Vol 35 issue 16 (2)

SOUTHWORDS National Champs!

V<i|. .W> Issue 16

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SPECIAL INSERT Constitution Team Wins Nationals!

COMMENTARY No Easy Answers, page 2 Trying to Try Harder, page 2 Duncan's Dijferent Outlook, page 3 Dave Smith's Honest Proposal, page 4

FEATURES Focus on Mrs Anderson, page 5 City Council's Gift, page 6 The Best Pitcher Ever, page 6 Recognizing Student Excellence, page 7 Writers Visiting Schools, page 7

NEWS A Midsummer's Night Dream, page 8 Broadcasting Awards, page 9

SPORTS Girls soccer sees success, page 10 Boys volleyball, page 10 Badminton playing hard, page 10 A look at baseball, page 11

Kyle Gann, Bret Olson and Sterling Chung enfold Anne EdisonSwift and Katherine Greenslade in a group hug.

Photo courtesy of Anne Edison-Swift

2 Commentary property of

The Editors^

by Anne Edison-Swift In the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy, new scrutiny has been apphed to teens and their problems. As the public struggles to find the "why?" behind this horrible event, the media scrambles to provide some answers.

Many movements have started within high schools by students pledging to be nice to everyone. Niceness has been touted as a solution to the violence problem, and people look to the teen-aged murderers as an example of what can happen when kids aren't socially accepted in high school.

Is teasing a natural part of growing up?

A classmate I respect whole-heartedly recently told me that she thinks teasing can and should be done away with completely.

Another classmate feels it would be more reasonable to help outcasts learn to accept themselves than it would be to expect everyone to assimilate into the mainstream.

In my opinion, teasing may be ubiquitous, but it's not natural. As the recipient of perhaps more-than-my-share of peer torment, I know it leaves scar tissue.

Still, young bullies grow up to be big bullies, and bullies are rarely stopped by niceness. Eric and Dylan weren't your average high school loners. They had a tight group of friends. They suffered from medically diagnosed psychological problems.

Even if Eric and Dylan's classmates had been nicer to them, the two would probably still have been violent and angry.

Please! By all means be nice! But do not stop looking for the true, multi-faceted "why?" of Columbine. Do not take the entire responsibility for teen violence upon yourself, and in doing so, blind yourself to problems that are deeper than teasing. Remember that there are some people who will be outcasts no matter how nice you are to them. As a young person without a Ph.D. in psychology, these troubled teens are, in most ways, far beyond your help.

Eric Harris and Dylan Kliebold have been portrayed by the media as outcasts, and in that sense, as victims themselves. I urge you to remember that these two boys are the biggest bullies of all in this scenario. There was nothing the kids at Columbine could have done to prevent this tragedy. The victims did not provoke this crime. There are no easy answers here.

Trying to try harde,

by Rachel Holihan When my mom picked me up from school Tuesday evening, I knew something was wrong. Drastically wrong. She was extremely upset, and being the hypochondriac I am, I immediately assumed that my brother or my dad had died. She told me that that wasn't it, but that something terrible, absolutely terrible had happened and she didn't want to tell me what it was. She did tell me though, and what I heard was the u^agedy we've all heard: the school shooting in Littleton, Colorado.

I couldn't believe my ears or maybe I just didn't want to. I didn't want to think this was true because it scared me so much.

Litdeton isn't that much different from Park Ridge. The enrollment at Coliunbine High School is basically the same as Maine South's. The communities also show striking similarities. I began to think about the suspects.

What had the world done to them to make them so angry? Had they been through so much pain that they thought that was the answer for them? And then that got me thinking if we make kids here feel the same way, if we outcast people. And we do, which scares me a lot, because 1 can see this happening here as well.

The basic need for living isn't food, water, or shelter; it's belonging. You want to have that group. You know, the one that you do everything with, your people, your friends, and usually, since everyone is so comfortable with each other, within that group you think there's no need to hang out with anyone else.

But what about the people that don't belong to that certain group, or any group at all for that matter, who are their friends, who do they eat lunch with? You see them, they're the ones that sit by themselves at lunch, or always end up without a partner for a school project, or the ones who sit next to you in English class and you can't even tell your teacher their name when they're absent.

And you may never do anything to them at all, so you're thinking what does this have to do with me? But the fact that you do nothing to them is exactly why it has to do with you. The ones that sit by and watch while kids become scapegoats are just as much to

blame as the intimidators themselves are.

I'm a perpetrator of this, too. I don't do as much as I should. I don't always sit by the kids who eat alone at lunch, and I don't always pick someone to be my partner who's never been chosen before. I don't, and I'm sorry to anyone that I've ever hurt.

But I try. I try a lot. And this incident just makes me realize how much more I need to try. It's not going to kill me to be nice to everyone, and it won't kill you either You don't have to be a saint about it; all you have to do is smile. That's right, smile at people when you walk down the hall and say hi to them. It's the easiest and most natural way to solve this problem. If you're comfortable enough with yourself, try taking a bigger leap.

It can be anything from having a conversation with the girl who hasn't said a word all year in class, or sitting with the guy who eats his lunch alone. You don't have to devote your life to that person, but would) it be nice if you made them realize that ^ existence on this planet matters. It is a re^ sponsibihty that we all need to share.

This is such a huge problem, but the solution is so simple. It is so incredibly simple that is hard to comprehend. It may be taking a big leap at first to try to be so inclusive and welcoming. I swear to you, that by taking this leap, there is no way that you will fall.

You will only soar. I know that. I took a leap by starting to talk to this girl who for no specific reason was picked on in a couple of my classes. I was scared at first, because she was different, but now that I talk to her I would have to say she has been one of the most interesting people I have ever met.

She has ojiened up a whole new world for me, which is what each of my friends do. You can never have too many friends. I have never seen anyone suffer from that. So, go talk to that kid at lunch, or in your study hall.

The one that sits in the comer by themselves and let them open a new world for you. People can learn a lot from their pej if they will just allow themselves to take first step. This is the only way that we can prevent a tragedy like the one in Colorado from happening here.

Comraentary 3

A different outlook

by Eliza Duncan I would hke to propose a challenge to all of you. In the past few years we have seen a steady increase in poverty, crime, promiscuity, drug use, and interpersonal abuse.

Why is this? I believe we have become too accepting of immoral acts. We watch television that portrays detailed scenes of sex, drug and alcohol use, swearing, violence... you name it. We Usten to music that talks about death and killing and hating people.

Tragedies, such as the horrific massacre in Littleton, Colorado, are occurring far too often. Children and teenagers have initiated all of the school shootings that have occurred in the past few years.

We wonder where we have gone wrong in bringing up our children. We blame it on the parents and think that they are entirely to blame. We fail to look at the real issue when it comes to figuring out what causes a child to "go bad." True, a child's parents should be the guiding influence in the first several years of life, but we fail to reahze what an impact the various print and electronic media have in shaping a child's life.

The number of children coining home to a house left empty by working parents has

increased dramatically over the past thirty years. Children are allowed to do whatever they want because there is no one around to monitor them.

They watch graphic scenes of sex, violence, and abuse all throughout the early years of their childhood. They grow up seeing the bad guys get away with anything and everything. They think it's "cool" to fight and have mock gun fights, but what is this really teaching them? That it's acceptable to swear and fight and disrespect others?

This is where we have gone wrong. It's not so much the parents that have made the straying child who he is, it's us. When we treat others with disrespect time after time, they begin to beUeve the message.

It is a very sad thing when children are hurt so badly by words that they beheve the only solution left for them is to kill their antagonist. A girl from Columbine High School told her story about her encounter with the gunmen. She was told by the gunmen that the only reason she was spared was that she had once greeted one of the gunmen in the hallway.

We so readily judge others because of

i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay great happening inimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-lifted from the no of all nothing-human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) - ee cummings

their clothes, actions, or speech, that we have, in fact, contributed to the crime. If we treated others with respect and were not so judgmental, then perhaps we wouldn't have so many killings taking place.

We look at all of the tragedies that occur around us, but fail to act in response. We say, "That's so sad... good thing it didn't happen to us." This apathetic attitude is what has made our society so immoral. How can we expect our nation to be upright and moral when we look the other way when a crime is committed? We, as a generation, must take a stand: nobody else will do the job for us.

We must decide that we are sick of the killings and the violence in our society. If we keep looking the other way whenever horrible crimes are committed, then who knows who will be the next to suffer.

It could be a normal day at Maine South High School, and some kid walks into a busy lunch period and begins to shoot people randomly. He points the gun and whoever is in its way becomes a victim. Will it take an incident such as this to elicit action from the students of our school? I pray that this is not the case and that this will never happen, but I know that such a tragedy could come at any time. Are you going to wait until someone is killed, or are you going to take a stand and do everything within your power to make our society better?

I, for one, am sick of the killings and immorality in our world. We as a student body participate all too often in immoral acts, and I am sick of it. I want our world to be a safe place, but I can't change the world by myself I will do my best to set the example, but I need each of you to help me. If we leave the job to others, it may never get done.

I challenge you, as a member of the next generation, to get sick of the immorality in our homes, our schools, our communities, and in our world. Stand up for what you know to be right and encourage others to do so. If we continue to act as an apathetic society, our world will continue on in its moral decline.Be a member of the generation that makes the difference. We are the ones who decide what actions to take in order to shape our future. Make the decision. Take the challenge.

Editors'

An honest proposal

by Dave Smith When I think of parenting, I am reminded of two songs I know, the first of which is by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. It is called "Teach your children well" and deals with this exact subject. It gives the

fathomable. Consider the example of the student murderers from Colorado: maybe if they were hugged more often as children they would not have held such grudges against others.

simple idea of how a parent "For 01106, that olcJ saylnQ should love their child and

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Our world is overcrowded and the population continues to grow at an exponential rate, forcing us to exploit wilderness arej^^ and pollute the earth in order to accomn^^^ date more people.

The need to have many offspring in order to carry on the species is no longer valid. The earth can barely sustain the ,, current population, and a larger populat tion in the future could end up wiping out the whole human race.

With the advent of the parenting license, a couple will only be allowed two children. This will enable them to carry on their family but prevent the world's population from getting out of control. The parenting license would also ensure that only people who could care for a child would be able to have a child.

Requirements would only be the most basic things a child would need to become a productive member of society, though.

C^j Things like a safe home, financial backf ing, loving parents, and a racially unbi\ ased atmosphere would give children "" better than average chances at a good life. In addition, if all of the world's children were raised properly, many of society "^^ problems would be solved, since everyo^^J would be more likely to get along with others. Then for once, that old saying: "your kids are going to be just like you," wouldn't be such a bad thing.

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nately, many people are not i oi i/^h o A-ioW ihinri " able to fiilfill the basic needs OG SUCll a UaU ininy. of their children, and the void left by this is filled with things like hatred This brings me to my second song, the and anger.

Beatles song entided "Revolution 1." It conSometimes these feelings of hatred and tains the lyric "If you got a real solution, anger are channeled outward toward well you know, we would all like people of other races, or even toward /ik to see the plan." My response the person's family. Whatever the J\ to that is an case, if a person has these feelings in idea that place of love and logic, that person could can become dangerous or violent, and can ruin other people's lives. With all this in mind, our society has placed restraints on things that can be potentially harmful or dangerous, such as cars.

Cars can cause fatal damage if not operated properly, so people are required to get a license proving that they are capable of handling the automobile. change the world: a parenting license.

Why, then, do we not take the same pre- A typical reaction to this idea could be to cautions for parents? A child that is not raised say that parenting is a natural process, and properly can pose a great threat to society, it should not be interfered with. That sounds and the effects of his behavior can be un- great, but look where it has led us so far.

Features

Focus on faculty The thought of starting your day with chemistry at 7:40 isn't very exciting, but spending sixty-five minutes in Mrs. Anderson's class is anything but boring. And while Mole Day is not exactly a national hohday, Mrs. Anderson shows her enthusiasm by celebrating it every year on October twenty-third.

Unlike most faculty members here, Mrs. Anderson is not a native to the Chicago area. She grew up in Michigan and went to Michigan State University to do her undergraduate study. There she got her degree in teaching of cience and math. She took extra courses at various colleges including University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Fermi Lab to get her chemistry major.

While she was still at Michigan State, her parents moved to Chicago. She went to the University of Chicago to get her master's in educational psychology. She continues her education by taking a class every summer to stay current in chemistry.

After graduating from the University of Chicago, she began teaching physical science at junior high schools in Highland Park and Oak Park. She took ten years off from teaching to stay home with her two children and felt she was very lucky because she says, "Young people don't always have an opportunity to do that now and I was really fortunate to be able to."

When she decided to go back to teaching, she had the opportunity to work with some wonderful teachers at Maine East as a

by Lindse\ Krukowski

Charlene Anderson

substitute. She feels very fortunate that a position opened up here at South for her to become a chemistry teacher. She says, "I love it here. I think the kids are great and I love knowing their families and working with members of the same families. I feel very fortunate doing something I enjoy and I hope that everyone gets the opportunity to do what they enjoy."

Mrs. Anderson is very active at South.

She was involved in Snowball for a while and is currently involved in Connect, which matches students up with a faculty mentor with similar interests. She is also the Secretary of the Maine Teachers Association and a teacher representative for the ParentTeacher Council, which meets four times yearly as a communications forum with Dr. Cachur. She also loves all of the fine arts performances here and says, "I have a great respect for everyone involved in them."

Senior

Outside of school, Mrs. Anderson enjoys traveling. Since her husband is also a chemistry teacher— they met when they both had students at the state science fair— they have time off in the summer to travel together.

She says, "It's neat that my husband is also a teacher because we were able to pack up and take family trips together in the sum mer. My kids always used to joke that they were the only ones who had to take educa tional vacations." This summer she and her husband are going to be studying the his tory of science in the industrial revolution.

They will be visiting various laboratories and museums in England.and Scotland.

Mrs. Anderson really loves teaching, and it shows every day in her classes. She took two years off of teaching to edit science films, but she realized how much she loved teaching so she chose to go back. She says "I really like working with students and watching them learn. It's still a kick. I've been doing it for twenty-five years and it's still a thrill to see kids understand what you're teaching them." As far as teaching chemistry, Mrs. Anderson truly loves it. She says, "I love teaching chemistry because we work on reading, writing, math, application of math, labs and application of labs. There are so many aspects involved in chemistry, which makes every day different and fun!'

Mrs. Anderson believes that education will make our world better. She says, "I re ally believe in the power of education. Edu cation makes our lives better, both individually and as a group. It is the key to solving our problems."

Jon HilyardFocus on Student Excellence

Activities:

Teacher's Comments:

•Varsity Track and Field •Symphonic Band •Jazz Band •Rube Goldberg Team

"Jon is one of those 'unsung heroes' that walk the haU ways of Maine S outh everyday. As an athlete, Jon has spent four years steadily striving to achieve his personal best This positive attitude and willingness to participate to his fullest capacity makes Jon a stunt to admire. Jon's contribution to the conununity xtends beyond track, band and the Rube Goldberg mpetition. For the past four years Jon has made Maine South a better place to be everyday,"

-Mr. Jim Lonergan

6 Features

Community Beat City Council gives back $$$

by Dave Smith Park Ridge's City Council always tries to do something for the conmiunity. Because of that, they are always trying to raise funds. With a growing town like Park Ridge, the Council has new plans to raise the funds once again.

The City Council announced their new plans. The new and old community organizations that the Council provides for are re-

quiring more money themselves. The Historical Society of Park Ridge is one of those organizations. In 1995 it only needed $4,000. However, this year they called for $15,000 for new features they are trying to gain.

The Suburban O'Hare Commission is another program under the City Council's funding. Even though its requirement went down from 1995's $46,300. it is still a whopping $44,500.

The total dollar amount for all ten major

organizations comes to $240,700. This is much larger than 1995 when the total was only $170,800.

As these organizations demand more from the city, the quality added to Park Ridge is gready needed. No one ever likes putting the money up for it, but the organizations sponsored by the City Council help to make Park Ridge a little better.

The best pitcher that ever was?

by Mike De Pilla Last season, a young kid named Kerry Wood captured the attention of Chicago with his blazing fastball and astonishing potential to bloom into an all-star. Many believe that Wood compares to Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens, both of whom made names of themselves with their fastball. Overlooked in all the analy- / sis, however, is former Washington Senators' fireballer Walter Johnson, possessor of the greatest fastball ever.

It was eighty-six years ago today on May 14,1913, that the man, who many consider to be the greatest pitcher of all time, had his record setting streak of fiftysix consecutive scoreless innings snapped.

It was a record that would stand for fiftyfive years.

Walter Peny Johnson was bom on November 6, 1887, in Kansas, to two Swedish farmers. At the age of fourteen, Walter played for a local junior baseball team, but was unable to pitch because no player on the team would catch for him. His fastball was that hard!

By 1907, Johnson was playing semi-pro ball in Idaho and attracted the attention of a major league scout for the Washington Senators. Within a week, Johnson and his fastball were offered a $350 monthly salary, plus a $ 100 signing bonus to play for the last place

Senators.

Washington had a reputation at the time for being the worst team in baseball, and remained cellar-dwellers for Johnson's first five seasons. The Senators lost 102 games in 1907, as their rookie fireballer got his feet wet in the big leagues.

Johnson quickly progressed into one of the league's best pitchers, winning twenty-five games in 1910 to go along with a league-leading 313 strikeouts. But this was only a preview of things to come.

In 1912, at the age of 25, Johnson was finally surrounded with a competitive " team. With new manager Clark Griffith at the helm, the Senators improved to second place that year. By this time Johnson had become the premier pitcher in the game, winning a remarkable thirty-two games and capturing his second of twelve career strikeout titles."I think Johnson was the greatest I ever saw," said Boston pitcher Lefty Grove, "and his curve was faster than [Bob] Feller's fastball."

It was 1913. however, that put Johnson in a league of his own. That season he won an incredible thirty-six games while losing only seven. He led the league in strikeouts, innings pitched, winning percentage and ERA. His Earned Run Average of 1.14 stood as an all-time record until 1968.

It was also in the 1913 season that Johnson pitched his amazing fifty-six cong secutive shutout innings. Spanning ova eight or nine starts, Johnson was absolutely untouchable for more than a month. His overpowering fastball left his opponents' heads spinning.

Finally at the age of thirty-seven, Johnson and the Senators were able to capture the American League pennant and play in the World Series. He won twenty-three games during the regular season and pitched well in the deciding game of the Series to win it for Washington.

In addition to his stellar performances on the mound, Johnson was also a complete class act off the field. He was noted for his modesty and mild manners.

"A wonderful man in every way," said former teammate Sam Crawford. "Warm and friendly, and wouldn't hurt a soul."

With little fanfare, Johnson's numbers stack up as possibly the best of all time. His 416 career wins are second of all-time, his 2.17 ERA is eighth of all-time and he owns the record for most career shutouts with 110.

Kerry Wood had a sensational rookie_ year, although of the uncertain injury, 1 ^ ^ ^ should go on to have a stellar career. When comparing him to the greatest pitcher of all time, however, be sure to include Walter Johnson, the most powerful.

National Champions Sivii.il Nsiic

M.III10 Soulh lll<;ii School

by Anne Edison-Swift What we here at South call Constitution Team or AP Hawks is an internationally used and recognized program for civic education.

We The People... The Citizen and the Constitution is developed and administered by the Los Angeles-based Center for Civic Education and funded by the U.S. Department of Education (thank you, American taxpayers!) The We the People textbook has been translated into Russian and used in Russian classrooms; next year there will be We The People competitions in Russia, and eventually teams from Russia and the U.S. hope to compete together.

At the National competition in Washington D.C., more than 1250 high school students representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in events modeled after congressional hearings; each fiveperson unit gave a prepared statement and then answeredfireeresponse questions from a panel of three judges.

To get to D.C., many teams went through regional competition before winning their state title. The six units in each team prepared presentations on three questions in their category. Unit One: What are the philo-

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sophical and historical foundations of the American political system? Unit Two: How did the Framers create the Constitution?

Unit Three: How did the values and principles embodied in the Constitution shape American institutions and practices? Unit Four: How have the protections of the Bill of Rights been developed and expanded?

Unit Five: What rights does the Bill of Rights protect? Unit Six: What are the roles of the citizen in American democracy?

The judges were constitutional scholars, lawyers, journalists, government leaders and historians from around the country. The Maine South team is happy to report that all six AP Hawk units handled the toughest questions with the confidence that comes from nine months of preparation. In tight competition with super-teams from Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, Florida and Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California, Maine South looked for ways to distinguish themselves from the rest. The top ten teams were all very wellprepared, well-read and well-spoken; what made Maine South different was their passion for the subject matter and for each other. Judge after judge complimented the

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Hawks on their tight, caring and supportive team.

AP Hawks are chosen from Mrs. Canova's AP and Accelerated U.S. History classes. Students interested in Constitution Team inform their counselors when they plan their schedules for senior year. The counselors put together a list, from which Mrs. Canova and Mr. Feichter choose 30 students.

These 30 are all placed in 8th period AP Govenmient. Students submit their top three unit choices, and Feichter and Canova assign five people to each unit with these preferences and the unique talents of each student in mind.

Once the team knows their units, they pick up their We the People text books and start studying over the summer. In the fall they receive the state questions from the Center for Civic Education, and then compete for the state title in December.

The next generation of AP Hawks has already started the process of dividing into units and making plans for next year. The group looks very promising and the 1999 Champs would wish you luck, but by next year you won't need luck, because you will have skill! You can do it, team!

Hawks make History...

by Kathleen Dunne, Anne Edison-Swift and John Moran There's a first time for everything. Monday, May 3, Maine South's AP Hawks took first place in the We the People...the Citizen and the Constitution National Competition.

The trip began long before the team boarded the plane though. For nine months.

the team has been researching, debating, and coordinating their presentations.

The team won the right to travel to Washington, DC in December when they won the Illinois State Championship. After a month and a half, the team received the National questions and immediately went to work.

"We were most concerned about all the information we had to find and who was going to do what," Anna Kurtz said about her group's initial reaction to the questions.

Looking back she also says, "We thought we had so much time. But we didn't."

The team worked for months to perfect their presentations. The team met with various people such as a Skokie Public Defender, three Cook County judges, corporate lawyers and history professors.

The Saturday before the team left, Henry Hyde came to Maine South to help the team with any last questions. Congressman Hyde talked to the students about his opinions on

today's current events such as Colombine, One of their judges quipped, "Are you guys Kosovo and the Y2K legisilative bill in the trying to get dates or something?" Paul House. He then took pictures with the team. Rogus responded, "In my short 17 years of The AP Hawks left for Washington, DC life I have learned that a woman can do evon Friday from O'Hare Airport. Upon ar- erything I can do...and sometimes even betrival in Washington, the team was let loose ter!" All the units recieved praise from the in the city to visit the National Archives judges and support from the roomful of fam(which houses the Constitution, Bill of ily and teammates. The energy could be felt Rights, Magna Carta and other historic docu- within the room and the team fed off of it. ments), US History Museum and Air and The team had Sunday afternoon off and Space Museum. Group favorites include the spent it resting and enjoying the beautiful First Ladies exhibit and a special exhibit weather. Several team members took a short about latino life and culture. Unit One was walk to Georgetown while other entertained especially excited about seeing the Magna themselves with card games. That night, all Carta-the subject of one of their hearing 1250 We the People participants went to a questions. dance at the Pentagon City Shopping Mall.

The AP Hawks danced their hearts out.

After the musuems, Maine South met up with Foxcraft High School from Maine who At 9:10 p.m., the team gathered to listen for would be South's touristing parmers for the the Top Ten announcement. They held hands and formed a tight circle. At 9:15 p.m., the rest of the trip.

The following day the team traveled to ten states that would compete the next day Arlington National Cemetery for the morn- were announced. Six other states were ing. There they saw the Kennedy Memo- called before Maine South students heard rial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Illinois called. Tears, shouts and h u ^ ^ ^ the Changing of the Guard. The cemetery abounded. The team danced awhile l o n g a ^ ^ was so peaceful and beautiful that, later in and then returned to the hotel for some latethe trip, AP Hawk Joe Slezak encouraged night cramming. his teammates to "remember Arlington" in The next morning, the team woke up order to gain control before competing. early to meet First Lady Hillary Clinton.

The afternoon was time to compete. The After talking to Mrs. Clinton and taking piccompetition was held at the JW Marriot in tures with her, the team headed off to their downtown DC. Despite the nerves and the final day of competition. pressure the team members felt they had The team was placed in Congressman done well and left the hearing confident with Hyde's Judicial Hearing room in the the job.

Raybum Building. The team faced ruthless The next morning, Sunday, also consisted judges and personal pressure. But the team of competition. The team was confident once again pulled for each other and held from their success the night before and their composure. soared through the competition. TestimoAfter competition, the team returned to nies like Kyle Gann's off-the-cuff quotation the hotel to prepare for the banquet late that from Winston Churchill brought coach Patton Feichter â&#x20AC;˘ -,^*' to tears of joy.

-i ' '^ The all-male Unit Four impressed judges with their sensitivity in handling a question dealing with the Equal Rights Amendment.

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with National Championship night. All dressed up with tons of style, the team once again could feel the butterflies in their stomachs. The banquet began with dinner and continued with special guest speakers. The students listened to Supreme Court Justice Souter and a We the People alum now clerking for Sandra Day O'Connor. Finally, the awards began. The awards for teachers and the units from those teams not in the top ten seemed to drag on forever Finally, it was announced that the fourth-place teams would be named next.

The Maine South students all grasped each other's hands hoping not to hear Illinois named. When Illinois was not called, Maine South knew they had made one of the top three spots. Next, California was called as third place winners and the team was thrilled knowing that they topped the Maine South record. They then settled down to hold hands again and listen for the second place team. When Florida was announced as second place, the Hawks went wild.

Tears, hugs and laughter were meshed together to form a crowd of happy, shocked and relieved team members. The team then held hands while Illinois was officially proclaimed as the First Place team. The team rushed the stage to receive their plaque and gold metals. The team put the medals around their necks and posed for picture after picture.

After calling parents back at home, the team joined once again to celebrate. A dance was held for all the participants of the competition and the team released all the bottledup energy.

The team returned to the hotel for one last team meeting. As Don Walsh led the singing of "We are the Champions," the team started to realize the magnitude of their victory.

Tuesday morning meant time to pack and prepare for departure from DC. The team had several stops to make, however, before the airport. The first stop was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Brian Pick gave a very moving dedication and Maine South placed a memorial wreath at the wall. The team walked along the wall in silence to respect the thousands of men and women that died fighting for this country. Next they walked to the Lincoln Memorial. After visiting the

memorials, the team had to tear John Moran away from Maine team members. The Maine team became good friends with the lUinois team.

The team then proceeded to visit with Senator Peter Fritzgerald. After that, the team was given a private tour of the White House by two secret service agents. Following the tour, it was time to depart from Washington, DC and head back home exhausted and happy.

Upon arrival at O'Hare, the team was asked to remain on the plane until all other passengers were off. The National Champions gathered at the front of the plane and together walked up the ramp into the terminal. Halfway up the ramp, the team could hear the Hawks' Fight Song. The team emerged into a terminal full of balloons, bouquets, banners, bubbles and band members celebrating the AP Hawks' victory.

The celebration continued to the next day when the team rejoiced during their class period. A Chicago Tribune photographer documented the celebration and the team shared memories created during their five days in Washington.

The celebration went on through Friday when an assembly was held for the National Champions. There, a letter from Hillary Clinton was read congratulating the team on their victory. The team also modeled shirts that summed up their trip: "One class, one team, one victory! Go AP Hawks!"

The Constitution Team has always been a successful program at Maine South. Eight of the nine years Maine South has participated, the team has won state and gone to Nationals. Seven of those eight years the team has placed in the Top Ten at Nationals.

The previous Maine South record was third place, a National title won by the very first team of the AP Hawks.

The AP Hawks thank parents and siblings, friends, the Maine South Pep Band, Dr. Cachur, Mamma Canova and Pappa

Feichter, Alice Hortsman, Henry Hyde, Peter Fitzgerald, Hillary Clinton, HILLARY'S AID, the secret service. Reed Lee, Deidre Baumann, Beth Swanson, Nissan Chavkin,

Professor Wade, Mr. Carroll, Mr Nelson, Mr. Sultz, Mr. Human, Mrs. Bondi, Judge Moran, Judge Locallo, Robert Mucci, MW TEACHERS, Doug Kimic and Mr. Deger.

The team usually consists of thirty members, coached by Mr. Patton Feichter and Mrs. Nancy Canova.

The team is divided into six units of five.

Each unit is given three questions to research and prepare a four-minute oral response for each question. On competition day, a panel of three judges ask one of the three questions. The unit gives their prepared response. Then, the unit answers the free-response questions the judges ask. Free response lasts for six minutes. Finally, the judges critique the unit on both their presentation as well as the free response.

The members Maine South National Champion Constitution Team are: Michael Ansenberger, Lindsay Beyer, Ann Carroll, Sterling Chung, Jeff Cox, Kathleen Dunne, Anne Edison-Swift, Natale Fuller, Kyle Gann, Katherine Greenslade, Serena Hohmann, Carl Hughes, Beth Humbert, Anna Kurtz, Gabriella Kusz, Juhe Lucchesi, John Moran, Bret Olson, Brian Pick, Brian Price, Lisa Raap, Paul Rogus, Michael Sebastian, Joseph Slezak, Emily Smythe, Yoimg Song, Rebecca Stein, Allison Wagoner and Donald Walsh.

Special Iss

Features 7

^

Modeling after excellence

by Katie Marcucci On the fifth page of each issue of Southwords the Focus on Student Excellence section honors a student that has shown he or she is worthy of being a model of excellence. In case you are wondering how students become selected as a model of excellence, here is the process. At the beginning of the first and second semesters nomination forms are distributed to all teachers. The forms list the criteria that the students should fulfill. The first criterion states that the student should demonstrate leadership in the classroom, on the playing field, or in an extra-curricular activity. Secondly the student must also demonstrate the qualities of a caring, mature and moral individual. Finally, the student should perform above and beyond the "call of duty" and be self-motivated, goal-oriented and committed to excellence.

Once a teacher feels that there is a stu-

dent who fulfills the criteria, they nominate

^ %

y^> &^^.^^ \)-^

Equinox, Southwords, Regular English Courses, Creative Writing Courses, Journalism, and AP English are all of the wonderful opportunities that Maine South offers to encourage writing to its students.

Hiese are great, but do students reaUy get a feel for the actual "art" of writing or are they just going through the motions? Students need to have a sense of excitement toward writing. At Fremd High School in Palatine they seem to have found a way to bring the excitement of writing to life.

Each year the school hosts a writers' week in April. TTiis tradition features writers of all difTerent genres during every period of the school day in the auditorium.

Some authcH-s of present in past years

that individual by providing a quote that speaks of the student's excellence. Then each issue a student is selected from those nominated to be featured in the Focus on Student Excellence selection.

Since this is the last regular issue of the year, the editors would like to recognize those who were nominated but were not able to be featured due to the overwhelming presence of excellence.

Seniors: Lisa Calenda, Andy Farrell, Marie Hickey, John Jaroszewicz, Joe Kipta and Mike Pankau.

Juniors: Kathleen Madl and Laura Weibel.

Sophomores: Andrew Donovan, Heidi Libner, Eric Raz and Becky Swoboda.

Thank you to all of the teachers who took the time to recognize those whom personify Hawk excellence. Congratulations to all of those who were nominated; it truly shows what great people are here at Maine South!

A look at what's happening at area schools, . .

The art of writing

have been Gwendolyn Brooks, Marc Smith and Miller Williams. This years authors were Jane Hamilton, a novelist; Angela Jackson,

". . .they seemed to have found a way to bring the excitement of writing to life." a poet; Patricia Smith, a columnist and poet: and Luis Rodriguez, a poet fiction writer, and journalist These writers are

professionals who take pride in their talent.

They wilUngly gave a glimpse into their lives for each interested student In addition to the array of professional writers, a novelty feature was the Poetry Bug: a Volkswagen Bug covered with magnetic poetry. Also individual students and faculty members performed their original works.

The students' conmients about this year's writing week were exbemely positive, and the week really helped to focus the school on writing and all of the windows of opportunity that it can open.

Information collectedfor this article \vas taken from The. Viking Logue, a publication of Fremd High School.

8 News

A Midsummer's Night Drearr^

by Rebecca Boudos From men in tights to dancing creatures, A Midsummer's Night Dream had it all. The Spring Play, which took place last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, was a big success.

The cast spent weeks perfecting every move while the crew spent endless nights creating the majestic atmosphere. The makeup crew did an excellent job creating the faces of the actors, which ranged from creature-like animals to elegant royalty. The costume crew spent much time creating unique costumes. Each costume was hand made and carefully planned out.

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream includes four major plots which are intertwined to create a humorous and entertaining show.

The story revolves around the wedding day of Theseus (Kevin Goss) and Hippolyta (Krista Stewarts). For the entertainment of Theseus and Hipolata, an entertainment group decides to put on a playâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the infamous "play within a play"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Pyramus and Thisbe. As the troupe rehearses in the woods, they encounter forest fairies, lead by their leader Titania (Siobhan Dolan).

Also in the woods lives the mischievous king of fairies, Oberon (Garrett Chen) and his accomplice of tricks, Puck (Maharah Bakus), who weave the four plots together.

The fourth plot involves four starcrossed lovers: Demetrius (Brian Wilson), Lysander (Ryan O b 0 z a ) , Helena( Adriana Kesala) and Hermia (Katie Genvaldi). It is a play of deception, romance and comedy.

Left: The fairies look up during a dress rehearsal.

Bottom: Brian Wilson and Ryan Oboza try to woo Helena (Adriana Kesala).

S OUTHWORDS A student-produced newspaper of:

Maine South High School n i l South Dee Ro^d i Park Ridge, IL 60068: Letters"b);_ttie editorshould be delivered to room V-LSror^ven-to a member of the editorial staff-SCiUTHWORDS reserves the right to edit material^sfor clarity and brevity and to reject ^fsc^n^jortTbelovs submissions.

Editors-in-Chief

Photo b\ Nora Bums

Anne Edison-Swift Anna Mieszaniec News Editors Kathleen Dunne Maura Collins Commentary Editors Dan Schwartz Katie Thompson Features Editors Lindsey Krukowski Katie Marcucci Sports Editors Brian Price Anna Kurtz Production Editors Chris Buckley Som Dalai Ted Kocher JuUe Motala Core Cartoonist Nora Bu: Core Photographer Ho-Chen L' Core Staff Artist Margaret Byrne Staff Heads Susan Wilson Advisor T R. Kerth

Mews %

Broadcasting students win big at film festival

Beth Barnette, Brian Wells, Thad Williams and Tracy Krug display the trophies they won at the Chicagoland High School Video Festival

. noto by Nora Bums

by Maura Collins On Friday April 23, students firom Mr. Francois broadcasting classes participated in the Chicagoland High School Video Festival. Twenty-two schools competed at the festival.

In a field of about 250 video projects and 400 attendees, Maine South walked off with an impressive two first place finishes, one second place finish and one third place finish. Only two other schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Glenbrook South and Riverside-Brookfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;won as many first place medals as Maine South. Sixteen video projects from Maine South were entered in the competition in twelve different categories.

Maine South dominated the Animation category with an animated video called The Life of the Butterfly by sophomores Tracy Krug and Nikki Ashmore and Fight Back, by seniors Brian Wells and Thad Williams, which won first and second place respectively. Life of a Butterfly was made using a technique called claynamation, where clay Ifiguresare videotaped for a few seconds, the camera is stopped and the figures are manually moved just a little and then videotaped again. The process is repeated over and over

and then thefilmis edited. The result is similar to the look of the cartoon Wallace and Gromit.

Fight Back is an animated music video and was made using paper cut outs. The pieces of paper were moved and videotaped

"This year has been our best yet!

5?

-Mr. Francois the same way as the clay was moved. The film was edited using computers. This is the

same way that the cartoon South Park is made.

Beth Barnette came infirstand third place in the music video category. Both of her videos were made using traditional videotaping methods. Then the footage was edited so that the lips of the actors matched the music.

As for the remaining twelve entries, there were two platinum winners, five gold, four silver and one bronze.

The event was sponsored by WLS-TV, WGN-TV, WBBM-TV, Pax TV, CLTV, Leo Burnett Advertising, American Movie Classics and Columbia College. Beth Barnette and Tracy Krug won two Columbia College Scholarship awards. Bamette's scholarship is valid towards college tuition and Krug's scholarship will pay for a summer school course in broadcasting.

Overall, Mr Francois was pleased with his students' success, "This year has been our best yet! Many of the students are already excited about next year and have ideas of things they'd like to do. Our goal will be to have entries in more categories to increase our wins!"

l o SportsUndefeated soccer team beating state's best After tying five of their first ten games, the girls' soccer team seems to have found the key to victory, posting impressive shutout victories ever since. The wins include sensational performances against stateranked teams such as Stevenson, Glenbard West, Hinsdale Central and conference archrival New Trier.

The Hawks are currentiy ranked #3 in both victories," says varsity coach TR Kerth.

"We were tied at 0-0 at halftime in all of them, but then we came out strong and found a way to score while holding our opponents

Gymnastics As the Sectional Meet approaches, the Maine South boys' gymnastics team competed strongly at two tune-up Invitationals.

At the Niles North Invite, the Hawks turned in a 101 despite the fact that they were missing teammates because of junior prom.

Leading the way with strong performances were Steve Schimmel and Mike Jozwiak.

Later that week, the Hawks took on their conference rivals at the CSL Meet. Though they took only seventh place out of nine teams, they still felt it was a good all-around team effort. These good performances included Alex Popovich and Eric Berke on the rings, Randy Nowak on high bars, Mike Jozwiak in Ail-Around, Jesse Howard on high bar, and Steve Schimmel on parallel bars and floor.

Coach Kaplan feels that these meets are "building for the future of the gymnastics team." The future does look bright since all of the 1999 squad will be back for next year's season. The varsity consists of three juniors and three sophomores, along with fifteen freshman at the junior varsity level. Until then, the team is practicing new routines in preparation for Sectionals.

scoreless."

And that fact alone, says Kerth, says something about this year's team.

"When you're even at half time against strong competition and then winning game after game, it means that you're fitter, you're smarter, you've got a deeper bench and you've got more heart than the other team."

All quahties of a championship season.

With an undefeated record this late in the season, the Hawks stand in scarce company.

No other team in the top ten is undefeated.

Considering the illnesses and injuries the

Hawk Sports Briefs Tennis

by Brad Metzinger The conference season is well underway for this year's Hawk tennis team. The Hawks opened with a victory versus Maine West.

Scoring victories were Brad Metzinger, Scot Kronenfeld and Brian Dema in singles.

While the Polish twins Jacek Wypych and Dave Milewski won at first doubles and Jacob Aimers teamed with Ernest Klusak for a triumph at third doubles.

Other conference battles included heartbreaking losses to Deerfield and Highland Park. Kronenfeld came up with two victories while Metzinger added a victory over Deerfield. The conference tournament is right around the corner along with Sectionals. Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South both boast some of the top singles and doubles competition the state has to offer.

The road will be a difficult one, but in the end, the possibiUty of a berth in the State Tournament is a definite possibility for the Hawks. Sectionals are at Maine South on May 21 so come and support the team as Hawk tennis continues its ongoing saga.

Volleyball falls to strong competition

by Joe Miller 15-0 was the score of the Hawks' first game at the always difficult Downers Grove South Tournament. The Hawks, however, were not extremely demoralized considering the loss came at the hands of the number one team in the state. Following this loss to Naperville North, the Hawks went 1-4 for the rest of the weekend tourney. They were

Hawks have had to deal with, their record i( all the more impressive. All-sectional forward Diana Puckett has missed six games (ankle), and defender Andrea Vigna (hamstring) may miss the rest of the season. Tina Georganas and Jill Cohen missed the first half of the season due to injury and are only now returning to form, and all-area defender Maureen Mulvihill has been playing through a hamstring injury all season long.

"But we're deep," says Kerth, "and we're healthy in the one area that really mattersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; heart."

hurt by the loss of their seniors, each of whom had prior obligations.

After the weekend, the Hawks came out rejuvenated. Still missing some senior leadership, they lost a very hard fought battle to the Glenbrook North Spartans, 16-14,16-14.

This was quite an accomplishment considering the fact that Glenbrook North is currently ranked number five in the state.

Badminton

by Margaret Albin With only a few more practices until the Hawks play in sectionals, the 1999 badminton season is coming to a close. This year's varsity team was composed of nine seniors, two juniors and one sophomore. ^ ^ Although the squad came up short a g a i n ^ ^ the tough competition of New Trier, Evanston and Maine West, they pulled it together to beat rivals Rolling Meadows, Waukegan and Leyden. Sophomore Maggie Witek showed off her incredible talent with the Hawks' only win against New Trier while senior Eileen Forde demonstrated her great playing abilities with the sole win against Evanston. With the varsity team playing strong they headed into the conference tournament at New Trier. The team held their heads up high against the fierce competition and finished the tournament in sixth place.

Along with the talented varsity squad is the incredible junior varsity team. With victories over Rolling Meadows, Maine West and Leyden the jv squad went into conference very strong. At the conference tournament the junior varsity squad cleared, smashed and dropped their way into a fifth place finish.

As the season comes to a close, six players were chosen to play in sectionals against Evanston, Maine West and Maine East, singles bracket will be led by Maggie W i and Eileen Forde while the doubles brack?

ICKCT will be led by Margaret Albin, Beata Koryktowksi, Brooke Fillippo and Susan Abraham.

Sports 11

Baseball loses heartbreakers

by Mike Chor The past few weeks have not been kind to the Hawks baseball team. Following big wins over New Trier and Hersey, the Hawks dropped their next few, coming up short against Glenbrook South, Glenbrook North, Deerfield and Waukegan. After these tough losses, they knew they needed to regroup and focus.

After a weekend of reflection, the Hawks came out and played inspired baseball. On Monday, they beat Glenbrook North in a thriller at Maine South. It appears as though the leadership has stood the test of yet another losing streak and come out focused on the state tournament.

°^ -

—>—•-<

Senior John Moran prepares for the pitch's arrival.

Photo by Brian Price

5/14 Boys' Volleyball IHSA Sectional

Boys' Track

@ CSL North

. t^.

-

.?.

m

. .

5/17

5/18 @ Deerfield @ Ridgewood @ Ridgewood

IHSA Finals

Badminton Softball

Deerfield

Girls' Soccer

@ Peoria

Baseball

Boys' Tennis

*

@ St. Viator Tnmt

Girls' Track

Boys' Gymnastics

5/15

. . .

Willowbrook Soph @ New Trier Evanston

@ Deerfield Highland Park

IHSA State Meet @CSL North Division

>l«hni I

uiHiBTT

Coach Romes talks with catcher Craig Stankiewicz.

Photo by Brian Price

@ Fenton

5/19

B;iskclhall

• Suriball • .Soixvr • Tennis • (ivnina^lics • Track • Vt>llovball •

Bailniinion

Girls' track finishes second at Elk Grove

by Maura Collins The girls' track team was doing everything right last Saturday at the Elk Grove Invite. Out of a field of about fifteen teams, Maine South came in second, losing only to Mother Mac Auley.

The Hawks turned in many fine performances. Maine South won the 400M relay with a team of Theresa Weritz, Linda Lazar, Katrina Kloess and Liz Pahlke. In the sprint medley relay, where the first two legs run a 100, the third runs a 200 and the final runner sprints 400M, Maine South's team of Phalke, Angela Ganas, Kloess and Amanda Wolf came in second place. The 800M relay team of Phalke, Ganas, Kloess and Wolf also came in second with a time of 1:52.9.

In the 1600M relay, Phalke, Katie Dwyer, Wolf and Kloess ran a 4:16.7, good enough for third place.

Maine South did well in the individual events as Weritz came in fifth place in the lOOM dash with a time of 13.5 and sophomore Ann Kielar ran a 18.4 in the 100m high hurdles to placed sixth.

In the distance events, junior Jenny Sagat placed fourth in the 3200M run with a time of 13:02.0.

The 3200M relay team of Mary Payne, Gina Kremer, Cara Cordaro and Kelly Haas came in sixth place with a time of 10:45.6.

The CSL confrence meet was last Thursday(results unavailable at time of print). The sectional meet, where it is determined if an athlete will advance to the state meet, is today at

Senior Amanda Wolf photo by Eileen Collins^

New Trier. Athletes qualify by either placing first or second in an event or by running a state qualifying time.

Hopefully several Hawks will advance to the State meet.

Boys' track has stellar weekend

by Paul Johnson In the thick of the season, the boys' track and field team faced some excellent competition in various invites. Although they did not fare too well with a sixth place finish at the Lyons Township relays, the Hawks showed their strength a week later at the Glenbrook North Spartan Relays.

Behind New Trier, Maine South took a soUd second place out of ten teams.

The unique feature of the meet is that every event is a relay that requires four athletes from each team. While

the track events are run as normal relays, the field events add up the marks of each athlete. Strong finishes at GBN included the two-mile relay, the 400 meter relay, the 800 meter relay, low hurdle shuttle relay, the pole vault, and the 1600 meter relay, which posted the ninth fastest time in the state at 3:27.7.

As if a Friday evening Invite was not enough, the Hawks left early the next morning for the Gordon Busse Invite at Morton High School. Scoring for the meet was a combined

frosh-soph and varsity score. The team was proud to win for the fourth year in a row despite being tired and sore from the night before.

The next three weeks will be challenging as the Hawks have conference, sectionals and the state meet.

Hopefully the results of these meets will be an accurate representation of the amount of work the athletes invested in the season. Times are drop^ ping and the marks are improvin Performances should culminate ^^^ to form a solid ending to a fine season.

"M