ioneer
October 4, 2013 Maine East High School Park Ridge, Illinois @mehspioneer
Putting the POW in Powder Puff! Seniors defeat Juniors 32-14 in annual charity event
Cover photos by Veronica Malesinski
The
Syria has history of issues before latest chemical weapon atrocities By Princy Daniel Syria has been in the news for months at a time now, but the history of their civil unrest stretches back even farther than what we are seeing today. March 2011: First major protests began in Syria. Syrians gathered in Damascus to call for the release of the wrongly imprisoned. In Daraa, Syrians also gathered, but many were shot and killed. May 2011: Bashar al-Assad unleashes the military on anti-regime protesters throughout Syria. August 2011: Obama grows concerned with the actions of Basahr al-Assad, and asks him to step down. Subsequently, the U.S freezes the financial assets of the Syrian government under American jurisdiction. February 2012: Russia and China support Syria against the proposed reprisals of the United Nations. The United States shut down the embassy in
Damascus and made the diplomats leave, in fear of constant fighting between the government and the people.
Syrian government has been operating in bad faith and have been employing the use of chemical weapons.
June 2012: United Nations pulls out of Syria. They believe the escalating violence cannot be fixed through warfare. On June 21st, the Syrian army shoots a Turkish jet and causes an emergency NATO meeting.
May 2013: Hezbollah, the Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party, aids the Syrian government against growing numbers of rebels.
November 2012: Tensions continue to increase between the Syrian government and its people. Rebel forces went so far as to shoot down multiple government planes and helicopters. January 2013: 65 bodies of massacred civilians found in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria. They had been bound and shot, execution style. February 2013: Syrian rebels look to Middle Eastern neighbors and allies for weapons and arms, and they get what they want by the caseloads. April 2013: France and Britain approach the United Nations with proof that the
June 2013: The tensions in Syria continue and the death toll reaches the staggering total of 93,000 people. On June 13th, Obama authorized military support of the rebels after it was confirmed that the Assad regime used chemical weapons on civilians and protesters. Present Day: Syria has submitted a full inventory of chemical weapons to the United Nations in in order to comply with their first deadline on the removal of chemical weapons in Syria. By November, Syria is scheduled to be completely stripped of all chemical weapons and equipment. The future of the Syrian people remains uncertain, but they continue to hold on to what they have believed and fought for so long.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has agreed to the U.N. resolution to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons program.
2 | THE PIONEER | October 4, 2013
Record flooding causes death and destruction in Colorado By Sherri Robinson On Wednesday, September 11 a massive flash flood swept through Colorado destroying entire towns, severely damaging thousands of homes, cars and roads.There are at least 7 people dead and hundreds still missing due to the flood, which many experts claim, for this region, is one of the worst in history. The huge flood destroyed or damaged about 20,000 homes and several roads, major highways, gas lines, and sewer systems.. About 18,000 homes were damaged and 1,500 completely destroyed. The current best estimate of total property damage is over 2 million, according to Fox News. Weather conditions have made it difficult to rescue victims. The mountainous region and damaged roads make it difficult for rescue vehicles, and the low cloud cover has made air rescue troublesome as well. Most of the homes and areas affected by the flood are difficult to access under normal circumstances. Experts say some of the towns could be uninhabitable and unreachable for up to a year. So far 21 helicopters have been fanning out over the region dropping supplies and airlifting those in need. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has two additional 80-person search-and-rescue teams to help.They have been using large military vehicles to attempt to get up the steep mountain roads.
Warning signs may have been missed before Washington D.C. Navy Yard shooting By James Caldwell, Monica Stevenson, and Aneta Szyba Thirteen people were found dead in the Washington D.C. Navy Yard on Monday, September 16. Along with the thirteen dead, eight others were injured on the scene. This incident happens to be the worst loss of life in D.C. since the 1978 Potomac River plane crash. The Navy Yard shooter is named Aaron Alexis. Alexis gained access into the Navy Yard with an official ID, and then moved to high ground where he would shoot the victims. It is expected that he had stolen weapons from guards, along with bringing in weapons of his own. Authorities believed he came out of the bathroom, shooting at people randomly. According to law enforcement officials however, Alexis was shooting from the building atrium. Police said it took over 30 minutes to then track down and kill Alexis. There was some indication of this happening, although Alexis didn’t seem to have any differences with any members of the Navy. Alexis served in the Navy from 2007-2011, but was
released for “patterns of misconduct.” Alexis also had a few run-ins with the law in several different states. Alexis supposedly had psychological problems, possibly after 9/11 which is when he was serving in the army. There were other instances of strange behavior including several cases of anger problems as well as some trouble sleeping. In a Rhode Island hotel, Alexis heard voices harassing him, wanting to harm him and he couldn’t sleep. He believed people were following him using a microwave machine to send vibrations to his body. He called police about it. Many believe that the police, military, the Department of Veterans Affairs and his employer ignored or overlooked the violent behavior which was a warning sign of far worse things to come. In addition to his clear mental illness, Alexis was arrested three times previously for acts of violence. In 2004, he had an anger blackout and shot three rounds from his .45 caliber Glock. Later in 2010, he fired a gunshot that went through the upstairs apartment. In addition to that Alexis was cited for acts
Authorities on high alert after the shooting at the D.C. Navy Yard.
of aggression and hallucinations. Alexis’ past violent background was a major clue that authorities
missed which could have prevented the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.
Another shooting, same question: how could this have been avoided? By Monica Stevenson and Aneta Szyba As we look back into all the mass shootings that happened within the past few years such as Sandy Hook, the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, and Virginia Tech, all the people who opened fire were men. When we think about the possible causes of all these mass shooting and the shooter’s motive, many relate back to the violent video games everyone plays nowadays. Violent video games have a big influence on the mind’s of men
and can lead to violent behavior. According to ABC news’s research through the Media Violence Commission, “Some commentators have argued that violent media, especially violent video games, are the primary cause of school shootings” This is strong language, but possibly true. An article by ABC news about Aaron Alexis’ motives states “Among the emerging details about Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis was the fact that the former Navy reservist was obsessed with military-style video games, according to one of his friends, Michael Ritro-
vato.” Even though no one may ever know the true motive behind all the mass shootings, the on-going research suggests a clear path to possibly prevent future shootings. Another cause that is often overlooked is mental illness. The majority of the killers have untreated mental illnesses. According to the Sun Times, America has betrayed the mentally ill by drastically reducing the availability of treatment. When Alexis called police in Rhode Island and complained of “voices” in his head and the “people who were sending vibrations to his body” with a “microwave machine,”
police should have intervened and taken him to a psych unit for evaluation. Instead police told him to avoid the “people” who were bothering him. The Sun Times reports that the mentally ill comprise 400,000 of the nation’s 2.2 million prison inmates and one-third of the nation’s homeless. If more mental health treatment is available, people dealing with this illness will get help and relief from their suffering. Most importantly, though, awful tragedies like this mass shooting could be avoided. October 4, 2013 | THE PIONEER | 3
By Mohammed Ahmed What is Chrome Depot? Maine East presents ChromeDepot. The Chrome Depot is an area where students can visit if they are having trouble with their Chromebooks. The Chrome Depot is staffed by student volunteers and interns who are dedicated to learning about technology and helping others. The Chrome Depot is supervised by Mr. Ocampo, from our technology department. The Chrome Depot is located in room 220F and is open from 7:15 AM to 3:45 PM during school days. When the Chrome Depot is not open for service, you can always visit their website, Tinyurl.com/chrometech for helpful tips, student resources, and much more! The Chrome Depot staff does Chromebook repair,
including screen replacement, software issues, Chromebook damage, and other situations. Maine Township has been considering going 1:1 for several years. 1:1 means that every student in the District will have access to a Chromebook. This year freshman and sophomores were the first to get Chromebooks. Each year, as the new freshman class is added, all students will have them by the 2015-16 school year. There are many reasons to go 1:1. The main reason is to provide a 21st century learning experience for every student. Chromebooks and ebooks are relatively inexpensive, and since many books can be purchased electronically, the cost to families is about the same or less over the course of four years. As a result, students get access to good technology to do their school work at about the same cost as before Chromebooks.
Are you for or against the 1:1 Chromebook policy in District 207?
Students against the Chromebooks, 33 Students in favor of the Chromebooks, 97
130 Maine East students polled
If you could change What do you use What is the best part How do you think one thing about your your Chromebook for about a your Chromebook Chromebook, what the most? Chromebook? helps you in class? would it be?
Helps with looking up an answer to a question
Where do you use your Chromebook the most?
Homework and to listen to music
It's convenient
Writing papers
It's light
School work and homework
Everything is accessable in one book
Can quickly check something
Not having one
School
Online books
It's light
Makes things faster and easier
Bigger screen
Library
Nothing
Library
Janel Washington
Easier to do things as Depends too much on a whole in class the internet
At home
Charley Rasmussen
Kenza Naqvi
Anatoly Tverdovsky 4 | THE PIONEER | October 4, 2013
HOMECOMING GAME PREVIEW
Blue Demons hope to even up their record vs. Vikings By Alex Corey
The Maine East football team takes on Niles North tonight for the 2013 Homecoming game. The game should be a good one; Maine East, who has struggled with injury problems all season, will try for a win over the Vikings. A win would be a huge boost, raising the Blue Demons’ record to 3-3 (.500), which would put the team in a great position with three games remaining in the season. The team set a pre-season goal to be the first Maine East team
since 1976 to go to the IHSA playoffs. A team must win a minimum of 5 games to get to the playoffs. A win tonight would put the team right on track to do something special and accomplish its goal. Keys to victory Maine East is going to rely mainly on sophomore Woody Corey to play a great game. He was converted from running back to quarterback after the loss of both first string quarterback, senior Alex Corey, and second string
quarterback, Steven Youel. Woody replaced Youel last week midway through the game. For the team to pull off the win tonight, they need to execute on offense and take advantage of any scoring opportunities. The team will also need a big game from senior running back Christian Lopez, who last week rushed for over 280 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Javed Lukovic will return from an ankle injury and hopes to have a big game. The efense will look to shut down
Niles North's offense by everyone taking care of their responsibilities and playing with energy. An uncounted for key is the crowd; the more positive energy in the stadium, the more positive things that happen on the field. All Maine East students, regardless of their level of understanding football, should come out and cheer their school on to victory over the Vikings! The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 in Memorial Stadium. Go Blue Demons! October 4, 2013 | THE PIONEER | 5
It’s a BUMMER that it’s not still SUMMER! (but we still have the memories)
Ms. Reitz and her family vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado. Mr. Miller and his daughter race around a Door County “speedway”.
Ms. Tyler and her son pack up for college!
Ms. Lee and her son are all smiles.
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Mr. Bender and his son take in a ball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Ms. Berko takes a harbor boat tour in Monterrey Bay, California, with her husband and daughter.
Ms. Spiegel and her daughter vacation in Quebec, Canada.
Mr. Brown and his family sail near Sister Bay, Wisconsin. Mr. Reuhs and his son enjoy a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
Ms. Riha spends some quality time with her daughter.
Mr. Olson and his wife hang out on a beach in Traverse City, Michigan.
Ms. Meier in St. Cirq, France, on a 2-week trip, “The Artist’s Sketchbook in Southwestern France”.
October 4, 2013 | THE PIONEER | 7
Mr. Hankins and his daughters strike a pose at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado.
Ms. Jozwiak (right) attends a Jason Aldean concert at Wrigley Field.
Ms. Vaznelis spends some family time in Boulder, Colorado.
Above: Mr. Kaiser and his family bike ride down the Fox River Trail. Left: Mr. Kaiser wins the Best Beard Contest and takes 1st place in the Hatchet Throwing Competition at the Rundezvous Race.
Ms. Chlebek and her daughter have some summer fun.
Mr. Lasky does his stairs workout over the summer. Ms. Geurts and her husband hike at Whitefish Dunes in Door County, Wisconsin.
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Ms. Jozwiak (right) attends a Jason Aldean concert at Wrigley Field. Mr. DiPrizio fishes with his grandson. “Our Actions Today Will Echo in Eternity� Ms. Taylor and her husband take a snorkeling expedition in Hawaii.
Mr. Montesano and his family enjoy some beach time in Michigan.
Mr. Parlette vacations in Brugges, Belgium.
Mr. Harper relaxes on a beach in Michigan. Dr. Rutschke and her husband celebrate their 11th anniversary in Riviera Mia.
October 4, 2013 | THE PIONEER | 9
Summer Pics continued...
Ms. Murphy vacations in Ireland with her family.
Mr. Chovanec and his wife cruise Glacier Bay, Alaska.
Yamat takes 4th place in CSL Tournament
Competing against some of the best golfers in Illinois, junior Orion Yamat shot a 76 and earned 4th place at the Central Suburban League Conference Tournament on Tuesday in Glencoe . Yamat will compete in the IHSA Regional Tournament next Tuesday at Sportsmans Country Club in Northbrook.
REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
The Pioneer Maine East High School • Park Ridge, Illinois October 4, 2013 10 | THE PIONEER | October 4, 2013
Princy Daniel Fatima Patel James Caldwell Monica Stevenson Aneta Szyba Sherri Robinson Mohammed Ahmed
Alex Corey Michael Petillo Silviya Georgieva Veronica Malesinski Julie Joseph Paulina Dabrowska
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The Pioneer reports on news, entertainment, and sports events for Maine East High School and the surrounding community. The Pioneer is distributed to students, staff, and a limited mailing list. Submit story suggestions, photos, letters to the editor, or comments to sponsor Matt Miller or assistant sponsor Dave Hessert via email: mmiller@maine207.org • dhessert@maine207.org
Tech wars heat up with iPhone 5S and Galaxy Note III It’s that time of the year again! New phones are being released and it’s time to talk tech about which phones are better. Samsung and Apple have been bitter rivals in the world of technology, with constant lawsuits over technological patents and products, such as the patent lawsuit Apple won in 2011. Now it has come time again to battle it out in the world of phones. iPhone 5S was released on September 20th, while the Samsung Note III came out on October 1st. For all you iPhone bandwagoners, here are the facts. The Samsung Note III features a 5.7”, huge super-amoled display and weighs about 168 grams while the iPhone features a 4” Retina display and clocks in at about 112 grams. The note offers a much bigger screen for those who love multitasking (dual window compatibility) and also comes with a stylus pen.
The iPhone has a smaller screen and less space to multitask. The resolution of the iPhone is 1136by-640 resolution and the resolution of the note is 1920-by-1080. Although the numbers suggest that the Note has a better resolution, both phones offer HD screens and HD video recording. The note offers a 13MP back camera and a 2MP front facing camera for amazing, clear picture quality. The iPhone 5S of-
fers a 8MP back camera and 1.2MP front facing camera. The Note is a better phone for those who love photography and quality pictures. iPhone 5S has an aluminum casing as opposed to the Note III’s faux leather backside. The Note feature a stylus for on screen activities, which is not featured on the iPhone, however the iPhone has a fingerprint scanner which is not featured on the Note. iPhone might be better for security-minded people and
the Notes’ stylus is better for, say, note-taking, as the phone’s name suggests. The Note III processor is the SnapDragon 800 Quad Core 2.3GHz compared to the iPhone 5S processor: Apple’s new A7 chipset Dual Core 1.3 GHz processor. For all you non-tech people, the Note offers faster phone speed over the 5S. Also, the battery for the Note is bigger than the iPhone’s. If you want a phone that will last you throughout the day and longer than other phones, the Note III is your phone. Other features for both phones include voice control, Siri for the 5S and Google Voice for the Note.The Note offers remote control and side by side multitasking which are not availabile on the iPhone. Both phones are moderately expensive; the Note III costs $100 more than the 5S. An iPhone 5S 16GB will run you $200 while a Samsung Note III 16GB costs $300. These prices are based on a long-term contract with the content provider (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint).
Eminem goes ‘Berzerk’ with new album By Michael Petillo
On August 25th, during one of the commercial breaks of the 2013 MTV VMA’s (Video Music Awards), there was a certain commercial for Dr. Dre and his line of “Beats By Dre Headphones” that really stood out. The commercial seemed to include parts of a brand new song by none other than Dr. Dre’s prodigy, Eminem. Three years after the release of his latest album, “Recovery,” Eminem had not yet released any new material. This commercial put the music world on the edge of its seat. Everyone expected that Eminem released a new song just to market the new studio
headphones but, at the end of the commercial the screen went black and then something popped up in bold red letters, “MMLP2 11/5/13” (Marshall Mathers LP 2). This was jaw dropping to the music community. Within the next 24 hours, Eminem unveiled "Berzerk," the first single off his upcoming disc, "MMLP2," or "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," a sequel to "The Marshall Mathers LP" from 2000. Although it is a sequel, there is reason to believe that this album will go down in history. "Berzerk" has a strong vibe from the Beastie Boys, with Rick Rubin and Dr. Dre producing the single. Actually the two have co-produced the entire "MMLP2." Listening to the song, we can hear the illustrious “Slim Shady” persona coming back to life as Eminem throws many comedic jabs at celebrities such as, Khloe Kardashian, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, and up and coming rap artist, Kendrick Lamar. To quote the opening line from "Berzerk," " Now lets take it back to straight hip-hop and start it from scratch" no one fully knows
what Eminem is bringing to the table with this album, but we can not wait to find out on November 5th.
October 4, 2013 | THE PIONEER | 11
SPORTS
Soccer team faces injuries in tough loss to H.P. By Silviya Georgieva
The Maine East soccer team lost 2-1 against Highland Park last Wednesday night, but that was not the worst news. Not only did they lose the game, they lost a couple of players – maybe for the rest of the season; the Demons were not very happy Wednesday night. In the first 20 minutes keeper, David Patyk saved 3 goals, but soon after Highland Park scored two goals. The first goal was an own-goal, scored by accident by someone on our own team, which disappointed many people in the crowd. Not even ten minutes later Highland Park’s Michael Muntono scored, which resulted in a 2-0 score during half time. The second half was intense because the Maine East boys were already losing 2-0 and had to work hard to get their score up. With only 6:43 minutes left in the game, our own Dino Tijanic scored which resulted in the final score 2-1. “The team didn’t play to our full potential,” said player Dino Tijanic. “We lost a couple of players due to injury but at the end we should’ve came out with a win.” The reason they don’t seem to be playing to their full potential is because they’ve lost the past few games they’ve had and they’re starting to lose hope. “I thought we played good,” said injured keeper David Patyk. “But the other team came out stronger than us and I was unfortunate to get injured with 6 minutes left in the game. If we keep the momentum going and finish our chances, we’ll start winning again.” There were a lot of injuries in this game, Patyk was one of them and he’s out for the rest of the season, perhaps longer. Alex Lulek and Wilson Noriega also got hurt. 12 | THE PIONEER | October 4, 2013
Patyk is on crutches; he collided into a player’s ribs, he got the wind knocked out of him, and might be in need of surgery on his knee. He will not be going to the Badgers tournament this weekend, and one can only guess the feelings and thoughts that are going through his mind. These are the types of things that make the team stronger and weaker at the same time. Even though Patyk is out, they will have Timi to take over. Maybe it was a long time coming for David’s injury, but Timi will do well. This will hopefully bring the players together because they can finally start realizing that they need to take up responsibility and start winning together.
Girls cross country team proves that size doesn’t matter By Veronica Malesinski The Blue Demons Girls cross country team has been having a very successful season so far despite the size of the team. Day by day the girls have been working hard and putting forth the necessary effort to reach the next level. So far their best accomplishment this season has been the team’s performance at the Warren Blue Devil Invitational. Every single girl on the team ran a season best time. The great weather combined with the girls’ smart racing tactics lead to huge improvements. Some girls even beat their personal records by minutes! Runners to look out for are Jessica Cuevas, Leslie Christiansen, and Alex Plezia. All three are dedicated to the sport and their strong desire to succeed is helping them make great improvements in
Maine East runners Leslie Christensen, Jessica Cuevas, and Alex Plezia pose with their medals after the meet.
their races. “One of my goals for this season is to have each girl run a final season pr [personal record] at the end of the season,” Coach Carter said. “Another goal of mine is to qualify a few athletes for the Sectional meet.” The thing that makes this
cross country team different and special from others in the CSL Conference is its size. In terms of numbers the team is small, but this aspect doesn’t stop the girls from racing. The team has a lot of heart and has formed such a tight-knit group that functions more like a family than merely a team.