Inside This Issue... Internet Privacy `SUP: The

The Centipede
September 1, 2007
Volume 50 Issue 7
Concord Academy Student Newspaper
Internet Privacy
by Julia Shea ’16
In this day and age, practically anything
a person writes digitally will be read by
someone else. Even if you own a “personal
device,” your communications using the
Internet are transparent.
In an effort to help individuals troubleshoot
and to protect the community from potential
network problems, CA’s IT Department
collects Internet usage data (as does the
administrator of any computer network).
And, in order to facilitate support for various
online applications, school administrators
have a view into all accounts associated with
CAConnect, the school’s primary mode of
communication.
Concord Academy depends on community members to adhere to Common Trust
by using common sense on the Internet and
think they can look through your [Internet
browsing] history.” Harry Breault ’16 said,
“I think they can look through your hard
drive.”
In reality, administrators cannot easily retrieve logs of browsing history or
look through hard drives. However, access
points, or as IT Services member Ivan
Nieves described them, “the things with
the two antennas,” are stationed every 20
to 30 feet on campus (and are also found
in people’s homes). “Essentially, your
computer talks to every single access point
around it,” Nieves said. “Due to the nature
of the Internet in general, there’s some pane
somewhere that shows the connections to
any resource. Whether you’re at home or
on campus, you’re leaving behind a trail of
your activity.”
Nieves continued, “This is how retailers
How and when is your Internet use being monitored?
Photo courtesy of Molly D’Arcy ’16
not sharing passwords. Since the IT department has limited resources, nobody is sitting
around reading logs of information about
use throughout the day. However, according
to the Acceptable Use Policy for Technology
Resources (AUP), “The school’s computer
resources are managed by both Concord
Academy staff and outside contractors.
Network and server activity logs (including information such as Web sites visited,
email sent and received, and other items,
which vary from time to time) are kept
and reviewed by system administrators for
maintenance and other purposes.”
Although the AUP is available in the
CA Handbook, many students do not know
exactly what school administrators can and
cannot access. When asked, “What can the
school see of a student’s Internet use?” Jolie
Jaycobs ’16 answered, “I have no idea! I
target customers with specific items. Little
clues, which are called cookies, are stored
in your computer. And then your computer
responds with advertisements… you’ve
been here, you liked these jeans, so how
about these boots on Amazon?”
Also, that my-computer-lost-my-homework excuse won’t work too well anymore,
when you consider the ready availability of
backup technologies and cloud-based editing (Google Drive, Evernote, Schoology,
CA Connect etc.) Nieves speculated that a
large portion of the problems students report
relates to lost files. IT has an administratorlevel account that allows for quick access to
all members’ online CA Connect accounts;
their access is equal to that of the vendors
of the applications themselves. While the
tool is typically used as a troubleshooting
continued on page 3...
Inside This Issue...
Page 1
May 6, 2014
’SUP: The Space
Utilization Plan
by Bre Kelley ’16
It is no secret that Concord Academy
is a bit “cozy.” The property we currently
inhabit has been an ideal space for our
tight community to function in since the
early years of the school’s development.
However, CA has grown a lot over those
years in more ways than one, and, as
the school’s centennial celebration approaches, it is clear that CA’s campus is
in need of a facelift in order to adapt to
the changes that have shaped the CA we
know today.
A team of about twenty people began
meeting in May of 2013 to discuss the
ways in which Concord Academy’s property can be improved for the future of the
added both a tremendous amount of muchneeded room for expansion for our athletic
department as well as opened up a zoneof-opportunity where the old tennis courts
are located behind Phelps House. Now, attention is being turned towards
the Main Campus departments. The group
determined that the areas in dire need of
rehabilitation are the library, outer-landscape, and Bradford House. Runners-up on
the list are the ASL, science area, student
center (or lack thereof), and PAC. Using
this list, the team strategized about how
to best remodel the existing space, and it
came up with “SUP,” the Space Utilization
Plan.
SUP phase one will go into effect as
soon as possible. It will begin with the
Members of the CA community look at a map of SUP.
Photo courtesy of www.dskap.com
school. This team included at least one
faculty member from each subject field
and members of the admissions office and
board of trustees, as well as David Rost,
Jenny Chandler, Martha Kennedy, Don
Kingman, and Eliza Thomas ’14 – the
Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty, Librarian, Director of Operations and Student
Head of School, respectively.
This team joined forces with two
architects from Dewing Schmid Kearns,
a company that has worked with other
private schools in the area to create userfriendly spaces that enhance the schools’
existing properties. “The architects we
worked with were amazing in helping us
visualize the future of CA,” Thomas explained. “Instead of [just] taking notes on
our concerns, they would draw blueprints
of what they thought our new spaces could
potentially look like. They worked so well
together, and with them, we made a great
team.”
The group met four times over the
summer and since has held monthly
meetings to pinpoint the areas on campus
that are in most need of improvement.
Comparison charts of space-per-student
and acreage of private schools in the area
revealed that CA was on the lower end of
the spectrum; although the goal is not to
be at the top of the chart, changes need to
be made to bring CA up to speed with the
rest of the private schools in the area. The
creation of the Moriarty Athletic Campus
reconstruction of Bradford. The house will
receive a modern remodeling on the outer
façade, and inside it will feature a new
back door and open common room. It will
open up to a pathway leading to the quad
and will feature large windows facing the
quad to bring the outside in. More student
rooms will increase the student capacity of
Bradford, and the house will feature one
new faculty apartment.
Another aspect of phase one is remodeling the library. Currently, it functions as
a space that has three different functions: a
hallway, a quiet study space, and a group
workspace. This phase will reconfigure
the library to create more separation of
quiet workspace and group workspace.
The hallway will be altered to make the
library more of a destination rather than
a traveling space.
Potentially, further in CA’s future,
the science wing will be completely reconfigured to better the lab spaces and
expand classroom setup, giving the large
science department more wiggle-room.
It will feature a viewing deck so that the
earth science and meteorology courses can
incorporate more hands-on experiments.
The zone-of-opportunity will be converted
into a black-box theatre space and student
center for socialization and group collaboration. Overall, more projects are still
in the preliminary phase as the SUP team
continues its planning to strengthen and
expand the CA community.
News
Page 2
Mapping Concord
Artistically
condense into the panel.
The mapping process was unique for
For the past few months, students from each student undertaking the project, and
Concord Academy, Middlesex School, and the final results reflect that individuality.
Concord Carlisle High School have been “Creating collaborative art in a stochastic
working on a massive collaborative art fashion, in which none of us can see the
project to document how they see the town final project coming together or a unified
of Concord. The map project, organized by end goal might produce some interesting,
the Concord Arts Association, is the first-ever if disjointed, results,” commented Gabriel
project to encourage these secondary school Strasburger ’16. Strasburger “slapped some
students to reach through school rivalries to photos on the hodge-podged square” for his
quadrant, working without knowing what
celebrate their town.
In February, students from all three pieces around his square might look like.
Some
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e a c h
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given a
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ect was
to work
a very
with and
o p e n
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ers comas their
mented
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Members of the Concord community at the map exhibit.
Photo courtesy of Allison Fraske.
by Ali Zildjian ’15
they chose, students were asked to place the
essence of their quadrant on a 16-inch square.
The goal was to either capture the feeling
or the physical landmarks of their spot.
Hadleigh Nunes’15 explained, “[We] could
either do a literal representation of that area
or create an image or sculpture that evoked
the feeling of that area.” In addition to being a reenactment of the Minutemen, Nunes’
depiction of her quadrant reflected her own
memories of the place as well. Nunes said
that her piece was an oil painting of Concord
trees in winter as she had seen them while
running in town with her team at CA.
Students were also given the option to
work as a team or on their own for the map
project. Workshops were spread sporadically
throughout the months they were working,
with opportunities to meet with teachers to
help with the pieces. The entire Visual Arts
Department at CA became involved, as students were encouraged to fit their creativity
into their quadrants, featuring sculpture,
painting, drawing, photography, or any other
visual art materials they could manage to
work on. “I’ve never had to do a project with
these sorts of defined guidelines before, and
it was a bit of a challenge for me personally,” Abigail Ory ’16, said. Ory’s final piece
managed to incorporate film, with the help
of an iPad mini and a creative construction
to support it on the panel.
The final pieces were due when students
returned from spring break, and the final
exhibit opened on April 17th, combining
the work from every participant. The final
project interpreting the essence of the town
of Concord is on show at Concord Art Association until May 18th. It will be the first
time for many of the students involved to see
their peers’ work alongside their own, as the
different viewpoints, mediums, and talents
integrate into a whole. Expectations for the
cumulative exhibition vary: Ory said the
display will be “rad,” whereas Strasburger
said he believes it will seem “mismatched.”
Regardless of what happens, the exhibit will
represent the coming together of three school
communities, who share and experience the
town of Concord together.
Junior Leadership
Retreat
by Chris Pappey ’15
On a rainy Friday afternoon in late
March, Concord Academy’s junior class piled
into the “yellow limousines” to venture out
to Prindle Pond, the site of the annual Junior
Leadership Retreat.
This was the fourth year that the administration has organized this event. Its purpose is
to better ready the junior class for stepping up
as next year’s seniors in hopes that they will
set a good example for the underclassmen to
follow.
Prior to setting out, the junior class
received an email from David Rost, Dean of
Students, explaining what to bring and what
not to bring. One aspect of the email that
stuck out was that the members of the class
were strongly encouraged not to bring phones.
In the email, Rost explained, “We want you
to provide undivided attention to the group
you are with and not be texting friends not
on the retreat or using your smart phone to
be surfing the net and checking email. The
chaperones will have phones in case there is
an emergency.”
Another important aspect of the retreat
was the rooming. Instead of students picking their roommates, students were assigned
rooms randomly (the only separation beinggender). This was to allow students the
opportunity to talk to and bond with other
students that they might not have talked to
otherwise.
On that rainy afternoon, the buses pulled
up to Prindle Pond and the experience began
instantly. Students threw their suitcases and
continued on page 5...
May 6, 2014
You’re FIRED!:
Apprentice at CA
by Claire Phillips ’15
Concord Academy’s campus usually
feels calm and laid-back; it becomes something entirely different while the students
are playing Apprentice. Afternoons that
used to be for hanging out with friends or
doing work become the time when students
try to “fire” their peers. These “firings,”
which might more accurately be described
as surprise attacks, are the disconcerting,
hilarious, and infuriating moments that
define this popular, school-wide game.
Participating students go about their lives
normally during the school day, but the
hours after school become a paranoid game
of hide-and-seek.
Each player in the game Apprentice has
just one objective: to “fire” a specific person.
The game starts when “The Boss,” also
known as David Rost, Dean of Students,
sends out individual emails to participating
students with the names of their targets.
Each student-employee must fire his or her
target within 72 hours to ensure continued
employment. Additional rules make firings
more difficult: you must fire your fellow
employee within 72 hours, with at least one
witness, without being fired yourself. If you
fail in your mission, The Boss fires you.
While the game’s paranoia-inducing
objectives have not changed much over the
years, its name has. According to Dean of
Students David Rost, the first incarnation of
the game at CA was called Assassin. But,
Rost explained, “Some people felt that at a
time of war and escalating deaths by hand-
guns, it was promoting the wrong message.”
He said the terms used in the game seemed
especially wrong “at a school that’s committed to such things as social justice.”
Rost added that it was History teacher and
house parent Sally Zimmerli, along with the
residents of Admadjaja House, who came
up with the idea that instead of “shooting”
their targets, participants should “fire” them.
The idea was based on Donald Trump’s hit
TV show Apprentice. This new iteration of
Assassin has rules nearly identical to the
original; it is just a different context and
delivery system.
It is this unchanging set of rules, as
well as the encouragement of deception,
that have defined the game for years. As The
Boss explained in his first email, with a few
exceptions, “all … forms of lying and deception are allowed and encouraged. After
all, that’s how Corporate America works!”
Constant deception often causes hilarity
as well as unusual and awkward situations,
mad-dashes, and forced conversations.
Paolo Sanchez ’14 described his experience
playing the game: “Well, before apprentice,
I didn’t follow freshman boys. But then
I learned that they like to hang out in the
gym.” Nonetheless, the time he took to tail
people was costly: “Apprentice ruined 3-10
p.m. during weekdays for me!” Though she
didn’t play, Caroline Stotz ’15 still enjoyed
the game, explaining that as an observer,
“It’s really funny watching other people get
fired! I like all the plotting that goes into it,”
she said, laughing.
And now, gentle reader, you’re fired!
Le1f
by Emily Yeo ’17
“I’m a gay rapper,” Le1f told Interview
Magazine. “I’m a black rapper, and a New
York rapper. I don’t mind the press around
openly queer musicians right now. I think
it’s great that musicians in the gay community are finally getting some attention, but it
needs to be understood that ‘Gay Rap’ is not
a genre. The style of my music is not defined
by who I am, just by what I make. Dark
York is a mix tape with twenty-one songs.
Only five of them are about homosexuality.
Almost all of them are rap songs.”
Le1f (pronounced “Leaf”), whose
real name is Khalif Diouf, graduated from
Concord Academy in 2007. He is now a
well-known rapper who has based himself in
New York. In his teens, Le1f studied ballet
and modern dance at CA before continuing
to pursue them at Wesleyan University.
In addition to being a distinguished
rapper, Le1f runs the hip-hop label Camp &
Street. During his interview in Newsweek,
he answered many questions about being an
openly gay rapper – a title that can be hard
to find in the music world. Because of his
openness about his sexual orientation, Le1f
has faced a barrage of challenges coming
from both the press and his fans – all of
which he has handled well.
In an interview with Newsweek, Le1f
described how he prefers to look to the
brighter side of confrontations and criticisms. “Just the fact that I have art that’s
out there that people are paying attention to
and enjoying is rewarding enough for me to
not even be thinking about whatever else is
going on,” he said.
During a separate interview with the
Daily Beast, he talked about making what
he called “activist” music. “I’m super con-
scious about making activist music—I feel
like it’s not cool, especially right now,” he
recounted. “It can be cool, but it has to be
delivered properly; it still has to be a pop
song. It’s hard to get people to listen to
music that is outwardly preachy that way.”
Even though Le1f is open in his music
about what he believes, he is aware that his
message should be delivered slowly, with
time for his fans and everyone else to absorb
the message. He is also aware that rushing
into such actions may not be smart at all.
Nevertheless, Le1f isn’t shying away
from publicity or performances. “Thank you
so much to @Letterman for inviting me to
perform on his stage as a musician and not
as a spectacle! That’s major,” Le1f shouted
to the crowd when he performed on the Late
Show with David Letterman. Le1f’s performance of “WUT” on Letterman marked the
first time an openly gay rapper performed
on a major network’s late night show..
On gawker.com, one of many different web sites that shared comments about
Le1f’s performance, commenters seemed
to have received the “activist” message that
Le1f was going for. One of the people who
shared comments wrote, “Yeah, representation in hip-hop being the way that it is,
it matters. As long as there’s homophobia
(particularly of the institutionalized variety), it matters. But what I like about Le1f
is that it’s not the only thing that matters.”
While Le1f recognizes that his sexual orientation may matter to people, he knows
that it isn’t the only thing that should matter
about his performances. Another commenter
wrote, “Letterman and his producers are
winners.” Many people seemed to have
taken in Le1f’s appearance in Letterman
as revolutionary – which, in some respects,
it was.
Features
May 6, 2014
Cartoon
Advice from Beyond:
What CA Alums Say
by Teresa Dai’14
International Column:
Thailand
by Bink Sitawarin’14
As many of you probably know already,
Thailand is the “land of smiles,” famous for
its beaches, temples, cuisines, exotic culture
and arts, its extremely hot and humid climate,
and the amazingly long names of Thai people
(mine is relatively short). But, here, I would
like to introduce you to some aspects of
Thailand you may not know much about.
There are 14 million Thai students studying in Thailand from kindergarten to the
Ph.D. level, both in public and in private
schools. I used to be one of those students
before coming to the States. I experienced a
“unique” educational system based partly on
the Eastern system, with hardly any resemblances to that of the Western world. Education in Thailand from its root to the fruit is
constantly being judged in comparison to the
educational systems of other Asian nations or
Western countries. Most Thai people, if not
all of them, consider our educational system
as one of the biggest failures of our country.
Instead of moving forward, we keep stepping
backward, they say.
As a student, I agree that there are errors and
room for improvement in the Thai educational system. However, I do not agree with
people who regard it as a national failure .
Although I have been in the U.S. for less than
a year, I can easily spot major differences
in Eastern and Western education. While I
think that there are differences, one is not
necessarily better than the other. And I say
this because that is actually what I see, not
because I wish to stay in the middle between
two extreme arguments. But for now I will
point out one flaw in a Thai education: the
quality of teachers in public schools.
Public schools in Thailand are not much
different from those in the U.S.: up to fifty
students stay in the same class for almost the
whole day, with teachers coming in and out
for each period. But teachers are not wellpaid in Thailand; therefore, not that many
students choose education as their major in
college. People who become teachers are
those who have low GPAs and test scores;
these people study education because they
cannot apply to other, “better” schools. There
are good teachers, who love and are dedicated
to teaching, but the number of such teachers
is going down the tube.
In my personal experience, I have studied
with teachers who do not have a clear understanding of the subjects they teach, who
never grade students’ work, or who have
poor teaching and communication skills in
general. No wonder well-to-do families send
their kids to tutors, who teach extra classes
after school. Tutoring has become a huge,
rapidly growing, and trendy business in
Thailand; looking around, one can easily spot
tutoring centers in all major cities, especially
in Bangkok. Because of tutoring’s higher
pay, teachers who are good at teaching are
leaking from public system to teach in these
tutoring centers.
So how do we solve this problem? Why not
raise teachers’ salary? We do have the money.
But we also have political conflict and corruption, which keeps pulling us backward.
So, from my point of view, these problems
with education will not be solved - at least
not in the near future.
Privacy
...continued from page 1
mechanism, Nieves said that if a cyberbullying case arises, the school is equipped to
collect forensic evidence. “There are laws
in place that mandate schools to follow protocols and do their due diligence to protect
students,” Nieves said.
Assistant Head of School and Academic Dean John Drew said that cyberbullying cases are rare and that such problems
“generally arise because someone doesn’t
realize that what they’re posting is public.”
Anonymous postings and comments are
forbidden by CA’s AUP.
In the event that an illegitimate user
accesses a person’s CAConnect account,
Concord Academy is able to trace the location and eventually the specific device
through data logs from administrative tools.
Only if someone voices a concern that his or
her account has been compromised does the
school investigate. By typing in the name
of a CA student or faculty member on the
administrator account, an IT staffer gets a
list of times and IP addresses that indicate
the time and device with which a person
opened specific applications.
On the other hand, CA provides every
student and faculty member an Evernote
account, into which the school has zero
visibility. Evernote users can encrypt their
data for further privacy, as well.
While some information is less susceptible to monitoring, Nieves advised
that students use discretion online. “I’m a
big fan of people always being careful and
assuming that whatever they’re writing in
a digital format will be read by somebody
else. There’s no such thing as privacy,”
Nieves said. Another IT Services member
yelled from across the hallway, “I heard
that!”
When I asked Nieves if he would like
me to send him a draft of this article
prior to publication, he jokingly responded—rest assured, CA would not read
someone’s email without their knowing—
“There’s no need. I’m sure I’ll be able to
find it in your email.”
Page 3
1. How’s college life? What are you most
involved in?
Jack Anderson (College of the Holy Cross):
College life is awesome; there is so much
freedom… [although] you have to manage
your time really well. I am involved in a
bunch of things at Holy Cross: I played
goalie on the club soccer team, am a member of an all-guys a cappella group, The
Sound of St. James, and [volunteer] at an
after school program at a local elementary
school for kids.
Yong Murray (Columbia University): I’m
really enjoying college! The classes here
are challenging but enjoyable, and I feel
that CA prepared me well for the level of
difficulty. I do a lot of music here – I’m
currently in three chamber music groups,
one of which performed in Carnegie Hall
[a few] weeks ago.
Liz Gootkind (Williams College): College
life is really fun actually. For [someone who
was] a day student at CA, college seems like
the idealized version of boarding... There
is a lot more freedom to do what you want,
but there is also a much smaller support
system if you mess up. That sounds bad, but
I guess a lot of times you have to find your
own support systems... I would also say that
the stereotype of finding your own space
immediately is completely wrong. You’re
going to mess up a lot, and you’re going to
have to learn how to fix it yourself, but in a
way that’s very exciting.
Gaurav Verma (Johns Hopkins University):
I saw [JHU] as a well-balanced school, with
strong academics in addition to a thriving
athletic program and lots of extracurricular
activities. I have been involved in Student
Government as a freshman class senator,
as well as with the Newsletter, our student
newspaper. CA prepared me well for college, but it is different. At Hopkins there
is no real hand-holding, and doing well is
dependent on studying for exams on your
own. There are resources available, but you
have to take initiative.
2. Why did you choose this college, and
has it met your expectations so far?
Amos Damroth (Sarah Lawrence College):
I guess the official reasons I chose SLC
were … the strength of the writing and film
programs as well as the proximity to New
York, but to be honest it just felt right. When
I was visiting it felt like the only college that
I looked at that wasn’t trying to market itself
as an institution and more of a community
of artists and academics.
friends are Computer Science majors, some
of whom have founded a pretty successful
business of their own, or worked full time
in National Geographic or Dropbox.) That’s
what makes things more competitive. Trying
totally new things can get a whole lot harder.
At the end of the day, I didn’t really explore
much into the “humanities side” [despite my
expectations]. It seems I’m still discovering
more and more of [Stanford]. “There’s more
to do than can ever be done.”
3.What do you miss the most about CA?
Adetola Sylvan (Brown University): Something I miss about CA is how close the whole
community is. It was nice to be able to walk
into the Stu-Fac and know everyone. But
I appreciate being able to constantly meet
new people here, and you can’t really have
both situations.
Charlotte Weiner (Yale University): I really miss the teachers who I was able to get
close with at CA. Although I’ve been able
to get to know my professors through my
Directed Studies sections this semester, it’s
just not the same as at CA, where so many
of the teachers care so deeply about us, not
just academically, but as whole people.
Getting to really know teachers at CA, and
feeling like I could go to them to talk…
not just about class but life in general, not
necessarily when I had a problem but I just
wanted to talk, was pretty amazing. CA is
just filled with these adults who will drop
what they’re doing to help [students] and
want to help us grow and succeed, and that’s
incredibly special.
Creighton Foulkes (Bates College): I probably miss the great people of entrepreneurship club, and the champions of the men’s
squash team and tennis team the most as
well as a lot of the great teachers I had. (Also
please wish Tariq a happy birthday because
I miss CA squash.)
4. Do you have any advice for seniors?
Alyssa Taylor (Middlebury College): I
would say that there isn’t just one perfect
college out there. College campuses have
so many different classes and opportunities that a diverse range of people can all
find a niche at the same school. In terms
of leaving CA, don’t get too caught up in
thinking about next year. Freshmen year of
college year will come (and go) faster than
you think. Just appreciate your friends and
the CA community in these last few weeks.
Hannah Oettgen (Wellesley College): I
loved the last few weeks of senior year so
definitely to try to enjoy it and not worry
about graduation and everything.
Sarah Eberth (Case Western Reserve University): I chose Case because it offers both
dance and engineering opportunities and I
wanted a medium sized school. It has met
my expectations, except one disappointment, the teachers, but a large part of that is
due to how amazing the teachers at CA are
and how close we get to them… [At] college
it’s not the same mainly because most of my
classes are large lectures.
Regina Coyle (Barnard College): The only
thing I can really suggest for students heading off to college is that if you’re going
to the same school (or school in the same
area) as someone else from CA, really try
and keep that connection— even if you
weren’t that close in high school. It’s nice
to have an ally the first couple of weeks of
college— and you never know, you could
become really good friends!
George Supaniratisai (Stanford University):
Most people might think [Stanford] fits
those people who consider [themselves]
“techy” but also kind of interested in the
humanities side or some business and social
science. (I thought so, that’s why I picked
Stanford.) When I first came to Stanford,
it [felt] like [they had] chosen a bunch of
people… with some kind of talent. (My
Tyler Rost (University of North Carolina at
Wilmington): When looking for a college,
look for a school you can see yourself at
for 4 years. Don’t look with the assumption that you can just transfer out if things
go bad. Also, don’t worry. You’ll find the
right school for you. I didn’t get into my
first choice and I’m happy as ever at the W.
It all works out.
Arts
Page 4
Movie Review: Noah
by Carter Kratkiewicz ’16
I went into Noah with high expectations, despite friends’ negative reviews.
The trailer made it look like every other
big blockbuster movie, with awe-inspiring
bird’s-eye-view shots with amazing special
effects. Unfortunately, movies with special
effects of this quality and magnitude are
usually so artistically censored that they
have no soul. There are also usually some
cheesy lines about not giving up, which
doesn’t help.
interpretation of the story of Noah’s Ark. Be
warned, however, that he does make some
unexpected and interesting additions to the
tale. In other words, do not watch this film if
you are looking for the exact biblical story.
It feels as if someone who is not religious
made the movie, although the film has some
messages about the environment and human
nature embedded in it. Some people have
actually spoken out against the movie for
using the story of Noah to promote a message about the environment. How dare it.
The cast is yet another star-studded one,
including Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly,
Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Logan
Lerman, and the amazing Emma Watson,
whom I saw for the first time as someone
May 6, 2014
Stuff I’ve Been Reading
by Nick Hiebert
NOTE TO THE READER: My Creative Nonfiction students and I have been talking about
structure lately, so for this article I thought I’d
experiment with a format involving books
and numbers. What follows is something like
what The Boston Globe’s “Arts” section calls
“Go figure” and Sports Illustrated calls “By
the numbers” and Harper’s calls “Harper’s
Index.” So for purposes of both homage and
distinction, let’s call this version “Go figure
this index of the numbers.” GO FIGURE THIS INDEX OF THE NUMBERS: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2: books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
that I’ve read recently: Purple Hibiscus (her
first, published in 2003) and Americanah (her
fourth, published
in 2013).
307: pages in
Purple Hibiscus,
which follows
fifteen year-old
Kambili as she narrates and navigates
her economically
privileged and
deeply religious
Nigerian home in a
country beginning
to fall apart under
a military coup.
Scene from the movie Noah.
Photo courtesy of www.tothecore.com
What kept my expectations for this
movie high was the director behind it,
Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky has directed
Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and The
Wrestler, to name a few. Known for setting
trends and not following conventional film
norms, he wrote and directed this film as
usual. I had faith that he would stick to
his artistic vision, instead of selling out
(compromising the quality of a film for a
commercial audience). After watching the
movie, I know Aronofsky came through.
While this film is absolutely stunning
visually, it is also amazing content-wise.
Noah is by all means a blockbuster, with a
budget of 125 million dollars and generating
247 million dollars in revenue worldwide,
but it shows that not all blockbusters have
to repeat the same clichés over and over
again. There are moments in Noah where
you see the opportunity for a cliché, but the
cliché just doesn’t materialize. It’s sad how
rare it is to see such a change in this pattern,
demonstrating how similar most blockbusters are.
I don’t feel a plot summary is necessary
for this movie—it is Darren Aronofsky’s
other than Hermione. The acting in Noah
was phenomenal. The cast skillfully carried
the movie into very uncomfortable territory
for a good portion of the movie. I have seen
every one of the actors and actresses in a
movie before Noah, and none of their previous personas appeared in this movie—they
completely transformed themselves and
fully embodied their characters in Noah.
I hope that producers continue to make
films like The Lego Movie and Noah so
that people don’t have to choose between
quality content and the perks of big budget
movies. You may have heard from a friend
or an acquaintance that this movie wasn’t
up to par. But do keep in mind that there are
some religious viewers who think the film
was made for religious purposes and are
displeased with the liberties that Aronofsky
took with the story. Either that, or your
friend just didn’t like the film; for some
reason, audiences are having more mixed
feelings about it than critics. Anyway, I
highly recommend that you see this film.
The acting, visuals, and creativity will blow
you away.
Join The Centipede!
The Centipede always welcomes new voices and new ideas.
It’s never too late to join!
Interested in writing, taking photos, participating in deign?
Contact any of the editors to get involved.
and Ifemelu’s blog posts – which Adichie
interpolates throughout the novel – are especially well-tuned and provocative.
22: pages of Americanah whose corners I
folded down because there was something on
the page – a sentence, an idea, a phrase – that
I wanted to return to and reread and rethink
about and basically never forget. When I
place my paperback copy of the novel down
on a flat surface, the top right corner curves
up like a ski jump. Here’s one of the first
sentences that induced corner folding: “It
brought to him a disorienting strangeness,
because his mind had not changed at the same
pace as his life, and he felt a hollow space
between himself and the person he was supposed to be.” (!)
93: copies of Americanah in The Minuteman
Library Network
(both hardcover
and paperback).
As of this writing,
there are 167 holds
on these books. I
have no idea what
these numbers
mean in a larger
context. But those
seem like big numbers, no?
0: current holds
on Purple Hibiscus in The Minuteman Library
Network. I don’t
588: pages in
Chimamanda Adichie. Photo couretsy of
know whether to
Americanah –
www.interviewmagazine.com
be frustrated by
which is set in the
this
information
(“Why
aren’t
people linUnited States, England, and Nigeria – and
ing
up
to
read
this
book?!”)
or
cheered
by it
explores the conundrums of race, gender, and
(“Everyone
already
read
it!”).
privilege that arise from toggling between
cultures. More specifically: the novel follows Ifemelu and Obinze, two young lovers
and soul mates, who leave Nigeria (and one
another) and then find their way back. This is
the best book I have read in a very long time.
26, 36: ages of Adichie, respectively, when
Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Americanah
(2013) were published. Half a Yellow Sun
(her second novel) was published in 2006.
That Thing Around Your Neck (a collection
of short stories) came out in 2009. If all of
this makes your head spin, please know that
it also makes my head spin.
6,727,401: total views – as of this writing –
for “The danger of a single story,” Adichie’s
famous TED Talk in which she “tells the
story of how she found her authentic cultural
voice – and warns that if we hear only a single
story about another person or country, we
risk critical misunderstanding.” (Because
so many schools share this brilliant lecture
with their students, I suspect that the actual
number of folks who have viewed this talk is
much higher.)
54: seconds of “We should all be feminists”
– Adichie’s other brilliant TED Talk (909,332
views via YouTube as of this writing) –
sampled on Beyoncé’s “Flawless” (which
itself, along with Beyoncé’s entire new album
(about which our own Molly D’Arcy wrote so
thoughtfully a few issues back), was listened
to so many times that you’ll hear people say
that all of this listening/downloading “broke
the internet”).
368: page in Americanah where Adichie
mentions Beyoncé. The Beyoncé name
check shows up in one of Ifemelu’s blog posts
entitled “A Michelle Obama Shout-Out Plus
Hair as Race Metaphor.” The writing everywhere in Americanah is lucid and luminous,
15: emails I have sent from my CA Gmail
account since beginning Purple Hibiscus that
include at least one reference to Adichie. A
high percentage of these emails include a link
to a recent, hour-plus conversation between
Adichie and Zadie Smith at the Schomberg
Center for Research in Black Culture that I
sent along to people in emails hyperbolically
(and actually) titled “SOUL GROWTH!” and
“TRUTH!”
1: line from Zadie Smith in the aforementioned interview with Adichie at the
Schomberg Center that has really helped me
to articulate the feeling I have while reading Adichie’s prose: “I genuinely feel these
people are real; I’m entirely involved in their
lives to the point of being neglectful of my
own life . . . it feels like there’s nothing in
between the reader and these people.”
9: other books, along with Americanah,
named to The New York Times Book Review’s
“The 10 Best Books of 2013” list. I’ve always
thought this number is a bit misleading with
respect to how impressive being included on
the list actually is, because the list typically
includes five pieces of fiction and five pieces
of nonfiction. In addition to being named
one of the five best pieces of fiction last year,
Americanah recently won the National Book
Critics Circle Award for fiction, which is kind
of a big deal.
60637: postal code for The Seminary Co-op
Bookstore (to my mind, the best bookstore
in Chicago), where I purchased the newly
released paperback version of Americanah
while I was home in Chicagoland over our
spring vacation. Incidentally, the bookstore
overlooks Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House,
which is kind of a big (architectural) deal. But
I think Adichie’s book is a bigger deal.
May 6, 2014
Arts, News, Opinions
Dance Company Show:
of the performance and incorporate them into
dance attire.
You might have been surprised to catch Dance Company members said that
Science Teacher John Pickle climbing the they feel fortunate to collaborate with such
Student Health and Athletic Center (SHAC) a diverse and talented group of people in
steps to the second floor, slipping his sturdy developing their show. The partnership
shoes off his feet, and entering the dance between these professionals and dance
studio each Monday at 5 p.m. this semester. company members has made for a tremenAlthough at first you might have assumed dously successful artistic experience. For
that he was fixing or measuring something, example, Pickle has brought forth his extenPickle was actually there as an instrumental sive knowledge about the ocean and its wave
collaborator for Dance Company in their patterns, and Bull has used his expertise to
creation of their multifaceted show that depict the movements Pickle has described
premieres on Thursday, May 1 in the Dance on film. This sort of collaboration has also
Studio
been critical in designing projection art and
In addition to Pickle, Film Teacher Justin experimenting with lighting patterns.
Bull and Technical Director Ian Hannan have Dance Company members have also been
also been major contributors of inspiration expanding their knowledge of the time period
and art,
of the
c o n perforstructmance
ing the
( t h e
set and
1920s
scenery
a n d
for the
30s),
elaboworkr a t e
ing to
producachieve
tion of
the inT h e
tended
Invenmood
tion of
o
f
Morel.
gradual
Also,
disintestudent
gration.
musiThey
Dance Company members rehearse.
cians
b
egan
Photo courtesy of Molly D’Arcy ’16
Abigail
their reOry ’16
search
and Bryan Gallagher ’14 have offered their by watching Decasia, a movie that explores
talents in the form of live music to comple- the theme of decay, and the way in which
ment the performance, evoking a ghostlike it affects film in the form of contact sheets.
tone, adding to the wispy atmosphere danc- Company members then discussed the exers have strived to create. Dance instructor ploratory film, focusing on the qualities that
Richard Colton and the student dancers of resonated with them the most. They then
the Company pride themselves on their re- translated these ideas to form the movement
sourcefulness in drawing from such a wide basis of their show.
range of sources in the CA community.
Members of the company also read The
Colton has also called upon local profession- Invention of Morel, by Adolfo Bioy Casares,
als to help with various aspects of this year’s a novella that calls into question the concept
production. At the beginning of the second of reality and existence. Dance Company
semester, dancers began to work closely with has since turned to a more visually-oriented
Jared Green, professor of critical thinking at study of striking images from the time period
Stonehill College and house parent at CA, during which The Invention of Morel took
to create not just a movement-based, but place (the late 20’s, early 30’s according to
also an intellectually-rooted understanding what Dance Company members have deof the material. Costume director Penney duced). This material has included work by
Pinette, an accomplished costume producer photographers such as Richard Avedon, who
and lecturer on costume production at Boston he strived to recreate women in poses similar
University, has also been working with the
continued on page 7...
CA Dance Company to capture the themes
by Reilly Loynd ’15
Leadership Retreat
...continued from page 2
in a meeting room for a speaker named Mike
Weber, from Southwestern Consulting, to talk
to them about what it meant to be a leader.
Weber placed a big emphasis on leading
by acting, not by talking. He wanted students
to know that if you want to have others act a
certain way, you must act that way too. One
part of his presentation that stuck with people
was when he talked about how to have the
greatest dance the school has ever seen. He
said that when someone asked you if you are
going to the dance, if you reply by saying,
“Yeah, everyone’s going!” the dance would
be a huge hit.
Following the presentation, dinner was
served in the dining hall, and students were
once again asked to sit with others whom they
wouldn’t normally talk to.
After dinner, the students participated in a
team-building exercise that encouraged them
to work together to find the best solution to a
problem.
The following day was almost entirely
designated for group discussions. Periodically, throughout the day, the juniors broke
into three groups to discuss themes and topics
they want to address for next year. One popular theme that emerged was a way to battle
February. Almost all the juniors agreed that
something had to be done about this dreary
month. The juniors also discussed school
spirit and how it can be improved. They
believed that the solution was getting more
fans over to the AC for some big games. The
idea behind this was that it gave juniors the
opportunity to choose how they want to be
remembered after they graduate.
Near the end of the retreat, juniors chose
out of a hat the dates when they will pick their
chapel dates, an event that caused anxiety in
everyone; no one wanted to be the last one to
pick.
The Junior Leadership Retreat helps rising seniors take on the roll of being leaders in
the school. Not only did students learn a lot,
but they also had fun doing it.
Page 5
Dress Code
by Kathleen Melendy ’14
Spring weather is coming! What does
that mean? For one, a new round of debates
over Concord Academy’s dress code. And
when we say dress code, we really mean the
policing of girl’s clothing. In this article, I
want to address two issues: 1) why people
comment on or scold girls for their clothing,
and 2) how this is harmful. As I write this, I
want you to know that this piece is written
from a cisgender position of privilege, so
when I refer to “girls,” I know this is a narrow
term, and I’m referring to female-identifying
or feminine-dressing students.
Don’t get me wrong; I do believe the
adult members of the CA community mean
well, I truly do. But I also think they have
oversimplified the issue and assumed that
these “risqué” dressers have not carefully
thought out the reasoning behind their fashion choices.
A common catchphrase thrown around
in the dress code debate is that “scantily-clad
girls distract others.” Who are these others?
Well, it depends on whom you ask. Let’s
say our clothing distracts the boys, which is
the go-to reason for schools banning specific
articles of clothing (recently in the news it’s
been leggings). Telling girls their (lack of)
clothing is distracting is essentially saying
their bodies are distracting. This debate
isn’t even about clothing really: it’s about
the female body. When you say girls’ bodies
are distracting, you are saying that girls must
be responsible for the way their bodies are
perceived because boys can’t control their
wild animal urges. I was getting coffee at
Main Street with a friend when an older man
in the corner said to her, “Isn’t it a little cold
for shorts? I mean, I like it, but….” We both
fell silent and shocked, looking away and
leaving the café as soon as the cashier gave
us our change.
Girls are told they must guard their
virginities with a strict moral compass because boys want sex all the time, no matter
the circumstance, no matter the repercussions. Most women are told they can’t go
out alone, or in the dark, or to certain places
because it’s our job to protect ourselves. In
all of these cases, it is not these girls who
are at fault, but still the girls who are tasked
with the responsibility to prevent the harm
inevitably coming their way. This is why,
after a woman is attacked, she is blamed:
what was she wearing?, why was she there
in the first place?, was she drinking? Rather
than lump all responsibility on the shoulders
of women and girls, what we should really
be doing is holding men and boys and our
greater communities accountable for this
compulsive objectification of women. We
should be engaging them in these difficult
conversations, rather than assume this objectification problem will go away if girls
just dress differently. That being said, girls’
decisions about clothing, or anything for that
matter, should not be policed for the sake of
the boys. Telling girls to cover up because
they are distracting the boys values the boys’
opinions and feelings over those of the girls.
I know this is not the message CA wants to
send.
Now let’s say it’s the teachers we are
distracting. Why? Well I would guess it’s
continued on page 7...
CA Theater Teachers
Directing Professionally
by Somerset Gall ’16
Most of the Concord Academy community knows David Gammons and Megan
Gleeson as two of the masterminds behind
the brilliant mainstage performances we are
treated to each year. In addition to teaching
at CA, however, both Gammons and Gleeson
direct plays professionally.
This past year, the two theater teachers drew the curtain on particularly notable
works, Gammons with The Whale in its New
England premier and Gleeson with Absence
in its world premier. The development of the
plays took years of dedication.
Explaining her first encounter with
Absence, Gleeson said, “I came in contact
with Absence at a reading, three years ago.
The process [for a production] takes time:
fine-tuning the plot, the language, and the
characters so as to support the overarching
message.”
Absence tells the story of a woman and
her family’s struggle with her Alzheimer’s
disease. Gleeson said that on a larger scale,
“the play is about letting go; about asking
the nature of identity.” In addition, the play
also explores the concept of “what happens
when your physical body is present, but your
mind is gone.” Expressing these messages
takes time, care and patience, according to
Gleeson.
Gleeson’s efforts helped Absence gain
nominations for two major awards, the Elliott
Norton Award for best script and one from
the Kennedy Center for playwriting.
Gammons revealed similar ideas about
process when speaking of his production,
The Whale. Performed with The Speakeasy
Stage Company, a professional group in
Boston, The Whale tells the story of Charlie,
a morbidly obese man who is homebound
and deathly ill. The play focuses on the last
week of Charlie’s life as he reconnects with
his estranged wife and daughter. Gammons
spoke of the joy that comes with unraveling
an intricate text. He said, “My favorite thing
about directing are the moments where a play
breaks open and you discover what the play
means to you.”
Both Gleeson and Gammons find that
their love for directing helps shape their
teaching. “Working with different kinds of
actors in different kinds of settings inspires
me in different kinds of ways,” Gammons
said. For Gleeson, professional directing
complements her directing of CA productions. She said that she has learned “what
are the best questions to ask all actors” when
approaching new works.
Although her two jobs complement
each other, Gleeson affirmed that there are
certainly differences between working with
students and professional actors. “Actors that
you work with are older and have different
life experiences; many have been doing this
for a long time, which can be exciting in its
own right,” Gleeson said. “Work with young
students—there is so much possibility and
excitement and ability to continue to learn
and to grow.”
Gleeson and Gammons carry this vibrant
outlook and passion to their work, both inside
and outside of Concord Academy. Theater,
Gleeson said, is “a wonderful opportunity
to grow and hopefully to help others grow
as artists.” CA students and faculty are constantly inspired and amazed by their thoughtprovoking and highly successful shows.
Sports and Arts
Page 6
New Faces
on Varsity Teams
me a much better player.
There are, however, some tough aspects
At an early lacrosse practice I stood wait- to being a freshman on a varsity team. My
ing, wondering who the kids were. I had seen teammates have been older, bigger, and more
most of their faces around campus, but now experienced, so as a freshman on a highly
they were my teammates. They all seemed to competitive team, I have been less likely
tower above me with their strength and ath- to see playing time than the older athletes.
letic prowess, and I thought it would be hard Also, I have realized that my place on the
being one of the few freshmen on the team. team has changed since middle school; I am
My impression
no longer the top
was, “Wow, I
dog, but instead
am going to be
at the bottom of
lonely this entire
the ladder. But
season.”
the upperclass My inimen have made
tial assessment
me feel comfortcouldn’t have
able on the team
been more
regardless of the
wrong. As it
age difference.
turned out, beCross
ing on a varsity
Country this fall
team has been an
was one of the
extremely fulfillmost enjoyable
ing experience. I
experiences I’ve
have developed
had, even though
friendships with
I was not one of
upperclassmen,
the best on the
which might not
team. The Ski
have happened if
Team introduced
I did not play a
me to friends and
varsity sport, and
coaches with a
the competition
mutual passion
is more competifor skiing. It had
tive, which has
a relaxed yet
pushed my skills
competitive feel,
Ben Miller ’14 leading Joey Sarno ’17. Photo
to the next level.
and I looked forcourtesy of CA Athletics.
In all three
ward to practicing
of the sports that I’ve played this year, there and racing at Nashoba and Wachusett durhas always been at least one person I looked ing the week. Lacrosse this spring has been
up to - typically, a senior or junior, whom competitive with a lot of good players, and
I asked what I needed to do to improve, likewise, my game is improving because of
someone I could emulate on and off the field. it.
These encouragements from the upperclass- Playing a varsity sport at Concord,
men have kept me and everyone else going even as a freshman, involves being a good
through hard practices and tough days; they teammate, competing at a higher level, and
have become friends who also give advice. developing skills faster. More students, even
The coaches also have helped me develop my freshmen, should try out for a varsity sport
skills and demanded more from me than if at CA, because it is such a rewarding experiI had been on JV; playing varsity has made ence.
by Joey Sarno ’17
Super Short Spring
by Mahfuj Hussain’ 15
Of the three sports seasons here at Concord Academy, the spring season is by far
the shortest. Outdoor practices begin after
spring break ends, and the season ends midway through May, giving teams a bit under
two months for practices and games. Is this
enough time for athletes to get back into the
groove and win their games? Are the two
months substantial enough, especially given
the hectic nature of end-of-the-year activities
and events?
When asked about her opinion regarding
the brevity of spring athletics, Kim Frederick,
history teacher and Ultimate Frisbee coach,
said, “Would we be able to do more in terms
of skill development and strategy work?
Yep. But what are we going to do? As with
everything in life, we do our best. Happily it
is a joyous season--getting outside after the
winter is amazing. So, maybe the brevity
of it contributes to the joy: if it were long
we might not appreciate it so much. Every
moment that you get to be outside playing
Ultimate in the spring is a great moment.
There is no great competitive disadvantage
because everyone else has a short season,
too.”
L acrosse player Jasper Beever ’15
agreed that there isn’t really any disadvantage in terms of readiness for games, but he
still would prefer a longer season. One of
Beever’s concerns is the lack of home games.
“Boys lacrosse doesn’t have enough home
games, and, if the season were longer, we
could fit more of them into the schedule,”
he said. Beever continued by touching on
the importance of team bonding, saying,
“It’s hard to find time to do the team bonding
events during the season when we’re busy
fitting in a lot of work into only two months.”
Team bonding is important, and maybe the
short season also robs athletes of strong team
relationships off the field.
Yet for some, this shortness goes unnoticed. It is true that the spring sports teams
are still held to playing almost as many
games as teams during other seasons, so a
lot is going on in the two months. Softball
player, Jaime Greenwood ’15, said, “I think
it’s fine because to me [the spring season]
doesn’t feel very short. We get a lot of games
in a small amount of time, so it feels longer
because it’s so jam-packed.” Paolo Sanchez
’14, frisbee player, agreed that the season is
jam-packed. He also thought that it made it
seem even shorter saying, “The end of the
year culminates, wrapping everything up.
Between tests, quizzes, and deadlines piling
up during the spring season, I just feel this
sensation of rush. And that rush definitely
transfers into the Ultimate season.”
So, although there are various opinions about the length of the spring season,
students are happy to be back to outdoor
practices, after this long winter.
May 6, 2014
Sailing Against
the Wind
by Noah Kelleher ’15
In the spring of 2013, the members of
the Concord Academy Sailing Team received
bad news: they had nowhere to sail. The team
had been sailing on the Charles River at Community Boating in Boston for many years.
Unfortunately, Community Boating changed
their high school sailing program from their
focus on racing to an instructional focus. So,
many high schools, including CA, were forced
to search for another sailing venue for highschool competitions. Both Jenny Brennan,
director of athletics, and Beth Smith, sailing
coach, worked hard to find a way to keep the
team alive for the 2013 season, but time was
very limited and their search was unsuccessful.
Brennan and Smith continued to look for
a way to resurrect the team for the spring 2014
season, but the search did not get any easier.
When spring sports began, the fate of the team
was still up in the air. All of the sailing team
members joined other spring sports teams,
and with each day without news, hope began
to dwindle. However, when classes resumed
after March break, Brennan confirmed that the
team would return.
The CA sailing team now sails out of
Courageous Sailing in the Boston Harbor.
Across the water, the team can see the TD
Garden and the Moakley Courthouse, the
location of CA’s formal.
So far this season, the team has been
sailing Rhodes 19s, a nineteen-foot boat
that requires two or three sailors in each
boat. However, the team will also sail C420s
which requires two sailors in each boat. The
fourteen-foot C420 is very popular in high
school and collegiate sailing programs. CA’s
sailing team will primarily use the C420s for
team racing, a type of sailboat racing that the
team has not participated in until now.
Team racing is a type of race in which
three boats (six sailors) from one team race
against three boats from the other team. In
team racing, the individual placing of each
boat is not important; the winning team is
determined by the cumulative score of its
three boats. Each boat is given a point value
corresponding to its place. For example, a second place finish earns two points while a third
place finish would earn three. It’s like golf; the
lower score wins. So, CA could win the race
if the cumulative score was lower, even if the
other team had a sailor who places in first.
The other type of sailboat racing is fleet
racing. In this manner of competition, only the
individual score counts. Fleet racing forces
teammates to compete against one another.
On the other hand, team racing forces teams
to work together and sacrifice their individual
placing for the good of the team.
The team spent the first week of their season getting acquainted with the new commute,
venue, and boats. The next week, the team
set the tone for a very successful season. On
April 11th, CA’s sailing team-members raced
five boats in a fleet-race competition that also
included four boats from Boston Latin School
and four boats from Natick High School. Out
of the thirteen total boats in the fleet, CA took
1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th. The success of the
team has certainly added some extra excitement to its revival. Max Jrolf ’15, a member
of the team who also sailed on the team during
its successful 2012 season, said, “I’m amped
to have sailing back because we always win
and winning is fun!”
But the team enjoys sailing at CA for
many more reasons. Austen Sharpe ’14, a
senior captain, said, “There is no better way to
de-stress than to leave school for a few hours
and to spend some time in Boston Bay. For
those few hours you forget everything except
your boat and the direction of the wind. It’s
great.”
The team as a whole has enjoyed the
season so far, is excited for the rest of it, and
is happy that CA sailing has returned. Olga
Olgs ’17 nicely summarized the team’s gratitude at being back. “Sailing is awesome,” she
explained. “And it’s really nice to have it back
at CA after a bunch of nerve-wracking months
of waiting. Thank you to the athletic department for supporting our love for the sport.”
Although the CA sailing program was forced
to take a year off, it has come back to life and
is continuing on as if nothing has changed.
The Kite Runner
by Shannon Sun ’17
On one of those balmy, damp mornings
of early spring, I began Khaled Hosseini’s
The Kite Runner, a story that follows
twelve-year-old Amir on his journey in
Kabul, Afghanistan. Perhaps I was curious about the exotic setting, or perhaps I
was intrigued by the imaginative title; I
began reading the novel, expecting to find
a delightful and almost simplistic tale of an
Afghan boy’s childhood. Soon, however, I
realized that the story’s heavy atmosphere
was not at all the lighthearted tone I had
anticipated.
Employing beautiful and descriptive
language, the author tells a heartbreaking
tale of regret, reward, and redemption. As
The New York Times noted, “This powerful
first novel, by an Afghan physician now
living in California, tells a story of fierce
cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love…
Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his
people have been struggling to triumph over
the forces of violence – forces that continue
to threaten them even today.”
The Kite Runner begins with a description of a shameful childhood incident that
will eventually change Amir’s life. In 1975,
Amir attends the annual kite running tournament in Kabul with his servant, Hassan,
where he encounters bullies. A loyal friend
and servant to Amir, Hassan, protects the
young boy but becomes a victim of brutality in the process. Amir witnesses all the
violence and humiliation but hides himself
in a corner and does not defend Hassan.
After that day, Amir is haunted by a
shadow of shame and guilt, as he is constantly reminded of his cowardice whenever
he sees Hassan. Unable to endure the pangs
of conscience, Amir orchestrates his father’s
dismissal of Hassan. Even then, Amir suffers from agonizing guilt.
Years pass and Amir becomes a successful writer. He moves to California, where he
learns that the Taliban has murdered Hassan
and his wife, leaving behind Hassan’s son,
Sohrab. Amir realizes that by saving Hassan’s son, he could atone for his childhood
guilt, expiate his sins and redeem himself.
Immediately, he flies back to Kabul, only
to learn that Sohrab had become enslaved
by none other than Amir’s childhood bully,
now a powerful Taliban official.
The novel adopts an even darker tone
when Amir finds his homeland suffering under the tyranny of the Taliban. Amir realizes
that he must engage himself in a physical
battle and defeat his old nemesis in order to
save Sohrab. Ultimately, Amir successfully
rescues Sohrab; courage and determination
finally take the place of shame and remorse
in Amir’s mind and actions.
continued on page 7...
Opinions and Arts
May 6, 2014
Dress Code
...continued from page 4
because, as a society, we tend to think skin
equals sex. And there is no doubt in my mind
that many people, especially older people,
fear teenage sexuality. Perhaps the teachers
are concerned that current fashions indicate
a lack of self-respect among CA girls. But,
why do we assume that? Why can’t exposing
skin simply show pride in one’s body? Why
can’t it just be empowering? On the other
hand, why does a revealing outfit have to be
about sex at all? Perhaps she just likes that
outfit for the outfit itself, not because she’s
trying to look sexy. And the biggest question here is why can’t both of these reasons
be a possibility? Some girls may dress to feel
sexy while some dress for style. Why can’t
these two options, dressing to be sexy, or not,
coexist?
We are smart. We know the world is
dangerous, and we know what we wear often
holds gendered, unfair connotations. But
we also know that wearing a parka will no
sooner stop catcalling, groping, or assault,
than a mini skirt will spark it. We know that
a conservative outfit at school will no sooner
stop objectification than a low-cut shirt will.
Simply by being female, we are tasked with
this double standard. We might as well dress
our bodies the way we see fit.
I believe some of the adult community
members are missing this key piece of understanding: On any given day, I’m choosing
to wear a certain outfit, knowing the cultural
connotations, deciding it makes me feel good
anyway, and therefore exercising agency over
my body—the agency that is so often stripped
from me.
This is the danger of dress code and
clothing policing: scolding us for our clothing choices actually takes away our agency,
causes us to feel ashamed of our bodies, and
encourages boys to characterize us by our
clothing. In other words, when you say, “That
dress is inappropriate,” boys are more likely to
see the girl wearing that dress as “inappropriate”: a slut, someone less worthy of respect.
A few months ago, a boy in my grade made
a backhanded comment about the skin I had
decided to show that day. That boy and I don’t
speak on a regular basis, yet he felt like he
had the right to confront me on my clothing
choices. Why? Because adults have taught
him that it’s okay to do so.
A large part of the dress code issue
revolves around which types of bodies we
are policing. If I am very tall, my friend and
I could be wearing the same skirt, but you
may categorize mine as inappropriate. If I
am especially busty, that shirt may look fine
on her, but revealing on me. This is another
situation where the conversation is no longer
about clothing, but about bodies—which
bodies make others uncomfortable, which
bodies threaten or offend. A friend of mine
was recently told she couldn’t wear pants so
tight because her butt is too big. A peer said
to her, “Girls with bigger butts need to think
about their clothing choices more than other
girls, you know? You have to make an extra
effort to cover up. That’s just the way it is.”
There is no safe place a girl can turn to escape
critiques on her body; not to tv—not to magazines—not to music—not to school.
Is there something to be said for CA wanting
to encourage professional dress? Maybe. But
once again, we are smart. We know how to
dress for interviews. If the goal of the school
is to foster a professional environment and
to treat school like a work environment, it
must be stated in a formal dress code. And
if this were to be the case, sweatpants and
hats would have to go. The problem with
the ‘professional dress’ argument, however,
is that it contributes to the idea that what I
wear determines how seriously you take me.
A classmate once told me that she doesn’t
wear bright pink, fitted outfits or anything
“girly” when she’s giving a presentation
because she wants to be taken seriously. I
thought, “Dressing ‘like a girl’ means one is
less worthy of respect!? That’s just straight
sexism right there.” You may tell me, “That’s
just life,” but I would say, we have to question
that rather than just accept it.
My biggest problem with the gendered
policing of the dress code is not, however,
the reasons behind your comments. Even
if you’re “Just looking out for me,” or “Preparing me for the real world,” the effects
of your words hit me the same way despite
your intentions. Suddenly my day is ruined.
My shoulders sink a little lower, I look at the
ground more frequently, I feel self-conscious
for the next few days, and I feel like I’ve
disappointed those I respect. Why does a
seemingly harmless comment like “Aren’t
you cold?” affect me so much? It’s because
these comments are relentless. When you
police my clothing, you are objectifying me.
You are telling me that you’re paying close
attention to my appearance, and then you’re
critiquing what you see. Consequently, now I
am too. Now I’m looking at myself in the mirror asking whether this dress makes me look
slutty. Now I’m walking down the hallway
continually pulling down my skirt. I wish I
could just be—just be without others feeling
as if they have the right or responsibility to tell
me what to do with my body. I assure you, I
hear that enough. I’m simply tired, tired of
feeling like my body isn’t my own.
Clearly this conversation is multifaceted
and difficult to tackle. Clothing is never
just clothing: it’s bound up in gender, race,
religion, geography, sexuality, culture, and
generational differences. Although it will
be hard and we will likely disagree, I think
it’s incredibly important that we engage in a
student-teacher dialogue in order to understand each other’s perspectives and perhaps
establish common goals. No one policy will
fit everyone’s agendas, but an open, honest
discussion is already a huge step in the right
direction. The first step is to ask girls their
thoughts, rather than assuming why they make
the choices they do. Women’s Org. is always
willing to facilitate these conversations.
To anyone who has been shamed for their
clothing: remind yourself that you do have
agency over your body; that you’re dressing
for your own benefit. In doing that, you’ve
already accomplished something radical.
Art or Vandalism?
by Leo Feininger ’16
Graffiti, graffiti art, street art, whatever you want to call it, has for a long time
provoked various feelings and opinions in
people, both positive and negative. The
art form itself has been used many ways
throughout the last 60 years or so. Whether
as a form of protest, a means of marking
territory, a demonstration of rebellious freedom, or just as art, graffiti’s various forms
are all linked together by the fact that it is
often done illegally on others’ property.
Similarly, representations such as
cave paintings, or carvings on trees are very
much like graffiti in the sense that they are
done out of a desire to “leave your mark,”
or let people know “I was here.”
The first major modern appearance of graffiti in the U.S. was on New
York City subways around the late 60s and
early 70s. At this time, it was a new thing
and was used almost entirely as a way for
rebellious young people to make a name for
themselves and to mark their territory, often
incorporating their street number into their
art.
From this start, the art only got bigger and
bigger, appearing increasingly in large cities
all over the world, and even in less populous
areas. However, it would be many years before anyone began accepting graffiti as art,
and even today, many have yet to recognize
it as an acceptable art form.
I can remember going into Boston
from time to time as a little kid, and being
fascinated by the vibrant, complex art I saw
on the walls under bridges, along railway
tracks, and other spaces. Unfortunately,
most of this art, located along the Massachusetts Turnpike, as of a few years ago,
has been painted over with a boring, ugly
grey. Sometimes it confuses me why it is
necessary cover up this art, which, though
illegal, is on the property of the city only,
and most often does not contain vulgar images or words.
A number of times in cities, walls located in public places where graffiti is abundant
have been turned into legal places for people
to practice graffiti. I think that there should
be more legal graffiti walls in cities than
there are now. Having more places where
graffiti is allowed would both decrease
graffiti done on private (non-city-owned)
property, as well as decrease violence. I
have read a number of brief accounts of violence arising due to the remoteness of legal
graffiti walls. Both adolescents and adults
have been physically attacked by people
not directly associated with graffiti, people
who may be parts of gangs or other violent
groups who use these legal walls, often
parts of buildings, as hangouts or meeting
places. Having legal walls that are more in
the public eye would allow for artists to do
their work without threat of assault.
Having both more wall space, as well
as more public walls, would be better for
everyone; it would become much easier
Kite Runner
...continued from page 6
Another kite running scene closes the
novel, but this time with Amir chasing the
kite for Sohrab. Hassan once told young
Amir, “For you, a thousand times over.”
This time, Amir repeated this phrase to
Sohrab. Amir catches the last kite in the
sky and notices Sohrab’s lips curve slightly
upwards. At this moment, Amir feels as
though he has purged his soul of sin. After
a lifetime of regret, he finally is rewarded
with liberty and inner tranquility.
As Amir said, “When spring comes,
it melts the snow one flake at a time, and
maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.” Amir has finally found his springtime
after a never-ending winter by the tale’s end.
Khaled Hosseini’s exquisite and powerful novel is very engaging and enjoyable
for all readers, even to those who do not
relate to his cultural background. In the end,
The Kite Runner offers a literary feast for
readers, addressing the universal themes of
regret, reward and redemption that touch all
of our lives in meaningful ways.
Page 7
and safer for artists to do their work, and
it would likely diminish the abundance of
illegal art that can be found in cities today.
If cities were to take this measure, and in
doing so worry less about graffiti removal,
money could also be saved and put toward
much better causes.
The main problem that most people
seem to have with graffiti is its unplanned
nature. To most, even the best graffiti generally looks out of place unless it is part of an
organized mural. If it isn’t already obvious,
I personally like graffiti, and have been
fascinated by it since I was very young. I
honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen graffiti
somewhere and thought: “that needs to go”,
or something along those lines. I typically
tend to ignore the fact that it’s on someone’s
property, and am always excited to see new
graffiti pop up somewhere where it’s never
been before or I wouldn’t have expected it to
appear. However the question then becomes
“would I want that on my own property?” To
this I don’t exactly have a simple answer, as
it depends on the type of graffiti, style, artist,
location on my property, etc. Admittedly,
this makes me somewhat of a hypocrite, as
I love graffiti basically everywhere except
possibly my own property.
As members of the CA community
may remember, I sent out a survey on April
6th asking some questions about graffiti
art. To the first question, which basically
asked whether or not you think graffiti is
“art,” about 87% responded yes. This great
majority didn’t surprise me, because I like
to think (and it is true) that CA is a more
open-minded place than most. On the other
hand, most of the people who essentially
said that graffiti is not art simply backed
this opinion with “because it’s illegal,” or
something along those lines. It seems to me
that a lot of these people who answered “no”
may not have considered that graffiti doesn’t
always translate to “illegal.” Nevertheless,
if you do indeed think that graffiti doesn’t
count as “art,” though I may not agree with
you, I do respect your opinion.
Also judging from the survey, it seems that
there is a general interest within the community about graffiti art. Nearly 50% of
respondents said that they found themselves
looking at graffiti on a regular basis, and
43% of the remaining said they occasionally
looked at graffiti. A lot of people left comments on the survey mentioning that they
like the very vibrant colors and anonymous
nature of graffiti. Others said they liked the
skill required, the creativity, the abstractness, and other aspects of graffiti art.
All in all, the reality of the situation,
like it or not, is that graffiti will always be
done illegally. However, if more legal graffiti walls are created, and more people begin
to give graffiti the recognition and credit
that it deserves, illegal production of graffiti may go down. The world would benefit
greatly from a more positive exposure to this
interesting culture, history, and the artwork
itself.
DCo
...continued from page 5
to the ones popular during that era. The
performance seeks to illuminate complex
ideas, including that of time as an unobtainable and indescribable force, and humans’
attempts to gain control over forces such
as life and death. Repetition and looping
of movement sequences and film series are
also recurring components of the piece that
contribute to an idea that time is irrelevant
and untraceable on the island where the
novella takes place.
Recently, when Performing Arts Department teachers and student representatives
congregated during Revisit Days to inform
perspective students about CA dance opportunities, these representatives described
Dance Company as “intellectually stimulating, immersive, and wonderfully unique.”
Come see for yourself the product of a
year’s collaboration, choreography, and
artwork in The Invention of Morel!
May 6, 2014
Page 8
The Centipede
Concord Academy
166 Main Street, Concord, MA 01742
Executive Editor: Katherine Oh ’14
Managing Editor: Chris Pappey ’15
Features Editor: Teresa Dai ’14
News Editor: Julia Shea ’16
Opinions Editor: Nathan Greess ’15
Arts Editor: Claire Phillips ’15
Sports Editor: Ben Stoloff ’15
Photo Editor: Molly D’Arcy ’16
Copy Editor: Maggie Shea ’15
Image Quality/ Layout Editor: Jerry Liang ’17
Staff Writers: Iris Oliver ’15, Sam Culbert ’15, Shannon Sun 17 ,
Emily Yeo ’17, Leo Feininger ’16 , Jenny Kim ’17
The Centipede is the official student newspaper of Concord Academy. The
paper welcomes comments from its readers in the form of Letters to the Editor. No anonymous letters will be printed. The Centipede reserves the right
to edit all articles for length and content.
Roving Reporter
Roving Reporter Asks:
What’s Your Spirit Animal?
Sean Finnegan ’15: Siberean tiger
Nando Martinez ’15: Chiwawa
Shanika Paul ’15: Platypus
Jerry Liang ’17: Peregrine falcon
Olivia Chatfield ’14: The Whangdoodle.
Or a Wombat.
Bink Sitawarin ’14: Panda
Jin Lee ’16: Cow
Julia Shea ’16: A puppy
Nick Walters: Tiger
Karen Barahona: Tiger
Nathan Greess ’15: Sloth... maybe?
Grace Yan ’15: Don’t humans identify with
like monkeys or something?
Jackson Sypher: Wolf
Parting Words
ing, or because layout is taking too much
time. But there will be just as many pleasant
surprises.
“Thirty-eight days until you graduate!”
I am incredibly proud of what the newsMy friend casually said this to me when she paper
has been able to achieve this year.
saw me on April 23. I squealed and stared at
Thanks
to the energy and passion of my
her for a good thirty seconds before I could
fellow
staff
members, our brilliant faculty
speak. “Wow,” I managed to say when I
advisors,
and
the numerous new writers,
had regained my voice. My facial expresVolume
50
of
the newspaper was filled
sion was probwith creative arably a mixture
ticles and new
of surprise, teradditions: the
ror, and exciteinternational
ment. 38 more
column, featurdays— only 38
ing the diverse
more days.
viewpoints of
Wi t h t h e
international
day of my gradstudents at Conuation quickly
cord Academy,
approaching,
student-drawn
I have found
cartoons, and
myself reflectnotes from stuing on my time
dent council to
in high school
name a few.
and thinking
L ooking back,
about what I
I am grateful
did and what I
that I decided
could have done
to write for
better. One acthe newspaper
complishment
sophomore year;
that stood out
I had been refor me, I have to
luctant to write
say, was workbecause I was
ing for this very
Concord
Academy
in
the
spring.
“too busy” and
newspaper.
Photo courtesy of Katherine Oh ’14
wasn’t sure what
It is hard to
to expect. I’m
believe that this
grateful and happy that I’ve learned to
issue of The Centipede is the final one for
withstand— and even enjoy— the feeling
the graduating staff. The bittersweet sensaof uncertainty that comes with being an
tion that accompanies the end of all things
editor.
good washes over me as I prepare for the
As I count down to Commencement
last issue.
2014, I wonder what my future has in store
As I leave this newspaper in the hands
for me. I’ve finally decided where I’m
of a group of trustworthy, hardworking
headed in the fall, but I don’t know what
editors, I would like to offer one piece
exactly will unfold in the months ahead.
of advice: don’t worry; just relax. The
What I do know is that not knowing makes
newspaper, or any other organization for
these coming months all the more excitthat matter, will not always go as you aning. And I know my Centipede experience
ticipated. Inevitably, you will be surprised.
helped me understand this and that it will
There will be times when you find yourself
stay with me long after Commencement,
panicking because many articles are missduring college and beyond.
by Katherine Oh ’14
Senior Matriculation 2014
Seniors were invited to share with others their destinations for next year.
Below is a list of those who shared this information with the newspaper.
CharlesManzella: Washington University
of St. Louis ’18
Halina Piasecki: Bard College ’18
Clem Aeppli: Brown University ’18
Bryan Gallagher: College of the Holy Cross
’18
Nick Alvarez: Oxford of Emory ’18
Andres Gallego: Union College ’18
Emily Marcoux: Salve Regina ’18
Phoebe Pohl: Kenyon College 18
CassadyBates: College of Wooster ’18
Matt Goldberg: Bates College ’18
Gracie Mason-Brown: Brown University ’18
Alex Poorvu: Yale University ’18
Mishla Baz: Tufts University ’18
Madhu Gupta: Wellesley College ’18
Connor McCann: Yale University ’18
John Hoyle Rymer: UCLA ’18
Lauren Black: Brown University ’18
Martha Hoffman: gap year, Oberlin College ’19
Ishbel McCann: Scripps College ’18
Kai Salem: Brown University ’18
Katherine McNally: Hamilton College ’18
Tien Hunter: Davidson College ’18
Paolo Sanchez: Connecticut College ’18
Kathleen Melendy: Simmons College ’18
Fortune Jackson-Bartelmus: Wesleyan University ’18
Matt Scott: Union College ’18
Amanda Mendez: College of the Holy Cross
’18
Malin Segal: Sarah Lawrence College ’18
Lina Janah: Tulane University ’18
Becca Miller: New York University ’18
Tessa Johnson: The New School ’19
BenMiller: Sarah Lawrence College ’18
Austen Sharpe: Brown University ’18
Sarah Ju: gap year, Johns Hopkins ’19
Hunter Moskowitz: Cornell University ’18
Angela Kim: Wellesley College ’18
Dan Mueller: Williams College ’18
Kai Kim: New York University ’18
Ellie New: Emerson College ’18
Kiyun Kim: Barnard College ’18
AdaObieshi: New York University ’18
Charlie King: Bard College ’18
Katherine Oh: Princeton University ’18
Julia Packman: Connecticut College ’18
Natalie Ferris: Dickinson College ’18
Chris Lin: Washington University in St.
Louis ’18
Marina Fong: Trinity Laban Conservatoire
of Music and Dance ’17
Justin Lindberg: Oberlin College ’18
MaxLu: University of Rochester ’18
SeoyeonPark: UCLA ’18
AlexAeppli: Carleton College ’18
AmandaBrown: Washington University in
St. Louis ’18
Josh Calka: Cornell University ’18
Nate Cassidy: Trinity College ’18
Phoebe Chatfield: Colby College ’18
Christina Cho: Northwestern University ’18
Sean Chung: University of Toronto ’18
Lizzie Cosway: University of Vermont ’18
Alex Craig: Haverford College ’18
Teresa Dai: Northwestern University ’18
Jared Dickstein: Emory University ’18
Weezer Dodge: University of St. Andrews
Serena Frechter: Johns Hopkins ’18
Emma-Kate Fritschel: Skidmore College ’18
Jorge Pagan: Columbia University ’18
Maya Luckett: Kenyon College ’18
Gabe Perez-Putnam: Swarthmore College
’18
Nick Manos: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
’18
Jake Phillibin-Cross: Connecticut College
’18
Helen Pinch: Marlboro College ’18
Tina Shan: Barnard College ’18
Katie Shin: Northwestern University ’18
Bink Sitawarin: Princeton University ’18
Julia Sprague: Middlebury College ’18
Audrey Stein: Hamilton College ’18
SamStogdon: Haverford College ’19
William Su: RISD ’18
Eliza Thomas: Carleton College ’18
Nurik Tussipov: Tufts University ’18
Wyatt Welles: Sarah Lawrence College ’18
Junho Won: Columbia University ’18
Zach Yudkoff: University of Rochester ’18
Gary Zheng: Claremont McKenna College