The Pioneer 12.21.2012

December 21, 2012Maine East High School

Park Ridge, Illinois@mehspioneer

Packed with Pride

Maine East students packed the Fieldhouse for Pack the Place. Top: Senior Evan Nazzal rides on the shoulders of the Maine East crowd after a thrilling overtime win against basketball rival Maine West. Above, clockwise from top right: senior Pablo Lopez positions himself for a body throw; junior Jazlene Gonzalez pulls

up for a jump shot; the Maine east crowd feels the tension of a tight game. (Photos by Aron Ianchici.)

2 | THE PIONEER | December 21, 2012

Maine East is proud to announce the establishment of a new club called Interact, the only club at Maine East which will focus solely on leadership and community service. Interact is an internationally recognized club whose parent organization is Rotary International.

Rotary is a world renowned, professional organization that is also centered on leadership and service. Rotary has over 1.2 million members in over 200 countries. Most communities have a Rotary chapter, made up of community leaders in all ca-reers, ranging from healthcare to business. Maine East is partnering with the Park Ridge Rotary club to establish our Interact chapter.

Interact is a club for all stu-dents who aspire to develop their leadership skills and give back to the community. Interact is the perfect organization to learn how to be a leader and how to provide help to the less fortunate in the

community. In Interact, members will participate in service projects, such as helping the elderly. Giving back is a key component to the development of leadership skills.

There are also other rea-sons to joining Interact besides learning how to be a leader. Rotary is composed of profession-al leaders in the community who will mentor Interact members. The Rotarians love to work with motivated students who want to learn leadership skills. Interact members will network with com-munity leaders who will be a key factor to their college and career success.

Interact members will have the opportunity to work with prominent professionals in the community. Networking with Rotary members could also lead to highly valued internships. Rotary also gives out scholarships to seniors, which helps a lot with paying for college. Student mem-bers will have access to a number of wonderful opportunities, both professional and educational.

World renowned club established at Maine East

Interact is a club where students will determine their own success. Students are the govern-ing body of Interact. It will be place where students can make a difference at Maine East, the rest of the district, the surrounding communities, and within them-selves. Interact will give students leadership skills and experience in the professional world. This

is the first time in school history that an internationally recognized club solely based on leadership and community service has been organized. It is time to be a part of history.

For more information on how to join please contact Mr. Schwan, Interact Advisor: [email protected].

By Patrick Zajac

The study of a for-eign language is recog-nized as extremely valu-able and every year it is celebrated at Maine East and around the world.

Foreign Language Week is an eventful five days when students can participate in various ac-tivities acknowledging the fun and academic benefits of learning a second or even third language.

“A week that cele-brates many cultures is a nice reminder that com-munication is key when it comes to connecting with others,” says Youla Ber-karis, a five year French student at Maine East.

This year, Foreign Language Week was cel-ebrated from December 10 - 14 and drew many participants. The Foreign Language Department hosted a trivia contest in the library on Thursday

in which students com-peted for a $10 Chipotle gift certificate.

The contest win-ners who racked up the most points were Subham Saha, Elizabeth Sands, Moeez Syed, and

see LANGUAGE, page 10

Brian Torres; they truly impressed teachers and students alike with their sharp knowledge about other countries and their culture.

The trivia wasn't the only contest to award stu-

dents for knowing about foreign nations; there was also a poster competition.

This contest is a popular event; students

Week of activities spread foreign language spiritBy Emily Rafalik

The winning poster designs by Alyanna Villapando (left, 1st place) and Io Mae Apelacio (right, 2nd place)

Rotary Interact Co-Presidents seniors Jessica Ilc and Syed Matin watch Dr. John Davis, Park Ridge Rotary International President formally sign the Ro-tary/Interact Charter Application.

December 21, 2012 | THE PIONEER | 3

After winning the re-election, President Obama now needs to face one of his biggest challenges: the fiscal cliff. By the end of 2012, taxes will increase after the cuts expire by 90% if something isn’t done to avert the fiscal cliff.

Since the U.S. is already in debt, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 that tempo-rarily raised the country’s spending limit by $2.1 trillion. We are just go-ing pass that limit which happened right into early December. That’s why we are in this situation. The act has also lowered many government funding organizations by $1 trillion and the Super Committee must find another $1.2 trillion to cut.

Just how much debt do we have? Right now, the debt-to-GDP is higher by 70% than it has been in 70 years. The more the government borrows, the harder it is to manage the budget and, therefore, difficult to avoid another financial crisis, hurting the economy.

If we do fall over the fiscal cliff, unemployment will increase and the jobless rate will rise. Today that rate is at 7.9%. Businesses will have a harder time employing and in-

By Karishma Fazal

The

vesting. Smaller business will have a much more difficult time with this compared to bigger companies since they rely on the U.S. labor market. So the government has two choices: cut entitlement programs like Social Security and other health care programs or increase taxes.

There has been a lot of talk about what should be done and what should be avoided to keep from falling off the cliff. President Obama has discussed this issue with Congressional leaders and is strongly in favor of increasing taxes on the wealthy while keeping taxes the same for the middle class. Speaker of the House John Boehner and Republicans disagree, arguing such a tax increase it would hurt business growth.

Despite the disagreements, Boehner says he will remain opti-mistic, telling reporters at a press conference with House Republican leaders that he “was born with a glass half full. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

Hopefully, both Democrats and Republicans will compromise before it’s too late.

Sara Kavanagh, a 15 year old in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was looking forward to having a refreshing drink after a hot day. As Sara, a strict vegetarian, grabbed a cool bottle of Gatorade, she couldn’t help but check the label to make sure there were no animal products in the drink. Brominated vegetable oil was something she was not expecting to see.

“I knew it probably wasn’t from an animal because it had vegetable in the name, bit I still wanted to know what it was so I Googled it,” says Kavanagh. “A page popped up with a long list of possible side effects, including neurological disorders and altered thyroid hormones. I didn’t expect that.”

Appalled from this discovery, Sara threw the Gatorade bottle away and signed a petition on Change.org that now has over 200,000 signatures hoping that PepsiCo., Gatorade’s maker, will change the formula of the drink

About 10 percent of popular drinks sold in the U.S. contain bro-minated vegetable oil, including Mountain Dew, Fresca, Sunkist Peach Soda, and Powerade.

15-year-old takes on atoradeBy Aimun Alavi “As standard practice, we con-

stantly evaluate our formulas and ingredients to ensure they comply with federal regulations and meet the high quality standards our consumers and athletes expect- from functionality to great taste,” argues Jeff Dahncke, a spokesman for PepsiCo.

Brominated vegetable oil contains bromine which is an element found in flame retardants. Researchers have found that bro-minated vegetable oil in animals and humans cause build ups of bromine in fatty tissues. This ingredient is added to help keep the fruit flavoring in citrus drinks evenly distributed. Without it, the flavoring would separate.

Many soda companies say that all chemicals used in their drinks have been tested thor-oughly and FDA approved before distributing them to consumers.

In her petition, however, Kavanagh writes, “You put slick ads on TV encouraging people like me to buy your products, but it’s shocking that you have a flame re-tardant chemical called ‘brominat-ed vegetable oil’ in some flavors. Please stop deceiving consumers and remove this chemical from your products.”

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Emily LapinskiEmily Rafalik

Maine East High School, Park Ridge, IllinoisDecember 21, 2012

The Pioneer REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Artur Stasiek

Lenny DitkowskyKarishma Fazal

Aimun AlaviRamen Amma

Julie BayasgalanAlmar Dankha

Kaila De La VegaNatalia DudzinskaMaddie Fernandez

Muneeb GhaniShoun John

EXECUTIVE EDITORS Kevin Gau

Peter Liavas

Saniya KhatoonDiana KritzbergValley Odesho

Maciej OtfinowskiJose Reyna

Sandra RzeczycaTom SchmidtSally Tahir

Patrick Zajac

Mrs. Holt conducts the Maine East Band, whose performance included a slide presentation for one of their pieces.

Mrs. Djordjevic conducts the Maine East Orchestra as soloist William Herzog performs.


Last weekend Maine East’s Band, Orchestra, and Choir set the mood for the upcoming winter break. The annual Winter Concert was held on Sunday December, 16 in the auditorium. The three groups played classic piec-es as well as modern twists which allowed a pleasing environment for all ages.

Some of the piec-es featured were “The Christmas Song,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Christmas Chop-sticks,” “Winter,” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, The Nutcracker Suite, “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas,” which included an enticing visual aid, “Carol of the Bells,” and much more.

It was obvious that all the students put in a lot of hard work to make the Winter Concert a success;however, we cannot forget about the wonder-ful staff who made it all possible: Mrs. Holt the band director, Mrs. Djordjevic the orchestra director, and Mr. Boyle the choir director.

“When I listened to the Nut-cracker it felt as if I was listening to a professional orchestra and band,” said Anna Matejczyk an audience member. The large and diverse audience cheered loudly for the orchestra.

The orchestra students were fortunate enough to have a soloist to play Vivaldi’s L’Inver-no (Winter) with them.William Herzog, originally from Toronto, Canada, did a great job.

Herzog has been playing the violin for 21 years and received his Bachelor's degree in music at Indiana University. He is currently getting his masters at Northwestern studying with Ge-rardo Ribeiro. Mr. Herzog also is an assistant which means he teaches younger students as well as runs his own scale class. He was the youngest member to be

accepted to the Toronto Sympho-ny Orchestra at the age of ten.

“The repertoire was Shosta-kovich symphony #10, which is a gigantic work,” said Mr. Herzog. “I had worked for hours and hours on the part individually, and we had rehearsed for about 3 months. It was amazing, to become part of such an amaz-

ing ensemble (which consisted mostly of college students). Even though I was just barely keeping up, it was completely thrilling.”

Mr. Herzog came in a few times during the 7:30 flap class to rehearse with the students. “I found out that you can have a great time playing music, even at 7.30 in the morning,” he said.

A musical ride with Demon NationBy Emily Lapinski

“College students sometimes get very lost in their bubble, the musical world is large, and full of variety.Working with the kids has reminded me a lot about the enthusiasm, and raw enjoyment that music brings, it has been a pleasure working with them.”

see CONCERT, next page

The End of the World is TODAY!Speculations about the end of the world, as

foretold by the Mayan calendar, have prompted survivalist responses. With possibly only hours remaining until the end of the Mayan Calendar and, according to some bloggers, the World, some may wonder how to survive whatever catastrophe may or may not await us remaining humans.

To survive, humans require three main necessities: water, food, and shelter.

Do not drink your own urine when desperate for water. It’s not liquid that your body wants. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be coming out of you. Assuming the water supply isn’t somehow poisoned, drink running water, or carry a filter. If there is no water, do not panic. Simply find a nice, high building and wait for lightning to strike you down.

America is littered with food that can sur-vive just about any sort of catastrophe. Through age, nukes, flooding, or a microwave oven, the few remaining Hostess products will still be

around. Fruits and vegetables will no longer be edible, but according to some Americans, they never were. Should you discover you

have an incredible craving for brains, kindly lock yourself in the nearest basement

until this craving subsides.If you wake up tomorrow and

find that you have survived the Mayan Calendar Doomsday, and have found a source of water and food, attempt to find shelter nearby. Shelter is anything that will keep meteors from falling out of the sky and crushing your skull while you sleep, or zombies from getting to your brain. If possible, invest in a bike

helmet.And when you have complet-

ed these few tasks, you may wish to keep your Twitter followers updated.

Be forewarned, there will not be much response. Should you realize that there is

no Internet in a post-apocalyptic world, you will always have the option of curling into a ball and crying until you too succumb to whatever new apocalypse awaits you.

Preparing for the end of the worldBy Lenny Ditkowsky


Mr. Herzog hopes to become a college professor because he really enjoys the teaching.

For all current musicians and for those who might be considering playing an instrument it is important to remem-ber that music is a gift.

“Fall in love with music and never look back,” said Mr. Herzog. “Even though it is a lot of hard work,there is no price that could be put on the rewards it brings: the connections you forge with your fellow musicians,the joy of playing incredible music, there is no number of hours of video games that can ever com-pare to even five minutes of performing.”

Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors when choosing your classes for next year be sure to take a Fine Arts class. Be a part of Maine East’s prestigious programs and open up to the opportunities they can provide.

CONCERT, from page 4

In Case of the Apocalypse By Lenny Ditkowsky

iTunes®

TOP 10 Songs

Billboard® TOP 5 Album

s

1

2

5

4

3

2

3

4

5

1 6

7

8

9

10

I Knew You WereTaylor Swift

Locked Out of HeavenBruno Mars

Cry (Voice performance)Cassadee Pope

Ho HeyThe Lumineers

DiamondsRihanna

Over You (Voice performance)Cassadee PopeBeauty and a BeatJustin Bieber

HomePhillip Phillips

Don’t You WorrySwedish House Mafia

TryP!nk

RedTaylor Swift

O.N.T.F.C.Wiz Khalifa

Christmas – Michael Buble

Take Me HomeOne Direction

Merry Christmas, BabyRod Stewart

BEST movies

of 2012

BEST SONGS of 2012

Work Hard, Play Hard by Wiz KhalifaRapper Wiz Khalifa brags about his swag. Kind of motivation-al and really catchy.

I Don’t Like by Chief Keef Chicago’s 17-year-old Chief Keef expresses his dislikes.

House Party by Meek Mill“House Party” was probably one of the best songs on the Dreamchasers 2 album; Meek Mill describes what happens when he throws a house party.

By Tom Schmidt

1. The Lucky One This movie was astounding; its raw emotion would make the most hardened soldier come to an emotional standstill. Zac Efron and his co-star Taylor Schilling had wonderful chemistry.

2. The DictatorAlthough not my favorite genre, this movie had me laughing 99% of the time. It was utterly hilarious. You could consider it to be a session of laugh therapy; you will feel so good afterwards.

3. Dark Shadows This movie was so good I actually wish that there was a number between two and three. Tim Burton did a wonderful job directing. I really love where this film went. Johnny Depp was the great actor he usually is. He played his part to my highest expectations.

4. Hotel Transylvania This movie was very good. I loved the voice actors. The characters were all drawn fantastically. The plot was beautifully written. I would recommend getting the DVD.

5. Titanic 3DIt was the best 3D movie I’ve seen. James Cameron used every tool and edited every sequence to the best of his ability. It is an old movie, but the 3D makes it feel new.


TOP BOX OFFICE movies IN 2012

The avengersBuena Vista1

2The Dark Knight RisesWarner Brothers

3The Hunger GamesLionsgate

4The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2Summit Entertainment

5The Ides of MarchSony Pictures

BEST SONGS of 2012

By Maciek Otfinowski

Miss America by J ColeThe song boasts an honest message that needs to be heard by the masses. We need more truth tellers like J. Cole, who’s not afraid to lift up a mirror and show America its true reflection.

Vitamins by Mac MillerIn the begginning when Mac says “take your vitamins” it kinda sounds like it might be a good song for kids, but I doubt anyone plays this in front of their parents. Back to drugs , but again not in a fun party type of way, more in Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, story telling type of way.


Movie Review

OVERALL GRade: b+

The Life of Pi is a book with a relatively simple plot: Boy is named after French swimming pool. Boy’s father owns zoo. Boy’s father buys tiger named Richard Parker. Boy meets tiger. Zoo runs broke. Boy’s father moves family to Canada. Ship sinks. Boy meets tigeragain, in a lifeboat. So maybe it’s not so simple. But before anyone praises James Cameron for his originality, they should be sure to credit Yann Martel for creating this story.

The actors did a fantastic job. Suraj Sharma played a very true-to-the-book Pi Patel, and Irrfan Khan narrated very effectively. The occasional joke was delivered without ruining the mood.

If nothing else, The Life of Pi features the most realistic fake tiger to ever stalk the silver screen. This is in part due to the creators spending lots of time studying live tigers, and filling in the blanks with CGI effects. This paid off. The effect was nearly seamless, aside from Richard Parker’s glowing yellow eyes.

As far as book-to-film adaptations go, The Life of Pi is fairly well-executed, but not the best. The visuals are spectacular, but some-times unnecessary. Halfway through the movie, rather than a scene in which castaway Piscine Patel is severely dehydrated and hallucinating, the audience is assaulted with a long stream of neon lights for no apparent reason. As a stand-alone movie, The Life of Pi could have been better. Certain parts, such as the aforementioned assault of colorful lights, did not translate well, and would make no sense at all to some-one who has not read the book.

By Lenny Ditkowsky

The Life of Pi Cameron’s Retelling Worth a Watch

a very time consuming profession that requires great passion.

“You can do it,” said Teinowitz to inspire the student journalists. “Don’t let people tell you you can’t. I was a fan first, that’s what drove me to

choose this career. I also love the radio because it is constant and I can connect with the listeners.” People doubted Harry but he still believed in

Maine East boys swimming team off to great start

Four students from the Maine East High School Journalism class attended the Chicago Wolves Media Day on December 4. The Media Day showcased three local professional journal-ists: radio talk show host Harry Teinowitz and sports reporters Jill Carlson and Paul Latour. Teinowitz can be heard on ESPN AM-1000 and Carlson currently works for CBS channel 2. La Tour is a staff writer at the Naperville Sun.

The three talked about their life experiences and why they chose the profession of journal-ism. Carlson graduated from the University of Illinois-Champaign, which she said was the “best experience”. She also stressed that journalism is

Pioneer staffers meet local reporters, interview Wolves

Professional journalists Harry Tienewitz, Jill Carlson, and Paul La Tour speak with students at the Chicago Wolves Media Day.

Junior Ricky Pokorski gets a fast start at the Tri-meet on December 7. (Photo by Aron Ianchici).


The boy's 2012 swimming and diving season began late last November and has already proven interesting.

Recently, the varsity boys were introduced to new expectations and an intensified training regiment. However, the boys aren't complaining. In fact, they are embracing it.

Coach Peter Przekota is behind that change. A former Maine South swimmer, Przekota is beginning his third year of coaching varsity boys’ swimming at Maine East and has brought fresh ideas to the table. "Swimming has gone to a whole other level in terms of training," said Przekota. As a result, he has made it his priority to keep the team up with the times. In these new times, he went on to say, practice in the water isn't enough.

Overall body conditioning is one priority, and "dry-land" practice is the result. Already successful, "dry-land" practice was introduced last season and consists of running and core workouts during morning practices. "They're a lot stronger coming into this year," said coach Przekota.

However, the main priority for this varsity coach is not to wear down his boys but for them to take part in the school's spirit. To now

receive a varsity letter, swimmers must attend 90% of both morning and afternoon practices throughout the season. Furthermore, they must also attend at least one sporting event of every team here at school during the winter season.

The swimmers are obligated not only to each other but as part of the school's athlet-ics- to all Demon warriors. Przekota is taking the initiative. "Our expectations have changed, because we want to be role models and an ex-ample for the rest of the school," said the coach.

Though new standards have been set to become a certified varsity member, the boys have always exceeded expectations. At one of their first meets of the season, the Tri-meet on December 7th (hosting Notre Dame, Lane

Tech and Maine East), the varsity boys exhibited just that. Either helping to pull a comrade out of the water after an event or to cheer on one another during races, the boys demonstrate what they defend- Demon pride.

With the season being particularly challenging for himself, that kind of attitude is what coach Przekota strives for. Since recently becoming a father, Przekota has found other obligations to attend to; however, abandoning his boys has never been a thought. "It's a little difficult," said coach, "but I'd like to commit to my guys."

Although the season's been slow going so far, it's still young. "Feeling good, feeling good," said senior Joe Turbak after the Tri-meet, "it was a fun meet and I love this team". Turbak, along with fellow senior Kevin Tom, is varsity co-captain.

"We've been swimming hard all day, and now it's time to make them pay," according to the team's battle cry. Pay they will, but according to coach Przekota, "right now we're just trying to gain experience," and "see where everyone's at."

The boys’ spirits are already high, and they wouldn't want it any other way- since they'll dominate the Central Suburban League soon enough.

SPORTSBy Artur Stasiek

By Sally Tahir and Almar Dankha

see WOLVES, page 10

The Maine East broadcasting program hopes to renovate the old studio.

CHICAGO WOLVES MEDIA DAY:

Reporter Almar Dankha (above) interviews a Wolves player after watching a team practice (right).


WMTH FM and WMTH TV plan equipment upgradesFor most people

being On Air is a once in a lifetime event, but those at WMTH get to do it weekly. “We Make Things Hap-pen,” is the slogan behind WMTH-FM and WMTH TV’s personalities for a rea-son. WMTH-FM is known to have pioneered things. It was the first high school radio station in the country, and is also the longest running high school radio station in the country.

WMTH-FM opened in 1959, with Harrison Ford one of the DJs. Since then, the station has undergone much renovation, has a newly installed phone line, and an online internet stream. While the station has come far, there is hope to expand; in the next few years WMTH-FM hopes to stream the radio station to smartphones and tablets, according to Station Man-ager John Depa.

Retired Broadcasting Teacher Mr. Jim Wunder-lich, who had been at Maine East since the 1980’s, helped build the program, and new Broadcasting teacher Mr. Philip Ash continues to build.

“I think he has natural gifts as a teacher and a

strong background in broadcasting,” said Fine Arts Department Chairman Edward Eubanks about Mr Ash, who hopes to develop a more expansive program with three new courses specializing in radio, TV, and Video Productions.

The TV studio is still functional, but there are things that are out of date.

“The hard part of this job and of this station is keeping up to date,” said Mr. Ash. “When you buy something, as soon as it comes out of the box it’s out of date. You just can’t get the absolute latest and greatest.” The last update to the radio studio was five

Tune into WMTH weekdays from 8am-5pm. If you can’t hear it on your home

radio, a car radio will work. You can also listen from the Maine East Home Page.

By Tom Schmidt

years ago when the walls in the studio were knocked down to create the Mac Lab, according to Mr. Eubanks.

Mr. Ash is also looking ahead to next year, since the Broadcasting program is next in line for upgrades in the department’s allocation. Some of these upgrades may include HD cameras, new software for the Mac lab, new platforms for the Mac lab, digitized profes-sional work flow, and a new video switching system, Trycaster.

Radio is a large part of the program and students like it. Some of the regular shows are “Aimun and Kaila”, “Triple H”, and “The Outcast’s On Air.”

Music and person-

alities on the radio are important. “I expect the personalities to have exactly that-- personality,” said Depa. “The radio station is a great place for students to have their own feel and voice; they should bring their own style to their shows to make them fun and engaging.

“There is no “normal” music that we usually play. Each student plays accord-ing to his or her own style. I play more independent/indie music when I’m on, while others enjoy the top 40s.”

WMTH will eventu-ally broadcast football and soccer in the stadium.

himself. “You can do it if you want. Do not let people bring you down and tell you that you can't do it.”

The panelists emphasized that it is all about self confidence and preparation and as long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible. Carlson suggested taking an internship where you get to do the work hands-on to help decide whether you're still interested.

After the press conference, stu-dents got to watch part of the Chica-go Wolves practice. The highlight of the day was when the students got to

conduct live interviews with several Wolves players. Each player had a different background and talked about different experiences.

The players’ experiences were quite interesting. Most of them seemed to really have a passion for hockey on and off the ice. Andrew Gordon said “I like the enthusiasm on the team,” said star Andrew Gor-don. “It’s hard not have team spirit.”

The Wolves players were patient with the students’ questions, and even seemed to enjoy the experience.

“No matter the score on the end,we're all still a supportive fami-ly,” said Chris Tanev.


Maine East High School’s Shakespeare Recitation Contest

January 24, 2013 at 3:20 in Room 230

Memorize and recite NO MORE THAN

20 LINES of a Shakespeare Monologue!

MEHS’s winner competes

in Chicago at the English Speaking Union’s

Regional Contest (February 25th) For cash prizes $1,500, $750, or $500

and a free trip to New York City for the National Competition

You can find official rules, suggested monologues, judging advice, and MORE at this website:

http://www.esuus.org/esu/programs/shakespeare_competition/about/forstudents/ Or Google “English Speaking Union” “Chicago”

to find the webpage

Find official rules, suggested monologues, judging advice, and MORE at http://bit.ly/ShakespeareContest LANGUAGE,

from page 2

design original posters and slogans focusing on the im-portance of learning a foreign language.

The task was trickier than it seemed, however; students had to include all of the lan-guages taught at Maine East: French, Spanish, German, and Italian.

The winner of the poster contest, Alyanna Villapando, won a $25 dollar gift card, and Io Mae Apelacio took second place, earning a $20 dollar gift card. Their creative artwork is proudly hanging inside the 328A display case (and pictured here).

Throughout the week, the morning announcements were followed by music played from a variety of different nations. These songs were also some of the many that WMTH played for their listeners last Thurs-day and Friday.

“The benefits of learn-ing a foreign language are endless,” said Spanish student Patrick Zajac. These types of realizations are what foreign language celebrations all around the world are aiming to bring about.

Foreign Language Week is an opportunity for to stress the importance of learning an-other language to students and have them realize the cultural diversity of Maine East and the outside world.

Under the MistletoeBy Julie Bayasgalan

WOLVES, from page 8

Every year on December 24, Polish-Christians celebrate the tradition of coming togeth-er on Christmas Eve.

Wigilia translates to vigil, meaning: “A period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, to keep watch or pray.”

The day consists of putting up the Christmas tree, putting hay under the tree to represent the birth of Christ and playing various straw games which determines good or bad luck, green, good, and black, bad. This game is often played by children.

There is an old saying with how you behave, that’s how you will be for the next year.

A table is set up for the evening supper which consists of 12 different dishes varying to cabbage, soups, fish, pierogi and traditional desserts.

By Sandra Rzeczyca

Wigilia celebrated by Polish-Christians

The table always has one more dish if a passerby needs a warm meal to eat, he/she would come and join the family.

After the first star is spot-ted in the sky, the supper begins with breaking the Christmas wafer and saying prayers. Each family member sits down at the table and the feast begins.

It is always a tradition to try little of everything, even if you don’t like or want it.

“Opening presents at mid-night on Christmas Eve, is the best part.” said junior Tomasz Suchecki, who celebrates Wigil-ia every year.

Instead of opening presents on Christmas Day, presents are opened after supper or after the Shepherd’s Mass. Families at midnight gather in church for the Shepherd’s Mass, pray and remember the day Christ was born.


Nine states in our coun-try currently recognize gay marriage: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachu-setts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia. It is gaining more supporters in states that don’t yet recognize it or have civil unions instead. So why not legalize gay marriage throughout the country, peri-od? Imagine a couple legally married in their state and not being recognized in another and therefore not getting the same benefits as straight couples do.

Some argue that gay marriage supposedly destroys the sanctity of what marriage stands for, the union between a man and woman. Some of those same critics stand against the rights of gay couples to parent children, claiming it’s bad for a child’s future to be raised by parents of the same gender. Or, as Rick Santorum told a New Hampshire audience before the state allowed gay marriage, chil-dren are “better off with a father in prison than being raised in a home with lesbian parents and no father at all.” Sanctity, indeed.

Evidence suggests that gay couples may actually provide parenting that is just as effective as straight couples’ parenting. Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massa-chusetts who researches gay and

lesbian parenting, says that gay parents “tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents.” Other research-ers have also confirmed this contention.

Children with gay parents are no different than children with hetereosexual parents; however, according to Gold-berg’s and other scientists’ research, kids of gay parents show more achievement and have greater mental health and social functioning.

Not only that, gay parents are also more likely to adopt children who are having a hard time being placed in different foster homes. That isn’t to say heterosexual parents can’t do this either, just that gay parents seek out these situations more often.

The bottom line is that kids raised by same-sex par-ents fare no differently than kids raised by heterosexual parents. However, until this country recognizes marriage rights for gay couples in all fifty states, people will still debate the effectiveness of gay parents and fail to understand that the ability to love, not sex-ual preference, is a key factor in whether a parent will be effective. Gay marriage is be-ing discussed in the Supreme Court and will be argued in March, with a decision expect-ed by June.

Time to accept truth about gay marriage and

parentingBy Karishma Fazal


Hello Demon Nation! We are ending this year and unboxing and preparing for a new year. Can you believe that this year went by in such a snap? So many changes: new faces, new equip-ment, and new tech adventures have made this year amazing!

One of these amazing additions is the new “Tech Toolbox,” where a session is held in the LRC each month to present a technology topic and show how to use it properly. The last two “Tech Toolboxes” featured Google Tools and the Aspen Student Portal. The goal of these presenta-tions is to help students fill up their “technology toolboxes”. If you attend, you can learn some-thing new to help you collaborate with peers, or help you stay on track to finish off a successful semester.

Also in the works is “Tech Genius”, a stu-dent group led by the LRC and the Technology Department in an effort to support students and staff members starting second semester. Tech Geniuses will help students with tech questions before school, during all school periods, and after school till 4:30pm when the LRC closes. Students in the program will learn different ways to interact with people as well as get a feel for how technology works at Maine East.

Our last Pioneer tech topic of 2012 is Prezi! Prezi is an online application similar to Google Drive and Prixlr, an online photo editor. “Prezi is a marvelous approach to the visualization of information,” said Rob Campbell, creator of Pow-erPoint. Once you sign up for a free account with a school email you get 500 MB* of cloud space to use your creativity and make many Prezis!

To begin a presentation you start off with a variety of slides and or 3D Templates. Once you pick what you want to start off with you add on to it with text, video, pictures, and more, just like any other presentation. The final step is to present it to anybody and everybody.

Happy Holidays Demon Nation & Fulfill Your New Year’s Resolutions!

2nd Semester Tech Toolboxes:January 9th: Study Skills

February 6th: Online Databases

Type these links into your url box to see two Prezi examples:Christmas Prezi: http://goo.gl/8goEb

From the Tech Toolbox, Aspen Student Portal: http://goo.gl/W6Pj4

Have a tech-riffic start to 2013 with Tech Toolbox

By Kevin Gau

The Prezi interface

Use Prezi for interesting and unique presentations beyond Powerpoint

The Pioneer 12.21.2012

Documents

Transcript of The Pioneer 12.21.2012