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STUDENT NEWS Magazine MVHS VOLUME 11 ISSUE 4 december Extra
It’s important to help the people who serve our country to have as wonderful of a holiday as the rest of Americans. Read about this on page 7.
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The Viewpoint DECEMBER 2016 VOLUME XI ISSUE IV
EDITORIAL Today’s political climate has bred numerous protests, including the protests against president elect Donald Trump and the Standing Rock pipeline. However, regardless of your political sentiments, it is clear that the radical protests currently being held against Trump taking office offer no solutions and, unsuprisingly, have produced no change. On the other hand, Standing Rock, a relatively peaceful protest that Native Americans held when a pipeline was to intrude on sacred grounds, succeeded in halting the construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Protesting exercises many American freedoms--freedoms that should never be taken away. But in some cases, the method of protest stands out more than the subject, which defeats the purpose of a protest: to present a logical solution or bring attention to an issue of concern. Although few doubt the conviction of those who are protesting, especially in the case of the Trump protests, their argument is falling on deaf ears due to its presentation. Because groups are protesting the election outcome in general instead of the specific issues with Trump’s policies that concern them (such as immigration and the environment), no conversation is started about these issue and there is no dialogue between the opposing viewpoints that would pave the road to compromise and change. Additionally, being blindly angry, and sometimes violent, in
Managing Editors
Hailey Bullis Morgan Ocetnik
this manner allows the opposing side to write off the protests as perpetrated by only those with extreme viewpoints who are not worth listening to because they are contradicting their own message to try to be heard. However, nonviolent protests do not make the news like violent ones do. So here we are faced with a catch-22. If protestors stage a peaceful protest, presenting a logical solution to an issue of concern, they are easily ignored because they only make waves locally. But if protestors stage a violent protest, with anger and broad, ambiguous issues of concern, they have the potential to make waves nationally, but are also easily dismissed because of their radical methods. The Standing Rock protests are the only contemporary counterexample of this. Their success arose from a clear, defined goal presented in a peaceful, logical manner. This is how calmly voicing opinions in America should work. But regardless of what is protested and how it is protested, protesting is still held near and dear in Americans’ hearts. America: the nation founded on freedom of speech. Americans will never lose sight of that freedom, but striking a balance between freedom of speech and maintanence of dignity is long overdue.
Social Media Editors
Lexi Strawder Abbey Whitehead Copy Editors
Leah Garza Reagan King
Photography Editor
Emilee Holmquist Extra Editor
Paige Doerfler Briefs Editor
Ruby Jackson Adviser
Trisha Strahl The Viewpoint is a cross-section of the news and opinions of the student body of Mountain View High School. It is a forum of expression published by aPrintis. Letters to the editorial board are welcome and should be submitted to rooms 303 or 311.
Staff Writers
Feature Figure by Jenny Bullers
Jenny Bullers
You might stroll into the local Chili’s or even by the Mountain View main office and see a decorated tree or basket adorned with ornaments featuring an animal. You may even see flyers around the school labeled “SPCA ANGEL BASKET.” That is all due to the Stafford SPCA, a local non-profit, no-kill animal rescue that cares for and improves the lives of animals in the area. The SPCA welcomes any help given by community members. Senior Simone Levendosky, has devoted her time to volunteering for this special organization. Levendosky has a strong passion for helping these animals without a special home. “During the holidays the SPCA puts up different trees around Stafford and Fredericksburg that show off the animals that they have in the shelter. On the ornaments you’ll see a picture of a dog, for instance, and on the back they will have a ‘wish list’ describing what the dog needs or what the shelter needs,” said Levendosky. Levendosky has been volunteering at the shelter since her sophomore year and thought it would be fun to participate in this charity as well. Earlier in the holiday season, all of the volunteers banded together to craft the ornaments featured on the trees and angel baskets. In order to put the basket in the main office, Levendosky had to contact Mrs. Adams, a Learn and Serve teacher, to sponsor her and email Dr. Stemple for his stamp of approval. “All you have to do is pick up an ornament, read the back of it, and determine how much of a product you would want
to buy to donate, for instance, dog food. Then, you can drop it off at the shelter or send money to the address stated on the back,” said Levendosky. Any product is welcomed by the SPCA but popular donations are cleaning supplies, food, and toys. If you are interested in following Levendosky’s footsteps, all you have to do is email the volunteer coordinator, Jill, and let her know you are interested. After that is done, you have to participate in an hour-long presentation about the SCPA to get certified. “You get a shirt and if you want to do dog walking, you’ll go through a dog walk preview where you get hands-on experience in how to handle the dog and what not to do,” said Levendosky. Levendosky can’t imagine a living without the company of her furry friends. From her home life, to a little extra work, she jumps at any opportunity to better the life of an animal in need. “I have a big heart for dogs; I am a dog lover. I had two German Shepherds that passed away last year and I have a little Chihuahua. My life has revolved around dogs,” said Levendosky. Pursuing a future career in service dog training is Levendosky’s dream job. She has seen firsthand how the shelters don’t get as much attention as they should and the neglect of the animals. Levendosky said homeless animals are often overlooked and the issue should be taken more seriously by the population.
Jenny Bullers, Nicholas Chechak, Charlotte Hazard, Damien Veal, Austin Venable, Adam Skoloda, Sophie Perez Front Cover Paige Doerfler
2014-2016 Virginia High School League State Championship First Place Award Winner 2013, 2014, 2015 Free Lance-Star Best Over All Newspaper 2011 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist 2011, 2010 and 2009 Virginia High School League First Place Award Winner
Mountain View High School 2135 Mountain View Rd. Stafford, VA 22556
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DECEMBER at mountain view Christmas Parade by Isabella Roeske On Dec. 3 of this month, Mountain View’s marching band played through Downtown Fredericksburg during the Christmas Parade. Comprised of all four grades, the musicians played along the route, despite the bitter temperatures. Mostly everyone stayed in their positions and stepped with the beat of the percussion instruments. The marching band’s conductor, Gene Welch, walked by his band’s side and smiled as they played. This was only his second time walking with his own band, but had previously participated in parades in Chicago, Atlanta, and other cities. “The biggest thing with the parade is the endurance,” said Welch. “Usually with our show that we do on the field is about seven minutes long and there’s lots of starting and stopping. And while, for the parade, it’s much easier from a music standpoint ... we continue marching for 15, 20 minutes straight, plus they’re playing off and on.” The band had two weeks to prepare for the parade. After their competition season ended, they went straight into practicing one piece to play through the night. “I think waiting to go to the parade, we made a lot of memories and it was really fun and we learned how to prepare and memorize music,” said Hannah Loving, a saxophone player. The overall experience was productive for our school’s marching band and a good way to end the year.
Blood drive by Sophie Perez On December 12, Mountain View High School held a blood drive that was organized by Karl Reichert, the National Honor Society students, and the Red Cross. Students were able to sign up on Wednesday, December 10 during their lunch period. Throughout the day on Friday, December 12, students were pulled from their classes and taken to the auxiliary gym where they were then asked a series of questions about things like their travel habits and if they had ever had contact with any diseased person. After this, the nurses would prick the donors finger to check for anemia, and as soon as they got the all clear, they began drawing one pint of blood. “Blood drives are such a help to those in need. I knew someone who recently overcame with the help of donations and it shows that a small act goes a long way,” said sophomore Emma Barchanowicz. The blood will then be used for a variety of things such as aiding in the treatment of people with blood cancer, replacing the blood that trauma patients have lost and helping people’s bodies accept donated organs.
Reason for the season by Chloe Reid December is the season of giving and it’s important that we learn to give back to our community, and that’s what being a Wildcat is all about. Mrs. Adams, one of the Learn and Serve teaches, says “It’s important to know that more people are involved in the Adopt a Family project than just the Learn and Serve students, other participants just don’t get the credit,” she continues to say that “Many clubs are also involved like FCCLA, and DECA who sub-adopt the families and have members bring in presents to help out.” This important project is to help those in poverty, or low income families to receive presents where in most cases they wouldn’t, and that’s what makes this so special. This club’s tradition began over 10 years ago, and 22 families were adopted this season alone. The families are given to the Wildcat community from the Department of Social Services, and that is also how the presents are delivered to the family. This activity spreads cheer through the school, while it also lends hands to the less fortunate, for more information or to get involved next holiday season, contact Mrs. Adams.
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Friendships:
Snap Streaks In a world of staying connected through social media, do Snapchat streaks do the exact opposite by Hailey Bullis
Over the past few weeks of trying to write this article, I’ve discovered how funny it is how teenagers treat snapchat streaks. The countless stories I’ve heard of people being petty and ending a streak because they were mad at their friend or boyfriend to prove a point, or even keeping the the streak because it’s over a hundred days and god forbid that they lose the streak. Snap streaks are almost like a medal to some people and try as I might, I really can’t understand why. I mean yeah, upping your snap score is great and being able to say you’ve had a snap streak with a person for over a year is quite an achievement considering how easy it is to forget about streaks for a day and lose all of the progress you’ve made in an instant, but what does a 180 day snap streak prove? If anything snap streaks are the opposite from the “keeping connected” conception social media platforms try to sell. I say this because while you are communicating with this one person daily, sending a picture of the floor and saying “streak” isn’t really communicating, you don’t learn anything about that person
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except for maybe what shoes they are wearing. In fact, many people end up sending one photo to ten people in order to keep up with their streaks.At least with facebook or instagram you can see the cool things people are doing like hiking up old rag or getting into their dream college, even if you aren’t commenting or actively interacting with that person, you learn something new about them and their lives. However, with Snapchat streaks though it almost seems robotic and impersonal. Since when did you have to have a streak with your best friend or significant other to prove that your relationship with that person is valid? Snapchat does not allow for complicated conversations even in the chat, and even deletes your messages with that after a certain amount of time, unless of course you save the messages individually every time you send a messages. Otherwise you are left with a blank chat with a response you have no idea was answering. Snapchat streaks shouldn’t matter as much as they do to some people, because what should matter is the people you are talking to and not the number next to their name.
Help For The Holidays
It is a universal belief that the holidays are meant for spending time with familys and loved ones. How would you feel if someone important in your life was misssing during these times? By Sophie Perez
D
uring the Christmas season alone, thousands of our country’s troops are unable to come home for the holidays. Although serving our country and keeping us safe is extremely important all year round, it would be disappointing for anyone to have to miss out on that special time with family and friends. “I understand that it’s important for military members to serve even during the holidays but I feel bad because they have to give up seeing their families so we can see ours,” said freshman Daniel Flett. Thankfully, there are plenty of things we can do to offer our troops and their families support from right here at home. Although they may not be able to physically be with their loved ones, donating to foundations that specifically help military members is a way that military family members and even strangers are reaching out and offering love to our troops and veterans from thousands of miles away. Some of these include the Air Warrior Courage Foundation, which offers everything from financial support to support for military dependent children and the Wounded Warrior Project which helps troops who were wounded in combat. Other foundations, like the National Military Family Association, provide mental health aid for soldiers who may be suffering from mental illnesses, such as PTSD. Foundations that specifically deal with financial support would be USA Cares and AdoptAPlantoon Soldier Support Effort. As you can imagine, it is extremely hard on many military families to be apart from their loved ones for such long periods of time and to readjust when they are brought back together, to help with this organizations like Operation Homefront provide shorterm and longterm stability. There are even foundations made for helping military families solely around the holiday times. One example would be Trees for Troops which has delivered more than 103,000 trees to over 60 military bases in the U.S. and overseas. There is also a foundation that will decorate military families homes for the holidays called Operation We Are Here. Soldiers give up so many things like time with their families and they go far as putting their physical and mental health and even their lives on the line. It takes a whole lot of strength and courage to do what they do every day. It is no secret that Americans are known for their patriotism, and what better way is there to express our love for our country than to donate to the ones who risk their all for us.
“they have to give up seeing their families so we can see ours”
feature q december 2016 q the viewpoint q
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Social workers in Schools The school board is working on putting social workers in schools on a regular, daily basis to help high school students. by Jenny Bullers High school students are victims of a variety of stressors that can take a toll on them. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for the ages 10-24 which is a heartbreaking fact. Dealing with a student who feels neglected is not always an easy task. Members of the school board are inquiring if students are prepared emotionally for success and failure. One proposition to assess the issue includes adding a full-time social worker in the building in the hopes of benefitting the school community by developing personal relationships with the students. Currently, Mountain View has a part-time social worker in the school, but very few students were aware that we had one. “Many social workers rotate among as many as three buildings. It is difficult to make connections with the students if not there on a daily basis,” said school board member, Holly Hazard. Specifically in high schools, school counselor’s time is largely consumed by administrative issues like college transcripts and scheduling conflicts. It then becomes difficult for the counselors to also help with personal issues among the student population. Yes, college is very important especially in this day and age, but the emotional and mental well-being of a student can be considered more important and having someone devoted to those certain issues could prove to be very beneficial. The hard truth is that in some situations, students aren’t equipped to handle the weight of their stress and problems. If there is something that can be done to help the students in need, shouldn’t it be an easy decision to take action? However, it is easier said than done. One issue made relevant is funding. The State Standards of Quality (SOQ) only require one social worker for every “x” amount of students; therefore, the state only helps fund the social worker position a certain amount for SCPS. One issue brought to the surface by many students is the fact that they had no idea our school had a part-time social worker. Perhaps we can find a solution to this issue. Despite the fact that Katrina Clement, social worker at Mountain View, is only here a select amount of days, her assistance can still be very effective. No one simply has all the answers to the problems in our school system. However, letting the students know that they have a worker in the school whose job is dedicated to helping them with these personal problems, would benefit. Many times, the existence of this social worker is not known until the problems have already consumed the student and become too much to handle. Perhaps an assembly held at the beginning of the school year where our social worker introduces herself with a presentation could inform people and help spread the word or she could speak during each grade level assembly. However, the work cannot be done there. Teenagers are more stubborn than not and refuse to share personal information or problems with any adult, unless they form a bond with them. That bond and trust is nearly impossible to form unless we are provided someone that can be available in schools at any time the student needs them.
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December music reviews December sees releases from a number of well-regarded independent artists by Nick Chechak
Childish Gambino
Ulver
Riverhead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Awaken, My Love!
Genre: Psychedelic Soul Label: Glassnote
At this point, there is little doubt that Donald Glover- also known by his musical moniker Childish Gambino - is currently one of the most versatile creators out there. With credits ranging from comedy to screenwriting to acting to rapping to production, Childish Gambino is a true jack-of-all-artistic-trades. After two albums of straightforward rap music, “Awaken, My Love!” sees Glover put his versatility to the true test by abandoning his hip hop roots in favor of an album completely geared toward mid-70s funk and soul. For sure, “Awaken, My Love!” is a bold move. Unfortunately, however, it reveals a critical flaw prevalent in much of Glover’s work: while he is clearly a man of many talents, his work is rarely, if ever, brilliant. This album is little more than a series of underwritten Parliament-Funkadelic rip-offs, augmented by ill-fitting reverby production. With the exception of the laughably bad pseudo-reggae dud “California” and some interesting keyboard tones, little that occurs on this album is remarkable or noteworthy. After several listens, the entire record begins to melt into a homogenous puddle of mediocre R&B slow jams. While most of the album isn’t bad, per se, it’s just incredibly boring, and nothing George Clinton didn’t do infinitely better in the 70s.
House of Mythology
Glassnote Records
Release Type: Album
Label: House of Mythology
Verdict: 7/10
The Microphones
Hodgy
Release Type: Compilation
Release Type: Album
Genre: Indie Folk
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun
The Microphones are one of the few groups of the early 2000s “indie rock” explosion to have achieved truly legendary status among underground music fans; their 2001 album “The Glow Pt. 2” is considered by many critics to be one of the best albums of its decade, if not one of the best indie albums of all time. Yet despite their acclaim and devoted fanbase, The Microphones have remained almost completely inactive for over a decade, with lead songwriter, producer, and mastermind Phil Elverum having effectively abandoned the group in favor of other projects. Since the group’s most recent album in 2003, only a few singles have been released under the Microphones name, leaving fans yearning for new material. Instead, Elverum has chosen to give them the exact opposite, issuing a compilation of the band’s earliest recordings. If anything, “Early Tapes 1996-1998”, the compilation in question, simply goes to show that even great bands often begin as unfocused basement endeavors. Composed mostly of undeveloped experiments and half-finished acoustic tunes, this record primarily demonstrates the initial incarnation of The Microphones to be a confused musical entity struggling to find an identity; its best moments, like “Compressor” and “Wires and Cords”, see the band honing in on the bleak, sentimental indie rock that they would later perfect, but these are contrasted with stupid joke tracks that hamper the record. Although the compilation does pick up steam near the end, “Early Tapes 1996-1998” is an inessential, inconsistent release that will likely only satisfy hardcore fans. Just as Phil intended.
Verdict: 5/10
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Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide
Odd Future
Early Recordings, 1996-1998 P.W. Elverum & Sun
Genre: Ambient
Norwegian music collective Ulver is a band whose only defining characteristic is their lack of defining characteristics. Since their debut in 1995, they have spent two decades jumping from genre to genre with the sort of ruthless experimentalism that most bands can only maintain for the first years of their existence; with a discography spanning black metal, folk, trip hop, art rock, and drone, no two of their records sound the same. Their newest LP, “Riverhead” (the soundtrack to the film of the same name) is no exception to this trend. An ambient record in the truest sense of the term, “Riverhead” once again sees Ulver diverging from its previous endeavors. Though “Riverhead” is not the band’s first encounter with ambient music, it represents their first headlong dive into the deep end of the genre, with sweeping string loops and field recordings replacing any semblances of traditional song structure. As with most soundtracks, the album is a bit of a flawed listening experience. It’s sparse and, at times, intentionally underwritten, clearly meant for visual accompaniment. But even separated from the film, it’s full of plenty of creative moments, simultaneously evoking impending doom and lush grandiosity. “Riverhead” is obviously not for everyone, but it’s got a lot to offer the ambient music fan.
Verdict: 3/10
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Release Type: Album, Soundtrack
Label: Odd Future
Since his supposed departure from the Odd Future hip hop collective and the disbandment of MellowHype, his project with producer Left Brain, Los Angeles rapper-producer Hodgy (also known as Hodgy Beats) has remained largely out of the spotlight. In late 2016, he made a subdued return to the public consciousness, casually and rather quietly dropping a new LP entitled “Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide.” Clocking in at a lean 38 minutes, “Fireplace” sees Hodgy taking a much more varied and introspective approach than on his previous records with Odd Future and MellowHype. Although he can’t keep up with the likes of Kendrick Lamar or Danny Brown in terms of lyrical composition, Hodgy certainly holds his own as a rapper, with a more-than-competent flow and thoughtful bars. The real hero of this album, however, is the production, handled by a number of different artists; every beat is lush, exciting, and slightly tinged with psychedelia, allowing for an astoundingly cohesive album. With the focus on impactful instrumentation rather than brash choruses, “Fireplace” eschews ear-worm hooks in favor of old-fashioned rapping and beats; in 2016, it’s extremely refreshing to hear a rap album that doesn’t beat the listener over the head with repetitive hooks. Moreover, in an era of 80-plus minute Drake albums, it’s also refreshing to hear a rap album that makes its points concisely and doesn’t overstay its welcome. By keeping it simple and short, Hodgy has crafted one of the more satisfying rap albums of the year, and certainly one of the best albums to come out of the Odd Future camp.
Verdict: 7/10