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Check out the new location of the Slinger High School Nite Crier online newspaper at nitecrier.slingerschools.org   Here you will find all the latest Slinger High School news, sports, entertainment, and opinions.  

Students from Slinger's Anime Club participate at Anime Milwaukee

By: Megan Cichon, Entertainment Editor

Posted April 15th, 2016

Anime is a style of Japanese film animation, typically aimed at adult audiences, although there are some anime shows aimed at younger audiences. This film style is often characterized by colorful images, strong characters, and action-packed stories. It’s popularity in the United States prompted the formation of an Anime Club here at Slinger High School. Slinger’s Anime Club started six years ago, and has remained a small, but happy place for anime fans to get together. Anime Club here at Slinger meets every Monday immediately after school in Mr. Schneider’s room (225) and goes until 3:30. These club meetings consist of interesting activities, such as anime themed Jeopardy and drawing contests. Participants are given the chance to learn several Japanese words and listen for them while watching different types of anime. When asked of what her thoughts on the club and anime as a whole are, Rachel Muhl replied, “Many people are unwilling to watch anime due to the fact they find it childish or they don't know what it is. This ignorance gives anime a bad reputation when in reality, it is very interesting and just cool. Not only does it give a glimpse into the Japanese culture, but contrary to popular belief, it goes over mature topics and really makes you think”. There are many things one can think about while watching anime: one can think about the plot, Japanese culture, or the camera effects, such as panning, zooming, and other such shots. While anime may appear quite simple or childish on the surface, it really is quite complex.

Recently, a handful of Anime Club members attended Anime Milwaukee, an annual event that just finished up it’s ninth year. The ECPS (Entertainment and Culture Promotional Society), which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating the Milwaukee area about various cultures, puts on this event with the hopes of “bringing attention not only to Japanese pop culture, such as anime and manga, but also to the finer points of Japan’s traditional culture, including artwork, cuisine, language, music and more. The Slinger students in attendance at Anime Milwaukee this year included Natalie Kue, Alexis Warshall, Becky Ash, Calista Whitewolf, Andrew Hinz, Sam Murranus, and Sydney Wachtel. Sydney, a member of Slinger’s Anime Club, said of the event that “there’s so much to do at Anime Milwaukee, it’s easy to forget what you did there”. This is true; at Anime Milwaukee, there’s many activities that one can participate in. There are costume contests, educational panels, video/board game contests, anime viewing rooms, panels specifically for voice actors, a vendor's room (where merchandise is sold), an art gallery, and many other such activities. In addition to there being lots to do, there’s also lots to see. At an event such as Anime Milwaukee, event attendees can cosplay, and many of them do. Cosplaying is the practice of dressing up as a character from a book, movie, T.V. show, etc. While this may seem silly to an outsider, to someone who has gone through the process of designing their costume, it’s quite the difficult task. Replicating the look of a fictional character can be not only extremely difficult, but rather expensive as well. However, the zealous looks received from other event attendees can be quite exhilarating. If you’re interested in knowing more about Anime Milwaukee, click here: http://animemilwaukee.org/.

Photos courtesy of Natalie Kue and Andrew Hinz.

Slinger Tennis score some big wins against Grafton and Plymouth

By: Madeline Hoitink, Co Editor-in-chief

Posted  April 14th, 2016

On Monday night, Slinger varsity boys’ tennis competed in their first dual meet of the season against Grafton.  Slinger was victorious over the Black Hawks, with a total score of 5-2.  The JV tennis team tied Grafton.  The following varsity singles and doubles teams won their matches in the meet:

Thomas Melius

Chris Melius

Tim Peters

Evan Sievers and Ryan Strupp

Jamie Melius and Tyler Becker

On Tuesday night, the Owls took on Plymouth High School.  The Slinger JV and varsity teams defeated the Panthers.  The following varsity athletes won their matches on Tuesday:

Christ Melius

Tim Peters

JP McGuire

Evan Sievers and Ryan Strupp

Tyler Becker and Jamie Melius

New live-action Jungle Book film--coming soon

By: Robby Timmler, Staff Writer

Posted April 12th, 2016

Disney’s new live-action remake of one their animated classics The Jungle Book swings into theaters April 15, so let's take a look at what this new adoption has to add to the story of old. The Jungle Book is directed by Jon Favreau, who seems to be taking a gritter tone with this new live-action remake, previewed with intense action scenes and jaw-clenching chases in the trailers. This thriller style seems to be the running trend with most of Disney’s live-action remakes of their classic films, like Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and the other upcoming remake, Pete’s Dragon. With the movie being live-action, the trailer shows that all the animals in the movie are going to be Computer Generated Images (CGI) and have celebrities voicing the characters. For example, Ben Kingsley voices Bagheera, Bill Murray voices Baloo, Idris Elba voices Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson voices Kaa, and Christopher Walken voices King Louie. Keeping all of this in mind, The Jungle Book could be a movie that entertains a new generation with the story of old.

Election 2016: The Wisconsin Open Primary Update

By: Korey Alder, Photography Editor

Posted April 12th, 2016

The race for the White House finally came to our state last Tuesday, and over 2 million Wisconsinites came out to vote for their preferred candidate. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this year’s primary showed the highest voter turnout since 1972, with 49% of those registered to vote actually showing up to do so. This showcases the great interest that people are taking in this election, with much at stake in the world and at home.

Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders won the Wisconsin primaries for their respective parties, both by significant margins. Republicans had the choice between the same three candidates as in the last set of primaries: Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and John Kasich. Cruz received 531 thousand votes (around 48%) and was granted 36 delegates. Trump came second with 386 thousand votes (35%) and gained 6 delegates. Kasich came last with 155 thousand votes (14.5%), even despite the fact that even if he were to win all the remaining delegates, he would be unable to reach the required 1,237 delegates. Those voting for Kasich likely did so simply out of dislike for Cruz and Trump, still hoping that Kasich may take the nomination at a contested convention. The Democrats continued their battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and Sanders took the lead in Wisconsin with 568 thousand votes (around 57%) and 48 delegates, while Clinton received 432 thousand (43%) and 38 delegates. The delegate count thus currently stands as: Trump - 743, Cruz - 517, Kasich - 143, with 882 remaining on the Republican side; Clinton - 1,749 (of which 496 are superdelegates), and Sanders - 1,062 (of which 31 are super delegates) and 1,955 still remaining on the Democrats’ side.

If you’re interested in learning more about the race in Wisconsin, check out the following page on The New York Times, which visualizes various voter data from the recent primary:

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/wisconsin

The Son of Krypton vs the Bat of Gotham in one of the most anticipated movies of 2016

By: Robby Timmler, Staff Writer

Posted  April 11th, 2016

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is the long awaited gladiator match between two iconic superheroes: Batman and Superman. The film is about Superman (played by Henry Cavill) being questioned by the public about his actions on Earth. While this is happening, Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman (played by Ben Affleck) investigates Superman’s actions on Earth and tries to find his weakness, so that Superman can no longer be a possible threat against the world. Throughout the movie, we meet other iconic figures such as Lex Luthor (played by Jesse Eisenberg), Bruce’s butler, Alfred (played by Jeremy Irons), and Diana Prince, a.k.a Wonder Woman (played by Gal Gadot). Batman v. Superman is D.C’s first step in the formation of  the Justice League, with the big three joining and fighting together. Batman v. Superman has great action and acting that will stun and entertain a wide variety of viewers.

Congratulations to the Nite Crier Art Contest Winner! Julia Gueller

Congratulations to Julia Gueller, the winner of the Nite Crier Art Contest.  Julia wins a $25 gift certificate to the Rookery.  Thank you to all artists who contributed to the contest.  If your artwork was entered after the due date we will feature your artwork in future postings on the Nite Crier.

Intentum  by Julia Gueller is a an ink pointillism piece. Pointillism means that every dot is made with a pen tip.
14 hours of artwork were needed to bring about the final product.

Blast from the Past Reviews: Before Batman fought Superman, let's look back on the last adaptation of the cape crusader

By: Robby Timmler, Staff Writer

Posted April 4th, 2016

The Dark Knight Trilogy is one of the most critically acclaimed trilogies of all time, right along side The Lord of the Rings and Godfather Trilogy. The Dark Knight Trilogy was directed by Christopher Nolen, who gives us a new look at the origins of Batman. Batman Begins (2005) is the first of the Dark Knight Trilogy, showing Bruce Wayne's parents deaths, training with the League of Shadows (a clan of mercenaries that train in the art of Justice) and to eventually becoming Batman. Along the way, we meet Ducard, (played by Liam Neeson) Bruce’s trainer in the League, Alfred, (played by Michael Caine) Bruce’s butler and friend, and Rachel Dawes, (played by Katie Homes) Gotham’s District Attorney and Bruce’s childhood friend. When Bruce finishes his training, he goes back to Gotham with police officer Jim Gordon (played by Gary Oldman) to right several wrongs and attempt to end the corruption in Gotham that lead to his parents deaths. Batman Begins is a deep and gritty film that goes deep into the origins of Bruce Wayne and why he becomes Batman.

The Dark Knight (2009) is the critically acclaimed follow-up to Batman Begins. In The Dark Knight, we see the Batman's crusade against crime in Gotham with the help of Lieutenant Gordon. We are introduced to the new head district attorney Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) and the Joker (played by Heath Ledger), who was mentioned at the end of Batman Begins. The Dark Knight is a gripping and interesting film that gives astounding examples of trust, sacrifice,and the strength of will.

After the huge success of the second movie, audiences were excited to see the return of Batman, but things became more complicated after the sudden death of Heath Ledger, who had played the Joker in The Dark Knight. This is the reason why The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is the weakest film in the Trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises follows the events of the Dark Knight with Batman being gone for 2 years along with Bruce Wayne after the terror of Gotham by the Joker. It’s now peacetime in Gotham with Lieutenant Jim Gordon now retired, and Gotham is finally feeling safe. That is, until Bane, (played by Tom Hardy) a member of the League of the Shadows, develops plans to destroy Gotham. Bruce to comes out of hiding as a result, and becomes Batman again. Throughout the film, we meet Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, (played by Anne Hathaway) and rookie cop Officer Blake (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The Dark Knight Rises tries to be a mix of Batman Begins and the Dark Knight. However, in the end, The Dark Knight Rises just doesn’t have what made the other two films such a huge hit with audiences. The Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole, however, is all in all still one of the best trilogies of all time.

Cheer Up Time! Mr. Bingen named new Cheer Team head coach!

By: Kylie Coffin, Co Editor-in-Chief

Posted April 1st, 2016

Slinger High School has announced that long time Guidance Counsellor Steve Bingen has been picked to fill the head coaching vacancy for the varsity cheer squad.  Regarding the hire, SHS Athletic Director Dan Karius stated, “Boy, Steve is a great guy.  He’s been around forever.  He knows the kids.  He knows the town.  He knows the conference.”  Then, with a well-known, enthusiastic grin, Karius concluded, “We had like 200 applicants, but after Steve’s interview, this hiring was a slam dunk.”

Steve Bingen is no stranger to being a leader in athletics.  Three years ago Bingen was inducted into the Slinger High School Athletics Hall of Fame for his myriad of past coaching achievements.  Even though he has been out of coaching for some time, Bingen does not seem concerned by the layoff.  “I just wanted to get back in the game, so to speak,” said Bingen.  “I feel like I still have a lot to give.  I may be new to the whole cheer thing but finding new adventures has always been my thing.  And, hey…when I was younger, I really was into acrobats and flips.  In fact, I still now and then like to jump out of trees.”

When asked what these interests had to do with coaching cheerleading, Bingen countered with a blank stare.

Mr. Bingen will be starting his new duties this summer as he oversees cheer preparations first for the football season and then later for basketball.  But Bingen does not want to just do some ‘standard routine’.  Said Bingen, “We might be doing some routines down at the State Fair.  I am in the Hall of Fame down there too, you know?”  Bingen also would not rule out dressing like an elf and taking part in some Christmas themed event come next holiday season.  “I used to run with the kids when I coached cross country.  Maybe I can do some cheers with the kids now?” Bingen reasoned.

Karius’ rued one aspect of the hire, however.  “My only regret is that the timing is bad since I’m retiring.  I would love to see the day to day job this cat is going to be doing,” lamented Karius.  When told about Karius’ regret, Bingen responded by indicating that “I actually tried to get this job five years ago, I think, but the application I filled out got lost on my desk”.

Happy April Fools!