Students Enthusiastic Over Spring Musical Brigadoon "Brigadoon is a classic. What makes it special is the choral music is much fuller and richer. There is more harmony than "There is something about a unison," said Mr. Irwin Bell, musical that is so exciting. This Choral director of Brigadoon. is only the first week but alSome of the male leads in the ready everyone working on Brigadoon is so enthusiastic cast are suddenly confronted about it," said Kyle Conforti '71 with the Scottish dancing they wiU have to do in their roles. who plays Meg. When Steve Monz '71, who plays Brigadoon is the story of a Charlie, was asked about how village that appears in Scotland he was going to do the Russian for one day in every hundred splits, he answered," About the years. The reason is that in the thing I'm going to split is 170O's a witch scare made the only reverend pray to God to keep my pants." The cast of Brigadoon: his village from corruption. In 1950 the village appears and a Tommy is Steve Miller '72 and man from New York who is on Mike Skibbe '71; Fiona is Deba hunting trip sees it through bie Johnson '71 and Cathy Cox the mists but cannot locate it on '71. Jeff is played by BiU Senthe map. He enters the town senbrenner '72 and John Johnand meets a girl, Fiona, and son '71; Charlie is Steve Monz falls in love with her, but he is '71 and Scott Fauth '71. engaged to another girl in New Continuing the list is Margie York and returns to her. After Gibson '72 and Kyle Conforti being back in New York for '71 playing Meg; Jean is Barb awhile he realizes that he still Agosta '72 and Luann Porter loves Fiona and goes back to '72; Harry is Phil Bethards '71; find her. The village is gone Mr. Lundie is Dave Marshall when he returns. Suddenly the '71; Jane will be Karen Hauber town appears and he finds '73 and Sue Rodelius '72; and Fiona. In the end it is explained Frank is Chris Mahaffey '71. that only the spirit of love could The rest of the parts will be bring Brigadoon alive. cast from the chorus. Sets are rising and rehearsals begin Monday for the spring musical Brigadoon.
Vol. 7, No. 11
Maine Township High School South, Park Ridge, I I I . 60068
M a r . 5,1971
Voters Acquainted with Machines On election day, the Maine South student will be confronted with a new method of voting— the voting machine. First, the voter will walk up to a table where he will present his I.D. and be checked off on a master print-out sheet. He will then be directed to a booth according to alphabetical order. Next, he closes the booth curtains with a red lever. In front of him, the names of the candidates are arranged according to office and party. If the student wishes to vote a straight ticket, he pulls the large silver level on top of that parties' column. If the voter wishes to split his ticket, he can either flip the levers individually or pull the straight ticket lever and then pull up the candidates from that party that he does not wish to vote for and pull alternate levers. For a write-in candidate, the voter pushes the write-in release lever and opens a door and writes in his choice. Last, the student pushes the curtain release lever and walks out of the booth. The machines cost 24 dollars to rent at 40 dollars per machine. The county clerk will send two men on election day to service the machines. The penalty for willful vandalism will be $500 and six months in jail.
Southwords Wants You "Guess what! I've got a new pen name!" "Really? What is it?" "Bic Clic." If you think that's funny, you're potential Southwords material. According to Mr. Ken Beatty, faculty sponsor, f e a t u r e s writers, news reporters, artists and photographers are all needed to fill staff positions which will be vacated by seniors at the end of this year. The procedure for applying for a job on staff was described by Audrey Altstadt, this year's editor. "The first step is to come to the Southwords office in V-106," she said. The applicant will then receive three teacher r e c o mmendations which must be filled out by his English teacher. counselor and one other teacher. Once the completed recommendations are returned to the office, the applicant receives a copy of the Southwords style book. "The student should study the style book and then come in to take the style test," Audrey explained. A passing grade on the style test is an 85. "Each applicant will have three opportimities to pass the style test," Audrey noted. After completing these qualications, the applicant will be accepted for a trial of three issues. After that period, the editorial board wiU evaluate the student's performance and determine if he will be accepted on a permanent basis. "I've really enjoyed working on the paper," one staff mem' her noted. "I think anyone who likes to write and meet peoj^e really should come down and apply."
Arena Play Judges Worth of Life By Debbie Cook That students interested in acting but previously untried can, when given the opportunity and ably directed, produce an artistic success was evident in Maine South's production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B- directed by Mr. Hal Chastain. Both Teresa Pfister '73 as Sarah and Calvin Churchman '72 as J.B., newcomers to the Maine South stage, turned in fine performances in demanding roles in a difficult play, quite successfully treading the fine line between pathos and bathos. To maintain credibility as catastrophe follows catastrophe is a test of acting ability, and J.B- is a play of catastrophes. Acting experience is evident in the excellent performance of Rick Spatafora '72 as Nickles, the Devil. Though often merely a bystander, he always maintained character, was every moment Satan in facial expression and body stance. Even his dark and long curly hair seems
in character. Likewise, blonde Jim Scott '72 does a creditable job of creating the aura of the power of God the Creator of the Universe. J.B. is a psychological play affirming the worth of life in spite of life. J.B., modern version of Job, is a successful businessman who, at tlie beginning of the play, has everything a man could desire—lovely wife, fine children, thriving business —and accepts all of it as his right, as evidence of God's goodness. Then he loses everything — children, business, and wife's kindness. As he is destroyed, he, a strong believer in justice, asks God why. Thus, the play is a psychological analysis of the eternal question of why God allows such great suffering in life. Consequently, the play is a mental exercise, most of the action taking place off-stage. Heady intellectual brew for a high school audience? Perhaps. In fact, the play was sometimes
hard to follow. What has happened to J.B.'s children was not always completely clear. Some of the messengers' lines, essential to understanding offstage happenings, were lost to the audience — as were some of J.B.'s lines, especially in the second act. More graphic makeup was needed for the audience to comprehend immediately that the last catastrophe was an explosion and fire. The three Comforters, though excellent physical representatives of their roles, uttered philosophies not readily understandable to those who had not read the play. The play was well cast. Every actor knew his job and performed sincerely. Characterization was good. Staging was suitably simple. If there was one weak spot in the play, it was the afterthe-war scene which n e e d s strengthening to provide ironic contrast for the immediately following revelation of David's
National Honor Society Election Shows Lack of Meaning for New Members Something is wrong in National Honor Society. In the recent NHS elections, several students with full academic qualifications (top five per cent of the junior class with no semester grade below B or 3.0 grade average for seniors in the top 15 per cent of the class) were not elected while students not meeting academic requirements were elected. First, little is actually known about NHS's eligibility requirements and election methods. Once a student has met the above requirements, his name is placed on a ballot. All staff members then vote on any student they feel they know well. Students are rated on character, leadership and service to the school. Teachers "rate them on a scale from one to five. There is no negative voting. Scores are tallied and averaged. A certain quota is taken from the top scores, and these people are elected to NHS. This method of selection implies that academic excellence is the first qualification. Teachers' opinions on a student's character, leadership and service determine which of these select students is elected. Since human value judgments are the de-
termining factor, someone will always consider the outcome "unfair." However, juniors who did not even meet the initial academic requirements were elected. The mistake was, therefore, obviously made before any voting was done. (No, write-ins are not allowed.) NHS should place more emphasis on the academic requirements for NHS. Being elected as a senior is ridiculously easier than being elected as a junior. Although South is allowed 15 per cent of each class, it does not have to elect a 15 per cent total — 10 or 12 per cent would be sufficient. Juniors may not have had a semester grade below a B, but a senior may have had a D and be elected if he has an overall 3.0 average. A senior who has ever had a D is not a criminal, but can hardly be considered a scholar, either. If NHS is too easy to join, being elected a member looses meaning. Although no one will really care after graduation whether you belonged to NHS, it is important now to the people involved. Membership in an "honor society" should mean more than just better-than-average grades coupled with popularity.
death, a poignant scene so wellplayed by Sarah. The family group at dinner was memorable because it is the one happy scene in the entire play. The final scene, effectively lighted, was one of J.B.'s best. .As members of the audience were heard to say, "The kids did a beautiful job, but 1 prefer a different type of play."
Calendar
Knapp First In Speaking In contest speaking sectionals, Jan Knapp '71 placed first in verse speaking and Bill Dickens '72 placed fifth in extemporaneous speaking. As a result, Jan is now eligible to compete downstate at the end of this month. Maine South's debate team will compete in the sectional contest March 6. Orchesls will present its show A Different Drummer, on March 6 at 8 p.m. and again on March 7 at 2:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Tickets, on sale now in the cafeteria, cost $1.25. A Different Drummer is the modem dance club's first show. History Club will take a tour through Chinatown on March 13. The cost is $2, payable in the bookstore. The trip, lasting from 12 p.m. until 4:30 p.m., will include a visit to the Ling Long Museum. Lunch at Gnyi Sam's, an authentic Chinese restaurant, is $2 extra. The lunch fee is not payable in the bookstore. The Southwords staff is still waiting for SC election graffiti. Those comments judged the wittiest and most amusing by the editorial staff of Southwords will be printed in the March 12 issue. The deadline for graffitti is March 8. Home-Ec Qub is at work on their service project which will take place sometime in the near future. The club's present plans are for visiting a home for the aged. GRA's annual slumber party is scheduled for the night of March 25-26.