Niles Township High School West - Spectrum Yearbook (Skokie, IL)

Page 19 text:

While conducting freshmen elections, Sen¬ ate vice president Eric Orsic is almost fooled by seniors Eric Biljetina and Scott Moreth, who try to pose as freshmen. A car, a guy, and a gal - all the fixings for a date, or, in this case, a preparation for their final Homecoming. Seniors Henry Rodriguez and Melissa Connell put a lot of effort in Homecoming events, committed to enjoying themselves. The Joker Strikes Again r he Joker stormed into the office at Niles West in search of a hiding place from the Dynamic Duo. He marveled at the thought of seeing a rerun of one of his performances on the t.v. screens there. To the Joker’s dismay, they were not televisions, but Macintosh computers. The cunning culprit soon got over his misery because he discovered the senior student files and began changing names to better suit his deranged disposition. When Batman and Robin arrived, they found the office swimming in banners of printer paper, on which the Joker had printed the changed names. “Holy candy corn cakes, Batman! Look at this!’’ Robin held up the paper, and they saw . . . Matt was Lincoln instead of Adams . . . Mia was a subtracter instead of an Adler .. . Suzanne was off instead of Ahn ... Lisa were then instead of Arnow ... Jed was humble instead of Arrogante . . . Marty was Mozart instead of Bach . . Esther was a pond instead of a Bae . . . Aaron bakes instead of Boyles . .. Janine was dim instead of Breit ... Neil was a chauffer instead of a Butler Bob was chills instead of Burns Swiftly Passing Days s this the final year be¬ gins, seniors have a lot to think about. Some of them will go to college to con¬ tinue studies while others will enter the world of work. Recalling the past three years of high school, seniors have many stored experiences that will last forever. Recollections of athletic events, the drudgery of every school day, Homecom¬ ing, and Prom remain long after graduation. This last year marks a change in the lives of all seniors who realize that this ends four years of sharing ex¬ periences with friends they may never see again. Guys and gals seem more unified, with strong feelings of togetherness. New¬ found maturity helps them re¬ alize that they don’t have much time left to be with each other for in June, the seniors will go their own separate ways. Tim Queen The football team plays its last games as Indians, hoping for a win to make the memory sweet. Meanwhile, the varsity cheerleaders relish their moment in front of the fans. George was a blister instead of a Callas Peggy was Lipton instead of Campbell Carlos was houses instead of Casas . . . Rachel was ice cream instead of a Cohen Michael was Carrington instead of Colby Andy was Abott instead of Costello .. . Arnold was a flight instead of a Cruz .. . Steve was a sailor instead of a Farmer Megan was a silver plate instead of a Goldish ... Urik was a school day instead of a Halliday .. . Lenny was dogs instead of Katz . . . Ron was a hug instead of a Kiss . . . Julie was a Dominick’s instead of a Kohl Andy was la jusice instead of LaLiberty Judy was a mile instead of a Lapp . Corinna was a crime instead of a Law Ed was Levis instead of Lee . . . Beth was Belgium instead of Lichtenstein ... Charlie was a woman instead of a Man Chris was a panther instead of a Minx Keith was McHistory instead of McMath David was Garfield instead of Morris . . . Mindy was a pastawoman instead of a Nudelman . . . Nancy was a pencil instead of a Penn Nicole was the cost instead of a Price Tim was a king instead of a Queen . . . Calvin was a goat’s ear instead of a Ramseyer . . . Cyndi was a cat later instead of a Ratnow . . . Amy was Milano instead of Roma . . . Wally was Vanna White instead of Sajdak . . . Linda was Marshall Fields instead of Sax Danielle was a dancer instead of a Singer Rea-Kyung was a poem instead of a Song . . . Becka was a canoe instead of a Shipp Li Mei was IBM instead of Wang . . Lisa was a prisoner instead of a Warden Evan was Marlboro instead of Winston Maria was wrong instead of Wright . . . Janey was me instead of Yu ..., and Leonard was a twinkie lady instead of a Zingerman. On the bottom was written, “Boy Blunder instead of Boy Wonder! . . . The Drowning Duo! .. . I’ve escaped, Caped Crusaders! — the Joker.” “Ratts, Batman. What now?” “Tune in tomorrow, same Bat time.” “Same Bat channel, right?” “Right, Boy Blunder. — I mean, Boy Wonder.” Megan Goldish Nikoletta Antonakos Mini Magazine

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14 76e Scene . . . With Upperclassmen o one can deny that the more concentration one puts into something, the less of a problem it becomes, and the more benefit it pro¬ duces. Inspiration is all one needs to open himself to billions of possibilities. School has been established to provide the necessary inspiration. It introduces students not only to knowledge but also to other people and interests. Seniors often look back to their years at West and wonder why they didn’t do certain things, many times regretting opportu¬ nities passed. But because of their somewhat developed maturity, seniors also look back and realize how many things they have accomplished, and how much they have enjoyed them¬ selves. A simple comparison between the attitudes of people who participate in activities can be made, for instance. Freshmen love to participate in clubs to be “in the crowd,” sophomores partici¬ pate passively, juniors because they be¬ gin to realize how good it would look on their transcripts, but seniors through the years have grown to truly care about the organizations and the people in them. They have broken from the crowd and become individuals, doing it all because they realize their presence makes a difference. It is an arrogant, yet humbling mindset, since along with in¬ dividuality comes responsibility. It is a mindset that may be applied to all fac¬ ets of life, especially in high school. Seniors have struggled to build them¬ selves, so now they live freely, without the burden or need to impress others. They have done it all, and they are hav¬ ing it all! Seniors’ Empire ost seniors have come to the conclusion that they hold the reverence of the entire student body and consider Niles West their “Empire.” Wher¬ ever this notion emerged from, ju¬ niors are wise to the misconcep- The West Word is very popular among stu¬ dents, and Senior Sally Ko especially enjoys the editorials written by her classmates. tion and accept this absurd facade. They know that seniors are all talk and no action. Juniors, however, do have a slight sense of admiration for their fellow upperclassmates. Seniors exhibit a feeling of freedom as they “float” through their last year at West with a carefree atti¬ tude; they stand ready to take a step higher in life, and ready to respond to different experiences regardless which path of life they choose. On the whole, juniors and sen¬ iors consider each other friends, sharing mutual admiration. To¬ ward the end of the school year, the groups become even closer, as the juniors learn the tricks of the trade to becoming “perfect” sen¬ iors. Eventually, the “Empire” is handed down to the new group of classmen who, like their senior friends, try to appear as the domi¬ nant force in the school. So con¬ tinues this never-ending high school tradition . . . Karrie Karahalios Mini Magazine

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WtotitMug tC r HE HEAT. It melts the snow away, causes plants to grow, and brings a new generation of animals to life. It also dries our clothing and our hair and cooks our food. Without heat, many things would be im¬ possible. Most people can’t tolerate the thought of an ice age in which there would be no spring or summer trips to the hot sands of Florida. Heat caused by the sun means summer, tanned skin, and no school, and these in turn represent re¬ lief to every burned-out, almost-crazed student longing for a time to ex¬ perience non-thought-re¬ quiring activities. To¬ wards the end of the school year, in late May and early June, a time when the brains of stu¬ dents have reached the “relief needed” level, heat also causes a slow¬ down in academic pro¬ duction. Summer means a vacation for thought cells, and the school sud¬ denly fills with sweaty, zombie-like students. An immediate remedy for heat exhaustion is a cool atmosphere. A few years ago, this cure was “attempted.” The goal: keep the building cool; the method: blocking up half the windows in the school. The students still feel the results: less air circulation, less sunlight, and more need to keep doors open to create a draft in the class. Of course, these procedures brought on growing com¬ plaints of noisy hallways, so the halls were closed, ■■■■■ NO WAY OUT. The sweltering heat is not outside, but inside the building, causing these students to race for the door. Enjoying the unusually warm fall weather is one thing, but Senior Hak Kang imagines himself in the jungle, swing from vine to branch. causing more people to flock to places like the over-crowded cafeteria, which, in turn, caused more gathered heat and more unrest among stu¬ dents. An additional rem¬ edy for noisy halls ap¬ peared suddenly over one summer: the infamous carpeting. One can only wonder of what synthetic fibers that turf consists, but it certainly has the 1 V capacity to trap heat and especially humidity. Ap¬ parently, the decisions made many years ago have not only not solved the problem, but have also caused more prob¬ lems. Overall, the stu¬ dents have been left to suffer the heat from both Mother Nature and the angry faculty (the latter having few complaints about the heat because the teacher’s lounge is air-conditioned). Niles North students enjoy the same comforts as our teachers, since their school is air conditioned. So, it seems that West students are being denied the privileges the faculty and Northerners are granted. Hmmmm. Can these be causes for revo¬ lution? “The needs of the Westerners vs. the satiat¬ ed faculty and Northern¬ ers.” Well, those op¬ pressed may rise up! — but maybe when the heat cools off a bit. Nikoletta Antonakos 16 Mini Magazine