The student newspaper of Grosse Pointe North High School.
8
VOLUME 47, ISSUE 14 www.northpointenow.org @thenorthpointe COURTESY OF ALEX GREENE 1 NEWS 2 CALENDAR 3 IDEAS 4 REVIEWS 5 LIFE 6 ON CAMPUS 7 SPORTS 8 PHOTO ESSAY IDEAS - PAGE 3 CONTENTS NORTH POINTE FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015 SINCE 1968 GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL ALANNA SPARKS NEWS - PAGE 2 “Because as quickly as you can gain a new skill, the world can move on. You can once again be leſt behind, outdated and overused, without a purpose.” The Gearheads are competing in the FIRST Ro- botics Competi- tion in St. Louis, Missouri. By Anu Subramaniam, Lindsey Ramsdell &Alex Harring EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER The battle over an Indiana bakery owner’s right to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple turned into a nationwide outcry for religious freedom. The owners claimed making the cake would violate their personal beliefs, and the couple claimed they were being discrimi- nated against for their own beliefs. As a result, the Indiana legisla- ture formulated the Religious Free- dom Restoration Act (RFRA) to al- low businesses and individuals to refuse service to others if it violates their belief system. This act has en- couraged other states to follow suit. Senior Peter Gritsas feels that while the bill may be aimed at in- creasing religious freedom, it is actually increasing discrimina- tion against supporters of same-sex rights. “I feel like now we’re taking steps back,” Gritsas said. “This country has re- ally had a lot of progress as far as civil rights and segregation — being open to certain topics, and it’s just a step back.” Similar acts have been enacted in 20 states — Indiana being the twentieth — and Michigan is currently considering the possi- bility. The bill, still in Michigan’s Senate, was prompted by Indiana’s decision this March. However, Governor Rick Snyder said he will not sign the bill into law. “In Indiana they believed that people’s First Amendment rights for freedom of reli- gion were being trampled because they were being forced to accept people’s lifestyles that don’t measure up with their own religious beliefs,” so- cial studies teacher Barry Mulso said. Critics of the bill argue it will promote discrimination against people of certain reli- gions and especially sexual orientations. Mul- so believes if the bill is passed in Michigan, it will cause conflict. “You’re going to have those people that believe that this is unfair treatment of people based on who they are, and you’re going to have other people saying, ‘This is unfair treat- ment of us based on our religious beliefs,’” Mulso said. Freshman Raged Ali sees the law’s poten- tial benefits in helping her stick to her Islamic faith. “It’s fair because you can’t make anybody do anything they don’t want to do,” Ali said. “It’s like if somebody dared me, for example, to take off my (hijab), I can’t do that.” The bill coincides with the Supreme Court and individual states’ experi- mentation with LGBT laws, such as the legalization of same- sex marriage. RFRA aims to help o p - posers of these laws to legally uphold their own beliefs in states where LGBT rights have been extended. “Conservative elements in some states that just don’t believe in same sex marriage — who believe it’s an abomination — are passing laws that they believe will allow their citizens to operate within the confines of their belief sys- tems and to protect their right to be able to do that,” Mulso said. “Now whether that actually needs to be done is kind of another question because the First Amend- ment is clearly there. So a lot of these religious freedom laws are probably fairly extraneous. But it’s that de- sire to make the statement and to make it very clear.” The consequence of making that state- ment in Indiana: an explosion of negative feedback. Celebrities, business executives and politicians alike took to social media to express their distress over RFRA. The NCAA debated whether to hold the Final Four in In- diana. For Gritsas, even though it strikes away from home, he felt RFRA’s impact as well. “I am gay, so even though I don’t live there, it does sting a little bit knowing that people just like me can’t walk into a store or walk into their favorite restaurants anymore. I feel like we’ve kind of flashed back too many years, and now, I don’t even know what’s next,” Gritsas said. Still, many support the law and believe it will profit America overall. Efforts to ensure the right to practice religion freely are evident in the majority of states — in addition to Indiana, 19 states have enacted similar laws. How- ever, RFRA cannot be enacted into federal legislation as the Establish- ment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits Congress from creating laws dealing with practice of religion. The two sides of this debate stem from competing rights. State govern- ments are trying to determine if a person’s right to practice religion freely can infringe upon another individual’s right against dis- crimination. “People should be able to make their busi- ness better by including people instead of seg- regating against them for simply being who they are. They claim it’s religious freedom, yet I see a lot of hate and not acceptance,” Gritsas said. In Michigan, the RFRA bill passed 59-50 in the House of Representatives and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate. Discrimination by age or race is prohibited by Michigan law, but Michigan has not made any laws in regards to LGBT discrimination yet. Mulso believes the name of the act itself reflects the controversy surrounding it. “The whole Religious Freedom Restora- tion Act, the name would indicate that some religious freedom has been lost,” Mulso said. “The question you really have to ask is, ‘Has it really been lost? Can people still freely prac- tice their religion?’” Change in exam times lead to extra school day for seniors By Yena Berhane & Wendy Ishmaku IDEAS EDITOR & SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR Reverting to an old scheduling style will add an ex- tra day of school for seniors this year. Now, students have to add one more day to their countdowns due to final exam changes, leaving seniors like Zach Backer restless. “If it has to do with hours or something, I under- stand if we need more an extra day ... I just thought we were going to be done on June 2, but now we’re going to be done on June 3,” Backer said. “So now it’s an extra day, and seniors are ready to be done with this year.” Since the allotted testing minutes required by the state are fulfilled, senior exams are able to change from the previous two-per-day exams to one 90-min- ute exam each day. This change was modeled after an old schedule that was used several years ago. “They’ll start with their seventh hour exam. It’s an hour and half exam, then we run hours 1-6 for the re- mainder of the day,” Assistant Principal Tom Beach said. In the past, juniors completed three days of testing. Now that the state has instituted more hours of testing during the year, administration has more freedom to change the schedule. “So every day, the seniors are released a little bit ear- ly. This allows them a little bit (of) additional time to study for exams, it spreads the exams out over a period of time and also extends the number of minutes and the hours in the other classes,” Beach said. Backer understands the added day is necessary to keep the exam minutes set, yet is still frustrated. “It’s just that, you know, all seniors have what’s called ‘senioritis,’ and an extra day is really killer,” Backer said. “It’s not a huge deal. I’m just kind of jok- ing, but all seniors look forward to being done on a specific day. Everyone’s making countdowns and ev- erything, and then adding an extra day is a little bit of a bummer to some people.” Seniors won’t be the only ones affected by the change. Juniors in classes that are filled with mainly seniors will be taking their exams earlier alongside their classmates. “I think it’s actually kind of helpful because then I can kind of get that one out of the way and I won’t have to worry about it,” junior Clare Gentile said. However, teachers like business teacher Brian Levinson have to adjust their lesson plans to adapt to the new schedule. “I’ve already predetermined I’m going to have to kind of double up or work a little quicker,” Levinson said. “There will be more required for the students to do at home than would have been otherwise.” In Honors Accounting, the final begins two days be- fore the school administered final does, so making ac- commodations will be necessary for everyone involved. “I’m sure every senior class is going to be affected the same way with days,” Levinson said. “Maybe the earlier first hour, second hour classes may benefit more because they’re going to have more time togeth- er. Whereas the later classes, like our sixth and seventh hour classes, actually start their final a little bit sooner — two days sooner.” While there are mixed emotions, Beach said he saw general approval from past senior classes that used this exam schedule. “Well, the seniors say it’s better,” Beach said. “The juniors who were impacted under the new schedule (the one in place last year), they were very upset. Now it’s been in place so many years that everybody forgets how it used to be like.” New religious freedom bill causes controversy AUDREY KAM LIFE PAGE 5 Senior Alex Greene will study game art in college to follow his passion for art. LEFT: Greene’s portraits “Being good at it and being happy with the outcome is my favorite part of art,” Greene said.
“Because as quickly as you can gain a new skill, the world can move on. You can once again be left behind,
outdated and overused, without a purpose.”
The Gearheads are competing in the FIRST Ro-botics Competi-tion in St. Louis, Missouri.
By Anu Subramaniam, Lindsey Ramsdell &Alex HarringEDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER
The battle over an Indiana bakery owner’s right to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple turned into a nationwide outcry for religious freedom. The owners claimed making the cake would violate their personal beliefs, and the couple claimed they were being discrimi-nated against for their own beliefs.
As a result, the Indiana legisla-ture formulated the Religious Free-dom Restoration Act (RFRA) to al-low businesses and individuals to refuse service to others if it violates their belief system. This act has en-couraged other states to follow suit.
Senior Peter Gritsas feels that while the bill may be aimed at in-creasing religious freedom, it is actually increasing discrimina-tion against supporters of same-sex rights.
“I feel like now we’re taking steps back,” Gritsas said. “This country has re-ally had a lot of progress as far as civil rights and segregation — being open to certain topics, and it’s just a step back.”
Similar acts have been enacted in 20 states — Indiana being the twentieth — and Michigan is currently considering the possi-bility. The bill, still in Michigan’s Senate, was prompted by Indiana’s decision this March. However, Governor Rick Snyder said he will not sign the bill into law.
“In Indiana they believed that people’s First Amendment rights for freedom of reli-gion were being trampled because they were being forced to accept people’s lifestyles that don’t measure up with their own religious beliefs,” so-cial studies teacher Barry Mulso said.
Critics of the bill argue it will promote discrimination against people of certain reli-gions and especially sexual orientations. Mul-so believes if the bill is passed in Michigan, it will cause conflict.
“You’re going to have those people that believe that this is unfair treatment of people
based on who they are, and you’re going to have other people saying, ‘This is unfair treat-ment of us based on our religious beliefs,’” Mulso said.
Freshman Raged Ali sees the law’s poten-tial benefits in helping her stick to her Islamic faith.
“It’s fair because you can’t make anybody do anything they don’t want to do,” Ali said. “It’s like if somebody dared me, for example, to take off my (hijab), I can’t do that.”
The bill coincides with the Supreme Court and individual states’ experi-
mentation with LGBT laws, such as the legalization of same-
sex marriage. RFRA aims to help
o p -
posers of these laws to legally uphold their own beliefs in states where LGBT rights have been extended.
“Conservative elements in some states that just don’t believe in same sex marriage — who
believe it’s an abomination — are passing laws that they believe will allow their citizens to operate within the confines of their belief sys-tems and to protect their right to be able to do that,” Mulso said. “Now whether that actually needs to be done is kind of another question because the First
A mend-ment is
clearly there. So a lot of these
religious freedom laws are probably fairly
extraneous. But it’s that de-sire to make the statement and to
make it very clear.”The consequence of making that state-
ment in Indiana: an explosion of negative feedback. Celebrities, business executives and politicians alike took to social media to express their distress over RFRA. The NCAA debated whether to hold the Final Four in In-
diana. For Gritsas, even though it strikes away from home, he felt RFRA’s impact as well.
“I am gay, so even though I don’t live there, it does sting a little bit knowing that people just like me can’t walk into a store or walk into their favorite restaurants anymore. I feel like we’ve kind of flashed back too many years,
and now, I don’t even know what’s next,” Gritsas said.
Still, many support the law and believe it will profit America overall.
Efforts to ensure the right to practice religion freely are
evident in the majority of states — in addition to Indiana, 19 states
have enacted similar laws. How-ever, RFRA cannot be enacted into
federal legislation as the Establish-ment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits Congress from creating laws
dealing with practice of religion.The two sides of this debate stem
from competing rights. State govern-ments are trying to determine if a person’s
right to practice religion freely can infringe upon another individual’s right against dis-
crimination.“People should be able to make their busi-
ness better by including people instead of seg-regating against them for simply being who they are. They claim it’s religious freedom, yet I see a lot of hate and not acceptance,” Gritsas said.
In Michigan, the RFRA bill passed 59-50 in the House of Representatives and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate. Discrimination by age or race is prohibited by Michigan law, but Michigan has not made any laws in regards to LGBT discrimination yet. Mulso believes the name of the act itself reflects the controversy surrounding it.
“The whole Religious Freedom Restora-tion Act, the name would indicate that some religious freedom has been lost,” Mulso said. “The question you really have to ask is, ‘Has it really been lost? Can people still freely prac-tice their religion?’”
Change in exam times lead to extra school day for seniorsBy Yena Berhane & Wendy IshmakuIDEAS EDITOR & SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
Reverting to an old scheduling style will add an ex-tra day of school for seniors this year. Now, students have to add one more day to their countdowns due to final exam changes, leaving seniors like Zach Backer restless.
“If it has to do with hours or something, I under-stand if we need more an extra day ... I just thought we were going to be done on June 2, but now we’re going to be done on June 3,” Backer said. “So now it’s an extra day, and seniors are ready to be done with this year.”
Since the allotted testing minutes required by the state are fulfilled, senior exams are able to change from the previous two-per-day exams to one 90-min-
ute exam each day. This change was modeled after an old schedule that was used several years ago.
“They’ll start with their seventh hour exam. It’s an hour and half exam, then we run hours 1-6 for the re-mainder of the day,” Assistant Principal Tom Beach said.
In the past, juniors completed three days of testing. Now that the state has instituted more hours of testing during the year, administration has more freedom to change the schedule.
“So every day, the seniors are released a little bit ear-ly. This allows them a little bit (of) additional time to study for exams, it spreads the exams out over a period of time and also extends the number of minutes and the hours in the other classes,” Beach said.
Backer understands the added day is necessary to keep the exam minutes set, yet is still frustrated.
“It’s just that, you know, all seniors have what’s called ‘senioritis,’ and an extra day is really killer,” Backer said. “It’s not a huge deal. I’m just kind of jok-ing, but all seniors look forward to being done on a specific day. Everyone’s making countdowns and ev-erything, and then adding an extra day is a little bit of a bummer to some people.”
Seniors won’t be the only ones affected by the change. Juniors in classes that are filled with mainly seniors will be taking their exams earlier alongside their classmates.
“I think it’s actually kind of helpful because then I
can kind of get that one out of the way and I won’t have to worry about it,” junior Clare Gentile said.
However, teachers like business teacher Brian Levinson have to adjust their lesson plans to adapt to the new schedule.
“I’ve already predetermined I’m going to have to kind of double up or work a little quicker,” Levinson said. “There will be more required for the students to do at home than would have been otherwise.”
In Honors Accounting, the final begins two days be-fore the school administered final does, so making ac-commodations will be necessary for everyone involved.
“I’m sure every senior class is going to be affected the same way with days,” Levinson said. “Maybe the earlier first hour, second hour classes may benefit more because they’re going to have more time togeth-er. Whereas the later classes, like our sixth and seventh hour classes, actually start their final a little bit sooner — two days sooner.”
While there are mixed emotions, Beach said he saw general approval from past senior classes that used this exam schedule.
“Well, the seniors say it’s better,” Beach said. “The juniors who were impacted under the new schedule (the one in place last year), they were very upset. Now it’s been in place so many years that everybody forgets how it used to be like.”
New religious freedom bill causes controversy
AUDREY KAM
LIFEPAGE 5
Senior Alex Greene will study game art in college to follow his passion for art.
LEFT: Greene’s portraits
“Being good at it and being happy with the outcome is my favorite part of art,” Greene said.
2 – Friday, April 24, 2015 – North Pointe NEWS
Elite Driving School 586.778.4934
State of Michigan Approved and Certifi ed for Classes & Road Tests
ROAD TESTING given by ELITE DRIVING SCHOOL
Private Lessons available for Teens and Adults
*No Down Payment Required* Payment Plans available
“A Driving Experience that’s Priceless”Visit our web page
www.elitedrivingschool.org
Learn to Drive New Segment I and II Classes Form Monthly
Teens 14.8 to 18 years of agePick Up and Drop Off available for Driving
Six hours of ‘on-the-road’ driving
23804 Harper Ave., between 9 & 10 mile Rd., St. Clair Shores. MI 48080
Marchiori CateringServices for Your Special Occasion
Ask for Tony Marchiori21800 Marter Rd.
St. Clair Shores(586) 771-8600
(586) 443-5426
Walk-ins Welcome
Monday-Saturday: 9:30am-7:30pm
21532 Harper Ave. St. Clair Shores, MI 48080
PLAZA 1 (Between 8 Mile & 9 Mile)
The Gearheads qualify for international competitionBy Caitlin Bush & Sarah WietechaASSISTANT EDITORS
Spock the robot made quite a scene at The Gear-heads district competition in Grand Rapids April 8-11, coming in fourth place and qualifying for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) to take place in St. Louis, Missouri.
The district competition consisted of a game called Re-cycle Rush, in which the goal was for the team’s robot to stack recycling bins and totes.
“This involves stacking these large plastic grey totes and making stacks (of) six with a recycling bin on top. There are some other little things cooperating with the other alliances,” senior building captain Nick San-trock said.
While competing in the field, the matches are two-and-a-half minutes long. The first 15 seconds are called autonomous mode. During this, the robots perform a set of pre-programmed instructions, and at the end of the two minutes and 15 seconds, a driver controlled period begins called “telop.” The scores are calculated based on the number and size of the stacks of totes without human control. During the FIRST Robotics Competi-tion it will work the same way, but instead of one field there will be eight.
Governor Snyder attended this district competition. Se-nior captain Ryan Hackenberger enjoyed his appearance because it showed support for robotics and its growth in importance in society.
“I appreciate any figurative authority that promotes ro-botics ... because I don’t think that a lot of kids can get into it. It’s a thing that really shakes a multitude of generations, not just like athletics does. Everyone can become a pro (at) engineering if they want to, (but) everybody can’t become the next Peyton Manning or the next baseball star,” Hack-enberger said.
While at the tournament, Governor Snyder presented an award founded by artist Will.I.Am.
“It’s called the Make it Loud award, which was start-ed by Will.I.Am. It’s an award given to the person who has contributed the most in increasing the awareness of ‘FIRST’, ” senior media captain Anna Karcher said via email.
During each robotics competition, the teams must form alliances. In each match, the teams will never battle with or against the same robot twice.
“The top eight teams become alliance captains, and they do selections where the first team will select another team to join them. It will go all the way down to the eighth team, then the eighth team will pick again and it will go back up to the first team. So you will pick two other robots to be with you and that will be your alliance for the rest of the playoff matches,” Santrock said.
The competition consisted of 102 teams. Each team played 12 qualification matches. The teams that were in the top 16 chose to join forces with two other teams and collaborated with that alliance for the rest of the competi-tion to fight against the other formed partnerships.
“Those 16 alliances then verse each other in the play-offs, then the quarter-finals, then semi-finals, and then the finals. The winner of that then wins the competition. Each match has two alliances. Each alliance has three teams,” Karcher said.
Along with the team captains, mentors, who are broken up into various sections, helped support the team in various ways.
“I am the mentor of the media section, and the media section is responsible for publishing the newsletter, main-taining the website, the social media and photography and anything about graphics,” mentor Eric Kam said.
Santrock said he looks forward to showing off the team’s hard work with Spock, who was named in honor of the Star Trek character Leonard Nimoy.
“At Worlds (FRC), we hope to just show that our robot is competitive and that we are a good team in respect to the rest of the world, and to show that we are a good team in general,” Santrock said.
DECA takes DisneyDECA’s International competition will be hosted in
Orlando, Florida this year. The competition attracts students from over a thousand high schools who display the entrepreneurship in their community and compete in individual events. The DECA International event will last from April 24-29.
Senior Meghan Veltri and junior Jill Berndtson are two of the members of North’s DECA chapter chosen to present how they affected the school. Their presentation will focus on the impact the school store has had.
“We did (our project) on a school-based enterprise,” Veltri said. “I work(ed) on a 30-page paper with Jill Berndtson, and basically it’s talking about our school store and the policies we have there.”
Veltri and Berndtson’s paper about the school store won a gold certification at the state competition, so they advanced to Orlando to present their paper at internationals. Both Vel-tri and Berndtson will present and be judged on their paper in hopes of continuing to another round.
“If we come to the second round, that means you’re the top 10 or 20 people in the world that did well for that proj-ect” Berndtson said. “I like DECA a lot because you can meet people from around the world and talk to them and get to know them.”
While the DECA members are in Orlando, they will be able to relax at Disney World.
“Right before you go to compete and you realize you can’t prepare anymore and you’re like really nervous, but once you like start talking to the judge all the nerves go away and its not as stressful anymore,” Berndtson said.
S.A.V.E. A Life 5K returnsThe third annual S.A.V.E. A Life 5K will take place April
25 at 9 a.m. The race will raise money to fight children’s cancer and support the environment.
S.A.V.E. president Olyvia Shimko said this year’s event comes with a shift in emphasis.
“Last year’s race was extremely successful. We were able to donate lots of money to our desired charities,” Shimko said. “But the thing is, our main goal this year is to create aware-ness and to focus more on the goal of making people know about the environment and what we can do to make it a bet-ter, healthier place.”
The participation fee is $35 for adults and $30 for chil-dren. For groups of 10 people or more, the cost is $15 per person. Proceeds will benefit the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation and the Moross Greenway Proj-ect. This year’s race will also include new features, which S.A.V.E. vice president Meghan Mitchell thinks will draw a larger crowd.
“We have added new elements this year such as games, face painting and a mini carnival, so hopefully those will attract even more participants,” Mitchell said.
Sponsors will provide snacks and other activities for par-ticipants after the race. Shimko believes that these sponsors help ease the cost for the items needed for the race.
“Sponsors help a lot with the costs of having food and the supplies we need to make it a fun and eventful race like our 18-foot slide and obstacle course,” Shimko said. “In addition to that, they also help with decorations like the banners and costs of t-shirts.”
Mitchell hopes more people will come out to support the race and make it as successful as last year.
“We have had a good turnout every year, so we’re hoping this year will be no different,” Mitchell said.
By Lauren Sexton & Gowri Yerramalli
Homecoming Specials for Students Only!*must bring school ID to recieve discounted services*
GROSSE POINTE MOVING CO.11850 East Jefferson, Detroit
CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT313-822-4400
S.A.V.E A LIFE 5K
Saturday, April 25 at 9 a.m. on the track
PARENT CLUB FASHION
SHOWThursday, April 30 at 6 p.m. at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
AP TESTINGMonday May 4-15 at 8 a.m.-12 p.m. for morning tests, 12-4 p.m. for afternoon tests at the First English Lutheran Church
SAT TESTINGSaturday, May 2 at 8 a.m.
ALANNA SPARKS
LEFT: The team’s robot, Spock, is built to stack bins and totes.
BELOW: Senior Nick Santrock is the team’s building captain. His job was to make sure parts were built, they fit together, and Spock worked ef-ficiently and properly.
ALANNA SPARKS
OUR EDITORIAL
North Pointe – Friday, April 24, 2015 – 3
Sharing is caring
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anu Subramaniam
CO-MANAGING EDITORS: Olivia Asimakis, Jennifer Kusch
SECTION EDITORS: Yena Berhane, Katelyn Carney, Mora Down, Audrey Kam, Billy Moin
WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Emma Puglia
WEB MANAGING EDITOR: Ritika Sanikommu
BUSINESS MANAGER: Gowri Yerramalli
PHOTO EDITORS: Dalaney Bradley, Ava DeLoach, Alanna Sparks
ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR: Sydney Benson
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Emma Brock, Caitlin Bush, Radiance Cooper, Allison Lackner, Lindsey Ramsdell, Lauren Sexton, Sarah Wietecha
STAFF REPORTERS: Josie Bennett, Alex Harring, Nathan Lonczynski, Addison Toutant
INTERNS: Conner Bott,Harris Bunker, Abbey Cadieux, Maria Cody, Darcy Graham, Camryn Harris, Erin Kaled, Trevor Mieczkowski, Katelynn Mulder, Sonny Mulpuri, Joey Parison, Montana Paton, Anna Post, Michal Ru-precht, Asia Simmons, Billy Steigelman,Tommy Teftsis
SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITORS: Brittney Hernandez, Wendy Ishmaku, Dora Juhasz, Erica Lizza, Kaley Makino, Emily Martinbianco, Haley Reid, Thomas Remener, Andrea Scapini, Luke Sturgill
The North Pointe is edited and produced by Ad-vanced 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 edi-tors, who make all final content decisions. The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the stu-dent 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-Tri-bune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.
One copy is available free to all community mem-bers. Additional copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at northpointenow.org. The North Pointe is printed on 100% recycled paper.
Our editorial represents the opinion of the North Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the staff above. Members who have a conflict of interest with an
editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.
If you’re up past one in the morn-ing scrolling through your social media feeds, don’t expect to see many quality posts from the people you follow. You may run into some weird, vague tweets from your cousin Stephanie or TMI about your science lab part-ner’s love life — most of which will be deleted come the next morning.
With the use of social media increasing ex-ponentially in the last five years, “oversharing” has become a common trend among teenagers and adults alike. But who stops to think about how we present ourselves online?
Celebrities also face this problem with the seemingly free realm of social media. Bobbi Kristina’s boyfriend Nick Gordon was criticized for his bizarre rants on Twit-ter while she was fighting for her life in a medically induced coma.
Not to be all “somebody’s mom” about it, but why are we sharing some of the most personal things with people we don’t even talk to in real life? What is it about putting our entire lives on-line that pleases us so much?
The quick answer to this question is: be-cause it’s easy. It’s very easy to send an ob-scure 140-character emotional tweet out into the deep void called Twitter after dark. Do-ing such a thing in real life requires another person, face-to-face interaction, follow-up questions and actually talking about your feelings — ew. Who wants to do that?
This goes for adults, too. As of September 2014, the Pew Research Center reported that 71% of online adults are on Facebook. Your uncle Jim’s last post is about his most recent spell of vertigo.
What exactly is Uncle Jim trying to accom-plish with that update?
Whatever your state may be physically or emotionally, it doesn’t need to end up as a status update. Having our closest friends and family members at the tips of our fingers has blurred the lines between thoughtful sharing and TMI.
Hearing people talk about “our generation” as if we are a breed of media-dependent aliens does infuriate me to some extent. However, we are known for relying heavily on our phones to com-municate with each other and help friendships grow. Admittedly, there are faults with that logic.
According to the same Pew Research Cen-ter report, a whopping 45% of 18-29 year olds who use the Internet say it has impacted their relationships. When relationships can be jeopardized over a metal and glass rectangle form of communication, there is a problem. The report also states that only one in 10 adults 65 years old and up say the Internet af-fects their relationships. Times are changing.
There is no real solution to this “prob-lem.” It’s only a matter of us being a “test gen-eration” of growing up with technology. We simply just have to wait it out and see. Will we be sub-tweeting our children whenever they do something wrong? I hope not.
We can see pictures and videos of Chinese lanterns being lit off into the sky at a festival across the world, learn that our cousins are get-ting married and keep up with the latest in pop culture via our posts. The use of social media expands the world, for better and for worse.
As your kindergarten teachers once told you, sharing is caring. There are great, even magical things we experience now because of how much we post. It really does not need to be censored. After all, it is your choice what you post. Just keep in mind what is truly nec-essary, and watch your brand — the image you create for yourself every time you hit send.
“I’m for it because even though you have the freedom of religion ... if you feel uncomfortable in a certain situation, you have every right not to serve them.”
“There’s an important separation between church and state that has to be respected with that, and you certainly cannot have legal discrimination forced onto anyone.”
“I don’t support it because I think it should be open for anyone that wants to be in or visit the state of Indiana and do anything they want to do.”
Daniel GilleranSOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER
Brian ShelsonATHLETIC DIRECTOR
By Alex Harring & Sarah WietechaYOUR TURN: Do you support the freedom of religon bill?
“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
Olivia AsimakisCO-MANAGING EDITOR
Radiance CooperASSISTANT EDITOR
Katelynn MulderINTERN
Anu SubramaniamEDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Yena BerhaneIDEAS EDITOR
Mora DownsLIFE EDITOR
Emma PugliaWEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Katelyn CarneySPORTS EDITOR
Billy MoinNEWS EDITOR
Ritika SanikommuWEB MANAGING EDITOR
Gowri YerramalliBUSINESS MANAGER
Emily SurzynSENIOR
“(I’m) against that ‘cause even if it’s against your religion, we have laws in the country that (don’t al-low you to) discriminate a certain group of people.”
“No because I am Christian, but I don’t believe in all things that the Christian religion believes in, and I believe you can be who-ever you want to be.”
Owen Gafa SOPHOMORE
“I think that the law is person-ally ridiculous ... no matter who you are, you should be treated equally.”
Colleen SquillaceJUNIOR
Abbey KanakryFRESHMAN
MY TURN ABBEY CADIEUX
IDEAS
EDITOR’S DESKAUDREY KAM
I’m about to make an ex-tended metaphor about hu-mankind. Indulge me.
Let’s take a walk down to the derelict library that, in days gone by, was the epicen-ter of study groups and those wishing to delve deeper into the subject than their teachers had taken them. Look up on the shelf. No, not that one. A bit more to the left. There.
Look at that book. It’s got to be, what, 10 pounds? Indus-trial looking and well-bound, made to last, made to contain an entire world. It’s a bit worn at the edges, beginning to get the slightest bit threadbare, the information fading and yellowing as it sits unused on the top-most shelf of the non-fiction section. It’s actually a good book. I’d recommend it.
Now go an aisle over, and look at the shelf near the ground. There are like 15 books on TaeKwonDo. The purpose of this martial arts oasis is unclear, but it does exist. These books too are well worn, though a bit stiff-er, having been opened and worried less.
Leave the nonfiction sec-tion, and walk all the way to the media center. Log in. Your keyboard is devoid of the layer of dust that accompanied your last two resources. It’s also got the letters in the wrong places, and the spacebar doesn’t quite work right. Regardless, it is turned to far more often than the lonely anthologies from which it stands apart. Books have popular opinion on their side, but the computer is more useful, more used and there-fore, more damaged.
And as it is with inanimate objects, it seems to be with humans. The more you can do, the more you must do. Be-cause as quickly as you can gain a new skill, the world can move on. You can once again be left behind, outdated and overused, without a purpose.
It is unfortunate that the world does not thank students for ripping themselves to bits just to meet the changing ex-pectations of the world. We, just like the machines that time and again have saved lives by just existing, are ex-pected to perform in a certain way because that is what we are made to do.
Articles we read in class peg us as another generation in a long line of disappoint-ing ones, and those are only the ones written in 2010 and before. The current state of events, according to adults, is full of young people spending all their time on computers and listening to loud music. The helpful machines past generations created for use are now criticized for being too helpful, too good at their jobs. If they were humans, they’d be accused of cheating, and they’d make the tests harder again.
The time we spend among the ones and zeros has made us no less tolerant, given us unique opportunities to net-work and to make friends. We have spent hours online, not uselessly frittering our lives away as parenting magazines might warn, but learning an entirely new set of skills. Skills that, like computers and their periodic upgrades, make us more useful to the world
So keep your head held high. You have been plugging along for 10 or more years at a thing you may not enjoy. You are the “youth of today” that are “poisoned” by the machines that make it easier to do work, to make friends, to further your own state im-posed education. You are the computers in the library. But (hopefully) you are more self-aware. Remember HAL?
M-STEP takes a mis-step
Desks sit lined up in the gym as juniors wait for test booklets to be passed out for yet another standardized test. However, this test isn’t similar to other standardized tests — it requires a different strategy that is foreign to students.
The Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) has proved itself another burden for juniors. TMichigan Department of Education (MDE) created the M-STEP to replace the Michigan Merit Examina-tion (MME) and the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). M-STEP tests are given to juniors as well as third through eighth graders. They were de-signed to test students more rigorously on their knowl-edge but so far have proven to be more of a hassle.
The M-STEP’s proximity to AP testing is the chief concern for many students. With the days and hours of testing the M-STEP requires, students are concerned they will miss out on important lessons and review sessions taking place in their classes. The amount of testing is diff icult for schools to accomodate.
The unlimited time to f inish the exam is another problem juniors face. According to the test’s instruc-tions, students may not leave the testing area until all students in the testing area f inish the exam. This poses a problem, since students who finish early may lose more class time waiting for their peers to f inish.
The strategy of approaching the M-STEP is quite dif-ferent from normal standardized testing, which confus-es many students. Instead of choosing one answer for each question like on the ACT and SAT, the test asks students to choose up to three correct answers for some questions. Students are not familiar with some ques-tion types and aren’t able to prepare as the MDE has not provided teachers with information about the test. The MDE doesn’t allow schools to look at the M-STEP before it is administered, which hinders teachers, who then cannot help students prepare for the test.
This type of testing ref lects poorly on a school ’s performance, since there is no motivation for students to perform well on it other than for school funding. Since M-STEP results won’t count towards college ap-plications, this discourages students from putting forth effort. This situation can possibly decrease a school ’s scores and funding. The test’s results don’t properly ref lect a school ’s true academic performance.
For a more accurate outcome, the MDE should consider changing some of the rules and dates of the M-STEP testing. The MDE should move the testing dates to the beginning of the school year so the test will not conf lict with AP exams. This will allow students to relax more during testing and perform better.
The test should also be administered to sophomores instead of juniors due to the multiple standardized tests juniors already have to take during the year. This will ease some of the juniors’ stress and will likely result in better scores.
To make sure students don’t lose out on class time or important lessons, the MDE should condense M-STEP into a one or two day test instead of being spread out over several days. This will minimize the amount of material students will miss out on, and it will also minimize the work students will need to catch up on.
It’s understandable that the MDE needs to test stu-dents on their overall knowledge every once in a while, but administering an exam that is more burdensome than helpful is a problem. It doesn’t ref lect a student’s performance and doesn’t provide any benefits for the students, teachers or school districts besides ensuring state funding. The MDE should consider revising the rules of the test before administering it again next year. We understand the test is in its interim stages, but the experiment has proven detrimental to juniors and their education.
We are the upgrade
YENA BERHANE
4 – Friday, April 24, 2015 – North Pointe
REVIEWS
ALBUM
GLITTERBUG
Sparkling with a fresh new pop sound, the Wom-bats launched their new album Glitter-bug. With racy tunes and starry-eyed ballads, the band’s third album hosts
unexpected content. While the remnants of their unique al-
ternative sound linger in the undertones, the tunes are mainly comprised of a lively surreal pop element, something new to their sound.
The British band partied their way across the pond for the L.A.-inspired album. The glit-tery lights and up-all-night, party-never-stops attitude, stereotypical to that region, brings the album to life in an exaggerated, almost satirical way. The album exudes the mysteriously edgy optimism of newly free youth.
The band brushes the dust off the party anthem sounds of eras past with tunes like “Give Me a Try” blasting on about the opulence and potential of life with a sense of electric ir-rationality. “This is Not a Party” is, in fact, the quintessential party song with a bold chorus of “this is not a party, it’s a hurricane.” These are the unparalleled ideas of grandeur held by the partying youth romanticized in this album.
The drum- and beat-heavy music shine with hypnotizing rhythm alongside the rich vocals of lead singer Matthew Murphy. The band swapped its usual heavy bass for an elec-tric sound. Drawn out notes and imperfect per-fection leave the album at the alternative end of the spectrum, but its ideals and overall sound will have pop lovers flocking and rocking.
Though it’s a wonder how the Wombats transitioned so flawlessly, there’s still a hole shaped like their old alternative notes in their fans’ hearts. Despite this, the album has right-fully been well-received. The constellations of dream-like songs are on their way onto any fresh spring and summer playlists for pop and alternative lovers alike.
The Wombats; 2015; Glitterbug; Bright Antenna Records
By Emily Martinbianco
WWW.BRIGHTANTENNA.COM WWW.IMDB.COM
APP
VIDEOSHOP
A new up-date to the video editing app Videoshop allows users to easily navigate through the app and make slideshows or videos. Its ba-
sic setup along with diverse features are clear and make the app conve-nient.
The ability for a user to record or upload photos or videos from their phone is one feature many apps lack. However, Videoshop is well equipped.
There are 13 different editing op-tions for video or photo. Some con-trols, like trim and speed, only work for video. A clip can be sped up or slowed down, adding dramatic pauses or suspense.
The text control works just like Snapchat, but it’s less restrictive and allots more space to fit an entire film or photo title.
To add sound, users can record a voice, pick music from their music li-brary or add fun sound effects. These sounds are funny and unconvention-al. An entire section contains popular Vine sounds, such as “goat screams,” as well as other funny noises like farts. These features are difficult to find in other editing apps, which typically use conventional noises.
Videoshop is useful for those dread-ed school video projects. It’s an easy way to send and save to Vine, Insta-gram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, email and a user’s photo library.
The price is the app’s only downfall, since it costs $1.99. There is a silver lining, however, since there aren’t any ads to distract users from making the clip. Videoshop’s ease and efficiency outweigh the small price.
Videoshop; 2015; Joseph Riquelme; Apple; $1.99
By Allison Lackner
WWW.ENGADGET.COM
MOVIE
THE LONGEST RIDE
The Longest Ride, a movie adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ book, premiered on the big screen April 10. Based in North Carolina, the story centers around a young
pair, Wake Forest University senior So-phia (Britt Robertson) and bull rider Luke (Scott Eastwood), whose stories in-tertwine with 90-something Ira Levinson (Alan Alda).
The movie begins with a common di-lemma — hitting the books or going out on the town — but takes an unexpected turn. After Sophia and Luke meet, the action gets kicked into high gear. From there, it seems that something dramati-cally plot-changing is always around the corner. The scenes constantly shift, a pattern also applied to the character’s relationships.
Being a Nicholas Sparks movie, there was an epic romance of course — actu-ally, two. After finding Ira in a crashed car off the highway, Luke and Sophia learn about his love story with his late wife Ruth. In many ways, Ira’s story mir-rors the struggle of the young couple who must navigate their divergent paths: bull-riding and education.
But the sophistication of this love story doesn’t end with a parallel. Instead of the cliché focus on the young couple, the movie emphasizes Sophia and Ira’s father-daughter-like relationship. The tears streaming down audience mem-bers’ faces embodied the emotion the movie elicited. This unusual element set the movie apart from Sparks’ previous works.
There wasn’t much time for the au-dience to breathe. The constant scene changes, over-packed plot and myriad stories to navigate could be overbearing at times, but the sentiment really made this long ride seem a lot smoother. The Longest Ride; 2015; George Tillman; PG-13; 139 minutes
By Anu Subramaniam
WWW.IMDB.COM
By Jennifer Kusch & Haley ReidCO -M ANAGING EDITOR & SENIOR A SSIS TANT EDITOR
When you first look at Kimmy Schmidt, “unbreakable” doesn’t exactly come to mind.
Sporting a butterf ly-print car-digan, pink pants and light-up Sketchers, Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) seems more adolescent than resil-ient in the 13 episodes of the new Netf lix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The show was created by 30 Rock’s Tina Fey and oozes the same unique tone and humor. However, the premise is different. While Schmidt has the social graces and fashion sense of a 10 year old, it is for good reason: she’s a mole woman.
Schmidt, an Indiana native, was kidnapped at 14 and forced into an underground doomsday cult. At age 29, Schmidt (along with a hilarious cast of fellow cult mem-bers) is rescued from her subter-ranean dwelling and her reverend/kidnapper Wayne Gary Wayne (John Hamm). While this may not sound like a recipe for comedic success, it works brilliantly, as the
chipper Schmidt is released into the gloomy reality of day-to-day existence in New York to redefine herself and break through the “mole woman” label the frenzied media branded her with.
The plot’s barely believable premise and stand-out cast puts this show in a league of its own. While Netf lix has forayed into self-production with hits like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, this comedy could hold a unique niche in anyone’s queue. Its origi-nality makes it a force to be reck-oned with.
If that isn’t enough to woo the most stalwart of viewers, the binge-watchability of the show may be. The show is light and easygoing, without the brooding and extra minutes necessary for other Netf lix dramas. With only 13 episodes lasting roughly 20-30 minutes each, it’s all too easy to indulge in the whole series for one Fey-filled day.
The genius behind Unbreak-able Kimmy Schmidt l ies within its cynically humorous layers of social commentary and criticism. While a less-attuned audience may enjoy
Kimmy Schmidt for its upfront sil-liness, more mature viewers will see the socially smart masterpiece that Fey has produced.
Each character conforms to an exaggerated stereotype — the over-ly effeminate, aging gay black man with shining Broadway dreams and lackluster talent, the gold-digging housewife (30 Rock’s Jane Kra-kowski) who would look distressed about her business executive husband going AWOL if she’d lay off the Botox, a Kylie Jenner-esque, stepdaughter brimming with teen-age angst — the list goes on.
The jokes are sometimes over-abundant and slightly suffocating, as the show seems to indulge in its own satirical uniqueness a bit too often. Occasionally, the hu-mor feels forced, yet the ridiculous one-liners are something to be appreciated even if they’re slightly overdone. It’s just the Fey way.
These characters outwardly joke about and confront their cliched situations in a sarcastic way that adds depth to the show, confront-ing the stereotypes perpetuated in Holly wood while simultaneously embracing them. Their vibrant
ridiculousness is impossible to ignore, as was intended. Kimmy Schmidt doesn’t dabble in the sub-tleties of masterful television — it magnifies an average kidnapping recovery to magnificent propor-tions while multiplying laughs for viewers.
Kimmy Schmidt is a force to be reckoned with. Besides her unex-plained phobia of velcro, she truly is unbreakable, as is the show.
Kimmy Schmidt resembles Fey’s 30 Rock with its unique comedic approach, yet it stands apart from the crowd. Despite shimmering with unicorns, puppies and f lam-boyant rainbows, its humor is subtly mature.
Schmidt has more heart (and cooler light-up shoes) than 30 Rock, or any other Netf lix original series.
Unbreakable Kim-my Schmidt (2015)
30 minutes TV- 14
Created by Tina Fey Directed by Robert Schwentke
MOVIE
FAST & FURIOUS 7
This is the first Fast and Furious movie that will definitely bring any viewer to tears. Furious 7: Ven-geance Hits Home is rumored to be the last of the fran-chise due to the
sudden and ironic death of actor Paul Walk-er, which was also the cause of the movie to have a delayed release. The film stars actors Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Dwayne Johnson.
After dealing with a previous criminal and putting him in the hospital, it seems Dominic Toretto (Diesel), Brian O’Conner (Walker), and the rest of their crew are able to return home and continue normal lives. But sometimes cold blood runs in the family.
In an effort to seek revenge, Ian Shaw, the criminal’s brother, targets each member of the team. Shaw is also hired to get control of the world’s most exclusive piece of technol-ogy, God’s Eye. The team must make a come-back again to stay alive.
There is no doubt this movie is action-packed and the effects look realistic, but it is obvious that they could never happen unless they result in death. But that can be over-looked by the amazing locations, phat cars and intensive footage. The movie has a wide variety of models and brand name cars, but it was shocking to see they had put a Subaru in a muscle car movie. The screenplay can put an audience on the edge of their seats, as they cringe with curiosity to see what will happen next.
Furious 7 is the star of the franchise and one of the best movies of the year. It’s a movie that will make people of all walks of life cry because of the beautiful connection be-tween Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. A chance to see the last movie of the epic franchise is something that shouldn’t be missed.
Fast and Furious 7: Vengeance Hits Home; 2015; James Wam; PG-13; 140 minutes
By Lauren Sexton
Netflix phenomenon acts as kid’s show for adultsookAUDREY KAM
LIFE North Pointe – Friday, April 24, 2015 – 5
By Radiance CooperASSISTANT EDITOR
North receives state-level representationWhen junior Olivia Bloomhuff received the news that she had been elected to the
state student council association’s Board of Delegates (BOD), she was left speechless.Bloomhuff is a member of the Michigan Association of Student Councils/Michi-
gan Association of Honor Societies (MASC/MAHS) Student Leadership program de-signed to promote student leadership throughout the state. The Board of Delegates consists of 30 students hailing from their respective centers across Michigan. North belongs to Center 10, which includes all of Wayne County.
“I was elated and so humbled that Center 10 chose me to represent them,” Bloom-huff said via email.
The Board communicates and holds meetings throughout the year to create op-portunities for student leaders throughout the state. They collaborate with MASC/MAHS and other high schools to host events. Having attended many of these events inspired Bloomhuff to be a part of the behind-the-scenes for them.
“I have been involved in many MASC/MAHS events including summer camps and the State Conference over the past three years,” Bloomhuff said. “Board of Delegate members give voice to the students of their center.”
Her responsibilities on the Board will include representing the students of Center 10 and also creating and presenting new curriculum at leadership training insti-tutes. Bloomhuff will also be taked with searching for new ideas and promote MASC/MAHS membership as well as networking around the state.
“There are various benefits to being on BOD. I will be able to meet many other students that are dedicated to leadership, help make executive decisions regarding MASC/MAHS events and grow the leadership community not only here at North but across the state,” Bloomhuff said. “I will also bring recognition to Grosse Pointe North as it has been many years since a Norseman has had the privilege and respon-sibility of being on the Board of Delegates.”
After deciding to pursue a seat on the board, Bloomhuff embarked on the election process.“First (I) had to fill out an online application which required a resume, a letter of
recommendation and short essay questions. Along with the application I also made a video that explained why I believed that other schools should vote for me to be on the Board of Delegates. This video speech was posted online so that other schools could see me and hear what I had to say for my campaign,” Bloomhuff said. “Then, at the State Conference I campaigned with f lyers, social media and simply word of mouth. I had an interview with the Board of Delegates Executive Board for next year.”
English teacher Jonathan Byrne, who wrote Bloomhuff a letter of recommendation for the position, feels that her passion for leadership will make her a good addition.
“Olivia is extremely motivated and organized,” Byrne said via email. “She under-stands how things work and is a careful and considerate delegator. People love work-ing with her because she is so approachable.”
Bloomhuff had plenty of help campaigning from several of her friends, including Class of 2016 senator Stephanie Godoshian who helped pass out f lyers for her.
“Throughout the conference Olivia was really upbeat and positive,” Godoshian said via email. “She was very excited to learn that she had been elected, and we were very excited for her.”
Bloomhuff’s mother Deborah Bloomhuff was not only thrilled for her daughter but was proud of her for choosing to run for the position. She believes it takes drive, determination and courage to run for any position of inf luence.
“If you never throw your hat in the ring, you may never realize how far you can go.
You never know if you don’t try,” Deborah said via email. “I know she is eager to work with other MASC/MAHS members and students dedicated to high school leadership. This just feels like a good fit for Olivia.”
Deborah is certain that Olivia will be able to grow while serving her time on the Board.
“She knows it was an honor to be elected and will treat this position as if it is an honor,” Deborah said. “She will do her best, work her hardest and step up to the challenge.”
Olivia feels she that her new position will give her the opportunity to help other students and encourage them to lead.
“Everyone is a leader. It is not a title or a position that makes someone a leader. It is dedication, passion and thinking of others,” she said. “On BOD, I want to encourage students throughout the state to find their passion and lead.”
Junior Olivia Bloomhuff with Student Association adviser Jonathon Bryne at the MASC/MAHS State Conference in March. “She will add her wisdom about leadership, her passion for excel-lence and her dynamic ideas (to the Board),” Bryne said.
COURTESY OF OLIVIA BLOOMHUFF
By Ritika Sanikommu & Andrea Scapini WEB MANAGING EDITOR & SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
Carrying sketchbooks around all day, senior Alex Greene strug-gles to keep his mind from wan-dering to his next art project.
“I really don’t like pulling (the sketchbooks) out in classes, so I’l l just doodle, or I’l l just think of something cool I could do,” Greene said. “Then I keep draw-ing them until I’m finished.”
Greene took time this year to focus on developing his own style, a blend of cartoon and pop art. In order to reach his unique style, he said that he used parts of various tech-niques and morphed it into his own style.
Everyday inanimate objects that others disregard trigger new ideas and inspire Greene to create new characters.
“I have an explosive imagina-tion. That helps a lot. Even if I see something like an umbrella, it could be a character with an umbrella, or a chair, I’l l make someone in a chair,” Greene said. “A lot of games help be-cause I’m going into game art when I leave this school.”
Greene considers art teacher Michael Lamb a main reason for his progression because for a time Greene struggled with drawing basic anatomy, a simple yet crucial part of character art.
“Mr. Lamb inspires me. He definitely makes me work hard-er and harder. I never would have gotten to the point where I am and have the techniques that I have without him. Mad props to him,” Greene said.
Although Lamb has mentored Greene through much of this year, Lamb’s ultimate goal is to not interfere in Greene’s pro-cess too much.
“I have kept my hands out of this, that’s his own thing, and I’m very deliberate about that,
not inf luencing his style. It’s very different than mine, so I wanted him to create his own voice,” Lamb said. “I think he’s still exploring. He has developed his own style, but it’s still unre-fined, he’s still working on it. Ev-ery artist’s process is like that.”
To further develop their tech-niques, the AP art classes hold peer-review critiques. Senior Mi-chael Caruso has worked closely in class with Greene to help hone in on areas to improve.
“Usually I don’t try to inter-ject too much because I really admire his drive and the style that he’s already formed,” Caru-so said. “It’s very unique to him. If I see a drawing, and it’s in that style, I immediately know it’s Alex. It’s not really close to too many other things, so it’s definitely unique.”
Looking to other art class-mates for inspiration and ad-vice is a common occurrence for Greene. Throughout high school, he has considered se-nior Olivia Benton a confidant to bounce art ideas off of.
“We kind of base our ideas of each other, and we do collabora-tions and pieces,” Benton said. “But he’ll sometimes tell me an idea, and I’ll tell him what would work and just support him in what he’s doing because no mat-ter what, it turns out great.”
Greene intends on continu-ing his artwork in college while attending Columbia College Chicago. There, he plans to ma-jor in game art and design.
“(Art) is like the only thing I’m good at,” Greene said. “Be-ing good at it and being happy with the outcome is my favorite part of art.”
Senior crafts individual art style
ABOVE: A self-portrait and a portrait of art teacher Michael Lamb. “He’s able to talk openly and honestly about his work, and I think that’s why he’s gone so far. He knows his limitations, and he knows when he needs guidance and when he doesn’t need guidance. It’s pretty mature,” Lamb said.
LEFT: Other works created by Greene. “We do this thing in AP called concentration, so we have our own theme, and my theme is nonsense because it’s really hard for me to constantly think about something because I get really wishy washy and try to destroy the thing, so I start with something really plain, and then I color it with bright colors, and that’s how I finish it and get my strongest pieces.”
COURTESY OF ALEX GREENE
6 – North Pointe – Friday, April 24, 2015
FACES IN THE CROWDKatie Thomas
Barking and meowing is something freshman Ka-tie Thomas hears every day throughout her home.
Thomas has fostered a variety of animals with her family, including Rottwei-lers, German Shepherd puppies and four lit-ters of kittens through the Michigan Humane Society.
She received inspiration from her mother, who has been fostering animals for about 10 years.
“My mom is a really big believer in that all animals should be cared for, and if they’re in a bad home, they should be taken to better homes,” Thomas said.
She hopes to continue helping animals by volunteering at the shelter.
“It’s kind of sad to see because a lot of the animals are in really bad conditions ... so it feels good to be able to bring them back to health and get them in good homes,” Thomas said. “Animals are only here to give love so they should be treated with love.”
Caelin MicksInstead of relaxing by the
local pool or going to the movies this summer, junior Caelin Micks will be par-ticipating in a church mis-sion trip to the Appalachian Mountains.
“It’s through the Grosse Pointe War Memo-rial Church on Lakeshore, and we’re going to Kentucky on a mission trip,” Micks said.
She will be attending the trip June 21-28 and plans to help build houses.
“It’s one of the poorest areas in the United States,” Micks said. “Their houses are really run down, so we’re gonna fix their roofs, may-be update their bathrooms, update their kitch-ens.”
Micks fundraised to cover the trip’s expens-es, and she eagerly anticipates the experience.
“It’s very exciting,” Micks said. “It’s some-thing I’ve always wanted to do, I like to help others.”
Gabrielle WrensledgeRugby, with its aggres-
sive nature, boasts one of the highest sports injury rates. Neurology, on the other hand, is a delicate branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system. The two aren’t typically associated, but for junior Gabrielle Wrensledge they go hand-in-hand.
Wrensledge will soon begin playing on the Woman’s Detroit Tradesmen Rugby Team.
“I’m going to wait ‘til school is out, but I could be playing right now” Wrensledge said. “Most of it will be in June, late June, and July.”
The physicality of rugby is what drew her to the sport, but she isn’t only interested in knocking heads, rather studying what hap-pens when they do. She plans to study pediat-ric neurology.
“The brain is the most interesting thing in the world. The fact that it’s mysterious, but then again it controls so much,” Wrensledge said. “It keeps you on your toes. It can explain a lot of things.”
By Michal Ruprecht, Alex Harring & Trevor Mieczkowski
ON CAMPUS
“They’re a non-judgemental, animal they just are so happy to see you. Feeding him is a blast, giving him the training and treat treats and figuring all that out that’s really fun. Every-thing has been fun with him,” Speirs said.
By Olivia Asimakis & Montana Paton CO-MANAGING EDITOR & INTERN
A little black furball named Docker greets science teacher Su-san Speirs every day after work.
Her 9-week-old English black labrador retriever’s name was inspired by University of Michi-gan football coach Jim Har-baugh’s signature Docker pants. Speirs and her family wanted their new pup to have a connec-tion to U of M, but his name has a double meaning.
“I think it means ‘chasing rabbits’ or something, or ‘you’re a rabbit chaser,’” Speirs said. ‘So that will be fun to see if he lives into his name.”
Speirs’ past experience with other dogs, especially her Eng-lish bulldog, Sergeant Joey Chubs, and her love for science have encouraged her to research dogs and their accompanying behavior. Because of this ex-tensive research, she has devel-oped her style of dog training.
“We did a lot of research and found out that actually crate-train-ing him and having him in your bedroom at night in a crate helps him, and it really has,” Speirs said. “But with him, we decided to do it right. So far, he’s just a sweetheart.”
As a biology teacher, Speirs is interested in the genes of Dock-er’s parents. Since his father is a championship show dog and his mother is a hunting dog, Speirs sees moments where his par-ents’ traits shine through.
“There are times he’s walking through the yard like he’s show-ing off, and then there are times he’s actually in hunt mode, so I think he’s got the genes from both — well, obviously he’s got genes from both mom and dad — but probably the best genes,” Speirs said. “‘Cause he’s our dog so he’s gotta be perfect.”
Being a puppy, Docker be-comes what Speirs calls “puppy distracted” when playing with his 25 different toys. Docker especially likes the stuffed ga-tor and duck that Speirs and her husband bought for him, and he treats the duck more gently than the rest of his toys.
“He is most gentle with the duck and only grabs it around the neck,” Speirs said. “It’s almost like he knows right, but he attacks the gator like it’s another playmate that he can go after.”
Science teacher Susan SpeirsFIVE MINUTES WITH
What is it like having a puppy?Being a puppy, they usually have energy, so he’s an English Lab which they’re sup-posed to kinda acclimate to the energy of the household, so my husband and I usually stay up till like 10, but at 8 or 8:30, Docker will go to the foot of the steps, and he’ll sit there and kinda whine. He’s ready to go to bed, and we have a crate in our bedroom, and we have a crate in our other room for when we go to work. He stays in that, and he sleeps in the crate in our bedroom upstairs, and he just goes right in there. He just goes right up the steps and sits. He would sit right in his crate, but they’re a den animal, so they love the dark and love to feel safe in there, and that’s just kinda his place to go and chill.
Students film, practice skateboarding in Detroit
By Luke Sturgill SENIOR ASSITANT EDITOR
COURTESY OF SUSAN SPEIRS
TOP LEFT: Senior Charles Stahl and friend Zach Nahshel film for an upcoming skateboarding video in downtown Birmingham.TOP RIGHT: Senior Charles Stahl performs a wallride on a jersey bar-rier at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit.CENTER LEFT: Junior Patrick Mason performs an ollie at Wayne State Univerties campus.LEFT: Mason goes behind the lens filming for his video project “Search for the Jackalope Vol. 2” in Downtown Detroit.ABOVE: Junior Patrick Mason performs a nose bonk on North’s campus.
Has he torn anything up yet?He hasn’t done that yet. We have a gator, and he likes the gator. We have a shark, a stuffed shark. They have squeakers in them, and then my hus-band got him this duck, and the duck squeaker sounds like a duck, and it looks like a duck. It ’s pretty cool.
How have you been training Docker?He’s pretty much house broken, but he gets so involved. He’s got like 25 different toys that he can play with in our family room, and he gets so in-volved in playing that he’ll forget he’s got to piddle, so he’ll kinda like go do his piddle, and you’re like, ‘No,’ and then he runs to the door.
North Pointe – Friday, April 24, 2015 – 7SPORTS
By Allison LacknerASSISTANT EDITOR
After suffering a torn meniscus and spending three months in physical therapy his freshman year, sophomore Garrett Clark was able to try out for his first high school sport. Recently Clark hopes this JV lacrosse season will help him build his strength so he can play football in the fall. Clark first hurt his knee while wrestling but didn’t show signs of injury when the trainer examined him. Without any indica-tions of damage, Clark continued wrestling. He later found out at a doctor’s visit that his knee would require surgery.
“It was tough — a lot of couch and Netflix and a lot of doing nothing,”Clark said. Another consequence of Clark’s injury was that he couldn’t play a spring sport. His hiatus from sports postponed his first try at lacrosse as well as his continuation in other sports. “I wasn’t going to play football this year because of my knee so I thought, I want to do something where I could hit someone,” Clark said. Clark plays lacrosse so he can get in shape for football sea-son. Lacrosse lets Clark get accustomed to the physical contact present in both sports and also provides opportunities for him to increase his stamina. While on the field, Clark must cover players, watch for the ball and look for scoring opportunities, all of which he has to do for football as well. He has noticed that one differ-ence between the sports is that lacrosse requires players to be ready to interchange responsibilities. “It brings in a lot of hand skills and more hand-eye coordina-tion for every player. In football, you can be a lineman and don’t need to catch anything,” Clark said.
With the hot sun glaring in her eyes, junior Kayla Gallant bounces a neon-yellow tennis ball against the kelly green tennis court preparing for her serve. The courts belong to the Grosse Pointe Woods park, the home of the girls and boys tennis teams. The need for a tennis facility on the school’s property has led Gallant and other tennis team members to fundraise money for new courts. In order to have enough money to build courts, the team needs to collect $100,000. Currently, they have raised just over $70,000. The money has been coming from local businesses and families in support of expanding the school’s sports programs. Tennis parent Christie Scoggin has been a part of the process and helped the program spread the word. “It’s going to be a community-wide facility. In the summer time during the non-season for the two teams, the courts will be available for anyone who plays, which will be really nice,” Scoggin said. “People really stepped up. It was a great campaign.” The district has also donated money to the cause, and once enough money is raised, Scoggin hopes the courts can be built by the start of the girls season in the following year. The proposed building plan is to include eight new courts on the field in between Morningside and the Performing Arts Center. Six of the eight courts have been individually purchased by families in the community and will be named after them. Gallant credits the success of the fundraiser to major community involvement. “I think ‘cause we are starting to build up our tennis program, more girls are starting to join the team, and more people are starting to get interested in tennis. A lot of people are starting to back up our program,” Gallant said.
By Anu Subramaniam & Haley ReidEDITOR-IN-CHIEF & SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
The Tony Hawk Underground 1 video game lit a spark in junior Patrick Mason. At age 6, the game inspired him to try skateboarding himself. After nine years of skating, Mason’s video game-born dream has metamorphosized into a desire to skate professionally.
“(I) like the freedom of it,” Mason said. “I just couldn’t see myself sitting at a computer for eight hours a day.”
To work towards his goal, Mason takes every chance he gets to practice. He frequents Kennedy Skatepark but also skates in downtown Detroit. Mason finds the emptiness of the city at night al-luring.
Mason enjoys the individual style and freedom of the sport. However, he finds that the support from friends and fellow skateboarders like junior Hayden McGraw and senior Charles Stahl helps him push himself to success.
“You warm up and do your confident tricks,” Mason said. Then you see one of your friends do something they haven’t done before, and it just gets you. You start feeding off each other, and it just gets you going for it.”
As fellow skaters, both McGraw and Stahl see Mason’s dedication and drive as a big factor in his work towards professional skating. McGraw feels that skating is a community sport. He sees the support system within that community as the main drive to perform well.
“You’re close with the people you skate with, you know. They see you at your best, when you’re landing stuff and when you’re not,” McGraw said. “Once someone finds a spot, everyone finds it, and everyone wants to go skate it together.”
Mason’s family extend their support despite the alternative career path it may pave.
“My dad was always really stoked for it ‘cause he didn’t really play conventional sports. He was more of the oddball in high school,” Mason said. “And then my mom wanted me to play baseball and stuff, and I tried it, but I stopped it because the whole team thing was like, I don’t like it. When one fails, you all fail. I’d rather have it be all on me. So she was a little reluctant at first, but when she started to see that I was getting good. My friends were really stoked. That’s when she started to come around.”
College is a possibility for Mason, as his mom is advocating for higher education. However, professional skateboarding has the potential to be highly profitable without a degree. Accord-ing to celebritynetworth.com, top skateboarders like Tony Hawk and Rob Dyrdek have a net worth of $50-100 million.
Professional skateboarders profit mostly from competitions and sponsoring. Mason has already experienced the competitive atmosphere.
“I do contests around in October. There is this one called King Avenue, or King of Michigan Av-enue and Refuge Skateshop out in Dearborn...and you get six people, like in a team, and you have to film (and) edit a video in seven days,” Mason said.
Skateboarding is less routine-based than most team sports and organized athletics. Mason pre-fers this independence.
Though his future is not yet certain, he knows one thing: he wants the kind of adventure and spontaneity that the sport brings. He struggles to imagine his life without skateboarding.
“I just feel like I’d be kind of a normal ... bor-ing person. I just feel like my routine would be very monotonous. (It would) be very, ‘I wake up, do this, go to school, come back, and then do it,’” Mason said. “It’s very monotonous, and I feel like I wouldn’t meet as many of like cool friends that I’ve met.”
JUNIOR PURSUES FUTURE IN EXTREME SPORT
Sophomore struggles to find equilibrium between sport commitments
COURTESY OF PATRICK MASON
21480 Greater Mack
Ave. (B/W 8 & 9 mile)
St. Clair Shores586.773.1500
www.ConnerPark.com
Call early for best available options.
Q U I C K H I T S Meet Garrett Clark
By Sonny Mulpuri & Billy Steigelman I N T E R N S
Last year was one to remember for sopho-more Jack Williams, and he looks to build on the success he had as a tennis and baseball player.
Williams spent his freshman year as a be-ginner, but his personal tennis coach Sam Poole helped him improve.
Williams learned the basics of the game and gained experience in match play as a JV team member. At the end of his freshman year, Wil-liams was determined to make varsity tennis. He used his experience subbing for the var-sity team to prepare for the competition. Fel-low sophomore Max Stallings was Williams’s toughest competitor last summer.
“Playing against him didn’t really have a difference on me because I was used to play-ing the seniors on our team,” Stallings said. “It was fun though because we both had someone to goof around with.”
Williams is now the number two singles player on the varsity tennis team behind Stallings, who is number one. Stallings said he envisions both he and Williams having better records next year.
Williams plays tennis year around, but in the spring, he revisits the sport he has been playing since he was four years old. He was a crucial member of the freshman baseball team that won 24 games last year.
“He was an incredible shortstop. He made all the plays when he pressure was on,” said freshman baseball coach Mark Orr.
When he wasn’t making plays at shortstop, Williams helped his team by putting up a 6-0 record as a pitcher. He once threw a three-hit-ter on only two days’ rest.
“I wasn’t expecting to pitch that day, but nobody else wanted to pitch, so I just said ‘I’l l pitch,’” Williams said.
His best game was against Notre Dame Pre-paratory, where he threw a no-hitter. Despite having a winning season, Williams decided at
the end of last year that he wouldn’t continue with baseball because he wanted to play ten-nis year round.
He has now made up his mind to return to the f ield and play baseball for one more year.
“I encouraged him to play,” Orr said, “but I think most of his friends and teammates asked, and coach Borland asked him to come out — he got kind of excited about coming out.”
Until tennis becomes his main sport, Williams still wants to contribute to his baseball team.
“I want to help my team by playing every-where I can,” Williams said.
Although this year will be his last as a base-ball player, he hopes he can learn from his ex-periences and use them on the tennis court.
“I decided to play baseball for fun this year, but as a tennis player I want to improve my strategy on the court, and hopefully our team can finish higher than tenth in states.”
ABOVE: Senior Charles Stahl skateboards down a staircase rail in downtown Detroit.
Sophomore Jack Williams throws the ball to first base during a pre-game practice.
COURTESY OF WILLIAMS FAMILY
COURTESY OF CHARLES STAHL
8– Friday, April 24, 2015 – North Pointe
Pre-game routines energize athletes for performances
Players prepare for upcoming games with consistent team rituals in hopes of optimal results
By Lauren Sexton, Lindsey Ramsdell & Alex HarringASSISTANT EDITORS & STAFF REPORTER
ABOVE: Freshman Abby Kanakry practices hurdles before her varsity events start. “ I warm up by streching with my team and running two laps around the track. Then I go to long jump and high jump to check my steps. Then I do my hurdle streches and jump the hurdles a few times. I don’t have a routine for the night before track meets yet because it is early in the season, and I am only a freshman. I will probably form one later in the year.”LEFT: Freshman Blair Frezza arrives an hour before to warm up. The team huddles before the JV lacrosse games. “(We) dress in full pads and just pass the ball around with some teammates on the small soccer field next to the turf. Usually 30 minutes before game time, we take the turf field,” Frezza said. “For the last 30 minutes, the people who take the face-offs practice versus each other for about 10 minutes. Then we do drills such as alley shooting, cross-alley shooting, with both right and left hands.”
ABOVE: Senior Erin Armbuster warms up with the varsity track team. “We do stretches, and basically, we all stretch together,” Armbuster said. “We all stretch together and do these little things to get our legs loose, like butt kicks and stuff like that. So that’s what we do together as a team.” For her individual warm up, Armbuster repeats the exercises the team completed.
LEFT: Before he begins his relay, junior Josh Fischer warms up. “We really do just regular stretches,” Fischer said. “We run around the track a few times, but track is more individual, so a lot of people go off and do their own stuff.”
BELOW RIGHT: Senior Nick Soave warms up for varsity lacrosse by listening to music “(I) listen to Jay-Z and the Black Keys, I guess. I try and focus on what I have to do.” Athletes listen to music to calm nerves and get ready for a game.
BELOW LEFT: Before JV baseball games, sophmore Ryan Mazzola prefers to listen to music. “(I) like rap music,” Mazzola said. “It gets me hyped.” He throws the ball around and hits the ball before the game to prepare his muscles for games.
