Vol. XLVI Issue 1Elk Grove High School September 14500 W. Elk Grove Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

The GuardianDid you know that the new varsity football coach Larry Calhoun used to be in a garage band? Learn more!

See Page 4

Features:

When ELL teacher Megan Conlon walked into her classroom late last month for the first time since June, there was only one thought on her mind: “Wow.”

“I was really impressed by the bright lights, the bright paint colors, the ceilings and the windows, and my immediate re-action was ‘Wow this feels like a college classroom,’” Conlon said. “I was really impressed.”

What Conlon was impressed with is known as the biggest renovation project that has happened in the history of Elk Grove and in the whole district.

As a part of an $18 million Federal Aviation Administration Sound Abate-ment grant, Pepper Construction and District 214 staff worked under hot con-ditions and a tight deadline this summer to replace 75 percent of the roof, install a new, more efficient heating and cooling system and install new windows to pro-vide a better instructional environment for students and class.

The ambitious summer construction project also included new flooring, ceil-ings and paint for over eighty classrooms and instructional spaces. Additionally,

the gymnasium now has new air con-ditioning and money from the district called Facility Improvement Project (FIP) funds were used to deliver a new main hallway/commons with additional meeting space, new walls, display cases and flooring in the major artery of the building.

“As far as the construction went, there weren’t a lot of hiccups,” Associ-ate Principal of Operations Kyle Burritt said. “You’ll still see gentlemen around working, and you may see a guy with a hard hat or two finishing up windows, or if you walk down the main hallway you’ll see someone there putting on the pin lettering. It is real simple things like that. But one of the biggest issues we’re dealing with right now is the air condi-tioning.”

According to Burritt, while it may be 60 degrees and the air is on and running in one room, in the next room over the air is not on and it is hot and humid, is because the cooling and heating system is not fully controlled yet.

“It’s all electronically controlled and it runs through a computer system that we don’t have a control of quite yet,” Burritt said. “So it’s trying to balance all that and it has taken longer than anyone

has expected.” Along with Burritt, Conlon feels all

new changes just take some time getting used to.

“I think that everyone is working together to get that under control, and I just think that with anything new it re-quires some time and some patience to get it straightened out,” Conlon said.

However, a change that students are not particularly fond of is the gray color scheme, citing that the new main hallway is lacking the school’s green and gold. Freshman Neeca Penaflor even likens it to a hospital.

“It doesn’t look inviting to a student, and it just doesn’t look very nice in my eyes,” Penaflor said.

To counter, Burritt said that it was done for a reason.

“Green and gold is a color scheme that doesn’t quite work for flooring, for ceilings,” Burritt said. “Our school col-ors are our school colors when you walk down the hallway today you see every-one wearing green and gold and that’s where the color comes from. You don’t want the color to come from the floor because then it’s obnoxious and then it’s too much.

Elk Grove undergoes $20 million makeover Lunch standards rise, meals now healthier

Continued on Page 2

As students wait in line to get their meal, many of them just know that they’re hungry. They don’t pause to think about the nutri-tional value of their chicken pattie or mashed potato bowl. This school year, District 214 is implementing the National Lunch Program and the USDA’s new nutrition standards.

“The students must take a minimum of a half cup of vegetables or fruit and a maxi-mum of two cups,” Kathy Benn, food service manager, said.

These new regulations are to ensure that cafeteria meals will continue to be well-bal-anced. In the past, students getting a school lunch could choose if they wanted fruits and vegetables. Now students are required to take either both or one of these sides.

Benn says that the goal of this program is to help fight childhood obesity by imple-menting more fruit, vegetables and whole grain.

Over the years, the lunch staff has tried to make school lunch options healthier and less caloric in more ways than one.

For example, when planning meals, the lunch staff has reduced the amount of breads students eat during the week from 15 bread-based meals to 10. This includes Basco sticks and the bread found on popcorn chicken.

Ellie PapadakisEditor in Chief

Julianne MicoletaEditor in Chief

Visit In-Depth to learn about how spoiled American kids really are and how deprived most of the world’s kids are.

In-Depth:Sisters Megha Patel and Neha Patel talk about be-ing partnered together in tennis.

Sports:

Starbucks soon open for business in Elk Grove

Continued on Page 3

Kaylinn EsparzaNews/Features Editor

Starbucks has gone above and beyond just coffee - it has become a ritual for many students and staff members.

Senior Anna Dowd goes to Starbucks at least three or four times a week. She enjoys going there to study and savor her favorite drink- caramel frappucino.

Luckily for Dowd, a new Starbucks will be opening in mid to late September in the Village Crossing Shopping Center on Biester-field and Arlington Heights Road.

This new location is taking the place of Boston Market on Biesterfield road right across from Jersey Mike’s.

Elk Grove has two Starbucks locations,which are both convenient but lack some options that students would like.

“I feel like in EG it’s going to be good for consumers. This one will have a variety of options. It has more options that other Star-bucks don’t have,” senior Anna Dowd said.

Continued on Page 3

MAKEOVER: Construction workers toil in rebuilding the school over the summer. They worked on getting the school air conditioned, putting new windows and carpet. The lunchroom and foyer were also remodeled. By the time school began, the school was ready. The school underwent a total of $20 million in renovations.

See Page 6 & 7 See Page 11Check out our website at: www.eghsguardian.com

Photo by Brad Kahler

NEWS2 september 14, 2012

In 2009, the class of 2013 came in with lowest Explore scores on record. Last April, they took the ACT, and came out as the most skillful class Elk Grove has ever had.

“The district has three goals for all the schools and the students,” Associate Prin-cipal of Instruction Glenn Simon said. “The goals have to do with grades, classes and Advanced Placement (AP) enrollment, and scores. The one that has to do with EPAS scores, Explore, Plan and ACT, dis-trict wide, the growth has been enormous. At Elk Grove, there has been extraordi-nary success.”

Last year’s juniors proved just this by producing a 6.5 point composite score in-crease from the Explore test to the ACT.

To compare to the class of 2003 whose kids grew an average of only 4.9 points, over the course of 10 years there has been a 33 percent increase with each class in re-

cent years regularly scoring in the mid 6’s.“What this means is that kids are be-

coming more and more skillful over their time at Elk Grove High School,” Simon said. “Regardless of whether they [stu-dents] come in at a 13 or a 25, kids are getting more out of their experience here at Elk Grove than they ever have before.”

Simon says that the ultimate goal is for kids to become college and career ready, which are measured by the ACT, that in conjugation with the grades and in conju-gation with kids taking the most rigorous curriculum available to them.

“Those three things really tell a story about how much a kid is able to grow while they’re here,” Simon said. “And we believe that every student entering Elk Grove high school has the potential for sig-nificant growth.”

Simon cites that the most significant factor in this growth is the willingness of teachers to incorporate skills into their cur-riculum.

“Those skills we define by college readiness standards, those are the skills tested by the ACT, so for nearly everything that you’re doing in your core courses, your teachers knows what that has to do with the ACT.”

The math portion on the test, for ex-ample, experienced the highest growth. The class of 2013 grew 7.8 points in math, marking the highest growth in math that Elk Grove has been seen.

“Four years ago, we started rewriting the curriculum to be more student cen-tered and we started putting in place a lot more measures along the way, like the benchmark tests, to help to ensure that stu-dents are learning and maintaining what we’re teaching them,” Matt/Science Divi-sion Head Chris Rugg said.

However, ACT is not the only scores that improved, with AP scores setting new records as well.

“Last year, we had 1,296 AP course completions, which is the most we’ve ever

had,” Simon said. “And last year, we gave 1,067 AP tests, which is the most we’ve ever given. There was also a 67.7 percent success rate meaning 67.7 percent of those tests had a three or higher.”

According to Simon, this is the best rate Elk Grove has had since 2008. In ad-dition, the school has also tripled the num-ber of kids taking AP courses, and they are doing better.

A big factor in this success are the teacher who push the students to excel.

For example, AP Psychology teacher Jeff Norby had an 81 percent success rate, meaning a score of 3 or higher, and ac-cording to senior Katie DeMeulenaere this was no surprise.

“Mr. Norby is awesome,” DeMeulen-aere said. “He gives a lot of work that can take a while, but it’s only because he cares and wants his students to succeed and with his help it’s hard not to.

AP, ACT scores on the rise, students more ‘skillful’ Julianne MicoletaEditor in Chief

They have also swapped out the regular white bagels for healthier whole wheat bagels instead.

Senior Sara Schubring doesn’t think the new federal regulations will work, partly because of the condition of the vegetables and fruit that are served to students. She said that a lot of students complain that the food isn’t ripe and therefore don’t purchase the sides.

“Last Thursday, my sister was complaining that her

cucumber slices were soggy and warm. Maybe if they got better conditions to keep the fruit in, it would seem more appealing,” she said.

Benn said that the fruits and vegetables are fresh and that they are prepared daily for the students. That said, if students do have a problem with their sides, they should not hesitate to talk to the lunch staff.

Senior Tulsi Patel buys lunch almost every day and agrees with Schubring.

“If they require us to take more than one side of fruit,

and the fruit or vegetable is not even good, then there’s no point in us taking it because if it doesn’t look good we’re not going to eat it,” she said. “It’s just going to go to waste.”

The healthy side options are included in the $2.75 meal cost. If students refuse the sides, the food service staff would have to charge the students meal as an a la carte, which would be more expensive.

“Healthy choices are what we want to offer the stu-dents,” Benn said.

What is the no fly zone? “There are no passes given the first 10 minutes of class and the last 10 minutes. There’s 50

minutes in each class. If you have to go somewhere, go in the middle 30. Essentially, we want kids to get to class on time. Essentially, what will end up happening is there will be kids hang-ing outside their class and then they get to their class and the bell rings and they have to go to the bathroom, well what was going on the whole passing period? The first 10 minutes class is getting started and teachers are wrapping up. Also, we don’t want people missing out on that important education.”

What is your opinion about the new rules? “We want the to get the best education possible. Being prepared is a big part of it. Not

missing class being in class. Being more respectful to the teachers if you’re late, that’s disre-spectful to the teachers.”

What are the new rules? “The Electronic Policy , Attendance Policy , passes in the assignment notebook.”What helped influence the new rules? “It became hard to distinguish between a student listening to music on their iPod or phone.

Students were abusing the bathroom passes, so having them in the assignment notebook you can only use the bathroom about three times a week in class.”

Continued from page 1

Fruit, vegetables required parts of lunches, students resist change

Q & A with Dean Dzien about new policies

Information gathered by Elizabeth Branske

NEWS 3September 14, 2012

The story of “Alice in Wonderland” is that of en-chantment, magic and wonder. It’s rather old, and over the centuries it has been rewritten and re-interpreted dif-ferently to adults and children alike.

Elk Grove High School is carrying on the tradition. Its take on “Alice in Wonderland” is different from all of the other interpretations throughout history, yet all the while it still remains magical and enticing.

“Alice in Wonderland,” originally titled “Alice’s Ad-ventures Underground,” was a storybook written by Eng-lish author Lewis Carroll in 1864. A later sequel was writ-ten by him as well in 1871, titled “Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There”. Almost a century later, in 1951, Disney created the animated movie “Alice and Wonderland” based on the original stories themselves.

In 2012, Elk Grove High School will perform a play written by Charlotte Chorpenning based off of all these components, also titled “Alice and Wonderland.” Howev-er, this particular version takes a sharp turn from the usual English interpretation.

This year’s fall play is “Alice in Wonderland,” and it takes place during the Psychedelic ‘60s. The story itself is already trippy enough. Adding emphasis will truly give the play a better appeal to students.

“The different elements in this play gives everyone a chance to work off the different characters, therefore it makes it more watchable,” said sophomore Pascal Pahl, who plays the Caterpillar.

Not only will there be actors and actresses, but danc-ers will also be featured in the play. Choreographers in-clude sophomore Sonja Schultz and junior Codi Oehlerk-ing. A choir, too, will be included.

Showing dates are Oct. 3, 4, 5 and 6 with an admis-sion fee of $6 for adults and $5 for children and students for each ticket. You may purchase tickets during your lunch period or at the door.

Speaking of the Psychedelic ‘60s, a very special treat that will appeal to almost every student will be included-- Beatles music!

Speech coach and play director Chuck Cavazos says that the Beatles mesh in perfectly with the play itself. The songs used, though, will remain confidential, he says.

The cast has all been working very hard. Expecting a big crowd, the whole crew has been going all out. Pahl has high hopes for a large audience.

“I highly recommend students should see this play be-cause it’s not only ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ it has a special twist,” he said. “They’ll find out once they see it.”

Elk Grove uses $20 million in grants for renovations

Not to latté to get some mocha:New Starbucks openingContinued from page 1

For instance, this new Starbucks will have a drive-thru. Dowd says this will allow for more customers and faster service for students and teachers who need to get back to class in time. It is also a quicker option for students who need a pick-me-up or a snack.

“Since Starbucks are open later it gives people something to do late at night and just a place to hangout,” Dowd said.

One location is inside of Dominick’s on the corner of Arlington Heights Road and Bi-esterfield, but it is more of a treat for shoppers. The second location is on Busse Road, but for many students and faculty it is too far away to get coffee.

“I think it is and it isn’t [advantageous]. It is for those who come to school and go out to lunch that way but it isn’t because there’s two others still nearby that other people regularly go to,” said freshman Lia Demopoulos.

Plenty of jobs are available-- especially for the student body.

Although junior Vanessa Gomez is not a coffee lover, she is excited for the new job op-portunities that have now opened up.

The news of a new Starbucks has not

reached every student at Elk Grove, but the people who have heard about it are quickly spreading the news.

“I didn’t even know about it or noticed it until my friend told me about it,” Gomez said

Starbucks enthusiasts are already excited to get quality coffee that they love and trust. Se-nior Brent Wolff is especially excited for win-ter when his favorite drink “Caramel Brûleé” comes in.

“I’m excited and hope it comes soon be-cause I need caffeine,” Wolff said. “I think it’ll just make it easy for kids to get coffee. It’s more convenient for everyone [who loves coffee].”

On the other hand, some people do not find the idea of a new Starbucks very appeal-ing. Not everyone loves coffee and would rath-er see some other food chain be placed there instead.

“I think since there is one right next to it, its a waste and something else can be put in there. [I would like to see] a Panda Express there; the closest one is too far away,” sopho-more Michael Babiarz said.

Elk Grove in Wonderland New twist to ‘60s classic tale, appeals to students

Continued from page 1

“So, the gray color scheme was done on pur-pose to give it a modern, sleeker, updated feel.”

Junior Emanuel Morales is with Burritt and appreciates the modern look.

“They still have the Gren logo on [the glass], and it still looks nice without the green and gold,” Morales said. “If they painted the walls green or gold then it would have looked kind of silly and childish, but everything looks modernized and big-ger. I like it.”

Another issue students seem to have is with the furniture in the foyer

“They should have kept the benches instead of the weird snake thing in the foyer,” senior Parya Majedi said. “It’s cool but it starts at the entrance of the café doors so everyone sits there and every-one runs into each other.”

However, all new changes come with its bout of opinions.

“I think that with any project there’s always criticism,” Burritt said. “Why did you pick this col-

or, why did you pick that floor pattern like this and that’s normal because there’s over 2,300 people that walk through this building every day and not everybody has the same opinion about what color this and that and that’s fine but I do think that it looks and it feels differently. I think when I walk in a classroom it does feel different and when you walk in the foyer it does feel different.”

And for teachers like Conlon, different is something that she is impressed with.

“I think the main hallway outside the cafete-ria is beautiful. I think that’s a really nice entry for everyone in the school. I think it’s a really nice wel-coming environment,” Colon said. “All together I’m overly impressed. I didn’t expect such a big change. I knew we’d get the windows changed and there was soundproofing, and sure there were e-mails going out telling us probably exactly what was being done. But for me it was like I was wowed when I walked in and just whoa this affects all of us it’s not just windows, it’s not just the ceilings, it’s the entire school and it’s amazing.”

Morgan LoxleyCopy Editor

COFFEE CRAVES: Starbucks is still under construction. A drive -thru is the major addition that students are looking forward to. Cof-fee will now be more accessible.

HALLWAY FACELIFT: The new hallway underwent major changes over the summer. These before and after pictures show a new school and environment for students.

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Photo by Kaylinn Esparza

Features4 September 14, 2012

Chick-fil-A chicken causes crazy controversyIn July, Chick-fil-A made an an-

nouncement that came as a shock to many of its customers. President of the com-pany Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company does in fact support traditional families. Meaning, he supports man-to-woman marriage versus woman to woman or man to man marriage. This simple statement causes uproar between customers.

“It’s not a shock to me at least that he said no, that he was against gay marriage,” senior Jackie Noto said. “You’re asking a guy who’s clearly religious and clearly a Christian what his beliefs are about gay marriage.”

Many gay rights activists are saying that they will never eat at a Chick-fil-A

restaurant ever again, while other people are saying that Cathy’s personal viewpoint shouldn’t affect the business of a multimil-lion dollar company. Yet, some people are

even trying to get Chick-fil-A restaurants banned in the city of Chicago.

“He doesn’t ban anyone who is gay from the restaurant. I feel like a lot of peo-ple don’t understand that and this is just

his stance on gay marriage,” Noto said. In response, former governor of Ar-

kansas Mike Huckabee organized “Na-tional Chick-fil-A day” on Aug. 1 to

support Cathy and his businesses. More than 63 thousand supporters gathered at Chick-fil-A on this day, causing many of the restaurants to actually run out of food.

However, the organization of this day

still made some enemies for Chick-fil-A. “The fact that they’re rallying all these

people and getting support despite the fact if their food is any good is very off put-ting” senior Grace Allen said, who plans on never eating at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

In the end, most students believe that a decision to eat at a specific restaurant should be about the type and quality of the food they serve, not the president’s so-cial viewpoints.

Abiding to the fact that like many other Americans, despite what one person thinks, senior Kentu Sa-Vage is going to continue eating at Chick-fil-A restaurants.

“I’m not going to let one person that works in one of their main companies sway my decision in what I decide to eat,” said Savage.

Bright pink flamingos flocked around a front yard was common sight to see throughout the summer. Although it may have appeared to be a practical joke, the flamingos were an important part to help fund for a special event.

The pink flamingos was a fun-draiser sponsored by the EGHS band called Flock-a-friend. One would pay money to have anoth-er’s yard “flocked”. The money then goes to the band.

Flock-a-friend was only one of the several ways the band is earning money to go to Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl is a college foot-ball game held in New Orleans. About 50 different high schools from across the country are invited to attend.

EGHS will be the only school from Illinois. The band will be taking a 15 hour trip down to Louisiana in Coach buses on December 29.

At Sugar Bowl, the schools that are invited are to perform together during the halftime show. Schools with their entire band in participation are also wel-comed to enter a competition there.

An event as big as Sugar Bowl obvi-ously takes a lot of funding. Every par-ticipant is asked to earn from $8 to $9

hundred to make the trip. Depending on the money made from fundraising, the cost will go down.

Other fundraisers sponsored by the band include the mattress sale. The mu-sic department will be selling mattresses. All the profit the band makes from selling mattresses will go towards Sugar Bowl.

The band students will also be pass-ing out special coupons to $50. When that coupon is used, $25 automatically goes towards the band student’s fund for Sugar Bowl.

Freshly baked cookies will also be sold at home football games by the band and they will hold a bake sale during the

annual craft show. Donations will be accepted for the band at the bake sale.

Sugar Bowl will be an exciting new experience for the band. They will be able to meet many different musi-cians from across the country all the while representing the talent of the Elk Grove music

department.“I’m personally very excited for

Sugar Bowl. I’m excited to meet other performers from across the country who play the same instrument as I do,” said senior Allison Nowak.

Flock-a-friend

Marching Grenadiers fund for Sugar Bowl

Staff ReporterCodi Oehlerking

After being “flocked” by the march-ing Grenadiers, sophomore Gretchen Schneider’s yard was covered with bright pink flamingos. A regular flocked yard would be covered by 12 flamingos for $15 while a Super-sized flock of 24 flamingos was $25.

Photo by Gretchen Schneider

10 things you didn’t know about coach calhoun

1. I was raised in Oklahoma, but I’m a Texas college football fan.2. I played college football at the University of Abilene Christian.3. I’ve been happily married for 29 years.4. Mike Singletary’s daughter is married to my son.5. I worked at IBM and Mobile for 15 years before coaching.6. I was all conference in four sports: basketball, track, football

and baseball.7. My daughter is a senior softball player at Texas A&M, and my

son played collegiate football at the University of Baylor.8. I have coached fourteen Division one athletes, and one National

Football League player, Jordan Black.9. I was senior class president of my high school.10. Once was the singer of a local garage band.

Information gathered by Patrick O’Malley

Kurt Strazdins/MCT Campus

Yumi MiyazakiCartoonist

“I’m personally very excited for Sugar Bowl. I’m excited to meet

other performers from across the country who play the same

instrument as I do.” - senior Allison Nowak

So, three children decide to chase a flock of about 20 geese through a field. Little known fact: geese, especially mothers, have a tendency to rip chunks of flesh out of any-body that dares to get close. So, 20 angry geese against three innocent children isn’t the best situation.

Where are the parents?They’re sitting on a park bench, texting

and talking to passerby, not even caring about what their little tikes are doing.

Neglecting a child is not the correct way to raise them. Children need attention. Not too much, but they need some. The child isn’t going to learn anything if the father is con-stantly playing solitaire all day or if the moth-er is always shopping with friends.

Parents are supposed to be role models to their children. Whatever the children see their parents do, they want to do it, too. For example, if a parent constantly swears in front of his/her child, the child, in-turn, may de-velop a potty mouth him/herself. This shows that a parent’s actions have a greater effect on a child than they think.

Giving in to a child’s demands is also extremely influential. If a child is whining at the grocery line for candy and the parent buys him or her a chocolate bar just to shut them up, what’s that teaching the child? It’s teaching the child that begging and whining will reward the child with treats. Soon, they’ll whine for more candy. Then for an Xbox 360. Then for a cellphone.

As upsetting and shocking as this is to know, many parents these days are allowing their children to lead childhoods heavily influ-

enced by technology.While our society is driv-

en massively by technologi-cal innovation, it shouldn’t be left up to technology to raise our children.

Parents these days have too lackadaisical of an atti-tude about technology and parenting.

Televisions have never been good babysitters, and neither have iPads.

E i g h t - y e a r - o l d s shouldn’t have iPads, or even cell phones for that matter.

When young children have unbridled and unsuper-vised access to these kinds of technologies, they are given an astounding amount of freedom to talk to who they want, access what they want and become informed about concepts that may be far too mature for them.

As an example: at the dentist one day earlier this year, a mother and her daughter (a girl who could not have been a day over the age of 8) were sitting in the waiting room.

Without asking, the girl dug through her mother’s purse and then proceeded to use mother’s cellphone— to text.

Who could an 8-year-old possibly be tex-ting?

What’s worse is that when her mother po-litely asked for her phone back, her daughter simply waved her off--and her mother didn’t do anything.

There was no punishment, no stern talk,

no anything of the sort. Lackadaisical parenting breeds technolo-

gy-dependent brats who think that they’re the cream of the crop, even though they’re actu-ally 8 and very ignorant of most things going on around them.

Hopefully, the old methods of parenting will resurface--methods based on good values, familial bonding and attentive nurturing.

Hopefully, we’re not dreaming too big.

Abby RayEntertainment Editor

Lackadaisical parenting leads to rotten kids

Alex OstrowskiPhoto Editor

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Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

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Mission Statement

The primary purpose of The Guardian is to encour-age, protect and enhance free speech and a positive exchange of ideas within Elk Grove High School and the community.

Opinions 5September 14, 2012

Hector Casanova/ Kansas City Star/ MCT

There have been a fair amount of complaints among the students about the new reno-vations. No one has actually tak-en the time to think about all the work that went into the school’s new look.

The Guardian would like to remind all the students about how lucky we are. We have books and materials, we have great teachers and we have a whole new facility with air condition-ing, bright lights and walls that aren’t chipped or cracked.

We want to say thank you to all the construction workers and

staff members who worked hard over the summer to bring us our new school. Thanks to the as-sociate Principal of Operations, Kyle Burritt and the Building and Grounds Supervisor, Paul

Morrow who were here over the summer when the school looked like a disaster zone and was 102 degrees outside.

Above all, thanks to the con-struction workers whose work al-lowed school to start on time.

Students, stop complain-

ing about the renovations and appreciate what was given to you. Many students don’t have the same luck as we do. Their schools are old, they don’t have enough lighting and in the sum-mer, they have to run inside a gym with no air conditioning.

Even before the renovations, our school was a lot better than many other schools across the nation.

We should all be thankful and treat the new construction as a gift.

Staff Editorial

CartoonistYumi Miyazaki

New graduation requirement unfair; using force may backfire

It was recently announced that joining at least one co-curric-ular activity per year is a gradua-tion requirement. It lies under the weird, slightly scary suffocation that is Elk Grove High School’s fourth goal. This fourth goal is new.

According to assistant princi-pal Valerie Norris, the first three goals are to increase students’ scores from the explore to the ACT; to increase the student suc-cess rate by five percentile points every year until they reach 95 per-cent; and to increase the number of students enrolled in at least one AP course from last year, as well as taking and passing the test.

The new, fourth goal is to promote the social and emotional

well-being of all Elk Grove High School students.

It seems a little creepy that the administration pushes stu-dents to join a club, sport or ac-tivity even though students have the right to not be able to join anything. In order for students to get into good colleges, be con-nected to the school and interact with others, the administration is pushing kids to get more involved in a co-curricular activity.

Okay, mom. Will they actually withhold a

student’s diploma if they haven’t been involved? That is to be an-nounced, Norris said.

Clarifications should be made first. One: this new policy is being applied to Elk Grove High

School only. It’s not a district-wide, formal policy. It’s only offi-cial for this school. The district is not responsible for these changes. Two: this new requirement in-volves freshman and sophomores only. It’s too late for upperclass-men.

However, there are plenty of students who have no interest in joining clubs, playing sports or participating in unnecessary activity. Perhaps they have other things planned, or maybe they just flat out don’t want to. To the poor student who just wants to move along through school and get it over with, I empathize with you.

Though I don’t exactly agree with the school’s new rule, I can

say with confidence that I com-pletely understand the logic be-hind it all. The school has done their research. A great many stud-ies have shown that students who join a school activity experience better grades, better attendance and a more positive attitude to-wards school.

For those jovial students who are already participating actively in school activities, good for you. There is nothing better for you.

To read more, go online at eghsguardian.com

Morgan LoxleyCopy Editor

Guardian staff thanks construction crew; appreciation from students strongly encouraged

In-Depth 7september 14, 20126 september 14, 2012

All the time, either at a grocery store or at a popular store in the mall, a little kid or sometimes even teenagers cry and complain because their parents refuse to buy them the hottest new toy or a box of candy right then and there.

Nowadays, kids even cry and throw temper tantrums be-cause their parents bought them the $300 cellphone instead of the $500 cellphone they initially asked for.

In Guatemala, on the other hand, the children and adults had the biggest smile on their faces over receiving a piece of gum.

This past summer during a week in July, I was given the opportunity to visit a couple different cities in Guatemala on a mission’s trip. I had no idea that this trip would leave such a strong impact on my life. My outlook on life changed entirely during this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On the first day, our mission’s team spent an entire day at a school that taught kindergarten through seniors in high school. After visiting with the younger kids, they definitely were not shy to run up to any of our team members and give us big hugs as well as a goodbye. In fact, anywhere we went, the kids were more than willing to grab our hands and drag us to whatever they wanted to show us.

I myself take French in school, so there was a strong lan-guage barrier. However, it did not matter one bit to the chil-dren if we could understand each other or not. They were just excited to have someone to play with.

Never in my life have I ever met such loving children, es-pecially towards strangers. American kids now grow up to be snobby and spoiled, making compassion a rare quality.

One of the days, we drove three hours up into the moun-tains to visit a village called Panimache. That day, we gathered all the kids in the village into a circle and played a game of hot potato. Before our eyes was one of the most incredible displays of sportsmanship.

When the music stopped and a child was stuck with the

“potato,” instead of crying and complaining that he or she was out, the child simply got up and walked out of the circle with a smile on their face. This situation happened to every single child that got out, even down to the last two kids left in the game.

All the time in America children fight over silly little things like who loses in a round of hot potato, but the chil-dren in Guatemala didn’t seem to find it important. The people of Guatemala had very little, but they knew how to appreciate every single thing that they had.

Another day, we visited a men’s rehab center. As we were pulling up, I noticed something odd. The men were raking something, but seeing as there was no grass and no leaves around, I was confused as to what they were raking. I finally figured it out. The men were straight up raking dirt.

In America, everybody obsesses over their lawn. Who has the prettiest flowers, which has the least amount of weeds, how often the grass needs to be cut. Yet, no one ever takes a moment to sit down and think about the important things in life.

The men at this rehab center were raking dirt because that was all they had. There was no grass or pretty flowers around to attend to. They had nothing to worry about except a dirt ground, yet they still tried caring for it as if it was a beautiful lawn.

There are people in this world who are starving and have nowhere to live, yet people still worry about things as super-ficial as their grass.

Coming back from this trip, I have learned to never take anything for granted. I am lucky to have food on my plate or a couch to sit on while watching a television that I am lucky to be able to afford. There are so many little things in this world that we always look past, leading us to the spoiled lives that we live.

It really is not necessary to cry over not getting what you wanted. Instead, everyone should just be satisfied with what they have.

It is common knowledge that teens live in a society where material objects are as important as family values. Ma-terialism, a tendency to hold material objects as a high priority, is a defining characteristic of this generation. Gen-erally speaking, high schoolers feel the pressures of materialism as a result of the desire to fit in or project a certain image. Elk Grove students vary in their views of materialism.

When it comes to fitting in, the logic seems to be if students look a cer-tain way, they will be accepted by peo-ple who resemble them.

Junior Shannon Chan believes the importance of material objects varies with who she is with. “If they have it, I feel out of place if I don’t.” Whether students admit it or not, having certain possessions is extremely important in some social groups.

In addition to simply fitting in, it is

very easy to judge someone based on how they appear. People who appear trendy by wearing certain designers’ clothing are perceived as having a so-cial advantage over those who do not.

Material objects are important in high school senior Jake Braceros said. “A lot of people judge you on what you are wearing.”

Freshman Taylor Matos feels the pressure of having brand name cloth-ing as well. These brands “are pretty important- it definitely shows an image of you,” she said.

One’s personality is judged before someone even talks to him or her based on the material objects that this person carries, wears and talks about. Studies from the University of California, sug-gest that it takes only 20 seconds for ini-tial judgements to be made of a person.

Someone who might appear to be overly materialistic seems to be “stuck up...and might not be the person I want to hang out with,” sophomore Brian Keegan said.

On the other hand, some students have a very different perspective of oth-ers who are overly materialistic.

“It has to do with low self-esteem.

If they care that much about little things like that, they care a lot about what other people think of them,” ju-nior Esmeralda Silva said.

Materialism is not always prob-lematic. Some students say that brand names are only important if they prom-ise quality. Brand names are most im-portant to Keegan when dealing with finding athletic wear with the highest possible quality.

Additionally, other students use the effects of materialism to their advan-tage by learning smart shopping skills. Sophomore Aleece Duffy “looks for a good price” before buying trendy items.

Too much emphasis on material-ism can drastically affect the quality of one’s life. It is commonly said that one cannot buy happiness- University of Il-linois psychology professor Ed Diener confirms this. Those who value genu-ine happiness over material possessions experience more positive moods than those who value material possession more, he said.

Extreme materialism can cause people to lose sight of what is impor-tant. Chan sees this happen.

“I think materialism has a negative

impact because people want to focus on getting certain objects. They don’t care about having fun.”

Clearly, there are many negative ef-fects of materialism.

So do Elk Grove students have to worry about the problems associated with materialism? There is a lack of agreement among students.

Silva believes that teens do indeed have a problem. Materialism breads competition among students; everyone wants to compete to have the best pos-sessions.

Matos sees things differently, claim-ing that there is not more emphasis on brand names in Elk Grove in compari-son to other places.

The long-term effects of mate-rialism can be damaging to students’ emotional well-being. Those who use material objects to create an image for themselves may end up facing some of these negative consequences. However, if students continue to correctly priori-tize material objects, it is safe to say that they will lead a fulfilling life no matter what they own.

It is not rare to find a spoiled child in today’s society. The screams of ‘I want’ and ‘give me’ fill the air and tem-per tantrums are a common sight to see. These children believe the world revolves around them-- what they want, they get.

How the child creates such a thought process and builds such a character goes back to the original debate of psychology: nature vs. nurture.

“Some common characteristics of spoiled children are self-centeredness,the belief that everything revolves around them, and the lack of motivation and patience. They’re unable to focus on one thing besides them-selves,” said school psychologist Sean Mulcrone.

Nature delves into genetic and other factors of the natural world that one cannot control. Genetic disposi-tion enhances their chances of forming characteristics of a spoiled child.

For example: let’s say a study shows that a person with dominant gene A is more likely to have a strong sense of ego. Strong ego leads to strong pride and self centeredness.

Nurture dictates that environmental factors lead to forming the character and thought process of a spoiled child.

With society feeding the needs of a spoiled child, another item to observe is parenting style. Parents are obviously at the core of a child’s thought processing. Par-enting molds a person.

Clearly being a parent is very difficult. A simple action that a parent takes for what he or she believes to be for the sake for the child could potentially affect the child in a drastic matter. But the objective of all parents is this: they want their children to be happy. How they go about doing it is a different matter.

Take a look at these examples: Teen A’s 16th birthday is coming up and he or she wants a car. Parents A and B

buy it for him or her. Teen A is out recklessly driving one night and runs it into a tree. Parents A and B fix the car for Teen A. The car needs new tires, brakes, etc. Parents A and B fix everything for Teen A when he or she asks.

Versus: Teen B’s 16th birthday is also coming up and he or she also wants a car. However Parents C and D in-stead of just buying it for him or her decides upon a condi-tion. Teen B must be passing all of his or her classes with a B or higher by the time of his or her 16th birthday. Teen B studies hard and manages the grades. Teen B receives the car. Teen B also recklessly drives and runs into a tree. Parents C and D pay for the expenses up front but Teen B is made to pay it back by finding a job.

The difference between parenting styles of Parents

A,B and C,D is motivation. Teen A is unmotivated to do much, whatever he or she needs or wants Parents A and B provide. Teen A does not have to do anything-- he or she just keeps asking for what they need and want. Teen

A forms a mindset of ‘what I need I get, everyone works for my needs’.

Teen B on the other hand, although provided what he or she wants, must work for it. Parents C,D mold Teen B in such a way that he or she is moti-vated to work for his or her wants and needs. Teen B forms a mind set of ‘I must work for what I want and there is value to the work I do’.

ReinforcementAnother example is reinforcement. In psychol-

ogy, reinforcement does not always mean a good thing. Reinforcement is used as a general term of what one receives after performing an action. There is both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive does not stand for good but rather addition and negative does not stand for bad but for subtraction.

Example: Child A is at the store and he cries for Parent A to buy him or her candy. Parent A buys Child A candy.

By buying the candy Parent A is positively re-inforcing Child A’s behavior. Child A learns that if

he or she throws a tantrum for what he or she wants, he or she will receive it. Parent A buys into Child A’s demands which reinforces the Child A’s self-centered thinking pro-cess.

Although these are simple examples, the reality is that how people are raised, some natural factors and the values that they believe in determine whether they are selfish or not. It’s not something one can control. However that does not mean it is something one cannot change. Given the opportunity, change is inevitable.

Exploring inner minds of spoiled children

Mission trip leads to different outlook on life

Cartoon by Yumi Miyazaki

In her New Yorker piece on American children, Eliza-beth Kolbert points out that “With the exception of the imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary France, contemporary American kids may represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world.”

Whether or not Kolbert is correct, it has instigated a debate on whether or not American children are spoiled rotten.

According to Kolbert, the pressure of perfect parent-ing is creating a generation of lazy and entitled kids.

However, according to sociology teacher Joe Bush, parenting is not the only factor in the perception of today’s youth in America.

“I think technology has a lot to do with it as well,” Bush said. “Like for example, when I was in high school it was like if you had a phone you were awesome, and now if you have phone it’s about like how many apps you have and how many texts you can send a month. It’s sort of a status symbol.”

Furthermore, Bush thinks that technology is also changing the family unit.

“I think technology makes things more challenging

because every person in a family is always connected like I get 35 or 40 emails a day and if I’m checking those at 8 at night, I’m not paying attention to my son,” Bush said. “So if I want to fill his time so he doesn’t bother me, I have to give him things.”

Bush then adds that this becomes a cycle of trying to replace time with possessions.

And children, according to “Life at Home,” are dis-proportionate generators of possessions: “Each new child in a household leads to a 30 percent increase in a family’s inventory of possessions during the preschool years alone.”

Bush even thinks that there is a distinct marketing ploy towards younger children.

“When I was a kid and was watching cartoon there were cereal commercials,” Bush said. “Now, there’s spe-cific things, like my son walks around saying ‘I wanna go to abcmouse.com,’ and he doesn’t even know what that means but there’s this commercial and he sees this smiling kid on a computer on abcmouse.com”

With these factors combined, kids these days seem to be growing up to be too dependent on others, especially their parents, to do everything for them.

Junior Peyton Wolff agrees.“So many kids take what we have for granted and just

think that they are meant to have them,” Wolff said. “I just think that parents spoil their kids with things that they

don’t deserve.”Sally Koslow, author of “Slouching Toward Adult-

hood,” wrote that she found herself in a similar situation when her son Jed moved back home after four years of college. Unemployed, Jed liked to stay out late, sleep until noon and wander around in his pajamas.

In the book, Koslow set out to try to understand why he and so many of his peers seemed stuck in what she coined as permanent “adultescence.”

To reiterate, Bush sees this type of mentality during his consumers education unit in Sociology.

“It’s amazing to see how kids don’t realize how they’re not going to make 100 grand right out of high school, and that making 20 grand and 30 grand goes pretty quickly,” Bush said. “You can’t have your expensive car and big house and all these toys to play with without that sort of money.”

However, Bush has concluded that the current state of the economy is also to blame.

For senior Nellie Sampang, the economy, along with her parents’ lessons about hard work is enough motivation for her to work for what she wants.

“I work for the things that I have because my parents make me,” Sampang said. “They teach me these values be-cause they have to work hard every second of their lives.”

Spoiled rotten: Teens perceived as lazy, dependent

Freshman Junior

SeniorAnthony FrigoTommy Modric

h

Jenna Clary

Yasuhiro Omura

“You know you’re spoiled when....”

Sophomore

“When you’re complaining about not having Internet at your giant lake house. The good news is I found

Internet!”

“When you’re disappointed you can’t get

change for a $20.”

“When you want a third laptop right after you got a second one.”

“When your mom makes you a five-

course meal, and she eats a sandwich.”

Julianne MicoletaEditor in Chief

Marki KaimStaff Reporter

Katarina WeberStaff Reporter

Codi OehlerkingStaff Reporter

Debate raised over whether or not American children are spoiled

‘Living in a material world’: Possessions matter to some, not to others

Yumi MiyazakiCartoonist

Photo by Codi Oehlerking

FREE HUGS: Junior Codi Oehlerking spent a life-changing week in Guatemala volunteering with her church, The Living Hope.

PRETTY PLEASE: The “magic word” no longer present in 21st century etiquette.

Information gathered by Arman Rahman

In-Depth 7september 14, 20126 september 14, 2012

All the time, either at a grocery store or at a popular store in the mall, a little kid or sometimes even teenagers cry and complain because their parents refuse to buy them the hottest new toy or a box of candy right then and there.

Nowadays, kids even cry and throw temper tantrums be-cause their parents bought them the $300 cellphone instead of the $500 cellphone they initially asked for.

In Guatemala, on the other hand, the children and adults had the biggest smile on their faces over receiving a piece of gum.

This past summer during a week in July, I was given the opportunity to visit a couple different cities in Guatemala on a mission’s trip. I had no idea that this trip would leave such a strong impact on my life. My outlook on life changed entirely during this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On the first day, our mission’s team spent an entire day at a school that taught kindergarten through seniors in high school. After visiting with the younger kids, they definitely were not shy to run up to any of our team members and give us big hugs as well as a goodbye. In fact, anywhere we went, the kids were more than willing to grab our hands and drag us to whatever they wanted to show us.

I myself take French in school, so there was a strong lan-guage barrier. However, it did not matter one bit to the chil-dren if we could understand each other or not. They were just excited to have someone to play with.

Never in my life have I ever met such loving children, es-pecially towards strangers. American kids now grow up to be snobby and spoiled, making compassion a rare quality.

One of the days, we drove three hours up into the moun-tains to visit a village called Panimache. That day, we gathered all the kids in the village into a circle and played a game of hot potato. Before our eyes was one of the most incredible displays of sportsmanship.

When the music stopped and a child was stuck with the

“potato,” instead of crying and complaining that he or she was out, the child simply got up and walked out of the circle with a smile on their face. This situation happened to every single child that got out, even down to the last two kids left in the game.

All the time in America children fight over silly little things like who loses in a round of hot potato, but the chil-dren in Guatemala didn’t seem to find it important. The people of Guatemala had very little, but they knew how to appreciate every single thing that they had.

Another day, we visited a men’s rehab center. As we were pulling up, I noticed something odd. The men were raking something, but seeing as there was no grass and no leaves around, I was confused as to what they were raking. I finally figured it out. The men were straight up raking dirt.

In America, everybody obsesses over their lawn. Who has the prettiest flowers, which has the least amount of weeds, how often the grass needs to be cut. Yet, no one ever takes a moment to sit down and think about the important things in life.

The men at this rehab center were raking dirt because that was all they had. There was no grass or pretty flowers around to attend to. They had nothing to worry about except a dirt ground, yet they still tried caring for it as if it was a beautiful lawn.

There are people in this world who are starving and have nowhere to live, yet people still worry about things as super-ficial as their grass.

Coming back from this trip, I have learned to never take anything for granted. I am lucky to have food on my plate or a couch to sit on while watching a television that I am lucky to be able to afford. There are so many little things in this world that we always look past, leading us to the spoiled lives that we live.

It really is not necessary to cry over not getting what you wanted. Instead, everyone should just be satisfied with what they have.

It is common knowledge that teens live in a society where material objects are as important as family values. Ma-terialism, a tendency to hold material objects as a high priority, is a defining characteristic of this generation. Gen-erally speaking, high schoolers feel the pressures of materialism as a result of the desire to fit in or project a certain image. Elk Grove students vary in their views of materialism.

When it comes to fitting in, the logic seems to be if students look a cer-tain way, they will be accepted by peo-ple who resemble them.

Junior Shannon Chan believes the importance of material objects varies with who she is with. “If they have it, I feel out of place if I don’t.” Whether students admit it or not, having certain possessions is extremely important in some social groups.

In addition to simply fitting in, it is

very easy to judge someone based on how they appear. People who appear trendy by wearing certain designers’ clothing are perceived as having a so-cial advantage over those who do not.

Material objects are important in high school senior Jake Braceros said. “A lot of people judge you on what you are wearing.”

Freshman Taylor Matos feels the pressure of having brand name cloth-ing as well. These brands “are pretty important- it definitely shows an image of you,” she said.

One’s personality is judged before someone even talks to him or her based on the material objects that this person carries, wears and talks about. Studies from the University of California, sug-gest that it takes only 20 seconds for ini-tial judgements to be made of a person.

Someone who might appear to be overly materialistic seems to be “stuck up...and might not be the person I want to hang out with,” sophomore Brian Keegan said.

On the other hand, some students have a very different perspective of oth-ers who are overly materialistic.

“It has to do with low self-esteem.

If they care that much about little things like that, they care a lot about what other people think of them,” ju-nior Esmeralda Silva said.

Materialism is not always prob-lematic. Some students say that brand names are only important if they prom-ise quality. Brand names are most im-portant to Keegan when dealing with finding athletic wear with the highest possible quality.

Additionally, other students use the effects of materialism to their advan-tage by learning smart shopping skills. Sophomore Aleece Duffy “looks for a good price” before buying trendy items.

Too much emphasis on material-ism can drastically affect the quality of one’s life. It is commonly said that one cannot buy happiness- University of Il-linois psychology professor Ed Diener confirms this. Those who value genu-ine happiness over material possessions experience more positive moods than those who value material possession more, he said.

Extreme materialism can cause people to lose sight of what is impor-tant. Chan sees this happen.

“I think materialism has a negative

impact because people want to focus on getting certain objects. They don’t care about having fun.”

Clearly, there are many negative ef-fects of materialism.

So do Elk Grove students have to worry about the problems associated with materialism? There is a lack of agreement among students.

Silva believes that teens do indeed have a problem. Materialism breads competition among students; everyone wants to compete to have the best pos-sessions.

Matos sees things differently, claim-ing that there is not more emphasis on brand names in Elk Grove in compari-son to other places.

The long-term effects of mate-rialism can be damaging to students’ emotional well-being. Those who use material objects to create an image for themselves may end up facing some of these negative consequences. However, if students continue to correctly priori-tize material objects, it is safe to say that they will lead a fulfilling life no matter what they own.

It is not rare to find a spoiled child in today’s society. The screams of ‘I want’ and ‘give me’ fill the air and tem-per tantrums are a common sight to see. These children believe the world revolves around them-- what they want, they get.

How the child creates such a thought process and builds such a character goes back to the original debate of psychology: nature vs. nurture.

“Some common characteristics of spoiled children are self-centeredness,the belief that everything revolves around them, and the lack of motivation and patience. They’re unable to focus on one thing besides them-selves,” said school psychologist Sean Mulcrone.

Nature delves into genetic and other factors of the natural world that one cannot control. Genetic disposi-tion enhances their chances of forming characteristics of a spoiled child.

For example: let’s say a study shows that a person with dominant gene A is more likely to have a strong sense of ego. Strong ego leads to strong pride and self centeredness.

Nurture dictates that environmental factors lead to forming the character and thought process of a spoiled child.

With society feeding the needs of a spoiled child, another item to observe is parenting style. Parents are obviously at the core of a child’s thought processing. Par-enting molds a person.

Clearly being a parent is very difficult. A simple action that a parent takes for what he or she believes to be for the sake for the child could potentially affect the child in a drastic matter. But the objective of all parents is this: they want their children to be happy. How they go about doing it is a different matter.

Take a look at these examples: Teen A’s 16th birthday is coming up and he or she wants a car. Parents A and B

buy it for him or her. Teen A is out recklessly driving one night and runs it into a tree. Parents A and B fix the car for Teen A. The car needs new tires, brakes, etc. Parents A and B fix everything for Teen A when he or she asks.

Versus: Teen B’s 16th birthday is also coming up and he or she also wants a car. However Parents C and D in-stead of just buying it for him or her decides upon a condi-tion. Teen B must be passing all of his or her classes with a B or higher by the time of his or her 16th birthday. Teen B studies hard and manages the grades. Teen B receives the car. Teen B also recklessly drives and runs into a tree. Parents C and D pay for the expenses up front but Teen B is made to pay it back by finding a job.

The difference between parenting styles of Parents

A,B and C,D is motivation. Teen A is unmotivated to do much, whatever he or she needs or wants Parents A and B provide. Teen A does not have to do anything-- he or she just keeps asking for what they need and want. Teen

A forms a mindset of ‘what I need I get, everyone works for my needs’.

Teen B on the other hand, although provided what he or she wants, must work for it. Parents C,D mold Teen B in such a way that he or she is moti-vated to work for his or her wants and needs. Teen B forms a mind set of ‘I must work for what I want and there is value to the work I do’.

ReinforcementAnother example is reinforcement. In psychol-

ogy, reinforcement does not always mean a good thing. Reinforcement is used as a general term of what one receives after performing an action. There is both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive does not stand for good but rather addition and negative does not stand for bad but for subtraction.

Example: Child A is at the store and he cries for Parent A to buy him or her candy. Parent A buys Child A candy.

By buying the candy Parent A is positively re-inforcing Child A’s behavior. Child A learns that if

he or she throws a tantrum for what he or she wants, he or she will receive it. Parent A buys into Child A’s demands which reinforces the Child A’s self-centered thinking pro-cess.

Although these are simple examples, the reality is that how people are raised, some natural factors and the values that they believe in determine whether they are selfish or not. It’s not something one can control. However that does not mean it is something one cannot change. Given the opportunity, change is inevitable.

Exploring inner minds of spoiled children

Mission trip leads to different outlook on life

Cartoon by Yumi Miyazaki

In her New Yorker piece on American children, Eliza-beth Kolbert points out that “With the exception of the imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary France, contemporary American kids may represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world.”

Whether or not Kolbert is correct, it has instigated a debate on whether or not American children are spoiled rotten.

According to Kolbert, the pressure of perfect parent-ing is creating a generation of lazy and entitled kids.

However, according to sociology teacher Joe Bush, parenting is not the only factor in the perception of today’s youth in America.

“I think technology has a lot to do with it as well,” Bush said. “Like for example, when I was in high school it was like if you had a phone you were awesome, and now if you have phone it’s about like how many apps you have and how many texts you can send a month. It’s sort of a status symbol.”

Furthermore, Bush thinks that technology is also changing the family unit.

“I think technology makes things more challenging

because every person in a family is always connected like I get 35 or 40 emails a day and if I’m checking those at 8 at night, I’m not paying attention to my son,” Bush said. “So if I want to fill his time so he doesn’t bother me, I have to give him things.”

Bush then adds that this becomes a cycle of trying to replace time with possessions.

And children, according to “Life at Home,” are dis-proportionate generators of possessions: “Each new child in a household leads to a 30 percent increase in a family’s inventory of possessions during the preschool years alone.”

Bush even thinks that there is a distinct marketing ploy towards younger children.

“When I was a kid and was watching cartoon there were cereal commercials,” Bush said. “Now, there’s spe-cific things, like my son walks around saying ‘I wanna go to abcmouse.com,’ and he doesn’t even know what that means but there’s this commercial and he sees this smiling kid on a computer on abcmouse.com”

With these factors combined, kids these days seem to be growing up to be too dependent on others, especially their parents, to do everything for them.

Junior Peyton Wolff agrees.“So many kids take what we have for granted and just

think that they are meant to have them,” Wolff said. “I just think that parents spoil their kids with things that they

don’t deserve.”Sally Koslow, author of “Slouching Toward Adult-

hood,” wrote that she found herself in a similar situation when her son Jed moved back home after four years of college. Unemployed, Jed liked to stay out late, sleep until noon and wander around in his pajamas.

In the book, Koslow set out to try to understand why he and so many of his peers seemed stuck in what she coined as permanent “adultescence.”

To reiterate, Bush sees this type of mentality during his consumers education unit in Sociology.

“It’s amazing to see how kids don’t realize how they’re not going to make 100 grand right out of high school, and that making 20 grand and 30 grand goes pretty quickly,” Bush said. “You can’t have your expensive car and big house and all these toys to play with without that sort of money.”

However, Bush has concluded that the current state of the economy is also to blame.

For senior Nellie Sampang, the economy, along with her parents’ lessons about hard work is enough motivation for her to work for what she wants.

“I work for the things that I have because my parents make me,” Sampang said. “They teach me these values be-cause they have to work hard every second of their lives.”

Spoiled rotten: Teens perceived as lazy, dependent

Freshman Junior

SeniorAnthony FrigoTommy Modric

h

Jenna Clary

Yasuhiro Omura

“You know you’re spoiled when....”

Sophomore

“When you’re complaining about not having Internet at your giant lake house. The good news is I found

Internet!”

“When you’re disappointed you can’t get

change for a $20.”

“When you want a third laptop right after you got a second one.”

“When your mom makes you a five-

course meal, and she eats a sandwich.”

Julianne MicoletaEditor in Chief

Marki KaimStaff Reporter

Katarina WeberStaff Reporter

Codi OehlerkingStaff Reporter

Debate raised over whether or not American children are spoiled

‘Living in a material world’: Possessions matter to some, not to others

Yumi MiyazakiCartoonist

Photo by Codi Oehlerking

FREE HUGS: Junior Codi Oehlerking spent a life-changing week in Guatemala volunteering with her church, The Living Hope.

PRETTY PLEASE: The “magic word” no longer present in 21st century etiquette.

Information gathered by Arman Rahman

Entertainment8 September 14, 2012

'Guild Wars 2' drops, obsession begins

Are

naNet

While, for obvious reasons, most stu-dents dread the end of August, PC gamers had a reason to celebrate. With the start of school came the release of the year’s hot-test MMORPG “Guild Wars 2.”

Before delving into the meat of the game, there may be those out there in need of knowing what a MMORPG really is.

A MMORPG is just this: a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. Sure, it’s a mouthful, but it’s what PC gamers truly crave.

Now, the phrase “massively multiplay-er online roleplaying game” means that the game is played online with millions of oth-er people around the world and the story is driven by classic roleplaying game ele-ments. If someone is so inclined, they may group with friends to meet a common goal, or they may go at it alone.

Announced in early 2007, “Guild Wars 2” has been anticipated by fans of the first game for a full five years.

Now, the wait is finally over.“Guild Wars 2” takes place 250 years

after a “Guild Wars” expansion (“Eye of the North”). At this time, five dozing drag-ons have awakened to wreak havoc across the world of Tyria, where our story takes place. The player, in order to stop the pow-erful Elder Dragon Zhaitan, must reunite the members of the powerful adventure guild Divinity’s Edge.

To start their adventure, the player must make a character. In “Guild Wars 2.” the player has the option of creating a character from one of five races, each vastly different from the next.

There are the humans (pretty self-ex-planatory); the charr (the war-hungry race of anthropomorphic feline-like creatures); the asura (the hyper-smart race of dwarf-like people); the norn (the spiritual race of

towering human-like people); and the syl-vari (the human-like plant people).

As soon as a race is selected, the player is prompted to choose a class from the eight classes available, which are as follows: thief, mesmer, warrior, guardian, ranger, engi-neer, necromancer and elementalist.

Each class offers the player a unique gameplay experience and all are worth checking out.

With a race and a class selected, the player then goes through the stages of physically building their character (which is a very rich experience, might I add), and the story can then begin.

For all the different races, there is a dif-ferent personal storyline, which the player must go through in order to reach their final goal. The progression of each story-line is directly affected by choices that the player must make and by decisions made during the late stages of character creation.

This dynamic storyline, which is new

to the world of MMORPGs but standard to single player roleplaying games, is one of the many things that allow “Guild Wars 2” to stand out from the rest.

That, and that the game requires no monthly subscriptions to play.

The environments are interactive, immersive and all around beautiful. The music is lovely, too, to say the least. The character models themselves look fantastic as well.

Combat varies greatly from class to class, but there is never a dull moment. Each class has a specific variety of weapons available to them, and with each upgrade or downgrade in weapon type, a whole new set of combat skills becomes available for the player to unlock.

“Guild Wars 2” is constantly changing as the player progresses, and that allows for it to be a fun and immersive game that no PC gamer should miss.

Something with Pixels by Abby Ray

The summer of 2012 officially belongs to the superheroes. The com-bined might of “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” busted their way through aliens, terrorists, a genetically-enhanced lizard and box-office records.

“The Avengers” took first place in the summer box office and currently stands as the third highest grossing film.

“The Dark Knight Rises” claimed second place this summer and just re-cently entered the spot for 10th highest grossing movie of all time.

“The Amazing Spider-Man,” which received mixed reviews, took third place this summer. It was far from the suc-cess of the number one and two movies from the summer: it earned just a little less than the original “Spider-Man” did back in 2002.

Although “The Dark Knight Rises” was the final installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, there are still plenty of superhero movies to look for-ward to in the coming years.

Marvel is currently a very busy stu-dio with four sequels and two new films in the works for “Phase Two” of Marvel superheroes domination.

It goes without saying that “The Avengers,” the record-breaking film that left the 40-year-old-guy-who-still-lives-with-his-mother crowd literally foaming at the mouth like a pair of rabid squir-rels fighting over a nut, will be getting a sequel and everyone should just pray to the superhero gods that Marvel can create something that super awesome again.

They’ve gone a long way in getting the director Joss Whedon to come back, and now all that is left to do for audi-ences is to cross fingers and wait.

Iron Man is also getting another movie as “Iron Man 3” (hmm...one would think they’d have gotten a bit more creative with the title by the third installment) is set to release May 3, 2013.

“Iron Man 3” has a new director, though, and promises to be better than the slightly disappointing “Iron Man 2.” Robert Downey Jr. made Tony Stark the most likable character of the

“The Avengers,” but his contract with Marvel is set to expire after “The Avengers 2” comes out. One would hope that somehow studio and star can renegotiate. After all, the “Iron Man” franchise is nothing without Robert Downey Jr.

Captain America and Thor are also getting sequels, which are called “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain Amer-ica: The Winter Soldier” and are being released Nov. 8, 2013, and April 4, 2014, respectively. Both of the sequels got new directors, as both of their previous direc-tors dropped out for various reasons.

Now “Game of Thrones” direc-tor Alan Taylor is set to helm the Thor sequel and most superhero fanatics will likely agree with Marvel’s choice, giv-en the similarities between “Game of Thrones” and “Thor.”

Marvel’s most questionable decision was actually to hire directing pair An-thony and Joe Russo, whose past projects include “Community,” “Arrested Devel-opment,” and “You, Me & Dupree.”

One can only think that Marvel is looking for a Captain America comedy when it obviously is action and they have

to remember that the sequel should at least live up to the standards of the first film.

But if you’re thinking that “Cap-tain America: The Winter Soldier” is doomed, have a little faith. Marvel has proven that they are capable of hir-ing unknown yet very capable directors (ahem, Joss Whedon) so there is a good chance that the Russos will produce something worthwhile.

Marvel’s two brand new projects sound interesting enough, but should prove to be a tough selling point for those who haven’t read the comics. The two new films are “Ant Man” and “Guard-ians of the Galaxy”, which seems to be somewhat like “The Avengers” but in the future and with lesser known heroes.

“Ant Man” on the other hand has a director, Edgar Wright. In the comic books Ant Man was an original part of “The Avengers.” He’s the size of an ant, yet somehow he kicks butt.

Hopefully Wright can create some science based reason as to why Ant Man is able to knock grown men flat on their back when he’s the size of their thumb and if not, who cares? It’s based on a comic book, so it doesn’t have to adhere to worldly norms.

After all of those movies, super nerds will have had their fill, right? Wrong. Well, it’s a good thing that Marvel isn’t the only comic book producer out there.

Don’t worry, if and when the up-coming Marvel movie slate doesn’t tide you over, there’s still DC comics and the forever upcoming “Justice League” movie that should fill that Hulk of an appetite (oh, superhero jokes).

Superheroes take summer, reign will continueAndrew Noonan

Opinions Editor

Legendary Pictures

Marvel Studios

POWER HOUSES: “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” all saw summer releases this year, allowing superheroes to dominate the box-office. However, their reign of power is not over yet. Marvel plans on releasing more films. Some are about already estab-lished superheroes and others about lesser known superheroes.

Marvel Entertainment

Students eagerly awaiting the newest in MMORPGs will finally have their hunger sated.

The American Sweet 16 is usually celebrated

with a big party and expensive gifts surrounded by friends and family. Yeah, Jael Thompson ex-pects none of that. The only thing she got for her birthday was a note from her father and a neck-lace from her deceased mother.

Jael Thompson cannot be described as any other girl. When Jael was 8 years old, a bull-like creature made of metal and wood attacked her. That was also the day she found out about her five thousand-year-old mother who was a demo-ness.

That should be interesting to tell during show-and-tell considering that her paranoid fa-ther lets her.

All her life, Jael has been moving from one place to another without any explanation. Of course, she starts attending high school and that's when teenage attitude starts building up. She has had enough of moving and losing friends.

Jael was determined to stay in one place for as long as possible. That is, until she starts to learn about her inheritance.

In the novel by Jon Skovron, “Misfits”, Jael is exposed to the wonders of being half demon and half human. She starts to learn about her in-heritance and the powers she has developed after she receives her demon side from the necklace her mother gave her. “Misfits” is a bit cliché since the book talks about being an unwanted halfbreed, but behind the clichés, Skovron writes about the depth of the human mind that ties in with my-thology and religion.

Take a rebellious attitude, paranoid father, hidden talents and a problem of setting things on fire, and we see the life of Jael Thompson: half-breed and the most hated human in Hell. That would look good in her college resume.

A half-breed being the main character or at least a character of a book or movie is a bit cliché. Many books and movies emphasize how much half-breeds are hated and ridiculed for their mixed blood.

We see that in “Breaking Dawn” with Edward and Bella’s daughter, Renesmee: a half-human, half-vampire little girl that was hated since the day she was born. There

was also an order to kill her. Most people do not like clichés because they get old,

but if the reader looks past the clichés contained in the book, the story is very inspiring. The things Jael, her un-

cle, her father and other characters say dives into the true thoughts of human beings and life quotes that are very true. Many of these quotes aren’t so happy-go-lucky either.

During Jael’s time spent with her uncle, she doesn't believe in herself. So her uncle tells her, “If you don't have faith in your own abilities, it’s never going to be anything more than potential.” This quote can be directed to anyone. It can be directed to a high school student trying out for a sport, a teacher’s first day on the job or a child’s first time riding a bike.

“I often came face-to-face with the true dark-ness that lies within humanity,” a priest from the book says while lecturing his students at a Catho-lic school. It sounds very dark for a priest. Any-one who has read the novel “Lord of the Flies” or anything similar knows how true this quotation is. The human mind is still a mysterious thing that can be very unpredictable.

The raw understanding of a teenage mind is evident in the book. Readers can relate to the things Jael thinks or talks about because if anyone is put in that situation, the same mindset can be seen. The perfect writing and point-of-view of a teenager is superb since a grown man wrote this book.

The religious and mythological aspect of the book perfectly ties in with the theme. The theme is how humanity can be very judgmental and dark, even if the judgmental part was being shown through demons from Hell.

How the demons did not accept Jael for who she is but what her blood contains shows the mis-judgment a human being can make. Just from the information that the demons got about her blood inheritance, they judged her, deemed her an out-cast and ordered to kill her. This attitude is seen in today’s society. OK, maybe not the “ordered to

kill” part, but the outcast part applies. All in all, the story behind Jael’s life is in-

teresting even if it's a bit cliché. Skovron’s writing enhances the human thoughts and perspectives of a teenage girl and the illustrious descriptions Skov-

ron writes sets the reader in the mind of Jael Thompson. The combination of religion and myth entices the readers understanding of Jael’s life.

Interesting, but cliché ‘Misfit’Entertainment 9September 14, 2012

After finishing “The Fault in Our Stars,” John Green’s most recent novel, I knew it wouldn’t be the last I would be reading of him. So this summer, I decided to start from the beginning. I read his first novel, “Looking for Alaska,” to see if I would have that same feeling at the end.

Miles Halter, tired of his dull, friendless life in Florida, departs to Culver Creek pre-paratory school in Alabama in search of a “Great Perhaps.” There, he quickly becomes aquainted with his roomate Chip, aka “The Colonel,” Takumi, the Japanese whiz kid, and Alaska Young, the moody, gorgeous wild girl, who quickly becomes the object of his lust. Miles is instantly enlisted in their war against the Weekday Warriors, the rich kids who go home every weekend, and they all connect over elaborate pranks, assorted rule breaking and studying.

About halfway through the book, a trag-edy unfolds, and those left spend the rest of the novel trying to make sense of it, to solve the mystery it leaves behind, and pull off one last, mind blowing prank.

There are not enough adjectives to de-scribe the plot. It is beautiful, heartwarming,

and still very funny. I cannot tell you how many times I found myself breaking out in laughter while reading. Some may find the plot to be simple, but I found that to be the beauty of the book. That any teenager can relate to the controversial pulse points – bad language, drinking, smoking and sex - discussed in the book. The plot was simple, yet profound in many ways. There was not a single point were the story dragged. As for the characters, they were all relatable, yet still unique.

Miles is your typical intelligent kid, but has a odd obsession with last words. Alaska is your gorgeous, wild, rebellious girl, but she has a hidden dark side that plays a role with the tragedy that occurs.

Chip is your friendly, nice guy, however, it becomes apparent of his true sensitive side. Of all of the characters, I feel that Takumi was there least developed. I wish the readers learned more about him.

All in all, this was an amazing read. The only thing I disliked about it was that it end-ed. I wanted it to continue. And that’s exactly how I felt at the end of “The Fault In Our Stars.” This goes to show that John Green was as great as he is now, six years ago when this book was published. It was an outstanding de-but novel, and I look forward to reading his other works of art.

Abbie Gail LimStaff Reporter

Amulet Books New York“Misfit” by author Jon Skovron is about 16 year old Jael Thompson’s life as a sophomore with an over-protective father while avoiding demons. Flirting with a boy is just half of her problems.

Tom ScearceManaging Editor

John Green leaves readers ‘Looking for Alaska’John Green’s Novels

“An Abundance of Katherines”

“The Fault in Our Stars”

“Paper Towns” “Looking For Alaska”

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sports10 september 14, 2012

Girl’s cross country is revving up again and looking forward to a stronger, more energetic season.

After a pretty standard season last year, coach Mark Heintz and the team are looking forward to see what comes their way this season.

“Last season was a good starting point,” Heintz said. “It got people interested in sports and they really started to figure out how to become good runners. The newer run-ners felt welcomed. They really bought into the culture that we were trying to establish.”

Of course, there are going to be some changes in practices this season.

“The level of training has, and will continue to, be-come more intense. We’re also running more than we did last year. At the same time, we’ve increased mileage and intensity,” Heintz said.

Heintz has one goal for the team this season. One that has not happened in over a decade.

“I would like to see them qualify for sectionals, obvi-ously, and that hasn’t happened in 14 years,” Heintz said.

The runners are anticipating many things this season. However, most are looking forward to one thing in particu-lar: becoming closer.

“I’m looking forward to coming together as a team and more like a family,” junior Loredana Lappano said. “I feel like we’re going to have a stronger bond.”

Being close is an important aspect of being a mem-ber of any team. So Heintz organizes special team build-ing activities each year. In years past, the team went to a special team building workshop in Lake Geneva. The team didn’t do that this year due to an excess number of students. Instead, they brought in a Outdoor Recreational Activity expert from Northern Illinois University to focus on the same principle.

“Some girls have been running for four years, and for others it’s their third day, so we want to make sure ev-eryone feels included, and no cliques are being formed,” Heintz said.

Senior Caroline Pejcinovic is overly excited about the team this year and can’t wait to see what the season brings.

“The cross country team this year is superb; everyone is really fast and friendly. We really are like a complete family,” Pejcinovic said. “It’s been a great way to start the year.”

On Sept. 8 at the Lake Park Invite, the team made 14 lifetime personal records. They went from being 20th last year, to 13th place this year.

While it’s too early to predict anything, one thing is for sure: the girls can’t wait to see what the course will bring.

“I really just want to run better than last year,” Lap-pano said. “But for now, I can’t wait to see what happens.”

“Dedicated,” “easy-going” and “fun” are the words boy’s cross country coach David Dompke uses to describe this year’s team.

Coming off of last season’s record of 0-6, Dompke reflects on how he felt last season went.

“I thought last season went pretty well,” Dompke said. “We were still a young team and guys were still try-ing to figure out their roles and I believe the guys this year have a better picture of what to expect, not only from the team, but from themselves.”

This season, Dompke has high hopes and expectations for his team.

“Our goal would be, at the varsity level, to qualify as a team for sectionals,” Dompke said. “But overall, we want to show improve-ment and I believe we have.”

Dompke still has changes he wants to incorporate into the team’s practices.

“We are going to try to main-

tain high mileage for the first part of the season,” Dompke said.

Of course, Dompke is not the only one with goals.

Senior Kenji Horibe has been on the varsity level since he joined last year and wants to see himself break his previous record.

“My goal would be to break

my personal record. Last year it was 22 minutes and 30 seconds for three miles. This year I’d like it to be a flat 20 minutes,” Horibe said.

Junior Michael Frintner has goals similar to Dompke’s.

“I’m looking forward to con-ference, regionals and hopefully sectionals. But I’m also looking forward to a bunch of strong workouts and races. I’m really

looking forward to working as a team,” Frintner said.

Running at every practice, Dompke believes, is the simplest way to come together as a team.

“Every practice is team bond-ing. When you get guys running 6-8 miles a day you run together and there’s really not much to

do other than talk and push each oth-er to work harder,” Dompke said.

At the Lake Park invite on Sept. 8, the freshmen/sophomore team took 8 out of 21 with freshman Mike Banasik taking 11th place. Varsity took 11 out of 16, with Frint-ner taking 29th.

On top of the goals already set in place, the team shares a goal in particular: to raise $500 by fundraising. The money pays for their annual trip to Wis-consin.

“The guys usually seem to re-ally enjoy it,” Dompke said. “So I’m hoping we hit our mark, and I think we will.”

Girls cross country: 13th at Lake Park invite, running towards sectionals

Boys cross country:Team holds high expectations, continues fundraiser

This was the first year the girls had an intensive summer camp. And it paid off for. The hot, early mornings and hard prac-tice has caused a productive season for the girls so far.

“From the end of last year up till this year, the team has improved tremen-dously,” coach Jon Rowley said.

The team placed eighth out of 16 at the Sept. 6 Conant invite and sev-enth out of 16 at the Aug. 15 Marian Central invite.

“It’s such a mental game and you have to learn to keep a positive attitude, even when something goes completely wrong. We prac-tice every day that we don’t have a match, so I utilize all that I can to fix a chip and a drive and get one stroke less every time,” senior Rylee Romano said.

Senior Katie DeMeu-lenaere is captain this year, and, according to Rowley, one of the most consis-tent players on the team. She says that the team has worked really hard in the off season and everyone has gotten better, especially

sophomores Erin Walz and Sarah Hartness.

“Erin and Sarah espe-cially have done great this year with how much they’ve improved, and everyone has contributed greatly to the team scores allowing us to score some of our lowest team scores ever,” she said.

Rowley is looking for-ward to the upcoming tour-naments.

“We’ve got a really good chance to do well in the MSL tournaments [Sept. 24]. And hopefully compete in the State tour-nament Oct. 3,” he said

The boy’s golf season got off to a rough start. They lost to Hoffman on Aug. 22 by one stroke for the second year in a row. Since then, the team has had its ups and downs.

Senior Thomas Nickelson says that he hopes the rest of the season will be better.

To prepare for the next tournament we need to practice harder and do our best to put ourselves in situations to suc-ceed at the next meet. One of the team’s top scorers is senior Ryan White. Coach Mike Meyer says that their goal is to get White to state.

“My improvement on the course has been made primarily by range time and practice,” White said.

Nickelson said that White is a strong player and a good ball striker.

White says that as a team, they have been improving through the same rea-sons he has and also the teams increased confidence in each other.

With half the season already over, Rich Mele, the freshman and sopho-more golf coach, knows it has been a tough season for the varsity boys.

“It has been a rough and disap-pointing season, but if we can get our players to shoot their potential, they should have a strong finish,” he said.

Tom ScearceManaging Editor

Tom ScearceManaging Editor

READY, SET, GO: Senior Kenji Horibe runs during practice on Sept. 11. The team’s first home meet was yes-terday, and the boys will host the EG Classic tomorrow.

Ellie PapadakisEditor in Chief Ellie Papadakis

Editor in Chief

Girls Golf:Intensive camp utilizes girl power

Loses to Hoffman; hopes to rebound

“Our goal would be, at the varsity level, to qualify as a

team for sectionals.” - math teacher David Dompke

Photo by Alex Ostrowski

Sports 11September 14, 2012

Two years ago, senior cap-tain Conor Murphy was part of the 2010 Mid Suburban League (MSL) East champion outfit that did not enjoy the best of times last fall, struggling to find its form one year after losing 14 players from its history making club.

This season, Murphy stands as the only player back from the 2010 team looking to restore his team to its former glory.

“The highlight of my soccer career at Elk Grove was winning regionals my sophomore year against Conant,” Murphy said. “I’m trying to push this year’s

team so we can experience that again this year.”

Compared to the 2010 team, coach Joe Bush says that the level of hard work this season is incom-parable to past years.

“I think this group is more connected to one another, and there’s not as much pure talent, but they certainly work harder to-gether,” Bush said.

However with a 2-1-3 record, Bush cites that the biggest weak-ness the boys are facing right now is their ability to execute.

“Well with three ties, I don’t think we’ve played well when we’ve gotten a lead,” Bush said. “I think that we get a lead and we get real comfortable and we think that the game’s over, but they still

need to play for 80 minutes to make sure we finish teams off.”

Conversely, Bush thinks that their biggest strength right now is the team’s compatibility.

“Everyone is just on the same page,” Bush said. “Everyone has one common goal, there’s re-ally no individuals. No one really cares who scores; we all just want to win together.

However, a notable goal re-cently was that of Murphy’s over-time goal against cross-town rival Conant.

“That overtime goal was in-credible,” Murphy said. “The only thought going through my head when I got that ball was ‘win this game,’ and it was a great ex-perience for me and my team to

put down Conant.”With the memory of the

2010’s regional win against Conant fresh on his mind; Bush hopes that Murphy’s goal and the team’s big win against Conant will motivate the team to win.

“When we look at the whole season that might turn out to be a turning point,” Bush said. “Hopefully we can springboard off of that and start getting more wins and getting away from ties.”

Going ahead into the season, Murphy hopes to improve his leadership skills, bring his team closer together and ultimately win as much as possible.

“I would just like to improve my leadership skills and bring my team closer as the season contin-

ues so we remain a family and win as one,” Murphy said.

And according to Bush, lead-ership is key to winning.

“I think that Conor’s been a great leader thus far,” Bush said. “And he’s motivated the younger players and I think that you can’t win unless you have a defined leader and he’s done that right now.”

For Murphy, this means lead-ing the team to the same level of success the 2010 team experi-enced.

“It makes me feel proud that my team believes and listens to me,” Murphy said. “But even more, they trust me to lead them to great places.”

Julianne Micoleta Editor in Chief

Yesenia CruzManaging Editor

Senior Megha Patel and junior Neha Patel are not only sisters but they are also teammates. They see each other at home, at school and now on the tennis court.

Megha and Neha have joined the club of being a sister team in tennis. The other team is senior Taylor Marquardt and ju-nior Sammie Marquardt.

“This year the Elk Grove tennis team has four returning varsity players out of a starting lineup of 11 girls. It’s unusual that I have two sets of sisters and they’re dou-bles partners,” varsity tennis coach Kristen Fisher said.

“It’s definitely weird playing with Neha, but there’s definitely a sister thing going on as we play,” Megha said.

She also adds that they don’t commu-nicate much during the game.

“It’s like we already know what the other is going to do,” she says.

But being a sister team has its advan-tages. They aren’t afraid to call each other out when they lose a point and that trust that they have with each other in a way helps them become better players.

As a team, Megha and Neha aimed to win a medal and accomplished that by win-ning a medal at the Addison Trail Invite.

“Megha Patel and her younger sister

Neha Patel have also had a winning season being number two doubles. It’s definitely an advantage playing varsity tennis for two or three years,” Fisher said.

Taylor and Sammie also play well.“Taylor Marquardt and her younger

sister Sammie Marquardt have had a great season thus far playing number one dou-bles together with a 10-5 record,” Fisher said.

The rest of the team also set some goals that they are hoping to reach by the end of the season.

“I want to get better with my backhand and to get more aggressive at the net,” se-nior Jessica Morrill said.

Last year, the team lost seven varsity members due to the fact that they graduat-ed. Therefore, this year the team had to re-build and focus on winning more matches.

“This year we continue to work on match strategy, playing offensively and consistency. I would like to see the girls playing their best tennis towards the con-ference tournament, which I saw last year in a lot of our players,” Fisher said.

Nevertheless, the team will be hosting the Elk Grove Invite tomorrow.

Not only do they have court advantage but the team is ready to increase their effort on and off the court.

“I think we’ll perform really well and hopefully place at the top,” Megha said. “

We will be versing some harder teams but with home court advantage and all the practice we’ve been doing, I think we can pull it off.”

And compared to last year, the team has been able to improve a lot.

“We have improved a ton this year. We have a better, stronger and more constant hitters,” Morrill said.

Something new this year that has also helped them improve is the fact that they now have man-agers. They are seniors Milton Moscoso and Hi-roki Abe.

“They’ve been really helpful about not only giv-ing us advice and helping with techniques but just being there and cheering us on,” Megha said.

Fisher also adds that its been very beneficial to the team to have dedicated managers this year.

As for how Megha feels about her part-ner in crime, Neha, she has nothing but nice things to say.

“I know a lot of people think that we don’t get along but we’re both competitive people and instead of competing against each other we compete together, which is different but enjoyable. I can’t think of a better partner.”

Yumi MiyazakiCartoonistGirls’ swimming and diving started

off the season with a huge success. At the home meet against Barrington on Aug. 31, freshman Nikki Sugihara broke the school’s 100-yard backstroke record. The old record was 1:01.9. Sugihara managed to get the time of 1:01.85.

“After I saw the clock, I was really sur-prised. My team was really excited for me and I was excited too, but my next thought was that my legs hurt a lot!” Sugihara said.

The success of the record breaking time just shows the fruit of the girls’ labor as the season began.

“This year we’ve added additional training times and increased the amount of what we call dry-land training, which is essentially weight training.” said coach Da-vid Toler.

With increased frequency of practices and adding more rigor to their training, the girls-- although unable to win against Barrington-- came very close. In addition

to Sugihara’s new record and win on the 100-yard backstroke, junior Simona Kur-ta placed first in the 200-yard Individual Medley (IM) and second in the 100-yard butterfly.

Their success as a team is not just in the water. Their ability to unite as one, while representing the Grenadiers, has improved as well.

“Last year during the meets, we weren’t really supportive of one another because we were busy doing our own things at the meet. But this year our coach had us watch our team-mates compete and truly support them. It was an amazing experi-ence. We were all

cheering for each other and the atmosphere was definitely different from last year,” said senior varsity captain Carlee Sprecher.

The other varsity captains include Morgan Schumacher and Angelica Ford.

“We’re a much closer team this year and we cheer for all our teammates. With

Nikki’s new re-cord, the team is definitely fueled up to set more new records this year,” Kurta said.

As the season progresses and as the girls continue to pol-ish their skills into perfection, both Toler and the team look for-ward to compet-ing at more meets and hope to break more records and qualify for state.

On Sept. 8 the girls participated in the St. Viator’s Invite and placed third out of nine teams with all the girls scoring points. Kurta won second in 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM. Ford and Sugihara won 2nd and 3rd respectively in 100-yard back-stroke. Sugihara also won 2nd in 50-yard freestyle. Ford also placed 3rd in 200-yard freestyle. Kurta, Ford, Sugihara, and senior Jackie Hirschauer also competed in the 400-yard freestyle relay and placed 2nd.

An event that both Toler and the girls are looking forward to this season happens to be the Main East Relay, in which both the varsity and junior varsity compete to-gether as a whole.

As for Sugihara, she has big expecta-tions of her own as well.

“I just want another record up there, except not an individual one, but for the relay. My teammates and I work very well together, and I believe we all deserve it,” Sugihara said. “But also I’d like to shorten my time for the 100-yard backstroke as well.”

Murphy’s past experiences inspire team to succeed

Sister, Sister: Siblings work together to reach goals

Sugihara sets record, fuels girls swimming

Photo by Alex OstrowskiSERVE’S UP: Junior Neha Patel works her serve at practice. Neha and her sister, senior Megha Patel, act as an efficient team on the court.

SET TO SWIM: Angelica Ford, left, and Nikki Sugihara, right, take their mark on the backstroke event at St. Viator.

Photo by Morgan Schumacher

Sports

Because Jake Gatz is a Larry

Jackpack

My matress

Swimming Volleyball FootballGren Grid

If you had a hidden tresure, where would

you bury it?

Why did the chicken cross the road?

What was your childhood nickname?

My backyard

Because the ice cream man was on the other

side

IC

My annex

Don’t question the chicken’s motives

My bathroom floor

KerrBear

To get to the other side

Nik

Freshman Nikki Sugihara

Sophomore Ivan Corona

photos and infor-mation compiled by Patrick O’Malley Senior

Jack EulJunior

Kerry Souder

Soccer

Nation welcomes new football coachKaylinn EsparzaNews/Features Editor

The football team is the epitome of what a high school stands for, and the Grenadiers are no exception to that. The school has come to cherish and support the team and its players.

Recently, these Grena-diers have had to open their house to a new teammate: coach Larry Calhoun. Cal-houn is now a new member of the Gren Nation and will be the leader for the Grena-diers to be successful on the field.

“It was exciting to come to a new school. I was going to be head football coach for a core program that has been in the quarter finals,” Cal-houn said.

Calhoun stumbled upon the Grenadiers because of his son who lives in Bar-rington and Calhoun was in the process of finding a coaching job in Texas.

The goal was to have his son move to Texas and have his whole family in one area. It all changed once he came to visit his son and his wife convinced him to apply for jobs in the Illinois area.

“I didn’t think it would really happen,

one thing led to another and an Elk Grove job was open. It all happened really fast,” Calhoun said.

He came in for an interview and was officially hired on June 25. The team did not have a chance to meet him until the beginning of their second football session.

“When I came in, whether it was the right thing or wrong thing, my philosophy

was to try to do what we were already do-ing to only make changes where I felt we really needed to. [I did this] to make the learning curve easier for our players,” said Calhoun.

There was no time to make any drastic changes. Calhoun came in and did the best with what was already there. The transition for players was minimal due to the lack of

changes in drills and coaching styles.“Coach Doll and Calhoun have

the same offensive and defensive techniques, so it wasn’t that hard of a transition,” junior Adam O’Malley said.

Calhoun has kept all traditions the team had intact, like pre-game rituals. The way they get ready for a game stayed the same since they have been doing it for a long time. As a team, though, they have started a model board and are trying to be more of a family.

“The player’s opinion is what matters the most. I hope they are buying what we are doing because if not we can not be successful,” Cal-houn said.

Although change is inevitable, the team is not afraid to learn new techniques. They have learned how to take new advice and use it to their advantage.

“The team thinks that they haven’t experienced setbacks at all we’ve been well prepared and always work hard,” senior Kishan Patel said.

Changes will slowly be made as the season progresses, but Calhoun is try-ing to maintain old traditions to preserve what the team had the previous season.

“[Coach Calhoun] is a great guy and he knows what he’s doing,” Patel said. “He adapted to our offense quickly and added new twists to it.”

Photo by Alex OstrowskiGAME ON: The new football coach, Larry Calhoun looks on as the players practice on Sept. 10. The transition between coaches for the players wasn’t hard because there were minimal chang-es in drills and coahing styles. The Grens play the Conant Cougars tonight at 7:30 p.m.

PREVIOUS GAMES8/24 vs Highland Park 40-6 WIN 9/7 vs Palatine 21-42 LOST This game was featured on Comcast’s “Game of the Week”