The Pacer

Election coverageAn In-depth look into this

year’s elections

AuxiliaryThe alternative rock band

Auxiliary, made up of seniors and alumni, released its first EP.

pages 6 & 7 page 13

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Behind MiloMeet the man behind the mas-

cot. Junior Dirone Williams tells about his experiences as Milo.

PACERThe

Rolling Meadows High School 2901 Central Rd., Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 October 12, 2012 Volume 42 Issue 2

page 16

School Board to vote on P.E. waiver changes

Liam BradyEditor-in-Chief

The mental health program used in sophomore health classes is undergoing some positive therapy this year. The school has partnered with two local agencies to give students a deeper awareness of mental health issues like depression, self-injury and substance abuse as well as offer support for them.

RMHS is the first school in the district to implement these changes and they will complement the Signs of Suicide Prevention program already being taught in classrooms.

“Having students gain awareness is the number one thing,” Principal Eileen Hart said. “We want students to have more access, have more knowledge and know more people to reach out to.”

The program will involve a theater presentation from the organization Erasing the Distance, that will enact real life stories of someone who has

gone through those issues and has been able to get treatment and turn their lives around.

The second part of the program is to have the Response Center, a Skokie based organization offering a variety of resources to adolescents, come into the classroom this semester and next semester to discuss these issues.

“The purpose of our business is to come in, provide some education around some different mental health issues, and erasing stigmas and myths around these,” Sarah Casper, the Outreach Coordinator of the Response Center said.

The new program was developed by social worker Amy Santoro and she hopes that it will lead to positive discussion about these issues.

“One of the biggest points about it is to really talk about these issues,” Santoro said. “There’s people in your classroom that you are sitting with now that are experiencing these issues, and [we want] to really take that stigma away,

to make people feel that they are not alone to really put it out there that there are many people experiencing this and that we are here to help and support you.”

Health Teacher Jeff Adkins also sees benefits for raising mental health awareness.

“I think mental health is often an overlooked health issue,” Adkins said. “When we are physically unhealthy we can all see it, but mental health is often overlooked. In health class we try to talk about the importance of recognition and a preventative standpoint.”

Peer Council member junior Ember Berns agrees that it should give students a better understanding of mental health issues.

“I think the new program will be better because it’s focusing more on what depression really is and teaches the students that depression is more important than previously thought,” Berns said. “It’s not just a couple thoughts, it’s actually a disorder.”

Julia DacyManaging Editor

The School Board is expected to vote on a measure Oct. 18 that will offer P.E. waivers for Competitive Marching Band and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). These students would be allowed to take a study hall in place of P.E. class. Currently, there are only three ways junior and senior students can opt out of P.E. classes: participating in a varsity sport, fulfilling a graduation requirement or taking a class necessary for college admission. According to Assistant Principal Lisa DaRocha, Illinois School Code states that Marching Band and ROTC are eligible for P.E. waivers, but District 214 has not allowed them in the past. “I think in part there’s a lot of activities kids are involved in,” DaRocha said. “There are a lot of late night practices kids are involved in and A.P. classes they are involved in. Making sure they have every opportunity to be successful in those classes is important.” The hope is that a study hall would give students

with a large time commitment to school activities extra time to focus on schoolwork. The marching band practices as a whole one day a week for two and a half hours. ROTC also meets once a week. “I would like a P.E. waiver for band,” junior trombone player Jacob Pike said. “Marching band is very intense and it would make it a lot easier in terms of having an open block to do homework and study.” The major concern with allowing more students to obtain a P.E. waiver is the perception that the administration is minimizing the importance of physical activity and health. Buti believes that marching band is already fulfilling the fitness needs of its students. He says endurance, strength, conditioning and flexibility are major components of competition. “Obviously, physical activity whether you’re getting it from dance, P.E., sports or marching band, is extremely important to good health, but so is giving kids time to fit everything in and also get time to study and relax,” Buti said. For more coverage, see editorial page 4.

The Pacer staff supports the fight against breast cancer and turns its colors pink each October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

See full coverage on page 10

Marching Mustangs, ROTC particpants topossibly be exempt from Physical Education

Battle againstbreast cancer

HEALTH CLASS HELP: This year the health class curriculum was updated to include information about mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, etc. In the photo illustration above, a student portrays a mentally exhausted teen.

Erasing st igmas on mental health

Pacer/ Sara Schoen

Pilot program enhances awareness of emotional wellness issues

news briefs

The Pacer’s news editor Sarah Deitelhoff compiles short pieces of upcoming events in the Rolling Meadows High School commu-nity.

News Rolling Meadows High School2

Fall sports awardsThe fall sports awards night will be on Nov. 5 from 6-8 p.m. in the gym. Coaches, ath-letic directors and administrators will be speaking during the ceremony.

Out with the old, in with the newThe first quarter will end on Oct. 26 with an early dismissal at 12:25 p.m.

V-show auditions Pit band auditions are Monday, Oct. 15 at 4:30 p.m. in the Orchestra room. All individual acts will be auditioning on Oct. 23 and 24 in the choir room. Sign up in the dance room for an audition time.

Sing it!

Choir has their first concert of the year on Sun-day, Oct. 28. The concert will begin at 3 p.m. in the main gym.

Practice makes perfectSophomores and juniors will have the opprotunity take a practice SAT on Oct. 20. The test will begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 11 a.m.

Help dress a girl around the worldThe fashion design classes are asking everyone to donate old, but clean and in good condition, pillow cases. They will be using them to make dresses for girl in third world countries.

Peter TimotijevicBusiness Manager

The Marching Mustangs have been doing well in their competition season and they look to finish strong with one contest to go.

The Mustangs have achieved merit in their past three competitions. They finished second in their class at the Grayslake North contest and won for the Best Color Guard. At the Wheeling contest, they took seventh and at the St. Rita contest they came in first place. They have one contest left on Oct. 21 at Sand-wich High School.

“The Wheeling contest was not our stron-gest competition and we had just learned a part of the show. From that, we listened to

the judges’ commentary and we worked very hard on the weak areas and made tremendous improvement that led us to scoring substan-tially higher in our weak areas and taking first place at St. Rita,” Band Director Chris Buti said.

The theme for this year’s show is titled “Ur-ban Pulse.” It is a different show from trends in years past for the band. The show features several songs of different tempo and visual movement. The routine features everything from crowded cityscape like environments to jazz numbers as well as a ballad that includes solos from Color Guard members. Their rou-tine concludes with a high tempo song that uses the most of the members, creating many visual effects.

Buti isn’t the only one that helps choreo-graph the band’s routines. He has three as-sistants: Kate Walsh, Dan Bertermann, Da-vid Kohut. Together, they contribute to the show’s organization as well as help students learn the routines.

“I will often bounce ideas off other staff and make adjustments as they see fit,” Buti said.

The band wraps up their season with the Sandwich High School competition on Oct. 21.

“Our season started with some early set-backs but our recent success at the St. Rita marching competition has given us the confi-dence we need for the Sandwich High School competition,” junior Jack Davis said.

Falling into step Marching Mustangs look to finish strong

Gabe CastroStaff writer

In previous years, the Post Prom Com-mittee has given juniors and seniors the opportunity to experience the Spirit of Chi-cago, a cruise that provides dining, dancing and entertainment. This year, the majority of the committee’s members are parents of seniors who will not be returning next year. This means the possibility of no Post Prom next year.

“First off, we want people to know that the Post Prom Committee is a separate entity from Prom,” Co-Chairman of the Post Prom Committee Amy Hume said. “Prom is orga-nized and run by the school and the junior class. Post Prom is sanctioned and fully sup-ported by the administration but is organized and run by parent volunteers. That means we

are solely responsible for raising the funds for the Post Prom event.”

Some of the Post Prom fundraising events include the bi-annual Gino’s East Pizza fund-raiser, running Market Day once a month, working booths at Frontier Days over the Fourth of July Holiday and running conces-sion stands at the Three On Three basketball tournament.

“The problem we are looking at now is the lack of new parental volunteers. There are a few parents that will be returning, but we need new blood and someone to help chair the committee,” Hume said. “We would love to have new parents work side by side with us this year to see how Post Prom is run and continue this wonderful tradition.”

Post Prom is a safe and organized event for students to attend after Prom. While chaperoned by staff, students can stay out

with friends until 4 a.m.. Post Prom also gives parents peace of mind because they do not have to worry about where their child is and whether or not he or she is safe. Post Prom reduces the risk of students not receiving their diploma due to poor choices after Prom. Some students find Post Prom to be the best part of the night.

“I loved Post Prom,” senior Lauren Chip-chak said. “Prom was really fun, but I defi-nitely feel like Post Prom made the night. At the dance, it was really too loud to talk at all, but at Post Prom I was actually able to talk to my friends more. Even though it won’t affect me personally, I feel bad for any student who doesn’t get to experience Post Prom.”

To keep this event alive, the Post Prom Committee needs new parent volunteers. If there are any parents interested in volunteer-ing, contact Amy Hume at (847-977-4737.)

Dwindling numbers


The Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) club held its first event of the year, the annual caramel apple sale, during Homecoming Week.

“Caramel apples were a great success this year,” club adviser Kimmi Drendel said. “ We had a lot of new members join, and they were so good at making the apples. Even though it was freezing cold at the game, people still supported us.”

All students are welcome to participate in FCCLA. However, in order to take part in its competition sea-son beginning in Feb., students must take at least one Family and Consumer Sciences elective. When

Drendel took over the club in 2008, there were three competing members. This year, club membership has reached an all-time high of 80 students.

“The fact that so many students want to be part of FCCLA really makes me want to work even harder as an adviser,” Drendel said.

The club will meet periodically until competi-tion season starts for Regionals in Feb. The top 20 competitors at the regional will advance to State in Springfield. Students have their choice of over 20 categories to compete in. Junior Julie Nerwin will participate in the cake frosting competition.

“My favorite part of competition is hanging out with everyone because we all have the same inter-ests,” Nerwin said.

Sweet sales:

APPLE:FCCLA sold hand-made caramel apples at the homecoming football game last Friday.

MARCHING TOWARD SUCCESS: The Marching Mustangs look to end their season on a positive note as they recover from an early set-back and look to their future compitions.

Pho

to/ S

eth

Bach

man

Photo courtsey of Caroline Schliep

Parent Post Prom comittee seeks more members

FCCLA holds homemade caramel apple fundraiser

NewsOctober 12, 2012 3

RumorHas It

Brittney FrazierEditor-in-Chief

As winter approaches, there is a new challenge to be faced in the parking lot. With the addition of speed bumps this year, a question has been raised as to how snow removal companies will get the job done with barriers in their way, or if they will be removed altogether.

“The speed bumps are permanent so they will not be removed,” Associate Prin-cipal of Operations Kent Nightlinger said. “They are made of a solid foundation so they don’t wear down over time, so they will remain. We will meet with the [snow plow] company, like we do every year, to discuss what we want to be done.”

Although the speed bumps will stay as they are over the winter, some changes will still need to be made to the way the snow removal company will operate.

“The process this year will be different in that we will make sure that the snow plow can see [the speed bumps], so we will provide them with a map so they are aware of what they need to work around,” Night-linger said.

Although hopeful that it will work out, there is always a chance that the speed bumps will suffer during snow removal.

“There’s always a possibility that there will be some damage. Once things thaw we will have to assess it, but that will be part of the process,” Nightlinger said. “All the schools in the district use the same plowing company, and in the past all schools except us and Forest View had speed bumps so the company is used to dealing with them.”

Snow removal in parking lots with speed bumps has not proven to be a major prob-lem for other schools in the district, and the same is expected here. The speed bumps are here to stay.

Are speed bumps being removed in the winter?

Sara Schoen Photo Editor

Philosophy Club is the newest after school activity to join the plethora of options at Rolling Meadows High School. The idea was brought on by science teacher Adam Riege.

“I actually have a degree in philosophy,” Riege said. “When I taught in Wisconsin I ac-tually taught a philosophy class, and when I moved to the city last year I started a Philoso-phy Club at the school I taught at last year, so when I came here this year I thought it would be a good club to have.”

Students get into groups of their choosing and talk about one broad subject then share their ideas with one another. They then come together and listen to everyone’s ideas as a whole and break down larger ideas into small-er ideas. “Its getting them to rethink things that they thought they already knew and then re-examining them.” Riege said.

Philosophy Club is a place for students to go if they want to be able to express them-

selves without feeling confined to a certain subject. “I always liked to debate concepts, but the debate team is too political. I thought that this would be a good place to go,” freshman Max Barson said.

One reason students seem to enjoy the club is the freedom they get to voice their own opinions. “It allows you to talk with people and hear different opinions and you get to see how people think,” junior Meghan Werling said.

Students are able to share their own ideas among the group as well as listen to others opinions. “I like how nothing is out of bounds. You can discuss pretty much anything as long as you can phrase it politely,” Barson said.

The club is looking into doing a movie night where they will watch movies that have philosophical ideas.

“There are some awesome movies that have philosophic topics in them like ‘The Ma-trix’ or ‘Inception’”, Riege said. Members will then discuss the ideas brought about in the movies.

Philosophy is something that can help with the way someone thinks. “I think that students should join because it really focuses on critical thinking and its questioning the why, which I think that not enough people do, and when you get to college it’s all about questioning why does this happen and how do we know that.” Riege said. In Philosophy Club students are able to think about new things and how those things affect their daily life.

The club’s main goal is to get people to think about things that they don’t normally think about. “It really tests your perception of the world you live in,” junior Sydney Stepha-nik said.

So far, the club has had a positive response from students. “Philosophy Club is a really great place to go if you need an outlet for all those deep thoughts you have, but your friends aren’t really that supportive of them,” Barson said.

Searching for a new meaningPhilosophy Club offers forum for student discussion and gives an opportunity to discover new ideas and expand opinions and beliefs

“I like the fact that it challenges your perception on life and how there is no right or wrong answer, only theory.” -junior Sydney Stefanik

Student SoundOff

“It helps develop how you already think, and how you see the world.”-junior Meghan Werling

“I like talking about Epistemology.” -senior Grant Doering

“There’s no right answers it’s fun intellectualy.” -senior Sean Dahlgren

Take a look at some of the questions they discuss in Philosophy club.

What’s the word?

What makes something right or wrong?

Is there really free will?

Who decides what is beautiful?

How do I know that I am not dreaming right now?

How do I really know if something is true or not?

What makes me, me?

Opinions Rolling Meadows High School4

The Pacer is produced by journalistic writing classes at Rolling Meadows High School. The paper is published nine times during the school year.

The Pacer is a designated public forum for student ex-pression and for discussion of issues of concern to its read-ers. Its content is not reviewed or restrained by school or District 214 administrators but is expected to fall within the curriculum and academic guidelines of the English/Fine Arts Division at Rolling Meadows High School.

Since The Pacer is a designated public forum for stu-dent expression, the editorial board, which consists of the Editors-in-Chief and respective section editors, will determine the content of the newspaper and all unsigned staff editorials; therefore, material may not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of District 214 or Rolling Meadows High School officials. The views stated in edi-torials represent that of a majority of the editorial board.

No single member of the editorial board can be held re-sponsible for editorial content decisions. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinion of the author.

The Pacer welcomes letters to the editor, guest col-umns and news releases from faculty, administrators, community residents, students and the general public. We ask that letters to the editor and guest columns be 300 words or less, contain the author’s name and address, and be sent to [email protected], or dropped off in Room A111.

The Pacer editorial board reserves the right to with-hold a letter or column and return it for more information if it determines the piece contains items of unprotected speech as defined by this policy. Letters will be edited for spelling and grammar and checked for verification.

If you wish to advertise in or request ad rates for The Pacer, call (847) 718-5755 and ask for Peter Timotijevic.

The

October 12, 2012 Volume 42 / Issue 2

Editors-in-ChiefLiam Brady

Brittney FrazierManaging Editor

Julia DacyNews Editor

Sarah Deitelhoff

Entertainment EditorJoe Salvato

Sports EditorSeth Bachman

Editorial CartoonistCelina Chiodo

Business ManagerPeter Timotijevic

Opinions EditorAnna Peterson

Features EditorAllie Petrick

Las Vistas EditorAmerica Cordero

TranslatorJairo Jimenez

Photo EditorSara SchoenFood Critic

Mark SchmidCopy Editors

Mia HarperTony Sarussi

Staff WritersGabe CastroAlex GueliGreg OffAdviser

Stan Zoller, MJE

PAC ER

Back on track in class but not allowed on the field

While the school board sweats the decision of extending P.E. waivers to Marching Band and ROTC, The Pacer staff believes that students in these activities should not be given the option to bypass their gym class. P.E. waivers give varsity athletes a pardon from the extra physical activity of gym class, but clubs that do not practice as often should not be given this privilege. Students have the option of requesting a P.E. waiver if they are on a varsity level sport during the season. These athletics demand a dedication to the sport as well as the team while also requiring the physical commitment of playing in practices and games. The whole point of P.E. waivers is to ensure that athletes can compete at the highest level without being fatigued from gym. Some

athletes juggle both an Advanced P.E. course, which consists of weightlifting and cardio exercises, and varsity sports at the same time, and the results can impact an athlete’s performance. “It’s bad [having advanced P.E.] on game days when they expect you to lift. The option of having a P.E. waiver is also really good for athletes that are high-achieving, academically,” junior and varsity basketball player Alexis Glasgow said. Students in ROTC or Marching Band should not be given this option because they do not require the same amount of activity and dedication that varsity level sports do. Both are not nearly as demanding as a varsity sport: Marching Band meets once a week for two hours to practice routines on the field as well as during class, and ROTC meets once a week and

exercises only once a month. The Pacer staff believes that Marching Band and ROTC practices are not as regimented and are sometimes sporadic. This is not conducive to a good physical fitness regimen. Even students involved in these activities believe that a waiver is unnecessary. “I don’t think ROTC should get P.E. waivers because we meet once a week, which is only four times a month. Sometimes we even get days off,” junior and ROTC member Char-li Ali said. The Pacer staff believes that, though Marching Band and ROTC are both challenging in their own ways, it is unnecessary for the students involved to be waived through P.E. classes. Even though gym may not be a walk through the park, it is still necessary for students to balance physical fitness with their other classes and activities.

It’s no secret that academics are always supposed to come first for students. But many times student athletes are more concerned about

succeeding in their sport than in their actual schooling. In order to keep kids involved in extracurriculars as well as on top of their grades, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) now requires athletes to be passing five academic classes in order to participate in their sport for the week. However, students who start out the week failing but then straighten out problems with their grades during the week are still ineligible for a full seven days. Athlete’s grades from the previous week get sent to coaches on Monday morning. If a student is not passing their five academic

classes, they are out of competition until the following Monday.The problem is, many athletic activities aren’t until later on in the week. This means a failing grade on Monday could be cleared up the next day, so the athlete is passing their class but they still can’t participate. It is unfair to keep students who quickly got their grades back on track out of the game. Senior and varsity soccer player Freddy Zarate understands this first hand. When grade reports came out on a Monday last month, he was failing one of this five academic classes. Although he fixed his grade and was

passing his class by game day, he was still ineligible for the week. “For me I have to be passing all of my classes because I have early dismissal and only five academic classes this semester. I was just slacking off in my one classes and I was failing, but I knew I had to get back on track to be on the field with my team,” Zarate said. “I don’t really like the policy but I guess it’s good because they want us to focus on our education before sports even though soccer is basically my second life.” While I applaud IHSA in making academics the top priority for

students, this system is flawed. Student’s grades should be sent to coaches at the beginning of the week and if an athlete does not meet the requirements for participation that week, they should have up until game day to get their grades back up. If the student can prove they are passing five classes by then, they should be allowed to participate. This would provide athletes with an incentive to address problems with their grades quickly and stay on top of their schoolwork, too.

Athletes that raise grades are still ineligible for the week due to IHSA policy

5

Editorial Vote

For Against

11

Should Marching band and ROTC be allowed to have

P.E. waivers?

CeCe Chiodo

Editor-in-Chief

Brittney Frazier

sweat:Marching Band and ROTC should not be exempt from P.E. class

No

OpinionsOctober 12, 2012 5

Connect with The Pacer on Facebook by

liking The Pacer page to post story ideas

and find out how to be featured in the

paper. Don’t forget to check out

@rmhsPACER on Twitter for live updates,

WHY DON’T YOU “LIKE” US?

Sweet and squeaky clean:

Drake rhymes “for” with “for” in “Crew Love”, and Nicki Minaj rhyming “open” with “open” in “Beez in the Trap”; bands like The Beatles, Radiohead, Queen, The Doors, and The Who can’t com-pare to the complexity of rap lyr-ics. This generation has brought literary genius to the world.

There is an overwhelming amount of music artists who make me roll my eyes in aversion. I was especially disgusted by the song “Shots” by LMFAO. I’m not saying that a song can’t have somewhat raunchy lyrics, but the rap music that I‘ve heard goes too far. “The ladies love us when we pour shots/they need an excuse to,” and then it continues on to a phrase I can’t write in a high school newspaper. Other songs continue to contain racial slurs and treat women like objects.

Let’s compare “Shots” to the English translation of the Korean viral video “Gangnam Style”: “A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays/A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes/A girl who covers

herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all/A sensible girl like that.” It implies that this girl can be have a good time but he puts it in a sweet, non-vomit inducing way.

Senior Rachel Thoms said, “All rap is about is getting drunk and high, how many women they have, how much money they have and how awesome they are. There’s only a handful of people with can rap about meaningful stuff and call it good music.”

“You can’t always get what you want/But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.” Needs outweigh wants. Do you need that expensive TV to survive? Compared to water and air, it isn’t necessary. Anyways, they make you dig deep down into your brain and actually use

it. My Popular Literature class just finished a book that is based on that Rolling Stones lyric alone.

“Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger/But we kick ‘em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger.” No, no, no, no. Please, no. Ke$ha, please don’t.

Early in their career, the lyrics of The Beatles were sweet and simple. “Oh please say to me/You’ll let me be your man/And please say to me/You’ll let me hold your hand.”

Musicians of this generation have said that the most of the recent music has a Beatles influ-ence. How did we get vomit in-ducing rap lyrics from something as innocent as “I want to hold your hand”?

Do you think P.E. classes should continue to go outside during

cold weather?

Do you think that student ath-letes who are failing classes on Monday should be able to partic-ipate in their sport if their grades

are cleared up by game day?

Do you think the music of this decade has lost its meaning com-

pared to previous decades?

Feeling the frostbite

Football players do it. So do soccer players and cross country runners. But physical education students? My P.E. class recently went out-side, just like any other day. It’s usually colder in the morning, but this day was especially cold. It was in the mid 40s and starting to rain.

After stretching out and com-pleting the usual beginning of class rituals, our teacher took us outside in the freezing rain to play football. Luckily, I wore pants and a sweater that day, but the majority of my class, and the rest of the block for that matter, wore shorts and gym shirts. “I wasn’t happy about going outside because it was bad enough being cold outside. Having to be out in the freezing rain was unnec-essary,” senior Bethany McCormick said. As many students began to com-plain, teachers decided to go back inside. Some teachers didn’t even bother going outside in the first place. Some teachers, like mine,

didn’t go in until the lightning alarm went off. Actually, I think we were the only class that stayed un-til the alarm. Some students tried leaving with the other classes, but the teacher threatened to mark them down as a cut. “Other classes started going in-side, but we had to stay outside so we didn’t get in trouble. None of us wanted to be marked down as cut, but at the same time we didn’t want to get sick either,” junior Arianna Locelso said. “There really was no point in going outside because no one wanted to play and we just stood together to try and stay warm.” Where do they draw the line when it comes to PE classes being

outside in harsh weather? Half of the teachers didn’t bother going outside, a few teachers only stayed outside for a few minutes and some teachers would have stayed out in the rain all block. The teachers should decide as a whole when a class should and should not go outside. I believe the PE teachers should also refrain from going out-side during colder seasons, espe-cially when it’s 40 degrees outside. Teachers definitely should not go outside in the freezing rain. Even with pants and a sweater, it was ridiculously cold out. I already dislike gym as it is, making me go outside in freezing rain to play a sport I don’t even understand just makes it that more unpleasant.

Staff Writer

Gabe Castro

P.E. students freeze outside as the rest of the school stays toasty warm

The music industry’s lyrical literacy isn’t how it used to be

Your two cents:

Opinions Editor

Anna Peterson

23 percent said yes

77 percent said no

23 percent said yes

77 percent said no

40 percent said no 60 percent said

yes

40 percent said no

Gonna drizzle guys, looks like we can’tpractice.

Later...

Noe Rincon

Gonna drizzle guys, looks like

we can’tpractice.

In-Depth Rolling Meadows High School6

Get schooled on the

Debate team learns from candidates

The Pacer takes an in-depth look into this

Pacer pollIs following the 2012 presidential

election important to you?

Which topic is the most important to you when choosing a candiate?qqqqqqq

Economy (43%)Education (17%)Equal rights (15%)Other (12%)Health care (6%)Women’s rights (5%)Security (2%)

qq

Yes (60%)No (40%)

Who would you vote for in theupcoming election?

qqqq

Barack Obama (54%)Mitt Romney (21%)Undecided (18%)Other (7%)

(100 students surveyed)


According to Nielsen ratings, an estimated 67.2 million people watched the first Presidential Debate on Oct. 3. Among them were the members of the RMHS debate team.

Before the first presidential debate the team talked the different strategies politicians use while debating.

“Before the debates, we listened to a broadcast on National Public Radio about how politicians in these types of debates use this maneuver called the pivot, which is really another way of saying to dodge the questions,” Head Coach Tim Waters said. “Our assignment was to watch the debate and look for dodges to see if you could catch them and then come back and take a look at

them.” The team found it useful to study the

politicians, and found times when the pivot was used.

“There was a lot of pivoting going on with both sides, but I would say Romney was more prepared than Obama. Obama was more or less pivoting to questions that he knew the answers to and not try to refute what Romney was throwing at him,” junior Alex Beck said.

Though the team found it helpful to study the politicians, they found it much different than high school debating.

“In the [presidential] debates they really focus more on the delivery of what they are trying to say, not so much trying to convince the voters of one thing or another, rather to say their point in a way that inspires the voters to see that their plan is the correct one,” senior team captain Gabe Ravich said.

DEBATE DATES Vice President Debate When: Oct. 11 at 8 p.m.

Location: Daneville, KentuckyFocus: Foreign and domestic topics

Presidential Debate When: Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.

Location: Hofstra University, New York Focus: Foreign and domestic topics

Presidential Debate When: Oct. 22 at 8 p.m.

Location: Boca Raton, Florida Focus: Foreign Policy

About the two major candidates for the office of presidency

MITT ROMNEYAge: 65

State Born: Michigan

College: Undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and dual degrees from Harvard Law and business schools.

First political office held: Governor of Massachusetts, elected in 2002.

BARACK OBAMAAge: 51

State Born: Hawaii

College: Undergraduate degree from Columbia University and a degree from Harvard Law school

First political office held: Illinois State Senator, elected in 1996.

TIPS FROM PROS: Junior Alex Beck discusses the presidential debate with his team.

Republican Democrat

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In-DepthOctober 12, 2012 7

To vote or not to voteSeniors who turn 18 before Nov. 6 are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections. Here’s a look at why they are heading to the polls or why they’re staying home.

THE POLITICIAN’S WIFE: Science teacher Katie Page stands with her husband Dave Page his campaign office. Dave is running for the Illinois Senate in the 27th District. Meanwhile, Katie is the campaign treasurer. “I do a lot of behind the scenes work like fundraisers and putting togehter signs,” Katie said.

“I am voting because I want to do my duty as an American, but I am still undecided on the candidates. I’m just looking forward to getting my sticker.”

-senior Danny Wojtowicz

“I’m not voting because I feel the president is a fall guy. Congress is the person with all the power, the president is the guy who takes the blame for what congress does or doesn’t pass into law.”

-senior Jimmy Kolb

“I’m voting because it feels good because ever since you’re a kid you’ve been reading textbooks about elections and now when you finally turn 18 it’s a cool feeling to actually be involved in the voting system.”

-senior Ashwin Galla

“I haven’t been keeping up with the candidates, so I wouldn’t know enough about them to know who to vote for.”

-senior Amy Wenzel

“I’m voting because I think it’ important to contribute to the elec-tion, most importantly because of education. I’m planning on going to a four year university and I’d like to vote for who I believe presents the best solutions towards expensive college tuition.”

-senior Sameen Hosseini

“I really wanted to vote but I forgot to register. Oops. Maybe next time. Maybe not though. Depends if I remember.”

-senior Brian Martini

November Electionyear’s National election and its local effects


Science teacher Katie Page has gained a new perspective on the election. This year she is working as a campaign treasurer for her husband, David, as he runs for Illinois Senate.

“I’m not out knocking on doors like my husband,” Katie Page said. “I do a lot of behind the scenes work like fundraisers and putting together signs. It makes me busier at home with the added responsibilities that come with the campaign.”

David Page, a Hersey alum, considered a bid for Illinois Senate in the 27th District for several years as the state’s financial condition worsened. He is running for the senate seat currently held by Republican Matt Murphy. The 27th District is comprised of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Inverness, Prospect Heights Palatine and Barrington.

David Page says he believes that his background as a financial adviser will be beneficial in straightening out the state budget and getting the economy back on track. David Page says there are no current Illinois senators that have a financial background.

“Down in the senate they have a lot of attorneys right now,”

he said. “They have that covered. What they don’t have a lot of is anyone with a finance background or even just business people.”

In addition to the budget, David Page hopes to make education a priority in Springfield. He has served on the District 25 school board since 2005 and is currently board president.

“My wife being a teacher gives me one perspective. Seeing education as a dad gives me another perspective, and being school board president rounds out that perspective,” David Page said. “I can see it from all the different points of view: teacher, parent, school board member. It helps me see how a district is run from the inside and what’s really important in terms of getting things done and delivering a high quality education.”

In addition to his time on the school board, having a wife who is a teacher has helped form David Page’s opinions on education. “He hears me coming home all the time talking about the importance of anything from legislation that is coming through the pipeline about standards or curriculum all the way through pensions,” Katie Page said. “I think I’m definitely a positive influence on his views because he gets one more perspective. I think it helps for him to be sensitive to those issues regarding education.

David Page says he believes that not having a political background will be an advantage during the election. “I have no political ambitions beyond Illinois Senate. I really just want to do my part to help our state turn things around, and get things moving in the right direction. If I do that I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something,” he said.

Although he is running as a Democrat, Page considers himself an Independent. In the past he has supported candidates that he thinks best represent important issues regardless of political party affiliation. “I think there is too much partisan politics down in Springfield and in the government. They need more people who are willing to compromise with both parties,” David Page said.

In order to get his name on the ballot, David Page obtained 2,300 signatures from registered voters in the 27th District. He, along with the help of volunteers, spends several hours a day knocking on the doors of registered voters explaining his campaign and the issues he stands for. “For the most part, people have been really supportive because they are unhappy with what has been going on in Springfield,” David Page said.

Voting

Not Voting

Science teacher’s husband runningfor Illinois Senate

Turning a new Page

Pacer/Sara Schoen

Las Vistas Rolling Meadows High School8

Sarah SchoenEditora de photos

Hermanos Jake Barson estudiante del se-gundo año y Max Barson estudiante del tercer año tienen una manera única de levantar la con-ciencia sobre el cáncer del seno. Ellos se tiñan el pelo de rosa para el mes de la conciencia sobre cáncer del seno. “Yo pienso que mucha gente nadamas se pinta un pequeño mechón, entonces nosotros pensemos por qué no ir un paso más y teñirnos toda la cabeza,” Max Barson dijo. Los chicos decidieron hacerlo en honor de sus abuela quien falleció en el 2006 después de combatir contra la enfermedad por seis años. “Mi abuela falleció de cáncer del seno y ella siempre había sido una gran parte de nuestra familia. Mis padres nos han contado historia tras historia sobre ella,” dijo Max Barson.

Los hermanos quisieron hacer una atrevida declaración sobre la severidad del cáncer del seno. En el pasado ellos han subastado bicicle-tas de la tienda de sus familia. El dinero que recaudaron fue directamente a fondos de inves-tigación. Las esperanzas de los hermanos son que sus intentos de extender conciencia van a chispear acciones de otros. Ellos creen que la batalla contra cáncer del seno debe ser una pri-oridad por el gran número de personas a quien les afecta. Según la Sociedad del Cáncer Americano (American Cancer Society), cáncer del seno es segundo en las principales causas de muertes en mujeres relacionadas con el cáncer. “Yo pienso que por la razón que cáncer del seno es tan serio, la gente piensa que sus pocos dólares no van a hacer una gran diferencia,” Max Barson dijo “si todos podrian ayudar un poco, al final eso hará la diferencia más grande.

Infórmate:

Brittney Frazier Editora en Jefe

A medida que se acerca el invierno, hay un nuevo reto que desafiar en el estaciona-miento de autos. Con la agregación de los topes este año, una pregunta que ha leve-dado es como las compañías de remoción de nieve van a hacer sus trabajo con los topes en sus camino, o si los van a remover com-pletamente. “Los topes son permanente entonces no van a ser removidos,” dijo el Socio Direc-tor de Operaciones Kent Nighlinger. “Son hechos de un cimiento sólido entonces no se van a desgastar con el tiempo, van a per-manecer. Vamos a reunirnos con las compa-ñías de remoción de nieve , como hacemos cada año, para discutir qué es lo que quer-emos hacer.” Aunque los topes permanecerán como están por todo el invierno, algunos cambios tendrán que ser hechos en la manera que las compañías de remoción de nieve van a operar.

“El proceso este año va a ser diferente en que vamos a asegurarnos que la quita-nieves pueda ver los topes, así que vamos a conseguirles un mapa para que sepan donde van a tener que trabajar,” dijo Nightlinger.Aunque con esperanzas de que va a traba-jar, siempre hay posibilidad de que los topes van a sufrir y ser dañados durante la remo-ción de nieve. “Siempre hay una posibilidad de que vayan a ver pocos daños. Tan pronto que las cosas se derriten tendremos que evaluarlas, pero es parte del proceso.” dijo Nightlinger. “Todas las escuelas en el distrito usan la misma compañía, y en el pasado todas las escuelas excepto nosotros y Forest View han tenido topes así que la compañía está acostumbrada a trabajar con ellos.” La emoción de nieve en los estaciona-mientos con topes no han probado ser un gran problema para las otras escuelas en el distrito, y lo mismo es esperado para no-sotros. Los topes están aquí para quedarse.

¿Se van a remover los topes en el

invierno?

Se Rumera Que

Aunque el cáncer de mama en los hombres no es frecuente, se estima que 2,150 hombres serán diagnosticados con cáncer de mama cada año en los Estados Unidos.

Hay ar 2.9 millones sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama en los Estados Unidos. Son el grupo más grande de sobrevivientes.

Una mujer es diagnosticada con cáncer de mama cada dos minutos, y cada 13 minutos una mujer muere de cáncer de mama en los Estados Unidos.

Educate sobre el cancer de mama con estos rapi-

dos hechos

Hermanos hacen algo sobre el cancer de mama

Traducido por Jairo Jimenez

FeaturesOctober 12, 2012 9

Escape to the Ju ngle

Class pride

STUCK IN THE 80’S: Juniors Julie Nerwin and Jenny Watson dressed up for 80’s workout day. “I love going all out for homecoming, especially 80’s workout because I don’t ever dress like that. Homecoming week happens once a year so go big or go home,” Nerwin said.

CLASS PRIDE: On the Tuesday of Homecoming week, each class was represented by a certain color. From left to right, freshman Hannah Mick-ey, sophomore Karolina Karpiesiuk, junior Katie Shewmon and senior Morgan Keller show off their handmade shirts and this year’s senior shirt.

School spirit, assemblies among highlights of last

week’s Homecoming

ROYALTY: At the coronation assembly on Tuesday, seniors Danny Hendricks and Hannah Powers were named the 2012 Homecoming king and queen. “It was really exciting,” Powers said. “I didn’t expect it at all, but it was an honor because I feel like every girl wants to be homecoming queen.”

THE GOON SQUAD: Above, the varsity cheerleaders and superfans work together to make a pyramid at the end of their per-formance at Friday’s pep assembly. This year was the first time the two combined to make a cheer routine. “Practice was real intense,” senior Kevin Kurzawski said. “We didn’t mess around like people might have thought we did. We were real dedicated and dressed up for practice even. At the assembly, my heart was racing, mouth was dry and I couldn’t breathe. But it was all for the

best.” Varsity cheer coach Barbara Golik enjoyed the experience as well. “We saw this video on YouTube of another school doing this guy/girl cheer and thought it would be fun,” Golik said. “I brought it up to our seniors and they got their guy friends involved and it was a really great experience. Everyone did a great job and the guys were super nice and they paid attention and did what was asked and most of all I feel like they just had fun with it and it’s definitely something I look forward to doing again.”

GANGNAM STYLE: At Friday’s pep assembly, the teachers began to dance to a jungle-themed perfor-mance as a decoy for the real show, which involved faculty dancing to “Gangnam Style”. Social science teacher Chinh Pham dressed up as the YouTube sensation PSY for the performance. “Ms. Reggie Good was an awesome choreographer,” Pham said. “Bassler really practiced so it looked good so I felt a little bit bad that I didn’t practice enough, but overall I’m glad that the kids liked it.”

Pacer/Sara Schoen

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DECK THE HALLS: Each class was in charge of decorating their own hallway based on the “Escape to the Jungle” theme. Above is a senior sign.

Students show their Mustang spirit by dressing according to themes

and decorating the halls

Pacer/Sarah Deitelhoff

Pacer/Sara Schoen

Features Rolling Meadows High School10


Sara SchoenPhoto Editor

Brothers sophomore Jake and freshman Max Barson have a unique way to raise awareness for breast cancer. They dye their hair pink ever October.

“I think that a lot of people just dye a strand of their hair, so we thought why not go a step further and dye the whole head,” M. Barson said.

The boys decided to do it to honor their grandmother who passed away in 2006 af-ter fighting the disease for six years. “My grandmother died

of breast cancer and she had always been a big part of our family. My parents have told story after story about her,” M. Barson said.

The brothers wanted to make a bold statement about the severity of breast cancer. “It’s not something that will go away on its own. People need to know it’s there,” J. Barson said.

The Barsons have been ac-tive in promoting breast cancer awareness for several years. In the past they auctioned off bikes from their family’s shop. The money they raised went di-rectly to research funds.

The brothers hope their attempts to spread awareness about the disease will spark ac-

tion from others. They believe that the fight against breast cancer should be a priority be-cause of the large number of people it affects.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second leading cancer-re-lated cause of death in women.

“I think that because breast cancer is such a serious thing. People think that their few dol-lars is not going to make a big difference,” M. Barson said. “If we all just pitch in a little bit, that will make the biggest difference in the end. Instead of one or two people doing a whole lot, it’s a lot of people doing a little that will make the bigger difference.”

Get InformedCancerVote aims to inform the public on candidates’ stances on •

cancer research and funding.CancerVote does not endorse a particular candidate or attempt •

to influence the outcome of elections. CancerVote emphasizes the importance of legislative support •

in the fight against cancer. Their goal is to make sure all levels of government look at •

combatting cancer as a priority.

Through the CancerVote website, anyone can sign •up to participate in cancer awareness in the community.

Volunteers are encouraged to print the “How To-•Talk About CancerVotes” pamphlet and canvas their neighborhoods to spread awareness.

Get InvolvedCancerVotes, started by the American Cancer Society,stresses the importance of government involvement

in the fight against cancer this election season

Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,150 men will be diag-nosed with breast cancer each year in the United States.

One in every eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer within their lifetime. Facts courtesy of nationalbreastcancer.org

There are 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. They are the largest cancer survivor group.

Of women who find and treat breast cancer early(at stage 1) 95 percent will be cancer free after five years.

One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every two minutes, and every 13 minutes one woman will die from breast cancer in the United States. Facts courtesy of komenforthecure.org

Allie PetrickFeatures Editor

The breast cancer awareness ribbon dates back to the 19th century when women wore yellow ribbons to support their husbands and sons in the military.During the 1900s yellow ribbons became more widely known as a way for people to remember an absent loved one who either was in jail or went missing. Red ribbons were then used to signify AIDS awareness. The big jump to pink for breast cancer came in 1991 when pink ribbons were dis-tributed at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure walk. From then on, pink

was used in all Susan G. Komen logos and promotions. Self magazine partnered with Estee Lauder and began to hand out breast cancer awareness ribbons across the U.S. as a part of the magazine’s second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1992. Over 1.5 million ribbons were handed out for the promotion. Susan G. Komen, Estee Lauder, and Self magazine are the only three organizations that are able to use the original ribbons from the 1991 Susan G. Komen for the Cure walk. All other generic pink ribbons can be used by anyone.

“Just Tonight” by The Pretty Reckless

“Gangnam Stlye” by PSY “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees

“We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together” by

Taylor Swift

Faith Lynch James McKenna Soyolmaa Sukhbaatar Jake Wingo

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“Don’t Wake Me Up” by Chris Brown

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Staff

Jose Guerrero

TumblrWhat is your favorite social media website?

What was the last song you listened to?

Do you prefer firefox or Safari? Firefox

Twitter

Safari

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Firefox

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Firefox

MEET YOURMUSTANGS

Photo Courtesy of M

ax Barson

Brothers against breast cancerSophomore Jake and freshman Max Barson annually dye

their hair pink to raise awareness for breast cancer

PINK: Jake and Max Barson honor their Grandmother who passed away from breast cancer in 2006. “I think breast cancer is a worthy cause because a lot of people get cancer in general and breast cancer is a common one,” M. Barson said.

Reason for the ribbon The facts

EntertainmentOctober 12, 2012 11

Entertainment Editor Joe Salvato reviews a movie playing in theaters each month. This issue: Taken 2

Salvato on cinemaJoe SalvatoEntertainment Editor

The first “Taken” film was an enormous surprise hit that everyone was talking about. In my opinion the movie was obnoxious, boring and miscast. So now that “Taken 2” has arrived in theaters, what else is there to expect besides another mess? Apparently, a much smarter sequel.

Surprisingly, “Taken 2” is an improvement on the irritating original. The film blends quicker action scenes with an entertaining ridiculousness that makes the film stand out in memory far better than the 2009 film.

“Taken 2” is basically a carbon copy of the original, with maybe a location switch and a new villain. Basically, retired C.I.A. agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) saved his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from an underground prostitution ring in “Taken”. This time the Mills family is in Istanbul, Turkey where the relatives of the kidnappers that Bryan Mills murdered want revenge so they attempt to kidnap and murder the entire Mills family. Not on Mills’ watch.

The film is gradual. It takes awhile to kick into gear, and the dialogue scenes are so choppily edited that it actually was head-ache inducing. It seemed as if the dialogue

was being directed in the same way the action scenes were. One blink and the camera angle will switch three times. However once the story progresses, the action scenes begin to entrance. The quickness and the clarity of the scenes work on a level that the first didn’t.

Compared to the original, this movie is a masterpiece of cinema. But when

looked at as a standard movie it’s surely flawed. In addition to the editing at many points, “Taken 2” has some very ridiculous dialogue. It serves its purpose, but boy can it be dumb.

Also, the family scenes are very phoned in. The chemistry between the leads isn’t very authentic, and I have a hard time believing this family is the least

bit functional. But who goes to see “Taken 2” for

the dialogue and the emotional family scenes? What matters here is the action, and it’s a vast improvement over the original.

“Taken 2” offers us a PG-13 action movie that doesn’t feel restrained. It works exactly for its rating, where “Taken” felt limited and enclosed. It’s an exciting action

movie that does what it’s supposed to and delivers the action and power that the first didn’t.

The final aspect that “Taken 2” grasps is a good performance from Neeson. Director Olivier Megaton works with the character Bryan Mills to get the best performance out of Neeson. Although Neeson and his character were both major issues with the first film, in the second film Mills has matured a little. He’s still the C.I.A. agent that can kill almost

anyone, but he’s also an intellectual. He uses smarts to achieve his goals. He doesn’t just act on impulse.

The film is a fun action movie and it does what’s expected, maybe even a little more. It won’t challenge the way you view the world or change your life, but it’s a dumb, fun action movie that has a great setting and a darker view on the world of Bryan Mills.

Taken 2Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie

Grace, Famke JanssenReleased: Oct. 5

Joe’s Rating: /

PG-13

Joe SalvatoEntertainment Editor

This Thursday, marks the opening of the annual fall production. This year, the play is “Figments”.

“Figments” is a comedy that puts a twist on the typical tale of writer’s block. The story revolves around a playwright named Rick Jacobs who has writer’s block, and soon the figments of his imagination begin to run wild inside the confines of his apartment building.

“Everything I think appears on stage, that’s how the audience views it” senior Marty Quinn, who plays the main character, Rick, said.

“It’s very entertaining for our high school audience,” director Mary Luckritz said. “I’ve really tried to make it an extension of the acting classes. The production is perfect in

order to stretch acting skills for our students.”

“Figments” also has many goals that the people involved are trying to attain. It’s a goal of the cast and crew to be chosen for the Illinois High School Theater Festival. The Theater Festival is where all the high schools in the state go to participate in workshops and see a select number of plays put on by 12 chosen high schools.

Since the students have to be accepted by judges to get into the Theater Festival, they have done things that they normally wouldn’t do to prepare.

“It’s different because we need to keep notebooks,” junior Sarah Rosenberg, a cast member, said. “It’s a lot to keep in your head.”

The notebooks are used to study their characters deeper than

ever before. Areas of a character’s background story and inner mentality were looked at with a critical eye.

One of the nights during the play’s run, judges will come from either Illinois State University or University of Illinois and critique the play then talk to the cast and crew afterwards. This is one reason the cast has thoroughly studied their characters deeper than ever before.

But the “Figments” team can only go so far in the preparation, because it’s the audience that makes the difference.

“One goal is a big audience. With an audience comes laughter,” Luckritz said.

“Figments” runs from Wednesday through next Saturday. Tickets will be on sale for $5 during lunch. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

“Figments” of the imaginationUpcoming fall play presents interesting perspective on characters

Spotlight on the stars

“My character is named Rick Jacobs, he’s a 26-year-old guy in New York who is a writer trying to make it,” senior Marty Quinn said. “It’s a really cool part to play because it’s not a set character. You have to make the entire audience like you.”

“I play Loni and my character is the love interest in the show,” junior Julia Palmer said. “It’s really fun because even though I’m kind of similar to the person who plays it, it’s a completley different person than who I am.”

“I play Mama, Rick’s mother,” senior Korinne Yonan said. “What’s interesting about my character she’s kind of a character foil, like she’s causing all of his problems. But what makes it difficult to play is that really, it’s all out of love.”

Pacer/Sara SchoenIMAGINE: From left to right, junior Julia Palmer, sophomores Tyler Martins and Hannah Yonan and seniors Marty Quinn, Dan Divane and Korinne Yonan practice for the fall play.

CAPTURED: Liam Neeson stars in “Taken 2”, now playing in theaters everywhere.

Spooky ScienceThe Museum of Science and Industry is at-

tempting to infuse science with fun Halloween activities in their new exhibit, Spooky Science. The museum will include a haunted coal mine and featured activities like pumpkin carving or tours of the“Pioneer Zephyr”, a haunted train. The event is appropriate for the whole family.

When: Oct. 13 - 31Where: Museum of Science and IndustryTime: 6:30 p.m.Price: $10-$15

Downtown BreakdownThe Pacer’s picks for upcoming events in Chicago

Eleventh HourThe Eleventh Hour is a series of four haunt-

ed venues in the Elk Grove area, plus other festivities. This highly praised Illinois event has activities for all ages, from 10-year-olds to adults. It also boasts other activities such as a corn maze, live music, a petting zoo, and many other festival activities.

When: Sept. 28 - Oct. 31Where: Berthold’s Garden CenterTime: 8 p.m.Price: $18

Justin Bieber ConcertRecording artist Justin Bieber is coming to

Chicago for his “Believe” Tour with opening act Carly Rae Jepsen. Bieber will perform songs from his first tour such as “One Less Lonely Girl” and “One Time”. He will also be per-forming songs from his new album like “Fall”, “Beauty and a Beat”, and “Out of Town Girl”.

When: Oct. 23-24Where: Allstate ArenaTime: 7 p.m.Price: $130

Mark’s Food Frenzy

10 RANDOM

10

Compiled by:Peter LeBuhn

Adapted with permission from mental_floss magazine.

Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in “The Matrix”. Instead he starred

in “Wild Wild West”.

9The first VCR, developed by the Ampex Corporation in 1956, weighed

nearly 1,500 lbs.

8An elephant’s trunk has up to 150,000 muscles.

7There are people who can actually

see, smell and physically taste music. This is an example of a

phenomenon known as synesthesia.

6Lincoln Logs, the popular toy, was invented by John Lloyd Wright, son of

architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

5Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)

proposed to his wife on the back of a motorcycle. When she said yes, he

accidentally ran into a ditch.

4As a rule, European carousels rotate clockwise while American merry-go-

rounds spin counterclockwise.

3The little bump on the front side of your ear is called a tragus.

2Mitt Romney’s first name is Willard. When he ran for Governor of

Massachusetts in 2002, one of his campaign slogans was “Mitt Happens.”

1There are 293 ways to make change for a U.S. dollar.

Mark SchmidFood Critic

The epitome of autumn is not trick or treating, or watching the leaves change and fall, or even celebrating Thanksgiving. The whole purpose of fall is to eat burritos.

Okay, well they may not have any correlation, but it does not change the fact that if the pilgrims knew about burritos there would have been a lot more to be thankful for. While on the topic of a lot more, El Famous Burrito and Taco Burrito King put out some tortilla-wrapped goodness that could fill any cornucopia.

El Famous Burrito makes burritos that are larger than Chipotle’s but still smaller than a human head. They are filled with heaping portion of whatever meat you choose, beans, lettuce and tomato. I had both a chicken and a steak one, and the meat resembled the original product, which is actually quite impressive. Also, the main filler is lettuce and meat rather than rice and beans, so the heavy feeling associated with burritos was actually a non-factor.

Unfortunately, sour cream cost

extra. Even more unfortunately for me, I failed to realize that the hot sauces were kept in a chiller up front, so not only did I eat a burrito without hot sauce, I was probably laughed at by everyone because I did not know what was up. Making up for that, though, is the fact that I went on a Sunday so tacos were only $1. This way I was able to enjoy a delicious burrito and a plethora of tasty tacos (still devoid of sauce).

Adding to the benefit of El Famous is the location and the cost. El Famous is a 10-minute drive from the Rolling Meadows area, located at the intersection of Rand and Central roads in Mt. Prospect. The cost is

affordable; at around six bucks, it definitely isn’t breaking the bank for a meal.

Taco Burrito King on the other hand is a drive. Right on the border of Chicago and Niles at 6701 W. Touhy Ave., it’s about a half hour away. Once you get over the trip, the issue is the cost, a burrito and a drink will put you at that $10 mark, but go big or go home right? Now, once you swallow your pride and quit worrying about silly things like time and money, you can focus on the infant-sized burrito that is placed in front of you. If you are not into expensive, literally baby-sized, tortilla-wrapped food, you are

wrong and have no place reading this in the first place.

Okay, well the burrito is wrapped in a 13.5 inch tortilla, so you get about a 10 inch burrito stuffed with delicious meat, cheese, beans, hot sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes. Yet again, lettuce and meat are the main fillers rather than beans and rice, so despite the fact that it is a baby-sized burrito, you will not actually feel like there is a baby clawing at your stomach lining. Not to mention you can grab a burrito there at any time, since it’s open 24 hours a day.

Verdict: If you were expecting a comparison and want to know which is better I regret to inform you that there is no such answer. Both are delicious chain restaurants with numerous locations in the Chicagoland area and produce burritos that curb stomp the likes of anything Chipotle or Taco Bell could put out. While there are almost definitely better burritos that are even larger than infants, perhaps even toddler sized, I decided to critique about these two.

Locations are all over, just go to either’s website for more information.

FACTS

The Pacer’s very own food critic Mark Schmid uses his bluntly honest remarks to review restaurants. This month’s picks: El Famous Burrito and Taco Burrito King.

Repu

slive

Sub-parMediocre

Delectable

Exquisite

The Frenzy Meter

Entertainment Rolling Meadows High School12

HUNGER: This week Mark Schimd visits two burrito locations, Taco Burrito King (left) and El Famous Burrito (right). Both have recived positive reviews for their balance and portions of food.

Pacer Photo Pacer Photo

EntertainmentOctober 12, 2012 13


With two Battle of the Bands victories, an endorsement from hit band Neon Trees and, most recently, the release of its first al-bum, it’s safe to say the band “Auxiliary” has had a pretty good last couple of months.

Made up of seniors Timmy Leuver (gui-tar), Marty Quinn (bass guitar and backup vocals) and Chris Walentschik (guitar and trumpet), as well as alums Kyle Gentile (drums), Connor Gooding (guitar and back-up vocals), Mitch Schaeflein (lead singer) and Laura Tam (keyboard and French horn), the alternative rock group met while playing in the pit band for the 2010 variety show.

Their Extended Play (EP) album “Drift” consists of five original tracks recorded with aspiring producer Zach Kranz, a senior at Jacobs High School in Algonquin who met Gooding through connections at Willow Creek Church in South Barrington.

“I just wanted to get some experience with a band who worked really well with each other, just so we could both get the experience of making a record together,” Kranz said.

Kranz was able to give the group a flat rate of $60 per song, well below the indus-try average.

“In the music world that’s crazy, usually it’s like a hundred bucks an hour and we put, like, 40 hours into this,” Quinn said. “So we spent all of the beginning of July until the end of August driving 40 minutes to his house in Carpentersville which had amazing equipment, and we went in every day to record.”

When the EP was released Sept. 16, the group chose to distribute it through the website bandcamp.com which connects bands and fans directly. They also gave buy-ers the option to chose the price which they wanted to pay for the album.

“It’s just a good idea to let people choose whether they want to pay or not because we’re trying to get our music out rather than trying to throw a huge profit out of this,” Gentile said.

The album is also available on different platforms like iTunes and Spotify.

Along with studio work, Auxiliary prides itself on being able to perform live. This summer the group performed in two Battle of the Bands competitions, one at The Fron-tier Days Festival in Arlington Heights and one in Schaumburg Town Square. They won both.

“We got a good vibe from everybody and there was a lot of crowd interaction, which really helped put us over the top and win,” Walentschik said.

At competitions, the group plays cov-ers of popular songs as well as their origi-nals. After playing the hit song “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees at the Schaumburg competition, the group was approached by music producer Jimmy Johnson who works in the studio with Neon Trees. “He said he recorded a video of us playing the show and was going to show it to them,” Quinn said.

A few weeks later the group received a video, which can now be seen on YouTube, of Johnson showing the Auxiliary’s perfor-mance to Neon Trees members Chris Allen, Tyler Glenn and Branden Campbell.

“They said ‘Auxiliary, here’s an en-dorsement from Neon Trees,’” Quinn said. “Though it was informal, it was really cool to get a compliment from a professional band and from a guy who works in a profes-sional studio.”

Despite having to work mainly in holi-days since most of the band is in college, Auxiliary still has big plans for the future.

“Potentially, we’re going to try and do a second album, but it might not be out for a couple of summers,” Gentile said. “This next coming summer and winter break we’re def-initely going to be gigging a lot and poten-tially have a small tour in the summer. If we can get out to other states we know we can get some things going, so we’re going to see where it takes us.”

1. Strength in NumbersThe opening song of the album was written in honor Alexis Marron, a member of the class of 2012 who was murdered while on vacation in Mexico over winter break, and about how the school came together after his death. “It’s a passionate song and during the chorus you can really feel it,” Bass player senior Marty Quinn says.

5. Let This Love GoThe band refers to this track as its “Starbucks Song”, and with its jazzy elements it’s easy to imagine it playing in a coffee shop. “It’s about how sometimes there is that one thing that you’re holding on to that is keeping you in such a storm in your life, and you just have to let it go,” alum guitar player Connor Gooding said.

4. No Today, No TomorrowEasily the heaviest song on the album, this track has an energetic and angry feel to it, combining heavy guitar and drum elements with strong lyrics. “It’s kind of the song, where it’s, like, I really don’t like you so I’m going to sing this song about you,” alum drummer Kyle Gentile said.

2. SpadeThis emotional ballad about relationships incorporates a steady rhyth-mic elements with guitar, drum and bass. “It was a song we wrote in like 20 minutes,” guitar player senior Timmy Leuver said. “We were in Kyle’s basement and were just like we really need a song and just busted it out of nowhere.”

3. Break FreeWith its harmonizing chorus and powerful message, “Break Free” is a perfect song to end the EP. “This is basically an anthem to anybody who wants to do something with their life. It’s saying if you have a dream, do it,” lead singer Mitch Schaflein said.

Track by track

Student band finds big successDebut album of Auxiliary is filled with optimism for the future

Editor-in-Chief Liam Brady reviews each of the five songs on Auxiliary’s first Extended Play (EP), Drift

Alexandra GueliStaff Writer

New York Times bestselling author Robin Cook has written a medical mys-tery that puts many other mystery novels to shame. In “Death Benefit,” antisocial medical stu-dent Pia Grazdani works with Colombia Medical Center’s top stem cell and salmonella research-er Dr. Rothman. He and his colleague get dan-gerously ill with a rare strain of salmonella. The salmonella shows some strange characteristics, and Pia begins to believe this is more than an ac-cident. With the help of her best friend and infat-uated lover, George, she slowly uncovers secrets that the medical world doesn’t want exposed. As trouble in the Columbia Medical Center is stirring, two New York life in-surance agents try to find different ways

to cover up their scam and will stop at nothing to stop medical progress, even if it means getting rid of prized clients. Cook’s novel is capable of pulling any couch potato out of the world of televi-

sion and back into the library. There was never a dull moment in the midst of his plot. Cook manages to make Pia loveable and cre-ate sympathy for her rough childhood. Each twist and turn kept me entirely cap-tivated. This strange love between Pia and George made me want to throw the novel against the wall at points; however, the wit of the characters made laugh out loud at other times. For the faint of heart,

this book will definitely make your heart fainter so be wary. However those of you who can handle intense descriptions and 180 degree twist and turns, grab on and go.

Medical mystery a page turner

(out of five stars)

ROCK ON: Student band Auxiliary performs in front of an audience in hopes of drumming up popularity to promote the sale of their debut EP, “Drift.”

*Flash your Rolling MeadowsID and receive a 10% discount*

Sports Rolling Meadows High School14

Boys SoccerThe boys soccer team

has struggled recently with a record of 3-8-2. However, the team feels its record does not tell the whole story.

“I don’t believe our record shows how well we have been able to play at times. I do feel however, it reflects that we haven’t been able to put together a full 80 minutes,” Head coach Peter Mikulak said. “While we have seen some great play from these guys,

there is still plenty of room for improvement.”

The Mustangs have their first playoff game today at 4:30 p.m. at Wheeling High School, against Wheeling. If they win they will face Buffalo Grove.

“With our momentum going in I believe that we have the ability to beat any team in the sectionals and even beyond,” said senior forward Peter Nickle.

Boys Football

Girls Golf

Mustang football is on a path to a conference title. Their current record is 5-2, and they hold a tie for the first place spot in the Mid Suburban League conference.

Meadows had a three game winning streak heading into the homecoming matchup against Elk Grove. Unfortunately the Mustangs made one too many mistakes and lost by 10.

Senior quarterback Jack Milas was under constant pressure against the Elk Grove defense. Milas was

only sacked twice but seemed to be getting hit on every play. Jack tossed three interceptions in the loss.

To make thing worse for the team, the Mustangs had an offensive lineman suffer an injury during the game. Senior Matt Barry fractured his right unla, located in the forearm, when it was caught between two helmets.

The Mustangs have two games remaining in the regular season, both on the road. They will play at Heresy tonight and then at Buffalo Grove next Friday.

The girls golf team ended its season at sectionals Monday with seniors Emily Hattory, Jacquie Ingnolia and Noreen Jay leading the way.

With the team finishing in 8th place at the MSL Conference Championships and a 4th place finish at regionals, the team was able to qualify three individuals for sectional competition.

At the sectional, windy

and cold conditions made it tough for the three seniors to perform to their best potential.

“As leaders the seniors were always positive even when the results were not what they wanted,” coach Paul Fraser said. The girls were always dedicated, positive, and upbeat, never complaining even at the toughest times.

The team ended their season with an overall record of 6-11.

-All reporting by Tony Sarussi

Pacer/Sara Schoen

Mission accomplished: girls tennis team meets its goalSeth BachmanSports Editor

For the girls tennis team it was mis-sion accomplished -- at least according to coach Jim Gumz.

Gumz said his goal going itno the con-ference meet was to finish higher than sixth.

The Mustangs finished third. The conference finish mirrored the sea-

son goal, which was improving over last year’s 8-13 record. They capitalized with 10 returning varisty players.

The Mustangs started strong with a 5-1 record, but it cooled down later in the sea-son and their record now stands at 12-11.

“The emphasis of practice has been to get to the point where we really focus and play our best tennis over the next few days at the conference meet. We need to beat all the teams we should beat and we also need to get a few upsets,” Gumz said.

The conference has been very competi-tive this year and there are a lot of teams that are within striking distance of the top, including conference leaders Buffalo

Grove and Barrington.The girls entered the conference meet

knowing it would be an uphill battle. The Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team placed third in the Conference Meet and third overall in the MSL, exactly where they hoped to fin-ish.

“We all worked hard and knew each win mattered to the team so we tried are best,” junior Jackie Kemph said.

Individuals also played very well in the meet as they attempted to make the sectional qualifying. Some of the top per-formers were juniors Erin Barry, who got second place in third singles, Allie and Jackie Kemph, who took third place in first doubles, and Farha Ali and sopho-more Caroline Czulno, who took second place in fourth doubles.

With a week remaining in the season, the team looks to have individuals qualify today and tomorrow at the IHSA sectional meet at Rolling Meadows.

“Jackie and Allie qualified for the state meet last year, and we are hopeful that they will do the same thing this year,” Gumz said.

Girls swimming places best in conference since 2004

FOREHAND: Junior Jackie Kemph warms up at practice as she and her sister Allie Kemph prepare to make a second state run.

RecapThe

Tony SarussiCopy Editor

This year the girls swim team is in the midst of their best season since 2004. With a record of 4-2, it has easily surpassed last year’s mark of 2-5. “We have a very good chance of beat-ing Prospect. If we all race our best, we can definitely pull out a win,” senior Meaghan O’Brien said, referring to yesterday’s meet against Prospect. A win against the Knights would ensure the Mustangs their best over-all season since 2004 when they won the Mid-Suburban League East Division Title. Practice has been a challenge for the team this year. The girl’s have worked hard-er than ever because Coach Monika Chiap-peta knows their potential, and she is run-ning practice with a different mindset this year. “We are doing a lot of work on mental toughness and understanding that your body can handle more than you think,” Chiappeta said. Chiappeta also said she is making the girls understand the hard work

will pay off and the harder the girl’s work the better the results they achieve will be. The team has a personal trainer work with them twice a week to help the girls get in better shape for their races. Workouts can be gruelling, and having races the next day is very tough on the girls’ bodies; that is where dedication comes into play. “Hard work pays off. In the end all that matters is our race,” O’Brien said. “This year it has been about racing,” Chiappeta said. “It isn’t just the times that matter; actually, that isn’t what wins dual meets. It is the race. Sometimes your body feels like it can’t go any faster, but if you have the race in your heart, that is the ath-lete that will win.” Throughout this season O’Brien and se-nior Neeka Szacilo have stepped up to the vigorous amount of work they have had to do in addition to becoming the leaders of the team. O’Brien, who swims breaststroke, has had a very impressive work ethic this season and has led the team with her matu-rity. Szacilo, who swims freestyle, has been

working very hard this season as well. She has established herself as one of the leaders of the team. “When not busting her butt in practice, Neeka is usually entertaining us and making us laugh,” Chiappeta said. The team has some strong underclass-men to follow the seniors’ lead. Five of the 11 varsity swimmers are underclassmen, including Bailey Rowley, Anna Frantom, Lizzie Hardt and Jessie Ligenza and soph-omore Erin Pletch.Showing the underclassmen how it’s done are seniors Jessica Dykstra, and Angela D’Astice along with O’Brien and Szacilo. Junior Maggie Feikes is also a part of the varsity squad. In the team’s last couple of meets, the girls are setting their sights high and hop-ing to break a few school records, get per-sonal bests and have at least one girl qualify for state. The team is setting its sights high but they understand their goals are realistic and that they can achieve them. The MSL Conference Meet is Oct. 27, and sectionals begin Nov. 10.

Pacer/Sara Schoen

Pacer/Seth Bachman

Pacer/Seth Bachman

STROKE: Junior Maggie Feikes swims towards the finish. Meadows will have an invite against Glenbrook South, Oct. 23 as they look to continue their strong season playoffs.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Feikes

Pacer/ Seth Bachman

SportsOctober 12, 2012 15

Greg OffStaff Writer

Girls volleyball is getting ready for the Elgin High School tournament this weekend as their season wraps up with senior night, the MSL championship and sectionals all in the upcoming weeks. The team has played well holding a 14-13 record up to now, earning them the number 12 seed in the playoffs. Senior Morgan Keller, the leader in kills, has been a key player along with senior Rachel Mickey, who leads in blocks, juniors Jenny Vliet and Sami Kay, leading in assists, and Mia Harper,

leading in aces. “I think the season has been pretty good so far, although there is room for improvement,” junior Lauren Sokolowski said. “I believe that in the playoffs we could really do some damage.” When asked what some of the keys to winning were, Kay said, “Morgan Keller and Rachel Mickey have played great this season, which has helped the team a lot.” The Mustangs will host the regional playoffs and their two middle hitters will help the team take down Deerfield in the playoffs at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22 in the main gym.

Defying the odds: Sarah DeitelhoffNews Editor

A long way from home in a strange new country, an elementary school girl discovered American football. Sophomore Laurine Ngouatou moved from Cameroon, Africa to the United States in 2008 and quickly fell in love with both the sport and the family relationship that comes with being on the team. Ngouatou is now the first female to play on the football field who is not a kicker in RMHS history.

“When I first moved to the U.S. in 2008 I saw it on T.V. and just liked it,” Ngouatou said. “It was different from anything I’d ever played or seen before.”

Ngouatou has had to make some adjustments since starting her football career. “She originally tried out to be a kicker, but when she realized she wouldn’t be able to really play during plays she

started working out with the receivers,” head sophomore coach Jim Murray said.

Since making that decision, Ngouatou has drastically changed her focus in practice. “She’s a hard worker. I think her attitude is contagious,” Murray said.

Having a girl on the team is a new experience for her teammates as well. “Most of the guys on the team have been playing football for years and never played with a girl, so it’s definitely new to them,” Murray said.

Even though it is a new experience, the boys on the team have been supportive. “I think it’s cool having a girl actually on a football team,” sophomore Peyton DeZonna said.

However, being the only girl on the team has not always been a positive thing. “The hardest part is that some guys discriminate against you because you’re a girl and they think that girls can’t play football,” Ngouatou said.

Girls playing football has become a far more common thing than it was even five years ago. In the past four years there has been a 17.5 percent increase in girls playing high school football. Though most girls playing high school football are kickers, Ngouatou is looking to get playing time as a receiver. “I think it’s good for her that she’s doing a sport guys normally do,” sophomore teammate Jeremy Leander said.

Football is very different than anything that Ngouatou is used to. She played soccer in Cameroon and continues to play in the U.S. She was on the girls freshmen volleyball team last year, yet there are some things that Ngouatou prefers about football. “It’s less drama than with girls,” Ngouatou said. “My favorite part about football is the way we’re like a family.”

Sophomore wide receiver Laurine Ngouatou is the first female to play a football postion other than kicker

DEFENSE: New student Laurine Ngouatou practices with the sophomore team at football practice in preparation for the last two games in the season. Laurine is the first girl to play in a non-kicker position at any level of play at Rolling Meadows.

Girls volleyball sets high goal for regional game

SET: The girls volleyball team has been playing well this year and knows they have a chance to upset teams in regional play as they look to make a playoff run. The next game for Meadows is the Mid Suburban League crossover, which is also senior night at home at 7 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Rachael Mickey

Pacer/ Sara Schoen

SPORTSPacer ALL-CONFERENCE

Seniors Danny Wojtowicz (left) and Matt Kuzniar (right) led the boys golf team with all-

confernce honors.

See full story at rmhspacer.com

Running toward the postseason

Meet The Mustang


After losing five of its top seven runners last year to graduation, the boys cross country has been in rebuilding mode for much of this season.

“We’re kind of inexperienced; we don’t have a lot of guys who have been in big meets,” Head Coach Frank Schweda said. “We’ve done well, but not anything outstanding.”

Key returnees for the Mustangs have been seniors Alex Duman and Josh Smith and their experience will be vital for the team as it heads into tomorrow’s Mid-Suburban League Conference meet.

“We’re just trying to finish in the middle half of the conference right now. Our conference has four schools right now ranked in the top 25 in state so if we can finish sixth or seventh that would be a pretty good place to finish up,” Schweda said. “I’d like to get an all-conference runner or two.”

Duman agreed.

“Our biggest goal is to have a few guys bring home all-conference honors,” Duman said. “We probably won’t make it to state, that’s probably not an option this year, but we’re hoping to do well in sectionals.”

During the regular season, the team finished fourth in the Mid-Suburban League East division with a record of 2-3 while experimenting with varsity lineup.

“We have been moving different guys up, sometimes letting younger guys run down [in JV races] and giving other guys opportunities to run,” Schweda said.

The flexibility with the lineups should benefit the Mustangs next season, especially with the strong group of underclassmen coming through the ranks.

“We’ve got a pretty good group of young kids; we’ve got 10 or 12 freshmen and out of those we’ve got two who are pretty high quality and the rest with a little bit of work they’ll get better and be able to fill in,” Schweda said.

Liam BradyEditor-In-Chief

Junior Dirone (D.J.) Williams is one of the school’s best known public fig-ures -- you just might not recognize him without his Mustang head on. Every Friday night, Williams dons his costume of Milo the Mustang for the varsity foot-ball game, both home and away, as well as for other school events.

“I’ve got to make sure that we have all the school spirit that we need, make sure the crowd is loud, all that,” Williams said.

Williams’ stint as Milo started last year during the basketball season after he convinced Girls Athletic Director Jim Voyles that he was the man for the job.

“I went to the athletic office to ask Mr. Voyles what I needed to do to be the Mustang, and then I tried out, did a few dance moves and I got the job,” Williams said.

Voyles has been impressed with Williams’ motivation to improve as the mascot.

“He’s always coming into the [athletic] office looking for something new to do,” Voyles said. “This year he’s got some props, he’s mixing it up a little, he’s trying to be more creative and have a little bit more fun with it.”

Williams also finds purpose as the Mustang in being able to connect the school community. “I enjoy hearing the people in the stands, being there for them,” Williams said. “We’re not just friends; we’re all family, and I can’t let any of them down.”

Along with the satisfaction of helping the school, there are also some perks that come with being Milo the Mustang. “I get to take the bus with the cheerleaders and since I’m also manager of the football team I also can ride with them, and on the sidelines you get to see everything,” Williams said.

However, life as the mascot isn’t all glamour. Last year during the Mid-Suburban League Championship basketball game, Williams was challenged to a fight by the Schaumburg High School mascot, the Saxon. “He came over to my side, messing with me, poking me with his sword. I pushed him away, but then he poked me again, so I pushed him one more time and then I punched him,” Williams said.

Williams plans to return to the hard court for the upcoming basketball season and is even considering being a mascot in college.

“I would really like that,” Williams said. “Yeah, I think I want to be a mascot forever.”

Editor-in-Chief Liam Brady sits down for a question and answer session with junior Dirone Williams, the student inside the Milo the Mustang suit.

Q. What is your favorite part of the job? A. Everything

Q. What is your favorite cheer?A. E-I-E-I-E-I-O

Q. What’s it like under the suit? A. It’s kind of warm, but you get the hang of it.

Q. Do you have anything new you’re going to bring out for the rest of the season?A. Probably some new dance moves. If anybody wants to dance off against me, give me some names, I want them to dance with me.

MASKED MAN: Junior Dirone Williams stands on the sideline during a varsity football game. Williams dresses up as Milo the Mustang for every game. “I’ve got to make sure we’ve got all the school spirt,” Williams said.

The man inside the suit:

AHEAD OF THE PACK: (From left) Junior Jack Davis, senior Alex Duman, sophomore Tony Sarussi, senior Josh Smith, and junior Ian Fitzgerald jog during practice. The team finished the regular season with a 2-3 record in the MSL East and is preparing for the postseason.

STRIDE: Freshman Sarah O’Malley and senior Melissa Whowell run during practice. The team has a strong bal-ance between upperclassmen and young talent. They hope this will help them as they head to the postseason.

Cross country teams both compete in tomorrow’s Mid-Suburban League Conference meet

Mark Schmid Food Critic

Coming off of the excitement that sur-rounds the Chicago Marathon, the girls cross country team is looking to make a run at the postseason despite a tough season.

At the North Side South Side Challeng- e this weekend that coincided with the Chicago Marathon the high school teams ran the final 2.62 miles of race. In the race the girls placed sixth out of nineteen teams, and even got to meet with the Mayor of Chi-cago, Rahm Emanuel.

Following an exciting finish among talented teams, there are high hopes that success will carry on.

“The conference meet is this Saturday,” Head Coach Kevin Young said. “We’re struggling a little bit, but the goal is to place in the top ten.”

The team is being lead by a strong group of underclassmen, specifically fresh-men Gabby Sanchez, Sarah O’Malley and sophomore Zoe Frantom. The varsity run-ning squad is formed with only two of seven runners returning to varsity next year, but Young is not worried.

“We’re definitely headed in the right di-rection,” Young said. “We are having more fun and we are a young group looking to build up for next year.”

Helping to lead the younger girls to fu-ture success is a core group of seniors in Mariah Heck, Maddie Hume, Becca Rodri-guez, and Melissa Whowell.

Momentum may be on the girls’ side af-ter all though.

“They’re getting better at the right time of the year,” said Young, “let’s hope it comes together and we finish off the the season strong.”

Junior Dirone Williams is Milo the Mustang for football games

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