The folk song by Gor-don Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” commemo-rates the tragic event that occurred 39 years ago on November 10: a great storm, much like the one we had this week, claimed both the majes-tic Edmund Fitzgerald freighter and its crew of 29 men.
The fateful journey began in Superior, Wis-consin, from which the Edmund Fitzgerald (one of the biggest ships of her time), carrying taco-nite pellets, and another ship, the Arthur M. An-derson (which was in-tended to keep an eye on the Fitzgerald), depart-ed.
When the weather
took a turn for the worse, the two ships fol-lowed a northern route in hopes of being pro-tected by the Canadian shores; they planned to turn southeast where they could seek shelter at Whitefish Point, Michigan. However, the weather worsened and soon the Anderson lost sight of the Fitzgerald.
The waves were 18-25 feet tall and the winds were strong. Although Lightfoot’s “captain and crew well seasoned” lyr-ic was accurate, they struggled to stay afloat in the terrible weather. According to the radio records, the Fitzgerald Online@ www.nw-tigers.org/the-octagon
Volume 66, Issue 9 November 14, 2014
By Molly Niven
Thursday:
Basketball:
Girls’ C, JV, & V @ Ashland
Drama: State
Competition @ Waunakee (Thursday through Satur-day)
Friday:
KBJR Parade
The debate on Wednesday (a continuation of
the last debate concerning
same-sex marriage) got very heated. Mr.
Crail did not choose a winner because of sensi-tivity toward the issue. Next week,
a debrief of this strenuous argu-ment will be held
in place of a debate.
NASA’s Apollo 12 mission, (between
Apollo 11 and Apollo 13, both of
which are dis-cussed much more frequently) was launched 35 years ago today.
Pg. 3 Senior Prof’s
Pg. 4 Piano
Pg. 6 Student Profiles
‘Fitz’ Continued
Pg. 2
November is, of course, the month of Thanksgiv-ing and Black Friday and other holiday binges that America loves so dearly. However, November celebrates another, lesser -known binge: it’s Na-tional Novel Writing
Month, people!
(Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.) Now, you don’t have to write a novel to celebrate NaN-oWriMo -- there are oth-er ways, including read-ing great novels already written. I’ve compiled a list of six novels and one trilogy that I think y’all’d’ve needed to
en-joy at some point in your life, and why.
The Raven Cycle tril-ogy by Maggie Stiefva-ter: I was not a fan of Twilight, though I gave it a fighting chance. I usually don’t buy into intermingling the fantas-tic and supernatural world with our physical realm, yet Maggie Stiefvater does it excel-lently. Her writing style flows dreamily along -- the sort of “dreamily” that borders on night-marish with every para-graph.
For those of you who enjoy the love triangles, yes, of course, there’s one. I usually dislike
love triangles, but found that this one does not follow the cookie-cutter stereotype. Not only does Stiefvater not make the entire book sappy and stupid, but the nov-els deal with fantastic issues including finding a lost king and dealing with a psychic family, and even tackles the ef-fects of child abuse, pov-erty, and class differ-ences.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel: This book is long, and, at times,
diffi-‘Novels’
Part 2
on Pg. 2
cult to get through. It rambles and babbles and often fixes itself on mi-nute details almost to a fault, yet this wandering, philosophic nature
brought me closer to Pi’s wandering mind as he drifts as much on the ocean as he does on the precipice between life and death, sanity and in-sanity.
Pi’s first language is not English, and Martel writes accordingly. Pi also has an exquisite eye for detail that he either spends an eternity exam-ining or dismisses with the epitome of bluntness. For instance, the entirety of Chapter 75 is as fol-lows:
“On the day when I estimat-ed it was
Mother's birthday, I sang 'Happy Birthday' to her out loud.”
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Another com-ing of age novel? Yes indeed, I’m afraid. This one, however, is worth your time. The main character, Charlie, offers a different perspective on coming of age. He is na-ive to say the very least, which has gotten him into trouble throughout his life. He makes
mis-takes on every page, it seems, but the worst of them is that he has been too afraid to live his life as anything but a by-stander -- a wallflower -- in his life. For those Broadway nerds, the au-thor was a screenwriter for Rent.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: This heartwarming tearjerker is about a girl who wants to read; it’s a beautiful story of innocence in a terrible and evil time in history. The nov-el is his-torical fiction, but told from a very. . . unique perspective. Death itself tells the tale through his own words as he watches the events of the Holo-caust unfurl. He admits, “It's probably fair to say that in all the years of Hitler's reign, no person was able to serve the Fuhrer as loyally as me.” and brings a certain flair of thoughtfulness to Zu-sak’s writing.
The Helpby Kathryn Stockett: Don’t tell me that historical fiction
bores you. Please. This amazing story, that de-scribes ever-so accurate-ly the way different peo-ple felt about and saw the radical changes in socie-ty going on around them, creates the Civil Rights movement exactly as it was: an extremely polar-ized issue that turned
Today John Lahti Nathan Lindahl Donald Pooler
11/15
Shaylee Burke Erik Hart
11/16 Jared Anttila
11/17 Holly Kimmes Nathan Simpson
11/18
Janaia Fudally Calen Kirkpatrick Rachel Kirkpatrick Rachel Montavon
11/19
Mariah Jonasen Elise Mattson
11/20
Emma Nelson
Happy
Birthday!
Senior Editor/ For-matter: Nik Sauer
Text Editor Brooklyn Smith
Staff Members: Katie Johnson
Emily Gaare J. Gaare Lilli Kovaleski
Molly Niven Kaleb Scharp Richard Schiff Luke Rutten Philomena Lindquist
Advisor: Mrs. Thompson
‘Novels’
Part 3
on Pg. 4
‘Novels’
From Pg. 1
Part 2 >>>>
“...it’s a beautiful story of
innocence in a terrible
and evil time in history.”
suffered some damage in the storm: a fence rail went down, two vents were either lost or bro-ken, and the bottom of the ship was damaged. Once the Anderson had lost sight of the Fitz-gerald both on the radar and in view, they as-sumed the ship had gone down and began to look for any survivors. There were none.
The Coast Guard, whom the Fitzgerald had contacted before they went down, then con-ducted a search, but all
Officially, the vessel sank 17 miles north/ northwest of Whitefish Point, which is also where the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is currently located.
The museum also houses the 200 lb. bronze bell that was recovered from the Fitzgerald by the Great Lakes Ship-wreck Historical Society. The families of the crew members asked the bell to be recovered and it now on display at the museum.
On another note, whilst doing the research
of the sunken wreck, in-cluding the radio chatter between the captains of the ships and the Coast Guard.
It was chilling to listen to the final moments of communication with the Fitzgerald. Goosebumps appeared on my skin and I was completely pulled into the video, despite the hardly-audible chat-ter.
I found it quite painful to hear the captain talk about how he wasn’t sure they could make it through the storm. I can hardly imagine the fear
really hit home for me, especially since seven of the crew members were from this area, including Iron River, Superior, Du-luth, Ashland, and Moquah.
If you would like to view this video and see and hear for yourself, go to the Great Lakes Ship-wreck Museum website and look under the Ed-mund Fitzgerald. You can also read more about
the crew at
What are your plans after high school? Well, first I’m off to Fort Gordon for my Ad-vanced Individual Train-ing, then it’s off to UW- Stout (Menomonie) for a degree in what will prob-ably end up being com-puter science.
What is your favorite high school memory? Definitely drama and theater; acting in plays is
the most fun I’ve ever had!
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Probably the six hour road trips to Canada; good times.
If you could switch places with anyone in the past who would it be and why?
King Solomon. Then I would have massive piles of gold, an entire na-tion at my beck and call, and I would get to talk to God on occasion. I could also avoid that whole “eventually turning evil” stuff. Who is your hero? Theodore Roosevelt! He was the very definition of a manly man. From his rampant beating the crap out of criminals to his beautiful political career, this is a true American. The only reason he had to settle for Mt. Rush-more is because we couldn't find enough
dia-monds for his beard. Favorite Quote?
“When you are even with an opponent, it is essen-tial to keep thinking of stabbing him in the face with the tip of your sword… When you have the intention of stabbing your opponent in the face, he will try to get both his face and body out of the way. As soon as an opponent tries to get out of the way, you have already won.”- The greatest swordsman to have ever lived, Mi-gramoto Musashi. When you were five, what were you most afraid of?
Doing something bad and my parents finding out. I was a good kid back then.
Advice for underclass-men?
Be polite -- above all else, be polite. I can’t stand it when some little kid starts mouthing off to to their superiors, acting like they own the place. Trust me, you don’t. You will gain way more
spect if you pay your re-spect to others.
Is your glass half full or half empty? Why? Half full. Optimism fuels ambition. Ambition is one of the greatest quali-ties a person can have. Ambition fuels dreams, and if you don’t have have any dreams in life, you are probably dead inside.
What are your plans after high school? Going to college for computer science. What is your favorite high school memory? Joining Show Choir. What is your favorite childhood memory? Fishing with my grand-mother and she caught a fish with her bare hands. If you could switch places with anyone in the past who would it be and why?
King
Ar-thur; the round table. Who is your hero? Manny Pacquiao. Favorite Quote? “Whatever floats your boat.” - Mr.
Gibbs. When you were five, what were you most afraid of? My grand-mother. Advice for underclass-men?
When you're a senior think about the an-swers you
give to the Oc-tagon staff.
Is your glass half full or half empty? Why? Depends what’s in it, why do you ask?
Brian Wheeler (left) and Alayna Williams (right).
By Ricky Schiff
Dakota
Berggren
Alayna
Williams
Brian
Wheeler
What are your plans after high school? I plan to go to UW- Bar-ron County for the per-forming arts.
What is your favorite high school memory? Being in musical for the first time.
What is your favorite childhood memory? Going to Walt Disney World for the first time at the age of eight. If you could switch places with anyone in the past, who would it be and why?
Walt Disney, because I want to see what life was like back then.
Who is your hero? Walt Disney. Favorite Quote?
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney When you were five, what were you most afraid of?
Spiders.
Advice for underclass-men?
Do the best you can, and get involved with clubs and activities.
The ESA’s Rosetta Mission successfully landed a spacecraft on a comet on Wednesday, but it will only stay active for the next few days due to
a harpoon malfunction. By Nik Sauer
How is a grand piano better than an electric one? It makes a bigger boom when dropped off a cliff. Aside from corny jokes, grand pianos also sound better, look better, are easier to play, and are bigger than electric pianos.
The piano committee, headed by Mr. Michael Hintzman, Mr. Michael Goodlet, and Mrs. Rob-erta Grube, is collecting donations in order to purchase a grand piano. Aside from looking fab-ulous, grands have a much fuller, more beau-tiful sound. The electric piano we have now sounds, well, electric. When students play our electric pianos, the noise that the keys make from clicking back into place after their use is so loud, it sometimes over-powers the notes them-selves. This leads to in-accurate timing and rhythms in less practiced
pianists like myself. The pedal of our current pi-ano has been fixed many times, and though we thank Mr. Grube pro-fusely for this, but it’s getting out of hand. Mr. Achucarro, an international pianist, per-formed here at our school in 2011 at the dedication of our audito-rium. He had two re-quests in doing this: First, he asked that the scholarship he funded would be named the Lar-ry and Patricia Luostari Arts Scholarship; Sec-ond, he asked for a grand piano. This is due to the fact that he’s a profes-sional and refused to use anything but.
The committee asks for your support either through money or by spreading the word. If you have any questions, please contact Ellen Stoll, Kaia Orme, my-self, Philomena Lind-quist, or the teachers/ adults mentioned earlier. By Lilli Kovaleski
people against each oth-er . . . even old friends. The characters are real and not always admira-ble in their deeds, but almost always in their intentions. Almost. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch: This uproariously funny book based on the extremely popular blog brightens any day anywhere. It’s for all ages to enjoy, but brings very sad and im-portant issues of adult-hood and maturity to light in a frighteningly true voice.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: This book just . . . blew me away. I was a little shell-shocked, even knowing what happened at the end going in (thanks a lot, NPR). It's not for everybody. This novel does require thought and focus. It takes re-reading sections, focus, and passion for
ties with the keen but casual eye of Nick Car-raway. His simplistic and everyday nature paints a subtly vivid il-lustration of the times and the rich culture. It's difficult to describe, re-ally. Read it and I think you'll understand.
I didn't expect to be very sad. I knew what would happen and I did-n't really see how much it would affect me. Usu-ally I'm a big weeper when it comes to books, so if I were to be sad, I expected it to be a tearful ordeal. But it wasn't. The ending isn't sad in a cry-your-eyes-out way. It’s sad in a sick-to-your- stomach-with-nostalgic-melancholic-grief way. Frank Kafka once said, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us.” Well, Kafka, this book did more than that. This book has shot me in the chest as I lay lounging in a pool, relaxing after a traumatic day.
From Pg. 2
Part 3 >>>>
It was revealed this week that the Chinese hacked into
NOAA’s federal weather network in September. ISIS’s supposed leader,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdad, released a video saying that ISIS members “will
never stop fighting.”
French authorities are searching for a tiger that was
spotted near Paris. Its place of origin is currently
unknown. The U.S. government is
now using drones to pa-trol the U.S.-Mexico
border.
Russia plans to send long
-range bombers to the Gulf of Mexico, stating that they
are to be used for drills.
President Obama is close to enact-ing executive orders to make
You see it when you fill out job applications, insurance forms, surveys, forms found in doctor's offices, birth certificates, court files, etc. It looms over some people’s heads, constantly nag-ging, “Which one? Which one? You must only choose one!” It’s the gender identification box. Where, for most, you simply mark off which one you’ve been assigned at birth. But for others, it’s not so easy. If you don’t fit into the socially constructed idea that there are two gen-ders and one will apply to you, male or female, you’re out of luck. We are told that our sex is our gender, and that’s just the way it is. From as early as birth, we’re sorted into two catego-ries: one filled with pink, flowers, baby dolls and butterflies; the other with blue, cars, sports and fierce animals. But our gender is not as simple as that. For some it’s a haunting question of
“Who am I? I was born this way but can't I be that way?”
They go throughout their lives being catego-rized because of their physical body. Every day they are going to hear “he” instead of “she,” “she” instead of “he,” or either one instead of “they.” (Fun fact: “they” is becoming
more accepted as a singular non-gendered pro-noun.)
The panic
comes in more places than pronouns and gen-der boxes; it comes when nature calls. If they are lucky enough to find a unisex or family bath-room, (which, at North-western, we do happen to have five that I know of -- one in the basement level so it is only availa-ble to some, and the oth-er four are only accessi-ble if you obtain a key given to staff members) they may be able to re-lieve themselves; if not, here’s where trouble starts. For trans* folk, it’s going to be a
ques-tion of “Do I pass as a guy/girl?” while for other genderqueer people it’s “Do I look more like a guy/girl today?”
Anyone who does not fall into the gender bina-ry (the system of divid-ing people’s genders into two categories based on their sex and/or physical appearance) is going to
face the possibility of violence, be it verbal, mental, or physical. If an individual is in the bathroom and sees someone they deems as the opposite gender en-ter, statistics and ac-counts of personal expe-riences suggest that there is a high possibility of a violent response. 78% of transgender and gender-queer people experience forms of harassment in schools alone, 31% not-ing that it had been from staff member(s).
Violence against those who appear non-binary
happens in more places than just the bathroom, however. It occurs in workplaces, eateries, public facilities, and even with police force, and in medical situations. Gender is much more than a check next to an M or F, and even in situ-ations where “other” is offered, this not only de-humanizes the person, but “other” doesn't truly cover everything gender is, and this option is not accepted by any branch of our government.
We don't all fit the assigned category we are given at birth. Only in a few circumstances (involving physicians and insurance compa-nies) would knowing your biological sex (again, I will note that this is different from gender) be convenient, but for all of those docu-ments, forms, surveys, quizzes, sheets, and more, if they really must know your gender, leav-ing a write-in space in-stead of a box to check would do.
By J. Gaare
In light of the recent election, I feel the need to bring to your attention the make-up of your gov-ernment. There’s no foundation or powder, no lipstick or eyeshadow. All cosmetics are strik-ingly absent from our local, federal, and state government. Our federal government is 70% male, while the U.S.’s popula-tion is 49.2% male. In terms of our state, 25% of Wisconsin’s govern-ment is female, while its female population is
50.4%.
Our government is al-so 83% white, while our actual population is 63% white. The 37% of our population that is black is horribly unrepresented in the seats of power in our government.
I am purposely using the term “black ” instead of African American be-cause the majority of these people aren’t Afri-cans. We don’t call white people of German de-scent German Ameri-cans, nor do we have Eu-ropean Americans or Asian Americans, so for
what other reason would we have African Ameri-cans but to further sepa-rate the races?
Aside from both sex and race, LGBTQA+ groups are practically unheard of in our gov-ernment. In 2013, 3.4% of Americans over the age of 18 identified as a sexuality other than straight. These include 1.6% gay or lesbian, 0.7% as bisexual, and 1.1% identify as “something else.” This isn’t even mentioning transgendered individu-als, who make up
0.0022% of our popula-tion.
The argument I’ve heard for the lack of LGBTQA+ representa-tion is that they’re the minority. Though that is true, doesn’t that mean that they need more rep-resentation than the ma-jority to have their voices heard? Doesn’t the lack of LGBTQA+ people in the government prove how much these people are left out of important By Lilli Kovaleski
‘Representation’
Continued Pg. 6
“It looms over some people’s
How are you liking it in the United States? I like my host family, school, and the culture.
My host family is nice and there aren’t as many rules here in school as there are in Thailand. What do you miss most about your hometown/ country?
I miss the food, especial-ly the lunches we had. Why did you select the United States as the
country to visit? I selected America be-cause it has snow and I’m waiting for snow here.
What’s the best thing about being here? Freedom. I can wear whatever I want! How-ever, I don’t like to choose what I wear to school.
What activities were you involved with in your home country? I’m a runner and I play Scrabble.
Did you have any ex-pectations about Amer-ica that weren’t true? Many people think Americans are fat, but I don’t think that’s true. What is the “weirdest” things that Americans do?
I think everything here is weird for me, but the strangest thing is that many people have the same first name. Why do you all use a fork to eat rice? We use a spoon. How are you liking it in
the United States? So good! I don’t want to go home anymore; the people are so friendly and helpful. :)
What do you miss most about your hometown/ country?
The German bread! We have good choices and they are really healthy. What do you plan to do when you get back to your home country? I want to finish my schooling and then I want to come here again. Why did you select the United States as the country to visit?
I heard they have a good culture and last year I went to the U.S. and I loved it.
What’s the best thing about being here? My lovely host family. I have so much fun with them and couldn’t feel better in my home.
What’s your favorite memory been so far? When I came, my host family did a little
“welcome party” for me with a cake and invited a lot of friends. That was fun!
What is the “weirdest” things that Americans do?
Some American people eat french fries with chocolate.
Nattakol
Kaewyodthong (Mook)
(Thailand)
Maria
Bergkemper
(Germany)
By Luke Rutten
Maria (left) and Mook (right) making memories.
affairs and brushed un-der the rug?
I beg you to inform yourselves as to how privileged, straight, cis-gender, white men make up our current govern-ment and to question this. Please notice things like whitewashing in our House of Representa-tives and Senate, and how our positions of au-thority keep majorities in power and ignore minor-ities that need that power to gain equality.
‘Representation’
From Pg. 5
Last Thursday more than 400 people stuck their head in the sand of Australia’s Bondi Beach. Why, you ask? They were protesting Australi-an Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s
appar-ent overlook on the pressing is-sue of climate change. They were snarkily copying the ste-reotype that os-triches stick their heads in
sand in a futile attempt to avoid danger.
Everyone to business men in suits to beach goers in bathing suits helped to portray the message that it was
about time their home country did something for the “green” move-ment instead of the path they had been on, direct-ly against it.
