Local congressman leads impeachment prosecution

By Jeff R.

President Clinton's impeachment trial in the United States Senate is well underway. Mr. Peel, the seventh grade social studies teacher, explained the impeachment process. He said that the Constitution states that the President or other high ranking officials should be impeached if they are suspected of committing "high crimes or misdemeanors." However, the Constitution does not define high crimes or misdemeanors, and it is the responsibility of Congress to decide if what the President was accused of was impeachable. The President was accused of lying under oath and trying to cover-up his lies. A majority of the House members voted that these were impeachable offenses, and what resulted is the trial that is now going on in the Senate.
Henry Hyde, who is the chair of the Justice Committee in the House is also the representative for the Illinois' Sixth Congressional District, which includes Itasca and the surrounding communities in DuPage and Cook counties. He represents about half a million people. Congressman Hyde was appointed the chief House Manager, responsible for presenting the articles or charges of impeachment to the Senate.
In a phone interview, one of Henry Hyde's aides in Washington explained when asked that Mr. Hyde did not necessarily want to be involved in the impeachment proceedings, but he had to as a House Manager, as stated in the Constitution. It was a historic duty placed upon him and he had to do his job to uphold the Constitution. Congressman Hyde's spokesperson also added that people who are against the President's impeachment and trial, should remember that we live in a democratic country and our founding fathers set up certain laws that must be upheld. He said that the situation in the U.S. is much better that in some other countries. In the end, though, he stressed that the trial is not any of the Congressmen's or Senators' ideas, but part of laws that have governed our country successfully for more than 200 years.

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District renames Washington Primary School

By Izabela B.

Washington Primary school was renamed the Raymond A. Benson Primary School in December 1998. According to Dr. Acksel, superintendent of District 10 and Dr. Esposito, principal of Benson, Mr. Benson is an Itasca resident who served on the school board for thirty-seven years and was the board president for six of those years. Mr. Benson has seven children and a lot of grand children. All his children went to Washington School. One of his daughters even worked as a teacher there. During Mr. Benson's years on the board, the District built the Washington School, Franzen, and it also did some work on Peacock Middle, which was then known as the North School.
The original idea behind renaming the school was to honor someone who contributed greatly to the school district and the community. Mr. Benson was recognized by being invited to the board of education meeting where the change of name was announced. When this announcement was made, Mr. Benson was shocked. He was so shocked it brought tears to his eyes. A new sign has not been put up yet, but it has already been ordered.

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Is the President guilty or not? An interview with Illinois' Senators

By Liz F.

Republican or Democrat? Illinois has two United States Senators who have different opinions on whether the Senate should find President Clinton guilty in his impeachment trial for lying under oath and trying to cover up his improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky. I interviewed Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald's spokesperson, Brian Solor, and Senator Richard J. Durbin's spokesperson, Melissa Merz on the topic.
A Republican, Mr. Fitzgerald was elected to the Senate for the first time in November 1998. Senator Fitzgerald's spokesperson, Brian Solor, explained that the new Senator felt that it was his duty and obligation not to be prejudiced against the President when judging him, just because the President is a Democrat and Mr. Fitzgerald is a Republican. Mr. Fitzgerald realized that it was a possibility that impeaching the President would be his first big job as a new senator, but he said he would not decide how he would vote until he listened to all the evidence from both sides.
As of press time, there was no reason to think that Senator Fitzgerald would disagree with his fellow Republicans and vote to find Mr. Clinton not guilty. When asked if Senator Fitzgerald thought that Mr. Clinton could still be a good president if he was not found guilty and stayed in office, Mr. Solor replied that this was really up to President Clinton. According to Mr. Solor, the important thing for middle school students to understand about the President's impeachment is that it is part of the constitution and the House and Senate are doing their best to be fair to President Clinton.
The senior Senator from Illinois, Richard Durbin, is a Democrat who now lives in Springfield. He also thinks that the impeachment trial is a very important matter. According to his spokesperson, Melissa Merz, Senator Durbin hopes that the Senate can finish the trial quickly and start to work on other important issues. Ms. Merz said that Senator Durbin, like Senator Fitzgerald, will not decide how to vote until he has heard all the evidence in the impeachment trial.
Ms. Merz did say that Senator Durbin strongly disapproves of President Clinton's personal conduct and his misleading statements. Senator Durbin does not believe that the President does not have to obey the law just because he is the president. On the other hand, Senator Durbin also wanted to stress that in our justice system, a person is innocent until proven guilty. It is important, therefore, to look at all sides in any case before making a decision. Senator Durbin has said that he will support a vote of "Censure." Censure is when the Senate formally and publicly criticizes Mr. Clinton, but does not make him leave office. Most Democrats had hoped that Mr. Clinton would be censured, but not impeached.

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Guys and Dolls opens in April

By Kristina M.

Spring is right around the corner and with it comes the annual Peacock Middle Spring musical. This year they will present an adaptation of Guys and Dolls, based on the short story by newspaper man, Damon Runyon. The leads are played by George Z. as Nathan Detroit, Mike M. as Sky Masterson, Amanda H.as Sarah Brown, and Katie M. as Miss Adelaide. Janelle B., who plays Mimi commented, "It's a good part even though I only have one line. There aren't a lot of girl parts though, so I was lucky." Jeff R., who plays Sarah Brown's Uncle Arvide said, "It's the biggest part I've ever had so it should be fun." "I liked last year's part better than this years, but it will be okay," claimed Christa M. of the Hot Box Girls and Mission Band members.
Mr. Travis thinks that this year's play is going to be the best play yet because the chorus has never been better and the actors are trying very hard. "I'm particularly pleased with effort and progress made by Mike M. and Amanda H." Mr. Travis stated.
The crew members do just as much hard work as the actors There are nine crews: choreography, construction, costume, curtain, make-up, stage, prop, sound, and paint crews. There are three other jobs, the stage manager, spot lights, and stage lights. Christine H. is the stage manager. The crews are formed by students who want to take part in the spring play. The crews meet before or after school so they can get things ready and organized for show time on April 14 or 15.
Guys and Dolls is about a gambler named Nathan Detroit who operates a floating dice or crap game. He doesn't have a place to hold his game so he needs to come up with one thousand dollars to bribe a man who works at the Biltmore Garage to let him hold his crap game there. To make the money. he bets big time gambler, Sky Masterson, that he can't take Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission to Havana, Cuba for one day. Meanwhile, Miss Adelaide Nathan's fiancée of fourteen years tries to get Nathan to marry her, and to get him into a more respectable line of work.

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Students give back to Peacock

By Scott P.

What is a class gift? According to Dr. Nickisch, a class gift is a gift a graduating class or classes gives to the school. At Peacock, the class gift is usually given to the school every other year. Dr. Nickisch said the classes collect money by having each graduating student donate around $10. Then, the eighth grade graduating committee, which is made up mostly of eighth-grade parents, selects the gift.
Class gifts can be seen all around the school. The graduating classes of 1995 and 1996 gave the banner that hangs in the atrium. The graduating classes of 1997 and 1998 donated the bench that sits in front of the office. Dr. Nickisch is hoping that the classes of 1999 and 2000 will give a floor mat for use in front of the school doors.

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