Preview of the Grammy’s >>Review of Napoleon movie>> pg. 2-3
Leading the stampede with award-winning coverage
Vol. 64 Issue 3
Mundelein High School, 1350 W. Hawley St., Mundelein, IL 60060
The
Mustang
Centerspread all about conpiracy theories >> pg. 4-5
Parking spot controversies >> A year in Congress>> pg. 6-7
Bursting: Why MHS continues to have water main breaks
Lia Koski
Co-Editor-In-Chief
MHS students have jokingly considered
water main break days as Mundelein’s
new holiday because at least once a year,
the school suers water main breaks that
force the school to shut down for the day.
To understand why the school continues
to have water main breaks, it is crucial to
understand the basics behind the school’s
piping system.
A water main break is caused by a hole or
leak in a pipe that results in water coming
to the surface. The root causes of a water
main break are the quality and age of the
pipes and the pressure that is being put on
them.
According to the Utility Superinten-
dent for Mundelein, Paul Cacioppo, pipes
“generally break from the age of the pipe.
Most older pipes are steel or ductile Iron.
As it ages it weakens over time. Also bolts
that hold anges together tend to rust and
break.”
Director of Facilities at MHS, Kevin
Quinn added, “Piping has a lifespan, like
a lot of other things. When we talk about
things we have to reference that no con-
struction material will last forever. There’s
been signicant changes in materials and
methodologies of construction since 1959,
when the school was constructed.”
Throughout the years, MHS employed
various kinds of piping, the rst of which
was cast iron piping. “In the mid 1940s,
[they used] cast iron piping,” said Quinn.
Then, when iron materials were scarce,
people turned to using sand cast piping.
However, sand cast piping only ensured a
50 year warranty.
Today, Mundelein’s piping system is
made up of a mix of both sand cast pip-
ing and cast iron piping along with a few
newer plastic pipes or PVC piping. Even
though every material has its own lifespan,
PVC piping has proven to last the longest.
Even with durable material, pipes cannot
last forever. Quinn explained that when
pipes are underground, they undergo more
distress. For example, the freezing and
thawing cycles as well as infrastructure
can cause an imbalance of pressure on the
system. The eects of the freezing and
thawing cycles explain why the past two
water main breaks have occurred during
mid winter.
Once a pipe bursts or leaks, maintenance
repairs it with a higher quality pipe like
PVC piping or copper piping. Mainte-
nance can also repair the damaged part of
the pipe by using a repair sleeve, a piece
of metal that will cover up the hole. MHS
has used these methods for the past two
water main breaks. However, these “solu-
tions” include repairing parts of the pipe
system instead of the whole system itself.
It is like placing a band-aid over a broken
arm instead of xing the arm. And with
old pipes, a water main break is inevitable
and bound to occur.
“[The construction inside] school build-
ings have a lifespan between 50 and 70
years. We’re 65 years old for this build-
ing,” said Quinn. “At 65 years, you’re ask-
ing a lot of materials to go past [their ca-
pable lifespan].”
Even if replacing the piping is the only
thing capable of preventing a water main
break, it is not an easy task to do. Replac-
ing a singular pipe will not solve the prob-
lem, workers would have to dig eight feet
into the ground and completely redesign
the whole piping system–-and it’s not ex-
actly cheap to do.
“Most likely if the pipe was replaced, the
breaks would stop. Pipe replacement is
roughly $360 per foot,” Cacioppo said.
In order to pay for these repairs, schools
receive funding from various sources in-
cluding property taxes for that area. Quinn
added how schools can also use referen-
dums to generate nancial support.
The Board of Education proposed a refer-
endum last spring that included allocating
funds for infrastructure needs along with
a renovated auditorium and a new eld
house. However, the referendum did not
pass. Even if the community votes against
the referendum again, Quinn says that
the infrastructure repairs “still have to be
done.”
In order to pass the referendum and re-
place the piping, Quinn said, “The com-
munity has to view [the school] as a com-
munity asset. They need to protect the
community asset no dierent than if they
had a garage on their house that went into
disrepair or if they didn’t address a roof is-
sue.” He added, “You would anticipate that
your project would fall down and not be
usable. You would say as a conscientious
person, ‘I better gure out how I won’t
take a vacation next year. I’m gonna go do
this or I won’t do that.’ You have to allo-
cate funds dierently.”
“If the referendum doesn’t pass, the
Board of Education has to make a deter-
mination of where we can reallocate funds
to in order to address these signicant
needs,” said Quinn. Ultimately, it is up
to the Board of Education to decide how
to allocate these funds for infrastructure
such as piping.
Without the referendum and the replace-
ment of the 65-year-old-pipes, another wa-
ter main break is bound to occur.
Quinn said, “I would anticipate another
one. We all should anticipate another one
happening. 100%.”
While students may enjoy the day o that
the water main break provides them with,
a water main break is a sign of a school that
needs signicant infrastructure repairs. It
only takes one water main break to com-
pletely ood a classroom. The next water
main break could possible close down the
school for more than one day.
The burst pipe during the main
break of 2022.
photo submitted by Kevin Quinn
photo submitted by Kevin Quinn
The piping system of MHS mapped
out in 1965.
photo submitted by Kevin Quinn
In order to x the leak in a pipe in 2022, MHS maintence sta and others
applied a repair sleeve to the pipe. This sleeve is made of metal and uses
pressure in order to cover the broken parts of the pipe. While this may be a
short term solution, it is not realistic to apply repair sleeves to every pipe.
February 2024
the
mustang
2
Entertainment
Preview of the 2024 Grammy Awards
The nominations for the 66th Annual
Grammy Awards were announced in early
November. The music awards ceremony
will take place on February 4th, 2024.
As this date nears, let’s take a look at this
year’s competitors for best record, artist,
and composition.
The ceremony’s biggest categories in-
clude Record of The Year, Album of The
Year, and Song of The Year. Among the
nominees include artists that have been
nominated in the past, including Taylor
Swift, Billie Eillish, Jon Batiste, and SZA.
Boygenius, an indie band made up of Phoe-
be Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker,
is one of the only new nominees for Record
of The Year and Album of The Year.
For the Best New Artist category, many
fans are looking forward to seeing who
comes out on top, as many of the nomi-
nees in this category have recently become
popular in mainstream music. Nominees in
this category include Gracie Abrams, Ice
Spice, Victoria Monét, and Noah Kahan.
In big news, The Recording Academy,
who created the Grammy Awards, has
added three new categories this year: Best
Alternative Jazz Album, Best Pop Dance
Recording, and Best African Music Per-
formance. These categories were added to
“celebrate these impactful sounds like nev-
er before,’ according to an article written
by Morgan Enos on the ocial Grammy
website.
“..changes like these open up the prospect
of GRAMMY wins and nominations to art-
ists from a multitude of backgrounds and
across more genres,” Enos said.
Leading the pack this year with most
Grammy nominations is SZA, with nine
nominations. Her second album “SOS”
and its lead single “Kill Bill” gained a mas-
sive amount of popularity after its release
in December of 2022. In the past year, the
singer’s popularity has grown extensively,
which her Grammy nominations reect.
These nominations include Record of The
Year and Song of The Year for “Kill Bill”,
Album of the Year for “SOS”, and Best
Pop/Duo Group Performance for “Ghost
In The Machine’’ featuring Phoebe Bridg-
ers. She has also received ve nominations
in the R&B Category, including Best R&B
Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Pro-
gressive R&B Album, and Best Melodic
Rap Performance.
Another woman who has taken over the
2024 Grammy Awards is Barbie - well the
movie at least. The Barbie soundtrack has
received a total of eleven nominations, four
of which are all in the same category of
Best Song Written For Visual Media. Art-
ists associated with the Barbie soundtrack
include Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, Billie Eil-
ish, Dua Lipa, and even Ryan Gosling for
his hit song “I’m Just Ken”. Gosling com-
mented on his song’s success, saying that
before the Barbie movie, no one cared
about the character Ken.
“He was just a 70-year-old crotchless doll
with no house, no car, no job, no voice
and look at him now! He has a Grammy-
nominated power ballad and the voice of
an angel,” Gosling said.
Billie Eillish’s song “What was I Made
For?” has respectively received nomina-
tions for Record of The Year, Song of The
Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.
“Dance The Night” written by Dua Lipa
has also received a nomination for Song of
The Year.
Overall, the Grammy Awards will be
a nail biting ceremony. With a variety of
nominees and the excitement around the
new Grammy categories, all we can do is
wait until February 4th to see which artists
and songs come on top.
Emily Porter
Sta Reporter
U2 in Las Vegas, do you Sphere the music?
The newest over the top Las Vegas attrac-
tion is here - and it's like nothing the city
has ever seen before. The Sphere is a 366
feet tall concert venue which, you guessed
it, takes the shape of a massive sphere. A
giant ball just o the Vegas strip would
be cool enough, but the Sphere ts right
in with every other over-the-top Vegas at-
traction by boasting over 1.2 million LED
panels that completely cover the inside and
outside. This allows the inside of building
to function eectively as a movie theater/
concert venue hybrid, and the outside to
appear as a mystifying, glowing orb of
ad space for whichever company pays the
most (ads are constantly run on the Sphere,
and the cost to run an ad on it is upwards
of $450,000 per day, according to NBC).
Truthfully, when I heard about the Sphere
for the rst time, my initial reaction was
that it was corporate America just taking
another step in the direction of our increas-
ingly hyper-consumerist society. An enor-
mous ball with the sole purpose to enter-
tain the masses does feel a little dystopian,
after all. Although after visiting it to see the
band U2 play inside of the Sphere back in
December, I can now condently say that it
is exactly that, and so much more.
After ying to Vegas and staying a night
in the Venetian, my family and I made our
way to the Sphere for the concert.
Entering the Sphere feels like you are
plunged into a dierent world, as the rst
thing to greet you as you walk in is a talk-
ing robot who’s strange looks t it right
in the uncanny valley. The robot’s name
is Aura, and you can ask it questions and
receive AI generated responses in return. I
saw people holding full conversations with
this robot. No, I’m not making this up.
Regardless, it’s no question that the
Sphere itself is a marvel of engineering.
As we took our seats before the concert be-
gan, the walls of the inside of the Sphere
looked like concrete bricks surrounding us,
and there was a small opening at the top
that exposed the sky. My rst thought was
“what if it rains?”, but it soon became clear
that this was just a visual from the screen,
and that no, there was not actually a gaping
hole in the top of the Sphere. The fact that I
even had that thought attests to the intense
realism of the visuals in the venue.
As U2 came out and the concert started,
the visuals themselves were even more
stunning, and completely enthralling
throughout the entire set. A diverse set of
creative sequences added a new layer to
the music and felt incredibly immersive,
even during the less well-known songs.
Really though, there were certain visual
sections that were like nothing I have ever
seen before. For example, during the sec-
ond song, a clever optical illusion was used
that was absolutely captivating. As the
song began, the screen turned the Sphere’s
appearance into a box-like shape with ran-
dom numbers ashing all over the sides,
and then back into a sphere. I’m aware that
description probably sounds like complete
nonsense if you’ve never seen what the
Sphere even looks like, so I would look it
up online if your curious - there are plenty
of videos of the concert out there.
One sequence felt out of place though,
as it showed a series of ashing words
on the screen that embodied a rebellious,
anti-capitalist message. I understand this
is not out of place for U2, but something
about showing punk-like, rage against the
machine-type imagery felt ironic when the
Sphere itself seems to embody complete
materialistic consumption in modern-
day America. I mean really, a massive
$2 billion dollar ball sitting in the center
of Las Vegas - the capital of hedonism in
the western world - and I’m inside the gi-
ant ball watching the screen project the
words “EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS
WRONG”. Either I’m missing the point,
or there seems to be some real lack of self
awareness here.
The energy of the crowd was about what
you would expect from a U2 concert, lled
with more bald white men than the average
suburban barbecue, and moms that could
not remember the words to “With or With-
out You”.
It would be easy to write o the Sphere
as just another crazy Las Vegas attraction,
but there really is something incredible
here. Now, would I recommend spending
your money to see a bunch of old guys sing
songs in a giant glowing orb? It depends.
If you really love U2, go for it. If not, con-
sider saving your money until a band that
you really love comes along - the Sphere
isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Eric Beauchamp
Sta Reporter
photo courtesy of Eric Beauchamp
the
3
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Entertainment
The
Mustang
Staff
The Mustang is a student-pro-
duced publication published
in print about every six weeks
and also online by the journal-
ism students of Mundelein High
School, 1350 W. Hawley St.,
Mundelein, IL, 60060, phone
(847) 949-2200. The Mustang
provides accurate and objective
coverage of events and topics
that are interesting and relevant
to high school students. The sta
welcomes signed letters from
readers for possible publication.
These letters can be submitted
to the Journalism Room A101.
Co-Editor-In-Chief
William Fisher
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Lia Koski
Opinion Editor
Olivia Baude
Sta Reporters
Eric Beauchamp
Matteo Mele
Emily Porter
Hannah Roberts
Clarissa Santos
Harper Yae
Adviser
Diane Covert
Technical Support
Kathryn Serby
Follow us on Instagram
@mundynewspaper
Check out the
online edition at
mhsmustang.com
Napoleon is Ridley Scott’s newest lm,
and despite the title, the movie focuses far
more on Napoleon’s odd relationship with
his wife, Josephine, than his conquering
of Europe and the revolutionary values he
spread.
“There’s barely any context as to the
events that happened before the Napole-
onic Wars in the sense that the events we
saw like Marie Antonette getting decapi-
tated in the beginning. There’s not really
any context as to why that happens or the
execution and attempted suicide of Robe-
spierre…we’re just given those events on
screen, whereas we’re not given why those
events happened in the rst place in the
context behind it,” said Ryan Bugaring,
senior.
While Joaquin Phoenix, the actor who
plays Napoleon, doesn’t give a bad perfor-
mance, it doesn’t reach the status of amaz-
ing, “I don’t think he reached that status.
I still think it was Phoenix playing Na-
poleon. There are very few select movies
where you forget who the actor is and you
really think you’re looking at that person,”
said Thomas Kuhn, social studies teacher.
The focus of the lm, while certainly
dierent from most content on Napoleon,
leaves out so much of his character and
accomplishments, “Ridley Scott makes
him out to be kind of a simplistic char-
acter. Somebody who is very awkward in
romantic relationships, which of course he
was, and was completely obsessed with his
wife, Josephine. Which on the one hand
is kind of lovely, but also weird, and we
only get the weird side of it, and his obses-
sion with his wife is what motivates him
throughout his life. Which is not even close
to how one, I think, ought to view Napo-
leon and lots of historians… They write
about his obsession with Josephine, she’s
an interesting part of his personality, but
kind of secondary or even tertiary or not
even something that’s really worth writ-
ing about,” said social studies teacher Neil
McCarthy.
The battles however, even if few, are
great. “So… the pitch battles of like Water-
loo, Austerlitz are excellent. You feel like
you’re there, it’s amazing. So when I was
watching it on the big screen, that kind of
stu blew me away and I was impressed
with it,” stated McCarthy.
The most glaring complete omission from
the movie is Napoleon’s political accom-
plishments. His Napoleonic Code, a revo-
lutionary constitution which spread the
Enlightenment ideals across Europe and
the world, isn’t even mentioned. Napoleon
considered this his greatest achievement.
Bugaring said “We’re never given the im-
pression that Napoleon was an avid fan of
the likes of Plato and Voltaire and Rous-
seau and all these other enlightenment phi-
losophers, we don’t really see that in the
movie. We just see him…continuously as-
suming these roles of power without with-
out any idea of the justication towards
those actions…the reason why France was
attacked by so many of those coalition
forces in the rst place, a major justica-
tion for Napoleon to take those wars was
to defend the republican and democratic
principles of the revolution that he so often
endorsed, but no it’s more so the fact that
according to Ridley Scott he was a tyrant
and he just wanted to build an empire for
himself.”
Napoleon: A awed portrait of Europe’s conquerer
William Fisher
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Milwalky Taco restaurant review: stick to the tacos
While Mundelein oers great places to go
to get a bite to eat, there truly is a hidden
gem in the town over. Milwalky Taco in
Libertyville oers a vast menu and a com-
fortable ambiance.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, pa-
trons are greeted and seated–almost always
without a wait. Outdoor seating is oered
in the summer, and in the winter oor-to-
ceiling garage windows provide views of
the town of Libertyville. You can watch the
snow fall as you stay warm inside, the per-
fect combination.
Milwalky Taco has everything from ta-
cos to burritos to fajita bowls. My personal
favorites are the brisket taco and the pollo
taco. The brisket is marinated in sweet sea-
soning and accompanied by sauteed onions
with a dollop of avocado mayo. The pollo
taco is a party for the tastebuds–the chick-
en has a hint of charcoal which delightfully
mixes with the feta cheese and pickled on-
ions. Of course when you go to a Mexican
restaurant, the rst thing to do is get chips
and guacamole. The guacamole is decent,
not the best I’ve tasted, but if you’re in the
mood for guac, then the $8 it costs you will
go right over your head. The restaurant
charges separately just to get chips--a little
ridiculous. However, the chips do come
salted and warm, as if they were just made.
In addition to the “mid” guac, I also do
not advise getting the quesadilla. Maybe
the quesadilla with meat would be better,
but by itself it’s a little plain. There were
chopped up tomatoes and sauteed onions
that were all cramped inside the quesadilla.
A surplus of sour cream was smeared on
the quesadilla as if the sour cream would
make up for the lack of avor in the que-
sadilla itself.
Besides the quesadilla, everything else at
Milwalky Taco leaves you feeling warm,
fuzzy, and full. It’s an inexpensive place
for a date or a family gathering. Overall,
if you go out to Milwalky Taco, stick to
what’s in the title, and just get the tacos.
Lia Koski
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Author Ali Hazelwood is well-known for
her adult romance novels with a common
theme of her characters being scientists. It
worked well for her, but she decided to try
something new with her newest book. Her
young adult debut “Check and Mate” was
released in November.
As the title suggests the book follows a
rivals-to-lovers trope centered around the
game of chess. The main character, Mallo-
ry Greenleaf, a chess superstar in her youth
who decides to put away her chess board
in her teen years, swearing to never return.
However, nancial struggles and a once-
in-a-lifetime opportunity force her back
into the game a bit after her high school
graduation.
On the other hand, Nolan Sawyer, nick-
named the “Kingkiller” for his quick work
in every chess game he plays, is another
child prodigy. When he and Mallory face
each other in a small tournament and Mal-
lory wins, Nolan takes a particular interest
in her.
The two meet time and time again and
at rst, Mallory hates Nolan. Initially she
nds him stuck up and creepy, but over
time they grow to like each other. They
connect through the game as they con-
tinue to play each other.
The book is the perfect short rom-com.
It’s cute, funny, and the characters have
good personalities. They are fun to read
about and the side characters add a lot to
the story. It’s a memorable novel and cer-
tainly worth the read.
Check and Mate: an Ali Hazelwood novel
Hannah Roberts
Sta Reporter
photo courtesy of Bleak & Bleak Archi-
tects
the
mustang
4
Crazy Conspiracies
Popular Conspiracy Theories Explained
Hannah Roberts
Sta Reporter
On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana of
Wales was spending a night out at the Ritz
Hotel in Paris with Dodi Al-Fayed. They
were found by the paparazzi and decided to
leave. They got in a car with Diana’s body-
guard, Trevor Rees-Jones, and driver, Hen-
ri Paul. They sped o through the streets
attempting to outrun the paparazzi when
they entered the Pont de I’Alma tunnel and
crashed into a beam. Henri and Dodi died
upon impact. Trevor survived and Princess
Diana was taken to the hospital where she
later died from her injuries. A tragic end
to a tragic night. However, there are some
details that don’t quite t the story, some
things that don’t make sense.
First and foremost there’s the diary entry.
In 1995, two years before her death, Diana
wrote a diary entry that held interesting
information about what Diana thought of
her life at the time and what she thought
was coming to her. It read, “This particular
phase in my life is the most dangerous- my
husband is planning ‘an accident’ in my
car, brake failure, or serious head injuries
in order to make the path clear for him to
marry Camilla.”
To any conspiracy theorist, this informa-
tion is concerning. The fact that she was
predicting her own death two years before
it happened seems quite odd.
Another odd thing about Diana’s death
is the amount of time the ambulance took
to get to the hospital. Diana was put in an
ambulance at 1:00 in the morning but the
vehicle didn’t leave the site of the accident
until 1:40. Police claim that this was be-
cause her heart wasn’t stable enough for
them to drive so they had to wait. While
this is most likely the truth, it took the am-
bulance until 2:06 in the morning to arrive
at the hospital; almost two hours after the
crash.
For all the conspiracy theorists out there,
this last claim made by the police is the
most confusing. They claimed that the
driver of the car was above the legal al-
cohol limit; however, security camera
footage at the Ritz suggests otherwise.
Just minutes before the Princess and her
acquaintances left, Paul was seen tying
his shoes. Seems simple but the way he
performed the act was very normal, not at
all suggestive of him being drunk. He sim-
ply bent down, tied one shoe, and easily
shifted his weight to tie the other before
standing up and walking away in a straight
line without any loss of balance.
What happened to Princess Diana was
a tragedy but not everything adds up. So
what really happened to Diana? It will
most likely always be a mystery.
Princess Diana: Unfortunate accident or malicious murder?
photo courtesy of AFP
The car of Princess Diana after the
crash that killed her.
The conspiracy behind why the Earth is believed to be at
William Fisher
Co-Editor-In-Chief
The at earth theory is quite simple at rst
glance, that the Earth, rather than a sphere,
is a at disc. However the rest of the theory
is arguably even more interesting.
While the fact that the Earth is a sphere
has been largely accepted in the western
world since at least the Hellenistic period
during 323 B.C.E to 31 B.C.E the previous
at earth theory began to rise in popularity
again during the 19th century and especial-
ly lately due to the internet.
One of these accounts spreading disinfor-
mation online is @atearthbulgaria on In-
stagram, with around 76,600 followers as
of writing this.
While most of their posts share evidence
such as the “lack” of seeable curvature
which can be disproven by science, the
more fascinating ones revolve around the
global conspiracy that hides the fact that
the Earth is truly at.
The obvious one is that the U.S. govern-
ment is a huge part of this, with NASA
faking everything they’ve ever done, espe-
cially the moon landing, Joe Biden being
replaced, and the Freemasons holding the
real power.
The oddest, however, is not only that there
is an ice wall at the edge of the Earth we
know, with unknown lands lying beyond
that, but that Nazi’s guard that wall, be-
ing another component to this global con-
spiracy. Another part of this changed Earth
beyond the atness is a huge glass dome
that covers the top of the Earth.
All this is only the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to what at earthers believe.
photo courtesy of @atearthbulgaria
A picture taken from the Instagram
of Flat Earth Bulgaria showing at
earth ghting NASA.
Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston and the “The Phantom Punch”
Matteo Mele
Sta Reporter
Muhammad Ali staring over Son-
ny Liston on March 25th, 1965
for the Heavyweight Boxing
Championship.
photo by John Rooney and Neil Leifer
photo by @atearthbulgaria
A photo from the Instagram of @
atearthbulgaria that shows how
“NASA faked the landing on the
Moon by lming underwater.”
The Ali vs. Liston 1965 heavyweight
boxing championship ended with Ali as
the winner in the seventh round because
of a supposed shoulder injury incurred
by Liston. There has been much conjec-
ture over the years that the “x”was in
and Liston took a dive to end the ght.
“Although it is impossible ever to dis-
count the possibility of a x because of
boxing’s still-too-intimate connection
with the underworld,” according to Vault
magazine.
“There is no shred of evidence or plau-
sibility to support the suggestion that this
was anything but an honest ght,” ac-
cording to Vault. Although there are alle-
gations towards the x, there is no actual
proof of Liston taking the dive.
The ending of the second Ali-Liston ght
remains one of the most controversial in
boxing history. Midway through the rst
round, Liston threw a left jab and Ali
supposedly went over it with a fast right,
knocking the former champion down.
Liston went down on his back. He rolled
over, got to his right knee and then fell on
his back again. Many in attendance did
not see Ali deliver the punch. The ght
quickly descended into disarray. It is one
of the quickest heavyweight title knock-
outs in history. Many in the small crowd
had not even settled in their seats when
the ght was stopped.
In the Ali vs Liston ght there were al-
legations of mob involvement, however,
they have never been proven. Liston
had in his past been tied with organized
crime before the ght and went to pris-
on in 1950 for two years.
“He (Liston) was paroled to a team
of boxing handlers with ties to John Vi-
tale, a St. Louis underworld gure,” ac-
cording to ESPN, this was after his two
years in jail and then six years later Lis-
ton’s contract was owned by Frankie
Carbo, and Blinky Palermo top maa
gures in the Northeast. Interestingly,
the heavyweight boxing championship
wasn’t the only ght where Liston lost
under strange circumstances
5
the
mustang
Crazy Conspiracies
The psychology behind why people believe in conspiracy theories
Lia Koski
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Walt Disney preserved and his potential return
Beloved storyteller and Hollywood cre-
ator, Walter Elias Disney, died December
15, 1966 at age 65. As the internet urban
legend tells, a theory of Walt Disney being
preserved after death was spread around,
convincing some that Disney would be
brought back to see the future.
Disney died from a walnut-shaped tu-
mor (later identied as cancerous) in his
lungs after receiving a chest x-ray when
he had complained about crippling pain
in his chest. Prior to his death, his family
and sta members had noticed a decline
in Disney’s health, realizing his dry hack-
ing coughs, raspy voice, and an overall
physical health decline. Disney was then
treated through chemotherapy, which
could only help him so much, leading him
to have his nal breaths in St. Joseph’s
Hospital in Burbank, California.
Disney’s death was a worldwide shock,
devastating many and leaving many
wondering who was going to represent
their childhood fantasies now. Reporters
sought to nd the answers for the public.
One sucreporter had entered the hospital
where Disney was put to rest and snuck
into a storage room for any interesting de-
tails. The reporter made it in and claimed
to see Disney stored in a metal cylinder
being preserved in liquid nitrogen.
Those who knew Disney well, recall his
interest in the world of the future. Most
heavily interested in future scientic and
technological advances, wondering how
the human race would continue to sur-
vive; inspiring one of his famous park
attractions: EPCOT.
Clarissa Santos
Sta Reporter
The Earth is at, don’t you know? Aliens
are real, haven’t you heard? The govern-
ment killed JFK, right?
People all over the nation believe in these
conspiracy theories, but in order to gauge
why people may believe the Earth is at,
it is critical to understand what’s going
through their brains while they learn about
a conspiracy theory.
Social Studies and AP Psychology teach-
er, Melissa Schaefer, dened a conspiracy
theory as “an idea that somebody believes
that they think is true with little to no evi-
dence. It is an explanation for some sort
of behavior or some sort of circumstance,
usually negative in nature,” Schaefer said.
Another AP Psychology teacher, Dean
Petros, added that “a conspiracy theory is
when a person thinks that something hap-
pened, and it was due to some hidden mo-
tive. I think of a person who feels that the
full truth isn’t being told, that something’s
being hidden.” Therefore conspiracy theo-
ries often result in an increase of paranoia.
However paranoia is not the only disor-
der that aligns with conspiracy theorists.
“I’m guessing people who have a propen-
sity to believe in conspiracy theories have
high anxiety, neuroticism, fear, paranoia,
and paranoia tendencies,” Schaefer said.
Additionally, Petros added how conspir-
acy theorists will typically display signs
of OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder,
causing them to constantly think and re-
search about the conspiracy theory. The
conspiracy becomes an important belief in
their life.
The action of believing in a conspiracy
theory takes part in a specic area of the
brain known as the prefrontal cortex, ac-
cording to Schaefer. Additionally, “your
decision making, judgment, and hypo-
thetical thinking comes from the prefron-
tal cortex (which is the front part of the
frontal lobe). However, because judgment
involves the memory of things, the hippo-
campus is also involved,” Schaefer said.
On top of the biological components that
inuence the brain when listening to/be-
lieving in a conspiracy theory, social as-
pects also play a part.
The article “Speaking of Psychology:
Why people believe in conspiracy theo-
ries, with Karen Douglas, PhD,” by the
American Psychology Association (APA)
explains how there are three things that
motivate people to believe in conspiracy
theories: epistemic, existential, and social
motives.
According to Karen Douglas, “Epistemic
motives really just refer to the need for
knowledge and certainty and I guess the
motive or desire to have information. The
second set of motives, we would call exis-
tential motives. And really they just refer
to people’s needs to be or to feel safe and
secure in the world that they live in. The
nal set of motives we would call social
motives and those refer to people’s desire
to feel good about themselves as individu-
als and also feel good about themselves in
terms of the groups that they belong to.”
Continued on page 7>>>
The unexplainable experiences of the Bermuda Triangle
Emily Porter
Sta Reporter
The Bermuda Triangle is a section of the
Atlantic Ocean, spreading about 500,000
square miles between Miami, Bermuda,
and Puerto Rico. It is in this area, also
known as the Devil’s Triangle, where
many ships and aircraft have mysteriously
gone missing since the 1900’s. Airplanes
and ships have experienced extreme dis-
orientation, strange sights of lights and
gures, and disappearances with no evi-
dence left behind to where they have gone.
An infamous tragedy that happened in the
Bermuda Triangle occurred in 1919 when
a large Navy ship, the USS Cyclops, sank
in the triangle along with over 300 men
and 10,000 tons of manganese (a type
of mineral). The USS Cyclops, though
equipped to send a distress call, never did
so and after an extensive search, evidence
of where the ship may have sank has nev-
er been discovered.
There have been many other disappear-
ances of ships and planes that have gone
missing while venturing through the Ber-
muda Triangle. Theories about why this
area of the Atlantic Ocean is deadly to
all that pass through it are considerable,
ranging from aliens, to gravity elds, to
sea monsters, and the lost city of Atlantis.
After years of research and investigation
by scientists, oceanographers, and mem-
bers of the U.S Coast Guard, the secrets
behind the hazardous Bermuda Triangle
have yet to be solved.
The disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370
Eric Beauchamp
Sta Reporter
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Flight 370
took o from Kuala Lumpur International
Airport as a regular commercial passen-
ger ight, with its intended destination in
Beijing, China. Halfway through the ight,
MH370 was instructed to contact air trac
control in Ho Chi Minh City as it entered
Vietnamese airspace. It never did.
Minutes later, it vanished from all ight
radar, and any attempts to contact the pilots
were unsuccessful. Almost a decade later,
the plane and all 239 people on board are
still missing, and have never been fully re-
covered.
In the days following the disappearance,
a search eort involving 26 countries be-
gan. Using satellite information transmit-
ted from the plane after radar connection
was lost, the ight was suspected to have
diverted from its normal course. Subse-
quently, it is thought to have own towards
the Southern Indian Ocean where it would
inevitably crash due to fuel exhaustion.
Search eorts in the suspected crash area
on the surface of the ocean, as well as un-
derwater, yielded no evidence of any plane
crash taking place.
While the location of the missing plane
remains a mystery, there is no shortage of
theories on how the fate of the lost ight
came to be. One of the most prominent the-
ories is that the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah,
manually took control of the aircraft, and
ew it to the ocean where it would crash.
The primary evidence for this theory is
from information on Shah’s at-home ight
simulator. When authorities investigated
his home, les were found from sessions
on the ight simulator from months before
the disappearance. According to the Safety
Investigation Report released by the Royal
Malaysian Police in 2018, within the data
included seven intentionally marked co-
ordinates. When these coordinates were
put together, they suspiciously resembled
the predicted path that Flight 370 took to-
wards the Indian Ocean. The Malaysian
police were unable to verify if these way-
points were made in the same simulator
session, or simply were a coincidence.
In addition to this, Shah was a highly
credible pilot and had no suspected mo-
tives for diverting the ight. These facts
cast signicant doubt on him as a suspect
for investigators.
Many other theories hold very little
standing as plausible. Some believe that
the ight was part of a wider conspiracy
in which the U.S. had shot down the plane
after it had own o course. According to
the theory, the plane was shot down from
the U.S. military base on the island Diego
Garcia, which is known for being a highly
secretive facility. After this, the predicted
ight path and evidence of the pilot’s in-
volvement were allegedly crafted inten-
tionally to divert attention and cover-up
the incident.
Another theory posits that the plane could
have been hijacked remotely by someone
on land. However, there have been no
cases of a plane ever being hijacked by a
remote device in aviation history. For this
reason, this theory is widely discredited as
there is no concrete evidence to support it.
Today, ocial search eorts have re-
mained suspended since 2017. Despite
this, American company Ocean Inn-
ity has not stopped their dedication to the
search, claiming that they will begin ef-
forts to scan the bottom of the ocean for
wreckage in 2024. If eorts are successful,
we can only hope that we may be able to
nally have an answer to what happened
to the most perplexing aviation mystery in
history.
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6
News/Features
Congress of chaos: 2023 in review
Eric Beauchamp
Reporter
The House of Representatives has con-
cluded a tumultuous year, to say the least.
An ousting, expulsion, and internal strife
plagued the walls of the chamber for the
latter half of 2023.
Conict began in late September when a
group of about a dozen hard-lined Repub-
lican congressmen, spearheaded by Florida
Representative Matt Gaetz, began a motion
to vacate Kevin McCarthy from his posi-
tion as Speaker of the House. Gaetz cited
McCarthy’s decision to back a stop-gap
bipartisan resolution that required negotia-
tion with Democrats to avert a government
shutdown as his justication for ousting
him from Speaker.
“Nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz
stated in an interview with CBS just days
before the vote to oust succeeded, “This
agreement that he made with Democrats
to really blow past a lot of the spending
guardrails we set up is a last straw.”
Rules regarding the rare and obscure “mo-
tion to vacate” have constantly changed
over the past few years, but ultimately have
stayed consistent since McCarthy’s own
decision in early 2023. This rule change
allowed only one lawmaker to initiate the
motion – as opposed to the previous rule
that required the support of the majority
of one party. The ruling largely came from
pressure by hard-line Republican conser-
vatives, in many ways the same ones that
would remove him from his speakership in
October.
Following a motion to vacate, a vote must
be forced to the House oor within two
days, and only a simple majority is needed
to oust the Speaker from their position.
History was made on October 3rd, 2023,
when McCarthy was ousted from the
speakership on a vote of 216-210, mak-
ing him the rst Speaker of the House to
ever be removed from the position in U.S.
history. With no clear successor, a lengthy
process then began to elect a new one.
A three week long undertaking involved
the voting of many potential speakers,
including Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and
even a single vote cast for former President
Donald Trump by Matt Gaetz himself.
AP U.S. Government teacher Thomas
Kuhn described the process of how the
Republican party selects a new speaker
through caucuses, which are private meet-
ings with all Republicans of the House.
Kuhn said, “What the Republicans do is
they go into caucus, and they say, ‘we’ve
got to unite behind one candidate, because
you need 218 votes to win. So rather than
throwing three names out and looking like
idiots, let’s unite behind one, but let’s do
it behind closed doors.’ So in those closed
domains, they couldn’t unite behind one
candidate.”
In late October, Louisiana Rep. Mike
Johnson, a relatively new congressman,
became Speaker of the House with 220
votes cast for him. Johnson remains the
current Speaker today.
This was not the end of troubles for the
House of Representatives, though. For-
mer Representative George Santos of New
York found himself on the chopping block
just two months after McCarthy on De-
cember 1st, as he was voted to be expelled
from Congress by a two-thirds majority.
Santos became the sixth member of Con-
gress to ever be expelled from the House,
accused of misusing campaign donations
for his own personal use, among other con-
victions of fraud.
Expulsions are very rare in the House, as
it requires a bipartisan vote of two-thirds
majority to succeed. This means that a
large part of Santos’ own party were will-
ing to give up a Republican seat in order to
kick him out.
“The Chair announces to the House,”
Speaker Mike Johnson announced after
the votes had been tallied, “that in light of
the expulsion of the gentlemen from New
York, Mr. Santos, the whole number of the
House is now 434.”.
According to the Department of Justice,
Santos pleaded not guilty to over 23 felony
charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud,
false statements, falsication of records,
aggravated identity theft, and credit card
fraud. His trial date is set for September of
this year.
Petros added, “The psychology behind
conspiracy theories “[extends] beyond bi-
ology. There's cognitive patterns like con-
rmation bias. Conrmation bias is when
people will seek out information that con-
rms whatever biases they have. We nd a
lot of research [suggesting] that when peo-
ple go online, they tend to go to the same
few sites. Typical conspiracy theories will
only go to websites or listen to podcasts by
people who have similar thought processes
of the world and similar views of that con-
spiracy theory.”
Technology certainly plays a role in con-
rmation bias. Schaefer added, “For in-
stance, my phone or my device is listening
and knows that I have a dislike of celeb-
rities–from any number of either searches
I've done or things I've looked up. My
phone already knows what I believe, and
then it shows me things that align with that
belief. On top of that, because of the way
the internet works through algorithms, I'm
not shown anything in the opposition.”
Both Petros and Schaefer agreed that it
can be dangerous when people are never
shown opposing opinions. This can lead
“people to develop this idea of belief per-
severance,” Schaefer said, “once you've
developed a belief and you feel strongly
about it, then it is incredibly hard for peo-
ple to change it even when they're given
evidence that doesn't support it.”
Petros explained that while people may
have a positive bias towards people who
think and act similarly to them, they may
have a negative bias towards people who
are dierent from them. It becomes dan-
gerous when a person makes a general-
ization about all people who are dierent
from them, Petros added. Petros further
explained how this may result in some of
the prejudice behaviors that we have today
in our society.
In order to prevent the harmful eects of
believing in a conspiracy theory such as
conrmation bias and belief perseverance,
both Petros and Schaefer stressed the im-
portance of nding reliable sources when
conducting research.
Petros said that while there are plenty of
research-based sources that are reliable on
the internet, people need to be vigilant for
sources that may spread false information,
especially with the increased usage of Ar-
ticial Intelligence recently. “AI can have
computers that make fake videos. You'll
see people in a video and it's not the real
person. It's almost like you have to distrust
what you see,” Petros added.
Schaefer mentioned the importance of us-
ing multiple sources, including ones that
include the opposing argument. “Even if
you to want believe a conspiracy, you have
to spend the time looking at what other
people who don't believe it are saying or
the counter-evidence because there's a lot
with technology that we have access to;
there's a lot of ways to make things that are
not real seem real,” she said.
However, believing in conspiracy theories
is only harmful if it “interferes with logi-
cal thinking,” as Petros said. There’s a dif-
ference between having fun believing in a
conspiracy theory and then actually being
a conspiracy theorist.
Schaefer said, “I think for some people it
is just fun–the idea of something kind of
crazy or wild being possible. For instance,
UFOs, [stimulate] intrigue or fantasy.
[People] nd them very fascinating. I don't
know that there's anything wrong with that
line of thinking either. It's natural for hu-
mans to want to explain things. Our brain
naturally likes to have causes and eects.”
Schaefer also described illusory correla-
tions–when people believe that something
has an eect on an outcome when it really
doesn’t. She said that the brain likes to use
illusory correlations in order to justify an
eect.
The next time you come across someone
who strongly believes in a conspiracy
theory, take a minute to think about what’s
going through their head, for it truly does
require psychology to understand why
people believe in the things they do.
Continued: The psychology behind why people believe in conspiracy theories
Lia Koski
Co-Editor-In-Cheif
George Santos is pictured above. The former Congressmen was expelled
from Congress on December 1st, 2023.
photo courtesy of Vanity Fair
7
News/Features
the
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The trudge to spring break: Mustang motivation
Clarissa Santos
Reporter
As the semester comes to an end and -
nal exam grades are being entered into the
grade book, the stress of studying washes
away and allows students to settle down
for the new semester. The ongoing anxiety
of test taking and project deadlines remain.
Winter break was too long ago, and sum-
mer break seems like ages away; but what's
not too far is the week-long spring break.
Students usually take this week to their
advantage and make the time to see their
friends, visit family, or some even attempt
to catch up on their schoolwork.
However, before students reach that week
of glory, there are still the basic procedures
of the school year that still need to be fol-
lowed, such as: completing work on time,
studying for upcoming exams, or attempt-
ing to turn in assignments that are overdue.
Instructional aid, Naomi Seiler tells stu-
dents, “Keep pushing through, you don’t
have to have your life completely planned
out, keep a direction and keep moving”
These situations are understandably not
ideal for anyone, school work is draining
and often wears out a lot of students. Brains
over packed with knowledge don’t work so
great under ongoing pressure. Counselor
Carly Schwartz shared, “As you enter sec-
ond semester, please remember this is an
opportunity for a fresh start. Taking care of
yourself emotionally, physically, mentally,
and socially, is crucial to perform your best
and reach your full potential”.
A new semester, a new start. Students
should also remember that they cannot
change what has happened in the past or
predict what the future they are preparing
for holds for them. Taking everything one
step at a time allows for students to catch
their breath in the pool of work and emo-
tions that they have to deal with as the
school year progresses.
In the end, their hard work will pay o
and will reect their strong capabilities and
perseverance they have shown throughout;
also displaying their growth as both stu-
dents and people.
Reserved parking spots: fantastical dream or realistic future?
William Fisher
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Leaving for school earlier than you would
otherwise. Rushing through lunch and
driving back so you can maintain or even
steal a good spot. Both these things could
be stopped by having reserved spots.
“It was a discussion a few years back pri-
or to COVID. Once COVID hit, obviously
we're out for almost two years, so we have
not revisited that conversation. There's a
couple of dierent reasons for that. As you
know, last year…they tried to get the refer-
endum passed so that we could start chang-
ing things up for the benet of all the stu-
dents in the community. And unfortunately
that did not pass. And we're now revisiting
that again and until we have a denitive an-
swer, we probably will not assign specic
spots,” explained Joe Lendino, Deputy Di-
rector of Security and Events.
Which spot each student gets assigned
would be likely determined by a lottery
similar to the one. The names of lots could
also nally have real meaning.
“We have a handful of parking lots and
two that are specic for students. What we
call the senior lot, which is the main lot
right out of door one. And the other one we
call the junior lot, which is the lot right…
down the ramp right next to the stadium.
Senior lots and junior lots, that's just the
name that we use…There's no set parking
spots for juniors and set parking spots for
seniors. If you have a parking permit, it's
rst come, rst serve,” said Lendino.
Some other steps would also need to be
taken to implement reserved spots. Lendi-
no explained that actually physically num-
bering the spots would be the rst, which
the already busy maintenance group would
have to deal with. Secondly, rather than
just checking to see if a student has a per-
mit, the security guards would have to en-
sure that the number on the permit matches
the spot they’re in, with the threat of being
towed enforcing this.
Ultimately however, as Lendino explains,
the chief priority is just making sure that
students have a place to park, “As long
as we don't have people without a per-
mit park…we're ne. And I'm not wor-
ried about somebody getting a spot right
up front so they can…just cross over and
walk in or, the very last spot in the pool
lot, or the junior lot. The fact is that they
have a spot. So the fact that one student
may have to walk a little further because
they're getting there a little bit later, I'm not
very concerned about that.”
Collegiate athletics is a massive under-
taking that’s been years in the making for
many student athletes. Signing day rep-
resents the culmination of that work. On
November 8th, Mundelein High School
had three student athletes sign for college
athletics (Josilyn Wadas for Indiana State
University, Ella Terrell for the University
of Louisville and Abby Rounds for Wi-
nona State University), each had their own
reasons for pursuing college athletics and
choosing the universities they did.
Josilyn Wadas, senior, spoke about the
impact watching women’s sports had on
her decision, “I knew I wanted to play in
college when I realized how much I loved
the sport and saw teams playing on TV be-
cause I just knew that I wanted to be like
that.”
Ella Terrell, senior, realized she wanted
to get serious about continuing her athletic
career past high school after an injury.
Terrell said, “I think the point where I
was certain I wanted to play lacrosse at the
collegiate level was when I got injured the
summer going into my freshman year of
high school. Having the sport taken away
from me, made me realize how passionate I
was about the sport and didn't want to have
one day living without it.”
Several factors go into student athletes’
decisions on where they decide to commit.
Location, division level, coaching sta,
etc.
Wadas said of choosing Indiana State
University, “I chose to commit to Indiana
State once I visited the school and was
able to see the positive and loving environ-
ment that the team had. As I was walking
around, I could easily imagine myself there
which allowed me to be comfortable and
condent in my decision.”
For Terrell, the decision came down to
Stony Brook University in New York and
the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
Of the dilemma she said, “On September
1st [the rst day coaches can start reaching
out to athletes], I got emails from around
20 division 1 schools. My two big ones
were from Stony Brook University (ranked
top 10 at the time) and University of Lou-
isville (my top choice). I went on visits to
both schools and were oered by both.”
In the end Terrell landed on the Univer-
sity of Louisville, “Louisville aligned with
everything I was looking for in a college.
Louisville is the perfect distance from my
house now where I am not too far but not
too close. It's an ACC school with a good
football and basketball program which
I love in college because I feel it makes
the experience a lot more fun. The facili-
ties were breathtaking and I had never
seen anything like it before. But what I
especially loved about Louisville was the
team dynamic and the school dedication to
women's athletics.”
Signing Day For Collegiate Athletics
Olivia Baude
Opinion Editor
An image of the parking lot at Libertyville High School, where students
decorate their reserved parking spots.
photo courtesy of The Daily Herald
8
Sports
the
mustang
photo submitted by Isla Rehm
Big names out for the remainder of the NFL
Matteo Mele
Sta Reporter
This year's NFL season is almost done,
and a lot has happened especially with
quarterback injuries. Seven starting quar-
terbacks have gotten injured and are miss-
ing the remainder of this year's season, Joe
Burrow, Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richard-
son, Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, Dan-
iel Jones, and Justin Herbert. While others,
Justin Fields, Kenny Pickett, and Mat-
thew Staord who have dealt with injuries
throughout the season and have missed
multiple games.
Anthony Richardson:
Anthony Richardson, who is an upcom-
ing rookie, had an amazing start to the year
until he sprained his AC joint in week ve
against the Titans. Richardson was playing
like he had been in the league for at least
three years. In his fth game, he suered
a sprained AC joint early in the game vs
the Titans. In his four games played, he
threw for 577 yards and three touchdowns.
He only had one interception and a passer
rating of 87.3. When he came out, Garnder
Minshew was announced as the starting
quarterback. Minshew has been on a hand-
ful of teams, including the Jaguars, Colts,
and Eagles.
Daniel Jones:
Daniel Jones had a rocky start to the year
having six interceptions and only two touch-
downs and a 70.5 passer rating. While the
Giants were never looking at playo conten-
tion, but were expecting an alright season
of either a slightly below-average win per-
centage or a slightly higher win percentage.
With Daniel Jones out, the undrafted rookie
out of Syracuse Tommy Devito. Devito was
a third-string quarterback for the Giants at
the beginning of the season, but when Jones
went down Tyrod Taylor came in. Then Tay-
lor suered a rib injury in week eight against
the Jets. From then on, the rookie Tommy
Devito has been the QB one for the Giants.
Deshaun Watson:
Deshaun Watson is the starting quarterback
for the Cleveland Browns. Watson has only
played six games this season and he threw
for 1,115 yards, seven touchdowns, and four
interceptions. Watson’s throwing shoulder
was injured in week ten and had to undergo
a season-ending surgery to repair his right
shoulder. When Watson came out the rookie
out of UCLA Dorian Thomson-Robinson
had to take his place. Thomson-Robison
played two starts and then he suered a
concussion in week twelve versus the Den-
ver Broncos. The Browns signed veteran
quarterback Joe Flacco who has been in the
league for 15 seasons.
Aaron Rodgers:
This oseason the Jets made a blockbust-
er trade with the Packers giving them the
13th pick, 42nd pick, 207th pick in 2023,
and a second-round pick in 2024. The Jets
received veteran quarterback Aaron Rod-
gers, the 15th pick and the 170th pick in
2023. The Jets thought that getting Rodg-
ers would give their team a run at a ring,
but those dreams came to a close after the
fourth snap of the 2023-2024 NFL sea-
son. Rodgers went down and he did not
get up. The doctors said that he had a torn
achilles and would miss the remainder of
the season, but Rodgers has been making
amazing progress in his return just a few
months after the tear he threw on the eld
to his teammates. Last week he practiced
with the team but is not scheduled to play
due to lack of playo chance.
Kirk Cousins:
To begin the year Cousins was o to what
could have been an MVP year. Cousins
only played eight games this season and
tore his achilles in week eight against the
rival Green Bay Packers. In his rst eight
games, Cousins threw for 2,331 yards, 18
touchdowns, and ve interceptions. He
averaged 291 yards per game which was
more than any quarterback at that time.
When Kirk exited the game Jaren Hall
came in to nish the job securing the win,
but Hall’s quarterback experience came to
a quick end when the Vikings traded for
Josh Doubs from Arizona. Doubs started a
few games and is now being replaced by
Nick Mullens who has been in the league
for seven seasons and has played for ve
dierent teams.
Joe Burrow:
Star quarterback Joe Burrow suered a
torn ligament in his right wrist and was not
able to throw without severe pain in week
11 against the Ravens on Thursday night
football. Burrow was o to a rocky start
due to a calf injury and wasn’t fully recov-
ered until week six. From weeks 6-10, it
looked like the old Bengals were backing
and going to make a run for the playos,
but with Burrow out Jake Browning would
come in to start and save the Bengals sea-
son.
Justin Herbert:
The Chargers are on pace for their best
year ever considering many people thought
they were going to be playo contenders
and have a run at the Superbowl, but they
are 5-9 and last in their division. The loss
of Herbert doesn't help this team's losing
record, and it looks like they will not be
making the playos this season. Herbert
came out due to a nger surgery. With Jus-
tin out Easton Stick who had never started
a game until this point will be playing.
MHS boys bowling: Junior Winston Pietri
Matteo Mele
Sta Reporter
When you hear the word bowling, some
may laugh and wonder why people do it,
or people will say they only do it once or
twice a year with friends. Not for Winston
Pietri; for Winston it’s a lifestyle.
Pietri has been bowling for six years and
is on the MHS varsity team. When he start-
ed bowling he realized the challenge and
precision it takes to master the art of bowl-
ing, and he’s been hooked ever since.
“In practice, I like to be deliberate about
what I do and what I feel,” he stated. Bowl-
ing is skill, talent, and some muscle mem-
ory. When bowling it's important to main-
tain the same speed every single shot so the
ball doesn’t hit the pocket dierently.
“I can think back to what felt o and
try to correct it,” he added. When bowl-
ing, if even one thing is done dierently
the whole shot changes and the ball could
come up light or high in the pocket.
“Bowling varsity is denitely an experi-
ence; it has its ups and downs, but overall
it’s a good experience,” Petri said.
When Petri is bowling it is a sight to see,
the way the ball comes o his hand and the
way the pins go down. Even the best bowl-
ers only sometimes perform according to
expectations because every alley is com-
pletely dierent. Sometimes there are ten
boards of miss room, while others may
only have one. If you're not precise with
every single shot you’ll have to deal with
making a lot of spares.
Petri plans to take his bowling outside
of high school and even though he is a ju-
nior, he already has thought about where
he wants to go, Wichita State University.
“They’ve got a program [bowling] second
to none so I’m super excited for that,” Petri
stated.
Going to bowl after high school will
massively increase the way he bowls with
higher and more elite competition. When
you're not on your A game it can get frus-
trating, and bowling with a bad mindset
is one of the hardest things to do because
there is just so much to think about.
The MHS Varsity Bowling team had
their regional tournament at Fair Haven
Bowling Alley and placed second, advanc-
ing to regionals at Bertrand Bowling Alley
on January 20th. “Having a bowler like
Winston on the team is very benecial,”
said Varsity Bowling Coach Sweno, “Win-
ston's contribution to the team's overall
scores has helped us as a team win matches
and place better in tournaments.” At the re-
gional tournament, Pietri bowled in all six
games and contributed in all games.
photo submitted by Matteo Mele
Junior Winston Pietri in action during varsity boys bowling practice.
