Page 17 - 1979 VES Meteor

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September 29, 1979
THE METEOR
Headmaster
Headlines
When Sambo Dixon asked me last week to write an article for the Meteor, I must confess that
I felt that same familiar tinge of panic that used to overcome me when a teacher would assign a
composition. What do I write about, when is it due, how long must it be and similar in- timidating questions flooded my
mind. When I taught English, I used to assure my students that grading sixty compositions was
much more difficult than
writing just one. Sambo's
assignment has made me ques-
tion the validity of that old argu-
ment, and Sambo did nothing to · H?wdy Dood! after a puppet ·; dragging one leg with the
assuage my fears when he ·told· w1th large pamt~d red freckles I"varsity limp" may have pro- me that I could write on who starred m a popularIlongedth ·· 1·· bt
h'ld •TV eor1gmaInJury;u "anything - just anything you c .1 re~s · · program. Boys these signs proclaimed one's
want." At least, I was helpful w1th s~mny legs were ~hristen-
unusually strong masculinity.
As teenagers we were and
ed Poho - short for poho poster topic for their writing boy. Those wearing braces on
enough to give my students a
be pretty interesting, it should fill up about this much space
chrome pieces. For those with much hair on chest, back and
to be ever a child. -
Cicero
to censor it too."
What does the headmaster
write that is "pretty in- teresting" and "fills up about this much space?" Nothing, I have concluded. The only thing I have learned from this exercise is what a person thinks about when he spends his entire sum- mer working in the Edenton, North Carolina sewers -::- ways
to bedevil the headmaster when
was "A shapeless mass seen tant in the long run, but they
Pioneer
Sanyo Sansui
scli~_l · r e s u m e s
wr1tmg assignment and make
mannerisms.
Speech and speech patterns
_ :
g i v e
him relive his greatest teenage
fear. I am convinced, to this day,
that I had one English teacher
who looked at my name on the
composition ...:. and immediately
put a 60 on the top of the page;
Ings which I had at sixteen. In fact the · - · ·
Athletics played a major part
in the school. It was not enough similar to a fog horn cutting
Simi1ar1t1es between b ys m prep school today and in
0.
the mid-fifties is remarkable.
to be an athlete; one had .to act like a "stud" or a "rock." Walking
through a dark night at sea. For any event which caught .one by
h Ever~
ad a mckname withina couple
student and
of days upon arriving on cam-
comment could be further sup- ported by drawing a Japenese
h i m a
teacher
sidewalk in an ape-like fashion pus. Most nicknames were less with knuckles nearly touching
than flattering and dealth with the ground might produce
On Sunday, September 23, Westminster-Canterbury was offi · 11
were, from left to right, Mr. Robert Mountcastle-, Mr. John Payne Mr:I;J'IIe ~a~~itarticiJ»atingin the ceremony
d d.
H~dsonCa.rry III (class of '641. V.E.S. looks forward to the compietio~of~h:rf ·.litI s,da~dID the.back~rou;D-d,Mr.
ne1ghbors Just across Williams Road.
&cl Yan
Middle
School Changes
The Middle School Change The middle school at VES has gone through a number of changes from the past years. The seventh anJ eighth grades are now attending the upper
school chapel service thanks to the new benches that were in- stalled in the front rows near the altar. Attending the upper
school chapel services is a great new advantage for the middle schoolers because for one it
makes us feel like a part of VES rather than a separate school.
We are now able to hear the schedule changes, athletic scores, and the important an- nouncements that help our day
to be much more simple. Another great change the
middle school has gone through is our new athletic_program. In
place of our old crusader pro- gram the middle school is hav- ing a physical education pro- gram which is directed by Mr.
1ts relatJonsh1p w1th new
The staff would like to thank the many subscribers and spon- sors who are giving their sup- port to The Meteor this year.
••
To be ignorant of what hap- pened before you were born is
assignments. their teeth - Buick - whose are seemingly very concerned
Sambo was kind enough to grill in the 50's was quite large with many superficial and
give me a few hints. "It should and filled with some vertical trivial matters. Yet beyond
these concerns there are anx-
ieties, joys, disappointments, (holding his hands up so that face - Animal or Esau (from and other common feelings that they framed a space about the passsage in the Bible, "For transcend the period from the twelve inches by sixteen inches) Esau was a hairy man.") And for mid-fifties to the present time. in the paper, and it must be that unfortunate overweight The mundane ·matters that oc-
turned in to me in about three somewhat roly-poly non-athlete cupy so much of our time as or four days - and I might want - Blob (the classical definition adolescents may not be impor-
•
commuting between the smok- ing tree and dorm during athletic practice.")
Clothing was almost as impor- tant as speech. Button-down shirts, jeans, khakis, Weejun loafers, alligator shirts, tweed jackets, Madras, seersucker, and flannel - all were "not
sharp e'nuff!" Labels were im- portant Bass, Brooks Brothers, Lacoste, and Gant were "quality."
are entertaining to reminisce about. Some of those silly customs which so occupied our time are still observed today.
In those days, the ultimate
goal was to be "cool" which term
could be used to define nearly
any situation or condition that
was "in." We would strive to be
"cool" in dress, behavior,
Fisher
Good grades were very im-
portant, but it was equally im-
portant to appear not to be a
"conch" - too conscientious. downs; there was little in bet- Even though one worked very
ween. The North Carolina boys hard for good grades, it was were masters of the clever "cool" to pretend that the good phrase 'or "in" word. Most of our
then he went about the task of
finding enough mistakes to grades were more often the favorite words and phrases Plott.
equal that failing grade. And result of luck rather than effort. were stolen from college Mrs. Hackett is again our di- now I am betting on the fact A typical comment after students or "beach talk." The rector who started us off and
that Sambo Dixon is a hard grader too.
The other thought that has
occurred to me is that
finishing an exam would be, "That wa•the biggest 'Jap' test, and I know I failed it." Often the grade the next day was a "cool" 93. It was acceptable to talk as if
best of its kind, person or thing,
made the
more at
school along with Mrs. Hackett is looking forward to another exciting year at VES.
everything changes and yet n0th' '
e'nuff!" People or
_mg ever really changes. My fee~Ings now about writing an
.you were not very smart and did was totally unacceptable actual-
ly not to care, not to try, and to get poor grades.
~SSigned p a p e r , o f a c e r t a i n
ength, on a unassigned topic
~re very similar to those feel-
were · met by
"waauughes," a
deep in the throat that was
things that were unattractive were not care about good grades. It "prudy." Comments, dress, or behavior that were not "cool"
and totally prepared, the single descriptive able; lumbering down the comments was "Jap," and this
around campus with every mus- cle flexed might be uncomfort-
un -
flag. (Teachers often received ;~me physical abnormality. curvature of the spine; walking their quizzes returned with in-
p· ort stocky boys were called pigeon-toed (all pigeon-toed peo-
numerable "Jap" flags drawn all over them.)
'
. Iglet. Boys with acne problems (goobs-zits to you) were dubbed
ple were natural athletes); might put a strain on the knees;
grades, speech, manners, and •
were especially important. All qualifying adjectives were in- tended as superlatives or put
as "quality." ceptable was "that ain't sharp
surprise
a ch