VOLUME 47, ISSUE 4 © 2014 North Pointewww.myGPN.org@myGPN

NORTH POINTEFRIDAY, OCT. 31, 2014

S I N C E 1 9 6 8 GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

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LIFEPAGE 5

Lef t : Micha l Ruprecht r ides an elephant in Sout h Af r ica.

R ig ht : Ruprecht g ives a dol l to Norma, a Peruv ian g irl, at Lares

Va l ley Trek.

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END OF FIRST QUARTER

Today at 3:05 p.m.

POPS & PASTRIES CONCERT

Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the gym (see page 2 for details)

NO SCHOOL Tuesday, Nov. 4 due to elections and staff development

SAT TESTINGSaturday, Nov. 8 at 8 a.m. at North

MICHIGAN COLLEGE

APPLICATION WEEK

Begins the week of Nov. 3, ends Nov. 7

Contents

1-2 News3 Ideas4 On Campus

5 Life 6 Reviews 7 Sports 8 In-Depth

HER IMPACT ON MY

LIFE HAS EXTENDED

FURTHER THAN

ASSURING ME OF A CAREER PATH,

SHE ALSO TAUGHT ME HOW TO STAND UP FOR

MYSELF.

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www.myGPN.org

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By Anu Subramaniam & Jennifer Kusch CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & IDEAS SECTION EDITOR

It’s in your hand when you walk into school, in your pocket at dinner and on your side table while you sleep. Modern dependency on phones is apparent, but the negative health effects are not. Sophomore Luke Muschong is among many cell phone users who are unaware of the possible consequences.

“I am not aware of any health issues my phone causes, except for occasional headaches,” Mus-chong said.

Like most kids, Muschong has had a cell phone for many years.

“I got my first cell phone at age 10, and my cur-rent phone I have had for five months.”

Cell Phones and cell metabolism

Although Muschong is not concerned about his cell phone use, controversy over the topic has grown as more people become aware of the potential consequences associated with usage. According to the National Cancer Institute, cell phones emit radio frequency energy, a type of non-ionizing radiation that can be absorbed by the body’s tissue.

Radio frequency emitted energy by phones a form of electromagnetic radiation, has no known biological consequences. However, that has not stopped researchers and parents from worrying about the consequences of cell phone use, in-cluding Muschong’s mother Heather Muschong, who is also a nurse.

“I encourage them not to leave it in their pock-ets as much as they can or next to their bodies at home and not to have it next to their bed while they are sleeping,” Muschong said.

Heather has felt first hand the negative health effects resulting from using her phone.

“If I talk on the cell phone, I get a headache and tingling and burning on the side of my head the phone was on,” Heather said. “I think your gen-eration texts more than you talk on the phone, so I don’t think they feel it’s an issue— but I don’t think we know enough of how much effect it has on the body.

While most studies that link phones’ elec-tromagnetic radiation to tumors are incon-clusive, there have been some cases where cell phone use correlates with tumor develop-ment.

“It’s been demonstrated by some studies that a few types of cancer, especially tumors related to the brain, increase in percentage,” Dr. Zyad Kafri, a specialist in hematology and medical oncology said. “That’s not yet, however, concrete. The only one that found to really increase in a statistically significant way is a ... nerve tumor called Schwannoma. That’s the only one linked to phone usage. The other is suspected increased risk but not well proven. It is the electromagnetic waves, actually, when we put the phone close to our ear, stimulating, probably, metabolism in that area and leading to negative effects on cell metabolism, and that would, in time leading to stimulation and uncontrolled cell growth.”

While it’s classified as a benign tumor, Schwannoma can penetrate the skull and enter the ear causing severe damage by pushing the nerve aside.

Sleepless in Seattle, especially if you are on Amazon

Phone users are more likely to suffer sleep defects and other less severe effects from the electromagnetic waves.

“The biggest (issue) that we see with our teenagers is just the risk that it puts them at in terms of causing issues of sleep. We see lots of kids that come in with sleep problems because they are on their phone late at night ... they come in with headaches, and it’s because of poor sleep hygiene,” St. John Hospital general pediatrician Dr. Natalie Kontos said. “It’s just the kids coming in with headaches and poor school function ... so then their grades start slipping and they do poorly in school, and that can then affect their attitude with their parents and their classmates and their teachers. So then they start having more and more problems in school just because they are lacking sleep.”

After sophomore Katie Lesha’s mother read about possible health consequences, she en-couraged Lesha to keep the phone away from her when she sleeps.

“I can’t sleep with my phone near me or any-thing. I usually just charge my phone in a dif-ferent room than where I sleep. I just put it in a different spot in my room so it’s not near my head,” Lesha said.

Lesha not only sees the possibility of a phone disrupting sleep, but also sees the psychological effect it can have on people when they use their phones.

“I think that kids that spend a lot of time on Twitter and Instagram ... don’t really socialize as much with their friends when they are out in public sometimes when they are at dinner and they are on their phones,” Lesha said.

Kontos believes that the best solution to pre-vent affected sleep patterns is to limit a teenag-er’s phone usage.

“Your parents probably say, ‘I want you in bed by nine,’ but if you take your cell phone with you, and you are on your phone texting your friends late at night, you are up on your phone till 10, 11, maybe even midnight. And if you have to get up in the morning at 6 a.m. to get to school, you are going from nine hours of sleep down to six hours of sleep. I think that parents need to take phones away at 9 o’clock. Kontos said.

Cutting down time spent talking on the phone can help reduce symptoms like head-aches and exposure to electromagnetic waves that stimulate cancer cell growth. The increase in risk for a Schwannoma tumor can be reduced by limiting on exposure. Other simple preventative steps, like turning a phone’s Do Not Disturb button on at night or charging the phone away from the bed can eliminate the f lashes of light that interrupt sleep patterns and the constant exposure to electromagnetic waves.

“The phones need to be removed from their bedrooms so that we can ensure kids are getting a good amount of sleep through-out the night,” Kontos said.

Phones linked to poor health

PHOTOS BY LECH RUPRECHT

IDEAS

SEE NO

HEAR NOSPEAK NO

ART BY LUKE STURGILL

2 – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 – North Pointe NEWS

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Chaos dominates parking lotBy Mora Downs & Billy MoinASSISTANT EDITORS

It was bound to happen.The confusion in

the school parking lot caught up with se-nior Michael Marchi-ori and his freshman brother Nick Marchi-ori as they were leav-ing.

“After school I was leaving the parking lot, driving with my brother, and I was rear-ended. The first thing I was worried about was mak-ing sure everybody was okay,” Mi-chael said. “I checked to make sure my brother sitting next to me was f ine, pulled over, got out of my car and ran back to them to make sure they were okay, helped them out of their car and kind of dealt with what to do next.”

The crash took place in the drop-off lanes after school on Monday, Oct. 20.

“All you heard and felt was a huge impact on the back of the car, and it was really shocking,” Nick said.

Speeding and distracted driving have become a common parking lot problem. According to distraction.gov, 10% of driv-ers under 20 involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the accident.

“If you’ve got three or four people with you in the car, it’s a very distract-ing environment,” Assistant Principal David Reed-Nordwall said. “If you saw me out on Friday (Oct. 24), I was trying to stop the honking, and people were like, ‘Come on, it’s Friday!’ I know, but honking is a distraction. The things that (are) distractions are the things we need to minimize and, again, we

need the students un-derstanding that the most dangerous time in their life is when they are driving a car.”

Along with these dis-tractions, w w w.teendri-versource.org says 21% of serious teen driver crashes in 2008 were due to speeding. In past years, teen speeding has continued to be a

problem, especially in the parking lot.“(The speed limit) is 5 mph, but the

people that come in are usually going pret-ty fast,” Reed-Nordwall said.

These combined problems can put people’s safety in jeopardy.

“I’ve had one young lady pulling in in the morning, and she’s doing the right thing. She (didn’t)have her permit up on her dash because when you’re driv-ing around, it slides across your dash,” security guard Richard Heyer said. “So she’s grabbing it and (showing) it to me, and at the same time, almost hits me.”

Even though Heyer wasn’t hurt, oth-ers haven’t been so lucky. According to nsc.org, around 8 U.S. teens die each day from car crashes.

“The most dangerous time is when high school students are driving,” Reed-Nordwall said. “And it’s chaos. As you go through what it takes to learn to drive, you have to be able to look, to steer, to handle the pedals and also there’s a social pressure.”

After seeing the possible danger, Mi-

chael has become more cautious.“Although it wasn’t necessarily my

fault, I’m still definitely driving a lot safer than I was before. Just making sure I’m giving myself enough time to slow down, and I’m just not driving recklessly,” Michael said.

ABOVE: The back of senior Michael Marchiori’s car after the accident. “My car wasn’t dam-aged that badly. It is going to cost a lot for repairs, but the major damages on my car were to the tow rig and the bumper and trunk, whereas her car experienced a lot more damage. Her entire hood and front bumper was taken out, and I’m not sure if there were damages to the engine, but it looked like it,” Marchiori said.

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SA, Interact Club hold can driveCans of food are predicted to pile up in third hour class-

rooms as the Student Association and Interact Club spon-sored Mountain of Food Can Drive takes place Monday, Nov. 10 to Friday, Nov. 21. Interact Club president Tommy Burke anticipates the food drive will be successful.

“We typically have a good turnout with our food drives every year,” Burke said. “We are hoping to increase the amount of food we get donated this year by adding incen-tives and possibly turning it into a competition.”

Participating third hour classes will collect nonperish-able items during the week of the drive. The class that col-lects the most food items wins a pizza party on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Burke believes the pizza party will provide a reason for students to participate in the drive.

“The canned food drive that we are doing this year will be a great way to help the less fortunate,” Burke said. “We think that we will have great success with it.”

Pops & Pastries concert returnsThe North band and orchestra will be performing in the

annual Pops & Pastries concert on Saturday, Nov. 1. The theme is “Myths, Legends and Heroes,” and fea-

tures music from movies such as Batman, Phantom of the Opera and Spider-Man.

Band director David Cleveland is excited about the unique elements of the concert and anticipates a large turnout.

“There’s a lot of percussion equipment in this con-cert, so there’s a lot of sound effects, and it’s usually a very well-attended event,” Cleveland said. “It’s the freshmen’s first concert, so they usually bring a lot of family out for it.”

Senior Isabella Cubillejo will be performing a violin solo as part of a piece from Schindler’s List.

“I’ve listened to recordings of it to try and really nail how it’s supposed to feel,” Cubillejo said. “It’s not re-ally that hard. It should be really emotional.”

The concert will take place in the gym, which is decorated for the occasion, and pastries will be sold during the concert. Cleveland appreciates the pastry donations and effort the band and orchestra parent committees put into the concert each year.

“I couldn’t do it without them. There’s no way I could do this concert anymore by myself. It’s gotten so huge,” Cleveland said. “It’s a major, major event on Saturday night. It’s a huge undertaking.”

Penny war raises money for chil-drens’ center

Students’ spare change may have been just a drop in the bucket, but it was a major contribution for ear-ly childhood education programs. During the week of Sept. 29- Oct. 3, Student Association held an inter-class penny war. Proceeds were donated to the Chil-dren’s Center of Detroit which provides early child-hood and family services.

Class of 2015 Student Association’s Senator at Large Michael Sacchetti believes that this year’s penny wars were not as active as last year’s penny wars.

“There wasn’t as much hype as last year,” Sacchet-ti said. “But other than that, it was stil l successful.”

Pennies counted as positive points towards a class’s total while other coins and any bills count as negative points.

“So if I give you of 50 pennies, and that’s 50 posi-tive points. If I gave you two quarters, that’s 50 nega-tive points, so that’s how it really works,” student ac-tivities director Pat Gast said.

The penny wars raised $544.72 for the partnering charity.

“(It) will all go to buying things for the children’s center,” Gast said.

The senior class led the way by raising the most money, with the sophomore class in second place.

By Dora Juhasz, Josie Bennett & Gowri Yerramalli

All you heard and felt was a

huge impact on the back of

the car, and it was

really shocking.

Nick Marchiori FRESHMAN

“

OUR EDITORIAL

Monday tardy policy sacrifices education

A crowd of over 150 students lined the hall outside the main office on Monday, Oct. 20 awaiting their punish-ment as a result of the new late start Monday tardy policy. Many students are concerned as to whether this is the most effective method in controlling tardies.

Many students would say it is not.After examining tardy rates, administration found

that most tardies occur first hour on Monday mornings. As a result, the typical tardy policy has been expanded to include any Monday first hour tardy as an automatic detention, without the possibility of being called out by a parent.

It’s understandable why administration has an issue with the equivalent of half a graduating class walking in 10-15 minutes after the bell, but this policy affects students who are not usually late more than the repeat offenders.

The policy’s goal was to reduce the number of overall tardies, especially for those who are frequently late, but it has also caught first-timers in its web. These one-time victims are mixed in with the those that the policy is in-tended to correct and all are given the same punishment.

First hour tardies, especially on Mondays, when stu-dents’ usual schedules are thrown off balance, are more understandable than midday ones, as there is a slew of variables—construction, traffic, car problems—that is un-predictable. These factors have a greater effect on under-classmen who cannot not drive themselves. Car-pooling, rushing parents and siblings at other schools must be taken into consideration.

Since we live in a school district without busing, it is solely up to the student to find a way to school, which is not always easy on late-start Mondays. These are things should be considered before cracking down with policies. Along with the current variables, the possibility of another polar vortex will pose even more of an issue for the timely arrival of the student body.

In addition, a major factor in students’ frustration is the exclusion of parental involvement. Even students with the most viable excuses will receive detentions based on this policy. Parents can no longer call their children out on Monday mornings.

Though selective punishment is no alternative to this policy, there can be other ways of determining who re-ceives a detention slip.

The Monday tardy situation is unacceptable, but if we are correct about the intended targets of this policy, then Monday is not the only day of the week that should be regulated. Administration needs to implement a policy of tardy control on every morning of the week.

An alternate policy could include issuing a detention to any student who receives two first-hour tardies in one week rather than just one Monday tardy. This would be more agreeable to students and also prevent the ridiculous line on Monday mornings. Through this policy, admin-istration would be directly targeting the constantly late instead of the unlucky student who got stuck in snowy traffic or whose parents were slow waking up. The effect of this policy would also last throughout the week, regulating all morning tardies instead of just those on Mondays.

Without at least some reform to this new policy, administration should be wary of students going to ex-tremes. Students are strongly considering—and in some cases threatening—to skip first hour (and possibly more of the school day) to avoid getting a detention to be eligible to be called out by a parent. This would cause an even greater disruption to the learning environment and prove further problems for the school system than an excess of morning tardies.

The question that we pose to the administration is this: What’s more important: A few minutes of class time or time administering a punishment? Keeping kids in a line to hand out detention slips is counterproductive. The new late start Monday policy should be reformed before its short-term effectiveness wears off.

CLARIFICATION In our Oct. 17 issue “District proposes millage renewal,” we stated that with passing the millage the district would be allowed to, “continue to levy up to 18 mills.” However. it should be clarified that the levy of 18 mills is only on non-homestead property such as businesses and rental property, while homeowners will still pay a levy of 8.0784 mills.

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 –3

A frightening fixation

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Erica Lizza, Anu Subramaniam

MANAGING EDITORS: Haley Reid, Andrea Scapini

SECTION EDITORS: Olivia Asimakis, Katelyn Carney, Brittney Hernandez, Jennifer Kusch

WEB MANAGING EDITOR: Emma Puglia

WEB SECTION EDITORS: Yena Berhane, Dora Juhasz, Kaley Makino, Emily Martinbianco

BUSINESS MANAGER: Wendy Ishmaku

PHOTO EDITOR: Alanna Sparks

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Josie Bennett, Emma Brock, Mora Downs, Audrey Kam, Billy Moin, Thomas Remenar, Ritika Sanikommu, Gowri Yerramalli

STAFF REPORTERS: Radiance Cooper, Luke Sturgill, Addison Toutant

INTERNS: Sydney Benson, Caitlin Bush, Allison Lackner, Lauren Sexton, Conner Bott

The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review. Comments should be directed to the student editors, who make all final content decisions. The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the student editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe Public School System.

We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Student Press Law Center. We subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.

One copy is available free to all community members. Additional copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertis-ing rates are available online at myGPN.org. The North Pointe is printed on 100% recycled paper.

CONTACT US707 Vernier RoadGrosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236Phone: 313.432.3248Email: northpointe@gpschools.orgTwitter: @myGPN

FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, MJE

Our editorial represents the opinion of the North Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the editors above. Members who have a conflict of interest with an

editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.

My first taste of a climactic horror movie scene triggered a long-lasting addiction. It will stick with me forever. Picture this: the clas-sic 1984 version of Nightmare on Elm Street is playing in a dark room. The gorgeous teenage Johnny Depp is ly-ing peacefully in bed, drifting into sleep. As the siren-like music is cued, Freddy Krueger’s gnarled hands pull Depp into the bed, dissolv-ing him mercilessly, and a fountain of blood spews out in place of his body.

Yeah, I freaked out. I’ll be the first to admit, my attraction to

scary movies sparked at far too young an age. Before I knew it, I was sneaking into the scari-est, most gruesome movies at the theaters with no shame. There was something about that pure rush of watching a horror movie that I couldn’t get enough of.

The more petrifying the movie, the higher my level of intrigue. When Regan spewed vul-gar language at the quivering priest and did a spine-tingling 360-degree head turn in The Ex-orcist, I pulled my blanket up tight.

Demons and possessed little girls terrify me. Yet I keet watching. What is wrong with me?

The psychological scarring of The Shining only fed my scary addiction. The merciless presence of cannibalistic Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs soothed my craving for chills. Even my extreme fear of clowns couldn’t force me to squeeze my eyes shut during Ste-phen King’s It. (And trust me, Pennywise the clown infinitely imprinted his eerie white face and jagged teeth into my brain.)

My newest fave flick is The Conjuring, one of the few modern scary movies that twists the cliché elements of horror (mysterious noises,

creaking doors, pulling of bed sheets) into a refreshing combination of menace and dread. I still can’t get that sinister sound of two quick claps out of my head.

I’ll watch anything from the old, classic hor-ror flicks to the newest creepy releases. I’ll even waste time watching those really awful, low-budget “scary” movies on Netflix that no one has ever heard of. As long as the movie attempts to give me goosebumps, I’m all for it. But why do I enjoy it so much?

As humans, we are psychologically wired to avoid things that scare us, so why are we so adamant about knowing what goes bump in the night? Why do we put ourselves through physiological rollercoasters, peek at the screen between our fingers and turn off the lights to increase the scare factor?

The short answer: we do it for the thrill. Maybe we get so fixated on our monotonous

daily routines that we forget what it feels like to have adrenaline rushing through our veins. Maybe we like the sense of living vicariously through that mindless girl who just has to open the door. That false sense of danger forces us horror-flick bingers out of our comfort zones. We become addicted to it.

So is it human nature to search for a thrill once in a while? Maybe. But whether you love scary movies or you’d prefer to stick to less hair-rising cinema, go out on a limb this Halloween. Be a little daring, just a little bit offbeat.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing that scares you every day.” It’s pushing your limits that will help you grow. For some of you, the iconic hockey mask of Jason Voorhees or the ominous silence of Michael Myers may not be your cup of tea. And that’s okay. But this week-end, take a step (or a leap) out of your comfort zone. An occasional adrenaline rush is good for everyone.

(But just in case you’re up for a formidable flick, Ouija came out last weekend. Happy Hal-loween.)

”The possibility of hurting or killing someone else. I’ve seen drunk drivers on the road, but I’ve never been affected by them.”

“Not knowing who else will be on the roads ... If there’s some-one else on the road who’s been drinking or something, you don’t know .”

“Drivers that aren’t paying attention. Other drivers who may be texting or on the phone or have kids in the back, and they’re trying to keep them under control.”

William FishwickSOPHOMORE

“One person being drunk, not paying attention, fall-ing asleep, being an idiot can affect everyone else. As you’re driving, you’ve got to be aware of everything.”

“Texting. When you’re texting, you’re distracted as you drive.”

“Distracted drivers ... You don’t know how people are going to drive, and you have to be able to react to that.”

Greg WolffSOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER

Eric VanstonMATH TEACHER

Curtis SladeJUNIOR

In Yang I Trust

During the 1880s, Susan B. Anthony would have been a great role model. She embod-ied the woman everybody aspired to be—her actions helped change the Constitu-tion for crying out loud. But despite that, I don’t feel a connection to her. I appreci-ate her work—I benefit from it—but I don’t face the same struggle. The only equality I have to fight for is among my sister, my dog and me, and since I lose, there really isn’t much of a fight to put up. But all I feel is this distance of 150 years between Anthony and me, and our similarities are limited to our two X chromo-somes.

I need more than two chro-mosomes to connect with a role model, so in my lazy search through the channels, I stumbled upon Dr. Cristina Yang. The moment I saw her dance-party-it-out in season one of Grey’s Anatomy, I knew her best friend Meredith Grey needed to step aside and find someone else to call “her per-son.”

I don’t just admire Yang and her perfectly curly hair or the fact that she always looked good in her scrubs even after 12-hour surgeries. She represented the person I wanted to become.

I was a shy, awkward pre-teen looking for something to do with my life, and she gave me a little push—thankfully not in a stretcher. Her loud, opinionated and always cor-rect manner made me want to break out of my brace-face, forehead-bang shell.

Yang’s success isn’t what cemented the idea of becom-ing a doctor in my mind, but it was her passion for medicine that did. Watching her skilled hand cut with such precision and her face hold such focus, I knew. Her impact on my life has extended further than assuring me of a career path. she also taught me how to stand up for myself. Yang nev-er backed down from a chal-lenge, even if it was against one of her many love interests or superiors.

I know we’re both women, but I think our similarities are more at the heart—and not just because she is a cardio-thoracic surgeon.

Cristina Yang showed me that even if people say you are cold and mean, there is noth-ing wrong about striving to be your best because, at the end of the day, all that matters is what you bring to the table, whether it is the patient Yang is saving on hers or the test I’m taking on mine.

Whether you aspire to be like Hermione Granger, Blair Waldorf or the latest Disney princess, there is nothing wrong with attributing your character to a character. Sure they’re not real, but they over-come the same challenges we do, and that is something to admire.

I may sound delusional for giving so much credit to a figment of producer Shonda Rhimes’s imagination, but I do. This overly competitive, always-exhausted doctor’s schedule mirrors my own. Her struggle to decide wheth-er to sleep, shower, sleep in the shower or eat reminds me of my day-to-day high school life, minus the crazy patients.

So I’m going to continue my dance parties and shower naps and hope one day I’m sitting up in the stars right next to my fictional idol.

By Yena Berhane & Sydney BensonYOUR TURN: What is the most dangerous part of driving?

“Grosse Pointe Public School administrators and teachers are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of the press for all students, re-

gardless of whether the ideas expressed may be considered unpopular, critical, controversial, tasteless or offensive.”

BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY

Kiley WeitzmannFRESHMAN

Erica LizzaCO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Olivia AsimakisNEWS EDITOR

Dora JuhaszWEB NEWS EDITOR

Ritika SanikommuASSISTANT EDITOR

Anu SubramaniamCO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Brittney HernandezLIFE EDITOR

Jennifer KuschIDEAS EDITOR

Haley ReidCO-MANAGING EDITOR

Wendy IshmakuBUSINESS MANAGER

Kaley MakinoWEB IDEAS EDITOR

Emily MartinbiancoWEB LIFE EDITOR

Gyanei JohnsonSENIOR

MY TURNDORA JUHASZ

EDITOR’S DESKANU SUBRAMANIAM

IDEAS

4 – North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014

FACES IN THE CROWDHala Ali

The current conflicts in her homeland of Syria forced sophomore Hala Ali to move to the United States.

“I came here with my mother, but my dad still lives in Syria,” Ali said. “I’ll never see it as a bad place. It’s really beautiful.”

Ali had difficulty moving, as there are dif-ferences between life in Syria and life here. According to Ali, people in Syria were more critical than they are here.

“People would talk about other people and judge them on sight. It’s not good to be talking about people you hardly know or to talk about them behind their backs,” Ali said.

While Ali says she plans to return to her birth country to visit, she doesn’t see herself residing there again.

“I’d never move back there because my future is here. College is a whole lot harder in Syria. It’s harder to apply and take classes,” Ali said.

Bjorn BjornssonA northern land of wa-

terfalls, volcanoes and lush green landscape is the place of origin for Iceland native freshman Bjorn Bjornsson. He lived in Iceland until he was 6, when his family made their move to the United States.

According to Bjornsson, Iceland isn’t much different from the United States.

“Iceland is kinda like here except it’s colder. It’s the same environment,” Bjornsson said. “But it’s more free there. There are kids walking everywhere, and everyone is friendly. It’s also kinda weird.We all eat a lot of fish, and there are sheep everywhere.”

Bjornsson has since returned to visit.“I was born in Iceland,” Bjornsson said.

“I usually go (to Iceland) every summer. I try to. My whole family is there.”

Tom FitzgeraldThe closest most

Grosse Pointers get to the “land down under” is Outback Steakhouse, but sophomore Tom Fitzger-ald lived in Australia for eight years.

Fitzgerald spent most of his childhood in Melbourne. He moved to the U.S. when he was 8 because his dad got a job in Portland, Oregon.

His family moved to Grosse Pointe ear-lier this year.

When Fitzgerald moved to the U.S., he left his extended family on the other side of the world.

“My whole family is there ... I don’t re-ally get to see them very much anymore ‘cause I live in America,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald sees some similarities be-tween the U.S. and Australia.

“It was a lot different over here than over there ... I moved to Portland, so the weath-er was a lot colder,” Fitzgerald said. “But the culture wasn’t really too different.”

By Addison Toutant, Emily Martinbianco, Jen-nifer Kusch & Gowri Yerramalli

ON CAMPUS

By Emma Brock & Josie BennettASSISTANT EDITORS

Culture shock is nothing new for counselor Nick Bernbeck. The Asian culture drew him to Nepal, a place vastly different from his norm. Bern-beck counseled students in preschool through 10th grade from October 2012 to September 2013.

“I’d never traveled to Asia before, so I wanted to learn about Southeast Asia and kind of get a feel for different cultures and different religions,” Bernbeck said.

The trip wasn’t a leisurely vacation. Bernbeck’s mission was to counsel kids in need of a mentor. Bernbeck created his own position, as there was no counselor at the school when he ar-rived. He implemented a paperwork system for the school counseling de-partment.

Bernbeck noted differences be-tween the school in Nepal and those in America.

“The biggest difference that I no-ticed is teaching style as far as memo-rization versus the teaching of con-cepts is kind of a big difference,” he said.

Not only was the teaching style different, but the language barri-ers proved an obstacle. The students spoke English, but it was their third or fourth language.

“A lot of times, they’d speak their tribal language, and then Nepali, and then they’d speak Hindi, and then English is another thing they learned,” Bernbeck said.

Bernbeck had to adjust to the way time is valued in Southeast Asia. In Nepal, the present is more important than the future.

“You’ll be walking to a meeting, and someone will invite you into their house for tea, and, at first, I would say, ‘No, I have to be somewhere,’ and so that person thought I was really rude because I was telling them I couldn’t stop for tea,” Bernbeck said. “And then I’d show up to my meeting, and every-body else would be an hour late.”

Bernbeck hopes to revisit one day when he gets the chance.

“I’ll never forget it, and you know, all the experiences I had, all the peo-ple that I met, the relationships that I created, I wouldn’t turn it in for the world.”

Counselor Nick Bernbeck faces the Himalayan Mountains. “Honestly, the big draw for me was the mountains and like a different culture as well,” Bernbeck said. “I’ve always kind of been ‘out-doorsy’ to a degree, so just being able to trek in the Himalayan Mountains was a big thing for me.”

Counselor Nick Bernbeck

After weeks of preparation, Drama Club hosted its annual Halloween costume party on Friday, Oct. 24. This year,

proceeds benefitted Trick-or-Treat So Kids Can Eat

Drama Club hosts Halloween Party

By Emma Puglia WEB MANAGING EDITOR

FIVE MINUTES WITH

What was your favorite part about Nepal?My favorite part about going was work-ing with the students and getting to know some of the staff members there.

LEFT: Senior Emily Surzyn and junior Josh Lupo dressed as Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and won the best costume award. Still in character, the two discussed their relationship. “It’s a little tough. He’s always out in the city fighting crime and stuff, and I’m always in the lab, saving lives,” Surzyn said. “Hey, I save lives too,” Lupo said.

RIGHT: Junior Matt Carlsen sips on a Star-bucks drink in his “common white girl” costume with senior Katelyn Caroll and ju-nior Jarell Cunningham. “I was hanging out with my friends, and I decided that I was going to make fun of them because that’s how they usually dressed,” Carlsen said. “I bought a wig and went in my sister’s closet, so it took about six minutes (to make).”

What type of food did you eat?What we ate every single day for lunch and dinner was called a Dal bhat. So you get a plate of rice, and Dal is like lentil soup, and so you take your lentil soup, and you pour it over the rice, and you kind of just mix it together ... You usually have a side of curry vegetables.

Where did you live? I lived right next to the school, and there were certain students who lived there all year round.

How did you find out about the job?I literally did a Google search, “Nepal and school counseling,” and this job came up, and so I applied for it, and immediately sent them a resume, and they told me I could have the job the very next day.

What else did you do there besides counsel? I coached their soccer team as well. I started a soccer team of 9th and 10th grade boys, and we had to play another school, and we prac-ticed before school in the mornings.

FAR RIGHT: As Drama club’s social chair, junior Olivia Hoover set up the decor around the multi-purpose room. “ I wrote down all the decorations we’d need, all the food we’d need and a whole list of every single song that I felt would appeal to the audience,” she said. “We all had so much fun dancing together, and my favorite part was probably just hanging out with all the baes.”

ABOVE: During one of the songs, Drama Club members formed an impromptu kickline. Freshman Kitty Clark enjoyed dancing to the song “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show in particu-lar. “It was fun. The musical was great, and everyone let loose,” Clark said.

COURTESY OF NICK BERNBECK

LIFE North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 – 5

Classroom environments prove to affect student learning

Freshman capitalizes on traveling lifestyleA green card turned into a lifetime adven-

ture for freshman Michal Ruprecht and his family. After Ruprecht’s parents, Beata and Lech Ruprecht, immigrated to the United States in 1996, they made it a family tradition to vacation in different world capitals.

“The U.S. is the best country in the world. People are honest, and the landscape is beautiful. You can get everything you want,” Lech said. “You have to find the best place for yourself. All places are different if you have good eyes. Only look around.”

Michal began traveling at the age of 2. His first trip was to the United Kingdom. Since then, he has visited 16 countries including England, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Por-tugal, Israel, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Peru, South Africa and Vatican City.

“It’s really interesting and fun because you get to learn about other people’s culture,” Mi-chal said. “The last trip, we went to Africa. We brought some toys for the kids—the orphans. So we try to help.”

Lech organizes these trips to instill charac-ter traits he thinks will help his children for the rest of their lives.

“This was my personal project, to visit major world capitals with my kids. We need to teach them by our example and experi-ence to give hearts to people who need the heart and love,” Lech said.

Out of Michal’s many trips, his favor-ite was to South Africa. Ruprecht feels the unique culture and diverse ecosystems helped enhanced his perspective of various communities.

“South Africa was my favorite trip because it was really different than all the other ones. Seeing all the—seeing Africa—it was real amazing,” Michal said. “It’s less developed, but still interesting with exotic animals like gi-raffes, rhinos, crocodiles and penguins.”

One of the most unusual experiences Mi-chal said was discovering South Africa had penguins. He treasures moments, like these, that he shares with his family the most.

“I rode an elephant in South Africa. My fa-vorite part was riding the elephant because we got to learn more about the elephants and how they function, like they will remember you for-ever,” Michal said.

While South Africa was the most extraordi-nary, Michal has visited other countries that

have had similar impacts on him. His trip to Israel showed him the effect that money can have on different regions.

“Seeing the Palestine region and how they thought about Israel and how Israel thought about Palestine, both areas have mixed emo-tions about each other,” Michal said. “When we went to the Palestine region, we saw the effect Israel had on Palestine, like the Palestin-ians are really poor, but the Israelis are rich.”

Michal’s dad encourages him and his sis-ter, 2014 alumna Victoria Ruprecht, to focus on the present and carry what they learned on with them.

“We enjoy our pictures, remember stories of our trips. We know what we need in the fu-tures to keep happy lives,” Lech said.

Visiting many Spanish speaking coun-tries, Michal has expanded his education. He’s fluent in English and Polish, but he’s also working on his Spanish. These trips ex-pose Michal to real-world Spanish and help him improve his skills.

“It’s a big part of my life because I get to in-teract with other people,” Michal said. “It’s ed-ucational. That’s why my dad organizes these trips. We go to countries when we think it will be interesting and it’s a good place.”

Traveling to different countries has taught Michal to be open to the good and bad aspects that cultures have to offer.

“Many people think many countries are very dangerous, but there’s a good side and a bad side. In South Africa, you have to have common sense. Don’t go to the dangerous parts and still be safe and have a good time,” Michal said.

The trips the Ruprechts take have not only brought them to a new understanding of the world, but also closer to each other. They have donated toys to South African and Peruvian orphans, and seeing the poverty in the world has shown Michal the hardships people face. Lech wanted him not only to see those harsh conditions, but appreciate what he has.

“He wanted me and my sister to be ad-venturous and not spend money on regular things, like phones. We try to go on a trip ev-ery year, so we learn more about that country and help other people,” Michal said. “I really like it, spending time with my family and hav-ing those moments I will remember forever. Happy and exciting ones that you would never think of, like the penguins in South Africa.”

Science teacher Jaime Hainer found a seat-ing layout that gets even her most shy students involved.

“There’s one student that I can think of right away, that said she would never talk in my class, and today alone, I called her out and was like, ‘You talked twice today.’ She’s like, ‘I did,’” Hainer said. “I think it’s not as threatening of an environment to talk in.”

This particular arrangement involves put-ting each desk in the middle of the classroom, and then fitting all the chairs into one large circle around them.

“I watched one of my colleagues do it, Mr. Pata, and I really liked the idea,” Hainer said. “I liked how everyone talked so well and how the conversation went back and forth and how it wasn’t always coming back to the teacher.”

The concept of students learning by leading

the discussions rather than the teacher lectur-ing is the aspect of this seating arrangement that Hainer finds most valuable.

“It puts us all on an equal playing field, so it’s not like the teacher is in the front. I’m sitting just as they are, and so we are all equals, and we all have the same voice,” Hainer said. “It also allows us to face each other instead of all facing the front.”

When they aren’t having class discussions, Hainer likes to switch up the seating arrange-ments and encourage class communication in hopes that the students will absorb informa-tion better.

“For my chemistry class right now, we are trying sitting with partners and for Physics, we do normally have rows of seats, and I always have them go talk to a partner or someone next to them.”

Three rows of fluorescent lights and a Smart Board pro-jector screen strain math teacher Marti Steiner’s eyes for seven hours every day. Chronic migraines have held her back from being able to to feel upbeat throughout an entire school day.

“Obviously, if I have a mi-graine, I’m not going to be in the best mood ... and I think that the lighting could be bothering the students which is a bigger problem for me,” Steiner said. “If the light is bothering me, it’s gotta be bothering other stu-dents as well, and that’s why I always have this first row off be-cause the Smart Board’s on, and when the Smart Board’s on, the

lighting is kind of coming from the board for the first row.”

Junior Rebecca Flynn also says she suffers from headaches due to the lights in classrooms.

“The super bright light bugs me in the morning because it’s really bright, and I’m not ready for that yet,” Flynn said.

One solution is to replace the fluorescent light bulbs with a softer type of bulb, although they tend to be more expensive. Additionally, natural lighting in classrooms is proven to help students achieve their opti-mum performance according to edudemic.com. Unnatural lighting levels are proven to be a hindrance to students and

teachers alike. “I’m really hoping they try a

softer lighting for my room to see if that works. As a teacher ... I want you to demonstrate what you know. If you’re in some en-vironment where it’s too cold or too hot or the lighting is really bothering you and giving you a headache, I would want to know that because I would want you to show me what you know during your test,” Steiner said.

“That’s extremely relevant because you want to optimize students’ learning, and you want to optimize what they can show you when they’re taking an assessment.”

By Haley Reid & Andrea ScapiniMANAGING EDITORS

By Olivia AsimakisNEWS SECTION EDITOR

Temperature LightingFocus is rarely achieved in a class-

room when the air resembles the arc-tic or a sweltering jungle. Math teacher Marti Steiner sees a loss of attentive-ness and decreased performance when classroom temperatures are extreme.

“I definitely think that temperature plays a role,” Steiner said. “My room can be either freezing cold or super sweating hot, so you’ll see students have to come dressed for all environ-ments in here.”

University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) studies concluded that proper control of temperature in classrooms and workplaces is vital. Studies show that temperatures above 74 degrees disrupt reading and mathematic skills. UCLA found that an ideal learning environment should be between 68 and 74 degrees.

“If students are sitting here, and they’re taking a test and they’re freez-ing cold, that’s not gonna help their test score. They’re gonna be thinking about how cold that air is,” Steiner said. “I’ve had students ask to move to the other side of the room, which is perfectly fine, but again, if every desk is taken, then you’ve got to find an-other room to put them in to get them away from this cold environment.”

Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hi-erarchy of needs demonstrates that it is essential for a person to fulfill their innate human needs before being able to focus on other tasks, like learning. Psychology teacher Jennifer Weisbrodt teaches Maslow’s theory and finds that it directly relates to the classroom.

“As Maslow would point out with his pyramid of needs, if needs such as comfort and security are achieved, one can progress to more advanced levels in the pyramid,” Weisbrodt said. “Those higher levels are where learn-ing takes place.”

Seating

Freshman Michal Ruprecht spends time at a South African orphanage and passes out toys to the children.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEATA RUPRECHT

LUKE STU

RGILL

SYDNEY BENSON

FC06.DEVIANTART.NET

6 – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 – North Pointe

REVIEWS

Ouija (2014)Directed by John R. LeonettiPG-131 hour, 9 min.

By Dora JuhaszWEB SECTION EDITOR

Out of all the classic horror movie mistakes, play-ing around with Ouija boards proves to be at the top of the list. Whether you believe in spirits or not, everyone knows you shouldn’t mess with the dreaded wooden board that has the ominous “Goodbye” at the bottom. They’re just plain creepy (thanks to The Exorcist for teaching me that). But for some people, particularly the terribly curious teens in the movie Ouija, the taboo of messing with spirit boards doesn’t keep them away.

The moment I saw the trailer for this movie, I was hooked. Lately, demonic possessions and relentless spirits have been my go-to’s for horror movie binges. So of course, my anticipation for this movie was high. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver that lingering uneasy feeling that should stick with you after you leave the theater.

The film opens with a f lashback of two typical big-eyed, innocent young girls circled around a Ouija board. Debbie, the blonde who was just was too deter-mined to play, reassured her best friend Laine that it was all “just a game.” But years later, it is discovered that Debbie’s presumed suicide actually stemmed from that childhood game.

After the girls’ first Ouija experience, the movie shifts to Debbie and Laine’s teenage years. Debbie de-cides to stay in instead of going to a party one night,

but she refuses to tell Laine why or even let Laine in her house. Though Laine is concerned, she brushes it off and bids farewell to Debbie.

Debbie burns an old Ouija board in her fireplace and then begins to experience the clichés of predictable scary movies: doors randomly closing, strange noises, gas stoves turning on by themselves. We’ve seen it all before.

While the jump-scares are no novelty, Debbie’s ap-parent suicide induced goosebumps and sent chills through the viewers’ skin. After the burned spirit board mysteriously makes its way back to Debbie’s bed, unharmed, Debbie’s eyes chillingly glaze over. She (or whatever entity possessed her) does something seri-ously spine-tingling with a shining string of lights. I’ll avoid the spoilers and leave that for you to see yourself.

Debbie’s shocking death devastates Laine, begins her breakdown. Laine can’t bring herself to believe that her happy best friend would just kill herself, and she just can’t let it go.

Predictably enough, Laine finds the Ouija board in Debbie’s room. She convinces her other friends to play with her, believing that she can contact Debbie’s spirit to say goodbye once and for all.

But after the teens open a channel, it’s not Deb-bie they reach. These unknown spirits latch onto the friends with the goal of killing them, just like they killed Debbie. It is now up to Laine to figure out the story behind the spirits and seal the channel shut be-

fore everyone else suffers Debbie’s fate. Although the whole Ouija board concept is a cool

one for a horror movie, it just wasn’t executed well enough in Ouija. Most of the parts that made the audi-ence jump are fake scares (the dark shadow that pops out of the corner is actually Debbie’s boyfriend, Pete).

The movie doesn’t create any emotional connec-tions between the audience and any of the characters, and the smaller side anecdotes told throughout don’t fit with the larger plot.

The startling plot twist towards the end of the film was needed to keep the audience interested, but it didn’t succeed in making the movie memorable. If you’re looking for a deep, plot-driven horror movie that will leave a menacing imprint on you, Ouija is not the go-to film. But if you find yourself sitting at home, bored on Halloween, it’s a fun, last-minute f lick that will provide a few unexpected scares and definitely teach you to stay far away from the alphabet-covered board.

Do you want to play a Game?

CORNWALL BAKERY

The smell of fresh baguettes greets customers as they walk in the door of Grosse Pointe Park’s newest eating area, Cornwall Bakery.

Cornwall Bak-ery opened in August, and is named for owner Freeman Gunnel’s English heritage. As a fam-ily business, it features European pastries, custom-made cakes and a food-central loca-tion. Cornwall Bakery is one of several restau-rant newcomers in the area including Atwater in the Park, Red Crown and Jersey Mike’s.

Because the shop is still developing, the setting is simple: an open space filled with neutral tan colors and small tables decorated with vases of flowers. There is no menu yet, just a piece of paper on the wall and labels on the desserts. Cornwall’s atmosphere is wel-coming yet unfinished and therefore makes the customer hesitant to enjoy their sweets.

However, the cuisine offered makes a visit worthwhile. Cornwall’s bread is top notch. The sound of the crust can determine a bread’s quality. If a baguette or sourdough loaf crackles when breaking apart, and the center is soft and doughy, it signals good bread. Flaky and addictive.

Although the chocolate mousse is bitter and the chocolate chip cookies unremark-able, the pecan bars have a shortbread base that starts out sugary and concludes nutt.The cinnamon roll buns are sticky and per-fectly sweet throughout.

Extravagant cakes and cupcakes are what really make Cornwall Bakery shine. The but-tery cakes complement the light and airy frosting. Unlike some processed frostings, there’s no graininess or odd aftertaste. Just pure deliciousness.

Cornwall Bakery is a shop that has plenty of tasty treat choices now and loads of poten-tial for the future.

15215 Kercheval Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, (313) 264-1938, find Cornwall Bakery on Facebook

By Emma Puglia

PHOTO BY EMMA PUGLIA

BASTILLE CONCERT

As people shuffled into their places and the lights dimmed across the beautiful artwork at the Masonic Tem-ple, the crowd’s cheers spiraled

into one surging uproar. Bastille walked out on stage, the first notes of their song “Things We Lost In The Fire” already ringing out. The scene was already set for the amazing night to come.

The band smashed out tune after tune in front of their iconic white triangu-lar backdrop and amongst the flashing lights. Despite the band’s energy-revving abilities and incredible talent, the audi-ence seemed reluctant to dance or move at all through the first half of the concert. They cheered and screamed the lyrics, but they remained relatively stationary.

This remained true until the “final” song of the set list began, “Flaws”, and lead singer, Dan Smith, flicked up his hood and bounded out into the crowd. Still flawlessly performing, he sang his way through the lunging crowd. He grabbed fans’ hands, singing directly to them as he made his way through the pit and back to the stage in one piece, never missing a beat.

After this, the vibe transformed into one that the band truly deserved. The en-ergy remained high and the crowd jostled around each other for a better view as the band rushed out for their encore. With the audience screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs with their arms fully extended into the air, these final few songs really turned out to be “the rhythm of the night”.

Finally, Bastille’s chart-topping song “Pompeii” blasted out to end the night in high gear. After the wild whirlwind of the concert, the only thing left to say was the same thing Dan gushed repeatedly to the crowd: “Thank you so, so much.”

Bastille. Bad Blood Tour, Oct. 23, 2014, The Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan

By Emily Martinbianco & Brittney Hernandez

PHOTO BY BRITTNEY HERNANDEZ

SWEET TALKER

S w e e t Talker isn’t so sweet.

The third album from British pop, R&B and soul singer Jessie J was released Oct. 14.

Sweet Talker may consist of many catchy songs such as “Burnin’ Up,” “Bang Bang” and “Sweet Talker,” but unlike the name of the track “Ain’t Been Done,” this album has been done be-fore.

Though her lyrics and label of the al-bum may have different wording, the sound of her voice and the tempo of the music are all the same.

The lesson she is trying to teach nev-er changes, it’s about love. She sings about how bad love is, how madly in love someone can get, and how badly love is wanted. It is a constant repetition of love, love, love.

Jessie J’s monotone vocal abilities are set in stone. It is like she can’t change up her midrange sound. When the melody is supposed to be soft and the meaning is supposed to be sad, it seems as if she wants to burst out into a flash mob, hap-py and giddy like the rest of her songs.

This isn’t all Jessie J’s fault, our gen-eration of music is guilty as well. Each genre seems to be a cookie-cutter sam-ple of the other.

Jessie J may have catchy songs and great featured singers on the album, but it isn’t anything new. This one-trick pony gets boring really quickly. The album needs a variety of different arrangements. This is something that should be changed in the music indus-try in general, and especially in this al-bum. This R&B, soul, and pop album is widely popular to those into that, but it has just been done before.

Jessie J, Sweet Talker, Rob Stevenson, 2014

By Lauren Sexton

ITUNES.APPLE.COM

HYSPHERICAL

Crashing two dots is a prob-lem. It’s not a car-crash-level prob-lem, but in this game, it causes t r e m e n d o u s stress and anxi-ety. The new free app is Hyspheri-

cal, and it’s fun for about a week.This new mind-boggling game tests

the limits of how the mind works. The ob-jective of it is to complete multiple levels and keep moving forward within a certain amount of lives.

Each level has a few circles. the player is suppoused to touch the original circle for a mini solid circle to show up. It will rotate on the outside of the original circle. The catch is that the original circles are rotating at different speeds, and the mini white circles cannot touch. This makes the game difficult and initially fun to play.

After the first level, the screen is hard to leave. It’s time consuming. The challeng-ing tasks will take over. Trying to get that second mini circle without it touching is addicting and enjoyable.

However, Hyspherical does have its drawbacks. After so many failed attempts, the gamer loses a life. Ideally, this game should give the user unlimited lives be-cause no one wants to keep up with a game if success is impossible. There’s an in-app purchase that allows for more lives, but that’s unreasonable. The app ad-vertises that it’s free. Users shouldn’t have to pay for lives.

While it’s a different game that will take up your free time, it’s not necessary for ev-eryday life and takes up phone space. It’s one of those items that trends, then get boring.

But of course, since it is free, it’s worth trying. One level, and you might be hooked.

Hyspherical, Monkeybin AS, Sept. 20, 2014, Requires iOS7 7.0 or later, Apple devices, free/in-app purchases

By Allison Lackner

A3.MZSTATIC.COM

North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 – 7SPORTS

Boys tennis duo competes in state semifinalsBy Ritika Sanikommu ASSISTANT EDITOR

Junior Mitchell Zacharias and senior Nick Cusmano aced their way to the state semifinals as the first pair in seven years.

On Friday, Oct. 17, Zacharias and Cus-mano tied for third in the state. During their season, they had 28 wins and 3 losses, and were also regional champions. Howev-er, the pair did not win the semifinal tour-nament at states.

“We were playing pretty good up until that point, but that match we didn’t play particularly well. Some serves weren’t hit-ting well, and we weren’t playing our A-game,” Cusmano said. “At that stage, you need to play your best if you want to win the semifinals.”

Although they did not advance past semifinals, tennis coach John Van Alst im-pressed by the boys’ performance.

“I was proud. They held their heads high, they did their job, they played great tennis and had great sportsmanship. They were just outstanding athletes, great representa-tion for Grosse Pointe North,” Van Alst said. “It’s rare that someone from Grosse Pointe North has made it to the semifinals. I be-lieve (the last time) was seven years ago.”

Zacharias and Cusmano’s effective part-ner dynamic was what led them to achieve their success throughout the season.

“Me and Mitchell are the same person

when it comes to tennis. We always know where each other is at. Our one strategy is get to the net,” Cusmano said. “We are good at volleying, and we can get everything back. So once we get in, we charge the net, and that’s how we win.”

Zacharias and Cusmano were both per-suaded to play tennis by their moms.

“My mom forced me to. She wanted me to play tennis, so I got forced to my fresh-man year, but after that, it was a lot of fun,” Zacharias said.

Cusmano, however, has been playing tennis since long before of high school.

“When I was younger, I would take les-sons at the park, and I played during the summer,” Cusmano said. “My mom plays regularly. It’s pretty much my mom that got me started.”

Tennis is one of many sports that both Zacharias and Cusmano are involved in. They do not plan on pursuing tennis com-petitively.

“Tennis is kind of like an extra sport. My main passion is hockey,” Cusmano said. “This is like something nice to be really good at, and it’s just really fun.”

Their competitive nature has contrib-uted to their achievements over the season.

“(They have an) incredible desire to win. They want to win. They learn from their mistakes, and they don’t let one mishap ruin their day,” Van Alst. “They focus hard and work hard.”

By Wendy Ishmaku BUSINESS MANAGER

Destined to be a runner, freshman Lauren Sickmiller feels the pressure from her three siblings to continue the legacy they have built.

“I had a lot of pressure to run,” Sickmiller said. “My older sister ran here a long time ago, and she was on the record board, so Mr. (Scott) Cooper would always be like, ‘You’re gonna run cross country’ ever since I was 7 years old.”

North alumna and oldest sister Kailey Sickmiller was the first of four siblings to set the bar high. Kailey holds the number three record on the cross country all-time board with a time of 18:42. North alumnus and older brother Tyler Sickmiller achieved a personal record of 17:15 his senior year.

Lauren and her brother, junior Connor Sickmiller, have been fulfilling their brother’s and sister’s legacies ever since they started high school.

“Connor started in elementary school, running for St. Paul,” their father Craig Sickmiller said. “At that time, Kailey was a freshman at North doing pretty well, so we thought it would be good for Connor to get into it.”

Lauren has already made a name for herself in the racing community, earning a spot on the top ten freshmen board with a time of 18:49 for her 5K run. Last year, Connor ran a 9:57 two-mile, making him the team’s fastest sophomore.

However, a two-month-long virus limited Connor’s training this season. “It was hard mentally because this was supposed to be my big year, but I’ve just

got next year,” Connor said. “You gotta look on the upside of things.”Now Connor runs once a day compared to the 12 total miles he would run in two

sessions during the summer. Despite the setbacks, the family members continually push each other for greater

improvements.“We kind of just encourage each other,” Connor said. “We keep track of each other.”While Connor is more independent in his physical training, Lauren leans on

more experienced runners for advice.“The coaches are really good, and same with Maddy Denison and Katelyn Car-

ney, who I train with,” Lauren said. “They always say that no matter how tired you feel, you can keep pushing on, and it’s all mental, and just keep thinking positive things as you’re running on.”

The inspiration has proved beneficial for Lauren as she beat the all-time fresh-man record by seven seconds at the division meet at Metro Beach on Friday, Oct. 24. Lauren ran a time of 18:49, placing her fourth in the region and on the recordboard.

The constant motivation and support coming from all sides is how the family has become so athletically triumphant.

“I think the success of their siblings is what really encourages them. They’ve seen how well their older brothers and sisters have done, and I think that encourages them.” Craig said. “I think that having the boards up in the gym is something to shoot for.”

hereGRAND RAPIDS, MI

you can experience what life is like at Aquinas College. Join us for AQDays!

General Friday, November 7

Science, Nursing & Math Friday, November 14

Leadership Friday, December 5

Athletic Saturday, January 31

To register: aquinas.edu/aqday or 800-678-9593

We love our students

North sign up WeekendStudents - discounted to $35 per month

North Family membership - $55 per monthOnly a few miles from Grosse Pointe North.

The biggest gym with the most classes and the most equipmentof any place in Grosse Pointe.

Senior Nick Cusmano and junior Mitchell Zacharias prepare to return serve. “I have a great relationship with Nick and Mitchell, I’ve coached Nick for four years and Mitchell for three years. They’re great kids, great young adults. They have a fierce competitive nature—I love it,” boys varsity tennis coach John Van-Alst said.

AVA DELOACH

Freshman continues to make

strides toward family legacy

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SICKMILLER FAMILY

Lauren Sickmiller carries on her family’s running tradition, breaking

long-standing records along the way.

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Class of 2018 Lauren Sickmiller

8 – North Pointe – Friday, Oct. 31, 2014

University of Detroit Mercy’s business program has been accredited by AACSB for 65 consecutive years, attesting to its excellent, Jesuit- and Mercy-inspired business education in a great American city.

UDM’s College of Business Administration now also offers the Commerce Scholarship, worth $25,000 per year to qualified students entering

the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration or 5-Year Accelerated BS/MBA program. Dual Enrollment courses are also available.

For more information, contact us at 800-635-5020 or admissions@udmercy.edu.

We want great things for you. business.udmercy.edu

Of the 15,700 business schools across the globe, fewer than 700 are accredited by AACSB, the world’s premier accrediting agency for business programs.

Halloweenhas some

FEATURE

October 31 typically brings costume-prepping, ghostly decorations and pumpkin-flavored everything. But for sophomore Grace Sexton, it’s just another day of the year.

Sexton did not celebrate Hal-loween when she was growing up. Putting decorations up and going trick-or-treating was just a one-time experience for her.

“It was just mainly because (of) my mom. She didn’t really feel like it was that holy of a time because everything was based around the dead and kind of spooky things. But I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” Sexton said. “But, you know, she’s the one who makes the decisions of what we celebrate.”

According to The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner, there are many people who are concerned about potentially poisoned candy or goodies and even the mythical Bogey-man.

Social studies teacher Dan Gilleran assumes the reason for some not celebrating Hal-loween is fear.

“I was thinking of when Harry Potter books came out

and people were like, ‘Oh, it’s witchcraft,’ and, ‘Your kid’s gonna turn into a warlock,’” Gilleran said. “But I think there might be some of the fear (of) strangers and all the dangers out there. But we know that’s not true for the most part.”

Spanish teacher Tamara Shephard feels safe tirck-or-treating with her kids because she remains in a two-block ra-dius and knows her neighbors.

“There’s a lot of stuff, like there’s way too much stuff going on for Halloween. Our city has something where they do a downtown trick-or-treating, an allergy-free thing during the day and then they have a trick-or-treat trail in the park in the evening on Sun-day. For real trick or treating, there’s trick- or-treating at my kids’ school. It’s a little loco,” Shepard said. “Halloween is a dream, I like it. It’s one of my favorites.”

As an alternative celebra-tion, Sexton’s family travels to Christmas-themed Franken-muth for Halloween.

“Usually that weekend we would go to Frankenmuth and basically get in the early Christ-

mas spirit, and so it wasn’t too bad until maybe third or fourth grade where there would be a lot of Halloween stuff, and then I would feel excluded,” Sexton said.

Sexton does not feel as excluded from Halloween cel-ebrations as much as she did when she was younger. Sexton says that around eighth grade, her mother became more lenient towards allowing her to partake in the festivities. While the family doesn’t put up decorations, give out candy or go trick-or-treating, Sexton is now allowed to determine whether or not she wishes to participate.

“Now, I’m older. I can choose to go to a party if I want if it’s a Halloween party. For (coach) Cooper, for cross country, he hosts a Halloween run,” Sexton said. “I went trick-or-treating once just to try it out, and it was okay, so I don’t really feel that left out because I’m older.”

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Trick-or-treating actual-ly came from a Christian tradition. In Britain and Ireland, people went door to door “souling” (asking for small breads called “soul cakes” in exchange for a prayer.)

CLKER.COM 158 million

Americans plan on celebrating

Halloween this year

By Radiance CooperSTAFF REPORTER

Contributing: Kaley Makino

What SCARES parents:

CANDY TAMPERING

SPOOKED

UNSAFE DRIVERS CNN.COM

To avoid scares:

REFLECTIVE TAPE FOR VISIBILITY

STRANGER DANGER

MILDLYSATANICUNDERTONES

TRAVEL IN

GROUPS

CARRY A STAKE