloved Steven on Jan. 6. We have been truly overwhelmed with your many kind words and deeds – they have really helped us get through these first few weeks of sorrow and loss. Our pain will never leave us, but we hope it will eventually be tempered by the hundreds and hundreds of happy and fun memories we have of Steven.

He was an inquisitive kid and most enjoyed being outdoors Steven Taylor and hanging out with his friends. He had a great sense of humor, which many of you told us about in your letters and conversation. He will be missed tremendously by his family and friends.

We have decided we would like to honor his memory by creating a Memorial Fund for him to try and help others that suffer from anxiety and depression during the school years. We will be working with the school and Steven’s counselors to help decide the best ways to do this. If you feel you would like to contribute to this fund, it is called the Steven P. Taylor Memorial Fund and has been set up at the First Midwest Bank. Donations may be made out to the Steven P. Taylor Memorial Fund and sent to the bank.

Each individual’s life is rare and precious, and all of you touch people’s lives in very many special and unique ways. Thank you for demonstrating this to our family during this very sad time, and please carry on, showing that same spirit to others throughout your lives. God bless all of you.

– The family of Steven Taylor: Alison, Paul, Lucy, Simon and Peter

For more information about Steven and the Steven P. Taylor Memorial Fund, go online to prospectornow.com.

What people can do, according to Trotta, is create a better environment.

“Make sure that every student knows that depression isn’t just feeling sad,” Trotta said. “It’s an actual disease.”

Melone agrees, adding that the term “depression” should not be used lightly.

“Don’t go around saying, ‘I’m depressed’ just because you had a bad day,” Melone said. “That’s not the way the phrase is meant to be used. And when you do that, you make it an acceptable, everyday phrase. ... You’ve ruined the meaning and definition and seriousness of that word by saying that.

“People do the same thing with suicide. You know, [they say], ‘I just want to kill myself — get this day over with.’ ... People don’t realize the true meaning of the word ... every time they say it in a nonchalant way, they make it so much harder for us to protect and help those the Willow House provides a place for that,” Heilman said.

At Willow House, Melone and her family eat dinner together first because “dinner is the hardest part” for most families following a loss.

Then, after having a five-minute big group meeting, they break off into their age groups, so she goes with other high schoolers who have lost siblings or parents to suicide, her sister meets with middle schoolers and her parents meet with other parents.

“They get you down to this niche of people who are as close to what happened to you as possible,” Melone said. “And it’s not all in one stage. ...

The biggest [part] that I like is talking to people who have gotten past what you’re currently trying to figure out.”

who actually feel that way.”

According to Melone, suicide seems taboo to those who are actually depressed. She remembers that throughout middle school, being “emo” was a huge trend, and saying “I’m depressed” and “I want to kill myself ” was normal.

“That made people who actually did feel that way scared to come out because they didn’t want to be labeled as just someone who wanted the attention,” Melone said. “Because, I’m not saying all of them, but there are definitely people who did that just for the attention.”

Laakso also said that some teenagers might dramatize their feelings in public, but that usually makes the situation worse. He noted that peers can help make sure that their friends start talking seriously about their feelings and get help in a stable, professional environment.

“You guys hear it more intimately than anyone because you’re all friends and you’re all close to each other, but sometimes you must hear things that startle you,” Laakso said.

“You want to be the one to help but ... sometimes a good friend says, ‘I can’t help you more right now, though I want to keep talking to you and be available for you,’” he said. “That’s something that students need to know is the responsibility that comes with being a friend.”

Trotta also stresses how important peer to peer relationships can be in helping to prevent suicide.

“Students really need to be there for each other,” Trotta said. “At the end of the day, guys are going to make fun of each other ... and girls are going to say things they regret, but they have to be there for each other. You’re never alone.”

NEWS 3

Thursday, February 17, 2011

SPIRIT: Mascot supports students CONTINUED from front page

Photo courtesy of Lynn Scolaro

Knight to write down his name on a piece of paper, but instead he wrote, “You’ll never know.”

The mystery that surrounds Sir Knight is exactly what Scolaro was aiming for when she made it her mission to get a mascot for this school year.

As a season ticket holder for the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Rush, Scolaro saw the mascots at those games and thought to herself, “They make things so much fun. I wish they could come to [Prospect].”

Since then, Scolaro looked for a mascot costume throughout the summer and used funds from the Student Council account with the money made at the homecoming dance to buy it.

The next step was to train the potential mascot.

After trying to contact the Blackhawks’ mascot, Tommy Hawk, to see if he would appear at her nephew’s birthday party, she decided just to ask if he did mascot train-

pLIGHTS, CAMERA, LAUGHTER: Prospect bowlers, pictured from left to right, junior Alison Mulcahy, junior Cassie Bach, senior Whitney Schmidt, junior Tallyn Owens and junior Allison Walsh laugh with Prospect’s new mascot, Sir Knight, at their conference meet on Jan. 29. The team took third at the meet and thought Sir Knight helped them relax under pressure. (Photo courtesy of Tallyn Owens) ing for high school mascots, and he said yes.

Scolaro held the training at Prospect over one of the final exam days and made an announcement for any students who wished to be the school mascot to come down to the gym for a three-hour training session with Tommy Hawk and Stanley from the Chicago Bears. Nanook, the mascot from John Hersey High School, also attended.

At the end of training session, two students took on the role of being Prospect’s mascot.

The mascots went through a mascot handbook which had procedures on how to dress, walk and be animated because mascots are not allowed to talk. Tommy also had the two high school mascots run through some exercises to help the students get out of their comfort zone.

The most exhausting part of the training was learning how to maneuver with the mascot costume, which is very hot and heavy.

Scolaro’s goal is to have the mascot show up at many different events at Prospect and around the community. But to keep the surprise factor, no one will ever know when or where Sir Knight will show up. According to Scolaro, the mascot could even be walking around school some days.

Walsh thinks that spontaneous visits from Sir Knight really benefit students.

“He just shows up, and the surprise lifts everyone’s spirits,” Walsh said. “If it is a secret, then it is a knight [who] represents our school instead of just a person.”

– Jane Berry contributed to this story.

Moment of silence reinstated

By Andrew Revord News Editor For the first time in almost four years, Prospect students observed a moment of silence on Tuesday, Jan. 18, after he injunction on the highly controversial Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act was lifted by 7th U.S. Circuit Court on Jan. 14.

The law has stirred up a storm of controversy because it requires students to silently reflect or pray before schools had the option whether or not to enforce the moment of silence.

When the law first became mandatory in 2007, Buffalo Grove High School senior Dawn Sherman and her father, atheist activist Rob Sherman, challenged the law that same year when Sherman was a freshman.

Originally, Sherman and her father succeeded in getting the district court to place an injunction on the law until its constitutionality could be determined.

Once the injunction was lifted in 2011, they decided to take their case to the Illinois Supreme Court. They are

SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE The moment of silence wasn’t the only time when Dawn Sherman, daughter of atheist activist Rob Sherman, fought for separation of church and state.

During the homecoming week of her freshman year in 2007, one of the homecoming songs was “God Bless America.” Dawn, who was on Student Council, wanted all the songs to be secular, so she asked to have “God Bless America” removed from the list.

currently waiting to see if the court will decide to hear their case.

According to Sherman, the law should be challenged because it offers an ultimatum to atheists and other nonreligious students. Since they don’t pray, they must silently reflect. She feels this violates their First Amendment rights.

In addition, she thinks that the law was really written for religious purposes.

“The title of the [Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act] is very clear that it is to get students to pray,” Sherman said.

Senior Erin Radon disagrees.

“No one is required to do anything during [the moment of silence],” Radon said.

In addition, Radon also said that making the moment of silence law mandatory is more fair and creates uniformity. If the moment of silence was still optional, then schools could opt out of it, giving administrators “too much power to push what they believe” on students.

Principal Kurt Laakso has received no complaints from Prospect families or students about the law.

“The people in our community understand that this is not an issue under our control,” he said.

Still, Laakso made sure to contact all the Prospect staff informing them that the injunction was lifted and explaining how to conduct the moment of silence in their classes.

He said that teachers are not required to pray or reflect but must allow students to do so.

Another issue with the moment of silence is how productive it is.

Although the law doesn’t specify how long the moment of silence should be, Laakso said Prospect was advised to make their moment of silence 10

pLOST FOR WORDS: Students observe the moment of silent reflection before the Pledge of Allegiance. The moment of silence was reinstated on Jan. 14 when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court overturned a previous ruling that declared the law unconstitutional. (Photo by Andrew Revord) seconds long, which is the standard amount of time.

Sherman believes that 10 seconds is too short to get a prayer in even if students wanted to. She has observed students in her class talking right through the moment of silence.

However, Radon, who uses the moment of silence to pray, said that her class is quiet and respectful during the 10 seconds.

Laakso believes that 10 seconds is sufficient for a quick prayer or a chance to orient oneself but acknowledges that it is too short for any deep spiritual thought.

Despite being too short to be effective, Sherman thinks the moment of silence is long enough to be an inconvenience to her classes.

Sherman takes many AP classes where discussion often goes on right until the bell. Often times, 10 seconds

more are necessary to elaborate on a final idea or thought before class ends, she said.

In the case of Prospect, Laakso said that the moment of silence doesn’t cut into class time because it is done during the announcements.

For Sherman, the bottom line is that the law is simply out of place in dealing with students’ private matters while they are in school.

“Personal business should be done on personal time,” Sherman said. “Instructional business should be done on instructional time.”

For The Prospector’s opinion on the moment of silence and religion’s role in school, turn to...

Staff Editorial, page 5

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OPINION 5

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Staff MANAGING EDITOR Deanna Shilkus COPY EDITOR Gina O’Neill ASSOCIATE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Sharon Lee Riley Simpson NEWS EDITORS Maddie Conway Jane Berry Andrew Revord OPINION EDITORS Whitney Kiepura Katie Best Nikki Gallup FEATURES EDITORS Megan Maughan Carly Evans Allie Fleming IN-DEPTH EDITORS Emmy Lindfors Jenny Johnson ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Kevin Mallin Tallyn Owens SPORTS EDITORS Maggie Devereux Nick Stanojevic Miranda Holloway PHOTO EDITORS Ian Magnuson Walker Brewer Ali Preissing CARTOONIST Quinn Blackshere Katie Maigler ADVISER Jason Block

Some material is courtesy of the American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

Published by students in Journalistic Writing courses, The Prospector has won the 2004-05 and 2006-07 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker and the Gold Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2006.

Mission Statement The primary purpose of the Prospect High School Prospector is to report news as well as explain its meaning and significance to our readers and the community. We, the Prospector, hope to inform, entertain and provide a school forum for the unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions.

Advertising For ad rates, call (847) 718-5376 (ask for Deanna Shilkus), fax (847) 718-5306 e-mail or write The Prospector, 801 West Kensington Rd., Mount Prospect, IL 60056, prospectornow@gmail. com.

Letters to the Editor Drop off letters to the Prospector in the box in the library, in Rm. 216 or prospectornow@ gmail.com. All letters must be signed. The Prospector reserves the rights to edit letters for style and length.

Speaking out during silence Staff Editorial

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Kate Schroeder Neel Thakkar

For 10 seconds every morning, students and staff are required to sit quietly at their desks and reflect or pray. This is a result of the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, passed in 2007.

Claiming it was endorsing religion in schools, in 2009, the Illinois courts overturned the act because they said it was unconstitutional.

On Jan. 14 of this year, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to overturn the ruling that banned the law, claiming that because it does not specify that the time be used for prayer, it is constitutional. Now, all Illinois public schools are again required to observe a moment of silence.

Much controversy has sparked due to the word

“prayer” in the title of this and state,” and the Supreme law, suggesting that there Court has cited it since 1878. are religious affiliations Even though students are with the moment of silence. free to express their religious While the appeals court beliefs in school, it is imporallowed the law because it tant that those students find was not restricted to prayer their own time to fulfill their alone, we, The religious needs P r o s p e c t o r, rather than believe that have the school the moment force that time Against For of silence still upon everyone. promotes reTherefore, ligious thinkbeing at school ing. means putting The separaaway any perVoting results of The Prospector tion of church sonal business staff regarding this editorial and state has and focusing on been evident the aspects of in the U.S. court systems for education. decades.

According to Principal Thomas Jefferson ex- Kurt Laakso, the community pressed the intent of the has not complained about founders in an 1802 letter the issue so far. However, we that spoke of a “wall of as a school need to consider separation between church why this came into effect in

24

8

the first place.

If the legislature is spending its time on focusing on a law that takes place during such a short time of the day, then they are not using their time wisely.

There are a myriad of issues and conflicts in the world to be solved right now, not to mention the way our Illinois government has portrayed itself in the past few years.

It does not seem reasonable to be enforcing an idea that does not have much impact on a school day.

Living in one of the most corrupt states in the country, we should not be focusing on the little ways to change our school day. We should concentrate on finding solutions that just might change the world.

Not just a word Word choice in ‘Huck Finn’ sparks controversy My family woke to an unpleasant surprise one morning in January.

My mom took a double take when she saw that someone had decided to write something over our car’s front hood with a black Sharpie while we’d been asleep.

And the vandal hadn’t scribbled just anything — the word was “nigger.”

It was just six letters, but that one word was enough to leave my mother and myself visibly shaken.

Because the N-word is more than a word.

Maddie Conway It carries so much Executive weight, brings the News Editor worst aspects of our society’s racist history to mind and creates an atmosphere of nothing short of hate. It certainly isn’t funny to write it on someone’s car.

But the N-word has made headlines of late for reasons other than a defaced car.

An Alabama publisher has announced plans for a modified edition of Mark Twain’s 1885 classic “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by replacing the N-word — which is used a total of 219 times in the novel — by the word “slave.”

According to The New York Times, Auburn University professor Alan Gribben’s motivation for the new edition was to keep the novel from falling off reading lists because of its racist language. And while this is well-intentioned, taking the N-word out of “Huck Finn” is a mistake and, ultimately, an injustice to Twain’s message in the novel.

“Huck Finn,” the story of a white boy

pSET IN INK: Despite its connotation, at least one person thought it was funny to graffiti a car with the N-word. The word has been in the news recently because of an edition of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that replaces the word with “slave.” (Photo illustration by Ian Magnuson) living in Missouri before the Civil War, satirizes many aspects of Southern life, specifically the racism that existed during the time. The novel’s use of the N-word comes as the protagonist Huck meets Jim, a runaway slave, and agrees to travel with him on his quest for freedom.

When my English class discussed the use of the N-word in the novel, a common response was that Twain was justified in his use of the word because that was how people in Missouri, a border state, referred to slaves at the time. In “Huck Finn,” Twain writes as Huck would have spoken, meaning incorrect grammar and, yes, the N-word.

After all, before the Civil War and the end of slavery, the N-word was just as common as any other in a Southerner’s regular vocabulary.

But N-word serves a greater purpose than historical accuracy. It shows, in a way no other word could, Huck’s struggle with his morals over his treatment of Jim

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE As an African-American, English teacher Ami Relf offers a more personal perspective on the N-word in Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Relf has taught the novel, but she taught it at a predominately African-American and Hispanic high school, which she said was a different atmosphere, before she taught at Prospect.

Relf said she is torn over the use of the N-word in “Huck Finn.” While she understands the feeling of insecurity in a school of mostly white students and staff and those who take offense to the word, she doesn’t believe the word should be taken out of the novel. Instead, the word should be used to educate people about racism.

“You can’t remove things,” Relf said. “You can’t remove slavery; you can’t remove black codes that were enacted after slavery; you can’t remove the lynchings that occurred to African-Americans.

“To me, it’s not a word. A word didn’t create slavery. A word didn’t kill Dr. Martin

and his ultimate change of heart when he decides to help set Jim free.

Twain’s seemingly effortless way of narrating Huck’s character development is the beauty in “Huck Finn,” and the Nword is a pivotal part of that narration.

I can’t even begin to empathize with African-Americans reading the novel, but reading “Huck Finn” should be offensive, to any person, of any color. I know that I cringe every time I read or hear the word in a hateful context.

But that harshness is necessary to understand Twain’s themes in the novel.

Through Huck’s nonchalant use of the word at the beginning of the novel, the reader is truly able to understand just how racist Huck’s society has brought him up to be.

It’s clear, almost solely through his use of the N-word, that Huck was taught not to respect African-Americans, yet he manages to realize that Jim is more than a slave — he’s a person, and even a person he loves.

As English teacher Rebecca HagbergCohen said, that struggle of conscience between “what in his eyes is wrong but in our eyes we know is the right path to take” — to set Jim free — is a universal theme from which we can all learn.

That’s where the true purpose of the use of the N-word lies. By using it, Twain is not condoning racism; he’s opening the discussion on racism and pointing out how wrong it truly is.

While some may think that America no longer needs that message, I beg to differ.

If someone can honestly think it’s funny to write a racial slur on someone’s car in permanent marker, the issue still needs to be discussed — even 126 years later.

6 OPINION

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Beat by the bell

I rushed through the physics hallway and scampered quickly down the stairs (and skipped the last five with a giant leap); then, with a bound, I was at my locker. I rotated the lock, yanked open the door and pulled out my hot pink physics T-shirt.

For a moment, I contemplated whether or not I looked like a scatter-brained freshman but decided that it probably didn’t matter because I was already taking the stairs two to three at a time.

I tried to run — which, even over a flat surface, puts myself and everyone in a 5-foot radius in danger — but the bell rang just as I was a couple doors away. I was once again beat by the bell.

I don’t consider myself a frequent Jane Berry “tardier,” but I ocNews Editor casionally try to slip through the door a few seconds after the bell, so I was pretty nervous when I heard rumors about a new tardy policy.

Unfortunately, my state of mind was not soothed by the gossip going around the school: If you’re not sitting in your seat when the bell rings, 30-minute detention. If you’re late for school, Saturday detention. If you’re late three times, you might as well not bother applying to college.

By the end of the finals week, I knew that the rumors had snowballed out of control, and I was still clueless to what the real rules were.

According to Dean Mark Taylor, nothing has changed except the way the school records tardies. They will now be recorded electronically in a program called Schools Administrative Student information (SASi) to make teachers’ lives easier. Students have always gotten 30-minute detentions for being tardy more than once and have lost privileges by the sixth tardy.

Say ... what?! I don’t ever remember 30-minute detentions for tardiness;

Hot - The color red:

SLIDING INTO CLASS

Fly on the wall: This attempt at getting to your desk works best when the teacher is facing towards the class.

Hug the wall of the room and scoot around it until you reach your desk.

Cartoon by Katie Maigler in fact, I don’t remember any detentions for being tardy, unless of course you decided to pull a ‘Ferris Bueller’ and chicken out 10 minutes after the bell. Taylor believes that many teachers have never marked a tardy before, which is probably true (not that I am encouraging anyone to start now). I see so many students get warning after warning, but nothing ever happens.

Personally, I understand the whole “21st century-let’s-make-things-moreefficient” thing: we save trees by using computers instead of paper, the process is a lot shorter and thank goodness we made it easier for students to get detentions. Now they can pass them out at the click of a button.

But in all seriousness, the fact that being tardy once could mean a detention on your permanent file doesn’t sound quite fair.

The tardy policy for this year specifically states: “Teachers have the discretion to allow a student a ‘warning’ for being late to their class one or more times in the beginning of the semester by not entering the tardy into SASi.” So let me break that down: The policy states “one or more” tardies could be given “a” warning before receiving a detention.

Because of the lack of clarity, some teachers could give a student only one warning and give another student in the same class three, and people can’t

There is something about this color that makes me tingle. It comes in so many different shades, whether you want the color of a strawberry or the color of a dying flame. Everything about it turns heads. It can be sexy, it can be flirty, it can even resemble a holiday (Valentine’s Day, anyone?). Apples are red, and they taste delicious. My nail polish is a bright red and it makes me feel– dare I say it– sexy. Ariel’s hair is red, and she is an awesome princess. And red crayons are always so vibrant and happy looking! I generally like the color red and anything red ... except maybe gingers.

Just kidding. (Katie Best)

do anything about it.

It’s called favoritism, and there are not any rules forbidding it.

“There is always that subjective part that’s really hard to quantify,” Taylor said. “That would be a personal conversation between the teacher and that student.”

Of course teachers are supposed to be fair, but “fair” is a relative term.

I wouldn’t worry though; I have been brainstorming ways to sneak past your teacher so that they won’t even know you’re late (see Sliding into class).

If any part of the policy was going to change, then the punishment should have changed to fit the crime.

For example, a more appropriate punishment for a literature class might be a Meat-con on why you were late and how you can get there on time in the future.

If you were in physics, maybe the best way to deal with it would be to make it a vector problem (take into consideration that you may not be walking the same speed after the warning bell).

Because students do not want to complete more work, this would be an efficient way to promote punctuality without damaging anyone’s records. I understand that if tardiness is a chronic issue, the case may be a bit different, but let’s try not to harm the people who just make a few mistakes, especially when the mistakes come in the form of

or t Ho Not Hot - The sun:

No, literally... it’s 6000°C (11000°F).

Not - Dry ice:

You don’t get much colder than -78.5°C (-109.3°F).

The Sun Tzu: This one is based on a fourth century BC military tactic. Call a friend in your class, and while the teacher is busy yelling at them, slip into class and walk casually to your seat.

Photos by Ian Magnuson a couple seconds.

But more than anything else, the tardy policy is like “American Idol”: It can be revamped with a new system (like new judges), but it’s still horrible and not going away any time soon.

Not - Phones that autocorrect:

We’d all rather have one misspelled letter instead of the different meanings of what we are trying to say. Like the time my sister and I went to get gas.

Intended Text: We had to stop for gas.

Autocorrect: We had to strip for gas.

Not exactly what my mom was expecting. (Kiley Walsh)

Not - The Lack of a ski and snowboard club:

Hot - Outdoor hockey: Nowadays, it’s hard to find a decent rink around town. Sure, you could go to the local ice rink and risk a collision with some flamboyant figure skaters. A much more enjoyable experience — and free might I add — is going to a park and lacing up the skates.

There’s never a large crowd, the people are always mindful of your space and best of all, you’re allowed to bring your stick along. For those who don’t mind the cold, it’s the perfect winter outdoor activity. (Kyle Brown)

Slip n’ slide: Have someone in the hall hold the door open for you. Then take a running start and literally slide to your desk.

To read more Hot or Nots, and to read the full column about Prospect’s lack of a ski club, go to: prospectornow.com.

On the second day off from “Snowmageddon” 2011, many students returned to the building for practice for clubs and activities. But while speech team and basketball team were practicing, a club was missing possibly the best chance of the decade to meet.

They missed it because the club doesn’t exist.

Which is why, especially after having 20-inches of snowfall, Prospect needs to restart its ski and snowboard club. (Whitney Kiepura)

Not - people who wait to take their money out until after they have been ringed up in the lunch line:

I know that your hands are full with the three pieces of pizza, the fries, two bags of chips and Zebra cakes, but please be ready to pay when you get in line. It is so annoying when the person in front of you has to find their money or ID. The boy scouts have it right: Be prepared!

(Walker Brewer)

FEATURES 7

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Teaching turns technical Students, teachers utilize new technology inside, outside of classroom

By Carly Evans Features Editor With a new semester comes a fresh start. For many students, this means fresh binders, rip-free folders and empty notebooks. But for algebra, it meant a shiny new Apple iPad. Due to the success seen from the distribution of the iPads in the social studies department, the pilot that began with the freshman AP Human Geography classes has continued into the Math and Science Department.

This expansion is not the first of its kind. From chalkboards to whiteboards to Smart Boards and from standard calculators to TI-80 graphing calculators, the evolution of technology is evident through every department at the school. The newest addition is the iPad. The point of continuing the pilot into the territory of a new subject is to be able to have different levels of data and work, which can be done on the iPad. Algebra and geometry teacher Dominique Davis teaches the algebra classes that pilot the new equipment. Because of all of the applications and utilities available on the iPad, Davis was able to essentially redo her entire teaching technique.

Now that her algebra classes can utilize the iPad, she relies on e-mail and the applications the school has purchased rather than numerous “paperwasting packets.”

One application that Davis uses most often is the “Good Reader” application.

“Good Reader” allows students not only to download the documents for daily assignments, but they can also highlight, annotate and copy certain passages of the document.

A large concern with the pilot of the iPad was whether or not students would be able to pay attention in class. Monitoring the use of the iPads during class is essential in preventing distractions in the classroom because students can purchase virtually any application.

“I was nervous I would get easily distracted,” freshman Drew Hackett said. “But, using [the iPad in class] is interesting enough to keep my full attention.”

Despite concerns, Davis believes the iPads have significantly helped in increas-

ing the amount of students who are attentive in class. Davis believes the reason for this is because the students are interested in the new technology.

“It is certainly a positive change,” Davis said.

Hackett is one of the freshmen who received an iPad through his algebra class. Hackett agrees with Davis that the new equipment is a positive change, however, he believes there are also negative aspects.

“Honestly, I would rather use a binder [to stay organized],” Hackett said.

“But that is only because I am used to binders; I’m sure the iPad will grow on me.”

Davis did not expect this pilot to be perfect but said “the positives weigh out the negatives.” The most positive aspect of the pilot is the amount of organization it gives students.

“Now the students are guaranteed to have everything from [algebra] in one place,” Davis said. “They no longer have to worry about losing notes or homework.”

One of the negative aspects of using the new technology is the way students are struggling with writing and typing on the iPad. “Whether I’m doing homework or taking notes, everything seems to take a lot longer on the iPad,” Hackett said.

“Because I can’t just flip over the notebook paper — and instead I

INNOVATION THROUGH THE YEARS

Physics teacher and ‘01 graduate Michelle Tantillo has had firsthand experience with innovation in technology over the last decade. When she was a student, the most high-tech equipment Tantillo had access to was the Internet.

Back then, they used a dial-up connection. Connecting to the Internet took several minutes, but then the tortoise-paced search engine added another five minutes.

The largest luxury available to students was the cutting edge MP3 player that had just been released. This five gigabyte brick was the first iPod. For a student to have an iPod a decade ago was similar to a current student having an iPad. have to open a new document or completely exit my work — the time adds up.”

Despite the struggle, Davis is optimistic about the room for improvement. The students have been using the iPads for a short time, so Davis believes they will grow accustomed to the writing and typing, eventually overcoming the struggles.

The optimism shown by Davis comes from her ability to overcome the disadvantages with the new technology she received last year.

An EnoBoard, commonly known as a Smart Board, was installed on Davis’ chalkboard and can be synced with Davis’ computer. One of the features of the EnoBoard is the ability to show word documents created on a computer projected onto the screen.

Originally, Davis struggled with the handwriting and understanding the different features. Now that Davis has had time to get accustomed to the equipment, she was able to integrate the EnoBoard into her everyday classroom activities.

Davis is the only teacher who has an EnoBoard. Despite not having the technology Davis has, advanced algebra and

chemistry teacher Deb Johnson is still able to incorporate different forms of technology into her curriculum.

After teaching at Prospect for 26 years, Johnson has seen the evolution of the use of technology. Although it may seem standard to students and new teachers, Johnson believes the most prominent technology integrated into the math and science departments is the graphing calculator.

Prior to the graphing calculators, all of its features were done by hand except for simple equations and arithmetic.

With students being able to use the various features of the calculator, the level of understanding of “real-life” situations has increased. Current students just accept the use of “model problems” as a part of the class.

Prior to the installment of the calculators, students could not do model problems, or real-life situational problems, because the numbers were out of reach for a student to do by hand.

The implementing of technology did not only affect Johnson’s algebra classes. For her chemistry students, technology has resulted in safe and more efficient labs.

Being able to connect a calculator to lab equipment allows for more precise data and complete experiments. Prior to this kind of technology, students would have to take all measurements by hand, which would take a significantly longer amount of time.

Whether it be iPads, Smart Boards or graphing calculators, the amount of technology utilized in the classroom has increased over the years. Considering she now uses two of the newest additions to the school, Davis is optimistic for the future of technology in the classroom.

“If we have already come this far,” Davis said, “imagine where we will be in 15 years.”

Graphic by Ian Magnuson

FREE EXAM AND X-RAY TO ALL PROSPECT STUDENTS 500 West Central Road Suite 103 Mount Prospect, IL. 60056 CONTACT US 847-259-6605 by phone online at midwestchirocare.com

Specializing in pinched nerves, sports injuries, and nutritional counseling

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8 IN-DEPTH

P

Thursday, Fe

s p s a P s ’ t c e p s o r

Students travel in cla

By Emmy Lindfors Executive In-Depth Editor

AFRICA

By Emmy Lindfors Executive In-Depth Editor On a trip to Africa, junior Lauren Nopar was on a safari when an elephant came charging toward the car. Fortunately for Nopar and her family, the elephant changed directions.

Nopar Lauren Nopar “wasn’t too scared,” because she had been on safari earlier on the trip where a lion had come close to the car, making Nopar a little nervous, but the tour guide had reassured them.

“The guides know what they’re doing,” Nopar said. “They would carry guns in the car just in case, but incidents rarely happen when they need to use a gun.”

Nopar’s trip to Africa was an idea inspired by her whole family.

Her parents had frequent flyers miles piling up that were about to expire.

“We thought that it would be good because some of the ani-

mal populations were dying out,” Nopar said. “My sister and I were also getting involved in a lot of activities and colleges, so there wasn’t a lot of time to take a big trip like this.”

Throughout the trip, Nopar stayed at three different lodges in Africa which all offered safaris.

There were three times a day that guests could take safaris. There was a morning, midday and evening safari treks that would last around three hours.

Nopar’s favorite safari rides were the evening expeditions because she felt that she “would see more wildlife.”

“Different animals would be running around,” Nopar said. “We even got to see a pack of lions that were out on a hunt.”

While the safaris “were an amazing aspect” of Nopar’s trip, her favorite part was visiting Cape Town in South Africa; Cape Town is a place in Africa where poverty is common and people are living in shacks “the size of a master bathroom.”

“At first I was scared when we were walking around,” Nopar said.

“But [then] we saw the children [living in Cape Town] were playing

Photos courtesy of Lauren Nopar

Central America

By Sharon Lee Associate Editor-In-Chief Freshman Jessica Lee, as part of her Korean church, went to Guatemala during sixth grade and Mexico during seventh grade to evangelize and spread the word of the Bible.

“I knew it was going to be a new experience,” Lee said. “I wanted to make a difference.”

On the mission trip, Lee Jessica Lee

spent a majority of her time street evangelizing, but also helped paint and decorate a church and spent time with children who lived in a government foster home.

“I learned that I should be grateful for what I have,” Lee said.

When Lee went to Mexico, she talked to a local who opened up to the church members about her past. Lee recalls that the lady broke down crying after relaying her sins with Lee. She said her trip to both Mexico and Guatemala opened up her eyes to a much different atmosphere than what she was used to, and she got to meet so many people of other cultures.

Senior and AP French student Tim Troutman first heard about the French exchange from his older siblings who went on it. So when Troutman was presented with the opportunity, he was more than ready to hop on a plane and go to Sèrves, France — Mount Prospect’s sister city — last spring break.

Troutman stayed with a host family, who had a kid near Troutman’s age, while on the exchange.

Even though he found his host family to be “pretty busy” while he was staying there, they did take him out to dinner one night and took him to see Versailles.

When Troutman was not with his host family, he would meet up with French teachers Scott Russell and Kathryn Wilkens. They would go to see some of the famous landmarks of Paris, like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. The group also visited many museums.

Troutman got to taste authentic French cuisine, and even though some would be hesitant to try some dishes, Troutman was brave enough to try frog legs.

While he never had a favorite dish, Troutman enjoyed sampling different cheeses.

According to Russell, who has helped plan it for the past seven years, the exchange helps students immerse themselves in the culture of the language they’re learning. It also has them really practice and use their French, which Troutman can attest to.

“We’d just be sitting at a cafe and would have to order in French,” Troutman said. “We had to figure it out and force ourselves to use French.”

Prospect offers three exchanges for French, Italian and Spanish students. According to World Language and Social Sciences Division Head Gary Judson, the exchanges are “the best and most fortunate things” the school is able to offer for its students because it helps in learning and understanding a language as well as the culture that countries carries with them.

“The hard part is we are in the middle of Illinois. We don’t get a lot of French speakers or even Spanish speakers [to help students practice the languages],” Judson said. “The best way to understand culture is to travel.”

But for students who are unable to participate in these exchanges, the World Language teachers do their best to help students comprehend the different cultures.

Russell tries to give students the experience of being in France by teaching lessons that fully immerse students in the culture. Often times Russell will show culture videos that have different topics — from everyday life in France to showing historic events.

SERATA ITALIANA Italian week, or Serata Italiana, is not only held within the walls of Prospect, but is also associated with St. Raymond’s and South Middle School. The week “recognizes students in their talent in Italian,” according to Bondi. Students are recognized mostly in the fine arts — music, arts, singing and performing.

IN-DEPTH 9

ebruary 17, 2011

port

According to The Expeditioner travel magazine, two out of every three Americans have a passport. Similarly, 65 percent* of Prospect students own a passport and have been out of the country. In-Depth takes a closer look at different students’ experiences with traveling the globe.

Thailand

* Based on a Prospector survey of 225 students

assrooms, exchanges

By Zak Buczinsky Staff Writer Senior Kris Daorerk was born in Thailand and moved to America in fourth grade. Daorerk’s parents wanted to move to give him a better education, but the year before they left, they sent their son to spend a year in a 100-year-old Buddhist temple, two hours away from any major city and an hourKris Daorerk long walk to the nearest village.

Like something out of a Kung Fu movie, the temple sits high in the mountains, only accessible by a stone staircase, which takes half an hour to scale.

During the year Daorerk spent at the temple — approximately half the size of Prospect High School — he woke up every morning at 5 a.m. and would only eat one meal: breakfast, which he would receive by walking an hour to the village and begging for food. The practice of begging for food is common among Buddhist monks; they do it in order to teach themselves humility.

“It was teaching us how, before then, you would actually have to go look for food” Daorerk said.

The rest of Daorerk’s day was made up of doing chores for the monks and meditating. During meditation time, kids like Daorerk would usually play instead of actually sitting still for an hour.

Since leaving Thailand, Daorerk has been back twice to visit his entire extended family who still lives there. He says that the thing he

On Prospectornow.com...

To read how senior Nick Cruz got attacked by a cat while on a vacation in Italy, go to ProspectorNow.com pBON VOYAGE: Prospect French Students visit the area of Montmarte and pose in front of Sacre-Coeur during last year’s spring break. This was the seventh consecutive year that students were able to participate in the Sèrves Exchange to Mount Prospect’s Sister City, Sèrves, France (Photo courtesy of Scott Russell).

For a more hands-on experience, students go on field trips. In French 3, students go to the Art Institute in Chicago where they look at works created

by French artists. In French 4, students see a chef prepare a meal, and then they need to recreate that meal.

While food and art are a dominant aspect in French culture, Spanish students focus on music.

Students are exposed to different genres of Latin music as well as different artists from all over the Spanish-speaking countries. By hearing the different accents in songs, students are shown that each Spanish-speaking country not only has different food and traditions, but that they also have slightly different accents which identify their native country.

“We think it’s important to be aware of the cultures, especially with the many countries that speak Spanish,” Spanish teacher Maria Syreggelas said. “The point of taking a language is to become a well-rounded individual.”

Syreggelas and her fellow Spanish teachers incorporate a culture lesson in every chapter they teach to their classes. The lessons include videos, readings and sometimes photos.

Italian teacher Antonino Bondi teaches the lessons similarly, but he tries including personal stories of “what it’s like being and living” in Italy since he spent about six months in Rome studying abroad as an undergrad.

“We want to get our kids to know how helpful it is to learn any foreign language,” Syreggelas said.

The World Language Department’s goal is to have its students understand a new language and be able to apply it to their future. To continue their goal, the World Language Department is constantly

Scotland

By Jenny Johnson In-Depth Editor Every other summer, sophomore Kennedy McKay and her family go to visit her dad’s side of the family in Scotland for about two weeks. McKay’s dad used to live in Scotland but moved here in his early 20s.

“Scotland is so beautiful, and no matter what [my famKennedy McKay ily and I] do — it never gets boring.” McKay said. “I just love having my dad’s family living there.”

McKay and her family always start off sightseeing in London.

The next day, they go over to Edinburgh, Scotland where they usually drive to Cameron House where it “looks a lot like a castle.” In addition, she and her family take boat tours on the lake side of the Cameron House (pictured bottom right).

After that McKay’s family goes to Portknockie and rents a house while they visit their fam-

ily. Last year, she and her family went on a bike tour around the town. They also make time to go to a beach on the North Sea. “My favorite part [was] when I jumped off a small cliff in the freezing cold water.”

McKay said, “It was so much fun, but that water was horrible! That must be why everyone at the beach was wearing wetsuits.”

Usually after McKay’s family goes to the beach, they will go to a local restaurant.

“I really look forward to eating Cullen Skink. It sounds really gross, but it actually tastes great,” McKay said.

“The food is so much better.

Everything is more fresh — as in not manufactured like American foods are.”

Cullen Skink is a Scottish soup that has smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.

Scotland is known for this soup, and “it is a part of [their] tradition.”

Because McKay is exposed to traveling, she feels that it helps her out in classroom discussion.

“I think traveling helps in some classes when your learning

pNOT JUST GOLF COURSES: Scenic views from Portknockie and Cameron House in Scotland.

Sophomore Kennedy McKay travels to Scotland every other year with her family (Photos courtesy of Kennedy McKay).

Graphics by Emmy Lindfors and Heather Dove

10 FEATURES

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Back at PHS ‘96 grad becomes new student resource officer Allie Fleming Features Editor On the third day into Scott Filipek’s senior year in 1996, the smell of smoke filled Prospect’s field house gym as the bleachers began to catch on fire. Throughout the day, several rumors spread through the halls, but in the end, Filipek still believes that it was a student playing around with matches.

Fifteen years later, Filipek walks through the front doors as Prospect’s Student Resource Officer (SRO).

With memories of the fire, Filipek now takes every Scott Filipek fire alarm just like he takes his job on the Mount Prospect Police Department (MPPD): seriously.

After Filipek graduated, he completed a degree in elementary education.

However, shortly after he began his student teaching, he realized it was not what he enjoyed doing with his life. He said that working with kids was great, but he did not like being restricted to working in a square room for over six hours a day.

His present career came about as a simple family competition with two of his brothers to see who could perform better on the MPPD test. This test is a combination of multiple sections such as a written part, psychological tests and a power test. The power test consists of four basic sections: the sit and

reach, one minute situp test, one repetition on bench press at maximum weight and the 1.5 mile run. After investing a lot of his time into passing the test, he decided to continue with this career.

For the past three years, Filipek drove up and down the dark streets of Mount Prospect during the midnight shift. Now, instead of going to bed at 7 a.m., he has achieved his goal that started when he pFIELD HOUSE IN FLAMES: Three days into the 1995-’96 school year, the field first began to work for MPPD: working as a SRO because of the house gym filled with smoke due to a small fire. Scott Filipek is pictured left in his challenge it brings. senior picture in the same year of the fire. (Photo courtesy of Crest) On Jan. 31, Filipek was working the day shift when he received a call because of his background in educa- students and staff. to meet with his commander. Walking tion. Filipek explained that having “As a graduate of Prospect, it is my into this meeting, Filipek thought he taken many classes in education and goal to keep the school safe so the stuwas in trouble or did something wrong. psychology helps in the police business dents today have the opportunity to get However, it was the opposite; he was because it allows him to further under- the same excellent education that I reasked to be the new SRO of Prospect. stand the victims. ceived 15 years ago,” Filipek said.

The next day, he moved to his new office From his educational background, Being announced as the school’s new inside the attendance office. Filipek is he learned a lot about the way people SRO is not the only excitement Filipek taking his new job day by day, trying behave and respond to situations. As has received within the last few weeks. to figure out what a SRO he needs Filipek was announced the runner-up being an SRO ento always be as officer of the year in Mount ProsLAUGHABLE LAWS tails. u n d e r s t a n d - pect.

According to ing in realizing There are no requirements for this Filipek, his office 1. In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk. what students award; instead, a committee of peers is a little police 2. It is illegal to be blindfolded while or staff mem- and supervisors chose the recipients. station inside the driving a vehicle in Alabama. bers are going Perfect attendance, productivity, letters school. He is there 3. In Florida, unmarried women who through. of merit, organizational commitment, to assist students parachute on Sunday could be jailed. “ [ F i l i p e k ] sustained community involvement, who need guid4. In Milan, it is a legal requirement to will continue judgment, decisiveness, sensitivity and ance and help. In smile at all times, except during funerals to provide the leadership are the criteria for officer of his past job for or hosipital visits. same service the year. the MPPD, he was 5. In France, it is illegal to name a pig from the MPPD “It is a very big deal to have someone only dealing with Napoleon. we’ve always in our school win such a big award,” crime prevention. had,” Tedaldi- Tedaldi-Monti said.

Info courtesy of www.security-faqs.com Now, he gets the Monti said.

Filipek said that, personally and crime along with The former professionally, he did his best for the education, which SRO, Detective Justin Beach, returned MPPD. he feels is a great assignment because to the investigations unit at the MPPD. “I believe that if I work hard,” Filihe enjoys working with students and Tedaldi-Monti further explained that pek said, “PHS can continue to be a toploves his police work.

Filipek knows the school’s terminology notch and well-respected school across Dean Dr. Pat Tedaldi-Monti said and ground rules, which is great for the the country.” that Filipek is a perfect fit for the job

Who Knows You Better?

Girlfriend senior Nicole Burke

This issue of the Prospector, the staff has decided to take ‘Who knows you better?’ to the next level. This is the “battle royale” edition where we will see which couple knows each other best. Is it seniors John Hummel and Nicole Burke, who have been dating for 3 years or senior Terry Redding and junior Julia Phillips who have been dating for 9 months.

Nicole

John’s guesses What is Nicole’s favorite animal?

Monkey “Buffy The Vampire slayer” Chicken parmesan

What is Nicole’s favorite TV show?

What is Nicole’s favorite food?

Girlfriend junior Julia Philips

Julia What is Julia’s favorite animal?

“Jersey Shore”

What is Julia’s favorite TV Show?

Pizza

What is Julia’s favorite Food?

What is John’s favorite class?

Brit-Lit

“Star Wars”

What is John’s favorite movie?

“Star Wars”

Winners Dog “Jersey Shore”

Pizza

John

Brit-Lit

Did not dress up

Thai food

Terry’s guesses

Dog

Nicole’s guesses

Monkey “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”

Boyfriend senior John Hummel

Boyfriend senior Terry Redding

Terry

Julia’s guesses Enterpreneurship

“Anchorman” A Ninja

Hipster/ John Travolta

What was John for Halloween this year?

What is Terry’s favorite class?

Enterpreneurship

What is Terry’s favorite movie?

“Anchorman”

What was Terry for Halloween this year?

A Ninja

ENTERTAINMENT 11

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Dancers audition for MTV spot

By Kevin Mallin Entertainment Editor

THE ABC’S OF ‘ABDC’

Senior Danielle Izzo watched as the 21st group left the Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago. She and six other teammates from Hip Hop ConnXion, including junior Annie Franklin, were eager to perform their original choreography for the judges of MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew,”(“ABDC”) even if they were the 22nd, and last, to try out.

Izzo, Franklin and their fellow dancers overcame the late tryout, as their performance allowed them to pass to the second round.

“ABDC” features teams of dancers, or crews, competing in themed challenges that test their dance skills as well as their ability to create moves that fit the music.

Hip Hop ConnXion spent five hours the night before tryouts doing exactly that. The group’s director, Suavé, wanted the crew to get experience choreographing their own routines because if they made the show, they would be on their own.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Kristin Burlinski, dance teacher and Orchesis director. “I know they would be sacrificing a lot, but it would be well worth it.”

And sacrifice they did. One practice required Hip Hop ConnXion to work on choreography until 3 a.m. at their Prospect Heights dance studio, cleaning up an old routine and experimenting with a new one.

“At first it took a while to get things started,” Franklin said. “But once we got the flow going, it fit perfectly.”

“America’s Best Dance Crew” is currently recruiting for its sixth season, and is visiting Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles in search of possible contestants.

Past winners have included JabbaWockeeZ, Super Cr3w, Quest Crew, We Are Heroes and Poreotix.

A prize of $100,000 is awarded to the best crew, decided by the judges, who have included Lil’ Mama, Omarion, JC Chasez and Shane Sparks.

pTEENAGE DREAM: (From left to right) Darius Love, Suavé, Ginelle Quinones, senior Danielle Izzo, junior Annie Franklin, David Fonseca and Brenda Sekosan celebrate their first-round success at the “America’s Best Dance Crew” tryouts. Franklin and Izzo are members of Orchesis and are pursuing their love of hip-hop on the popular MTV show.

(Photo courtesy of Danielle Izzo) The tryouts involved two separate dances, each with specific criteria. The first, according to Izzo, required the applicants’ own choreography and music while the second called for the crew to create a dance for a mix provided by the judges: “Power” by Kanye West.

Since the show is still going through cities in search of more dance crews (see The ABCs of “ABDC”), it could be

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up to three months until Hip Hop ConnXion finds out if they’ve made it onto the show.

For Franklin, the stress didn’t start until Hip Hop ConnXion had to face the judges. “[It was] most nerve-wracking when they went down the line, asking how old you are and what you do in school,” she said. “I was afraid I’d stutter.”

Izzo stays realistic when regarding her chances to be on the show, specifying how different her group’s style is from most of the others’. She points out how much more spectacle-oriented the other groups are, and how their opponents’ dancing is “more TV.” “Everything’s so different,” Izzo said. “[There are] many styles of hiphop, and judges want to see if you can do those styles.”

Academic restrictions also come into play. Even though each Hip Hop ConnXion member meets the age requirement of 16, missing classes would be a big issue.

With the senior members of having to graduate and the juniors still needing to take placement tests, the matter of even attending the show becomes messy.

“If we make it, we don’t know if we’d even go,” Izzo said. “I won’t be disappointed if we don’t; it’s just the experience.”

12 ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, Febru

Best Actor

Javier Bardem “Bitiful”

On Feb. 27, the Kodak T will host the 83rd Annua Prospector’s biggest mo and Riley Simpson, offe insight into the b Jeff Bridges “True Grit”

Jesse Eisenberg “The Social Network”

Collin Firth has the Best Actor Oscar in the bag for his role as King George VI in “The King’s Speech” after winning at the Golden Globes, Screen Actor’s Guild Awards and an assortment of critics’ awards.

However, after being a fan of “The Social Network’s” Jesse Eisenberg for quite some time, I was absolutely floored by the complexity of his performance as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and was ecstatic to see him nominated for an Oscar, even if he will likely be defeated by Firth come Feb. 27.

Colin Firth “The King’s Speech”

James Franco “127 Hours”

Colin Firth was a delight as the stuttering King of England with a very important speech. His stammer sounded pretty real — he even reported headaches and numbness in his left arm because of it — and his genuine frustration during speech therapy should earn him the Best Actor Oscar. However, James Franco of “127 Hours” (where he plays a hiker who eventually cuts off his right hand to survive) did surprise me. He proved that he could actually act, something lacking in the “Spider-Man” movies and the tepid “Flyboys.” Someday, Franco might earn the right to hold an Oscar in hands.

Er, left hand.

On each of the film strips, we have cut out each nominee that we think WILL take home the Academy Award.

‘Speech’ bound to win crown My actions throughout Hollywood awards season mimic those of a crazed sports fan or one of those scary pageant moms on TLC. I have compulsively read article upon article about the Oscar race, followed every step of each performer, producer and writer and sat diligently through multiple award show broadcasts with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in hand.

Over-enthusiasm and borderline obsession aside, the Oscars hold a great deal Tallyn Owens of significance to Entertainment Editor movie lovers.

This year’s race for Best Picture is a battle of head versus heart. The category is filled to the brim with nominees that exhibit worthy and excellent cinema.

The two front-runners — “The Social Network,” David Fincher’s contemporary Facebook film (my personal favorite this year and possibly of all time),

and “The King’s Speech,” the historical melodrama about a stuttering British king on the brink of Nazi invasion — pride themselves on very different aspects of each piece.

“The Social Network” features elaborate directing and editing as well as a razor sharp and eloquent script penned by Aaron Sorkin, who has won every single one of the 32 major prizes that have been awarded so far this awards season for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Although Sorkin is practically guaranteed a win, the races for Best Director and Actor hang in the balance of critic’s awards and academy politics.

After sweeping critics’ awards across the country early in the season, “The Social Network’s” Oscar buzz took a turn for the worst at Screen Actor and Director Guild’s where “King’s Speech” won the prizes for Best Actor and Ensemble in addition to Tom Hooper’s surprising feat over David Fincher for Best Director at the Director’s Guild Awards.

The Screen Actor’s Guild Awards (SAG) and Director’s Guild Awards (DGA) are often the most accurate indicators of Oscar winners because each group contains a large amount of over-

lapping voters.

At this point, it seems very likely that “King’s Speech” will win the top prize but in the realm of contemporary American filmmaking, “The Social Network” is far more deserving.

The script is flawless, and the storyline is so much than just “a movie about Facebook,” which it has been casually called by much of the general public.

Fincher’s Mark Zuckerberg, played by my personal favorite human, Jesse Eisenberg, portrays the Facebook founder with complex, caustic wit that captivates even the most attention deficit afflicted viewer.

“The Social Network” is a movie about ambition, money and betrayal — a truly American combination that most accurately reflects the world we live in and will stand the test of time in representing 2010 in both film and culture.

This portrait of contemporary culture veiled as an Internet creation myth wouldn’t be possible without Fincher’s impeccable direction, entirely deserving of the Best Director

Best P

127 H

prize over Hooper from “King’s Speech,” whose strategy was to meticulously set up each scene to prod at the viewer’s emotions.

Not even “The Social Network’s” overwhelming quality and precision can top the Best Picture mold that is so perfectly filled by “King’s Speech.”

With a foreign production location, a historical setting, triumph over adversity and heartwarming friendship that transcends the social norm, “King’s Speech” is increasingly anticipated for Best Picture while “The Social Network” slips away from its place beside “King’s Speech.”

The Oscars are just as important to me as the Super Bowl is to football junkies and although it may be inevitable at this point, watching “The Social Network” be defeated once and for all by “The King’s Speech” will be equally, if not more painful than watching the Bears fall to the Packers in the NFC Championship.

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Toy St

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Best D

Darren A “Black

Joel and E “True

David F “The Socia

Best Actress

Tom H “The King’

David O. “The F

Annette Bening The Kids are All Right

Nicole Kidman “Rabbit Hole”

Natalie Portman and Annette Bening are this year’s front runners for the Best Actress trophy, and it appears that the race could go both ways, as Portman’s character does in “Black Swan” — if you know what I mean.

Portman’s raw performance as a compulsive ballerina has earned herself a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award, but Bening has even more experience than Portman, serves as an Academy member and could also earn a long, overdue Oscar for her portrayal as a suburban lesbian mother in the family comedy-drama “The Kids are All Right.”

Jennifer Lawrence “Winter’s Bone”

Natalie Portman “Black Swan”

Michelle Williams “Blue Valentine”

Annette Bening has lost twice to Hilary Swank within five years. In 2000, Bening’s obsessive real estate agent in “American Beauty” lost to Swank’s surprise upset in “Boys Don’t Cry,” and in 2005, Swank’s heavilyfavored female boxer in “Million Dollar Baby” beat out Bening in “Being Julia.”

Now, in 2011, Bening will deservedly lose to Natalie Portman’s ballerina in “Black Swan” — since I’m a firm believer that Swank deserved neither of her two Oscars.

Portman’s erratic — and erotic — performance was not only Oscar-worthy because of the extreme physicality of her role (she spent like five hours a day practicing ballet).

Her transformation from a sweet and flawless princess into a seedy and experimenting woman recalls the natural transformation of puberty.

Either way, Portman came out a little bloody at the end.

On Prospecto

Will “The Social Network gold!” or “The King’s Spee stutter-free? Check out im Academy Awards Ce

Also look for a fashion c ensembles available sho

FROM THE SILVER S

ENTERTAINMENT 13

uary 17, 2011

Best Supporting Actress

Theater in Los Angeles al Academy Awards. The ovie buffs, Tallyn Owens er their predictions and best films of 2010.

Amy Adams “The Fighter”

In each respective column, our movie buffs outline which movies they think SHOULD win each award.

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al Network

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Director

Aronofsky Swan”

Ethan Coen e Grit”

Melissa Leo

In this category, “The Fighter” has not one, but two actresses — Amy Adams and Melissa Leo — nominated, and Leo is a heavy favorite to take home the gold for her role as the manager and mother of two boxers, played by Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Helena Bonham Carter has also received praise for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in “The King’s Speech,” but it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to top Leo’s powerful portrayal of an ambitious, small-town mother.

Hailee Steinfield “True Grit”

Jacki Weaver “Animal Kingdom”

“Leo versus Adams” sounds like a match right out of boxing biopic “The Fighter.” With Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress, Melissa Leo is looking to take home the Oscar for her controlling mother and boxing manager in “The Fighter.”

Leo’s main competition: Amy Adams. She played Charlene, Mark Wahlberg’s character’s sassy and protective girlfriend, also in “The Fighter.”

Honestly, Leo has the edge in this race because of her wins so far this season.

Also, the fact that she went from an attractive and brunette older woman in real life to a gaunt, 80-year-old-looking witch in “The Fighter” helps.

Please, anything but ‘Social Network’

Picture

Hours

Helena Bonham Carter “The King’s Speech”

King Kong sat on the Empire State Building. King Kong had a great fall. A bystander suggested to filmmaker Carl Denham that the murderous airplanes killed the giant ape.

“Oh no, it wasn’t the airplanes,” Denham said. “It was beauty killed the beast.”

When this year’s Best Picture Oscar is presented to “The Social Network’s” producers, I’ll be paraphrasing Denham: Oh no, it wasn’t the hellish incinerator at the end of “Toy Story 3.” It was a Harvard nerd with a Gap sweatshirt that killed Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

Riley Simpson I’m going to Associate Editor-in- make this short Chief and sweet: “Toy Story 3” was the best movie of 2010.

“Toy Story 3” should win the Best Picture Oscar because the

movie won over our hearts and tear ducts.

It deserves the top prize at this year’s Academy Awards because it defied the hurtful and stereotypical word that keeps most animated movies off Oscar ballots: a cartoon. “Toy Story 3” proved that animated films can be more than cartoons.

The way “Toy Story 3” kept me engaged for 103 minutes is best compared to sweet and sour chicken.

I smiled and laughed when spaceman Buzz shouted in the Spanish language with Ricky Ricardo accuracy.

Which brings us to the sour portion of “Toy Story 3.” For the last 30 minutes of screen time, my eyes took the form of Niagara Falls. From Woody and Buzz’s near death experience with the incinerator to their touching final goodbye with their owner Andy, the salt trickled from behind my 3-D glasses.

This movie was sadder than the Eagles’ song “Desperado”!

Now, did I expect the same bittersweet experience when I saw Best Director nominee David Fincher’s “The Social Network” in October? Heck no. Did I still expect a flawless movie about the creation of

Facebook? Yes. Now, most importantly, did I get said flawless movie? Heck no.

Aaron Sorkin’s crisp screenplay did the best it could for “The Social Network.” Equally crisp performances from a young cast tried, too. “The Social Network” was good, but it was no powerhouse film like “Toy Story 3” or many of the other Best Picture nominees. Oh, and don’t get me started on the cheap ending.

But Fincher found a loophole in the world of cinema: Make a movie so relevant to the current world’s society, and you’ve got yourself an Oscar, mister.

The far more deserving director is “Black Swan’s” Darren Aronofsky. He made “Black Swan” with Fincher’s old style — see the near-perfect “Se7en” — of fidgety filmmaking. Also, Aronofsky filmed in ballet studio rooms with zillions of mirrors. Not once did I even see a glimpse of a crew member or a camera in those mirrors. That’s great directing that Fincher abandoned a long time ago.

Everything in the other Best Picture front-runner, “The King’s Speech,” was delightful. Tom Hooper’s direction and David Seidler’s screenplay perfectly wove British history into a movie that

Fincher al Network”

was really about friendship. Forget the whole public speaking angle. “The King’s Speech” was about a man helping another man with his embarrassing problem.

As for the other nominees, the riveting ensemble boxing biopic “The Fighter” had the song “How You Like Me Now” by Heavy three times in the film.

Come on now. That’s not Best Picture quality. The worst part: The song actually fit pretty well in all three scenes.

“The Kids are All Right” was really just all right. The highlight of the film was Best Actress nominee Annette Bening’s solid performance.

The amazingly trippy “Inception” made far too much money — $292 million — to be considered a real contender for the top prize. Academy voters got the whole “Best-Picture-was-a-blockbuster” bug out of their systems a few years ago with the third “Lord of the Rings” flick.

Which leaves us that unremarkable movie about Facebook and a guy in a Gap sweatshirt to waltz away with the Best Picture Oscar.

Oh, you mean “The Social Network?”

Eh, I’ve heard it both ways.

Best Supporting Actor

Hooper ’s Speech”

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k” make its status “Oscar ech” announce its victory, mmediate coverage of the eremony on Feb. 27.

critique of the red carpet ortly after the ceremony.

Christian Bale “The Fighter”

John Hawkes “Winter’s Bone

Although an incredibly diverse category this year, Christian Bale’s performance as Mark Walhberg’s crack-addicted brother and boxing trainer in the biopic “The Fighter” has captured the attention of critics and Academy voters alike.

Geoffrey Rush’s portrayal of the middle-class speech therapist to the king of England is also in consideration.

Rush’s Lionel Logue serves as such an interesting catalyst to Collin Firth’s “Bertie” (King George VI) that it’s nearly impossible to remain unaffected by the emotional depth of his performance.

Rush’s performance, while highly emotional, is unlikely to surpass Bale’s momentum.

Jeremy Renner “The Town

Mark Ruffalo “The Kids Are All Right”

Geoffrey Rush “The King’s Speech”

If “The King’s Speech” were released any other year, Best Supporting Actor nominee, Geoffrey Rush, would win hands down. He played Lionel Logue, an unorthodox speech therapist who helps the soon-to-be King George VI with his stammering. Rush’s fallible, yet brilliant portrayal, like the rest of “The King’s Speech,” was just delightful.

But this is Christian Bale’s year. After his meltdown on the set of “Terminator Salvation,” I honestly thought his movie career was “done professionally.”

But Bale bounced back with the boxing biopic “The Fighter,” where he plays Dicky, boxer-Mark Wahlberg’s brother and trainer. Dicky is also a former boxer and is currently addicted to crack. Bale was almost so “distracting” that I almost forgot about Wahlberg or any of the other actors in the movie.

I’m not asking; I’m telling you that Bale will win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Oh, good for him.

SCREEN TO OSCAR

14 SPORTS

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Winning the MSL tug-of-war Inconsistency, result of tough conference

By Nick Stanojevic Executive Sports Editor Up 3 points against Rolling Meadows, the boys’ basketball team was 11 seconds away from taking an important step toward a fourth straight MSL East championship.

Then, Rolling Meadows senior Eric Lowe hit a 3-point shot to force an overtime. In overtime, the Knights blew a 4-point lead to eventually fall 68-64 on Feb. 4 in a game where they had 21 turnovers and only six assists.

Although the team has a 13-7 record and has already clinched the MSL East because they own the tiebreaker over Hersey, one concern for coach John Camardella has been this team’s lack of consistency.

“I think [consistency] is what every team looks for,” Camardella said. “It is a constant back and forth of, ‘Can we put together a full 32-minute game?’”

The loss to Rolling Meadows stood out since the Knights won 55-32 in the first meeting.

However, Camardella believes that wins against Glenbrook North (16-6) and Buffalo Grove (16-8) shows how well the team can play.

In the second half of both of those games, Camardella was particularly impressed with the way the team shared and moved the ball, spaced the floor and located scorers.

“The game is pretty simple,” Camardella said. “It often looks and sounds complex — it’s really not.”

However, both players and coaches know the season has not been all positive.

pPASSING THE COMPETITION: Senior Grant DePalma passes the ball in a 56-46 win over Hersey on Feb. 11.

The team clinched the MSL East that night despite a season full of inconsistency. (Photo by Ian Magnuson) The 10-point loss at home to Palatine (9-14) stands out to all as a disappointing game.

“We came out flat [and] had some turnovers. When we move the ball, we are doing good,” senior captain Matt Loebbakka said. “Sometimes we don’t move the ball, and that leads to problems. And that’s the root of most of the inconsistency.”

Camardella believes that one big reason the team has played inconsistently this season is because of the parity all across the league.

“The fact that so many teams are equally talented ... each team’s got a mix,” Camardella said. “In the past, a lot of times we’ve been able to focus in on one or two scorers. ... We are seeing, this year, teams that are having two, three and sometimes four guys in double digits ... which makes it a lot harder to contain one or two people.”

Although Camardella knows the MSL does not have the Division I talent the city

has, the players know the game and execute game plans well, making the race for the MSL tight.

“Night in [and] night out, especially in the [MSL] ... it’s a test,” Camardella said. “There

are so many teams that are even, and it’s really just the team that gets hot at the right point.”

In addition to the high talent level, all the teams know each other well.

“For most fans who just watch the game, I think they don’t understand that aspect,” Camardella said. “What makes varsity sports here like football and basketball is we do scouting more than anyone else.

Not only do they have to worry about what they are doing but also about what the other team is doing. That’s the dynamic that makes the sport of basketball a lot more demanding sometimes than other sports.”

“Sometimes you find a good balance and it works; other times, kids forget who they are, and they worry too much about the other team. It’s up to us as coaches to keep them levelheaded when it comes to that.”

But, in spite of all the inconsistency, Prospect is in a position to clinch the MSL East outright tonight against Buffalo Grove.

“I’d love for us to get a win,” Loebbaka said. “I know we got the tiebreaker, so worst case scenario is we are going to the championship after this week.

But I would like to win it outright — I’m a little selfish, and I don’t want to share it with Hersey.”

Want more Prosepect basketball?

A recap of the team’s game against Hersey for a share of the MSL East crown.

An exclusive video interview and game of H-O-R-S-E between Executive Sports Editor Nick Stanojevic and junior Mike Latulip.

More photographs from the 50 year reunion of the 1961 team and coverage of the current team’s postseason run, on prospectornow.com

‘61 Knights reunite

By Jack Matthews Staff Writer Although it happened almost 50 years ago, the members of the 1960-’61 Prospect basketball team, most of whom are approaching 70, can still recall the last game they ever played together. Prospect, coached by Dick Kinneman, was playing Crystal Lake — one win away from competing for the state championship.

After four quarters, the game was tied and went into overtime, but neither team scored. With the rules of the time, the game went into a peculiar 2-point sudden death, meaning the first team to score two points would win.

Former starting center Bill Zadel, who would later play football at Army, still remembers his part in the heartbreaking loss. He recalls being the man that fouled the opposing player, allowing him to win the

game by making the two free throws.

“We had a great run going, and we just didn’t play our best that day,” Zadel said. “When we lost, it was as though high school basketball was all over.

“I still think we were the better team.”

On Feb. 11, before the game against Hersey, the ‘60-’61 Prospect basketball team held a 50-year reunion for their record-setting season. The season included a No. 2 ranking in the state and a sectional semifinal appearance.

While that was the last game this team would ever play together, the bond between teammates has not extinguished.

Though many now live far away, the team still tries to get together every five years for their class anniversary.

“Every time we get together, it is like no time has passed,” Zadel said.

One member of the ‘60-’61

pREUNITED, AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: The 1961 Prospect boys’ basketball team poses for a photo at their 50th reunion, held before the boys’ basketball game on Feb. 11. The 1961 team went all the way to the sectional semifinal, before losing 59-57 to Crystal Lake in sudden death overtime. (Photo by Ali Preissing) team who has not gone far since graduating was the starting point guard, Fred Lussow.

Lussow still coaches shot put and discus for the Hersey track team while occasionally serving as a substitute gym teacher at Prospect.

Lussow thinks the balance of the ‘60-’61 team was the biggest reason why the team lost only four games in two seasons

by a combined total of 6 points.

“We were very well-rounded, we had three very good, big men and we all [had] a great coach in Kinneman ... we just gelled,” Lussow said.

Lussow and the rest of the team are extremely appreciative of coach Camardella and his staff for putting this reunion together.

“I get some e-mails from

a couple of [the players], but it is things like this that really bring us together,” coach Kinneman said.

Although 50 years have passed, and Kinneman is now 85, the team’s final loss is one wound time cannot cure.

“The worst experience I ever had was losing that ball game,” Kinneman said.

SPORTS 15

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Setting

@

Knight

the

World wide leader in ... high

tone pLIFE IN THE FAST LANE: Freshman Nathanael Ginnodo (bottom) prepares to swim his 100-yard breaststroke at the conference meet Saturday. “For the rest of my time at Prospect, I would like to go to state and potentially place,” he said. (Photo by Miranda Holloway)

Swimmers of all ages fill empty lanes

By Miranda Holloway Sports Editor Boys’ swimming was the underdog going into their Jan. 14 dual meet against Buffalo Grove. Facing one of the strongest teams in the MSL East, the boys knew the meet would be challenging.

“Nobody expected them to win,” head coach Alfonso Lopez said. “So [I told them], ‘Go out and win it — go out and surprise people.’”

Before then, the team had lost all five of their dual competitions and had placed seventh out of eight teams at the Saint Viator’s invite in early December in what was supposed to be their “down year.”

Despite their record coming in, the boys beat Buffalo Grove with a close score of 94-92.

“We got off to a pretty shaky start, and at the first half of the season, everyone was just down because we weren’t winning any meets,” senior captain Reed Mauer said. “But after we beat Buffalo Grove, we didn’t lose a meet after that.”

Last year, the team graduated 13 seniors, which included state qualifiers Joe Lakner and Tyler Bengsten. Beng-

sten is also the school’s record holder to shatter records,” Lopez said. “It will for the 100-yard breaststroke (see Lost be interesting to see how he develops to graduation). Because of the losses, because he is only a freshman.”

Lopez thought this season would be a Ginnodo’s time is only six seconds struggle. off the record set last year by Bengsten “It’s OK if you lose eight people or when he was a senior, and his times something like that and you are able to have allowed him to compete with and put people in transition,” Lopez said. beat many juniors and seniors.

“Losing 13 seniors who were all conGinnodo had no idea that he would tributing factors to your varsity line be a varsity swimmer at the beginup — that’s hard to replace. ning of his high school career. After he “Those swimmers had been varsity found out that he would be swimming swimmers for almost four years, and varsity events, he turned to his teamthey were the backmates who had simibone to the team,” lar experiences as LOST TO GRADUATION young varsity swimLopez said. “Once they were gone, it mers.

Tyler Bengtsen* was just kind of, Sophomore AnPatrick Brasslin ‘Who’s going to step drew Younger swam Dave Fairburn up and fill those in the 50- and 100Erik Holcomb roles?’ There was a yard freestyle varBrian Johnston lot of uncertainty sity events last year Joe Lakner* for our team.” and was able to give Ed Martin The swimmers Ginnodo a few pointMike McPartlin realized that it was ers about swimming Eric Opland up to them to step as a freshman on Adam Pascolini up. The sophomore varsity.

Sergio Perez-Garcia class in particular Lopez knew that Matthew Santillan showed their promthe team needed oldDominic Scardina ising future last year er swimmers to step

by filling some third up and take leaderswimmer spots in * Lakner and Bengtsen qualified for ship of the team. state in both their junior and senior the varsity line up.

“Our seniors from years. Bengsten also qualified his “A big core of this year and our seour team are sopho- sophomore year and is the 100niors from last year mores and a few yard butterfly school record holder really work hard, freshmen as well,” with a time of 1:00.57. and that’s what they Lopez said. “It’s nice expect from some of to know that we will not be seeing a the younger guys,” Lopez said. “When similar exodus.” kids come into practice and they have Freshman Nathanael expectations to work hard and not comGinnodo has shown huge plain, that will be passed along for next potential to be a star swim- year.” mer by competing in and This year, the tradition of high exconsistently winning four pectations was carried on by senior covarsity events: the 200-yard captains Mauer and John Benhke, who medley relay, 200-yard in- were voted to lead the team by their dividual medley, 200-meter teammates. freestyle relay and 100-yard “They set the tone for what kind of breaststroke. team we have,” Lopez said. “You don’t Before the high school have to be the best. You don’t have to season began, Ginnodo have the unbelievable skills. But if you was regularly swimming work really, really hard, good things a 1:10.00 in the 100-yard will come. If you’re a positive teambreaststroke with his club oriented type swimmer, it will work out team, the Arlington Alliga- better for everybody.” tor’s, and he had been swimThe captains have proven themming that time for some selves to Lopez as being the people who time. During the high school their teammates go to for support and season, however, he has advice. managed to drop his time They have influenced new and old down to a 1:06.00. swimmers, carrying them into a ninth “He is on pace right now place finish at the conference meet on Feb.12.

“During practice, you just have to keep [the team] going, make sure that they don’t slack off and show them that it would really pay off call 847-255-2526 in meets,” Mauer said. “And it has [helped], and it shows. It proved to them that hard work and practice 421 W. Prospect Ave. really [do] pay off.”

Mt. Prospect, IL

ESPN is always on in my house.

Always.

Monday Night Football, SportsCenter, Around the Horn — it really doesn’t matter.

Even though ESPN isn’t perfect — they obviously have an East coast bias, essentially ignoring the West — they still have great programming. It is, of course, inevitable because ESPN virtually has a monopoly on the sports media market.

Like all sports “experts,” ESPN is often wrong. Before the 2004 NFL draft, Ron Jaworski said J.P. Losman could be the best quarterback in that class — not Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger.

Losman has thrown only one more pass than me in the past two seasons.

And it seems like ESPN picks the Patriots to win the Super Bowl every year.

But the thing ESPN has wrong more than anything else is their treatment of National Signing Day for high school football players.

For two weeks leading up to the signing day on Feb. 2, there were commercials as if a real game was going to happen. Instead, it was just kids announcing publicly what their intentions were. ESPN, worth $30 billion back in 2007, should have nothing to do with high school athletics. All they are doing is putting more pressure on a talented group of kids.

Just because they dominated sports in high school does not mean they will make it to the NFL or play well in college.

Injuries, work ethic and skills will still determine who makes it and who doesn’t. High school coaches seem not to enjoy the nationalization of decisions either; former Prospect coach Brent Pearlman is one of them.

Pearlman prefers the athletes are recognized inside their community where their schools and families can appreciate their announcement.

“But to take it to a state or national level — that’s a lot of pressure on a kid,” Pearlman said, “and I think it adds a lot of drama to it that I don’t think is necessary.”

An example of overhyped high school commitment is Ohio State’s quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Pryor was the No. 1 recruit in his class in 2008 and was supposed to be a legendary quarterback.

Now, he is suspended for the first five games of next season, and he could be considered a bust since his announcement was “the most anticipated in history,” according to Sports Illustrated.

Yet, he has won two BCS Bowl games.

This year, Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 recruit in the nation this year, didn’t want to sign a letter of intent until his birthday on Feb. 14. Because of this, he received media coverage as if he was some fake celebrity (I’m looking at you, Kim Kardashian).

Every move Clowney has made since he announced he wanted to delay his decision has been covered, and his high school transcript has even been publicized. Amazingly, he isn’t quoted in any of the stories, signaling he doesn’t even want the publicity.

These nationally televised Lebronlike hat choices need to stop. Media coverage of high school commitments should stay local and never reach the monster that is ESPN. The national media is putting too much pressure on high school athletes. They can use what they do to the West coast as reference.

SPORTS Thursday, February 17, 2011

On Prospectornow.com ...

The girls’ bowling team placed sixth at state on Feb. 11-12 in their first appearance since 2005. Check online for more on their state perfor-

pHELPING HANDS: New head coach Randy Smith watches junior Lauren Johnson perform her floor routine at practice on Feb. 9. In Smith’s first year with the team, he helped the girls break school records, learn new tricks and qualify two girls for state. (Photo By Ian Magnuson)

New coach changes team dynamics

By Maggie Devereux Executive Sports Editor

SECTIONAL RESULTS

After a successful freshman season, where sophomore Meggie Kania made it to state and formed strong bonds with her former coach Julian Basler, she thought this gymnastics season was going to bring a tough transition.

Basler left at the conclusion of last season for undisclosed reasons.

“I loved [Basler],” Kania said. “[He] coached me up to state level, and I didn’t know if there was another coach who would involve fun and getting me up to state level again.”

However, during her first few weeks, Kania knew that the new head coach, Randy Smith, meant business.

Smith went to state himself his junior and senior year at Addison Trail High School.

He also has 14 years of coaching experience, which includes helping coach the Conant girls’ and boys’ gymnastics win state in ‘05 and ‘08, respectively.

“We got used to [Smith],” Kania said. “[Practice] was a lot harder because he pushed us a lot harder. And I think it was just the fact of getting used to [the intensity]. I mean [Basler] pushed us but not to the extent that [Smith] did.”

Smith’s push helped the team break the school’s team score record of 142.45, scoring a 143.4. Freshman Gianna Scala

Individual Results

Team Scores

Gianna Scala: 1st- Floor Exercise (9.625) 3rd- Balance Beam (9.3) 5th- All-around competition (36.775) *Placing fifth in the all around competition qualifies Scala to compete in the all-around at the state meet on Feb. 18-19.

Place

School

Score

1

Schaumburg

147.400

2

Prospect

141.925

3

New Trier

140.850

4

Niles North

137.725

5

Hoffman Estates

134.575

Lauren Johnson: 2nd- Uneven Bars (9.175) *Placing second on uneven bars qualifies Johnson to compete on Uneven Bars at the state competition.

also broke both the school’s all-around and floor exercise records (see New kids on the block).

“Throughout the season, we realized how much we need [Smith],” Kania said. “Even though he pushes us really hard, we get so many rewards out of it, [such as] hitting our routines and winning.”

“He has made our team a lot better,” Scala said. “We’ve gotten a lot of new skills to help add to our score.”

Some of the skills that Smith has helped the girls add into their routines

Information courtesy of ihsa.org have made a huge impact on the season.

He helped Scala add a standing back tuck, aerial walkover and flip flop full dismount into her beam routine, and he helped her pike her vault, which increased her start level of difficulty, allowing her to consistently score higher.

Smith helped Kania add a back handspring and a back handspring full dismount into her beam routine, a pirouette and giant into her uneven bars routine and a one and a half pass on floor.

“That is what gives me an advantage at meets,” Scala said. “The more difficulty in your routines, the more bonus you get and the higher your score is.”

Smith believes that the girls benefit from the skills so greatly because of their determination. According to Smith, every girl has been able to learn a new trick in days, even though they should take months to learn.

“I’ve never coached a group of girls [like them]. They all just do it for the love of the sport and not for anything else,” Smith said. “And I can’t take credit for everything, but I like to think that I’m not too bad of a coach.”

Smith ended his rookie coaching season at Prospect by qualifying two girls for state and broke a school team record despite losing state qualifier Katie Colomone (see Sectional results).

Next year, despite losing seniors Sarah and Christina Pekar, Smith knows the transition will be over.

“Now we have a season behind us, and we’re all on the same page for next year,” Smith said, “We’ll be even stronger — physically and mentally.”

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK Freshman Gianna Scala broke the schools all-around gymnastics record on Dec. 15, scoring a 37.2.

“I wasn’t expecting to break any records,” Scala said. “I didn’t even know what the record was.”

Scala is one of two freshmen on varsity. She, freshman Jackie DiFonzo (pictured right) and sophomore Meggie Kania are the three youngest members on the sixmember team, but that hasn’t held them back.

Instead, they have taken the opportunity to make a name for themselves at Prospect.

“It feels really good to know that even though I’m one of the younger kids on the team, I can still put a lot into the team score,” Scala said.

The all-around record hasn’t been Scala’s only contribution.

The same meet, she scored a 9.65 on floor to break the school record of 9.6 set by Emily Rossdeutcher in the ‘07’08 season.

Kania was also one of two

girls Prospect sent to state last year despite being a freshman, and she placed 19th on floor exercise.

At regionals on Jan. 31, Kania was first in all-around, and Scala took second. Kania also won vault while Scala won both uneven bars and floor exercise.

At sectionals on Feb. 10, Scala took first on floor, third on beam, and fifth in the all-around. Placing fifth in all-around competition qualified her to compete

in all-around at the state meet (see Sectional Results). “[The freshmen] have done fantastic,” Kania said. “We really needed them.”

“They’re young, and they’re awesome,” head coach Randy Smith said.

Freshman Jackie DiFonzo