The Viking Issue 6

the

viking Loudoun Valley High School . Purcellville, VA . Issue VI . May 2013

METAL MADNESS

A band of six students brought their metal music to the trendy 9:30 Club in D.C. as a first official gig.

SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE

Seniors take their sports skills to the next level by committing to play at college.

ADDICTIVE APPS

Apps are a fun way to pass the time, but this generation is becoming dependent.

viking

the

The cherry tree in the Shakespeare garden ushers in springtime excitement. photo/Maddie Rice

Newsmagazine Staff 2012-2013

Editors-in-Chief Rachel Boisjolie Melissa Fairfax

Managing Editors Gaelyn Foster Charles Lyons

Business Manager Sheridan Suminski

Promotional Manager Meagan Solano

Layout Editor Leigh George

Photo Editor Tierra Dongieux

Online Editors Lauren Pak Charlotte Tuohy

Writers, Photographers, Business and Promotional Staff Kelly Ashley, Carina Bucci, Jennifer Colantonio, Claire Deaver, Wil Elias, Leila Francis, Sacha Gragg, Katherine Haines, Katherine Hall-Wurst, McKenna Holtz, Brianna Jennings, Samantha Morency, Courtney Morgan, Maddie Rice, Emma Rodriguez, Ainsley Sierzega, Elizabeth Sikora, Rachel Snyder, Jo Trombadore, Henry Webster Adviser Paige Cox

Letter from the

Editors Dear Vikings, This is it! This is the final issue of The Viking for this year; we hope you’ll enjoy it. Looking back on this year, our staff produced six print issues—two

more than ever before in a single year.

We’ve been working hard for you!

As our last issue for the year, this is a bittersweet time for us. We are very proud of all that we accomplished this year.

We hope that you all have enjoyed the past issues and feel as if you were represented well in your publication this year. We have definitely strived to maintain an unbiased stance in all of our articles and we feel that we have improved as a staff throughout these six issues.

We were excited to hear people talking about the last issue! As always, we encourage you to submit your comments and suggestions to room 135 or the online newsmagazine at www.thevikingnews.com. Plus, the online newsmagazine is a great place to find out about spring sports games, current events in the school and more.

There are more stories and pictures uploaded to the site than ever before, so definitely check that out!

We hope everyone is doing well on AP exams and end-of-the-year

projects. Definitely be sure to check out the yearbook when that comes out; our fellow publications staff worked extremely hard on that, and it’s a great representation of the year.

Props to yearbook!

And of course, congratulations, seniors! There is only a month left until graduation!

Have a great summer, everyone!

Thanks, Rachel Boisjolie and Melissa Fairfax, Editors-in-Chief

ONTENT

ARTS

1/URINETOWN

FEATURE

3/INFAMOUS MASQUERADE 9/ADDICTIVE APPS

SPORTS

5/SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE

NEWS

7/GAME OF KINGS

EDITORIAL

11/STANDARDIZED TORTURE

Freshman Montana Koslowski competes in the long jump at the home track meet on April 24 against Potomac Falls and Loudoun County. photo/Sami Morency

1/ARTS

ARTS/2

S

ophomore Sarah Midolo and senior Drew Hare rehearse their parts in the spring musical, Urinetown, in full costume on May 1. For the first time, the drama department will possibly perform one of their productions on the Kennedy Center stage. The cast and crew of Urinetown produced the play in only seven weeks. Critics for the CAPPIEs, the high school equivalent of the Tony Awards, reviewed the production on May 3; a June 9 gala at the Kennedy Center hosts performances and voting. On May 3 the cast performed the satirical comedy about a drought which leads to fined use of restrooms. above left/Sophomore Emily Ratcliffe, sophomore Sarah Midolo, freshman Patrick Dahlman and junior Stephen Castillo. above middle/Junior Amanda Barr and freshman Eddie Harris. above right/Sophomore Alex Porier and freshman Jackson Lessler. article/Sacha Gragg, Emma Rodriguez photos/Maddie Rice layout/Rachel Boisjolie

3/FEATURE

METAL M A DN ESS Heavy metal group Infamous Masquerade went from obscurity to a shot at fame with a debut February performance at D.C.’s 9:30 Club.

It’s dimly lit and crowded. I observe the multitude of strangers who decorate the 9:30 Club, ranging from the bearded man with gold teeth to the teenage emo adorned in skinny jeans and guy-liner.

It’s February 2, the night of Wicked Winterfest—a concert featuring over 20 local amateur bands.

But there was one band in particular that I was there to see: Infamous Masquerade.

The six Valley students who make up this band are senior Will Jones, juniors Grant Geary, Joe Rees, Kyle Putman and Winfield Wilson, and sophomore Chris Brown. The spot they landed at the trendy D.C. club was their first official gig.

“It actually happened by accident,” Jones, the band’s drummer, said. “Joe randomly signed us up for

the gig at a music festival, but he had no idea what he was signing us up for.

We didn’t even have a name at that point—he just made one up.”

Perhaps it was fate when they got an email telling them they’d been booked at the 9:30 Club to perform at the Wicked Winterfest.

On stage, their mix of heavy metal covers and originals animated the previously lackluster crowd, bringing the metal-heads to the front where they proceeded to dance and head-bang to the electric guitar solos and thrashing drums. Even I, though at first slightly intimidated by a genre much harsher than I am accustomed to, began to understand the appeal of their sound and stage presence.

Although severe, their sound is compelling and invokes an emotional response from the audience.

“It was so great to be up on stage and see people reacting to the music that we were playing,” Jones said. “It was such a cool experience.”

While metal bands have drawn attention since the late 60s, much of it is negative – particularly in the quickto-judge minds of highschoolers.

“A lot of people see metal bands as a bunch of drugged out bad people, but we’re not at all,” lead singer Brown said. “Just because we play music that sounds kind of ‘evil,’ it doesn’t mean we’re like that.”

In fact, interviewing the six myself, I quickly realized that their menacing music contradicts their easy-going and approachable personalities. On stage at Wicked Winterfest, Jones even shouted an “I’m sorry, Mom!” after a profane introduction of the band members.

Writing music sometimes proves difficult for the boys as they each come from a different place on the metal spectrum. Nailing down a specific sound for the band is a constant challenge for the group, but they refuse to let it stand in the way of their hope for the future.

With more experience and new confidence in the band, the members of Infamous Masquerade seek to pursue this hobby as their career. And they just may be well on their way.

While the band is only just emerging into the local music scene, the jumpstart they got at the 9:30 Club and their intriguing sound suggest a bright future for Infamous Masquerade. article/Jo Trombadore layout/Brianna Jennings

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sign dot 5/SPORTS

on the

Senior athletes plan on taking

Danny White

Sport: Baseball Signed to: Trevecca Nazarene University Quote: “I have no idea what to expect. The game will probably be a lot faster, but at the end of the day, it’s just baseball.”

Andrea Garcia

Sport: Soccer Signed to: Pfeiffer University Quote: “I am excited to go to college and play competitively for another four years and I’m excited that it’s not over for me.”

Mark Shayka

Sport: Volleyball Signed to: Lees-McRae College

Morgan Hammer

Sport: Volleyball Signed to: Coastal Carolina College

Anthony Flores

Sport: Soccer Signed to: York College

Thomas Funkhauser Sport: Soccer Signed to: Massachusetts Maritime Academy

otted line SPORTS/6

ng their sport to the next level at college.

Sporting a new LOOK

Next year some student-athletes will wear new athletic jerseys as they play for various colleges. While some students may look forward to reinventing themselves at college, others look forward to advancing skills they already have. These 10 collegebound athletes, though distinct in their differing sports, are united by an experience unlike that of most of their peers. Some students will begin their athletic career early, leaving for college in July, while others will have more time to mentally prepare for the upcoming year. Whether they are on the field or on the court, college will definitely bring a new set of challeges and victories. article/Charles Lyons, Maddie Rice photos/Tierra Dongieux, Sami Morency, Maddie Rice layout/Rachel Boisjolie, Maddie Rice

Tori Stewart

Sport: Volleyball Signed to: North CarolinaWesleyan College Quote: “I chose my college because I would get the most playing time as an incoming freshman.”

Chris Nunes

Sport: Soccer Signed to: Hamden-Sydney College Quote: “Getting signed takes the worry away from wondering where I’m going to go next year.”

Jordyn Bauman

Sport: Soccer Signed to: Ferrum College

Leah Widdifield

Sport: Soccer Signed to: Christopher Newport University

Josh Grimard

Sport: Basketball Signed to: Alderson-Broaddus College

Jovon Miller

Sport: Basketball Signed to: Undecided

7/NEWS

Game of Kings As summer inches closer, the variety of Viking sports teams are not the only school organizations winding down. The chess club, sponsored

by Rodney Snyder, concludes another successful year. Though a consistent group of 30 to 40 chess players met every C activity rotation to casually practice their game, the

club also participated in competitive tournaments in two cyber chess leagues. In the chess team’s last competition, the winter tournament, the Vikings walked away with no losses.

To add to the club’s competitive edge, team members competed in a school-wide chess tournament to

determine this year’s Viking chess champion. Michael O’Mara and Alby Freolich played fiercely in a finalist match, but Freolich left as the victor. article/Gaelyn Foster, Wil Elias photo/Wil Elias layout/Rachel Boisjolie

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a dd ic tive

APPS

With technology constantly reaching new heights, it’s no wonder apps have become so popular. These apps, however, can become extremely addictive.

In class, at home, in the car; our phones are tied to us constantly.

It’s not exactly new, but it is getting worse; this generation is more dependent on its technology than those previous. According to Time Magazine, 84 percent of the worldwide population say they couldn’t go a single day without their smart phone close at hand.

“I’m constantly on my phone,” sophomore Morgan Blanton said. “It’s right here; it’s easy to access.”

With this number of people so attached to their mobile devices, it’s no wonder apps have become so popular and, for some, extremely addictive.

“I would say it’s a real addiction,” senior Ashley Baird said. “There’s a lot of kids who waste a lot of time when they could be doing…more productive things.”

Substances become addictive when using them releases extra dopamine into the brain, causing pleasure.

Addiction then occurs when repeated use of the addictive substance disrupts the balance of brain circuits that controls rewards, memory and cognition and leads to compulsory use of the addictive substance.

“I’m addicted to a lot of different apps. Snapchat, Tumblr, Instagram and Temple Run 2 are some of my favorites,” sophomore Maddi Howitz said. “When I get on my phone or computer, I get sucked into playing them.”

App addiction, according to Dave Parrack, a 34-year-old free-lance writer who became addicted to Angry Birds, can be boiled down to five main points: simplicity, success or failure, progress, satisfaction and competition.

Apps are simple, and the brain equates simplicity with ease. It also allows almost every age group to be able to play the game, no matter their mental capacity.

Apps also have a clear success or failure policy, in that one either loses or wins the game, and this keeps people playing; they constantly want to win and move to the next level. Progress is clear, so your spent hours are not in vain; after achieving various goals within a game, the player achieves a sense of satisfaction which releases endorphins or dopamine into the brain, causing happiness. Lastly, apps are competitive; most apps allow their players to compete against their friends, and no one wants to lose.

Though it may not be addiction, apps are also a great way to combat boredom, procrastinate and connect with friends online; social networking is definitely one of the largest internet lures for teenagers today.

“We get on [Twitter] to have conversations and to

share things we find funny as a group,” freshman Brett Gourley said.

Whether it’s addiction or not, apps and social networking provide a sense of social and psychological comfort, gleaning self-esteem from likes on a picture, status or tweet.

“The numbers thing definitely changes how you view people,” Blanton said. “You’re cool if you have more followers than people you follow. It’s weird that people actually think like that, but we do.”

Besides being addictive or serving an emotional purpose, apps can also be very costly. Jack Drager, a 7-year-old from Barnsley, England, spent 1300 pounds (around $2000 U.S. dollars) on apps in four days alone.

Heidi Drager, Jack’s mother, did not realize that apps could be so expensive and complained to Apple, who completely refunded her bill. Many other parents are having the same problem with their children, and some have decided to take the issue to court and sue Apple for enticing their children to keep buying the addictive apps.

With this prevalence of technology in our society, in the hands of kids such as Drager who don’t know any better because it is simply ingrained in their lives, we walk a fine line between acceptable and unacceptable use of these electronics.

“I think technology can help us in a lot of ways,” Baird said. “But it depends on the individual person to make it so that it’s a helpful device, not a hurtful thing.”

The pervasiveness of apps is facilitated by the sheer number of them. A common phrase when referring to apps is that ‘there’s an app for everything.’ However, according to Forrester Research, innovation in the world of apps is increasing drastically, and companies are constantly producing new apps. With technology always being updated and brilliant new ideas coming to the surface, the world of apps has a bright future. However, it is debatable whether apps’ bright future translates positively for a society dependent on them.

“A lot of times after people delete a social network they can go through withdrawal,” Blanton said.

“Sometimes you feel like you’ve missed out on things, but it’s nothing that’s really a big deal. There are moments in your own life that you should live instead of being on Twitter.” article/Katherine Hall-Wurst, Melissa Fairfax graphics/Rachel Boisjolie layout/Katherine Hall-Wurst

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standardized

TORTURE

Excessive standardized testing bombards students at the end of the year, as unproductive as it is unrelenting.

F

or a majority of high school students, the months of May and June have a distinctly positive flavor, colored by the aroma of impending freedom and the sight of increasingly beautiful weather that makes the confines of our classrooms seem all the more drab and uninviting. For the most part. One looming, omnipresent activity stands between students and the liberation of summer: endof-the-year standardized testing. No matter what classes students are taking, all are inflicted with deafening, soul-crushing assessments that try to sum up an entire year’s worth of learning and intellectual exploration in 70 questions. By June 6 our entire curriculum will be a swirl of Scantrons, As, Bs, Cs and Ds, No. 2 pencils and the grimace of our teachers – even they’re bored.

But the problem with the deluge of end-of-the-year standardized testing runs deeper than the discomfort and animosity it inspires. The unrelenting sheer quantity of tests given—AP exams, SOLs, Honors Assessments, finals, plus regularly scheduled testing and any SATs or ACTs students might also be taking on—is problematic in itself, often yielding itself to a ludicrous number of tests per class in a short amount of time.

The amount of testing, coupled with the emphasis placed on it, is desensitizing and psychologically harmful to students. The Washington Post reports that the amount of students reduced to vomiting and hyperventilating before and after likeminded tests is staggering. This is as much a testament to the current generation of children’s stifling, over-involved parents as it is our overwrought fixation with standardized testing, which significantly increased under the implementation of the No Child Left Behind program. To rest so much consequence and importance on a single test or group of tests is to devalue the intent and worth of education in the first place. The single-minded focus on testing stymies a focus on the class itself and an actual comprehension and

meaningful connection with the material.

This is not to say students should be subjected to no pressures or stresses in their educational career, or that they shouldn’t be assessed in some way.

Merely, the stresses should be less concentrated to a certain time, and that emphasis should similarly be more evenly distributed over a period of time rather than in overwhelming spurts.

There have been efforts made, locally and nationally, however, to improve the problem. In rebuke to the centrality of standardized testing, some colleges have cast off the SATs completely, simply not allowing students to submit their scores, choosing instead to focus on a holistic evaluation of each applicant.

Loudoun County Public Schools in particular have made positive efforts toward reforming the testing wave by discouraging teachers to give traditional end-ofthe-year exams, instead suggesting projects and alternative assignments as equally valuable ways to complete a year’s worth of knowledge.

These waves of testing don’t have malicious intentions. In fact, their mission is a noble one: to educate a student in as many useful disciplines and subjects as possible, to equip them with the skills necessary to be an efficient and successful adult worker. But their scope is limited and their potential is confined with regard to their form and delivery. Beyond their inability to shape every desired aspect of an ideal student and person, the wholehearted focus on them shuns the much-due importance of creative and abstract thinking.

In the process, it shifts the aim of our country’s education system to creating mechanical, fact-reciting testing workhorses rather than discerning, free-thinking individuals. article/Charles Lyons photo/Tierra Donjieux layout/Emma Rodriguez

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3 1/Juniors Mary Douglas, Tamasen Blaylock and Kylen Holtz enjoy lunch in the Viking Courtyard as the weather warms up.

2/Junior Will Reed throws a pitch during the baseball game against Potomac Falls on April 2.

3/Sophomore Haley Schuford prepares to pass to a teammate during the girls varsity lacrosse game against Briar Woods on April 18.

4/Junior Liesl Kreider dresses up her partner in newspaper for one of the events at the LVSI Sleep-In on April 6.

5/Sophomore Sully Warner throws the ball during lacrosse practice on March 15.

6/Sophomores Kendra Wright and Eve Gallegos work on the set production of the spring musical, Urinetown, during class on April 30.

7/Junior Clare Munday, senior Kara Vaillancourt, senior Andrea Garcia, senior Megan Williamson, senior Meagan Solano and girls varsity soccer coach Kerry Davidson collaborate to come up with an answer for one of the questions during the Family Feud event on April 26. photos/Sydney Cole, Tierra Dongieux, Lauren Pak, Sami Morency, Ainsley Sierzega layout/Rachel Boisjolie