The Viking Issue 5

the

viking Loudoun Valley High School . Issue V . April 2013

LOCKDOWN page 7

YOGA page 5

THE ABORTION DEBATE page 13

Johnny Curtis, sophomore Morgan Blanton and junior Madeleine Swartz dance at the Partners Club dance held on February 22. photo/Ainsley Sierzega

the

viking 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, Michael 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, We hope your first couple of weeks of 4th quarter have been going well! There are only about two months left until summer, so keep up the hard work!

We have some exciting news! The Virginia Association of Journalism Teachers and Advisers has recognized our principal, Susan Ross, as the Administrator of the Year!

Plus, our adviser, Paige Cox, was recognized as an outstanding adviser with less than five years of experience as adviser. We are extremely proud of both of them and congratulate them on these awards, and we hope you will, too! It’s great to be able to acknowledge all they’ve done to help us, especially with the year wrapping up.

With so little time left in the year, our class is hard at work on covering all the news in the school. Since there is only one issue left after this, a lot of stories will be heading to our awesome online paper at www.thevikingnews.com; it’s a great site for current news, spring sports scores, and more!

Of course, if you can’t comment on the online paper, you could always talk to one of The Viking staff members or our adviser in room 135. The room is always open for feedback. We strive to maintain an

unbiased stance in all of our articles and work hard to make sure everyone is represented fairly, and we definitely want to hear from you if you think this was not done to the best of our ability.

We hope that you enjoy this issue—we tried to showcase some more pictures from our amazing photographers as well as some strong stories to wrap up the year. Have a fantastic fourth quarter and keep up all the hard work! Thanks for all your support!

Rachel Boisjolie and Melissa Fairfax, Editors-in-Chief

ONTENT

SPORTS

1/THE INSIDE LOOK

FEATURE

3/BOLAND’S BOUNTY 5/YOGA

IN-DEPTH

7/LOCKDOWN

NEWS

9/THE GUN DEBATE

ARTS

11/UDDERLY ARTISTIC

EDITORIAL

13/THE ABORTION DEBATE 15/DONE WITH THE GRIND

Senior Zack Butler plays during the varsity soccer game against Briar Woods on March 20. Despite the hard-fought game, the Vikes lost 0-4. photo/Sydney Cole

SPORTS/2

the inside look

J

Junior Will Reed, along with the other members of the varsity baseball team, watches fellow teammates play their opening game against Park View High School. The varsity team is made up of 17 sophomores, juniors and seniors. “Our team is pretty close,” Reed said. “The best part of playing baseball...is hanging out with the team.” The boys ended the game with a win of 14-0 against Park View by the mercy rule, which states that a team will automatically win if they are up by at least 10 runs at the end of the 5th inning. photo/Tierra Dongieux layout/Rachel Boisjolie

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FEATURE/4

Boland’s

Bounty

Bernadette Boland and her family run a small, all-natural farm called Fields of Athenry, which began out of health concerns over processed foods.

In a sprawling field, turkeys commune with curious customers. A small shop, nestled between the driveway and a lawn filled with sheep, is brimming with fresh products and hormone-free meats. The air smells faintly of the smoke rising from a small fire where shoppers can warm their hands while admiring the horses across the fence.

The driveway is packed with cars, the owners of which are taking a cooking class upstairs. At the end of the driveway, a white sign portrays a smiling cow surrounded by the name of the farm: Fields of Athenry.

Fields of Athenry was born only six years ago, brought to life by the Boland family in an effort to support Bernadette, who was 7 when she was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease and could no longer eat processed foods without experiencing pain.

Because Fields of Athenry was built to accommodate Boland’s disease, it acts as a support system for many customers with similar diet restrictions. Working with doctors and nutritionists, Fields of Athenry assists people such as cancer patients trying to relieve pain through dietary changes. Boland believes its their ability and eagerness to help people is what makes Fields of Athenry unique.

Now 16, Boland describes her struggle with Cushing’s, a lifelong hormonal disorder which leads to fatigue, weakness, moodiness and a host of other medical concerns, according to the National Institute of Health. Cushing’s is caused by an imbalance in levels of cortisol, a hormone required for the immune system to regulate blood sugar, weight and other mandatory body functions.

“It’s a rare disease in children,” Boland said.

“Because it’s so rare, they don’t really have a set diagnosis of it.”

Above/Bernadette Boland laughs at the animal antics. Sheep befriended customers while warding the cats away from their lambs.

Left/One of Fields of Athenry’s three cats watches customers from beneath the delivery van.

Boland underwent surgery which removed a pituitary tumor producing superfluous amounts of cortisol; before the surgery she had over 700 milligrams, about 35 times the regular amount.

Immediately after her surgery Boland had no cortisol, but she has steadily improved and now has 12 milligrams, although the levels fluctuate.

When her cortisol levels are low, Boland says she suffers joint discomfort, exhaustion, irritability and flu-like symptoms. If her cortisol levels don’t rise, the weakness in her immune system causes her to get sick.

While her cortisol levels have risen and Boland’s condition has generally improved, she acknowledges difficulties, including her inability to eat foods that are staples in many students’ diets.

“It’s really hard because, especially at school, you see all these kids eating whatever they want,” Boland said, “but I can’t because it affects me so drastically.”

Boland first recognized something was wrong when she was unable to keep up with younger students in her elementary school gym class.

“I think people definitely looked at me differently, and it made me really shy,” Boland said.

“As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized it doesn’t really matter… I don’t care what people think of me.”

Another recurring dilemma is her immune system, which is less effective because of her disease. Most recently she contracted Lyme disease, which has led to joint sensitivity that makes exercising a struggle, although Boland wants to gain strength in order to help her horseback riding career.

Boland explained that before she changed her diet she was in pain.

“I feel really fat after I eat processed foods, and after a while my head will start hurting, and I just feel really sick,” Boland said.

While she indulges in the occasional treat, her motto is ‘good, better, best’ and she aims for small victories each day. The support of her family members, especially the similar changes to their diets and the building of the farm, has enabled her to improve her lifestyle.

“It’s like having a team behind you. If one person on the team is out, they support you in every way possible,” Boland said.

The farm has become an intrinsic aspect of the Boland family life. On weekends Boland and her siblings work at Fields of Athenry, and her favorite job is to run the store.

“I like the interaction with the people, showing them the animals and informing them how it’s good to eat fresh meats,” Boland said. “Since we’re a small business, you have more responsibilities so it better prepares you for a real job.”

The Boland family lives on the farm, as well.

While Boland sometimes regrets that she comes home to a business, she’s also thankful for the work ethic and responsibility Fields of Athenry has taught her. The fact that they live on the farm has also given Fields of Athenry a homey atmosphere.

And while many people may only see fluffy sheep, Boland has an eye for the business.

“I look at them like if they’re going to be good for breeding stock or if they’re going to be good for meat,” Boland said. “I have an eye for that instead of an eye for cuteness.”

While having Cushing’s has made life more difficult for Boland, she says she doesn’t notice much of a difference.

“I’ve kind of just grown up with it,” Boland said.

“It doesn’t affect my personality.” article/Emma Rodriguez photos/Emma Rodriguez layout/Emma Rodriguez

B

ending her head and arms backwards, she is sweating bullets in the 100 degree climate.

She bends back up after holding her breath for a few seconds. The sound of an ocean breeze relaxes her as she takes a deep breath. But she is not at the ocean. Erin Dewey, yoga instructor at Yoga For Life, is teaching a hot yoga class.

“It is a misconception that yoga is simple and easy,” Dewey said. “Just like a sport, you must train your mind and body to bend in different ways.”

Yoga is a workout designed thousands of years ago in India to realign the body and stretch your muscles, while toning you, focusing your mind and curing your body. By twisting your body in different ways, you are squeezing your organs and releasing toxins in your body. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, studies have shown that yoga improves anxiety, arthritis, cancer, chronic back pains, depression, heart diseases, lung diseases and migraines.

“I once had a woman come to me; she worked nine hours a day on the computer, gradually her shoulders started to hunch.

When she came to me, she could hardly put her hands behind her back without straining her muscles,” Dewey said. “After just one yoga class, she already felt better and continued to come every week for a few months. Now she is able to bend her back all the way back with no sweat.”

Dewey stresses the importance of starting yoga at a young age. It prevents you from getting a hunchback, which most people do as they grow old. It also counteracts all the pulled muscles students can get while playing sports.

“Yoga is a really good stress reliever.

After a long day at school it’s nice to clear my mind while getting a good workout,” senior Kara Vaillancourt said.

In the fast-paced life we live in, most people don’t take the time to de-stress themselves. Every day more and more people are affected by illnesses that can be caused by stress. Dewey emphasizes the need for people to unwind their bodies and mind.

“Yoga is the ultimate stress reliever,” Dewey said. “Most diseases and physical pains begin with stress. Stomach and back issues, headaches and even cancer can all be traced back to stress. Yoga is the key.” article/Elizabeth Sikora with contribution from Sacha Gragg, Rachel Snyder and Jo Trombadore photos/Tierra Dongieux layout/Rachel Boisjolie

YOGA

5/FEATURE

PUTTING HER BACK INTO IT

Senior Kara Vaillancourt stretches out in a gentle backbend during a yoga session at Yogatime Studios. Backbends make up an entire category of yoga poses along with nine other categories according to Yoga Journal magazine: seated and twisted poses, standing poses, arm balances, core poses, forward bends, inversions, restorative poses, meditative poses and pranayama poses to improve breathing. “I like to be really healthy; I feel like that’s an important part of life and yoga is a great way to do that because the more you sweat, the healthier you are, and yoga is a great way to sweat. It works out every part of your body,” Vaillancourt said. “It’s not just stretching like some people think it is; it’s a workout. But it’s pretty much at your own pace, so it’s not going to be too hard, it’s not going to be easy--it’s whatever you set it as.”

7

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FEATURE/6

“Yoga definitely helps with other sports because it strengthens your core and stretches out muscles so you don’t pull or tear anything.”

-Kristen Cobb, sophomore

“There are a lot of different kinds of yoga. Some people think that we just sit in a room and “ommm” the whole time, but it’s fast-paced and an awesome workout.”

-Corely Simons, junior

“It’s hard; people have come to our class their first time and they say ‘it’s yoga, whatever’ and then we do a lot of either repetition or hold poses for awhile and they’re all shaking and sweating.”

-Megan Donofrio, junior “I really like doing yoga because all of the lacrosse girls do it. It’s really nice to just loosen up, it’s a fun experience, and I eventually got a lot more flexible.”

-Haley Voell, freshman

$27

100

FAST FACTS ABOUT YOGA YOGINI YOGA a female practitioner of yoga

1960

billion is spent on yoga products annually.

RAJA

means “union” in type of yoga meant to develop the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit. mental discipline

approximate number of schools of yoga the father of yoga the century yoga arrived the year yoga became popular in the in the United States United States. percent of yoga practitioners are female. a form of yoga created especially for dogs the most popular form number of energy channels believed to be in of yoga in Western a male practitioner the human body. a type of yoga designed for men nations. of yoga the number of results returned from a the year a town in simple search for “yoga” on Amazon.

Georgia banned yoga

1800s

72,000 HATHA72 BROGA 1990

61,974

10

PANTANJALI

DOGA YOGI

percent of Americans practice yoga

7/IN-DEPTH

Lockdown Teachers spend their April 1 workday crouching in the corners of their dark classrooms and shielding their ears from gunshots while a chaotic drill simulating a school intrusion buzzes through the hall.

As teachers pulled into the Valley parking lot on the morning of the third quarter teacher work day, they knew that the day’s events would be no ordinary experience. Indeed, the hectic scene of police squads, SWAT teams, EMTs and road blocks was no April Fools Day joke.

The occasion of this commotion, the event responsible for various countywide phone calls in the preceding weeks, was a security drill simulating an armed intruder. Responding to the public outcry for school safety protocols after the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary, a lockdown simulation was developed to prepare the Loudoun County community for the event of an intruder. As the nucleus of the operation, Loudoun Valley became a constant source of media intrigue, appearing on local news channels, the internet and the radio throughout the day.

For teachers participating in the drill, the unusual circumstances of the day were evident from the moment they walked in the building at 8:30 a.m. Though the school felt safe and secure with the many police officers trolling the campus, unexpected security measures came as a surprise to many teachers, according to English teacher Eileen Lowry.

“We came in and it was clear that something was going on because the police were here,” Lowry said. “It felt very secure, so I was happy about that. We walked in and I felt like I was at the airport, because they actually wanded us to make sure that we didn’t have any weapons.”

While these stringent security checks, meant to strip teachers of box cutters and butter knives, may seem overzealous, these precautions were deemed

essential in this realistic drill that tested participants’ ability to follow directions and resist emotional reaction. Although locking their classroom door, turning out the lights and posting a red or green card indicating the security of the classroom seems simple, ignoring emotional reactions in order to follow faculty protocol is a confusing mental battle. As teachers crouched in the corners of their dark classrooms during “lockdown,” blank gunshots jarred their thoughts and shattered their ear drums. Meanwhile, simulated victim participants staggered down the halls, screaming and pleading for help, banging on doors and demanding to be let in.

“People would run up and down the halls, rattling the doors, yelling ‘let me in, let me in,’” English teacher Patricia Kelly said. “And that’s very difficult, because in that situation you don’t know who you’re dealing with. You’re supposed to stay safe; you’re not supposed to open the door.”

Among other county employees, Viking teachers Kenyamo McFarlane, O.J. Lamp and Roy Hall were volunteer victim participants in the simulation.

Victim participants reported to the drill early to receive a gory makeup job from a haunted house makeup artist, who decorated them with fake blood and bullet holes. According to Hall, who sported an upper chest bullet hole wound which theoretically exited through his back, one participant had been adorned with a severe-looking wound on the back of his head, complete with brain matter splatterings.

The simulated victims were given specific roles to play for the training of the SWAT team and EMTs. According to Hall, victims roamed a certain hallway and

IN-DEPTH/8 distracted the SWAT team, whose priority at the time was locating the intruder.

The SWAT team was supposed to ignore the pleading, injured victims until the intruder was seized. Next, the victims tested the ability of the EMTs to locate injured persons by planting themselves in one location and using a red card to call for help. Unfortunately for Hall and Lamp, the exercise concluded before they were located and assessed by the EMTs, so theoretically they did not survive the intrusion.

“I got the impression [the drill] was at least as much for the SWAT team, the local police and the EMT,” Hall said. “Everybody had their own thing that they were working on as well as us. It was about how we are going to get everyone prepared.”

While teachers anticipated blank gunshots and lockdown, the drill also employed the element of surprise to test participants. A simulated bomb scare was unexpectedly tossed into the series of events, giving the SWAT team another threat to stabilize. However, the most notable and unexpected piece of the drill was a staged altercation between Officer Schoeb and a role-playing student gunman which occurred first thing in the morning. As teachers walked to their classrooms to ready themselves for the drill, Officer Schoeb and the armed student began to argue in raised voices. When the unruly “student,” who claimed he had an appointment with a teacher, reached for a gun in his pocket, Schoeb swiftly disarmed the “gunman” and physically removed him from the building,

MAKING IT REAL Teacher Kenyamo McFarlane talks about his experience as a victim in the armed intruder drill.

The simulation included a bomb robot to enhance the real-life atmosphere. Photo/Ralph Tillman

dragging him outside. English teacher Wes Dick, an eye witness of the entire arrest, was emotionally impacted by the incident.

“It was pretty intense,” Dick said. “It actually forced me to go into a serious mode. I actually [went to my room] and hid in my closet, because there was a seriousness to it now that didn’t exist before.”

This initial shocking arrest was the kick-off for the drill. According to the drill’s scenario, the parents of the armed student were infuriated by their son’s arrest. The disgruntled father invaded the school later in the day and was responsible for the theoretical shooting. But this horrific story line is becoming all too realistic, as gun violence increases, especially in Loudoun County. According to Safety and Security Supervisor Suzanne Devlin, gun threats to teachers and principals in Loudoun County have increased dramatically in recent years, as explained in a faculty presentation in March.

“In the eight months since I assumed this position, there have been interesting cases around suspicious persons, threats against teachers [and] principals, unidentified intruders in schools two instances [and] one adult intruder on a school bus,” Devlin said. “Upon bringing these incidents to light, I have created an awareness that like any community, we can be vulnerable.” article/Gaelyn Foster photos/Maddie Rice layout/Rachel Boisjolie right/Teacher Kenyamo McFarlane volunteered as a victim in the simulation, which involved working with a makeup artist to design wounds. photo/Kenyamo McFarlane

Q: How was it being a role player in this type of a serious drill?

A: I was used to it. I did drama growing up in high school and everything, and I understood the reason for the drill was for the EMTs, the police officers and others involved. And they told us to be as life-like as possible and let them do their job, because if we were there giggling and laughing and not taking it seriously enough, they wouldn’t be taking it seriously and then they wouldn’t get that actual experience that they needed to do their jobs.

Q: Where were you theoretically shot?

A: I was shot three times in the chest and had two exit wounds out the back.

Q: How was it having the haunted house makeup artist work on you before the drill?

A: It was cool. It was the first time I’ve ever had that extensive type of makeup on me, so it was fun. It was a good experience. It was very life-like too. It took a while to take off. It was very good and very vivid and life-like.

Q: How did they do your makeup?

A: They had a latex of an actual bullet hole, and then [the makeup artist] added different glues and then some paints were airbrushed for the color.

And then the blood was a mixture of corn syrup and a bunch of other things. It looked really real.

Q: Do you think that the effect of the makeup was pretty important for the drill?

A: Definitely. We could have easily done the same drill without the makeup and stuff like that, but it wouldn’t have had the same effect on all of those involved. So the fact that we made it as life-like as we possibly could, I think, made it that much more beneficial for everybody.

Q: So you and the other victim participants were being worked on by a real haunted house makeup artist?

A: Yes. She actually invited me to come and help out with the haunted house this October. So, I think I might be doing that as well. She said, ‘You’d make a really good zombie because you’re big.’ And I was like, ‘Cool! I’d love to do that.’

GUN DEBATE 9/NEWS

THE

The dispute about gun freedoms and restrictions has occupied American political conversation for decades, but yet again we struggle with a solution to the problem in the face of the December Newtown tragedy. On the April 1 Teacher Work Day, the administration approached the issue by volunteering its staff and facilities in a collaborative effort with law enforcement, hosting an armed intruder simulation. >> FACT: According to a comprehensive, running tally by Dan Kois and Chris Kirk on Slate.com, as of mid-April 3,370 people—men, women, and children alike—have been killed by guns in the United States since the December 14 Newtown, Connecticut shooting.

THE DEMOCRATIC POSITION

THE REPUBLICAN POSITION

The Second Amendment rights need to be respected, but there is no reason for civilian possession of high capacity magazines or weapons of war. Rights should be protected until they infringe upon the rights and safety of others. Stricter gun laws are necessary to enforce safety and responsible use and ownership, and although they wouldn’t keep guns away from every criminal, they would at least diminish criminal access.

Stricter gun laws inexcusably damage our fundamental American rights and freedoms, and ultimately will not curtail the kind of violence we are trying to stop.

As is the case with illicit drugs, criminals will attain guns no matter what laws are put in place, and, in the end, people are responsible for the crimes they commit, not the weapons they use. Citizens need guns for self-protection.

“If there’s even one thing we can do—even one life we can save—we have an obligation to try [to enact legislation.]”

“Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.”

P TENTIAL S LUTI NS

BACKGROUND CHECKS: This law would eliminate loopholes in the retail of guns at gun shows, and enforce stricter supervision in the transfer of weaponry. Most or all Democrats and some Republicans support it.

HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINE BAN: A step further than background

checks, this legislation would ban the sale of gun magazines that hold above a certain amount of ammunition in order to diminish mass shootings and make massacre-style violence less possible for criminals. Most Democrats and very few Republicans support it.

ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: In place from 1992-2004 until former President Bush’s administration struck it down. An assault weapons ban would prohibit the sale of large and potentially more damaging guns that some argue have no place in civilian hands. Some Democrats support it, and virtually no Republicans do. Those who oppose it are fearful of its negative political history.

FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES: Many Republicans wary of stricter gun laws focus on the mental health part of the Newtown equation. The position demands we take a closer examination of the way we as a society respond to mental health challenges. Both Republicans and Democrats support this, but Democratas see it as a secondary issue.

VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES AND MEDIA: Republican politicians have also set their sights on our seeming cultural obsession with violence as a key reason why our country is continually wounded with incidences of gun-attributed violence. Advocates argue we need to rethink our violent video games, movies, and music. Both parties nominally support this initiative without developing a concrete way to grapple with it. article/Charles Lyons layout/Leigh George

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UDDERLY ARTISTIC

W

hen art teacher Matthew Herbert assigned his class a project to design a cow for the Lucerne Dairy Competition, Art 3 student junior Riley Keesling was hesitant.

“I didn’t think any of us would win,” Keesling said.

The contest asked students across the country to design a cow on paper that incorporated two Lucerne Dairy Products.

The theme was “Imaginary Island,” and only nine finalists were chosen nationawide, including Keesling. Now, from the nine finalists, one winner will be chosen.

“If [my design] wins, I win $5000, Mr. Herbert wins $5,000, and the school art department wins $20,000,” Keesling said.

In order to determine the winner, the company sent a fullsize fiberglass cow that had to be decorated with the students’ original design. In order for the cow to look perfect, Keesling projected the design on to the cow, traced and painted the lines, filled it all in with color, and then finally varnished the entire cow.

“It’s not difficult- just tedious, just larger and any mistakes are more noticeable,” Keesling said.

Painting a fiberglass cow can create some unique challenges. When matching the painting to the sketch, it took some time for them to match the pink for the ice cream to the pink in the sketch. The strokes for the hair had to be just right.

Even with all the pressure, Keesling stays calm and jokes around while painting. He has stayed after school painting every day for three weeks instead of running track as he usually would.

The cow must look spot-on because the finished cow will be moved to the Leesburg Safeway, where the public voting will begin. Voting is also online, and for the first time ever, only the public decides who the winner is, rather than their previous judging panel. article/Charlotte Tuohy photos/Tierra Dongieux, Maddie Rice, Charlotte Tuohy layout/Charlotte Tuohy

Vote for the cow online now using this QR tag or by going online to www.artofdairy.com/finalists/Gallery!

13/EDITORIAL

The Abortion Debate Pro-Choice

If a woman can’t control her reproduction, she can’t control her life.

REALITY

Until about week 24, a baby cannot survive outside of the mother’s womb.

It cannot feel pain, because there are no nerve connections. And it is during this period of time that 88 percent of abortions occur, so there is nothing even close to a baby-shaped being removed at this point.

Abortion is also the safest medical procedure a woman can obtain, with only a .5 percent risk of complications according to the National Abortion Federation.

Abortions are most commonly performed using a slight local anesthetic and the removal of the woman’s uterine lining, producing an effect similar to a period—the same method used to assist women with menstruation problems.

An alternate method is through medication in which a woman takes two pills: The first pill blocks the production of progesterone which in turn breaks down the uterine lining; the second empties the uterus entirely. It is easy, it is safe; a mother is not drugged and the fetus is not “ripped from the womb.”

It’s also obvious that if abortions weren’t legal, there would be more unwanted children—meaning more kids in foster care on the government’s dime.

It could also mean more kids growing up unloved and prone to commit crimes, as explored in economist Steve D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner’s book “Freakonomics.”

LEGALITY

Regardless of beliefs, having an abortion is a woman’s right. Roe v. Wade established abortion as constitutionally legal in 1973, and the ruling stands that it falls under a woman’s right of privacy to have an abortion in the first trimester. It is a woman’s right to choose: the government should not be able to tell a woman what to do with her body.

However, this right does not mean that it is easy to secure an abortion safely and legally. According to Guttmacher Institute, a woman seeking abortion in Virginia must receive state-directed counseling meant to discourage her from having it. Minors’ parents are notified and must consent before any procedure is carried out. And, as a last effort to emotionally sway the woman before the procedure, the woman must also undergo an ultrasound and be offered the ultrasound image.

In some states such as South Dakota, North Dakota and Illinois, having only one abortion clinic causes problems for poor women without the means to these clinics or the access to health care plans including contraceptives. In other states, people are refused advice and information because of their doctors’ religious views. Protestors often picket outside abortion clinics, making it physically difficult for the woman seeking abortion to enter.

Ridiculously, violence regarding abortion is not uncommon.

WEIGHING OUR OPTIONS

According to Reuters, approximately 70,000 women die each year from unsafe and unregulated abortions – that’s one woman and fetus each eight minutes.

“Backstreet” abortions, including self-induced, most likely occur in places where abortions are either illegal or unavailable.

This, more than anything else, is what happens when abortion is unattainable. This is the cause of the continued ridicule toward abortion patients and doctors. This is what needs to be avoided. With legal abortions we lose fetuses, but with illegal abortions we lose women. article/Meagan Solano

Pro-Life

Fetuses have no control over their own life, therefore, they must be protected under the law.

THE ARGUMENT

The argument surrounding abortion lies in whether or not it terminates a human life. While I will assume that no one wants to willingly end a human life, the discrepancy over what constitutes “life” will forever cause controversy.

MYTHS

Pro-choice advocates often view the unborn embryo as part of a woman’s body, thus giving a woman the “right” to terminate said body part if she so chooses. However, from a scientific perspective, this is not at all the case as the embryo does not share the same DNA as its mother, and is thus an entirely independent identity altogether. The fact is, if an organism with a fraction of the sophistication of an embryo was discovered on Mars, we would undoubtedly read that there was “life on Mars” in the paper.

Some pro-choice advocates declare that because fetuses do not physically look like babies at the time they are aborted (typically 18 weeks) they cannot be considered living human beings. Yet, as previously stated, when a person truly becomes a person cannot be determined. And if that is one’s main argument for abortion, it is important to remember that, while less common, forms of abortion do exist that terminate fetuses that are most certainly physical babies – live birth abortions, for example, in which the baby is born before it is left to die. This rare form of abortion is more prevalent than one would like to think and was even defended by President Obama as a Senator of Illinois.

Many also argue that science can determine when a fetus begins to live.

While there is no concrete evidence as to when this occurs, mankind has taken it into its hands to legislate such things according to trimester—because, apparently, the more developed your brain is, the more of a person you are. Yet, this assumes that life is merely a physical state completely disregarding the wellaccepted idea of a supernatural or spiritual existence apart from the physical body. While a soul’s existence cannot be proven through scientific means, neither can its beginning. Thus, unless made by a naturalist – who believes in nothing but the physical world – this argument is invalid.

Many cringe at the idea of the rights of a fetus trumping the rights of a woman. But those who recognize the possible life of the fetus believe that both human beings should be given equal rights.

Having said this, in cases in which the mother’s life is threatened, a safe abortion may be necessary. Clearly the fetus does not have more rights than the woman, just as one human being does not have more rights to life than any other. The whole idea that abortion is a woman’s right emanated from the Roe V. Wade decision which declared that abortion falls under a woman’s right to privacy—a right never given in the Constitution—yet denied the unborn child’s right to life—a right explicitly given in the Constitution, meant to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

It is not an issue of women’s rights. Nobody should have the right to terminate an innocent life.

LIFE – BEGINNING AND ENDING

It’s true that we do not know that life necessarily begins in the womb, but we most certainly do not know that it doesn’t. Yet for some reason or another we have decided that it doesn’t—perhaps because it’s convenient. After all, it could save a mother’s life—but only at the cost of ending another. article/Jo Trombadore photo/Tierra Dongieux layout/Charlotte Tuohy

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V I CE R E S

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15/EDITORIAL

Done Grind with the

We all know how to dance at a school formal. Well, let’s be honest. We don’t dance. We grind. What’s that you say? You don’t know what “grinding” is?

Well here, let me define it for you. Grinding: a ritual that occurs at the average club, dance party or school formal in which individuals succumb to social pressures and hormones, sacrificing actual dancing to follow one another off the proverbial cliff of civility.

It’s a phenomenon psychologists call “groupthink,” occurring when a group of people conform to something illogical merely for the sake of harmony and conformity. The same thing happened in Lord of the Flies when the boys began to do barbaric things as a group that they would never have done on their own.

This can be clearly observed on the modern dance floor when people suddenly transform from mild-mannered high school students to cast members of Jersey Shore.

This type of dancing that our culture has adopted introduces sexual implications, regardless of the relationship between the dancers. In other words, you can’t casually dance with a friend without playing a below-the-belt contact sport. Undoubtedly, this blurs the line between friendship and anything else, potentially making the whole situation awkward for both parties. Yet we continue to do it because it is expected.

The worst part of this ritualistic “dance” we’ve adopted is that it is yet another expression of male-dominance in an already male-dominated society. In this dualistic dance, it’s the guys who get all the pleasure and the girls who do all the work (not to mention the sore quads the next day). This is not to say that

No one talks about it, but let’s face it: grinding makes us more uncomfortable than we let on. females dislike the expression of sexuality in general, but the physical position of the dance in and of itself puts the male in a position of power and the female in a position of vulnerability. Surely both parties would be uncomfortable if the parts were reversed—this is because society casts females as the weaker partner.

Yet we passively sit back and watch the dance floor change from a lively discothèque to a primitive mating scene. But why? Is our generation so desperately insecure that we are willing to partake in this embarrassing public display merely to follow a trend? In no other setting would it be socially acceptable to hump people in public like the neighbor’s annoying dog. Yet, because there are a lot of us and loud music, such behavior becomes the norm.

In fact, those who refuse to partake in the carnal activity become the outcasts.

Back in the day, dancing meant that people used creativity, skill, talent.

But the development of “grinding” has purged the dance floor of its variety and stripped the dancers of their individuality. It is a symptom of gender inequality that casts females as sexual objects whose only purpose is to please males.

We like to think that we are progressive, that sexism is a thing of the past, that women are being treated with increasing respect. Yet our society’s teenage culture proves just the opposite.

Are we done with the grind? article/Jo Trombadore photo/Roger Burch layout/Rachel Boisjolie

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1. Principal Susan Ross dances at the annual Partners Club dance on February 22.

2. Senior Timothy Griffin performs his original song at the LVSI talent show on February 22.

3. Senior Matt Johns participates in the dodgeball tournament before school on February 22.

4. Sophomore Robert Fairfax returns the ball during a tennis match versus Tuscarora on March 11.

5. The boys varsity basketball team walks off the court after playing in the state tournament at VCU. 6. Freshman Colin Vitkus competes at a track meet scrimmage at Woodgrove on March 16.

7. Junior Stephen Castillo dances at the LVSI talent show on February 22.

8. Mark Strauss, a Holocaust survivor, talks to a combination of freshmen and seniors on March 19 about his experiences. photos/Roger Burch, Lauren Pak, Ainsley Sierzega, Elizabeth Sikora layout/Charlie Tuohy

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