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NORTH POINTEFRIDAY, NOV. 6, 2015

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

SPORTSPAGE 10

LEFT: Senior Kammie Berns has been horseback riding since she was 3

years old. Check out her story and other sudents’ equestrian experiences.

DARCY GRAHAM

“While adults gnaw each other’s heads off, enthusiastic teens antici-pate their turn to hop in the ring.”

IDEAS - PAGE 7

VOLUME 48 | ISSUE 4Calendar | 2 News | 3

On Campus | 4 Life | 5-6

On Pointe | 7 Reviews | 8

Editorial | 9 Sports | 10-11

Popping the Bubble | 12

Read our review on the new sea-son of American Horror Story. It airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.

REVIEWS - PAGE 8

Find out about Detroit’s vegan restaurants, Seva and Detroit

Vegan Soul.

PTB - PAGE 12

WWW.FLICKR.COM

Students turn to self-diagnosisBy Emma PugliaWEB-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A diagnosis nowadays is just one Google search away.

After waking up one night with the sheets tumbling off her bed, senior Katrina Frank quickly researched her symptoms and sus-pected that she had a sleeping disorder known as sleep seizures.

“(With) self-diagnosis, you always over-ex-aggerate, and you can almost give yourself the symptoms once you read them,” Frank said.

She’s not the only one. According to a 2013 study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 35 percent of adults in the United States have surfed the web in search of an answer to their symptoms, com-monly using search engines or medical web-sites such as WebMD.

After watching a few episodes of the popu-lar TV show Grey’s Anatomy freshman Giuliana Cavaliere assumed she had diabetes and a few tumors because of symptoms like exhaustion and clammy hands.

“(WebMD) freaks you out,” Cavaliere sad. “It (makes) you panic. When I thought I had dia-betes, I was nervous. I thought ‘what if some-thing happened to me?’”

Determining the balance between doctors’ advice and the independence of self-diagnosis may tend to be more difficult because of the

absence of a school nurse. North has lacked a nurse for 15 years because of funding issues.

“In the last 10 years in particular, there has just been an increasing cost in education,” Assistant Principal David Reed-Norwall said. “Schools have done everything they can to cut expenses and keep everything close to the stu-dents as much as possible, like classrooms.”

However, doctors aren’t always accurate in their assumptions. Misdiagnosis is more com-mon than drug errors or wrong-site surgery, according to The Washington Post. Ten to twen-ty percent of cases are believed to be affected by incomplete, incorrect or delayed diagnoses.

Frank experienced frequent feelings of de-personalization, a disorder where thoughts and emotions seem unreal or belonging to someone else. After visiting her doctor, the two came to the conclusion that the feelings were side effects of migraines.

“It was a reoccurring problem, and my doc-tor probably thinks it’s crazy because I go in for things like that all the time. She’d be like ‘Where’d you come up with that?’ and I’d be like ‘Looked it up,’ and she’d say ‘Stop doing that,’” Frank said. “I’ve kind of gotten away from look-ing up things, and I wait for things to actually be persistent, like actually a problem.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Tipping tradition starts slippingBy Anu SubramaniamEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Despite evidence on Twitter that suggests getting a $1,000 tip so you can take your dream vacation is common, tipping is actually going out of style.

The United States and a few eastern Europe-an countries are alone in their custom of giving tips. Other countries don’t use tips or simply in-clude a service fee on their bills.

But now, even some restaurants in the U.S. have begun paying waitstaff minimum wage to eliminate the need for tipping. Grand Rap-ids got its first tip-free establishment on Oct. 21 when restaurant owner Paul Lee announced that his restaurants, the Winchester, Donkey Taqueria and food truck, What the Truck, were going tip-free.

Senior Michael Lemanske, who used to work as a waiter at his family’s business, Village Grille, thinks going tip-free limits a waiter’s and waitress’ freedom with their money.

“Everybody is used to tipping, and I don’t think they would want to give up tipping just for a higher check every two weeks because people like a lot of take-home cash,” Lemanske said. “Take-home cash is what they need for the end of the night, and that’s all tips.”

The ideology behind Lee’s initiative is to create a sense of equality across jobs in the restaurant.

English teacher and former restaurant man-ager Jonathon Byrne thinks that removing tips from the equation does help equalize pay among cooks, dishwashers, waiters and other staff, but also feels that the effect that removing tips would have depends on the type of restaurant.

For a diner-like restaurant, Byrne thinks minimum wage would be better for the servers since people only leave a few dollars when they eat there. At fancier res-taurants, however, he feels it will have a bigger impact.

“They keep quality servers at restaurants like that. Where being a server means being really well-trained and knowing the food and all the finer points of ser-vice, so people who work in restaurants like that are professionals,” Byrne said.” They’re not just high school students or college students, so they should get paid more.”

Daniel Lemanske, owner of the Village Grille, also

believes that tips are a sign of the quality of a server, and they encourage better service.

“If you have a real good waitress, and you have a lousy waitress, I think the real good waitress deserves a little more than a lousy waitress, and you’ll never know if there’s no tip involved,” he said. “There’s no incentive to give you good service.”

On average, waitresses make between $3-5 an hour before tips. Tipping often de-pends on the the venue, job description and gender of the employee.

According to The Atlantic, women make about $1 per hour more in tips than males do. Restaurants in metropolitan areas have overall higher tips, and bartenders make the most on tips out of anybody in the restaurant industry. They estimate that tips make up between 65-70 percent of a server’s wage, in Detroit.

Junior Hannah Engels, who works as a hostess at The Original Pancake House, feels restaurants should keep tips as a part of their system. She said that waitresses should be making more than hostesses, and that tips make that possible.

“I would prefer to keep (the system) the same because if you’re a good waitress, then you’re going to get tipped good, and you’re going to make good money,” Engels said. “If you’re a bad waitress, you’re not going to get tipped good, and you sort of deserve it.”

Junior Alyssa Velasco works at Barrister Gardens Banquet Hall as a waitress. Since it is a banquet hall, Velasco makes minimum wage and also gets tipped.

However, even with a higher wage, Velasco said that tips make up a large part of her in-come, and getting rid of them would be a sig-

nificant pay cut.“We get our tips because we do a good job.

Minimum wage, it just—it’s okay. But our tips, we do a really good job, and we earn those tips,” Velasco said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Instead of going to their doctors, students are using the Internet and other resources to diagnose their symptoms

ANU SUBRAMANIAM

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2 – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – North Pointe

END OF QUARTER

Today

SAT TESTING Saturday, Nov. 7

at 8 a.m.

COFFEE WITH KATE

For parents Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 9 a.m. in

the Union

FALL SPORTS AWARDS NIGHTSWednesday, Nov. 11

and Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in the PAC

FINANCIAL AID NIGHT

Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. at South

POPS AND PASTERIES CONCERT

Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the gym

GPPSS OPEN HOUSE

Sunday, Nov. 15 from 1-3 p.m. districtwide.

PARENT CLUB MEETING

Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 7-9 p.m. in

the Union

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TippingCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Lemanske, who has also worked as a waiter, feels that going tip-free has two sides. For the customer, it is less of a hassle, as they don’t have to worry about leaving enough or dividing the tip evenly.

For the server, however, going tip-free doesn’t provide much incentive to deal with rude customers. There is less motivation to provide excellent service, as wages are not dependant on customer opinion anymore, despite the pay cut one would be taking.

“You have to be an act when being a wait-er or waitress because everything is about how they feel at the end of the night, how much they’re going to give you back. Be-

cause you’re not making anything unless they’re paying it to you,” Lemanske said. “I think it would be easier for the customers in the long-run, like a lot of people get re-ally frustrated with tip, like ‘oh how much do I pay if I don’t have enough money’ ... but other than that, it benefits people, but it doesn’t benefit the people trying to make the cash.”

Self-diagnosisCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

In sixth grade, alumnus Michael Mar-chiori noticed there was something unusu-al with the way his knee dislocated after a soccer game. Five years later, with help from AP Biology resources such as the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BL AST), Mar-chiori accurately diagnosed himself with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type 3.

“I’ve had quite a few doctors appoint-ments over the years. They were usually with orthopedic surgeons and specialists for knees and ankles and everything. They always looked at it, they would feel my knee and be like, ‘Oh wow, you have a re-ally loose knee, but you’re f ine. Nothing’s wrong with it, that’s just the way you were

built,’” Marchiori said. “It was always kind of unsettling that there was something so clearly wrong, but they weren’t able to identify what it was.”

Due to an increase in medicine-based classes such as Applied Medical Research, students are expanding their knowledge about diseases and disorders.

“I think an educated consumer is some-thing Applied Med is working on. Because those are incredibly high level readings that those kids are doing, and they have to prove their insights. The WebMD stuff is so easy to get information, it took me no effort at all,” Reed-Nordwall said. “On WebMD, I’m not always thinking. I’m just accepting it. And then I get really nervous. What I’ve heard doctors express is that it’s creating hysteria because the next thing I know, everyone is always like, ‘Ah, I got a spot. I got cancer.’”

Psychology Today confirms online back-

ground research can be helpful, but rec-ommends consulting a trusted doctor. It’s important to have an open, active conver-sation about the diagnosis, informing the doctor of your own opinions.

“I started to realize if the doctors can’t do it, and they keep telling me I’m fine, I’ll take it into my own hands because I’m really the only one who knows my body. I’m really the only one who knows what’s actually going on with me,” Marchiori said. “It was quite a journey, and it was a difficult one. But I guess I am glad it happened the way that it did because had I given up, I still wouldn’t have known what was going on today.”

Contributing: Olivia Asimakis

WWW.PAYSCALE.COM

3 – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – North PointeNEWS

Information cards aim to prevent suicide awareness

Suicide awareness cards have popped up around campus at both North and South over the past few weeks. These cards have tips about targeting the warning signs of depression and several hotline num-bers including the North counseling office and the National Suicide and Bullying Prevention Lifeline.

Grosse Pointe Public Schools has a relationship with the Beaumont Community Health Coalition and SERVE, the district’s service organization. To-gether, they provided the cards for both campuses.

The district wants to make sure both students physical and mental health are a priority.

“Our goal always is to take good care of our stu-dents. We recognize that students struggle with all different types of issues, and we want to use the re-

sources we have in the community to support the health of our students,” Principal Kate Murray said. “The health of our students includes their academic well—being, their mental health, their social and emotional well—being as well.”

The idea behind the cards is to offer students re-sources to f ind help for personal problems when they are outside of school.

“We think sometimes kids feel very sad, very hopeless and disheartened and (are) not sure where to turn ... so if kids need help with something, and it is maybe after school, they’ve got a card that they can call, so the kids always have support available to them,” counselor Barbara Skelly said.

Skelly said she doesn’t know if these cards will make any impact but is hoping students use them to their advantage.

“We’re hoping kids pick them up,” Skelly said. “We won’t know if they use them, but we hope that if they feel the need to talk to someone, they know that they can reach someone 24/7.”

By Sarah Wietecha

Students honored at Board meeting

North and South AP students were honored at the Board meeting on Oct. 26 for earning either a four or five on an AP exam along with several semifinalists and commended scholars in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

Juniors who excelled on the PSAT last year were named semifinalists and received an application, which gave them the chance to become a National Merit Scholar. Ac-cording to nationalmerit.org, 50,000 students are picked to receive the award. In early September, 16,000 were se-lected to become semifinalists. Five months later, 15,000 students are going to be chosen to become finalists.

Assistant Principal Tom Beach believes students that secure the award should be recognized to set an example for others.

“A National Merit final is a high price. It sends a mes-sage to the colleges that you’re going (to apply to) that you are one of the best in the entire country,” Beach said. “If you’re picking four colleges, the odds are that all four are gonna want you because they know that you are one of the top of the top in the entire country, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

Superintendent Dr. Gary Niehaus hopes this experi-ence will allow him to honor students and give them a chance to strengthen their resumes. At the board meet-ing, the honored students will be given a certificate signed by the Superintendent and Board President.

Semifinalist senior Mason Liagre has already been im-pacted by the overwhelming influence of the award.

“My Gmail inbox is full of colleges (whose) opening lines of the email are about the National Merit Scholar-ship,” Liagre said. “My outlook on college has probably gone from pretty nervous about it to a little bit more con-fident. I think that’s the main change. I feel a little bit more better about myself as well because it’s a pretty big honor.”

By Michal Ruprecht

By Ritika Sanikummu & Josie BennettEDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

The United States is seeing a decline in math ACT scores for the f irst time in 25 years.

But North is bucking this trend.Student math composite scores have

increased an unprecedented amount.Principal Kate Murray attributes the

positive trend to an intentional move to help North students increase their scores.

Teachers began integrating test preparation into the curriculum, both directly and indirectly, through meth-ods such as test-prep Tuesday in math courses and vocabulary acquisition in English classes.

Murray began implementing new strategies with staff in 2013 to refresh approaches to standardized tests so teachers could utilize different test-taking strategies.

“At different staff meetings, we would do a different portion, so I would hand out a passage from the

reading section and gave the same al-lotted amount of time a student would have. We did it in silence in the meeting and everybody took it so that we became the learner again,” Murray said. “We re-membered what skills were required in order to do well.”

Teachers were able to remember what it felt like to take the exam as stu-dents and became accustomed to the perspective required to do well. Skills such as resilience, focus, confidence and controlling anxiety all contribute to testing performance.

Math teacher Eric Vanston finds that staff practice is beneficial to not only the teachers, but to students as well. Teachers are able to relate their expe-riences to students in order to reduce stress and better understand how to effectively help students.

In addition to the usual multiple choice questions in ACT prep practices, Vanston also makes sure to integrate story problems into his curriculum.

“I believe that any time you’re work-

ing through complex problems and try to solve them, (although) it’s not (di-rectly related) to the test, it can count towards students being more success-ful,” Vanston said.

Sophomore Zach Page finds that at times the math portion of exams can be challenging. However, the methods that his math teachers use have been beneficial.

“There (have) been more multiple choice quizzes, and they have thrown me off a couple of times, but I think it will help me with future tests like the SAT,” Page said. “My last two math teachers, Mr. Vanston and Ms. (Lau-ren) Nixon, really emphasized partic-ular problems that they know will be on those types of tests. I feel more pre-pared for the upcoming standardized tests.”

Senior Nuha Mosa also believes that her math teachers have helped her to better understand the strategies of standardized testing and how to apply them during the test.

“Practicing for the math portion is different than practicing for an Eng-lish section because it’s not really con-ceptual thinking. It’s just a math prob-lem. It’s just knowing what to do. So it’s not really thinking about it. It’s just remembering what you need to know,” Mosa said. “The teachers just need to teach you things or make sure you un-derstand a problem when you come across it. The teachers helped me with knowing what to expect.”

Since the staff rolled out the new test-taking strategies in 2013, North has seen a gradual increase in math scores and has set an example for how to mix new methods into the curriculum.

“We meet as principals often and share our strategies, and I would say that we are definitely on the frontier of creating programs that support strug-gling learners,” Murray said. “There are schools that come to visit us to learn more about what we do to sup-port struggling learners.”

ACT math scores defy downward national trend

AP Biology students visit genetics conference

AP Biology students were invited to attend the Genetic Update Conference held at Birmingham Seaholm High School on Monday, Nov. 2. By attend-ing this extra-credit opportunity, students had a chance to learn more about genetic biology.

“It was really interesting. I learned about clon-ing and that in the future, they’re going to be able to make human organs instead of waiting for a donor,” junior Mackenzie Simon said.

Presenter Sam Rhines’ conducted his four-hour con-ference like a college lecture for biology teachers and students it was designed to teach the latest in genetic advances, research areas and possible career options.

“He talked about how there’s this thing called CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Pal-indromic Repeats) that goes into your genes and takes some out,” Simon said. “Say you had a gene for a disease. It would go into your body and take out that gene and put in a gene that doesn’t give you a disease. It takes out the bad genes and puts in the good ones in place of them. He also talked about that in 10 years, they would have the cure to diabetes. It was really cool.”

Attendees had the opportunity to learn about the pow-erful tools used in the field of genetics to combat diseases.

“He was talking about all this stuff that when we’re going to be doctors in the future, this is the stuff we’re going to be working on, curing all these diseases,” senior Maria Ciaravino said.

AP Biology teacher Susan Speirs asked students who attended the conference to tweet about their ex-perience using #GPNAPBIO for the people that didn’t

go could follow what was discussed during the lectures.“I learned quite a bit and noticed that students

were engaged and interested,” biology teacher An-drew Pola said. “The end goal of the trip was to in-form and inspire students.”

The purpose of the conference was to translate in-tricate research into understandable concepts and show how advancements in genetics will have impli-cations on the future.

“It made an impact. It was really interesting be-cause ... a lot of people there want to go into medi-cine,” Ciaravino said. “That’s the stuff that, if I be-come a scientist, I would be working on. That was really interesting to see what we’re going to be doing in the later years.”

By Yena Berhane

Reach out to Family, Friends, Parents, Siblings and Teachers

� 24-Hour Crisis Line (800) 241-4949

� GPN Counselors (313) 432-3224

� Trevor Lifeline - LGBTQ (866) 4-U-TREVOR

� Eating Disorder Crisis Line (800) 273-8255

� Marijuana Anonymous (800) 766-6779

� Gambling Helpline (800) 270-7117

� Depression Hotline (800) 231-1127

� GPS Counselors (313) 432-3519

� American Pregnancy Helpline (866) 942-6466

� Alchoholics Anonymous (800) 337-0611

� Narcotics (Heroin) Anonymous (877) 338-1188

� Domestic Violence Helpline (800) 799-7233

� National Suicide/Bullying/Prevention 1 (800) 273-TALK Lifeline

NATHAN LONCZYNSKI

4 – North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015

FACES IN THE CROWDAmari Cook

Parkour is an activ-ity where individuals rap-idly move through different areas, typically urban ones, navigating obstacles by run-ning, jumping or climbing. For most people, that may seem like a challenge but for senior Amari Cook, it’s a hobby.

“I do parkour for fun, after school,” Cook said. “Me and my brother go on trips and we just do parkour. We have our own little group and we just have fun.”

When Cook was about 10 years old, he was inspired by his father, an active moto-cross rider, to try doing the same tricks—minus the dirtbike.

Cook’s strangest experience with park-our involved an unstable stop sign.

“We were on a stop sign, trying to grab the pole and stand upward with our legs in the air … but then the pole was kind of un-stable and it kind of fell and I fell with it.”

Grace SkinnerAfter moving from Tra-

verse City to Grosse Pointe, freshman Grace Skinner is still getting adjusted.

“It was a lot different (in Traverse City). People were more closed-mind-ed,” Skinner said. “But there are a lot of preppy people here I guess. They are more in-volved with money and sports. Everyone was just kind of chill there.”

This is not Skinner’s first move. She has lived in many different places including Virginia, North Carolina and Michigan.

“(Moving) used to be about my dad’s job,” Skinner said. “But my mom is kind of addicted to it. She likes to visit new areas.”

So far, her favorite place that she has lived is central Virginia.

“There is a lot to do, like there doesn’t sound like a lot to do,” Skinner said. “But people are nice there too.”

Shannon GabrielWith her multi-col-

ored hair and her vibrant makeup done with pre-cision, it’s clear junior Shannon Gabriel is into art. But for her, painting goes beyond the tradi-tional canvas.

In the summer of 2014, Gabriel started painting shoes, and it has turned into a favorite hobby.

“Normally they are gifts for people, so they are kind of based around what those people like,” Gabriel said. “Like a TV show they might like, or a movie or a Van Gogh painting.”

Gabriel is currently in AP Studio Art and feels that the class helps her with the drawing and painting on the shoes. How-ever, Gabriel’s shoes aren’t always gifts. She has started selling the shoes as well.

“It’s sort of like an under-the-table business,” Gabriel said.

By Trevor Mieczkowski

ON CAMPUS

By Ritika SanikommuEDITOR

New English teacher Alyssa San-doval always had a clear idea of what she wanted to become later in life. Along the way of reaching her aspira-tions, Sandoval discovered her pas-sion for creative writing.

“Writing has always been my thing. Before I could write actual physical letters, I would have my mom transcribe it for me. That’s just the way I express myself the best. I get my inspiration from events I’ve had in my life,” Sandoval said. “Even a glimpse of something that I see on the street will inspire a poem or short story depending on how sig-nificantly it affected me, even if it seems like a passing moment. I just find it very inspiring, depending on where I am in my life.”

Sandoval attended the University of Michigan and was able to delve deeper into her love for creative writ-ing while she was there by participat-ing in poetry forums and readings in front of large audiences.

Writing not only provided San-doval with a creative release, but an emotional one as well. San-

doval’s writing often embodies a darker quality laced with experi-ences from her life.

“Typically, I think it’s because I come off as a very enthusiastic and positive person, which I definitely am. But when I’m writing, it’s always to kind of let out those feelings that I’m repressing or trying to get rid of because I don’t want that to come out in my daily persona,” Sandoval said.

Sandoval generally writes non-fic-tion. One of her short stories, which was written about her grandfather’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, was pub-lished in the Alzheimer’s Association Magazine.

Sandoval ultimately plans on pub-lishing her works and creating a col-lection out of the hundreds of short stories and poems she has written.

“That’s been my goal. In addition to teaching, to just go on and be an author and be a teacher,” Sandoval said. “Because those are really my two passions, having that expression for me, but also bringing that into the classroom to help other students and other people try and figure out how to express themselves the best.”

English teacher Alyssa Sandoval FIVE MINUTES WITH

Where do you see yourself in 30 years?Definitely still teaching, hopefully here, I know a lot of teachers stay here and I think that shows a lot about the school. The kids are great, the teachers are great, so I would be very thankful if I stayed. If I didn’t, then I would see myself moving to the west coast in Oregon or Northern California. And I am currently dating my boyfriend, Jeff, and we’ve been dating since I was a senior in highschool, so us being married. I can see me having kids, and definitely being published.

Do you have any special talents?I’m really into archery, and I don’t think many people expect that because I don’t really talk about it that often. It’s more recreation, it’s not something I do on a team or league. I started in high school, we had some unit in gym, I thought it was really fun. And then I went with my friends for somebody’s birthday party, I think, my freshman year of college, and it was so fun. I was weirdly good at it, which is weird because I’ve never gone hunting or anything like that for archery to click with me. It’s a lot about precision, and I enjoy it. It ’s something different, other than reading books all day.

ABOVE: “I always wanted to be a highschool teacher. I dabbled with the idea of being a middle school or high school. But that was like my plan the whole time. When I was in high school however, I thought I was going to be an elementary school teacher,” Sando-val said. “So I didn’t change completely, but that was my general career path. But I want to go back and get my PhD for creative writing, so that’s kind of the other venue that I like. I’m very, very dedicated to writing. I think that’s how I got into teaching.”

What are your favorite movies?They’re kind of eclectic, but I would say Shutter Island, I think the mind twist is in-teresting, 500 Days of Summer, which is a completely different genre but I fall into that every time.

Photo club captures Halloween through scavenger hunt By Josie Bennett & Alex Harring

STAFF REPORTERS

BELOW: Junior Hannah Spindler’s photo of a carved pumpkin.“The scavenger hunt was pretty tricky this year because of the rain,” Spindler said. “But what we do is we scan the list and see how many things we can find even though there were not many trick-or-treaters out because of the rain and we just drove around Grosse Pointe Woods and St. Clair Shores to get as much as we can.”

ABOVE: Photo of a Halloween dectoration taken by the photo club.Member junior Anaijah White explored Grosse Pointe Woods and St. Clair Shores to find items to photograph. “Basically there was a sheet of things we had to find and each thing was ranged from one point to three points,” White said. “We racked up the points in the end and decided who won.”

BELOW: Spindler takes photo of a spider decoration for the scavanger hunt.

SHANNON GABRIEL

SHANNON GABRIEL

HANNAH SPINDLER

GIUSEPPE PARISON

BELLA DESANDY

ABOVE: Photo taken of pumpkins and a scarecrow, items on the scavenger hunt list.

LIFE North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – 5

By Olivia Asimakis MANAGING EDITOR

Google “hip dysplasia,” and you’ll find the top results are clearly intended for adults.

Even though it’s a rarity for teenagers, se-nior Maddy Tompkins underwent hip surgery for her recently diagnosed condition.

Tompkins had her first of two hip surger-ies Aug. 11. Her right hip was properly re-constructed so her femoral head would be well supported. When the socket of the hip bone, called the acetabulum, isn’t fully de-veloped, the ball and socket are misaligned. This causes wear and tear to the cartilage, resulting in bone-on-bone contact and pain. Tompkins first felt this discomfort during dance class.

“My (dance) teacher could tell it was hurt-ing really bad and stuff,” Tompkins said. “So she was feeling around on my hip, and I guess she kinda knew something was wrong.”

After an x-ray and a doctor’s appointment, Tompkins found the answer to her pain. She was diagnosed with hip dysplasia in Novem-ber of last year. Tompkins was born with hip dysplasia, but because she stopped growing, doctors had never properly identified it.

Tompkins’s mother, Molly Tompkins, was worried about Maddy because of the severity of the surgery.

“It was a lot of preparation both mentally and physically, like trying to get ready for the fact that her hip was going to be taken apart and being screwed back together,” Molly said. “I just felt I needed to be strong so that I could support her because I felt bad for her having to go through this her senior year.”

Maddy’s sister, sophomore Emma Tomp-kins, was an instrumental part of her recov-ery. Because Maddy couldn’t move, Emma took on the role of caretaker.

“At the beginning, right after surgery, she couldn’t move around or anything, so we would get her meals and just get all of her clothes or anything she needed from up-stairs because she couldn’t go up the stairs,” Emma said.

The assistance didn’t stop at home. Be-cause she was immobile, Maddy’s means of transportation for the first two months of

school was a wheelchair. She only started to walk again in early October. Maddy’s friend, senior Alania Streberger, helped her daily by getting her from class to class.

“She asked us to help her out, and of course I said yes,” Streberger said. “It was a little odd at first because it was really a re-ality check for me because I’m a runner. It was totally like, wow, I have to be so grateful for what I am, but also helping her was re-ally humbling. I feel like it definitely made us closer.”

Maddy will have her left hip surgery in February, and she will miss two to three weeks of school. Her right hip is now stron-ger, which will directly translate into the speed of the second round of rehabilitation. Emma believes the recovery will be quick-er and easier because the family already knows what to anticipate. Maddy’s struggle has led the Tompkins family to support one another more.

“It’s made us realize that we are there to lean on each other,” Molly said. “That we have a great support group of both family and friends.”

Although the surgery and recovery has made life harder in some ways for the Tomp-kins family, Emma feels it has improved her relationship with Maddy.

“It’s grown stronger because we have to spend more time together,” Emma said. “We have to get along, and I have to help her out.”

For all of her life, Maddy had been self -sufficient. Then all of a sudden, she was no longer able to do the most basic tasks. She felt inhibited and distressed, but she also recognized how this experience would help her grow.

“At first it was hard because I couldn’t even put my shoe on without it hurting. It got real-ly frustrating because I used to be able to do all this stuff, and now I can’t,” Maddy said. “I feel like this is definitely going to change me. I feel like it makes me stronger as a person. ‘Cause no one my age has to go through this. It’s crazy.”

Stress to impressBy Gowri YerramalliBUSSINESS MANAGER

“Stressed” has become a commonly-used term among youth teenagers. With the numerous responsibilities and requirements that are expected of teens, childhood stress and its related health problems are steadily increas-ing.

Junior Olivia Randazzo believes that the expectations high-schoolers have for themselves can lead to consistent stress.

“The expectations we have for college and what we have to do to get into the college we want to get into and what we expect of ourselves contributes to (stress),” Randazzo said.

Recently, a study conducted by Harvard University has concluded that early childhood stress can contribute to poor adult health, including an in-creased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. The symptoms of sig-nificant stress can be noticeable at a young age. Counselor Jill Davenport sees that students are affected by stress in various ways.

“How stress affects a person is varied from person to person. Some people sleep, some cry, scream, shut down entirely, stomachaches, headaches, rash-es,” Davenport said via email.

School psychologist Christine Kuhl also says the causes of stress can vary from student to student. She feels, however, that a lot of stress is centered on social pressures.

“In my personal opinion, I think high school students today struggle with constant social pressure. When I was a teenager, students struggling socially only had to deal with that during school hours,” Kuhl said via email. “Now because of increased access to devices and social media there is literally no

escape from the social world. There is no safe space where students can to-tally disconnect from their social world. I believe this creates an unhealthy balance for many students.”

Randazzo, however, thinks that most of her stress comes from extracur-riculars and academics.

“I get really stressed out after school, especially if I have a lot of things to do, a lot of extracurriculars and with the homework load because I do get a lot of homework in my classes because I’m in three AP classes,” Ran-dazzo said. “In each of those classes, I get around usually two hours a night for each, so I’m doing homework basically all night, so that gets me a little stressed, especially if I don’t have time to finish up everything or I have to study for something.”

The effects of stress can be reversed by a few simple activities. Kuhl says that healthy social connections and lifestyle choices can reduce stress in most teens.

“Stress can be reduced by getting the recommended nine hours of sleep per night, healthy eating habits and regular exercise. It can also be reduced by maintaining good, healthy social connections with friends and fami-ly. Teens should have at least one to two trusted adults they can connect with when they are feeling overwhelmed,” Kuhl said. “If you do not have a trusted adult at home, remember that there are many here at school. Grosse Pointe North has counselors, a school social worker and a school psycholo-gist ... we are all available to talk with you and help you through difficult times. If you need additional support, we are able to refer you to resources outside of school.”

A recent study from Harvard University finds that childhood stress can lead to long-term health issues

ABOVE: Grosse Pointe South students, Ellie Connors, Allison Graff and Haley Mart along with Tompkins backstage at a dance recital. Tompkins was an avid dancer prior to her diagnosis.

BELOW: Senior Lora Dobbs helps Tompkins get from class to class. “It was weird. I was pretty much at people’s butt level, and I felt really tiny. I used to be able to do all this stuff, and now I have to sit and have people get me things,” Tompkins said.

Surgery interferes with dancer’s senior year

MADDY TOMPKINS

MADDY TOMPKINS

Senior Laurel Kreuter On likes

“I used to be obsessed with all those hashtags and stuff. And I would like go to ce-lebrities’ Instagrams and comment like ‘Like back’ or ‘follow back’ and stuff. I don’t do that anymore but I guess it just kind of followed up to it. It kind of just caught up and now I just keep getting all these likes, but I have no idea why people like my pic-tures.”On being a perfectionist“This is gonna sound so crazy, but I’m kind of OCD about my Instagram feed. Like I have to post the pic-ture and then take a screen-shot of what my Instagram looks like with that picture and then I delete the picture really quickly. So then I have to decide like what picture I want to post. It’s like a whole process, it’s so embarrass-ing.”

LIFENorth Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – 6

By Lindsey Ramsdell & Alex HarringASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

A large group of friends has always been a sign of social status. In the dig-ital age, donning that title now bears another expectation—a large group of followers. But, there could be a point where having too many friends be-comes an issue in itself.

Despite having over 1,300 followers on Instagram, senior Laurel Kreuter has noticed that her close circle of friends remains small. She says if any-thing, social media has brought them closer together.

“I have two really really close friends, and all of our Instagrams and our Twit-ters very much influence each other,” Kreuter said. “(Instagram) really does bring us together. We fangirl over other Instagram accounts, and other Twitter accounts and stuff like that. So it’s defi-nitely a common interest among us all.”

However, research conducted in 2014 by the University of Oxford psy-chologist and anthropologist Robert Dunbar suggests otherwise.

In 1992, Dunbar concluded that humans’ social relationships can be organized into multiple friend circles that decrease in number as they be-come more intimate. The largest con-sists of about 1,500 people a person knows by name, ending with a circle of five close friends or family members that he or she t u r ns to for suppor t du r i ng t he ha rdest times.

According to Dunbar, as social media expands one’s circle of acquaintances, it may be taking away from those in-ner circles of close friends. School psy-chologist Christine Kuhl notices that as the outer circles grow, they can distract from our definition of friendship.

“I do think (social media) broadens (students’) connections, but maybe there’s more quantity and less qual-ity,” Kuhl said. “I think it maybe con-fuses who’s really your friend and who’s somebody you just met one day or spent a little time with, and then you become friends online. So yes, I think it definite-ly expands your group, but maybe not everyone is close in that group.”

Senior Lakisha Pressley said she’s made connections through her 2,300 Instagram followers that she may not have made otherwise.

“Some of my followers, we have con-nections just based off Instagram even though we don’t know each other,” Pressley said. “But I know for example, this one girl—I got accepted into Bowl-ing Green—and she’s just like, ‘Hey I got accepted into Bowling Green.’”

Like Pressley, Kreuter has made con-nections through common interests and experiences. Although Kreuter has made multiple distant friends over so-cial media, she feels that it has not com-promised her friendship with others. In fact, she sees that her online friends can be just as authentic as her real ones.

“Fandoms are all over social media accounts, so when you become friends with these people who have a same idol as you, you get to really know them,” Kreuter said. “You can even meet them in real life, and they help you with things. They give you advice and all that. There’s definitely a lot of girls that I’ve met personally through Instagram and Twitter, and they’re so nice, and I love them.”

Through mutual connections, your number of acquaintances will in-crease. However, this does not mean an increase in our ability to maintain multiple relationships at one time.

When Nicole Ellison, a researcher at Michigan State University, surveyed random undergraduate students in 2007, she found that the students’ me-dian number of Facebook friends was 300. Of those friends, the students said they would only consider an average of 75 as actual friends. This means that the students surveyed would only con-sider approximately 25 percent of their Facebook friends companions in the non-virtual world.

The amount time social media users spend on continuing those 225 other distant relationships can distract from their more profound relationships by spreading their interactions with them too thin.

This is an effect that sociologists de-scribe as “role strain” or the “frustra-tion over multiple social obligations (and) an inability to meet the expec-tations of your social role,” according to Dr. Brian Gillespie, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at Sonoma State University.

Role strain can develop into real world problems, as trying to balance many relationships can sacrifice one’s own self-care, create stress and influ-ence behavior. Kreuter has found her-self having to apologize to people she barely knows but is distantly connected to through social media.

“I have actually got caught for my big mouth on Twitter,” Kreuter said. “I’ll say stuff, and then people who I don’t even know—I don’t even know how they find my tweets—they just tweet back at me, and I end up either having to apologize or erase the tweet.”

Kuhl feels teenagers benefit from multiple friendships, but she also advises students to discern which friends are worthy of trust.

“I think it can be stressful more in defining what those connections are and sometimes maybe even for-getting who those connections are,” Kuhl said. “Then you share informa-tion that maybe you’d share with your closer friends but not neces-sarily an entire group. I don’t know if it’s stressful for teens to just man-age that amount of friends, but just navigating the different levels of friendship among your group of fol-lowers.”

FRIENDS OR FOLLOWERS?Students find pros and cons of extensive social media use

Friend circle@whodoyouknow?

Dunbar numbers (represented below, one square represents 30 people) were a good representation of how many people the average person “knows.” In this age of expanding social media, are these statistics still relevant?

Role strain

On friends and followers:

intimate friendsgo-to friendsclose friends

casual friends

aquaintances

names you know

The stress or strain experienced by an individual when incompatible behavior, expectations or obliga-tions are associated with a single social role. (Dictionary.com)

Social media use may increase role strain felt by students because of wider social circles.

The average number of Facebook friends versus the number that are considered “actual friends” (MSU survey)

Instagraph

THELUKEWARMERSWAY.WORDPRESS.COM

UI-CLOUD.COM

PAGE DESIGN BY REY KAM (EDITOR-AT-LARGE)

Senior Lakisha PressleyOn Facebook Probs

“I had got this new smart-phone, and I was on (Facebook)—I wasn’t being responsible with it—and so some drama had started, and I continued it on Face-book, and then that caused trouble in school. And then my parents found out, and they told me that I couldn’t have a Facebook account until I turned 16, and when I turned 16 I just didn’t care (enough) about it anymore to make another Facebook ac-count. So, that’s definitely a lesson learned.”

On getting followers“I guess I kinda promoted myself. I would ask my friends to promote me on their Instagrams, and I had an old account that I had lost my passwords to. And so when I made my new one I just re-followed everyone from that account.”

North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – 7IDEAS

From the mind that brought us The Shining comes the collection of

short stories sure to cause nightmares. Unlike his previous works, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories allows Stephen King to share with fans his inspirations for each story.

4Game

YO- KAI WATCH

The Yo-Kai are physical embodiments of everyday problems that you can’t see. In Yo-Kai Watch, the goal is to befriend these spirits in order to get a medal that lets you summon them when you need help. This game is avail-able now for the Nintendo 3DS.

7Book

THE INFINITE SEA

Including the hit single “On My Mind,” Ellie Goulding will be intro-ducing the world to her third album today. With a combination of pop and empowerment, this album is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The top 10 things this week that we can’t live without 10

TechnologyBLACKBERRY PRIV

The newest BlackBerry PRIV is set to release soon.

This smartphone con-tains the staple Black-

Berry keyboard in ad-dition to a full-size

touch screen and is powered by An-

droid.

7Game

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 3

Call of Duty: Black Ops III takes place in the fu-ture and follows the storyline of its predecessors. New additions like a realistic difficulty has changed the dynamics of the game. It’s currently available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox one, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.

By Abby CadieuxASSISTANT EDITOR

As the second term of Obama’s presi-dency winds down, the next crew of shiny-toothed presidential candidates gears up to prove they’re worthy of be-ing chosen as the next leader of our great country. Finely-pressed red, white or blue ties and scarves are taken out of the closet and wrapped around the necks of some of the biggest names in politics. These big names will shake hands, kiss babies and point f ingers—you know the drill.

And then comes the discourse. The dreaded discourse.

It is a fundamental right, as Ameri-cans, we are expected to participate in political discussion and exercise our right to vote at the tender age of 18. However, not everyone comes out of the womb knowing all there is to know about foreign policy or Obamacare.

I, too, am included in that bunch. Many may find that no matter whom

they talk to, even the simplest explana-tions of America’s most debated issues are diluted with bias.

For many of us, sitting around watch-ing CNN’s live telecast of the Presiden-tial debates is a given. We have grown up in an era of intense media coverage of the political process. We watch as presidents are sworn in, know the min-ute laws that are passed and see politi-cians have at each other on live televi-sion.

Like a cloud of smoke, political dis-cussion infiltrates our living rooms and leaves everyone who cannot compre-

hend it in the dark. We watch as our par-ents react strongly to live debate cover-age. Even the slightest mention of the economy launches the most level-head-ed relatives into an extensive 20-min-ute-lecture, sans Powerpoint.

Political debate at the Thanksgiv-ing dinner table can really be fun, too. (Can’t wait.) While adults gnaw each other’s heads off, enthusiastic teens an-ticipate their turn to hop in the ring.

But let’s be real. Most of us have no clue what’s actually going on.

This leads to regurgitating family members’ takes on current issues ver-batim. Kids want to participate in the political discourse but end up only re-peating what they’ve been told without any real thought. What good does sec-ond-hand information and opinion do for creating your own political views?

Now more than ever, young Ameri-cans are being encouraged to get in-volved in politics. And we should. We will be the ones running this country some day, so why not start now?

Instead of mimicking bombastic bil-lionaire politicians on TV, we should familiarize ourselves with the issues. Think about how a certain stance would affect you personally—you, your family, your friends.

Think, too, how it would affect peo-ple who don’t have a voice—the disad-vantaged, the poor, the marginalized. Creating your own opinions and values helps you evolve into your own person. It al-lows you to become an adult who is capable of making informed decisions in elections, not just an impressionable voter.

Go out. Get involved in polit ics. Learn t he subjects. Develop your ow n unique polit ica l conscience and ma ke a dif ference in t he world t hat is t ruly yours. Start now because we w i l l a l l be 18 before we k now it.

There is absolutely not hing w rong w it h being conser vat ive, l ibera l, Re-publican, Democrat, independent or tota l ly apat het ic about any t hing po-l it ica l. Just ma ke sure t hat your bel iefs are your ow n and not someone else’s.

Politics is a choiceBy Darcy GrahamINTERN

Slimy. Evil. Man-eating. These are the words that come to mind when most peo-ple think of reptiles.

The media throws dramatized movies like Reptilian and Snakes on a Plane into theaters, creating misguided stereotypes that leads to fear and ignorance.

We’ve almost been forced into hating reptiles since birth.

Last week was reptile awareness week, but no one wants to celebrate a scary snake or scaly lizard. They are seen as dangerous, gross, and unworthy.

Reptile bites are responsible for rough-ly five deaths per year in America. If that seems like a lot, the “harmless” dogs we’ve all come to love are responsible for about 35 deaths annually in the U.S. Man’s best friend may get more love, but they are no safer than a pet snake.

I have owned snakes, geckos, turtles and lizards, and I can advocate that rep-tiles are smart. They grow fond of people, and enjoy the company of specific people more than others.

Reptiles experience fear and happi-ness just as we do. They feel pain, they learn to trust, they communicate with each other and they have many cogni-tive abilities similar to that of humans. Some species of lizard can even show species recognition and wave like a hu-man would when they see another lizard of their same species .

Another presumption is that reptiles are ferocious. Let me clear up any as-sumptions there are about their role in the food chain. Geckos and lizards prey

on insects and eat vegetables. Snakes prey on rodents and birds. But few snakes are venomous, and only 10 percent of those have the potency to kill a human. These animals would not even take this ac-tion unless they fear for their life. Tur-tles eat insects along with small fish and snails, and tortoises simply feed on plants. No reptile has any interest in feasting on humans.

I often hear how reptiles “feel gross.” Most reptiles don’t have the slippery or slimy texture that many people fret over. Every reptile that I’ve had experience with has had thick, dry skin, or simply smooth skin with scales. Scales are not slimy, and are used to protect a reptiles frail body.

People shouldn’t avoid all reptiles. Yes, some are dangerous, but it is not true that all are, which many people believe.

Reptiles help us in our everyday lives without us even knowing. Studies have shown that if snakes didn’t exist, the world would be overpopulated with rats and mice. Without lizards, the Earth would be overpopulated with insects.

Another study shows that snakes played a major role in ending the Black Plague in the 1340s by eating many of the disease-carrying rats.

Throughout the course of history, hu-mans have been known for putting ani-mals—and even ourselves—into risky situations just because they don’t under-stand something.

Humans are scared of what we don’t understand. We have hunted many spe-cies into extinction because we did not educate ourselves on their lifestyles and limited risk factors. How long will it take for people to realize that reptiles are vul-nerable? How long will it take for humans to understand these innocent creatures?

Lots of people have had a rumor spread about them. But, imagine a rumor started about you that is strong enough to con-vince people to end your life, thus endan-gering your entire species for years and years to come.

Fellow humans, stop treating our rep-tilian inhabitants of the world like they’re vicious, murderous and disposable.

Friends not foes

9Show

THE FLASH

PO NTE By Allison Lackner and

Katelynn MulderASSISTANT-EDITOR AND STAFF REPORTER

1MovieSPECTRE

James Bond’s latest adventure begins af-ter a cryptic message sends him on a rogue mission in Mexico City. The 24th official James Bond film, Spectre hits theaters today.

2Album

DELIRIUM

8BOOK

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS

Watch Dev, an aspiring actor, as he comically maneuvers his way through issues in both his personal and professional life. Created by Aziz Ansari, Master of None drops all 10 episodes on Netflix today.

3BOOK

THE INFINITE SEA

The Infinite Sea is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling story The Fifth Wave by Justin Cronin. Cassie Sullivan has managed to survive the first four deadly alien attacks, and she has to face the Others in order to stop them from destroying the human race.

Set in the same fictional uni-verse as Arrow, the second season of Flash sees the show’s protago-nist struggling to get over a death of a friend while protecting the city. It is slated to premiere today.

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5Show

MASTER OF NONE

6Movie

THE PEANUTS MOVIE

Everyone’s favorite beagle and flying ace will be in theaters wityh their best friend, Charlie Brown, in The Peanuts Movie. This movie will coincide with the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas and hits theaters today.

ON

8 – Friday, Nov. 6 2015 – North Pointe REVIEWS

MOVIE

THE VISIT

Expectat ions were high for M. Night Shyama-lan’s The Visit.

Expectat ions were not lived up to.

After directing the award—win-ning film The Sixth

Sense, Shyamalan failed to meet the stan-dards with The Visit that many had set.

While the mother Paula (Kathryn Hahn) and her boyfriend go off on a cruise, Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) travel to meet their grandparents Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) for the first time in a small, snowy isolated farm.

The movie begins with Becca, an inquisi-tive teenager, interviewing her mother about why she ran away from her parents before going to visit them. Her mother, Paula, is very hesitant to answer and explain why she has not contacted them after 15 years.

The first day of the visit goes just fine. Their Nana and Pop Pop seem like typical grandparents. However, at night, the kids began hearing noises, and as the days prog-ress, more odd things start to happen.

Despite the seemingly interesting plot and enticing trailers, the movie left viewers bored. It was too slow. The pace made it hard to stay focused in the beginning, and when it finally started to pick up, it quickly ended.

Although the special effects weren’t great, they did the job and on occasion managed to be frightening. For the most part, they were just too predictable. Basic horror movie ef-fects, such as doors randomly opening and antagonists jumping in from out of nowhere.

Characters would make bad decisions, decisions that an ordinary person wouldn’t, such as sending their children away without making sure they ended up where or with whom they were supposed to. Also, Becca was really hard to connect with, as she did not encompass the average teenager.

The acting was one of the only positives to the movie. The actors emoted well, and they really connected with the audience.

Overall The Visit was decent, not fantas-tic, but certainly not bad.

The Visit; 2015; M. Night Shyamalan; PG-13; 94 minutes

By Trevor Mieczkowski

WWW.WATCHPLAYREAD.COM

GAME

PSYCHIC CAT

Psychic Cat is a surreal and creepy explora-tion game played in the perspective of a cat traversing a neon-drenched wasteland, avoid-ing obstacles and

enemies along the way. The first thing to note about the game is

definitely unique aesthetic. The game fea-tures a cel-shaded art style but instead of be-ing shaded with colors, the game is shaded in black. The only way to discern between different things in the world is a neon glow outlining everything. Other than that, some objects in the world have glowing accents garnishing their appearance. The art is very spartan, which gives the game charm.

It is unfortunate that the majority of the remaining game is subpar.

Exploration, while entertaining for a time, is all one can do within the game world. There are options to create cubes and to pick up objects but it doesn’t seem like there are any objects to pick up. This is a problem be-cause, unless someone is truly captivated by the surreal atmosphere of Psychic Cat, there is simply no reason to play the game.

Psychic Cat’s animation looks very un-polished and unprofessional. The cat slides around the world like it’s on ice skates and the character model of the cat does not ac-count for elevation on hills, meaning even when the cat climbs over terrain, it simply stands upright while doing so. There are also multiple clipping issues. The cat will fre-quently faze through terrain and the camera itself can even be positioned to see inside the cat’s model.

There is also a force field surrounding the larger structures in the game, this was pre-sumably done because the developer found it too difficult to precisely add collision to things in the world.

Overall the game looks unfinished, which alludes to the possibility that the developer is simply not skilled enough the create a game of such magnitude.

Psychic Cat is an interesting experiment, the art is superbly creepy and the world is interesting. However, as a game, it falls short of standards that come expected in today’s market.

TV

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

In an alternate reality of the year 1962, the Axis pow-ers won World War II. The majority of the world is either under control of

the Japanese Empire or the Nazi Third Reich. This is the twisted and disfigured world por-

trayed in the new television show The Man In The High Castle.

Based on the book by Philip K. Dick, the show tells a similar story. The show follows a number of Americans living in the Nazi-con-trolled eastern United States and Japanese-controlled western United States.

The acting in the show is top-tier, which was unexpected for an online-only web se-ries. The actors show a very wide range of emotion and not a single one seems out of place. In this world, enough time has passed that a new generation of Americans don’t even know what freedom feels like, so por-trayal of broken spirits and acceptance of such oppression is a must for many of these characters.

The main characters are cast especially well, notably Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos), a normal woman trying to eke out an existence living in the west and Joe Blake (Luke Klein-take), a resistance member living in the east.

The setting itself is by far the show’s stron-gest and most alluring aspect. The show re-ally brings the dystopian future of an Axis-controlled world to life. Walls are plastered with Axis propaganda, flags adorn national symbols, and soldiers patrol the streets look-ing for anyone defying the authority of the new regimes.

Signs of a defeated and broken America are no more evident than in the city of New York. It is very striking to see Times Square display the Nazi swastika on billboards and military vehicles patrolling Wall Street in the name of the Führer.

With such intriguing lore behind the show, it will be interesting to see how other aspects of the world are interpreted later in the series.

Anyone who is fascinated by alternate-history scenarios or who enjoys a good dys-topian thriller will appreciate The Man In The High Castle. The series has two episodes out already and the third will be released Nov. 20. of this year.

The Man in The High Castle; 2015; Amazon

By Giuseppe Parison

BOOK

THE HAUNTING OF SUNSHINE GIRL

Based on the popular YouTube channel of the same name, The Haunt-ing of Sunshine Girl brings the creepy homemade para-normal series to the world of books.

After the channel got more than 130 million views, the owner of the channel, Paige McKenzie, also known as Sunshine, decided to publish a book which came out on March 24.

The book follows the same storyline of the first few episodes of the channel. Sun-shine and her mother move into a new house where she soon discovers there’s something unusual going on.

She begins to record the strange activity trying to prove to her mother, who begins to react oddly due to the supernatural, that their house is indeed haunted.

While this may sound like any old horror movie or book, it sets itself apart from the others with a new twist.

Sunshine is a Luiseach, a person who is able to see and help ghosts crosover to the other side. Ghosts, demons and a cast of other creatures are attracted to any luiseach, which has made them rare.

Sunshine’s story takes place after she turns 16, when a luiseach gets their abilities. However, the only problem is Sunshine has no idea who she is or how to use her powers.

The plot of the story was interesting and well thought out. While it starts off very slowly, once the reader gets past the first few chapters the book becomes much more in-teresting.

Another minor issue is that while the characters are almost exactly like the ones in the videos, they lack the same depth in the book. The initial installment is a fun, rela-tively short read and opens doors for other Youtubers to expand to new horizons.

Unlike most books this one was written after the videos were made, not before. Full of suspense it will keep readers up late into the night, unable to stop turning the pages.

With six official seasons on her YouTube channel along with multiple other shorter sto-ries, there are bound to be multiple books in the series.

The Haunting of the Sunshine Girl; Paige McKenzie; 296 pp; Weinstein Books; $11.52

By Katelynn Mulder

WWW.GOODREADS.COM

Psychic Cat; George Royer; 2015

By Giuseppe Parison

By Mora DownsEDITOR

The dark hallways and dreary rooms of the Hotel Cortez host to a multitude of murders and the home for the fifth installment of the ever-twisted American Horror Story.

Last season’s storyline (Freakshow) was not scary. The only fear-inducing element was a serial killer clown who was killed off halfway through the sea-son. But now creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have proven they haven’t lost their touch. American Horror Story: Hotel is a heart-pounding thrill-ride. Each moment has the viewer fearing what might hap-pen next for the innocent residents of the Hotel Cor-tez. If you thought the twins from The Shining were the creepiest children to haunt a hotel, think again.

Hotel stars Lady Gaga as Elizabeth, a vampire and the hotel’s owner. Gaga was born to play this role. She embodies the glamour and mystery of her character, depicting Elizabeth in the likeness of a film star in Hollywood’s golden age.

With a magnificent chandelier hanging in the lob-by and an intricate elevator design, the set is the epit-ome of retro glamour. But the hotel’s aesthetic appeal stops there. The rooms are dark and small, and the carpet design from The Shining lines the hotel to fur-ther amp up the spook factor.

The Hotel Cortez was built in the 1920s and lacks modern conveniences that most hotels have like Wi-Fi and cell service, which is the real American horror story.

Hotel staff includes Iris (Kathy Bates) and a Liz Taylor crossdresser (Denis O’Hare).

Several new faces join the cast of AHS regulars including Cheyenne Jackson, Max Greenfield and Naomi Campbell. The season also features Finn Wit-trock, Matt Bomer and Wes Bentley, who made their AHS debuts last season.

Missing from the show is the true queen of AHS, Jessica Lange. Lange has made the show into the phe-nomenon it is today. Without her iconic portrayals of Constance Langdon, Sister Jude Martin, Fiona Goode and Elsa Mars, the show would be severely lacking. Hotel has managed to be a hit without Lange, but it leaves fans wondering what she would have brought to the table.

Newest season of American Horror

Story proves scarier than the last

Other ladies absent from the season are Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy and Emma Roberts (cur-rently starring yet another Murphy/Falchuk cre-ation, Scream Queens on Fox). Like Lange, the show isn’t a f lop without them, but their presence would enrich it.

AHS veterans Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters re-turned for their fifth season, but in unfamiliar roles. Paulson trades heroine for heroin in her role as the ghost of a junkie named Sally. Her look is complete with a crimped blonde bob and some serious rac-coon eyes. Peters also plays as a ghost and like his first season role, Tate Langdon, the ghost is a mur-derer. While Tate is different from Peters’ character in Hotel, Mr. March, he managed to be lovable de-spite his character’s major f laws. However, March is a malicious psychopath who was the most notori-ous serial killer in Los Angeles history. This role is a far cry from Paulson’s usual stint as the brave lead-ing lady and Peters’ as the man with a heart of gold.

Hotel has undeniable parallels to season one, American Horror Story: Murder House. Anyone killed in the Murder House remained there as a ghost. It is not likely that everyone killed in the Hotel Cortez becomes a ghost, but Sally, March and his creepy laundress accomplice Miss Evers continue to in-habit the hotel after their deaths. Both seasons take place in Los Angeles and share Marcy the real estate agent, a minor character.

This makes sense as during the show’s hiatus, Murphy and Falchuk revealed that all of the sea-sons will connect somehow. For those who don’t watch AHS, each season has its own storyline and set of characters. But last season, storylines from Freakshow and Asylum (season 2) aligned. Murphy and Falchuk hinted that characters from previous seasons may stay at the hotel, and Marcy’s appear-ance confirms that.

American Horror Story has long been a show that rejected the happy endings of humdrum sitcoms and overly-dramatic TV shows targeted to teens. Hotel continues this pattern. The Hotel Cortez is where happy endings come to get brutally mur-dered.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY HOTEL2011-2015TV-MAFX

SCREENCRUSH.COM

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North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – 9

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anu Subramaniam

MANAGING EDITOR: Olivia Asimakis

MANAGING EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Jennifer Kusch

EDITORS-AT-LARGE:Yena Berhane, Audrey 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, Delaney 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 Wietechta

STAFF REPORTERS: Josie Bennett, Alex Harring, Nathan Lonczynski, Katelynn Mulder, Addison Toutant

INTERNS: Darcy Graham, Erin Kaled, Bella Lawson, Trevor Miecz-kowski, Sonny Mulpuri, Joey Parison, Montana Paton, Ol-ivia Robinson, Michal Ruprecht, Asia Simmons, Billy Steigel-man, Tommy Teftsis

The North Pointe is edited and produced by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review. Comments should be directed to the student 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. Addition-al copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertis-ing 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 BerhaneWEB MANAGING EDITOR

IDEAS

Absence at Board meetingtarnishes reputation

School (skül) n 1 : an organization that provides instruction: as an institution for the teaching of children (Merriam-Webster).

Following this definition, a school’s quality would be measured in how well it teaches its students. We had a chance to showcase this at the School Board meeting on Monday, Oct. 26. At the meeting, students from both North and South received recognition for Advanced Place-ment (AP) Scholar, Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and National Merit Scholar-ship (NMS) awards.

While Grosse Pointe South was well-represented at the meeting, we were not. Not because our stu-dents weren’t qualified. They just didn’t show up.

In years past, this hadn’t been much of an issue, as everybody who received an award was an-nounced. This year, however, only individuals who were present had their names read.

This made North look bad. With so few North winners standing on stage next to their South counterparts, we looked like we stumbled and let our high academic standards slip.

These awards are a big deal. Both NMS and AP are national-level awards. To qualify to be an NMS semifinalist, a student needs to score within the top 16,000 of about 1.5 million entrants. This year, we had two. To receive NMS with commendation, a student needs to be within the top 32,000. North had a handful of these students, a big achievement for a medium-sized school.

North received several CSPA award-winners for journalistic writing. There were 11,110 entries nationwide, and 11 winners in Michigan. Five of them were from North.

But we cannot take pride in these types of academic achievement when our students aren’t present to be recognized. Without all names being announced, and with so few students present, North did not look equal to South.

If we want to stop this from happening, there are two things that we need to change.

The first issue is that students need to take these awards seriously. By showing up, they will not only receive recognition for their hard work but will

portray our school in a more positive light.South had many of its busy seniors show up, yet

we did not. If we want to show what we are achieving and doing in and out of the classroom, we have to show up, too.

The second problem was the meeting’s schedul-ing. We can’t simply say it was the students’ fault and move on. Perhaps the School Board should consider a different way to give out these awards.

Let’s look at when the recipients were recognized for their achievements.

One, the meeting was held on a Monday, at the beginning of the week. The types of students who win these awards aren’t slackers. They have chal-lenging classes, lots of homework and are involved in extracurriculars and sports that were entering post-season play. That’s not exactly a formula for free time during the week.

Two, the meeting was in late October. The end of the quarter was only two weeks away, making late assignments and make-up tests the utmost priority. Also, most of these award winners are seniors who were finalizing their applications for the Nov. 1 early admission deadline to competitive universities.

That Monday, more than ever, was a time when our winners wouldn’t be able to make time to receive an award.

And as previously mentioned, these are no mere participation awards. These students have taken the extra step to achieve these awards and deserve more than to simply have their name read at a Board meet-ing.

Instead of giving out the awards on a Monday night near the end of the quarter, during the week college applications are due, maybe the students could have their own ceremony. Perhaps that ceremony could be held a couple weeks later, possibly on a Friday or on a weekend afternoon.

Students should have a chance to get recognized for the hard work they’ve put in. They’d be more apt to at-tend, and North can keep up its reputation. However, just as the students aren’t fully to blame, neither is the scheduling. Yes, it an inconvenience, but at the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to show up.

We are the ones to maintain our reputation.

H ow d o e s s t r e s s a f f e c t s t u d e n t s?

“I think it’s a huge influence on high school students’ lives. Stress is something everyone is worried about all the time.”

“Stress makes you worry about everything, and you usually don’t have time.”

“I think it can either lead them to either procras-tinate (or) stress can actually help them and they’ll study more in that particular subject.”

“Stress affects high school students by mo-tivating them to finish assignments in a timely manner, but at the same time, often leads to lack of sleep. “

“I think stress affects them in a lot of different ways. One way is mental-ly, they don’t get enough to concentrate on. It builds up pressure, makes their day seem longer.”

“I think everyone is individ-ually different on how they handle stress. Obviously, some students may feel sick and may want to avoid the stress, some people thrive on stress. I think it’s just in-dividually how you handle the stress.”

Megan ThumaFRESHMAN

Greta Deloach SOPHOMORE

Ben SosnowskiJUNIOR

Bryan LevinsonBUSINESS TEACHER

Gil McHenrySECURITY GUARD

Lauren LeshaSENIOR

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Cultural theft ?By Radiance CooperASSISTANT EDITOR

Cultural appropriation is a complex controversy. No mat-ter what side of the argument you are on, this subject stirs up heated debate whenever it is mentioned. So the question looms: is cultural appropria-tion the robbing of another’s culture or a beneficial blend-ing of social lines?

Cultural appropriation is defined as the sociologi-cal concept which views the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture as a largely negative phenomenon.

The idea behind cultural appropriation is that while many celebrities use bits and pieces from different cultures to give themselves a unique image, members of that same culture are often ridiculed in real life for doing it themselves.

This conversation has grown to the point where the University of Washington actually created a youtube video explaining halloween costumes that were off limits for fear that they might be ap-propriating a different culture. Items like sombraros, grass skirts, drag queen outfits and martial arts costumes were highly discouraged.

While this growing phe-nomenon seems tainted (and actually is in some re-gards), I think that we’re missing an important aspect of this equation.

We all borrow bits and piec-es from each other.

It’s bound to happen. Walk-ing into North everyday, we’re join a melting pot filled with kids from all sorts of different backgrounds and cultures. We mingle with each other, we’re friends with each other, we date each other.

As we adopt the things that we like about a culture, we are learning about that culture, too.

There’s no shame in that. It’s not a sign that we are steal-ing from one another. Instead, we are embracing each other’s differences.

We are all a product of the people and attitudes that we grew up around, and these re-lationships shape the people that we were and the adults we are going to be.

With more mingling occur-ring between different types of people, the walls and lines between cultures are bend-ing and blurring. It’s becom-ing more difficult to tell them apart. It is controversial, but it isn’t a bad thing.

I don’t believe that cul-ture is necessarily something that you can “steal” or “rob” someone of. I do believe that we all share this earth and what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours.

We create a trap when we say “this person is black so they can’t do this” or “this person is white so they can’t do that.” That is a flawed concept. Peo-ple can be whoever they want to be without being labeled as out of place or racist.

We all have quirks about us that make us who we are, but they don’t always match are cliché roles in society. The reality is that when we spend time with those that are ‘dif-ferent’ from us, we realize that they actually aren’t.

We are all 99.9 percent simi-lar in DNA, whether you listen to classical music and wear sweater vests or listen to hip hop and sport cornrows. We should be more than capable of finding ourselves in differ-ent cultures, even if they aren’t solely attached to the one we were assigned at birth.

Don’t build up the walls that divide us, break them down.

YOUR TURN: By Sydney BensonPHOTO EDITOR

AUDREY KAM

10– North Pointe – Friday, Nov 6, 2015 SPORTS

OFF TO THE RACES

An unexpected health emergency was what introduced sophomore Carrington Mahana to horseback riding and created a passion for the sport.

“My sister had an appendicitis attack when she was on a horse. I was 4, and she was 7, so she fell off,” sophomore Carrington Mahana said. “But then instead of her f inishing her lesson, my mom took her to the hospital and I stayed at the barn with the trainer who stil l trains me whenever she can. She then just put me on a horse and was like ‘let’s just go for a ride’ and I just starting loving horses after that.”

Mahana has always had an appreciation for horses. She started out taking lessons at the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club and now partici-pates in barrel racing, which consists of start-ing out at a full gallop, or ganner, then mak-

ing clover leaf turns around three barrels as fast as she can.

Although Mahana doesn’t have her own horse, she normally trains and rides other horses at the club and plans on eventually owning her own. Despite how expensive hors-es are, she also believes that f inding one is the most diff icult part about the sport.

“The horses pick you, you don’t always pick the horse,” Mahana said.

Communicating with body language is what Mahana thinks is very important when it comes to working with a horse. She believes that the sport teaches her about more than just the horse.

“It’s really hard to learn,” Mahana said. “You need to learn a lot about the animal and all about yourself too.”

By Radiance Cooper & Anna PostASSISTANT EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER

MEGHAN IRVINGLiving in close proximity to the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club has allowed sophomore Meghan Irving to turn her interest in

horses into a pastime through horseback riding. Her love of the sport and everything that comes with it has only grown since. “At the barn I am (at) right now, my earliest memory was three years ago, and it was on a pony named Bebe,” Irving said.

“She was very cute, and I just remember listening to my instructor and what I had to do, (like) make sure my heels were down, make sure my hands were in the right position. It was lots of fun.”

Irving began competing in MHJA horse show competitions when she was in eighth grade after her trainer suggested she try it. She currently participates in horse shows two to three times a year. The events she partakes in can range any where from f lat classes to cross poles, which is the event that she currently participates in.

“It involves your horse looking good. There’s hunter-under-saddle and then equitation. Equitation is judging the rider and how your position is. Are your heels down, are you looking forward, are you looking down? Then, hunter-un-der-saddle is the judges is judging the horse,” Irving said. “How it moves, does it know what it’s doing.”

Despite horseback riding’s lack of recognition as a competitive sport, Irving feels that the relationship built between the rider and the horse is what makes the sport unique.

“I love the interaction with the horse. With other sports, it’s something that’s not alive,” Irving said. “It’s actually something that has a life, knows what it’s doing and the connection you get with them is amazing.”

For Irving, the sport comes with many fun experiences, but it also in-volves hard work, despite the sport’s easy-going appearance.

“Most people say it’s not a sport. They say all you do is just sit there and let the horse do everything. You have to do so much. You have to make sure they know what they’re doing. Your heels are down, your legs are in the right position, your hands are in the right position,” Irving said. “If they stop, you have to know what to do. It’s not just something (where) you just sit there. It’s a lot of work.”

KAMMIE BERNSSenior Kammie Berns lives and breathes the

equestrian lifestyle and can often be found spending weekends travelling to horse shows across the coun-try. Berns has been riding for 15 years and garnered an interest in the sport when her mother signed her up for a horse camp at the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club. She gradually transitioned from lessons to compet-ing nationally.

“When I started showing and competing, I kind of just did litt le schooling shows, and then it began t o g e t m o r e f u n t o w o r k t o w a r d s s o m e t h i n g ,” B e r n s s a i d .

In horseback riding competitions, Berns performs in medals, which are events with 3’6” hurdles that horses must jump over. She is then judged on equita-tion, or the rider’s style, position and form. Riders compete for medals in order to have enough points to qualify for f inals. Berns has won many competit ions and has even qua li f ied regiona l ly and nat iona l ly.

“I’ve won zones, which are like Michigan, Ken-tucky, Ohio, Il linois, Indiana,” Berns said. “I am a top competitor in that zone, but once you start com-peting with kids in California and on the East Coast it gets really intense, so just to be able to ride with those kids is an honor.”

Berns believes having a strong relationship be-tween a rider and horse is crucial to her success. Un-derstanding how a horse rides is an important part of the sport since riding differs with each horse.

“They become your best friend. It’s like a dog but 10 times more,” Berns said. “You have a bond, and

every horse has their own personality and their own kind of quirkiness to them, and that’s what makes the unique. Sometimes their quirkiness gives them a spunk and an edge that other horses don’t have.”

Berns’ goal is to win a national title and ride in col-lege. She is interested in Baylor University and Texas Christian University and hopes to receive a scholarship.

“What I’m doing is that I’m trying to ride as many horses as possible so that I can be a versatile rider and be able to get on any horse and be able to ride and make it look effortless without me even knowing (the horse),” Berns said. “So I’ve been practicing on any horse I can get on, and I will videotape my riding. I try to keep in contact with the coaches and send them video updates of me riding and kind of keeping them posted and letting them know what’s going on. Hopefully they will want me on their team.”

Being a versatile rider and managing time are what Berns considers to be the hardest part about the sport.

“The sport is really time consuming, but I’ve learned that. I love doing it personally because I love being with horses,” Berns said. “But it’s a great thing to learn commitment and time management because you really need to have everything organized.”

Berns believes that the sport teaches her to be-come a better person and has opened doors for her-self when it comes to competing.

“It has made me very grateful for what I am given and the opportunities that I can have,” Berns said. “It builds character and it makes me more apprecia-tive of what my parents and family have given to me to let me have the opportunity to ride horses.”

Started riding: Age 3

Horse’s name: Poe

Horse’s breed: German Warm Blood

Students Kammie Berns, Carrington Mahana and Meghan Irving participate in

extracurricular equestrian riding throughout the year

Current barn: Windermere Equestrian Center

Horse’s name: Audi

Horse’s breed: Off-the-track thoroughbred

Advice for new riders: Keep your mind open. You might think it’s a lot of work at the same

time, like right at the beginning but as soon as you get used to it, it’ll come second-hand to you.

Current barn: Justamere BarnHorse’s name: Jinx

Advice for new riders: “Riding is an expensive sport for anyone, even if you can’t afford to do what I did, hang around a barn (long) enough to offer to help learn about the animals and get offered to do things with the horses the more trust you gain, it’s really a really good way to learn how to take care of more than just yourself. Also, riding is a time and practice sport, if you can put in the effort and time, results will come.”

CARRINGTON MAHANA

North Pointe – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – 11

By Micha l Ruprecht & Tommy Tef tsisI N T E R N S

Karate teaches discipline. It teaches self control. It may even make freshman Hope Miller a star.

Karate has led t he Professiona l Karate Schools of A merica Demo Team a l l t he way to t he stage of A merica’s Got Ta lent (AGT). For one mont h, t he team has been tra ining to impress A merica and t he four eager judges.

Demo is based on Ta ng So Doo, a Sout h Korea n for m of ka rate or ig inat ing in Seou l. AGT asked t he tea m to aud it ion for t he show last Apr i l a nd w i l l per for m on Stau rday, Nov. 7.

A s a member of t he Demo Tea m, Mi l ler has fou nd ka rate to be ver y mea n ing f u l t h roug hout t he seven yea rs she has been pract icing t he spor t.

“(W hat) karate means to me is to develop courage for yourself and to do what’s right and to not a lways just defend yourself, but to defend people around you,” Mil ler said. “It’s l ike building character in-stead of competit ion, it’s not a lways about that and it’s just about yourself and tr ying your hardest.”

Mi l ler d iscovered ma ny ways to help ot hers t h roug h per for m ing a nd teach ing ka rate. Her love for t he spor t created a new way of l i fe for her.

“I rea l ly sta r ted to l i ke (ka rate) because at ka-rate it ’s not on ly for me,” Mi l ler sa id. “I’m on t h is tea m, it ’s ca l led Demo a nd we go for helping Wigs 4 K ids a nd we do per for ma nces for t hem a nd t hen

we g ive per for ma nces for schools t hat have ch i l-d ren t hat a re abused at home.”

Mil ler’s mom, Temika Mil ler, inspired Hope to become a part of karate. Temika is proud to see t hat Hope’s karate ambit ions brought her to a high level in karate. She is aware of t he hard work her daughter has put into t he AGT audit ion.

“I bel ieve it ’s a ver y good opportunit y for her, she’s ver y excited. Hope has done a lot of perfor-mances t hrough t he communit y ... t his w i l l g ive her more persona l exposure,” Temika said.

Hope believes t hat t he show created more unit y in t he team. Even t hough w inning and t he money are not important, Hope t hinks her team is ready to succeed.

“I would want to say t hat (t he biggest achieve-ment is) to w in, but in a l l honest y I want us to just be able to get experience and k now how to get out t here in t he world and k now t hat karate can ta ke you ver y far,” Hope said. “I just hope our karate team goes away k now ing t hat even t hough i f we don’t w in, t hat we did great and t hat we tr ied our hardest and t hat’s a l l t hat matters.”

Since start ing karate, Hope has seen a big change in her l i fe. Her four-hour long karate pract ices have great ly af fected her persona l relat ionships.

“I barely have t ime now to hang out w it h f r iends because I’m eit her at karate and helping someone. For example, (on Oct. 24 I was at) a Wigs 4 K ids at a loca l ma l l. I’m performing for t hem,” Hope said.

“It’s just k ind of a f fected me in a way where I just, I’m a lways t here. I’m just t here a lot, I t hink too much, it ’s l ike my second home.”

A lso a member of Demo and a second-degree black belt, freshman Sam Boggia acquired many per-sonal qualities from karate besides just self defense.

“I’ve learned discipl ine and self-control … (and) to be a better person t hrough karate,” Boggia said. “It has helped develop my character and (showed me) how to help out your communit y, so it has helped my whole l i fe out.”

Boggia tr ied ot her sports but t hey didn’t cl ick. Since karate is prominent in t he Boggia household, she joined in second grade.

Boggia’s mom, Debbie Boggia, has noticed a pos-it ive ef fect f rom Sam’s karate experience.

“It has been benef icia l, it has been a good ex-perience for a l l of us,” Debbie said. “I feel t hat Sa-mant ha has learned self defense and it has rea l ly boosted her self-esteem and made her a better person.”

Hope found t hat karate introduced her to many t hings, even modeling. She bel ieves t hat karate helps people expand t heir boundaries, and t hat her AGT experience w i l l f urt her help express her love for t he sport.

“I feel l ike w it h karate you can just help people, it ’s not only for yourself,” Hope said. “It’s spread-ing (to) people t hat you can be conf ident and you can be strong too. You don’t have to a lways hide in t he shadows.”

By Erin Kaled & Asia SimmonsI N T E R N S

It ’s not sai l ing coach Dan Nikesch’s f irst rodeo, or regatta in sai l ing terms. Nikesch has been competit ively sai l ing for 30 years, including keelboat rac-ing in col lege.

“I started racing in the junior program at Crescent Sail Yacht Club in high school for Grosse Pointe North and then for Western Michigan,” Nikesch said via email.

He’s now the head coach of the varsity sailing team. The sport’s original season occurs in the spring, but Nikesch introduced a fall preseason.

“It’s technically only in the spring, but our coach decided to have a mini fall sea-son,” sophomore Ellie Frame said. “It’s not considered a sport at the school (during the fall), it’s only considered a club.”

Frame enjoys the people she met on the team and the close relationships she’s made.

“All the people that you meet throughout the years kind of stick with you,” Frame said.

The conditioning season will come to a close after they compete in the Shepherd Championship regatta in Chicago Nov. 14-15.

Last spring, they were on track to qualify for the Midwest Championships. Nikesch associates this to the team’s ability to overcome difficulties during a bad race and their abilities to handle the boat in extreme weather conditions.

“The team is resilient,” he said. “A lot of sailing can be in your head. The ability to bounce back after a bad race in a series of several is important.”

However, according to Nikesch, the team still has room for improvement.“Light-air boat handling in my opinion is the most difficult and perishable skill

to learn,” Nikesch said.Sophomore Sydney Semack joined the sailing team last year and says it’s one of

the best decisions she’s made at school so far. Her favorite part about sailing is get-ting along with everyone and beating South.

“My dad and grandpa all sail and have boats, so I’ve been around the environ-ment my entire life,” Semack said. “I sail a lot on my dad’s boat and family friend’s boat, usually in the spring and summer.”

Semack sees herself continuing to sail in the future. But with only 10 members, sailing is not a popular sport at North.

Once a week, members on the team work mainly on drills and run practice races against each other, but the routine varies depending on the day’s weather.

The team competed in three regattas Oct. 24, two of which were state champi-onships for different boat models. In one boat, race with a partner, the other is singlehanded. The team came in sixth place out of 11 schools in the double-handed championships.

“We race against schools like Detroit Country Day, Grosse Pointe South and Liggett,” sophomore Adam Weinkauf said.

Weinkauf placed eighth out of 20 schools in the single-handed state champion-ships.

Nikesch is an avid racer. He has participated in 18 Mackinac Regattas, an annual race beginning in either Port Huron or Chicago and ending at Mackinac Island. Weinkauf hopes to follow in his footsteps.

“I want to do the Mackinac race in the future, when I’m older, so I’m definitely doing sailing for the rest of my life,” Weinkauf said.

Weinkauf began sailing because he likes being on the water and working with boats. He, along with senior Ryan Rozycki, race in a single-handed boat called a Laser.

For Nikesch, the opportunity to be a coach for his high school is a reward in it-self.

“Teaching (sailing) is the most direct and tangible way to give back to a sport I’ve enjoyed for so long,” Nikesh said.

SAILING TEAM BEGINS FALL PRE-SEASON

ELLIE FRAMEELLIE FRAME

auditions for

ELLIE FRAME

PKSA KARATE YOUTUBEFreshman Sam Boggia performs a move as a part of a group showcase.

SHAUN FOLK SHAUN FOLK SHAUN FOLKHOUR DETROITInstructor Lisa Chomicz strikes a pose that is a foundation of PKSA Karate’s art.

Instructor Alyssa Folkwie spars and does a hook kick.

Boggia and freshman Hope Miller at a Wigs 4 Kids gala on Sept. 12.

Instructor Owen Hall does a middle knife hand pose.

SPORTS

Sophomore Ellie Frame and her sailing partner sophomore Lindsey Ramsdell lean off their boat.

Frame and Ramsdell take a rest on their boat.

“One thing that makes sailing unique is that it’s a coed sport,” coach Dan Nikesch said.

Although sailing is a spring sport, the sailing team is participating in a fall pre-season

POPPING THE BUBBLE

12 – Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 – North Pointe

IDEAS

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

By Jen Kusch & Yena BerhaneMANAGING EDITOR & WEB MANAGING EDITOR

“Vegan” and “soul food” may sound like an unlikely pair, but Detroit’s new-est vegan joint makes them a winning combination. Detroit Vegan Soul (DVS) is located in the Indian Village neigh. in Detroit, and this quirky spot feels at home in the revitalized district. Sporting a view of a larger-than-life flower mural across the street and own eclectic interior, DVS has a youthful atmosphere perfect for seasoned vegans and carnivores alike.

Detroit Vegan Soul has created a lot of buzz in the metro area, and for good reason. It offers a tasty alternative to dishes with processed meat, which the World Health Organization recently linked to cancer. DVS’s produce is locally sourced, GMO-free and 100 percent plant-based. DVS’s menu offers a range of options for those with dietary restrictions, making vegan options available for people who are gluten-free and soy-free. It also offers a range of smoothies and teas, making their storefront the perfect stop for a light snack or study session.

Its menu is well rounded and will leave even the staunchest of meat lovers ask-ing for more. DVS takes classic recipes and gives them a vegan twist but does so without sacrificing flavor. The DVS burger contains a house-made veggie millet patty that is flavorful and moist and is a crowd pleaser with add-ons such as avo-cado, vegan cheese and coconut bacon. Their signature soul platter takes tradi-tional soul food, mac n’ cheese, tenderly smoked collards, maple-glazed yams, black-eyed peas and cornbread muffins and makes it all completely vegan and healthy while keeping intact the flavor of these dishes. DVS offers a wide range of appetizers and entrees and has kid-friendly options for any little ones.

DVS’s prices are steeper than some of its serving sizes may suggest. However, the food’s healthy benefits and clean origin have most of its patrons paying what-ever it takes to eat well.

When you are done with your entree, ask the wait staff about the restaurant’s offerings of desserts. They change daily and range from berry cobbler to chocolate cake. Their desserts are rich and will leave you asking what they are using to make their dairy-free dishes so tasty.

While the surrounding area is becoming revitalized, the roads surrounding the Indian Village can be difficult to drive through. About a 15 minute drive from Grosse Pointe, the location can be tricky to reach without a car. After you arrive at DVS, parking can be hit or miss. Front parallel parking is available, but it is usually occupied because of the area’s local shops and restaurants. The restaurant pro-vides parking in a back lot behind the storefront, however, and usually has plenty of openings for patrons.

The wait staff is attentive and efficient. Whether you are dropping in for a quick carry-out dinner or have plenty of time on your hands, the DVS staff will not waste your time. It is a small restaurant, and it can accommodate groups of up to six only. For parties larger than six, you are required to call ahead. The last dine-in guest is seated at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Overall, DVS makes vegan easy, and it’s home-cooking flavor is a sure winner for anyone interested in trying their offerings. Shirts are also sold on the website for $16 for a green shirt and $18 for a natural color. DVS is open Wednesday-Satur-day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

By Cate TroostINTERN

Downtown Detroit provides an artful cultural excursion. When looking for nutri-tious vegan meal, Seva is the answer.

Seva specializes in authentic vegan cuisine. It’s menu ranges from superb vegan hot dogs to mouth-watering sausage hash. It’s hard to even notice that the meals are meatless.

Open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays and 12-9 p.m. on Sundays, Seva is perfect for a weekend getaway from the usual diet.

The urban experience one gets from a trip into the city makes Seva unforgettable. This hidden gem is located at 66 East Forest Ave., directly across from the Detroit Medical Center and next to the Center for Creative Studies. It fits perfectly into a neighborhood full of art and liveliness.

The restaurant mixes a variety of cultures into its food, crafting a world-wide ex-perience for your taste buds. It also provides juice and espresso bars, which are per-fect for any time of day. Picky eaters need not fear, Seva will accommodate a variety of preferences. Even people who aren’t vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free can find reli-able favorites like nachos and mac n cheese.

Seva takes classic foods and puts its own twist on it, and makes you feel a little less guilty about indulging. Their sodas are to die for. Made from raw sugarcane, these sweet treats come in a wide variety of flavors, including lemongrass and pomegran-ate. There’s no telling what concoction they will come up with next.

It can be challenging to choose from so many options. Be sure to talk to the friend-ly staff, as they have tried everything on the menu and can suggest the best dishes for you.

Seva provides conveniences such as hosting parties and free parking.Another positive that Seva offers is outdoor seating. This option is wonderful for

those who wish to fully absorb the neighborhood, and this restaurant’s service and location collide to form an experience that keeps customers coming back.

WWW.DETROITNEWS.COM

WWW.SEVARESTAURANT.COMCOREDETROIT.COM

INDULGY.COM

LEFT: Owners of Detroit Vegan Soul Kristen Ussery and Erika Boyd pose in their kitchen.

ABOVE: Mural outside of Detroit Vegan Soul

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