TOWER

the

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016

Volume 88
Issue 14
thetowerpulse.net

A WEEKLY TRADITION SINCE 1928

@thetowerpulse

Gross e Pointe S outh, 11 Gross e Pointe B oule vard, Gross e Pointe Far ms, Michigan 48236

Detroit serial rapist

causes increased
safety precautions

Code of conduct gets updated

Changes
in code of
conduct:

job with these organizational re- igan Model Code of Conduct,

visions.
described below.
I think we did a good job
Dean said the Michigan Modof cleaning it up without over- el Code of Conduct is a guidehauling the entire code, Ham- line for districts. We dont have to
ka said. Theres certainly a fa- adopt any specific part of it, but
miliarity when you look at it there are portions mandated by
now, very much like it used to separate laws that we do have to
look, so theres that familiarity implement.
for students
Some adand parents,
ditions to the
The Student Code
but there are
Code of Conof Conduct has been
some
areas
duct
were
where we did
made accordwritten by so many
clean it up.
different people over so ing to certain
D a n
violations that
many different iterations
R o e s k e ,
were not previthat you could tell it had ously included,
Vi c e - P r e s i multiple authors.
dent of the
according to
Board of EdDean.
ucation and
A couple of
DR. JON DEAN
Chair of the
them
we were
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF
Board Policy
mandated
to
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
C ommitte e,
add because
said he was
state laws have
also content with the organiza- changed so that was one reason,
tional revisions.
and I tell you that most of those
As a parent of South High things will never come to pass in
School students, Im very excited Grosse Pointe Public Schools,
that the school district is making Dean said. I think one of them
it as clear and concise as possible had to do with arson. One of
so theres no ambiguity, theres no them had to do with gang activconfusion, and students know ity. Things that very fortunately
what the expectations are, Roe- we dont have to deal with. Howske said.
ever when the law says you have
Another reason for the update to have a part of your code of
was to include parts of the Mich- conduct that has to do with gang

Gang
violence

PDA: Public
Displays of
Affection

Arson

Diversity Club changes name, looks

to broaden student involvement
KAITLIN NEMEH 18 // Staff Writer
To become part of an awareness movement, The African-American Diversity
Alliance Club has changed its name and
reformulated its goals for this school year.
We changed the name from African-American Diversity Alliance Club because it was too long, and we changed it
to Black Awareness Society for Education,
A.K.A BASE, President Miracle Bailey 16
said.
There are several other BASE programs
at other predominantly-white schools in
the area, including University of Detroit
Jesuit, Farmington High School and Mercy
High School, Bailey said.
We joined their movement so we can
combine and get ideas off of their BASE
program, Bailey said.
The club as a whole makes the decisions
of what they think should be done.
Its not just the presidents of the club
(that decide). We also try to get members
to think as well, club member Briana
Thompson 16 said. If we have an idea
that we want to change, well have a meeting, and well discuss it and see what they
think as well. So it wont seem so isolated
and like they dont have a part in it.
Thompson said the club does not limit
the people allowed to join.
I dont want people to feel like this is
only a club for African-Americans or black
people, Thompson said.
In additions to changing its name, the
club is also hoping to become more involved at South.

I hope that the members feel more

involved, Thompson said. So thats why
were trying to change the name and do
certain activities.
Adviser Dennis Pascoe said the club is
hoping it will become more established at
South.
Were going to try to be more active
within the school, Pascoe said. Were
going to be doing stuff for Martin Luther
King Day and for Black History Month.
Were going to be doing announcements
on the television (GPTV) just about black
history.
Activities will be held to raise awareness about important events in black history, Bailey said.
I feel like this will make our club stronger and more known and more recently it
will help during Black History Month,
Bailey said.
The Black Awareness Society for Education (BASE) club would like to welcome
more members, Pascoe said.
We are looking for more participants,
so if anyone is interested wed love for them
to come and join us, Pascoe said.
Thompson said the club has a flexible
meeting schedule and students who are
interested in should listen to announcements for information on the next meeting.
We will some meetings in the morning on one day and then another day after
school, so that way people have a chance
to come to the club depending on their
schedule, Thompson said.

activity, we have to include it.

Dean said one addition that
could relate to students is language related to public displays
of affection.
We did add one, and this I
suppose could affect students,
for public displays of affection,
Dean said. We did not previously have that in the Code of
Conduct, so that now is there.
Dont worry--its not something
we expel students for, but talking
to administrators they said it was
really an area that they felt would
be nice to have a reference in the
Code of Conduct.
Dean also said there are updates to the Athletic Code of
Conduct that should be finished
by May.
The Board Policy Committee asked a team of administrators, parents, coaches and teachers to start revising the Athletic
Code of Conduct, and we are in
the process of that revision,
Dean said.
In addition, Hamka said there
is a revision in Souths tardy policy and personal device policy
that is to be introduced at the
start of next semester
Were going to roll it out second semester, tardy policy and a
personal electronic device policy
bringing clarity, Hamka said.

Suggested
student expectations

More consistent use

of language

DECA members successful at districts

CONGRATS // Students from across Michigan accept their awards at the DECA district competition. Forty-two
PHOTO BY SEBASTIAN DE COSTER
South students moved on to the state competition.
MADELEINE GLASSER & MACKENZIE
HARRELL, both 17 // Staff Writers
This past weekend, March 11-13,
Grosse Pointe Souths DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) team
competed at districts at the Renaissance
Center, in downtown Detroit. Students
competed in hope of moving onto the
state level competition. Out of the 69
students who participated, 45 will advance to states.
Deca is a competitive business
club, Bill Cayo, the club advisor, said.
Students learn about business and
demonstrate an understanding of business by taking a comprehensive business test and also participating in a
problem solving scenario.
Among the students competing at
districts was David Scupholm 17.
DECA was great - it went really well
and a lot of south students were able to
place high and advance to states, Scupholm said. The top students in each
category advance to the state competi-

tion.
These categories include business
management & administration, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing and
hospitality & tourism. These main
categories are broken down into more
specific subcategories, according to the
DECA website.
At the districts competition, students are faced with a topic, and they
must role play and act out scenarios related to that topic, according to Maddy
Monahan 17.
My partner (Elizabeth Baratta 17)
and I found previous DECA role plays
that we acted out, and we came up with
outlines and ideas, Monahan said. It
was difficult to prepare because you are
not given your topic until you are get
there and only have 30 minutes to prepare before the judges.
Monahan and Baratta were some
of many students to advance from districts to states.
So far my partner and I advanced to

THIS WEEK AT SOUTH

18

jan.

jan.

14

The boys varsity

hockey team will
play Woodhaven
at their home rink,
Fraser, at 6:30 p.m.

JENNIFER MAIORANA 16 // Editor-in-Chief

Last Sunday, 19 year-old Darian Winfield was
arrested and charged with a series of rapes near the
Grosse Pointe border of Detroit that have occurred
over the past few weeks.
We believe based on evidence that we have, it
is connected to at least two others and possibly a
fourth incident, Detroit Police Department (DPD)
Chief James Craig said in a press conference video
posted on the
DPD Facebook
page.
The potential fourth incident was an attack in Grosse
Pointe
Park
in December,
Craig said in
the conference.
In
situations
like
these, Assistant Principal
Terry Flint said
the school collaborates with
the police to
ensure school
safety.
Darian Winfield photo courtesy of The Detroit Police Department Facebook
Were doing all of this security planning we work in direct
conjunction with this third party and local police so
they kind of tell us if they sense if there is any kind
of imminent threat towards our kids and then we
always kind of collaboratively come up with strategy, Flint said.
Flint said that security is a vital part to the school
day that is already being improved with the new superintendent, Dr. Gary Niehaus.
Flint said, I think awareness and education for
the kids is essential and the trick is going to be how
do we do that what is the best way to go about that
when and all that kinda stuff but that is a conversation piece right now.

No school for
students and staff to
celebrate Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and
his legacy.

the state level and will be participating

in that competition in hopes to move
on to internationals, Monahan said.

DECA was great- it went

really well and a lot of
South students were able
to place high and advance
to states.
DAVID SCUPHOLM 17
The students performed very well,
and they hope to do as well in the higher competitions,such as states according to Cayo.
I am really excited for the students
that have advanced, Cayo said. The
competition was tough this year so it
is a wonderful accomplishment to advance. States is an outstanding experience.

19

jan.

CHASE CLARK 18 // Staff

Writer
Finalized and published Nov.
30, the updated Grosse Pointe
Public School System (GPPSS)
Student Code of Conduct addresses issues such as gang violence, arson and public displays
of affection. The changes will be
enforced beginning in second semester.
Pulling from the Michigan
Model Code of Conduct and
including several new areas of
student expectations suggested
by administrators, a more consistent use of language throughout the Code, and a streamlined
format that improves the appearance and readability of the Code,
according to a staff-wide email
sent by Deputy Superintendent
of Educational Services Dr. Jon
Dean.
Dean said the primary reason
for this update was to fix organizational flaws and make the
Code easier to read.
The Student Code of Conduct has been written by so
many different people over so
many different iterations that
you could tell it had multiple authors, Dr. Dean said.
Principal Moussa Hamka said
administrators did an effective

The girls and boys

varsity basketball
teams will play at
home at 5:30 and 7
p.m., respectively.