The VA VoiceVermont Academy, Saxtons River, Vermont 05154

“Discere verba et opera Dei”May 21, 2012 Volume 16, Issue 3

“Some of the News That’s Fit to Print”

IN THE MARGINFacebook: Public Stock OfferingFacebook issued its initial public stock offering on Thursday, and said it rasied an astonishing $16 bil-lion. Stocks from the social media company traded at an initial value of $34 per share.

Shifting Demographics in USThe US census announced that for the first time in American history, more minority children were born than white children. This is partly due to the surge in the American hispanic population.

Greek Election Proves FailureThe May 6th election in Greece fur-ther fragmented the political atmo-sphere in the country. Deep Euro-pean austerity measures have caused divides amongst the Greek public. These austerity measures continue to drag down the Greek economy. This dissatisfaction has lead to the gaining prominance of the Syriza party that opposes austerity. Greece continues to pose significant prob-lems for the economic and political stability of the European Union.

National Honor Society Returns to VABy: Mike ReillyOn Friday, Vermont Academy held an awards ceremony to honor nine members of the community who were admitted into Vermont Academy’s very own chapter of the National Honor Society. Vermont Academy was originally given its National Honors Society charter in 2005, but more recently the society has remained inactive. This was the first year in many years that new students were inducted into the society. The ceremony was set up in traditional National Honor Society-fashion. Mrs. Parkhurst began by talking about what honor meant to her. After her wonderful inter-pretation of the definition of honor, Mr. Krahn, Mrs. Schilling, Mr. Mayhew, and Mrs. Perkins also gave their own spin on the different values that the National Honors Society represents. Five candles were lit to symbolize honor, leadership, knowledge, service, and scholarship. The students repeated the code and signed a book. This was followed by individual photos with Mr. Brennan to commemorate the occasion. Overall it was a great ceremony which showed that Vermont Academy has many dedicated students willing to go above and beyond to achive.

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By: Sir David PershaThe Vermont Academy rock climbing experience has been both enjoyable and challenging. Throughout the year, I have learned how to tie some wick-ed knots, clip some kinked caribiners, and climb some cooky cliffs. Not only did I learn rock climbing skills, but I also was able to improve my teamwork and problem solving skills with some radical teammates. While not all were able to take the adventurous journey to Rumney, NH, those who did came back from the fray with tons of bug bites and an experience to remember. The drive was filled with the funk-masters Flabberghaster, and everyone picked a handcrafted air instrument. Once we hit the wall, the climbing was calming. We met some fellow climbers who gave us directions, and showed us the power of observation. We climbed until it was late, and we ravaged the food like savages once we had set up camp. The next day involved an equi-site breakfast. This was made possible with some imagination and a rumbling belly. The following hours were filled with tight kept cores, swooping arms, and lengthy leg leaps. The trip was wrapped up with the welcoming atmo-sphere of Pizza Stone’s pizza. As indi-viduals and as a team, we were able to reflect upon our escapade in a positive manner. We were able bring out every-ones inner forearm and finger strength and totally crush those climbing routes! The whacky weekend was enjoyed by everybody, and helped us persevere through many persistent challenges.

Vermont Academy Rock Climbing Shreds the Gnar! In Rumney, NH

Girls Varsity Lax Puts Up Good Fight The VA girls’ lacrosse team traveled to Andover, NH to take on Proctor Academy for the second time this season. The Wildcats played a solid game, but the heat and a few mild injuries seemed to sap the team of energy in the sec-ond half, allowing Proctor to capitalize on scoring opportunities. At halftime, the score was 8-4 and the game seemed well within reach for the Wildcats. Proctor was able to cycle in some fresh legs in the second half, adding 7 more goals to make the final score 15-5. VA opened the scoring, winning the draw cleanly and pushing the fast break. The teams traded goals for much of the first half, with neither team gaining momentum until the last few minutes of the first half, in which Proctor netted a handful of goals. Vermont played smart, denial defense, with ex-cellent slides and double-teams, particularly from sophomores Carly Radovich and Molly Bren-nan. Robyn Wilkie also played tough, high pressure 1v1 defense throughout the game. Magda Blakeson played a great game, coming up with 5 draw controls, pushing the ball in transition, and working hard to dig out the ground balls. Our scoring came from Blakeson (2 g, 1 a), Ashley Potofsky (2g), and Shelby Johnson (1g). Casey Walsh was in net for the Wildcats and denied 13 Proctor shots. The VA girls went on to beat High Mowing on Friday for a good win.

VARSITY GOLF: LAKES RE-GION TOURNAMENT:The golf team finished 4th out of 6 teams. Individual scores for the 18 hole event:Lyman 84Facca 81Arzi 88Reynolds 92

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Academy AstrologyGemini. May 21st-June 22nd

Tadlock’s Take: Gemini, our source for Astrology says, “you are now standing in the wings, offstage, ready to step into the spotlight.” You will need to make sure, however, that you are ready. Now is a time to “get your ducks in a row”, hunker down and pre-pare for your upcoming moment of glory. Great opportunities are coming your way and you’re looking at some wonderful months ahead of you. Peo-ple are talking favorably about you and your strong communication skills will help you stay on top. An exciting time is coming, Gemini, make sure you’re ready!Murphy’s Musings: It may be near your birthday but you need to get your priorities straight. Get your work done then worry about socializing. You are popular right now and need to focus on yourself and not on others.Lucky Days: 12, 13 and 21st of May

Cancer. June 21st- July 22ndTadlock’s Take: Cancer, I’m not tell-ing you to abandon your work BY ANY MEANS, but I do have to say that May is a great month for a little quiet romance. Spend a little special time with the person you love—walks at twilight, a candlelit dinner, sharing a candy bar in Shep, whatever! If you are single, spend some valuable time with your good friends. Take a moment to slow down and value your remaining days on campus with the people you love. Cancer, it is special.Murphy’s Musings: Do your work but remember your love life. Spend time with the person that you really like. It is time for you to get nostalgic about your time here. Remember the impor-tant and positive things.Lucky Days: 26th-28th good news for your career, new friendship 10th-11th

Blast from the Past:

Has VA really changed? articles from past VA Voice newspapers

Why Not Sweatshirts?by: Eric Bauer, October 31, 1990 Four years ago, VA sweatshirts were considered classroom dress. The only rule being that sweatshirts could’t be torn or patched. For the most part, the ones that were worn were untorn. In many cases, if you take a student with a shirt meant to be tucked in, and a student in sweatchirt the one in a sweatshirt will look like less of a slob. They’re more comfortable to wear, and in the cold weather, aid in keeping the student warm. Sure there will be a few torn sweatshirts worn, but all that has to be done is to send the student back to change. If the appearance of students is that important to the admissions of-fice, then there is a problem. If par-ents and kids decide which school to go to on how the students dress then parents should’t count in the decision process. If the students are happy and comfortable wearing sweatshirts, then the smiles of happy students will play a bigger part in their decision than whether someone is wearing an oxford and is unhappy.

What’s with the Dress Code?Jesse Berandro, December 8, 1993 What’s up with this dress code of ours? Why do we even have it? I know some teachers and faculty feel that when students wear casual clothes, they may not act the same. They may be really rowdy or not as attentive or as serious about academics. I think the school should make a survey. We should have students wear casual dress for one week and see how things go; if the students grades seem to drop a little or students get into fights or something along that line, then they should eliminate it, but if the students are just the same and don’t be-come distracted during the school day and do their work, then we should have casual wear a couple of days out of the week. Something that has Changed:

Student Profile: Isaiah Douth-wrightIsaiah Douthwright is a sophomore from Montreal, QC. He plays hockey, and is often quoted as saying “with the boys”. More recently he describes his JV golf carreer as “with the men”. “Ziggy,” as he is often reffered to as, has an unreal mullet currently. Isaiah is an all around great guy and just looking to score some ginos with the boys.

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VA VOICE STAFF

EditorEamon O’Keefe

Student ContributersFaith Smith, Madison Cota, Matt Gendron, Mehmet Eroglu, George Atkins, Maggie Fenney, Charlotte Murphy, Thomas Durnford, Mike

Reilly

Faculty ContributersMr. Hearon, Mr. Tesar, Ms. Tad-

lock

Faculty Advisor: Mr. Frey

VA Performing ArtsBy: Thomas DurnfordThis has been an incredibly full week for VA and the performing arts. We began the week with a re-cital of all people who have been taking lessons of this year. There were some 20 people, or so, there and numerous peers who appeared to cheer on their friends. There was a wonderful outpouring of wonder-ment and congratulations to those who participated, and it was indeed a wonderful afternoon of music. Later that very night was a stun-ning senior seminar presentation by Max Nowinski, who work all year learning the fineries of composing music.The following evening was the annual Spring Concert, featur-ing all the ensembles that VA has to offer. The night began with a few pieces by the vocal ensemble, so incredibally moving pieces at that. To the chamber group whose first song was composed by senior Max Nowinski. The class who has been working together all year, the music workshop class, came on with some wonderfully composed tunes with their own added flare. The night was finished off by the Jazz ensem-ble playing out the night. And who could forget the art work that ran behind the performance the entire night, from VA students. The final piece to the puzzle will be the In-tro to theater class’s presentation of a one act Christopher Durang Play at 7:30 Friday night. And the direct-ing class will get the same ability to present, on Sunday at 7:30.

Elections approach for School PresidentsBy: Eamon O’Keefe VASA ellections for the next school presidents will occur on Monday morning during commu-nity meeting. Students and faculty will vote on the co-presidents from the junior class that they hope to see as presidents next year. Three teams are running: Eamon O’Keefe and Maggie Fenny, Samantha Gill-ingham and Ashley Potofsky, and Colleen Donahue and Sage Vogt. Samantha and Ashley began cam-paigning early with the ambitious distribution of fortune cookies to the school during community meet-ing touting their strengths as vir-tues. The school will decide what two candidates they wish to elect as student body presidents. The elec-tion underscores the great student leaders that we have here at VA, and will hopefully bring about positive change in the year to come.

‘The fact that we cant kiss our elbow helps us to realize that some things in life are very close to us, but still beyond our reach’

Mehmet Thoughts:

NCIS Finds Millions in Sto-len Property from the De-fense DepartmentBy: Matt Gendron NCIS, Naval Crime Inves-tigation Service, found almost $2 million in property due to ongoing investigation. The investigation in-volved under 70 civilians, Marines, and sailors. The investigation has lasted over a year and a half. Ed Bruice, NCIS spokesman, said, “This is guys stealing stuff and sell-ing it at garage sales and out of the back of their cars.” NCIS also found stolen property that belonged to the US Air Force and the US Army. Bruice said, “This is some damn fine police work and two years of undercover work — $1.8 million is pretty siz-able. This is not the first time such crimes have occurred with military members selling government-issued combat gear.” One of the people that committed the crime was Sgt. Daniel Adam Reich. He was sen-tenced to 40 months in prison and a dishonorable discharge. This troubling discovery calls into question the morals of some of the members of our mil-litary dedicated to protecting our country.