1.15.16

CRIER Vol. 50/Issue 6/Jan. 15, 2016

MUNSTER HIGH SCHOOL

Page 2: Science Olympiad team prepares for Northridge Invitational tomorrow

8808 COLUMBIA AVE, MUNSTER IN 46321

Driven to frustration

UPCOMING n

No school Monday: School not in session due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day

IN THE COMMUNITY n

Munster Parks part-time job fair: 3-6 p.m. Wednesday at Munster Town Hall

INSIDE LOOK

photos by Veronica Bilek and Rachel Bishop

Page 6 Student discusses life in America after his family’s move from China

RIGHT OF WAY (top) Leaving the South parking lot after school, Daniel Spencer, senior, waits for an opening to turn right onto Columbia Avenue. “I just try to get to my car as early as I can (after school),” Daniel said. “The more time it takes you to get to your car, the more cars there are.“ WAITING THEIR TURN (bottom left) Near Door J, cars line up in the new parent drop-off lane that was created at the beginning of the year. TRAFFIC JAM (bottom right) After school, Allison Hajduch, senior, waits for a chance to exit the North parking lot.

Page 4 Crier staff member reviews ongoing art shows

Page 9 Wrestling ends regular season with Conference meet tomorrow at Lowell

Page 10 Dance team competes at Northrop High School tomorrow

when you have all these cars leaving at the same time, Columbia gets full, Fisher gets full and Calumet gets full.

(With) a lot of cars in any area at one time, that’s going to happen.”

From the beginning of the school the community and students, accordyear, Camille Jancosek, senior, has ing to Mr. William Melby, assistant noticed the longer time it principal. takes to leave her parking “Safety is a big issue. We Taking up space spot in the South lot comwant to make things safe.

Number of students pared to last year.

If it means kids take a little “I think it was definitely longer to get out, then that’s who park in each lot helping when Mr. (Robert) what it means,” Mr. Melby Snyder (assistant principal) said. “But we constantly was out because he wasn’t revisit, and that’s why after, West lot directing (traffic) where I don’t remember if it was he would stop Columbia two weeks, maybe a month, and everybody would go maybe two months, we alCommunity Pool lot out, but he would stop at lowed cars to go out behind a point and let some of the the buses. That did alleviate students go,” Camille said. a lot of the traffic.”

North lot “He’d stop the students, Now, instead of students and (traffic on) Columbia or teachers being able to would go by. It didn’t solve enter and exit from any the problem, but it helped a entrance, the school closed South lot little because he would get entrances for certain lots. source: Mr. William Melby, a clump of cars out and the “If you’re in the South assistant principal line would go further and lot this year, you may be wait a little bit. It’s better thinking it’s not the best than having to sit in the line waiting possible solution. But if you’re in the for one person to let one person in, Community Pool, North and West (lots), you’re probably liking this way Continued on pg. 8 better,” Mr. Melby said. “The reality is

Students, administrator discuss traffic congestion in school parking lots, surrounding roads Sofía Navarro Mariah Villaroman Infocus Editor Copy Editor

B

efore winter break, Isaac Gutierrez, junior, took his daily com-

mute to school. As he rode his bike down Elliott Drive and turned right onto Columbia, a car struck him, throwing him to the ground. He suffered a cut to his head and a broken front tire on his bike, both of which may be due to the problematic traffic situation caused by middle school and high school drop off and pick up.

“People are always complaining (about the parking lot), like ‘Oh, it takes forever to get out of here, it’s like 30 minutes!’” Isaac said. “It’s really bad. It takes forever for people to drive. (Last year was) probably better than what we have now. It’s all weird.

It takes longer for people to get out, so then people get angry and speed and stuff.”

The school parking lots changed traffic patterns this year in order to reduce traffic flow from surrounding streets and to create safer driving for

72 29 103 172

2 news Quick Notes ISSMA Competition Students attend Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competition The ISSMA Solo and Ensemble competition takes place Feb. 6 at Crown Point; over 200 solo and ensemble events will come from Munster, more than ever before.

Students who enroll in Group One, the most competitive ISSMA level, may advance to State. However, an important part of ISSMA is personal improvement, according to Group One member Caitlin Fitch, senior.

“The main purpose of it is to challenge yourself. You’re not technically competing against anyone else,” Caitlin said. “You’re performing a piece of music and then getting evaluated on it and those evaluations that you get help you to enhance your performance ability.”

DECA DECA attends Districts at Hobart, looks ahead to State Competitions DECA went to the District competition at Hobart High School last Saturday and received first place.

At the district competition, 88 students qualified for State by getting seventh place or higher.

After a second place finish at State last year, the team hopes to win State this year. However, they face strong competition from Carmel High School, who won State last year, according to Mega.

“If everybody at Munster works really hard, then I think we could win, but Carmel High School is bringing 300 kids, so we need to have quality over quantity,” Mega said.

Corrections

In issue 5 of Crier, Ian Brundige was not credited as the cartoonist on page 5. On page 10, photographer Elisa Del Toro should be credited with the photos of divers. Additionally, the names of Nick Heppner-Lundin, senior, and P.E. teacher Mathew Pavlovich were misspelled. On page 11, the Boys’ Basketball’s record should have been 1-2.

Crier regrets these errors.

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

The team to beat Science Olympiad attends Northridge Invitational Joseph Bermudez Sports Editor Science Olympiad has met every day since winter break in preparation for the Northridge Invitational tomorrow.

“Everyone is determined and focused on Northridge and the competitions following,” Science Olympiad sponsor Mr. Keith Koszut, science teacher, said.

Win or lose, Mr. Koszut explains that the outcome of the invitational will not affect the team; this invitational focuses more on preparing the students for future competition.

“Winning or doing really well won’t qualify us in any other competition, but a lot of the top teams in Indiana will attend so I guess it’ll be a sneak preview of what the State tournament will be like,” Mr. Koszut said. “You can say Northridge is a bit of a dress rehearsal for the State competition March 19.”

Northridge offers 23 events, and some students participate in four or more events, but the students’ teamwork relieves the pressure of their many responsibilities, according to captain Tony Zmuda, senior.

“Sometimes the amount of events do get pretty overwhelming,” Tony said. “When you think about each event, there isn’t really too much to do

photo by Easan Venkat

DOWN TO A SCIENCE Working on his air trajectory project, Aditya Mishra, senior, blows on the trigger to clear debris made from using a file. “We’ve been working on basically an air cannon, which is supposed to blow a ball two to eight meters,” Aditya said. “While I get to work with the entire group here, I prefer working at home because all of my tools are at home.”

because this is my fifth year in these events and also my team members are with me, so the work balances out.”

According to captain Julia Chael, senior, winning Northridge for the fourth consecutive time last year has given the team confidence to succeed.

“I’m pretty confident in the team right now. We have a strong team,” Julia said. “We’ve won the Northridge tournament pretty consistently (in the past) and I think we can keep that up this year.”

Mr. Koszut divided Science Olympiad into three teams due to the large amount of students and according to their skill level. For the State competition, each school is only allowed one team of 15 participants, so Mr. Koszut must cut two-thirds of the team.

“We have three teams that we run through various tournaments, up through the Regional tournament March 5,” Mr. Koszut said. “The

Semester changes implemented School administrators make policy changes for lunch, bookstore, video announcements to improve new semester Danie Oberman Associate Editor n Lunch in the Commons

Mr. Mike Wells, principal, decided to eliminate the privilege of eating lunch in the Commons.

“The reason is there was garbage left in the Commons after every lunch, and because nobody was throwing away their trash, we eliminated lunches (in the Commons). Kids need to be eating in the lunchroom, not sitting on the floor or a bench,” Mr. Wells said.

Students have responded well to the new rule and moved into the cafeteria without resistance, according to Mr. Wells.

Toward the end of the year, students will be able to eat in the courtyard, where there is access to picnic tables and trash cans.

“Last year in the spring, we opened up the courtyard as an option for the kids to eat when the weather was nice, and I anticipate doing that again this spring when the weather warms up as well,” Mr. Wells said.

n Bookstore

USDA's "Smart Snacks in Schools" program put an end to bake sales, so Mr. Wells found an alternative way for clubs and sports teams to raise funds: running the school bookstore.

“It’s going to be a better location because it’s right in the Commons, where most students hang out before or after school and during lunches,” Mr. Wells said. “It’s an underutilized space, and it has a lot of possibilities and potential as far as what it could be used for.”

The Mustang Café may also be moved to the book-

(Northridge Invitational) will get everyone more familiar with their competition, but as State nears, these three teams will get cut down to only one. ” The pressure of defending their State title for the third time will not be a problem; however, not becoming too overconfident is the team’s main focus, according to Mr. Koszut. “(As) three-time State champions we have a big task in defending it,” Mr. Koszut said. “There’s two types of pressure for the students to continue, knowing of our recent history. The hard pressure is sort of like ‘Oh my gosh, we have to do well because of the last three years,’ but the soft pressure is the one that says ‘Oh, we’re three-time State champs so we’re pretty good.’ It’s easy to fall into a lazy habit because you can assume we’ll come out on top, but in reality you have to work just as hard or harder as the three previous teams to get to where (we) want to be.”

store. Mr. Wells hopes to have the store reopened in March, and for the remainder of this year, DECA and academic teams will run the store. Next year, different extracurriculars will run the store for one month each, and the proceeds of the store will go to whichever club is working in the bookstore.

n Video Announcements

During the first semester, students were emailed daily announcements. This semester, this will be replaced with video announcements, which will be filmed and emailed out to students on a daily basis.

Mr. Wells believes that this will serve as a more practical way to reach the students and be a more entertaining medium.

“It’s nice to see a face instead of having something read over the PA like we did last year,” Mr. Wells said.

Mr. Wells hopes to begin doing announcements this way in the next week. He intends to have a staff member film the video while students read the announcements. They will be taped the day before airing; any announcement that needs to be made should be submitted by a teacher to Ms. Jan Riccio, main office secretary, by seventh hour the day before.

“The nice thing about (it is that it) is not just (for) announcements. We can have guests come in there and talk about their club (or) team,” Mr. Wells said.

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Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Higher Education P

resident Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act into law Dec. 9. This act is meant to strengthen schools by improving learning rates of minority groups of students who are falling behind, as well as taking action on schools that are underperforming.

By creating this law, lawmakers aim to keep the spirit of its predecessor, No Child Left Behind, while making its regulations more flexible by leaving the review of under-performing schools’ testing scores and accountability to state governments.

Educators’ thoughts Educators share their thoughts on the change from national to state level reviewing of educational improvement

“

New bill called Every Student Succeeds Act replaces No Child Left Behind, provides more flexible rules

Spending

Remedies

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind

The original law authorized up to $32 billion in spending; however, Congress only spent up to $23 billion

Every Student Succeeds Act Authorizes the federal spending of $24.9 billion

In order to get federal funding, states were to fix schools that failed to improve their test scores. This resulted in a limit to few choices the state could make: fire the staff, convert the school to a charter school, lengthen school times, or close down the school

Accountability No Child Left Behind Schools were to improve student performance by measuring minority subgroups’ progress through test scores

Every Student Succeeds Act States decide their own accountability roles, while submitting their accountability plans to the Department of Education. States must follow the Act’s general rules concerning accountability and weigh factors such as graduation rates and test scores over other subjective measures

Testing

k

Specifically discerns which schools need intervention, yet more general in how those schools should be intervened. States must take over schools in the bottom five percent of assessment scores, high schools that graduate less than 67 percent of students, and schools where minority groups are under-performing

Common Core

No Child Left Behind

Required states to test students on math and English each year from third to eighth grade, as well as one science test in elementary, middle, and high school

Every Student Succeeds Act The same subjects will still be administered, but states will have more flexibility in how and when they give out the tests, as well as giving out tests that more accurately measure what a student has learned

No Child Left Behind Common Core was not specifically addressed

Every Student Succeeds Act Allows states to adopt Common Core, but it is not a requirement. The Education Department is required to remain neutral on the subject

source: whitehouse.gov; graphic by Chloe Wineinger; illustrations by Gavin Hamilton

I have always been a believer that educational decisions should be made at the local level. Each school or district is unique in the challenges they face, and no one knows better how to address those challenges than the individuals who are in those environments each and every day.”

“

It’s always better working from a local level. People within their community have a better understanding of the diverse needs of the community in which they reside.”

Mr. Mike Wells, Principal

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Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

OLD AND NEW Visuals announce new art exhibits open in and near Northwest Indiana. The reopened New Contemporary exhibit at the Art Institute features new pieces and challenges viewers to look beyond what is on the canvas for meaning. The Center for Visual and Performing Arts displays Ansel Adams’ collection of black and white nature photography. The exhibit runs through Jan. 18.

A different Ian Brundige Student Life Editor

perspective

Art is more than just a painting or a sculpture; every piece is on a dynamic spectrum of usefulness, impact and technicality. Enjoying it is just a matter of what the artist puts on the canvas and what the viewer is looking to draw from it. Because of this, The New Contemporary, a collection of modern art, and Ansel Adams’ gallery of photo prints can entertain, teach and inspire anyone willing to look.

Classic Images: Photography

by Ansel Adams Center for Visual and Performing Arts 1040 Ridge Rd, Munster, Ind. Show ends: Jan. 18 Down the street from the high school is one of the best local theaters and art galleries in the region: the Center for Performing and Visual Arts. Though the shows here are smaller, they are less expensive: the current show costs $2, and offer a more community based experience.

Currently a collection of Ansel Adams photography is on exhibit until Jan. 18. It is a personal exhibit, not just because it is in a smaller space, but it focuses on one man and America through his eyes.

Ansel Adams developed photography techniques as well as teaching and working as a professional artist. The Zone System was developed by Adams to ensure a full range of tones, Zone One being pure black and Zone Ten pure white, which adds layers and increased value to his work, although it is all two- dimensional and black and white.

“Stunning” is the first word that comes to mind when viewers see the cascading waterfalls and expansive mountains that Adams captures with his photography. All of the photos were taken in the United States, many in the desert regions of southwest America and Yosemite National Park, which he called home.

Adams brings the unfamiliar, to some, imagery of the American West to Northwest Indiana.

As a whole, Adams’ Work captures the beauty, which at times becomes routine, of American nature, from the deserts, to the people and everything in between.

The gallery is well organized, divided into sections, separated either by the subject of the photos, the reason he took them, or when they were taken.

It starts with his early work and takes you on a mostly chronological trip of his life and work. It is interesting to see how his work changed through the years from stylized picturesque scenes of the forest to being more focused on capturing life through crisp photography.

The New Contemporary Art Institute of Chicago 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill. “What are they even supposed to be?” asked a young girl entering a room where three canvases that are, according to the artist, not just gray hung on the wall, a block of blue solid cast glass sat on the floor and I stood staring at the same pieces, wondering the same thing.

Contemporary art can often evoke that response, put simply it means new, but it is a large, multifaceted world of a variety of art styles, mediums and subjects. The Art Institute of Chicago, along with its existing

photos by Veronica Bilek and Ian Brundige

contemporary art exhibit, reopened The New Contemporary in December, showing contemporary art through two distinct lenses: emotion and thought.

The current collection of contemporary art at the Art Institute displays about two dozen pieces that at first appear meaningless. Despite their meaningless appearance, the artwork provokes thought because of its simplicity and often non-objective forms.

If the art is looked at as just an image, like more objective art they may appear to just be appear to be an arbitrary mix of colors and Brush up forms. Instead, focus It is not that difficult to talk on the media use and concepts behind each about art, but if you do not piece. know where to start, follow Artist Sherrie these four steps Levine’s quote encompasses the exhibit in the description of a piece titled “Untitled (Check 2):” “I try to make art which celCritique ebrates doubt and Start by stating the facts. Identify uncertainty. Which what is immediately visible, such as provides answers but shapes, colors, and subject doesn’t give them.”

Only after spending Interpret time with each piece Relate to personal experience to the can the gravity of her art.

There is no right or wrong here, words be understood, just your response to the art no matter how meaningless something may look, whether you Analyze consider it art or not, Elements of art with the principles personal meaning can of design.

Artist use this step when be found in everything. composing their work.

Now, The New Contemporary art exhibit relies on emotions Evaluate rather than thought.

This is based on the validity or The focus is telling new artwork or lasting impression. stories as opposed to providing answers. The pieces, in general, are more accessible to a wide audience because Source: Mrs. Elena Lopez, they are based more in art teacher reality and the world we live in than abstract concepts and exploration of media.

The 44 new pieces added to the show from artist Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and others, blend seamlessly into the gallery with the existing pieces as well as give the exhibit stronger name recognition.

The New Contemporary is a collection of the newest ideas in the world art, and it appears to be going in an ever more creative and exploratory direction.

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Crier/Jan. 15, 2016 editorial

Time for improvement

Pros

With the beginning of the new semester, administration has made several changes that will affect students: students will no longer be able to eat lunch in the Commons, video announcements will begin, and clubs will begin sharing the school bookstore to fundraise.

In light of these changes, Crier looks back at a major change that was made first semester, the creation of Mustang Resource Time, (MRT). The Crier Editorial Board could not reach a consensus on the merits of MRT, so both perspectives are presented below.

■ Made scheduling easier for the guidance office because, when combined with lunch, MRT creates eight uniform blocks of classes ■ Offers extra time for students to finish homework in the middle of the day ■ Serves as a relaxing break in the middle of the day, even if students don’t have homework

CRIER Munster High School

Cons

■ Extended school day by 20 minutes to make time for MRT: the school day now begins 10 minutes earlier and ends 10 minutes later than it previously did ■ Since school ends 10 minutes later, club meetings and sports practices must also end later, leaving less time for homework

■ Allows time for students to socialize with friends

■ Often not enough time to get a significant amount of work done, especially when time is spent on attendance and the Pledge of Allegiance

■ Gives students an opportunity during the school day to ask peers questions about homework

■ Students don’t know what to expect because different teachers have different styles of running their MRTs

■ Students able to ask teachers questions about homework or material covered in class if their MRTs coincide with their teachers’ MRTs

■ Not enough information about success teachers is provided, such as what they do and who they are

■ Serves as a study hall opportunity for students who don’t have space to fit one into their schedule ■ Designated success teachers in each subject available to help struggling students

■ Students unable to see the teachers they need help from if their MRTs do not coincide ■ Can be loud and chaotic because not all students use the time efficiently ■ Creates a mandatory study hall for students who may not want it; it can get boring if students do not have homework

While MRT has provided benefits, it also has many negative aspects. MRT was created with the best intentions, but it must be reevaluated to ensure that it still helps students and staff members.

Similarly, as the school year continues and new changes are implemented, the outcomes and benefits of these changes should be reviewed.

New year, new excuse Simon Pirok News Editor We’re now two weeks into the new year, and if you’re anything like the majority of the country, you made a New Year’s Resolution.

So, how is your resolution going?

Hopefully, you haven’t forgotten or completely given up like a surprising amount of people, not only in America, but around the world.

According to Forbes, just eight percent of people actually completed their resolutions in 2012, which is pretty bad for a country historically known to look problems in the face and deal with them.

We all like to think that we’re better than we actually are at something, and that includes losing weight or being able to work out every day for an entire year.

People like to think that they’ll be able to go to the gym every day, even though they were at work for eight hours and only got six hours of sleep. People also like to think that they can lose weight even though their diet is out of control.

After two weeks into the new year, approximately 25 percent of people who made resolutions completely gave up on them, according to the US National Library of Medicine. This number should be surprising to most people because we all like to think that we’re incredibly motivated toward everything we do. People shouldn’t use the new year to decide to suddenly change their lives for the better; instead we should look to improve ourselves throughout the entire year.

Let’s ditch the New Year’s Resolutions completely and decide to go with an entire year resolution because we’re most

likely not going to be able to go the entire year without indulging ourselves in junk food.

It’s time for people to stop with the resolutions that can last at most a week or two. Resolutions shouldn’t be used as a temporary mood booster for people to feel good about themselves for a few days before they forget that they made a resolution or they have given up on it.

It’s time for America to realize that resolutions are pretty irrelevant and are better off being left behind along with everyone’s forgotten or abandoned resolutions. People shouldn’t rely on a new year to change their unhealthy habits then try and drop their bad habits, which will only last a few weeks in most scenarios. So please, let’s quit with the resolutions—or actually start following through with them.

Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321, phone 219-836-3200, Ext. 3443; Fax: 219-836-3202. Crier is published through the Honors Newspaper Advanced Writing and Editing classes and extra-curricular involvement.

•The newspaper serves as a public forum and twoway communication for the school and community.

•Crier is a source of information, entertainment, advertising and opinion for the student body, faculty, administration and community •Published material will stress objective reporting except on the editorial page where opinion writing will be featured. All published material will stress accuracy, truthfulness, integrity, honesty, responsibility, objectivity, fairness and independence. Corrections, when necessary, will be published on page 2.

Opinions expressed in the newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the School Town of Munster, faculty or administration.

Letters to the editor and reader suggestions are welcomed, but should be limited to 250 words. All letters must be signed and should be given directly to any staff member or delivered to the Publications room, N155, one week prior to publication. Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual. Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and grammatical errors. Crier will accept letters from anyone, provided that the content pertains to school or school issues. Feedback may also be submitted on Twitter @munstermedia.

Mailed subscriptions cost $25 per year. Ad rates and policies are available to anyone upon request.

Crier is published 11 times a school year.

The Staff Editor-in-Chief Meena Kandallu Design Editor Chloe Wineinger Copy Editor Mariah Villaroman Associate Editor Danie Oberman Media Editor Jordan Szymanski Opinion Editor Danie Oberman Sports Editors Joseph Bermudez Jordan Szymanski News Editors Gavin Hamilton Simon Pirok Infocus Editor Sofía Navarro Student Life Editor Ian Brundige Cartoonist Ian Brundige Head Photographer Rachel Bishop Business Manager Mary Ellen Gilhooly Photographers Veronica Bilek Elisa Del Toro Mary Ellen Gilhooly Olivia Hesterman Brandi Hoover Ashwin Iyer Danijela Kaurin Bree Karl Sidney Milne Vrusti Patel Melanie Powers Jaylee Rodriguez Emma Trivunovic Easan Venkat Andrew Vicari Summer Witvoet Adviser Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman

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Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

New horizons

Qian Bo Zhao, sophomore, continues adapting to North American lifestyle Sofía Navarro Infocus Editor Ever since moving from Shenyang, China to the United States 11 months ago, Qian Bo Zhao, sophomore, has had difficulty adjusting to a foreign lifestyle. After his arrival to the country, he recalls being brought into a customs, a large room filled with many people. He and his mother were questioned, along with foreigners from different countries. “(On) my first day, I did not know English. I played on my phone next to my mom while she spoke (to) customs,” Qian Bo said. “I felt very confused. When someone asked me, ‘How are you?’ I replied I did not know. I’m learning more knowledge of the United States every day.”

He credits Ms. Leigh Ann Westland, English teacher, and his ELL teacher Mr. Paul LaReau, foreign language teacher, for helping him learn English.

He receives extra help from his mother, who has been a citizen for 10 years, and through watching television.

“Learning English and knowledge

about America have been the most difficult things (about living here),” Qian Bo said. “In American schools, English is hard, but math is very easy.”

Qian Bo (pronounced CHIN-bo) considers Chinese school much harder than school in the United States. In China, his schedule consisted of Chinese, a mixture of algebra and geometry, English, chemistry, physics, Chinese history, world history, and ethics, all over the course of a 11-hour-long school day.

“Sometimes, (teachers in China) get angry. American teachers are nicer,” Qian Bo said. “In English class I would not listen carefully and sleep in class.

The teacher would punish me.”

Although he finds it very difficult to be away from his father, aunt and grandmother who still live in China, Qian Bo has enjoyed his life in the United States and is willing to adapt to a new lifestyle.

“I hold an American passport, but when I get to the age of 18, I’m going to test to be a U.S. citizen,” Qian Bo said.

“I would like to be become an American. Americans are very interesting.”

photo by Olivia Hesterman

NEW COUNTRY, NEW LIFE Sitting at his desk in the front room of his house, Qian Bo Zhao, sophomore, celebrates his 17th birthday before leaving to eat with his friends. “I enjoy living in the United States because of the good food, very friendly teachers and my friends.” Qian Bo said.

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Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Crack

the

code

Students use computer coding to design, build projects Chloe Wineinger Design Editor

In eighth grade, Nick Eliopoulos, junior, first took interest in computer programming while taking a computer graphics course. Now, after three years and hours of dedication and practice, he has built a robotic arm that he can program by plugging into the computer and giving the arm commands. Though he has not completed the project yet, his goal is to type a sentence into the program that the arm could write out.

Nick did not necessarily become interested in computer programming in order to create complex machines. One of the aspects he considers most important to everyday life is simplifying things through computer programming.

“If you see a way you could use (computer coding), you could automate a long and monotonous task into something shorter and simpler,” Nick said.

“For example, instead of a teacher manually marking down each person for attendance, computer programming can shorten that task by allowing them to submit attendance with the click of a few buttons.

It’s all about improving the quality of life, consumer-wise.”

Once he began to learn the gist of programming, Nick realized that coding was not as difficult as he initially thought.

“It’s highly logical. When people think of programming, they think of it as lots of random numbers, comparing it to stuff you would see in ‘The Matrix,’” Nick said. “But really, if you can figure a basic problem out from start to finish, you can program.

It’s really like another language, but it’s applying that language logically.”

Vince Badali, junior, who also became interested in programming from a computer graphics course he took in school, agrees that computer coders need to

photo by Olivia Hesterman

WEB 101 Working on a personal portfolio website, Jordan Wright, junior, codes at home on his computer. “I picked (coding) up when I was very young and realized I could make video games,” Jordan said, “but then I realized there was so much more I could do with it. You can basically do anything with code.”

be skilled in programming, but also well-versed in a “All of the other projects (that I’ve done) were program’s overall function. small and not that helpful, and were more so just “One thing you would definitely have to be good done to learn the programming,” Vince said. “This at is algebra and math,” Vince said. “But overall, if is something that I can do in my free time that really you really want to be successful in computer pro- interests me.” gramming, understanding the conVince became interested in comcept of what your program does Creatively coding puter coding after researching difis the most important thing to be ferent programs offered by colleges Coders use a variety of slang skilled in.” that he considered attending. He Vince practices by completing terms to convey different meanings was particularly interested in vidprograms specifically meant to Front end eo game development, specifically hone his skills by introducing new The way design elements come programming artificial intelligence together; what the user sees codes to him. of the video game characters.

“It’s not that difficult if you are Back end “The aspect I want to get into truly interested in computer pro- The coded end, the parts of the isn’t much so drawing something gramming,” Vince said. “If you’re progam the user does not see and animating it,” Vince said. “The dedicated, it will be easy for you. Psuedocode aspect I was really drawn to was (In order for me to be comfortable Not a programming language, creating the people in the game with my skills), it takes me howev- simple way of writing proand the way their minds work.” er long (I need) to memorize and gramming code in English Like Vince, Nick also wants to know what each function in a propursue video game creation in sources: Jordan Wright, junior gram does, which only takes a few the future. However, Nick is more weeks.” drawn to the graphics aspect of the Vince’s latest project, a text-based video game, dif- game. fers from others because instead of having graphics, “It’s akin to what you do in art. You see someone the game is completely in writing and involves se- else’s work and find things that you like about it, and lecting a choice from a written prompt that the game then try to replicate that in your own work,” Nick gives the player. This is his first project whose pur- said. “You’re not going to do it exactly right the first pose is to have a function besides teaching him how time, and it might be more difficult to do, but it’s reto code. ally helpful to learn new ways to program.”

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8 infocus Driven to frustration Continued from Front and then you have to wait another like ten minutes.”

Mr. Melby recognizes the benefits of having a staff member direct traffic, though he explains that the school has a limited amount of administrators due to other obligations, such as meetings and supervision of students.

“I think the issue is not having a person there. If you have a person there, (drivers) are more apt to do what they’re supposed to,” Mr. Melby said.

“There’s a set pattern and students— and adults, anyone that’s in that parking lot—are supposed to follow the path. Any time someone doesn’t do that, it’s going to cause problems, and it’s going to slow down the issue. If somebody turns when they’re not supposed to, or if somebody is speeding, it could cause problems. Hopefully, we have mature students who realize what they’re doing.”

However, the drop-off traffic causes the main congestion and frustration of the parking lot, not the student drivers, according to Camille.

“I don’t understand why they blocked off the Auditorium roundabout. It made it easier for parents dropping their kids off,” Camille said.

“Now when you turn into the South parking lot in the morning, I’ll be behind six parents who all stop on the side, and I thought they were (student) drivers. Then when they leave, they have to turn around, and people are trying to turn in. Sometimes I’m afraid people are gonna get hit.”

Although many changes have been made to the parking lots, students like Camille do not find them all beneficial.

“I think (the school) was trying to be proactive about everything with the parking lot,” Camille said. “I think they were thinking ‘This is what we should do,’ but honestly, it was better the way it was before when everyone could go out of different exits. There’s just no way you’re going to get out in a timely fashion.”

Lane Terry, junior, parks in the South lot and lives north of the school.

Because of this, she is easily able to enter the lot, but not exit.

“With the new traffic pattern, there’s less traffic on Columbia in the morning, and it’s easy for me to just take a right turn into the parking lot,” Lane said. “But at the end of the day, everyone is leaving South, and there’s a long line for everyone to get out.”

Administration revisited, and continues revisiting, these changes and adjusting accordingly, which includes allowing cars to leave where the busses exit to reduce traffic.

Also, Mr. Melby discards parking spots for student use that become filled with snow from plows during heavy snowfall.

“I think students have adjusted to the parking patterns for the most part,” Mr. Melby said. “I wish it was a perfect world and no student was in a rush. We constantly go back and try to make things easier, so I think a lot of the changes we’ve made have made it a lot better. Students at Munster, I consider them the best. I know they can adjust to the parking and the traffic patterns.”

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Caution to new drivers

With January being Teen Driving Awareness Month, students share stories of Driver’s Ed, being without a license, accidents Jordan Szymanski Sports Editor

Close call “It the Friday night after we beat Andrean (for football.) After the games we usually go to Taco Bell. So, I was driving home from Taco Bell on Hohman and it was a little rainy. As I was driving I started sneezing. I was having a sneezing fit and couldn’t stop as I started to drift over. I hit the curb and lost control of the car. I ran over a light pole and a small tree. In the end, my car was completely totaled.”

“Despite the cops’ advice, I didn’t go to the hospital. I knew I was fine, the car received more damage than I did. I feel extremely lucky that I didn’t hit anybody else, I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.

After I took the car to the body shop, they told me they had seen similar accidents where people had gotten paralyzed. A lot of luck was going my way that night, and I’m just glad the accident wasn’t from something stupid like texting.”

-Porter Taylor, junior

Borrowing wheels “I’m a senior, and I don’t have my license because I can’t drive until I’m 18. Insurance is just too expensive, and I have to pay for it myself. I use my sister to go everywhere. She has a car; everyone has a car except for me. I do have my permit though, my parents are making me take Driver’s Ed in February. I think Driver’s Ed will help me because I am terrified to drive.”

-Shannon Chopin, senior

Class is in session

“Driver’s Ed may be rough to get through, with all the classes, but it is definitely worth it. I learned a lot, and I always (had) a laugh in each class. I will get my license in about two weeks, and I have never been more anxious.”

-Alexis Pedraza, junior

Survey says...

source: Crier survey of 487 students conducted Jan. 8-12 on Google Forms

In a survey conducted by Crier, students answered questions about their driving experiences

Do you own your own car?

Yes 81.3%

No

18.7%

40.5% 50.8% have a Drivers’ License

56.3% took Driver’s Ed

38.8% photo illustrations by Rachel Bishop, Ashwin Iyer and Jaylee Rodriguez

have a Learner’s Permit

of students say that phones cause the most distraction while driving

52% of students have sent a text or checked social media while driving

8.2% of students have been in an accident while they were driving

sports 9

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Showing them the

ropes

Wrestling team utilizes practice routine for Conference; experienced teammates help others Danie Oberman Associate Editor Warm ups. Running. Drills. Weights.

Live matches.

In preparation for Conference tomorrow, wrestlers spend hours in practice.

“If you win (a match) the feeling’s the best, because you know you worked hard for it,” Josh Brann, junior, said. “But if you lose, then you feel like you need to go harder in practice.”

Wrestlers practice for two and a half hours a day honing their skills and, most importantly, improving their endurance, according to Assistant Coach Zach Slosser., ‘14.

“The conditioning is the most important part so we don’t lose our momentum in a match just because we’re

photo by Veronica Bilek

PINNED DOWN During practice, freshmen Ryan Hyland and Roberto Heath wrestle. Hyland hopes his experience this year will help him in the future. “I’m a freshman, so going against more experienced wrestlers is rough,” Hyland said. “The things the coaches teach us help us get better and improve what we need to improve in for every Saturday.” tired,” Coach Slosser said. “I’ve seen plenty of matches come down to someone getting tired.”

Despite all of his work in practice, Ryan Hyland, freshman, does not see himself winning at Conference due to his lack of experience, but hopes to improve down the line.

“I’m probably going to lose,” Hyland said. “This is my first year of actual wrestling, so I’m not really that good right now, but I’m going to be doing wrestling for the next three years after this year, so hopefully I get better and I just go farther. “

The team is mostly comprised of younger, more inexperienced wrestlers, which challenges the team against more experienced teams, according to Coach Michael Crary.

“I think the inexperienced aspect is what we struggle with a little bit more,” Coach Crary said. “Wrestling is a sport that just requires a lot of mat time. We like to see kids have 200 matches plus coming into high school (which) is a fairly experienced wrestler, and we only have three kids at that level.”

Unfortunately, the wrestlers cannot make up for a lack of mat time accord-

ing to Coach Crary.

“While our inexperienced kids can bring some of the lesser experienced kids along, that isn’t going to translate into wins as a team,” Coach Crary said.

While they are not quite at the level of the more seasoned wrestlers, the new wrestlers constantly impress Coach Slosser with their progress.

“These kids come here and with no idea what wrestling is, but they pick it up fast, and they really know how to learn quickly,” Coach Slosser said.

However, learning the sport is only half the battle. The mental demands in wrestling often outweigh the physical ones, according to Caleb Thomas, sophomore. “(The hardest part is finding) the drive and the will to try to keep going (and) push yourself past the physical part,” Thomas said.

Maintaining their composure when on the mat with another wrestler trying to take them down proves a difficult task, according to Coach Crary.

“It’s six minutes of extremely physical stress, and that manifests itself mentally in a lot of different ways depending on how prepared you are.”

Knowing that they have a chance of victory will carry the team through most of their Conference matches, according to Slosser.

“They need to go out there and know that—even with how unexperienced we are— everyone has a chance to win, and it doesn’t matter what the guy looks like or how many years he’s been wrestling,” Slosser said. “It’s just that they need to learn no matter who they are: they have a chance.”

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10sports

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Is it worth it?

Sports column

Joseph Bermudez Sports Editor

photo by Rachel Bishop

PURSUING PERFECTION In preparation for competitions, Sofia Balac, sophomore (middle), practices the pom routine with juniors Stephanie Vjestica (left) and Sugar Fane (right). While putting the finishing touches on the routine, the team focuses on displaying their emotions correctly. “Practices have gotten more frequent and intense for Nationals,” Balac said. “Smiling and showing emotion while you’re dancing is very important. If you don’t, then the judges will take off points.”

All the right moves

Dance competes at Northrop High School tomorrow, prepares for National competition in Florida Simon Pirok News Editor

A

s the Dance team continues their season with

a competition tomorrow at Northrop High School, Coach Cynthia Banas, WWMS teacher, prepares the team for another trip to the Nationals competition in Orlando at the end of the month.

“Lately, we have been performing really well together. The team has been working hard on getting our Jazz portion of the performance as good as it can be,” Captain Jackie Dye, senior, said. “Personally, I have really been helping push the team towards our main goal of doing well at State and Nationals. It’s really hard balancing being friends with everyone on the team and being tough on them when I need to.”

The team’s season continues tomorrow with the Indiana High School Dance Team Association (IHSDTA) Competition at Northrop High School in Fort Wayne beginning at 9 a.m. The team will attempt to improve their familiarity with their Jazz performance due to the fact that the original performance changed and must now be perfected.

“We’re looking for a first place finish in Pom to prove to the judges that our previous high finishes in Pom haven’t been flukes,” Melissa Fronczek, junior, said. “So far this season, our Jazz performances have

been kind of a toss-up, so we’re hoping that we can finish in third or higher so we can show that we’ve put a lot of time and effort into it.”At the end of January, the team will travel to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Center in Orlando to compete in the Universal Dance Association (UDA) National Competition.

This will be the team’s second time attending with Coach Banas.

“Last year we placed in the prelim round (the first of three) in Jazz and placed in the Semi-final round (the second of three),” Coach Banas said. “This year we’ve been wanting to improve our Jazz routine. We finished fifth in Jazz at State last year, and we just reworked our routine in hopes of improving our performance. We’ve really been hitting Jazz hard by working the emotion or the feeling of the dance by portraying the emotions that go along with the sound of the music.”

The team competed in the UDA Chicagoland Championship Jan. 9, where they faced teams from Illinois, Indiana and Iowa and placed third in Poms and sixth in Jazz performances.

“We performed pretty late on Saturday, so our performance really suffered because of a lack of energy,” Fronczek said. “From now on we’re going to try to conserve energy so we can give our best performance possible and entertain the judges and the audience with a performance that they will remember.”

It has been said that there is no greater feeling than winning the championship. But what is the game-winning home run in comparison to a fireman saving someone from a burning building? Is that buzzer-beating shot the same as a teacher tutoring a struggling student in their free time?

After leading the Toronto Blue Jays to their first playoff appearance since 1993, pitcher David Price declared the Free Agency. On Dec. 4 Price and the Boston Red Sox agreed to seven years worth $217 million—$31 million per year—making Price the highest, and most overpaid, player in the MLB. How could someone lifting a team to the playoffs for the first time in 22 years get rewarded $217 million when cardiac surgeon who saves people’s lives on a daily basis earns $500,000?

A problem most teams usually encounter is the situation of a strong year by a rookie. Those teams usually misjudge and offer that rookie a contract worth way too much than they should.

The large contract usually puts pressure on that rookie to continuously perform as the best and allows analysts to closely examine these athletes, putting them up to a ridiculously high standard. When that rookie does not put up the numbers they were paid to do, team owners find themselves watching other franchises reach the Super Bowl or Finals. The athletes that seem to be promising for the future may end up flopping.

At the end of the 2013 season, the San Francisco 49ers agreed to six years worth $114 million—$19 million per year—with young, promising quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Currently, Kaepernick serves as the team's backup quarterback due to his poor performances in the beginning of the 2015 season. He was benched Nov. 4 after the team suffered their sixth loss of the season in eight games. Kaepernick played half the year and still cashed in $19 million.

The fact that someone works a hard-laboring job just to feed their family, doctors work day and night to help people in need, and teachers devote their lives for students to get paid much less than someone who sat on the bench half a year of football is just sheer ridiculousness.

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sports 11

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Across the board Boys’ Basketball

photo by Veronica Bilek

REST UP Performing the butterfly stroke during daily afternoon practice, Charlene Cortez, senior, prepares herself for Conference tomorrow. As competition become more intense, practices tone down a little to keep the swimmers rested and focused. “We’re pre-taper for Sectionals, so we’re practicing a little less to save our energy,” Cortez said. “Because we swim less yardage, we get more rest and it helps us improve. We still practice twice a day but less yardage to conserve energy.”

Eat. Sleep. Swim. Repeat.

Girls’ Swimming competes in NCC meet, begins to prepare for competition Jordan Szymanski Sports Editor With the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) meet this weekend, Girls’ Swimming approachs the competitive stretch of their season. They begin taper, in which they prepare their bodies for higher competition.

“The NCC meet this weekend is very exciting,” Bridey McGinty, senior, said. “While it may not be an extremely high pressure meet, it marks the beginning of championship season. This means our season is winding down, and we only have a few big meets left.”

Even with the end of the season nearing, swimmers still push their bodies to the limit in and out of the pool, according to Megan Wimmer, junior.

“We work really hard in practices,” Wimmer said.

“Swimming is a very hard sport. I am always tired during the day, but I just have to be tough and work through it. I work really hard during the day to finish all of my schoolwork so I can go home and get some sleep.”

Although Conference contains less pressure than some of the meets the team faces in the near future, they still must train accordingly as they continue to out-perform themselves in practices, according to Wimmer.

“We spent our whole season preparing for this part of our season, so there is not much left to do before this meet,” Wimmer said. “All we can really do is practice hard and make sure we get a good amount of sleep.”

The practices this past week changed as the team slowly prepares for the taper portion of the their season.

“Practice this week is different from the rest of the season,” McGinty said. “This is partially because we just completed our long-course meters training, but also due to the fact that we are completing our pre-taper portion of the season and getting ready for the taper portion.”

The pre-taper portion of the season is when the swimmers do more technique work within fewer yards. They convert their pool back to a short course and also switch from swimming 7,000-9,000 yards a practice to 4,000-5,000 yards in order to rest their bodies.

“The shortening of yardage doesn’t make the practices any easier,” McGinty said. “In fact, the intensity of our training picks up this week.”

After pre-taper, the team heads into the taper portion, which is a complete cut of yard where the swimmers focus on sprinting. This is used to prepare them for the bigger meets coming up, according to McGinty.

“In order for us to prepare for the sprinting that will take place in these big meets, we try these methods (pre-taper and taper) to cut time,” McGinty said.

Not just a jump

Girls’ Diving will compete in Conference tomorrow, focuses on using skills from practices Mariah Villaroman Copy Editor

photo by Elisa Del Toro

DIVING IN As Conference draws near, practices run longer for Girls’ Diving, including Natalie Kuipers, junior, to focus on perfecting their dive. “We do put a lot of stress on ourselves,” Kuipers said. “But when I get on the board, my mind is cleared and focused on perfecting the dive.”

At every Girls’ Diving practice, each diver must complete a list of detailed dives that differ in style and difficulty, according to Taylor Brant, senior. With only four divers on the team, Taylor explains that they can finish their dives easily.

“Diving is one-on-one with your coach,” Brant said. “(A smaller team) gives us more practice time because we can go right after each other because we don’t have to wait 10 minutes for the next turn to get on the board.”

The team will compete in Conference tomorrow at Highland High School, and maintaining strategy

of a smaller team will benefit their performance, according to Brant.

“We have some of the best freshmen in our Conference,” Brant said. “They’ve made a lot of improvement since the first day they came in, and at all the dual meets, they have pretty much beaten every freshman and sophomore diver (from other teams) they competed against.”

Coach Bill Chappo sets the goal of having the three competing divers place in the top six at Conference and possibly winning the Conference title.

“All four have been working really hard on a daily basis to improve their dives and their degree of difficulty,” Coach Chappo said.

Boys’ Basketball travels to Merrillville tomorrow. The team is currently 4-7, but they are improving, according to Coach Mike Hackett, health teacher. “(Merrillville) is undefeated, so that will be a big challenge,” Coach Hackett said. “Its not going to be an easy game, just a game we hope to learn form.”

The post-season does not begin until Feb. 26, giving the team time to utilize the information they will learn from playing a strong team, like Merrillville. “(The game) will be a good, competitive game, but not important,” Coach Hackett said “(If we won), it would be a great victory because it would show how much we’ve improved and what we’re capable of doing.”

Girls’ Basketball With only four games remaining in the regular season, Girls’ Basketball hopes to take down the best team in the Conference. “(Kankakee Valley) is number one in our conference,” Coach Jim Davidson, PLTW teacher, said. “If we can knock them off and win our last conference game, then we’d have a shot at the conference title. It’s a game we’re looking forward to.”

The team hopes their recent success will carry over into the post-season.

“These past few wins have really hyped us up to play (Kankakee Valley),” Sammi Buvala, senior, said. “We have to work hard and play defense like we did against Hanover to win.”

Boys’ Diving Boys’ Diving prepares for next Tuesday’s meet at rival Highland.

“I’m hoping that Michael (Johnston, junior) can continue his great performance on Tuesday,” Coach Chappo said. “We’re hoping he can continue to stay focused and he can reach his top vertical range.”

For Johnston, the lessons he learns from Coach Chappo are extremely helpful and valuable.

“Coach’s experience is really helpful because he’s been around the sport for a long time and he knows a lot of the area coaches,” Johnston said. “He also knows a lot of the diving coaches who coach at colleges, so if I decide to dive in college I can hopefully find a place to go to.”

Boys’ Swimming Next Tuesday, Boys’ Swimming will face off against Highland, where they hope take first place again.

“The Highland Dual meet is usually good for our guys because we typically do really well,” Coach Mathew Pavlovich, P.E. teacher, said. “It’ll be nice to swim against them to keep up the Munster against Highland rivalry.”

After battling an injury and sickness for the last two weeks, Vinny Niaves, junior, hopes to get back on track by practicing with different race lengths.

“I had tendonitis in my right shoulder for two weeks which was a really big setback, and I was sick with a cold for a week or so, which was more of a nag than anything else,” Niaves said.

12student life

Crier/Jan. 15, 2016

Vote of confidence

With 2016 presidential election year beginning, students, teacher share opinions about actively participating in

Meena Kandallu Editor-in-Chief

Awareness about the 2016 presidential election varies among students

W

her mother being a criminal defense attorney, family discussions for Anna Riggs, senior, have often revolved around politics.

She recalls visits to her grandmother’s house during which her grandmother would make her watch news stations or read articles about healthcare and then ask her to form an opinion.

“I guess I was always into (politics) because my family has always been involved,” Anna said.

When she entered high school, Anna gained more knowledge about government and politics by joining the We the People team and extemporaneous speaking, a speech event that requires competitors to deliver speeches about current events. Anna emphasizes that, while she initially became involved in politics because of her family, she is now able to form her own opinions.

“I don’t agree with my family on everything anymore. I have my own opinions,” Anna said. “Although my family has always been really into politics, they never forced opinions onto me.”

54.5%

of students consider themselves to be wellinformed about the 2016 presidential election

82% of students plan on voting when they are able to of students have watched a Republican Primary debate for this election

55%

With the Iowa caucus occurring Feb. 1, the

2016 presidential election cycle will officially begin. As this election cycle begins, many students at MHS will be eligible to vote for their first time.

As a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Anna plans to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Recently, she attended a fundraiser that former president Bill Clinton held in Munster to raise support for his wife Hillary Clinton.

Race to the White House

of students have watched a Democrat Primary debate for this election

49%

sources: survey conducted by Crier of 555 students from Jan. 10-14 on Google Forms

Democrats

Bernie Sanders Vermont congressman

which will occur in early May, seniors Vince D’Angelo, Civics Club president, and Lucas Newell, Civics Club vice president, plan to set up a booth to give students information about the election and help them register to vote. Vince hopes to use the booth as a way to engage students in the election.

“I think that voting is really important, and there’s a perception that young people don’t have an effect on an election, and I think that’s because young people don’t get out and vote that much,” Vince said. “Also, there are studies that show that if you start voting at a younger age, you’re more likely to continue to vote when you get older.”

As the Indiana primary and November presidential election near, Mr. Michael Gordon, government teacher, explains the importance of being informed. He suggests that students start by using readily available resources, such as C-SPAN, a cable channel and website that provides video coverage of U.S. and international political events.

“Democracy doesn’t just work. You have to work it,” Mr. Gordon said. “It is not enough to merely show up to the polls in a hazy cloud of confusion and ignorance and think you’ve done your job as a citizen.

If you want to have rights, then you must accept the corresponding responsibilities.”

Mr. Gordon, however, argues that voting is about more than selecting the next president.

“Mathematically, you’ve got a greater chance of getting struck by lightning, probably twice in the same day, than a chance that your single vote from Indiana will choose the president,” Mr. Gordon said. “Instead, (participating in the election is) about legitimacy, it’s about being counted, it’s about being a part of something larger than yourself, it’s about speaking up.”

With 12 presidential candidates running in the 2016 election, here are six front running Democrat, Republican Candidates chosen by results of a Crier survey

31.5% of students identify as Democrat

Republicans

26.8% of students identify as Republican

Hillary Clinton

Martin O’ Malley

Donald Trump

Marco Rubio

Secretary of State

Governor of Maryland

Entrepreneur

U.S senator

U.S senator

3.8% of students said

1.4% of students said

they want Rubio to win the election

they want Cruz to win the election

29.7% 13.6% .2% 15.2% of students said of students said of students said of students said they want Sanders to win the election

they want Clinton to win the election

they want O’Malley to win the election

they want Trump to win the election

Note: totaled percentages do not equal 100 because surveyed students were allowed to choose from 12 candidates Source: usa.gov; berniesanders.com; hillaryclinton.com; Official Photo at Department of State page; flickr.com/photos/mdgovpics/10479620853; martinomalley.com; donaldjtrump.com; Gage Skidmore; marcorubio.com; email from the office of senator marco; tedcruz.org; via: commons.wikimedia.org

Register to vote

In Indiana you must register to vote 29 days before the election.

Register online at USA.gov/ register-to-vote

May 6, 2016

Indiana Primary political parties nominate a presidential candidate based on results of the primary elections

Yesterday, the 2016 Oscar nominees were announced. What movie would you like to see win Best Picture? Why?

Before the Indiana primary elections,

The results are in

ith her grandmother being a former member of the electoral college and

BACKTALK

Nov 18, 2016

Alicia Chudziak, freshman

“‘The Visit,’ because it reminds me of my family dynamic.”

Breanna Riordan, sophomore

“‘The Revenant.’ The acting was awesome in it, and the story was really good. I’m not a movie critic, but it was a good movie.”

Ian Frantal, junior

“‘Star Wars,’ because it was fantastic, and unlike some second, or in this case, seventh movie in a series, this one did not disappoint whatsoever.”

Maya Radjenovich, freshman

“‘Creed,’ because it shows how much work, dedication and hardship an athlete has to go through.”

Aaron Richards, sophomore

“‘Krampus.’ I went in there expecting nothing, and I came out shocked because it was so good.”

Ian Merkel, junior

Ted Cruz “‘The Martian,’ because it was one of the best scientific movies I have seen.”

graphic by: Ian Brundige

Electoral College

The president is elected by the must 18 or older on or before Electoral College, a group of chosen citizens. A state receives electors this date to vote based on its number of U.S. Congressmen.

general elections

“‘Jurassic World,’ because Christ Pratt is hot.”

Palakben Patel, senior

“‘Star Wars’ because they introduce the character Rey. It is the first time they introduce a main female role, so now they can really bring girls into the audience.”

Ms. Kaitlyn Phillips, student teacher