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Months after student vote, Sullivan mural finally underway

by GT Moy ‘19

For more than 30 years, a painting of a Wildcat loomed over the Sullivan Gym. Last May, after a an initial vote in which two-thirds of the students voted to replace the mural, students selected the final design from among several proposals.

Senior James Hoag’s mural entry ended up winning the vote. “I wanted to enter my design in hopes to be able to leave something behind before I graduate,” he said. “It would be my last gift of service to the school. Also, working with a space that large is a very rare privilege, so it would be silly of me to pass up such an opportunity.”

The new mural will depict a night cityscape of the Cleveland skyline. The design hopes to show the central role St. Ignatius plays in the city.

Ms. Burrows, art teacher and moderator of Artists in Residence, has overseen the project, but the design and execution of the project has been carried out by students.

One addition to the design will highlight athletic achievements. Each star in the night sky over Cleveland will represent one of the many state championships our school has won. According to Mrs. Burrows, “It’s about our community and how many state championships our community has won. It’s not about one individual sport, but about how many our school has won as a whole.”

The Artists in Residence club is working hard through each week to finish the mural. They are hoping for the mural to be completed by November, just in time for basketball season.

TECH TALK Latest Apple products offer some improvements, but leave much to be desired

by Brendan O’Donnell ‘16

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
Being an “s” year, the changes made to the iPhones are less focused on the exterior design and more on the features and power of the phone. Accordingly, not much has changed about the exterior design, except a slight increase in weight. Apple is known for high quality cameras and processors, and they did not disappoint this year. The back camera has improved significantly, going from 8 megapixels to 12 and supporting 4k video. The front-facing camera has also been given a significant power boost. The new A9 processor is a lot more powerful than the A8 processor from last year’s models. Disappointingly, Apple made no effort to increase the battery size and are still price gouging with storage space (It’s 2015, we shouldn’t have 16 gb of storage space on our flagships.) The major advertised addition, 3D touch, seems gimmicky, but it might be useful to simplify some menus. However, it feels like a excuse to force consumers to upgrade in the future when Apple decides to drop software support for older models without 3D touch. Overall, the new iPhones are still very good phones. I just would not recommend upgrading from the 6 to the 6s unless you are interested in the latest and greatest. As an upgrade from 2+ years, however, this is a solid phone for Apple fans.
Rating: Pass on this, use a laptop instead.

iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is Apple’s attempt to copy the Surface Pro by Microsoft. For the price, you get a pretty screen and a nice processing chip, the A9X. As an iPad, this is a great device – but not at this price. The iPad Pro is clearly meant to compete with the Surface Pro, and its fatal flaw is the operating system. While the Surface Pro runs full Windows 10, the iPad Pro only runs iOS – a mobile OS. The amount of limitations given to mobile OS’s, especially Apple’s, makes the iPad Pro much less useful than the Surface Pro. Also, you don’t have to pay $99 for a glorified stylus with the Surface Pro. Put OS X on the iPad Pro and it may be worth the money. Until then, go with the Surface or a laptop.
Rating: Go for it if upgrading from an old phone. Have a 6 already? Skip it.

MOVIE REVIEWS No Escape and Ant Man

by Joe Rosalina ‘17

No Escape
Starring Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan, this movie was a classic example of looking better on paper and in the early trailers than it did on the big screen. The basic premise of the movie is that Wilson and his family move to a Southeast Asian country for a job opportunity. Things go awry when a violent uprising begins, and the political leaders issue an order to execute foreigners. It wasn’t a total disappointment, as Wilson and Brosnan both performed their characters well, as did the supporting cast. Despite excellent acting, this movie had little character development, average screenwriting, and in the end didn’t live up to high expectations. The plot of the movie wasn’t fantastic, but it was good enough to keep the viewer’s attention and was able to provide nice thrills and cliffhangers.No Escape was a moderatly mediocre movie that could have been great had more attention been given to the screenwriting and story line development.
Grade: C+

Ant Man
Ant Man may not have been as talked about and advertised as recent Marvel movies, such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it certainly succeeded in being one of Marvel’s success stories of late. Paul Rudd plays Ant Man, and was backed up by a great supporting cast. It may have been a smaller scale than most Marvel films, but it really was very well done. The film managed to take on a less serious note, as it portrayed one of Marvel’s lesser known heroes, which allowed the movie to develop an uncomplicated, fun plot and incorporate comedy into the movie. Another great thing about Ant Man is that it stays within its own story while still building up to the overall plotline of the Marvel Universe. Recent Marvel films have failed on occasion to stay within their story and instead try too much to build up to the next event or movie. Ant Man stays within their story all the way through, and only referenced outside events when appropriate. The director, Peyton Reed, did well to keep the film interesting and direct. Look for Ant Man to make appearances in future Marvel movies, including upcoming Captain America: Civil War.
Grade: A

MUSIC REVIEWS Ryan Adams and The Weeknd

by Kevin Deegan ‘16

1989 Ryan Adams
Notable alt-country singer Ryan Adams released his highly anticipated cover of Taylor Swift’s top-charting album 1989. Adams has been working on the cover for over a year now since Taylor Swift’s release of the album in October of 2014. Adams’s version covers each of the 13 songs on Swift’s original. Popular songs like “Blank Space,” “Shake it Off,” “Bad Blood,” and “Wildest Dreams” were all anticipated by Adams and Swift fans alike.

But these aren’t just rerecordings. Adams’s country background made for a great twist on the hit pop singer’s new sound. The songs are brought down to a slower pace, with a central focus on the acoustic guitar and the pure lyrics and voice rather than catchy beats and electronic vibes. With Swift’s progression towards the pop genre and leaving her country roots in the dust of the dirt road, Adams provides a bridge back for the former Swift fans who appreciated her country albums over her newfound pop albums. The cover album has received critical acclaim from many different fans of music, and is one of the best cover albums of the year.

Beauty Behind The Weeknd
One of the best new artists of the day, Abel Tesfaye, or better known by his stage name “The
Weeknd” released his much awaited album Beauty Behind the Madness in August of 2015. After the release of his number one hit songs The Hills and Can’t Feel My Face in the summer of 2015, The Weeknd expanded its fan-base to hundreds of millions of fans. Beauty Behind the Madness is Tes- faye’s first album since 2013, and it surely made a splash. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart, which is a ranked list of music albums in the world. This great success has lead to great success for the album, having sold over 700,000 copies to this date. The album itself consists of 14 tracks, three of which are singles. Can’t Feel My Face has become the first chart topping song for The Weeknd, and The Hills followed weeks later to become the top song of the date. This album is something that many fans of music can enjoy, whether you are a fan of pop, hip hop, or R&B. However, the lyrics of some songs are viewed by many as being very dark but relatable, and they make the listener think about their own faults and shortcomings. In August The Weeknd annouced that he will be going on a tour of North America, performing in 20 cities in the US and Canada. Abel has not yet announced a concert in Cleveland anytime soon, but an extended tour could always be in the works for an artist as popular as The Weekend.

Mason’s Creamery has a new name, but the same Ohio City style

by Adam Kaye ’17

Mason’s Creamery
4401 Bridge Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio

4 paws out of 5

Formerly Ohio City Ice Cream, Mason’s Creamery offers a unique and artistic approach to ice cream. The appearance of this small Ohio City restaurant is only the start. With vibrant colors and an artsy vibe, accentuated by the bright tables and plants on said tables, the ice cream shop feels like an oasis, especially for an afterschool ice cream treat. Colored chalk labels labeled these flavors. Service at Mason’s was incredible, with a welcoming staff that smiled and treated each customer like an individual, not a number, giving free samples of any flavor I wanted. The flavors of ice cream were truly something else, including Mocha Oreo and Mexican Chocolate: a spicy chocolate. These flavors taste even better when you realize that they were homemade in Cleveland. Also, if you’re into celebrity spotting, Joe Haden, Joe Cimperman, and Nick Swisher frequently enjoy this ice cream. With any luck, you may get a little more than ice cream when you stop at 4401 Bridge Avenue.

While I enjoyed the ice cream at Mason’s, I do think there could be improvements. First, the parking at the shop is not very accommodating, with only five spots in the lot. This caused me to have to park on a side street nearby. While this did not cause me any trouble, it may be an inconvenience to some people. Although the ice cream is great, the prices aren’t stellar. Two scoops of ice cream costs five dollars, which, while not breaking the bank, is certainly not cheap.

Mason’s Creamery may have a new name, but it maintains its great Ohio City flavor and feel.

FILM CRITIQUE The Road Director: Gabe Mielke ‘16 2015

by Anthony Ramirez ‘16

Saint Ignatius High School is filled with talented students. Some are athletes, others are actors, many are brainiacs, but a few are filmmakers. Gabe Mielke, noted athlete, brainiac, and Student Senate Vice President, is now a filmmaker because of the Film Studies class at St. Ignatius.

Mielke’s “The Road” is best described as a tragic “indie” short film about how a normal life can be radically changed by an unfortunate stroke of bad luck. In the film, Gabe, the protagonist, is at first troubled by a lack of knowing what he should do with his time, but is soon introduced to the photo of a college campus in the mail. It is here that Gabe begins his obsession with mapping out the roads to take to get to the college in the photograph. For days Gabe dismisses his younger brother off to school with a simple “thumbs up,” but he does not know where this carelessness will lead. In the final seconds of the film Gabe’s younger brother is hit by a moving car and dies. Gabe runs out after him, but cannot save him and is left awestruck by the terrible mistake that has occurred.

The moral of the short film can be taken in many different directions because it has seemingly universal applications, though one stands out more than the others. Obsessing over something and ignoring the rest of the world is detrimental to human life. The consequence for this ignorance was brought to life in the death of Gabe’s brother, but in daily life it may not be so obvious. Our ignorance can kill the spirit of others or cause failure in a certain class. Mielke’s satirization of such a simply subject is brilliant and should give students of St. Ignatius something to reflect on when thinking of their own lives.

Campus cops crack down on Carroll

by Maurice Ware ‘16

At the start of the school year, students attempting to access campus from Carroll Avenue were surprised to find security personnel barring their entrance to the mall. For years, the administration has been attempting to prevent students from being dropped off on Carroll Ave. and West 30th St. to no avail.

In response to both parents and students ignoring the signs, handbook policies, and verbal warnings from security guards, a new policy has been established forbidding “access to campus via the Carroll Avenue mall entrance on school days between the hours of 7:00 AM – 8:15 AM and 2:30 PM –3:30 PM.”

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“I was forced to walk from my car on Bridge Avenue to the doors on the Quad in a raining downpour on the first week of school. So no, I am not happy.”
– Chas Zwissler ‘16

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In an email to the parents Principal Bradesca addressed these changes saying, “The reason for this request involves the safety of our students, your sons. The area in question is far too congested and has resulted in numerous “near misses” involving pedestrians and vehicles”. Although Mr. Franzinger addressed the new rules during orientation, he plainly stated that he would not take any questions about it. While this fully prohibits student traffic, teachers and staff remain free to enter and exit as they please, a detail that has not gone unnoticed among the student body at large.

The new policy has proven to be successful in slowing the amount of traffic on Carroll and West 30th, though there remains some difficulty in the eyes of the student body approaching from this side of campus. When asked about the new policy students displayed an array of reactions varying from mildly annoyed to majorly inconvenienced.

Jermaine Leonard ‘18, a regular patron of the Carroll Ave. entrance, was commented, “As if morning traffic is not unwelcoming enough, I have to come to school only to be inconvenienced by having to walk around the main building to get to Loyola.”

He continued to express the lack of consideration for students who park on the streets such as Bridge or Jay. When asked about the Carroll Ave. environment during these times, Connor McSween ’16 states “I have always felt safe on Carroll Ave. because I know how to look both ways before I cross the street”. Another affected student, Chas Zwissler ‘16, remarked, “I was forced to walk from my car on Bridge Avenue to the doors on the Quad in a raining downpour on the first week of school. So no, I am not happy.”

It seems that the administration has been sticking to the new policy and to fairly successful results. It shall be interesting to see whether an adaptation to the policy will emerge as traffic slows down and the patience of commuting students thins.

After a disappointing start, Wildcats on the prowl for a playoff berth

by Carter Spearry ‘16

It’s October 1st and I don’t know if we are going to make the playoffs.

The Wildcats come into the weekend standing at 3-2, riding high off an emotional comeback win against Walsh Jesuit on Saturday. Wildcats fans were expecting a comfortable victory over a quality team, but there was nothing comfortable about the game; the Wildcats fell behind by 4 points with 53 ticks on the clock. With minimal time remaining, Dennis Grosel led the ‘Cats down the field and sealed the game with a long-distance touchdown strike to Jimmy Berger with eight seconds left. And the Wildcat faithful breathed a collective sigh of relief.

So what happened? The defense has been in question all year. The Wildcats gave up 63 points to the Mentor Cardinals, 35 to Saint Joe’s Prep (PA), and 27 to Walsh Jesuit. The issue is clear, but how to fix it?

As surprising as it may seem from a distance, the Wildcat defense is still very talented individually. The defensive line has had a tough time duplicating the success they had last year when it was anchored by Ohio State recruit Dre’Mont Jones and the stalwart defender Ray Brown. However, Tito Vasquez ‘16, Nate Keirn ‘16, and Joe Gibbons ‘17 have shown flashes of defensive dominance. Senior linebackers Ben Cray, Alex Maruna, and Nick LaVigna are top-quality athletes and deserve to be trusted as the core of the defense. The secondary has lacked any star-quality, but work together as a unit to defend the air waves. Overall, the defense has lacked continuity and leadership which is necessary if the ‘Cats want to be playing deep into November.

The offense, on the other hand, has been in rhythm since the beginning. Led by senior quarterback Dennis Grosel, Nick Restifo’s offense has been scoring points in bunches this year. Grosel has elite weapons in his arsenal, featuring the likes of senior wideouts Jack Cook and Cal Grbac, and is consistently accompanied by Jimmy Andrews ‘17 in his backfield whenever going to the ground is the better option. Grosel has been protected well this season by his offensive line which features Notre Dame commit Liam Eichenberg among a very sturdy line. Restifo’s unit has stepped up to the call this season, with incredible levels of offensive efficiency against Mentor and Walsh Jesuit. This team can certainly score, that we know.

High school football is all about computer points, and our schedule does not help our playoff chances in the least. Also, due to a teacher strike in Canada, one of our scheduled opponents from “up north” is unable to make the trip this year, leaving our regular season schedule at only nine games. Teams such as Valley Forge, Normandy, Walsh Jesuit, and Parma have a combined record of 4-16 after five weeks of the season. Assuming the ‘Cats knock off the Parma Redmen tomorrow night, they will need to win two of their last three games of the year. That’s not an easy task. Coach Kyle’s team will have to knock off at least two of Saint Xavier, Archbishop Moeller, and Saint Edward in the last three weeks of the season if they hope to make the playoffs.

What can you expect from a team who has ultimately failed to live up to the state championship expectations? Let me tell you: unparalleled dedication to deliver an end-product on the field which will electrify crowds and resurrect our place in the state standings. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, and it is time to see how tough we can get as the ‘Cats chase the state tournament once again.

Whoa Nelly! Forty-five Ignatians recognized as National Merit Scholars

by Thomas Napoli ‘17

The 2016 National Merit Scholars were recently announced, and this class of seniors certainly hasn’t failed to impress. This year, St. Ignatius put out a total of 45 recognized students: 42 scholars, 21 of whom being semifinalists and 2 being National Hispanic Scholars. These merit scholars continue to uphold the long-standing, Ignatian tradition of academic excellence through hard work and commitment.

This award is based on their PSAT scores, and only the top 2.3% of test takers qualify as commended scholars. Even fewer achieve the title of semifinalist; only about 1.1%. Therefore, about 11% of our seniors are in the top 2% of test takers in the nation, a very impressive feat! Saint Ignatius had the most National Merit Scholars of any Catholic school in the state and the fourth most overall in the state.

Peter Abou Haidar, a National Merit Semifinalist, expressed his thoughts when receiving the award, and he had this to say: “I was really excited to learn that I was a semi-finalist, and it was a good feeling being recognized.” He said that the free PSAT prep class, offered by the school, was extremely helpfulNHS GRAPH for getting in practice problems and learning test strategies.

Mr. Brian Martin, a teacher in the PSAT prep class, talked about the benefits of being informed and advice for juniors who will be taking the test. Mr. Martin notes that, “This test is beatable.” It’s not to say that the test will be a cakewalk. It just means that with the time and dedication the teachers and students put forth, the task can be accomplished. He said that students should also learn what’s on the redesigned test and that practice is key for success.

This award brings with it a sense of selectiveness and prestige that no other high school, academic award offers. It sets the bar exceptionally high making those who surpass that bar exceptionally distinguished. It is arguably the most prestigious, academic award a high school student can attain. Make sure you congratulate these scholars in the halls, and continue to strive for excellence like they do.

With “Wildcard” student IDs will get a serious upgrade

by Cullen Viancourt ‘18

Living in the technological age, it’s pretty easy for anyone to see that Saint Ignatius High School is still stuck in the past. And it’s especially easy for us students to see, but now there are some pretty high up in the pecking order who are starting to think so as well. I spoke with Mr. Klingshirn ’79, Vice President and C.F.O. of SIHS, and he agreed that “We’re behind the times when it comes to this sort of thing.” So the question is how do we remedy this problem before we fall too far behind?

Enter the Wildcard. Is it an ID? Is it a charge card? Is it, God forbid, a JUG card? Well, yes. The proposed new Wildcard would be a functioning student ID, completely replacing the ones all students currently use. In addition, it will also have a magnetic strip that will allow it to function as a debit card acceptable at the bookstore and the cafeteria. The mag-strip also allows for teachers to use the Wildcard as an attendance taking tool, where a student would ‘swipe in’ at a reader station, and they would be checked into class. Or, there may be even more uses for it, such as independent vendors allowing the card as tender, especially everyone’s favorite, Wendy’s. But these are best case scenario hopes, let’s get down to facts.

The only thing known for sure right now is that the card will eventually replace our current ID’s, and that students will be able to use it at the bookstore and the cafeteria. But why would this be a good change? Well, for one thing, as Mr. Klingshirn said, “Anything we can do to limit the amount of cash here on campus is good.” Another great reason stated by Mr. K is that, “It’s a convenience factor,” and that it is. This move could possibly consolidate credit cards, student ID cards, JUG cards, and attendance records, into one card. Now that’s not to say that students won’t need to carry anything else, but it will certainly be a great step toward consolidation.

What is the extent to which the Wildcard can reach? For one, there will be a single vending machine hooked up with a Wildcard reader, and hopefully in the future all vending machines will be Wildcard compatible. There will be considerable outreach to Ohio City vendors and it is expected that almost all vendors asked (and yes, OCB included) will allow usage of the card (Wendy’s might take a little longer because of it’s being part of a large corporation). Also a great plus, there will be no extra surcharge for using the Wildcard. But, as is always most important at St. Ignatius, and dutifully stated by our Chief Financial Officer, “We look at everything and say, how can we prepare you guys for college.”

And there you have it, a great card with many enticing potential upsides, but beneath it all, it will make us Ignatians ready for college.

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About The Eye

The Eye is the student-led publication of Saint Ignatius High School.

Editors-in-Chief: Kelly Coleman '23, Young Kim '23 & Aidan Oliss '23