Vol. 54, Issue 3 Southwords

NEWS | November 17, 2017

News Editor or the 2018-2019 school year, students will be able to take AP Art History for the first time. AP Art History was first offered by the College Board during the 2015-2016 school year.

The class focuses primarily on European art, but roughly 20% of its curriculum includes art from Africa, Asia, and the rest of the world.

“We are very excited about this class for both art and history students as this gives another opportunity for both groups of students to take another AP class,” art teacher Ms. Addie Price said. “The class was adopted by the Board of Education as the district Fine Arts departments and administration felt this is a wonderful opportunity for students.”

AP Art History is roughly equal parts art and history. The goal of the class is to encourage students to view historical art in the context of its time, and to investigate it critically.

“I think the new art history class here is providing a wonderful blend of subjects— something we don't often get,” said senior Anne Longman said. “Learning about history through art is a totally different experience than a regular history class, because understanding art though the ages is understanding how society reacts to the world that surrounds them in a very real way. Art is an emotional response to crisis and circumstance, and provides a much more authentic insight on history than simply reading facts.”

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IMAGE COURTESY ELIZABETH LIEU

AP Art History will be offered in the 2018-19 year

Dimtri Speron

Board approved syllabus, and highly-qualified certification in the content area is required,” Mrs. Teralyn Keith, the Fine Arts Department Chair at Maine South, said.

To advertise the new class to students at Maine South, art students created posters and other promotional materials that are displayed throughout the school.

“I designed the AP Art History poster envisioning a way to communicate to students that learning about art history is a unique way to learn about different world cultures and time periods,” senior Elizabeth Lieu said. “By being exposed to and discussing renowned artists throughout history, one can develop an understanding of why certain works of art have so much value.

“We hope our students are excited about this great opportunity,” Mrs. Keith said. “We are thrilled to be able to offer the course and appreciate the administrative and Board of Education support in approving an additional educational opportunity Ms. Price is currently the only teacher in the for students.” district that is certified to teach the class.

As with most AP tests, the AP Art History test “I have taught the course before in my previous includes a free response and a multiple-choice district, but any art teacher can be certified by the section. college board to teach the course,” Ms. Price said.

After the first several years of test administration, “Our district's plan is to have one art teacher in 61% of test-takers nationally receive at least a three, each building teaching AP Art History.” the threshold to obtain credit at many of the Qualifying to teach AP Art History requires a nation's universities. This places AP Art History high level of subject matter education. near the middle of the score distribution across “[To teach the class,] submission of a College AP tests.

County soda tax repealed New schedule simulated

Luigi Laudando

News Writer fter months of opposition, the Cook County board of commissioners has voted to repeal the controversial $0.01 per ounce sugary beverage tax.

The tax ran into public backlash, including a lawsuit that delayed its implementation from July 1 to Aug. 2. The tax also encountered negative advertising campaigns funded by the beverage industry.

The tax also had supporters, including former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who started a similar tax while Mayor of New York City. Bloomberg started an advertising campaign in favor of the tax in response to negative advertising.

Some students support the idea of a beverage tax to help decrease obesity, but many dislike the way the county handled the tax.

“The soda tax was a valuable idea that was executed poorly," sophomore Liam Warlick said. "The county taxed too many juices and other non-soda products, which some people consider to be necessities."

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The tax not only raised the price of soda products, but also affected many other beverages. These include flavored water, energy drinks, and pre-made coffee products. Many were dissatisfied because the tax applied to these other beverages.

“It affected me, but not because I drink lots of soda,” sophomore Kuba Bal said. “It also counts for all sugary drinks like juices and sports drinks.”

Many argue that the tax drives revenue away from small businesses in Cook County, as some people travel to other counties to purchase their beverages.

The tax was also hard to measure, with certain drinks being excluded, but free refills of soda products being included. This prompted complaints from small business owners and a warning from federal agencies threatening to decrease funding for food stamp benefits in Illinois.

Commissioners voted 15-2 to repeal the tax, which now leaves Cook County with a large budget hole to fill.

The tax is set to be phased out Dec. 1.

Advisory period provides insight into next year's schedule.

Sara Nelson News Writer

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o prepare for the hybrid schedule beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, students had an advisory period on Nov. 15 to participate in a schedule simulation.

During the advisory, students completed a spreadsheet surveying their current schedule. The spreadsheet allowed students to view potential weekly schedules under the new hybrid schedule.

“We thought that the simulation would be helpful for students to better understand how the hybrid schedule works, and clear up any confusion,” Principal Dr. Collins said.

Noting concerns among students and parents, Associate Principal Mr. Dagres said, “We wanted to start giving students a visual representation of what their schedule might look like.” He believes that the simula-

tion increased understanding of the schedule among students.

Different student questions have prompted the simulation.

“I don’t understand the concept of lunch," sophomore Logan Jawgiel asked. "If we don’t have any half periods, how is lunch supposed to fit into our schedules?”

Visualizing class work under the hybrid schedule has also been difficult for students, especially those enrolling in extended math and science classes.

“I’d like to know how many hours of class time I’m losing for extended core classes, like the calculus class that I have to take," junior Cassandra Soto said.

The schedule simulation was designed to address these concerns.

“Every student or parent that we’ve taken through on the simulation has shown more understanding because they can see a schedule,” Dr. Collins said.

He is hoping that the simulation answered most questions the students have, and that it will ease the transition next year.

November 17, 2017 | NEWS

New club raises money for local animal shelter

Elaine Smith

News Editor he Maine South Animal Shelter Fundraising club will be holding an auction to raise money for the Heartland Animal Shelter on Nov. 30. The auction will be held at Lot 14 Auctions in Niles, IL. “The main ways that we have been raising money for the club this year are by having students in the club volunteer at Lot 14 Auctions,” Vice President of Animal Shelter Fundraising Club Alec Sheffield said. “[Club members] help volunteer at the auction house and the club gets 10% of the money from all items sold during the auction that we volunteer at. All money then goes directly to Heartland.”

The Nov. 30 auction will be the second auction held this year by the Animal Shelter Fundraising Club. The club’s first auction was on Sept. 7.

“We have about three to five people help at the auction,” Sheffield said. “We raised $471.80, a great return for our first time around.”

Animal Shelter Fundraising Club first heard about Lot 14 Auctions last year when MCYAF began raising money by working at the auction house.

“Since I knew some students who worked with MCYAF, I wanted to check it out,” Mr. Egan, the teacher sponsor for Animal Shelter Fundraising Club, said. “I had attended some auctions in the past, and they can be a lot of fun and interesting.

I found the owner to be really nice, and he is very interested in working with local non-profits.”

In addition to volunteering at the auction, club members can come to the auctions and bid on items. They are also able to consign or donate items to the auction.

The Animal Shelter Fundraising Club was started by seniors Anthony Fiorentino and Alec Sheffield when they were juniors. Fiorentino had

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WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? Money fundraised through the club goes towards the shelter to help take care of the dogs and maintain areas such as their outdoor yard for the dogs to play in during the day. previously volunteered at Heartland Animal Shelter and wanted to start a club to raise money and supplies to help the shelter’s animals.

The club first became official last April.

Currently the club has 15-20 members, and meets several times a month.

“During the Maine South activity fair, we had about 150-180 students sign up for the club,” Sheffield said. “[We] have been working actively to make our club more well known through the school.”

In addition to creating fundraising and volunteering opportunities for students to help raise money for Heartland Animal Shelter, the club also looks to collect pet supplies.

“Pet supply drives are where we set up large

laundry bins [at] hot points in Maine South,” Sheffield said. “We ask people in the club along with [other students] to bring in pet food, pet toys, leashes, etc.”

The club hopes to increase student participation in future events.

“We have some upcoming pet supply drives,” Sheffield said. “This was the first thing we started doing when the club began. It was a big success last year and we hope for another successful one this year.”

The club spreads the word through advertising.

“We have club members make signs, posters, flyers etc promoting the club and the auction,” Sheffield said. “We then post [them] around the different neighborhoods near the school."

Southwords members recognized for their work Mary Godley

News Editor t the Kettle Moraine Press Association’s fall conference on October 20, Southwords received the “All-KEMPA” rating, the highest distinction a high school publication can receive from KEMPA. Staff efforts were recognized alongside individual student writers, editors, and artists.

Volume 53 Issue 5, entitled “All Eyes on the White House” received the “Best of Show” rating for Cover Design. The staff editorial, “We must resist ‘alternative facts’,” from the same issue received the “Superior” rating.

Shannon McGreevy earned the “Excellent” rating for cartoons for a political cartoon about President Trump’s immigration policy.

“It felt amazing to have my work receive such positive attention because I hadn’t expected it at all," McGreevy said. "I was more than happy to just have my work published in Southwords, so to find out I won an award, too, made me really excited.”

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2017 graduate Mary Pat Roche and junior Colleen Johnson received the “Superior” rating for a News Story with their article on the optional second semester finals for AP students.

“Sometimes students don’t understand how much work goes into creating Southwords, and though that part is frustrating, to be given an award for our work means that we are duly appreciated as an award-winning paper,” Johnson said.

Senior Entertainment Editor Luke Bechtel earned the “Excellent” rating for his review of Frank Ocean’s latest album, "Blonde."

“I was super surprised when I was told about the award, given it’s the second award that that particular article has won,” Bechtel said. Bechtel also received the Blue Ribbon Award from the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association (NISPA). “I figured the article was a thing of the past, but I was really honored to be recognized by KEMPA.” Senior Christina Johnson and 2017 graduate Emily Rosca received the “Superior” rating for Double Truck Design called “Slice Slice Baby."

“I was particularly excited about winning the award for the pizza spread because that was by far my favorite article I wrote because, for one, I love pizza, and secondly, I loved going to all the pizza places with some of my favorite people,” Rosca said. Rosca, currently attending Loyola University Chicago, is majoring in Multimedia Journalism and is a writer for the Loyola Phoenix.

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NEWS

| November 17, 2017

New measures taken to stop student e-cigarette use Elaine Smith

News Editor he Park Ridge City council passed an ordinance that regulates vaping, or the use of electronic smoking devices, this past July. “[The ordinance] incorporates electronic smoking devices to the City Code on smoking regulations,” Police Officer Anthony Raitano said.

“It prohibits people under 18 years of age from possessing or using these devices.”

The ordinance increases the fine for minors under 18 years of age in possession of e-cigarettes or any tobacco products from $100 to $500.

If you are caught vaping, you have a choice to either pay $500 or to take a class.

Three teens and their parents attended the first class on Oct. 23.

“We really want kids to be educated,” MCYAF Executive Director Dr. Terry Collins said. We don’t care about the fine, but we needed to make the fine high enough to deter kids [from vaping] and to make kids want to take the class.”

The two-hour classes are held at Maine South and aim to educate individuals on the dangers of vaping.

“We talk about the addictive potential of nicotine and the teenage brain,” Dr. Collins said. “We talk about the electronic cigarette stuff and then we talk about peer pressure. Teens and their parents are required to come.”

Previously, Park Ridge laws regarding smoking did not include any type of e-cigarettes.

“We couldn’t give anyone a citation because it wasn’t against the law,” Dr. Collins said. “There was nothing about this electronic stuff in the books.”

“Because our smoking ordinance did not include electronic smoking devices, city officials got together and created a new ordinance that is specific for electronic smoking devices and paraphernalia,” Officer Raitano said.

Vaping first drew significant attention from the deans last year.

“When it came onto the scene, it came on strong,” Maine South Dean, Ms. Linda Borchew said. “We were not the first school in the CSL [to see vaping], but it’s all over the place now.”

Because e-cigarettes don’t produce the strong, lingering odor of regular cigarettes, some students try to get away with vaping in school.

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JUUL-ERY Dr. Terry Collins collects all of the E-cigarettes that she confiscates from students. She uses them to educate teens on the dangers of vaping.

“We get reports from staff, teachers The rise of teenage vaping is seeing it in the bathrooms or in their concerning due to the health risks classrooms,” Dean Borchew said. “We associated with it. get reports from security and hall “In each cartridge is virtually a monitors. Parents also give us tips.” package of cigarettes,” Dr. Collins said.

The growing number of students “When someone starts smoking [an vaping prompted the passage of the e-cigarette] or something, say it tastes ordinance. like mango or donuts or something, “Last spring, Officer Raitano they aren’t paying attention and they mentioned that he was starting to see end up smoking [the equivalent of] a lot of vaping at Maine South,” Dr. a whole package of cigarettes in an Collins said. “I had first heard about hour.” the whole electronic trend about four A significant concern is that years ago through lectures.” students are taking in too much Electronic cigarettes have been nicotine in a short amount of time. around for several years but only “Nicotine overdose is the greatest recently have gained popularity potential harm to a kid because we among students. are talking about kids who are 12, 13, When you look at this [Juul], 14 even 18 years old, and their lungs it’s very slick,” Dr. Collins said. are still developing,” Dr. Collins said. “[Electronic cigarettes] weren’t slick “Your lungs are made for oxygen when they started out. When they and are only capable of taking in a started out, they looked like cigarettes. certain amount of water. So you have There is no mind connection between kids who have vaped a lot in a short cigarettes and vaping. These are very amount of time, they get water in the cool looking.” bottom of their lungs and can develop Currently, pods, or cartridges pneumonia.” containing water, flavorings and E-cigarette manufactures are not nicotine, are inserted into the required to accurately disclose what electronic cigarettes and then smoked. is in their products.

Batteries then heat up the liquid until “These electronic devices are not it is vaporized.

FDA regulated so there is no quality “If you had a true vapor, you would control involved,” Dr. Collins said. just heat up water and you would have “The kids don’t even know how vapor and nicotine. But the batteries much nicotine they are taking in and are not consistent. What happens they don’t stop [vaping] until they is you get inconsistent heating and feel sick.” incomplete combustion,” Dr. Collins Additionally, many students are said. “When you vaporize the oils and unaware of the danger of smoking an incomplete combustion occurs, large amounts of nicotine. some of the oils become aldehydes “This is a big deal for kids because or ketones–those are carcinogenic.” their brains are still developing,” Dr.

Collins said. “Nicotine, because it’s so addictive, affects the dopamine system in the brain.”

To deter vaping, students caught vaping at school receive an in-school consequence.

“We delineate between being in possession or actually using or both,” Dean Borchew said. “It also depends if it’s your first or your second time or more.”

The Deans’ consequences fluctuate depending on the circumstances.

“So you catch a kid vaping in the bathroom, we have whoever the witnesses are tell us exactly what they saw,” Dean Borchew said. “We will have the kid escorted down to our office. The student will then tell us what happened from his or her vantage point. Then we search. So depending on what we find, a Juul, it could be old-time tobacco or cigarettes. We take everything into account.”

Possible consequences include multiple Saturday detentions or “Reassignments” where a student is reassigned from their classes to a detention room for the entire school day.

In addit ion to D e ans’ consequences, there are police consequences.

“Consequences from Police would be a possible citation for possession of an electronic smoking device,” Officer Raitano said.

If a student is involved in athletics or extracurriculars, getting caught vaping may also result in a 24/7 policy violation.

“We do our part and Officer Raitano does his part,” Dean Borchew said. “Then the 24/7 code would go into effect, but this consequence normally happens at a later date.”

It is too early to tell if the ordinance has been effective in preventing students from vaping at school.

“At this time there is no data to support any reduction or increase in usage—the ordinance is still in its infancy,” Officer Raitano said. “I have noticed a decrease; however, that may not be accurate. I know that kids are pretty good at hiding it.”

Some hope that the best way to prevent vaping is to educate students.

“I prefer not to be an enforcer but an educator when it come to the use of electronic smoking devices,” Officer Raitano said. “The bottom line is they are not good for you.”

November 17, 2017

| COMMENTARY

How affirmative action affects society News Editor ne of the founding principles of the United States is equality.

The Declaration of Independence itself states that “All men are created equal.” How then, can it be that, under affirmative action, discrimination and injustice have been allowed to permeate modern society?

In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, instituting affirmative action in federal agencies, the United States was harshly divided amongst racial lines.

To continue to believe that affirmative action—consciously considering race a necessary factor in decisions from college to hiring at jobs—is to believe that there is still a problem in society.

Affirmative action’s injustices are twofold: it discriminates against people based on their race and places people in situations in which they cannot thrive.

Affirmative action is, by definition, prejudicial treatment. By using race as a factor in, say college admissions, those who utilize affirmative action are giving their prejudices form.

Affirmative action, in addition to being discriminatory, does not work as it is intended to.

According to the New York Times, the share of African-American freshman at elite schools has not changed significantly since 1980.

Affirmative action is little more than paternalistic discrimination that ultimately benefits no one.

Affirmative action was necessary in the time that it was created. Without it, it is questionable whether AfricanAmericans would have been able to successfully integrate themselves into the social and political systems that were deeply entrenched against them.

It is, however, woefully outdated. In academia especially, where liberals outnumber conservatives 12 to 1, affirmative action conveys a singular message to minority students: these institutions do not believe that minority students are otherwise capable of competing with their white counterparts.

U.S Supreme C our t Justice

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Ryan Prendergast

Commentary Writer e live in a segregated nation.

Different ethnicities in this country live in separate and unequal worlds. These disparities reflect a failure of our society. The United States was founded on the ideal that any individual could achieve “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. That hope, though, is made unreasonably difficult in the face of generational cycles of discrimination and poverty.

To fix these issues, we need to ensure that any person can work their way to success. As John F Kennedy said, “the heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities.” Fifty years later, Americans legally have equal rights, but we do not equally have access to those opportunities.

Affirmative action in university admissions is a means to ensure that minority students have such “equal opportunities” as proclaimed by JFK. Race, then, should be used as a criteria for college admissions, and it should focus on members of communities which have been historically held back.

In actual practice, “affirmative action” gets a negative stigma. It is often associated with unfairness: universities taking unqualified candidates over qualified ones, only to meet some mandated threshold of minorities.

Affirmative action is not a race quota. Colleges cannot say 12% of engineering students must be black.

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Ivy League College Enrollment Source: NY Times, 2015

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15%

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Percentage of College-age Population in the U.S. Percentage Enrolled at Ivy League schools

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Percentage Enrolled at Ivy League schools

22% 15%

9%

African-Americans

Hispanics

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Dimitri Speron

Clarence Thomas, an AfricanAmerican himself, decries affirmative action as patronizing and useless.

“In my mind, governmentsponsored racial discrimination based on benign prejudice is just as noxious as discrimination inspired by malicious prejudice,” Justice Thomas said when issuing his opinion in Adarand Constructors v. Pena. This case questioned whether affirmative action was in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

When institutions ignore the personality, record, and standing of an individual, to judge them based on their inherited characteristics, they commit a fundamentally unAmerican act.

Granting advantages to minorities based solely on their heritage is racist in that it assumes they are otherwise incomparable without this “boost,” and in that it tells whites that they are inferior due not to their test scores or their merits, but because of the color of their skin.

Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School, in ­which the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, confirms that schools do in fact discriminate based on race and even decides to continue the practice.

On Aug. 28, 1963, before a crowd of millions of men and women, black, white, and everything in between, Reverend Martin Luther King Junior said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Dr. King asked for equality—equality and nothing more.

Judgement based on skin-color, even if it is judgement intended to help is judgement nonetheless, and is incompatible with Dr. King's dream.

Setting aside slots or percentages of seats as a minority quota is actually unconstitutional and illegal.

The court case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke, d e e m e d u n c onst itut i on a l t h e racial quotas that the University of California, Davis School of Medicine; however, it upheld affirmative action.

Affirmative action only means that a university can consider the race of a person as one of their “many factors” for admission.

Additionally, accepting minorities who have lower average test scores does not mean unfairly taking seats from qualified candidates. In actuality, accepting an unqualified candidate for their race is illegal, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

A black student with a 30 on the ACT does not steal a white student with a 34’s seat. Universities understandably weigh factors like extracurricular talents, or geographic location, or athletic skills, or even their parents’ income in addition to test scores.

So, why can’t they consider race?

If an impoverished minority student had to work much harder for a 30 than a richer student who was tutored to a 34, shouldn’t the university be allowed to consider that fact as well as the score itself? Won’t the harder-working student be more successful faced with the workload of college?

Affirmative action should be based on the larger socioeconomic situation of individual—factors like income and wealth and whether they live in a poor or rich community—rather than just race alone.

Controlling for socioeconomics provides opportunities to students who do not fit into standard racial molds and ensures that opportunities do not simply benefit well-off minorities.

And, in the end, that is what affirmative action is about: opportunity.

The principles behind economic and racial affirmative action are identical, and the intended result is the same: providing equal opportunity to success for historically held back communities.

Affirmative action is necessary to ending the de facto segregation and racial inequalities which pervade our society.

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COMMENTARY

| November 17, 2017

Policy and change, not just thoughts and prayers Feminism doesn't updated. Abolishing the Second Amendment would simply increase the demand for guns, just as Prohibition increased the demand for alcohol.

Every time a mass shooting occurs, gun sales skyrocket. Fear of gun violence leads people to buy Caroline Coyle more guns for protection. This seems like a solution, Commentary Editor but in reality it is just contributing to the problem. egasStrong, #PrayforOrlando, It is frightening that people are more fearful that #Texasstrong. People are quick to express their guns will be taken away than they are of having their sympathies through tweets and reposts, but someone they know fall victim to gun violence. unfortunately, many are not willing to take action With the political and social climate we are in and prevent future tragedy by advocating for gun the midst of, the chances of being affected by gun control. violence is more likely than any restrictions on gun Sitting in my church’s youth group, I was control being passed. I am disgusted that people notified of yet another tragedy, the mass shooting are willing to let other Americans die, for the sake and murder of 26 civilians in a Texas church. The of protecting the Second Amendment at all costs. following day, my kitchen TV remained silent as The people who are too stubborn to let any law my family couldn’t bear to listen to the details of on gun control to be passed are the problem. They another senseless tragedy. are fearful that their guns will be taken away, when We have become numb to these tragedies. It in reality, others just want restrictions limiting the seems to me that every day I log onto Twitter, type and number of guns available per person. there is another mass shooting that has occurred; There should be multiple mental health h ow e v e r, t h e s e a r e checkpoints before incidents we can control. Top five countries with the largest being sold a gun. People According to the number of mass shootings around who want to have a C enters for Disease the world from 1963 to 2012 gun because they enjoy Control and Prevention, hunting, or simply want United Gun violence kills 93 to protect themselves States Americans every day, have the right to do so, and there are 12,000 gun but people who want Phillipines homicides every year in to shoot up schools or America. Gun violence music festivals due to a would be reduced mental health condition Russia dramatically if we had do not have the same stronger limitations on rights. firearms.

Furthermore, no one Yemen I am not an originalist needs a military grade 10 mass = shootings in terms of interpreting assault weapon. Assault t h e C onst itut i on . I weapons are specifically France Source: Lankford, believe that as a living University of Alabama, designed to kill people document, it should efficiently and quickly, change with the times. and are commonly used Gun control laws are based on the Second in mass shootings. These semi-automatic weapons Amendment of the Constitution, which protects the are not used for hunting or protection; they are right to bear arms. This Amendment was ratified used to kill mass amounts of people, and that is a in 1791 within the Bill of Rights and was created problem. Banning semi-automatic weapons would after the Revolutionary War for the purpose of reduce the number of casualties that happen in the state militias to have the right to protect themselves US every year by reducing the number of rounds against the potential tyrannical wrath of the federal fired. government.

In addition to this, it should be a requirement The colonists and founding fathers were still for all guns to be registered. You need a license to healing from the emotional scars given to them own a dog in my town, so why shouldn’t you need

by King George III, and they wanted to ensure a license to own a firearm? the right of all citizens to protect themselves if the Cracking down on mental health issues would president or legislature ever grew corrupt with decrease the number of casualties in the US power. dramatically; however, recently, Donald Trump We have not had a king, or tyrannical dictator signed a bill that makes it easier for someone with of any sort in over 200 years, so I find it ridiculous a mental illness to gain access to a gun. If we want that this amendment has not been modified to fit to limit the number of deaths in our country, bills our current day and age. We no longer live in fear like this are just adding to the problem. that we will become slaves to a monarch, so we do We should not be in a constant state of fear every not need to bear any type of weapon, no matter time we walk into a music festival, sporting event, what mental capacity we have. or even high school. Simply tweeting a hashtag is I am not arguing that the Second Amendment not enough. If we want to save lives, we need to should be abolished completely—it should be modify the Second Amendment.

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have a political party Kati Kons Contributor

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believe in feminism. It is a word that conveys the desire for a world that gives equal rights to all.

It is about equal opportunity for women and men: black or white, gay or straight, child or adult. It is the general push for the world to become a better place for everyone living in it.

Politics today have become so increasingly polarized through passion and dissention that we, as Americans, have forgotten how much we can do if we work together.

We cannot not let our differing opinions get in the way of joining forces and making change for the better; not all contemporary issues have to be politicized. Feminism is a movement seeking change, and is the responsibility of all Americans.

Although the foundation for the feminist movement has been spearheaded by liberals, conservatives should also join in the fight for equality.

While I identify as a conservative politically, my pro-life beliefs do not preclude my feminism.

As an informed individual, I believe that women have an added responsibility given to them that is often mistaken for a burden. Women must hold themselves to a higher standard and recognize that the fate of a human being is lying in the palm of their hands.

An action of women’s empowerment is upholding a human’s right to live and providing the grounds for the joys and opportunities this world can give them.

Feminism is the belief in equal opportunity, so why should we deny the opportunities we hold so dearly to an entire grouping of people? Previously regarded as an excluding factor, I believe that this political opinion is, in reality, a branch of feminism as it is protecting the rights of all humans, born or unborn.

Feminism should have no political label, but rather serves as a linking factor between the parties.

Although the roots of my feminist beliefs may come from a different place than others, I know that I can advocate and cause change in the world all the same.

If feminism were to be specific to one political party, it would have a maximum capacity of less than half the nation. Because of this, we must put aside the beliefs that differentiate us from each other in hope of seeing change in the world.

An admirable quality that Americans have is this unique passion for politics and their respective beliefs. However, that passion must first be placed in the heart of the feminist movement.

We must find a way to set aside the dissention that often burdens our nation in order to pave the way for equality.

November 17, 2017 | COMMENTARY

STAFF EDITORIAL

AP is good, but accelerated is also important B

eginning next year, students will have the option to take AP Art History—the third new AP class in the last three years and the 26th AP class overall at Maine South.

The College Board offers 36 total AP courses. While moving one step closer to matching the number of courses recognized by the College Board may seem beneficial, we believe the school should focus on adding more accelerated courses.

There are many benefits that

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come with completing an AP class: getting a dose of college-level curriculum, strengthening your transcript, standing out in college admissions, and earning potential college credit. We support the school in its effort to maximize each student’s advantages upon graduating high school.

However, in trying to increase the number of students taking APs, the school has transitioned away from an important option— accelerated classes.

For example, in 2015, Accelerated Physics was replaced with AP Physics 1. In 2016, Wo r l d H i s t o r y Before and After 1500 Accelerated was replaced with AP World History.

Now, students’ only choice in those subjects is either at the regular or AP level, forcing students to decide between two opposite levels without a middle ground.

Part of the difficulty with the

outcome is that many students want a challenge but do not feel ready to face the workload and pressure of an AP course. Accelerated classes solve this dilemma. The accelerated level allows students to challenge themselves at a higher level while reaping the benefits of a 5.0 grading scale.

Accelerated classes provide a much-needed stepping stone into AP courses. For a conceptually—and mathematically-demanding class like physics, it’s difficult to learn collegelevel material without any previous experience. An Accelerated Physics class can ease this transition.

Additionally, many students feel the College Board’s AP curriculum restricts their understanding of the subject. AP classes place a greater emphasis on passing the AP exam, sometimes at the expense of learning the actual material.

Teachers plan the curriculum in accelerated classes, ensuring students understand the information and gain a complete perspective, instead of understanding “tricks” to earn the synthesis point on an essay prompt.

We re cog nize t he va lue of completing an AP course. However, the school should make more of an effort to include more accelerated classes in its curriculum.

My life, that show, and addiction Christina Johnson Editor-in-Chief

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have fallen victim to “The Walking Dead” and “Stranger Things” series fandoms. The only reason I have the time to tell this story is because I am up to date on them both. Some aren’t so lucky. Some are in a “perpetual watcher” state, viewing episodes in the doubledigits and sometimes even several seasons in a single weekend. Who needs sunlight when you have your best friend’s brother’s ex-girlfriend’s Netflix password?

My family doesn’t subscribe to any streaming services, but as soon as I got hold of my sisters’ Netflix password, I was suddenly through an entire season of “Stranger Things” in one night.

The only perk I experienced was not

becoming susceptible to spoilers the next day and I could brag about my watching abilities. But I missed my sister’s Facetime call with my parents—missed my opportunity to crash the call and irritate her boyfriend with stupid puns. These little moments that I usually deemed pleasant and insignificant were being put on pause so that I could press play.

The streaming addiction may be blamed on the simple fact that it is so popular and easily accessible. Both contribute to hours—sometimes days—of your life spent in a madeup world.

Although I won’t name names, peer pressure can contribute to some of these hours spent streaming.

Friends introduce series to each other for casual discussion, but the never-ending line-up of shows to catch up on becomes an obsession.

The discussions become an in-depth

analysis on that girl from season three and her absolutely pointless role, resulting in agreement that she should’ve died in the season two finale.

There have been moments when a series addiction has caused a disruption in relationships, like when family and friends try to interrupt a gloriously gruesome zombie scene, causing me to promptly tell them to leave. Especially with just a few months before I go off to college, my time should be spent with the people I care about rather than the undead.

Trying to find a new show that catches our attention shouldn’t be written in our planners alongside ALEKS and that English project due next week. Time should be spent exploring other options and activities rather than sitting in front of a screen with a sitcom. Take it from me—I escaped. (Until the next season of “Stranger Things” is released.)

Maine South High School 1111 South Dee Road Park Ridge, IL 60068 http://www.southwords.org

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Unsigned staff editorials represent the consensus opinion of the Southwords Editorial Board. Personal commentaries represent the opinion of the author alone and do not represent the opinions of the publication nor District 207.

Stu d e nt p ar t i c ip at i on i n t h e newspaper, whether through readership, submitting articles, or voicing comments or concerns, is encouraged.

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Editors-in-Chief

Christo Fosse Christina Johnson

News Editors

Mary Godley Elaine Smith Dimitri Speron

Entertainment Editors Luke Bechtel Jenny Blasius Victoria Pontikes Features Editors

Kelly Lennon Erin Martin Tommy O’Connor

Commentary Editors Caroline Coyle Louise Macaraniag Sports Editors Art Editor

Colleen Johnson Kevin McNulty

Yara Ruzhkovska

Photography Editors

Jen Beck Michael Frazier

Production Editors Justyna Lepa Arden Sasak Adviser

Mr. Stathakis

SouthwordS 7

FEATURES

| November 17, 2017

be thankful

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we decided to make big plans for this Thanksgiving Break,” senior Genevieve O’Shea said. “Some of Features Editors our friends have graduated, so here is no better time to give we’re all looking forward to seeing thanks than during the holiday each other. It’s a time where we are season. In fact, an entire holiday grateful for our amazingly awesome is dedicated to being grateful, not friends.” only for the food we eat but also the O’Shea and Hyslop are a part company we keep. of the same group, whose tradition Thanksgiving is beginning “We rely on our is a time to this year and celebrate with includes some families but we family, but what for m e r Mai n e also need each about celebrating South students with friends? The who graduated other.” answer to that is last year. Hyslop, -Augustina “Friendsgiving,” the only junior of a celebration the group, wants Parisi c re ate d for t he to make this a best of friends to have their own tradition.

Thanksgiving festivities before the “I hope it’s annual, especially actual holiday. because they’re all graduating and Thanksgiving has transformed leaving me next year, so hopefully from a one day celebration to a this can be a time where we can all three day affair. Friendsgiving, reunite again,” Hyslop said.

Thanksgiving, and black Friday all Their plans for the special serve to further enhance the autumn holiday include a traditional season.

Thanksgiving meal, staying in a O n Fr i e n d s g i v i n g , g r o u p s hotel downtown together, spending celebrate with many of the same some time in the city, and going traditional foods they have with their Black Friday shopping the next family—minus the family. morning.

For some, the day is inspired by For Hyslop, the tradition is pop culture. incredibly special. “It means getting “My friend Lizzie and I are to spend time with some of my best obsessed with the show ‘Gossip Girl’,” friends in the world and telling them junior Anna Hyslop said. “We love how much they mean to me and how all of the Thanksgiving episodes and thankful I am that we’re friends,” wanted to recreate one of them with Hyslop said. our friend group.”

Upperclassmen are not the only The show highlights teens of the ones who have taken to the tradition.

Upper East Side of New York, and Sophomore Augustina Parisi has had their luxury Thanksgivings with their a tradition with her friends since the friends take up an entire episode seventh grade. every season.

Throughout the years, their “Gossip Girl” was not the first TV celebrat ion has f luc tuate d in show to feature a group of friends attendance, but one thing is always celebrating Thanksgiving together. consistent: Welch’s sparkling grape The popular TV show “Friends” first juice. featured such an episode in November “It is not Friendsgiving without 1994. the sparkling drink,” Parisi said.

Maine South students have Other students are hopeful to adopted this tradition in their own begin a tradition of their own. lives.

“My friends and I have seen “Friendsgiving is a way for all of groups in the grades older than us to bond before we graduate, so us celebrate Friendsgiving and we

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Kelly Lennon & Erin Martin

thought it was a fun idea,” freshman Olivia Sivore said.

This year she hopes to throw a Friendsgiving with 12 of her closest friends.

Sivore and her friends are excited to be able to dress up and each contribute a dish or two to the feast.

“Friendsgiving is a tradition we want to begin because my friends are like my family,” Sivore said. “We all want to give thanks for each other and celebrate together.”

Just like any normal Thanksgiving, these groups of friends also have some traditions to uphold.

“Instead of turkey, we will usually have ham and fried chicken,” Parisi said.

While it may be a little unusual, the group does it so that their day

differs from their true Thanksgiving with their families.

A common thread for all of these groups seems to be fancy attire.

Despite being a tradition amongst friends, the dress code is no less lax than the actual holiday.

“Wearing nice clothes is something we do every year,” Parisi said. “We are celebrating each other, so we want to look our best.”

Many laughs and fond memories are shared at Friendsgiving.

“We will talk about what we’re thankful for and how much we love each other,” Hyslop said.

“Friendsgiving to me is a super fun time that we can all get together and bond,” Parisi said. “We rely on our families, but we also need each other, and it is always important to

Friends without hard,” Crawford said. “Even if we go a long time without talking, as soon Features Writer as I’m back in Georgia, it’s like we’ve ong-distance friendships are never been apart. I mean, I think a tedious challenge that many that’s just how friendship is. You don’t are familiar with but not all have always have to be together, but when experienced first hand. It can be hard you are, it just clicks.” to maintain those friendships, but Crawford and Coyle use FaceTime it can be done if the bond is strong and text each other often in order to enough. keep in touch.

Distance In addition, “You don’t always contributes to Crawford visits have to be together, the challenge Georgia about of keeping a fou r t i me s a but when you are, it friendship alive, year. Though the just clicks.” especially when approximately these friends are 726 miles -Haley Crawford unable to visit between them each other on a seems like it regular basis. would make Senior Haley Crawford has first- their friendship difficult, they manage hand experience with a long distance to keep their bond strong, and still friendship. Her friend, Mary Grace consider each other as their best Coyle, lives in Georgia and the two friend. Special friendships that cross of them were separated right before state borders can sometimes utilize high school when Crawford moved the distance to create a stronger bond. to Park Ridge.

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll just “Honestly, it isn’t that work,” Crawford advises others who are dealing with a long-distance friendship.

Sophomore Moises Vizcaino and his friend, Renée Miranda, were split apart in the second grade when Vizcaino moved to Chicago from Orange County, California.

“We are so far apart from each other and we both have very different lives,” Vizcaino said. “California is two hours behind Chicago’s time and this difference can make communicating very difficult.”

Without consistent communication, keeping a strong bond becomes close to impossible.

Vizcaino and Miranda are an example of the effects of this obstacle.

“I wouldn’t consider her a close friend, but we do talk and I see her every time I go to California,” Vizcaino said.

Julia Anderson

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Though they are not as close as they once were, they still use FaceTime, as well as Snapchat, very often. FaceTime, it seems, also plays a major role in holding a friendship together.

“I feel like [with FaceTime] I am able to see her face and that just adds more of a feeling that you are connected,” Vizcaino said.

“It allows us to not only hear each other’s voices, but we also see each other’s faces,” said sophomore Isabela Brown, who is in a similar position t o Vi z c a i n o .

“It feels more like we are hanging out an d l e s s li ke we are on a call because we can do ordinary things, like homework and eating, while on FaceTime.”

Brown’s best friend, Emily Divis, a former Maine South student, moved to Orange County, California during the summer between their freshman and sophomore years. Similar to Vizcaino, they are forced to deal with the time difference.

“Sometimes I’ll be asleep when she’s still awake and wants to talk and vice versa,” Brown said. “Also, school can get in the way since we both have different schedules and other activities going on.”

Though they have to manage the time difference, they both agree that it is not the biggest challenge with keeping their friendship alive.

“The hardest part is if I want to tell her something immediately, I can’t, and I don’t want to keep texting her all the time so I try to make a list of things I want to tell her,” Brown said.

“I then text her all at once, but then sometimes it’s not relevant or she doesn’t understand because she’s not updated with everything going on.”

November 17, 2017 |FEATURES

Despite the challenges posed by differing schedules and technology issues, Brown and Divis have managed to stay extremely close.

They have already seen each other since Divis moved and are planning to meet in Park Ridge over the upcoming Thanksgiving break.

“Make each other a priority, and don’t let the distance ruin something so special,” Divis recommends to those in her position. “It really helps if you have a strong relationship before the person leaves. Don’t pull away from them before they leave. Spend more time with each other, rather than less.”

Their friendship is very important to the both of them, and they find it crucial to keep in touch despite the distance between them.

Although many students at Maine South have not experienced this kind of friendship, graduation can impose this struggle on an entire class.

Distance can have a huge impact on a friendship, but these students are proof that if people are determined to stay close, not even 1,000 miles can come between them.

SouthwordS 9

FEATURES

| November 17, 2017

Education’s Sixth Man Features Writer t’s 5 a.m. A teacher wakes up with a fever after a long night of grading essays, exams, and quizzes.

Nevertheless, the school day must continue, and the only people that can fill these shoes are substitute teachers.

These adults are responsible for “setting the stage for a successful experience by being prompt, neat, patient, honest, flexible, enthusiastic, and accepting,” according to the Maine South Substitute Handbook.

While it’s important for substitutes to facilitate the day’s lessons, some go beyond the conventional curriculum and share their life stories with students. This not only sparks students attention, but enriches learning by adding a life experience to education.

Before becoming a substitute, Mr. Terry Anderson was a business owner, working primarily with architect and builder clients in the custom home and remodeling industry.

“A f te r I re t i re d I h a d t h e opportunity to do things I’ve always wanted to do,” Mr. Anderson said.

“One of those was to be a teacher.

So, I enrolled in and completed a graduate program at Roosevelt University, thereby earning my teaching credentials.”

Mr. Terr y Anderson started coaching at Maine South in 2005 coaching track and currently coaches freshman football.

“The variety of departments and classes I help with from day to day and seeing staff and students that I’ve had the privilege to coach, or have gotten to know through substitute teaching [are my favorite parts],” Mr. Anderson said.

Mr. Stephen Schade has an in-

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Mr. Anderson “Maine South is a tremendous place to be.”

10 SouthwordS

depth knowledge of science. you for life, as it should.”

“I’ve done research, development The reasons for coming to Maine and design in the chemical sector South vary, but Mr. Sirseth has before I became a substitute,” Mr. nothing but praise for his job as a Schade said. substitute. His appreciation for the H i s p r i o r e x p e r i e n c e i n students is what keeps him coming engineering attracts him to back. substitute teaching for “The absolute best science classes, as he part (remember we can assist students get to work all over the with their learning. building at all grade “O ne of my levels/subjects) is favorite parts of that it genuinely being a substitute fills me with hope Total subs: teacher is helping for the future,” Mr. students understand Sirseth said. “ Too Subs per day: often you hear older math and science,” Mr. Schade said. “I generations go ‘kids also like interacting these days grumbleFormer M.S. grumble’ and it just with the students. students & isn’t accurate. You are It g i v e s m e t h e opportunity to use my as varied and creative teachers: technical background and smart and wellto help others.” mannered (or rude) Being a substitute as they come, and a l l ow s for t i me to you are teenagers at pursue hobbies, as his your most ‘teenager’ phase schedule is more flexible than of your life. The future is in that of a full-time teacher. good hands.”

“My hobbies include sports M r. S i r s e t h e nj o y s t h e (playing and watching), reading, flexibility that comes with being a movies (especially fantasy and sci- substitute, and admires the teachers fi), music (classical and rock), and for all the hard work that goes into genealogical research,” Mr. Schade planning. said. “Currently, I am tracing a Along with being an “avid medieval branch of my ancestry.”

European soccer fan,” Mr. Sirseth Mr. Knut Sirseth grabs students spends his time illustrating. attention with his Norwegian accent.

“A few years back it was vintage He taught in Norway before moving train engines, now it seems to be to the United States. nature and local Illinois wildlife,” Mr. “The leap to subbing in the Sirseth said. “We live a short walk US school system wasn’t too big,” from the enormous Busse Woods Mr. Sirseth said. “I came to Maine in Elk Grove/Schaumburg, so I take Township, because this is where my frequent dog walks. Encountering wife grew up. She was a Hawk once, and trying to draw birds and animals and still is. Maine South stays with we do not have back in Europe

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ILLUSTRATION BY YARA RUZHKOVSKA

Jonathan Ryser

Mr. Schade

“Currently, I am tracing a medieval branch of my ancestry.”

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Mr. Sirseth

“Maine South stays with you for life, as it should.”

(skunk, opossum, chipmunks, coyotes, groundhogs, raccoons) has been a recent craze.”

Mr. Jerry Priest has subbed at Maine south and in the district for the last 11 years.

“I look back at my high school days as some of the best days of my life,” Mr. Priest said. “Now that I am in retirement mode from a long career, I find it a bit rejuvenating to be around teens going through those same transitions that I went through.”

Mr. Priest had a career in hospital administration for 29 years prior to subbing in school districts.

“My experiences were overseeing the operations of several departments in the non-patient/non-medical treatment areas; departments like supply management and purchasing, housekeeping, food services, medical records, laundry, engineering—all the support areas,” Mr. Priest said.

Like his substitute colleagues, Mr. Priest takes full advantage of his free time.

“My wife and I play in a couples tennis league, and we often bike the Chicago lakefront and area bike trails, or play some golf together,” Mr. Priest said. “We love hiking, water activities, dancing, and anything that involves being outdoors.”

Transitioning from subject to subject, leading a new classroom, and ensuring there’s no drop off when a teacher is absent are all important aspects of being a substitute.

Returning subs like Mr. Sirseth, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Schade are essential components to the school.

“Maine South is a tremendous place to be,” Mr. Anderson said. “I’ve made a lot of friends over the years, and I feel very lucky to be here.”

Mr. Priest

“I find it a bit rejuvenating to be around teens.”

November 17, 2017 | FEATURES

PHOTO BY JENNY BLASIUS

Application Dedication Jennifer Loforte

Entertainment Writer

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ounselors recommend that the minimum number of schools a senior should apply to is about eight to ten. However, a few seniors go above and beyond this number, sometimes submitting more than 20 applications.

Senior Sidney Simner is applying to 16 schools.

Her list includes some Ivy League schools in addition to many other backup schools that are all generally located along the East and West Coasts.

“I don’t regret applying to all these schools," Simner said. "I don’t like how much money it’s going to cost, but I’d rather get into a lot of reach schools than apply to few."

Fear of regret seems to motivate many students to apply to a multitude of schools.

“I want more opportunities and fewer regrets regarding whether I would have gotten in other places,” senior Sylvia Tolczyk said.

Tolczyk is applying to 11 schools and is generally looking for good psychology programs. Most of the schools she is applying to are located in Illinois for proximity to family.

“The reason I applied to so many universities, was because there were not enough factors to narrow down my choices,” Maine South alumna Georgia Loutrianakis ('16) said. “I was not able to narrow down my list of 24 colleges as that was already watered down from a list of 42.”

Time management is an essential component to this process. Balancing school, extracurriculars, a social life, as well as applications can be a difficult task.

“I stayed up late on the night before deadlines, so I didn’t really manage it well,” senior Meghan Breslin said. Breslin applied to 14 schools.

Other students took a much more organized and coordinated approach to applications. A meticulous

Salty Jenny by Jennifer Nikolic

UN-CHART-ED TERRITORY Applying to a multitude of colleges requires extensive preparation. Georgia Loutrianakis ('16) designed the table above to chart her prospective colleges and their defining qualities.

amount of coordination is required for students completing upwards of 20 applications.

“Without organization, none of this would be possible because there was so much information to keep track of,” Loutrianakis said. “For every university I applied to, I recorded in a table undergraduate school rank; medical school research rank; medical school primary care rank; whether I was applying early decision, early action, or regular decision; the due date of my application; the location of each university; whether the university was in an urban, suburban, or rural location; amount of students in the school; the acceptance rate; if there was a combined undergraduate and medical school program; whether I liked the campus (if I had visited it); cost per year; if it was available on the Common

Application; and the application fee.”

Deadlines come and go, essays are sent, and eventually this process ends. This marks the beginning of a the waiting process that involves some serious contemplation.

“I regret [applying to so many schools] because I had to write so many extra essays and filled out applications on four different websites,” Breslin said.

For others, this process, although difficult, was rewarding in the end.

“I did benefit from applying to these colleges, because at the end of the application process I had many options,” Loutrianakis said. “I have no regrets.

No matter how much stress I had or how much time I sacrificed, in the end I decided on attending Case Western Reserve University, and that was the best choice I ever made.”

SALTY THANKSGIVING .

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SouthwordS 11

ENTERTAINMENT

| November 17, 2017

An app a day keeps anxiety away Louise Macaraniag

Commentary Editor t the beginning of the school year, it is often difficult to get back in the groove of things. It can be a slow beginning, affecting the rest of the semester in terms of grades, projects, and other schoolwork. The root of the problem for many—aside from having the fabled senioritis—is cell phones. It is hard to get off of them, and often when students finally put them down, they feel unmotivated to do anything else and pick them up again. However, the contents of the phone serve as the main distractor, not the technology itself. Apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media take attention away from studying and fuel mindless scrolling and time-wasting. To combat this, we researched and reviewed a plethora of apps targeted to increase productivity in every aspect of life, from schoolwork to college applications to extracurricular activities. These apps aim to keep students productive, active, and organized.

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Productive

Forest

Google Calendar

Notebook

Productive is a habit tracker app available only on iOS that allows you to create daily productive habits.

These habits can be as simple as making your bed and watering your plants, or it could be something more specific like getting up at exactly six every morning. Whatever habit you want to practice, Productive guides you by sending a notification at the time of day you wish to accomplish specific tasks.

This app also features statistics of your productivity and a monthly calendar showing the number of days you’ve kept up a habit.

Habit streaks help motivate users to adopt and continue helpful habits. There are also other features targeted to inspire and motivate individuals to keep up with their habits, such as sending positive messages.

Productive has an option to go premium costing $19.99 for 12 months, which includes unlimited habits, statistics for each goal, better reminders, and a passcode lock. However, the app’s free option is a good start to make productivity habitual and renders the premium option a waste of money, as the same benefits can be reaped without emptying your pockets.

Productive allows for the implementation of purposeful habits into your daily life. Its numerous advantages result in personal improvement and an increase in productivity. Its only downside is the premium version, whose high cost is unnecessary, considering the free app proves to be just as useful.

Forest helps keep you off your phone. If you have difficulty concentrating on your work, especially when your phone is readily available, sometimes putting it away isn’t always the easiest option. Forest helps you stay focused by utilizing trees as incentives.

By staying on the Forest app for a certain period of time, you will be able to grow a tree, and eventually, a forest. If you fail to stay on the app for that period of time, the growing tree will die. This incentive allows you to stay off of other distracting apps on your phone and gives you the time to do homework or other productive tasks. The trees also act as extra motivation to use all your allotted time to be productive.

In addition to digital incentives, Forest also makes an effort to plant trees all over the world. Forest is partnered with Trees for the Future, an organization that plants real trees. Forest donates to this organization whenever users spend their virtual coins within the app. It’s beneficial for you and the environment, and helps you budget your time in a more meaningful way.

Forest costs $1.99 on iTunes and Google Play, a small price to pay for something as precious as time. With Forest, its benefits greatly overshadow its meager cost. Doing homework, finishing up projects, and writing college apps is so much easier now without a nagging phone looming over the prospect of a productive day.

Notebook is a user-friendly app that Google Calendar is an event planner and allows you to create checklists, take notes, reminder. It allows you to insert the specific write down reminders, save recordings, and date and time of an event and reminds you attach photos, sketches, and files. The app before it takes place. The app helps with also allows you to sync your notes to other scheduling meetings, appointments, birthday devices and to your cloud. reminders, due dates, and more.

Notebook, unlike the basic Notes app on In addition to being available on a iPhones, allows you to customize the color handheld device, Google Calendar can also be and font of your notes. The app also features accessed on a computer. Despite the increase in stylish digital notebooks in which one can versatility, however, the mobile app may appear organize and categorize documents. too compact and cluttered on a smaller screen.

Notebook’s simple design imitates the You can link Google Calendar with your Google Account, which helps transfer email invitations straight to your cozy, intimate feeling of writing and planning in a physical journal and combines that with advanced digital features. calendar.

Notebook is the perfect app for list-lovers like myself. It provides a medium You can subscribe to others' calendars as well, automatically putting their public events into your calendar. For example, teachers can share with for all kinds of lists: grocery lists, to-do lists, ideas lists, etc. However, Notebook students their class calendars with due dates for projects or daily homework does not have a reminder feature, and it cannot save certain dates as events assignments. The phone app will notify you if there is an upcoming event or like Google Calendar can.

Notebook can also act as a personal journal for your mental and physical an assignment due.

Google Calendar is a great way to arrange and organize happenings, wellness. You can write health goals, journal your feelings, and attach photos and it also helps you keep track of all your assignments. When there is a big with these entries. Writing out feelings and journaling about stressors can presentation coming or when there’s a project due, you can log it into your serve as a cathartic way to destress.

When you’re juggling a thousand things at once, Notebook is a good way calendar and set reminders weeks, days, or hours before.

Google Calendar enables you to keep track of club meetings and events. to declutter your life. Notebook can be used to plan a daily agenda, to write Inviting a group of people to an event also proves easier with this app because down semester goals, and to reorganize thoughts and ideas. It organizes your daily life and serves to keep them on track, all in one app. it lets you notify others when you add something onto your calendar.

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November 17, 2017 | ENTERTAINMENT

Out of season alt-rock blueprint fails to entertain Liam Conlon

Entertainment Writer

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all is here—the temperature is dropping, the leaves are changing, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back, and Maine South students' tastes in entertainment are, as usual, changing.

A favorite season for many, fall is marked by an influx of all sorts of entertainment. When this beloved season comes around, it’s up to the companies which create our favorite procrastination tools to deliver, lest they miss out on huge amounts of revenue and popularity; music fanatics and casual listeners alike can find something new to enjoy during the season.

The songs and albums that we associate with autumn usually have a few crucial characteristics: smooth vocals, deep acoustic tones, and easygoing percussion round out the sound. Artists such as Iron and Wine, Have Mercy, and Hozier exemplify

this smooth, warm tone; in contrast, however, alt-rock hitmakers Weezer typically release their records in the summer.

Enter “Pacific Daydream,” Weezer’s latest album. Released on Oct. 27 of this year, the record is already being called a “slight n i g h t m a r e” by critics.

There are two main problems with this release: musical stagnation and poor timing.

“Pacific Daydream” is very much a Weezer album—it clings on to all the classic motifs of summer, girls, and Mexican culture. Musically, the band didn’t tread any new ground with this release. It seems as though they continue to regress into a cookiecutter pop sound that all too many artists suffer from.

While catchy, the album is

ultimately insipid and vain. That’s why this type of sound is so popular in the music industry: it sells albums through foot- tapping, one-trickponies rather than through songs with more substance.

The album's second misstep is in its release date. “Pacific Daydream” would have been a far more effective album in the summer months; nonetheless, the band made the mistake of releasing their tunes in the dead of autumn.

Weezer initially hinted at “Pacific Daydream’s” eventual release with their teaser single, “Feels Like Summer,” an ironically-titled, fairly standard Weezer track with a synthpop sound and chock-full of summer vibes. Despite this buildup of hype

for most of the year, Weezer’s label, Crush Records, failed to release the full album until Oct. 27, long after the ideal time for an album with obviously summer-oriented tracks like “Mexican Fender” and “Beach Boys.”

Luckily enough for Weezer, the failure in “Pacific Daydream” is invariably going to have little impact on their career and popularity as a whole. Weezer’s established, household name and loyal cult following will surely keep their youthful pop-music boat afloat given that the sales keep rolling in. The negative feedback on the album may not be the band’s fault either; music labels are often to blame when artists start to move towards a more generic sound.

While the album features catchy tunes and the poppy Weezer sound that the band has refined for decades, the album itself feels out of place, and is no doubt repetitive. It can’t hurt to give the album a listen—just wait until summer comes around.

Luke Bechtel

Entertainment Editor

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ith the advent of home-streaming giants such as Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, traditional brick-and-mortar movie theaters are struggling.

Desperate to appeal to consumers, theaters like the recently-rebranded AMC Rosemont 18 (formerly Muvico) are scrambling to create an experience at the theater that cannot be delivered at home.

In light of its recent acquisition of Muvico's former parent company Carmike Cinemas, multinational cinema chain AMC pushed past Regal to become the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world. AMC, like many others, is rushing new initiatives and promotions out the door rapidly in order to make up for lost profits at the hands of streaming; their most recent investment—the AMC Feature Fare “menu innovation”—is no exception.

Expected to make back a staggering $1 billion in profit within the year, the Feature Fare menu offers a gourmet twist to the movie theater concessions blueprint. From chicken and waffle sandwiches to a comically massive 1.5-pound soft pretzel, the new menu, introduced to the Chicago market this past August, seemingly has something for everyone.

However, in practice, the menu tells a shockingly different story.

Combinations such as the “Spicy Sriracha Dog,” which features sriracha-mayo topped with fried jalapeños, reflect AMC’s bizarre misunderstanding of the term “gourmet.” Their attempts to create an intermediary between basic concessions grub and scratch-made restaurant fare sound intriguing on

paper, but manifest in the form of inexpensive frozen food packaged as upscale. Prices on the menu range from $5.89 for a loaded hot dog to $14.99 for the "Bavarian Legend" soft pretzel.

“When people come to a movie theater, they tend to want just two things: a bag of popcorn and a tasty drink on the side,” a current AMC employee said. “The hot foods menu beforehand was fine; it had a few selections that were easy to make, didn’t require multiple steps, and tended to come out faster than most of the Feature Fare items do now. They were a greasy, fast choice that I felt was appropriate for a movie theater setting.”

This employee was one of many who took the three-hour preparation class for the new menu items in August.

AMC’s “menu innovation,” in the past months, has proven just as wasteful as it is unappetizing.

Radical spoilage policies push unused product from the freezer to the trash long before its factory-marked expiration date; for example, selfpreserving products such as rock salt and mustard expire in a mere 30 days; American cheese must be disposed of two days after opening; sauerkraut used for the underselling “Mustard and Kraut Dog” expires in three days. AMC's overzealous purchasing of product and consequential waste reflects their overestimation of customer interest in the new food.

“It’s really sad because they’re using all this money to buy the items, but they’re basically throwing it all away when they throw away items so often," another AMC employee said. "Prolonging

PHOTO BY LUKE BECHTEL

New AMC concessions prove wasteful, distasteful

PRETZEL POWER

AMC's new "Bavarian Legend" pretzel weighs 1.5 pounds. The company set its expiration date at one day, much shorter than the foodservice supplier's box indicates.

the usage of certain items could really save some money for the theater.” To these employees, seeing within-date product be disposed of so frequently is disheartening.

“A lot of people weren’t really impressed with the options on the new menu, and I’ve seen the food items there before at other places,” the associate said. “Plus, the quality of the food is so poor that I don’t even think it’s worth the absurdly high price, even with the 50% employee discount.”

Whether or not the Feature Fare menu will find its footing in the coming months and deliver the promised profits remains to be seen. For now, however, the menu is still in the process of rolling out to AMC locations worldwide, and is currently available at local theaters Rosemont 18 and River East 21.

SouthwordS 13

SPORTS | November 17, 2017

C S L

S T A D I U M

Showdown

Colleen Johnson & Kevin McNulty Sports Editors

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ith high school football playoff season underway, stadiums across Illinois are packed with students cheering for their teams.

Southwords visited all six stadiums from the CSL South Conference and ranked them on the following criteria: concessions, bathrooms, press box, and average attendance.

PHOTO BY JEN BECK

#1 murney lazier field Evanston High School

other in the CSL South.

Murney Lazier field has everything you’ll want in a high school football stadium. The field includes turf, renovated team rooms, bathrooms, and a double-decker press box. Easy access to the practice field and large home and visitor bleachers add a professional look to the stadium. There is also no track surrounding the field. Perhaps its best feature is that it is built around the community. Local youth teams often play on the field, and it is right across from neighborhood homes, so it feels very special being right in the community. Another interesting part of stadium is “The Burm,” a hill behind the north end zone that they used when creating the turf. Evanston’s athletic department hopes to create seating there soon. The only negatives are that the main parking is across the street, and that the bleachers are outdated. However, going to see a football game in the heart of Evanston is an experience unlike any other in the CSL South.

PHOTO BY JEN BECK

Built: 1949 Capacity: 4,600 Average Attendance: 3,000

#2 robert naughton field New Trier High School

Naughton Field is a nicely decorated stadium that has lots of practicality, too. The walkway surrounding the field is brand new and lined with vanity bricks. Some other positives of the stadium include easy access to the practice fields, end zone bleachers, new turf, and a clean, large ticket booth at the front of the stadium. A great feature of the stadium is it doesn’t have a track around it, and it is a smaller stadium which creates an intimate atmosphere. For the school’s large student population, the capacity is rather low. Naughton Field features a large concessions stand with their famous steak sandwich on the menu. The school is working on improving the bathrooms, and they hope to add an athletic training area as well.

14 SouthwordS

Built: 1965 Capacity: 2,400 Average Attendance: 1,700

#3 chuck pos stadium Niles North High School

PHOTO BY JEN BECK

November 17, 2017 | SPORTS

Pos Stadium underwent major renovations recently. It is wedged between the Edens Expressway and the school. The brand new press box and concession stand gives fans a reason to go see a game there. The concessions have many different options including ramen noodles and veggie burgers along with an assortment of candy bars. The field also includes a grassy area on the visitor side and permanent bathrooms located by the concessions. The only feature that pushes this stadium down to number three is the outdated, uneven visitor bleachers. The experience for a visiting fan is lackluster, but overall Niles North is a clean, nice place for a football game.

PHOTO BY ARDEN SASAK

Built: 1964 Capacity: 3,500 Average Attendance: 2,400

#4 wilson field

Maine South High School

Our home stadium is one of the largest football stadiums in the CSL, and it is closely situated next to the other athletic facilities. Wilson Field provides the best experience for visitor fans with a separate entrance and large, elevated bleachers. As for the home side, the bleachers range from goal line to goal line, and there is not bad spot to watch the game. Also, the updated concession stand and apparel stand make it a visually appealing stadium. The drawbacks of Wilson Field are its lack of permanent bathrooms, and the entrance which has a rock pathway. While Maine South always puts one of the best teams on the field, the stadium itself doesn’t stack up with the rest of the CSL South.

#5 john davis stadium Glenbrook South High School

PHOTO BY JEN BECK

Built: 1964 Capacity: 4,200 Average Attendance: 2,900

John Davis Stadium has a simple, easy-access layout, but it lacks the features that could set it apart. The stadium has a beautiful entrance, with easy parking and a big gate opening up to the stadium. Some other positives from the stadium are the new concession stand, bathrooms, a fence around the track, and trees planted along the north end zone. Unfortunately, it needs a bigger press box and elevated visitor bleachers to make it easier for visitor fans to view the game. Glenbrook South is currently working on improving their press box as their football program improves as well.

PHOTO BY JEN BECK

Built: 1962 Capacity: 4,000 Average Attendance: 2,500

#6 mike basbak stadium Niles West High School

Basbak Stadium is a difficult field to get to because it is far from the school, and the only entrance is off of Oakton Ave. The best feature of the stadium is the home bleachers, which are small, but they are clean and structurally sound.

Another interesting part of Basbak Stadium is a totem pole beyond the south end zone, which has been there for years and has no relation to the Niles West mascot. The stadium is last on our list because it doesn’t have some of the new amenities like a concession stand or permanent rest rooms. All together, Niles West is not a comfortable place to watch a game.

Built: 1959 Capacity: 3,000 Average Attendance: 1,900

SouthwordS 15

CROSS COUNTRY | FOOTBALL | GOLF | BOYS’SOCCER | GIRLS’ SWIMMING | GIRLS’TENNIS | GIRLS’VOLLEYBALL

Sports Editor he boys’ and girls’ cross country teams finished their seasons at the state meet on Nov. 4 in Peoria.

The girls qualified as a team, however the boys didn’t. Senior Olivia Niziolek placed 10th, finishing in 16:58; junior Tommy Brady placed 3rd, finishing in 14:29, and senior Brandon Christopher placed 11th, finishing in 14:39. All three finished All-State.

Since Brady is just a junior, he is excited to have another year left with the team.

“It will give me time to develop more and time to become an even better runner and a better teammate,” Brady said.

Coach Greg Nordahl said that in addition to their training over summer, Brady and Christopher organized Sunday runs where they would run 12-14 miles. They also would stay after practices to do more core work.

Brady credits a lot of his success to Coach Nordahl.

“To make it this far, I have simply listened to Coach Nordahl,” Brady said.

“He has given me a great combination of hard workouts and recovery runs, and of late, has done a great job in giving me workouts so that I could taper and be fully prepared for the state race.”

Brady, a two-year varsity runner, has been running in races since he was seven, and he started cross country in middle school; however, he wasn’t yet very serious about the sport.

Brady and Christopher were able to work together to push each other to get this far. Although they would’ve preferred having the whole team at state, Brady said having Christopher there was very helpful.

“It meant a lot having Brandon with me at the state race,” Brady said. “Since last year, we have pushed each other in training, and without each other, we would not have made it nearly this far.”

C o a c h Nord a h l a g re e s t h at Christopher and Brady have pushed themselves to be the best they can be in their sport.

“Brandon wanted to beat Tommy in

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PHOTO COURTESY OLIVIA NIZIOLEK

Colleen Johnson

PHOTO COURTESY TOMMY BRADY

Brady, Niziolek place top ten at State

WINNING SMILES

Junior Tommy Brady and senior Olvia Niziolek stand at the podium after finishing third and tenth respectively at the Illinois State Meet on Nov. 4.

a race this year, and he pushed Tommy in some practices, and Tommy worked even harder because of this,” Coach Nordahl said.

Brady and Niziolek agree that having teammates there with you at the race helps you get through it. Niziolek thinks that the team qualifying for state together was very important for them.

“In many ways, running is an individualized sport; however, at the same time, the team dynamic is so important,” Niziolek said.

Niziolek was very pleased with how she performed this year considering that she improved two places from last year and broke her own personal record.

“It’s great to walk away from your very last cross country race of high school being able to say that you put forth your very best effort,” Niziolek said.

Niziolek and Brady note that you need a strong work ethic and lots of mental and physical preparation to be able to succeed in cross country.

Niziolek stated that her main mentality and motivation going into State was about making sure that the previous four years of hard work and devotion would pay off in the end.

Niziolek not only does cross country but also competes in track. She has finished All-State in the past two years.

“She is capable of being at the top of the list of competitors in the state

for any distance from the 800-meter in track to the 3-mile in cross-country,” Coach Jeffrey Downing said. “That is truly special and unique.”

Niziolek did not expect to be in this position before high school. She wasn’t into sports that much, but wanted to get involved with her new school her freshman year. She decided to join cross country, not knowing how well she would succeed and how much she would love it.

“I really surprised myself when I ended up running on varsity my first year, and ended up being good at it,” Niziolek said.

Coach Downing believes that Niziolek has gotten to where she is now because of how hard she works and how she prepares for races.

“Her work ethic comes from the determination of what will it take to meet my goals, and often she does even more that,” Coach Downing said.

“Even thoug h we have b een successful in the past without Olivia, and hope to continue to have success in the future without Olivia, she has found a way to leave a great legacy,” Coach Downing said.

Niziolek is committed to run cross country at the University of Notre Dame next fall and Christopher is committed to run cross country at University of Dayton. Brady hopes to improve for next season.

Trubisky era indicates another gamble in Chicago sports Kevin McNulty Sports Editor he year was 2007. The Chicago Bears were coming off a Super Bowl run, but that success was not to be mimicked in the following season— the Bears finished 7-9, last place in the NFC North.

Meanwhile, in the NHL, the Blackhawks were playing their first full season with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on the roster. In just two seasons, the franchise was able turn itself around and win its first Stanley Cup in 49 years.

For what seemed like the first time, the term “rebuild” was used when talking about a Chicago team.

Chicago’s North Side baseball team was next to get on the rebuild bandwagon. Theo Epstein and the Cubs front office began the operation in 2011, and by 2016, they were World Series Champions. The Cubs’ rebuild was a bold, sometimes painful process, but nevertheless, it worked out.

Rebuilding a sports franchise is a long, tedious process, but it can be done by acquiring high draft picks, trading away existing talent, and signing experienced free agents. Currently, the White Sox, Bulls, and Bears are working on the first two stages of that process.

But now, the year is 2017, and the Bears have the longest championship drought of any Chicago team. They are testing their number two overall draft pick, Mitchell Trubisky, to see how he will fit into the rebuild. They’re taking a chance on a 23-year-old with limitless potential, but this decision needs to be respected, after 10 years of falling into the same pattern of struggling to put pieces together.

The Bears have an abundance of time to turn around the franchise the correct way. It may take patience on the part of Bears fans because they still need to surround the young QB with valuable, young talent. To close their championship drought, the Bears need to follow the same rebuilding process as the Blackhawks and Cubs.

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