@thenorthpointe www.northpointenow.org

NORTH POINTEWEDNESDAY, JAN. 27, 2016

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

SPORTSPAGE 11

Left: Boys swim team mem-bers participating in an invita-tional meet on Jan. 16 at North.

“What possibly caused the most backlash from Flint’s water crisis was the government’s delayed response.”

LIFE - PAGE 5

VOLUME 48 | ISSUE 7Calendar | 2 News | 3

On Campus | 4 Life | 5-6

Reviews | 7 On Pointe| 8

Editorial | 9 Sports | 10-11

In-Depth | 12

Physiology students dissect minks as part of their muscle unit.

ON CAMPUS - PAGE 5

“The beaten path is traveled by many people, but if you can’t survive it, plot

a different course.”

IDEAS - PAGE 9

SYDNEY BENSON

Senior scores scholar MHSAA athlete finalist sp tBy Anu SubramaniumEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

For senior Erin Armbruster, sports have been a way of life since she started playing basketball in second grade. It only expanded from there, as Armbruster also took up volleyball and track before she left middle school.

By the time she graduates, Armbruster will have earned 11 varsity letters. Along with her strong academics and multiple extracurriculars, Armbruster’s athletic achieve-ments have earned her a spot as a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) scholar athlete finalist. Out of hundreds of applicants across the state, Armbruster was one of the 24 girls finalists chosen.

North’s last finalist was alumnus Alex Davenport back in 2006. Spots are very competitive, as only 24 girls and 24 boys are picked from all Class A schools.

“It makes me feel good. It makes me feel accomplished,” Armbruster said. “I didn’t know that it was that big a deal for the school ... but it feels really cool, and it makes me feel like working hard paid off.”

Armbruster has been a part of the varsity girls basket-ball and varsity track teams since she was a freshman and joined the varsity volleyball team beginning as a sopho-more. One of her biggest influences as an athlete was her basketball coach, Gary Bennett, who believes Arm-bruster’s values and personality make her a good candidate.

“Over the past four years, I have seen Erin grow both as an athlete and as a leader. Through (an) ex-emplary work ethic and a genuine willingness to learn, she has improved her basketball skills and fundamentals each year. She is a super leader who has been a great role model for the younger players in our program (in terms of academics, athletics and personal qualities) and who has been an exceptional ambassador for carrying on the many traditions and core values of our program,” Bennett said via email. “She is an outstanding representative of our school

and community. She definitely leads by example both on and off the court.”

Eligibility requirements for the award include enroll-ment at an MHSAA member school, being a senior, having a varsity letter prior to senior year in an MHSAA sport that sponsors a post-season tournament and a 3.5 minimum grade point average.

The application is made up of four different compo-nents—essay, extracurriculars and activities form, short-answer questions and letters of recommendation—all of which are weighted differently during the review process.

In total, 32 $1,000 scholarships are awarded across all class categories, but only six girls and six boys in Class A will be selected as winners. Class A winners will be an-nounced February 16.

Armbruster’s volleyball coach, Chelsea Brozo, was not surprised at her selection as a finalist. Brozo feels that Arm-bruster sets herself apart from others with her attitude.

“She is always thinking about others, helping team-mates, and always has a smile on her face while doing so,” Brozo said via email. “I was (lucky) enough to coach Erin as a head coach for two years. She grew as an athlete but heart is something she has always had. She grew comfort-able in who she is, what she could accomplish, and how many teammates she could help along the way.”

English teacher Diane Montgomery, who has coached Armbruster in track for four years, feels what makes Arm-bruster unique is her ability to not only be positive, but also spread the energy throughout the team. Montgom-ery also taught Armbruster during her freshman year and feels she works hard in the academic setting, too.

“She’s an athlete who always has a lot of energy that brings the whole team up. And she’s very dedicated to her studies,” Montgomery said. “I love working with some-body who is so positive and full of energy. She is kind of like a puppy.”

Armbruster does not plan on playing competitive sports during college as she wants to attend a larger,

Division-1 university. However, she would like to play intramural sports to keep herself busy and stay involved in the sports she has played for years.

Armbruster’s mother, Judy Armbruster, believes sports are a huge part of Erin’s life and that she has taken away a lot from her years of athletics.

“Through sports, you learn a lot about working hard, self-discipline, teamwork, working to-wards a common goal, so I would have to say I’ve seen Erin grow as a per-son through all of the things she has learned through athletics,” Judy said.

Erin feels honored to be the only finalist of the four other North ath-letes who applied.

She also said that her coaches, like Bennett, have been a big in-fluence on her and helped her in everything that she does.

“As a person, I feel like I’ve definitely grown up a lot, matured more, because Mr. Bennett would always stress important val-ues like working hard, putting your best effort through everything and that has stuck with me,” Armbruster said. “Basically (with) every-thing I’ve done, I’ve always put my best effort forward, (for) school, sports, work, whatever, be-cause he says it so much.”

Earth Science teacher Ardis Herrold earns MESTA awardBy Katelynn MulderSTAFF REPORTER

Earth Science teacher and the Radio Astronomy Team (RATs) supervisor Ardis Herrold was given The Art Weinle Heart of Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association (MESTA) Award in October for her dedi-cation to and passion for teaching Earth Science.

“I did not know I was going to get it,” Herrold said via email. “It was a total surprise.”

The Art Weinle Heart of MESTA Award was es-tablished as a memorial for former North teacher Art Weinle after he passed away in 2008. He taught Geology and Earth Science at North for over three decades and the award was created to acknowledge teachers who have also dedicated their time to 15 or more years as an Earth Science teacher. These teach-ers must have also been involved in professional leadership roles and service to other teachers.

MESTA only gives out this award when the com-

mittee feels a teacher is deserving. The award is not annual and has only been given out a few times prior to last year. Herrold has taught for 37 years at multi-ple schools, and has worked with MESTA since 1980. She has held several positions in MESTA as an edi-tor and even as a president where she worked to help serve other teachers.

RATz member, sophomore Michelle Bridges, be-lieves that astronomy, RATz and teaching are all a important part of Herrold’s life.

“(Her class) has changed my view on the world and astronomy because we learn how to actually map out stars and learn how to look at the sky,” Bridges said.

At MESTA’s annual award giving conference in October, Herrold was very surprised to hear that she had won this legacy award.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

LAUREN SEXTON

ARDIS HERROLD

ABOVE: Herrold and other MESTA members pose outside of the science wing with a chunk of banded iron from the Upper Peninsula which they dedicated to deceased teacher and MESTA leader Art Weinle.

ERIN ARMBRUSTER ERIN ARMBRUSTERABOVE: Armbruster runs in the 300-meter hurdles event at a track meet. She also participat-ed in the high jump.

ABOVE: Armbruster jumps to spike a ball at a volleyball game.

ERIN ARMBRUSTER

2 – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – North Pointe

Beaumont offers anti-anxiety program for studentsBy Ritika Sanikommu & Josie BennettEDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

With highschool having a multitude of stressors ranging from tests to social lives, students face a con-stant stream of stress that some don’t know how to deal with. Knowing this, Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe created the Mindfulness for Schools sessions, that is free for the school district to participate.

The small, course teaches students to develop healthy lifestyle choices as well as social and emo-tional skills in hopes that students can decrease their stress levels.

Junior Kierra Madison participated in the series, which helped her overcome her test anxiety. The program’s idea of placing settings and telling stu-dents to think and ref lect about their day help stu-dents f ind what they are doing wrong and help f ix it.

Madison now has some easy steps to keep away her anxiety during tests. She knows to sit back and anticipate in advance what she might struggle in and practice that until she knows she understands it.

The program benefits differ. Madison explained that depending on the person’s struggles, the out-come of the program could be different. She also ex-pressed that some of the things the program teaches often reiterate advice she gets from her teachers, but she’d never taken them seriously until she took the program and put those methods to use.

“Take deep breaths and breath in and really think about it,” Madison said. “I have a lot of teachers that tell me that.”

Mindfulness is the state of being present and be-ing active in the current moment.

For science teacher Gary Abud, promoting mindful-ness in his classroom has been routine even though he isn’t connected to the Beaumont program. He uses it to calm and center students so they can perform at their best ability.

“In general, some of the things we have done this year are breathing exercises, and they’re stress man-

agement techniques that anyone can do,” Abud said. Abud usually starts his Monday classes with these

breathing exercises. He has his students do things as simple as closing their eyes, sitting up straight wher-ever they are in their chairs and trying to tune out dis-tractions and focus on breathing.

Abud has students focus on breathing the most. This lets the students forget what it was they were worried about for a time.

Madison got involved in Beaumont’s mindf ul-ness program because ot her students had men-t ioned it to her. The program was init iated by so-cia l worker Jul ie Brewster, as she env isioned t he

benef its it could have for students.“Well, mindfulness is the practice that I have used

when I do health classes and a gym class with the stu-dents,” Brewster said. “I’m going to be doing it ... in-dividually with students, working with them to help relieve them of their anxiety, help them to feel calm, manage their emotions more effectively.”

Despite being a one-time event, students are encour-aged to seek out Brewster for further use of this pro-gram for their benefit. Brewster sees this opportunity as something students should take advantage of.

NEWS

By Michal RuprechtSTAFF REPORTER

Link Crew and Students Against De-structive Decisions (SADD) are both combating stress and helping students prepare for midterms. They hope their as-sistance benefits students’ overall grades and experiences.

During the weeks prior to exams, SADD posted daily messages and post-ers regarding stress and how to combat it around school. The purposes of the post-ers was to spread confidence and reduce stress during midterm preparation.

SADD adviser Lisa Steiner pitched the idea of hanging anti-stress posters. She hopes the signs will help spread aware-ness about midterm-based stress to the student body.

“We hang the posters around the school to spread our messages and hope our students become more aware,” Stein-er said via email. “SADD hopes that our messages help our student population make better choices in (their) lives.”

Sophomore and SADD member Na-than Davis finds that stressing out can be detrimental. He believes the posters around the school will help create a more relaxed environment.

“We hope to help kids reduce stress during midterms and finals because we know it’s a very stressful time,” Davis said. “And we feel stress can lead to depression (and) it could lead to many bad things in a student’s life. So, we’re trying to avoid that as much as possible.”

In addition to SADD’s anti-stress initia-tive, Link Crew hosted their annual fresh-man study session on Jan. 21, by having the Link Crew leaders invite their fresh-man groups to the event. The meeting

presented freshmen with the chance to learn more about midterm preparation, as well as get help with specific subjects or reviews.

English teacher and Link Crew adviser Joe Drouin hoped the event had a posi-tive effect on students that attended. He believes giving freshmen the opportunity to ask questions in a safe environment will prepare them for the exams.

“We want to make sure the freshmen are familiar with the format of the mid-

term exams, that all their questions are answered and have an idea of how to study for midterms since this is their first real experience with an elongated test such as the midterm,” he said. “We’re hop-ing that they’ll be comfortable with the exams and (we) hope they do well.”

Freshman Morgan Semack believes her experience at the event will aid her in preparation for the midterms. Since this is her first year taking these types of exams, she wants to learn productivity skills and receive help on parts of her review guides.

“I think it will help me because other people will be there and help me out on things that I don’t understand on the re-view guides,” Semack said. “And I think I can just get more stuff done being there.”

Being in the same situation for several years has motivated junior Link Crew leader Lauren Archambeau to help other freshmen. She volunteered at the study session and feels it will have an impact on the attendees’ scores.

“I think it will benefit them because they will have a better understanding on how to study,” she said. “They’ll learn different study habits and they will use their study habits throughout their high school career.”

Drouin has noticed that midterm-related stress forms when students don’t fully understand the test. He finds that attending the study session will help stu-dents combat that stress.

“I think a lot of (stress) comes from not knowing what to expect and this event will help them prepare for the unexpect-ed,” Drouin said. “It’s pretty overwhelm-ing to put a semester’s worth of knowledge into 90 minutes. So, I think that’s why a lot of (students) kind of stress out.”

Davis finds that with students feeling stressed about exams, both the student and teacher need to work together to en-sure success.

“I think lots of preparation is definitely needed, so teachers should do everything they can to help the kids get prepared,” Davis said. “I feel it’s very important for the teacher to be confident because if the teacher is confident in their students, then the students can be confident themselves. It’s hard to be confident in yourself when you have nobody else that is confident.”

NATHAN LONCZYNSKI

SADD, Link Crew help minimize stress for midterms

LAUREN SEXTON

FAR ABOVE: Midterm stress signs have been placed around school.ABOVE: Lindsay Hoshaw listens during a SADD meeting.

DENHAM NELSON

It’s pretty overwhelm-ing to put a semester’s

worth of knowledge into 90 minutes. So, I think that’s why a lot of (students) kind of

stress out.Joe Drouin

LINK CREW ADVISER “

“

MESTA award CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“I had a chance to say a few words to the group afterwards and it was one of the rare times (maybe the only time) I have ever choked up in public,” Herrold said.

The award itself is a large piece of Kona Dolomite from Michigan’s Upper Pen-insula. The rock is engraved with the awardee’s name and is about 2.1 billion years old. Besides being billions of years old, it also contains fossils of algal stromatolites which are one of the oldest life forms on earth.

As another part of the reward she also received $500 to give to the science teacher of her choice. She decided to look for a teacher who respected the need for earth science, but who is also relatively young so that they would be able to use the money over a long period of time. After much consideration as to which teachers have shown a special dedication to teaching earth science, Herrold

decided to give the money to South High School’s Earth Science and Astrono-my teacher Troy Hernandez.

“I was very honored. Mrs. Herrold is an amazing educator and person and I have always admired her dedication,” Hernandez said via email.

He has used the money to purchase a new Celestron 6 telescope. Both his class and North students have access to the telescope for observing the sky late at night.

“Without a doubt she has inspired me to be a better teacher as she continues to inspire all the teachers and people she meets,” Hernandez said.

In the past Herrold has been given other awards for her contributions and hard work. She has won awards such as Michigan Science Teacher of the Year and the Brennan award which is given annually to a high school astronomy teacher.

Senior Joey Bejin, a member of R ATz has been working with Herrold on the astronomy team since his freshman year.

“She puts in so much time and effort and she is actually retired, so the only thing keeping her here is the students who are signing up for her astronomy class,” Bejin said. “And since people stil l sign up for the astronomy class, that allows the R ATz to continue to function.”

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – North Pointe – 3

PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL

SCHOOLREGISTRATION

For students enrolling in the 2016-2017 year.

Thursday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. in the Media

Center

END OF QUARTER TWO

Friday, Jan. 29

COFFEE WITH KATE

Parents meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. in the Union

BOOSTER MEETING

For band and orchestra parents on Tuesday, Feb. 2

in room C101

SPIRIT OF GIVING NIGHTWednesday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in South’s gym. Blood drive will run 2-8 p.m.

FAMILY

CENTER PARENTING

PRESENTATIONWednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in Christ Church Chapel in

Grosse Pointe

NEWS

Three students qualify for state choir competition

Three students—juniors Clarissa Kam, Gowri Yerramalli and senior Josh Lupo—sang at the choir state competition Jan. 22-24 in Grand Rapids. To be eligible, one must be in honors choir, go to regionals, learn a new song with no instruction or assistance and then perform it in front of a judge.

“In regionals, you spend all day at this high school, and you practice half the day,” Kam said. “Then they have times where you go out and audition for states.”

Lupo and Kam have been practicing scales and songs for about a month to perform at states.

Once there, competitors go up in front of a judge and perform the songs assigned to them.

“You’re given four pieces of music, usually diff i-cult, that you learn on your own,” Lupo said. “I’m in the SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) choir, and we perform six songs including ‘Unclouded Day,’ ‘The Heavens are Telling,’ ‘Uti Vår Hage,’ ‘Past Life Melo-dies,’ ‘A Red, Red Rose’ and ‘Sing Me to Heaven.’”

Though uncommon, Lupo’s well-deserved and time consuming experience with states was very enjoy-able. Lupo was one of few people who made the cut.

“(Being a part of states) is fun. And rare, I’d say not,” Lupo said. “People just don’t audition for it.

By Darcy Graham

RIGHT: Senior Josh Lupo, juniors Clarissa Kam and Gowri Yerramalli and choir teacher Ben Herni.

TV Production students enter Great Choices Film Festival

Art is in its most purposeful form when it has an impact on its viewers. TV Production students had a chance to do this for Mei-jer’s annual Great Choices Film Festival.

Students enrolled in TV Production submitted public service announcements for the contest and covered topics such as diver-sity, character or health to promote those ideals within society. Junior Grace Guthrie participated, and said choosing the video’s topic as the most challenging part.

“(Finding an idea is) arguably the hardest part of film. It’s very difficult to come up with a concept that can be done well, hasn’t been done before, and is possible with our resources,” Guthrie said.

However, the festival is meant to be a challenge. Applicants have only 30 seconds for their PSA, so it has to be both impactful and quick. If the video impresses judges, the filmmakers will make it into the semifinals with 59 other competitors. Judges will then go back through the remaining videos and narrow the selection down to 10 for the award ceremony in June. There, the winners will receive a total of $20,000 in cash prizes. Their videos will also be repro-duced and sent all over the state to educate the populous. Schools,

diversity programs, Meijer and the media will have access to these creations, allowing for the piece to receive maximum exposure.

Junior Alanah Herfi, along with seniors Kelly Barnek, Olivia Benoit and Hannah Gutsue, was a winner last year and the memo-ry stil l resonates with her.

“To me the award means that there is, in a way, a payoff to the hard work put into making these videos,” Herfi said. “Just knowing that people take time to review and critique you and your skills is a reward in itself.”

For students like Guthrie who find it diff icult to formulate an idea, Herfi suggests trial and error.

“Never go with your f irst idea because that’s usually the most basic concept. I try to sometimes build off of it, but it takes time to think through a good idea to propel your video,” Herfi said.

Herfi is reapplying for this year’s competition along with many others who want to positively impact both their community and their future. The competiton isn’t just about who produced the best video, but the inspiration taken away from each project.

“When you see that something someone has made is good, it in-spires you,” Guthrie said.

By Cate Troost

VEENA PANTHANGI

SERVE offers volunteer oppsStudents looking for new volunteering opportunities are encouraged to attend

the Spirit of Giving. Hosted at Grosse Pointe South on Wednesday, Feb. 3 from 6-8 p.m., the event offers students opportunities to give back to the community. More than 80 nonprofit organizations will attend.

“Think of it like College Night, but instead of looking for colleges, you can find volunteer opportunities in our community,” SERVE coordinator Allison Baker said via email.

Organizations like Red Cross, Beaumont Hospital, St. John’s Hospital, the De-troit Zoo and Full Circle will send representatives to inform students about volun-teer opportunities.

“There will be opportunities to volunteer at everything from flag football leagues to beautification projects in Detroit, opportunities to work with everyone from the elderly to small children,” Baker said. “We will also have student service organizations represented at the Spirit of Giving, so students interested in getting involved through a school group can get more information about that too.”

Families, as well as students, are encouraged to look into volunteer opportuni-ties. Hands-on activities are also included. A blood drive will start at 2 p.m., and families are welcome to plant seeds or help with packaging food for local and over-seas families.

“This is the perfect event to find a volunteer opportunity that fits your pas-sion. If you are interested in history, you can come learn how to be a docent at the Detroit Historical Museum. Interested in art? Then come find how your tal-ents can help beautify a neighborhood in Detroit. If sports are your thing, come learn about volunteering for the Michigan Blind Athletic Association or a flag football team in Detroit by working with Playworks,” Baker said. “There really is something for everyone.”

Over 500 people are expected to attend. Local restaurants will be providing food, and donations will be benefit charities.

“Really, the sky is the limit. Our goal is to make it easy for students and commu-nity members to learn about and to participate in volunteer activities,” Baker said. “There is so much need in Detroit and in our community, but it is heartwarming to know that there are so many people willing to help.”

By Erin Kaled

Don’t miss out n

Don’t miss out on the 2015-2016 yearbook! It’s all about you, me and us! Deadline is January 31

1 3/4 inchBackbone JOB: School Name:Backbone: 1 3/4” Liner: 7/8”

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YOUMEUSVALHALLA

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GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOLGROSSE POINTE W

OODS, MI

VALHALLA

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VOLUME

48

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SEE PAGE 2 FOR SHINE FX USAGEBE SURE TO OMIT TEMPLATE SO IT DOESN”T SHOW IN THE LIGHT GRAY TRANSPARENT AREA FRONT LID BOTTOM CENTERNAME STAMPS SILVER FOIL UPPER RIGHT FRONT LID

SPORTS EVENTS

BASKETBALL GAME

Home against Stevenson High

School on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.

HOCKEY

GAMENoon on

Saturday, Jan. 30 vs. Cranbrook at

Fraser Hockeyland

GIRLS

HOCKEY GAME

Thursday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. vs.

Detroit Country Day at East

Side Hockey Foundation

Share your Spirit of Giving

Wednesday, February 3

6-8 p.m.

Grosse Pointe South

High School

Main Gym, 11 GP Blvd.

More than �� non-pro�t organi�a�ons will �e on hand to showcase their mission and volunteer

opportuni�es. �oin us as we pac� 1�,��� meals for local, state and overseas families. Plant seeds with Full Circle. American

�ed Cross Blood dona�ons start at � p.m. See what other hands-on opportuni�es are there. En�oy �Soup for the Soul�

from local restaurants with dona�ons �ene��ng charity.

Explore your Spirit of Giving!

For more informa�on, call Alicia Carlisle at �1�-���-����.

SPIRIT OF GIVING

ALLISON BAKER

4 – North Pointe – Wed., Jan. 27, 2016

FACES IN THE CROWD

ON CAMPUS

By Billy MoinEDITOR

In his free time, English teacher Brendan Williams trades in the chalkboard for a bat and glove to coach baseball.

“I loved baseball and found sports were a real posit ive type of thing or activ ity for a young person,” Wil liams said. “I want to encourage my children to be active and to be hands on with a lot of things, and so I think sports is a great way to do that.”

During this past season, Wil liams was the head coach for his son Brendan’s team and also assisted on his stepson Br ycen’s team. He is a lso help-ing his 3-year-old son, Maize, get ready for his f irst season this year.

For Wil liams, there are mul-tiple reasons to coach.

“It’s a great way to posi-t ively inf luence kids. That’s the number-one thing,” Wil-liams said. “A lot of t imes when you’re coaching, you have par-ents who are right there al l the t ime, too, so you can get a lot of

input and feedback from them right there, and so that’s really enjoyable, too.”

As a coach, Williams has three goals, including teaching his players what it means to be on a team and the basics of baseball.

However, he emphasizes fun over all else.

“If they’re not having fun, then they’re not going to contin-ue on, so fun is the number-one priority,” Williams said.

As his children grow, Wil-liams plans to continue coach-ing, even if it’s not in baseball.

“I’ve always liked the idea of coaching, and it wouldn’t matter to me the level. In many ways, I think I would enjoy it no matter what be-cause it’s something that I enjoyed once upon a time,” Williams said. “And so I think if it’s something that you greatly enjoy, then you’re gonna enjoy giving it back to other people … and who knows, if I have a chance to expand into some oth-er area at some point, then I’d nev-er say never to that, either. I think that would be great.”

FIVE MINUTES WITH

ABOVE: Coaching is a balancing act for him, so English teacher Brendan Williams finds time management cru-cial. “You’ve got to have a schedule and as long as you know, like here are your time frames and responsibilities then everything works out okay,” Williams said.

English teacher Brendan WilliamsFAVORITE TV SHOWI don’t watch that much regular television per say, but I’m a big Star Wars guy, though. Star Trek, any of that kind of thing. I always enjoyed that in movie form, but I don’t have as much time to just watch series of shows like on regular TV. I probably watch sports more than anything else.

SPORTS GROWING UP I played football. I played basketball. I ran cross country. I ran track. I boxed for a little bit. I was in martial arts for a few years, and hockey, but I wound up play-ing basketball instead. Pretty much if it was there, I tried it. I wanted to play it — anything that was available. I always felt like I was involved in something ath-letically from one season to the next.

HIGH SCHOOLI’m from the Upper Peninsula. I actually lived in a very small town, about a half an hour north of Escanaba, so I attended Es-canaba for a few years and then a smaller school outside of there.

Philip ValenticFreshman Philip Valentic’s

favorite number on the soc-cer field is 10, since it is Ney-mar da Silva Santos Júnior’s number.

Neymar is Valentic’s favor-ite pro soccer player.

“I like him because he’s a good player. He’s a team player, and he’s great at making successful passes and dribbles,” Valentic said. “I have his Brazil team jersey, and I have been trying to get his Barcelona jersey.”

One of Valentic’s favorite soccer moves is Neymar’s signature.

“It’s his version of a rainbow where he uses both of his feet to fling the ball over himself and the player in front of him,” Valentic said.

Valentic believes that Neymar’s moves have had an impact on the entire soccer world.

“He’s good at shooting, and he has amazing foot skills in the game,” Valentic said. “He has inspired the world with his amazing foot skills.”

P.J. GusmanoFrom the rhythmic beats

of the drum to the smooth sounds of the viola, junior P.J. Gusmano has played them all. Gusmano started off on percussion and after discov-ering a liking towards it, he has since taken up the viola.

“I have always liked to play music, and I thought it would be interesting to try something new,” Gusmano said.

Gusmano is still adjusting to the viola, but believes he is progressing well in his lessons.

“In my lessons, we just play over songs I’m learning,” Gusmano said. “I just started playing in late September so I’m still getting the basis of what I’m doing.”

The variety of sounds that come from both the viola and percussion is one of Gusmano’s favorite parts about playing the viola.

“I like how (the viola is) more sounds than (beats) ... it’s nice to have variety,” Gusmano said.

Even though Gusmano doesn’t aspire to play the viola as a career, he plans on continuing with the instrument.

“I’m going to try hard to become as good as possible so I can use my talents for the benefit of not only myself but others as well,” Gusmano said.

Blerina BerishaFrom beads to safety clips,

sophomore Blerina Berisha builds crafts using anything she encounters. Berisha start-ed this hobby when she was 8 years old.

“I’ve always found it as something I enjoy doing,” Berisha said.

Berisha uses her crafts as gift ideas for friends and family but used to sell them when she was younger.

“When I was younger, I sold them just for fun, but as I’ve gotten older, I don’t sell anymore since it’s so time consuming,” Berisha said.

Wall art, paper decorations and bracelets made from metal, beads and safety pins are some of Berisha’s favorite crafts to make. “The actual process of making the craft, I just find it very therapeutic and enjoyable in general,” Ber-isha said. “I really like to see the final product.”

By Gowri Yerramalli

Physiology classes dissect minks

FIRST CARA 1975 Corvette.

ABOVE: Senior Alaina Streberger prepares to dissect her mink alongside lab partner senior Emily Graham. “We are doing a unit on muscles and we are all looking at the muscles in the mink. All of the minks already have all the hair and skin taken off them, and we now just have to take off the fat and all of the tissue to get under and see the muscles.”BELOW: Senior Jay Garlapati labors over his mink. “We are just trying to cut the skin and the flesh off. We are going to cut the skin with the scal-pel and the probe to lift off the superficial part of the muscle. “

ABOVE: Senior Piper Perkins enjoyed participating in the dissection. “I love everything about it because I love science, “ Perkins said. “I think that we get to look at the muscles more closely and intensely and study specifically what the muscles do.”

By Sydney Benson & Trevor Mieczkowski PHOTO EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

ABOVE: Senior Elizabeth Grumeretz navigates dissecting her mink in the lab with partner Michaela Kirck. “A mink is an aquatic animal that is like a rodent. They are actually very vicious,” Grumeretz said. “We had to go over guidelines and rules and correct things to do to the mink so we don’t accidentally cut it.”

Mink dissection teaches muscle anatomy

LIFE North Pointe – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – 5

By Mora Downs, Lindsey Ramsdell & Alex HarringEDITOR, ASSITANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

After transitioning to a cheaper water source that’s closer to home, Flint, Michigan now faces an ocean of health issues and legal ramifications.

In April 2014, the city decided to stop receiving water from the Detroit source because of the high cost to pump it to Flint. Instead, they began an effort to build their own water system using Lake Huron as a source. But, while they were finishing the new system, they had to tap into the Flint River to meet the immediate water need. Now, because of lead issues, over 9,000 citizens have lead poisoning.

“Flint River is really corrosive—it has high levels of salt in it—for various reasons, and the salt got into the water mains,” science teacher Chris Skowronski said. “Salt and metal in the pipes don’t really mix very well. That started to corrode the pipes and anything that was in the pipes got into the water, the water got into people’s houses. So, that’s iron, that’s lead.”

What possibly caused the most backlash from Flint’s water crisis was the state government’s delayed response. After months of complaints of abnormal water conditions, Flint agreed to spend the money to improve its water.

But, even after insisting it was safe multiple times, lead levels in children’s blood remained high, and led to thousands of cases of lead poisoning, and has caused Governor Rick Snyder to declare a state of emergency for Flint.

“The state was a little bit slower to respond, and it seems like just now they are getting on board,” Skowronski, who also advises Students Against Violations of the Environment (S.A.V.E.), said. “I just saw online that the state is finally giving them free water, free water filters, free testing of kids blood and all these different issues. Big issue. It’s not going to go away anytime soon.”

Lead is a fat-soluble neurotoxin, meaning once it is ingested, it enters the bloodstream but can only be dissolved in fat. So, it builds up in the body and hinders cognition, learning abilities and motor skills, making it especially detrimental to children, whose minds are still developing.

Sophomore and S.A.V.E. member Elizabeth Abel believes that the issues resided with the governor’s office rather than Flint’s government.

“I think Flint is doing everything they can right now. I know that they are overwhelmed because they have to pass out water bottles to everybody,” she said. “There were a lot of complaints over the water and the way it looked and tasted, and they didn’t really pay attention to it, so that should’ve tipped them off.”

Fortunately for Grosse Pointe residents, water remains top quality, even if it comes from different sources. For Grosse Pointe Farms and City residents, water comes from an independent plant located at 29 Moross Road.

At the plant, 10 million gallons are cleaned daily. Grosse Pointe Farms is also responsible for maintaining the Kerby Road Sewage Pumping Station, which pumps 358 million gallons of water per day, according to www.grossepointefarms.org.

But, for Grosse Pointe Woods, Shores, Park

and Harper Woods residents, water is handled differently.

According to the Grosse Pointe Woods Public Works Department’s Consumer Confidence Report, the city uses water cleaned by Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). The department takes water from domestic and international bodies. Michigan locations include the Detroit River, Clinton River, Rouge River and Ecorse River. Canadian water bodies bring water to metro Detroit as well.

Skowronski understands the report’s content and finds the Detroit Water and Sewage Department to be a reliable source that has good results.

“There’s the Safe Drinking Water Act that ensures that drinking water has low levels of all minerals. You’re not going to have 100 percent pure H2O. I mean, that’s not really possible, but you can have trace amounts of different things.”

Cities of Grosse Pointe and Harper Woods also publish annual reports that disclose the amounts of those trace elements in the water, and the amounts are checked by the Department of Environmental Quality. They show that all regulated contaminants in water at the plant are well below the maximum safe level. At the Detroit location, water additives are used to further ensure the quality of the water. Fluoride is added to the water to promote strong teeth. Disinfectants control microbes.

Still, lead exists in Grosse Pointe water, although in very small quantities. According to Grosse Pointe Farms water superintendent Scott Homminga, lead can be found in copper plumbing within homes built earlier than 1989. To prevent it from leaching into the water supply, DWSD adds phosphate to coat the pipes and minimize corrosion. Although Homminga does not believe that lead will present a problem in the future, he notes that after the Flint crisis the restrictions on lead and copper content may become more stringent.

“The Flint situation was exacerbated by a major source water change that was high in chloride. Our source water has not changed since 1929 and DWSD has been pulling from the Detroit River for even longer. Both sources have less chloride than the Flint River which is a primary suspect for Flint’s lead corrosion issue,” Homminga said. “For this reason I feel it is unlikely that we would have something of the same magnitude happen here in the Pointes.”

Although Grosse Pointe’s water is taken from different locations, Skowronski believes that it is still high quality. Skowronski also feels that Detroit Water and Sewage is a reliable source that produces good results.

“For Grosse Pointe Woods, the water comes directly from the Detroit River, which is a different source than Flint, so we don’t have any concerns here for us,” Skowronski said. “The bacteria is taken out. Any solids, like any sediment things like that, are gonna be taken out. So, we actually have some of the best water, really in the world.”

REY KAM MORA DOWNS

REY KAM

LIFE6– Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016– North Pointe

By Olivia AsimakisMANAGING EDITOR

Intricate patterns line the pages of senior Olivia Benoit’s notebook. The curlicues and

f loral motifs resemble ancient Indian henna designs. The dye

of a f lowering plant, henna is used to make semi-perma-

nent tattoos and have re-cently surged in popular-ity. With encouragement from others, Benoit decid-ed to change her canvas.

“I just sort of drew things with Sharpie, then I thought it would be cool to get real henna,” Benoit said. “Then I started doing it on myself and my friends.”

Benoit’s mother, Kelly, always noticed Olivia scrib-

bling away on her notebooks and even sometimes her arms.

While Olivia has always been into crafts, Kelly noticed she be-

gan to blossom when she started to get hired at graduation parties.

“She did such a nice job, and she did it fast. She had a lot of friends

that asked for it. So I thought, ‘you know, you should just start doing it

on a regular basis,’” Kelly said. “I have shown people pictures of some of the

work she’s done, and I’ve had people say ‘I’d pay her to do that,’ and I thought, we should do it.”

Olivia was hired by a longtime friend, Class of 2015 alumna Ashley McClarty, to do henna at her graduation party. McClarty’s mother, Jill McClarty, saw Olivia doing henna at an-

other graduation party and wanted to hire her as well.

“She was just having so much fun doing it, and she did a great job,” Jill said. “The kids just loved her. She was great.”

Ashley sees Olivia’s potential and believes she has a future in henna or art in any capacity.

“I think it’s beautiful. She is very talented,” Ashley said. “She’s very good, and she’s going to go somewhere

with it. It will help her with a potential career.”Olivia has tattooed her sister, sophomore Erika Benoit,

multiple times, and Erika’s friends ask Olivia to do henna for them. Although she isn’t covered head to toe in Olivia’s

henna, Erika admires how time consuming the art is and how patient Olivia has to be.

“She’s really artistic, so I see a future for that, but I don’t know what she wants to do. I think it’s been good, I think it’s shown her how hard it is,” Erika said. “I remember, she did it once and came home, and her hand was super sore. It was way harder than she expected it to be.”

Although Olivia was paid for working at larger events, when individuals ask , she ends up tattooing free of charge because she enjoys it so much. She also admits to not real-izing her potential until recently.

“I doodled. I just didn’t actually try to do things like that before. I never thought I was artistic,” Olivia said. “Not until now, until people tell me I am.”

She also finds tattooing to be extremely cathartic. “I enjoy doing it. It’s almost like a stress-reliever for me,”

Olivia said. “When I’m in class doing it, I do it when I’m stressed out.”

Another recipient of Olivia’s work is senior Kelly Baranek. She enjoys getting henna because of Olivia’s designs, and she also notices that the more Olivia does henna, the more posi-tive feedback she gets, encouraging her further.

“I think they are really cool because she doesn’t use a sten-cil or anything,” Baranek said. “She just freehands it. She’ll tell you to look for a picture on Google, and then she’ll look at the picture and do it perfectly. It looks professionally done.”

Olivia’s mother thinks her daughter’s experience will drive her to pursue something in art.

“She’s never taken an art class other than whatever is re-quired in middle school. She’s never sought out any classes. I’d like to get her to spark an interest in making it bigger,” Kelly said. “She enjoys doing it, so you want to love what you end up doing as a career. I’d just like to see her pursue that because she enjoys being artistic and also using her imagi-nation. I’d like to see her make some money doing it, maybe while she’s going through school or even making a business of it and doing parties and marketing herself. I bought her some blank business cards with a program so she can make some business cards for herself.”

Although friends and family anticipate a future in art for Olivia, she’s unsure herself because she hadn’t explored the possibilities until recently.

“I don’t know if I’d ever do something with it. I’m not re-ally sure what I want because I just started it,” Olivia said. “I didn’t see the potential until people started telling me what I could actually do with it.”

Kelly appreciates how the temporary nature of henna speaks to a greater life lesson.

“I really like it. I like the fact that ... It kind of proves, as far as tattoos, permanent tattoos, it just goes to show that it’s kind of nice that you can take it off and change your mind,” Kelly said. “With the real ones, you can’t. I think that’s kind of a good lesson. It allows you to enjoy and be artistic without having it be permanent. And I just think she has a lot of tal-ent that she doesn’t realize.”

KALEY MAKINO

Senior’s notebook illustrations spark artistic future

By Abbey Cadieux & Olivia RobinsonASSISTANT EDITOR & INTERN

For the first full year in North history, senior Emily Brown Baker is bringing the taste of Dickens, Frost and po-ets alike to school events. Brown Baker is the 2015-2016 Poet Laureate and the first student to hold the position for the entire school year. In her position, Brown Baker writes po-etry for school events and advocates for the medium’s use of creative expression.

Being the first full-year Poet Laureate, Brown Baker has the possibility to mold the position to fit her vision and decide how poetry can define students at certain events. Brown Baker has performed her poetry at the 2015 NHS In-duction Ceremony and will write poems for Honor’s Night and Commencement.

Brown Baker’s favorite poems grace English teacher Jonathan Byrne’s whiteboard every day. Although writing poems on the board may seem like a small act, it spreads awareness for the lost art.

“Poetry isn’t a thing anymore,” Brown Baker said. “People our age, unless you’re ‘emo’ or ‘goth,’ you don’t write poetry.”

Another common misconcep-tion Brown Baker aims to break is that one must fully commit to English as college major to validate your passion for it. But most of all, Brown Baker insists that all people have the abil-ity to understand and appreciate poetry.

"People think poetry is strictly right-brained. Maybe to write, it is. But to understand it, I think it’s very left-brained,” Brown Baker said. “You have to go empirically, and you have to use your evidence, and you can’t make stuff up. It must be based on the text, which you all know from your English classes. So, like, it’s fun to decode—in a math kind of way. I like it because it engages both sides of your brain.”

As well as being Poet Laureate, Brown Baker is also the head of Harbinger, the school’s art and literary journal. The club’s goal is to showcase students’ literary and artistic tal-ents, a feat Brown Baker holds close to her heart.

“I just really encourage people, and I love reading poems people have,” Brown Baker said. “I think it’s really cool when you can make something sound good and mean something, and you have to dig into the idioms and the connotations and the context.”

Brown Baker’s passion for writing bloomed at a young age.

“I’ve always been a writer, ever since first grade (when) we had an assignment, and I took it way out of proportion,” Brown Baker said.

When Brown Baker apologized to her teacher, she was met with the encouragement she needed to continue to har-ness her ability.

English department chair Geoffrey Young was the one to initiate the position’s creation at North. Brown Baker’s ma-ture personality and keen insights made her an excellent candidate capable of inspiring appreciation for the language.

“When the department decided to have a Poet Laureate, we knew the criterion would evolve. We knew that we ulti-mately wanted it to be a process where students could be nominated by teachers or other students, or a student could apply him/herself,” Young said via email. “But, at the begin-ning, the department decided to nominate students based

on a student's interest and abil-ity with language, the student's legacy of academic and social achievement, the student's ability to appreciate and relate to a variety of cultural experi-ences of North's population and the student's ability to rep-resent the English Department and the school well. The de-partment came up with juniors (last year) who fit those descrip-tions, and then we selected the

best representative based on those criteria and the student's involvement in language-connected organizations.”

The first holder of the Poet Laureate title was Class of 2015 alumna Kaley Makino, who was appointed towards the end of her senior year.

When her position as Poet Laureate became an official title, Makino reveled in the possibility to share her affin-ity for poetry with the community and valued the feedback she received.

“It was a really cool experience to be able to read my po-etry, which is something I’m so passionate about, in front of so many different people,” Makino said.

She performed her poetry at the 2015 GPNspire event and at the Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2015.

Makino set a high standard for the position, and it has provided the University of California-Santa Cruz freshman with many possibilities after graduation.

Makino is currently the editor-in-chief of the University of California Santa Cruz’s chapter of The Odyssey, a social content platform journal for millennial writers. The Od-

yssey has shared stories with over 16 million page visitors since its digital launch in June 2014, according to www.theodysseyonline.com.

“It was definitely something fancy to put on my resumé when applying to that position, and they were pretty im-pressed,” Makino said.

In terms of the future, Brown Baker hopes to accomplish making poetry more appealing to her peers. Brown Bak-ers notes the English Department for especially helping her along the way.

“I’ve gotten a lot of support from my English teachers,” Brown Baker said. “Most of them have seen me frantically coming with a paper like ‘please read this,’ whether it’s for a college essay or a poem. Really, the entire English staff has been very supportive.”

Poet Laureate’s change in verse

ABOVE: Alumna Kaley Makino speaking at the 2015 gradu-ation ceremony. “I was kinda the unofficial Poet Laureate for a while, so it was exciting when it actually became an official thing,” Makino said. “It was a really cool experience to be able to read my poetry ... in front of so many different people.”

It’s fun to decode—in a math kind of way. I like it because it engages both

sides of your brain.Emily Brown Baker

SENIOR

“

“

OLIVIA BENOIT

North Pointe – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – 7

IDEAS

By Tommy TeftsisINTERN

Commercial breakAlthough new innovations like

recorded TV and Netflix have found ways to bypass commercials, we are still bound to see them everywhere. Advertising on TV has a massive ef-fect on everybody, considering that the average American watches four hours of TV a day, amounting to roughly two months out of the year. Thirty percent of that being com-mercials. Whether you believe it or not, commercials influence Ameri-can society in unthinkable ways, just to get the audience to purchase their product.

Television ads are based on one principle: if you buy A you also get B, but B is the emotion that comes with the product. The ad creates emotion by showing things that you would be if you bought this product. Com-panies want you to think that if you buy this mascara your face magi-cally turns into Beyoncé’s, or buying the new iPhone will transform you into a cool person. Commercials cre-ate a perfect scene to advertise their product, but people should know that if they buy the product, they still might lack that flawless relationship or beautiful house.

Nike wants us to believe that buy-ing these $200 basketball shoes will make us play like Lebron James, a lie which many people fall for.

Commercials benefit the large, mainstream companies that can afford the opportunity to get you to buy their product. But what about small businesses that can’t neces-sarily afford advertising? Does TV ignore them because of the large money quotas that commercials fill?

In the 2011 Super Bowl, each 30 second commercial cost over $3 million to air. Commercials can not only impact the mentality of the viewers but they can create a crooked economy if large business-es are the only only ones getting customers from TV propaganda.

Children are the main targets for television commercials, with the average kid watching over 100 com-mercials every day. How often as a kid did you ask for a toy, thinking it would bring surreal amounts of hap-piness? Often the reality of the situa-tion is that you play with the toy for a limited amount of time and then suddenly abandon all interest. Illu-sions created by commercials are one of the major strongholds cor-porations use to get you to buy their product. For example, McDonald’s shows delicious burgers on TV us-ing the effects of bright lights and vivid colors to lure children to buy their product. But in reality, these McDonald’s commercials just get into their heads and glorify the im-age of fast food. This could explain why 31.8 percent of all children in the U.S. are overweight and 16.9 per-cent are obese. You never see the result of eating fast food in a Mc-Donald’s commercial, they always show happy, skinny families, which is misleading.

Commercials were added to cable in 1980, and since then large busi-nesses have been finding ways to add commercials to all types of TV. Sports have been a major vessel for advertising, and sponsors take every chance they get to annoy the audi-ence with the same AT&T or DirecTV commercials playing over and over, each time getting more glued into our heads.

The NFL requires 20 commercial breaks per game with 10 in each half and each lasting 1-2 minutes. That is over 40 minutes altogether. Com-mercials after commercials draw the excitement out of sports.

Commercials affect the audience more and more in recent years. Each year companies have an increased ability to broadcast their message on TV. Over the last eight years, one minute has been added to reserved commercial time for every hour of TV. Tell Proactiv their Jedi mind tricks don’t work on you.

The top 10 things that we need for finals this week

POINTE

By Emma Puglia & Yena BerhaneWEB-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & EDITOR-AT-LARGE

7Place

RESTAURANT

The quaint tourist city of Frankenmuth hosts its annual Snowfest starting Jan. 27 to provide a shining light at the end of the tunnel of exams. With activi-ties such as ice-carving, horse rides and drinking hot chocolate, this event can freeze students’ brains from their overdose of studying.

ON

The Piano Guys: Live! According to university research in France, students who listened to a lecture with gentle classical music playing in the background scored higher on a multiple-choice test than those without music. The Piano Guys’ combination of piano and cello in their latest album can soothe the minds of students, making them more receptive to information.

3Album

THE PIANO GUYS: LIVE!

5Movie

THE FINEST HOURS

8PlaceGYM

Beloved comedy stars such as Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) and Jenna Fischer (The Office) join together on NBC’s newest show You, Me and the Apoc-alypse. Premiering Thurs-day, Jan. 28, the premise of the show revolves around a life-altering event-a comet

hurtling toward earth. In this disastrous comedy, a diverse group of survivors have to learn how to live in a bunker together, and would provide an en-tertaining way to end your midterm week.

Physical activity reduces stress by raising endorphins that act as the body’s natural pain-killers, also improving much-needed sleep. LA Fitness on Mack Avenue offers daily classes such as Zumba, yoga and Kickbox Cardio to re-lease tension built up from midterm week. The gym is open until 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday for night owls.

Instead of resorting to classic after-midterm restaurant options such as The Original Pancake House or The Jagged Fork, take a jaunt to Birmingham. Birmingham is home to the Mad Hatter Café, an Alice in Wonderland-themed eatery. Lunch includes favorites such as the White Rabbit’s Caprese Panini or Tweedle D’s Turkey.

WW

W.G

IZM

OZO

NE.

IN

Forest: stay focused, be present. In order to cure phone distractions while studying, developer

ShaoKan Pi created Forest. Whenever a person wants to focus on his or her work, the user plants a virtual tree. In the following hours they concentrate, their forest will grow healthy and strong. However, if he or she chooses to update Twitter or stalk Instagram, the forest

dies. This fosters limited phone use.

WWW.FORESTAPP.CC

1App

FOREST

Voted best coffee shop in the Detroit A-List, Chazzano Coffee provides a cozy escape for studiers who prefer to make flash cards to the

sound of a churning cappuccino maker. Located in Ferndale, espresso-lovers will rave over the

worldly flavors from Ethiopia Harrar to Tanzania Peaberry to help keep them caffeinated for late

nights. Chazzano offers friendly service and comfortable seating for studying.

Disney’s latest dramatic flick (premiering Jan. 29), The Finest Hours, features Chris Pine and Casey Affleck as characters aboard two oil tankers in danger of sinking. Taking place in 1952 Cape Cod, the United States Coast Guard must stay in contact with the captains in order to rescue the crew, a movie meant to keep audience members on the edge of their seats, a nice change after four days of testing.

WWW.CHAZZANOCOFFEE.COM

2Place

COFFEE SHOP

WWW.LIVERPOOL.COM.MX

4Entertainment

TV SHOW

WWW.NBC.COM

WWW.COMINGSOON.NET6Event

CONCERT

Singer-songwriter Alessia Cara, notable for her debut single “Here,” arrives for a performance at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit Jan. 30. The 19-year-old’s jazzy crooning is an opportunity to de-stress for the weekend. Tickets are available through websites such as Ticketmaster and StubHub.

WWW.HITTHEFLOOR.COMWWW.MADHATTERBISTRO.COM

WWW.MACROOMLEISURECENTRE.IE

A second, fifth or seventh hour tutorial provides the perfect opportunity to head to Ann Arbor for a lunch at Zingerman’s sandwich shop. However, the city is filled with massive libraries and study spots. The University of Michigan’s law library, the epitome of Harry Potter-esque architecture, presents a silent location to plug away at a nine-page review guide. For those looking closer to home, the Grosse Pointe Public Library has three reliable buildings to claim one’s territory in.

9Place

WEEKEND TRIP

10Place

LIBRARY

WWW.FRANKEMUTH.ORG

8 – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – North Pointe REVIEWS

APP

LOOP

Loop is a mini-malistic puzzle game in which the player switches be-tween two very dis-tinct but equally as challenging game-play modes to com-plete difficult but soothing puzzles.

One method of gameplay has the user connecting a series of loops and lines in or-der to create shapes that have no lines pro-truding. These shapes are heavily influenced by the infinity symbol. The other mode has the player undertaking a seemingly opposite task. In the second mode, one is confronted with a select amount of small rectangles which they must proceed to turn so that no two rectangles touch.

Both modes have incredibly simplistic concepts. As a result, these concepts pro-vide an extremely addicting experience. The entire game revolves around the idea of a calming experience and it shows. The levels are difficult enough to warrant a challenge that needs intelligence to fig-ure out, but are not difficult to the point of frustration and subsequently coercing the player into quitting. There is something about connecting loops and moving rect-angles in just the right sequence that gives an immense amount of satisfaction and the process itself is relaxing in nature.

Loop’s graphics are heavily spartan. Levels consist of a back screen of solid color. The rectangles, loops and lines being manipulated are shaded in a similar but brighter color pattern to the background. This aesthetic enhances the calming aura that surrounds the game.

The soundtrack also adds to the game’s soothing vibe. While no track necessarily stands out, the minimalist ambient sound adds to the effect that the game isn’t out to assault your patience receptors. Although very much in the background, it is an ap-preciated touch.

Loop is a calming, addicting and mind-bending gem that leaves players chilled out and their screens spared from the hor-rible fate of destruction from fits of rage. It’s a nice choice for anyone who wants a challenge without a headache.

Loop; Jijjy; updated Jan. 6, 2016; Available on goolge play and app store; Free

By Giuseppe Parison

ITUNES.APPLE.COM

ALBUM

LEAVE ME ALONE

Dripping with energy and passion, Hinds’ debut album, Leave Me Alone, takes the garage rock genre to the next lev-el. The quartet is giv-ing alternative mu-sic fans something new to jam to.

In the age of autotune and techno mu-sic, Hinds is original. Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote share gritty lead vocals and mix them with a pure retro feel. It has a tradi-tional, alternative sound with a 70s vibe pep-pered onto it.

The album opens with groovy tunes like “Garden” and “Fat Calmed Kiddos” that in-troduce the signature sound of the band—primal, alternative rock, and tracks like “Warts” show off the fun-loving side of their music.

The band’s playful lyrics like “Don’t let her waste your smile” and “I need you to feel like a man” give listeners a rise in their happiness complex while indulging the edgy melody.

The group tends to play more wistful songs, but “Castigadas En El Granero” is probably their most frenzied track. The bom-bastic guitar chords and jittery vocals, gives it potential to become replay-button-worthy.

“San Diego” mirrors that same raucous sound, and listeners can’t help but get a boost of energy while it’s on blast. “Walking Home” offers a majestic song to chill to and signature Hinds sound to close the album. This group wasn’t made for mainstream radio, and all of their genuine talent lies in that.

Naturally, there are some odd tracks that can be found on the album list since the sound itself is an experiment of the ears. Lis-teners might get either bored or sleepy with the track “Solar Gap” and its dreary melo-dies. The weird harmony and repeated cho-rus of the track “I’ll Be Your Man” may seem too plain and bizarre sounding to fully enjoy.

The album as a whole offers a sound scarcely heard in the music scene and hails in originality. If you’re looking for a new kind of alternative rock sound to add to the collection, Leave Me Alone should be on your radar.

Leave Me Alone; Hinds; Mom + Pop Records; itunes; $7.99 2016

By Radiance Cooper

TV SHOW

AGENT CARTER

“Lights, camera, Carter.”

For the past sev-eral months, the promo for Marvel’s second season of Agent Carter has played on repeat.

Any fan of the show (or anything

Marvel) can agree that setting DVRs and reminders is a must. Even those who may not know a single Avenger or Guardian of the Galaxy don’t need background to watch season two of Agent Carter.

After moving on from her devastat-ing heartbreak, Carter finally earned the respect she deserved from her male col-leagues at the Scientific Strategic Reserve.

Six months later, Carter has traded the Brooklyn Bridge for the Golden Gate Bridge to solve a huge conspiracy about Hollywood’s “it” couple. However, mystery seems to be brewing back home in New York, leaving Carter and the audiences not knowing whom to trust.

Unlike last season, Agent Carter is more diverse in both gender and race. Carter meets Dr. Jason Wikes, a black engineer trying to make a name for himself, Ana Jarvis, who is constantly judged for not conforming and the up-and-coming antagonist, Whitney Frost.

Even though Frost is a Hollywood socialite, she is scorned for her age. Audiences can see beyond Carter’s own personal issues.

While Agent Carter takes place in the Mar-vel Cinematic Universe, giving it futuristic vibes, the cast and crew make the 1940s ap-pealing with an old Hollywood essence. Gad-gets and disguises provide retro and futuristic aspects while keeping the era in mind.

No one else could play Carter other than Hayley Atwell. Atwell gives the impression that she is Carter herself, a great role model for viewers because she doesn’t care what others think of her. She knows her own value. However, it’s the writing staff that shows the true colors of Carter. They make her seem more human and relatable as each episode progresses.

Agent Carter isn’t like other comic book shows. Carter doesn’t have super speed. She can’t fly. She is just an everyday human being with extraordinary human realistic abilities and killer 40s style. She is perfectly Peggy Carter.

Agent Carter; 2015; TV-14; ABC

By Lauren Sexton

BOOK

ROGUE

The Paladin Prophecy series is a set of novels that follow the main character Will West as he struggles to save his fam-ily while learning about his mysteri-ous abilities. Full

of non-stop action, the third book in this se-ries, Rogue centers around Will and his pals’ efforts to rescue their friend from a group of all-powerful monsters, the Others. For the first time, author Mark Frost gives readers the answer to how Will, Elise, Ajay and the many of the other young protagonists ac-quired their powers.

This book takes place after Will and his friends had been captured by allies of the Oth-ers. Will goes along with their plans, but at the earliest opportunity tries to hatch an escape into the dimension of the Others. As he treks across this fake reality alongside his compan-ions, Will and his gang have to face countless enemies. Full of endless action, this book was a page turner. However, as the heroes fight off hordes of various monsters, Frost makes them seem invincible. This draws away from the whole idea of almost certain death from en-tering the twisted world and it gets rid of the suspense in the story.

Another mistake the author makes is dras-tically increasing many of the characters’ powers. From having unusual stamina and the ability to project thoughts in the first book, Rogue has exaggerated Will’s ability without him even tiring. This rushed progression throws the reader off.

While this book brought some action and thrill to the series, something that was also missing in the majority of the previous books, it lacked a solid ending. It was anti-climatic. Instead of describing a miraculous return from near certain death, the author glosses over it summarizing what happens and fast forwarding to a little while later. The story could have had a more dramatic ending if it was not summarized. Rogue, however, does slightly make up for this by giving readers a glimpse at the Others. Finally seeing the elu-sive main enemies of the series was fulfilling, especially with the epic battle that followed.

If you are a fan of the previous books in the series or just love to read fantasy and sci-fi novels, Rogue won’t disappoint. Rogue; 2015; Mark Frost; 368 pgs; $10.58

By Katelynn Mulder

AMAZON.COM LUCKYNUMBERMUSIC.COM

646 St. Clair Ave, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI

(313) 939-2403 www.facebook.com/thewhiskeysix

Detroit is laced with rich history. During the prohibition era, it is es-timated that 75 percent of illegal

alcohol was smuggled across the Detroit River. When the river froze, Buick and Studebaker auto-mobiles transported the illegal goods.

These vehicles were called “Whiskey Sixes.” Detroit’s bootlegging era inspired Grosse

Pointe’s newest restaurant, The Whiskey Six, which opened Dec. 16 in the heart of the Village.

Options on the menu coincide with the typical bar scene. However, there are more sophisticated options available than just chicken tenders. As far as appetizers go, choices range from crispy rice balls to baked brie. The restaurant offers burger options galore, from the classic meat patty to a chicken walnut burger to even a portabella burger.

For non-meat-lovers, they sell five pre-designed pizzas as well as the option to build your own. If standard pizza crusts aren’t your thing, flatbreads serve as a tasty alternative.

There are salad choices, too. The more elegant options on the menu vary from a New York strip to an Asian grilled salmon. All items on The Whiskey Six’s menu are locally and organically grown, sup-porting Michigan suppliers.

The problem with The Whiskey Six is its long wait time. For a party as little as three, wait time can range from one to three hours during peak dining times. Reservations cannot be made unless it is for before 6 p.m. However, because the restau-rant is located in the Village, there are other places to go and sit down to relax and wait.

When walking into The Whiskey Six, one is im-mediately hit with the hustle and bustle of its at-mosphere. The first half of the restaurant serves as a bar with high-top tables and an abundance of TV

screens. It’s so busy that it’s impossible to take a trip to the bathroom without bumping into some-one. However, the back half of the restaurant isn’t as crowded, with a back room available for private events. As the customer travels further back in the restaurant, the noise level decreases, giving it a calmer feeling. Unfortunately, the noise level is loud no matter where you are.

The Whiskey Six definitely caters to an older crowd. Younger kids are welcome and can find grilled cheese and hot dogs on the menu, but the restaurant is a rowdy, bar-like environment that wouldn’t be suitable for a child’s birthday party. However, friends looking for an enjoyable Friday night dinner will feel perfectly comfortable.

Modern and hip decor of The Whiskey Six fea-tures dark wood paneling along the walls. A vin-tage dark blue 1928 Studebaker sits on display, reminiscent of the real Whiskey Sixes.

With a peak price of $29.96 for their Black Angus New York strip, pricing at The Whiskey Six is rea-sonable. There are much more affordable options available, like the build-your-own pizza at $9.96.

If you’re looking for a new place to try, The Whiskey Six provides a sleek space. But the stan-dard grilled cuisine isn’t worth waiting a couple of hours.

The Whiskey SixProhibition-themed restaurant excites the Village

By Olivia AsimakisMANAGING EDITOR

FACEBOOK.COM/THEWHISKEYSIX

OLIVIA ASIMAKIS

AGENTCARTERTEXTS.TUMBLR.COM

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – North Pointe – 9

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anu Subramaniam

MANAGING EDITOR: Olivia Asimakis

MANAGING EDITOR-AT-LARGE:Jennifer Kusch

EDITORS-AT-LARGE:Yena Berhane, Rey Kam

SECTION EDITORS: Katelyn Carney, Mora Downs, Audrey Kam, Billy Moin, Ritika Sanikommu

WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Emma Puglia

BUSINESS MANAGERS: Jillian Berndtson, Gowri Yerramalli

PHOTO EDITORS: Sydney Benson, Dalaney Bradley, Ava Deloach, Bella DeSan-dy, Erinne Lubienski

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Emma Brock, Caitlin Bush, Abbey Cadieux, Radiance Cooper, Allison Lackner, Lindsey Ramsdell, Anna Post, Lauren Sexton, Sarah Wietecha

STAFF REPORTERS: Josie Bennett, Alex Harring, Bella Lawson, Nathan Lonczyn-ski, Trevor Mieczkowski, Katelynn Mulder, Sonny Mulpuri, Michal Ruprecht, Billy Steigelman, Addison Toutant

INTERNS: Darcy Graham, Erin Kaled, Joey Parison, Montana Paton, Olivia Robinson, Asia Simmons, Tommy Teftsis

The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journal-ism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review. Comments should be directed to the student editors, who make all final content decisions. The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the student editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe Public School System.We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Student Press Law Center. We subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.One copy is available free to all community members. Additional copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at northpointenow.org. The North Pointe is printed on 100% recycled paper.

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

FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, MJE

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

editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.

“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

Anu SubramaniamEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Billy MoinNEWS EDITOR

Emma PugliaWEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Radiance CooperASSISTANT EDITOR

Olivia AsimakisMANAGING EDITOR

Mora DownsLIFE EDITOR

Ritika SanikommuIDEAS EDITOR

Katelynn MulderSTAFF REPORTER

Katelyn CarneySPORTS EDITOR

Gowri YerramalliBUSINESS MANAGER

Yena BerhaneEDITOR-AT-LARGE

IDEAS

North Face took on a new meaning during Michigan’s spectacular polar vortex, as kids would come to school dressed head to toe in anything that would shield their skin from the biting cold outside.

However, it didn’t get any better when they walked in the door. Expecting a of a blast of warm air, students were greeted with the nice frost of air conditioning. Instead of shedding their layers at the door, they wore them throughout the day to deal with the fluctuating temperatures in various classrooms. Even in more milder years, you see groups of students still wearing or carrying their coats because of chilly temperatures.

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, before a person can focus on problem solving, their physiological needs must be met. That includes maintaining a steady body temperature. If a stu-dent attempts to work while shivering constantly, his or her performance won’t be up to par.

A 2001 study at Loyola University tested the impact of temperature on students by placing subjects in three different environments (64, 72 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit) and giving them a memory test. The subjects in the coldest and warmest rooms received the lowest test scores.

As students sit down next to a stream of air conditioning, it distracts them from listening to a lecture because the main thought running through their minds is “I’m freezing.” The same holds true to the rooms that are too hot. Many find the B-building, especially the third floor, to be unusually warm, a stark contrast from the frozen tundras of the science and C buildings.

The oscillating temperatures effectively cut down learning time. When students ask to get their jackets, it’s disruptive. Teachers willingly write out hall passes to spare the freezing students, but the time spent getting to lockers interrupts a presenta-tion or vocabulary quiz.

During the winter, building thermostats are set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, but because of external

factors, certain rooms don’t receive as much warmth. Energy and building operations engineers, who

face a variety of challenges, aren’t the sole control-lers of the inner mechanisms. Guidelines for heat-ing and cooling save energy by maintaining a con-sistent temperature, but the school’s infrastructure is large, and each classroom has circumstances that affect an individual room’s temperature. Classrooms with more students, rugs and computers generate more heat, while rooms containing tiled floors sur-rounded by windows reflect the climate outdoors.

No matter how many mechanics attempt to stabilize the internal heating and cooling within the school, the discrepancies are evident. Though each classroom may have its consistent climate, the rate of temperature change from the A-building to the C-building differs daily.

Within the classroom, students feed off the energy of the teachers, who have just about as much control over the thermostat. The school’s infrastructure is set up so teachers cannot alter the temperature individually. However, if teachers have occupied the same temperamental rooms for years, they should reserve the right to talk to an engineer about readjusting their heating and cooling settings.

Instead of attempting to preserve the entire building in a moderate atmosphere, which time after time has proved a self-defeating cycle, a simple solution stares straight at us. Space heaters and fans.

With low prices that range from $30-$60 at Target, these machines would provide a quick fix in individual classrooms while not breaking the bank. Allocating funds into heaters and fans from the school budget would be more cost-effective for the school system instead of having to adjust or fix the internal heating of the infrastructure daily.

Students and teachers will agree: Goldilocks expressed the sentiment best. She’s most content when the environment is not too hot or too cold, but just right.

“I have a brother, so I usually would study with him. I would usu-ally use the reviews that my teachers gave me. I would sometimes look up instructions.”

“I study the week before and do all the review guides.”

“I study my quiz and test reviews from the semes-ter. I also get together with friends and study the most difficult con-cepts of the semester.”

“Well considering that the discipline of English is more like a skill-based test, I make sure that they have some practice with the skills that they’re going to be assessed on for the midterm exam.”

“I prepare my kids for midterms by giving them a review sheet a couple of weeks before the exam and having them complete the review sheet before the exam.”

Fiona ByrneSOPHOMORE

Brian DegnoreSOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER

Charlie CrimandoENGLISH TEACHER

Mallika KannegantiSENIOR

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Lemming helpBy Rey KamEDITOR-AT-LARGE

Kelsey HamiltonJUNIOR

“It depends on the class, but I make sure to pay extra attention in class the week before, and I look through all the review materials my teachers give me to make sure I know everything.“

SARAH WIETECHA

Lemmings are small ro-dents that migrate in large groups, crossing rivers along the way. Inevitably, lemmings that can’t cross will drown. We make fun of lemmings, yet ac-cept the paths of our peers, fol-lowing the norm just as they do.

I don’t like that. Conse-quently, it’s been suggested I have issues with responsibility and authority.

Hate to disagree, but that’s not my problem. My problem is that our choices can be dictated by others, with a single popular option becoming “the norm.” This works for most people, but for others, the illusion of a single solution doesn’t hold up. Unfortunately, some discour-age their peers from pursuing these other options (strategic gap year, tutorial, ROTC, drop-ping an AP class).

The most qualified person to speak on any given subject is someone on the inside.

This is your life. After 6,000 days (give or take) of life, the most trustworthy judge of your own limits is you. The beaten path is traveled by many peo-ple, but if you can’t survive it, plot a different course.

Maybe you’d prefer a less crowded path, one with a lower speed limit, or maybe to go off-road for a year and get back on when you’re ready. Whatever you choose, choose success. Don’t lemming into a river you can’t cross.

“You’re only a teenager,” they’ll sigh.“You can’t possibly know what’s good for you.” You can. You do.

Life isn’t like a kid’s game, you don’t need your parents’ permission to live it. You don’t have to be a certain age, ei-ther. You know how you func-tion, and how to keep yourself functioning.

You’ve heard tutorials are a waste of time and not some-thing that colleges like to see. Decide for yourself. Don’t ap-ply to the same colleges as your friends if you need something else. If you’re going to be over-whelmed by a difficult class, you’re not required to take it (unless you are, in which case, consider a tutorial).

By all means, seek advice from people you trust. You don’t have to make important choices alone. Just keep in mind there is no “correct path” to a successful life. Ultimately it’s up to you to customize your route.

Example: a 17-year-old with ADHD and anxiety issues avoids driving.

My mother writes it off as mere reluctance, an aversion to the “growing up” that I’ll eventually have to do anyway. Friends reassure me it’s like riding a bike, and gets easier with practice. Nice try, I’m still unwilling to operate a two-ton motor vehicle right now. Espe-cially because the only argu-ments are “I technically can” and “eventually I’ll need to anyway.” What else does every-one do “eventually?” Die.

Speaking of the eternal si-lence that awaits us all, I’m in no rush to bring that about (for myself or others). Accuse me of melodrama all you want. I know myself.

Teenagers’ information pro-cessing occurs in the brain’s emotion center, making ratio-nal decision making more diffi-cult. Distraction increases reac-tion time. Cars are configured so the moment you turn the key any small movement can be deadly. Honestly, my refusal to get behind the wheel seems pretty responsible.

The people in your life won’t always agree with choices you make, but when it comes to the way you plan to move forward, listen to Shakespeare:

“Above all, to thine own self be true.”

School climate not optimal for learning

Joseph HallFRESHMAN

YOUR TURN: How do you prepare for midterms?By Gowri YerramalliBUSINESS MANAGER

10 – North Pointe – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 SPORTS

By Sonny Mulpuri & Trevor MieczkowskiSTAFF REPORTERS

It has been six years since 2010 alumna Ariel Braker graduated. In that time, she’s received her degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she played basket-ball for the Fighting Irish, and completed a masters in sports administration at Wayne State University. Now she’s come home—to be the assistant coach of the girls varsity basketball team.

“I am just giving them all the knowledge I learned, especially coming out of Notre Dame, and when I was a grad student at Wayne, I helped coach their women’s team,” Braker said. “I think I have a lot of different per-spectives from different coaches, and I am trying to bring all that to give the girls information about the game to make them better players, essentially.”

Braker hopes to help other girls achieve their dreams, just as she was able to reach hers while playing basket-ball at Notre Dame.

She aspired to play at the college level since she was in fourth grade, always knowing that Notre Dame was her top choice.

“It was just awesome being able to go to that go to that school and being able to fulfill the dream of playing bas-ketball there,” Braker said.

After graduating from Notre Dame and Wayne State, Braker decided to come back to her roots and coach here.

Senior Lauren Lesha hopes to learn all she can from Braker before the season ends. She remembers attend-ing games when she was in middle school and seeing Braker as one of the hardest working players on the court.

“She has, obviously, played at a very high level, and she can help us with the little form and technique things,” Lesha said.

The younger players will have a couple more years to learn what they can with Braker. Freshmen Evelyn Zacharias didn’t know Braker personally before this season, but had heard of all of her accomplishments in her career here and leading the 2008 team to North’s first and only state championship in girls basketball.

“We have learned that communication is one of the key components to winning a basketball game. Ariel’s coaching is straight to the point and clear to follow,”

Zacharias said. “She is very committed to teaching us what we need to learn, and she makes sure we do what-ever we need to do until we get it right.”

Coach Gary Bennett has stressed the team coming together throughout the season, especially for when playoffs come around.

“I think that she’s going to be able to contribute some of the stuff she has experienced and share that with the girls, and I think that’s one of the big things she’ll bring to us,” Bennett said.

Bennett has seen Braker grow as a player since her freshmen year and sees it in the suggestions she gives or the type of drills and plays she has molded into the sys-tem after her time at Notre Dame.

He has noticed that Braker has become a more ma-ture basketball player, and she has a much better under-standing of the game.

“You can really see that she understands all the counter-moves to make to whatever the defense does,” Bennett said. “I think she has a really deep understand-ing of basketball, deeper than what she had when she was a player.”

Braker’s lasting love for the game is the reason she has experienced success in her basketball career and why she decided to come back and pass on her knowl-edge to more girls.

“I tried everything I could to just be around the game and do anything I could to just learn more about it, and when Mr. Bennett gave me the opportunity, I jumped on it,” Braker said.

Bennett said that he has a ton of respect for Braker not just as a basketball player, but also as a person. He loves to be around her and thinks she can serve as a good role model for his team.

He understands the experience she has under her belt will bring more insight into the program, give more confidence to his players and help them slow down the game in big situations.

“I think she understood that when she was a player here, and my values haven’t changed at all, so I don’t sit down and try to teach her anything,” Bennett said. “I actually expect to learn more from Ariel than she does from me. That is how I view it.”

Former NCAA basketball player returns as assistant coach for the girls basketball team

NOTRE DAME BLOG NETWORK THE DIAMONDBACK

ABOVE: Ariel Braker poses for the 2013-2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team poster.

ABOVE: Braker plays against the Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team in the Final Four at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on April 6, 2014. The Fighting Irish won 87-61.

Boys swim team hosts invitationalBy Lauren SextonMULTIMEDIA EDITOR

LEFT: Junior Paul Rakowicz dove to begin the 400 meter relay.BELOW LEFT: Junior Ben Sliwinski finishes the 50 free in fourth place.BELOW: Freshman Warren Galloway swims the 100-yard breaststroke. Galloway fin-ished the race with a time of 1:34.FAR BELOW: Class of 2015 alumnus Matt Stander caps Rakowicz before his race.

ABOVE: During the 2008 Class A State Championship game, then sophomore Ariel Braker, left, battled for the ball against an East Lansing High School player.

ANDREW TAYLOR

PATRICE ASIMAKIS

North Pointe – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 – 11

SPORTS

By Sydney Benson & Trevor MieczkowskiPHOTO EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

Walking into the pool, the record board might look a bit different than how it last was. Sophomore Sam Villani’s name now stands where former record holder Marcia Keat’s last name marked the school’s record time in the 100 backstroke.

To her teammates, Villani breaking the record wasn’t much of a surprise as she has been swimming competitively since the age of 6.

“When I was 6 (I started swim-ming) at Lochmoor. My mom set that up, she thought it would be fun to do and it just took off from there,” Villani said. “I’ve been to three clubs in my life, Loch-moor, P.A. (Pointe Aquatics), Ol-lie (Oakland Live Y’ers), and then I went back to P.A.”

Villani has been given the op-portunity to travel around the country through competitive swimming at the national level.

“It’s taken me really far, I’ve been out of state, I’ve been to states, and Junior Nationals. I’ve been pretty far and I’ve had a lot of experience and have gone to a lot of places and seen a lot of people,” Villani said. “(Going to Junior Nationals) was one of my very first goals and when I finally beat it, I was so happy. ”

After two years of swimming on the varsity swim team, Vil-lani’s coach Allison Scarfone has recognized the overall attributes that she brings to the team.

“Sam is a blessing, she is a great leader. My favorite thing

about Sam is that she is humble, she is easy to coach, she is re-spectful and she takes positive criticism positively,” Scarfone said. “She is a good person in terms of someone who actually takes others who are not as good as her and brings them up and cheers for them.”

Although Villani is a talented swimmer, she believes that any-one can meet their goals if they put in time and effort. However, Villani’s teammate junior Julia Gehlert feels that Villani’s talent comes naturally.

“Sam has natural-born tal-ent, it’s just like some people can work and work as hard as possible and they won’t really achieve as much as they want, but for Sam, it’s so much easier for her, she has a lot of power,” Gehlert said.

Villani still has many goals when it comes to swimming. She feels if she works hard at practice she can achieve them.

“I plan to swim in college and I just want to do my best and I real-ly want to go to the Olympic time trials,” Villani said. “I’ve been practicing a lot (for the Olympic trials). I want to get in the 100 (backstroke), so I’ve been kick-ing a lot of backstroke and doing a lot of main sets of backstroke.”

Villani feels that swimming is a way of life.

“Swimming has always been a part of my life. When I go a day without it, I feel different. I don’t know what else I would be doing if I didn’t swim,” Villani said. “I have made so many friends and memories through swim, that I wouldn’t have without swim.”

By Anna PostASSISTANT EDITOR

This season, the combined North-South ice skating team is now in a higher competition level, allowing skaters to perform at higher stakes and move up in their division while enhancing their skating abilities.

“As the skaters improve individually, they have the opportunity to test up lev-els which then puts them in a higher division,” Claire LaDue, head ice skating coach, said. “We haven’t moved divisions per-say, but skaters have moved up on to a higher team than they might have been the year before.”

Sophomore Caitlin Miller looks at the improvement of the ice skating team as a way to not only better herself but the program as well.

“I think that we just need hard workers and people that really want to join the team and are dedicated to the sport and who love the sport and want to have fun with it,” Miller said.

To qualify into a higher division, skaters must be certif ied by U.S. judges in both field and freestyle sections, which are different aspects of performance judged in their events. Even though all skaters are a team when going to certain events, they can perform individually to improve in their own division. Depend-ing on which level a skater is on, the skater can also perform well in certain events and move to a higher level than before with the help of additional train-ing from private coaches.

“Level-C skaters need to take at least f ive of these tests to move into team B,” LaDue said. “That could take years and is something the higher level skaters achieved in elementary and middle school before they even became a member of the high school team. Team B skaters need to take f ive more tests to move into Team A which is the top division.”

Stepping into a harder division brings new challenges to the ice skating team. With the rise of competition, the team is also faced with changes in elements. This is how skaters are judged and have to perform competitions (comps) like spins, spirals, jumps, footwork and lifts. With the new rules, Barnes believes that it will give skaters more opportunities to perform with more challenges since they have been practicing them in different events throughout the season.

“I don’t think it has gotten too much harder,” Barnes said. Like any year, the diff iculty changes because people will graduate and then we will have new-comers, so the change so far is pretty moderate but it’s good.”

With the loss of talented seniors who graduated last year, current Grosse Pointe South senior Julia Barnes was at f irst hesitant about how this year’s sea-son would go. As the season progresses, Barnes believes that the harder compe-tition the team is up against will only help the skaters improve and attract new skaters to the program.

“I think (the program is) getting a lot more serious and soon it will become bigger,” Barnes said. “(The team) was pretty small my freshman year and it’s even gotten bigger since then so it will only continue to grow.”

CELESTE JANSON CELESTE JANSON

Sophomore breaks 100-meter backstroke record

TOP: Vilani (far left) poses with her team members.ABOVE: Villani performing her backstroke at the 2015 state meet.BELOW: Villani takes her mark before a race.

SAM VILANI

SAM VILLANI

Ice skating team improves rank

12 – Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016– North Pointe

Great Lakes Coffee in Detroit provides a rustic vibe and incorporates locally roast-ed beans from farmers of choice to ensure a farm-to-table touch. Great Lakes Cof-fee supplies the consumer with a coffee-sourcing board explaining what the cof-fee’s name means, what farm it came from, the origin of the beans and tasting notes.

Merchandise, cafe-themed beverages, packaged beans and roast to take home are just a few items offered at Great Lakes Coffee. The coffee shop occa-sionally expands out of its four walls, selling merchandise and fresh-roast-ed coffee at Detroit’s Eastern Market. Although the flavors of Great Lakes’ lavender and green tea lattes hook customers, the business’s latte art became popular online and is fea-tured on the company’s social me-dia accounts.

For timely updates, follow @greatlakescoffee on Instagram or @GLCRoasting on Twitter. Great Lakes Coffee is open Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-midnight and Sunday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Café Con Leche’s two locations in De-troit prove to be “Stronger. Sweeter. Dar-ing,” just as their slogan suggests. Café Con Leche’s Hispanic inf luence is evident through their historical logo. “Coffee Ca-lavera,” an animated skeleton drawn by po-litical cartoonist and folk artist José Gua-dalupe Posada, serves as the figurehead for the coffee shop. The original drawing holds knives, but Café Con Leche replaced it with espresso machines to fit the coffee theme.

Café Con Leche’s daring and Latin-in-fused menu includes a Mexican Mocha (Mexican chocolate with espresso) and chocolate a la taza which claims to be make the customer feel as though they are drink-ing a chocolate bar.

To keep up with the café, follow it on Ins-tagram @cafeconlechedetroit or on Twitter @cafeconlechedet. Although it’s closed on Sunday, Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Located in both Rochester and Detroit, Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters (DOCR) houses coffee, food and live music. The DOCR has built a community of local musicians that complements its products and service. The cafe’s mission is to unlock the best traits and full potential of each product through its roasts. Along with sublime beverages, they of-fer numerous dessert options, such as Captain Crunch, Oreo, caramel apple, baklava or eggnog cheesecakes. While fruit crepes, fun desserts and fondue are con-sumer favorites, they also sell many rolled sandwiches for cus-tomers without a sweet tooth.

The friendly atmosphere and paramount quality is represent-ed in numerous ways, and can be found on their Instagram @des-sert_oaisis_coffee_roasters or in person during the shop’s hours of operation, from Monday-Thurs-day 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7 a.m-midnight and Sunday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

IDEAS

Each week we bring you some fresh activities and places to try outside of the Grosse Pointe community

By Allison Lackner, Caitlin Bush& Bella LawsonASSISTANT EDITORS & STAFF REPORTER

WWW.ATCAFECONLECHE.COM

WWW.THEKAHAWACO.COM

GREATLAKESCOFFEE.COM

WWW.DESSERTOASISCOFFEE.COM

WWW.BLOCALDETROIT.COM

WWW. WIKI.CFCL.COM

WWW. PIXABAY.COM

Popping the bubble