Michael Quinlan ’14: Recent concussion studies have led many to question not only the future effects of these injuries on students but also the future of high school athletics. Described as a “concussion epidemic” by New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, much of the concerns focus on the effects of concussions sustained playing football. Both Christopher Nowinski’s popular novel and his documentary, both entitled “Head Games,” document the long-term effects of concussions on athletes. Nowinski, a former lineman at Harvard and WWE wrestler, has garnered praise for his film’s “power” and its role as a “wake-up call,” according to the New…
Author: TECHALERT
This week’s prize puzzle is a special type of simple logic puzzle known as kenken. For instructions on how to complete kenken, here is a quick tutorial from New York Times Puzzle Editor, Will Shortz http://www.kenken.com/misc/videos. Another good short tutorial can be found at http://www.kenken.com/howto/simple. In the first kenken each row and column will have the numbers 1-5, in the second numbers 1-6. The winner will be the first person to provide the correct solution to both of the kenkens. Please e-mail all answers to scholiumpuzzles@gmail.com. Congratulations to last week’s winners Dr. Goebeler and Ryan Quinlan.
Anna Jarvis ’15, Emma Vadot ’15: When doctors were attending to Candace Gantt after a traumatic bicycle accident in 2005, they never thought that, seven years later, she would be about to partake in one of the most rigorous athletic events in the world. On October 20th, 2012, Candace Gantt, mother of Carter Gantt ’13 and Morgan Gantt ’19, will participate in an IRONMAN Competition in North Carolina. The IRONMAN is a world-renowned triathlon race consisting of a 2.4 mile open water swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and finally 26.2 marathon run, for a total of 140.6 miles. Gantt…
Brendan DeVoue ’14, Eliza Dordelman ’14: The athletic probation policy at Episcopal has sparked much debate over how much discipline issues should affect athletic participation. Probations, suspensions, and other punishments not only affect a student’s academic life but also directly affect their sports teams. Students who are punished typically will have an automatic two-day suspension from school and a twenty-day probation from extracurricular activities. Probation entails not representing Episcopal in any way, particularly in athletics. Students who are on probation are permitted to practice with their sports team; however, they are not permitted to compete in sporting events. Tajmir Cannon…
Tyler Haab ’14, Moose Recktenwald ’14: With the football team off to an outstanding start this season it is no surprise that we chose first-string quarterback, Adam Strouss ’12 as our first Athlete of the Month. Adam has led the football team to five straight wins. In these five games, Strouss threw for eleven touchdowns, and ran four in him-self. Strouss will continue his football career at the University of Pennsylvania next year. Strouss attributes his success so far this year to “his parents and Coach Fairlie.” Strouss believes that the team owes most of their offensive success to the…
Tim Pope ’13: You may have seen him walking down the hall, greeting every student that passes by him, or fulfilling his part-time duty as a bridge troll around campus. You may have even had him as a teacher or club advisor. But while many think they know him, few actually realize just how much there is behind Chris McCreary’s English teacher façade. McCreary is a man for whom the descriptor “involved” would be an understatement. He is Episcopal’s Howard E. Morgan Chair of Creative Writing, advisor of the annual art magazine Epolitan, advisor to the Creative Writing Club, advisor…
Jessica Bai ’16, Sarah Barr ’16: Founded in the 2010-2011 school year by Spencer Ivey ’11 and Matt Lasensky ’11, two avid doodlers who could not fit art classes into their schedules, the Da Vinci Club had the initial purpose of providing a casual setting in which students could doodle, relax, and eat lunch somewhere other than the cafeteria. Now, two years later, the Da Vinci Club has much bigger plans. This year, led by Brittany Belo ’14, Brianna Belo ’14, Maria Burke ’14, Julianne Dones ’14, Kira Henson ’14, Amanda Molitor ’14, and Alexandra Silvera ’14, the club aspires…
Why is Dan Clay, Upper School theater director, so excited about this year’s fall play, “The Love of Three Oranges”? Perhaps it’s the fun Commedia dell’Arte style that it tackles, based on classic Italian fairytale parodies with a pinch of Three Stooges-esque slapstick comedy. The comedic play is a modernized version of a 16th century Italian story that mirrors the type of traveling theater typical of the era. This contemporary adaptation, however, follows a miserable, hypochondriacal prince, played by Paige Dunlap ’14, who, cursed by an evil, rapping witch, Caroline Hunter ’14, endeavors to find his true loves, three giant…
Deirdre Meaney ’14: Halfway across the world is a place where the people are easygoing and life is as calm and cool as the ocean that surrounds it. This reputation of a laid-back atmosphere is reflected in Australia’s growing fashion industry. In fact, in recent years, the annual Sydney Fashion Week that spotlights local designers has garnered increasingly global attention, attention that rivals the innovation found in the world’s fashion capitals. This fervor for fashion, however, is most clearly visible in the day-to-day lives of Australians, especially Australian youth. In “’Straya,” “blokes” and “chicks” alike congregate for spur-of-the-moment jam sessions…
Kayla Coleman ’14: It has been widely publicized over the last month that the Upper School Theater Department has undergone significant changes lately, with the complications arising from the failure to obtain the rights to perform “Chicago” taking center stage. Not as widely known, however, are the more impactful changes that have been made to the Theater Department, particularly those changes relating to the time commitment required for students involved in the cast and crew. Starting this year, those auditioning for the spring musical and participating in the stage crew must choose their level of commitment to the production through…
Courtney Carpinello ’15: Episcopal has instituted a new policy in which Advanced Placement (AP) math classes no longer drop once per twelve-day rotation. Students will instead meet every day during the school week. However, the policy is unnecessary in that it diminishes the flexibility in an already rigid schedule. Head of Upper School Geoffrey Wagg emphasized the necessity of the change, stating, “The College board gives us a recommended amount of hours that we need to teach to assure that students will be well prepared for the AP exams. With drop blocks, we just couldn’t meet those hours.” There has…
Catie Hopkins ’13: After four years of an unsuccessful democratic presidency, Republican party candidate Mitt Romney plans to change the dynamic of the American government by shrinking the enormous deficit amassed by President Obama, reworking the tax system to help the middle class and businesses, and changing America’s foreign relationships to decrease dependence on China. In fewer than four years, President Obama has skyrocketed the federal deficit, increasing it by 6.5 trillion dollars. These expenditures have seriously injured long-term economic recovery and increased U.S. dependence on Chinese loans. Moreover, domestic programs, including semi-effective jobs, and policies such as Obamacare, will…
Rohan Gulati ’13: While news networks and politicians have bashed President Obama’s supposedly dismal record, he has actually enacted numerous policies beneficial to the American people and presented a much more viable road ahead for America than Mitt Romney has. When Presdient Obama took office, the US was losing 750,000 jobs a month and the GDP had shrunk by 8.9 percent. However, by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (otherwise known as the “stimulus”), President Obama prevented a full-blown depression and initiated a national recovery. The ARRA’s $819 billion was split between approximately $630 billion of spending and $190…
Roshan Ravishankar ’14: It has become apparent in today’s world that the media, which in theory should help to educate, inform, and serve the people, has led the public astray with bias and misinformation. The problem, however, is not just with the well-known and ultra-conservative Fox News. Networks like CNN and the extremely liberal MSNBC often focus on trivial issues to increase viewership, unfairly attacking selected candidates, sometimes even falsifying information. Considering the enormous impact the media has on American politics, this attitude is damaging and unacceptable. The most crucial tenet of democracy is that people have the right to…
Anthony Thai ’13, Shreya Reddy ’13: On the first day of the school year, the Upper School gathered in the theater to hear Head of Upper School Geoffrey Wagg give an ambitious lecture on the importance of academic honesty. Wagg articulated a goal for the entire school to be known as the “one school where no one cheats.” As students made their way back to advisory, they began to discuss their own opinions on the issue and determine ways in which our school could accomplish such a goal. However, the goal of completely eliminating cheating and academic dishonesty in a…
The current drug and alcohol policy at Episcopal is one that Scholium believes to be fair; however, we believe all the details of the policy should be made transparent to the community. Most students are not frustrated with the policy itself. They are frustrated because they do not know exactly what the policy entails. We assert that the drug and alcohol policy should be more clearly laid out in the student handbook to avoid confusion regarding such a serious issue and prevent the administration from being seen as unfair in their punishments. The explicit provisions to our “zero-tolerance” policy, which…
Alex Archambault ’14: With the addition of Smartboards to many upper school classrooms, teachers can create new and innovative ways to engage their students in the classroom. Over the last several years EA has replaced many of the traditional black and white boards with these new high-tech boards particularily in the Math, English, and World Language Departments. There have been mixed responses within the community regarding the necessity of this change. Some teachers, including Grace Wingfield, Chair of the Math Department, choose to use the new technology all the time and feel that Smartboards greatly enhance their classes. Wingfield stated,…
Jack Royer ’15, Jack Doyle ’15, Wills Singley ’14: Our school is governed by a myriad of rules and restrictions, enumerated in our student planner. However, when a student neglects our code of conduct, it is the Disciplinary Council’s job to determine the consequences of his or her actions. The council consists of eight members. Four members are students, one from each grade, appointed to the council through student elections. However, the inner workings of the council are a mystery to most students. According to Guillaume Furey ’15, a member of the council, “[student discipline council members] have as much…
Chloe Kinzig ’14, Toni Radcliffe ’14: The Episcopal Academy dress code varies between the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools; however, most students are unaware of the reason behind this. Given Esse Quam Videri’s emphasis on unity this year, one might ask whether the variations in dress code discourage a sense of togetherness. Having an individual dress code for each unit allows the uniform to be fitted to the needs of its students. When asked why the Upper School has a unique dress code, Geoffrey Wagg, Head of Upper School, noted, “I think primarily the Upper School has its own specific…
Mimi McCann ’13, Amanda Paolino ’15, Isabella Sanchez ’16: As the November presidential election approaches, candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are refocusing their campaigns on swing states, such as Pennsylvania, which ultimately determine the outcome of the election. Once a major battleground state, Pennsylvania has been shifting more and more in favor of Obama in recent months. A poll conducted by the Philadelphia Inquirer maintains that Obama holds an eleven-point lead in Pennsylvania as of now. Chair of Radnor Township Democratic Committee, George Badey, remarked, “Obama currently has the lead, but anything can happen in a month.” Ed Rendell,…